Giving up the ghost: a correction

So remember how i said i was gonna have a Ghostbusters or ghost-related review out by the end of April? Yep, that ain’t gonna happen since my PS2 is malfunctioning (not much of a clue, but this isn’t a quiz), so that review will have to wait, and instead i’m gonna write my “pipin’ hot” first impressions of Yuru Camp/Laid Back Camp Season 3.

Sorry for not delivering.

One Piece Pirate Warriors 4: Additional Episode 3- Path To The King Of Pirates PS4 [DLC REVIEW]

So here we are, the actual final piece of PW 4 DLC content that isn’t playable characters.

(i’m taking the educated guess of not expecting more content in any shape since there’s a digital Ultimate Edition package of all PW4 content on sale, and given TK’s track record, when they use/release the “Ultimate” edition of something means they’re done with a game)

(FIY, this isn’t the last time i will cover Pirate Warriors 4, i have a final impression/re-review/addendum in the works but i’m waiting to see if they plan to keep doing more Character Passes at a later date or not, i doubt so – see the above paragraph as to why – but then again Xenoverse 2 is still getting a lot of DLC content in a somewhat regular fashion, with no signs of stopping)

The final piece of the Special Log mode offers – alongside the final Soul Map that adds the advertised & expected batch of new skills to unlock and stats upgrades – what’s basically a post-game gauntlet of challenges.

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One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 – DLC Pack 6 PS4 [REVIEW]

So yeah, this is the final DLC characters batch for Pirate Warriors 4.

Almost can’t believe it.

“Almost” because people datamined the game and basically were able to learn beforehand with great accuracy what the new DLC characters would be, which is especially true for the final pack, Legends’ Dawn, one that indeed is dedicated to the old guard of One Piece big cheeses characters, with Gol D. Roger, his second-in-command Rayleigh and “younger Garp”.

In a way, Roger does feel weird to have a playable character this soon, i would have reserved him as a post-game unlock for Pirate Warriors 5, as in we barely even know bits of his moves and fighting style, but he has been a fan favourite and it will be at least 5 more years (if more, given PW 4 released in 2020) until we see the next PW installment, so yeah it kinda makes some sense.

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Early April Hiatus + Musou May Swapparoni

As mentioned at the start of this year’s Giant Monster March, i’m gonna take a break of two week starting from early April for educational reasons (uni and related stuff), and will resume on the 15th of April with my reviews of the last (and i assume final) batch of DLC contents for Pirate Warriors 4 and maybe a Ghostbusters related thingie.

As usual, during the break EXPRESSO reviews might still come about, and to a certain extent will.

ALSO, might as well put out that there won’t be Musou May this year, for schedule and reality reasons, but there will be Melee May instead, as look as various beat ‘em ups/hack n slash games that aren’t musou or musou-like, for a change.

Godzilla GB [REVIEW] | Chibizilla Made A Maze

the lesser known but far funnier PAL cover of the game.

Yep, the one you might remember as part of the AVGN Godzilla episode, with the Godzilla chibi sprites, Puzzle Bubble-esque music, we’re doing this Godzilla game this Giant Monster March, because why not after downing shitty licensed affair such as – but not limited to – the PS3-PS4 Godzilla game?

Curiously, this isn’t an entirely random game, per sé, as this Game Boy title is actually a port of the MSX title Godzilla-kun by Compile (yes, the same company that would become Compile Heart and crank out Neptunia titles by the dozens), done by Compile themselves, and the game in turn was based on Godzilland’s merchandise line that had chibi versions of Big G and the various kaijus.

The only differences between the original japanese GB release and the localized American & European ones is the rescue target, as in the original japanese version various monsters kidnap Godzilla’s girlfriend, Bijira (which was apparently a thing), and the western one they kidnapped his son, Minilla, and trapped him in a maze.

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Rise Of Kong: Skull Island PS4 [REVIEW] | Unfinished Ape Works

It says something when, with 2023 almost finished and with the Daedelic Games developed Gollum game set to win pretty much all “Worst Games Of Year” lists, GameMill reminded the populace that they could be the bigger fiend, and live up to their name….not that it would take them much to achieve that since they pumped out a lot of Nickelodeon licensed titles, including 3 kart racers in the span of 4 years.

And of course, Big Rigs, as they did release the legendary western kusoge of “racing” decades earlier under their previous handle, Gamemill Publishing.

(Strap in, this is gonna be a LONG one, fellas)

This one is surprising in many ways, not because it pretty much signified the return of the licensed tie-in showelware tier garbage (they also released a Walking Dead game some months after, and it was about as good as you’d expect), giving us a whiff of how these games still used to exist in droves up until the late 2000s, but because the license itself sound a little too good for this type of publisher, i mean, the Monsterverse movies revived Kong to have him fight Godzilla.

So, how the fuck did GameMill got hold of the license for King Kong?

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[EXPRESSO] Godzilla Battle Line iOS | Army Mon’

So, you may or may not remember i tried to review this one alongside the other two mobile smartphone free-to-play Godzilla games Toho put out in 2021, the now (thankfully, as it was ugly and very, very shite) defunct Godzilla Destruction and the weird Uma Musume-ish training sim Run Godzilla.

Problem is that Battle Line didn’t work on my smarthphone, try as i might it would just crash after it booted, every single time. Almost 3 years later, with the prospect of the new Monsterverse film that will have Godzilla and Kong “collab” (and 2024 marking Godzilla’s 70th anniversary), i went to see if it was still available to download… and yes, for some fuckin reason now it works, despite my smarthphone being fairly outdated, better late than never.

Godzilla Battle Line is actually a decent little RTS-thingie where you battle other human players by placing down what are basically toy-sized monsters, vehicles and weapons from the Godzilla franchise, all to overwhelm the other leader monster on the opposite side of the battle grid while defending yours.

Despite the cheapish production values, i do like the “playing with Godzilla toys on a diorama” aesthetic, there is some depth to it, over time it has had many updates (the latest adding Godzilla Minus One content), and despite the focus on versus matches, there’s also a single player mission-based mode.

Sure, its a gacha with a “battle pass”, some obnoxious in-game ads, i’ve heard cheaters are a thing…. hard to tell because right now the game it’s nearly unplayable, is THAT unstable, prone to crashes and costant disconnections at any time.

When it works, it’s actually a fun lil’ game, the free to play elements aren’t the worst, so if you’re into Godzilla it’s worth a punt at the very least.

Giant Monster March is approaching the generators + Early April hiatus

It’s that time of year again where we let the MONSTERS FIGHT, even more as we have a new entry in Legendary’s Monsterverse with the collab episode of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire hitting theathers internationally by the end of this month.

Also, i will be taking a break in April from the 1st up to the 14th of the month due to uni obligations and scholarly stuff, will be back from the 15th of April, though EXPRESSO review might still come out regardless.

Wario Ware: Move It! NSWITCH [REVIEW] | Even Smoother Moves

To my delight, Nintendo decided to make more Wario Ware games after the welcome but kinda disappointing Wario Ware: Get It Together, and i gonna indulge myself, so the new installment, Wario Ware: Move It!, released very early last November, and it’s getting a full review as well, even if far, far later i originally planned, you can’t stop the garlic fueled madness after all.

So let’s WAH!

At least if you have either a normal Switch or its OLED revision, because Nintendo has decided this one you’re gonna play with the joycon detatched from the Switch, or you’re not gonna play at all.

So yeah, don’t bother with this one if you have a Switch Lite, you won’t be able to play this one at all, it straight up ain’t compatible…. except it is, kinda, you’ll have to buy or own extra Joy-Cons and use the screen of the console in “table mode”, which also means the multiplayer modes are completely off as they require the console to go into TV mode, which the Switch Lite can’t do.

And i don’t see them patching some kind of buttons and analogic control scheme later, because this is basically a follow up to the Wii iteration of the series, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, as it built and depends upon motion controls, heck, it even forces to put the switch straps on the Joy-Cons as some minigames actually have you deliberately drop, place them on a surface or have them hanging around your wrist…. so yeah, this will rightfully enrage a lot of people.

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Vlad Love (2021) [REVIEW] | Oshii No Ko

You know an anime it’s gonna be special when Mamoru Oshii is directing and his own sales pitch fo r it is “you’ll see what an old man who doesn’t give any fucks can do” XD

Even more when he partners up with FLCL’s creator, for his first TV anime since his early days on working on Urutsei Yatsura and directing the series’ two feature films, meant to come out in 2020, but the project had some delays, and was eventually released during February of 2021 on Crunchyroll… well, half of it was released at once, in order to make a “broken heart” joke.

Actually, it’s more absurd i didn’t actually manage to review it at launch, but now the occasion-climate seem appropriate again, so let’s remedy to this and try to squeeze some “synergy juice” (or what’s left of it, since i was sick and had to delay this review).

I mean, he was clearly willing to get crazy and embrace its legacy in the most absurd – and memey – ways, like deciding to open the episodes with a mock version of the MGM logo sequence, of course replacing the lion with his beloved bassethound. XD He knows, but doesn’t care, love it.

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