Micro Reviews #3

There are so many great games out there, but there are some titles that are a bit iffy. So today I'm gonna go through a few of them and give my little review of each to help you figure out what you should play and what you shouldn't. Welcome to Nintendo GamePoint+ Micro Reviews.

These reviews are more simplistic. Covering some of the important points of each game and having the same grading scale, but are smaller compared to the big game reviews. Also, this doesn't mean that the games covered here won't be given big reviews later. This is just a way to talk about some smaller games or give my general opinions on big games that I didn't/haven't given a full review for.

What games do you want to see get reviewed next? Let me know in the comments below and tell me what you thought of these games?

Games
Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
Donut County
Bayonetta 2/Original

Grade Scale:
A=Best, B, C, D, F=Worst
(+) - More Positive Elements
(-) - More Negative Elements
Straight Letter - Balanced Showing

Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee - This game is a remake of the original Pokemon Yellow on the gameboy and the game itself has a lot of new ideas while going back basics, especially considering this game only has the original 151 Pokemon. In terms of visuals and presentation, the game looks really good. The HD visuals look nice and the art-style works incredibly well. The characters and Pokemon have such great expressions and, in terms of the game itself, seeing Pokemon walking around in the world helps the game feel like your in the world of Pokemon. The gameplay additions are handled really well for the most part. The battle system is relatively the same, which is nice, however I love the new way to catch Pokemon. Rather than battle wild Pokemon to brink of fainting before you catch them, you now just go through a decently fun Pokeball throwing minigame, similar to Pokemon Go. I think this works so much better because not only is it satisfying to finally catch that Pokemon you want, its really fun too. The downsides to this game will slightly vary depending on how you feel about motion controls or the Switch's Joy-Con controllers. You play the game with the Joy-con controllers upright, not sideways like in Super Mario Party. That's not the issue, the issue is that in TV Mode/Tabletop Mode that is the ONLY way to play. You can't use the Pro Controller or use both joy-cons like one controller. However, you can play the entire game in handheld mode. Another issue is that you have to use motion controls when you catch Pokemon. In Handheld mode, its integrated very nicely and controls great. In TV Mode, while not unplayable, its a bit of a struggle especially when Pokemon move and dodge out of the way. I just wish there was a small cursor to guide where you're gonna throw. I understand why they implemented these choices, but I still wish that they were made optional, especially in terms of using controllers. Give the player's a choice is all I ask.

However, despite some small hiccups with the motion controls, I still highly recommend this game. This game really feels like your running around in the world of Pokemon. It has so much charm and character. Its a perfect game for newcomers to Pokemon and just as fun for veterans.

FINAL GRADE: B+

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes - The No More Heroes franchise returns, kinda... Travis Strikes Again is a Semi-Sequel to No More Heroes 2 and is very much a spin-off of the franchise. In this game Travis Touchdown, the skilled #1 assassin, is attacked by Bad-Man the father of Bad-Girl, another assassin who Travis had to kill in order to reach the top ranking. During their initial struggle, the game console Travis was playing on, known as the Death Drive MKII, teleports them into the game world. Its here we learn that if they can aquire/beat all seven games, known as the death balls, they will be able to get one perfect wish. (Basically the plot to Dragon-Ball) So the two work together to beat the games and hopefully bring back Bad-Man's Daughter. The game itself plays very well. The controls are really easy to learn and even have some hints of the original games in them. It's pretty simple, but it works well. This is also one Nintendo Switch game where even in TV Mode I preferred to play with the Joy-Con sideways. The level-up system is actually well integrated, simply put, you can level-up your character whenever you want and if you want a different challenge, you can choose to not level-up your character at all. Its really interesting and I like it. Also, in terms of fighting enemies, I felt it was really satisfying laying hits on enemies and using special attacks. In terms of visuals, the game shines brightest here. I love the different style of visuals in each game and the retro callbacks are really cool. The characters are interesting and the dialogue between them is funny. The biggest issue I started seeing is that the game is repetitive. By that I mean, while the levels are designed very distinct from each other and are very unique, its still just run and platform through each level and stop to beat up enemies until you can progress again, rinse and repeat until you hit a mid-boss or a decently cool Final Boss, like Electric Thunder Tiger. Also, the method to get the actual Death Balls is just kinda boring. You just go through a long dialogue segment and that's it. No mini-games or puzzle to solve, no driving Travis' Motorcycle, its just talking about the adventure Travis is going on. It's not really fun in my opinion, although the story is interesting.

This game is hard a bit harder to rate. I do have fun with it, and I will say if you've never played a NMH game before like I have, I'd say this game did get me intrigued enough to say I would want the first two games on Switch, a new game similar to this, or just try the first two games on other systems. However, while the game controls fine and in terms of design the levels stand out really nice, the game still comes off as pretty repetitive. Even though the levels have unique ideas and looks to them, its still just hitting enemies until they fall so you can progress and some enemies need to be hit really hard, not much else to it. Not a bad game by any means and I'd definitely say you should try it out for yourself, but I wish it had a bit more to it because so far there isn't a lot.

FINAL GRADE: C-

Donut County - This is a fun physics-based indie title. In this game you help the raccoon BK and his human friend Mira deliver donuts to people. In actuality, you create little holes and start moving them around to drop "trash" into the depths of the county, and as you drop things in the holes they get bigger. The fun is knowing which items to drop first, which ones to fling back out and how to use the environment to your benefit. The puzzles in this game are almost ingenious and when you figure them out you can't help but smile. The dialogue and story in this game are very funny. I liked learning about the friendship between these characters and unraveling the story of why random holes are popping was really investing. The only real problems I found here is that the puzzles are pretty easy and the game is short. There was no puzzle I felt I couldn't solve and, in my opinion, it ended a bit too quick. Also, if your not moving holes, your running through dialogue boxes. The story is good, but there is a lot of dialogue.

If your looking for a fun budget puzzle game or if you like indie titles, you should think about this game. The story makes you laugh, the game plays really well, and there is replay value in it. It is a short game and its not the biggest challenge, but its still fun.

FINAL GRADE: C+

Bayonetta 2/Original - The hack 'n slash adventure from Platinum Games made their way to Switch right before the third entry comes. In Bayonetta 2, you play as the umbran witch Bayonetta on a quest to save her friend/fellow witch Jeanne after a summon from Bayonetta goes horribly wrong and sends Jeanne into "Inferno". So its up to Bayonetta, and her new mysterious friend Loki, to save her by going to the real gates of hell and figure out what's going on between the balance of angels and demons. The gameplay is top-notch. Its fast paced action, yet the controls are easy to learn and master. Playing as Bayonetta and using her different weapons and monster summons never gets old. Landing combos on enemies and Bayonetta's witch time to rack up even more combos is very satisfying and the boss fights are epic and amazing, especially the ones with the Lumen Sage. Every character in this game has a lot of charm and personality. Visually the game is really good. It did get some minor upgrades on Switch, but it isn't too noticeable unless you're a major tech expert. That said, the game is still really pretty. The only real downside to Switch Version of this game is that there isn't a lot of incentive to get it if you currently still own the Wii U version. The changes between are very minimal aside from a few amiibo functions and what I like to call the "Switch Standard", being that you can play the game portable wherever you want. You don't need to rush to buy this game if you own it already. Unless you already traded in your game way before it was even announced because you knew it was going to come to Switch eventually... 
...I was that person.

To touch on the original game for a second, its just as good as the sequel. Same fun kinetic action, and the same great characters. The only issue I found is that because I played the sequel first, I found the original game to play a bit slower. Not any less fun, but it was noticable.

I can honestly say that even if you do already own the Wii U Version, these games are still worth buying again. They have excellent controls, are visually pleasing, have a lot of charm, and are just downright fun. It might not be "Deluxe" like MK8DX or Pokken DX, but this is one of the best ways to play some amazing games.

FINAL GRADE: A

That's all the Reviews I got for today. Thank you very much reading, there will be way more where these came from. Let me know what you think in the comments or on my Twitter @Maziqgame and I will catch you guys later.