Review: Astebreed (PC)

For our next game review, we present Astebreed, for giant robots and loli AI equals justice. Astebreed is a bullet hell shoot ‘em up (SHMUP) from Japanese indie developer Edelweiss. PC (steam) version was released in May 30, 2014.

First note to cover: this game looks absolutely stunning. As a proper SHMUP, Astebreed does not fail in delivering intense, non-stop combat, and players will stop blinking and breathing as the screen fills with beautifully rendered bullets, missiles, lasers and explosions. All the eye candy the game provides certainly helps in giving itself a high replay value.

Beautiful, flaming explosions....in a vacuum of space.

Astebreed’s combat mechanism is very intelligent and complex. Players have three types of basic attacks at their disposal: spread shot (ranged), focus shot (ranged), and sword (melee). Two aforementioned ranged attacks also have an additional homing mode (activated by holding the attack button for some time and releasing) that locks onto enemy units and increases the damage dealt. When the gold meter under the player’s mech is filled, additional attack option called EX attack becomes available that can dish out huge damage to enemy units. Like the ranged attacks, EX attack can also lock onto enemy units, dealing more focused, devastating blows.

While blindly mashing attack buttons may work, using the right attack at the right moments will allow you to take out the enemies quickly and keep your health bar up higher. Mastering the large arsenal game provides is challenging at first, but you will be feeling like a true badass when you are clearing the screen from hordes of enemies in a blink of an eye with cleverly picked and placed attacks.

Two mechs fighting makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

For a SHMUP, Astebreed is pretty lenient on the players, providing frequent checkpoints and unlimited continues. This saves some tears of blood and frustration dance whenever your mech succumbs to the non-stop rain of enemy bullets. Game has three difficulty modes (easy, normal, hard) and I found these modes to be accurately assessed (I have played SHMUPs where playing in easy mode made me drop the controller and sit in the corner of my room for hours).

The game does have a storyline. Humanity is at a losing war against the technologically advanced alien race known as Filune. Players take on the role of Roy Beckett, a young pilot who operates a mech called XBreed equipped ex-human AI named Fio. The story develops in a predictable, anime cliché way (which is not necessarily bad), and in the end, Roy Beckett saves the humanity from Filune while scoring some loli AI love.

CUTENESS = JUSTICE

If there is one small complaint that I could raise, it’s that much of the story driving dialogues happen in midst of intense battles. While voice acting in the game is excellent, it’s in Japanese and I certainly don’t have time to look at the bottom corner of my screen to read the English subtitle when enemies are constantly trying to feed my face with countless number of death beams. I ended up missing most of the plot during my first playthrough and was only able to piece the story together during my second playthrough.

Overall, Astebreed is one of the best SHMUP I’ve come across. The game is visually pleasing, intense, and adequately challenging. Add this game on your list of “must play.”

Cool mechs don't look at explosions.

Overview:

Score: 9 out of 10 – Very Good

PC Steam release 05/30/2014

Game length: Short (1~2 hours), with high replay value
ESRB Rating: N/A

Pros:

+Stunning visuals

+Voice acting

+Complex and rewarding combat

+Adequately challenging

Cons:

-Hard to keep up with the plot during intense gameplay

How much I would be willing to pay for this game: $10 ~ $15

Review: Mimana Iyar Chronicles (PSP)

Mimana Iyar Chronicles is a JRPG for the Playstation Portable that was developed by Kogado Studio and Premium agency. The North American version was released by Aksys Games on March 30, 2010.

The story of Mimana Iyar Chronicles is a generic one. The main character, Crais Sewell, is hired by a girl named Sophie Rothorn to help collect seven magical gems. These gems are necessary to gain entrance to the Temple of Water where great power resides. The two of them are soon joined by a very curious sorceress, a glaive toting warrior, and a talented magic shop owner. Of course, there is also the evil wizard and his emotionless homunculus that intermittently pops up to ruin your day.

The battle system in Mimana Iyar Chronicles is very similar to the one used by the Tales of series. You control the main character and hack and slash your enemies while casting the occasional heal spell. The three other party members that join you in battle are controlled by AI. You can manage their actions by setting how often they should attack, use offensive magic, or use healing spells. Overall, the battle system works, but ends up being very bland and repetitive. None of the spells are very exciting, and the main character only gets about 2 skills you actually want to use (neither of which are fun or cool to look at).

Unlike recent Tales of titles, the game employs random encounters with no monsters shown on the map. The encounter rate is quite reasonable, but you end up fighting a countless number of enemies anyway. This is because every single dungeon that you go to is like a maze. There are multiple paths and dead ends in each dungeon, and you often find yourself getting lost if you just run around and explore. By the time you get to the end of a dungeon, you'll have fought the same boring enemies a million times. This makes it very likely for you to be over-leveled when you fight the boss. The bosses tend to be plain and unimaginative to begin with and being overpowered doesn't make the battle any more exciting.

I told you the enemies are boring...

Yes, this game recolors monster sprites and isn't afraid to admit it.

The battle system, bosses, and dungeons leave much to be desired, but Mimana Iyar Chronicles does have some redeeming qualities. The voice acting for every character is quite well done and even minor characters are voiced during important story sequences. For some of the most important scenes, the game will show an animated cutscene. These scenes add to the overall gaming experience and allow the player to see the anime-version of each of the main characters. On that note, it is a bit strange that the characters in the anime scenes do not look exactly like their in-game character portraits.

Please, dark knight! Make this game more interesting.

These two are the same guy?

So, the voice acting is quite good and the anime scenes make the game more interesting. Unfortunately, the dialogue itself is quite boring.  Like with many other JRPGs, you'll find yourself skipping through most of the dialogue. Luckily, pressing "square" at any point in the game will bring up a small dialogue between the characters that reminds you what you're doing and where you should be going next.

Even the writers admit it. They're lazy.

Mimana Iyar Chronicles does have one more redeeming quality that I should mention - sidequests. Now, if sidequests are a redeeming quality, you know the game isn't too good. Regardless, the sidequests in Mimana Iyar do add depth to the game because they help determine which ending you get. The game's ending will slightly change depending on which girl's sidequests you fully complete and who you decide to visit during your nights at the inn (no, nothing interesting happens). The dating simulation element of Mimana Iyar Chronicle is quite underwhelming. Once in a while, the game prompts you to choose who you want to talk to or hang out with. A lot of times, these encounters with your female companions end with you hurting their feelings because Crais is a jerk. Oh, did I not mention that Crais is a total jerk? He is. Throughout the entire game. No, it doesn't really get better towards the end.

Anything good that Mimana Iyar Chronicles has to offer has to do with its visual appeal and character voices. The cover of the game promises a JRPG with cute anime chicks. It does not promise a good story, fun gameplay, or interesting dialogue. Mimana Iyar don't tell no lies.

Overview:

Score: 4 out of 10 - Bad

Console: PSP  Released: 03/30/2010

Game Length: Less than 20 Hours.

Rating: T for alcohol references, language, mild blood, mild fantasy violence, and sexual themes.

Pros:

+Pretty character design.

+Good voice acting.

+Multiple possible endings.

Cons:

-Very generic story.

-Monotonous battles with boring enemies.

-Plain dungeons that are hard to navigate.

-Bland dialogue throughout.

-Main character is a jerk.

How much I would be willing to pay for this game: $10