Tanner was adamant about his love of Guacamelee! on last generation consoles, but has anything changed since he last played? Find out his thoughts post-jump!
For those of you who may have not heard of Guacamelee!, it is in the same vein of games like Metroid or Castlevania (or MetroidVania, as it is often referred to) which consist of a combination of platforming and combat. Guacamelee! STCE is one of the best iterations on the genre seen in the last decade. It not only contains the excellent original title, but also interweaves quite seamlessly the add-ons introduced throughout the game's life on last gen.
The changes to the game aren't immediate, but they are noticeable early on if you're looking for them. For example, once you get to your first skull table (the checkpoints of the game) you will notice a new "costumes" tab. These are great fun for dressing up Juan or Tostada and it would suffice just to have alternate garb for our protagonist and sidekick. But each costume is thoughtfully crafted and carry a set of positives and negatives unique to the gameplay. These perks/drawbacks add a whole new side to Guacamelee! unseen by the vanilla game. My favorite costume (and the only one needed for a trophy) is Diablo's Suit, which has less health and more stamina that vanilla Juan. Diablo's biggest advantage, however, is his ability that drains health from successful melee attacks, a perk that has saved my Luchador buns more than once.
Enemy types have increased and lead to some tough battles that were unexpected. They are mostly variations on the normal skeletons, but they are of greater difficulty and super satisfying. There is also a new player in the way you approach combat, by the name of Intenso! mode. Intenso is sort of a hybrid of a super power and a lifesaver. Basically, you fill up a progress bar with combos. The more combos you land, the quicker the bar fills up and once it is past a certain threshold, Intenso mode can be triggered. This is a speed boost in all of the aspects of combat and Juan/Tostada moves faster, strikes speedier, and dodges quicker than normal. It is great for really tough areas chocked full of enemies, but is also super handy when low on health as it restores your character to full health.
Another newcomer in STCE is the addition of the Infierno challenges, which are delightfully difficult. Don't let that alliteration fool you, these challenges are truly hard, which makes getting all gold medals so extremely satisfying. They range from combat challenges voiding use of some moves (the hardest of which being the loss of dodge) and speed challenges (the most difficult of which being where you have to guide a chicken through a course) that will challenge even the most seasoned veteran of the normal storyline. They are a one of a kind experience that fell into my time with Guacamelee! seamlessly.
Guacamelee is a game that begs to be 100-percented and I heard it's pleading cry. This was a task not easily undertaken, but I did it, and found quite possibly my only critique of the game. There needs to be a better quick travel system. My suggestion is that once you defeat the final boss of the game, you can open your map and fast travel to any location sans Olmec head. Getting to an Olmec head inside one map could take longer than traveling to the intended fast travel destination on foot in certain locations, which is irritating when canvasing all of the maps a second or possibly third time.
i haven't finished Hard mode yet, but I can verify it is a higher level of difficulty than the normal difficulty of a first playthrough. From my observations offensive combat seems to be basically the same, but Juan's health and stamina are lower and he seems to take damage more easily. Harder or more waves of enemies seem to spawn before pinatas also, but that may just be my mind playing tricks on me.
Between all the additional content and actually pursuing 100% completion, Super Turbo Championship Edition essentially doubled my in-game time and more Guacamelee! is never a bad thing. I loved Guacamelee! last year, and this Guacamelee edition hits that one with a Flying Derpderp to the face. I'm giving Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition a whopping 9.6.
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