Magical Drop VI Review (Groove Wizard)
Well, this is Magical Drop, and it has online multiplayer. I couldn't be happier.
The game does have a few issues, although none of them should be a problem for fans of the series looking to play online. However, those looking for a chill, solo puzzle game may want to know that :
- Characters need to be unlocked separately for each game mode, some unlock conditions are really tedious and/or unreasonably hard, and the game doesn't tell you about them. With a guide and decent skill, you should expect to spend more than ten hours unlocking everything.
- I found story mode to be pretty underwhelming. Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, battle, dialogue, uninteresting challenge, dialogue, uninteresting challenge, dialogue, battle, dialogue...
- Survival Mode is really all about beating the last 10 waves, but if you're playing on Hard (required for unlocks and achievements), you have to spend a half hour going through all 50 of them. Carpal tunnels begging for mercy.
- The board game mode is very disappointing. AI turns take forever, RNG can make or break a game due to a couple ridiculous items that can turn things around in the strictest of senses (think Mario Kart's blue shell, only ten times worse), and it's not even that fun to begin with. It also doesn't help that you'd literally have to play it for hundreds of hours to unlock all CGs.
- Puzzle mode gets old very quickly.
- No matter the difficulty setting, the AI is in a weird spot, where it's quite hard to beat for a beginner, and will be dealt with in a matter of seconds by a decent player (which also makes arcade mode a bit disappointing).
- Some characters are immensely stronger than others, but that's another thing the game doesn't tell you about. I ended up testing everything and writing a guide just because I wanted one to be there.
Neutral point : low chains are extremely strong, as opposed to MD2 (the only one I had experience with), where you needed to go for high chains to drop a lot of lines on your opponent. I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter past a certain level, as the end result is essentially the same "you snooze, you lose" vibe as before.
On the good side, Caravan Mode (scoring in a limited time) does a great job at capturing the nervous, methodical essence of the series. Even if you're not into multiplayer, you still get one good mode, which is all you need to have a good time.