It has been a long time since I started a thread about an anime tie-in, isn't it?
Yuyuyu was aired one or two seasons ago, desperately trying to emulate Madoka Magika but failing, especially in the finale; I'm not entirely sure when the game fits in the storyline, but it should be after the anime series.
From the start you can select any of the five main heroines...of which I barely remember their names, so I went with Togo because I recall her being the normal one. After starting story mode, a lengthy opening sequence (re)introduces the characters and the setting: the five girls are Heroes chosen by the local god to defeat the Vertex trying to destroy the world, and are given fairies to do so. That power comes at a price, with the Mankai (super form or something like that) resulting in physical disabilities.
So, the first thing I did when the Mankai meter was full, was to unleash it, and kept doing so as much as I could. Why? Because that could have been a nice risk/reward mechanic.
Instead, Mankai in the game is just a simple special attack, and so far no negative repercussions were inflicted on any character. This goes with my idea that the game is set after the series, but I honestly hoped for a something deeper.
The game itself is strikingly reminescent of Madoka The Battle Pentagram: you go around the map, defeating Vertex (in the series they were hulking monsters, here there are new smaller popcorn Vertex and a big one acting as the stage boss), collecting items, and keys to unlock barriers that will let you progress. There are light an heavy attacks, which can be stringed into a couple of combos, and it's very button-mashey. The combat feels cumbersome and incredibly basic, so far (six stages on, out of an unknown number, probably twelve) I've encountered the grand number of four enemy types and just button-mashed by way through them. Stages are large, but filled with only few encounters here and there, and progression boils down to aimlessy wander around to find the required item(s) to unlock the next barrier and move to the next area. Movement, like combat, is stiff: the terrain is flat, with invisible walls everywhere (see that cliff within jump distance inf ront of you? No, you can't jump on it, you have to go around), and the game seems to favour basic direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonals) even with the analog stick. It's somewhat difficult to explain it, but movement and combat feel constrained due to this, and neither of them seems to be completely under the player's control, and coupled with the incredibly long attack times every character has, the game just doesn't feel good to control. One of the temporary powerups you can find increases your running speed, but it increases it so much that makes navigating the terrain even more difficult.
Battles against bosses highlight one massive flaw in the game: the lack of air combos. Yuyuyu desperately begs for air combos. There are no flying enemies, but without air combos, you know everything about your character within the first two minutes of combat. And with air combos you wouldn't be constrained to hit a boss' lower half or jump around cliffs hoping that the boss will be in range of your attacks.
Bosses are essentially flawed: you face them in an arena with several cliffs around, and you can simply jump on them, you have to approach a specific point that will bring you on the top, allowing you to face the boss. However bosses are almost immobile, and baiting them to close on the cliff you're on is very hard. So you just stay on ground level, hacking at the boss or at the minions they spawn to get enough meter to unleash the Mankai. Once defeated, you need to destroy their core; cores can be stationary, move around, or create clones to deceive you. In the series Vertex would grow back if the core wasn't destroyed, here...I'll have to try. But frankly, going through the same boss battle more than once isn't an exciting thought.
But wait, how are the five characters managed? The story is the same (I'm at the sixth chapter with Yuna and at the second with Togo and the zweihander-weilding one) but every character has to replay the exact same mission.
Eh.
I really hope that there will be some character-specific story events in the game, because how different characters play isn't nearly enough. Oh, and Togo? She cannot run. She cannot walk (in her Hero form, I mean). She have to wander around stages by jumping or rolling. Who the **** thought this was a good idea, in a game based going around maps collecting things? Was he insane? Did he hate the series so much? Did he hate players that much? Also, the zweihander one moves faster by rolling than running. This is going to be fun.
Yuyuyu was aired one or two seasons ago, desperately trying to emulate Madoka Magika but failing, especially in the finale; I'm not entirely sure when the game fits in the storyline, but it should be after the anime series.
From the start you can select any of the five main heroines...of which I barely remember their names, so I went with Togo because I recall her being the normal one. After starting story mode, a lengthy opening sequence (re)introduces the characters and the setting: the five girls are Heroes chosen by the local god to defeat the Vertex trying to destroy the world, and are given fairies to do so. That power comes at a price, with the Mankai (super form or something like that) resulting in physical disabilities.
So, the first thing I did when the Mankai meter was full, was to unleash it, and kept doing so as much as I could. Why? Because that could have been a nice risk/reward mechanic.
Instead, Mankai in the game is just a simple special attack, and so far no negative repercussions were inflicted on any character. This goes with my idea that the game is set after the series, but I honestly hoped for a something deeper.
The game itself is strikingly reminescent of Madoka The Battle Pentagram: you go around the map, defeating Vertex (in the series they were hulking monsters, here there are new smaller popcorn Vertex and a big one acting as the stage boss), collecting items, and keys to unlock barriers that will let you progress. There are light an heavy attacks, which can be stringed into a couple of combos, and it's very button-mashey. The combat feels cumbersome and incredibly basic, so far (six stages on, out of an unknown number, probably twelve) I've encountered the grand number of four enemy types and just button-mashed by way through them. Stages are large, but filled with only few encounters here and there, and progression boils down to aimlessy wander around to find the required item(s) to unlock the next barrier and move to the next area. Movement, like combat, is stiff: the terrain is flat, with invisible walls everywhere (see that cliff within jump distance inf ront of you? No, you can't jump on it, you have to go around), and the game seems to favour basic direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonals) even with the analog stick. It's somewhat difficult to explain it, but movement and combat feel constrained due to this, and neither of them seems to be completely under the player's control, and coupled with the incredibly long attack times every character has, the game just doesn't feel good to control. One of the temporary powerups you can find increases your running speed, but it increases it so much that makes navigating the terrain even more difficult.
Battles against bosses highlight one massive flaw in the game: the lack of air combos. Yuyuyu desperately begs for air combos. There are no flying enemies, but without air combos, you know everything about your character within the first two minutes of combat. And with air combos you wouldn't be constrained to hit a boss' lower half or jump around cliffs hoping that the boss will be in range of your attacks.
Bosses are essentially flawed: you face them in an arena with several cliffs around, and you can simply jump on them, you have to approach a specific point that will bring you on the top, allowing you to face the boss. However bosses are almost immobile, and baiting them to close on the cliff you're on is very hard. So you just stay on ground level, hacking at the boss or at the minions they spawn to get enough meter to unleash the Mankai. Once defeated, you need to destroy their core; cores can be stationary, move around, or create clones to deceive you. In the series Vertex would grow back if the core wasn't destroyed, here...I'll have to try. But frankly, going through the same boss battle more than once isn't an exciting thought.
But wait, how are the five characters managed? The story is the same (I'm at the sixth chapter with Yuna and at the second with Togo and the zweihander-weilding one) but every character has to replay the exact same mission.
Eh.
I really hope that there will be some character-specific story events in the game, because how different characters play isn't nearly enough. Oh, and Togo? She cannot run. She cannot walk (in her Hero form, I mean). She have to wander around stages by jumping or rolling. Who the **** thought this was a good idea, in a game based going around maps collecting things? Was he insane? Did he hate the series so much? Did he hate players that much? Also, the zweihander one moves faster by rolling than running. This is going to be fun.
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