Genre: 3rd person action/Mega Man-style level select and power acquisition
Platform: PS3 (download only)
Price: $10
Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID15Hw7lau4
This launched on PSN in America yesterday, after being available in Japan for a year and a half. It's been on EU PSN since February, in a rare but increasingly more common case of Europe not getting the short end of the stick.
I've played through 4 of the 6 or so levels so far, and it's a lot of fun. The combat is great, and it only gets better as you defeat the bosses and get more abilities. The levels are all huge arenas, with the boss present at the outset. You can try to tackle the boss immediately, and skilled players probably can defeat the boss right away, but a bit of strategy can make the boss battles easier.
Defeating smaller enemies builds up Aura. You can use Aura to power up individual attacks by holding L1 while attacking. Defeating small enemies with a powered-up attack makes them detonate. Any enemies caught in the magical explosion will immediately die, creating a chain. Chains will increase Aura gain much quicker than normal kills.
You can power up even further by holding L1 and X to perform Aura Release, which is visually and functionally very similar to going Super Sayian in DBZ. When in Aura Release mode, your Aura drains, but base attack and defense is greatly enhanced. Aura Release is great for taking out tough enemies and bosses.
Each boss gives you a few new abilities, which will help you defeat the other bosses, just like Mega Man. You can go back to levels you have already defeated with your new abilities to try and get better rankings.
Each stage is timed to 30 minutes, and you will be ranked on time, heals, kills, and chains. Rankings seem to only count toward a leaderboard or for Trophies.
I highly recommend playing Malicious. Unfortunately, there is no demo, so maybe take my word for it?
Posts
Dang. This looks interesting, but I feel like its a game I wouldn't be very good at... Perhaps you can give me directions to your place (and pay for transportation) so I can try the game out before I buy? I would prefer first-class, as well as a limo to pick me up at the airport.*
Is "Bayonetta meets Mega Man" a fair comparison?
*If you live in Florida, I will only require a limo.
The music is surprisingly good, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e60X8nw_eGo&feature=share&list=PL8FC1A1B62A50BBE7
It doesn't have the combo system of Bayonetta, but the transforming scarf/cape is definitely reminiscent.
And if I lived in Florida, I'd definitely invite you over to try it. I'm trying to not make this creepy, and I'm only making it worse...
edit: And why am I suddenly using smileys in every post?
Oh I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean if Renzo can play it, anyone ca...
Just kidding buddy.
I'll pick it up tonight for sure. I never even knew about this game so I'm stoked. Especially with the lackluster releases this summer, it's nice to look forward to something.
Pfft, ha!
I think I'm going to go for it! Being an awesome PS+ guy I get the game at a discount anyways :^: and the trailer does look cool.
Hah, well...yes there is a fair bit of truth there.
It's not easy. But it has a really nice and responsive block/dodge function, which I always like.
Persistence pays off, but usually with a D ranking. I accidentally got an S ranking on one of the stages, so I know it's possible to kick some ass.
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
Magic Online - Bertro
Good price too.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Get used to the lock-on function. How to lock onto the boss, manually lock on, cancel lock-on, etc. It helps a lot.
Also, each time you beat a boss, the other stages get more difficult. YEAH. The game gets TOUGH.
I can't remember the names of any of the locations, so please bear with me.
The stony arena that features the giant suit of armor that tries to punch you: I ran around and combo'd until I had 5 or 6k Aura, then I Aura Released up to level 3 and just wailed on the boss. I air dodged when he attacked, and just threw whatever punches I could at him. That's the level I accidentally S-ranked on my first try.
The Forgotten Battlefield (It think, it's the grassy one with the lake in the middle): The boss is vulnerable on his head, and you kind of have to climb him to get to his weak point. That was another case of "combo until you have 5+k, Aura Release, punch". There wasn't a whole lot to the strategy on that one.
The tower with the chained-up wolf, I don't know. I never devised a strategy for that. I traded hits during the whole fight. It was sloppy.
As for the airship, I was pretty sloppy there too. Remember you can run on walls normally, just by walking into them. Supposedly the cannons I saw in my playthrough wouldn't have been there if I had gone there earlier, due to a lower difficulty. But I guess you already got the wings, so no help needed here.
And the Queen, or whatever her name is. I had to watch a video in order to get used to her attacks. She kicked my ass so badly the first few times I tried it, I didn't think it was possible to beat her. Just know that you can block everything but her grab. Watch her animations and strike when she is vulnerable. Just like Monster Hunter, if you've played that. I think I remembered you posting in the MH thread.
I still haven't beaten the end boss, so I can't give you any info there.
This is not going very well for me, one could imagine.