Formedras 最近的评测

Anger, frustration, pain. This game is only for masochists. Not for me.

TL;DR: Don't bother unless you're willing to be a whale.

Instead of doing a full review, I'll just go with the core reason for the "no" recommendation. If your game locks progress behind your gacha system, that system had better be extremely generous, at least for your common characters. And this game is not.

Your characters' max level is determined by their star rank. You up the rank by spending character shards. By the time you're trying to get 7 star (max level 100), that's multiple hundreds of shards. (There's 21 ranks right now, best I can tell.) Your get a handful of free pulls per day, and the typical shard count you get is... 5. Considering how many characters there are, good luck getting one rank of one character a month at that point.
Maybe if you blow $100 a month you could keep that up. Not worth it at all.

This release is just... broken. The menu UI is broken (and bad besides), the in-game UI is remade for the release and does not mesh well with the more original graphics of the actual games. At least once everything is configured, the game itself feels decent.

You're better off getting a different (probably non-DotEmu) release of the games or finding a way to license the arcade ROMs from current owner Arc System Works and using either MAME or Final Burn Neo.

There's a lot people can say about the DLC, and how exploitative it and other microtransactions are in this game. But for me, the big problem with this game is that it demands far too much precision in timing. It's far too easy to press something one or two frames too late and drop your combo, but somehow it's even easier to press something one or two frames too early and your attack doesn't even happen at all.

Netherrealm needs to realize that however much they want to cater to hardcore fighting game players, there's always going to be a need to attract new players (especially if they're going to market on hyperviolence), and make things easier for them. High-level fighting is about strategy first and foremost, and MK1 has plenty of that. But there's a false sense of needing to be about perfect execution, and that just pushes lower-skilled players away. You need to be more forgiving with combo inputs.

NOTE: Please never go the one-button combo route. That doesn't teach people how to play the game, it only teaches bad mashing. It's the worst part of KOF15 and DBFZ and it needs to go away.

In short: Them's Fightin' Herds is for ultra-hardcore fighters only.

The AI is incredibly unbalanced, to say the least. I can beat Ultra Street Fighter IV in Hardest difficulty as Akuma and get to the secret fight (that is, lose no rounds at any point). As Oleander in this game, in MEDIUM, there have been times where I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO PLAY THE GAME. And yet, against Tianhuo, I was able to hold Study long enough to fill my Super Meter to max. This is, to say the least, bad.

Even ignoring the CPU opponent, there is some incredibly unbalanced/unfair jank. Texas, for example, has a full screen sweep. That you can combo from. No fighting game should have that, except maybe Omega mode in USF4.

Between those... how could I ever recommend this to anyone, other than JWong to put in the Jankyard?

Moe Gacha. That's already a strike against.
Actual mahjong, not solitaire. That's in favor.

But ultimately... the game really expects you to either already know how to be good at the game, or for you to lose a lot. It teaches you the basic rules... but there is absolutely nothing for learning how to win. So in the end, the English version is just a waste of time for the vast majority of potential players.

UPDATE: The game came out, it's been a while since then. Game's still good. Changing stuff here to match.

Overall:
This is a good game, the gameplay is solid. Music is good. If you can afford to buy this and like rhythm games, it's a good pick. Go for it.

Good:

• VERY simple to learn. There's a tutorial, but not many people are going to need it. (It's a good tutorial anyway.)
  
• Almost anything can be a controller. If it's an input device that Steam can detect, or uses the MIDI protocol, you can probably use it. (Plus your keyboard and mouse.) The game uses full Steam Input integration for gamepads, and there's already layouts set up for first-party console controllers.
  
• Music is enjoyable. I mean... ok, my taste in rhythm game music tends towards the Toshiba/EMI era of Bemani, so I'm not exactly represented here. But it's still nice to listen to.

Bad:

• Custom content... which is not the developers' fault. Look, if you've delved into the customs communities of most rhythm games, like Ouendan (Osu!) or Dance Dance Revolution (Stepmania among others), you know exactly what the problem is. People just don't make content for lower-skilled players. If you can't play at XD difficulty, then you're pretty much limited to what the developers release. That's not a bad thing on its own. But when you see all the customs available, and everything you wanna play is only Expert and XD (and often enough just XD), it hurts.
  
• Online multiplayer's gone. I guess that's not the worst thing in the world, but it didn't make anything else worse and it wasn't bad.
  
• Might wanna redo the controller mapping if you're on a Steam Controller (not Steam Deck or Wireless Horipad For Steam). The devs didn't redo it themselves with all the other controllers when they renamed the Actions, so Action names are outdated. It does seem to still work so you don't have to, but you might wanna change a thing or two anyway, so why not?

Neutral:
VR. I mean, it works and it looks nice, but it doesn't really add anything special, like the online multiplayer modes didn't when they existed. If you have a headset and like VR, go ahead and use it, you'll enjoy it. But it's just the game in a VR environment.

Untested:
Local multiplayer.

Controllers used:
USB mouse (Razer Basilisk V3, Beat mapped to Mouse Right Click)
DualShock 4
Steam Controller
Steam Deck

Extra thoughts:

• Can't help but think this would make an amazing arcade game. Screen plus a physical spin wheel. Foot pedal or tapping the screen for the Beat button, or convert all Beats to Taps.
  
• The Switch version is out, along with the PS4 version. Can't speak to either of them, but if the PS4 version supports the touchpad on the DualShock 4, I found that I prefer the joystick to it.
  
• Mobile version came and went. Core gameplay was good while it was there (same game minus the Beat button), but the monetization and progression was... less so. Well, it's gone now. Maybe Super Spin Digital can bring this there at full price or close to it, or make a deal with Netflix to do it as a "free" game for subscribers like Civ 6 or the Monument Valley games.

Story is too short. You barely get to know anyone before it's over. The H is minimal when uncensored... just a few images of the girl(s) with less and less clothes, in the exact same position, until they're naked and covered in... stuff....

Also: Why in the heck would the two main girls be remotely willing to engage with sexual activity with each other? Why does Zeus, well-known for trysts with mortals, have to choose a singular divine mate? Why is nobody's backstories explored in the slightest? This might make for a half-decent v0.2 release on Patreon, but I've played intro scenes that feel more like a complete game. And no, being this short and unexplored wasn't acceptable four years ago either. Dharker, and other studios, were already releasing far better games at that time.

When your Steam Input Actions are just Xbox button labels, you're doing it wrong. Don't bother with making an IGA file or programming in Steam Input support. Just use XInput if you're going to be incompetent about input.

Didn't we have enough YGO-lite back with the PS1 and GBC games? Also when we couldn't afford all the cards that the richest players bought box by box? Why settle for it now? Forget this, wait for Duel Generations to get ported. Or buy Legacy of the Duelist which I noticed after initially writing this.