River City Girls - PS4/Switch

[evil_ash_xero]

Anybody playing this? I downloaded it today, and played a bit. But I have a bunch of stuff going on, and I can't really settle down for a game.
It seems fun and fluid. Reminds me of Scott Pilgrim, but without the painfully slow walking.

Simple at first, but you start getting moves pretty quick as you upgrade. The scores on the game seem good too.
Anyone had some proper time with this?

[Mischief Maker]

As of release, the PC version does not allow for keyboard rebinding and the default layout sucks (trying for "two players one keyboard").

Let me know if they ever patch that.

[Jonny2x4]

I'm tempted to pick it up, but I'm not too crazy over how the Kunio-kun characters and lore were handled (and I wasn't too crazy about Double Dragon Neon either, even though it was a FOTM darling). Some of the original Kunio creators are credited under "special thanks" but that doesn't really suggests any involvement from them. For all we know, they could just be paying lip service to them. The fact that it has a bunch of ecelebs voicing the characters, including the Game Grumps as the Double Dragons, is also a huge red flag to me (yet somehow they couldn't afford online co-op).

[it290]

I would much rather have River City Underground on Switch, but failing that I'll give this a go, looks like a good time.

[drauch]

a bunch of ecelebs voicing the characters, including the Game Grumps as the Double Dragons.

Goddammit, that's super gross. I didn't know that. I went ahead and ordered it last week on PS4 since I general enjoy their games. I'll voice my opinion when it gets here in like a month or whatever.

[evil_ash_xero]

You can turn the voices off.

[Mischief Maker]

I got it, am currently something like 45% through.

I am neither a belt-scroller master, nor a Kunio-kun expert, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

It feels more like double dragon to me than River City Rampage, though part of that impression could be due to the size of the sprites. It's a very deliberate brawler with long recovery times and minimal cancel moves. Punch and Kick have been replace by quick and heavy attack, plus the special attack button from Underground. Heavy and Special control up to four moves each depending on the direction button pressed simultaneously. There is no longer a grab button and enemies can only be grabbed when they're in a dizzied state. Protip: the block button lets you quickly drop a weapon so you can stomp an enemy while they're down.

The two girls have different movesets and additional characters can be unlocked. I'm playing the redhead right now and she's very similar to the breakdancer from Underground.

IMO the aesthetics are delightful, especially the synthwave soundtrack (with some tracks including vocals).

Unfortunately the game has a number of not game-breaking but still annoying flaws that I don't think are going to be patched anytime soon. You can't rebind keyboard controls and the default layout was designed by a madman. You move between screens by standing at the exit and hitting the "quick attack" button, which constantly results in accidentally switching rooms in the middle of a fight. And if you lose a boss fight you have to go through the whole pre-fight cutscene/conversation loop all over again (mitigated somewhat by a Skip command that takes a couple seconds to fill up). There is a fan mod that addresses all these complaints, but as of version 1.2 it doesn't work with the gog version. Suffice to say if you're playing the gog version, a pad is MANDATORY, (or an arcade stick that doesn't map to keyboard inputs).

In terms of pure belt-scroller action gameplay I say Fight 'n Rage still has this game beat. It's as an Action RPG that River City Girls shines. If the thought of beating people up for coins and spending those coins at a variety of shops to buy one of everything isn't a turn-off, I'd say the game is worth a look. I'm certainly enjoying myself.

[BurlyHeart]

Thanks for the insight. Not a huge fan of RPG level up systems in beat 'em ups, but the I couldn't let that put me off the game. It looks so damn good. Ordered the PS4 version through Limited Run Games, though if I knew a GOG versions was forthcoming, I would have held off for that.

I can't see any game in the genre beating Fight'N Rage any time soon. It's not perfect, but it's certainly raised the bar.

[Mischief Maker]

UPDATE: A gog-compatible version of the keyboard remapping mod just came out.

It also includes a number of QoL changes that address just about every little complaint I had about the game.

[drauch]

I got my PS4 copy and played a bit this weekend. Like 27% through I think. I know WF games are a bit divided here, but I always dig them for some laid-back fun and their presentation. Feels just like RSR and has a lot of moves to choose from, and once you get a few they start to combo together nicely for crowd control and efficient beatdowns. As Mischief Maker said, one really annoying bit is accidentally going back to the previous screen when you're near the edge, since punch operates your screen transition as well. Quite grating.

My update came through while I was playing and I'm not sure I played after that was installed. Was that changed in the patch at all, MM?

[Mischief Maker]

It's a fan-made mod for steam and gog only. As far as I know the guy who made it does not work for the devs.

[drauch]

Ahhh my bad, I read that and it didn't even register in my flat brian.