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Million Years Sentence of Love
After a decade of waiting, we finally got a remastered version for one of the top games made for PS Vita. As someone who played the original game released back in 2014, I was excited to get this game and bought it day 1. The game still got the charm of the original and a number of changes that may or may not suit the taste of OG players.
Story
Set in the distant post-apocalyptic future where humans reside in large structures called panopticons that constantly compete for survival, you must fight to earn your freedom and stay alive in this harsh world. You also fight with a faction called On High that got the best technology in the world. This remaster added some dialogues and cutscenes not seen in the original, giving more development to other characters in the game.
Gameplay
Stepping once more in the shoes of a prisoner (called Sinner) with 1 million years sentence to work off by doing missions, the core gameplay is very much like the original. You hunt big monsters called abductors which are robots with humanoid, animal-based or even exotic designs. You get parts with varying rarities that can be used to upgrade and improve your weapons. You also save citizens captured by the enemies and take them to an extraction point. You earn sentence reduction everytime you clear the missions and Entitlement Points. The in-game currency is called Entitlement Points or EP which can be used to purchase entitlements and items/weapons from shops. You also earn EP from donating loots or resources obtain and will increase your GPP (Gross Panopticon Product) which measures your value to your panopticon and contribute to your own panopticon's ranking in the "League of Panopticons". You get weapon either from shops or drops from defeated enemies. Although the main enemies you fight are the abductors, you also fight small drones and sinners from other panopticons. As you complete more missions and increase your code clearance level, you unlock more entitlements ranging from customization options for your character to rights to do stuff in the game. In addition to your weapons, you're also equipped with a thorn that helps with mobility and provide abilities ranging buffing or healing to stunning your enemies. Think of it like having spiderman's webshooters on your left arm. I won't go much into the other minor details but overall, this is a hunting game with different kind of twist. You also have augmentations that increase your character's capabilities without relying on armors and allows more freedom in customizing your character style.
Graphics
Better graphics than the original but overall look is the same. It's nice to see my character with more details than before. Though not graphically detailed as newer games, this version is an eye candy without asking too much performance power from your PC.
Music
The all-familiar songs from the OG are back. As seen in the trailers, all sinners wear headsets not just for communication but for listening to music as well. I love listening to "Thorn Lullaby" and never get tired of it.
Multiplayer
I didn't do much online multiplayer until I cleared the story as I wanted to experience the game from the ground up. I now primarily play online co-op and occasionally join some casual PVP although I admit I'm not really good on that one. Both game modes are fun and played in different way. Co-op will have you and up to 3 other sinners work together in completing a mission. Either your team will finish a mission in as fast as 5 minutes, longer or not at all will depend on your your own skills, your loadout and teamwork. PVP will have 2 teams of 4 players fight either elimination or citizen reclamation. PVP features thorn reduced thorn gauge and different damage calculation so your loadout in co-op may not work there.
Pros and Cons:
+Improved graphics without asking too much from your hardware.
+Additional content like cutscenes and all DLC already included.
+Change from weapon manufacturing to weapon drop system encourages you to do more missions.
+Rare weapons with unique enhancements so you have to do more missions for stronger loadouts.
+Simpler process in increasing the number of modules you can add to your weapon.
+XXL modules for stronger weapons.
+Deadly Sinner Mode gives more reward by making the game more challenging. Reduced sentence reduction and random mission anomalies will lead to better drop rate.
-No more worldwide panopticons. You only get those based from Japanese prefectures so League of Panopticons doesn't feel as engaging as the original.
-No crossplay with PSN and Switch players resulted in lower online player count. This makes it difficult to find people to play with at certain times.
-PVP requiring 8 players instead for filling in spots with "Replacement Sinners" resulted in long wait times before you can play Versus Mode.
-Initial release bugs like the crit chance bug and infinite loading to some players that took some time to fix.
As someone who played the original, It's nice to get this game back. We had some bumps along the road but I still enjoy playing this game until now. I love the overall gameplay and the fact that I can customize the look of my character without sacrificing the fighting capabilities. I hope to see more players online as I don't see myself stopping from playing this game anytime soon.