Troublemaker

If you enjoy beat-em-up games that ask you to be a bit more creative in your fighting, you might find new release Troublemaker worth your time. This new title from Freedom Games and developer Gamecom Team has managed to build quite an audience in a short space of time. It is a game that asks you to work through a high school beat-em-up that has a lot more depth to it than it might first appear. If you are looking for an intriguing new action RPG with an interesting combat system, then you should definitely take a look at this new release.

School has never been so aggressive

If you pick up Troublemaker, the first game series that is certain to come to mind is Yakuza. There are some immediate similarities, though the way the game works from moment-to-moment might remind you more of something like a mix between Persona’s exploration system and Yakuza. It is an interesting blend of ideas, and the action RPG mixed with intriguing combat system definitely works to the games advantage.

You will spend much of your time in the game beating people up, though you do spend time in school and make friends along the way ala Persona. You solve various school-like problems, such as making sure you keep your grades up. You also need to make sure you don’t do anything ridiculous like get kicked out of school and/or get arrested. Easy enough, right?

The game puts you in the role of Budi, who has transferred to one of the top schools in Indonesia. You need to literally fight your way through the challenges of the day, both with your fists and your brain.

An intriguing concept that mostly works (8/10)

While some might immediately just see a kind of weird Yakuza-Persona blend that lacks the craft and polish of both titles, there is much to love about Troublemaker. It has a lot of energy, and the fighting system is both easy to learn and challenging to master – a good blend that feels highly enjoyable to take part in.

With around 30 moves to learn and a smoothly satisfying combat system, there is much to learn and enjoy about Troublemaker. The game will see you squaring off against friend and foe alike as you try and work your way through the Raise your Gang student fighting tournament.

Pros

• Highly enjoyable combat system with enough depth to keep you interested
• Moment to moment gameplay is excellent, with a good balance between exploration and combat
• Graphics are not amazing but they fit in well with the theme of the game

Cons

• Wears its inspirations a little too close to its chest at times
• Characters and dialogue can feel forced more often than not