Implosion Never Lose Hope Impressions

This past weekend was my first time traveling by plane this year, and as the original Nintendo Switch reveal commercial demonstrated, I knew I had to bring my Switch with me to play in the air. Since most of the recent big releases for the system are online multiplayer-focused affairs, I found myself browsing the eShop for an affordable and light-weight single-player experience to play on my flight. After having good experience with Kamiko and Mercenary Saga from Circle Entertainment in the past, I decided to pick up their newest mecha-themed hack-and-slash, Implosion Never Lose Hope. Here are some thoughts on the first few hours of gameplay:

• Implosion's combat starts out with very simple mechanics: combos of light and heavy melee attacks. However, the game quickly introduces ranged attacks, special moves, and evasive maneuvers to keep things interesting.
• Controlling the mech feels pretty good and cycling through its various types of attacks felt like second nature after playing through the first few levels. Cutting through swarms of enemies is very satisfying now that I'm able to make use of the full arsenal.
• Initially the enemies are pretty dull slow-moving zombies, but the challenge level and enemy variety ramps up. Eventually there are some big boss monsters to tackle that keep you on your toes.
• The levels are mostly linear and each can be finished within about five minutes. Most of the levels have secondary objectives that earn badges that can be used to unlock mech upgrades. This gives the levels a little extra replay value.
• I like that I can customize my mech's load out but I'm not always sure what the various new parts and upgrades do.
• The graphical style looks sort of like a HD-remastered PS2 game. For a $12 game, however, I'm more than happy with how it looks.
• I was surprised to find that a budget game like this has a fairly involved plot with fully-voiced cut scenes. However, due to the engine noise on my flight, I wasn't able to hear the dialog very well, so I can't really comment on the quality of the acting. For the same reason, I don't have much to say about the music either.
• The only downside to Implosion so far is that there's no option for co-op play. As the old Gauntlet and X-men arcade machines proved, hack and slash games make for some great local multiplayer. 

During my travels, I was able to put about three hours into Implosion Never Lose Hope and have been pretty happy with it. It's been a fun arcadey experience that's well-suited for those times when I don't want to play something too engrossing.

Note: This post marks the 1-year anniversary of this blog! Woohoo! Many thanks to everyone who's stuck with me!