ShonenCat

The Jungle Book (1967) While I was tinkering around with my Genesis/Mega Drive mini, I was suddenly reminded of a certain video game I used to see my older sister struggle with growing up. After all these years, I decided to boot it up to see just how difficult it really is. I ended up beating it in a single afternoon 🙃 And then I said “Oh yeah, they totally turned this game into a movie, huh?” So I watched it to celebrate my victory.

Platinum #68 - Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack Difficulty Rating 4/10 Enjoyment Rating 7/10 Rare - 15.69% For those who don’t know, Azure Striker Gunvolt is like a spiritual successor to Mega Man made up by a group of ex-Capcom employees who now work at Inti Creates. I have nothing but respect for this developer.. they always manage to stick to their guns, believe in their work and say no to censorship. Sometimes if a game they have is too lewd for Sony, Inti Creates would rather move that said game over to Xbox instead 😂 However, there is nothing about Gunvolt that would qualify as overly lewd apart from a few outfits. This series first appeared on 3DS/Switch and only recently did the first two games get released on PS4. After getting to play Gunvolt Chronicles, I eagerly awaited for the first two games to release as well. Was it everything I hoped for? Gunvolt is a series of action games where you shoot, dash and electrocute your way to victory. It’s difficulty does not lie in needing to stay alive and reach the end of a level, but rather the scoring system in order to obtain S ranks or higher. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of this style of play. Depending on the difficulty, you can have it so that taking damage does not reset your score multiplier.. but in return you won’t earn as many points. To earn as many points as you can, multi kills and fast completion time is key. I say go the easiest difficulty you can, it’s not worth the headache trying to ultimately master everything offered here. The screen is often too zoomed in and makes it hard to plan ahead and dodge attacks. Bosses are also the types who like to fill the screen with lasers making them extremely hard to avoid. The first Gunvolt hasn’t aged too well, especially the challenges system. You can only select three at a time and MUST accept them before every mission.. what a drag. Especially when it wants S+ ranks out of you. Play easy mode! Gunvolt 2 I must say has aged much better, and playing as Copen is much more fun. Challenges accept themselves now and complete without you needing to keep track of them. There isn’t exactly an easy mode, but you can still set the scoring system to where damage doesn’t reset the multiplier here. The sequel only asks you of S ranks not S+ ranks, thank God for that 🙃 You will need to do 80% of all challenges with both Gunvolt and Copen in order to open the way for the true ending. Because it’s much more polished, I enjoyed Gunvolt 2 so much more. Inti Creates should scrap the first game and remake it. In any case, Gunvolt are fun action games that are extremely niche but are good at filling the void when Mega Man is nowhere to be seen

Blue Reflection The Able Creator Created all items. Uncommon - 31.48% All Reflector Reached at a maximal Reflector level. Uncommon - 38.95% Defeated Daath Defeated Daath by Reflect Counter. Uncommon - 42.22% Brilliant Etoile Congratulations! You collected all trophies. Uncommon - 31.13%

Woooow, it’s so obvious that Sony doesn’t want this on their now oh so precious politically correct platform, they suck so bad now. I mean really, this is the strangest timeline where we are witnessing a Gal*Gun game appearing on Xbox One and not PS4. Maaaybeee Sony would of accepted it if Inti Creates agreed to censor the game. If that really was the only solution.. then good on Inti Creates for telling Sony to go jump in a tar pit. Here is the trailer for those who are still excited for the game 😁 Always support Inti Creates and fight the good fight ❤️

Pay$tation 5

There is only one franchise I’m concerned about, and that is DOOM. Recent DOOM games are good, but I wouldn’t exactly call them great. As a die hard fanboy I can admit to that. I’m thankful that we got classic DOOM ports on PS4 before it was too late. We can’t lie to ourselves, competition is good and Xbox could definitely use more exclusives (even if they will also be on PC ). Hopefully this will make Sony a little less bigheaded this upcoming generation. If you ask me, Microsoft probably won’t make the best use of Bethesda’s IPs anyway. Let’s not forget they bought Rareware over 15 years ago and they still don’t have much to show for it except Rare Replay and Killer Instinct.

Blue Reflection The Extreme MASTER of the Master of the Dark Tamed the petite dark monster in "Dark Cave". Uncommon - 36.72% Fragment Master Collected 50 Fragments. Uncommon - 39.77% School Girls' Manners Enjoyed chatting a great many times. Uncommon - 47.59% Mission Expert Succeeded in 50 Missions. Common - 50.33%

I’m excited to see this come to PS4. I’m all for Saturn rereleases since they never happen very often. I’m not too worried about the Lifeless trophy, just rubberband the controller 🙃 It will be kind of funny when the trophy guide gets here and says 100+ hours to plat 😂

Platinum #67 - Shenmue II Difficulty Rating 4/10 Enjoyment Rating 8/10 Uncommon - 41.74% In this direct sequel, Ryo Hazuki travels to Hong Kong, continuing his journey to hunt down Lan Di, lay the smackdown on him and avenge his father’s death. It is a “revenge epic” that may never end at this point. The series director Yu Suzuki claims that the first three games cover about 40% of Ryo’s story. Jesus Christ, we’re gonna be here for a whole century before we ever find out what happens. Shenmue is a pretty important franchise in terms of what would go on to spark more ambitious open world games after it, but it is still filled with rich history and is an important milestone that shouldn’t go ignored. But it’s not really a story that needs to be told through video games. I kind of wish an anime would come out and finish up the story already. Several mediums exist in order to tell the rest of the story, and since Yu Suzuki admits he doesn’t enjoy playing video games shows he is not fit to lead a modern game development team in order to tell the rest of Shenmue’s story. Otherwise you’re left with a very dated formula that cheapens the experience. I am of course referring to Shenmue III in this matter. Shenmue II is as great as the first game. It plays exactly the same, only now the open world is much larger with much more going on in it. All your moves and such transfer over from the first game if you still have the save data. It is still very much an early concept of the Yakuza series. There is a phrase I like to say every now and then, and that is “Shenmue walked so Yakuza could run.” I still very much believe that. For the time Shenmue II came out, you can instantly tell right away this sequel was super expensive to make during the time of its release. It must of been a real treat for any Dreamcast owner (or Xbox if you’re in NTSC regions). The platinum is super straight forward and you only have to go off the beaten path sometimes. This game is much larger in scale than what the trophy list would have you believe.. but hardly anyone nowadays would have the time to explore the massive world to discover every secret and line of dialogue 😶 It is a game that encourages exploration, and I can really appreciate that. The game has two large city hubs to explore and one final area that is pretty linear but obviously loaded with high production costs 😮 I was seriously blown away when I reached the game’s conclusion and I think anyone else would be too. In a way, I liked the sequel more than the first game. The scale of everything is much larger, and it seems much more mysterious and cryptic on what you can find and discover in its open world. I only wish I could of spent more time with this one, but the controls and camera do make it hard to get around if you’re planning on exploring, making it a much bigger time sink than it has to be 😖 Will I ever play Shenmue III? I’m not sure. Cause I’m already aware of how lackluster it is and how little it advances the overall story. There is also the Kickbacker and Epic Games Store drama that surrounded the game during its release. But maybe I will check it out once I see it for $10 🙃

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack ...Let's Go, Lola. Finished Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 and got the True Ending as Copen. Uncommon - 29.44% Are You an Angel? Finished Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 and got the True Ending as Gunvolt. Uncommon - 29.84% I'm Happy Like This Saw the hidden epilogue in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. Rare - 16.53% This is My Stage! Listened to all of the songs in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. Rare - 16.53% A Bolt Out of the Blue Acquired all trophies. Rare - 15.73% #9 in fastest achievers!

I thought it was a pretty decent showcase all things considered. Sony brought big names to the table like Final Fantasy, Spider-Man, Resident Evil, Call of Duty, Harry Potter, the fan favorite Demon’s Souls and even teased an upcoming God of War. Big names to capture a large selection of gamers. I kind of expected the disc drive version of the console to be $500 for a while now, so it’s nothing too surprising. The hype is big right now and there probably won’t be plenty of units at launch. I’m better off waiting for a while. I still have a lot of PS4 and PS3 titles to tie me over until I think about picking up a PS5. Hoping an all black console comes out, I think it would look more aesthetically pleasing to me. Considering how much I loved RE7, there is no way I’ll live thru this lifetime and not play RE8. I like how FF16 has a medieval setting, almost like it’s a fantasy game and not sci-fi I’ll be keeping a close eye on that one. Demon’s Souls looks super epic but I’m not sure if I’m skilled enough to tackle it. Wish there was some more information on Gran Turismo 7, but at least I know it’s on the way. Wish they’d set their sights on more backwards compatibility too. Oh well, I still liked what I saw 😁

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack My Songs Will Be Your Wings Finished Azure Striker Gunvolt and got the True Ending. Uncommon - 34.45% The Muse's Voice Listened to all of the songs in Azure Striker Gunvolt. Uncommon - 21.43% Oversurge! Azure Striker! Learned all of the skills in Azure Striker Gunvolt. Uncommon - 20.59% Seeker in Blue Completed all of the Challenges in Azure Striker Gunvolt. Rare - 16.39% Surmount the Insurmountable Cleared every Special Mission with a rank of S+ in Azure Striker Gunvolt. Rare - 16.39%

Platinum #66 - Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 Difficulty Rating 5/10 (Veteran) Enjoyment Rating 8/10 Uncommon - 32.96% Sad to say, the Castlevania brand hasn’t been doing too hot lately. Luckily for us, IGA ditched Konami and went on to start his own spritual successor. Bloodstained is Castlevania just without the name. Curse of the Moon 2 follows a familar formula just like its predessor which is compared only to Castlevania III. They’re both 8-bit style action games with multiple playable characters each with their own unique abilities. The first Curse of the Moon did not have a platinum, so it was a nice surprise to see its sequel get one. Must be why the overall completion percentage is higher for this game This is certainly not an easy game. It can be, but only if you’re willing to make it so. There are two styles of play. Casual and Veteran. By default, Veteran is the original difficulty that the developers would expect you to play for it recreates that NES inspired challenge found in older Castlevania games. Most people seem to flock to Casual though, turning the game into a cakewalk. On Casual, damage is halved, unlimited lives, no knockback, countless health pick ups and double sub-weapon points. Yes, just about anyone can beat it like that.. but it takes a true Castlevania nut to stick to Veteran merely for the sake of bragging rights 😙 It doesn’t matter which style you choose to play, for the platinum is achievable either way. Just beat all the episodes, sometimes under certain conditions. Pretty simple for the most part. For an 8-bit style game, the music and presentation are on an epic scale that I would say puts some modern games to shame. I find myself listening to music quite often to this very day. You’ll also find the bosses are quite massive and extremely frustrating 😅 This game is a lot harder than the first Curse of the Moon. That is if you’re sticking to Veteran of course. Overcoming this game’s challenges the way they were intended to be provides the ultimate dopamine rush. Not all will flock to this game at a price point of $15, but maybe the inclusion of a platinum trophy will change that If you’re itching for some Castlevania, IGA has you covered with the Bloodstained franchise.