Crash Bandicoot 4

From a certain someone I stay around, I have access to (but mostly only watched) Crash's latest game, there's quite a few pros and cons about the game I have to note myself.

I'll start with the pros (and build up this topic later!)
First of all, it's great that Crash came back with an official game sequel to his original sets instead of another spinoff/gaiden which is or not canon to his 3rd game after dealing with Dr. Neo Cortex in Warped. Not only that, but this time, Crash has access to multiple masks which was quite a new window of opportunities! These ladies and gentlemen (yes this time girls are involved more too! Well... though my bad, there's only one lady-mask, but keep that thought of what I say!) allow him to manipulate gravity, induce time lag, and use a power-spin that lifts him off the ground while almost being invincible, and phase in and out of subspace to attack hidden obstacles or defend against enemies while manipulating the field. Along with that, Crash has more friends involved to help him: Coco doesn't just sit around for only boating or tiger-riding but can be chosen to go to the front lines herself! She's not the only one though, for Crash's love-interest does make a return but completely different-looking from before and has new mechanics of her own to utilize such as using an anchor claw to grapple enemies or to move places as well as reach some distant targets, and a certain boss character actually (was hinted in Crash Bash even) has officially promoted from boss to hero; Dingodile changed sides and is now friendly to Crash. He even opened a new business in a swampland but seems his "defection" from Neo Cortex did aggro some undesirable attention in attempts to ruin his business! This doesn't stop him, and using a less lethal yet still dangerous new weapon: the suck cannon, he can still launch stuff at enemies from ranged areas if used skillfully. On a minor rivalry note which is also a throwback to the gaiden "Twinsanity", the Doctor does take a minor turn of events himself.... for a while.... There's also a new multiplayer mode but it's not exactly what one would expect, still a first. Not just that but Crash isn't keeping this title exclusive to the origin console, but also allowing it to be on other places as well (such as Xbox!) A huge change to this game is given the option of saying if lives matter or to make things more convenient of barring off the old "Game Over!" screen by just sticking to the new, more fair "Modernized" mode where one can just keep going!

However not all is bright for the newest entry as there's also some nasty prices to pay, and so here we are. The drawbacks are quite painful to cope with in turn. For the biggest note yet, there's a reason why there's the new choice of keeping lives matter or simply proceeding through the story in a more fair way. This game is significantly harder than all others I've seen yet! If everyone thought the resurrected trilogy was unfair, then they got another thing coming here... it starts slow, but will quickly become a task of trial and error! The multiplayer mode was also a letdown as well, it's not like the spinoff "Of the Titans" or "Mind over Mutant" versions that had co-op, sadly but a vs. competition race to checkpoints. Speaking of checkpoints, the game will relocate them depending how badly you suck. If getting defeated or falling too frequently, checkpoints will be moved to compensate, but this also can be quite troublesome. The gem paths also have different requirements to activate and some can be from simple to just downright brutal; this includes having Crash do something he normally does not... such as avoiding every single crate of a specific stage. The biggest gripe I have of all is the fact that Crash has lost his best ability which is required in this game in my opinion: where the hell did his Whumpa Bazooka go!?! They left out his best weapon of arsenal ever!