Phil Villarreal's Blog, page 111

"Wild Guns Reloaded" Review

Picking up where its predecessor left off more than two decades ago, "Wild Guns Reloaded" reignites the light gun shooting gallery thrills of the 1990s in a tight, updated package that recaptures the retro thrills of the original while adding ease-of-use and quality-of-life updates.

With decidedly old-school visuals, the Old West setting pulses with hiding spots for rascally varmints to pop out. You strive to join the ranks of the quick rather than the dead by keeping your spray of bullets flowing to dispatch them.

Several flavors spice up the array of available modes. Boss rush lets you skip through all the filler to take on the touchest challenges in brutal succession. Beginner mode lets you cruise through the story with minimal resistance and time attack throws the emphasis on precision and timing once you've got the trial-and-error routine down pat.

Packing in ample replayability to what otherwise might be a thin package, "Wild Guns Reloaded" loads up with more than enough momentum to keep the six-shooter thrills raging. This throwback to a throwback proves there is plenty of ammo left in the chamber.
Publisher provided review code.

"Football Manager Touch" Switch Review

A standby for the soccer franchise management sim-obsessed mouse-and-keyboard set, the "Football Manager" franchise has hardly made a dent on the console market. But that is set to change, thanks to a mobile-friendly revamp that makes the game a smoother fit on the Switch's touch screen, which packs more real estate than any cell phone.

A tinkerer's delight, "Football Manager Touch" brings a full-figured version of the menu-driven sim to Nintendo's home console/handheld hybrid. The Switch's responsive setup lets you toggle quickly among the various menus screaming for your attention, letting you do your scouting, adjust your roster, massage your contracts and comb the free agent market and email inboxes to stay abreast of the ever-shifting sea changes that are constantly shifting your priorities.

Despite the "Touch" moniker, the game is most easily navigated with a combination of button taps, which let you hop from one highlighted field to another. The interface resembles an interconnected, labyrinthine spreadsheet from hell -- or heaven, if you're obsessed with that kind of thing -- bulging with valuable information. It's up to you to filter the bombardment of information to focus on whatever changes are most pertinent at the time.

While action-minded gamers will always find "Football Manager" dry, tedious and stale, aficionados who eat these games up will be thrilled that the admittedly geeky obsession is able to come on the go with them.

Publisher provided review code.

"Rogue Aces" Review

A cartoonish, arcadey take on World War II, "Rogue Aces" is a side-scrolling dogfighting game that sends you through harried skies to strike down enemy forces and protect Allied strongholds.

Something close to a strategy-tinged bullet hell shooter, the game challenges you to evade opposing fighters with barrel roles, strafe parachuting troopers, take out fighters and bombers and swoop to the rescue of comrades on the ground.

Breezy and light, the gameplay eases a lighthearted feel into the grim realities of combat. There's also a subtle educational aspect at play, with genuine locations and battles trickling into the frenzied combat.

Once you've mastered the lower difficulty levels, you can take on increasingly stiff challenges, with the effort to climb your way up the leaderboards. Alternate modes, including Bomber Defense and Roge Ace, spice things up if you need a break from the base campaign.

A solid fit for the burgeoning Switch indie scene, "Rogue Aces" is a polished, pick-up-and-play pastime that doesn't wear away its welcome. It's thrilling to take to the unfriendly skies either at home or on the go.

Publisher provided review code.

"Rampage" Movie Review

For my written review, click here.

"Ys Origin" Review

A 2006 prequel to the to the storied "Ys" series of action JRPGs, the remake of "Ys Origins" brings the series to an Xbox platform for the first time after releasing on PS4 and PC in 2017.

A mix of throwback visuals and elegantly rendered cinematic cut scenes, the game pays homage to the franchise's past while subtly pushing the gameplay forward in concrete, "The Legend of Zelda"-style manner.

You guide the superpowered heroine through her realm-rescuing exploits, collecting a series of upgrades and enhancements via unlockable treasure chests. Combat is fluid and engaging, with beefed-up attacks granting you a sense of exhilarating power and control. The battles are juxtaposed with wordy and convoluted story sequences that tend to slow things down a bit too much.

New to the game is a speedrun mode and blood splatter control mechanic, helping to freshen things u while staying true to the original vision.

If you are a "Ys" fan who has yet to tackle the prequel -- or uninitiated with the appeal of the franchise -- you owe it to yourself to give "Ys Origin" a try.
Publisher provided review code.

"The Book of Mormon" Musical Review

Throughout their storied careers, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have never been shy about mocking the Mormon faith. Dating back to "Orgazmo" and the early days of "South Park," the duo declared their sneering contempt for the religion's scripture and cultural quirks. Always hidden just behind the mockery was a fascination that approached a gruding admiration.

"The Book of Mormon" musical could have been yet another cheap shot at Mormonism, but its jabs are tantamount to light, good-natured -- if forcefully sacrilegious -- teasing. The story, on the other hand, is an earnest tribute to the faith's growing power and influence, as well as the transformational power of its missionaries, who fearlessly venture into third-world countries and chip away at deficincies in infrastructure, education and resources.

The musical no doubt draws more curiosity about the book of which it shares the title as it does drive people away. The church plays along with the musical's capabilities as a prosthelytizing tool, taking out lighthearted ads in programs that beckon theatergoers to kindly check out the source material.

Whether crowds view the faith as an antiquated, straitlaced curiosity or a path to the kingdom of God, they'll be uniformly entertained by the wacky song and dance numbers, with lyrics bubbling with clever and foulmouthed turns of phrase. The musical is consistently entertaining and more than occasionally crack-up funny, with every touch channeled into crafting a shimmering spectacle of awkward satire.

Accompanied by the musical talent of Robert Lopez, who would go on to "Frozen" fame after creating this 2011 Tony-sweeping phenomenon, the material never misses an opportunity to use its sharp barbs as bludgeons.

The heedless flames not only torch Mormonism, but spread to engulf the people of Uganda as well. Serving as the setting for the majority of the story, the Ugandan people are dismissed as ignorant, gullible, godless and AIDS-plagued. With a piggish cultural insensitivity that borders on racism, more than a few laughs are guilty and discomforting.

Savvy stagecraft redeems the writing's missteps, but the overall feeling that Stone and Parker stretched a "South Park" episode or two's worth of material into a 2.5-hour stage production, leavened with unnecessary filler to stretch out the run time. As successful and radiant as the production is, there is creeping suspicion that the musical may pack the least amount of laughs per minute in the Stone-Parker CV.

Regardless of any shortcomings, the musical is a touchstone not to be missed.

Purchase tickets here.

"Blockers" Review

For my written review, click here.

"The Charming Empire" Switch Review

Billed as a dating sim for women, "The Charming Empire" is an eclectic, full-voice, text-heavy adventure game that plays like a walking sim without the walking aspect. The entire experience is based on dialogue, melded with painterly visuals that help bring the story into focus. You choose your responses, which can press on you heavily as you delve deeper into the text.

The D3 Publisher visual novel, which started off as a smartphone app before making its way to Steam and now Switch, flowers to fuller life on Ninteno's console/handheld hybrid. The big, bright, gorgeous screen allows the visuals to blossom, helping to draw you in to the saga.

Playing as a princess stuck under the thumb of her ambitious prince of a brother, you're forced into the dating pool, wedged into a charm school with the aim to fall into an arranged marriage that coud benefit your personal yearnings, your brother's fiefdom or the kingdom as a whole -- as well as possibly bring ruin to one or all three. The outcome depends on a combination of your choices and the fickle leanings of fate.

"The Charming Empire" is a decidedly niche entry, but tapping through it feels like experiencing the future of the console. Quiet, thoughtful experiences like this tend to draw in non-gamers, making the Switch relevant as an entertainment device beyond the typical scope of gaming.
Publisher provided review code.

"Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom" Review

Five years after acclaimed animation mavens Studio Ghibli and developer Level-5 collaborate for the gorgeous, enchanting PS3 JRPG "Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch," the developer is back with a former Ghibli animator for a sequel. "Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom" proves to be a worthy follow-up in every way to the original.

Set in the anthropomorphic mouse-ruled kingdom of Ding Dong Dell, you play as a young king who sets out to strike down usurpers and seize control of his throne.

The story unfolds in a breathtaking manner, with hand-drawn animation that replicates the look and tone of Ghibli classics such as "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro." Although somewhat hamstrung by awkward transitions from full-voice cut scenes to animations accompanied by texts and voiced grunts or single-word expressions.

Although the storytelling scenes can be a bit awkward, the combat has evolved past the stiff action-RPG hybrid of the original. In the manner of "Final Fantasy XV," combat is fluid and action-oriented, with no notes of the traditional turn-based battles typical of JRPGs.

Playing out in a linear fashion with heartfelt story beats paving the way throughout, "Revenant Kingdom" etches its way into your heart while keeping the juices flowing with invigorating, strategically-tinged combat throughout. The wait for the next "Ni No Kuni" game was longer than fans would have hoped for, but the payoff proves to be worth the anticipation.
Publisher provided review code.

"Lode Runner Legacy" Review

One of Nintendo's all-but-forgotten classics comes home in the form of "Lode Runner Legacy" for the Switch, bringing with it a haul of buried gold as it scampers across crumbling platforms and jets up ladders to glory.

The update to the 1983 NES classic retains the original design elements while subtly shading the visuals into 2.5-D.

The "Lode Runner" franchise was every bit as influential as the likes of its contemporaries -- "Pac-Man," "Donkey Kong." "Defender" and "Q*bert," and has spawned so many followers that its influence has muddle its own legacy. The multitude of imitators has caused "Lode Runner" to be lost in the shuffle.

"Legacy" could change that by returning the spotlight to the bold design choices and invigorating gameplay of the original. The clean, direct objectives and obstacles make each level an exercise in efficiency, with each level being scored on a three-star speed system in the manner of "Angry Birds" or "Cut the Rope."

In addition to the standard Adventure Mode, you can also hone your skills in the enemy-free Puzzle Mode. In all, there are more than 300 levels to chew on.

If that's not enough for you, there's the level editor, Craft Mode, which lets players put their own design visions into actions, creating characters, levels and items, all shareable online.

A lovingly crafted expansion to one of gamedom's seminal building blocks, "Lode Runner Legacy" is a refreshed retro treasure that lovers of classic games should grab and run.

Publisher provided review code.