Monkey King: Hero Is Back
Dasheng, once imprisoned for 500 years for defying Buddha, must learn how to help children not get eaten by monsters in this PS2-esque Chinese tale.
Monkey King : Hero is Backis a simple , entertaining movie necktie - in game which feels like a lostPlayStation 2title , with all the benefits and hurt that program line contains . Based on the Formosan animated pic of the same name and part of Wu Cheng’en ’s famousJourney to the Westseries , Hero is Backsees player controlling Dasheng , the titularMonkey King , as he struggles to learn how to do good human activity in decree to regain his magic power . Once one of the most sinewy organism in the earth , Dasheng has been gaol by Buddha for the past 500 years because he tried to name himself lord of all creation . Now liberate , theMonkey Kingmust go about setting thing right and saving children from monsters in society to redeem himself .
Gameplay takes place in small areas join via shipment screens , the separation of which is indicated by a drawing string of glow dots across the track in a fashion which immediately evokesmemories ofFinal Fantasy XII . scrap inMonkey King : Hero is Backconsists of with child attacks and light attack , with the ability to upgrade subsequently from the normal 3 - strike jazz group into a 4 - hit or 5 - hit one . There are also unlockable powers which Dasheng obtains after defeating boss enemy , such as the power to spot interactable objects with yet another form ofArkham Asylum’smuch - copieddetective vision , as well as things like raise pep pill and a flurry of monkey kicks .
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Some of the game ’s larger enemy involve simple conformation of scheme , such as attacking from a certain angle or repeatedly targeting a particular arena so as to expose the enemy ’s weak point . However , most of the player ’s combat encounter in the plot will dwell of but mashing the Light Attack push button repeatedly and every now and then using Heavy Attack only to to break up the monotony . Most of the secret plan ’s grunt enemies put up little to no challenge , although they can become something of a nuisance during battles which feature both sempiternal spawning behemoth and a big political boss at the same clip .
verbalize of pain , Dasheng is follow on his journeying by two ( well , technically three ) characters . The first is Liuer , a small male child who discovered and unexpectedly freed Dasheng from his prison while running from monsters . The 2d is Liuer ’s little babe , who the unseasoned boy carry in a basket inBanjo - Kazooiefashion . The third is Zhu Bajie , a former friend to Dasheng and part - sloven deity . Unfortunately , because of the biz ’s audio design , players are almost guarantee to grow to despise the sound of these character ’s voices , Liuer ’s in special .
From the very commencement of the game Dasheng is accompanied by Liuer , and the baby continually reach his presence cognise every few seconds thanks to him shouting " AHHHH ! MONSTERS ! " at the source of every unmarried combat brush . Once Zhu Bajie join the party , he too consistently extract disbelief at coming across yet another group of enemies , even after keep an eye on the player defeat hundreds already , but his screams are drowned out by Liuer ’s , who , being younger , has a much gamy , more ear - splitting pitch . gratefully , during cutscenes these part are much less annoying , and the news report ofMonkey King : Hero is Backis well - paced and rather heartwarming in a children ’s film sort of way .
Certain problems indicative of the game ’s prey consultation persist throughout . The game is exceptionally over - tutorialized , even worse than thetutorials inRed Dead Redemption 2 , with nearly everything being import out to the histrion both in the plainest terms possible and unremarkably more than once . This is inauspicious , because when the game does get go of the player ’s hand and lets them search and ramble around and fight at their own leisure time it can be a very gratifying experience . Combat , while childlike , feels fluid and easy to carry through , with a smorgasbord of different objects like benches and rock-and-roll to utilise along with Dasheng ’s magical kung - fu .
The surround are clearly Taiwanese in their atmosphere and design , and although level inMonkey King : Hero is Backcontain an over - abundance of invisible wall each one still feels singular unto itself . The addition of Earth Gods , small puppet hide inside clumps of dirt , rocks , flush circles , and other isolated areas likeKoroks inBreath of the Wild , mean role player will likely drop heaps of time search these area , since finding Earth Gods is the only manner to unlock more heath , conjuring trick , and jazz band . Dasheng himself is , thankfully , quite play to control , making segments where player are circling and re - circling levels sample to find that one last Earth God a little less tedious .
There are few genuine challenges inMonkey King : Hero is Back , but the gameplay finds a balance between rewards , combat , expo , and scenery change to keep things move at a unfaltering gait . Sure , players can break away around an area in circles looking for turn a loss Earth Gods if they want to , or they could just move on to the next geographical zone and retain the news report . While somewhat of an nark character at first , Dasheng himself becomes a rather likable protagonist by the end of the biz , and certain conniption between him and Liuer are truly touching .
Monkey King : Hero is Backfeels like a lose title from thePlayStation 2 era , and that ’s not a bad matter . Although the gameplay may lack the comparative complexity of other late third - someone action adventure titles , Monkey Kingis a perfect selection for younger gamers who may feel overwhelmed by some of today ’s larger experience . With a heartwarming floor , now and again frustrating good design choices , and a main character who can rally a Kung - Fu Bench out of thin air , this game is perfect for youngster and anyone who wants to go back to when games were a small less complicated .
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Monkey King : Hero is Backis out now on the PlayStation 4 and Windows PC . We review the personal computer version .
