GameLight Review - Anarchy Reigns

Official Site: [Not working]
Source: Youtube Channel otakubutgangsta

Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: [Playstation 3], Xbox 360
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Genre: Beat 'em Up

Pros:
+ Easy to pick up combat mechanics
+ Great music that really enhances the experience
+ Exciting online multiplayer with 11 different modes
+ A campaign mode for a single-player experience
+ Tutorial, training and simulation modes to practice for multiplayer

Cons:
- Can get repetitive, especially for those who aren't fans of Beat'emUp
- A match can get one-sided by chance depending on items and level events
- The story doesn't get in-depth and ends up being simple and vague

Recommended: Maybe, beat 'em ups aren't for everyone to begin with, and the main attraction is multiplayer which is uncertain if people still play it.

Anarchy Reigns wasn't something high on my priority list, but I got it after finding out that it was only $30 and a friend of mines wanted to play together online.  Multiplayer is pretty fun, but I was hoping for a single-player experience as well.  Fortunately for me, there was a campaign waiting for me to play.  I thought single-player was going to be like fighting games where you fight each of the characters in the game, which is somewhat true.  Single-player provides open-map environments where random events and enemies appear while quests and side-quests appear for the player to progress through the story.  Combat is a bit confusing at first, but can be picked up fairly quickly after an hour or so.  By positioning yourself and utilizing all the skills a character has, the player can take on dozens of enemies and come out unscathed.  The story is simple and a bit vague, but I suppose it's nice to have rather than having all the characters fight each other in a cliché fashion.  Despite being a sort of sequel to MadWorld, the gameplay, art direction, and story are pretty different.  The one thing that's similar is how great the music is.  At its core, Anarchy Reigns is a beat 'em up and has the mechanics that makes it a fun and entertaining experience.  Single-player is great for relaxing and fighting hundreds of enemies while multiplayer provides a competitive and exciting experience against other players.

Aesthetics
Art-style: Neo-Urban 3D
+ Dark, yet colorful, the environment is almost like walking into a comic book
+ Characters are designed with unique and quirky aspects that make them stand out
+ Level designs make for a lively environment that changes frequently
+ Simple and clean user-interface makes navigating the menu easy
+ Voice acting is pretty good, especially love Blacker Baron's voice
+ Music is so good that I put it too max and put Sfx to 75% instead
+ Amazing animations and effects for special attacks

- All special moves have 1 animation, there's no variation
- Kind of liked the over-the-top violence from MadWorld, toned down in this
- With only 4 different environments, level variety might feel limited
Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons
Controller: PS3 Controller
+ Keys are mapped in a familiar fashion and is easy to adjust to
+ Basic combos are easy to pull off
+ Special moves are simple while still allowing complex combos to be done
+ Lock-on helps with keeping enemies in vision
+ There's counters to everything, it's just a matter of being able to perform it

- Camera controls can be a bit tricky while in combat with multiple enemies
- Keys cannot be changed/customized
Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Utilize attacks, specials, items and grabs to defeat all enemies
+ An entertaining single-player campaign
+ An exciting and competitive online multiplayer
+ Lots of characters to choose from (18 including Bayonetta DLC)
+ 11 different multiplayer game modes!!!
+ Levels have random events adding a dynamic element into the fight
+ Story isn't elaborated very far, but it was nice to have for single-player
+ Special moves and techniques are universal in execution, but differ in ability
+ Simulation mode allows solo-play multiplayer experience for practice

- Single-player length and content is very limited compared to multiplayer
- The combat system can be repetitive for some players
- Multiplayer falls apart once the community is gone
- There isn't enough references from MadWorld for the fans
- A fight in multiplayer can really be one-sided by chance (items, specials, etc.)
Concept and Content: 8/10

Duration
+ Progression in campaign is split piece by piece (quests) with a nice flow
+ Some quests requires using a weapon or vehicle which mixes the gameplay
+ Multiplayer provides plenty of modes to play, lots of gameplay time
+ Simulation is a fun mode to play to get the multiplayer experience when offline
+ 3 different difficulties for campaign, with about 50 quests

- The campaign is actually very short and story isn't elaborated very much
- Game can feel repetitive if played for long durations at a time
- A whole chunk of the game is gone if players don't play online anymore
Durations: 7/10

Fun
+ I like the characters, they're all unique in personality and combat style
+ I'm glad there was a single-player campaign for me to play
+ Combat is satisfying and is most exciting in multiplayer
+ Blacker Baron's lines and voice acting was truly the best
+ The music is so good, I can't stop listening to them.  Very catchy hooks and beats

- The campaign can get boring after playing for long durations, must take breaks
- I would've really liked to see the characters and story have more depth to them
Fun: 8/10

Overall
I really liked the art style the game took and it was an interesting change to see the characters from MadWorld in color.  The music just blew me away.  The style of RnB and electronic is similar to MadWorld and even has many of the same contributing artists work on this one, but I think a lot of the songs are even better.  The fast beats and catchy hooks make for an enhanced experience for the game.  Combat seems a bit too simplistic at first, but gets a lot more interesting when they're utilized more effectively alongside items, level events, and alongside team-members.  The game does feel like it favors a niche audience as beat 'em ups are not widely popular but has always had its fanbase.  It can be very repetitive for those who don't enjoy the game and so I would mainly recommend the game to those who know they like beat 'em ups.  Anarchy Reigns is a pretty solid beat 'em up with satisfactory entertainment and I'm glad I had gotten it.  Overall: 8/10

GameLight Review - Sonic Generations

Official Site: http://www.sega.com/games/sonic-generations/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/71340/
Source: Youtube Channel MachinimaTrailer

Developer: Sonic Team (Xbox 360, PS3), Devil's Details (PC), Dimps (3DS)
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, [PC], 3DS (3DS version is different)
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Genre: Platformer, Action-Adventure

Pros:
+ Beautiful graphics with dynamic level designs
+ A tribute to all Sonic games that released before it
+ High-speed gameplay with incredible boss battles
+ Great remixed tunes and levels of past Sonic games
+ Incredible gameplay on Classic 2D and modern 3D side alike
+ Easy to pick up and play, but still provides a decent challenge
+ A game that fans and non-fans could enjoy

Cons:
- Missing out on a LOT of reference and nostalgia if never played a sonic game
- 3D portions of the game might be challenging for new players/non-gamers
- No Multiplayer of any form other than online leaderboards
- Very short game if played through without playing the extras

Recommended: Absolutely!  Veteran or New to the series, fan or not, Sonic Generations is a game that anyone could enjoy.

Sonic Generations is like a huge "Thank You" from Sega to the fans for supporting Sonic through the 20 years.  It takes all the greatest elements of every Sonic game ever made with the best levels, music, and mechanics to create the ultimate homage.  With half of the game played as Classic Sonic while the other half is played as Modern Sonic, fans of both the 2D era and 3D era will have their fill of Sonic action.  The game is fast-paced, slick, and stylish as a Sonic game should be.  The game challenging but never overwhelming.  Some of the challenges will be a bit frustrating, but the main game is mostly great.  The graphics are absolutely gorgeous, the music is exciting, and the gameplay is solid.  This is definitely the best Sonic game I've played in years and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys videogames and not just Sonic fans.

Aesthetics
Art-style: 2.5D and 3D
+ Bright, colorful, and dynamically changing environments
+ Faithful recreations of levels in both 2D and 3D games
+ Crazy fast semi-auto-pathed scenes that run smoothly and stylishly
+ The animations are slick and modern, but captures the essence of their origins
+ The music remixes of past songs are amazing
+ A lot of the sound effects are similar or the same as its origin
+ All boss battles are large in scale and has a sense of Sonic's speed
+ The white space is an interesting presentation for level selection


- A few instances where the camera is at an odd angle and blocks vision
- I really want to find flaw or fault in graphics or audio, but there isn't that many
Aesthetics: 10/10

Buttons
Controller: Keyboard or [gamepad] (I didn't try keyboard at all)
+ Familiar controls to those who've play Sonic games
+ Tight and responsive controls for the craziest of speed and platforming
+ Speed-ups and bumpers will direct the player to prevent odd direction pathing
+ Advanced techniques are taught slowly and progressively
+ There's a single button for a spin dash for classic Sonic now

- Some running parts have odd problems where Sonic keeps going to one direction
- Spin dashing (2D) or boosting (3D) on slanted area causes Sonic to turn around
Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Run and jump to get to the goal
+ Taking the best levels and having both 2D and 3D play favors both sides of fans
+ Despite having the modern graphics, the game holds the essence of the originals
+ Simple story, but makes a plausible case for why all the past levels are here
+ As usual, each level has multiple paths that can be taken
+ Levels are faithful recreations of the originals with believable counterparts
+ Besides the main game, there's challenges, collecting, and online leaderboards
+ Lots of characters in past Sonic games make an appearance a help out
+ A really cheap DLC that adds a Casino Night Pinball game

- Some of the challenges aren't that fun and have questionable design choices
- For videogame veterans, the game could be considered "too easy"
- Sadly, no multiplayer of any kind (cooperative, race, etc.)
- An extra set of levels from Sonic 3, Sonic Rush, and Sonic CD would be nice
Concept & Content: 9/10

Duration
+ Despite taking a lot of the first levels of each game, progressively gets tougher
+ The game progression is played at the player's choice, can ignore most extras
+ Levels can be replayed for higher scores and collecting red coins
+ Challenges can be replayed for higher scores, or be ignore for the most part
+ Online mode posts highest scores on leaderboards for competitive aspect

- If challenges were ignored, the main game is actually incredibly short
- Some of the challenges feel like dumb time fillers for the game
Duration: 8/10

Fun
+ Hearing Green Hill Zone's theme and in 3D brought a tear to my eye
+ The 3D renditions of the 2D levels blew me away
+ Gameplay felt great for classic and modern side
+ Going super fast while staying in control is how Sonic games should be
+ I loved the boss battles, they were all so exciting (Silver was the surprising one)
+ I was so happy to see all the auto-path scenes work flawlessly
+ The music remixes are so great, I can't stop listening to them
+ Final boss made good use of both Sonics and left a good impression of the game

- There's a few challenges I just don't like (especially the one with Rouge)
- It would've been nice to have some sort of multiplayer (co-op, race)
Fun: 10/10

Overall
The last Sonic game I played and enjoyed was Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS 7 years ago.  I have tried Sonic games from then till now but have only purchased Sonic 2006 last year to play through and only go through 1/3rd of it (completed Sonic's Story) before I gave up.  It was a painful experience and one that's still fresh in my mind which was why I quickly bought Sonic Generations when it went on sale.  What scared me was seeing the "Crisis City" level from Sonic 2006 in Sonic Generations, but even that level turned out to be really fun.  Everything that's great about Sonic games have been brought together and put into a single game.  The graphics are bright and colorful, the music is exciting and nostalgic, and the gameplay is fast and exhilarating.  Even after completing the game, I can't stop thinking about how exciting the boss battles were, how fast I was going speeding through enemies, how beautiful the levels looked, or how catchy the songs are as I listen to them.  I would definitely recommend this game to any gamer, Sonic fan or not.  What really concerns me now is "how in the heck is Sonic Team going to outdo this creation?"  Overall: 9/10

VGCulture - Filler - All Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Prologues and Endings

I've been out all day today and am burnt out from reviewing games this week.  And so I present to you all the Prologues and Endings from Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition.
Source: Youtube Channel onebyonetv

I'll be continuing the game reviews next week as I'm behind in them and am playing catch-up to get back on track.

GameLight Review - Razor 2: Hidden Skies

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/34920/
Source: Youtube Channel INVENT4E

Developer: Invent4 Entertainment
Publisher: Strategy First
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Jul 19, 2010
Genre: Shoot-Em-Up

Pro:
+ Lots of action going on all the time
+ Incredible graphics for backdrops, enemies, effects, and user-interface
+ Not particularly memorable, but some pretty good orchestrated tracks
+ Upgradeable weapons, defenses and boosters

Cons:
- All sorts of problems when mapping keys to a controller
- The hit box for the player's ship is the whole ship, and bullets are pretty long/big
- You can't save the game in-between and nothing is saved other than hi-scores
- Even at the highest weapon upgrades, they're weak against even regular enemies
- The game's mechanics is flawed and poorly designed for a Shoot-em-up
- A lot of the boss battles are similar to each other with a few exceptions

Recommended: No, there are so many other better shoot-em-ups to play on Steam/PC

Razor 2: Hidden Skies presents itself really well in videos and screenshots due to its incredible graphics.  The backdrops are 3D as many other objects in the game are, but still plays like a 2D vertical shooter.  The effects from weapons, enemy explosions and such are flashy and color showing a more modern aesthetic to an old-school style of shoot-em-ups.  The first problem I had with the game was trying to reconfigure the keys onto a controller and having all sorts of problems.  I eventually had to download a keyboard to joystick program in order to get it somewhat working (the keys were still mapped wrong for some odd reason).  As I got further into the game, enemies became significantly more resilient to my weapons, and so I focused on large damage to get through some of the heavy waves that appears; however, the weapons at full upgrade still struggles to take down the simplest of enemies.  Adding onto the indestructibility of enemies is the amount of bullets they shoot out.  It's normal for a shoot-em-up to have its difficulty rise by adding more bullets on the screen, but then I realized that the hit-box for the player's ship is the whole ship.  It is literally impossible to dodge enemy bullets half-way through the game.  This lead up to the notion that it was designed to have the player buy and upgrade stronger shields for the ship which would mean they would have to sacrifice weapon strength which was already struggling to take down enemies at full upgrade.  Bullets are abundant and rather long in length, much like the ship.  The player can choose to continue once after they have lost all their lives.  But if they lose all their lives a 2nd time, it's game over and the player has to start over from the very beginning.  The game looked great, but plays very poorly.

Aesthetics
Art-style: 2.5D Sci-fi
+ Incredible, moving, 3D backdrops that really immerses the player
+ Lots of colorful effects and explosions from enemies and gunfire
+ Clean and well designed user-interface
+ Okay orchestrated music

- The 3D graphics make it difficult to discern the orientation of projectiles
- Enemy bullets are the same color as player weapons (bullets hides behind them)
- The music isn't particularly memorable, nor does it really change the mood
Aesthetics: 6/10

Buttons
Controller: Keyboard, gamepad or joystick
+ Simple move, shoot, and alternate shoot button layout
+ Automatically auto-fires, no need to constantly mash the shoot button
+ Easy weapon and alternate switch

- Lots of problem mapping controllers and joysticks, mainly the directionals
- Moving with the keyboard is difficult when dodging bullets
Buttons: 6/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Shoot through enemies, buy upgrades, repeat
+ The 3D graphics and Orchestrated music has a nice modern feeling
+ There's a lot of action going on, keeping the player on their toes
+ Having 3 different weapons to accommodate situations adds dynamics
+ There's 3 difficulty levels to choose from

- Why is the hit-box so large in a shoot-em-up?
- Upgrades are a gimmick
- Weapons are weak, even at the highest upgrade
- Advertised as a casual game, but I can hardly imagine a casual gamer enjoying it
- All the boss battles are pretty similar with a few exceptions
Concept and Content: 4/10

Duration
- Played through it once and can't stand it anymore, not playing again, not worth it
Duration: 4/10

Fun
+ I have to admit that I really liked the stylized graphics
+ It was pretty exciting to see my weapons look stronger, but they were still weak

- I was already annoyed trying to get the controller to work with the game
- My weapons were so weak even at full upgrade
- It's irritating that it's necessary to upgrade shield because you HAVE to get hit
- The final straw was having to start all over after dying
Fun: 3/10

Overall
Honestly, Razor 2: Hidden Skies has a lot of potential to be a great Shoot-em-up.  Sadly, it's poor design choices and problems with controller detect has turned it into a regrettable experience.  I read many posts by other players that the game had tons of bugs and problems when it first released, so it was worse than it is now.  If they fixed the controller support, made a smaller hit-box that's visible to see, made weapons stronger and more useful, have the player start over a level rather than the whole game when they've lost all their lives (at the very least on Easy), allow saving and new game+ for persistence, and recreate some more dynamic and interesting boss battles, I'd gladly double the score I'm about to give.  But as it stands now, it's only a game of potential that isn't worth the time.  Overall: 4.6/10

GameLight Review - Garshasp: The Monster Slayer

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/99400/
Source: Youtube Channel 1986anakonda

Developer: Fanafzar Sharif Co., Dead Mage Inc.
Publisher: Dead Mage Inc.
Platforms: PC
Release Date: May 9, 2011
Genre: Action-Adventure

Pros:
+ Highly ambitious indie game for a much lower price now ($20->$5)
+ Incredible level designs with breath taking environments
+ Lots of checkpoints make deaths a little less than a bit of wasted time
+ Decent looking execution animations
+ An okay hack-n-slash combat experience

Cons:
- Animations are choppy and erratic between transitions
- Combat doesn't change very much and gets boring
- Collision detection is odd and causes lots of problems during platforming
- The game feels incredibly unpolished
- Camera angles change instantaneously, dangerous around cliffs

Recommended: No, I actually bought and played the game to see why it was rated so low by critics and players alike to study it

For and Indie game, the game is very ambitious in its graphics, its gameplay mechanics, and its presentation.  Just looking at screenshots, I would've been fooled to believe this was a AAA game for the Playstation 2.  The graphics in detail can be seen as rigid and low quality, but it looks amazing the way its presented when the camera pans out and shows the entirety of the architecture around the level.  Then the lower qualities of the game is shown when the combat begins.  Combat animations are erratic and awkward when they transition into each other, attacks feel clunky, and the camera is fixed in weird angles sometimes.  The player isn't able to block or dodge in the middle of an attack or combo which leaves them wide open during a fight.  Jumping is heavy and weird which makes platforming less enjoyable.  Why are there side-climbing parts?  This is such an age-old mechanic in Action-Adventure games that developers don't even use anymore because it doesn't add any entertainment value anymore.  You climb ropes and climb through walls.  The only part that seemed appropriate as a legitimate challenge is the wall with all the razor wheels moving around.  To put it bluntly, it's an attempt to make a God of War or Prince of Persia as an indie game, but doesn't have the same polish and quality as a AAA game.

Aesthetics
Art-style: Mythological Fantasy 3D
+ Amazing environment level designs
+ A charismatic and believable narrator
+ Cool execution animations
+ Although the music is forgettable, it did have the feeling of a AAA game

- Models in detail are rigid and blocky
- Textures are low-res and muddy looking
- Color palette is dark tones and all blend into each other, nothing stands out
- Animation in and out of combat is erratic and awkward
Aesthetics: 5/10

Buttons
Controller: Keyboard and Mouse
+ Simple single button combo system
+ Key mappings can be changed
+ Ledge detection can be a bit strange, but grabs on most of the time

- Jumping has a weird animation, physics, and fall rate which affects platforming
- Can't block or dodge when in a combo, and using it while standing is pointless
- Aside from the ground slam, all other combos are useless
Buttons: 5/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Progress forward through combat, puzzles, and climbing
+ The Persian theme has been done before, but shows it in a different manner
+ The presentation of the game's environment is really high quality
+ Combat isn't too complicated and fairly easy to get used to

- Combat got really boring as only one attack was effective (ground slam)
- Climbing ropes and walls is so outdated, it was tedious and boring
- Puzzles were annoying as well as you were constantly attacked by enemies
- Platforming had its collision detection problems
Concept and Content: 4/10

Duration
+ Combat had an okay flow to it.  It went on from one section to another

- Although the game was fairly short, it felt long
- Frustration from controls and bugs made the game drag on
- There's no replay value in the game, and there's no reason to play it again
Duration: 3/10

Fun
+ The environment was absolutely breath-taking.  I couldn't believe it was indie
+ At first, combat, puzzles and platforming was okay; it was almost fun
+ The executions were pretty cool at first

- Executions were all Quick-time Events (QTE) later on
- Combat got repetitive, puzzles were annoying, and platforming wasn't fun
Fun: 6/10

Overall
I wasn't expecting too much from Garshasp: The Monster Slayer and bought it with the intention of studying it.  For an indie developed game that started in Iran, it's quite impressive.  But as a game, it's not something I'd play again or recommend to friends.  The game is an emulation of 3D action-adventure games of the past without its polish and quality.  A prequel was released for the game, but I think I played and learned enough from this series to avoid playing another one in its series.  Overall: 4.6/10

GameLight Review - Code of Princess

Official Site: http://www.atlus.com/codeofprincess/
Source: Youtube Channel insidegamesjp

Developer: Agatsuma Entertainment, Bones
Publisher: Atlus
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Genre: Beat-em-up, RPG

Pros:
+ Story is light-hearted and humorous
+ Gameplay is simple, but can be challenging at times
+ RPG elements include switching equipment and stat building
+ Lots of replay value with over 50 characters to choose from
+ An amazing music score throughout the game
+ Online cooperative/competitive play
+ Memorable characters, moments and boss battles

Cons:
- The skills sets are rather limited and combos don't have that much depth
- There could've been a lot more character and story development
- Graphics lag when 3D is on, but doesn't look that great when 3D is off
- A lot of the equipment is junk while only a select few are useful
- Competitive arena is only for multiplayer, no customizable solo play

Recommended: Yes, fans of Action games and Beat-em-ups should check it out

It's difficult to talk about the game and not compare or even mention Guardian Heroes as the game's mechanics are essentially the same with the three rail planes, beat-em-up action, and stat building RPG elements.  The game is developed by Agatsuma Entertainment and Bones, Inc. (The animé cutscenes) with two members who worked on Guardian Heroes (the director and lead programmer).  Many would say that it's Guardian Heroes stripped down by a lot.  Unlike Guardian Heroes, it doesn't have branching story paths (there's 2 different endings though), combos and skills are a lot more limited, and there isn't a difficulty setting.  Despite those missing aspects, the game turned out to be incredibly entertaining and a lot of fun.  Even with a limited amount of attacks and skills, they chain into each other pretty well for some interesting combos.  The dialog is funny, the combat is hectic but satisfying, and the aesthetics is just absolutely mesmerizing.  This is a game I wouldn't mind going back to play again once in a while.

Aesthetics
Art-Style: 2D-Animé Style graphics with cartoon-ish 3D characters/enemies.
+ Light-hearted story of protecting a kingdom and magic
+ Animé-style cinematics thoughout the game
+ Unique and memorable characters both on protagonists and antagonists sides
+ Catchy and memorable music
+ 3D usage makes it easy to tell which plane an enemy is on
+ Flashy and destructive effects for attacks and spells
+ Some pretty good dialogue lines in some of the conversations

- Story could've been expanded into so much more than what was told
- Lots of lag and frame skipping with 3D on but graphics don't look good without it
- Lag in the graphics also causes delays in button commands
- A lot of the voice acting is pretty painful, but some are absolutely golden
Aesthetics: 8/10

Buttons
Controller: Analog and buttons
+ Easy to understand combat mechanics
+ Skills are simple commands and can be accessed on the bottom screen
+ Combos are fairly easy to pull off
+ Both analog and digital pad can be used to move

- Some commands will be delayed or won't execute entirely when lagging
- A limited amount of skills and combos for each character
Buttons: 7/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Kill all enemies or boss enemy to progress
+ A quirky cast of characters with fun personalities
+ The use of animé cut-scenes is effective and appropriate
+ Combat can be hectic, but has a satisfying, chaotic action sort of feeling
+ Aside from the main campaign, there's free mode, bonus quests, and multiplayer
+ Lots of characters to use in free-mode and bonus quests
+ Multiplayer allows cooperative play as well as competitive play
+ A shop and equipment system offers different builds and advantages
+ The player is free to build on any stat for all sorts of play styles

- I wish the story and character's were more in-depth and fully developed
- 3D graphics are effective, but gameplay suffers from laggy graphics
- Other than certain bosses and later bonus quests, the game is very easy
- A lot of the equipment found and bought are useless, only a select few are good
- Unlike Guardian Heroes, competitive play can't be played solo
Concept and Content: 8/10

Duration
+ The game keeps me wanting more
+ Campaign is chopped up into lots of tiny sections, perfect for on-the-go play
+ Progression is a nice and steady flow fed to the player little by little
+ Tons of modes, characters, equipment, and builds for replay value
+ Despite a very short campaign, I played the game up to 20 hours

- Very short campaign
- The game can feel repetitive after a while
Duration: 8/10

Fun
+ The opening cinematic is amazing, it really set the whole theme of the game
+ I can't get over how much I love the music within the game
+ It's a great feeling when I take on a dozen enemies at once and destroy them all
+ As bad as some of the voice acting are, I really liked all the characters
+ I was really impressed with the boss battles
+ A great deal of the time played was spent in Bonus quests, they were hard
+ Getting to play as a Dragon was a treat when no other character could win

- I really wanted to see the story and characters develop, but then the game ends
- The lag in graphics was a huge issue when fighting against a boss
- Some of the Bonus quests were incredibly frustrating/irritating/dumb (Dragon time!)
Fun: 9/10

Overall
Code of Princess is far from perfect, but ironically I would consider it a classic for the Nintendo 3DS.  Overlooking a somewhat shallow storyline, laggy graphics, and a limited list of skills and attacks, the gameplay turned out to be really fun, characters were memorable, and the art and music stands out as a prominent factor to the game's wonderful experience.  This will be one of those games I'll remember and talk about while many others will probably forget or never hear about the game.  The game is not for everyone, but those who enjoy beat-em-up games like Double Dragon, Guardian Heroes, or Dungeon Fighters Online will find an enjoyable experience with Code of Princess.  Overall: 8/10

P.S. They should totally make an animé expanding on the story and characters!

GameLight Review - Torchlight 2

Official Site: http://www.torchlight2game.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/200710/
Source: Youtube Channel runicgames

Developer: Runic Games
Publisher: Runic Games
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Sep 20, 2012
Genre: Action-RPG

Pros:
+ Faster-paced gameplay with a steady progression
+ Visceral combat with great visuals, audio, and effect feedback
+ Bright, colorful and vibrant environments
+ A challenging, but gratifying experience
+ More open-world than ever before
+ Lots of skills and build customization
+ Tons of end-game content (New game+ and lots of bonus dungeons)
+ Mod tools provide an infinite amount of possibilities
+ Capable of 6 Player cooperative play Local or via Internet

Cons:
- Internet play has problems connecting to other players sometimes
- Game occasionally has trouble starting up
- Incidents of the game crashing has occurred (save often!)
- Some class skills can be incredibly useless

Recommended: Absolutely!  Point-n-Click Action-RPG fans are sure to love this game for its vast amount of content, multiplayer, and mod capabilities.

Torchlight 2 was quite a surprise for me.  I was originally reluctant to purchase the game when it had released "after" Diablo 3, but I really enjoyed the first one and decided to give the game a chance.  The first one was fun, but dragged on and became tedious and boring near the end.  The 2nd game was delayed for nearly a year and the wait had initially lost my interest as I was suspecting that it'd be similar to the first one.  Torchlight 2 took everything that was great about the first one and multiplied it several times over.  The developers found everything that was wrong about the first one and noted them in the 2nd game as its solution.  The transition to only dungeons in the first one to an open world is similar to the transition Diablo 1 had in Diablo 2.  Traversing the world and combat started to feel slow after a while in Torchlight 2, so everything in Torchlight 2 is slightly faster.  A lot of the skills in Torchlight 1 felt similar and boring, and so skills in Torchlight 2 are more diverse, unique, and dynamic (though some are still useless).  Just everything about Torchlight 2 is so much better than the first one and made for a really enjoyable experience.  Combat is satisfying, looting is addictive, exploration made me want to play more, and boss battles are really creative.  If you're asking for a comparison to Diablo 3, I'd have to say that they're different experiences and that it's still worth playing one if you've played the other.

Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Cel-Shaded, Cartoon-ish style
+ Vibrant environments
+ Lots of different enemies with unique models/look
+ All weapons and equipment are reflected upon the character
+ Skill effects are flashy and beautiful
+ User-Interface is clean
+ Atmospheric and easy-listening music

- Can be difficult to see certain enemies sometimes
- Can be confusing when player, items, or enemies are behind a wall
Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons
 Controller: Keyboard/Mouse
+ Hotkeys are customizable to any layout comfortable for the player
+ Quick and tight responses to key presses
+ Menu system allows quick access to attributes, items, and skill while in combat
+ Mini-map can be place in a corner or sides with a press of the button
+ Quick and simple pause menu to access options, save, and quit the game

- There can still be more skills than hotkey bars leaving some skills unused
Buttons: 9/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Explore, Kill, Loot, Equip, and level-up
+ Big open world maps is a great change from constant dungeon crawling
+ Combat is a lot more engaging and dynamic with new classes and skills
+ Lots of new items, enemies, and content
+ Boss battles are varied, creative, challenging, and satisfying when beat
+ The pet system favors my desire to loot everything
+ Each class has numerous ways to build them, making lots of unique characters
+ Bonus maps at the end of the game provides more to play past the last boss
+ New Game+ is provided rather than inheritance system from the first game
+ Mod capabilities open an infinite amount of possibilities

- Connecting to friend's games have been problematic or futile
- There are still skills and even entire paths that are useless for a character
- Equipment upgrades can be rare (used some gear for over 10 levels)
- Story was forgettable and rather anti-climatic at the end
Concept and Content: 10/10

Duration

+ A full playthrough is pretty lengthy (by my standards) which is good
+ The flow of the game progressed steadily and always stayed challenging
+ Bonus maps provides a good amount of end-game content
+ New Game+, multiplayer, and other classes provide lots of replay-value
+ Modding opens up all sorts of possibilities
Durations: 10/10

Fun
+ I really liked the multi-tiered boss battles, they were difficult, but fun
+ Playing with friends was a lot of fun, but I also didn't mind playing solo
+ I liked the varied possibilities of equipment usage for my outlander
+ Each class is really unique and provides a different experience (I made all 4)
+ I was so happy to be able to pick up absolutely everything to sell with my pet
+ I think I want to try making my own class using the mod tools, sounds fun
+ The bonus maps will probably bring me back to play the game some more

- I was disappointed with the story, it could've been just as good as the gameplay
- Internet play had a lot of problems and finally deterred my friends from playing
- Some skills were useless; not enough hotkey bar space to fit all the skills
Fun: 9/10

Overall
Torchlight 2 was a pleasant surprise for me and I'm really glad I got it.  It left a really good impression on me well after completing the game.  I had so much fun with it that I stopped caring about my disappointment with the story.  There always seemed more to explore, more to loot, more to level, and more to experience within the game.  I would definitely recommend this to any point-n-click Action-RPG fans.  Overall: 9.4/10

VGCulture - Nintendo 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro

Buy it here: Nintendo 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro

Good news: You can buy a Circle Pad Pro for your 3DS XL for $20 rather than trying to import it for $30-$40 from Japan.  Bad new: It's only available on their store.  I'm hoping that it'll become available on Amazon or some other online store.  It's kind of strange that they wouldn't offer it in retail stores like they did for the original Circle Pad Pro, but I suppose it's because not many people are going to buy it.  With a limited amount of games actually utilizing the attachment, there isn't that big of an incentive for gamers to get it.  I'll probably consider getting one when I finally decide to buy Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

Games compatible with the Circle Pad Pro:
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Nano Assault EX
Resident Evil: Revelations

NewNews - Monster Hunter Online in China

Source: Youtube Channel GamesHQMedia

Looks like another Monster Hunter game is not going to see the West again with Capcom and Tencent working together on releasing Monster Hunter Online in China.  It utilizes the technology of the CryEngine 3 so the graphics and animations are really beautiful.  It will be released as a free-to-play MMO with a micro-transaction system to keep the game afloat.  I can see why Capcom would be hesitant to try that in North America and even Europe considering the competition and the lower success rate that free-to-play MMOs have in the Western market.

From a gamers point of view, this would be really cool.  Instead of going from one pocket of enemies to another in most MMORPGs, Monster Hunter Online would be all about one epic boss fight after another.  We can only hope that Monster Hunter Online might get to see the light of day over in the West, but at least we got Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (if only the 3DS version had online play).

Source:
-Joystiq - CryEngine 3-powered Monster Hunter Online headed to China

NewNews - Good News for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Official Site: http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct/archive/04-17-2013/
Source: Youtube Channel Nintendo

What is it exactly that the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U needs?  More games!  Nintendo, along with some other companies, have revealed more games for the 3DS and Wii U in development.

3DS:
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - August 11th
Mario Golf: World Tour - Summer 2013
Mario Party - Winter 2013-2014?
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - May 24th
New Yoshi's Island Game - ???
Mario & Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move - May 9th
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins - April 21st
Animal Crossing New Leaf - June 9th
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy - 2014 (THEY'RE REALLY BRINGING IT OVER!)
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy - ???
The Starship Damrey - ???
Bugs vs. Tanks - ???
Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale - ???
Shin Megami Tensei IV - July 16th
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2? - Winter/Holidays 2013

Wii U:
New Super Luigi U - Summer 2013
Virtual Console - Next Week
Game and Wario - June 23

Although the Wii U is lacking in new releases, it's really good to hear all these new games being developed for the Nintendo 3DS.  I was most shocked about having Bravely Default being brought over to NA and the New Legend of Zelda game.  This year looks really good for the Nintendo 3DS.

Retroview - Knights in the Nightmare (DS)

Official Site: http://www.atlus.com/knights/
Source: Youtube Channel AtlusUSA

I had finally finished playing Knights in the Nightmare sometime last year.  I played it off and on for three years and finally completed it.  Sting Entertainment is known for making very unique games with all the mechanics and gameplay a bit more different from its usual genre and familiarity.  Before Knights in the Nightmare, I have tried Riviera: The Promised Land and Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone.  One resembles a turn-based RPG while the other was like a Tactics-RPG.  Knights in the Nightmare, on the other hand, is a little harder to describe.  It looks like a Tactics game, with Action-RPG elements, and some bullet-hell.  The player takes the role of a wisp which can command soldiers throughout each map.  The game is seemingly complicated where the tutorial takes up to 2-3 hours to complete; however, the actual game isn't too bad at all.  The player commands each soldier in real-time to attack enemies throughout each map while collecting items, dodging enemy bullets, and switching between LAW/CHAOS phases.  Overall, the graphics were beautiful and highly detailed, the music was pretty good, and the gameplay was between fun/satisfying and a little repetitive/boring.  The story is just as convoluted as the game's mechanics.  I commend Sting Entertainment for always innovating gaming genres and having a lot of content in their games, but it often times scare off most gamers with its overwhelming presence.  With such ambitious design choices for Knights in the Nightmare, I've always wondered what Sting Entertainment was going to do next.  They have made 3 new PSP games since then (not counting ports of their previous games) and so I guess they've been keeping busy.  If you want complex and innovative RPGs, look for games developed by Sting Entertainment.  I heard Baroque is an innovative Action-RPG, Rogue-like that some people liked.  Many others didn't like it because of how unforgiving or confusing the game was.  Guess I should check out more of their games too.

VGCulture - Lots of releases next 3 days

I'm looking at what games are released this week and there's a lot worth mentioning!  We even have a Nintendo Wii game coming out!

La-Mulana - PC - 4/15/13
Source: Youtube Channel 256nigoro

La-Mulana in many aspects was developed the same way Cave Story did, in one man's free time.  It was released only in Japan back in 2005 and was first introduced in NA just last year in Fall on the WiiWare channel.  Today, it was released on Steam after it was greenlit and had the okay to be put up.  I hear it's a lot like Metroid in terms of traversing the levels and similar to Castlevania in terms of combat and gameplay.  I love these types of games, so I'll probably get it eventually.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U - 4/16/13
If you like fighting games and DC Comics, this is probably the game for you.  Developed by the team who worked on Mortal Kombat, the world of DC comics is darker, gritty, and a lot more violent.  Despite loving fighting games and DC comics, I'm not that entirely excited about the game, but I know many others who are ecstatic about the idea and can't wait to get their hands on it tonight.

Pandora's Tower - Wii - 4/16/13
Probably the last great Wii game to come out of the console, Pandora's Tower is one of the games that was petitioned to be brought over along with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story which NA got last year.  I gotta finish more Wii games so I can get around to these 3 great Wii games.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers - 3DS - 4/16/13

This one's a bit complicated to explain, but I guess you can say it's a remake of an old game.  SMT:DS Soul Hackers was originally released back in 1997 on the Sega Saturn and never saw a Western release.  It's a sequel to Devil Summoner, which also didn't see a Western release, and has been enhanced for the Nintendo 3DS.  This game is great for fans of cRPG/Dungeon-Crawl RPG.

God Mode - PS3, Xbox 360, PC - 4/16/13
Waves of enemies, lots of killing and destruction, seems like my sort of game.  In this action 3rd-person shooter, the player can customize their character appearance and I think some skills or loadout from leveling up and jump online to team up with 3 other players in a frantic co-op campaign.  I'm conflicted on whether to get this game or not right now, mainly because I have so many other games that need my attention in finishing.  But the rest of you that don't need to worry about it should check it out since it's only $9.99 ($8.99 for pre-purchase).

Sacred Citadel - PS3, Xbox 360, PC - 4/17/13
Old School beat-em-ups are rare nowadays, so it's always great to hear new ones that come out.  The 3DS has Code of Princess, Xbox 360 got an HD version of Guardian Heroes while PS3/PSV will have Dragon's Crown, but what about PC?  (Okay, there's Dungeon Fighters Online, but their servers terminate this June).  Sacred Citadel brings back old-school beat-em-ups with a modern touch.  Three players can cooperatively play together as one of four classes.  This is also another game I'm going to keep an eye out for.


Besides Injustice: Gods Among Us, I think I'll be getting each of these games by the end of the year.  I just need to clear out my games that I already have first.

NewNews - Project X Zone NA launch will get extra stuff

Official Japanese Site: http://pxz.channel.or.jp/
Source: Youtube Channel NintendoWorldReport

3DS Tactics collaboration Project X Zone involving a collaboration between 3 major game companies has a surprise for gamers in North America.  Joystiq just shared that nice tidbit about the launch copies of Project X Zone in NA.  Along with the $40 game, those who purchase the game at launch will get a mini-artbook, a poster, and a music CD.  I'm hoping it's the full soundtrack, but I've bought 2 games with soundtracks with them in the past and they turned out to be special tracks.  It's great and all, but it'd also be nice to have the full soundtrack of a game to listen to.  With so many distinguishable characters and series in this one game, it's sure to be filled with lots of memorable themes from their respective games.

Also, Project X Zone has an official launch date now: June 25, 2013.  I think it's one of the few games I'm buying on day one this year.

Source:
-Joystiq - Project X Zone launch copies come with extra stuff

VGCulture - Videogame Cosplaying Film

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/YEKON1?feature=watch


Video tools and film making are accessible to just about anyone nowadays.  I came across this video after watching another video of this group posted on the League of Legends page on Facebook.  Here is that other video:


So the acting and choreography are pretty bad in both videos, but the costumes and editing are really nice.  In the first video, it spans across several different references to film, animé and videogames.  There's Ryu and Chun-li from Street Fighter, Stephen Chow's character from Kung-Fu Hustle, the terrorist from Counter-Strike, Mario from Super Mario Bros., Zhuge Liang from The Three Kingdoms (Romance of the Three Kingdoms/Dynasty Warriors/etc.), Naruto from Naruto, and Annie from League of Legends.  It's really cool what people are capable of in film making without the need for huge budgets.

GameLight - Dark Souls 2 Gameplay footages and Interview

Official Site: http://www.darksoulsii.com/us/?lang=en
Source: Youtube Channel Plexirvones

I loved Demon's Souls but I've sadly haven't got to play much of Dark Souls despite buying it pretty much when it came out.  Still, it's needless to say that I was pretty excited to hear Dark Souls 2 was being developed.  Today, IGN has revealed an interview with the Director at FROM Software and Global Producer at NamcoBandai as they showed some gameplay footages from Dark Souls 2. From what they've shown in the interview and demo, the enemies and the environment will have a more dynamic response to the player's actions.  So far, the game looks absolutely beautiful.  They said they wanted to improve the graphic quality from Dark Souls to Dark Souls 2 and I can see the difference in the character model and textures in the environment.  The game looks great and so I guess I should get around to completing Dark Souls so I can be ready for #2.  Dark Souls 2 should be out sometime this fall for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

VGCulture - Roguelike RPGs

So yesterday, I talked a bit about cRPGs/dRPGs.  Another sub-genre of a RPG popular back in the 80's is roguelike.  Unlike cRPGs where the player builds a party of 3-6 characters traveling through labyrinths in a first-person perspective and going into random battles for combat, Roguelikes are generally characterized by its top-down perspective view on randomly generated levels, permanent death, and turn-based movements.  The player would take control of one character and build them in numerous ways if the game allows it.  Some games will have set classes for the player to choose from, or they'll have different skills to pick to make their own class, or they won't have anything at all and become whatever they do more of (melee attacks, ranged attacks, spell casting, etc.).  Similar to cRPGs, Roguelikes never did die out throughout the decades and has always attracted a niche group of gamers.  Also similar to cRPGs is the fact that most Roguelikes are unforgiving with a very steep learning curve along with risk-reward mechanics that often leads to death and starting over a real drag for those unfamiliar with the genre.  Those familiar with the genre often find themselves enjoying the game for its infinite amount of replay value in randomly generated levels, high risk-reward satisfaction, tactical and strategic know-how to conquer stick situations, and the sheer amount of content it provides the player to experiment with.  Lastly, another similar trait cRPGs share with Roguelikes is its popularity in Japan.

Roguelike Games in the West
Source: Youtube Channel IGN

Rarely do I ever see a Western developed rogue-like in this day and age.  I did see a few throughout high school and early college made by fans as mods or original ideas they were working on, but they never see the light of day or evolve into much past hitting a few enemies and dying in some way.  And then all of a sudden, in the past two years, we get Dungeons of Dredmor, The Binding of Isaac, FTL: Faster Than Light, and Sword of the Stars: The Pit.  Despite all of them being indie developed, these games have the heart and concept of rogue-likes that reawakens the interests of fans of the genre and captures the attention of gamers of the new era.  Although these games are a bit more talked about in the gaming community, they're still pretty niche.  Honestly, it's very difficult to portray why a rogue-like is so much fun in a video (although the Japanese developed ones seems to be able to do so).

The first time I saw Dungeons of Dredmor, I thought it looked really boring.  It looked slow, shallow, and boring.  But it had a sale and I didn't mind spending $2.49 just to see what this game was all about.  I played the demo and was thinking that there were way too many things going on and the tutorial music was starting to annoy me.  So to finalize trying out the game, I decided to play on the hardest difficulty and leave permadeath on since I didn't think I'd play the game for very long anyways.  To my surprise, the game was incredible!  Rather than choosing one class, the player was able to select various skills to match the play style that they wanted, and each skill provided abilities and perks to make their character stronger.  Unlike the tutorial music, the in-game music is unique, somewhat atmospheric, and quite memorable.  As I collected more items, got stronger, killed various enemies, I started appreciating all the spontaneous and random events that could happen with every step and behind every door.  The humor also made for a light-hearted adventure rather than a dark and serious one that most western developed dungeon crawlers seem to have.  After about 5 hours of playing and eventually dying, I played another round.  Needless to say, I really enjoyed the game and tried my best to let my friends know how great of a game it was.  Unfortunately, not everyone that tried it enjoyed it, but roguelikes are like that: you love 'em or hate 'em (or just not care too much for them).

The Binding of Isaac isn't strictly a rogue-like, but it has many elements to the genre.  The game utilizes permadeath and cannot be saved mid-game and must be completed in one run.  Levels, rooms, and items and randomized every playthrough, so all sorts of events can happen throughout each playthrough.  The player's character gradually becomes stronger by acquire different items, buffs, and companions.  Combat and gameplay is not turn-based, but rather action-based and played like a twin-stick shooter (like Robotron 2084 or Geometry Wars).  The game contains a lot of crude humor, lots of poop, and a nasty difficulty curve.  But the game usually doesn't take up more than one hour per playthrough which makes it a great game for those looking for instant gratification as most rogue-likes do take a decent amount of planning and preparation.  Another roguelike that doesn't take too much time to play is FTL: Faster Than Light.  This game is also not strictly a rogue-like, but has many elements of one.  Lastly, Sword of the Stars: The Pit is currently being developed and is set to launch on the Steam platform.  All of these great games can be found on Steam.

There is one other rogue-like that I have played in the past 2 years called "Hack, Slash, Loot (HSL)", but it is one game I cannot recommend even to the most hardcore of fans.  Roguelikes are known for their difficulty because of how random some events, enemies and levels can be, but they still require skill to play.  And a skilled player can turn situations around in a rogue-like.  In "Hack, Slash, Loot"; however, everything is based on luck.  True, other roguelikes require a fair amount of luck for item drops, enemy engagement, and crits, but combat shouldn't be such a hassle.  HSL is solely based on luck.  If you can't find the equipment to improve your character, you will die.  If you happen to run into the wrong enemy right around the corner, you will die.  These sound pretty common.  But the fact that your character will have a low rate of landing an attack?  That's just absurd!  Nearly every character/class I played had difficulty killing enemies because they almost always miss their attacks.  The only class that I had somewhat of a chance with was the Amazon as her default bow allows her to build up hit chance % for each kill.  And even then, enemies would still randomly kill her in 1-3 hits.  The only way to get the other classes was by dying, a lot.  For a game to revolve its content and gameplay around dying and luck shouldn't considered to be a game much less a roguelike.  I was sorely disappointed with HSL.  This is not to be mistaken for Hack Slash Crawl.  It's a diablo-esque dungeon crawler with many roguelike features played in Flash.  THAT game is just amazing, and free for the most part.

Roguelike Games in Japan

Source: Youtube Channel AtlusUSA

I'm not certain what was my first rogue-like game I've played, but one of the games I first noticed for its unique game mechanics was Izuna: The Unemployed Ninja.  At first, I was sad to find out that the game wasn't an Action-RPG.  Everything getting one turn per action meant getting hit multiple times per movement or attack.  Dying meant losing all items that I had equipped and found.  It was a daunting experience and I didn't play it after the first 30 minutes.  But one night when I wasn't able to sleep, I tried playing it again and somehow found the flow of the game and how it worked.  Being somewhat more forgiving than most Roguelikes, Izuna didn't have permadeath.  Losing all your HP in a dungeon means getting knocked out and having people from the village carry you all the way back into town but can't carry all your items along with you back out.  Unlike most Rogue-likes where the player has to focus on stats, classes, feats and such, Izuna focuses on character level only and equipment acquisition.  This allows the player to focus more on items and combat and not have to worry about builds, class types, preparation, stat balance and losing absolutely everything when they die.  Still, the game was really tough and how I mainly played the game was always carrying a teleportation scroll (Kikan I think it was called) and advancing into a dungeon as far as I can before warping out when things got too difficult so that I would ensure getting money, good items and levels out of the run through the dungeon.  I'm still currently playing the 2nd one whenever I'm not playing my other handheld games and it's somewhat easier than the first one with a lot more content, but still puts up a tough challenge.

The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spin-off series takes many aspects of Rogue-likes, but are not nearly as difficult.  One Japanese developed Roguelike I really enjoyed was ClaDun: This is an RPG.  The player could create and customize their own characters and combine them with other characters to enhance a stat to ridiculous proportions.  It gets to a point where a character can one shot enemies, zoom past them at incredible speed, or cast a spell so devastating that a boss wouldn't be able to take a hit.  It took out turn-based movement and battle for an Action-orientated combat mechanic but kept difficulty, randomness and high risk-reward aspects to the game for all sorts of shenanigans.  ClaDun 2 was eventually released both for PSP and even for PC on Steam, which I have bought but have yet to find the time to play.  Another Action-orientated Rogue-like I sadly never got to try is Baroque.  It was originally launched for the PS2 but has also been released for the Nintendo Wii and Apple iOS iPad.  Like many roguelikes, it's unforgiving and causes the player to start over if they die.  Strange enough, I heard that some events can only be triggered by dying.  Although roguelike games aren't made very often, there's one on its way to America this year.
Source: Youtube Channel MMediaEntertainment

Supposedly a spiritual successor to "Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman" for the PSP, The Guided Fate Paradox will be a Roguelike RPG with a vast amount of customization, content, and craziness.  Being developed by the team who worked on Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, you can expect the skill animations to be flashy, colorful, and totally over-the-top.  The game should be out sometime this Fall, but delays can happen.
Source: Youtube Channel Ew Ae

The game I want to talk about most, and the game responsible for spurring the idea of writing this post, is a Japanese indie developed game called "Elona".  Most people are probably familiar with the popular flash game "Elona Shooter" which was developed by the same person to promote "Elona".  The game had been released back in 2007 as a freeware game and I had known about the game but did not try it.  As my friends and I were talking about Roguelikes, one of them mentioned Elona and I had remembered the game mostly because you can be a Pianist as a class in the game.  He described his experience with the game and highly encouraged me to try it out.  So I eventually did and was already enraptured by the game through its character creation.  There's a wide selection of races, classes, builds, perks, appearances, nicknames, and equipment quality that the player can roll for.  Once the game starts, everything is up to the player.  The game is open-world rather than being dungeon-only levels but still randomly generate levels inside caves and buildings.  Hunger, thirst, fatigue, backpack weight, diseases and curses all play part in the adventure.  The player doesn't lose their characters after dying, but rather lose some money, drop some items, and reawaken back at their home.  When a player dies, they can leave a message that is sent out to the text feed of other players playing the game that announces where they died, who killed them, and their message.  Does this sound familiar?  It reminded me of Demon's Souls where players don't directly interact with each other (although they can in Demon's Souls when summoned) but can leave messages and blood stains when they die to warn other players.  It also kind of gives it an involving feeling when you see messages of other players deaths and realize that you're not the only one getting killed and having struggles.  Despite not being able to see and play with other players, players can make Moon Gates which is a rift that the player can go through to go to other player's houses.  Some may contain riches and items that can help the player while others may be a sick joke by the player where it's ridden with high level monsters everywhere.  The game is progressive and does have a story.  And with the amount of content is provides, I imagine this game can last a very long time.

Roguelikes have a unique charm to them that no other genre really has.  But they attract a niche group of gamers and are not widely popular as other RPG genres in the market.  Even turn-based JRPGs are starting to become a niche in the RPG sector as Action-RPGs become more popular.  It can be difficult for newcomers to get into Roguelikes, and there aren't that many easy ones to get into.  If you are new to Roguelikes and want to try to get into it, I would recommend Dungeons of Dredmor above all the other ones I've mentioned as it is the easiest to pick up.

GameLight - Demon Gaze

Official Japanese Site: http://demongaze.jp/
Source: Youtube Channel SuperPlayUp

[This section is mostly talking about cRPGs.  Skip to the bottom for Demon Gaze]

Are Computer Role-Playing Games (cRPG)/Dungeon Role-Playing Games (dRPG) making a comeback in the game industry?  Probably not since they've always been around.  That is to say, classic dungeon crawling RPGs never died out and has always been played by a niche group of gamers.  The classic first-person perspective in a maze-like labyrinth with custom building parties, graphing out maps on grid sheets, and turn-based battles was the videogame interpretation of pen-and-paper RPGs that RPG fans loved back in the day.  It focused less on story development and more on the experience and journey through level progression.  As videogames evolved, the abstract mechanics of numbers, statistics, and turn-based feel are more hidden in place of more adventure and action orientated games that we have now such as Mass Effect 3, Phantasy Star Online 2 and Fallout 3.  One of the more prominent cRPGs throughout the decades is the Wizardry series.  I didn't play much cRPGs back in the day and the closest game I played to a cRPG was Ultima Exodus on the NES.  In the past few years though, I have been dabbling in the cRPG genre unknowingly by trying out games I haven't heard before.  I've played Legend of Grimrock and thought it was okay but got lost and haven't played it since (I probably will soon).  A few years back, I tried out the NES version of Wizardry and found it to be tough.  I played a few cRPGs on my palm pilot and graphing calculator back in high school made by fans.  I tried out The Dark Spire for the Nintendo DS just last week and realized a lot of time and dedication was needed to play that game.  In fact, most cRPGs do require a decent amount of time, patience and commitment to play through.  Etrian Odyssey had great graphics and music, but it was also super grindy.  What I'm trying to get at here is that cRPGs have always been around, but they're not talked about very often in the mainstream gaming community.  Then in the past few years, Legend of Grimrock and Etrian Odyssey 4 was talked about quite often.  Because I didn't get very far with Etrian Odyssey, I didn't bother taking a look at 2 and 3.  But when 4 came out with a demo, I decided to give it a try and found it to be a lot more easier to get into and enjoy.  That has probably been one of the biggest problems with cRPGs is that they're too much like the old school ones where they're super hard-core, making it difficult for newcomers to enjoy.  Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls for the PS3 and iOS had this exact problem as many reviews by players found it to be confusing, frustrating, and too abstract for those unfamiliar to the genre.  Despite having originated in the West, cRPGs had become a very popular genre in games in Japan and still holds true now.  This leads to the actual topic at hand: Demon Gaze for the Sony PS Vita.

[Demon Gaze article starts here]
Source: Youtube Channel kadokawagames

I apologize for having such a long rant on cRPGs, but that was my original intention for today's post.  It just so happened that I found out about another cRPG today that was released for the PS Vita in Japan back in January 24th of this year called Demon Gaze.  At first glance, it looks very Japanese with animé style graphics, lots of fan service, and animé tropes everywhere.  But in the end, the game is very much tied to its cRPG roots with first-person exploration in a dungeon, turn-based battles, and custom party management.  The animé nature of the game may bother some or many here in the West, but the game was obviously made with Japan's audience in mind.  With the success and widespread exposure Etrian Odyssey 4 has had in the West, there's a chance that Demon Gaze could be picked up by a publisher in the US and get localized.  If it does get brought over and I get a PS Vita, perhaps I'll consider checking this game out.  Like I've said before, these types of RPGs to require a bit of time and commitment to play and I'm not sure if I'll have that.  If old school dungeon crawling RPGs and animé themes is your thing, be sure to keep an eye out for a name called "Demon Gaze".  Kadokawa did file for a trademark in the US, perhaps they'll publish it themselves rather than wait for another publisher to pick it up.

Source:
-Joystiq - Kadokawa trademarks 'Demon Gaze' in US

VGCulture - Mega64 performing Hotline Miami

Source: Youtube Channel RoccoB64

Mega64 have been doing videogame related videos for years now and have gotten into a lot of trouble in public many times before.  They get into all sorts of shenanigans around people unaware that they're shooting a video and often times get the police called on them.  So when I heard that they did a video based on the violent retro-styled game "Hotline Miami", I was instantly interested and scared at the same time.  The video does justice to the game but does get them in trouble...again.  For those interested in playing the game, it's available on Steam for $9.99.

GameLight - Dynasty Warriors 8

Official Site: http://www.tecmokoeiamerica.com/dw8/#home
Source: Youtube Channel GemaTheEntertainer

I was really surprised to hear a release date for a North America (July 16th, 2013) and even more surprised that the game has been out in Japan a little more than a month now (February 28th, 2013).  I'm definitely excited about the new iteration to the Dynasty Warriors series, but I'm also a bit skeptical.  The reason for such doubt is that Dynasty Warriors 7 was an incredible game.  After the disappointment of DW6, DW7 took everything that was great about their franchise and made one heck of an action game.  The story was told in a much more personal fashion rather than having hacked scenes here and there.  It was emotionally moving and well thought out.  The graphics were made to be a bit more realistic in terms of color palette choices compared to past DW games and was optimized so well that 3x-5x more enemies appeared on screen.  The flow and animation of combat was so smooth and effortless that it allowed a large array of possible combos.  In short, Dynasty Warriors 7 was so great that I wasn't sure if Omega Force/Koei was capable of making something even better.  There have been a lot of videos from the Japanese version of Dynasty Warriors 8 already uploaded online, but I didn't want to watch too much and spoil my experience with the game when I finally get it.  From what I gather, there will be new characters, new weapons, new modes, an affinity mechanic that creates advantages and disadvantages in a fight (think rock-paper-scissors or Fire Emblem), new abilities, and the ability to use 3 different musou attacks with each character.  I'm really surprised at how quickly Dynasty Warriors 8 came out as I was expecting for it to come out on the PS4.  I'll be really excited for a Dynasty Warriors on the PS4 utilizing the next gen technology for consoles.

VGCulture - Shoot 'em Ups on Steam

I have once again accumulated a decent amount of games to review.  So instead of having a detailed review of each one, I'm going write a short article about the shoot-em-ups I've played and briefly reflect on them.

eXceed Complete Pack - $9.99
Source: Youtube Channel Fiorion

eXceed Complete Pack is totally worth it for those who love bullet hell/Danmaku shoot-em-ups.  Rather than just being upgrades from each other, each of the eXceed games are vastly different from each other in terms of game mechanics.  The first eXceed is sadly not translated to English, but is still playable with classic insanity of bullets even on the easiest level.  eXceed 2nd uses the polarity  bullet mechanic that is most well known for in the shoot-em-up Ikaruga.  eXceed 3rd plays much like Touhou with grazing bullet mechanics much like Shikigami no Shiro 3 (Castle of Shikigami 3).  Side from beautiful visuals, the games have an incredible collection of music that plays throughout the levels.  One of my favorites is the first half of the one that plays in the video above.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - $3.99
Geometry Wars is a great game to play when there isn't that much time for a break or if you want to play a short session for it.  This Arena style arcade shooter is matched with tight controls, colorful visuals, and a motivating song that keeps the action going.

Sine Mora - $9.99
Source: Youtube Channel DigitalRealityGames

The graphics and aesthetics in Sine Mora is breath-taking and absolutely beautiful.  This 2D shooter with 3D graphics has a unique mechanic, challenging boss battles and all sorts of weapons and ships to use, but it's sadly a game I didn't enjoy entirely.  Rather than having health or lives, the game runs on time.  When the player gets hit, they lose a bit of time and running out of time meant game over.  The way a player acquired stronger versions of their weapons is by picking up power-ups dropped by enemies.  If the player is hurt in any kind of way, the power-up falls out of the player's ship and starts floating away.  Here's where I had problems with the game.  Without those power-ups, the player is really weak and useless and won't be able to defeat bosses in time without them.  It makes sense to avoid getting hit, but there are a lot of moments where unexpected speeding danger hits the player.  The power-ups float towards danger which causes the player to run into more things that eats up time just to get back time.  But if you don't grab the power-ups, you run out of time trying to whittle down the bosses.  Add this with unchangeable key bindings, unruly movement controls (too fast on keyboard and too slow on mouse) along with moving levels while getting shot from all 360 degrees and you find yourself being more frustrated with the game than enjoying it.  It's sadly not a game I can't recommend.  Great visuals and audio (music/sfx/interesting choice of having voice acting in Hungarian), but the game mechanics and controls were just awful for me.

Ether Vapor Remaster - $7.99
Holy cow is this game hard!  Edelweiss is apparently known for making really difficult and challenging games.  The game's life system works much like Gradius V for those who have played it.  Essentially, the more you play the game, the more lives and shields you'll receive.  This can be very discouraging for some players having to lose over and over and starting over from the very beginning of the game.  The concept behind this game is like many older games where you try to learn and get better each time you restart the game.  It's a dastardly way to extend a game's play length, but those that have the patience and time will find challenge and gratification when they get to the end of the game.

Really Big Sky - $5.99

Source: Youtube Channel bossbaddiegames

I think this game randomly generates levels every time.  Each time I played it, the level changes.  The player can keep improving their ship at the end of each playthrough.  The visuals are super flashy and the audio makes for a explosive experience.  There are a lot of modes to play but must be acquired by fulfilling certain conditions.  It's a great distraction to sit down and relax to this game.

Scoregasm - $9.99
I have a hunch that this game is by the same developer as bullet candy as the concept is similar and the ship looks the same.  Although significantly better in visuals, gameplay, and level design than Bullet Candy, I still got bored of the game fairly quickly.  What I enjoyed most were the boss battles where it felt more like a bullet hell.  With the rest of the levels, it just felt like a tight-spaced geometry wars in very short durations.

Titan Attacks! - $4.99
Source: Youtube Channel Puppygames001

An homage to old arcade games such as Galaga and Asteroids, Titan Attacks is essentially Space Invaders with power-ups.  I've played quite a few flash games with the same concept and similar visual aesthetics, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Titan Attacks is mildly entertaining, but starts getting boring after the player gets full on all the items.  It wasn't a bad game, but don't expect too much out of it either.

VGCulture - April Fools 2013

There were a lot of April Fools jokes this year.  Like every year, I avoid the internet on April 1st and read all about it the next day.  Here are the ones I found:

[Half-Life 4]
The same old, boring "next Half-Life game" joke that's done every year to destroy the hopes and dreams of rabid fans awaiting the release of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 or Half-Life 3.  Honestly, Valve isn't going to release a Half-Life 3 until they can truly innovate something in the genre or industry like they have with Half-Life 1 and 2.  Half-Life 2: Episode 3?  Well, that all depends on them.

[Journey: Rocket Death Match DLC]
Source: Youtube Channel thatgamecompany

I'll be honest and say that I didn't really enjoy Journey that much.  It was an interesting experience, but it didn't feel much like a game.  What's sad is that this little April Fools Joke looks more interesting than what I played.  There are too many people who liked Journey for me to write an honest game review on it.

[Deus Ex: Human Defiance]
April Fools Joke?  Most likely.  Will there be a playable version of this?  Who knows.  But they did take the time to make all those assets (art, music, etc.).

[Minecraft 2.0]
Source: Youtube Channel paulsoaresjr

This is quite a big tease to Minecraft fans claiming lots of additions and new content with a Minecraft 2.  To make it more convincing, there are 3 different videos "showing off" all the new content.  I've always had an interest in Minecraft and even tried buying it once, but the purchase didn't go through.  Maybe it's for the best, I'd probably spend too much time on it anyways.

[Football Manager 1888]
I wasn't expecting an April Fools Joke by Football Manager, but this is one that could seemingly be legitimate if they really wanted to.

[Razer Naga - Phone Update]
Source: Youtube Channel cultofrazer

The Razer Naga has a built in function no one knew about: a built in phone.  You can talk and text others using your own Naga mouse!  Or so the update claims.

[Apple - iPlay]
Source: Youtube Channel IGN

What's funny about this April Fools Joke is that Apple making a platform to play all their games isn't too far-fetched considering the Android market has the Ouya coming out.  Maybe if the Ouya is a hit, Apple will try something similar.

[Farcry 3 - Blood Dragon]
Source: Youtube Channel ubisoft

Take a look at this 80's style commercial.

[Toshibasphere]
Source: Youtube Channel toshibaUS

What's sad is that it feels like it's making fun of Microsoft's Kinect more than anything.

[Team Fortress 2 - Reddit owns TF2]
I was wondering if anyone at Valve even does April Fools jokes and so I went and checked.  The apparently had a blog update confirming that reddit owns them now and then explains how they switched the legal documents to end up owning reddit instead.  It's not a complex April Fools joke, but it was one I found funny.

[Dishonored - Gameplay Commentary by Co-Creative Directors]
Source: Youtube Channel BethesdaSoftworks

I haven't played Dishonored yet, but using plants and possessing doors sounds like a legitimate way to subdue your enemies.

[Street Fighter IV - Super Duper Edition]

What's more extreme than Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition?  Super Duper Street Fighter IV!  Capcom is a lot more self-aware than most people think.

[Starcraft 2 - Warhound Returns]
This year's April Fools Joke by Blizzard seems kind of boring compared to the last 2 years, but maybe they were really busy with the launch of "Heart of the Swarm".  What I heard though was that all builder units of every race was replaced with the Warhound which kind of made me wish I had played some Starcraft 2 last night...

[League of Legends - Cho'Gath Eats the World (CHEW)]
Source: Youtube Channel kavvsona

Sadly, this can't be played anymore as Cho'Gath already ate the world after yesterday.  I got to play a bit of it last night when my friends asked me to play some LoL and this was featured on the front page of the LoL client.  Essentially, it was a LoL rendition of the classic arcade game "Rampage" with a secret Teemo Dash game in it.  It was a call April Fools treat by Riot Games.

[Guild Wars 2 - Super Adventure Box]
Source: Youtube Channel arenanetofficial

Despite looking like a cheesy 80's videogame commercial, this is a real thing in Guild Wars 2 where players travel through an 8-bit like world with tons of jumping puzzles.  This is possibly the coolest April Fools joke this year.  This special area will be gone at the end of the month.