HIGH A chill, pleasant mood elevated by lovely music and art.

LOW It’s very short, and oddly strict about timing.

WTF It’s oddly bright and upbeat for a game about trying to get some sleep.

When it comes to rhythm games, one persistent (yet understandable) misunderstanding about the genre is that it’s about appreciating music. While the overwhelming majority of rhythm games are framed around music, rhythm play is ultimately about rhythm. Music is just the best mechanical device to build a timing-based set of mechanics around. It’s why so many rhythm titles are still playable in the deafening cacophony of an arcade, or why many rhythm players can still succeed with the music on mute. However, Half Asleep Games’ Melatonin might be one of the few where the music is truly essential.

The concept of Melatonin is heavily informed by genre classic Rhythm Heaven, and like Rhythm Heaven, Melatonin frames its challenges around scenarios set to music. But, where Rhythm Heaven was whimsical, silly, and focused on bizarre, energetic set pieces, Melatonin‘s framing is a more coherent and chill.

As one might expect of a title named after the brain hormone that helps regulate sleep, Melatonin is about a young person trying to get a good night’s rest. Unfortunately, their brain seems to have other ideas, with stages organized into five “Nights”. Each musical piece is centered around a dream subject, such as “Work,” or “Nature,” or “Space”. Melatonin‘s hand-drawn visuals are excellent, with character art and lines reminiscent of modern cartoons and a light, pink-and-pastel color scheme.

The music is a standout, with a number of relaxed pieces produced both by Half Asleep Games and other producers like Gravity Sound and Filippo Vicarelli. Fans of selections found in the “Chill Beats” and “Lo-Fi Girl” corners of YouTube and Spotify will find much to like in Melatonin‘s soundtrack. While consistently of a piece with the dreamy vibe, the songs do vary in tone, with some of the more stressful dream subjects having a darker mood.

Meanwhile, Melatonin varies the interactions with each dream, with the patterns themselves varying throughout the song. For example, a dream about shopping might show players a pattern first, then have them swipe their credit card to match the pattern to buy trinkets. Meanwhile, a dream about time challenges players to wait until the pause in the beat to bat away a flying clock. A dream about exercise has players hitting shoulder buttons to flex their right or left biceps. Melatonin then ups the challenge by speeding up the song, slowing it down and messing with the prompts.

Melatonin‘s strongest Rhythm Heaven influence is in the nature of the these prompts. While most modern titles often use a standardized set of visual cues to tell players the timing of the beat, Melatonin challenges players to listen to the beat for their cue. Most stages vary or even hide the prompts at certain points, forcing a player to pay attention to the audio as much as the visual. Helpfully, the game doesn’t throw a player into the deep end, as there’s a mandatory practice stage for every song and an explanation on the nature of each mechanic.

Melatonin also has assists that may help players with poor timing or those with disabilities. These can consist of adding a metronome beat, or permanently turning on the tutorial-style button prompts, which makes Melatonin a more “traditional” rhythm experience. Personally, I found the scoring assists which widens the “perfect” timing window to be the most helpful. Melatonin doesn’t penalize one for turning on assists either, which I appreciate as someone who was never a fan of the way some devs try to shame players who want to take it easy.

A while it’s a conceptually-perfect perfect love letter to Rhythm Heaven while still offering its own vibe, Melatonin isn’t free of the occasional sleep-disrupting issue. Without assists, play is surprisingly unforgiving on timing. Perhaps it’s just my own lack of skill (or my aging reflexes) but some stages were basically impossible for me to complete without turning on scoring assist. A few of the interactions also rely on an unintuitive understanding of the timing for their cues, as well.

Also, Melatonin is on the shorter side, clocking in at under three hours to get through all available stages. The included custom beatmap options and a personal quest to get a perfect score can add time to that number, but one could theoretically clear Melatonin in the time it takes to have a nice weekend nap.

With all that said, Melatonin never stopped putting a smile on my face. The pitch-perfect sound and visuals, along with the twist on Rhythm Heaven‘s under-imitated style make for a unique and memorable, if brief, experience. Consider it a compliment when I say that my time with Melatonin passed by like a pleasant dream.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Half Asleep Games. It is currently available for the PC, Switch and PS5. This review is based on a code provided by the publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 2 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode. There is no multiplayer mode. The game was completed.

Parents: This game is rated E by the ESRB, with content descriptors for Mild Fantasy Violence. The rating does not have a description, but if it did, it would probably read something like: “This is a story-driven rhythm game in which players control a young person in their dreams over the course of five nights. Players will attempt to hit buttons in time to the music and according to specific patterns in each stage. During the game the protagonist dreams of playing a video game where they shoot cartoon aliens.”

Colorblind Modes: The game has no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Gameplay relies heavily on using audio cues, and in its default mode will gradually hide visual cues to further challenge the player. Assists are available in the accessibility menu to permanently enable visual timing cues, making the game playable for players that are deaf or hard of hearing. There is no voiced dialog in the game, and all text is rendered onscreen. This game is fully accessible (with the appropriate features turned on.)

Remappable Controls: This game’s button controls are not remappable.

The post Melatonin Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH An ingenious, unique core mechanic. 

LOW A slightly homogenous, limited soundtrack. 

WTF The announcer, who seems straight out of a 2003 DDR cabinet. 

For a rhythm title, Spin Rhythm XD’s appeal is hard to sum up in a few easy words. In a world without narrative and possessing stripped back and strict methods of interactivity, rhythm games bypass the usual videogame criteria to play on the dark corners of our lizard brain that simply crave new interactive sensations. 

The hook of Spin Rhythm is right in its name — rather than being a simple tapping or button-spamming title where the player presses the corresponding button as a note passes through some sort of ‘judgment zone,’ the judgment zone itself is able to be spun by the player in order to line up alternating red and blue blocks with red and blue notes coming down the screen. These basic notes are then either tapped individually, or automatically counted as successful hits when they pass through the correct color. 

Spin Rhythm expands on this basic idea, of course. Even on the early difficulties, there are sections where the player is asked to flick their analog stick (or their finger, if they’re using the touchscreen) to one side or another, seemingly imitating a DJ scratch. As the player advances through the difficulty levels, Spin Rhythm adds even more wrinkles, such as held notes that need to be released at the right time to continue the combo, or additional note types using the shoulder buttons. 

Throughout it all, the root of the Spin Rhythm identity lies in the fact that the horizontal movement of the judgment zone is often just as important as the vertical movement of the notes downscreen (or, perhaps, more important). This leads to different sensations than the average tapping-based rhythm game.

There are often sections, for example, where the player is simply allowed to hold the judgment zone in place as a stream of both red and blue notes flow down the screen. Staying still in the middle of this blizzard as the judgment zone automatically gobbles them up like Pac-Man tickles a part of my rhythm brain I didn’t know existed. These moments often exist in combination with other characteristic nuggets of Spin Rhythm’s feel, such as a series of back and forth horizontal spins, all of which reset the position of the judgment zone while making the player feel like a calm and collected DJ in the middle of a note inferno. 

It’s a bit hard to describe how these basic concepts and sensations make a player fee, but it’s important to evaluate whether or not a game got them right — and Spin Rhythm XD very much gets this right, no matter what peripheral is used to play. 

As for the Switch version, the player can either use a Pro controller or the Switch’s touchscreen in the style of a mobile rhythm game. Both methods are satisfactory and I’d imagine that the average player could get by using either one of them though I’m sure each mode has a bit of awkwardness on higher difficulties.  

More divisive, I expect, will be the soundtrack. With a decent amount of exceptions, Spin Rhythm mostly uses EDM tracks from modern record labels. To many, the structural similarity of the songs here (verse-chorus-breakdown-verse-etc) might be a turnoff, but I hope this doesn’t end up being the case.

Regardless of what one thinks of the individual tracks, the note structures exhibit a lovely level of homespun detail, feeling appropriately congruent with the song they’re representing while also containing a nice amount of artistic interpretation, appropriate for a rhythm title that doesn’t follow a single instrument for the full duration of a song. 

Details such as this tightness and flair of the notes, the expressive UI — even things like the fact that there’s a preview of the notes scrolling along underneath each track in the song select screen — speak to a level of passion the devs seem to have for the genre, and perhaps a desire to create an experience that is equivalent to their favorite rhythm games, not merely a pastiche of older titles. 

And so, the Switch adds yet another solid rhythm game title to its growing library and reinforces the idea that the console is becoming the go-to destination for both handheld and couch-centric rhythm gaming shenanigans. It certainly helps that Spin Rhythm is so welcoming to players of all skill levels — seasoned rhythm gods, beginners, and even perpetual mediocrities like myself. Spin Rhythm does its best to keep the groove going for everyone. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Super Spin Digital and published by Super Spin Digital. It is currently available on the Switch, PC, and Mac. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 11 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. 0 hours were spent in the local multiplayer mode. 

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E, and contains Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language. My guess is that these descriptors are related to some of the lyrics in some of the songs, and perhaps some of the different album artwork or background areas. 

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. However, the color of different note types etc. can be altered. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered or resized. Though it is understandably quite difficult to play a rhythm game without sound, Spin Rhythm XD offers tutorials that are easy to complete without sound, and all other information is presented visually. Theoretically, it would be possible to progress purely using pattern recognition. 

Remappable Controls: Certain functions are remappable. Spin Rhythm can be played in a few different styles — as a purely touchscreen experience, controlling movement through the Pro Controller’s gyroscope, or using buttons and the analog stick. For the default controller scheme, the player moves an analog stick back and forth to spin the judgement zone, presses A or B to tap the red or blue notes, and presses RB or LB to hit the green notes.

The post Spin Rhythm XD Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH A wonderful playlist with interesting remixes.

LOW The art style does nothing for me.

WTF What’s with all of these RPG elements?

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi everyone! Eugene Sax here with another review from Gamecritics.com.

Ever wanted to have Cloud, Squall, Yuna, and Vivi team up to fight Sephiroth and Kefka? Well now you can in the latest Final Fantasy rhythm game. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is the newest installment of this musical remix series where players can go through hundreds of songs from the franchise’s history.

In Bar Line, players will be using a combination of pressing or holding buttons to tap in time with the music, as well as flicking or moving the control sticks to hit notes, or some combination of these options. In some songs, it can also require players to hit a note and then move the control stick to follow the note up and down the screen. There’s also a simple control mode where players can hit one button to hit all notes in the song, or a pair mode which allows two players to play on one note chart. All three control styles can be used for all parts of the game, making it the first of the series that can be played completely co-op if desired.

Bar Line has three different modes of play — Series quest (their campaign mode), Music Stages (their free play mode), and Multi Battle (online multiplayer). Series quest takes players through each individual game, playing through the bigger songs while cutesy versions of game characters and monsters will battle underneath the notes. Once the level is completed, the song unlocks for free play. Each song can also have an additional modification where it can be more strict on timing when players hit the notes, or it can make notes move faster than normal. There are some light RPG elements as well — completing songs will level characters up and enable them to do special moves if players nail a long chain of notes or getting through a certain portion of a song. The other two modes, the Music Stages and Multi Battle mode, are more about getting the highest score and highest chain possible.

As you can tell from what I’ve said so far, there is a lot going on in Bar Line, and this is both for better and for worse.

For example, I love the expansive playlist of over 350 songs that collects all of the greatest hits from the Final Fantasy IP, but it also includes different types of remixes and tracks from other media, like the mobile games, animated films, and other Square franchises. On the flip side, the RPG elements are superficial, and I only needed to pay attention to them if I wanted to achieve a specific side goal during a song in order to get an unlockable. I also have to admit that the art style did absolutely nothing for me. So much so, in fact, that I eventually turned off the art because I wanted to focus solely on the note charts.

That said, the music nerd in me enjoyed Bar Line‘s rhythm aspect, especially as it seems more focused on playing different parts of a song, rather than specific instruments in a song. In a way, it felt more like being a conductor rather than someone seated in the orchestra, and for this music I think that’s the appropriate choice. Also, being able to play every minute of Bar Line in co-op is an interesting addition to the rhythm genre since there can be more than two players on different note charts, while having some paired notes go between players kept the music sounding and feeling fresh.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. The note charts are interesting and build on themselves as sections of a song are repeated, the track selection is immense, and as a bonus, it plays great both in docked mode or on the go, which means that it’s easy to pick up and get a couple of songs in, anywhere or anytime. Rhythm fans and Final Fantasy fans alike shouldn’t miss out on this one.

For me, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line gets an 8 out of 10.

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Square Enix.  It is currently available on PS4 and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. About 1 hour was spent in multiplayer

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, and Mild Suggestive Themes. From the ESRB Website: “This is a rhythm game featuring characters, settings, and sequences from the Final Fantasy franchise. Players engage in rhythm-based battles, commanding their fighters to use swords, pistols, and magic spells against enemies (e.g., dragons, ogres, half-human creatures). Video clips/cutscenes also depict instances of violence: large-scale battles with explosions; a character impaled by a lance; characters shot with guns/arrows, accompanied by brief blood spurts. Blood may also appear on the ground and on characters’ faces. Some female characters wear revealing outfits (e.g., low-cut tops, deep cleavage). The word “a*s” appears in the dialogue.”

Colorblind Modes: There is one color change option. This changes the notes from red, green, and yellow to blue, teal, and orange.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Text and voiceover are in the game, but the text is not resizable. Playing with no sound doesn’t hinder gameplay, since each note has an indicator on when the note needs to be hit. This game is fully accessible. 

Remappable controls: This game features no remappable controls, and no control diagram. Players can use the face buttons (A, B, X, Y), the shoulder buttons (R, L, ZR, and ZL), or the directional buttons (up, down, left, right) to hit the notes. Players will also use the left or right joystick to flick in directions, or to follow a note on screen.

The post Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line Video Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Perfect rhythm shots at x16 combo level.

LOW Boring boss fights and narrative.

WTF Amy Lee’s divine vocal work.

Beat Saber, Rez and Rock Band are but a few of the well-known rhythm games that have profoundly touched many in the gaming industry. Metal: Hellsinger does not touch the gamer in a similar way — instead it seizes upon their heart and attempts to pump as much adrenaline and fear into it while giving just enough serotonin to keep them coming back for more.

For anyone who’s played the recent Doom titles, the idea of slaying thousands of demons in hell while rock and metal music plays in the background is nothing new, but what if combat in Doom had musical rhythm, and my ability to follow said rhythm made my weapons more powerful and faster at reloading?

Ladies, gentlemen and demons, welcome to Metal: Hellsinger.

Metal: Hellsinger is a first-person shooter/platformer that skews towards bullet-hell in boss fights. Movement is fast and furious, requiring the player to be constantly moving, and dashing at just the right time for invulnerability is crucial, as it’s not possible to dash constantly. It even throws active reloads into the mix!

However, matching the timing of my shots with the rhythm of the music is what Hellsinger is all about, and it’s essentially the difference between racing with or without nitrous in a driving game. The more perfect-in-rhythm shots I hit, the louder the music gets, the more damage my bullets deal and the higher my score multiplayer goes.

Metal: Hellsinger shines when two dozen demons are in pursuit and the player hits three or four shots in perfect rhythm, causing the music and vocals to ramp up. The swell of the audio accompanying the player’s rampage is utterly euphoric.

There is a decent amount of variety in weapons, enemies and their attack patterns that goes beyond differences in aesthetics and health bar size. Players will find beasts like the aptly-named giant Behemoths, pesky Stalkers who can go invisible for short periods and Lesser Seraphs who can fly and deal significant damage if approached for close combat. The Shielded Cambions are the most aggravating, though. Their inconsistent movement patterns and propensity to keep firing while being completely protected by their shields demands patience and trickery.

Unfortunately, while the enemies are fine, boss battles are a weak area for Metal: Hellsinger because these fights are only challenging when the main foe calls upon minions to cause distractions and pad out the length of a skirmish. When going at it one-on-one, there’s no real challenge posed to anyone who’s been paying attention to perks and upgrades,.

So now we come to the biggest aspect – the music. The soundtrack in Metal: Hellsinger is so well-tuned to the weapons and arenas that it’s possible to get perfect rhythm shots off by letting the music guide the gameplay. Further, each weapon has its own rhythm, syncing with different firing and reload speeds. This makes Metal: Hellsinger a perfect candidate in the replayability department, not only for the sake of achievements/trophies, but for the sense of discovery the player feels when having to adapt a new shooting strategy that fits a new song while using a new weapon and still dispatching enemies effectively.

If there’s any weak aspect to Metal: Hellsinger, it’s the plot. The player is a soul that does not belong in hell but ends up there anyway. For reasons beyond their comprehension, their voice was taken away from them and now their main objective is to get that voice back. Naturally, the best way to recover one’s voice is to make demons in hell scream in agony as one kills them on the way to the big bad.

The story is narrated by the cheesiest cowboy voiceover imaginable – real ’80s Hollywood Western stuff. It’s an oddity given the setting, and can be grating as the campaign goes on. This narrator and his terrible one-liners are unfortunately a harbinger of the failings to come when analyzing the narrative in Metal: Hellsinger. The premise is ill-explained and the motivation for moving forward is so paper-thin it’s embarrassing. Clearly the developers spent their time on gameplay and sound design, and then left the story to whatever intern was available to slap something together.

While not perfect in all areas, the craft on display in Metal: Hellsinger is a testament to the beauty and precision that a focused project with a great vision can yield.

— Patricio do Rosario

Disclosures: This game is published by Funcom and developed by The Outsiders. It is available on PS5, XBX/S and PC. This game copy was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Xbox Series X. Approximately 10 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T. Contains Violence, Suggestive Themes, Crude Humor, Blood, and/or infrequent use of Strong Language. There are depictions of blood and violence, both at close range. There is also a generous amount of use of Tobacco in-game. That said, as a point of comparison to others in the genre, I feel it is milder than both Doom and Wolfenstein from recent years.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Metal: Hellsinger offers visual prompts for players who might not be able to hear the beat. My experience with the sound off was a bit disorienting because I spent a bit too much time looking at the sides of the screen (where the timing markers scroll by) as opposed to the whole screen, but I would guess it would be less noticeable with practice. Based on this, I would say that the game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls are remappable.

The post Metal: Hellsinger Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

Disclosure: This is an article written and released by Ubisoft, and sent to GameCritics via Ubisoft PR. While we don’t usually run PR releases, given its focus on accessibility and our lifelong dedication to same, we’re happy to share this information. The article can be seen in its original format here.

Just Dance 2023 Edition launches on November 22 on Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The revamped dance-on-demand platform comes with 40 new songs from popular artists including BTS, Dua Lipa, K/DA, and more. Just Dance 2023 Edition will feature regular content updates, and will introduce new features to personalize your experience and navigate menus more fluidly, like custom-made sessions and songs tailored to your preferences and playing habits, and a redesigned user interface. The development team designed these features with accessibility in mind to ensure that the game can be played by as many people as possible.

Ubisoft News spoke with Senior UX Designer Chloé Grémine and Lead UX Designer Adrien Morisse to learn more about the team’s approach to accessibility, and how the community can help with future updates.

What unique challenges does Just Dance 2023 Edition present from an accessibility standpoint, and how was the game designed to overcome those challenges?

Chloé Grémine: We are convinced that dance helps people to connect positively with others, that it helps to accept themselves and to transform themselves for the better. To be as inclusive as possible, it was important for us to create a game in which as many players as possible could participate, whether they have a permanent disability, a temporary condition, or just a gameplay preference.

To make Just Dance more accessible, we reviewed several aspects of our designs. The Just Dance experience starts from the main page, on which players can browse our song catalog and access the different parts of our game. Just Dance 2023 Edition has a new high contrast interface to improve readability with larger text than ever before and game colors carefully chosen for colorblind accessibility.

The main challenge is the heart of our game, which is the dance. It presented a lot of challenges, from the HUD to the choreographies themselves. We wanted to make sure that players can find the right choreographies for them, so we’ve now added accessibility tags to dances for the first time. Players will be able to filter by seated maps, as well as maps that do not require floorwork or jumping. This extra information should help players avoid movements that might cause them pain or discomfort.

Is there something you’re particularly proud of when it comes to accessibility in Just Dance 2023 Edition?

CG: I am proud that accessibility and inclusivity are part of Just Dance’s values, and that they are current and future concerns. The diversity of our players and their feedback has been one of our design concerns to improve our accessibility. As a first step, we have worked to put in place useful arrangements for all, and we are working to provide more precise solutions for the future.

I find it particularly rewarding that we can offer our players very creative seated choreographies, such as “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, which was produced in collaboration with professional choreographer Sadeck Waff and features our first-ever wheelchair user in a map.

Adrien Morisse: The inclusive approach we have on Just Dance, trying to include as many players as possible, is something I’m particularly proud of. Designers are in an “accessible-by-design” mindset that leads everyone to try to make the game accessible as much as possible by default. Of course, we will still need to create specific settings to reach as many players as possible.

JD23 Edition will now provide regular, ongoing updates. What is the best way for players to provide feedback to be considered for future updates? What kind of accessibility updates can players look forward to in the future?

CG: Just Dance players should not hesitate to communicate their feedback through forums, social media, or at any event where the Just Dance team could be. We are always so happy to know what they think about our game and what they expect, especially on accessibility. It helps us a lot!

AM: We have a lot of ideas to improve the accessibility of our game, from design improvements for a more accessible default experience to new settings that players can edit as they want.

Some of the ideas we have are very ambitious, but we know they will be useful for our players, and we already started to work on them. Other ideas however are easier to implement, and so feedback from our players will be essential for us to adapt our accessibility roadmap and priorities. I can tell you that the accessibility future of Just Dance is bright.

Here is a full list of the accessibility options available in Just Dance 2023 Edition:

CONTROLS (Motor, Cognitive, Vision)

• Map tags for accessibility on every map (seated, ground-free, jump-free).

VISUAL (Cognitive, Vision)

• Readability option to display names of songs above the song covers.

AUDIO (Hearing, Cognitive)

• Option to adjust volume levels for menu, music, sound effects, spoken voice and gameplay.
• Option to prevent songs playing automatically in menus.

HUD (Cognitive, Vision)

• Scoring feedback option to turn the scoring feedback ON/OFF.
• Lyrics option to turn the lyrics ON/OFF.
• Pictograms option to turn the pictograms ON/OFF.

Just Dance 2023 Edition is available for pre-order at the Ubisoft Store and launches on Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on November 22. For more on Just Dance 2023 Edition, or the Just Dance Controller App that turns your smartphone into a controller, visit justdancegame.com.

— Chastity Vicencio

The post Just Dance 2023 Accessibility Spotlight appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Versatile songs and lively dance moves to master.

LOW The subscription necessary for the best songs.

WTF Make It Jingle made me want to learn to twerk.

Just Dance 2020 is a high energy rhythm game that provides hours of entertainment for the whole family.  Released just prior to 2020, it offered 500+ exciting songs to dance and move to when I needed it most.  However, there’s certainly a groove for everyone in this simple-to-understand title, making it suitable for all ages and demographics with vibrant colors, entertaining characters, and sharp visuals.

To play Just Dance, the player moves their body to match the incoming dance moves on screen.  The game tracks this using a Switch controller, a Kinect sensor, or a Just Dance smartphone app.  The more accurate a player is, the more points they will score for each individual dance move.  At the end of each song, the goal is to achieve “Megastar” status by earning 12,000 points or more, though being a “Superstar” at 11,000 points isn’t too shabby either.  The more songs a player completes, the more points they earn, and the more virtual collectible items they are able to unlock in the game overall.

Past the tutorial, the player can see their song selections and choose one that is perfect for not only their music taste, but also for their skill level… or shall I say, “commitment” level.  JD2020 is suitable for those who want to go HARD and tear up the living room with their moves, and also for the casual dancer who’s in it to burn a few calories and spend time with friends – up to five of them at a time, to be precise.  Either way, the lively onscreen characters help the player learn the moves with ease, and they’re typically repeated to help the player nail the routine.

My personal experience with Just Dance 2020 came at a time where I can confidently say that we all needed a little extra motivation.  The COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely difficult for many people including myself, but this game was refreshing enough to pull me out of that quarantine funk.  When I was too tired of Zoom, hadn’t gotten dressed in four days, or just found myself bored of the same shows on Netflix, Make it Jingle by Big Freedia saved the day.  I spent hours learning new songs and moves, and getting my heart rate up with Sweat mode, which tracks your calories burnt during a play session.  It was the perfect way to feel productive and accomplished for giving what I’m sure was the performance of a lifetime… at 4pm on a Tuesday.

Among Just Dance 2020’s other benefits are custom playlists, Kids mode, and the notorious gumball machine. 

With the 2020 edition, the player can use the custom playlist feature to tailor the 500+ songs to their liking.  Kids mode screens through the selections on offer to show only child-appropriate language and dance moves.  The gumball machine lets players unlock stickers which represent iconic moments from Just Dance history.  As someone who used to play at middle school sleepovers, I enjoyed this motivational feature and couldn’t help but feel pleasantly nostalgic with each successful dance I completed.

Unfortunately, JD2020 isn’t a perfect game, and the reason is Just Dance Unlimited.  This is a new subscription that accompanies the game, and a one-month trial is included with every purchase.  This feature unlocks every song in the game and allows the player to explore hundreds of different dance and music styles.  The problem?  Once the free month was over, I was left with a sad selection of songs and all of my favorites were locked away.  It’s obviously a brilliant money-making move from the Just Dance team, but it means the game will be sad for casual dancers who don’t feel that playing a couple times a month is worth the full subscription.  For reference, a year of Just Dance Unlimited costs $24.99.  For three months the price is $9.99, and for one month, $3.99.  For the casual dancer, a 24 hour subscription is also available at $2.99, though it is obviously a better value to go for the longer subcriptions.

Overall though, this game was the best $20 I ever spent during the pandemic, and it provided not only hours of enjoyment, but a little exercise when I needed it most.  It’s flirty, active, diverse, and the perfect activity for a rainy day.  For dancers age 10 or age 60, finding rhythm is delightful with Just Dance 2020.

— Madelyn Holthouse

Disclosures: This game is developed by Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft. It is currently available on Wii, PS4, Switch, and XBO.  This copy of the game was obtained via retail store and reviewed on the Switch.  Approximately 14 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed.  10 hours of play were spent in multi-player modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ and contains Mild Lyrics, and Mild Suggestive Themes.  The official ESRB description reads as follows: This is a music-rhythm dance simulation game in which players perform choreographed routines by following the movements of on-screen characters. Players score points by accurately moving their bodies in time to the music and scrolling indicators. One dance sequence depicts a female character wearing hot pants that display moderate amounts of buttocks. Some song lyrics contain references to alcohol (e.g., “Sippin gin and juice”; “Have a drink, clink, found the Bud Light”; “Voli’s the new vodka”). A handful of songs contain suggestive material (e.g., “I’m that bad type/…Might seduce your dad type”; No broads I like my/women/Sexy classy sassy”).

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles.The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized.  Not all audio cues are accompanied by visual cues, but pictogrammes are included to help players execute choreography.  This game will be playable, but significantly more difficult on mute.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. This game does not offer a controller map diagram, but you can scroll to pick songs with the stick and select songs with A. The movement for each dance is captured just by moving the controller itself.

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HIGH The combination of profound themes and wacky characters is terrific.

LOW Dodging rhythm-based attacks off-beat is counterintuitive.

WTF Buddha throwing musical notes at me.  

When it comes to music and rhythm games, I generally expect catchy tunes, addicting gameplay, and not much plot, but this is anything but the case with Chris Nordgen and Jordi Roca’s Everhood. When the game’s opening moments asked me to leave my idea of time behind and accept immortality, I knew it would would be a wild ride. While I ultimately had some qualms with its gameplay, Everhood supplies a compelling story that left me both questioning aspects of reality, and yet strangely at peace.

Everhood follows the story of Red, a wooden puppet trying to retrieve his stolen arm from the evil Gold Pig. About fifteen minutes after starting, Red dies after a perilous fight and is reborn into the realm of immortals to continue his quest to reclaim his arm…I think. 

Mechanically, Everhood is a rhythm-based adventure with light RPG elements. While there are some puzzles and exploration, enemy encounters are the main course. Combat revolves around music-based battles where Red must dodge incoming attacks which are coordinated to the beat. These fights are fantastically colorful and frenzied, and enemy sprites are bubbling with personality.

In Everhood’s later stages, endless barrages of notes can rapidly fly at Red, making things quite challenging. Luckily, the player can switch between five different difficulty levels at any time and retry a fight with no penalty. Also, Red later acquires the ability to absorb and reflect incoming attacks, so instead of dodging notes, Red can send enemy attacks back until foes run out of HP. This mechanic certainly makes battles more interesting, especially since simply dodging attacks started to grow stale halfway through.

Though Red is a silent protagonist, Everhood’s lively and witty characters are one of its strongest suits. From a cranky goblin who challenges him on the dance floor, to a pair of slime brothers who sell pieces of wood, each character is unique, memorable, and bubbling with personality, and the game is at its best when it plays into its quirkiness — I loved battling an ATM machine or encountering an evil knight who unexpectedly throws away his sword and fights with smooth jazz.

One of my favorite sections was when all of the characters came together to play an unnamed board game (it’s definitely Dungeons & Dragons.) Red is absorbed into the game and must fight through the dungeon master’s story as it unfolds while the others are complaining that the graphics don’t look good and the story is cliché. While the overarching themes of Everhood are incredibly heavy, the cast of characters don’t take themselves too seriously, and that balance is splendid.

Speaking of heavy themes, Everhood forces the player to decipher meaning for themselves, saying “the truth is in your hands to truly interpret.” Mortality, destiny, good and evil, and what it really means to be a friend are just some of the intricate issues tackled in Everhood. 

I was unable to tear myself away from it due to the cryptic story and message, even though I was often confused as to where I was being led in its early stages — but, I believe that’s Everhood’s intention. Red’s companion, the Blue Thief, at one point notes he doesn’t understand what their purpose is anymore, or why they are on their quest. Nor did I. But, after pushing through that uncertainty and uncovering the events in the land of the immortals, I was floored.

While I found Everhood to be intellectually stimulating, one of the criticisms I had was that although the combat is decent enough, it feels contradictory.

Instead of pressing buttons in time with the music (like most traditional rhythm titles) foes attack on-beat, meaning Red must frequently dodge off-beat. There were many times my body wanted to stay in time with the music, but the notes forced me to defy that impulse. It’s not gamebreaking, but it’s counter-intuitive and not as satisfying as it could be.

Musically, Everhood has two or three fantastic tracks that warranted replays, but aside from those, most of the music isn’t terribly memorable — a issue for a music game.

Also, in an adventure that revolves around profound philosophical questions, the theme of music is not tied to the main plot, making the choice to have music-based combat an odd one. In most rhythm titles, gameplay concepts come first, and then the plot, but it feels the other way around here.

Near the beginning of Red’s adventure, Everhood asks the player if they wish to know the “absolute truth,” which could aid them in their journey, but also hinder their understanding of reality. The player is asked again at the game’s conclusion. I said no both times, but I think Everhood’s message is there are no absolute truths. It’s up to the player to decide what is right, wrong, and what their purpose is, and in doing so, Everhood provides a one-of-a-kind experience.

— Alex Prakken

Disclosures: This game was developed by Chris Nordgen and Jordi Roca, and published by Foreign Gnomes and Surefire.Games. It is available on PC and Switch. This review copy was obtained from the publisher. The main campaign was completed in 4.5 hours, though there are plenty of secrets to uncover once the story concludes. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game is rated E +10 and has a descriptor of Fantasy Violence. There is nothing graphic in this game — Red will reflect attacks back at his enemies, but violence here is minimal.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind Mode and Image Sensitive Mode are available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game is fully subtitled. Though the speed of the text can be changed, the size cannot. The game is music-based, and though one could get away with playing it without sound, that lack of audio input adds another level of difficulty to the combat, making it Partially Accessible.

Remappable Controls: Controls are not remappable, though multiple buttons will prompt Red to perform the same action, so players can choose which setup they like best. The game also has full controller support.

The post Everhood Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Finally finishing a song in Hard mode.

LOW Not having a drum controller to play with.

WTF Songs are too easy on Normal but impossible on Hard.

Rhythm games have largely fallen out of favor in the last few years. After long runs of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it seems that players have had enough of pushing buttons on fake plastic instruments for a while. Despite this shift, the Taiko no Tatsujin series has kept going since 2001 on the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and even on Android.

The Taiko series is rhythm gaming at its most basic — bang a drum along with songs, and it’s tailor-made for arcades in Japan where players use a real taiko drum with two sticks. The goal is to keep in rhythm by playing the only two possible sounds, Dom (center of the drum) and Ka (outer rim). Most of the entries in the series never made it to Western shores, but that’s not a huge surprise since this is a culturally-Japanese game in both looks and concept. 

The tracks in the series are mostly plucked out of anime and Japanese videogames, so unfortunately there’s no Free Bird or Band on the Run. However, the usual classics are here such as Flight of the Bumblebee and selections from One Piece and Yokai Watch, and there are also pieces from Monster Hunter 4 and Soul Calibur 2. I’m not sure that there’s something for everyone here, but with more than 130 songs there’s plenty to choose from.

Unfortunately, Bandai did not provide a drum controller for this review, but since most gamers will probably play with a regular controller, let me be upfront about it — this is a miserable way to play Taiko no Tatsujin. Sure, it’s possible to use a joypad or the Joycons, but one never gets the drum ‘feel’ that really sells the experience.

Putting the lack of drums aside, Rhythmic Adventure brings a major change to the series — JRPG elements to go along with the classic gameplay. Granted, this isn’t a hardcore RPG fans as it features a basic anime-flavored plot where everything is rather silly and played for laughs, but the standard JRPG gameplay of walking around on a map, talking to characters and moving between places is juxtaposed with taiko drumming for battles. The player tries not to make mistakes, can use a special power if enough good notes are played, and makes sure that their team survives.

There are two complete adventures available here, but they mostly play the same with minor differences. For example, in the second adventure it’s possible to avoid some of the random battles. The player can also have up to nine characters in the party, as opposed to just four in the first title, and so forth.

Graphically, it’s appropriately colorful and full of quirky characters, but it does retain the roots of originally being a 3DS title. The isometric maps where the player moves around feature some basic 3D graphics, but everything else sticks to simple, efficient 2D sprites.

There’s little to complain about overall, but the main problem I had with Rhythm Adventure is that the songs in Normal mode are too easy — I could finish most of them on my first try with only one or two mistakes. But, as soon as I switched to Hard, I was desperately trying to keep up with triplets and fast rhythms. The Rhythm Adventure Pack really needs a medium difficulty instead of going from zero to 100. Also, there’s no co-op or versus mode of any kind, unfortunately.

Ultimately, the new JRPG gameplay in the Rhythm Adventure Pack doesn’t change much about the Taiko no Tatsujin series — at its core, it caters to a very specific drum-loving audience, although I’d guess that kids would also have a blast with the percussive gameplay and songs from anime and game IPs.

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is currently available on Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on Switch. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and one of the two games in the pack was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: The game is rated T by the ESRB for Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes and Use of Alcohol and Tobacco. The plot’s content is on par with that of an inoffensive anime and the gameplay is simple and immediate — it’s totally fine for kids.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: this is a rhythm game with plenty of emphasis on the songs. It is possible to play with no sound just watching the notes appear on screen though, also with HD rumble on.

Remappable Controls: The controls can NOT be freely remapped but can be modified. Usually, the shoulder buttons act as the “Ka” hit and the four buttons for the “Dom”. It is possible to play with a drum controller or regular controllers.

The post Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Beautiful visuals from the entire series.

LOW There’s no meat to the story.

WTF The Frozen song.

Kingdom Hearts, the franchise combining Square-Enix RPG elements and Disney characters, has become a staple of the action-RPG genre with a grand following. With a legacy that spans nearly 20 years, its imagery and music are everywhere in gaming culture — it’s easy to see why something like Melody of Memory would be created, but focusing on only one part of that equation was a fail for me.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is one of the few in the series that is not an action-RPG. Instead, players are treated to a rhythm game where hitting the notes of songs controls series staples Sora, Donald and Goofy as they battle enemies and destroy obstacles. Missing notes causes enemies to hit the team. When the player’s health reaches zero, the song ends as the character is defeated.

As players complete songs, they can earn or create items that will automatically heal them if they get low on health. Players can also craft items like character art, new songs and videos, or concept art using some of the resources they will earn during play.

In the story mode, each song offers a mix of notes to hit and enemies that will appear, and these patterns are smartly changed up each time players go through a section of a song. The first time, the pattern is simple and easy to follow. The next time through adds a bit more, and then a bit more after that. While the sections remain the same, players may be hitting the notes of a different instrument or playing more notes than they did the last time. 

Outside of the story mode, players have a free play mode to practice songs or can play in “Performer” mode which increases the enemy count and requires specific button combinations instead of single-button notes. Melody of Memory also offers a multiplayer mode where players can co-op through scenarios, play against computer players, or battle each other.

So where does it fail? At certain points of the story mode, series heroine Kairi will give a “the story so far” lore dump with scenes from the entire series. On one hand, these dumps are a digestible way to understand a huge, sprawling plot that’s overflowing with backstory and ulterior motives for a pantheon of characters. The problem? It’s just a recap.

In essence, this mode sends players through the entire story of the series without adding any new content of its own. I had personally been hoping for a few revelations, especially knowing that Melody of Memory takes place after Kingdom Hearts 3, but I didn’t get anything fresh until the final 20 minutes. As someone eager to get more from this franchise, realizing this was essentially just one huge retelling was a disappointment.

While the script was a letdown, at least the music is good, right? To a point it is, but I realized something — other than sections featuring a specific Disney song, all of the music in Melody of Memory was background music.

The loop for most songs is about 30-45 seconds, and players will end up playing through two or three loops of each song. I was able to complete most in one or two tries — not too bad — but some of the harder songs had me banging my head against the wall because I was hearing the same bars of music over and over again. The story mode unlocks more interesting songs for free play mode, but why are the story selections so dull?

Melody of Memory also takes a weird left turn when it comes to the boss battles. During play, a circle will surround a note as it gets close to the player’s characters. The closer to the note the circle is when players hit the button, the better. however, in boss battles these mechanics are thrown out the window as notes move in a wide arc from left to right and players have to hit notes when they line up with a specific bar. This type of play is never used outside of boss battles, and it’s a needless change that just confuses things.

I knew Melody of Memory was a rhythm spin-off before I started it, so I kept my expectations fairly low, but it didn’t even clear that bar. The music isn’t awful and the visuals are beautiful, but it gives players almost nothing substantial in the main story. In light of this, I can only recommend it to those who really love rhythm games or the music from Kingdom Hearts.

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Square Enix.  It is currently available on PS4 and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4. Approximately 10 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. About 1 hour was spent in multiplayer

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E and contains Fantasy Violence and Mild language. There’s one use of the word “damned” in the game, and players will attack enemies which explode into sparks and smoke. Nothing too troublesome here.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Text and voiceover are in the game, but the text is not resizable. Playing with no sound doesn’t hinder gameplay since each note has an indicator on when the note needs to be hit. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable controls: This game features no remappable controls, and no control diagram. Players can use X, R1, or L1 to hit notes, and may need to use a combination of all three. Players must use Triangle to hit ability crystals, and use circle to jump over hazards, reach airborne enemies, or hold to glide to hit strings of notes. Performer mode will also have players using directional inputs and most other buttons on the controller to hit specific notes.

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HIGH Creating my first mix in the tutorial.

LOW Mixing DMX, Dolly Parton and Smash Mouth into some bizarre and cursed song.

WTF I have my own list of 50+ songs I’d like to see added.

Harmonix is a studio that needs no introduction. They’re the developers famous for getting twentysomethings in the mid-2000s to drunkenly play plastic instruments and sing horrible renditions of You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette while ushering in an era of rhythm games. Titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band remain important cornerstones, and some of the biggest success stories in the industry.

Fuser, the latest effort from the team, is a music title in which players assume the role of a DJ trying to attain status as a headliner. After creating an avatar and watching a few cheesy (yet endearing) cutscenes, they’re thrust into their first set.

After selecting different tracks that span a variety of genres and over six decades of music, players are given a virtual mixing table with four empty record players. Every song selected is broken up into four colors, each one representing a different instrument, and this is when Fuser introduces its hook – mixing.

With this setup, just a few button clicks can take the iconic beat of 50 Cent’s In Da Club, the vocals to the Clash’s Rock The Casbah and the string arrangements from Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life to create a strangely beautiful mix.

The rush after Fuser first showcases this mixing mechanic had me completely in love with the concept, thanks to how intuitive it felt.

The campaign teaches players different DJ techniques like using filters over parts of songs to change up the sound. Similar to Rock Band, the campaign also sees players trying to win over a crowd’s love by correctly timing when they drop discs, fulfilling requests from the crowd and making the most of the songs they’re given – certain missions restrict what songs can be used, so Fuser got me used to Country and Dance, two genres I usually never listen to.

The setlist is gargantuan, comprising well over 100 songs, and the VIP edition includes 25 more. What makes Fuser more interesting than most music titles is that every song serves a purpose. Sure, I really don’t like Imagine Dragons, but the song Thunder proved useful when an audience member wanted vocals from a 2010s rock song. This breadth in variety gives the DJ more options to choose from.

Songs are unlocked with in-game currency earned through gameplay and can also be used to build up the player’s crate, which acts as an inventory of sorts. Before every set, players fill an in-game crate of items that will be used for that set. These include songs, instruments, stage effects and even things the audience can throw around, like beach balls.

For me, the real star of the show (and one of the biggest time sinks of the year) was Freestyle Mode. Here, players are given free reign on what songs, stage effects and other items they want to use. After well over 30 hours in this mode, I managed to craft a bizarre synth-wave song featuring elements of Bananarama, Grandmaster Flash, Erasure, and Rick Astley that I was proud of. Sure, most of my mixes went nowhere, but the fact that I spent this much time simply messing around and loving it speaks to how enjoyable the act of mixing is.

While the setlist is great, I do find it odd that some obvious picks didn’t make it. I would have loved to see artists like Daft Punk, Madonna, Depeche Mode or Shakira make the cut, but I guess there’s always DLC for that.

One final aspect I was surprised by was multiplayer. The competitive mode sees two online players face off creating mixes under varying conditions. It took a while to get used to, but I appreciated how creative Harmonix was in crafting a bizarre (but enjoyable) competitive experience. Plus, there’s a great battle pass system full of cosmetic unlocks to encourage repeat play, which I always appreciate in online games.

After years of letting gamers simply play other people’s songs, Harmonix has now decided to let players create new music using those songs. It truly feels like a fully-realized vision of melding music and games in ways that haven’t been done before and feels like the next step in music games. Harmonix is back in fine form, and that’s a tune we can all dance to.

Disclosures: This game is published by NCSoft  and developed by Harmonix. It is available on Switch, PS4, PC and XBO. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS4.  Approximately 40 hours were spent across the campaign and freestyle mode and the game was completed. About one hour was spent in online play.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T for Mild Lyrics and Mild Suggestive Themes. A lot the songs deal with themes of sex, drugs, and other things that might not be appropriate for younger kids. Still, most of these are censored enough where most naughty words won’t get through. They even covered up the “F*ck you, I won’t do what you tell me” heard in Rage Against the Machine’s Killing In The Name Of!

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: Dialogue is subtitled throughout the campaign. Gameplay itself is mostly visual, despite centering around music. All the cues needed to drop music are on screen, with indicators letting players know if the track will fit the song or if it’s the right time to drop it for more points. Unfortunately, calibrating the game requires the players to listen for an audio cue, so those who have difficulty hearing might not be able to play as well if they aren’t able to set it up. I would say this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, the controls are not remappable and there is no control diagram. The opening tutorial shows players that each face button (X, Triangle, Square and Circle on PS4) corresponds to a different track. When clicked, they will drop onto their respective records. The left and right sticks are used to move the cursor and adjust the volume of each track respectively, as well as navigate menus. The bumpers are used to move through the in-game crate.

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