This game...is okay. I've replayed it about 2 and a half times and I can say that it satisfies my itch for a spiritual successor to the Jet Set Radio games. GAMEPLAY: The Good> If you've played Jet Set Radio, you know what to expect. If you haven't, it's a game about styling and graffiti spraying on bikes, skates, and boards. A majority of the fun of the game is about mastering your use of the controls and pulling off better stunts as you get better at the game. No level ups or unlockable abilities. It's all about what you know and how you use it. There have been a few, I will call, "upgrades" to the way the Jet Set series does controls. You feel more in control of what your character is doing with things like the rocket jump. There are even mechanics in the game that are never directly stated you can use. It carries that fun from old games before brow-beating tutorials were the standard, where there was an element of discovery to the game. The graffiti was also commissioned by a fine selection of artists, and a lot of them, so you can find very cool designs to collect. The Bad> For a game where movement is the end-all-be-all...it feels slow. There are very few times where the game wants to take a risk and/or plunge you into something extremely challenging. It feels like the game wants you to learn it at a slow pace until you have everything down. Then when you've learnt it, you've beat it, and the post-game doesn't have enough content to keep you interested in continuing a playthrough. A game like this should have more surprises just for the lulz and more variety in missions and content to justify the depth in the mechanics. The Ugly> The focus seems to be on what is happening on the rails (styling) as opposed to your skill in maneuvering on those rails. You'll notice that there are very few options for accessible alternative routes, which means you'll be going in circles over, and over, and over again, significantly reducing it's replayability. ESPECIALLY harming the post-game. MUSIC: The Good> The music is phenomenal. I expected the soundtrack to fall short of the gameplay, but they have outdone themselves with the roster, even bringing Hideki Naganuma out of Funk retirement. It is mostly a blend of futuristic funk and rap. It is much more listenable than I had expected. The Bad> I, personally, think they dropped the ball by not including more 2Mello tracks into the game, but they picked his best for the game, so it's fine, I guess. The Ugly> There is an absence of punk and alt-rock in the soundtrack. A game that leans heavily on it's fight-the-system, anti-conformity aesthetic and movement based gameplay should NOT be without a heart-pumping punk song or two. With the abundance of online artists and bands that'll take a gig for a couple benjamins, this is inexcusable. It makes the game feel slower and more boring than it, in all reality, isn't. GRAPHICS: The Good> The cell-shading is fantastic. It's a style that is not used as often or effectively as it can be, and this game applies it amazingly. Everything holds a cartoony style that blends with the landscape without being washed out. Very nice use of colors. It also doesn't require a quantum-computing graphical unit to play. The Bad> Not much bad to complain about. If you don't like the semi-blocky look of characters, that may be a turn-off, but it adds to the style of the game. The Ugly> again, Not much ugly here. It is does what it does well graphically what it sets out to do. STORY: The Good> The story is unique. I will not go into detail with the actual story, only summarized pieces without spoilers and how it works with the game. It sets the plot well at the beginning. You are hunting for your lost head in a futuristic urban setting. It's an okay premise that gives the character a simple motivation and leaves the character open to be explored and develop as the story progresses. There is also a battle for control of the city that you need to partake in for various reasons involving the mystery of who you were. The parts of the story that take on a psychological exploration are on-point, cool, aesthetic, trippy...They are awesome. The Bad> There is so much story that is condensed for the sake of gameplay, and what is not condensed is shown to you through cutscenes. There is no attempt at telling the story through creative means, and there is a LOT that is not explained accurately, if at all. If murder is an actual threat on the streets, what prevents groups from going into all-out war? Good faith? Why is tagging (graffiti) the respected way to take territory? Who are the old-timers? Why are they trusted to judge competitions for territory? because they are old? What even is the history of New-Amsterdam? Why is it new? There is so much potential for story that is sacrificed upon the alter of Plot. It's disappointing, but leaves a lot of potential for a sequel (when it really shouldn't). The Ugly> The dialogue is the worst written in the history of fanfiction. There are animes with better written english dialogue than this game. Every character feels like a hollow shell or a puppet reciting tropes for the sake of fitting into every scene. "I" could've written better dialogue. It's that bad. I ended up skimming the main points and skipped most of it just so I wouldn't have to read it all. I never bothered to read it on my second playthrough. OVERALL: It's a fun game with MASSIVE potential for sequels and improvements. I can't recommend it at full price unless you just want to show love and support for the developers, like I did. If you have an itch for a Jet Set Radio scratch, it'll scratch ya. Don't expect anything mind blowing, but go into it with curiosity, and you'll find the fun in it.
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