Sony will no longer producing physical disc (My Gaming Rant)

 

What the hell is happening guys? Sony has offically confirmed that they decided to cease the physical media support for their gaming systems and fully focused on all digital platforms in the year of 2028, so what a horrible decision that Sony had ever made is likely to destroy their gaming career.

Their announcement of "ending the production of physical games in 2028" had recieved a massive backlash from many online users aren't really happy with the Sony's poorly decision to stop producing the physical disc is the reason why having enter to all-on digital release only are largely going to negatively impact on the future of gaming meaning that you will no longer obtaining the physical copy of future upcoming games and being forced to purchase it digitally from PS Store in 2028.

Rembember back in the days when you had the systems like the PS1 and PS2 console in a good old mid-90s and early-2000s era of gaming, the physical media is a primary thing for the video game systems that are relying on discs in order to run software titles...all you have to do is to take out the disc from the game case and place it onto the system and then power it on to boot up the game is quite simple without any additional installation like the modern gaming system do in later years. 

Those were awesome back then because it's simply plug and play video game system that does not need a complicated guides and stuff.

Then pushing forward from mid-2000s to early-2010s, we had system like the PS3 and PS4 console that are so advanced and powerful with the technology like high-defination quality graphics, hard-drive spaces for additional storage, online gaming for matchmaking, plays Blu-ray movies, region free support for most of their games, and of course introducing digital gaming where you can purchase the digital games individually or get it free on PS Plus subscription through PS Store, so these are just an optional choice for consumers which they mostly prefers getting the physical games from the gaming retail store like GAME and CeX or online store like Amazon and Ebay.   

Then going forward to the 2020s, we had the PS5 consoles which is the recent gaming system that pushes a new technology like the ray-tracing support for visual and performance, adaptive triggers for PS5 controller, has ability to play most of PS4 games and Ultra HD Blu-ray films, internal SSDs for faster loading times and external M.2 SSDs for additional storage, and of course you not gonna believe it...this is a Sony's last physical media console which unfortunately it's likely to be end in 2028 meaning no more physical disc for upcoming PS5 games and it is confirmed that the future unannounced next-gen PS6 will be likely to be going full-on all-digital without disc-drive add-ons. 

Let's talk about why the physical media are so important in gaming and what makes the physical games as our prefered choice for gaming collection?

Physical games are easier to trade and share

Many of discs and carts are fully complete in box which we all know that these are being manufactured through the factory to produce it and then its been transfered to the gaming retail store where they can able to sort and place the physical copies on the store shelves for the display, so that the customer can able to interact the gaming retail store that has a full of video games software. 

They go inside the shop, then browsing through the libary of games to choose, and then lastly pick-up and buy the copy for your gaming platform, but the gaming retail store are also provides an trading options in which you can also sell or exchange your second hand copy which is a reasonable choice so that you can able to either save and keep money or exchange it for the other titles.  

There are some of the other places like rental store where it had full collection of films, TV shows, and video games, so instead of buying it you just simply pick and choose stuff that you want to borrow it for the few days and then after the few days you can head back at the rental store to return back the item before the date hits the deadline, so this is the cheapest way of borrowing stuff for less than £5 which is quite acceptable for those who wanted to use it for try outs or just do it for one time. 

You can also ask your friends or family members to borrow the games that you wanted to play, so that they can lend you a physical copy of the game for borrowing or keeping it.

This makes physical gaming a lot easier to trade and share things makes it an accessible to many of customers or owners can to pick-up and play it on their system without any restriction whatsoever.          

The digital gaming on other hand is the total opposite which is heavily restricted with the DRM-system which prevents many of customer from sharing their games from primary to other console meaning that your digital games are locked behind your primary user account which can only worked on the primary console, so that's sounds absoulte a joke that you can't able to share and download games to your friend's console in which your friend will have to rely on your user account in order to play your digital games on their console, but the problem is that you have to deactivate your primary user account off from your primary console which you don't want to do it otherwise all your digital games on your console will get locked out and becoming unplayable without your primary user account. 

The worst part of it is that once you have deactivated your user account from your console you can't able to re-register your user account back to your console where it was originally before, so you had to wait longer for 6 months till its ready to re-register your user account back again which sounded like a total pain the ass.    

I think sharing games digitally on consoles did not work at all which I can blame it on Sony's horrible DRM-system practice.

Oh...one thing I totally forgot to mention is that digital gaming doesn't have an proper trading option like the physical medias do, so instead once you have purchased the digital game in day 1 you will only have a 30 days of making decision to sell the game digitally by going into the Sony's customer support services to contact them and then asked them that you want to sell your digital game that you've previously bought, so they can able to proceed it to you for full refunds.      

This is not straight-forward because when you had these digital games after long 30 days then you just can't get a refund from Sony's customer support services, and it's pathetic that the PS Store doesn't have an trading options menu meaning that you just can't sell or exchange your digital games at all, which is why many of consumers find the physical media is much more flexable and easier to trade their physical games which is why everyone goes to many retail and local shops outside or they sell stuff at online retail store which makes the physical media a huge win for gaming. 

Physical games has the complete in box

The cool thing about owning the physical games is that you will have a colorful art-cover inlays, the instruction booklet, and of course the game disc or cart on a standard game case, where as you will also have an option to choose the special limited edition boxset which packs with not only just the physical game but also includes extra goodies like keychains, stickers, posters, artbook, and CDs soundtrack.

These physical games and collector's boxset are looking quite awesome when being stored on the shelving unit as the display are perfectly well suited for the gaming rooms. 

This hugely benefits most of the video games collector are very passionate with collecting stuff that they really love as the part of their favourite hobby, as much as many of movie & TV fans loves to collect their favourite films and TV series for DVDs and Blu-Rays as an example.   

The digital games does not have the kinds of things besides the DLCs are the only thing that adds the content of the game which is fine, but you don't get really cool stuff like the physical games are full of booklet, posters, stickers, and reversable art-covers in complete boxed copy, which proves that the physical media is always a huge win for console gaming was widely known for its boxed gaming collection.   

Physical games is the best for video games preservation

The benefits of physical media is that their data of games are normally stored on the disc meaning that the games is permenently stays on the disc will last forever is the best way of preserving the gaming archives is the reason why the physical media keeps the gaming industry alive and the best thing of owning the physical copy is that once you've picked up the copy of the game physically from the shops you actually own the game that you are happy to have a right to keep it on your collection and your games on the disc is not going away from your ownership, so take it and keep it forever guys...no fuss. 

 

As opposed to digital format which unfortunately it didn't last long is because of the digital games are likely to get wiped out, if your console's internal hard drive or SSDs as well as the external HDDs or M.2 SSDs gets corrupted easily meaning that you have to do re-downloading all over again to get it back, but nope what's even worst is that once the company has shutting down their Playstation Network servers in the future then there's no way of getting the digital games back.

The truth is that you don't actually own the digital copy of the game as an owner, so instead you just actually had their license key that requires to play the full digital game that you previously bought meaning that your digital game needs a one-time check ins through online connectivity to authenticate your local license by having to re-sync with your user account on the PSN servers, but worst part is that if your user account gets permenently banned forever then all your digital games that you previously bought gets locked out completely.

Those practices are badly designed which adds up vulnerability on these libaries of digital games are likely to get bricked if your user account on your primary console are completely dissapeared meaning that the license key for digital games gets fully revoked and leaving it instantly unplayable.  

What about most of the movie or comic book licensed games that are likely to be removed from the digital store and never be available to purchase at all which makes it difficult for players to find games digitally, so this is why the physical media is the best way of preserving games libary that you're not going to lose these licensed titles that can be replayed again (via game disc).  

My thoughts on Sony's ending physical gaming

After I read the gaming articles of Sony had confirmed to cease the production of physical media for their gaming system in 2028, so I'm completely gobsmacked by Sony's horrible decision that likely to affect future gaming meaning that the end of the physical media has part of disadvantages that you need to keep in the mind.

For example: 

The stuff such as the detatchable disc-drive for PS5 consoles are likely to limit the availabilty on online store causing the item shortages if Sony are no longer to produce the physical disc which seems to be a bad news for those who owns the digital edition of PS5 console are planning to buy a detatchable disc-drive unit or someone who has the disc edition of PS5 console has their disc-drive unit stopped functioning are planning to get a detatchable disc-drive unit as an replacement, you guys aren't able to get these if its ran out of the stock or the price gets really expensive on the online store makes it impossible to find it in-stock and buy it cheaper.

It is going to affect on big AAA game's sales if the physical media aren't around anymore meaning that the future game titles are unlikely to get sold well at the launch relase if the players aren't willing to buy the game digitally, and also the digital games are much expensive to purchase in which you had to wait for longer till the price goes down slowly, where as the physical copy do get a cheaper quickly in 6 months after the release in which you can get it cheap from online store like Amazon and Ebay has the reasonable price during the season sales or discounts offer that makes it easier to purchase for the customers.

     

Most players are unlikely being interested to get a future unannounced next-gen PS6 if its goes fully digital gaming only that would negatively affect the launch hardware sales in 2028.

Sony could lose many of the PS Plus subscription's players count for their gaming machines could end up made PS Plus less popular meaning they stopped playing games online and they are no longer download and play the latest free titles from PS Plus subscription.   

This is a huge slap to the gaming consumers who are a huge video games collector for decades are hoping to look forward for the future upcoming games of 2028 if Sony wouldn't had to shut down the physical media for gaming, so unfortunately this is offically confirmed on PS Blog website at July 1st 2026 stated that the company are no longer produce the physical disc for Playstation consoles in 2028 and the result of the news had sparked overwhelmingly negative from the player users aren't really happy with the company decision.

I'm pretty upset to hear this is because physical media is my prefered choices of collecting video games titles adding to my shelves in my gaming room and its really sad to see physical media are going away in the next 2 years.

The worst thing that Sony had ever said on their news is they making claim that the sales of the physical media for PS5 has been sold less compared to digital sales which I think it's a huge lie by the company, so they don't have the clear evidence of the sale figures which they are hiding it from the public eye is just to make many consumers forced to buy the digital games. 

If you take a look on the twitter or reddit messages, there are a users who are really good at providing the leak information on the documents that has the list of sales numbers of software games for both physical and digital which tells you exactly what Sony is been hiding from and proves that the company is nothing but a lie that doesn't explain the actual sales figure. 

  

Sony's bad decision is a major sign of the end of the era for gaming will no longer be the same.

  

 

    

Conclusion

To conclude the whole thing, the initial reaction of Sony's ending support on physical media and goes all full-on digital in 2028 had negatively impacted on the future of gaming which could resulted the abysmal hardware sales is not only just the cost of the systems are rediculously expensive, but also going to lose all the player users are likely to giving up on Playstation gaming meaning they are no longer be interested in getting the recent PS5 console and the future unannounced next-gen PS6 if its goes on fully digital in 2028.     

We will never going to see the future game titles being listed on online stores like Amazon and Ebay, and there will not be on the store shelves at the second hand store like CeX, Cash Generator, and Cash Converters.

It's really depressing to hear that the physical media in gaming are no longer in the production meaning that the gaming are not going to be the same without it as used to be.   

I had many of great titles being shelved on my storage cupboard and I can able to browse through the libaries of games that I like to pick up and play it on my systems like the PS2, PS3, PS4 and PS5, so thats what made me keep playing the video games over the years. 

I just can't believe the company like Sony had done f***ed it up to screw over the gaming fans who are not completely happy to hear and they demanding the company to bring back the physical media where it's supposed to be in order to continue their gaming.

Physical media is what keeps the gaming industry alive and active that benefits many games collectors who can buys stuff and play games to enjoy their time, the store that can sell or trade stuff is what makes the amount of money in order to continue the business, and of course having the successful software sales unit is the only way to support the game developers that worked so hard on creating the best games as possible to impress many players who can able to buy and enjoy video games is what made the gaming team keeps continuing their career. 

So without it, the digital gaming is not going to save Sony and their future console if the sales went plummeting down faster will be the Sony's downfall in 2028, so that will be the fault of Sony for killing Playstation brand.    

Sony, it is time to stop giving up on physical media is because we all know that you're not gonna last very long, you're not going to win console wars against your rivals in next 2 years, you're going to lose all customers and player base are likely to cancel their subscription, you're going to lose your trust from the gaming community feel very betrayed from your stupid decision, and of course you're going to destroy your gaming business if no one ever being interested to buy your future gaming machine in the next 2 years which is the reason why you shouldn't reject the physical media and start focusing on the digital gaming, that is not going to save your company. 

I hope that you will live to regret it with your decision you make is because this is going to be your final nail in the coffin at the darkest days of gaming that will happen pretty soon, so please reverse your decision and go back where it normally it be before its too late, so give us a physical disc or else you will end up failing at the end. 

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone. 

Kill La Kill If PS4 Review

 

Kill La Kill If is a 3D fighting game was released in 2019 for PS4, Switch, and PC. It was developed by A+ Games and published by Arc System Works, and it is based on the anime television series titled as Kill La Kill.

To be honest, I've never actually watched the TV series except you guys may have seen or heard of it before, but I did hear many positive things about this anime TV series which most of the media critics and fans did enjoy watching these kinds of show was known for its frantic and over-the-top action, gorgeous visuals, high-energy storytelling, and of course two hot-headed chicks is the reason it got popular has maintained a dedicated fanbase and strong viewership numbers since its release in 2013.

After the popularity, it also got adaptated to manga series got released 2 months after the anime TV series and then of course the video game adaptation. 

Before I begin talking about the video game adaptation I wanted to talk about my thoughts on anime fighting games as an sub-genre.

There are many of great anime fighting games when we had titles like Arcana Heart 3, Under Night In-Birth, Skullgirls, Persona 4 Arena, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Blazblue, and of course Guilty Gear.

These of the kinds of fighting game sub-genre which combines 2D fighting and anime that makes these games quite unique at the time with the cool numbers of fighting rosters, stylish fighting systems, and of course the cinematic story campaign featuring visual novel cutscenes and duel battles is something that I adored the anime fighting game as an sub-genre.

There's one of the fighting game that are totally different from what I've mentioned above, so instead of going for the traditional 2D fighting game approach which is why I've discovered the 3D fighting game that not many of people have played or ever talked about it...that is Kill La Kill If.

So despite the positive reception and popularity of the TV series, the game itself has mixed reception by gaming critics were not impressed with the results where as it gained not many but has a small numbers of fans did actually enjoyed the fighting game which is why the sales units are pretty low that leaves the game quite niche at the release.

I decided to review this 3D fighting game to show you what's really good and bad about the game's story, combat, rosters, and various of modes to discuss everything.

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

The story campaign is split in two chapters with 10 episodes featuring an entirely original alternate version of the plot in the anime series.

The 1st chapter follows a "What if?" storyline with Satsuki Kiryuin as the protagonist instead of the original protagonist Ryuko Matoi, so you have Satsuki fighting to unite the student council and overcome her's mother's brainwashing schemes, where as the 2nd chapter focuses on Ryuko takes center stage to uncover her own branching path of twists and turns. 

Despite the game's storyline has nothing to do with the original timeline from the anime series, it's basically an alternative timeline of the original story that made sounded different with the "What if?" scenario that has resulted an alternative outcome which is why I finding it quite good is because instead of sticking to the original timeline its good to have another alternative branching path that makes the "What If?" storyline quite interesting in story campaign.

I say the cast of characters in the game are actually awesome in the story campaign, so you have Satsuki and Ryuko are the twos badass hot chicks with their nice-looking outfits and stylish blades.

Then you have elite fours like Ira Gamagori the big muscular dude with heavy armored suit, Hoka Inumuta the tech genius does a hacking job, Nonon Jakuzure the sassy pink hair girl loves to play drums, and Uzu Sanageyama the cocky athletic guy with long-ass sword and his green-colored mecha.  Then you have two antagonists such as Nui Harime are pretty sure look cute on the outside but she's definitely inside sadistic and childish does such an evil things, and lastly you have Ragyo Kiryuuin who is Satsuki's mother is kinda look attractive judging with her appearence...well despite her portrayal as wickedness and treacherous person does a horrible stuff in the story cutscenes you can't go wrong with that madam just got her perfect look...that's all I got to say guys.

The game's presentation is looking spectcular especially I really liked the anime as a animation genre for video games, films, and TV shows.

I say the game has really cool animation opening at the start of the story campaign with stylish title cards and crazy fight sequences just like you normally see the opening of anime cartoon series.

I also wanted to praise the design of the cutscenes are well animated throughout the sequences just looks really stunning to watch.

The game has 6 fighting stages sharing with the different settings of the sceneries such as you have honnou-cho open field which is the small town filled with many tiers of houses at the background, then you have the medium sized stages such as naturals election stadium are concidered naturals with the daylight fighting arena and bright looking sky where as the polling grounds are much more darker tone with crooked fighting arena and devilish looking sky, and then lastly you have ragyo stadium runway are long and narrow with limited space fighting arena where as the ragyo stadium grounds and thread palace are extremely large stage with long distance fighting arena.

These are all 6 fighting arena has the mix of small and large size of stage can be benefiting for any players that has a choice to choose any of the suitable arenas for them to battle on.       

Overall, it has interesting story, awesome characters, and spectcular presentation design.

Gameplay

The game has various of modes to select such as you have story campaign which features two chapters with 10 episodes such as Satsuki and Ryuko to uncover their alternate events, and you have 1 on 1 versus mode which includes free battle for local play and of course the online battle for player or ranked match, and then lastly the practice mode which has tutorials, training, and challenge.

The game has 10 playable rosters to play on both versus and practice mode such as Satsuki, Ryuko, Ira, Hoka, Nonon, Uzu, Nui, Ragyo, and of course the 2 DLCs roster such as D.T.R and Mako.

The game is played in 3rd-person perspective on the fighting arena, so you and your opponent must face to face on the arena battle and who ever the person knocks out their opponent with their life bar down wins the round. 

For the controls, push the left stick control is to move your character around, and press the cross button is to jump but press it again while in mid-air will allow player to jump dash towards the opponent.

Press the square button to use close ranged attack for the close combat melee, and press the triangle button to use long ranged attack for far distance melee.

Press the circle button is to perform guard break attack which temperaily destroys opponent's shield block. 

Hold the right shoulder button is to weld guard which allowing you to block an opponent's melee attack, but while holding the right shoulder button you can able to perform two movements by pushing the left/right of the left stick control for evade allowing you to dodge opponent's projectiles where as the up/down of the left stick control is to dash forwards or backwards.

You will also have SP gauge on the bottom of the life bar up to 3 level displaying how much your gauge power you have filled up on the bar, so this will allow you to perform a special moves known as deathblow which has 3 flashy special attacks such as close-range deathblow, long-range deathblow, and of course the guard break deathblow which delivers a heavy damage blow on the opponent, so these can be used by holding the left shoulder button then press any of 3 buttons such as square for close-range deathblow, triangle for long-range deathblow, and circle for guard break deathblow. 

I say the controls are pretty straight-forward is because it feels quite simple and easy to learn things that are not complex and confusing to play.

It's just all slashing, dodging, dashing, and jumping around the fighting arena makes the fighting control a lot easier to get into.

The combo system works pretty decent with the button mashing system where you can able to attack the opponent with lot of slashing, juggling, and dashes forward at the opponent feels really natrual to press and I say I really liked the deathblows on the opponent which does a really cool blows at the opponent just works really good.

I also want to mention a special technique called bloody valor system which is a ultimate form of deathblow meaning that if your SP gauge meter is fully packed to level 4 then this will activate it by pressing both of the shoulder buttons together which triggers a rock-paper-scissors QTE sequence which has 3 action buttons such as taunt deals the most damage, provoke heavily recovers your SP gauge, and of course the mock recovers your life, so if the attacker wins or ties the QTE they trigger a cinematic clash and win the debate will award you with your valor level up to maximum of 3 stars.

If your valor level reaches 3 stars and you have a full SP gauge with 4 bars then this will allow you to perform a cinematic match ending blow which instantly kills off the opponent for good.    

These fighting system are actually done a fine job which does not feel anything dull to play for the 3D fighting game.

I did manage to enjoy the story campaign quite a bit with few of the story battles that plays really fun on both character's scenario with action-packed stuff going on in the game, but unfortunately it suffered with the short-length playthrough in which you can beat the game for like an hour-in-half in each chapters that makes a total of 3 hours long which I don't think it's quite enough to progress the story campaign enough, so despite the game has a good story I wish they could have add a bit more of scenarios for more characters could have helped the game a bit.

The game does have various of game modes to play such as the 1 on 1 versus mode in which you can able to enjoy battling with your friends through local play or online battle which is quite acceptable for fighting games that was known for a 1 on 1 multiplayer battle, and it also has a useful practice mode where you can able to learn a combat and moves throughout the tutorial as well as the training mode which helps you to practice a various of the fighting moves displayed on the command move list, so if these game modes aren't quite enough then you have a 2 challenge mode such as survival challenge where you must face a various of opponents until you are defeated and then you have a horde mode called covers challenge where you must face off against multiples of covers in 3 distinct rule variations such as 1 min challenge which you must defeat as many covers as possible before the timer runs out, 100-man brawl where you must defeat all 100 covers as fast as possible, and of course the endless battle where you must continue fighting against endless waves of covers until you are defeated. 

All of these game modes are pretty solid to play which is sounds great, but the annoying part in the game is that all these game modes are locked behind story campaign in which you will need to complete some of the episodes in order to unlock all the game modes, so that is not quite convenient for those who wanted to play the game for online match, local versus, and practice challenge had to first beat some of the episodes till it unlocks.     

I do wanted to point out the numbers of playable rosters is rather too small which I don't think 10 roster is quite enough for this fighting game which I was expecting 15 or more would have been an acceptable numbers, so I wish that the development team could have been done something right if they would have delay the game's release to give a bit more time for them to make more rosters, so that could have made it better. 

Overall, it has decent fighting system, fun story battles, and soild game modes.

Graphics

The graphics in this game is looking quite great on the 8th-gen system for its environmental design on the fighting arena depending on which stage you're fighting on, so some of them are about mid-size arena and the others are quite large which I think having a good balance of the small and large sized potions does make the fighting arena quite appealing in the battle.

The texture surfaces has the sharp details that made it look bold and you could see some of the layouts on the background landscape from far distance, and then finally I like the way the camera angle works on the fighting arena starts rotating around when controlling your player from left to right just gives the dynamic look of the stage.

I say I liked the flashy look of the hit collision displaying the clinging effects with every hit of melee or projectiles just adds up the impact of fighting style.

The animation is well designed and moves pretty smoothly on battle with every great frame of movements and melees it performed are just looking amazing on the fighting battle.

The PS4 version had performed better for the performance side running on 1080p resolution with 60fps which the game has optimised really well without the sign of major frame drops, where as the switch version running on 1080p resolution on docked mode and 720p resolution on undocked mode with capped 30fps which may have some frame dips but not something quite servere during the battle which remains still playable.

     

Overall, it has great fighting arena design, detailed environmental layouts, and well designed animation.

 

Music and Sounds

The soundtrack is excellent which I really liked the mix of J-rock and epic music throughout the in-game battle and story cutscenes.

It really suits the game's action sequences pretty perfectly that makes the player feel pumped for fighting game action.

The main menu and characters theme was composed by Akiyuki Kubota did a fabulous job for his original score for this game. 

It also features music from the original anime composed by Hiroyuki Sawano (nZk) which has the actual opening theme song on title screen such as "Sirus" sang by Eir Aoi which we all know anime TV show has the coolest theme songs, where as other song such as "Before My Body Is Dry"  sang by Mika Kobayashi (vocals) and rap by David Whitaker which kinda gives me the vibes of Evanescence and Linkin Park with simular style of music which is amazing to listen.  

The sound effects are quite stunning for its environmental sounds design on some stages, I also liked the clinging noises of the hit collision are quite sharp and impactful during the battle, and of course the voice acting are really good on both English and Japanese dub. 

Overall, it has excellent soundtrack, stunning sound effects, and good voice acting.

Special Features

The game features unlockable stuffs such as gallery art, cutscenes, voice libaries, musics, and digital figure parts which these can be unlocked with in-game gallery points.

Overall, not a bad unlockable content. 

Advantages

Interesting story and awesome characters

Spectcular presentation design

Decent fighting system and fun story battles

Solid game modes to play (versus and practice)

Great visuals and excellent music

Disadvantages

Short-length campaign

Game modes are locked behind story mode

Small numbers of rosters aren't enough

Final Verdict

Presentation 8/10 - interesting story, awesome characters, and spectcular presentation design.

Gameplay 7/10 -  decent fighting system, fun story battles, and soild game modes.

Graphics 8/10 - great fighting arena design, detailed environmental layouts, and well designed animation.

Music and Sounds 8/10 - excellent soundtrack, stunning sound effects, and good voice acting.

Special Features 6.5/10 - gallery art, cutscenes, voice libaries, musics, and digital figure parts. 

Overall 7/10 - Kill La Kill If is a fine 3D Fighting Game with bit of small flaws could have done it better if they could have a bit more time to add more playable rosters as well as more chapters on story campaign to make it bit longer, but overall it's still worth for play in which you may going to enjoy story campaign (even its short) with really fun action-packed battles to fight and has a good story sequences with 2 kick-ass chicks going on their frantic battle, and yes you may going to like the versus mode for local play and online battle are also decent as well as these challenge mode that keeps you busy with the game is something that you might find this game quite entertaining to play.  

The price of physical copy are likely to go up from £20 to £30 which is not going to be cheap for later future years which means you might want to grab the copy before the price lasts, where as the digital copy from PS Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam are slightly bit cheaper around between £17 and £18.

Is the game worth to play? I say if you love the original anime series or if you're one of those fighting games fanatic looking for the niche title then yes, you should check it out if you haven't try this game out and see if you might going to find that game quite fun to play. 

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone. 

            

Disney's Epic Mickey Rebrushed PS5 Review

 

Disney's Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a 3D Platform Game was released in 2024 for PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC, and it is also confirmed for Switch 2 release in October 2026.

It was developed by Purple Lamp and published by THQ Nordic, and it is a remake of 2010's original game titled Disney's Epic Mickey for Wii which was created by Junction Point Studios.

Before I begin reviewing the game, I wanted to talk about the origins behind Disney's famous mascots.

In 1927 it was all began with the animated cartoon character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.

He starred in the series of black and white short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938, so 27 short animated films were made at the Walt Disney Studio until the rights of the titular character been taken over by Walter Lantz Productions under Universal Pictures to produce the rest of the later short animated films in 1928.

After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney had decided to create his alternative character as an replacement to Oswald...which is why we had Mickey Mouse made a first debut in short animated film titled Steamboat Willie is one of the first cartoons to include technical feats such as synchronized sound effects and fully post-produced soundtrack.

It became the most popular cartoon of its time which had gained universally praised for its animations, innovative sound design, and of course introducing a cartoon character which happened to became one of the Disney's biggest landmark mascot had gained popularity worldwide.

Mickey Mouse is everywhere...he featured in many animated shorts, feature films, storybook, comics, commerical adverts, and etc. is the reason why everyone loves this animated cartoon mouse and then over the 6 to 9 decades later you see many cool mechandises and toys, wall posters, clothing brand and costumes, animated TV series & film, and of course the video games.

I grew up watching Mickey Mouse's animated shorts and feature films that made me love the character because of his slapstick stuffs, being adventurous, and of course he is an entertainning character that gives us a laugh and joy.   

I also got interested in playing video games featuring Disney's mascot hero himself such as Castle of Illusion, Magical Quest, Mickey Mania, and Mickey's Speedway USA which are really fun games back in the 90s gaming era, so going forward to the early 2010s the game that I've discovered which is Disney's Epic Mickey for the Wii which is a 3D Platform Game plays little simular to Nintendo's Super Mario Sunshine in terms of gameplay design which got me curious to try out the game.

My initial impression of the original game is somewhat mixed bag, so lets just be fair on the point starting with the positives which I adored the paintbrush mechanics, the visuals, the stages, and of course the story presentation which are decent but sadly I find the motion controls did not impressed me much which I find using the Wii remote difficult to control things like camera system and movements that prevented me enjoying the single-player adventure.

In around 14 years after the original game, it finally getting the remake for the modern platforms titled as Disney's Epic Mickey Rebrushed which is meant to fix the original game's major flaws in regards of controls and camera system, as well as the additional features such as enhanced visuals and new moves abilities that aren't present in the original game.

I decided to give the game a second chance with the 2024's remake to see if this version are actually done it right big time or is it just another time wasting that never be touched again? my truth will be answered throughout my review.

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

The game begins with the Mickey Mouse stumbled into the workshop room discovering the magical project are created by an elderly wizard named Yen Sid, so he designed his magical kingdom on his sketchwork using the magical paintbrush. 

As the elderly wizard exits from his workshop room, Mickey came sneaking in to the workshop and fiddles with the magical paintbrush on the sketchwork until it went horribly wrong causing the creation of ink creature sabotaging the whole kingdom on the sketchwork.

As Mickey managed to get back to his bedroom, he was encountered by the same ink creature dragging him into the portal that leads him to the world of kingdom. 

Mickey then wakes up in the lab captured by the crazy scientist whos about to torture him with the machinery tool of weapons until Mickey managed to escape and then meets up with the Gus who can aid him throughout the journey as their goal is to restore the kingdom and stop the ink creature to fix his mistakes.

The story in this game is easy to follow, so you're basically animated mouse protagonist made an accidental mess on the elderly wizard's project are fully covered with the dark ink causing the creation of ink monster takes over the world of kingdom inside the sketchwork and then the cartoon mouse later being dragged inside the sketchwork by the ink monster, so he must finds his way to not only to stop the ink creature harming the kingdom but also trying to resolve his mess that he made earlier.

I find the story is just as good as most of the Disney's animated feature films which is most likely that the younger audience will appericate the Mickey's adventurous sequences where he can able to learn and use the magical paintbrush for restoration or vanishing the world environments, and I also liked the in-game dialogue conversation between the friends delivering a simple backstory about the kingdom's history is something that I can enjoy the game's plot.

I say I do like Mickey Mouse as not only just being the main protagonist in the game, but he's also everyone favourite Disney's cartoon mascot for over decades is because I adored his light-hearted personality displaying him as fun, likable and charming cartoon character is the reason why he's one of the Disney's greatest cartoon mascot.        

He teams up with the Gremlin Gus, which is one of Disney's forgotten character from cancelled 1940's animated movie titled Gremlins, serves a guide to Mickey in his adventures at Wasteland, and then it has Oswald the Lucky Rabbit happens to be a main lead of wasteland before the disastrous blot wars took over his homeland.

He is a deuteragonist in the game that became a first cartoon character being completely ignored is due to Mickey's popularlty is the reason he's acting up catty towards Mickey with his annoyance and jealousy at the start but he eventally agrees to join forces with Mickey throughout the quests.

The game's presentation is absoultely stunning which I descibed as magical and colourful throughout the environmental settings that has a great mix of light and dark locations such as wasteland are full of theme park areas and Disney's memorabilla, the Mickeyjunk mountain are clutted with polluted area that serves as dumping ground for several old and forgotten pieces of Mickey Mouse's memorabilla, the gremlin village are filled with fantasyland rides and gremlins home, the mean street is the central hub based on Disney's parks filled with shops, theater, station, and museum, the bog easy/ventureland is a swampy pirate-themed town that connects to pirate areas, the tommorow city is a retro-futuristic metropolis, and of course the lonesome manor is a spooky haunted mansion filled with ghosts and dancing paintings everywhere.

I say I really liked the 2D cinematic levels which is based on Disney's old-classics from the 1920-30s era which I got to praise it for its sketchbook-style scenery starting from black & white to colors schemes that you see from silly symphony's short films that I like from the past such as steamboat willie, Mickey's steam roller, the castaway, clock cleaner, and through the mirror.

  

Overall, it has very good story, likable cast of characters, and stunning presentation design.

Gameplay

In single-player campaign, you take control of Mickey Mouse in 3rd-person perspective, as your main goal is to beat many courses by completeing various of objectives in order to progress the game's story campaign.

You can take a look of the objectives on the pause menu which has the list of primary and secondary missions that you'll know which ones to complete these tasks.

Push the left-stick control is to move Mickey and the right-stick control is used for rotating the camera which also has crosshair icon on the centre of the screen.

Press the cross button is to jump, but double pressing again is to make double jump allowing Mickey to reach at the higher platforms.

Mickey has the paintbrush as his primary weapon, so press the square button is to melee attack, press and hold the right trigger is to shoot splash paint which does sort of two action such as restoring the invisible objects and brainwashing the enemies into attacking their own ally, and press and hold the left trigger is to shoot splash thinner which does sort of two action such as dissapearing the environmental objects and thinning enemies to death that kills them. 

Using these paint and thinner can also decrease the bar meter meaning you have to fill up these bars again to replenish.  

Press the right-thumbstick button is to use lock-on which centers your camera and fixes your targeting reticle onto enemies or objects making combat much easier to manage.

Unlike the original 2010's, the rebrushed version has introduced 3 brand new moves which includes sprint allowing Mickey to run faster by pressing the left-thumbstick button, the dash that makes Mickey forward dashing by pressing the circle button used for evading enemy's projectiles, and of course the ground pound which makes Mickey slamming on the ground by pressing the triangle button while in mid-air.

Mickey has ability to use magical sketch power, so you really need to obtain these sketch power which can be found in later courses.

It has TV sketch which projects a television screen allowing to distract enemies or bypassing hazards safety, as well as power electronic devices on TV-pads.

The watch sketch slows down time allowing Mickey to dodge fast-moving enemies, tricky platforming jumps, and bypassing environmental hazards.

Lastly anvil sketch which summons a heavy anvil that drops straight down used for weigh down pressure switches, smash fragile objects, and deliver crushing blow directly to enemies.

These sketch power can be used by pressing the left shoulder button, and you can also cycle these sketch items with the left and right d-pad button.

Mickey also has abilites to use guardians which will be introduced in later course, so once you've acquired them you can use these guardians by pressing the right-shoulder button which allowing them to use two types of their effects such as blue guardians will then again brainwashing enemies into attack their ally and the green guardians will instantly kills most of the enemies.

Once a guardian is launched they'll get consumed which mean you have to build the bars up again to replenish.

I am glad that the rebrushed version has improve upon the controls is because having to play the game with the standard controller is much more perfered choices over the 2010's original game which rely on Wii motion controls are much difficult to use and lack of Wii classic controller option is what preventing me enjoying the whole story campaign, so luckly the rebrushed version has addressed the original game's flaws by using the standard controller which also has gyro-motion controls for targeting reticle which is optional meaning you can also turn off these gyro-motion control if you prefered to use the right-stick controls for camera rotation and targeting reticle.

I say that the haptic feedback on the triggers are actually quite neat which I really liked the feel of the vibration intensity when holding down these triggers to shootout the splashes at the enemies and objects

just feels like a good addition to this version.

I also praised for the inclusion of brand new moves which really enhances the platforming gameplay, so that I can able to sprint faster to make the pace quicker, making multiples of dashes to evade things, and of course using ground pound to break objects or slamming on enemies just feels really good to play that weren't featured on 2010's original game.

I say the concept of using paintbrush that allowing Mickey to do really useful on various things like puzzle solving, revealing hidden secrets behind the walls, restoring environmental objects like houses and bridge, and dissapearing stuffs that blocks the entry is something that kinda reminds me of Nintendo's Super Mario Sunshine where you're using the spraying water to clean things like walls and floors or as a weapon to defeat slimy enemies.

This works really great for 3D platforming games that actually suits the Disney's personality is all about full of fun and magical moments.

I wanted to praise the game's segments throughout the story campaign which mixes the style of 3D-platforming and 2D cinematic levels, so what I mean is that the game has 3D world environment where you get to explore around the level in which you'll spend time completing various of objectives which unlocks the projectile screen that leads you to the 2D platforming stage which plays on side-scrolling perspective with full of cinematic layouts based on Disney's classic cartoons and films is got to be my favourite part of the segment is because it reminded me of classic Disney's platformers like Mickey Mania in terms of 2D platforming design and settings are quite both simular in style.

While I did managed to enjoy all the levels on both 3D and 2D, the downside is that the game is somewhat too linear meaning that you cannot able to replay or revisit the 3D platforming levels that you've already beat which is pretty fraustrating me because I wanted to achieve the progression on my Playstation trophies, so it's impossible to replay the 3D stages that I've previously beat.

Thankfully you can still able to replay the 2D stages from the theater room which is fine for collecting many of two films per levels, but I kinda feel pissed that I won't able to replay the 3D stages that I wanted to revisit again for my achievement progression.

What I liked about the game is the upgrades which can be obtained by completing some of the secondary objectives or spend it with your e-tickets at the shop, so you will have capacity for health and sketches.

If thats not enough, one of your paint bar meter can be upgraded by defeating bosses depending on which two of these splashes you're using meaning that if you defeat the boss with the paint then your splash paint bar will add-up or using with the thinner will add-up your splash thinner bar.

These will improve Mickey's strengths and skills makes it easier for him to fight with tougher enemies and bosses in later courses.   

                 

Overall, it has cool gameplay mechanics, fun platforming levels, and improved controls.

    

Graphics

The game's visuals is quite solid for its design and settings especially on both the 8th and 9th-gen machines are completely redesigned with the Unreal Engine 4 to fit the modern gaming standards.

The environmental areas are nicely opened allowing to have a fair size of 3D levels is good enough to explore around the area.

The textures are surely bold on the surfaces like walls, houses, objects, and floors, where as the colours has a great use of saturated display that made the locations look brighter.

The special effects are vivid and shiny for some lighting and shadow details, and of course the splashy ink that spreads everywhere on the towns and villages turns everything mess is just adds up the magical interaction.

I say I do really liked the overall design of 2D platforming levels which has a sketchbook backgrounds and layouts that feels like a Disney's old cartoon from the 1920s to 30s.

The game does have a charming character's animation which they really nailed the style of Disney's classic cartoons that we know from back then, so it delivers a wonderful facial expression and comical movements that looked really good on both the in-game areas and cutscene sequences.

The game's performance on PS5 and XSX/S (X Model) runs on full 4K resolution with 60fps, where as the XSX/S (S model) runs on 1440p resolution with 60fps in which those versions ran really smoothly with no signs of frame drops, stutters, and hiccups, so that sounds like a fantastic news for both PS5 and XSX/S.

The PS4 and XBONE runs on 1080p resolution with 30fps, where as the Switch runs on 1080p on docked and 720p on undocked with 30fps, so I say the PS4 and XBONE had performed slightly better compared to Switch which you may notice the frame dips in some open areas.

Overall, it has solid environmental areas, charming character's animation, and smooth performance.

Music and Sounds

The soundtrack in the game is remarkably fascinating which I really loved the musical style of Disney's classics films delivering the great use of orchestral sounds that fits the atmosphere of Mickey's epic adventures starting from enemies combat fight to boss battle is something that builds up the exciting platforming action.  

The background music of 2D cinematic levels has the old-vintage style of Disney's 1920s-30s cartoon short is something that you hear it from the old-fashoned cinema projector which I love the feel of classic vibes to it.    

Lastly I also liked the theme song at the main title is what I call a pure charming way to begin the Mickey's story quest.

It was composed by Jim Dooley, an composer behind InFamous 2 and Spider-Man: Shattered Memories, did a amazing job for creating the game's original score.

The sound design is nicely done for the use of background noises and atmospheric that fits perfectly on many environmental stages, and of course the various of cartoony sound effects coming from the old cartoon shorts has the pure classy feel that sounded acceptable on Disney's platforming game.

I had to point out the criticism that they didn't address it from the 2010's original game which is the lack of full proper voice acting for characters during the cinematic cutscenes (well except the Yen Sid's narration is the only one that has full voice dialogue on the opening intro) and in-game dialogue text which is kinda shame because I would love to hear Mickey and his friends having a proper full dialogue in the game that could have helped the game's narration a bit.

Overall, misses out full voice dialogue, but it has fascinating soundtrack and nicely done sound design.   

  

Special Features

The game has various of unlockables such as concept art, costumes, badges, and of course the 2 animation shorts.

It also has new game plus which you can able to play second walkthrough while retaining collectables that you've previously unlocked from the first walkthroughs.

Overall, a fine overall content.

 

Advantages

Very good story and characters

Stunning presentation design

Cool gameplay mechanics 

Fun platforming levels

Charming animation

Fascinating soundtrack

Disadvantages

Not able to revisit the previous 3D levels 

No proper full voice over for characters

Final Verdict

Presentation 8/10 - very good story, likable cast of characters, and stunning presentation design.

Gameplay 7.5/10 - cool gameplay mechanics, fun platforming levels, and improved controls.

Graphics 8/10 - solid environmental areas, charming character's animation, and smooth performance.

Music and Sounds 7.5/10 - fascinating soundtrack and nicely done sound design.

Special Features 7/10 - new game plus, concept art, costumes, badges, and 2 animation shorts.

Overall 7.5/10 - I find Disney's Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a decent improvement over the 2010's original thanks to enhancement gameplay features such as revamped controls, expanded movement, and reworked camera just makes the playability feels responsive and playable throughout the single-player campaign and I say the visual overhaul is suprisingly great addition to this version with modenised graphics and refreshed cutscenes that made the game look fantastic for the modern gaming standards...oh I forgot to mention the game's performance that runs really great on 9th-gen system with buttersmooth 60fps and full 4K display is also welcome addition that are smooth and stable.

With all improvements, the game has the charm for its story presentation, fun platforming levels, and the concept of paintbrush mechanics just works really well on the single-player campaign is something that I'm really glad to say that I've give the game a second chance it deserves is the reason why I've managed to enjoy the game without any fuss whatsoever.

The physical copy for console releases are worth for between £15 and £20, where as the digital releases for PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam are cost about £35.

Is the game worth for play? I say it's a good recommendation for casuals and gamers will likely to give the game a worth of shot just proves that the Disney's platforming games can be decently fun to play on the system, so you guys might like this kind of 3D platforming adventure featuring everyone's favourite cartoon mascot doing his magical quests is something to feel appericated, so I was hoping the team behind this project will concider remaking Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two with the same treatment it deserves is something to look forward too in the near future.     

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Evil West PS5 Review

 

Evil West is a 3rd-Person Hack N Slash game was released in 2022 for PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, and PC. It was developed by Flying Wild Hog and published by Focus Entertainment.

As many of you guys may know Flying Wild Hog which is a Polish game developer was known for its their work like Shadow Warrior, an action-packed series reboot of the 1997's original FPS game created by 3D Realms are hella fun to play back then, and so with the Hard Reset Redux which is the forgotten FPS game that nobody ever talks about it but it's decently a good shooter.

After previously enjoyed their titles from the past, I was hoping to look forward playing their another action title which I've discovered a wild-western action title with the combination of 3rd-person shooter and Hack N Slash genre all fused together, so that is Evil West.

So think the game as the old-western action-horror with the style of Van Helsing and Devil May Cry combined together is something that I'd been interested in play this kind of game that has really unique style of presentation simular to vampire monster films and the combat system has sort of involving fast-paced shooting and slashing going on which I think the idea of creating the 3rd-person Hack N Slash game featuring a cowboy take on vampire may could work well, but the question is does the story and campaign lives up my expectation? well not so much to be frankly honest with you guys which is why I am here to review this title to see whats good about it and some others may be not so good which I will discuss these details further on this review.

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

The game takes place in an alternate-history of wild west where the advanced human technology was designed to reduce supernatural species, so that's what causes the threat on vampires goes on declaring a war on humanity. 

To prevent their own extinction, they begin raising an army of monsters and familars to wipe out human society.

The game begins with the cowboy vampire hunter named Jesse Rentiera, an agent of the Rentier Insitute which is a organisation dedicated to battling numerous of supernatural creatures that prey on humanity, partnering with retired agent Edgar Gravenor as they went on their mission is to protect the American frontier and hunt down the high ranking vampire Peter D'Abano and his daughter Felicity who are plotting to exterminate many humans.

I say the story in the game is rather mediocre at best is because I don't really mind the idea of having a cowboy vs vampire concept which is quite fair, so you just the vampire hunter doing a job to protect the wild west town from numerous of dangerous vampires who goes on killing many humans as possible.

I also understand the use of human technology are designed to get rid of all vampires is the reason why the conflict between the humans and vampires had occured which is seems sounded pretty acceptable in the action horror style, but unfortunately it suffered with the generic story dialogue with badly written plot that kinda sounded like a low-budget level which doesn't really help the game's storyline so I wish they could have made the dialogue a bit better that would have add-up the quality story written.

Despite the mixed bag story, I say I do like the main protagonist in the game which is the only good thing in the game.

Jesse Rentiera is just like many of badasses cowboys had a cool outfit filled with leather jacket, western hat, boots, and ammunation belt around him is something that they got the main character just right, and his personalty type descibes as hard-boiled monster hunting gunslinger justs fits his character's persona which makes him likable throughout the game's campaign.

Despite the decent protagonist, the half of the side characters in the game is rather pale and dull at best except the twos like Edgar Gravenor is an Jesse's acceptable partner that aren't half that bad and the other ones James Harrow is what I descibe him as funny self-centered bastard that has an anger issues with his foul-mouthed lines just give us a laugh throughout the cutscenes which is fine, but it's the rest of the side-characters that I finding them quite lame in the game which has William Rentier is a boring looking insitute director which I don't find him intresting, then you had Emilia Blackwell as the average medical researcher are not kinda the best in my opinion, and of course the worst of all is got to be annoying field agent Vergil Olney is doing my f***ing heading which I can't stand his overly exaggerated persona and being too talkative throughout the game's campaign is something that I can't enjoy the game as much.

I say the villain in the game is kinda lackluster at best is because I don't find these guys quite terrifying it's just felt like a cheesy B-Movies vampires that are trying so hard to be a serious horror villains which unfortunately it didn't work well in the game.

The game's presentation settings is actually decent which I like the weird style of wild west environments blending a classic American frontier aesthetics with dark fantasy, steampunk technology, and supernatural horror.

The world is filled with vampiric temples, creepy forests, abandoned mining towns, and shadowy swamps which you can tell that these places are being overrun by bunch of vampires and monstrous beasts turning whole western towns into a dark and gothic battlegrounds which really adds the game's bloodthristy themes to it which I've liked it.

I do want to praise the cinematic design on the cutscenes has sort of the 90s western movie feel to it which is really good on the screen with letterboxed ratios just makes the game quite stand-out for modern gaming standard.

Overall, an mediocre storylines and lame side-characters and villains, but has decent presentation design.

Gameplay

In single-player campaign, you take control of Jesse Rentier on 3rd-person perspective, as your main goal is to push back the dark forces and stop the impending war from vampires, so in order to do that you must defeat waves of monsters, complete specific environmental puzzles, and missions to prevent their plans to overtake humanity.

For basic movements, push the left-stick controls is to move character, push the right-stick controls is to look around, and press the left thumbstick button is to sprint that makes character run. 

Press the cross button is used for interacting stuff like activating switches and opening the chest box.   

For the combat, press the right shoulder button is to use melee punch and press the right thumbstick button is to melee kick on close range which deals a lighter damage attack, where as the square button is to use quick shotgun on close range which deals a heavy damage attack.

You also have different kinds of firearms which can be fired with the right trigger button, so you just press the right trigger button is to fire pistol which deals lighter damage shot in mid-range, where as holding the left trigger button to aim then press the right trigger button is to fire rifle which deals mild damage shot in long-range.

You can cycle your weapon with the d-pad button, such as d-pad up button for rifle or crossbow which the crossbow has the same damage shot as the rifle but in long range, then the d-pad right button for chaingun which deals heavy rapid damage shot, then the d-pad left button for flamethrower which deals firery damage on enemies, and of course the d-pad down button for explosive charges act as throwing attack item which deals exploding damage on enemies.              

You can stun them with the zapper by pressing the left shoulder button or the rod with the triangle button which temporaily stuns them for 5 seconds, but while they are stunned you can able to perform rapid melee attack them by tapping the right shoulder button until its stops, so it delivers quicker damage attack than the regular melee punches.

You can evade the enemy melee attacks or projectiles by tapping with the cross button while pushing with the left-stick controls which allowing you to dodge or roll around.

You can also replenish your health by pressing the circle button to use health dispenser or obtaining the health item from the enemies that drops item will restore your health points. 

To keep you mind, each of the weapons and gadgets you're using will have temporaily cooldown system meaning the stuff including health dispenser, rod, shotgun, flamethrower, chaingun, and explosive charges will ran out the ammunation quickly which led the cooldown time will take 30 seconds to slowly replensish till its ready to use. 

So far, these controls is quite straight-forward to play is because the way they designed the control scheme is actually made for not just being a shooters but also made and designed for Hack N Slash game that was known for its fast-paced action.

What I'm saying this is that the combat gameplay is heavily focused on button mashing action meaning that its relying on multiples of combo moves and using various of special attacks on enemies which plays it simular to the likes of Devil May Cry series which is the reason why I liked the style of combat mechanics where you had to keep mashing the random buttons to perform a various of combos and crazy techniques such as launching enemies in the air with uppercut, dragging enemies with the zapper, making multiples of slam attack with ground punches, and of course punching an enemies directly into hazards like spiked walls or TNT crates is just really amazing to perform these kinds of fighting moves. I also liked the finishing kills on enemies simular to the likes of God of War (2018) where it gives you the options to finish them off with the gruesome animation kills is just looking brutal as f**k to watch them getting their limbs tore down in pieces.

I got to admit that using the supercharge mode is pretty neat is because when your battery energy is filled up on the screen with every punches you make, then you will be able to activate the supercharge mode for 10 seconds allowing you to instantly kill many enemies on screen is just looks brutally cool to watch.  

While these controls worked really good, I got to talk about the upgrades is where you need to progress your abilities and perks by obtaining enough currencies and leveling up your skills progression meaning that you had to spend time beating the shit out of these enemies in order to increase your experience points as well as collecting all currencies can be found on the chest box in which you will see it on the pause menu, so once you obtained the upgrade points and earned enough currencies then you will need head over to the upgrades and perks by going to the pause menu screen.

You will have the list of upgrades and perks which you will spend these items to unlock your abilities such as energy siphon allows your zapper pull to restore energy, monster mash extends the duration and damage of your supercharge mode, blood & lighting heals you when performing electrified finishers or combo finishers, and the weapons will have bonuses such as focus on damaging weak spot hits, ability to stun multiple targets, using electrifying shot for critical damage, having cooldown reductions, and list goes on.

I say these upgrades are kinda cool which worked nicely done that improves upon the combat and abilities which helps you learn all the new skills and combos to use against the enemies that keeps the gameplay feel engaging to play for Hack N Slash action.  

I do want to point out the criticisms which is the simple game design is somewhat too basic that led to repetition is because there's nothing much of the new segments going on, so instead you'll be going through repeated process like the environmental puzzles where you need to activate switches to open doors or gate, going on minecart for the ride while trying to evade hazards, and battling with the same enemies over again in each areas can get really tedious and tiresome for some players are expecting for the different action segments and creatures to fight can't be happening in later chapters, so there's not many of the varieties going on to be frankly honest with you guys.

I do find the boss battles quite underwhelming that doesn't live up to my hype especially the final ones are kinda dissapoints me the most which are slightly worst than the previous ones is due to overpowered damage attack and incoming projectiles all over the place that made it quite fraustrating to play which took me 10 to 12 tries to defeat them.

Unfortunately it's kinda shame because the game does have really good combat and upgrades can be fun, but it was let down by the repetitive game design and bland bosses which I wish they could have done a job quite more to make it solid experience, so that being said it's definitely not bad but not quite spectacular overall. 

The game does include online co-op multiplayer in which you'll be partnering with the co-op online player to take part in story campaign, so in order to access the online co-op you have to finish off the tutorial mission in single-player campaign to unlock the online co-op multiplayer first otherwise it's unavailable until you completed the tutorial to do it.

I did hear the online co-op can be hit or miss for some players depending on their experiences, but I always thought having the online co-op is sounds like a fun idea to invite someone to participate the co-op campaign mission through online lobby, so to be honest it's fine to include it on the game which might be fun for anybody to play but I don't think it really adds the bigger replay value in which you can just play the game for one time after beating the whole story campaign.   

Overall, an repetitive game design and dull boss battles, but has fun combat system.

Graphics

The graphics in this game is decent for its visual design and environments which I did appericate the most.

These environmental designs of level are sure has bold and sharp details giving it a crispy vibes to it, and I also wanted to praise the glossy effect on the reflections as you can see the surfaces like water puddles, glass furnitures, and shiny guns just looks pure clean with no roughness whatsoever.

I say I really liked the use of heavy special effects in some levels like the ones where the whole bunch of metallic scraps are full of fires and smokes collapses everywhere.

They done such a neat job for its the use of lighting and shadowy effects on the daytime chapters where you can see the brightness at the outdoor area are incredibly on high contrast to make it look like a sunny day with bit of shades, where as the nighttime delivers a gloomy mist effects and slight darker tone to make the shadow effects look more dim.

The weather effects are quite impressive in some chapters like in very cold hills where you can see the neon light and snow particles flying around above the sky, and then the best part in the game is the sunset stage is full-on peachy orange is just beauitful to look.

I also liked the heavy impact of exploading particles and firing projectiles are stupendously wacky especially with using the electryfing weapons and blowing up TNT boxes are incredibly ace, and of course the over-the-top gorefest animation are quite bloody during the finishing sequences on enemies is something that made the game quite appealing.

I want to point out some minor issue that I encountered which is the screen tearing, as you start looking round while rotating the camera you could see some white tearing lines which mostly happened in the old western house, where as you don't see much on the mission areas which thankfully it didn't screw up a bit, but you do sometime see the texture pop-ups at the draw-distance are can be weird as you may move forward a bit will made the texture pop-ups appears on the screen at the mid-distance.

I wanted to talk about the game performances is becuase the frame-rate had run pretty nicely on 9th-gen machines like on PS5 and XSX/S (X Model) had a two graphical options such as performance mode which ran on 1080p/1440p resolution with 60fps delivers a smooth frame-rate which is acceptable for the fast-paced action game, where as the quality mode offers full 4K resolution with 30fps which has cleaner pictures and sharp details gives a cinematic vibes to it.

The XSX/S (S model) has 1080p resolution with 30fps which I got to say that the whole performance had no sign of slowdowns whatsoever which is a good news for S model owners.

Thankfully, the console version is optimising really well which I'm glad it runs pretty good on the system.

Overall, it has bold and sharp environments, decent special effects, and solid performance.

Music and Sounds

The soundtrack are pretty good in the game which I've enjoyed listening to old western music, it feels like I'm listening to cowboy western films from the 90s era just fits the game's presentation really well especially on during the cinematic cutscenes and in-game action is just sounds good to listen.

It was composed by Nima Fakhrara (composer behind Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2) and Michal Korniewicz did a great job of creating a finest score in old western action game.

The sound effects has really great environmental noises in some areas with surrounding surfaces and background sounds, and then I liked the sounds of the boom noises for the explosions and gunfire are also well designed.

I say the voice acting in the game is pretty done bad which you can blame it on the corny story dialogue which doesn't really do justice in the cutscenes.

Overall, an awfully bad voice acting, but it has good soundtrack and great sound design.

Special Features

The game does have the new game plus and collectables which is fine, but I was expecting more of the content.

Overall, it just needs to add more additional content.  

Advantages

Fine protagonist

Decent presentation design

Fun combat system

Good visuals 

Great soundtrack

Disadvantages

Mediocre storylines

Lame side characters and villains

Repetitive game design

Dull boss battles

Final Verdict

Presentation 6/10 - an mediocre storylines and lame side-characters and villains, but has decent presentation design.

Gameplay 6.5/10 - an repetitive game design and dull boss battles, but has fun combat system.

Graphics 7/10 - bold and sharp environments, decent special effects, and solid performance.

Music and Sounds 7/10 - an awfully bad voice acting, but it has good soundtrack and great sound. design.

Special Features 6/10 - new game plus and collectables.

Overall 6.5/10 - Evil West is an average 3rd-person Hack N Slash game which is not bad but it wasn't a perfect game which is nowhere near good as the other Hack N Slash titles from the past which did so much better than this, so this game can be a bit fun which I appericate the combat gameplay for its fighting system and upgrades did work well, but it doesn't help with the game design are not quite the best in my opinion in which these repeated puzzles and fighting with the same enemies in many areas can get really tedious pretty fast and the boss battle is bit a letdown which is something that need to improve on, and I wish they could have done it better with the story writing and some side characters that needed to be something interesting rather than making it boring.    

At least the game has really good visuals for its graphical performances is nicely stable that optimised pretty smoothly and the gorey animation is fun to watch the enemies get tore up in pieces are satisfying to watch.

Is the game really bad? absolutely not because some of you may going to enjoy this game which is no problem at all especially the inclusion of online co-op in which you may concider finding someone who are interested to play this game, but then again it's just a one time campaign action game in which you can only play it for once.  

I say I rather much prefered Shadow Warrior a lot better which is Flying Wild Hog only best series for its great story featuring comedic one-liner protagonist and had action-packed shooting going on with decent combat gameplay and well-structured game design is the reason why I've chose it over this game. 

Going back to this game, it's not bad so the cost of the game for physical releases are less than £15 for PS5 and XSX/S, where as the digital storefront for PS Store, Xbox Store, and Steam are about between £45 and £50 in which you can able to play it free on Xbox Game Pass included in premium subscription.

Is it worth it? I say it might be not for everyone unless if you're into with the Hack N Slash genre then its fine, but what about the price point? I say you might want to stick with the physical release instead which is a cheaper option, where as the digital release is not worth of full price which is better off wait for the sales go cheaper unless if you have Xbox Game Pass then you might want it to get it for free on premium subscription instead.

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone.