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Fighting talk: notes from an Undertale newbie

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Once again, it turns out that this summer in gaming has been a little busier than expected. I thought that the releases would dry up between completing FFXII and moving into September. Instead I’ve been checking out the new zones of Sonic Mania on some days and taking a look at Undertale during others – and it’s the latter title I’d like to talk about today. You might remember in my E3 roundup that the PS4 announcement made me keen on trying it out. Nevertheless, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the game; I am a self-confessed Undertale newbie who had just heard a bunch of people telling me how great it was without going into too much detail. However, after playing for a while I kind of understand. For anyone else who’s an Undertable newbie, the game is like a mix of RPG and visual novel and adventure, but packed with so many unique touches that it neatly sidesteps issues people have with those genres. The dialogue is witty and charming without being too weird with its humour – anyone can enjoy the story and characters. The gameplay itself is a mixture of turn-based combat, dialogue, exploration and puzzling, but it finds a great balance where everything is engaging without being too stressful. Interactions and item discoveries are often rounded off with pithy one-liners, and the characters frequently go off on rambling tangents that are always entertaining. Even the turn-based battle system is enjoyable and often shifts expectations – interactions with the enemy (think Revelations: Persona) can turn the tide of battle before you even strike anyone, and enemy attacks are avoid ‘em up microgames that continually throw up new and varied challenges within the small box that displays them.

An Undertale newbie is easily fooled

notes from an Undertale newbie

More than anything, my main realisation as an Undertale newbie is that it’s much more “game-y” than I first expected, as well as having some great writing. I originally assumed there would be a lot of walking and talking and not much else, or that it would be too focused on a humorous tone that would be too divisive; a tone that people like me wouldn’t “get”. It turns out that I should have had way more confidence in the game; the combat sequences are effective, tense and unusual, the puzzles are simple but break up the pace nicely, and the characters are always entertaining whether they’re trying to advise you, betray you or kill you. It even has save points that are generously placed whilst still feeling rewarding when you escape a particularly rough encounter and can’t get around to healing just yet. One aspect of Undertale that most people praise is the subversion present throughout – puzzles that aren’t always what they appear to be at first glance, or battle sequences that either come out of nowhere or are over before they’ve begun. It’s certainly an element of the game that’s amused me – often I’ll take a sharp intake of breath as I expect something absurdly offputting, but then find that it’s an elaborate fake-out. Or I’ll breathe a sigh of relief as I enter a seemingly “safe” environment, only for the game to flip my expectations around.

An Undertale newbie is easily pleased

notes from an Undertale newbie

If I had to criticise, I’d say that some people might not like the diversity of the battles and may just feel like they’re banging their head against an encounter until they’ve figured out which items to use, which interactions to select, or what the attack patterns are. Even so, if I were to go along with the label of “retro-RPG homage” (it’s a bit more than that, with elements of puzzling, adventure games, and other things), it succeeds in eliminating the things I dislike in traditional RPGs (tedious battles) and expanding on the things I enjoy (character interactions, puzzling, and exploration of the environment.) It’s the kind of genre blend that certain gamers have always wished for but never quite known how it could be done. That’s not to say that Undertale is a perfect example of the form – again, the battles may get wearing and another Undertale newbie might not get on with the humour and tone as well as I did – but it’s a fine effort. It even has a bunch of replay value from the various interactions you can make and things you can do – Undertale describes itself as “the friendly RPG where nobody has to die”, and after one playthrough where I fought and killed my way to victory, I was motivated to play through again without gaining any EXP, and then reload the endgame save from that run so that I could see other extra content and a different ending. Few games affect me like that, but it helps that each playthrough is long enough to be satisfying without dragging on.

A satisfied Undertale newbie

notes from an Undertale newbie

If you’re looking for a shortish game with plenty of replay value, originality and humour, I can’t recommend Undertale enough. Not everyone will enjoy the tone of the writing as much as I did, and maybe people will tire of cycling through various enemy interactions to find the best one. Perhaps some people will want a longer main game, or shorter puzzle sequences (the game has a tendency to show you a new puzzle concept and then expand upon it across the next few rooms.) Personally, I did have some less gratifying moments where I was repeating a fight over and over because the attack patterns were so intense, but these are brief nuisances in an otherwise enjoyable experience. The point is that Undertale tries something different, and if you get on with it, you’ll enjoy it a lot. If you’re another Undertale newbie playing through the PS4 game, leave a comment and let us know what you think of it.

Reality Fighters review (PS+)

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Reality Fighters is a videogame, and videogames can deliver some great experiences when it’s obvious that a game has been built around the host machine’s controller and what it can do. Think about how Super Mario 64 made it fun to simply move around the gameworld with the N64 controller, or how Mad Maestro for PS2 features one of the most novel uses of the clickable DualShock sticks in any PlayStation rhythm game. Novel functionality can’t guarantee a hit though, and when something like the PlayStation Vita comes along, there is so much potential in the device’s features that you’re inevitably going to find some gimmicky titles as well as gems such as Tearaway. If you’re one of the people who bought a Vita on day one, you’ll remember that the European launch greeted owners with traditional games such as Wipeout and Rayman…and then there were games like Reality Fighters. Whilst it takes advantage of other Vita features such as motion control and touch-based interactions, the USP was the ability to take a photo of your face and put it on a fighting game character.

Reality Fighters is nonsense

Reality Fighters

Before I go any further – how does that even make any sense? In fighting games, the characters aren’t just central to the gameplay, they also provide so much of the game’s identity and help to make it so memorable. No-one outside of hardcore NFL fans would care about the identity of every player in a Madden game, but before you get a feel for a fighting game character’s moveset, you might just pick the one that looks cool, or wacky, or outlandish, or different. No, the real value in the photo-faces comes from taking pictures of celebrity images so that you can have brawls between Taylor Swift and Channing Tatum…but I digress. Swapping faces in a fighting game doesn’t revolutionise the genre, it changes the graphics slightly, and so once the novelty has worn off you’re left trying to enjoy whatever gameplay is there.

Reality Fighters is rough

Reality Fighters

And it’s not great. Normal moves are limited in their application and variety, hit spark effects are weak and feel slightly delayed, your character jumps like they’re on the moon and backdashes feel oddly sluggish. Even if you can get used to the fighting (mercifully, special move and super inputs are fairly easy to execute on the d-pad), the Vita gimmicks present in Reality Fighters still prevent you from having any fun – tilting the handheld makes the camera look around freely rather than locking to a fixed plane, and so if you move the handheld a bit too much or are on a particularly bumpy bus journey you could quickly find yourself looking at the characters’ feet and not knowing what’s going on outside of the shot. In fairness, the Scenario Lock options offer some control over this, but there’s still no way of switching this tilt feature off completely, and even with the lock you can still be backed into a corner and not see everything that’s going on.

Reality Fighters – in conclusion

Reality Fighters

I get it – Reality Fighters is a Vita launch title designed to show off the hardware gimmicks… but this should have been a free demo with two characters, one stage and basic AI, not a retail game that someone actually put in a box and gave to store owners to put on their shelves. Anyone looking for a decent fighting game is going to buy Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and anyone looking for novel experiences that are only possible on Vita will play Tearaway. Still, if you’re willing to put up with the weird tilt camera and don’t mind a simple button basher, it’s still easier to get on with than other AR titles such as Invizimals.

Reality Fighters is currently available for free during March for PlayStation Plus members

Things to know when playing Freedom Wars (PS+)

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If you are a fully paid-up member of PlayStation Plus and own a PS Vita, there’s a good chance that you will have added Freedom Wars to your instant game collection at the start of December. However, PlayStation Plus has a tendency to turn the most attentive gamer into an easily-distracted person who sees free games as things to be picked up, fiddled with and discarded so that they can move on to something else. I’m every bit as guilty of doing this as anyone else out there, but as someone who bought Freedom Wars on release day, I can’t stress enough how important it is that you give Freedom Wars time to ease you into its world.

freedom wars

This is a game that has you fending off giant Abductor bosses in one mission and playing CTF the next; a game that has stealth sequences as you sneak around the Cell Gardens and bombastic battles out on the streets. It’s a game that feels like a straightforward action title when you’re out on the field, but has tons of resource management, looting, gear research, upgrading and customisation when you’re back at base.

The Panopticons of Freedom Wars

freedom wars
Admittedly you can get the measure of what Freedom Wars is generally going to play like after a handful of missions, but the spectacle of battles, tactical variety in the loadouts and interesting characters and setting are all things that help draw you back for more. As someone imprisoned in a penal city state known as the Panopticon you must complete various missions to reduce your sentence of 1 million years and gain various rewards. However, everyone in the Panopticon is in the same situation as you, and so you eventually team up with other characters and work together on the various missions. Gameplay sees you moving and looking with the twin sticks, whilst the face buttons handle attacks, dodges and any expendable items you’re carrying. You also have a grappling hook known as a “Thorn” which helps you scale environments and drag Abductors to the ground. As the game continues you’ll recruit more characters to pick in your team of four, gain rare materials to use when manufacturing supplies and open up additional customisation options.

Streamlined action

freedom wars
During the months leading up to its release, a number of people were comparing Freedom Wars with Monster Hunter. I’ve never really enjoyed the MH series that much, but if the comparisons are accurate, then Freedom Wars is probably the game I wanted Monster Hunter to be. The scope might not be as grand as MH, but that works in its favour for players looking for something more streamlined and action-oriented. Additionally, I’ve always been disappointed at the fact that very few Vita (and PSP) games use the online functionality to its full potential – choosing either to do some adhoc gameplay feature or online stat comparisons, for instance. Even so, a few games deliver a much more well-rounded online experience. Phantasy Star Portable 2 on PSP was one such game; Freedom Wars is another. You can easily search for and join games with three other players, and once you’re connected the Panopticon acts as a lobby so that you can check your gear and items before the host selects a mission and you head off together to complete it. Whilst the AI team-mates are relatively competent, completing missions with other players is every bit as satisfying, and the game also ties multiplayer effort to your story mode progress by giving you an item which you can use in the single-player game to instantly complete it if you’ve already gone through it in multiplayer. So if you’re looking for an entertaining action game on Vita and you’re willing to soak in the slow start, Freedom Wars is recommended.

Superbeat Xonic Review (Vita)

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2015 might be recognised as the moment in gaming’s current generation when rhythm-action made a big comeback thanks to the release of Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band 4. However, you don’t have to fill your home with more plastic instruments to find new and interesting music games from this year, as proven by this new PlayStation Vita title…

superbeat xonic

Superbeat Xonic is a rhythm game from Nurijoy, and whilst that name might not be immediately familiar, the nature of the team becomes more significant when you realise that Nurijoy was formed from former employees of Pentavision – the studio behind the DJ Max series of PSP rhythm-action games.

Few of the DJ Max games made it over to the West, but their gameplay is as far removed from the likes of Rock Band as you can imagine. With a pared-down presentation and relentless streams of notes, they actually feel closer in style to the golden era of Beatmania. Happily, Superbeat Xonic has made its way here courtesy of Rising Star Games. This new game follows in the spirit of DJ Max and Beatmania, despite a radically-different interface and new input methods.

superbeat xonic

Flicking and Holding

Superbeat Xonic presents players with a tube-like view that is split into four or six segments depending on the game mode selected. With two or three segments on either side of the screen, the game suits touchscreen play surprisingly well. If you’ve ever played Elite Beat Agents, you’ve probably found yourself in situations where you’re enjoying the goofy story and pop classics but also cursing the fact that your fat fingers reach for notes in one corner whilst covering incoming notes in another. Here, the only areas you need to touch are on the edges of the screen, and all of the notes come from the centre of the screen. It’s a smart interface for a touchscreen rhythm-game and it makes playing songs much more enjoyable.

The notes also take advantage of touch input effectively – as well as tapping and holding notes, you can find yourself flicking yellow notes in a certain direction or holding a red note and following the ‘tail’ with your finger as it snakes up and down the side of the screen. With all of these different note styles it makes for a busy and varied game, but the responsive touch controls mean that it never becomes frustrating. One of the gameplay modes also has you pressing L and R at times in addition to handling all of the touch commands – as you’d imagine, this isn’t a mode for beginners.

superbeat xonic

Cheesy but likeable

The songs themselves are as far removed from Singstar and Rock Band as possible. There’s hardly anything here you will have heard of, but the selection of J-pop, fusion, rock, dance and more has plenty of cheesy yet likeable tunes.

The regular play mode sees you gaining experience and levelling up as you continue to complete songs, which in turn leads to more songs and customisation options to unlock. Additionally, there are challenge modes (beat a certain score, complete a song without missing a certain number of notes, etc.), leaderboards and even gameplay modifiers that, for example, give you a better multiplier or let you miss some notes without dropping a combo. Some of the challenges are quite demanding even with modifiers, but there’s plenty of enjoyment to be had from the regular play mode.

Depending on your preferences, one possible word of warning is that this game lacks the character and personality of something like Rock Band or Persona 4 Dancing All Night and some people might not appreciate such stark presentation. Then again, anyone used to DJ Max or Beatmania will know to expect things like that. If you’re looking for pure rhythm-action fun with lots to do and a touchscreen interface that actually works, you could do a lot worse.

Superbeat Xonic is now available from the Playstation Store for £34.99 – a boxed edition is planned to be released in the future.

Kickbeat Review (PS+)

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A fighting-themed rhythm-action game isn’t the most ridiculous concept pitch – after all, a good movie fight sequence will have rhythm and choreography, and there are martial arts such as Capoeira that blend dance, acrobatics and music and look great until they meet a less flamboyant but more effective approach to beating someone up.

Similarly, Beat ‘Em Up combos require a sequence of motions and button presses with timing that equates to the requirements of Gitaroo Man or Dance Dance Revolution. So who would fill the gap in the market for a music game in which you’re rewarded with an onscreen avatar busting out kung fu moves to send unsuspecting opponents flying? Enter Kickbeat.

Kickbeat

The fighting-themed rhythm game recently found its way into the PlayStation Plus freebie selection, but it had already piqued my interest upon release, making it the perfect time to finally satisfy my curiosity about the intriguing concept.

Each level sees your character stood in the centre of an arena with a crowd of foes circling around you. The people at the outside of the crowd wait in the shadows whilst the ones that require your immediate attention are more prominent on the screen.

One foe will have a white highlight around them, indicating that they are the next opponent to be attacked, and once they walk onto one of the button symbols superimposed on the arena floor, that symbol lights up and the player hits the corresponding face button to make their character kick the foe offscreen. Chaining together enough successful button presses allows the player to activate a multiplier, whilst missing a beat will drop the combo.

Foes are handily colour-coded – yellow enemies follow the base rhythm of the song, blue enemies enter the arena more rapidly, and red enemies enter simultaneously, requiring more than one face button to be pressed at once. It’s a nice way to keep gameplay varied throughout the song, but once yellow foes are replaced with blue ones it can be hard to tell that you’re now following the rhythm of the vocal syllables rather than the rhythm of the percussion (for example).

Another slight issue I have with the game is that the button symbols aren’t really animated that much when opponents step onto them – they are either lit up, or not, and you have to observe the movements of the crowd to gauge your timing. I appreciate that having Technic Beat-style circles radiating out from the centre of the button symbols might look a little bit ridiculous, and I understand that observing the crowd movement is part of what makes the game so unique, but that little bit of extra visual information helps a lot in a genre that relies on timed button presses so much.

Aside from the gameplay experience, the music selection in the stages I played seemed skewed towards nu-metal and similar genres, with songs from Marylin Manson, Celldweller, Rob Zombie and P.O.D. They’re all fairly decent tracks in their own right, but they’re not really what I expected in a fighting-themed rhythm game. Maybe some lively techno or “cinematic rock” (think ES Posthumus’ “Pompeii”) would bring a bit more energy to this kind of gaming experience, because from what I played of the game it doesn’t feel like you’re taking part in an epic 200-man karate battle; it feels like you’re fending off a circling moshpit that just wants to consume you entirely – with Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” being the final thing you hear as you fall unconscious.

Kickbeat is a great idea that deserved a better game. If the soundtrack had some more appropriate tunes and the cues for button presses were a bit clearer, it could be a fun (if still slightly niche) rhythm-action title. Unfortunately, it disappoints more than it entertains, and there are far more immediately enjoyable music games out there.

Kickbeat is currently available for free during October for PlayStation Plus members

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