Recore

Recore is a video game I have been wanting to play for a very long time. It all started back in June 15, 2015 during E3 when Microsoft released a trailer for the game. The game was released in September of 2016 on the Xbox One. It wasn't about a month later I started seeing video reviews with the news of it being on Windows 10. ReCore was re-released in August 2017 with the new Definitive Edition. It was then placed on Steam for $20 (as it always has) on September 14, 2018. That is when I kept asking the question: For $20, would I get one-third of a standard game? But honestly, there was another question I kept asking myself:

How far am I willing to go? Everytime I logged into the game, that is the question that kept coming into my mind. The main campaign could probably be completed in 12 hours. Otherwise, "completing" the game can take up to 30 hours. The story is shown with very broad strokes that allow you to sort of fill in the gaps yourself. The ending is very unfulfilling with a short cut-scene that lasts roughly under a minute. I reached level 34 (out of 40) and obtained 78 prismatic cores (out of what appeared to be 100 possible) in 18 hours game time. Once I started browsing for details online, I realized that the Definitive Edition improved the game quite drastically. Honestly, I can't see how the game didn't have these changes from the start!

The game definitely had issues, not just from a bare-bones story. I can look past the sluggish frame rates and graphical holes in the landscape. It is the core frames that drove me crazy. Finding blueprints is easy enough but they all needed the same basic components to create. This forced me to pick and "upgrade" which blueprint to use. I couldn't use half of my frames. On the flip side, the costs of using a layout was so low, roughly 200, that I stockpiled a good 35,000 before ending the game. Not having the right companion frame for unlocking areas was also a pain. Having Mack (blue) SP-DR shooting lasers in a 360 degree arc was way more beneficial than anything I could do. Having Seth (yellow) K-9 forming a shield was not only ineffective but had the most degrading sound effect I have ever heard. At the very least the checkpoints helped mitigate the travel issues. I think a better fix would have been to incorporate a crawler in each area with a workstation that doesn't require a separate load-in screen and to allow you summon one of each frame with a pre-selected companion already attached. No headaches for trying to change a core into a hollow frame back at base.

Overall, I enjoyed the game. It reminds me of Mario N64 with its pristine platforming style. Combat and collecting come second with its questionable mechanics. You can choose to only do the campaign with a few dungeons to obtain 30 prismatic cores for the story, obtain 75 prismatic cores to gain access to every dungeon, or obtain a perfect score of... whatever... 100-ish prismatic cores if you are into that kind of thing. I just wish there was a way to upgrade your own character with weapons, armor, and cosmetics. Then again, it is a $20 game.

 

10-2-2018