Humble Choice July 2021 Review – An average month, with average games.

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I’m Kinglink and it’s time for the Humble Choice July 2021 Review. 

Once again I’m back after playing each game for an hour, and I should be able to tell you who is going to enjoy each title, and who might want to skip them.  It’s a strange month so let’s just get to the games and talk about them. Starting with a major franchise…

Yakuza 3 Remastered.  If you’ve been a Humble Choice member for a while, you’ve probably already seen Yakuza 0, Kiwami, and Kiwami 2, which was the first trilogy of Yakuza games for the PC.  It appears that trend is continuing, with Yakuza 3 Remastered this time. 

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Life Is Strange 2 Review – A stranger tale, but not a better one

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After Life Is Strange and Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, the third game in the franchise, Life Is Strange 2 had a lot to live up to. With two major but unique titles already in the franchise, the direction the next game would take was in question as the series already explored the city of Arcadia Bay with the first two titles.

Life Is Strange 2 separates itself quickly, introducing players to two new main characters, Sean and Daniel Diaz.  The Diaz brothers have a nice life in Seattle which is upended by an event where their father and a police officer are killed and they choose to flee to the Mexican town of Puerto Lobos 

Life Is Strange 2 also takes a different approach to its story.  Where Life Is Strange and Before the Storm both took a look at the life of Max Caulfield following her through a normal progression of her day, Life Is Strange 2 becomes more episodic, not just from the content delivery but from the format of the story. 

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All About Yakuza: The Kiryu Saga – Answering all your questions at once.

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I’m Kinglink and let’s talk about the Yakuza Franchise, particularly the Kiryu games, which I lovingly call the Kiryu Saga. 

Though I’d like to explain this concept of this series quickly.  The quick backstory is after finishing both Yakuza 3 and 4 I wanted to make a video but hadn’t finished the entire series, there was a lot to talk about such as the Tojo Clan’s place in the series, or Kamurocho’s evolution, but I couldn’t talk about the entire franchise.   

I also often get questions about where to start the series on any of my Yakuza videos so I figured this might be a good topic. 

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The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit Review – A free but still incredible adventure

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The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit was a lead-in to Life is Strange 2.  It is designed to be a title that helped promote the new title in the franchise, but also is a standalone title for the majority of it, and is quite well made. 

Captain Spirit focuses on a young boy, Chris Eriksen, and his desire to be a superhero, a common dream of young kids, and a relatable one.  He imagines himself as Captain Spirit with a band of fellow superheroes who fight against a league of villains. 

Of course, this is just a fantasy, and while the trailer hints that Chris Eriksen has some kind of special powers, this doesn’t appear to be the case.  Instead, DontNod develops another interesting and unique character and shows why they are revered as great storytellers. 

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Assassin’s Creed Unity – You say you want a revolution

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Assassin’s Creed: Unity has always had the reputation of being the black sheep of the franchise, and it had big shoes to fill. Coming out after the superb Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which took the series to the high seas, and Assassin’s Creed 2, which many fans still consider the best, it may never have been possible to reach the top.

However, Assassin’s Creed Unity also was a massive undertaking. It was the first game on a new series of consoles. It added multiplayer and attempted to expand the map to a massive city, and all this while trying to return the series from the pIrate adventure of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, to the original core experience of crowded city streets.

Assassin’s Creed Unity has problems, but what struck me as I’ve finally played it in 2021 is that there are so many different and distinct parts of the experience, nothing was like what I heard anyone describe. When it came out Unity was considered unplayable, but now it seems Unity has been refined into a flawed but full experience.

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Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap Review – Reviving a classic Sega title in its best form

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Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap was originally made for the Sega Master System and ported to the Game Gear and Turbo Grafx-16.  It involved the main character, Wonder Boy, fresh from his last adventure getting cursed by a dragon’s curse and then roaming the land to try to fix that curse.  

It also was a fantastic game that rivaled entries like Metroid and allowed players to return to areas they had been in before to find new rooms with abilities earned over time.  It was essentially a predecessor to what would be known as a Metroidvania. 

And so in 2017, Wonder Boy: The Dragon Trap was released, remaking the original title, but also improving it and giving it a more interesting overhaul to mesh with modern gamers.  While the original game can still be seen in the new release, the improvements will welcome gamers who aren’t looking for a replica of what a Master system was limited to. 

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Humble Choice June 2021 Review – Civilization 6 and more.

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I’m Kinglink. It’s the first week of the month so it must be time for the Humble Choice for June 2021 Review. 

Remember I only play one hour per game to get a sampling of them all, and I’ll tell you who is going to enjoy each title, and who might want to skip it.  It’s a big month with another massive headline so let’s dive in again. 

Our first game is one whose base game has already been in a Humble Monthly, in the February 2019 Humble Monthly Bundle… 

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Yakuza 6 – So long Kiryu, thanks for the memories

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So my time with Yakuza finally ends.  After 8 games on PC, I’m caught up and ready for wherever the series will take the player in the future.  While Judgement and now Lost Judgement is hopefully coming to PC, for the moment I’ve arrived at the temporary end of the journey. 

And Yakuza 6 ends what I consider the main arc of the franchise, ending the games that star Kiryu Kazuma in one final epic tale, at least that was the hope. 

Yakuza 6 is probably not what fans expected, and unfortunately may not be what fans want, but many issues with Yakuza 6 come from this potentially being the final time players take on the role of Kiryu Kazuma in the franchise. 

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I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger-Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator Review

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I honestly don’t know what to think of KFC venturing into gaming. It seems like the weirdest pairing. Recently KFC announced a new gaming ‘console’ which can cook chicken and play games, but people forget KFC was already involved in gaming before that point.

In 2019, a game called I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger-Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator was created out of nowhere, published by none other than KFC.

To call this a strange move is an understatement. There have been collaborations between video game companies and fast-food restaurants before. Mcdonald’s has previously had MC Kids, and Global Gladiators, and Burger King had the trio of Sneak King, Big Bumpin’, and PocketBike Racers that could only be purchased from their restaurant.

Yet I Love You, Colonel Sanders is an otohime, or as it’s known in English, a dating simulation, one in which you attempt to romance Colonel Sanders, and attempt to win his heart.

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Life Is Strange: Before the Storm Review – An amazing prequel, if a bit weaker.

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Life Is Strange was a unique but well-made game that took the Telltale Games’ formula and improved on it to make an amazing experience, but its major accomplishments feel unique to the point that a return to the same game could never live up to the original.

At the same time, prequels can be extremely hard to pull off. It’s worse when the story is the key component of the game, and players already know the results of the character’s arcs. Yet Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is a prequel that tries to do just that and seems to succeed.

Life Is Strange: Before The Storm revolves around Chloe, Max’s friend from the original Life is Strange. In Life Is Strange, Chloe is a punk dropout of a prestigious academy, and much of the game revolves around Chloe and Max. In addition, there’s a missing girl known as Rachel Amber, who is unseen and unknown though Life Is Strange does explore and explain her disappearance.

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