I still remember the nights when I used the GBA to play side-scrolling to pass levels. I would die more than a dozen times in one level, but I just couldn't stop. Nowadays, "Dream of the Journey to the West" is available on mobile phones. Once you get started, you'll feel right at home! The graphics are indeed exquisite, and the special effects of Wukong's skills are more dazzling than what I saw on the PSP back then, but to be honest, the button feel is still boring. My fingers are sore after rubbing the virtual joystick for a long time, and I miss the clicking sound of the real buttons😭
The changes in gameplay are really quite big. In the old version, you just push all the way to defeat the BOSS, accumulate equipment and upgrade skills, and just compete for operations. Now there is actually a MOBA tower pushing mode? Can you also control a six-eared macaque? My first reaction was "What the hell is this", but I ended up playing a few games...it was so delicious! Playing black and pushing towers is indeed a top-notch experience. It feels a bit like squeezing in front of the desk with your friends to play GBA online, but now it's cloud teaming.
What makes me most gratified is that I can choose BOSS from all previous generations. The Bull Demon King and White Bone Demon were tortured thousands of times in the past. Now I personally control them to beat others. I feel like "I will become you when I grow up" haha. The plot also uses time-travel themes, with six-eared macaques grabbing scriptures and Wukong taking a time boat - this setting is much richer than the original sentence of "on the way to learn the scriptures". Veteran players can see that the planner really understands Journey to the West.
Of course, there are also those who want to complain. There are paid in-app purchases... It was painful to save pocket money to buy cassettes back then, but now it's painful to draw skins, but fortunately, you can play it for zero krypton, and the boss mode is still authentic. In general, this side story is not just fried rice, but a stew of old flavors and new gameplay. If you are like me and miss the era of squatting under the covers playing side-scrolling games, but are also willing to try the novelty of playing black towers, then you can take out your mobile phone for this wave of "Dream Westward Journey Side Story"! 🔥