It is rare that I play a game that is so terrible that it makes me angry when I play it. This game is not difficult nor does it have any buggy flaws that would ruin other games. This game is just terribly designed and there really isn't much of an excuse for that when you consider that it is a relatively simplistic side-scrolling shooting platformer. This is normally a style of game that I tend to enjoy so the fact that playing it for an hour was torturous, seems pretty remarkable to me.
It should be obvious from nothing other than the artwork that this game was trying to be a Mega Man clone and I am fine with that. I have very fond memories from my early gaming years in relation to the real Mega Man and while I have not played the most recent ones I did enjoy the ones back on the NES and SNES. Mighty No. 9 was an ambitious project from a small studio that was mostly backed by individual kickstarters and it was met with negative reviews. I remember seeing something about that on a list of "biggest disappointments in gaming" and I remember thinking "oh, it can't be that bad."
Folks, I'm here to tell you that yes, yes it can be that bad and it is.
You might be thinking that these graphics look really sharp and perhaps you loved Mega Man as well but don't fool yourself, this is not MegaMan and anything that it borrows from that genre it does very poorly. For starters, the game starts out with a lengthy animated background story clip that is poorly voiced over (some of the worst I've heard since Resident Evil) and the individual dialogue sections cannot be sped up by hitting a button. The only choices you have are to skip the entire thing or to endure it in all of its horrible majesty. I am extremely happy that it was possible to skip it entirely, which is exactly what I ended up doing every other time they interrupted the horrible gameplay with another cutscene. It's almost like they didn't even care because they mispronounce common words like "president." I couldn't detect an accent in the voice actors so how the hell did they even manage that?
You start out with a basic "pea shooter" of a main weapon and the ability to dash. This reminded me of how I would destroy controllers in the past because if you pressed the button once, you fired once. No enemies die from one shot so now you are going to wear down the "X" button on your controller and have tired hands after just playing the first level. The first boss was absurdly easy and I'm not saying that I wanted it to be more complicated but yet again, it appeared as though they didn't really even try to make this interesting or good. It wasn't at all difficult yet it was tedious and time-consuming in a completely unnecessary manner.
Once you defeat the first boss the world opens up kind of like older Mega Man games did in that you could choose any level that you want in any order that you want. I was hopeful that doing this would make the game better and not so much of a "mad button masher" but I was let down in that regard as well. After getting to the 2nd boss (this time one I decided to face) I felt nothing but disdain towards this game and I regret to say that I didn't even fulfil my commitment to give at least an hour of facetime to each game before walking away. After two levels I had nothing but disdain for this horrible game and according to most reviewers both professional and private, almost everyone agrees with me on this.
It doesn't really surprise me a great deal that this game is free with PS-Plus Extra, because I certainly can't imagine anyone ever paying money for it. I've been gaming for more than 30 years and this is one of the worst games that I have ever played. This is a pity because I was really looking forward to a modern day Mega Man type game.
This game sucks. Don't even bother downloading it for free. It's just terrible.
Definitely.... NOT... recommended
Games played so far in my trip through all the "Extra" games on Playstation Plus
- Windbound (survival game with rogue-like elements - not recommended)
- Magicka 2 (top-down humorous multiplayer hack and slash-sort with immense spell system - maybe recommended)
- Tearaway: Unfolded (charming casual 3D platformer with inventive graphics and gameplay designed for all ages - recommended for casual players)
- Spiritfarer (casual simulation / resource-management style game with an extremely good story - recommended for all)
- Observation (point and click survival sort of... interactive game of sorts set in space - found it very boring after just one hour and do not recommend)
- Gabbuchi (simplistic puzzle game that I feel is better suited to mobile devices. Not recommended on consoles)
- The Messenger (8-bit style action/platformer that is a throwback to original Ninja Gaiden. It's simplistic fun. Recommended)
- Megadimension Neptunia VII (typical JRPG with some adjustments made to combat for uniqueness. Could be fun and I lukewarmly recommend for someone willing to dedicate 50 hours to a turn-based RPG)
- Monster Jam: Steel Titans 2 (monster truck racing game that will appeal only to people who are already fans of the sport - not recommended for any other people)
- Entwined (Visually appealing rhythm pace game that is very easy to pick up but gets repetitive after 30 minutes or so - recommended for anyone that can get it for free.)
- 2Dark (8-bit graphic survival horror/stealth hybrid. The game becomes extremely difficult really fast and therefore failed to hold my attention - not recommended)
- Virginia (interactive-cinema...not really a game and it is over in a couple of hours. Not recommended)
- Trials of Mana (simplistic action RPG that will definitely appeal to the casual gamer that is a fan of old-school RPG combat mechanics - recommended)
- Journey to the Savage Planet (FPS exploration game in a semi-open-world environment. The game is intentionally silly and I loved it - recommended)
- Resogun (arcade-style single-screen SUP that will get boring to most people after an hour or so. Not recommended)
- The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (point and click adventure game that doesn't work on consoles and is just irritating to play - not recommended)
- Mighty No. 9 (it's Mega Man but terrible. Definitely not recommended)