River City: Rival Showdown Review (Animarelic)
This is my Childhood, My dear Aunt that passed away who was my 2P aka Ryan aka Riki, would be proud to see how far the game has come. The Graphics overhaul with NPC's bring River City aka Yumemicho to life. This Game is NOT Tokyo Rumble (TR) but it is on par with it.
Combat - You Set up to 10 skills and develop your own fighting style learned from book stores, allies and enemies. You level up fighting versus earning power ups through binge eating food which instead gives you temp buffs. While the game is multiplayer unlike EX you don't get a posse or AI co op except in certain scenarios. You can also buy gear and accessories to mix and match that increase stats and develop the build you want.
Story - instead of traveling around finding bosses at random, you're given a free roam system of 3 days to take up quests and learn what you can about the story. What you discover and who you fight determines the path and ending you get. Since quests are time sensitive you can miss certain events so this drags the 3 days out as you spend almost every hour searching for events.
Difficulty - This is one of the Hardest Games even on basic difficulty with proper stats you can still have a hard time. The Enemy AI is very smart and is not prone to mistakes often. If you just want to steam roll this game either Grind or "Git Gud".
Cons - The Game is Smaller in scope compared to EX, Tokyo Rumble, and even Underground. Also the difficulty and focusing on timed story elements can be frustrating. Less shop areas and options.
Pros - Despite the city being a little smaller River city comes to life with the NPC's and time shifts. The 3 days is what you make of it and the option to restart the game with current stats and different story paths make it worth replaying. Its River City you're here for the combat and it will satisfy you.
My Ranking of NA RC (Non Girls) games: Tokyo Rumble, EX, Showdown, RCR NES, Underground