Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef Review (PC)

This iz it, boyz (and girlz). Rogueside's Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef (2022) iz here and imma going to play it. WAAAAAGGGH! 

I reckon there's no proper title logo on the main screen. So i took this cover art from the official website which looks bad blood. You probably know the premise Warhammer 40,000 (or shortened as Warhammer 40K). It's dark RPG with space theme. Usually it revolves around Space Marine which is human faction with some science divine magic. You probably have seen Warhammer 40K Space Marine infantry: the one with bulky armor, helmet with full cover, big assault rifle or automatic handgun or even chainsaw. That's the one. They're kind of like DoomGuy but with bigger armor and presumably more religious. But there's some Warhammer 40K that centered around Ork (which originally is Space Orc). One of them is this game.

I'm avid fans of Orc race like in Warcraft 3 for example. So i have no interest in playing Orc Must Die. Conversely, i really want to play this. First time i know Ork is from playing Warhammer 40K Dawn of War which i admit more complex and difficult than Command & Conquer Generals but i quite like it. I like everything about Ork. Their rowdy accent. Their violent nature yet quite comical sometime. Their crude weapon and they love to loot or cannibalize any technology from their defeated enemies, especially human's technology.

I look up a bit from Warhammer 40K wiki and it said that apparently Orkz are the most successful species in whole galaxy, outnumbering every other intelligent starfaring species including human. That fact simply warms my heart.      

 

So i immediately go with Story mode and start from beginning. I like the description of each difficulty option. Easy, is da easy mode, for gretchin (is smaller subspecies of Orkz, kind of like Goblin and doing menial task like befitting low-class individual) or humies (Ork's term for human). Hard, for da real Warlords! Normal, is the way Gork (or Mork) intended. Gork and Mork are the Gods of The Orks. Gork is brutal but cunning. While Mork is cunning but brutal. Get it? :)

Ok. Here's more detail information about those Ork's twin gods. Gork is revered to simple-minded Orkz. While Mork is the patron deity of Orkz with more intelligence such as thinkers, creators, and shamans.    

 

Then, we're into the lobby where you can customize your loadout, clan (which only for color custom's sake), and class. There's 4 classes that you can choose from. 1) Flash Git, probably the standard class. He has perk of not consuming ammo when shooting in certain (unseen) chance and his bomb is molotov cocktail. I reckon he's excellent for those who like rapid firing because of the chance of not consuming ammo.  2) Weirdboy, is kind of shaman class and good for crowd control. Specialized in stunning enemies with either his melee attack or bomb. 3) Beast Snagga Boy, is like of hunter or beast master. His melee weapon is throwing spear with timed bomb tied on it. It's good for sniping or set explosive trap for incoming enemies. His bomb is squig (little red critter with voracious teeth) with pack of dynamites tied on its back. The squig will bite enemies and explodes when dying. It's good for deadly distraction. 4) Stormboy, equipped with rocket on his back which makes his dash goes further and can set enemies aflame. His bomb is cluster bomb that spawn smaller bombs when explodes. Probably the most conventional bomb/grenade.

When i played the Demo version, i picked Weirdboy. While on test run, i picked Beast Snagga Boy. So i pick the most standard class: Flash Git for now. But don't worry! I will demonstrate all of the classes. 

 

It all began with usual Ork huge invasion lead by Ogruk Gutrekka on planet called Looteus (the correct pronunciation is Luteus)...

 

...for oil to make Ork's vehicles run. Is this some kind of political satire? I let you decide. When i read the wiki, i found out that Ork can use oil from certain kind of squig, to fuel their vehicle. But i think oil taken from deep ground of Luteus is more convenience to get than milking squigs one by one.

I like the cardboard scheme in this story section, that probably showing how Ork is not so bright in storytelling besides using funny simple word. For example: to make vehicle runs is replaced with go vrrooom.

 

Meet the narrator and also the protagonist Gargaz, shooting his gun while riding on one of the Ork boomer plane. Judging by the decoration on his back, he's from Bad Moon clan which is said to be the richest Ork clan (but not so good at combat at least compared to other Ork clan).

 

Then Gutrekka himself comes in, grab Gargaz's hair and kick him out of the plane. Gutrekka has all the might and power but he's jealous to Gargaz for having that spiffy hair. There's 5-part comic on their discord server, telling the event before this where Gargaz get that hair and save his life!

Comic 2 out of 5

Gargaz's wagon hit a mine and killing his friends, including the original owner of the hair. It kills the leader of imperial guards  troop that ambush Gargaz and Co. At first, i though the hair has Ork "magic" property that makes it sentient. But when i read article about squigs on wiki, apparently the hair is hair squig! This variety of squig has long hair running from its tiny body and a pair of pincers in place of a mouth. If you look closely (like very close), you can see the hair has white eyes. It kill the commissar by biting him right in his neck artery. With the leader dead, the rest of imperial guards scared and flee, leaving Gargaz alone. The hair hates human and conversely love Ork. So that's why the hair doesn't attack Gutrekka when being grabbed.  

 

Ok, enough of lore stuff because we're into the game now! The control is pretty standard for modern game. W, A, S, and D to move or crouch. Left mouse button to fire my gun and R button to reload (strangely there's no reload instruction in this tutorial section). Space bar button to jump. I have double jump ability from get-go! Scout_apexofjump02.wav     

Here we can have a good look on the common type of squig. They're round and red. They're the main source of food for Orkz. When i pick them (and eat them with satisfying crunchy sound), my health is refilled by 50%. They run and jump wildly. You can shoot them to make them stay still (and dead).  

 

Dodge roll iz for weak humies! We orkz dash through enemies and make them hurt! I'm not sure whether during dash, i'm invulnerable to damage or not. To be honest, i seldom dash and prefer jumping like caffeinated grasshopper when dodging enemy's attacks. Like in Gunforce or Metal Slug, you can walk through enemies harmlessly but be careful when they're about to swing their axe or stab their knife to your torso.  

 

Demoman_laughevil01.wav. I clean that humie head off! So there's benefit to aim for their noggin. I notice there's Ork and imperial guard engage on deadly duel that last for quite eternity. So i take my leave.  

 

The tutorial tells me to select weapon via weapon wheel (like in Sword with Sauce) by pressing tab but i am rebel git. I prefer choosing my weapon with number keys like in classic Doom or Bioshock 2.

 

Press Q to WAAAAAAAGGGGGHHH for limited time! During Waagh, i'm invincible and i automatically firing my gun in successive manner. Heavy_specialcompleted05.wav

 

Hey! What the freak! I'm also Ork like you, stupid git! Looking at the lore, turns out Orkz fighting each other is common, often to prove their righteousness and power. Fine, you will get headshot!

 

Then i stumbled upon large arena where i have to kill a lot before a path revealed. I like this gauntlet section.

 

This is funny. I have no problem with this gauntlet section when i play demo version or test run. But i died here. Oh, i see. I burned myself with my own molotov bomb! Usually the average/standard class is good for beginner or whatnot. I have to revoke my opinion on Flash Git as standard class because you can get yourself killed by your own bomb! You have to be very careful when using it. Luckily, there's respawing totem nearby.

 

Hey! Back off, gitz! I'm trying to open this door by holding E button for quite forever and being defenseless while i'm at it. If i play this game with multiplayer feature, i have less hard time in this section.

 

I find this Mek Shop where you can buy various weapon and hats? What's this, Team Fortress 2? You don't necessarily go to here to buy stuff because you can access to Mek Shop from main menu or Checkpoint.  

 

So far i have Slugga (handgun), Shoota (assault rifle), and boomstik (shotgun). This shotgun is fairly powerful and...Oh no! He has shotgun too!

Oh boy! Look at those large squig on the roast! Looks tasty and juicy. :P  

 

Apparently my melee weapon is chainsaw. I thought it was going to be choppa (axe) which is the standard melee weapon for Orkz. But with this chainsaw i can still kill this git that try to interrupt my valve turning activity. So i can't complaint.

After more walking and krumpin' humies and Orkz alike...

 

I stumbled upon this awesome heavy metal concert which also another gauntlet section. But i'm in this difficult situation: 3 enemies with shotgun come at me while i have this double barreled shotgun that i bought on test run. Rough mathematics on this situation is: 2 barrels shotgun versus 3 shotguns. I'm still outnumbered. Besides, this double barrel shotgun is not as great as i thought would be.

I can tell that this is the worst double barrel shotgun in gaming history. I mean sure it can fires twice shot compared to regular shotgun but the bullet grouping spreads too wide that it becomes less efficient. I feel like 2 shots of the regular shotgun can take out the regular enemies, at medium-close distance. You though using the double barrel shotgun, i only need one shot of it to do the same thing but no! I still need to fire it twice to take out regular enemies. Moreover, double barrel shotgun's ammo size only 4 as opposed to 6 in regular shotgun. So i feel like double barrel shotgun is not worthy to buy. I think that's because regular enemy's hitbox is too small for all those double amount of double barrel shotgun's shells to fit. Maybe if i have to get very close to those enemy i can maximize the damage output but note that in this level most of them are armed with either knife/axe or shotgun. So it goes without saying that you better deal with them from safe range rather than up close. Or maybe the double barrel shotgun is better use against larger enemies. There will be one later on.      

 

After the gauntlet section, first boss appears and it's Boss Nob. It's not nob like in noob/newbie. But it's shorter form of Noble. Nob Orkz is the second in command after Warboss/Warlord. This nob will either get in close and try to chop me using choppa or shoot me from distance with shoota. Should you need health refill, there's some squig running around the arena. Speaking of the arena...

...once you enter the arena, you will be greeted with the theme metal song complete with the vocal. The double barrel shotgun probably the worst in gaming history but the music for the first boss is certainly the best in gaming history! Note that this is metal song plays for the very first stage boss and it's really rocking! Spoiler: the boss fights went downhill from this point, sadly.

 

Now that i defeated their boss nob, these orkz are now my boyz and they eager to help me get my hair by attacking human's city there that presumably has some ship to get to Gutrekka's plane.

This time, i'm Stormboy and i bought new handgun: shokka gun. So we storm the human's city while we got shelling. This is like playing Medal of Honor Allied Assault on Operation Overlord except me and my boyz are Orkz. Thankfully, i can see exclamation mark that indicates the spot on the ground will get some mortar shell. Unfortunately for my boyz, they can't see it so all of them are dead by mortar blow. So i'm going in solo as per usual, again.

By the way, i wear imperial guard helmet for snarky remainder that i'm still humie, afterall.

I manage to infiltrate human's premise alone. I very like this feature where i can dismantle a mounted gun, take it to anywhere, and use it against my enemies. I like the ability to dismantle a mounted gun in Crysis 2 and i love it here too. Unfortunately although it's powerful, the dismounted gun has limited ammo and there's no way to get additional ammo of it, forcing me to discard it immediately once it's empty.  

 

I replaced the shoota with bolta which is assault rifle that fires exploding bullets. It's said that it's piracy adaptation from Space Marine technology. Its clip size is 10 as opposed to stock shoota which is 30 but it's dramatically more accurate or narrower bullet grouping. Plus the bullet explodes! How can you resist this assault rifle? It's arguably the best assault rifle in the game.

Krumpin' more empii-real guards later...

Then i encounter this light tank. If you play to this spot in first time, there's rocket launcher nearby and this tank serves as target training for your newly acquired bazooka. I imagine small bullet is not efficient against armored enemy but i haven't proven it. The explosive assault rifle is pretty efficient against this sub-boss. The rocket launcher deals bigger damage, sure. But the reloading time is fairly long and the ammo capacity only 1.   

 

I was hoping that shokka gun will works as well as the plasma handgun on Doom 2016. It is indeed work well for light sniping but the time to charge the gun is quite long to reach maximum range and power. However if the opponents don't die by it, they will stunned instead. Speaking of sniping, there's sniper behind me ready to shoot my back of the head.  

 

I found another mounted gun and also box full of teef (the correct pronunciation is teeth). We got shootas, blood (from Orkz and humies alike), and now teef! They're presented like in title! Teeth are currency for Orkz, like literally their teeth. It's natural if some Ork feels need more earning, they can just beat out other Ork's face for their teeth. Simple and brutal. That's the Ork's way!  

 

This is what i told you about larger enemy. I don't know (or more like don't care much) about the lore behind that giant human with second head on his shoulder. Activating Waagh while wielding shotgun seems the best bet against him but bolta works well too.

 

I thought the large guys only wield giant machete but no. This one has machine gun. Good for him, i guess.

 

Then i slay mortar operator with melee from behind. Reminds me of M.I.A. Sadly, i can't take the mortar with me. :(

So Stormboy wield rocket hammer (like actual live rocket welded on a stick) which he smashes it vertically and produce explosion. Demoman_positivevocalization04.wav.  

 

Then Gargaz meet commissar on heavy tank. The commissar is angry because of Gargaz's trespassing into human's territory and Gargaz replies with barely good deal. It goes without saying that Orkz are not good at negotiation.   

 

Thus second boss fight ensues. The tank switch its shooting between machine gun and main cannon. The former tracks me but can be avoided pretty easily. While the latter is just straight shot. You also need to watch for falling debris that drop on area with exclamation mark. Overall, it's not hard boss fight. There's also constant-spawn of red squigs, and quite often they jump to my position so i can heal without much effort. 

 

Turns out there's second phase. The tank lose its weaponry but still can put up a fight. If there's horizontal arrows, the tank is about to charge at indicated direction.

 

When the tank isn't about to charge. Debris will fall on indicated ground, again. Plus there's soldier and sniper ready to take potshot at me from above. The main idea is you switch between rokkit launcha and shoota during this boss fight. Or you can be lazy like me, just stick to bolta.

 

Next stage takes place in sewer because why not? [average-mushroom size sarcasm]

I regret picking Weirdboy class because this mutant crocodile is immune to stun! Medic_sf12_badmagic10.wav

 

Fine! These blasted crocs deserve sum rokkit! Waaghaha! Look at that dead croc stumbled so funnily! Another entertaining thing in this game is the physic of dead bodies. Kind of like ragdoll or whatnot.

At the entrance of this sewer, you will get the last weapon: flamethrower. Then you can buy its variants which is continuous weapon with no ammo but with cooldown restriction. I bought this lightning gun that generates lightning gun that jump from enemy to enemy. It's quite worth my teeth collection.   

Not only you can get access to Mek Shop, Checkpoint totem also allow you to change your loadout. Here's the example of weapon stats. The crosshair symbol represents accuracy (and can also mean bullet grouping). The bullet symbol represents projectile speed. While the explosion symbol represents the damaging power. The explosion symbol replaced with fire or lightning symbol depending on weapon that you highlight. This gitseeka missiles has one more point on speed but less point on power, compared to stock rokkit launcha. However the former has homing projectile.

After even more Krumpin' crocs, rats, and humies later...

 

What's this thing? It looks like Xenomorph but not really. It likes to hide or appear on sewage pipe. It's not easy to defeat because it can only do clawing. Ok. I look it up about Genestealer. It's from race/faction of Tyranid. I forgot that Tyranid also in Warhammer 40K Dawn of War. My bad! Back then i only play as either Ork or Tau Empire faction.

 

After killing that genestealer, i'm stumbled upon this factory. This time, i'm Beast Snagga Boy with these squigs as bomb. The bomb mechanism is kind of like pet or summoned beast. The squig will go to enemies, chomping them and when the beast about to die, it explodes! Brilliant!

That black liquid is flammable. If you give it some fire from flamethrower, it will generate big fire. Oh, right. It's oil. I forgot that we came here for oil. My quest for my hair squig gets the best of me.   

 

I think this section is the most tricky platforming section. What's with jet flame on each platform and there's bottomless pit. Not to mention there's enemy above try to shoot me while i navigate this obstacle.

After venturin' further into oil factory...

 

Now i'm fighting strange human with 2 giant mutants. Since the mutants are another giant enemy with melee attack, they're not hard to dispatch. Once they're gone, i can deal with the surgeon-looking human with less problem.   

 

After that boss fight, Gargaz stumbled upon this sacred chamber of Tyranid with creepy statue and entire cultist. He's not good at bluffing. I mean look around you, Gargaz. You're surrounded and you're just alone.

 

Obviously, he hands over the boss fight to me. The blasted git. The Patriarch here can develop shield that i have to whittle it down first before i can send the real hurt to the boss. Enemies with force shield is quite the problem in this game, for example commissar. Because by the time i manage to break their shield, my weapon is empty and they have chance to generate another shield. Maybe i should switch weapon instead of reloading when the time is come, maybe.  

 

When The Patriarch's health low enough, he will retreats to recuperate himself and sends his followers to fight me. That routine happens like 3 time before he's dead. You may find the wave of his followers is horrible waste of time but to me it's chance build up my Waagh! meter. I forgot tell you that Waagh! meter will increase when i attack or kill foes. Obviously killing them, will boost the meter further. Waagh! can only be activated once the green bar is fully filled.

 

After The Patriarch is killed. His followers begin to scream in agony and run away, ignoring Gargaz completely. Because this is video game, The Patriarch's lair is crumbling down. Gargaz said "It wasn't me" then he also run away. Obviously Gargaz don't know the tradition of villain in Video Game: "Thine lair/base/castle will also fall, if thee fall" 

But unlike in other video game where the hero/main protagonist is automatically safe from crumbling villain's lair. In here, Gargaz leaves the escape from doomed refinery to me. He just all boast and angry but it's me who do all the hard work. This section is immediately engulfed in flame and if i survive that falling debris will finish me off. What should i do here? Turns out i must pick Stormboy and dash as soon as possible then i'm in safety but not for long. I have to keep moving.

 

I manage to escape the crumbling lair by exploding stack of thousand explosive barrels and blown out in process. So the imperial guards don't like Tyranid giant, good to know. I think i stop the article here. 

 

Rogueside's Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef (2022) iz da best. Waagh! / 10...

Let's cast aside of my inner Ork, for a bit. Rogueside's Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef (2022) is interesting spin off of Warhammer 40K  franchise. It's 2D shooter platformer. Surprisingly, everything in this game is corresponding with the lore: Waagh!, hair squig, the classes, the enemies, etc. The developer clearly did their homework well. On to the gameplay. It's fun casual shooter. No big penalty upon death. You just kicked to last checkpoint which is distributed quite frequently throughout the level. That's rather generous. The health squigs can be found pretty easily running around. I think there's only one occasion where i need the squig badly but i can't find any. The cursor moves quite slick. The hitbox's detection is pretty accurate. The theme music is flashiest, baddest, and gittiest! While other music is fairly good.

Now onto the flaw. I feel like the game is overly long and quite monotonous here and there. The reason why i feel that most likely because i'm avid fan of Metal Slug. Every game on that SNK's franchise can be finished within an hour. An hour and a half, top. Some people say they can finish the game within 2 days and they want more. I respect that, though. Probably the reason why this game feels more boring compared to the well-known SNK 2D shooter, is the lack of armored enemies. That big guy with indestructible shield doesn't count, though! That big guy is just straight not fun. In this game, combat vehicle only reserved for boss or sub-boss. On the other hand, Metal Slug sends you dozens of Girida-O, Di Cokka, Melty Honey, Eaca-B, Nop-03 Sarubia, R-Shobu, M-15A Bradley, or MH-6J Mashknell like no tomorrow. Fighting myriad of enemies with melee weapon or gun that eager to walk up to me can make the game boring pretty fast. At least there's some sniper or mounted gun operator once in a while. Put more combat vehicle or soldier with jetpack can fix that, i reckon. Another thing that Metal Slug have that probably can make the game more interesting is limited ammo. I think in demo, shoota and boomstik have limited ammo and i can find their ammo if i search the level fairly diligently and i think it's fun. Besides with limited shoota and boomstik ammo, you have more reason to use melee attack or slugga that -if i remember correctly- is unlimited from demo version. Even though i can understand the developer make those shoota and boomstik unlimited for the sake of player's easiness. Speaking of weapon, the arsenal is fun as heck. Well, except the double barrel boomstik that straight terrible. Not to mention, the reloading time is noticeably longer than when using regular boomstik. Another problem is the lack of purchasable thing. If i have bought all the weapon (hats are optional to buy completely, obviously), what's the other use of teeth? Luckily, teeth can be found pretty easily and -i think- respawn upon replay. My suggestion is health upgrade, increase Waagh! duration, increase maximum bomb capacity (the standard is 3), or increase clip size of each weapon category (except the continuous weapon because it has cooldown system instead of ammo count).

 

I saw at the store page, Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef (2022) gets a lot of very positive reception, even with some flaws or bugs. Maybe the critics are biased because they're Ork fans. But who am i kidding? I'm also Ork Fans. The game is acceptable as it is and i love it! Hopefully, the developer will make improvements in future. I think i can recommend you to play this game in multiplayer but keep in mind that there's some friendly fire such as explosion from Beast Snagga Boy's spear or Flash Git's fire bomb. Weirdboy is noticeably undercooked because his capability to make enemies stunned doesn't work for every case. Maybe if he can heal some health for himself and his team, upon successful melee hit. Weidboy will be more useful. As for Stormboy, maybe his jet dash can burn allies as well. There's some problematic potential in multiplayer, i see. But again Orkz are no strange to hurt each other. :P

Dragoon Might (Arcade)

If we talk about fighting game, you probably think of games made by Capcom, SNK, Midway or Namco/Bandai Namco. Sega made some but most of them are not memorable except Virtua Fighter. Tecmo/Koei Tecmo have Dead or Alive series. Then there's Konami. Konami made some fighting games! Crazy, huh? One of them is Dragoon Might (1995). 

I'm bothered with that huge portion on white marble on the title screen. My brain keep suggesting it's overly large border thus the main portion looks shy. I mean even you're not as famous as Samurai Shodown, you don't need to feel that modest. Bright up and show us what you got! Why i relate this game with the famous SNK's swordfighting game? Obviously because this is also fighting game with weapon. If you wonder why the fighters in this game hack each other up, the reason is kind of generic. It's said that there's dragon medallion pieces all around the world and when it's fully combined, it will grant you a wish whether you want fame, riches, power to rule the world, or even eternal life. The last one sounds like trap because I learnt something from Curse of the Dead Gods.

 

One of special feature in this fighting game is the ability to jump to part of stage like trees or pipe. Calling this game Samurai Shodown seems bit inaccurate. It's close to another SNK's fighting game: Savage Reign which also feature ability to jump to other part of stage like hanging on rope or lighting set. But the big difference is on Savage Reign you do that by pressing both punch and kick button. While in this game you have to press all 3 of kick buttons which seems more complicated to do. There's also special function if you press all of punch buttons but we will get to that later.    

 

So here's the roster. Like Street Fighter, it include only 2 female characters. Why not 3 or 5? I don't know! The main protagonist is Yamato and you can guess that he's shoto which is the popular trend for character that have ability to shoot projectile from range and attack upward that's meant to punish anyone that dare to jumping kick them. Hold on! he reminds me of someone. 

 

Yamato reminds me of Viktor from Suikoden II which is also Konami's game. Perhaps because they're both sport messy black hair and long sword. Also, they both have pleasant but bit cocky smile. Anyway, i won't pick Yamato. I already have someone else in my mind.

If you like fighting game with pre-fight quote then you probably like Dragoon Might, because there's always character's quote before the fight merely begin yet. What a healthy sportsmanship [Standard long sword-sized sarcasm]

 

You might think that i play as Reggie the one who sports fancy mullet and probably a grappler type fighter. Sadly, no. I play as the brat with heavy sword. This is not a good start. Demoman_negativevocalization04.wav

 

Reggie has shorter weapon than me but he makes up for powerful grab and more aggressive movement. So as Zack i have to play more defensively (maybe?) to make up for his tedious attack. I mean look at him. He throw all his body and balance for that heavy normal attack and the distance can't cut it [pun may intended]. Also get this! If this attack connect it deals just measly damage. The reason why me (and some people) like to pick fighters with heavy sword is usually for their great attack range and power despite their cumbersome movement. Their fighting style is simple yet efficient. Heck! Even in Monster Hunter, i fancy being Greatsword. But Zack here is anomaly. He only has the cumbersome movement right. His attack range and power can't make up for it. Let's see some comparison, shall we?       

Let's compare Zack with my all-time favorite swordsman with heavy sword: Goat from Asura Blade (1998). Look at their jumping heavy slash! Goat certainly has more range into it because he keep his sword in front of him for the rest of animation. Meanwhile Zack move his sword to the side which results in significant less attack range and duration. That means less reliability to make the attack connects. You probably think if Zack moves the sword away he can produce more damage upon hit but sadly that's not the case. You can see by yourself how much damage that Goat and Zack inflict by looking at the red/orange bar on their opponent's health bar. It's not good comparison because Asura Blade has 2 health bar system. But i would say that Zack's attack should inflict more damage by 25% or so to be equal with Goat's.    

Also notice the blood is green in Dragoon Might because it's international version. "Red blood is too horrible for children. Censor it into green!"

 

But i stick with Zack no matter what even when I already regret this decision. Look! I hit Reggie with crouching normal heavy attack. So, we can work this out. The control is pretty basic. There's 6 attack buttons. Light, medium, and heavy for each punch/slash and kick. You block attack by holding joystick backward, jump by holding joystick up or any diagonal up, crouch by holding joystick downward, dash forward the enemy by wiggling the joystick forward twice (then hold the joystick) and back step by wriggling the joystick backward twice.

I like the transparent effect on flowing water on foreground. It's beautiful.

 

It's irony to defeat a grappler with grab. Wait for him to charge at you with either shoulder ran or kick, block it, and grab him. The grab system is the usual. Pressing forward + medium slash/punch, heavy slash/punch, or heavy kick when you close to your opponent. Like very close that you can see their nostril in detail.  

 

With Reggie defeated, my next opponent is Layla. How can you make me eat my word exactly? If you can, i would like that with some swirly fried fries.

 

Ok. No swirly fried fries. Only tonfa with bladed extension for me to eat. Fine!

I know trendy fashion of jeans with ripped knee. But jeans with only half leg? I think Layla's weird fashion can make home at Azur Lane.

Notice that my weapon is dropped? Yes. I can be disarmed if i keep blocking my opponent's attack. Turtling strategy is discouraged.   

 

Zack's crouching heavy kick is sliding kick with very long distance. I know i can count on you, lad! Demoman_positivevocalization05.wav

 

It goes without saying that Zack has some special move like this where he throw his large sword. It's executed by holding punch/slash button for 4 seconds then releases it. 4 seconds! That's why too long! Take Jax or Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat 3 for example of fighting game character with special move that requires holding attack button. They need 3 seconds at most to hold attack button and become partially defenseless because the attack button put to hold. But the reward is satisfying fast bicycle kick or earthquake punch. But in Zack's case, not only he need to hold the attack button for 1 second longer (that feels like fairly eternal) but also the result is lackluster which is slow flying sword that can be easily blocked by enemy's blocking or their own projectile. It's homing pretty accurate, i think. Even if it hits successfully, the damage is not bigger than the jumping heavy slash does. What a rip-off!   

 

Eventually i can defeated her thanks to aggressive yet accurate sliding kick. So this guy fight using his own knuckle, unarmed? Thanks, i guess?

 

You liar! You use spiked yoyo like Rygar. Bastard!

 

He's like Reggie having large muscular body and small blade weapon. But in his case he uses blade gauntlet and instead using straight charging attack and grapple, he use charging uppercut and spiked yoyo. I think the solution to this fight is block then grab him like what i did when fighting Reggie.   

 

There's on-the-ground attack that you can perform by holding joystick to up direction and pressing punch/slash button. It works quite fine but i think for Zack's case, he often execute it too slow giving his opponents time to get up and avoid it. But because his weapon is cumbersome, that's kind of make sense. But the other problem is: Zack has special attack executed by holding joystick to up direction and pressing punch/slash button while jumping. Naturally those command inputs conflict with each other. More often than not when i ask for the downed attack, he spins around flies like demented chopper's blade instead.

 

I think i notice a trend especially on the pre-fight banter, everyone looks smug with each other. There's another bad thing in this game.         

I find strange for someone named Ryan dressed like Japanese monk or maybe it's just me. Ryan here is distance fighter. He likes to conjure thunder wave along the ground with his staff. Lucky for Zack (maybe), he can also generates ground thunder wave. Performed by pressing punch/slash button repeatedly! What an obtuse input for projectile shooting move! Perhaps the idea is like Blanka's electric discharge but can generate ground projectile for once. That seems neat idea in theory. But in the fighting game where everyone wield weapon as extension from their hand, it doesn't work because the electric field simple get outranged by any weapon attack. I mean i get it. If this electric field get higher priority over any normal attack, the move is simply broken (in working way). But in the current situation, the move seems useless to execute. It has long start-up, unlike Chun Li's Hyakuretsukyaku which has noticeable faster execution. At least the electric field can block projectile, i think

Then he unleashes his Super Attack which is an effective anti air move. Every character has this Super Attack performed by pressing all of punch buttons or according to FAQ that i read, it only needs 2 buttons pressed. However this Super Attack cost a sliver of health of the user. So you have to be careful when you want to use it.

 

Certainly, Zack also has Super Attack which he rides his broadsword and fly to the sky a bit. I just notice that Zack has too many anti air move! First is where he spins wildly with his sword. Second is flip kick which he use his sword as pedestal (performed by holding down on joystick then move up and press kick button). And lastly his super attack right here. Mention any fighting game character who also has 3 anti-air move! There's no one else! Do you know why? Because it makes the character way too defensive!

 

But there's more to that! There's another Super Attack that can only be performed when the user's health blink which is about 20% left. It goes without saying that this Final Attack also cost some of user's health when executed. Ryan's Final Attack is neat. He slides backward that can dodge enemy's jump kick and then unleash big beam. Each character has different input on this super special move. For Ryan: move joystick forward, then half circle forward and press 2 punch buttons. As for Zack: move joystick diagonal back and down then up and press 2 punch buttons! That joystick motion is so freaking unfriendly! Maybe for those who main Guile, Honda, etc that motion is piece of cake. But for me, it's dumb hard. I can't successfully execute the Final Attack. Not even once. I take -what's so called- "pretzel" motion like Ryan's as long as it flows smoothly and doesn't involve up directional. Because whenever i do move input with up directional in any fighting game, it only results in my character nonchalantly jumps like idiotic grasshopper.

Correction: Zack's Final Attack can be executed quite accurately and i can execute it in mid-air too. The final attack is: he plunges his broadsword into the ground, fire sparks come out of it and fly in 6 directions. It's neat. I wish it was Super Attack instead of the sudden air surfing with his broad sword because -again- Zack has too many anti air move.

 

Next opponent is the last female character on the roster and her specialty is mixing up between you're and your.  

 

Spy_autoonfire03.wav .She can blow fire from her mouth. Good to know.

 

Tsugumi can also conjure whirlwind by spinning her weapon. Here's funny moment where i get hit by said whirlwind but she also get by my sliding kick. She's another zoner type character but i don't remember i witness she has any anti air move so she's noticeably easier than Ryan. Moreover, i can slip beneath her fire breath or ranged super move safely with my sliding kick.

 

Next opponent is Suiko. I forget to take snapshot of his pre-fight quote. My bad. We fight at violent slum kind of place. Is it just me or the place doesn't fit with Suiko's status as benevolent monk? Anyway much like Tsugumi, Suiko doesn't have any anti air move. So the fight should be easy, right?  

 

Look at those kids cowered in fear while their pet dog barking at us. I like this meaningful detail.

I just notice that the crouching slash can be blocked with standing block! The basic combo is jumping attack then crouching attack. If the jumping attack is blocked, hopefully the enemy doesn't have enough time to block low. But that basic combo can't work in Zack's case because both his jumping  and crouching attack can be blocked with standing block! If you think i should replace the crouching slash with crouching kick, well it doesn't work either. Because crouching heavy kick when my opponent is near, become flip kick (without high jump  like in special move version) that can also blocked while standing. So i resort to string the jumping attack with crouching medium kick that significantly weaker and shorter than the crouching heavy kick.

 

Then i discover that Zack's grab with heavy kick input is Frankensteiner with help of his broadsword. It's entertaining to watch.

 

To answer my previous question "the fight with Suiko should be easy". It's easier than Ryan because Suiko doesn't have anti air move but it's harder than Tsugumi because of his Final Attack here. He floats and then summons 3 malevolent evil spirits from the ground and proceed to haunt you. It deals big chip damage when blocked. But he need long start up to actually order the spirits to attack you. If you're fast enough you can interrupt his final attack by hitting him in mid air.

This guy also looks smug but at least his quote is less toxic.

 

Kodama is a ninja and armless. He like to jump above me so here's golden opportunity to show off the "spins around wildly like demented copter's blades" move. Engineer_cheers01.wav

 

Don't underestimate unarmed Kodama because he can disarm you! (Although this special counter move doesn't work against another Kodama). So Kodama is specialized at counter move and jump high like decent ninja. He can also throw throwing stars in mid-air. His fighting style is rather interesting.

 

Finally! We get to fight the main protagonist. Sniper_battlecry01.wav

 

Like i said before that Yamato is shoto. He has (ground) projectile and uppercut move. With this kind of fighter, i have no idea how to fight him. How do i approach him? Sliding kick is certainly no go because his projectile travel along the ground. If his projectile travel in middle height like Suiko's, i can get past underneath it with sliding kick. Jumping attack is bad idea because he has this anti air move. Maybe if i execute jumping attack in very perfect time, i can deal with him well. So what's left is standing normal attack. Zack has pretty good range with his sword but his standing heavy normal is too cumbersome to use. Using his ranged specials also not good idea because both of them requires long start up. 

 

Yamato's super attack looks stupid. He throws himself forward with all his body. But if it connects, he will unleash wicked sword combo.

 

While his Final Attack is just him throw big flaming fist forward which is quite lame. I was hoping for big projectile move but no. So Yamato's style has big similarity to Ken's than Ryu's from Street Fighter.

 

I only need one more piece of medallion to complete it but suddenly this seedy person demands me to hand over all of pieces that i got. No way i will hand them to you, impudent schmuck!

 

Dogma is also unarmed like Kodama. But he has some trick under his sleeves [Pun may intended]. First, he can conjure red evil laser but i can slide underneath it! Scout_beingshotinvincible14.wav

 

His Final Attack is crazy! He set himself aflame and charge at me. Note that this final attack is unblockable! Scout_autoonfire01.wav

Dogma can also do sliding kick both along the ground and floating slightly above the ground. The latter ones has higher priority over my sliding kick. You know why i never show you the "hanging on object" move which is kind of the main feature of this game? Because i keep cutting the objects (like this war sickle) incidentally with my big sword! Not that feature helps me in this wretched boss fight.

 

Then Dogma charges at me and unleash electricity at my knee! I thought that move can be blocked with standing block but no. It hits low. Quite creative, i would say. I try to counter it with the lame lightning move and it doesn't work. He bypasses my electro field and the lightning wave projectile too! The hitbox on the electro field is too small for proper defensive use. In case you can't tell that Zack is bad character to pick but i already invested my time and interest on him. There's no turning back. If only the input for "Boomerang sword" move is holding back direction then forward and pressing punch button like Guile's Sonic Boom. Zack become better at fighting.  

On the other hand, Dogma perhaps has the same level as the usual SNK fighting game's boss even though he's unarmed, i remind you. He moves fast. He attacks fast and relentlessly. He slide kicks fast and he can do that in mid-air. His laser beam travel fast. His fingernails are long (to cover his weapon absence). He blow bigger and stronger flame than Tsugumi's as his Super Attack. His Final Attack is unblockable.

 

I think i figure out how to utilize this awful move that apparently hit enemy on the ground. I fell him with my jumping slash like usual then i immediately execute this move while he lies on the ground briefly. If i lucky or fast enough, i can follow that up with same move and hopefully hit him while still on the ground. Maybe this how you utilize this move. Buffer it with jumping attack so you can chain it after jumping attack. But i don't think it's not powerful combination because this move doesn't hit low.

 

I know right? Being defeated by underpowered character must be very humiliating.

 

Then the game re-narrates the legend about the dragon medallion. So what's Zack so desire? Big riches? Earth conquest? New spiffy PS 5? Girlfriend? Golden Axe? Or perhaps better moveset?

 

I hope you don't expect something interesting for Zack's wish because there's none. Presumably the Dragon Medallion becomes alive and said that the world change too much that it's impossible for The Medallion to make it better for Zack. But you're the FREAKING LEGENDARY MEDALLION! You should be able to make things happen or at least fulfill 1 wish! Do you ever heard Aladdin or Dragon Ball story? So i assume the legend lies and the medallion does nothing except talk and being weary like someone lose all of their money on many casinos in Las Vegas.

 

Then Zack goes home where his mother waiting for him with warm smile and meal. That's it! That's the end of Zack's story. We don't even get to see how his mother look! I say, it's as lame as his moveset.

 

But before we move on to conclusion, i should tell you that there's 3-on-3 team fight mode besides single match mode. So this game takes some inspiration from King of Fighter as well. In team fight mode, the damage ratio goes bigger than in single match mode. Besides Zack, i pick Yamato and Reggie for this mode. And tell you what? They feel much better to pick as due to their better moveset even though Zack does damage the most with his normal attack. Like in KoF, each character can only fight for at least a round. I don't think the winner will get some heal for next round though. Then there's POW bar on the bottom that is proper super bar that carried over rounds. Maybe you can use it for Final Attck and it will no longer require health cost? I'm not sure.

Scout_sf12_seeking07.wav

Konami's Dragoon Might (1995) is pretty decent weapon-based fighting game despite the horrible experience that i went through. The fault is on me because i pick the character with the worst moveset. But you can also blame related Konami's team that design Zack's moveset so bad, if you want. The gameplay is rather solid with good distinctive feature. I like the idea of Super Attack and Final Attack that require slight health cost upon cast rather than the usual using super bar. It adds to "Risk and reward" element to the game. The roster of 12 characters is pretty big and each with their unique fighting style. One of the noticeable ones is Sarumaru who has monkey-like face and he fights with sword strapped on each of his foot. He use the swords like demented stilts. Hitbox detection is reasonable. The music is fairly good. The sound effect also not bad. The graphic is colorful and bit pastel-y like Metamorphic Force.  

 

I reckon Dragoon Might (1995) needs more acknowledgement. More people should play this rare Konami's fighting game. Note: do not pick Zack. Anyone else is fine, i reckon. Although i keep picking Zack as my main. That one is just my personal foolish-yet-noble mission like collecting piece of medallion that doesn't grant any wishes when combined into one.

By the way, the "Dragoon" part could be typo for "Dragon" but since the game involves some swordsman. I let that one off.