What I've Been Playing Vol. 47

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (PS4)

A storm of action.

 

As a fan of the Naruto anime, I enjoyed the first Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm game. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 adapts the second chapter of the anime, Naruto: Shippuden, with battles and spectacles ripped-out from the show. There isn't much to say here other than it's an arena fighter where you battle enemies either solo or with two support characters. Each characters have their own fighting styles and ultimate finishers (which were super cool to pull-off). In addition to that, you can equip stat boosting items that will increase your chakra recovery or attack speed that were helpful in most fights. 

 During some fights, you'll be partaking in a bunch of QTEs that you'll need to quickly press to recover health. Completing all of them will even unlock a flashback sequence from the anime, which were nice to watch. The game's omits the hub-world of the first game as traversal is more streamlined now as you're walking through a straight line to your next objective, which was boring compared to running around the Leaf village in the first game. The game's packed with side-quests to do-- so if you're taking a break from the main story, then they're worth a look. 

 Ninja Storm 2 boasts the same cel-shaded graphics of the first game that have held up wonderfully 14 years later. The character models, backgrounds, and action-scenes all look great and were an improvement over the original. The game features both English and Japanese audio, so whatever your choice, the game will sound just as you'd expect it to be. The soundtrack was good with many decent tracks to boot. The most memorable one for me had to be the Leaf Village's theme. If you're a Naruto fan, then definitely give Ninja Storm 2 a look.

Need for Speed: Rivals (PS5)

Eternal rivals.

 I had some great memories with Need for Speed: Rivals since I got it along with my PS4 back in the day. It's the same as any Need for Speed game where you get in a super fast car and try to escape super fast cops. The twist in Rivals is that you can play as a Cop in addition to the Racer as the story focuses on both being rivals. Sadly, the story was boring and uninteresting, as you'll only need to go through it to unlock new cars. 

 Rivals has you driving around the county of Redview, which is oddly varied with lush grassy fields, cold mountains, and sunny deserts to drive through. As a Racer, you have access to "Pursuit Tech", which are gadgets you can use to disrupt other rival racers like throwing shock waves or mines to give yourself an edge. Cops also have perks like ram shockwave and spikes to counter the Racer tech.

 The challenge in Rivals comes from "SP"--the game's currency-- as after each race you'll need to race back to the hideout to redeem it. It's easier said than done as the Cop AI is relentless, constantly crashing into you and throwing you off-course to bust you.  If they do, you'll lose all of your race money, which was a cause of frustration. Speaking of that, the game won't pause should need to do something else, which is understandable during online play but outright stupid when I was playing solo.

 The game holds up well as many parts of Redview County were beautiful like the its sunny fields and cold mountains being standouts. There were some graphical glitches when you load up a race and where you're driving around that were distracting. It ran at 30fps on PS5, which I hoped would be higher. The soundtrack was good as it packed some pretty cool tracks that fit some of the races. Overall, it was nice to revisit Need for Speed: Rivals after a while and it was a good time amidst some frustrations.

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS5)

Loot till your drop

 

 Diablo III is an action-RPG from Blizzard where you choose your character and fight demons from hell and their master, Diablo. I haven't played a Diablo game before so I didn't have much excitement for the game when i first started it. Diablo III is a standard action-RPG with a huge focus on getting equipment drops by slaying enemies and exploring inside dungeons. Turns out, it was a lot of fun. Something about killing demons with flashy skills and constantly levelling up and getting cool loot made the gameplay loop engaging and far from boring. It also has a co-op mode where you can play with friends, which sounds like fun. 

 The game has a campaign mode that was alright and an extra Adventure Mode where you can fight harder waves of enemies, partake in bounties, collect better loot, and level up. The game's also loaded in replay-value as you can choose different character classes like a warrior, necromancer, mage and more to change up your gameplay style. The game's expansion titled "Reaper of Souls" was also fun with a new map to explore.

 Visually, Diablo III is decent-looking given that it released back in 2012. The game does boasts a more colorful look compared to its predecessors and the character designs were pretty cool. The voicework and soundtrack are both good with the latter packing some neat tracks that fit the grim tone of the story. All in all, Diablo III was a super fun time and it made me excited to give Diablo IV a look.