GameLight - Dungeonland Free-to-Play

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/218130/
Source: Youtube Channel RatingTheGames

Dungeonland released earlier this year and it wasn't that expensive.  At one point, it was $2.49 for a sale.  Yet it somehow went free-to-play and re-launched today.  From what I understand, content has been ripped out of it and presented as additional content for Free-to-Play owners while those who previously bought the game has everything.  I think publisher and developers are abusing the term "Free-to-Play" and not really understanding the difference from a "Demo" or "Trial Version".  This "Free-to-Play" version is essentially a "demo" for players to see what the game is like as additional maps, weapons and such are available after paying for the "All Access Pass".  A "Free-to-Play" game should be a fully playable game with additional boosters or aesthetic enhancements.  I know that not all Free-to-Play games are like that, but they should.  Still, it doesn't make too much of a difference as the All Access Pass is still the same price as the game before and is at 50% off for $4.99.

OKAY, so enough ranting by me.  Dungeonland is a Multiplayer, cooperative, top-down, hack-n-slash action game where three players fight through dungeons that randomly generate enemy spawn, loot, and traps.  A fourth player can join and be the Dungeon Maestro to control the monster spawns and such to screw over the players.  The biggest complaint I hear about the game is how incredibly difficult it is.  Difficulty as a challenge is fine, but I heard it's so difficult that it's hard to enjoy.  Perhaps having the label "Free-to-Play" might attract more players to try out the game to keep the online community active.  In any case, I guess I'll give the game a try myself.

Retroview - Enclave

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/253980/
Source: Youtube Channel TopWare Interactive

I have never heard of Enclave and don't remember its name when it released over 10 years ago on Xbox.  I saw it pop up on Steam 3 days ago alongside a whole slew of other old games and for some reason Enclave caught my attention.  On steam, it's listed as an RPG and it worried me because I was thinking it might be filled with long dialogues, traversing long empty roads, and incomprehensible skill systems (some RPGs are still like that today).  Looking up some gameplay videos, I realized that it wasn't an RPG at all!  Enclave is a Hack-n-Slash, Action-Adventure with progression on a per stage basis.

I'm gonna go ahead and get the bad aspects out of the way first.  Attacks do not connect to the enemies a lot of the times because of the awkward animations for sword swings.  Sometimes enemies are shorter than the player, but the player can't aim downwards.  Level design is pretty open which allows for some non-linear routing, but it's also confusing and causes the player to often get lost.  If the player is killed, they either start the level over again or respawn at the last check point.  The problem is that it just happens when you lose all your health and it just happens, you don't really see your character die which feels weird and makes you think it's a cutscene happening.  There are 12 characters to choose from, but a lot of them feel clunky and useless.  The sword swings are just so inaccurate and unreliable that I end up using the huntress because the bow and crossbow is significantly more accurate.

With that out of the way, let me point out some of the aspects that made this game fun.  Levels are short and pretty straight-forward except when the levels are confusing.  This makes it really easy to pick up and play and not have to endure long winded dialogues and cutscenes (there are some and they're pretty boring, but I think they can be skipped).  The game boasts itself for being atmospheric, and it kind of is.  The game has that medieval fantasy theme going and it feels nice as part of the experience.  Once I got the hang of how the game worked, combat can be kind of fun in a dumb way.  Combat doesn't have too much depth to it, but it's straight-forward and relaxing.  Overall, I think it's a mildly entertaining game to play and it's not particularly long.  I can see why it didn't have much exposure or popularity when it came out though as the quality of the game isn't entirely high.  But for the price of $2.49, it's worth getting to change up the pace of my gaming.  Enclave will be 50% off for $2.49 for another 4 days.

GameLight - Hammerwatch

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/239070/ Source: Youtube Channel theTransflash

How this game escaped my attention on Steam Greenlight is beyond me.  Hammerwatch is described to be a cooperative Action-Adventure, Hack-n-Slash with RPG elements.  It reminds me of classic Gauntlet with puzzle solving from The Legend of Zelda series.  The frantic nature of the game and its insane amounts of enemies are among some of the aspects that has gotten me really interested in the game.  The game will also support mods and so perhaps it'll utilize Steam workshop.  The game also features local, online, and LAN cooperative multiplayer.  I am lacking in multiplayer games and so it's nice to see games such as these still being made.  As far as the video shows, there will be lots of killing, lots of looting, lots of upgrading, lots of puzzles, and lots of dying.  It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

GameLight - Hellraid teaser

Wiki Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellraid
Source: Youtube Channel Eurogamer

By the minds behind Dead Island, Techland releases a teaser to their upcoming game "Hellraid".  Dead Island Riptide had just recently released and was panned for being nearly the same game as the first Dead Island with very little improvements.  So it's a natural response for those same players to get excited over something that looks so different with the same engine.  Hellraid was originally a mod made in Dead Island by someone within Techland and became a legitimate project when it reached the higher ups in the company.  Hellraid will feature a first-person perspective, hack-n-slash, Action-horror cooperative experience for up to 4 players with randomly generated content (not sure what that means yet, but I'm hoping it means random events, levels, and items).  It will feature 4 classes (Warrior, Paladin, Mage and Rogue) each with their own special abilities much like in Dead Island's character archetypes.  The game's level design looks atmospheric and combat looks fast-paced and exciting.  Such display in the teaser reminds many gamers of games like Hexen 2, Oblivion, The Dark Messiah.  I'm not too sure about the "horror" part of the genre yet, because it reminds me of Painkiller where all the undead enemies just runs towards you which becomes less scary after a while.  Still, the screenshots when it was first announced and this little teaser has struck me interested.  I'm excited and looking forward to the release of Hellraid.  I just hope it doesn't disappoint.

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.

GameLight - Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires

Official Site: http://www.tecmokoeiamerica.com/dw7e/
Source: Youtube Channel Plutogames1

Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires is sneaking up soon and I didn't even notice.  Expanding Koei's Action Hack-n-Slash game Dynasty Warriors 7, Empires provides various new content to the already addictive war game.  With Empires, players can create their own characters (FINALLY, been waiting for that in the original and Xtreme Legends), build their own faction using those characters, share their characters with other players online, and play Empire mode which adds a whole new dynamic to the game.  Rather than progressively move from one level to the next, the player is presented with the layout of Ancient China and must devise plans of conquering all of it using strategy, tactics, and diplomacy along with their hack-n-slash skills in order to win.  More weapons will be added, and a new system called "favorite weapons" allows certain characters to change their musou attack depending on which weapon they wield.  I'm not sure if I'm ready for Empires yet as I haven't even opened Xtreme Legends to play yet.  This is sure to be one game I'll keep an eye out for this year.  Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires is set to launch on February 26, 2013 exclusively for the Playstation 3.

GameLight - Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge

Official Site: http://ninjagaiden3.nintendo.com/characters.html#momiji
Source: Youtube Channel RajmanGamingHD

For those who remembers or played the game, Ryu Hayabusa has an apprentice named Momiji who appeared in Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS.  Well, it has been revealed that she is making a return and will be a playable character in Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge for the Nintendo Wii U.  Her chest size wasn't that large in Dragon Sword, but perhaps she's more grown up or it just looks different in 3D?  She is capable to wielding a naginata and down multiple foes with its long range and wide arc.  I keep hearing about a 2-player co-op mode, but it's not clear whether it is exclusively for Online play or if it's possible to have one person on the Wii U pad and one on the TV screen.  These new additions and changes to the game has changed my stance on getting the game for the PS3 as the Wii U seems to define the game the developers wanted to release a lot better.  First things first: finish up more games, buy and complete Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma, THEN buy a Wii U and this game.  Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge will release as a launch title for the Nintendo Wii U which supposedly releases this Sunday.  I hope to see Momiji appear in other Ninja Gaiden games in the future.

GameLight - Cladun X2

Official Site: http://www.nisamerica.com/games/cladun2/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/206250/
Source: Youtube Channel NISAmerica

There was a very unexpected game that released on Steam today.  If anyone recalls, I posted a review of Cladun: This is an RPG! last year of May and explained how surprisingly fun it turned out to be.  I had spent 30+ hours on the first game as its versatile character creation system, customizable builds, random dungeon generator, catchy tunes, and addictive hack 'n slash and looting system got me hooked for a really long time.  I was excited to hear that a sequel was being made, but then kinda gave up after hearing that it wasn't going to be sold retail for PSP and was instead sold on the PSN network.  I did not hear any sort of PC port being brought to Steam which really surprised me when I saw it on the front page this morning.  The game consists of dungeon crawling with characters either within the story (if it's anything like the first one) or with ones created by the player.  It seems that customization was brought further with the ability to customize the look of not only your own character, but to your weapons as well.  As shown in the video, there are a lot of classes to choose from, many weapons to wield, and tons of dungeons to explore.  What's great about the system in the Cladun series is that one character can have other characters team up with them to give crazy stat boosts to make them immensely powerful, or tanky, or incredibly fast.  There's a lot of combinations to experiment with and a lot of risk/reward factors that's really rewarding.  Although it's considered a "Hack 'n Slash" Action-RPG, it is not easy at all.  If it's anything like the first one, the game will be extremely challenging and does require a bit of patience in order to get through some areas.  The release on Steam is truly a pleasant surprise.  Cladun X2 is available on Steam for $15.99 until August 21st, 2012 before reverting back to $19.99.

GameLight Review - Chantelise A Tale of Two Sisters

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/70420/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

Developer: Easy Game Station
Publisher: Carpe Fulgur LLC
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: Jul 29, 2011
Genre: Action-RPG, Hack-n-Slash

Pros:
-Fast-paced and to-the-point Action
-Challenging gameplay (Classic games level challenging)
-Story, art style, and dialogues are light-hearted and humorous
-Lots of secrets and bonus content
-Controller Compatible

Cons:
-You will die a lot; it might be discouraging for some players
-Boss battles aren't very straight-forward and figuring out their patterns may require dying
-Did I mention you will die a lot?

Possibly the most entertaining game I have played on Steam this past half year, Chantelise delivers a simple yet exciting Action-RPG experience with its challenging gameplay, light-hearted humor, and easy going tunes.  As a fairy-turned human and sword-wielding warrior sister duo, the player guides them in search of the so-called "witch" that turned Chante into a fairy.  The game plays much like a hack-n-slash, but manages to keep the game fresh all the way through with the utilization of special equipment and elemental gems.  The controls are tight, the pseudo 3D anime graphics really work with the light-hearted theme they're going for, and the bosses are pretty memorable (or at least the fights against them were).  The story isn't very heavy, but it's there and provides the basis of the events in the game.  So the game leans more towards Action Hack-n-Slash more than an RPG.  Those who like a challenge in their game should definitely check out Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters.

Aesthetics
One of the first things that caught my eye was the pseudo 3D graphics.  It uses 3D models and 2D sprites much the same way Ragnarok Online did for their games where the environment was 3D but character sprites were 2D images with different angles for a full 360 degree view.  Having a female dominant cast of characters in an animé fashion might not please some or a lot of gamers, but those already accustomed to doujin games (indie games in Japan) or modern animé pop culture will have no problem with the theme and atmosphere of the game.  The characters all have their distinct personalities and there are some moments in the game's dialogue where you'll get a genuine laugh out of it.  A lot of the enemies are repeated with different colors, but it made it easier to define what kind of enemy type they are.  The level designs are pretty creative and really easy to navigate through.  I kind of wish that the camera could've been tilted on the y axis as well as the x axis as platforming was sometimes tricky on such a horizontal plane or when there's an enemy below/above you.  The music is what you'd expect from a Japanese indie game (doujin games) where it's simple, sounds MIDI-ish, catchy, and easy going.  All in all, the aesthetics worked really well for the game.  Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons
One of the faults that a lot of ambitious indie games have is making it very complex.  Chantelise kept the controls of the game very simple and made the gameplay itself challenging to compensate the simplistic mechanics.  Essentially, the controls are movement, attack, jump, and magic.  There is a button to lock-on targets and the ability to move the camera around with buttons or analog stick.  The game is evidently developed with the gamepad in mind.  I can't imagine playing this game on keyboard when moving the camera around is incredibly important.  I played the game with a PS2 controller and it worked incredibly well.  Attacks are generally 3-hit combos with the sword, 5-hit combos with the wind Crystal, and charged up strikes with certain crystals.  The jump button is used to dodge enemy attack, get to higher grounds, lunge in with a jump attack, or pressed together with the attack button to do an evasive side dodge.  The magic button is held down to consume 1-4 elemental gems to unleash a spell.  Movement, attacks, evasion, jumping and spell casting are very instantaneous seamless with one another.  Having the camera pan for the x-axis (horizontal view) set on my right analog stick was pivotal in a lot of battles and made the gameplay much easier to handle.  Still, I wished that y-axis could've been manipulated, though I can understand through a design choice why it wasn't implemented (would have caused a lot of problems for camera angling and obstruction to the player's view).  The controls were simplistic, but well designed for the game and made for a very fun experience. Buttons: 9/10

Concept and Content
The game plays much like other Action-RPGs such as Shining Soul where the player is presented with a world map and chooses which level to run through.  Each room is blocked until all the enemies are defeated by the player killing them with their sword and picking up elemental gems to cast spells for more devastating attacks.  At the end of every level is a boss.  Should the player be defeated, they are sent back to town.  Luckily, the player doesn't have to fight all the enemies all over again to unlock the room as completed rooms are cleared and grants access to the next area.  The character growth is steady and fair which keeps the difficulty of the game really high.  The player would have to grind long and hard before the game would ever become too easy, and that's not the aim of the game.  If a player has reached an area in a level they can't beat but don't want to walk through the entire level again to figure out a strategy (such as a boss battle), the player can select that specific area and practice.  With the limited amount of equipment slots, the player can experiment what combination of items is best for certain situations.  The gem system to cast spells feels gimmicky in the beginning, but there's a sense of uncertainty and requires the player to improvise based on what they're fighting and what they get.  Even though the combo attack never changes throughout the entire game, there's a sense of satisfaction that comes out of defeating an enemy and see them explode in loud and flashy glory.  Other than the main game, there's also a survival cavern, a special cavern, a fishing mini-game on the side to acquire special items, and treasure hidden in every area of every level in the game.  For a simplistic, indie game, the experience was entertaining and provided a good amount of content.  It's essentially a straight up Hack-n-Slash with RPG elements; however, it's the enemy AI and level design that made the game vary itself and stay fresh to the very end.  Concept and Content: 10/10

Duration
Originally, I had planned to rush through the game and beat it as quickly as possible.  What took the most time were the 2nd boss battle and the very last one.  I had died at least 30-50 times throughout the game mainly from those two bosses.  The last one in particular was just too hard and so I decided to farm for gold and look for treasure.  In the end, I was glad I took the extra time to play through the game as it added to the experience.  The flow of the game is much like traditional games where it leads the player from one event or level to the next.  It never bothered with becoming too complicated, but it also didn't lack depth either.  The entire playthrough took about 16 hours when I could've beaten it in about 7 if I could've just beaten the last boss.  Still, those extra 9 hours was worth it.  Although I was replaying the levels, it felt different each time since I had different items on or got different gems.  The fishing mini-game is a bit too much for me as items require a bit a fishes before you can get them; however, the survival dungeon really added to the replay value.  I've only run through the dungeon once and spent 48 minutes in it before I died.  Survival was a lot of fun and will be the prime reason why I'm leaving Chantelise on my Steam list to play again.  Duration: 10/10

Fun
In the very beginning, I thought it was somewhat interesting but feared that it might have lacked depth.  I was essentially just hacking away at enemies with spells just doing more damage while equipment only altered my stats by a little.  When I got into the meat of the game and found how difficult it can be, I realized how much more the game had to offer.  The equipment combinations can be multi-equipped and they're kind of like builds to the type of playstyle you're looking for a strategy to plan to execute in a certain situation.  The gems became significantly more important as certain enemies are better killed by elements than physical damage.  It was mainly the challenge and having to die over and over to learn a boss' pattern or find a strategy to get through a room that made it so involving.  It's the same type of feeling I got when I played games from the NES era where learning came from failing a lot and learning to be precise as well as experimenting with equipment combinations.  I felt very satisfied at the end and didn't have any lingering emotions that affected my opinion about the game.  It was very conclusive and made me feel really good about the game.  If all of Easy Game Station's games are like this, I hope we get to see more brought over.  Fun: 10/10

Overall
I knew I'd be interested in the game, but I didn't know how much I would like it.  Chantelise was a surprising game that provided a decent hack-n-slash experience to an Action-RPG and made it really fun as most hack-n-slash games are generally considered repetitive and boring.  I liked the Animé style drawings, the pseudo 3D graphics, the light-hearted humor, the easy going music, the challenging bosses, the flashy effects, and the satisfying combat that came out of this game.  I would highly recommend anyone who like Action games or seeking a decent challenge to give Chantelise a try.  Overall: 9.6/10

GameLight - SMITE

Official Site: https://account.hirezstudios.com/smitegame/
Source: Youtube Channel smitegame

I finally got my hands on a beta key to try out Hi-Rez's highly anticipated MOBA game SMITE over this weekend.  SMITE is a 3rd-Person Action Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) that's structured much like familiar MOBA games such as Defense of the Ancients, League of Legends, and Heroes of Newerth but plays and controls much like an Action game.  The world and its characters are based off of Mythology all over the world with players taking the role of a god in aims of defeating the enemy Minotaur.  The game currently have gods from Greek, Norse, Hindu, and Chinese Mythology with the possibility of more in the future.  SMITE isn't the first MOBA to be played in the 3rd-Person perspective with Action game elements to them as games like Dungeon Defenders, Orcs Must Die!, and Land of Chaos Online (LOCO) have tested the water in that department; however, the game plays much more closely to traditional MOBAs rather than having it play more like a straight up action game.  The way spells have an image projection of where skills will end up is akin to what League of Legends changed from DotA and makes for a more certain and strategic use of skills during a team fight.  My first experience with the game was actually an odd glitch.  I entered the game without the ability to attack or use skills, but I could still level up by being near defeated enemies and buy items.  After that, the game has been running normally.  So some of the first impressions are:
-Controls and map layout is what I expected it to be
-Third-Person Action style is tougher as most attacks are skill shot reliant
-A little disappointing to be limited to 5 Gods in the beginning, but it helps learning the game faster
-The game is rather polished and has a balanced gameplay (LOCO was extremely broken in beta)
-Coordinating ganks and team fights is a little difficult since it's hard to see everything that happens
-Won my first match with 4/2/8 (Kills/Deaths/Assists) using Artemis, it was fun using a ranged character
-There were times where the game skips or lag, I'm not sure if it affected everyone
-Jungling is tough to do in SMITE
-I can't tell if the game has any lasting power in it as it stands (one map, 18 available characters)

Overall, it's looking to be a fun game; however, I'm not sure if it can hold the community's interest.  I have faith in Hi-Rez studios though as I've been a fan of theirs ever since the launch of Global Agenda and know of their belief in quality games.  SMITE is currently still in beta and is bound to have problems and have players who aren't familiar with the game yet (please go easy on each other).  SMITE doesn't have an official launch date yet, but it will be Free-to-play with the ability to buy Gods if players do not want to earn them through game time.

GameLight - Ys Origins

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/207350/
Source: Youtube Channel RPGamerdotcom

I heard rumors about Ys Origins being localized, but I didn't think it'd release so quickly out of nowhere.  I've been wanting to play this game for over 5 years now as it was only a Japanese release exclusive and so I couldn't get it.  Ys Origin is a classic-style Action-RPG with Pseudo-3D graphics in a very fast-paced game environment (adventure and platforming).  The Ys series has existed since 1987 and has since had 9 installments but has always been under the radar and satisfied niche players or fans of the series.  The series can almost be seen as a hack-n-slash the way the combat works.  Combat is fast-paced and movement can be a bit too fast for first time players, but it's a welcome mechanic to have the flow of the game push forward at high speed rather than crawl along.  I'm not exactly sure if there has been any additional content added to the international release of Ys Origin, but there seems to be quite a bit the player could do.  There are 3 playable characters with additional ones in other modes, 5 difficulty levels (the game can be quite challenging), Time Attack mode, Boss Rush mode, and an Arena mode for the most replay value it can offer.  The game has been adjusted to support true wide-screen and high-resolution (remember that the game released back in 2006 and may not have supported those things) and it supports various gamepads.  It's only a shame that I have so many games backlogged now compared to 5 years ago when I barely had any as I'll be now waiting a bit longer before playing this game.  Ys Origins is now available on Steam for $19.99.

GameLight - Warriors Orochi 3

Official Site: http://www.tecmokoeiamerica.com/orochi3/

Source: Youtube Channel ZhaoYun2011

Happy Lunar New Years Everyone!  According to the Eastern Animal Zodiac, it is the year of the Dragon.  Speaking of dragons, the dragon of the Hayabusa clan is returning in a new game; and I'm not talking about Ninja Gaiden 3.  RYU HAYABUSA IS IN WARRIORS OROCHI 3!!!

Source: Youtube Channel KING90I

Oh man, a chill went down my spine when I heard the remixed version of Ryu Hayabusa's original tune from the NES days come on.  I didn't pay much attention to Warriors Orochi 3 after I learned that it wasn't going to be brought over to the Western market early last year.  So it was a huge surprise when I heard today that it was going to be released in North America in March this year!!! (Supposedly March 20th)  Even more surprising was that Ryu Hayabusa of the Ninja Gaiden series was going to be in it!  Not only that, but characters from Warriors: Legends of Troy, Bladestorm, Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll and Dead or Alive are also going to join the huge cast of characters from Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors:

Source: Youtube Channel ZhaoYun2011

Altogether, the game has 120+ characters to choose from!  For those unfamiliar with the Warriors Orochi series: It's a spin-off that started with only Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors back on the Playstation 2.  A dimensional rift pulls the warriors of Ancient 3 Kingdom Era China and Sengoku Era Japan together to a strange land where they either join or oppose the Snake King "Orochi" (A snake demon in Japanese culture).  Some major differences in gameplay are the ability to switch between any three characters chosen for battle at any given time, chain attacks from multiple characters together, every individual character has a special attack unique only to them, and your proximity to allied troops has an influence to how they act on the battlefield.  Warriors Orochi is possibly the best spin-off Koei has done for the "Warriors" series and am incredibly happy to hear that it's being brought over.  I'm saddened that I never got around to getting and playing Warriors Orochi 2, but I had anticipated a 3rd one to come out and didn't get it.  So upon hearing that it wasn't being brought over made me lose my interest in pursuing the series any further.  Now I'm more excited than ever about its release, especially with even more collaborated games from within their IP.  If you're new to the series, I highly recommend picking up Warriors Orochi 2.  It's really a lot of fun!  THANK YOU TECMOKOEI!

GameLight Review - Orcs Must Die!

Official Site: http://www.robotentertainment.com/games/orcsmustdie
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/102600/

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

Developer: Robot Entertainment
Publisher: Robot Entertainment
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Genre: Action-Strategy

Pros:
-Fast-Paced Action with fluid controls
-Tons of strategies to work with
-More than 24 levels to play on
-Simple goal to understand, challenging gameplay to master
-Gets straight to the action for a gratifying action tower defense experience

Cons:
-No multiplayer support
-Trap orientation can be confusing when plotting them
-The recoil movement from the magic crossbow when zoomed is too jerky

I wasn't sure what to think of the game before I saw gameplay of it as the name itself was tacky and general.  But when I finally saw what "Orcs Must Die" was about and the ability to combat the enemies upfront, I was pretty much sold.  I picked the game up during the Autumn sale on steam for $3.75 and was surprised to get 24+ levels (along with DLCs though) to play on as a lot of tower-defense games are limited to only a few levels (Sanctum started with 4).  What was different and very entertaining about the game was that the player takes a very active role in vanquishing each wave of enemies rather than taking the usual passive approach of only setting up traps and fighters.  Besides traps are an array of weapons which makes the player's participation in battle more variable each time.  But in order to be successful each level, the player must utilize the weapons and traps effectively to get the most out of them.  This is a really fun game and good to play when trying to relax or get a satisfying experience in a short amount of time for those who are generally busy to play for long sessions.

Aesthetics - Graphics, Audio and Presentation
I really like the cartoonish, almost cel-shaded like style that the developers went for.  The characters pop out, the environment looks nice, it's easy to discern enemies, and it looks flashy when the action happens.  It kind of reminds me of what Valve did with Team Fortress 2 in their art style direction which significantly changed the game mechanics are interpreted: glowing liquid shows the danger of the player falling into them, a light blue stream runs across the level to show the enemies walking path, the main character's outfit is a bright contrast to the dark levels with an accent of red making easy for the player to keep track of where their character is on the screen when in a large wave of enemies, etc.  The little details such as the number of currency gained from each enemy killed and the message that pops up when getting a headshot with the crossbow all contributes to that feeling of achievement and doing well.  Of course, the indications also serve as useful information such as reminding the player that getting headshots help take an enemy out faster and all the money earned should be spent on more traps.  When in the set up phase, it can be a bit confusing trying to plot the traps in all the right places.  In traditional tower-defense games, a player can easily figure out choke points and orientations of all the traps/towers within a level from a top-down view.  Iron Grip: Warlords allows the player to go into a top-down view when plotting towers.  In Sanctum, the player can bring up the camera into a top-down view to look at the whole level and warp around.  In Dungeon Defenders, the mini-map shows where traps are laid.  So it can be a bit difficult when figuring out where to set traps in Orcs Must Die, but perhaps it's a design choice to keep the player consistently active in the fighting rather than sitting back and watching.  Some of the music feels sort of out of place, but the game is wacky to begin with.  The sound effects are quite satisfying whenever contact between weapons or traps is made with the enemies and mayhem is fallen upon the waves.  The voice acting of the main character adds that nice bit of humor with the amount of shenanigans you get into within the game.  Overall, it's a nice presentation that works both aesthetically and mechanically.  Aesthetics: 8/10

Buttons - Controls
One of the concerns I had with the game was that the fighting mechanics might be sluggish and clunky, but to my surprise the combat is very fast-paced.  Animations run fairly quick, traps are easy to put up, and the key orientations are plotted out comfortably around the keyboard and mouse.  It can be rather hectic when trying to put up traps "during" a wave and there's 7-9 items to scroll around, but I'm guessing that this was a design choice to keep the player fighting as much as possible rather than worrying about putting more traps up (though it gets easier as the player becomes more experienced and can balance between strategy and action).  I really like the controls.  They're tight, easy to navigate through, and made it fairly quick for me to understand how to play the game.  Buttons: 9/10

Concept & Content - Design
The story is quite simple: A warmage protects the many rifts of the world from the many waves of orcs and monsters and ends up slipping on blood on one of his missions only to end up dying and leaving the daunting task to his apprentice; the main character who's a hearty fellow with a naive demeanor.  It made sense to why the player must fight off all these enemies and why "Orcs Must Die!"  The concept is quite simple: utilize the weapons and traps available and decimate all invading enemies.  The fun part is being "creative" in succeeding that goal.  Players can set archers, wall traps, springs, set explosives, and many more to subdue their enemies and prevent them from walking any further.  Each level has a different setting with various choke points, environmental hazards, and paths which can help the player or the enemies.  A lot of the beginning ones are simple and small, so this makes learning the game a lot easier for beginners.  An Action/Strategy hybrid of Action games and Tower Defense isn't new, but Robot entertainment's interpretation of that genre mix is an excellent one that works really well.  It's too bad it isn't a multiplayer game as it could be tons of fun with even just two players.  Other than choosing different difficulty levels, there isn't much variety in terms of modes.  Concept & Content: 8/10

Duration - Pacing, length, and replay value
Besides the opening cinematic which tells the raison d'être for the main character, the game is immediately full of action the second the first wave starts.  The length of a level can vary depending on difficulty, a player's skill level, and the level design.  It takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes each match so it never takes to long to play each chapter and get something out of it.  I haven't sat down and played for one long session yet, but I feel like I could with this game.  Even with playing one level each time I start up the game, I felt like I got enough from it.  I felt satisfied, which I feel is difficult to get out of short session games sometimes.  Replay value really depends on the player.  If a player wants to challenge themselves, they can go for a higher difficulty level for a better score or equip themselves with more weapons than traps to do more fighting then planning.  For others, I could be that after getting through the game once, there's not much more to offer.  There isn't multiplayer support or different modes, but there is a online ranking system.  Others could get bored half-way through the game if they don't find the entertainment value in the first half.  Although I think that 24 level is a generous amount, a lot of levels are similar in nature and look and offer little variety after a player gets through all the chapters other than what was stated above.  Still, I think I got a lot more than I paid for ($3.75) and genuinely enjoy the game.  Duration: 8/10

Fun - Impression, Entertainment Value
I don't think it's the greatest indie games to have come out this year, but it's pretty dang fun.  The first time I saw the hordes of orcs rush through the door and fly all over the room from my arrow wall traps was both hilarious and satisfying to see my work (placing the traps) come to fruition.  The combat is what really surprised me though.  Even with Action Tower Defense games like Sanctum, I feel like I'm just adding to damage that my towers were already doing to the enemies (along with the fact that enemies totally ignores you).  In Orcs Must Die, fighting enemies really make it feel like an "Action" game rather than adding in "combat" just to deal damage with the traps.  The player can die, use mana, and utilize all sorts of weaponry like in an action game, and that active participation in the game made it much more involving and intense when the enemies get near the rift.  I guess the jollies and laughs I get out of Orcs Must Die is similar to games like Dynasty Warriors where you fight hundreds to thousands of enemies and still survive.  It feels satisfying to end a level in victory by overcoming an incredible amount of enemies of epic proportions with just the player alone.  It does feel like a button masher at times, but the moments where enemies get too close to the rift and being able to figure out a solution with the weapons available has a gratifying moment to make up for those.  You can't just mash your way to victory.  Fun: 9/10

Overall
The premise of the game is simplistic, yet effective.  The game is rather short, but satisfying.  There isn't multiplayer support, yet I got this game for $3.75 and had a ton of fun playing it.  The next time a friend asks for a relaxing game to play, I'm going to recommend Orcs Must Die because it's just so awesome to see all those orcs flying around the room and getting sliced, skewered, and sprung off the stage.  I don't like how it's following the DLC path where extra content means extra money to be added in order to play them, but the original package is enough in itself for a full experience.  Steam winter sales is coming up soon (I can feel it) and I highly recommend Action/Tower Defense game fans to pick this game up during that sale.  This game is a really nice distraction to whatever game you might be playing.  Overall: 8.4/10

GameLight Review – Dynasty Warriors 7

Official Site: http://www.tecmokoeiamerica.com/dw7/

Source: Youtube Channel gameboyuk

Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: March 29, 2011
Genre: Action Hack-n-Slash

Pros:
-Vast improvement from Dynasty Warriors 6
-Dynamic changes to story mode and combat system
-65 characters to choose from, each with their own person EX attack and 2 different musou attacks
-Campaigns for all characters is melded into 4 separate stories for each faction for a full campaign experience
-Conquest mode has high replay value and the ability to play co-op online

Cons:
-Some graphics lag is still present
-Much more difficult to max out on skills, stats and abilities than past DW games
-No ability to create custom characters
-Not enough time in the day to play the game even more

With the disappointment of Dynasty Warriors 6, I was reluctant to playing or even caring about the release of Dynasty Warriors 7.  Upon watching preview videos and reading some of the changes in the combat system and the revival of the combo system, I was compelled to learn more about the game.  I felt like I was getting tricked into getting back into the series, but I was too curious.  My first reactions to the game were mixed and confused.  The color palette felt darker and realistic than past DW games, there seemed to be a bit of frame skipping and lag, the combo system was back, and much more.  It was hard to take in all at once, but after playing through 1 out of 4 of the story lines and playing through the new conquest mode, I was convinced that this was perhaps the best DW right next to DW5.  The ability to switch between weapons, having more enemies on the screen, having a stylish and dynamic musou system, bringing back the original combo system with a unique EX attack for each character, a more heartfelt and continuous story campaign, an adventurous conquest mode, very challenging difficulty levels, adding a 2^nd musou for each character and the addition of the Jin Dynasty/Faction truly pierced all expectations for the series and delivered simply the best experience a DW game could possibly give for the PS3.

Graphics

The graphics were the first change that crossed my mind when first starting out.  The textures of models and environments were more earth toned and realistic compared to past DW games where colors were brighter and more vibrant.  I also noticed that there were 3-5 times more enemies on the screen and that the camera was pulled back a little further to see that amount.  The problem with past DW games was that enemies disappeared sometimes when there were too many at once because the graphics couldn’t support it or that it would have graphics lag.  In DW6, the camera was too darn close to the player and it obscured the vision of the player when all the allies and enemies grouped up.  These were all taken upon development in DW 7 when they recreated the engine to allow more enemies on the screen, pulled the camera back and angled it a bit downwards, and eliminated as much lag as possible (it still exists sometimes).  I’m not sure why, but the game lagged a lot in the beginning.  It could be that my eye adjusted to it or that the system was able to keep up with the game, but the lag doesn’t seem to be there anymore when I play.  The user interface changed as well.  The health bar is one sleek line with the musou bar as smaller bars curved alongside the health bar.  Everything is slimmed down and pushed farther to the corners which make the screen size feel a lot larger than any other DW games have.  Battles feel a lot more large scale because of all these aspects put together (more enemies, camera pulled back, and more screen space because of new UI).  Koei had changed some of the character designs (again) and some of them are alright (others can be questionable).  My biggest complaint in the graphics department (other than the usual lag) is that the mini-map in 2 player split screen is a nuisance and a hindrance to my vision.  Other than that, the CG cinematics are wonderfully choreographed, cinematics are seem-less with the gameplay so it doesn’t deviate from the gameplay itself, the animation for all the weapons and characters are amazing, the new art style is very different and a nice change, and the sequences for the musou attacks are incredible.  Graphics 9/10

Audio

One of the things I love about the DW series is the music.  The music is composed by the same guy who has been with the series since the first one.  The songs are memorable, dynamic, enjoyable to listen to, and adds a whole different atmosphere to the series.  I think it might be the best work the composer has done for the series (though he has always done a wonderful job).  The sound effects are a little better than its predecessors since weapon contacts sound and feel more realistic rather than everything sounding very metal or blunt.  I have a problem with some of the voice acting though.  One character in particular is Guan Yu.  He has always been portrayed as a man of valor and courage, but also of wisdom and grace.  In this one, they make him sound as angry and uncouth as Zhang Fei.  For a few of the voice acting, they seem to be out of character for them.  It’s also sad to hear the same one-liners when defeating an enemy.  I was hoping there would be at least 3 different lines for them to cycle through.  As for the “bad” voice acting, it’s still there and I think it’s become a staple for the series to have hilariously bad voice acting.  There is an option to download the Japanese voice, but I find it awkward to play a game about Ancient China when they’re speaking Japanese (I switch it to Japanese for Samurai Warriors though).  So 2 out of 3 things improved is pretty good for the audio.  Audio: 9/10

Story

Dynasty Warriors doesn’t change its story too much, mainly because it’s based off true historical events.  You always start off with the Yellow Turban Rebellion and you go through each character and their 6 chapters and then do it again with the other ones.  Not so with DW7.  The story is now told through 4 different segments in each of the 4 factions: Shu, Wu, Wei, and the Jin Dynasty which came around the end of the 3 Kingdoms era.  Each faction has approximately 20-28 missions told in a continuous journey much like a campaign should be for an action game.  The story mode has a lot of cinematics, lots of dialogue, and a little bit of free roaming before a battle begins.  The story is loosely based off real events in the history and is changed around a bit to dramatize the plot much like Hollywood directors do for movies based off real life stories.  I’ve got to say that Koei really went all out on the story mode for this one as events that happened in past DW games were retold in a different fashion that brought me to tears.  There’s so much joking and humor in past ones (possibly because of how bad some of the dialogue and voice acting were), but the story had quite a bit of drama to it.  But the humor is still there and quips from no-name soldiers turned the mood around when talking to people in the camp before a battle began.  Characters seemed to become more important, emotions felt more real, and the flow of the game and story is something that DW games should have been for the longest time.  Some people have complained about the story mode being too long, but I think they’re a good length.  I’m just happy that I don’t have to play the Yellow Turban Rebellion 60 times to get all the story lines from all the characters.  It’s surprising, but the story is one of the strongest points for the game.  It hasn’t changed the plot too much, but it has drastically changed the way it is told.  Despite some cheesy lines, bad dialogue and awkward animations in the CG, this is best Koei has ever done in the DW series for the story.  Story: 9/10

Gameplay

The biggest disappointment in DW6 was the change in combo system.  In previous DW games, the combo system consisted of 6-7 variations of attacks with strong attacks.  In DW6, the developers wanted to create a continuous string of attacks by allowing the player to attack with the regular strikes infinitely and then ending the strong attack with only 2 choices: singular and wide.  In DW7, they brought back the original combo system along side with having 2 weapons on the field with 2 different musou attacks with each character having their own specialized EX attack as well as having multiple musou bars to execute.  This opened so many more possibilities in creating combos and using special techniques to fight in certain situations.  The weapon changing system was implemented in Dynasty Warriors: Strike Force and the EX attack came from the Samurai Warriors series that Koei worked on.  So they put everything that worked well into DW7 to bring a spectacular experience to the game.  It does feel a lot easier to kill enemies in this one, but it’s also easier to get killed as well.  I think this design choice was based on how realistic fighting would be like.  I was able to get over 1000 K.O.s in my first level of playing.  The musou system changed as well.  Instead of holding down the musou button for a continuous attack, the musou attack is closer to that of Street Fighter where the player uses up a bar to execute a special attack.  This makes musou attacks faster to get through, flashier, and better for creating different kinds of combos since a player can have more than one bar in this one.  Story mode has a long continuous campaign that’s pieced by missions.  The game does feel a lot more linear than past DW games where strategy was just as important.  Strategy is still prominent in the game, but the focus seems to be more on the action aspects.  Free mode was taken out for conquest mode.  The player travels around China (the board) and fights through various missions with any of the characters they’ve acquired but they don’t represent the character they play entirely.  This is where I wish they had added a custom character option as it would have made more sense for the context of the mode.  Conquest mode has missions much shorter and less large scaled than story mode, but it does have its entertainment value.  Furthermore, conquest mode can be played 2-player split-screen and 2-player online.  The replay value will be from the conquest mode more than the story mode.  The game took a turn for the better and brought everything that was great within the series and put it into this one.  Gameplay: 9/10

Overall

The game feels like more could be added to the experience, but the story mode and conquest mode itself is enough to make it complete for now.  Koei really made a comeback with this iteration in the series and has renewed my faith in their company.  The changes are good, the gameplay is better than it ever has been, and an Xtreme Legends add-on has already been announced for it.  I really hate how Koei keeps coming out with the add-ons and selling them for retail price, but the game was so good that I’m actually looking forward to what else they’re able to add to it.  I haven’t loved Dynasty Warriors as much as I do now after playing DW7 since DW5 came out.  The game is even more fast-paced, has a better system for telling the story, and offers so much dynamics to the gameplay that I can hardly believe that it’s a DW game.  I’m looking forward to what Koei can do in the future now that I know that they can handle making such a good game as Dynasty Warriors 7.  Overall: 9/10