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AnimeFan Game Reviews: RWBY Grimm Eclipse

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AnimeFanFTW's Avatar AnimeFanFTW
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Hello everyone, AnimeFanFTW here, with another videogame review, and today, I review RWBY Grimm Eclipse!

Been a while since I made a review, huh? ;P

I was originally planning to make a blog about that whole CSGO gambling scandal, but since everyone already knows about that, I decided to just review a game that recently got a full release. And it's a game that I've been following for years, RWBY Grimm Eclipse. With a Steam positive rating of 89%, I decided to put my two cents into this game.

If you want to buy the game, go here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/418340/

Now, hope you enjoy!
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Introduction



If you couldn't already guess, I'm a big fan of Rooster Teeth's most successful series, RWBY. With 3 seasons (and a 4th on the way), a chibi spin-off series, merchandise, its own manga, Japanese dub and now its own official videogame, this series went from a story a humble animator had, into a fan favorite. And even with the creator of RWBY, Monty Oum passing away 2 years ago (we still miss you, Monty), the series is still going strongly. And when a RWBY game was announced in 2015, the excitement of the RWBY fanbase was palpable. And after so much waiting, Rooster Teeth Games, a team of 10 people who have never released a videogame before, released onto Steam, RWBY Grimm Eclipse. But before I talk about the game, let's talk about how this game came to be. I think you'll find it interesting.

The History of RWBY Grimm Eclipse



Before RWBY Grimm Eclipse was an official Rooster Teeth game, this game actually started out as a fan game. On April Fools Day 2014, a person named Jordan Scott, released a trailer for his fan game simply called "RWBY Grimm Eclipse", with a download link to the game in the description. To basically explain the game, the fan game was pretty much a playable version of the Red Trailer. As Ruby Rose, you must survive waves and waves of Grimm, until you die. You couldn't win the game, but the developer did challenge people to complete 10 waves. I remember playing this game, and I remember it was actually impressive for a game made by 1 person, in the space of half a year. There isn't alot of content in this game, however. You could only play as Ruby, the only enemy in the game were Beowolf, and the game itself was basic. However, it was a neat little fan game. Now, normally, when it comes to fan games like this, it would either not be expanded upon, or it would be removed for copyright reasons. But Rooster Teeth did something pretty cool: They offered Jordan a job at Rooster Teeth, to expand on the game. When Rooster Teeth announced this, people that played the game (me included) were in a frenzy. Nowadays, the trailer's description no longer has the download link for the game, but if you look for a while, there are several sites that have the game available for download. And besides, I still have my copy of the game. When the Alpha of the game released on the Rooster Teeth website, it was only available to Rooster Teeth sponsors, and since I wasn't a sponsor, I can't say much about it because I didn't play it. I do know that the Alpha had 4 playable Ruby's coloured in the team RWBY colours. In mid-2015, Rooster Teeth released the game onto Steam Greenlight, which was then Greenlit in under a day. Then it released onto Steam Early Access in December 2015, and the rest is history.

Story and Characters - 4/10
AnimeFan Game Reviews: RWBY Grimm Eclipse
Considering I liked the stories of the first 2 seasons alot, I expected to really like the story of Grimm Eclipse. Unfortunately, it kinda fell short, but is by no means horrible. Set between Season 2 and Season 3, Grimm Eclipse tells the story of Team RWBY investigating how Remnant's security network was having issues. After finding out the issue, it turns out it was being reprogrammed. They also find cages and mutated Grimm in various locations. After more investigating, they find out the cause of all of this: a company called Merlot Industries, led by Dr. Merlot. From that moment, Team RWBY set out to stop Dr. Merlot's schemes. That's basically the story in a nutshell, without spoiling too much. Now, although I think the story for this game is decent, it was not that great. It was pretty basic, and it never really picked up the pace near the end. It kinda felt a bit lazy, to be honest. I did like the direction it was going, however. The characters were also pretty decent, but again, lazy. The vast majority of the characters really did nothing but say some words before and after a fight. or told you the obvious. But my biggest problem I had with it was the villain, Dr. Merlot. Throughout the story, he was pretty one-dimensional, except near the end. Again, nothing really horrible, but pretty meh. Overall, the story and characters are slightly average, but very disappointing.

Gameplay and Controls - 5/10
AnimeFan Game Reviews: RWBY Grimm Eclipse
In terms of gameplay, it's pretty decent, but needs work. Controls for a keyboard, and Xbox360 and PS4 controller are simple and work well, so I won't talk much about it. But what I will talk about is how the gameplay has lots of potential, but needs more time put into it. First up, this game has multiplayer in mind. You can create lobbies where you and 3 other people play as members of Team RWBY, completing these levels. which, by the way, are 10 levels. Playing with randoms is OK, but I would recommend playing with a group of friends, because playing with friends is pretty fun. There is a singleplayer as well, that does need work, but is decent. In terms of levels, I'm very so-so with them. While the landscapes look great, and it gets the job done, I could basically explain to you how all 10 levels are: They are filled with empty corridor-like paths with a bunch of "arena" areas to fight enemies. Every level has you walking down a path, until you reach an open area, where you fight Grimm, and when you defeat all the enemies in the area, you walk down more paths to the next.. While I find nothing wrong with it, a bit more variety would have been nice since the parts where I'm not fighting to be very dull. In terms of fighting, it's pretty fun, but very repetitive, even for hack n slash standards. Then you have the 4 playable characters. Now, I wouldn't say they play the same, but they feel similar. Ruby can spread damage around pretty well, Weiss is a ranged fighter, Blake is an all-rounder, and Yang focuses on close range, powerful strikes. While I do like that, they still feel too similar. And the fact their ultimate attacks are pretty much all the same: a huge attack that damages enemies around you, is also a let-down. In terms of attacks, you have a light attack, a heavy attack that can be charged, a counterattack, and a ranged attack. Chaining light and heavy attacks is so-so, but there needs to be alot more different combos, since there's basically 3 different combos for each character, which is simply not enough. The ranged attacks are basically almost useless unless you play as Weiss, and the counterattack is the only type of attack that is actually pretty solid. You can also do Team Attacks after stunning opponents, which is also pretty cool. The evade move is also very handy as well. Another gameplay element is leveling up. After earning enough XP by defeating enemies, or by picking up XP items scattered around the levels, you level up and gain a skill point, which can be used to buy upgrades. And honestly, the upgrade system is inconsistent. Some upgrades, like the quick revive, is ridiculously good, while some upgrades like increasing power of your ranged attacks, is almost pointless. Then there is things that really should be in the game, but aren't. There's no Team JPNR, no healing items, since staying alive in the game is a bit too easy since you regain health quickly overtime. There isn't even a Horde mode. A mode which was basically what the original fan game was, is not even in the official game. Pretty disappointing, not gonna lie. This game would highly benefit having a Horde mode. Overall, a very flawed, but decent experience.

Graphics - 7/10
AnimeFan Game Reviews: RWBY Grimm Eclipse
It terms of graphics, this game looks great in some areas, and meh in other areas. Some of the levels look fantastic, with beautiful, detailed landscapes. Then you have other examples where the game seems a bit low-quality, like in the final cut scene, where it had some bad looking explosions (which were so bad, it would give the pizza explosions from Mighty No. 9 a run for its money). Honestly, I'm not surprised Rooster Teeth did an overall good job in this area, since the fan game year ago also looked very nice. The character models look great, and the Grimm designs look so badass. Easily the most awesome part of the game.The attacks also look flashy, which benefits its gameplay. Overall, a good job for the graphics.

Sound - 7/10

Honestly, despite the fact the sound is also pretty good, it's extremely underwhelming. If you were to look back at my RWBY Season 1 or 2 reviews, you would find that I said the sound (or, at least the soundtrack) was close to flawless, because the music was so good. Well, it's the same for Grimm Eclipse, but.....it's too quiet. The background music while exploring is ok, but when a fight starts, the kickass music starts, but it's all instrumental (meaning no lyrics), and the music itself was not loud enough. It doesn't hype up the player, it doesn't get them excited, it's just there to fill in for music for that fight. And that's disappointing, because not only is the RWBY soundtrack amazing, but the songs themselves in this game are still alright. It's still a great soundtrack. Ah well. At the very least, the voice acting was good. Major props goes to the voice actor who voiced the villain Dr. Merlot. His voice was deep and perfect. The sound effects were also decent as well. Overall, good sound as well.

Enjoyment - 6/10

Despite the game not really meeting my expectations, I still have no regrets following the development of this game for over 2 years. Following this little fan game I stumbled upon by accident, and seeing it grow into the official RWBY game it turned out to be. And throughout all the development, I had fun all the way through. However, despite how much of a mixed reception I gave it, I do have several questions that are left unanswered. It's VERY clear this game is still not finished. It still feels like an Early Access game. And while the game itself is good, I have to wonder why would Rooster Teeth release it now? It still needs work. It needs more content, because right now, in its current state of Version 1.0, it is not worth the $25 bucks it's currently priced at. It NEEDS more playable characters. It NEEDS more levels. It NEEDS a Horde mode. Rooster Teeth have said they will be updating the game throughout it's lifecycle, but the big question then is, will people continue to play it? Simply put, it's a game that doesn't leave a lasting impression. If Rooster Teeth does add new features along the way, then that will be fantastic. But if not, I can see this game losing its player base very quickly. Only time will tell. Until then, this game is flawed, but kinda enjoyable. I would only recommend this game to hardcore fans of RWBY and Rooster Teeth. To everyone else, unless you have $25 dollars to burn, I would avoid this game for now. Until it has more content, it's not worth the 25 bucks.

So yeah. 2 years of development, hype and excitement, and the final result is.....decent.

FINAL VERDICT - 6/10 - OK


____________________________________________________________
Now, to watch Season 3. Been holding off watching it until I played Grimm Eclipse. Let's see if Season 3 will pick up the slack Grimm Eclipse left.

Until the next review...

This is AnimeFanFTW, over and out!
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1
03/12/2017 11:10 am
Level 11 : Journeyman Artist
TheAnimeAngel
TheAnimeAngel's Avatar
Exciting! I didn't know it was already out, hope I will get it!
1
07/18/2016 3:26 pm
Level 1 : New Miner
d_scripter
d_scripter's Avatar
Hi, I created an account just to ask this question. You said, "The counterattack is the only type of attack that is actually pretty solid." I was pretty surprised by this comment, since many, many people in pre-release (me included) did not like it. Maybe I don't "understand" it. Do you mind explaining which situations you use it for, and how you find it useful? Thanks.
1
07/18/2016 7:16 pm
Level 59 : Grandmaster Senpai
AnimeFanFTW
AnimeFanFTW's Avatar
I found the counterattack useful for one simple reason: it stuns opponents. One thing about the enemies in this game is that they block alot. But whenever I successfully hit the B button to counterattack, they get stunned, and become much easier to take down. It's not a perfect system, sometimes, the time the counterattack option appears is too fast, but for the most part, I found the counterattack useful for getting rid of the enemies health easily.
1
07/20/2016 9:03 pm
Level 1 : New Miner
d_scripter
d_scripter's Avatar
Thank you.
1
07/20/2016 9:11 pm
Level 59 : Grandmaster Senpai
AnimeFanFTW
AnimeFanFTW's Avatar
No problem, mate. :D
1
07/17/2016 11:39 pm
Level 31 : Artisan Nerd
SHOkami
SHOkami's Avatar
I agree with you, the game kinda fell short for me as well. But all in all I still majorly enjoyed the heck outta it! Would def recommend to a fan of the series.
1
07/18/2016 12:13 am
Level 59 : Grandmaster Senpai
AnimeFanFTW
AnimeFanFTW's Avatar
It seems the vast majority of people all seem to have the same opinions as us. There's nothing wrong with an ok game. :D
1
07/13/2016 8:45 pm
Level 25 : Expert Hunter
xpCube
xpCube's Avatar
There is a RWBY game..? HOW COULD I NOT KNOW OF THIS
1
07/13/2016 9:26 pm
Level 59 : Grandmaster Senpai
AnimeFanFTW
AnimeFanFTW's Avatar
I'm kinda surprised you've never heard of it. It's been hyped up for 2 years, and Achievement Hunter have made 2 Let's Plays of it. Not to mention Rooster Teeth's social media have mentioned the game plenty of times.
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