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From Topic: SPOILER EDITION: Super Bomberman R
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Plasma Bomber
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Post#47  Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 1:09 pm  Reply with quote + 
While I received a copy of Super Bomberman R for Christmas, I was finally able to play through it a few days ago. Here are my thoughts:

Gameplay
I'd heard negative-to-neutral things, so I was apprehensive, but I actually really enjoy the game. Having no experience with the earliest version (I applied the patches immediately), I can only comment on the current patch, and I have few qualms with the controls. That is, using the D-pad. I found the analog stick to be cumbersome and switched to the D-pad before even completing a full level. I feel like movement directions should be more restricted but I understand from a programming perspective why that may be more difficult due to certain maps having open areas within them. One thing I think would make it better would be restricting movement to 8 directions. As a final note on the controls, my spouse seemed to have trouble with running into blocks instead of running around them. While I didn't really have this issue, it does make me wonder if the collision detection for wrapping around blocks may not be as wide as it was in older games.

With that being said, I personally can control the game easily enough.

The lack of items has been criticized, but I think it's an understandable decision. Bomberman has been dead for a long time. It was probably better to ease people back in this way. Additionally, with some of the changes that were made, and the added difficulty in Story Mode, it helps to not overwhelm newcomers. (Plus, as noted by Sailor Bomber, someone ripped the item textures and it appears that more items were cut or are currently planned - showing that they did indeed consider the issue).

I'm particularly glad that the Remote Control is gone because it breaks the game. I shouldn't feel compelled to avoid picking up a good item just to enjoy a game, but I often do when playing through older titles.

Story Mode is much, much more challenging than the old Normal Game used to be. I played through on Veteran mode and I used up around 3-4 continues on my first run. Despite the small variety of enemy types, it's tough! I actually don't believe the game really needed more than what was provided. The fact that it was able to kick my ass so soundly is a testament to simplicity in design. I've currently got 3 stars on the first five worlds and will be attempting to ace the last two. I'm kind of excited to find out how much tougher the hard mode (expert?) is...

While I haven't tried Beginner yet, my spouse played through the first world, and I feel that it scales down perfectly from what I've seen. The enemies are so super slow but they still gave them a tough time. One really interesting thing that I saw was how Magnet Bomber paused a lot during his battle. It reminded me of the Shitennou's AI from Super Bomberman 4. However, unlike the rivals in that game, Magnet Bomber was actually able to dodge and put up a decent fight despite being dumbed down. This is also reflects positively on the developers in my opinion.

Backpedaling a bit, because this is more of a ramble than a solid piece of writing, I love the various missions and new traps. The survival missions can get pretty hectic, especially when you're trying to avoid burning items to get a higher ranking. The way the 3D map is incorporated into the switch missions is also really neat. One of the coolest moments was seeing that first switch mission in Scrapheap, in which the switches were all atop a massive pile of junk that I had to blast through. That's not something I ever really expected to find in a Bomberman game and it was pretty cool. And as for traps, Lalala's use of ice and pits creates a nice puzzle element on top of the already puzzle-oriented Bomberman gameplay, and even though it can be frustrating, I love it.

Could they do more? Yes. But for a series revival, I think this is good.

The game isn't without its odd quirks and bugs. There were a couple of times when I encountered a glitch that made it impossible for me to place bombs. I'm not sure what triggered it, and sadly I didn't make any notes at the time. The glitch seems to resolve itself and didn't cost me a life but it's still not a good thing. Also, the enemy AI appears to have a problem with getting stuck on moving platforms sometimes, which basically requires the player to place a bomb and hope that it hits the enemy at just the right moment. These are mostly minor quibbles but they're there.

I haven't played the Battle Mode yet, nor have I tried unlockable characters, so I can't comment on those things. I'm only reviewing the Story Mode here. And I'm pleasantly surprised.

Story
I'm going to turn this into more of a bulleted list:

* I don't personally mind there being eight protagonists. They all got a decent amount of screen time, and the story is light and silly so I didn't really feel like I was missing much. You pretty much know who everybody is by the end of it. It's not like they have character arcs, just bits of insight into them.

* With that being said, the game's plot feels strangely more lacking and doesn't seem to take itself seriously at all. Another player (ShaolinTurtle) brought up the fact that there's really no explanation for what the Buggler Army even is (and I'll expand on why this is confusing in a bit). I also found myself wondering why the villains were just kind of left there on each of the first three planets. Did they really leave an unconscious Golem Bomber with a note and rocket off? What's to stop him from retaking the planet? I'm probably not supposed to think about it too much.

* The personality of each villain seemed spot on, going back to what information had been given through various games and manga in the old canon. The only one who seemed somewhat different from my expectations was Sexy Bomber, which is probably because she was a corrupt version of herself. Well, and also because they added the "idol" aspect.

* The stuff about Pretty Bomber was spoiled for me long ago, so I have no idea what kind of impact it would have had. I do feel that this probably ties into her appearance. From the beginning, I speculated that they overhauled her design as Sexy Bomber to try to make her look more evil, and less like the siblings. My guess is that the devs thought people would still want the old Pretty Bomber in the game somehow, so they worked her into the plot. Of course, I could also be totally incorrect.

* Between the conversations and backstories regarding Bombermen (i.e. they all seem to have been created by organic lifeforms), and the discussions regarding the hostages (that civilians is a "worker's kid", and the sight of him helps Plasma remember how he used to love the humans), it seems clear to me that the civilians are meant to be humans. This also would mean that the people seen in the newscast at the end of world 7 are also humans (and I guess all humans wear a button/orb/light thingy). However, because of the stark contrast between these humans and a certain other "human", this brings me straight into the next point, which is...

* What even is Buggler? For the first time, it looked like we had a concrete story for Buggler: He's clearly a human who has replaced his body with a robotic one. He created an army of robots, the Buggler Army. It's all clear now.

But then the ending comes around and just wipes all of that off of the table.

So I'm sitting there watching his body break apart and I'm thinking, okay, I guess I'm right, his head is going to escape. But then he's talking and... he's... born from "the evil in the hearts of life-forms across the universe"? What? Then his head starts to break apart (am I the only one who found this freaky?) and I'm totally not prepared for what is going on here. So apparently he's not even human? Or robotic? He's some cosmic entity, evil incarnate? So why does he look like a cyborg? Where do the Hige Hige combatants come from? Are they just unrelated robots (we see them in the crowd of Grand Prix, which takes place after the story)? Come to think of it, we only ever see him use "dark powers", so does he even have any knowledge of technology? I'm left with so many questions at the very last moment, and no semblance of answers to come.

I guess like I said in an earlier point: I'm probably not supposed to think about it.

* Despite some others' complaints about the world 7 plot, I thought it was cute and fit in well enough. I am a little sad that Smuggler turned out to be such a lame villain. He looks pretty rad and I like his attitude.

__________


That's all I can think of to say right now. I'd love to engage in a discussion about any of this stuff if anybody is still up for it. My apologies for the wall of text! :oops: 
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