Official Site: http://www.hanzonationalacademy.com/
Source: Youtube Channel ContraNetworkHD
I didn't think the game would ever be brought over to the West, but it has been done! North America got its digital-only version launched today while Europe will get physical and digital versions sometime next year. Senran Kagura Burst is a straight-up Beat-em-Up featuring incredibly busty schoolgirl ninjas. I remember first hearing about this game and saw some of the screenshots to the game. It looked really dumb. But then they eventually showed a footage of the gameplay and I saw some combo demonstrations and was then interested. If you can look past the copious amount of fan-service and you like beat-em-ups, this game can be very enjoyable. The combat mechanics is similar to Dynasty Warriors where weak attacks can chain into strong ones and a powerful signature attack can be unleashed. Furthermore, combos can be continued in the air for aerial combos similar to the Marvel vs. Capcom series where the player strikes an opponent into the air and continues another string of attacks in the air. Animations are fluid and the attacks string together really well so that combat doesn't feel clunky. The characters do follow the usual animé tropes, but they do give a fun personality to the cast. The game feels a lot like an animé, overall. It was a bold move for XSEED Games to bring Senran Kagura Burst over, but I'm glad they did. There aren't that many beat-em-ups and we've gotten a good amount of them this year. Senran Kagura Burst is a good addition to the beat-em-ups released this year and hopefully encourages publishers or even XSEED themselves to bring over Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus as well.
Showing posts with label Nintendo 3DS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nintendo 3DS. Show all posts
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
GameLight - Puyo Puyo Tetris
Source: Youtube Channel puyosega
Amitie is back with more Puyo Puyo going up against Tetris! A Puyo Puyo crossover with Tetris isn't too surprising, but it's finally being made. I've been a fan of both games for the longest time as most people have who play these puzzle games. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Kirby's Avalanche have been two games that didn't use the name "Puyo" in the title that I played with Puyo Pop Fever being one of my favorite iterations of the series. For Tetris, I'd say Tetris DS by was the best version of Tetris I have played for the best controls, mechanics, color scheme, and variety in modes. So how much will the game change with these two mega puzzle blockbusters put together? It doesn't seem much as both games have had versus mode in their respective games which seems to be the base concept for this crossover. It doesn't seem all that different or game changing. Why not go all out and have a super puzzle crossover! Have games like Columns, Puzzle Fighter, Puzzle League, and maybe even Puzzle Bobble (Bust-A-Move) be part of the action and have the player choose which game they want to play and challenge other puzzle players. Make it even more outrageous with 8 players instead of just 2! But in all seriousness, I hope there's more to the game than just straight up versus PuyoPuyo against Tetris. The game releases next year on PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, and 3DS in Japan. No mention of a Western release has been made.
Source:
-Joystiq - Puyo Puyo Tetris makes sense
Amitie is back with more Puyo Puyo going up against Tetris! A Puyo Puyo crossover with Tetris isn't too surprising, but it's finally being made. I've been a fan of both games for the longest time as most people have who play these puzzle games. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Kirby's Avalanche have been two games that didn't use the name "Puyo" in the title that I played with Puyo Pop Fever being one of my favorite iterations of the series. For Tetris, I'd say Tetris DS by was the best version of Tetris I have played for the best controls, mechanics, color scheme, and variety in modes. So how much will the game change with these two mega puzzle blockbusters put together? It doesn't seem much as both games have had versus mode in their respective games which seems to be the base concept for this crossover. It doesn't seem all that different or game changing. Why not go all out and have a super puzzle crossover! Have games like Columns, Puzzle Fighter, Puzzle League, and maybe even Puzzle Bobble (Bust-A-Move) be part of the action and have the player choose which game they want to play and challenge other puzzle players. Make it even more outrageous with 8 players instead of just 2! But in all seriousness, I hope there's more to the game than just straight up versus PuyoPuyo against Tetris. The game releases next year on PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, and 3DS in Japan. No mention of a Western release has been made.
Source:
-Joystiq - Puyo Puyo Tetris makes sense
Thursday, August 15, 2013
GameLight Review - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
Official Site?: http://www.konami-castlevania.com/mof/
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
Developer: Mercury Steam
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Genre: Action-Adventure
Pros:
+ Although on 3DS, the combat is similar to the Lords of Shadow on console
+ Fluid animation and combat mechanics
+ The 3D effects are pretty cool on some parts of the game
Cons:
- Much like the first Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate has an identity crisis
- The majority of the game felt kind of empty
- Although the game is open-world, the game still feels linear
- Fans of the Castlevania series may cringe at Mercury Steam's take on the story
Recommended: No? Maybe? Although I had fun with the game, it's not exactly a game I'd recommend to my friends.
I was well prepared to be conflicted in thoughts on this game after completing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the PS3. To be straight-forward about it, I did have some fun playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate; however, it didn't live up to the quality, experience, or entertainment value I got out of previous installments within the series. The game promised players a return to its roots of classic Castlevania games while still retaining the open-world of exploration of the Metroidvania era. Rather than finding the balance between the two, the game felt like a struggle between the two while playing very similar to the console version of Lords of Shadow. Battles against certain enemies are a bit tougher and require patience to defeat, much like classic Castlevania games. And since the combat is similar to the first Lords of Shadow, the player has many skills and abilities to utilize against enemies. There are problems with these concepts. Classic Castlevania games were linear, side-scrolling experiences where the player keeps moving forward. With the utilization of free-exploration within the castle, you're going to have to run into those tougher enemies more than once. After a while, you start to lose interest in fighting them and learn to run past them. Then there's the many combo abilities the player has: most of them are ineffective. Despite having so many different variations of attacks, a lot of them do not flinch the enemy or stop them in time before they attack you. Because of this, you will end up using the same 2-3 combos throughout the entire game to fight effectively without getting killed. There's no point in having so many different attacks, skills and items when they aren't useful. There's also the matter of an open-world exploration: there isn't much to explore. There will be a few places here and there along the way where you can't reach an item until a certain ability or item is acquired. Once that said ability or item is in possession, it is a simple walk back to those few spots to get more items. What made the Metroidvania formula work was the constant flow of action and fast-paced gratification received from fighting your way across the castle while exploring up and down the castle rather than going forward and occasionally backwards to gather extra items. This was mechanic was like "yang" to the classic Castlevania's "yin" as the originals were linear and required a slower approach to fights with more patience. Each Castlevania game before knew it had to be one or the other and couldn't be both at the same time and needed to find that balance. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was actually the closest to achieving that balance of both mechanics. But in Mirror of Fate, battles weren't particularly difficult as much as they were tedious, exploration was shallow, and because of that it made the entire castle feel very empty. And much of the music was similar to Lords of Shadow on console, so it just made the game feel more like Lords of Shadow than any of the other Castlevania games before it. In fact, I think a lot of the songs used in Mirror of Fate are the same exact ones in Lords of Shadow. There is still much I can go on about, but I suppose I should just get straight to the points of each aspect of the game.
Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Cel-shaded Medieval Fantasy within 2D environment gameplay
+ There are some really nice 3D effects on some parts of the game
+ Animations and movement are still quick and fluid despite the 3D graphics
+ Some of the bosses have really nice designs to them
+ Interesting way of telling the story through semi-moving cinematics
+ Impressive backdrops in various parts of the castle
- Why does every character have different accents within the same family lineage?
- Music is as high quality as the console game, but is still generic and forgettable
- Although the graphics were nice, all the levels were kind of the same: dark
Aesthetics: 7/10
Buttons
Controller: 3DS buttons, no need for touch-screen as far as I remember
+ Familiar controls to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow/other 3D Action games
+ Blocking and dodging react pretty quickly in the middle of an attack
+ Auto-aim grappling ensures you don't miss and fall down
+ Fairly well laid out controls for the game
- Why are there quick-time events in a hand-held Castlevania game???
Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
Core Concept: Progress through fighting, solving puzzles, and exploring
+ It's really fancy seeing long combos and console quality combat on a handheld
+ Some of the boss fights were pretty fun
+ Having the ability to heal by attacking makes up for having no potions
+ There's a decent amount of unlockable abilities
+ You can change the difficulty at any time throughout the game
+ Sub-weapons are actually really useful in combat and compliment the whip
+ Dying is a minor setback so you never have to restart back too far
+ There are some tricky and challenging platforming involved
- Quick-time events don't add that much to the entertainment
- Near the end of the game, I didn't feel like fighting most of the enemies
- The castle felt so empty without all that music and colorful levels and enemies
- MercurySteam made their own take on the story, but it still makes me cringe
- A lot of the longer attack combos and abilities are useless
- Exploration was shallow and boring
- No end-game content other than an extra difficulty level
Concept & Content: 6/10
Duration
+ A decent amount of gameplay time for one playthrough
+ The flow of battle comes at a nice steady rate
+ Time is never wasted when you die, you lose 3 minutes at most
- Other than playing on a harder difficulty, practically no replay value
- Each new chapter felt like starting the game over again
- When you're not fighting, the game felt slow and boring
Duration: 5/10
Fun
+ I thought it was nice having console quality combat mechanics on a handheld
+ It did feel good fighting tough enemies and bosses and landing perfect blocks
+ The platforming and jumping parts of the game were semi-entertaining
+ Puzzles weren't too difficult, but they did provide a decent challenge
- Going back to get the few items I couldn't before killed the flow of the game
- The game never got past "it was kinda fun"
Fun: 7/10
Overall
My expectations were already pretty low for the game, so I was able to judge it for what it was. I know Mercury Steam wanted to please fans of the series and still innovate something out of it, but it just didn't really work out. What came out of it was a decent Action-Adventure game that was mildy entertaining but doesn't boast any merits or be considered that memorable of a game. I did have my fun out of playing it, but I didn't feel like it was a "great" experience. When I reviewed Lords of Shadow, I had a lot of conflicts with the game, but was able to look past all that and say that it was a pretty solid Action-Adventure game. Even when doing that for Mirror of Fate, it is still a mediocre game under unbiased eyes. Overall: 6.6/10
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
Developer: Mercury Steam
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Genre: Action-Adventure
Pros:
+ Although on 3DS, the combat is similar to the Lords of Shadow on console
+ Fluid animation and combat mechanics
+ The 3D effects are pretty cool on some parts of the game
Cons:
- Much like the first Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate has an identity crisis
- The majority of the game felt kind of empty
- Although the game is open-world, the game still feels linear
- Fans of the Castlevania series may cringe at Mercury Steam's take on the story
Recommended: No? Maybe? Although I had fun with the game, it's not exactly a game I'd recommend to my friends.
I was well prepared to be conflicted in thoughts on this game after completing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the PS3. To be straight-forward about it, I did have some fun playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate; however, it didn't live up to the quality, experience, or entertainment value I got out of previous installments within the series. The game promised players a return to its roots of classic Castlevania games while still retaining the open-world of exploration of the Metroidvania era. Rather than finding the balance between the two, the game felt like a struggle between the two while playing very similar to the console version of Lords of Shadow. Battles against certain enemies are a bit tougher and require patience to defeat, much like classic Castlevania games. And since the combat is similar to the first Lords of Shadow, the player has many skills and abilities to utilize against enemies. There are problems with these concepts. Classic Castlevania games were linear, side-scrolling experiences where the player keeps moving forward. With the utilization of free-exploration within the castle, you're going to have to run into those tougher enemies more than once. After a while, you start to lose interest in fighting them and learn to run past them. Then there's the many combo abilities the player has: most of them are ineffective. Despite having so many different variations of attacks, a lot of them do not flinch the enemy or stop them in time before they attack you. Because of this, you will end up using the same 2-3 combos throughout the entire game to fight effectively without getting killed. There's no point in having so many different attacks, skills and items when they aren't useful. There's also the matter of an open-world exploration: there isn't much to explore. There will be a few places here and there along the way where you can't reach an item until a certain ability or item is acquired. Once that said ability or item is in possession, it is a simple walk back to those few spots to get more items. What made the Metroidvania formula work was the constant flow of action and fast-paced gratification received from fighting your way across the castle while exploring up and down the castle rather than going forward and occasionally backwards to gather extra items. This was mechanic was like "yang" to the classic Castlevania's "yin" as the originals were linear and required a slower approach to fights with more patience. Each Castlevania game before knew it had to be one or the other and couldn't be both at the same time and needed to find that balance. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was actually the closest to achieving that balance of both mechanics. But in Mirror of Fate, battles weren't particularly difficult as much as they were tedious, exploration was shallow, and because of that it made the entire castle feel very empty. And much of the music was similar to Lords of Shadow on console, so it just made the game feel more like Lords of Shadow than any of the other Castlevania games before it. In fact, I think a lot of the songs used in Mirror of Fate are the same exact ones in Lords of Shadow. There is still much I can go on about, but I suppose I should just get straight to the points of each aspect of the game.
Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Cel-shaded Medieval Fantasy within 2D environment gameplay
+ There are some really nice 3D effects on some parts of the game
+ Animations and movement are still quick and fluid despite the 3D graphics
+ Some of the bosses have really nice designs to them
+ Interesting way of telling the story through semi-moving cinematics
+ Impressive backdrops in various parts of the castle
- Why does every character have different accents within the same family lineage?
- Music is as high quality as the console game, but is still generic and forgettable
- Although the graphics were nice, all the levels were kind of the same: dark
Aesthetics: 7/10
Buttons
Controller: 3DS buttons, no need for touch-screen as far as I remember
+ Familiar controls to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow/other 3D Action games
+ Blocking and dodging react pretty quickly in the middle of an attack
+ Auto-aim grappling ensures you don't miss and fall down
+ Fairly well laid out controls for the game
- Why are there quick-time events in a hand-held Castlevania game???
Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
Core Concept: Progress through fighting, solving puzzles, and exploring
+ It's really fancy seeing long combos and console quality combat on a handheld
+ Some of the boss fights were pretty fun
+ Having the ability to heal by attacking makes up for having no potions
+ There's a decent amount of unlockable abilities
+ You can change the difficulty at any time throughout the game
+ Sub-weapons are actually really useful in combat and compliment the whip
+ Dying is a minor setback so you never have to restart back too far
+ There are some tricky and challenging platforming involved
- Quick-time events don't add that much to the entertainment
- Near the end of the game, I didn't feel like fighting most of the enemies
- The castle felt so empty without all that music and colorful levels and enemies
- MercurySteam made their own take on the story, but it still makes me cringe
- A lot of the longer attack combos and abilities are useless
- Exploration was shallow and boring
- No end-game content other than an extra difficulty level
Concept & Content: 6/10
Duration
+ A decent amount of gameplay time for one playthrough
+ The flow of battle comes at a nice steady rate
+ Time is never wasted when you die, you lose 3 minutes at most
- Other than playing on a harder difficulty, practically no replay value
- Each new chapter felt like starting the game over again
- When you're not fighting, the game felt slow and boring
Duration: 5/10
Fun
+ I thought it was nice having console quality combat mechanics on a handheld
+ It did feel good fighting tough enemies and bosses and landing perfect blocks
+ The platforming and jumping parts of the game were semi-entertaining
+ Puzzles weren't too difficult, but they did provide a decent challenge
- Going back to get the few items I couldn't before killed the flow of the game
- The game never got past "it was kinda fun"
Fun: 7/10
Overall
My expectations were already pretty low for the game, so I was able to judge it for what it was. I know Mercury Steam wanted to please fans of the series and still innovate something out of it, but it just didn't really work out. What came out of it was a decent Action-Adventure game that was mildy entertaining but doesn't boast any merits or be considered that memorable of a game. I did have my fun out of playing it, but I didn't feel like it was a "great" experience. When I reviewed Lords of Shadow, I had a lot of conflicts with the game, but was able to look past all that and say that it was a pretty solid Action-Adventure game. Even when doing that for Mirror of Fate, it is still a mediocre game under unbiased eyes. Overall: 6.6/10
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
NewNews - Senran Kagura Burst Localized
Source: Youtube Channel FaheyKotaku
We've been getting a decent helping of beat-em-ups this year, and that makes me really happy. From Code of Princess, the re-release of Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara to Sacred Citadel and the release of Dragon's Crown today, this year has made me hopeful that Beat-em-ups isn't a dead genre. For a while, a Nintendo 3DS game in Japan has been talked about quite often here and how it has expanded to a series of manga and animé. Senran Kagura Burst, or to some known as "booby ninjas in 3D", is a 3D, side-scrolling Action Beat-em-up with a lot of fan-service. It features an all female-cast (as far as I know) of fighters and Ninjas in a light-hearted action-comedy themed beat-em-up. For those who have played the game, they mentioned that the combat mechanics are actually pretty in-depth and provide a decent amount of variety and fluid gameplay. There is also customization in the characters outfits that changes their stats and thus changing the gameplay. The excessive amount of fan service seemed like it would have no chance of ever seeing an over sea release; however, XSeed, once again, reached out to the niche group who are interested and decided to localize the game for the Western market. This was happy news to hear for sure, but it made me sad when I found out that it will be digitally distributed only. I have expressed my dislike for digitally distributed games other than what Valve has provided on their Steam platform for PC, so this was a disappointing, happy news to hear. I might just suck it up and purchase it if I have no other choice. Senran Kagura Burst is set to release on the Nintendo 3DS eShop this Fall with no mentioned price at the moment.
Source:
-Kotaku - Oh Good, The 3DS Ninja Breast Physics Sim Is Coming To North America
We've been getting a decent helping of beat-em-ups this year, and that makes me really happy. From Code of Princess, the re-release of Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara to Sacred Citadel and the release of Dragon's Crown today, this year has made me hopeful that Beat-em-ups isn't a dead genre. For a while, a Nintendo 3DS game in Japan has been talked about quite often here and how it has expanded to a series of manga and animé. Senran Kagura Burst, or to some known as "booby ninjas in 3D", is a 3D, side-scrolling Action Beat-em-up with a lot of fan-service. It features an all female-cast (as far as I know) of fighters and Ninjas in a light-hearted action-comedy themed beat-em-up. For those who have played the game, they mentioned that the combat mechanics are actually pretty in-depth and provide a decent amount of variety and fluid gameplay. There is also customization in the characters outfits that changes their stats and thus changing the gameplay. The excessive amount of fan service seemed like it would have no chance of ever seeing an over sea release; however, XSeed, once again, reached out to the niche group who are interested and decided to localize the game for the Western market. This was happy news to hear for sure, but it made me sad when I found out that it will be digitally distributed only. I have expressed my dislike for digitally distributed games other than what Valve has provided on their Steam platform for PC, so this was a disappointing, happy news to hear. I might just suck it up and purchase it if I have no other choice. Senran Kagura Burst is set to release on the Nintendo 3DS eShop this Fall with no mentioned price at the moment.
Source:
-Kotaku - Oh Good, The 3DS Ninja Breast Physics Sim Is Coming To North America
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
GameLight Review - Bulk Game Review (7-3-13)
I seem to have accumulated a very large list of games I want to review but don't have enough time to go through each one individually.
[Dragon Age 2 - PS3]
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
Recommended: Absolutely
Dragon Age 2 is an Action-RPG adventure with multiple builds for each class and decisions done throughout the game affects character relationships and events.
I wasn't too interested when I tried the first Dragon Age game and so I didn't pay too much attention to Dragon Age 2 when it was about to be released. But a demo was available on PC and PS3 and tried both. On PC, it was a bit difficult to target enemies efficiently when everything was moving so quickly and having to use the standstill planning pause made gameplay slow down. But it's an entirely different experience on PS3 where everything is faster and plays like a 3rd-person Action game. Combat is satisfying and exciting as well as challenging and strategical. What I really loved about the game was the writing and dialog. It was a lot of fun choosing the different types of responses and having different reactions from the characters depending on those choices. This is a game I would definitely recommend to most gamers.
[Alpha Protocol - PC]
Recommended: No
Alpha Protocol is an Action-RPG Espionage where the player can level-up skills and attain abilities while making choices throughout the game that can benefit or hurt the main protagonist.
I was very excited to finally play Alpha Protocol, but I had so many problems with it that it was difficult to enjoy. The game is not optimized well for PC and it would skip a lot when I was using my older laptop. Even at the lowest settings, it would have a problem with a steady frame rate. When I got a new computer and the graphics ran smoothly, it was the gameplay that bugged me. Combat is mediocre and stealth could have been fun if it worked correctly. Enemies sometimes would have an acute sense of your presence behind them despite sneaking and being out of their line of sight. Hacking lock picking were mini-games with frustrating floaty controls. Eventually, the game crashed on me and even after re-installation it wouldn't work. I looked up all the possible endings and thought it was interesting on how many endings were possible, but the gameplay, crashes and bugs just made this a mess of a game that I would not have anyone go through.
[Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City]
Recommended: No
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a 4-player cooperative, Third-Person Shooter with competitive play and single-player with Computer AI.
My curious mind has, yet again, brought me to buying Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City because of the low scores it got on Metacritic. I had to find out what was so bad about the game. I imagine the game could've been mildly entertaining with 3 other friends to play with, but it's pretty much a nightmare playing with the computer AI. The computer AI isn't very smart for enemies and even less so for allies as they rush into the middle of a fire-fight. Weapons are imbalanced as shotguns are useless in damage, range, and fire rate; snipers are low in ammo capacity, aren't strong enough, and have low fire rate; while an automatic weapon is probably what you want as they have a larger ammo capacity, about the same amount of damage as the other guns, and have a higher firing rate. You could headshot an enemy with the strongest enemy and they wouldn't die. The hit-box and bullet collision with objects around the environment aren't very accurate. A lot of the class skills are pretty useless with a few of them having some nice perks. A big bosses are flawed in design. If you get hit once by the boss, you are dead as the duration of your character's animation to get up is slightly longer than the time it takes for the boss to strike again causing a stun lock that you can't get out of. In short, the game is imbalanced and broken. I have to admit it was mildly entertaining since it was a third-person shooter and I like those types of games, but this game is far too underdeveloped to be enjoyed thoroughly.
[The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D - 3DS]
Recommended: Yes, especially if you haven't played it yet.
The Legend of Zelda is an Action-Adventure game with challenging combat and light puzzles.
I never got to play the original, so I was pretty excited to play this. I was complaining the whole way through playing whenever I got lost and didn't know what to do or if I thought a boss was too tedious because it was just a lot of waiting, dodging and timing rather than fighting. But the puzzles, music, story, and whole experience truly is magical and one I finally understood why so many people loved it. The game does have some slow downs at some parts with the 3D on, but nothing too serious. The 3D effects were really good and the revamped models and textures look much better from the original. I probably wouldn't want to play the game again anytime soon as it did cause some frustration, but it's a gaming experience that I'll remember.
[Ys: The Oath in Felghana - PC]
Recommended: Yes, for the Hardcore Action-RPG fans
Ys: The Oath in Felghana is a top-down, Action-RPG, Hack-n-Slash with very challenging gameplay and boss battles. It's a re-make of Ys 3: The Wanderers from Ys which was played as a 2D side-scroll, Action-RPG.
Ys 3 for the SNES wasn't a very good game in terms of design and mechanics, but it was one that I enjoyed and liked for what it was. I played through Ys 3 last summer when I bought Ys: The Oath in Felghana so I had an idea of what they changed in the remake. All the problems that Ys 3 had was not present in Ys: The Oath in Felghana. I loved the arranged soundtrack and the story is faithful to the original. But combat is significantly better with a very fast-paced, hack-n-slash, Action-Platforming with some very light puzzles. The game isn't particularly long, but it was well worth playing through.
[Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - PC]
Recommended: Yes
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a 4-player cooperative, Tactical Third-Person Shooter.
Unlike RE: Operation Raccoon City, the Computer AI allies are fairly smart in this game. They might even be better than human players. The game can be played with 3 other friends in campaign mode and requires a lot of team-work and coordination. The game does its best to force players not to run-n-gun and instead play smart. The game is slower than your typical military shooter made nowadays set by the standards of Call of Duty, but it does provide a different experience because of it. There are a lot more stealth missions and some of them can be frustrating when you're not allowed to raise an alarm. But for the most part, the game was exciting and challenging.
[Rage - PC]
Recommended: No
Rage is a open-world First-Person Shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world.
From the gameplay and trailers shown, the game looked exciting. But playing through the game felt like a drag. Enemies are super resilient and take quite a bit to take down. Because of the amount of enemies that show up, I spend most of the time hiding behind cover and just picking enemies off one by one as they approach. It wasn't until the last hour of the game where there are practically no cover to hide behind that the game felt a bit more exciting and hectic. To describe the game in one word: boring. At least for me, I heard some people enjoyed it.
[Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - PC]
Recommended: Maybe
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is a Tactical Military First-Person Shooter known for its Multiplayer. But seriously, single-player is worth playing!
I honestly should stop buying Call of Duty games, but I've been hooked ever since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I was especially hesitant to get Black Ops 2 as I was disappointed with Black Ops 1. For Black Ops 1, the story was really good, but the gameplay was dreadfully boring and some parts of the game's graphics weren't very good. Multiplayer was unbalanced, constantly suffered from lag, but at the very least introduced 2-player online multiplayer where you and a buddy could play online together on one system. Considering that most of my friends have become sick of CoD and the PC version was on discount, I bought it on PC instead of PS3 this time around. I was pleasantly impressed by the game's change in UI, multiplayer mechanics, lack of lag, balanced gameplay, and one heck of a single-player campaign. Multiplayer is fun, but still not as good as what I experience in Modern Warfare 2. The Single-player campaign, on the other hand, really surprised me. The narrative and plot drew me in and was enticing. The gameplay had its ups and downs for the first half of the game, but it picks up and is really amazing after the midway point. I got super emotional at one point in the game and was so shocked at my own reaction to that part of the game. I really got into some of the fire fights and especially some of the events near the end. The game also has multiple endings depending on the choices made throughout the playthrough. Call of Duty isn't for everyone and many gamers are sick of it by now, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the game. It is a bit pricey compared to how much I spend on my other games, but I liked the experience I got out of the game.
[Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends - PS3]
Recommended: Maybe
Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends is a Tactical Hack-n-Slash that expands the content from the original game. The original is not required to play this one.
I loved Dynasty Warriors 7. It was an incredibly well developed game and one of my favorites for the PS3. So it was no surprise that I went and bought Xtreme Legends for it (but at a discount). The game had 3 new characters, some new weapons, Legends Mode, Challenge Mode, and a Remix Mode allowing the new features to be used in the original game. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have been very happy buying the game at full price ($40, I got it for ~$26). Challenge Mode isn't that attractive for me and I didn't play the new characters all too much. So I pretty much got my gameplay experience entirely from Legends mode. I was hoping for a custom officer mode to create my own characters, but it wasn't present. Xtreme Legends just allowed me to play Dynasty Warriors 7 a little longer before Dynasty Warriors 8 releases, but I can't say that it was incredibly worth it. I would have gotten Empires if it wasn't digital download only as that might have provided more gameplay content than Xtreme Legends. But for the hardcore Dynasty Warriors fan, Xtreme Legends could provide a LOT more gameplay for them.
[Bastion - PC]
Recommended: Yes
Bastion is a Top-down Action-Adventure game with some light RPG elements.
The game is aesthetically unique and pleasing with simple gameplay mechanics that is extended with the sheer amount of content it provides as an indie game. There are tons of weapons, lots of item builds, plenty of quests to fulfill, and an array of gameplay modifiers from the God Shrine to make the game even more challenging. Besides the story, music and art style, the one thing that made the game great was the narrator. It was one of the aspects in the game that really stood out. The amount of content provided allows the player to build an item and weapon set that matched the playstyle they wanted to use to get through the game. It's not too long of a game, but it does provide replay value to extend the play time.
[Ether Vapor Remaster - PC]
Recommended: No
Ether Vapor Remaster is a 2.75D shoot-em-up.
Ether Vapor Remaster looks cool and has some good music playing, but it doesn't have good design choices. I don't mind a game being difficult and actually am attracted to challenging shoot-em-ups; however, when the difficulty is because of poor design choices, it's just frustrating. Enemy bullets in the game are fairly long in length and the screen size isn't very big, so avoiding them is a bit more difficult. What makes it broken is that enemy bullets blend in too easily with the player's own bullets and can't be easily seen. When 5-10 enemies are shooting at once, it gets really messy and in turn causes the player to die quite often. Other times, bullets are unexpected and come at the player very quickly without warning. Another mechanic is the player has a very limited amount of shield and continues. Getting a game over meant having to start the entire game over again. As the player plays longer and dies more often, they more shield charges and continues. But having to do this while dealing with bullets blending in the background or your own bullets and dying every other turn makes it into a frustrating experience rather than a challenging one. The game plays as a horizontal shooter, vertical shooter, 3D shooter, and 2.5D shooter depending on the scene. I tried enjoying the game, but the frustration I got out of it wasn't worth it.
[Soul Calibur 5 - PS3]
Recommended: Yes
Soul Calibur 5 is a 3D-Fighting game.
I didn't like how a lot of the characters looked alike in Soul Calibur 4 due to the custom character creation engine they used. They look a lot better now. A lot of people complained about how stats on items in character customization in SC4 restrained them from aesthetics in order to have optimal fighting abilities. That has been taken out. There wasn't much of a special mode for SC4, so they had a story that focused on the children of Sophitia. In short, the developers tried their best to fix what was perceived as broken from SC4. For the most part, I think SC5 is a solid fighting game. Story mode was very short, but I liked it. The character creation tool is pretty intuitive and a lot of fun to mess around with. The introduction of the super was a bit surprising, but it does add a new element to the game. I also got the game new for an extremely cheap price just after a mere year from its release. I missed out on SC3 and wasn't entirely happy with SC4, so SC5 is one I'm satisfied with.
[Shank 2 - PC]
Recommended: Maybe
Shank 2 is a 2D Action game.
Visually, Shank 2 looks a lot better than Shank 1. In terms of gameplay, I really didn't like how Shank 2 was designed. Rather than being able to switch between weapons to accommodate for each situation, the player can only bring one of each type (sidearm, range, and throwable) which didn't even matter since sidearms are pretty useless and throwables have such a limited capacity. Instead of carefully setting a well designed scenario for each section of the game, I felt like each section of the game in Shank 2 had one of every enemy which rendered the player useless in every situation. Grabbing a lesser enemy opened up to larger enemies ramming into the player. Fighting a larger enemy opened up to ranged enemies. Fighting the enemies flipping and dropping kicking the player opened up to enemies that throw molotovs everywhere. The most effective strategy I had to use throughout the game to get through ridiculous situations like those was using throwing knives and zone every enemy out with them which was long, tedious, and extremely boring. Having to utilize regular attacks, side arms, items in the environment, throws and throwable items gave Shank 1 variety and strategy to work with. But doing anything other than throwable items and ranged weapons would generally get the player killed because every type of enemy was present on the screen. It's a mess of a single-player campaign and didn't have a good of a story as the first one. The one thing that was significantly better than the first game was multiplayer. In Shank 2, there is an assortment of characters of choose from and play with a friend online or locally in a survival match against waves of enemies. Multiplayer Survival made up for not having a co-op campaign. So if anything, I would recommend getting the game mainly for multiplayer.
[Super Meat Boy - PC]
Recommended: Absolutely, but mainly for Hardcore gamers
Super Meat Boy is an extremely challenging Platformer.
It took me a while to finally sit down and play through the rest of the game, but I finally got through the game and beat Dr. Fetus...at least in the light world. I actually did a review for it before back when it was released in 2010 (wow, it really took me that long to complete it?) and the only change in stance I have about the game is that I said the music isn't very "memorable" when it totally is now after playing for the past 2.5 years. It doesn't catch on right away, but it has a very distinct melody for each of the tracks and is a whole lot of fun to listen to even out of the game. I think it's even more worth it to get it now than it was before as new levels were introduced and Super Meat World was added in which players can make and share their own level creations with the rest of the community. Despite being incredibly difficult, each level takes less than a minutes or two to complete. So failing is only a short drawback. This is a game I would definitely recommend to gamers, but it's not for everyone because of how difficult it can get.
Whew, that is it for now. It's good to unload this heavy list and get on to the other games.
[Dragon Age 2 - PS3]
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
Recommended: Absolutely
Dragon Age 2 is an Action-RPG adventure with multiple builds for each class and decisions done throughout the game affects character relationships and events.
I wasn't too interested when I tried the first Dragon Age game and so I didn't pay too much attention to Dragon Age 2 when it was about to be released. But a demo was available on PC and PS3 and tried both. On PC, it was a bit difficult to target enemies efficiently when everything was moving so quickly and having to use the standstill planning pause made gameplay slow down. But it's an entirely different experience on PS3 where everything is faster and plays like a 3rd-person Action game. Combat is satisfying and exciting as well as challenging and strategical. What I really loved about the game was the writing and dialog. It was a lot of fun choosing the different types of responses and having different reactions from the characters depending on those choices. This is a game I would definitely recommend to most gamers.
[Alpha Protocol - PC]
Recommended: No
Alpha Protocol is an Action-RPG Espionage where the player can level-up skills and attain abilities while making choices throughout the game that can benefit or hurt the main protagonist.
I was very excited to finally play Alpha Protocol, but I had so many problems with it that it was difficult to enjoy. The game is not optimized well for PC and it would skip a lot when I was using my older laptop. Even at the lowest settings, it would have a problem with a steady frame rate. When I got a new computer and the graphics ran smoothly, it was the gameplay that bugged me. Combat is mediocre and stealth could have been fun if it worked correctly. Enemies sometimes would have an acute sense of your presence behind them despite sneaking and being out of their line of sight. Hacking lock picking were mini-games with frustrating floaty controls. Eventually, the game crashed on me and even after re-installation it wouldn't work. I looked up all the possible endings and thought it was interesting on how many endings were possible, but the gameplay, crashes and bugs just made this a mess of a game that I would not have anyone go through.
[Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City]
Recommended: No
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a 4-player cooperative, Third-Person Shooter with competitive play and single-player with Computer AI.
My curious mind has, yet again, brought me to buying Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City because of the low scores it got on Metacritic. I had to find out what was so bad about the game. I imagine the game could've been mildly entertaining with 3 other friends to play with, but it's pretty much a nightmare playing with the computer AI. The computer AI isn't very smart for enemies and even less so for allies as they rush into the middle of a fire-fight. Weapons are imbalanced as shotguns are useless in damage, range, and fire rate; snipers are low in ammo capacity, aren't strong enough, and have low fire rate; while an automatic weapon is probably what you want as they have a larger ammo capacity, about the same amount of damage as the other guns, and have a higher firing rate. You could headshot an enemy with the strongest enemy and they wouldn't die. The hit-box and bullet collision with objects around the environment aren't very accurate. A lot of the class skills are pretty useless with a few of them having some nice perks. A big bosses are flawed in design. If you get hit once by the boss, you are dead as the duration of your character's animation to get up is slightly longer than the time it takes for the boss to strike again causing a stun lock that you can't get out of. In short, the game is imbalanced and broken. I have to admit it was mildly entertaining since it was a third-person shooter and I like those types of games, but this game is far too underdeveloped to be enjoyed thoroughly.
[The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D - 3DS]
Recommended: Yes, especially if you haven't played it yet.
The Legend of Zelda is an Action-Adventure game with challenging combat and light puzzles.
I never got to play the original, so I was pretty excited to play this. I was complaining the whole way through playing whenever I got lost and didn't know what to do or if I thought a boss was too tedious because it was just a lot of waiting, dodging and timing rather than fighting. But the puzzles, music, story, and whole experience truly is magical and one I finally understood why so many people loved it. The game does have some slow downs at some parts with the 3D on, but nothing too serious. The 3D effects were really good and the revamped models and textures look much better from the original. I probably wouldn't want to play the game again anytime soon as it did cause some frustration, but it's a gaming experience that I'll remember.
[Ys: The Oath in Felghana - PC]
Recommended: Yes, for the Hardcore Action-RPG fans
Ys: The Oath in Felghana is a top-down, Action-RPG, Hack-n-Slash with very challenging gameplay and boss battles. It's a re-make of Ys 3: The Wanderers from Ys which was played as a 2D side-scroll, Action-RPG.
Ys 3 for the SNES wasn't a very good game in terms of design and mechanics, but it was one that I enjoyed and liked for what it was. I played through Ys 3 last summer when I bought Ys: The Oath in Felghana so I had an idea of what they changed in the remake. All the problems that Ys 3 had was not present in Ys: The Oath in Felghana. I loved the arranged soundtrack and the story is faithful to the original. But combat is significantly better with a very fast-paced, hack-n-slash, Action-Platforming with some very light puzzles. The game isn't particularly long, but it was well worth playing through.
[Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - PC]
Recommended: Yes
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a 4-player cooperative, Tactical Third-Person Shooter.
Unlike RE: Operation Raccoon City, the Computer AI allies are fairly smart in this game. They might even be better than human players. The game can be played with 3 other friends in campaign mode and requires a lot of team-work and coordination. The game does its best to force players not to run-n-gun and instead play smart. The game is slower than your typical military shooter made nowadays set by the standards of Call of Duty, but it does provide a different experience because of it. There are a lot more stealth missions and some of them can be frustrating when you're not allowed to raise an alarm. But for the most part, the game was exciting and challenging.
[Rage - PC]
Recommended: No
Rage is a open-world First-Person Shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world.
From the gameplay and trailers shown, the game looked exciting. But playing through the game felt like a drag. Enemies are super resilient and take quite a bit to take down. Because of the amount of enemies that show up, I spend most of the time hiding behind cover and just picking enemies off one by one as they approach. It wasn't until the last hour of the game where there are practically no cover to hide behind that the game felt a bit more exciting and hectic. To describe the game in one word: boring. At least for me, I heard some people enjoyed it.
[Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - PC]
Recommended: Maybe
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is a Tactical Military First-Person Shooter known for its Multiplayer. But seriously, single-player is worth playing!
I honestly should stop buying Call of Duty games, but I've been hooked ever since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I was especially hesitant to get Black Ops 2 as I was disappointed with Black Ops 1. For Black Ops 1, the story was really good, but the gameplay was dreadfully boring and some parts of the game's graphics weren't very good. Multiplayer was unbalanced, constantly suffered from lag, but at the very least introduced 2-player online multiplayer where you and a buddy could play online together on one system. Considering that most of my friends have become sick of CoD and the PC version was on discount, I bought it on PC instead of PS3 this time around. I was pleasantly impressed by the game's change in UI, multiplayer mechanics, lack of lag, balanced gameplay, and one heck of a single-player campaign. Multiplayer is fun, but still not as good as what I experience in Modern Warfare 2. The Single-player campaign, on the other hand, really surprised me. The narrative and plot drew me in and was enticing. The gameplay had its ups and downs for the first half of the game, but it picks up and is really amazing after the midway point. I got super emotional at one point in the game and was so shocked at my own reaction to that part of the game. I really got into some of the fire fights and especially some of the events near the end. The game also has multiple endings depending on the choices made throughout the playthrough. Call of Duty isn't for everyone and many gamers are sick of it by now, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the game. It is a bit pricey compared to how much I spend on my other games, but I liked the experience I got out of the game.
[Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends - PS3]
Recommended: Maybe
Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends is a Tactical Hack-n-Slash that expands the content from the original game. The original is not required to play this one.
I loved Dynasty Warriors 7. It was an incredibly well developed game and one of my favorites for the PS3. So it was no surprise that I went and bought Xtreme Legends for it (but at a discount). The game had 3 new characters, some new weapons, Legends Mode, Challenge Mode, and a Remix Mode allowing the new features to be used in the original game. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have been very happy buying the game at full price ($40, I got it for ~$26). Challenge Mode isn't that attractive for me and I didn't play the new characters all too much. So I pretty much got my gameplay experience entirely from Legends mode. I was hoping for a custom officer mode to create my own characters, but it wasn't present. Xtreme Legends just allowed me to play Dynasty Warriors 7 a little longer before Dynasty Warriors 8 releases, but I can't say that it was incredibly worth it. I would have gotten Empires if it wasn't digital download only as that might have provided more gameplay content than Xtreme Legends. But for the hardcore Dynasty Warriors fan, Xtreme Legends could provide a LOT more gameplay for them.
[Bastion - PC]
Recommended: Yes
Bastion is a Top-down Action-Adventure game with some light RPG elements.
The game is aesthetically unique and pleasing with simple gameplay mechanics that is extended with the sheer amount of content it provides as an indie game. There are tons of weapons, lots of item builds, plenty of quests to fulfill, and an array of gameplay modifiers from the God Shrine to make the game even more challenging. Besides the story, music and art style, the one thing that made the game great was the narrator. It was one of the aspects in the game that really stood out. The amount of content provided allows the player to build an item and weapon set that matched the playstyle they wanted to use to get through the game. It's not too long of a game, but it does provide replay value to extend the play time.
[Ether Vapor Remaster - PC]
Recommended: No
Ether Vapor Remaster is a 2.75D shoot-em-up.
Ether Vapor Remaster looks cool and has some good music playing, but it doesn't have good design choices. I don't mind a game being difficult and actually am attracted to challenging shoot-em-ups; however, when the difficulty is because of poor design choices, it's just frustrating. Enemy bullets in the game are fairly long in length and the screen size isn't very big, so avoiding them is a bit more difficult. What makes it broken is that enemy bullets blend in too easily with the player's own bullets and can't be easily seen. When 5-10 enemies are shooting at once, it gets really messy and in turn causes the player to die quite often. Other times, bullets are unexpected and come at the player very quickly without warning. Another mechanic is the player has a very limited amount of shield and continues. Getting a game over meant having to start the entire game over again. As the player plays longer and dies more often, they more shield charges and continues. But having to do this while dealing with bullets blending in the background or your own bullets and dying every other turn makes it into a frustrating experience rather than a challenging one. The game plays as a horizontal shooter, vertical shooter, 3D shooter, and 2.5D shooter depending on the scene. I tried enjoying the game, but the frustration I got out of it wasn't worth it.
[Soul Calibur 5 - PS3]
Recommended: Yes
Soul Calibur 5 is a 3D-Fighting game.
I didn't like how a lot of the characters looked alike in Soul Calibur 4 due to the custom character creation engine they used. They look a lot better now. A lot of people complained about how stats on items in character customization in SC4 restrained them from aesthetics in order to have optimal fighting abilities. That has been taken out. There wasn't much of a special mode for SC4, so they had a story that focused on the children of Sophitia. In short, the developers tried their best to fix what was perceived as broken from SC4. For the most part, I think SC5 is a solid fighting game. Story mode was very short, but I liked it. The character creation tool is pretty intuitive and a lot of fun to mess around with. The introduction of the super was a bit surprising, but it does add a new element to the game. I also got the game new for an extremely cheap price just after a mere year from its release. I missed out on SC3 and wasn't entirely happy with SC4, so SC5 is one I'm satisfied with.
[Shank 2 - PC]
Recommended: Maybe
Shank 2 is a 2D Action game.
Visually, Shank 2 looks a lot better than Shank 1. In terms of gameplay, I really didn't like how Shank 2 was designed. Rather than being able to switch between weapons to accommodate for each situation, the player can only bring one of each type (sidearm, range, and throwable) which didn't even matter since sidearms are pretty useless and throwables have such a limited capacity. Instead of carefully setting a well designed scenario for each section of the game, I felt like each section of the game in Shank 2 had one of every enemy which rendered the player useless in every situation. Grabbing a lesser enemy opened up to larger enemies ramming into the player. Fighting a larger enemy opened up to ranged enemies. Fighting the enemies flipping and dropping kicking the player opened up to enemies that throw molotovs everywhere. The most effective strategy I had to use throughout the game to get through ridiculous situations like those was using throwing knives and zone every enemy out with them which was long, tedious, and extremely boring. Having to utilize regular attacks, side arms, items in the environment, throws and throwable items gave Shank 1 variety and strategy to work with. But doing anything other than throwable items and ranged weapons would generally get the player killed because every type of enemy was present on the screen. It's a mess of a single-player campaign and didn't have a good of a story as the first one. The one thing that was significantly better than the first game was multiplayer. In Shank 2, there is an assortment of characters of choose from and play with a friend online or locally in a survival match against waves of enemies. Multiplayer Survival made up for not having a co-op campaign. So if anything, I would recommend getting the game mainly for multiplayer.
[Super Meat Boy - PC]
Recommended: Absolutely, but mainly for Hardcore gamers
Super Meat Boy is an extremely challenging Platformer.
It took me a while to finally sit down and play through the rest of the game, but I finally got through the game and beat Dr. Fetus...at least in the light world. I actually did a review for it before back when it was released in 2010 (wow, it really took me that long to complete it?) and the only change in stance I have about the game is that I said the music isn't very "memorable" when it totally is now after playing for the past 2.5 years. It doesn't catch on right away, but it has a very distinct melody for each of the tracks and is a whole lot of fun to listen to even out of the game. I think it's even more worth it to get it now than it was before as new levels were introduced and Super Meat World was added in which players can make and share their own level creations with the rest of the community. Despite being incredibly difficult, each level takes less than a minutes or two to complete. So failing is only a short drawback. This is a game I would definitely recommend to gamers, but it's not for everyone because of how difficult it can get.
Whew, that is it for now. It's good to unload this heavy list and get on to the other games.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
GameLight - Sonic Lost World
Official JP Site: http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicLostWorld/
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
I hope everyone had a peaceful and fulfilling long weekend! I was surprised with a trailer for the newest Sonic game today which included gameplay! It seems Nintendo has swept up another game for itself as an exclusive for the Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. It reminds me of Super Mario Galaxy, but there has been mention that the game shows a lot of ideas from canceled Sonic game "Sonic X-treme". When the game was mentioned last week, I heard it was going to involve dinosaurs and time travel to the past of some sort. That really worried me. Then I watch this video and the first thing that shows up is 6 very cartoon-ish, villain-type characters. Though I haven't played Sonic Colors yet, it seems to have a similar aesthetic in character design. I'm not sure what to think of the game yet, but I am happy to see another Sonic game. It's going to be hard to live up to Sonic Generations, that's for sure. No official release date, but supposedly out by the end of this year. More information will probably be available at this year's E3.
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
I hope everyone had a peaceful and fulfilling long weekend! I was surprised with a trailer for the newest Sonic game today which included gameplay! It seems Nintendo has swept up another game for itself as an exclusive for the Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. It reminds me of Super Mario Galaxy, but there has been mention that the game shows a lot of ideas from canceled Sonic game "Sonic X-treme". When the game was mentioned last week, I heard it was going to involve dinosaurs and time travel to the past of some sort. That really worried me. Then I watch this video and the first thing that shows up is 6 very cartoon-ish, villain-type characters. Though I haven't played Sonic Colors yet, it seems to have a similar aesthetic in character design. I'm not sure what to think of the game yet, but I am happy to see another Sonic game. It's going to be hard to live up to Sonic Generations, that's for sure. No official release date, but supposedly out by the end of this year. More information will probably be available at this year's E3.
Monday, May 13, 2013
NewNews - Phoenix Wright 5 release in the West Fall 2013
Japanese Site: http://www.capcom.co.jp/gyakutensaiban/5/
Source: Youtube Channel GamesHQMedia
We finally get confirmation that Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney 5 - Dual Destinies is going to be released in the West this Fall, yay! Unfortuantely, it's also been confirmed that it will be released digitally only, boo! Phoenix Wright 5 will bring back our favorite protagonist back to the series once more with a new sidekick helping by reading the emotions of those on testimony. Prepare for a brand new adventure with 3D graphics for the Nintendo 3DS.
As for my stance on a "digital only" release, I never really liked the idea when it was first conceived and has only changed my perspective a little throughout the years. With most consoles (PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii) and now handhelds (PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS), games sold digitally are the same prices as retail and almost never gets a price drop; games rarely get a sale on digital distributions; games can't be borrowed or shared by friends because the games are locked onto the system or account; and they take up even more memory space than when just having the game that require an optional/require install which eventually leads to un-installing games if you run out of space and re-installing them if you want to play them. Digital releases do have their conveniences for the customer such as not having to go to the game store to grab their game and not having to switch out discs/cartridges to play multiple games but it takes away other great aspects of retail sold games. My opinion of digital distribution changed a little when Valve's Steam platform provided better services and great deals on a daily basis. Games that I really like that I want to pay more money will generally lead me to buy a boxed version of the PC game (Diablo 3/Guild Wars 2), but having great deals of under $10 per game on Steam allowed me to play games I'm interested in without having to invest so much on them. I'm not looking forward to an all digital market.
Source:
- Joystiq - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 5 hits west as Dual Destinies this autumn
Source: Youtube Channel GamesHQMedia
We finally get confirmation that Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney 5 - Dual Destinies is going to be released in the West this Fall, yay! Unfortuantely, it's also been confirmed that it will be released digitally only, boo! Phoenix Wright 5 will bring back our favorite protagonist back to the series once more with a new sidekick helping by reading the emotions of those on testimony. Prepare for a brand new adventure with 3D graphics for the Nintendo 3DS.
As for my stance on a "digital only" release, I never really liked the idea when it was first conceived and has only changed my perspective a little throughout the years. With most consoles (PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii) and now handhelds (PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS), games sold digitally are the same prices as retail and almost never gets a price drop; games rarely get a sale on digital distributions; games can't be borrowed or shared by friends because the games are locked onto the system or account; and they take up even more memory space than when just having the game that require an optional/require install which eventually leads to un-installing games if you run out of space and re-installing them if you want to play them. Digital releases do have their conveniences for the customer such as not having to go to the game store to grab their game and not having to switch out discs/cartridges to play multiple games but it takes away other great aspects of retail sold games. My opinion of digital distribution changed a little when Valve's Steam platform provided better services and great deals on a daily basis. Games that I really like that I want to pay more money will generally lead me to buy a boxed version of the PC game (Diablo 3/Guild Wars 2), but having great deals of under $10 per game on Steam allowed me to play games I'm interested in without having to invest so much on them. I'm not looking forward to an all digital market.
Source:
- Joystiq - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 5 hits west as Dual Destinies this autumn
Monday, April 29, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
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!
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!
Friday, April 19, 2013
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
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
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, April 15, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, April 12, 2013
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
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
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
VGCulture - Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Opening
Official Wii U Site: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Source: Youtube Channel CapcomUnityVideos
Look what CapcomUnityVideos released on Youtube today. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is an Action-RPG that has the capabilities to play with 3 other players locally or online (online play for Wii U only) to fight boss battle after boss battle essentially. The monsters in the game are enormous and require a lot of patience and coordination to take down. Players will also be hunting less threatening monsters for food and materials to continue on their quest. The opening sure is nice. Sadly, I'm currently busy with two new 3DS games I got and won't be able to get just yet. For those waiting to start slashing and killing dragons and whatnot, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate releases March 19th, 2013 for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS.
Source: Youtube Channel CapcomUnityVideos
Look what CapcomUnityVideos released on Youtube today. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is an Action-RPG that has the capabilities to play with 3 other players locally or online (online play for Wii U only) to fight boss battle after boss battle essentially. The monsters in the game are enormous and require a lot of patience and coordination to take down. Players will also be hunting less threatening monsters for food and materials to continue on their quest. The opening sure is nice. Sadly, I'm currently busy with two new 3DS games I got and won't be able to get just yet. For those waiting to start slashing and killing dragons and whatnot, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate releases March 19th, 2013 for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
VGCulture - Music: Code of Princess
Official Site: http://www.atlus.com/codeofprincess/
Source: Youtube Channel insidegamesjp
Having finally completed The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D on my 3DS, I opened up Code of Princess with excitement. I've been listening to the soundtrack for a month or so now before last night and really liked what I heard, but to hear it alongside the game was a different experience. This is generally true for all videogame music I listen to. I am able to better appreciate the songs once I hear them in-game and have a better connection with what the song were meant for. I already liked the opening song "Gather the Lights", but it blew me away hearing it along with the opening cinematic. Source: Youtube Channel dannykim0730
There are many unique songs throughout the game that emphasizes the colorful and often eccentric characters within the game. They can be upbeat, inspiring, and playful. It's something that really gets to me when the most recognized and praised videogame music are the generic hollywood style moods, themes and orchestration while memorable music within videogames that sound nothing like other genres of music out there are largely shrugged off as background music. The level of music Code of Princess is at rivals with that of classic games with its catchy melodies, exciting beats, and memorable themes.
Source: Youtube Channel tangytablet
This is one of my favorite tracks in the game so far. I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. The quirkiness it has in the opening just leads it into a really simple riff, but it commands so much of its mood and theme that draws in the listener. The melody is equally simple, but is also uplifting. I have heard this song only once in the game thus far in the 2 hours I played, and it was during a major boss fight. It really changed the mood from when I was fighting against regular enemies. The difficulty of the boss battle mixed with this track made is so exciting and memorable. Although it doesn't sound anything like it, it really reminds me of one of my favorite tracks from Guardian Heroes:
Source: Youtube Channel KMaelstrom
The music for Code of Princess is done by a group of 3 composers who call themselves ACE+. It's really hard looking for information about them, but they've also worked on music for Xenoblade Chronicles. I'm looking forward to hearing more of their music in videogames in the future.
In terms of the game so far, I wasn't expecting the campaign to be chopped up into individual quests as I was hoping for a long and cohesive play like Guardian Heroes. Character selection doesn't change the story and there aren't branching paths. Conversations between the characters and voice acting are odd and can be perceived as pretty bad, but the writing is pretty humorous with lots of puns and jokes which makes the seemingly bad voice acting tolerable. Combat mechanics are rather limited with two attack buttons with a few special moves. Also, there are conflicting art styles throughout the game between scenes, in-game sprites, and cinematics. Despite all that, I couldn't put the game down so there's definitely something about it that makes it really fun. I'll have a full review of it in the future.
Source: Youtube Channel insidegamesjp
Having finally completed The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D on my 3DS, I opened up Code of Princess with excitement. I've been listening to the soundtrack for a month or so now before last night and really liked what I heard, but to hear it alongside the game was a different experience. This is generally true for all videogame music I listen to. I am able to better appreciate the songs once I hear them in-game and have a better connection with what the song were meant for. I already liked the opening song "Gather the Lights", but it blew me away hearing it along with the opening cinematic. Source: Youtube Channel dannykim0730
There are many unique songs throughout the game that emphasizes the colorful and often eccentric characters within the game. They can be upbeat, inspiring, and playful. It's something that really gets to me when the most recognized and praised videogame music are the generic hollywood style moods, themes and orchestration while memorable music within videogames that sound nothing like other genres of music out there are largely shrugged off as background music. The level of music Code of Princess is at rivals with that of classic games with its catchy melodies, exciting beats, and memorable themes.
Source: Youtube Channel tangytablet
This is one of my favorite tracks in the game so far. I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. The quirkiness it has in the opening just leads it into a really simple riff, but it commands so much of its mood and theme that draws in the listener. The melody is equally simple, but is also uplifting. I have heard this song only once in the game thus far in the 2 hours I played, and it was during a major boss fight. It really changed the mood from when I was fighting against regular enemies. The difficulty of the boss battle mixed with this track made is so exciting and memorable. Although it doesn't sound anything like it, it really reminds me of one of my favorite tracks from Guardian Heroes:
Source: Youtube Channel KMaelstrom
The music for Code of Princess is done by a group of 3 composers who call themselves ACE+. It's really hard looking for information about them, but they've also worked on music for Xenoblade Chronicles. I'm looking forward to hearing more of their music in videogames in the future.
In terms of the game so far, I wasn't expecting the campaign to be chopped up into individual quests as I was hoping for a long and cohesive play like Guardian Heroes. Character selection doesn't change the story and there aren't branching paths. Conversations between the characters and voice acting are odd and can be perceived as pretty bad, but the writing is pretty humorous with lots of puns and jokes which makes the seemingly bad voice acting tolerable. Combat mechanics are rather limited with two attack buttons with a few special moves. Also, there are conflicting art styles throughout the game between scenes, in-game sprites, and cinematics. Despite all that, I couldn't put the game down so there's definitely something about it that makes it really fun. I'll have a full review of it in the future.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
GameLight - Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate
Official Site: http://www.konami-castlevania.com/mof/
Source: Youtube Channel NintendoWorldReport
Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate released today on the Nintendo 3DS. I have been very worried about it ever since its reveal last year at E3 as it seems to embody the original Castlevania more than the Metroidvania that handheld Castlevania games have followed. It's not to say that I don't like the retro-styled side-scrolling adventure that Castlevania started with since I grew up with them and love them. The problem is that they lack content in our current day generation where paying $40 for just a handheld game had better be worth our time. The game follows the same story arc of Lords of Shadow with the return of 2 familiar characters in the series: Trevor and Simon Belmont. It bothers me a little that the story of those two pivotal characters might be changed in a way that I may not find desirable. As many might be able to tell, I am very skeptical about this iteration in the Castlevania series which is pretty scary since I gave even the infamous Castlevania Judgment a chance. Still, it's a Castlevania and I'm willing to give it a go. I'm just not willing to dish out $40 for it at the moment, especially since I just ordered 2 games for the 3DS that still hasn't arrive just yet. I also haven't played through Lords of Shadow yet, despite having bought it a while ago. Guess I'll wait out on this. It's good to know I'll have a 3DS game to buy when I finished the others I have.
Source: Youtube Channel NintendoWorldReport
Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate released today on the Nintendo 3DS. I have been very worried about it ever since its reveal last year at E3 as it seems to embody the original Castlevania more than the Metroidvania that handheld Castlevania games have followed. It's not to say that I don't like the retro-styled side-scrolling adventure that Castlevania started with since I grew up with them and love them. The problem is that they lack content in our current day generation where paying $40 for just a handheld game had better be worth our time. The game follows the same story arc of Lords of Shadow with the return of 2 familiar characters in the series: Trevor and Simon Belmont. It bothers me a little that the story of those two pivotal characters might be changed in a way that I may not find desirable. As many might be able to tell, I am very skeptical about this iteration in the Castlevania series which is pretty scary since I gave even the infamous Castlevania Judgment a chance. Still, it's a Castlevania and I'm willing to give it a go. I'm just not willing to dish out $40 for it at the moment, especially since I just ordered 2 games for the 3DS that still hasn't arrive just yet. I also haven't played through Lords of Shadow yet, despite having bought it a while ago. Guess I'll wait out on this. It's good to know I'll have a 3DS game to buy when I finished the others I have.
Friday, February 22, 2013
GameLight - Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (3DS)
English Wiki: http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Monster_Hunter_Wiki
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
I love boss fights in videogames, and Capcom games generally have a lot of awesome boss fights in their games from the original Mega Man games to their more recent games like the Devil May Cry series or Dragon's Dogma. One particular series in Japan revolves around big boss battles and has since became a huge hit. But over here in the West, the name "Monster Hunter" doesn't hold much weight and is viewed as a niche game among the community. Despite not having a strong following in the West, Capcom has continued bringing the Monster Hunter series over and this time it will release on the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS.
The Demo for Monster Hunter 3 for the 3DS had released and so I quickly downloaded it yesterday to get a taste of it. I have played a bit of the Monster Hunter series in the past for the Sony PSP and know that I enjoy the game, but I didn't continue playing very long back then as I had many other PSP games I wanted to play on the system and didn't want to spend the time on what could've been 100+ hours slaying giant dragons and beasts. I now have the opposite problem where the Nintendo 3DS is lacking in games I want to play and want something with high replay value. So I was pretty excited to hear that Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate was being brought over to the West.
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is a sort of Action-RPG that isn't quite straight-forward and story driven. The player goes out into the field and hunts beasts for food, gather materials for crafting, and fight large monsters per request as quests. In doing so, the player gradually becomes stronger with better equipment. The main draw of the game is multiplayer where several players band together to fight a giant boss together. In the 3DS demo, players can choose 1 of 2 scenarios to take on which requires the player to take down a boss under 20 minutes. I was given the choice to pick a weapon out of 12 different types to take on the boss. The demo is very tricky for those who have never played a Monster Hunter game as it doesn't explain the mechanics of the game or controls and thrusts the player into the field. Using a bow was really tough in terms of aiming and I imagine having the 2nd analog stick attachment would make it infinitely better; however, the lock-on ability made controlling the camera a bit more tolerable. Instead of an over-the-top hack-n-slash and ultra slick combat mechanics found in games like Devil May Cry, the Monster Hunter series has the characters move in a sort of rigid way that is more realistic. In this manner, all attacks, actions, and item usage is planned out, strategic, and meaningful. It is impossible to mash buttons and hope to win, and I suppose that's what makes the multiplayer formula work so well with the game as party members rely on each other to succeed in a quest. The boss fights are incredibly tough but very exciting. 20 minutes may seem like a lot of time to fight one boss, but it doesn't seem so after all the fighting, surviving, and preparation. Judging from my experience on the PSP version of Monster Hunter, the demo for the 3DS is showing a minuscule amount of content that is truly offered in the game. Personally, I don't think it's an easy game to get into for most gamers, but those that can grasp the concept of the game and find interest in it is rewarded with a gratifying experience. The biggest problem I find in the Nintendo 3DS version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate right now is the lack of Online multiplayer. There's a local multiplayer mode, but I rarely ever see anyone with a 3DS around the people I know and I doubt they'll get the game if they do have one. This falls into Capcom's seemingly big scheme: the Nintendo Wii U has online multiplayer and can share save data with the 3DS, but you have to buy both individually. Cross-play support is a growing trend that's showing up often in Sony's systems where a player can buy a PS3 version of a game and get a free download for the PS Vita to play and share save data between the PS3. That's a neat idea. But it seems Capcom or Nintendo (I don't know who it goes through to make cross play possible) wants players to pay for both versions which equals $100. This puts me in a difficult situation. I want to play the game, but I also want to play online. I don't have a Nintendo Wii U so I have to get the 3DS version if I want to play it at all. If only the 3DS had online play, it'd be just perfect. In any case, fans of the series should really check out the demo for both 3DS or Wii U depending on which ones they have if at all while those new to the series should check up on some guides online to know a little about the game. In fact, I'll write out the controls right here for a head start:
Circle Pad: Move Character
Digital Pad: Pan Camera
Weapon Sheathed
Y: Use Item
X: Draw/Ready Weapon
A: Interact/Action Key
B: Crouch (While Standing) / Tumble (While moving)
L: Reset Camera Forward (Tap) / Bring up belt menu (Hold)
R: Run (Hold)
Weapon Drawn
Y: Sheath Weapon
X: Regular Attack
A: Alternate Attack
B: Back Step (While Standing) / Tumble (While moving)
L: Reset Camera Forward (Tap) / Bring up belt menu (Hold)
R: Alternate Attack 2
For Bows, Press X and A at the same time to coat your Arrows in substances
Good luck, Have fun, and check the game out to see if it's for you.
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
I love boss fights in videogames, and Capcom games generally have a lot of awesome boss fights in their games from the original Mega Man games to their more recent games like the Devil May Cry series or Dragon's Dogma. One particular series in Japan revolves around big boss battles and has since became a huge hit. But over here in the West, the name "Monster Hunter" doesn't hold much weight and is viewed as a niche game among the community. Despite not having a strong following in the West, Capcom has continued bringing the Monster Hunter series over and this time it will release on the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS.
The Demo for Monster Hunter 3 for the 3DS had released and so I quickly downloaded it yesterday to get a taste of it. I have played a bit of the Monster Hunter series in the past for the Sony PSP and know that I enjoy the game, but I didn't continue playing very long back then as I had many other PSP games I wanted to play on the system and didn't want to spend the time on what could've been 100+ hours slaying giant dragons and beasts. I now have the opposite problem where the Nintendo 3DS is lacking in games I want to play and want something with high replay value. So I was pretty excited to hear that Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate was being brought over to the West.
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is a sort of Action-RPG that isn't quite straight-forward and story driven. The player goes out into the field and hunts beasts for food, gather materials for crafting, and fight large monsters per request as quests. In doing so, the player gradually becomes stronger with better equipment. The main draw of the game is multiplayer where several players band together to fight a giant boss together. In the 3DS demo, players can choose 1 of 2 scenarios to take on which requires the player to take down a boss under 20 minutes. I was given the choice to pick a weapon out of 12 different types to take on the boss. The demo is very tricky for those who have never played a Monster Hunter game as it doesn't explain the mechanics of the game or controls and thrusts the player into the field. Using a bow was really tough in terms of aiming and I imagine having the 2nd analog stick attachment would make it infinitely better; however, the lock-on ability made controlling the camera a bit more tolerable. Instead of an over-the-top hack-n-slash and ultra slick combat mechanics found in games like Devil May Cry, the Monster Hunter series has the characters move in a sort of rigid way that is more realistic. In this manner, all attacks, actions, and item usage is planned out, strategic, and meaningful. It is impossible to mash buttons and hope to win, and I suppose that's what makes the multiplayer formula work so well with the game as party members rely on each other to succeed in a quest. The boss fights are incredibly tough but very exciting. 20 minutes may seem like a lot of time to fight one boss, but it doesn't seem so after all the fighting, surviving, and preparation. Judging from my experience on the PSP version of Monster Hunter, the demo for the 3DS is showing a minuscule amount of content that is truly offered in the game. Personally, I don't think it's an easy game to get into for most gamers, but those that can grasp the concept of the game and find interest in it is rewarded with a gratifying experience. The biggest problem I find in the Nintendo 3DS version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate right now is the lack of Online multiplayer. There's a local multiplayer mode, but I rarely ever see anyone with a 3DS around the people I know and I doubt they'll get the game if they do have one. This falls into Capcom's seemingly big scheme: the Nintendo Wii U has online multiplayer and can share save data with the 3DS, but you have to buy both individually. Cross-play support is a growing trend that's showing up often in Sony's systems where a player can buy a PS3 version of a game and get a free download for the PS Vita to play and share save data between the PS3. That's a neat idea. But it seems Capcom or Nintendo (I don't know who it goes through to make cross play possible) wants players to pay for both versions which equals $100. This puts me in a difficult situation. I want to play the game, but I also want to play online. I don't have a Nintendo Wii U so I have to get the 3DS version if I want to play it at all. If only the 3DS had online play, it'd be just perfect. In any case, fans of the series should really check out the demo for both 3DS or Wii U depending on which ones they have if at all while those new to the series should check up on some guides online to know a little about the game. In fact, I'll write out the controls right here for a head start:
Circle Pad: Move Character
Digital Pad: Pan Camera
Weapon Sheathed
Y: Use Item
X: Draw/Ready Weapon
A: Interact/Action Key
B: Crouch (While Standing) / Tumble (While moving)
L: Reset Camera Forward (Tap) / Bring up belt menu (Hold)
R: Run (Hold)
Weapon Drawn
Y: Sheath Weapon
X: Regular Attack
A: Alternate Attack
B: Back Step (While Standing) / Tumble (While moving)
L: Reset Camera Forward (Tap) / Bring up belt menu (Hold)
R: Alternate Attack 2
For Bows, Press X and A at the same time to coat your Arrows in substances
Good luck, Have fun, and check the game out to see if it's for you.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
GameLight - Shin Megami Tensei IV
Official Atlus Site: http://www.atlus.com/
Source: Youtube Channel Extagia
I was a bit weary when purchasing my Nintendo 3DS because it was uncertain whether enough games that I'd be interested in would release and make the system worth buying. So far this year, we've got a Fire Emblem Awakening. We're already about to start the 3rd month of the year and that's only been one game worth mentioning. Thankfully, we have games like Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Animal Crossing: New Leaf as well as Project X Zone and Pokémon X&Y and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Soul Hackers on the horizon. But what will the future hold? What else might 3DS owners look forward to?
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne was released in Japan back in February 20th, 2003, exactly 10 years ago. Since then, most SMT games have been spin-offs with the exception of "Strange Journey" for the NDS being part of the main series story. In last year's Tokyo Game Show, it was revealed that Shin Megami Tensei 4 was being developed and will be released for the Nintendo 3DS. So it seems that Japan will be able to continue the main story once again in SMT 4 for the 3DS this May. The question is, will the Western market see this game? That depends if it does well in Japan first I suppose. Considering that Atlus has brought over most of the SMT games to the West, we can expect SMT4 to show up eventually. Staying true to the SMT series, combat looks the same which worries me a little. What can they change to make this newest installment interesting compared to the rest of the series?
Source: Youtube Channel Extagia
I was a bit weary when purchasing my Nintendo 3DS because it was uncertain whether enough games that I'd be interested in would release and make the system worth buying. So far this year, we've got a Fire Emblem Awakening. We're already about to start the 3rd month of the year and that's only been one game worth mentioning. Thankfully, we have games like Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Animal Crossing: New Leaf as well as Project X Zone and Pokémon X&Y and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Soul Hackers on the horizon. But what will the future hold? What else might 3DS owners look forward to?
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne was released in Japan back in February 20th, 2003, exactly 10 years ago. Since then, most SMT games have been spin-offs with the exception of "Strange Journey" for the NDS being part of the main series story. In last year's Tokyo Game Show, it was revealed that Shin Megami Tensei 4 was being developed and will be released for the Nintendo 3DS. So it seems that Japan will be able to continue the main story once again in SMT 4 for the 3DS this May. The question is, will the Western market see this game? That depends if it does well in Japan first I suppose. Considering that Atlus has brought over most of the SMT games to the West, we can expect SMT4 to show up eventually. Staying true to the SMT series, combat looks the same which worries me a little. What can they change to make this newest installment interesting compared to the rest of the series?
Thursday, February 14, 2013
GameLight - Etrian Odyssey IV
Official Site: http://www.atlus.com/etrian4/home.html
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
I'm surprised the Etrian Odyssey series is still being brought over considering how niche the target audience is. Etrian Odyssey IV Legends of the Titan makes its debut as the first in the series to launch on the Nintendo 3DS and is back for more classic Dungeon Crawling RPG. The Etrian Odyssey series is a throwback to classic cRPGs like Wizardry where the player forms their own party of adventures with various classes to choose from, drawing their own maps, and traversing dungeons in first-person view rather than a top-down view. I had played a bit of the first Etrian Odyssey and my experience from it surprises me that there's a market for the series in the West. In the first game, customization and skill building was very cluttered having all the skills of a class clumped into one huge list. Lots of preparation in equipment and skill building is needed before setting out and lots of grinding is required just to survive the initiation quest like in a lot of classic cRPG dungeon crawlers. With such archaic systems of the past, I didn't think the series would continue to be made and brought over to the West. I never got far with the first game and so I missed out on the 2nd and 3rd installment. It's a game that's definitely not easy to get into and requires a lot of patience, but what got me interested in the game and kept me interested was the bright and colorful, animé-esque art style with its retro style, FM-synth produced music by none other than Yuzo Koshiro. I've been a fan of Yuzo Koshiro ever since The Revenge of Shinobi on the Sega Genesis and ActRaiser on the Super Nintendo, and so I wasn't too surprised to see that the catchy and whimsical soundtrack was composed by him. When I heard a fourth one was about to release on the Nintendo 3DS, I was curious if any changes would be made. Luckily, a demo came out in the eShop market and allowed me to download it onto my 3DS. Here's what I got from it:
-Main structure of gameplay and combat is essentially the same
-Art style is the same, but environments and backgrounds are gorgeous
-There's a skill "tree" now, so it's really organized rather than one huge list
-Enemies are no longer static 2D sprites, but animated 3D models
-A "Casual" difficulty level that makes the game easier
-Initiation quest is a lot more straight-forward and comprehensive
-An over world like map (not sure if it's new to the series or not)
-Music is an orchestral ensemble instead of the usual FM-Synth tunes
-Dungeon maps are even easier to use with the circle pad
In short, my experience with the demo thus far has been really enjoyable! The Demo allows a maximum of 30 plays, 10 character slots (there's 30 in the full game), a level cap of 10, and everything else seems unrestricted. I have to admit that preparing my party, talking to all the NPCs, gathering my equipment and allocating my skill points to the party took a very very long time, but it's part of the charm to the game that makes it feel so personal (as it always has in cRPGs). Although it follows the same structure as the first game, this iteration seems a lot more tolerable for a wider audience than before. I feel rather compelled to get the game now. If you're even a bit curious about the game, I highly recommend downloading the demo to see if it's for you. Etrian Odyssey releases February 26, 2013 exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
I'm surprised the Etrian Odyssey series is still being brought over considering how niche the target audience is. Etrian Odyssey IV Legends of the Titan makes its debut as the first in the series to launch on the Nintendo 3DS and is back for more classic Dungeon Crawling RPG. The Etrian Odyssey series is a throwback to classic cRPGs like Wizardry where the player forms their own party of adventures with various classes to choose from, drawing their own maps, and traversing dungeons in first-person view rather than a top-down view. I had played a bit of the first Etrian Odyssey and my experience from it surprises me that there's a market for the series in the West. In the first game, customization and skill building was very cluttered having all the skills of a class clumped into one huge list. Lots of preparation in equipment and skill building is needed before setting out and lots of grinding is required just to survive the initiation quest like in a lot of classic cRPG dungeon crawlers. With such archaic systems of the past, I didn't think the series would continue to be made and brought over to the West. I never got far with the first game and so I missed out on the 2nd and 3rd installment. It's a game that's definitely not easy to get into and requires a lot of patience, but what got me interested in the game and kept me interested was the bright and colorful, animé-esque art style with its retro style, FM-synth produced music by none other than Yuzo Koshiro. I've been a fan of Yuzo Koshiro ever since The Revenge of Shinobi on the Sega Genesis and ActRaiser on the Super Nintendo, and so I wasn't too surprised to see that the catchy and whimsical soundtrack was composed by him. When I heard a fourth one was about to release on the Nintendo 3DS, I was curious if any changes would be made. Luckily, a demo came out in the eShop market and allowed me to download it onto my 3DS. Here's what I got from it:
-Main structure of gameplay and combat is essentially the same
-Art style is the same, but environments and backgrounds are gorgeous
-There's a skill "tree" now, so it's really organized rather than one huge list
-Enemies are no longer static 2D sprites, but animated 3D models
-A "Casual" difficulty level that makes the game easier
-Initiation quest is a lot more straight-forward and comprehensive
-An over world like map (not sure if it's new to the series or not)
-Music is an orchestral ensemble instead of the usual FM-Synth tunes
-Dungeon maps are even easier to use with the circle pad
In short, my experience with the demo thus far has been really enjoyable! The Demo allows a maximum of 30 plays, 10 character slots (there's 30 in the full game), a level cap of 10, and everything else seems unrestricted. I have to admit that preparing my party, talking to all the NPCs, gathering my equipment and allocating my skill points to the party took a very very long time, but it's part of the charm to the game that makes it feel so personal (as it always has in cRPGs). Although it follows the same structure as the first game, this iteration seems a lot more tolerable for a wider audience than before. I feel rather compelled to get the game now. If you're even a bit curious about the game, I highly recommend downloading the demo to see if it's for you. Etrian Odyssey releases February 26, 2013 exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
NewNews - Project x Zone coming to North America
Official Japanese Site: http://pxz.channel.or.jp/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
After months of hearing "Japan exclusive" and "no plans of Western release" we finally get an announcement from Namco Bandai yesterday that they are, in fact, bringing Project x Zone to North America. This made me so happy and excited I wanted to burst into tears but held it in so I could finish reading the rest of the details. The estimated release date at the moment is summer of this year 2013. I hope that means the first day of summer in June so we don't have to wait too long. Seriously, there weren't that many games to really look forward to this year. But then games like Pandora's Tower and now Project x Zone gets the okay to bring over to America suddenly changes my perspective on the games coming out this year! For those unfamiliar with the game, Project x Zone is a Strategy-RPG with grid based movements like a Tactics game and 2D-combo based Action combat featuring over 200 characters across 29 different games from Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega. This is one game I'm willing to pay full price on the first day to get. This seems like a better year for Japanese developed games with titles like Phantasy Star Online 2, Bayonetta 2, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Dark Souls 2, Final Fantasy XIII - Lightning Returns, Pandora's Tower and this game coming out this year.
Source:
-Crunchroll - "Project X Zone" and More Announced for North America
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
After months of hearing "Japan exclusive" and "no plans of Western release" we finally get an announcement from Namco Bandai yesterday that they are, in fact, bringing Project x Zone to North America. This made me so happy and excited I wanted to burst into tears but held it in so I could finish reading the rest of the details. The estimated release date at the moment is summer of this year 2013. I hope that means the first day of summer in June so we don't have to wait too long. Seriously, there weren't that many games to really look forward to this year. But then games like Pandora's Tower and now Project x Zone gets the okay to bring over to America suddenly changes my perspective on the games coming out this year! For those unfamiliar with the game, Project x Zone is a Strategy-RPG with grid based movements like a Tactics game and 2D-combo based Action combat featuring over 200 characters across 29 different games from Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega. This is one game I'm willing to pay full price on the first day to get. This seems like a better year for Japanese developed games with titles like Phantasy Star Online 2, Bayonetta 2, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Dark Souls 2, Final Fantasy XIII - Lightning Returns, Pandora's Tower and this game coming out this year.
Source:
-Crunchroll - "Project X Zone" and More Announced for North America
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