Wonderful 101: When reading this review, it is imperative that you understand
this is playing at all times!
So I finished the game. The ending manages to out over the top Bayonetta, though not Asura's Wrath...I don't think anything will out-over the top THAT.
Game is a rare breed, in that it's a New Nintendo IP that is not really comparable to any other single game. ((Bayonetta + Okami) * Pikmin^Sentai + V. Joe)/Battletoads = Wonderful 101. Yes, I've checked my math, I'm certain this is indeed the equation. It's Colorful, it's unique, and the game is just a blast from start to finish. This is the kind of game that deserved a lot more attention this year, but alas, it'll be a cult classic at best.
Anyway, first off, some flaws. Notably, while I don't mind the constant shifting of styles, a few of the gimmick gameplay segments were just dumb. You often get a new health gauge independent of what you have, and it's lower than what you're use to, and you tend to not be use to controls until about half way, when you've already lost 2/3rds of your health. In some cases, you don't have a health gauge, so it's "one shot or you're screwed" which given how this game avoids Instant Death in most QTEs, really is a kick in the balls. The worst part is this game, like most of Kamiya's stuff, has a rating system, so screwing up one of these segments can kill your ranking. The "dodge the forcefields by going through the holes" thing was probably the worst, and you can't cheese them out with items like you can other segments.
Speaking of items, an interesting design decision W101 has is like DMC, Bayonetta, etc., using items hurts your ranking...except not all items do. Notably, the healing items can be used without any penalty, which actually makes sense after I thought about it. "Damage" is one of your criteria for ratings, so using a healing item implies your Damage Rating is tanking, so you'd have been doubly penalized for using healing items in a sense, as both your damage rating and a "used item" penalty kick in. I tried avoid using items when I could, but there were times I did anyway. Game is also forgiving on game overs; when you die, after choosing continue, you respawn exactly where you left off. Again, rating system exists, and the game has a harsh "You died" penalty to your score, so it's not a case of "Death has no consequences."
If you've played Bayonetta, DMC, V. Joe, etc., you know how ratings work, I'm sure, and how you get currency to buy items, what have you. Really, it follows Kamiya's general standards for his kinds of games in that regard, only with a game that only vaguely resembles that style instead of clearly being part of it. Again, W101 is kind of in a genre of it's own; I guess it falls under "Action Game" but it can't be directly compared to anything.
But who cares about gameplay? Really, what needs to be talked about is...
PLOT AND WRITING AND CHARACTERS!!!!
The plot is an incredibly deep and complex story. So the Guild of Evil Alens Terrorizing Humans with Jiggawatt bombs, Energy Beams, Ray guns, and Killers lasers attacks Blossom City, trying to destroy 5 reactors to get rid of Margarita, the global planetary defense system stopping their armada from invading. Centinel leader Laurence Nelson, with the aide of Alice Macgregor, on the Virgin Victory sends out it's elite force, the Wonderful 100, led by Wonder Red, to stop said aliens! What follows is an epic tale of...well...everything really, so let's get into the characters themselves!
I was going to label him myself, but it seems the pic I found did it for him!As with all Sentai teams, Red is the leader, and his special move is the Unite Hand, where in he punches something...very hard. He can also open those pesky large pickle jars that you need a good grip to get. So if you're having guests over and need jars opened, he's the super hero for you! Red's character is overly heroic, and he can memorize all the details of a character, and he WILL repeat it anytime you confront him. Yes, that is a legitimate running gag, and he gets called out on it, and it is amazing. He's also got a knack for making up attack names even when there's no reason for it. I won't spoil what it is or the nature of it, but he does come up with the single most EPIC ATTACK NAME EVER!!! Naturally, tragic backstory because ALL HEROES NEED A TRAGIC BACKSTORY TO INSPIRE THEM!
Unite Hand, in combat, is your go to raw power attack. Use it to dish out large damage to big enemies fast. Of course has the problem of being close range only, but everything needs a flaw.
The Dude Bro Swordsmen of the team! Of course, he's the team lancer, so he exists to argue with Red, and get into fights with Green. Also he has a Valiantium Blade. Do you have a Valiantium Blade? No? WELL GO GET ONE NOW! Then you can slice aliens and they will feel the sting of your blade! Not for long though...they'll be dead...from the blade...
Unite Sword is your crowd control attack. It can also pick locks no matter how large. Yes, Wonder Blue is an LAPD Agent who is the team's Rogue character that fights like a Samurai. Oh, and he has a rose! Actually, that's another aspect of him; he's clearly a parody of Dante, at least a first, being "If Dante were not as cool as he thinks he is." He also has a tragic backstory because, you know, foil to Wonder Red, he needs every parallel possible. Also his primary rival is female because...well, dude bro, what'd you expect?
Yes his image is bigger, but to be fair, he probably has more body mass than Red and Blue and thus it is necessary! ...I am sorry, that was a horrible fat joke and I should be smacked for that. Anyway, the big, fat, french kid with a gun. I swear they tried to shove every french stereotype they can have in one character, realized that some of them conflict with one another, said screw it, and just went with it, and that's what we got. He wields a gun named after the female lead from Phantom of the Opera, because really, don't all kids have something like that these days? ...ok, with school violence, that may have been a tasteless joke, but hat's more important is Unite Gun SHOOTS OTHER MEMBERS OF THE TEAM AT THE OPPONENT. In a higher level, IT IS A SUPER SCOPE 6! No, I am not kidding, that's actually what it turns into.
Green is the 3rd most prominent character after Red and Blue of the team, and he never misses a chance to mock Blue, especially when Blue fails with women. This leads to Blue responding with a "shut up" one liner that usually involves something related to french ("Stick a tube in it, Foie Gras!") This happens so often, the game gave them their own "Blue tackles Green" portrait.
Unite Gun mostly exists to hit things that are legitimately out of reach, either because they fly or because they are far away. As such, it's either a crappy option or your own option to hurt something with! It also can suck up objects, like conveniently big spherical bombs, and shoot them at the opponent.
You know, I could go into detail about her character, but...I think
her intro sums her characterization up, the nature of her character, Kamiya's sick mind, among other things far better than I could. It also gives a little bit of insight to Wonder Red's CHARACTER ANNOUNCEMENTS, a transformation sequence with the character, and Wonder Green's exaggerated accent. Pink also is a fangirl of Vorrkhen (will explain later), hates Wonder Green, and if it's not obvious, is what happens when you splice a Valley Girl, an Anime Girl, and a Vampire. Somehow, she is STILL the emotional one on the team, being the only person who actually shows any sort of care about Luka, the annoying little kid I'll address later. No, I don't know how they pulled it off either...only someone as messed up in the head as Kamiya could make this character.
Unite Whip is one of the best attacks in the game, to my surprise. It's a lot stronger than you'd think, making it a good substitute for for Unite Hand that is a little more flexible due to range, and is the only way to deal with Spiky Foes...which is annoying because the whip only grapples when it wants too, unless there is a way to insure it which I never quite figured out. Oh yeah, also a parody of Bayonetta at times, if it wasn't obvious in her intro.
A Russian dude who doesn't understand the concept of catch phrases, with practically no self esteem whatsoever, and he carries a big hammer. Unfortunately, he is underutilized, which is ashame as when he does say something he's amusing. Unite Hammer mostly exists for guard crushes, and if used in right areas, can bring up hidden spots.
Yes, they gave the BIG BURLY RUSSIAN GUY a the Pikohan, not the Tsundere. PROGRESSIVE? MAYBE!
The Proverb speaking Ninja with Ice Powers who climbs walls and doesn't know how to shut up...except they forgot to give him much dialog because half the hero dialog is Blue, Green and Pink arguing over something completely meaningless. It's ashame, a Ninja who doesn't know how to stop talking has a lot of potential, but I guess they ran out of time in development or something. Whatever, there's always a POTENTIAL SEQUEL in the works, maybe he'll get more then!
Unite Claw gets combos...lots and lots of combos...you will get a Platinum Ranking on your combo rating just by using Unite Claw. It also can freeze enemies if powered up enough, is used to climb walls, and apparently has a projectile feature that I never found useful. Yes, this game has climbing segments ala God of War, but they are more fun because you climb faster, there are less of them, and combat is more than "press one attack and throw guy off." Ok, it is still one button, but who cares? YOU'RE PLAYING AS AN ICE NINJA INSTEAD OF A MEGA DOUCHE. Automatically superior!
If Niu were a super hero, he'd be Wonder Black. The world could be blowing up around him via giant robot, and he'd STILL be on his 3DS trying to finish his game. No, really, this happens. Black barely speaks at all; even when he speaks, he mostly mumbles his dialog such that only Green can understand him because...uhh...kids? Apparently they had a bet regarding Wonder Pink in terms of who blows up most aliens, Green claims to have won but I call bollocks because I totally used Unite Bomb more often once Black joined!
Unite Bomb is not what it sounds like...I mean, yeah, it's a bomb, but it's not about crowd control explosions. It's about crowd control "Slow time down of everything hit by it." You will only get one powered up version which extends duration and radius before you downgrade to a basic version, but a way to beat a number of tougher enemies is to just spam Bomb on the guy, and use the Team Attack button, possibly doing a multi-unite with another character to add more damage. Bomb lock downs work incredibly well, really.
That's it for the MAIN TEAM, but onto OTHER CHARACTERS!!!
This guy's name is P-star.
The convenient "has answer to everything because Robot Computer" helper, he is like Alpha-5 except follows you everywhere, and isn't annoying. Apparently he has lasers too but he never uses them outside of one segment because...uhh...reasons. Really, not much to say about P-star, he's exactly what he looks like!
Unfortunately, I cannot find his INTRO ID CARD, so I'll have to just tell you this is Laurence Nelson, the token Zordon character of the team! He's the boss, he tells you what to do, your team does it, and he's got an awesome mustache and is never not drinking coffee. He also was
Wonder Red over 10 years prior, and had Unite Drill with one of the most rocking hair styles ever. You seriously have to see this thing!For those who read the spoiler, watch
this video to see what I mean regarding the hair!
Alice Macgregor, a character who only exists for Technological Exposition. "There is large amounts of Jerk matter in the atmosphere." That kind of stuff. It doesn't matter how horrible the situation is, how dire the problem is, she will always say these kinds of things, with absolutely no emotion whatsoever, unironically. Talk about being dedicated to your job!
Her name is Immorta. If you can't tell that she's a Pink Alien Chick with a Heart Motif thing going on...well, she is, so shut up. She's the token "Good guy who at first doesn't like the team but forges an alliance because why not work for common cause, thus becomes honorary member of team" character. At first, I thought this was just a plot thing, but next thing I know, you get Unite Bow, an attack you can use select chapters wehre she joins, so yay! I didn't really find a use for it, often forgetting it exists, but hey, at least they put it in. Also, she's the last of the space cops apparently...I don't know how that works, but just go with it.
Immorta's character is basically her going after Prince Vorrkhen, because he's the bad guy, and having the questionable relationship with Red that both of course blush over. But enough about the good guys, I think we should talk about the bad guys, and since I keep bringing him up...
Heir to the throne of the comet Rhullo, leader of the Space Pirates known across the galaxy as the Guyzoch, Prince Vorrkhen! He is the Shonen Rival of Wonder Red, has his own team of 100 alien soldiers that can unite Morph, has a cliched evil European accent, and is basically Ciato's method of super villainy. As in, he checks guide books for details, calls his rival "Blunder-Red" not because it is insulting, because he misheard it and believes that is truly his name, and when asked to explain himself, he will tell you his ENTIRE LIFE STORY, even polite enough to warn you it will take 15 to 30 minutes and will only tell you it if you are ok with that.
His fights are amusing because he uses Unify Morphs on you, and the key is figuring out how to dodge them and best count (I still don't know how to avoid Unify Gun or Unify Boomerang; thankfully the former is rare and the latter is not TOO damaging), and of course he gets his own battle theme because SHONEN RIVAL EPIC!!!
He also joins later in the game with Unify Boomerang, which is COMPLETELY BROKEN, which makes up for the Unify Boomerang being so stupidly annoying when you fight it. You can also use Unify Naginata, which is Chewgi's attack, and that's pretty damn awesome too, though Chewgi isn't a big enough character to bother singling out here. Don't think he even gets a proper intro!
Jergingha, the villain. He is super if super were a 100 foot tall Alien Robot thing from 1000 years in the future. That is all.
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Annoying little kid who you want to punch in the face, won't leave you alone, and insists on being a little bitch. Blue's response to him is basically what I'm sure most players are like when they see him. Alas, he's an important character who won't leave and needs punching.
So...yeah, kind of have to wrap this up fast but all the important stuff are covered. Game is quite fun with some hiccups, music is good, characters are great, and anyone who actually gets a Wii U should give it a shot.
And thus...
Unite....RANT!!!!...end....
