Alice: Madness Returns

I'll keep it short and to the point, as I myself can't read most full length articles without losing track of where it was going or what the point was. Onward!

Alice: Madness Returns was an enjoyable game with a good story and delivered well. That said, let's get to the bad, and finish with the good, because the game was, as I said, enjoyable.

So first off, there is no saving or save control whatsoever in the game. This wouldn't be overly annoying if it weren't for the fact that dying during combat usually reloads you back upwards of 5 minutes in gameplay. It can also make the auto-save your enemy if attempting to collect the numerous collectibles, which I would recommend avoiding as they eat up tons of time finding all of them (not that I headed my own advice). Finally, the game was definitely created for console, which is made apparent by it's control scheme and numerous tweakables that were not tweaked for PC (this is Unreal, we have the technology...)

Now to the good stuff. The characters and environments look absolutely beautiful. The weapons are well-designed and stay usable throughout the game due to the new upgrading mechanic (another place where RPGs made their way into this game). Also, the combat is really well done. It keeps the gruesome artistic feel, while keeping tactical and precise, not button-mashy. The extra weapons and costumes are a very nice touch, which you can unlock through some simple INI tweaks, in case you missed the special edition (which I did). And lastly I wanted to mention the mini-games this game included. They range from simple 2D platforming, to thinking chess-styled puzzles, to Marble Madness or Sea Dragon games, themed to work with Alice. While they definitely are a change of pace, it was welcome change between the lengthy expanses of maddening item collection I was poorly avoiding. Also, I really liked Chapter 3. Especially the end sequences.

So, should you buy this game? Yes, yes you should, but don't bother collecting the memories, or it can make the game drag out. Also, upgrade the weapons in this order: knife, teapot cannon, pepper grinder, and finally the hobby horse.