Strider (PC, E10+)



Because of school and pissing away most of my free time grinding Pokemon for use in Stadium, I only went through two pieces of media this month, one of which was a replay of Undertale. And unfortunately, I wasn't very impressed with Strider.

This latest incarnation of Strider is a Metroidvania reimagining of the Capcom arcade classic, so maybe it's similar to the NES game? Unfortunatley, the latest adventure of Hiryu isn't very well balanced. Hiryu gets stunlocked constantly, and the enemies with shields that can only be taken down with a charged attack from a specific plasma type do little more than break the game's flow as you're forced to switch to the correct plasma, wait for the attack to charge, then switch back after breaking a magnetic shield because the magnet plasma is total shit. The game also needed a better fast travel system, a map that actually worked, and enemies who didn't repeat "MEIO IS GOD" and "TO FIGHT IS TO BREED" until you want to punch the sound director in the stomach.

On the flip side, the exploding kunais obliterate every non-shielded enemy and boss, and are only limited by an auto-refilling meter. Even the final boss can be defeated by standing off to the side and popping him full of kunais like the voodoo doll of somebody you really, really hate.

Oh, and I guess I found a roomate for Ori and the Blind Forest in the Doing-Stupid-Shit-With-Your-Save Dorm, when Strider nukes your save file when you complete the game. Okay, the game only has one file and if you wanted to replay it you'd have to delete your game, but would it have been too much to ask to put Hiryu outside Meio's Tower after clearing the game and letting me decide when to start the game over?

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