Now Playing: Anarchy Reigns

Sorry for the lack of a halloween update. I just haven't had anything to say on it related to gaming. I don't do horror games, I didn't feel encouraged to do anything similar or even october-y recently, and I just don't have anything useful to contribute to that subject. I'm sure there's plenty that have done a good one though, so happy hunting. Anyways onto this small article:

Such a weird game that just came seemingly out of nowhere for me. I remember hearing about this game struggling to get localized for western audiences, and it was some kind of fighting game... that's it. The next thing you know I'm going to the mall with my dad around my birthday, he hands me 20 or $30, and then I see this game on the shelves as a brand new... $30 game? A brand new game that's cheap? What witchery is this!? So this game that surprisingly made its way over to the US, bragged about special brawling on its box art, and remained at the precise spot for my budget made it stand out a good bit. I took a risk and was met with strange mixed feelings of delight and confusion. It turns out the game was sort of kind of, but not really, a sequel to Madworld. I just saw it as "hey, isn't that... why is he here?". It had a couple characters, and that same odd rap drive to its soundtrack, but outside of that the similarities stop. It just confused me. Then the really poor and muddy graphics, the extremely weird 3D brawler controls, and the entire concept of the campaign all just made it feel like I was in some weird surreal void. Despite this, bots, oddball cast characters, and the insane feeling and strong learning curve all made this a very unique title that held my attention a bit, and at the end of the day I really enjoy it. Here I am returning to it a couple years later.

To be honest the game could be better, and that's just the flat truth. The campaign is a grind, the training and tutorial is a little weird, and honestly I don't think this could come anything close to touching Madworld in quality (it lacks the humor, player engagement, exploration, and to some degree even precision). Still its a lot of damn good gamey fun. I honestly love this odd direction for a bralwer to take. It keeps me pumped, on the edge of my seat, and I feel like I'm learning and experiencing something I don't get out of other games. All the while its somewhat customizable,

more free in form, and is something more like a giant 3D world smash bros... except with maybe up to 16 players. Wild, right? Its fun to try different combos, different tactics, test something new out with a character, or get a special surprise within the map. Oh yeah and there's a great little soccer mode. The only major problem I have with the game is its blocking system just feels unresponsive and broken. Alongside that its one of those games where I feel terrible to play a female because they're depicted in such a way that feels embarrassing. Of course there is the obvious campaign grind, but I see the highlight as the bot matches with the campaign being a quick break in between that. Still those aren't so bad of complaints. Sadly the game was a victim of my stupid focus issues. I ditched it somewhere before I even got half-way through it, and didn't get back to it until recently. Its a shame to because I never unlocked the big bull until real recently, and that guys awesome to have if not for a cool fighter than for a cool opponent. Still its fun to re-learn some of this stuff. With that being said though I'm terrible at bot matches, and haven't won anything outside the soccer mode (which was a little too easy). Still I adore bot matches because like always, I just seem to love combat sports games for some weird reason. That theme just works, including with this weird apocalyptic 3D brawler.

I can't help but feel like I may be cheating you here, but I really don't have much else to talk about. Its hard to make much notes of a fighter. I finished the white campaign and I'm working on the black and then later red sides. I hope things go well and I actually get around to completing it, but with one of my PS3's starting to give me issues I may find myself migrating away from it again to play something like smash bros or some PS4 games instead. I really do need to play smash bros again. Still sticking it back to here, I've got weird mutants to kill, arenas to clear, and people to slaughter.