Phil Villarreal's Blog, page 59

"BlazBlue: Central Fiction" Review

In a year that's lacked fighting game releases -- or many big-name releases at all -- it's just the right time for a "BlazBlue: Central Fiction" reissue.

The stylish fighter, originally released in 2016, was rereleased in late April to support a GlobalGiving charity tournament.

Choosing from among 33 anime and fantasy-inspired fighters, you step into the 2D arena to face off against opponents in best-of-three-round battles.

Backgrounds are as impressive and pulsing with life as its characters, adding depth to the characterizations, backstories and stakes at play. The booming announcer voice grants the showdowns some cinematic depth.

Fast-paced play, well-balanced characters and inventive attacks make the game stand out from the pack. The willingness to take bold chances and embrace quirks gives the game a sense of boundary-breaking exuberance.

Four years after initial release, "BlazBlue: Central Fiction" continues to carve out its niche in the corner of arena battlers. With a flashy personality all its own, it continues to let its freak flag fly high.

Publisher provided review code.

PHIL ON FILM: 5 Shows to Binge in May 2020

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"Sega Ages: G-LOC Air Battle" Review

One of the best aspects about the "Sega Ages" series is the way it not only sheds a new spotlight on the established classics, but also occasionally veers into more obscure realms. The publisher acts as a careful creator, introducing new audiences to some of the building blocks on which gaming was constructed.

"G-LOC Air Battle" is yet another welcome resurrection that follows the trend, delivering a pixel-perfect yet subtly enhanced version of a game even the hardcore may not have ever heard of and almost certainly haven't played.

Released in 1990, the dogfighting sim paved the way for the likes of "Ace Combat" that would later follow. As you weave your way through bogeys in pursuit of bogeys, you feel a steady sense of speed and power.

The controls may be a bit janky, but that lends to the authenticity and sense of danger. You feel as though you're at the helm of a rickety aircraft that prizes speed and stealth attack ability over sensibility and safety, and the threat that you will plow into a rock wall or enemy combatant at any point is threateningly present.

While there are more than a few rough edges, and the difficulty level is trying even on the easiest setting, there is plenty to appreciate in the finer and subtler points that the game has to offer. It may not soar quite as high as it did 30 years ago, but does a heck of an effective job as a time machine.

Publisher provided review code.

Book Report: "Remembrance of Things Past"

Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Marcel Proust is not the most accessible of the great writers, but he makes up for his distant aloofness with a raw, relatable passion that seeps through his obtuse prose.

"Remembrance of Things Past" is known as one of his most personal projects, delving into themes such as memory, character formation and love gained and lost. Above all hangs a shroud of punishing and festering regret.

It's rarely easy or intuitive to navigate through the gauntlet of psychological barriers that he conjures, but rewards await if you keep your head down and keep things moving. There are moments of deep thought and compelling beauty. There are also times that you need to just stop in order to ruminate, or simply survive to proceed another day.

In the Audible version, narrator John Rowe spins the tale with the appropriate whimsy and aching sense of nostalgia.

Reading often with the intimacy of a hidden diary, "Remembrance of Things Past" is a hard look at a hard life. It's worth your time, but it exacts its price on you.

Publisher provided review access.

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PHIL ON FILM: Shows Leaving Netflix in May 2020

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PHIL ON FILM: "The Scheme"

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"HyperParasite" Review

"HyperParasite" lives up to the "hyper" portion of its name.

The twin-stick, top-down shooter has you rampage between rooms, possessing passers-by and assuming their abilities to take down enemies, open passageways and maneuver through foreboding terrain.

As a bitter alien life form who seeks to upend humanity, you work your way from street lowlifes, all the way up to the upper echelons of government hierarchy.

The endgame is nothing short of sparking the apocalypse.

"HyperParasite" makes being evil and destructive feel oh-so-good.

Developer Troglobytes Games delivers an energetic, lightning-paced romp that never lets up on its momentum.

There's often so much going on in each single-screen zone that it's tough to keep tabs on what's happening, but the chaotic feel only adds to the pulsing energy of the affair.

While many of the challenges presented by "HyperParasite" can be dispatched with the same formula, there's enough fun and inventiveness in the routine to keep it feeling fresh more often than not. "HyperParasite" counts on its appeal thriving as things get out of control.

Publisher provided review code.

"Gigantosaurus" Review

Switching from among four colorful prehistoric lizards, you scamper through linear levels in "Gigantosaurus" in pursuit of a slew of flashy trinkets. The gameplay is as basic as you can get, but the fundamentals are solid, if unspectacular.

Based on the animated Disney Junior series and Johnny Duddle book, "Gigantosaurus" follows the "Crash Bandicoot" and "Banjo-Kazooie" template for sprinting, collecting and bashing action that never lets up.

The downside is that there's little challenge to the affair. The dev team at Cyber Group Studios understandably prizes accessibility above all else, playing to the show's base while minimizing overtures to parents and older siblings who find themselves pulled along for the ride.

As many as four players can join in the mayhem, taking control of one of the bumbling, stumbling protagonists. There are mild educational themes at play, encouraging qualities such as bravery, inquisitiveness and honor. The endgame is to solve the mystery of the colossal Gigantosaurus, but the joy comes from the ebb and flow of the journey.

Parents may find that "Gigantosaurus" comes at just the right time. Working equally well as a skill-builder and time-killer, the title is a suitable way to blow off some steam and break up the quarantine-spawned malaise. Playing the game beats watching episodes of the show over and over again.

inquisitive Mazu, playful Tiny, timid Bill, and courageous Rocky 

Publisher provided review code.

PHIL ON FILM: 5 Shows to Binge in April 2020

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Book Report: "A Passage to India"

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

No single book did more to spark the tide that would turn into Indian independence than "A Passage to India." Its importance as an incisive critique of British imperialism and systematic racism can't be dismissed.

That still doesn't make E.M. Forster's book an easy read.

Choppy and dull while spiced up by occasional dollops of intrigue, the story is a largely shapeless and aimless meandering that stumbles along its stilted path of a morality play that serves as an excuse for a plot.

The best way to appreciate the book is anecdotally, cherishing E.M. Swift's poetic ways of painting scenes of a far off time and land, as well as the characters' distinct tones and cultural backgrounds. If only the book succeeded as much as a captivating tale as it did an anthropological case study.

In the Audible version, Sam Dastor gives a heroic effort to inject some life into the book's many slow moments, but there's only so much a narrator can do to make something so dry palatable.

I'm glad I plowed through "A Passage to India." It made me feel more worldly and expanded my appreciation of the way things were on the other side of the world a century ago. But this is a case in which the destination is more valuable than the journey.

Publisher provided review copy.

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