Y’know, whenever I make reviews like this, I have them longer and more in depth. However, I am going to keep this review as short as possible while hopefully trying to give a detailed honest opinion.
Presentation
While looking very closely at the presentation of Kokoro Ultimate I had some mixed thoughts on one hand, I like the voice acting and the art style as I think it fits well with what OMAGX Studios/Chadrick was trying to accomplish here. (FYI, the character design for the ninja character almost reminded me of Batman). However, I have some gripes with both the cutscene animations and the lighting a bit. I mean, the cutscene animations are fine for the most part, but I saw some instances where the characters would have the models clip into different parts of their bodies or they would sometimes clip into the ground. I get that OMAGX must have been given a tight deadline by their publishers, but I feel like a little bit of effort could have made the animation errors a bit less noticeable. The lighting is also fine, but I warn those who have sensitive eyes to be cautious while looking at the cutscenes a bit. Maybe it’s just me, but I am not so sure. To be honest, I did not mind the voice acting. Sure it’s not perfect, but in my opinion, it gives the characters more personality. So, the presentation can be a bit of a mixed bag at times depending on your perspective.
Presentation: 6/10
Gameplay
I have to be honest with you. I. Am. BAD at traditional fighting games, especially Street Fighter and Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2. The only fighting games I really love, like, or tolerate are the Super Smash Bros. games, Sonic the Fighters, Dragon Ball Raging Blast, and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. When I went into this game, the combat felt a bit too button mashie from my perspective.
Mini Pixey: Um... Pix-oly Pupkit, why are you talking about button mashie combat? You never say “button mashie” in your reviews.
Pix-oly Pupkit: Correct weird tiny yellow version of me that I am now acknowledging.
I don’t mention the term “button mashie” in these types of reviews. But I had to mention it here because I felt like there was not much depth to the combat in this game. Although, I guess it didn’t help that I have been spoiled by other combat focused games like Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, Phantasy Star Online 2, and Dragon Ball Xenoverse for example. Say what you want about Sonic Unleashed, but when I actually experimented with the werehog, I felt like it handled in-depth combat better than Shadow 05, 06, Rise of Lyric, and even Frontiers.
Anyways, back on topic. The combat in this game didn’t do much for me. Now look, I kept experimenting with different buttons to see what would happen, but I felt like I was just doing some basic attacks, even while the weapons and the ultimate forms were active. Overall, the gameplay is a mixed bag. It’s not exactly bad, but not great either.
Gameplay: 5/10
Performance
Okay, I know this segment is short, but I want to keep this brief before we get to the final two segments. When I played on my Steam Deck, the performance was great. I did not encounter any slowdown while fighting opponents. However, depending on what Steam Deck you have, your mileage may vary.
Presentation: 8/10
Story
I have to be honest with you, I did not pay much attention to the story in Kokoro Ultimate. The story, in my opinion, is filled with some plot holes. We never hear how the cyborg gorilla monster thing was captured by the main antagonist and we never get to see what happened to the fox girl’s friend. To be blunt, the story is not bad, but it has kinks that could be ironed out.
Story: 7/10
Bugs
• Character freezing when landing on the ground after being knocked out into the air in “Story Mode.”
• Light attack button making my character dodge back in “Story Mode.”
• Game Over and Black Screen of Death after playing through the “Arcade Mode” once.
Final Verdict
I am very mixed on Kokoro Ultimate. I mean, I like Chadrick, and I think that they are a great person and developer. However, I cannot decide whether to recommend this game or not. If you are a skilled fighting game expert, more power to you. However, I would play the tutorial first if you are a newcomer. Let me be clear, I am not insulting Chadrick’s work, I just want to give some valid criticisms that can help them in the future. Chadrick, thank you for reading this and I am sorry if this sounds like I am being harsh.
Final Verdict: 26/40
