Orangeblood Review

90s hip hop and cyberpunk combined

<p>Orangeblood is a totally unique RPG that will blow the cobwebs of 2019 right out of your ears with a fantastically produced soundtrack&comma; and visuals you eyes will devour&period; The gameplay can seem complex at first&comma; but it&&num;8217&semi;s actually really accessible as far as games in this genre go&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Going into Orangeblood I wasn’t sure what to expect&period; Orangeblood is slated as an RPG set in an alternate past that blends some elements of cyberpunk with themes pulled right out of the 90s&period; Players take on the roles of four Kawaii soldiers&comma; who aren&&num;8217&semi;t your typical RPG stereotypes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While most RPGs give you a protagonist with a facial scar and a secret past&comma; Orangeblood gives you four girls who couldn’t care less about the cutesy stuff&period; The four Kawaii soldiers find joy in the simple art of blasting machines and gangs away with ridiculously big guns&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-151278 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;01&sol;13113826&sol;orangeblood-review-1-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"orangeblood-review-1" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Not Your Usual RPG<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Orangeblood’s story also strays far from the typical RPG archetype&period; If you’re looking for more of a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;mobius-final-fantasy&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">Final Fantasy<&sol;a> fix then this really isn’t for you&period; If however&comma; you’re open to a story that’s all about kicking ass and turf wars all wrapped up in a greasy metal package then this is going to suit you down to the ground&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Upon first glance New Koza&comma; a man-made island off the coast of Okinawa in an alternate 199X in which Orangeblood is set&comma; is the grimy result of someone creating a city out of the scaffolding used to build the skyscrapers of another one&period; But once you get to know it you’ll discover a vibrant world dominated by a love for music&comma; gangs&comma; and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;gamers-unscripted-episode-52-killer-robots&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">killer robots<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The game is built around a superb soundtrack that’s been created for this world&comma; and heavily inspired by 90s hip hop&period; Songs are persistent throughout combat&comma; and only enhance each area of the game&comma; the story&comma; and each corner of the city&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-151279 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;01&sol;13114119&sol;orangeblood-review-2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"orangeblood-review-2" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Orangeblood is Really Accessible<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Players explore New Koza between missions and objectives&comma; able to wander the upper and lower levels freely&comma; for the most part&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The city&&num;8217&semi;s atmosphere is impossible not to drink through every wall&comma; door&comma; and the oddly frequent bins&period; There are even areas for players to completely detach&comma; and instead watch the Kawaii soldiers relax by hanging out at home&comma; or by smashing golf balls off of the roof&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Various crates around the world are filled with gear to equip each of the four Kawaii soldiers with&comma; though others will drop from enemies as you fight your way through the story&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-family&colon; -apple-system&comma; BlinkMacSystemFont&comma; 'Segoe UI'&comma; Roboto&comma; Oxygen-Sans&comma; Ubuntu&comma; Cantarell&comma; 'Helvetica Neue'&comma; sans-serif&semi;">Other <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;rpg-maker-fes-review&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">RPGs<&sol;a> rely on players spending hours looking at each item’s stats in order to determine the correct loadout&period; Orangeblood&comma; on the other hand&comma; has a helpful auto-equip option to make life easier for those who don’t venture into the genre too often&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"wp-image-151286 size-large aligncenter" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;01&sol;13132559&sol;03-1-1024x564&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">The Not So Nitty Gritty Combat<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The gameplay begins to get deep when it comes to crawling through the various dungeons&period; Each area is filled with ghost-like figures that stalk the hallways in search of prey&period; This isn’t in keeping with the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;ghostrunner-new-cyberpunk-fps-at-pax-south-2020&sol;">cyberpunk<&sol;a> feel of the world&comma; but what the ghostly visages do is disguise the enemies beneath&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These ghosts can hear players as they move throughout each dungeon and will react to their presence&period; Before combat is even initiated they&&num;8217&semi;ll chase players and try to get the jump on them&period; Players can gain an advantage by shooting these ghosts and stunning them&comma; entering combat in a sort of &OpenCurlyQuote;surprise’ mode&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Once in a battle the enemies are revealed&comma; most of which will be killer robots&period; The design of these and all enemies is superb&comma; with each moving part beautifully animated to provide a visceral feel to each machine&period; It helps that the robot designs resemble drones and military aids that you see in movies and the news&comma; making them feel much more real in this alternate version of the 90s&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The combat in Orangeblood at first appears complicated&comma; but it’s quite simple under the surface&period; Players choose between an attack with their equipped weapon&comma; all of which can have various beneficial effects or skills&comma; that can be both offensive and defensive&period; Most battles can be pushed through with almost no difficulty by simply attacking as much as possible&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Unfortunately&comma; the ease of combat is also my biggest complaint about the game&period; RPGs like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-announced-for-pc&sol;">Final Fantasy XIII<&sol;a> had a combat system that was easy to learn and hard to master&comma; and most other RPGs are the same&period; Orangeblood doesn&&num;8217&semi;t have a combat system to learn&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s very self-explanatory and easy to use&comma; but there&&num;8217&semi;s no mastery to it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; boss fights require some actual thought&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-151290 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;01&sol;13133118&sol;04-1-1024x573&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Some Strategy Required<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Skills offer various benefits&comma; such as increased critical changes and lowered enemy damage for a turn&comma; which will make your life easier in the next phase&period; They are essential in all boss fights and any fight that offers more challenging enemies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When you’ve been trying to take a particular enemy or boss down for a long time and finally work through the wall and beat them&comma; you really feel like you’ve accomplished something&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;deaths-gambit-review-ps4&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">Death<&sol;a> in Orangeblood isn’t as much of a punishment as it is in other RPGs&period; When you die in battle you’re given the option to either return to the last checkpoint&comma; mercifully common throughout the game’s dungeons&comma; or to the last safe place&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Choosing the latter will obviously place you back at an earlier point in the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;underground-dungeon-review-every-dungeon-yet-another-dungeon&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">dungeon<&sol;a>&period; The former instead takes you out entirely&comma; back to the last area in which you saved&period; Usually&comma; this is the home of the Kawaii warriors in the hub world&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>What this doesn’t do is turn back time to the last point that you saved&period; This allows you to keep all of the levels you’ve earned fighting your way to the boss in the dungeon&period; What this does is make the game much easier for RPG beginners&period; It also makes Orangeblood a lot more fun in general&comma; because there’s no feeling of grinding out the same areas over and over again without progress&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-151291 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;01&sol;13133354&sol;01-e1578946572182-1024x535&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Conclusion<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Orangeblood is definitely not your classic RPG&comma; but it also doesn’t do away with most of the elements that makes that genre so great&period; The world feels fresh and vibrant and the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;best-of-2016-soundtrack&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">soundtrack<&sol;a> ties everything together&comma; even in combat&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>New Koza might not feel like somewhere you want to spend hours of your time at first&comma; but once you’ve delved through the grime and soot you’ll come to enjoy dirty cyberpunk adventure that lurks waiting to get its nails in you&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;review&lowbar;wrap">&NewLine; <h3 class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;review&lowbar;subtitle">The Review<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <h2 class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;review&lowbar;title">&NewLine; Orangeblood&NewLine; <&sol;h2>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewheader clearfix">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"review&lowbar;score score&lowbar;avg">&NewLine; <span class&equals;"score&lowbar;value">6<&sol;span>&NewLine; <span class&equals;"score&lowbar;text">Score<&sol;span>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"desc" style&equals;''>&NewLine; <p>Orangeblood is far from a classic RPG title&comma; and definitely not what JRPG fans are looking for&period; Instead&comma; it&&num;039&semi;s a blend of 90s hip hop and subverted expectations about anime girls as main characters&comma; thrusting the Kawaii warriors into the centre of a story that sees each of them trying to end the gang wars that they long to see stopped once and for all&period; &NewLine; &NewLine;Ultimately this is a game about bringing freedom to a city&comma; much like Final Fantasy VII&comma; it just does it with massive guns instead of magic&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewdetail clearfix">&NewLine; <div class&equals;"conspros">&NewLine; <h3>PROS<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <ul><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-check"><&sol;i> Easier RPG mechanics make it more accessible<&sol;li><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-check"><&sol;i> Great soundtrack <&sol;li><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-check"><&sol;i> Not afraid to push its characters with extreme personalities<&sol;li><&sol;ul>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"conspros">&NewLine; <h3>CONS<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <ul><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-cross"><&sol;i> Looks quite daunting to get into initially<&sol;li><li><i class&equals;"jegicon-cross"><&sol;i> Might not be as deep as some RPG fans want<&sol;li><&sol;ul>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewscore jeg&lowbar;reviewbars clearfix" data-scoretype&equals;"point">&NewLine; <h3>Review Breakdown<&sol;h3>&NewLine; <ul><li>&NewLine; <strong>Orangeblood Review<&sol;strong>&NewLine; <span class&equals;"reviewscore">6<&sol;span>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"jeg&lowbar;reviewbar&lowbar;wrap">&NewLine; <span style&equals;"width&colon; 60&percnt;" class&equals;"barbg"><&sol;span>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;li><&sol;ul>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; &NewLine; <&sol;div>

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