Dyne's VG/Anime Reviews

Still Alive

2010-09-10T09:11:00.001-06:00

I know I haven't done much on here lately, mostly because I've been very busy with projects both at home and at work. The other main reason is the same reason why I've dropped a lot of hobbies in the past: they stopped being fun and started to feel like a chore. This is my fault because I took upon the obligation to review every single game or anime I completed and thus just needed a break. I don't know how often I'll be contributing reviews for now, but I do want to write when the mood strikes.

Initial Impressions - Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii)

2010-07-23T18:36:00.000-06:00

Only one today, so no need to create a separate post. I'm not sure when I'll write another review, but right now it feels like treading a fine line between a hobby and a chore. Thus I don't plan to review every single game/series I finish immediately afterwards.

Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii)

I've been waiting for this one for a while. When it was first announced the release date was last November.
In deference to the creators of the game I will say the character designs are a mix of Luminous Arc with Tales of Symphonia.
The graphics and animation in the FMV scenes are nice, but everyone's speaking telepathically!
Wow... just wow... I didn't think any game in recent years could have more FAIL at voice acting than Star Ocean 4's English cast. The voices are a bit better out of the FMVs though since the actors aren't trying to sync with the (minimal) lip movement.
Load times are definitely a plus. I'm hardly noticing any.
The battle system will take some getting used to since it's a combination of turn/AP/realtime-based. It makes sense when you play the game.
ACK! Don't look at me like that when you gain a level, Ryfia!
Expect to play: I kinda like the system, even if Ryfia's character model scares me. This will be high on the Wii list.

Initial Impressions - 7 New

2010-07-11T21:40:00.000-06:00

Going to be a good weekend. I'll update the list as I actually pick up each of the games. In fact, it keeps growing. This was originally supposed to just have 5 entries.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Sky (NDS)
Extreme Hangman (DSiWare)
Legends of Exidia (DSiWare)
Okami (PS2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (PSP)
Soul of Darkness (DSiWare)
WarioWare: Snapped! (DSiWare)

Initial Impressions - 4 New

2010-06-30T20:21:00.000-06:00

Going to end the month with a bang. Hopefully I'll get more reviews done in July.

Deathsmiles (XBox 360)
Sin & Punishment (VC/N64)
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)
Trinity Universe (PS3)

Initial Impressions - 3 New

2010-06-22T19:49:00.000-06:00

While none of these are new releases for this month, I had various reasons for getting them now.

Granstream Saga (PS1)
Tekken 6 (360)
Windy X Windam (NDS)

Initial Impressions - 6 New

2010-06-09T21:23:00.001-06:00

I decided to go back to my old method of posting initial impressions since that at least gives the illusion that I'm posting more often. In any case, all of the console releases I'm getting this month won't be until the end of the month, so I picked up a few XBLA titles and some others.

Final Fight: Double Impact (XBLA)
Raystorm HD (XBLA)
Snoopy Flying Ace (XBLA)
Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (PSP)
Tetris Party Deluxe (Wii)
WarioWare D.I.Y. (NDS/WiiWare)

New Approach to Classic Formula

2010-06-07T11:41:00.000-06:00

I'm generally a fairly big fan of puzzle games, but the Picross series has always been one of my favorites. When I learned about the Picross 3D for DS, I knew I HAD to get it. How did it fare up compared to previous entries? Full review here.

Initial Impressions - May 2010

2010-05-30T19:18:00.000-06:00

5/30/10:
Hexyz Force

5/24/10:
Demon's Souls (PS3)
Droplitz (PSN)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

5/15/10:
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (PS2)

5/11/10:
3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

5/8/10:
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable (PSP)
Dead or Alive 4 (XBox 360)
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PS1)
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (NDS)
Super Street Fighter IV (XBox 360)

5/5/10:
Picross 3D (NDS)

5/4/10:
Record of Agarest War (XBox 360)

5/2/10:
Hard to believe I actually followed through with my commitment to not buy any more new games during April after the previous set, but then again I spent all month playing Persona 4 and redecorating my room.

I'll make up for it this month, though. I'll be spending some extra money to obtain pretty much the rest of the Shin Megami Tensei games available in the US. I already picked up Devil Summoner 2 but won't try it out until I obtain #1 since I plan on playing them in order.

Come for the Game, Stay for the Nostalgia

2010-05-26T13:02:00.001-06:00

Being a veteran gamer of the 80s and beyond, I was dang surprised at not learning about 3D Dot Game Heroes earlier than a week before its release. Fortunately I snagged a copy right away and, overall, it did not disappoint. Full review here.

Well Worth the 400 Points

2010-05-07T10:47:00.001-06:00

While easily calling it a mix of Tetris and Lumines, that's too easy (especially since I don't really like Lumines); Chime is actually more complex than that but still simple enough for anyone to be able to pick up and play. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - WarioWare: Snapped! (DSiWare)

2010-05-06T23:42:00.014-06:00

WarioWare: Snapped! (DSiWare)

I had 500 points to spend and this looked like the best choice. Time to find out if I was right.
Definitely not quite what I expected since I never would have thought that the camera would be what the game uses to control everything.
Also looks like the game's going to be a lot shorter than I thought since each stage only has 5 micro games.
But, to make oneself look silly, the game also records the movements the player makes on each of the micro games.
Expect to play: Whenever there's no one else around. Of course beating this won't take long compared to any other WW title either.

Initial Impressions - Okami (PS2)

2010-05-06T23:41:00.108-06:00

Okami (PS2)

I'd been considering getting this for quite a while, but was trying to decide between the Wii and PS2 versions. Not hard to tell which one won out.
I've been reading Poe lately and the "Now Loading" screen immediately made me think "Telltale Heartbeat."
Ah, the narrator speaks Banjo-Kazooiespeak.
Oh man this animation is beautiful!
This game would be a lot shorter if I could just tell the villagers that Orochi is really mayor Himiko... oh wait, wrong series. Still have Dragon Quest on my mind after trying it before this.
Just by watching the intro I feel like watching Blue Seed again. Yamato-no-Orochi is a major influence in it, too.
Hmm, so a snarky flea-like creature rides a wolf... Why have I not found any art of Link x Ameratsu and/or Midna x Issun?
I can sum this up in: Why didn't I get it sooner?!
Expect to play: Definitely at the top of the list for adventure games.

Initial Impressions - Persona 3 Portable (PSP)

2010-05-06T23:41:00.092-06:00

Persona 3 Portable (PSP)

Some people might be asking me, "You just started FES, why get this now?" Two reasons: To get it while it's readily available and because I want to. I also bought FES before I started this blog.
My goal is to go through all of FES, then play this using the female protagonist down the road, but starting out to see some of the changes can't hurt.
I'll note that, while the data installs, I'll never get sick of Aria of the Soul.
Upon entering the menu screen there's a pan shot of the heroine's silhouette. I immediately imagined a Bond-style opening.
One thing I've noticed is that the calendar moves a lot faster between days.
Another thing, and this was more in FES, was how hammy Igor sounds compared to his voice acting in P4. In all honesty, I find it hilarious to listen to him.
I think the greatest adjustment overall will be getting used to the visual novel-style presentation. Otherwise I don't think adjusting will be a problem.
Expect to play: Not until after I get back into a Persona mood after completing FES.

Initial Impressions - Dragon Quest IX (NDS)

2010-05-06T23:41:00.078-06:00

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Sky (NDS)

I normally don't pick up pre-orders on Sunday, but this is a well-noted exception.
In fact, I was hesitant to play this because I just know it'll tear me away from Persona 3.
Interesting that the hero shown in the intro movie doesn't have all of the default characteristics of a customized male hero.
Nothing like starting out the game as a local village's god of protection!
As always, the music is top notch. Makes me want to get the OST right away.
Hmm, gathering the essence of Benevolence and offering it unto a tree that will bear fruit from it? It's the plot of Perfect Cherry Blossom!
Being an invisible angel doesn't stop me from entering and looting people's houses though.
Why do I have the feeling that allowing Yggdrasil to bear fruit will end up creating a situation for the Celestrians like the one-millionth child born in Gurren-Lagann?
Pretty much.
So, now I've fallen to earth and the seven Dragonballs have scattered after getting separated from Tenshinhan. I love Akira Toriyama designs.
Expect to play: Going to be VERY hard to balance this and Persona 3.

Initial Impressions - Legends of Exidia (DSiWare)

2010-05-06T23:41:00.063-06:00

Legends of Exidia (DSiWare)

The impulse behind Soul of Darkness was bad enough, since I bought that after seeing an email from Nintendo, but I got this after seeing a single screenshot from the Club Nintendo insert in Dragon Quest IX! Maybe I just need help...
At least it's by the same company that did Soul of Darkness so there's a bit of hope there.
The graphics in the intro are definitely catchy. The art style also reminds me quite a bit of Puzzle Quest for some reason.
It's almost funny the way the main character runs along the screen.
Ah yes, every side quest so far is people who can't be bothered to do their own chores. At least it's netting me some easy money.
A good summary of this is the analogy of how Soul of Darkness compares to Castlevania while this compares to a mix of Zelda and Ys. Definitely one of my better DSiWare purchases. Now, how do I save...?
Expect to play: I'll stick with Soul of Darkness first as that looks to be shorter, but this will come next.

Initial Impressions - Extreme Hangman (DSiWare)

2010-05-06T23:41:00.050-06:00

Extreme Hangman (DSiWare)

Why did I buy this? Because I had 200 points that I wanted to spend before I got tempted to buy more in order for something more expensive.
There isn't much to say other than this is your normal hangman game.
The plus is that there's more than just the actual hang man, but rather scenarios where the hangman is trying to avoid being shot, surviving a zombie apocalypse, or even trying not to be rubbed out by an eraser.
Plenty of puzzles make this one to go back to when there isn't much time for anything else. I'm disappointed with the load times though.
Expect to play: When I'm bored enough.

Initial Impressions - Soul of Darkness (DSiWare)

2010-05-06T23:41:00.038-06:00

Soul of Darkness (DSiWare)

I got this completely on impulse thanks to an email from Nintendo. Of course the similarities to Castlevania are what also caught my attention.
But for 500 points, it wouldn't be as painful as other purchases could be.
The first thing to note is this game makes full gimmick use of the DSi's camera. Taking pictures at photo booths will bestow power-ups based on the color of the photo and you can even plaster your own face over one of the main character's.
Have to say that other than some silly dialogue (Who talks like that, really?) and some stiff jumping controls that this looks to be a good purchase.
Upgrading weapons and spells flows nicely with the pace of the game and it is possible to re-do levels.
Unlike a normal Castlevania, there are some traps and obstacles that a player wouldn't expect. I'll say this: be prepared to be chased by a giant Thing... a lot!
The continue system is fairly merciful (given some enemies will kill you in two hits) and you'll begin in the room you died in.
Combat is fun and fluid and powering up weapons makes defeating enemies even better.
Boss fights are turning out to be different too. Expect to do more than just hack and slash at the werewolf.
Expect to play: Top of the list for my DSiWare titles, definitely.

Not Your Typical School Year

2010-04-20T14:59:00.000-06:00

A bit late, but this review will count as the blog's 1-year anniversary celebration.

Although I initially planned to play the games in order, I felt drawn to the most-recent entry of the Persona series and will end up likely working backwards. But I can definitely say that this is an awesome introduction. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - Trinity Universe (PS3)

2010-04-19T16:21:00.062-06:00

Trinity Universe (PS3)

I'll say it right up front: I wasn't more excited than normal about this game UNTIL I found out that Pamela is in it. She is by far one of my favorite recurring characters.
If the intro movie doesn't say that this is a light-hearted game, nothing will.
Hard to believe this is the third two-story RPG I've gotten in the past year. I'll do the usual: start off with both characters then stick with the one I like more. Though as of now I'm learning more towars Rizelea.
Interesting that Rizelea herself is the one who causes her godly powers to fail early in the game. Such things don't normally happen.
I should note that playing this on 1080p HD is definitely a visual treat.
The character art is by far the biggest treat as they're very nicely animated.
The camera is already the worst enemy in the dungeons.
The battle system will definitely have potential to get crazy as characters get stronger.
Is there any way to save outside of a dungeon? - Yes.
Moving on to start Kanata's side now. Not only does he have a Buster Sword, Tsubaki becomes very likable right away.
Hmm, as for who to pick first, this is going to be tough. I may end up just flipping a coin.
Expect to play: I can say it's further up on the list rather than down, but not at the top.

Initial Impressions - Deathsmiles (XBox 360)

2010-04-19T16:21:00.045-06:00

Deathsmiles (XBox 360)

First off I'm undecided on installing the face plate that came with the game. A black plate kinda clashes with a white console.
One thing that's very nice about the US version is that it comes with all of the Japanese DLC.
The game certainly loads up nice and fast.
I first tried out arcade mode, then noticed the significantly improved graphics in XBox 360 mode.
Fighting enemies from each side of the screen definitely alters character placement.
And I just got an achievement for pausing the game...
Expect to place: This is one that is definitely good to come and pick up when in the mood for a shooter. This one'll be fun.

Initial Impressions - Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)

2010-04-19T16:21:00.032-06:00

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)

I wouldn't have even known about this game if not for an email from Nintendo. I was hooked from the trailer alone.
Heh. I had no idea this was meant to be used with the Wii Zapper. I'll skip it for now (as it didn't do much in Link's Crossbow Training).
Wow, the character designs haven't improved too much. I hope that's not indicative of the rest of the game.
Overall I can definitely vouch that the controls, gameplay and voice acting (somewhat) are a solid improvement over the first, but I think I'll play them in order.
Expect to play: Didn't I just say that?

Initial Impressions - Sin & Punishment (VC/N64)

2010-04-19T16:21:00.026-06:00

Sin & Punishment (VC/N64)

Since I also bought the sequel I figured I may as well play the original too.
If I'm ever feeling depressed I'll just listen to the voice acting on this game.
Hmm, the main characters somehow remind me of Zidane and Mikoto from FF9, even though the resemblances aren't THAT good.
My God the character design in general can be Troped as Nightmare Inducing! I'd expect to see characters like this as monsters in a horror survival game from the time.
Jokes aside, just from the training mission I could tell that the gameplay on this one will be well worth it.
The only problem of course is mapping the controls over to my GameCube controller.
Expect to play: While it would make sense to play through this one first, the sequel might grab me more. We'll see.

WARNING! Enormous Learning Curve Ahead

2010-04-07T14:18:00.000-06:00

Crossover RPGs are no doubt a fun concept and the idea of bringing numerous characters from various franchises together makes for some creative thinking, but a good execution is the hard part. As such, here's my take on Compile Heart's gathering of characters from five franchises plus an array of originals, Cross Edge. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - Tekken 6 (XBox 360)

2010-04-06T16:05:00.052-06:00

Tekken 6 (XBox 360)

Believe it or not this if the first Tekken title I've ever actually owned. The last one I played was the first on PS1 that belonged to my cousins. I passed over it to get Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi at the time. I still can't decide if that was a good decision or not.
In this case: a new copy for $20? I'll take it!
XBox Live is being finicky so I guess I won't start off by updating to the latest version of the game.
Oh, wait. There it goes.
I could SO do a Rifftrax commentary on the opening movie.
Can't say too much other than I'm trying out practice mode with some characters to get used to the system, but I'm especially digging the music more than anything.
This is doubly true on the level with all the sheep and the music is a group of yodelers.
Expect to play: Like most fighting games I bought recently this is mostly reserved for playing with friends.

Initial Impressions - Granstream Saga (PS1)

2010-04-06T16:05:00.045-06:00

Granstream Saga (PS1)

I bought this entirely on impulse when I saw a passing comment that mentioned how this game is the fourth entry in the Soul Blazer/Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma saga, so I'm dying to find out.
First thing I noticed is how the main character looks like a mix of Alundra and Adol Christian.
At the start of the opening movie the first thing I noticed was not the anime-style artwork, but a cloud formation that looked like a rubber ducky.
The character models have no faces. Kinda creepy.
Somewhat standard RPG opening: orphaned hero stumbles onto the source of saving the world courtesy of his curiosity. His magic scepter is something pretty new and unique though.
It may be just me but the soundtrack has a bit of a Wild ARMs feel to it.
Expect to play: I may make this top priority for my next PS1 game. Haven't decided yet.

Initial Impressions - Windy x Windam (NDS)

2010-04-06T16:05:00.030-06:00

Windy X Windam (NDS)

This is another one I found out about completely by accident and even then only because Izuna and Shino are playable characters.
After a bit of research I heard people calling it the "worst fighting game on DS" so of course I had to check it out.
Actually getting the game was a bit trickier since it's already one that people don't want to admit exists. Gamestop doesn't even have it listed on their site. So I ordered it off Amazon.
The good: Character design, stage graphics, and the system is fairly easy to pick up, making this a good fighter for beginners or casual gamers.
The bad: Choppy animation, non-fluid controls, and the fact that not a lot of strategy is needed to win.
Certainly nothing groundbreaking, but I'm finding this game a pretty good stress reliever since it's quick and possible to just WAIL on opponenets by air juggling them to death.
Expect to play: I've actually already beaten this and just need to see all of the character endings. Not sure how much I'll play it afterward. But there are worse that cost more than $20.

Initial Impressions - Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (PSP)

2010-04-06T16:04:00.102-06:00

Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (PSP)

I've been getting back into Street Fighter a bit lately thanks to SSF4 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and I got this because it has more of the characters I've liked from the series. I just hope it doesn't end up like the GBA SFA3.
Holy cow there are a lot of game modes.
Except for a couple of load time issues, it's running quite smooth so far.
I'll have to get used to the PSP's interface for a fighting game though. It's a bit tricky with the Hard blows set to the shoulder buttons by default.
Not much else to say other than it'll be a while before I beat it with everyone simply because of the huge roster.
Expect to play: This is good for an on-the-go session.

Initial Impressions - Tetris Party Deluxe (Wii)

2010-04-06T16:04:00.096-06:00

Tetris Party Deluxe (Wii)

I bought this because I'm hosting a gaming party soon and one person requested Tetris. Here's hoping I play it for more than just that.
Looks like there are plenty of reasons to go back and play this just on single mode, I mean holy crap there are a LOT of in-game achievements. That ramps up the replay value.
Of course there's the classic game but also several other game modes the deal with helping a guy climb to the top of the screen, matching a picture, or navigating a piece through a puzzle.
Looks like the multi-player aspect will have the same modes but also more as well, I may come back and update this post whenever I feel like it.
Now the question is, what would be the criteria for beating/completing this on backloggery?
Expect to play: Whenever I need a Tetris fix.

Initial Impressions - WarioWare D.I.Y. (NDS/WiiWare)

2010-04-06T16:04:00.086-06:00

WarioWare D.I.Y. (NDS/WiiWare)

I put this onto a single post since the WiiWare one is basically an add-on to the DS game anyway.
I also got this a bit on impulse since I've gotten back into the WarioWare games again recently. I'll still forever curse that Wario Dance Mambo level on Twisted, though.
When Wario gets excited about the GameMaker 21 in the intro I could swear I heard the robot master intro theme from any number of Mega Man games.
I wonder if there'll be an option to create a completely random game. I doubt it though.
Mona goes through more jobs than Maggey Byrde or that gal from the Telltale Sam & Max games.
I've also got to get used to using the stylus for all of the games again, haven't played Touched in a while.
Of course the same applies to the WiiWare portion, only having to use the remote for everything.
Expect to play: When I need something to do that won't take a lot of time or when I'm feeling creative.

Initial Impressions - Final Fight: Double Impact (XBLA)

2010-04-06T16:04:00.078-06:00

Final Fight: Double Impact (XBLA)

What can I say other than they're arcade ports of Final Fight and Magic Sword? Two of my favorite arcade games at the time.
Okay, I very much dislike the fact that pausing the game doesn't pause the action. Makes inviting people potentially dangerous.
I still suck at the Industrial level on Final Fight, too.
Managed to get the achievements for both games for finishing each under 18 continues, that'll take the pressure off most of the rest.
I only now realize just how much was left out of the SNES port of Magic Sword. Unlocking the Vault contents for it may be more painful too.
Expect to play: Mostly got this for co-op so whenever I'm invited.

Initial Impressions - Raystorm HD (XBLA)

2010-04-06T16:04:00.069-06:00

Raystorm HD (XBLA)

This was one of my favorite shooters in the Taito Legends 2 disc on the PS2, so I couldn't really resist this upgrade to HD. I just hope it's worth the 1200 points when the other XBLA titles I got today were 800 points each.
Definitely have to say that the game looks great in HD, just from the intro.
The controls handle fairly well on the XBox controller.
Some of the achievements rely on having a certain kill percentage using Lock-On kills. That'll be tricky but doable on Manual mode moreso than auto.
Interesting that the Unlimited Credits is unlocked by continuing a certain number of times. Most games base it on time played.
Expect to play: Definitely for whenever I'm in the mood for a quick shooter where I'm not under a lot of pressure.

Initial Impressions - Snoopy Flying Ace (XBLA)

2010-04-06T16:04:00.061-06:00

Snoopy Flying Ace (XBLA)

To this day the original Snoopy and the Red Baron is one of my all-time favorites on the Atari 2600 mainly because, as a kid and to this day, Snoopy was and has been an all-time favorite character.
I bought this on recommendation from a friend but I also tried the demo first and that was what clinched the deal.
The controls may look a bit overwhelming at first, but they're easy to get used to and the game feels like a good mix of the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron games and Star Fox 64, at least from what I've played.
The solo missions start out with the basics and continue from there with a steady increase in difficulty, but there were a couple of spikes that found me bailing out of the plane (ironically none of them came from the Red Baron when I fought him).
It looks like multiplayer will definitely hold the majority of the replay value while the solo missions are just for unlocking things.
Expect to play: Since I got this mostly for multiplayer, I'll probably unlock things as quickly as I can then keep this on the backburner for online.

Initial Impressions - April 2010

2010-04-02T16:12:00.002-06:00

This will very likely be the only entry of this type for this month, mainly because I'm only looking at getting one new release that's near the end, so it likely won't fall into my actual hands until May. Of course I've said things like that before, so we'll see how well the idea holds out.

4/2:
Chime (XBLA)
Mimana Iyar Chronicle (PSP)
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (PS2)

Initial Impressions - March 2010

2010-03-28T17:15:00.002-06:00

Okay, except for actually trying out the games and adding the links, this is the final update to the list for this month.

Update 3/28:
Cave Story (WiiWare)
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii)
Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Infinite Space (NDS)
La Pucelle: Tactics (PS2)
Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome (PS2)
Resonance of Fate (PS3)
Spectral Souls (PSP)
Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity (PS2)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

Update 3/12:
Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

Update 3/7:
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP)

Initial List:
Blaster Master: Overdrive (WiiWare)
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare)
Last Rebellion (PS3)
Mega Man 10 (WiiWare)

This is going to be a great month for new releases. I already have seven games pre-ordered (though a couple of them won't be released until the 30th and thus I likely won't get my hands on them until April). As usual, I'll list the games I plan to receive this month and update this post as necessary after they arrive and I demo them.

Review - Picross 3D (NDS)

2010-03-27T10:45:00.080-06:00

While Sudoku is perhaps one of the most recognizable number puzzles in this day and age, the award of the most fun type of number puzzle definitely goes to Picross as, while the basic logic formula remains the same, the end result shows off the creativity of the creator as well as the solver rather than having numerous iterations of the numbers 1-9.

The concept of Picross is fairly simple: the person is given a 2D grid with numbers next to each row and column. The numbers indicate how many spaces within that row/column are filled while the rest will remain blank. If a row/column has a set of two or more numbers, that indicates several instances of filled spaces with at least one blank space in between them. The finished puzzle is always a picture of some sort with simple ones being letters or signs while some of the most complex ones I've seen have been panoramic landscapes with grids ranging up to 50+ rows and/or columns.

The 3D approach remains very much the same, just adding another dimension to work with and a few minor tweaks towards the system to compensate for replacing the grid with a cube. Here's the rundown of the game:

DESIGN

Simple and intuitive is the way to go for these games and it definitely presents itself in a way that allows both children and adults to simply jump right in begin playing after creating a game save with a total of four per cartridge. The bottom screen holds the menu options and acts as the play area while solving puzzles and the top houses- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT THING?!

That was my reaction to the game's mascot, a cubic cube creature who isn't named in-game but has been given the name Picasso. Picasso? Cubic? Get it? In any case, get used to seeing Picasso because he's present on the top screen no less than 95% of the time during the entire game. He acts as the game's guide when giving tutorials but, after those, his presence is no longer necessary and, even more fortunately, you quickly begin to stop noticing him when solving puzzles.

In terms of graphics the game continues to remain simple and effective, but also provides a way for the player to select between a fairly large set of custom backgrounds. I never really felt this was necessary since the default background for each puzzle nicely matches up its theme and none of them every really felt like a bother.

GAMEPLAY

I'm not a big fan of all-stylus controls, especially when an alternative could be present, but in this case there wouldn't be a very good alternative during the actual meat of the game: solving the puzzles. The stylus is used to rotate the puzzle and to highlight/eliminate cubes to form the completed image as the player works through the clues. Rotating the puzzle simply requires moving the stylus along the screen while tapping cubes while holding Up on the control pad will destroy them and tapping cubes while holding Right on the control pad will highlight them and prevent them from being destroyed. This is my only real gripe because it's very easy to select the wrong option and destroy the wrong cube, leading to a penalty, especially when rushing a bit to try and not run out of time. An option to customize the controls a little in that aspect would have been a god-send.

Solving the puzzles themselves retains the same basic concept as with the 2D grid, only the numbers are printed directly on the face of the cube along its proper access. Two major changes have been made with the transition to 3D: A cube slicer function has been added to allow the player to take a closer look at the inside faces of the cube that would be impossible to otherwise see when just looking at the outermost surface. These slicers are invaluable once puzzle cubes begin to get larger than sizes like 3x3x3 or more.

The second change deserves its own paragraph since it deals with the logic on how to solve the puzzle. Since only a single number can be placed on a cube face, how will the player know when a row/column is broken up into a set of 2+ filled cubes. To rectify that, the game introduces numbers surrounded by either a circle or a square. A circle means that the number is split up into two groups with at least one blank space between them while a square means that the number is split up into three OR MORE (that part always caught me off guard) groups. For example, an encircled 4 could be broken up into 1-3, 2-2, or 3-1 in a 2D puzzle while an ensquared 4 could well be something like 1-1-1-1, 1-1-2, 1-2-1, or 2-1-1. Figuring these out is often more of a process of elimination from other rows than trying to decipher it directly (there are exceptions of course).

Most of the main game is found in the main "story," a series of puzzle levels in 4 different game modes: Beginner, Easy, Normal, and Hard. Beginner is the tutorial level and explains the game mechanics while the remaining modes have 10 levels with 10 puzzles each and several challenge levels between each regular one. A Random mode becomes unlocked after completing Normal mode as well.

Each regular level in Puzzle mode is broken up the same way: 8 regular puzzles plus a Silver and Gold puzzle that can be unlocked. Each puzzle has a time limit and a 5-strike rule: meaning game over if time expires or the player breaks 5 incorrect cubes that are part of the image. To unlock the Silver and Gold puzzles, the player must collect Stars from solving the regular puzzles: 1 star for completion, 1 star for beating a certain time that's lower than the actual limit, and 1 for finishing without making any mistakes. The frustration of the control problems I mentioned above comes from the fact that completionists who want to get 3 stars on every puzzle will have to start over due to the slip of a hand and, after working on a single puzzle for over 15 minutes, it can get hair-pulling by the end of the game.

Between every pair of levels the player will have to face one of three different types of challenges: A One-Chance Challenge that reduces the 5-strike rule down to 1, a Time Challenge that adds more time as the player destroys more blocks and comes closer to solving the puzzle, and the Construction Challenge which requires solving several small puzzles that will then join together to create one large object. After the player solves a puzzle, it will be added to a diorama-like collection screen with other puzzles of the same theme. Once every puzzle in a theme is solved, the theme is given a name and considered complete. With a total of 369 puzzles to solve in Puzzle mode alone, that provides plenty to do.

Once Puzzle mode is complete, the focus of the game and the majority of the replay value shifts over to the "My Picross" section where the player can download weekly puzzle packs from Nintendo or create their own puzzles to share over Nintendo WFC and even submit to themed contests. Without the pressure of trying to solve these puzzles with a perfect score, the game feels most relaxed when solving these puzzles despite the fact that the time limit, 5-strike rule, and Picasso are still present, but they can always be done at the user's pace.

MUSIC

Like the option to display selected backgrounds, the player has a wide variety of themes to choose when solving the puzzles. These themes range from relaxed, intense, light-hearted, carnival tunes, latin, and even sounds of nature rather than a musical theme. While quantity is high, I can't really vouch for the quality of several themes are they become more distracting rather than helping the player to focus on the puzzle so I would recommend finding a favorite theme and sticking with it or turning the music off completely. As the game progressed, I ended up listening to music off of my CD/MP3 collection rather than the endlessly repeated tracks found in the game itself.

SUMMARY

The simplest thing I have to say is that Picross fans will love this game, despite the jump to 3D because the concept remains as fun as ever with the addition of this little twist. Despite the few nitpicky things I had, I stuck with this one from beginning to end, so much so that it ate into the time I had planned to take a brief hiatus from gaming to catch up on some anime. It's that addictive.

SCORES

DESIGN: 8.5
GAMEPLAY: 9.5
MUSIC: 7.5
REPLAY VALUE: High

FINAL SCORE: 8.5

No Objections Here

2010-03-23T17:44:00.001-06:00

While I'm still hoping for and looking forward to another entry in the Ace Attorney games starring Apollo, this side story starring Miles Edgeworth and taking place a few months after the end of Trials & Tribulations certainly proved itself as a worthy addition to the overall series. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - Hexyz Force (PSP)

2010-03-22T18:25:00.031-06:00

Hexyz Force (PSP)

Definitely cutting it down to the wire for having this arrive from Amazon before the end of May. Needless to say it's been a full month of new games.
I found it interesting that Atlus billed this title as two RPGs in one, mainly because that's what Mana Khemia 2 basically is also.
And, as with Mana Khemia 2, I'll check out the intro to both characters and see which one looks more interesting at first. Of course in the case of a tie Cecilia will win because of my weakness for cute girls.
I'm also wondering what Atlus means by "virtually no load times." Of course there's an installation feature so I assume that will contribute to the speed.
I also hope this isn't another game where the timer continues while the PSP is asleep. Makes it hard to keep an accurate track of how long a run can take.
Watching Cecilia's opening movie I'm reminded of both Lunar and Wild ARMs for some reason.
The battle system looks complex since everything is thrown at you in the tutorials, but it looks like it'll be one that will just take some time to get used to.
The intro to both stories looks to be the same and, while it can't be skipped, at least it's short.
Levant reminds me quite a bit of Cecil from Final Fantasy IV. In short: he's awesome. I'll go with his tale first.
Expect to play. A bit of a tough call, but this will likely jump to the top of my PSP list over Mimana Iyar Chronicle. I just need to finish Picross 3D and get it out of the way first.

Review - 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

2010-03-22T13:57:00.150-06:00

In order to give the rising generation of gamers a glimpse of how many of the classic games from the early NES-era became as well-known as they are, From Software- the creators of Demon's Souls- has created a title with numerous gameplay elements that are callbacks to the early Legend of Zelda games with elements from the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games from the same time period.

Before I begin the actual review I want to comment on how silly it is for people to think that Nintendo should sue From Software (not Atlus, because Atlus only did the US localization) for "stealing" the Zelda game. In reality, Nintendo can do nothing because, while elements are similar, the game isn't utilizing copyrighted characters or material. Not only that, but this is by far not the only Zelda "clone" to ever be made. The two games of the Neutopia series on the TurboGrafx 16 are good examples in their own right but perhaps the greatest would be Gunman's Proof for the Super Famicom. Not only was that game a western-themed Zelda clone, but it utilized the exact same dungeon map graphics as A Link to the Past. And the greatest "but" I have to say is that the original Legend of Zelda is heavily patterned after the Atari 2600 game Adventure (my personal favorite from that console). In short, Nintendo won't and CAN'T sue From over this.

With that little rant out of the way, let's take a look:

STORY

A long time ago, in the 2D kingdom of Dotnia, the evil Demon King Onyx threatened to destroy the world and enshroud him in darkness. As is standard for these tales, a great hero arose and defeated the Demon King and sealing him away inside an Orb of Darkness utilizing the Orb of Light, created from the six Orbs and infused with the power of the six sages. Because the Demon King wasn't truly destroyed, the legendary hero placed his sword in a nearby forest for when it would be needed by a hero in the future.

Because of the hero's great deeds, people from all over flocked to Dotnia to hear tales of the hero, but because time tends to turn stories into legends, and legends into myth, thus causing less and less people to visit the famous kingdom each year. In order to- and I'm not kidding here- revive the tourism industry, the king of Dotnia proposed a radical change to 3D, thus changing the entire face of the land. Oh, and a corrupt bishop named Fuelle wants to steal the Orb of Darkness, make the Demon King's power his own, has caused Princess Iris to disappear, and a new hero is needed to defeat the evil, but the tourism comes first!

While the backstory itself is standard for the games of the 8-bit era, the tourism industry twist is a great example of the kind of humor found throughout the game. While most things are references to past titles, other humorous quirks pop up all over the place while maintaining a good balance within the main story.

CHARACTERS

I won't go into detail over the low number of named NPCs in the game since their roles are immediately known on site. The king is the king, the princess is the princess, the sages are sages, etc. In short, the NPC characters are a good mix of what would be expected in a Dragon Quest game mixed with a Zelda game. But where the real beauty of the characters comes in is in the form of the player's character.

First off, the player character can be either male or female with male's having +1 sword strength while females have a -1 MP cost. Second is that the game offers three classes to choose from: Hero, Royal, and Scholar. The Hero class is a descendant of the previous legendary hero and will end up with more Life than Magic. A Royal is a member of the royal family of Dotnia who is on a journey prior to coming of age and will have an even amount of Life and Magic. And a Scholar is a wanderer known for his/her intellect and of course has a higher amount of Magic than Life. While the player character is stuck with the same name, the player can select a different character when loading a save file.

The real greatness of the Characters in this game is the Editor feature, allowing players to literally create their own hero block by block and allow nearly infinite potential for creativity. Already there are dozens of available characters created by talented people that are references to past games and titles from nearly every age of gaming. It's simply a matter of copying them to the PS3 hard drive and loading them up. That feature alone gives this section a full 10.

DESIGN

One member of my family commented that the game looks like everything is made from Legos, which is actually a really good comparison, but not 100% accurate since everything is made from blocks or dots. This simplifies the graphics of course but that doesn't mean simple is bad. And, as mentioned above, the infinite character potential also allows for infinite character design potential as well.

In terms of graphics outside of the blocky characters, the features used in the overworld map and dungeons provide a very colorful and vibrant display that very nicely compliments what the PS3 is capable of. This is the first game I've gotten to play on an HDMI cable connection and I was just blown away at how awesome everything looked, despite it all being made of blocks.

In terms of design, the overworld map contains every standard location expected from a title like this: plains, beaches, deserts, mountains, canyons, volcanoes and swamps. But what I really have to give the game credit for is the design of the dungeons, or temples as they're called. The temples themselves increase steadily in complexity and puzzles, allowing newcomers to slowly adjust to what veterans had to deal with in the past while throwing in some puzzles that might throw a veteran or two off for a little while as well.

Load times overall are very manageable and the game does have the option to install to the hard drive, but one little extra feature that the game includes is a random "Loading Art" each time the player enters a new section of the map, a house, or a cave and each unlocked art is saved and can be viewed from the pause menu at a later date. As of review time, everyone I know has only been able to unlock 69 of the 100+ artworks and we're currently trying to find out how to obtain the rest.

While I've really had nothing but good things to say about the game's design so far, that's only the tip of the iceberg compared to the numerous references to past games that are scattered all over the place. Characters, events, and even a majority of the loading arts are references to past series that include the Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Ys, Castlevania, Mega Man, and titles from later consoles such as Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and beyond all the way up to Demon's Souls (also made by From, so that's a given really). Recognizing and spotting the references becomes half of the fun after a while.

GAMEPLAY

By far the greatest meat of the game for this title. The standard Zelda-approach is what the game initially appears to be about: kill things with your sword and go to the next dungeon while collecting items to make more areas accessible and are used to unlock secrets. That isn't absolutely everything though.

First off is the game's collection of swords. Each sword has a unique shape and skill set that the player can utilize over the course of the game. Not only that, they can be upgraded as well. Things like length, width, strength, and special ability can be upgraded based on the sword, plus the option to add a spin slash, beam, and even pierce ability to let the sword pass through walls and obstacles. With 24 available swords there are several ways to obtain them: finding them during the course of the story, completing events or mini-games, buying them, or exchanging Small Blocks from the game's version of the Medal King. Swords are at their full potential at full health and many of them can be upgraded to the point of filling the entire screen, making dealing with enemies or picking up normally out-of-reach items much easier.

Sidequests within the game often involve simply talking to people and can result in fetch quests or trading games, but many of them have a strict time limit and are very easily missable, but the rewards are well worth the effort since some of the best items and swords come from them. The three main mini-games include the Dash Circuit: a race around a preset course to beat the best time, Blockout: Which is the game's version of Breakout/Arkanoid and the player must use his sword or shield to keep the ball in play, and Block Defense: a game based on the classic Tower Defense-style game where the player must build towers to prevent waves of enemies from reaching his home base. While these mini-games offer a lot of extra value to playing the game, many people have come to hate them because of their high difficulty, especially Dash Circuit, but all of them can be completed perfectly with practice, patience, and a good strategy.

Aside from the sword and shield, the player's inventory includes standard items such as a bow and arrows, bombs, wire hook to cross gaps, and flame wand to burn down dead trees. Along with those are magic spells that are earned after clearing each temple. These spells will reveal secrets, reflect magic, slow enemies down, freeze the area, cause magic damage, or reveal an enemy's true form. While some are more useful than others, each spell is very useful in various situations and can be great for dealing with sticky situations.

One special item that the player will receive about halfway through the game is the Bestiary. Hitting enemies with this large book a certain number of times will record them in the book to be viewed later. This isn't required, but it does allow a closer view of each monster and boss to see how they're all put together and what items they usually drop.

Consumable items include standard potions to restore health/magic, items to warp to various points on the world map, items to automatically exit a dungeon, and so on. One of the most useful items in the game is the tent, which basically allows the player to camp almost anywhere on the world map and, should the player die, he will revive at that spot. Otherwise the player will revive at the beginning of the dungeon or at the last inn he stayed at. Clever use of revive points can make cutting travel times down very easy.

Most of the game's replay value will come from utilizing different classes and characters throughout the journey, but the game also offers two harder difficulties that can be unlocked. From mode, which is a normal Hard mode, unlocks after simply beating the game and simply adds more enemies that do more damage. The third game mode, Spelunker Mode, can be unlocked during From Mode. In Spelunker mode, the player is dead in one hit (and if anyone else reading this has played Spelunker, don't be surprised that that's the case).

Most of the trophies in the game are easily earned simply by doing everything the game has to offer, while a few others are fairly hidden but very few of them aren't anything that completionists wouldn't go for, thus making the Platinum trophy for this title one of the easier ones to obtain, despite needing at least three runs of the game to earn. Either way, most players will earn around 30+ of the 50 simply by playing while the rest aren't that inconvenient.

MUSIC

Of course I'm never one to complain about instrumental and orchestral style, especially when it follows the mold of each area having the proper music to help set the atmosphere, but in this case it doesn't quite clear the full bar. The main reason for this is because there are several themes (namely the ones in each individual temple) that the player will only hear for a brief period of time while numerous others will be heard numerous times over the course of the game. This is both a good and bad thing since, while the variety of tracks in the score are far better than the three melodies heard over the course of a run of the original Zelda (opening and ending themes don't count), some are just plain better than others. In fact, there are a few themes I didn't like but thankfully they were only heard in the temples, but the opposite holds true too since I liked a few others I did like but won't be hearing again anytime soon.

The real plus about the game's music is that the themes that play during long stretches of gameplay: overworld map, mini-game music, etc. never seem to get old. This is especially true for the Block Defense music since some of the boards in that can take up to an hour to finish.

SUMMARY

3D Dot Game Heroes is definitely a good title to pick up and is even better for those who understand all of the various references the game included throughout the course of the story. The updated classic look of a time-tested gameplay formula, nearly infinite potential for character customization, and high replay value are the game's greatest points and do a wonderful job showing the new gamers why the classics that the game pays homage to are among the greatest titles in gaming history. While those same newcomers won't fully understand every particular reference, they should play this anyway.

SCORES
STORY: 8
CHARACTERS: 10
DESIGN: 10
GAMEPLAY: 9.5
MUSIC: 8.5
REPLAY VALUE: High

FINAL SCORE: 9.2

Fool me Once, Shame on You. Fool me TEN TIMES...

2010-03-16T21:13:00.001-06:00

Continuing the return to his 8-bit roots, Mega Man returns to the WiiWare in his 2nd new-generation title that has a few tweaks that makes some improvements over 9, but actually ended up falling a bit short overall. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

2010-03-15T23:59:00.002-06:00

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

Just in the Wii load menu, Mario's already forgotten which game he's in.
The opening has references to at least three other Mario games alone.
Yep, Peach's IQ has dropped another few points.
Controls remain the same. Gameplay remains fun. Music remains awesome.
And defeating the first boss involves spanking a baby piranha plant.
So Mario obtains a ship that looks like his head. I'll be keeping my eye out for any kind of Majora's Mask reference when approaching any particular planet.
To quote Tom Servo from the MST3K episode, 12 to the Moon, "THERE IS NO STEAM IN A VACUUM!"
Expect to play: I'll say close to, but not at the top of my Wii list. I want to play through Muramasa first.

Initial Impressions - Droplitz (PSN)

2010-03-15T23:59:00.001-06:00

Droplitz (PSN)

This caught my attention on the Playstation Store and instantly reminded me of Pipe Dream, one of my favorites.
It's also a lot like Popcap's Talismania, one that I helped beta test a while back.
Gotta say I'm liking what I'm playing so far. The colorful themes and zen-inducing music really help get into it. I really can't say much more than that.
Expect to play: Definitely a "pick up when I'm in the mood" title.

Initial Impressions - Demon's Souls (PS3)

2010-03-15T23:59:00.000-06:00

Demon's Souls (PS3)

One of the reasons I picked this up was to be able to understand the jokes and references to this in 3D Dot Game Heroes.
Hmm, surprising, there's no data to install on the game.
This is definitely the most detailed character creation system I've seen.
The game's plot with all of the fog immediately reminds me of Persona 4's plot.
Controls are nice and fluid, but I never was a fan of games where the action continues even with the menu open.
You know the game will be hard when the tutorial boss kills you in two hits. Ouch.
Expect to play. I may have trouble getting into this one, so I'll leave it on the backburner until I get more used to it.

Initial Impressions - Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (PS2)

2010-03-15T16:30:00.013-06:00

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (PS2)

The title's already long enough without adding the Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army portion. After all, the Table of Contents column is only so wide.
The title screen definitely jumps into the action of the title. Raidou's literally against the whole army right away.
I should also note that, just from the intro movie and game demo, Raidou completely exudes awesomeness.
The battle system isn't quite what I thought it would be, but I really shouldn't be surprised. I was expecting a full action-RPG range system without entering a battle screen, but the screen is present and it's a free-roam battle in real-time.
Interesting that you just snatch and confine demons to add them to the party rather than negotiate with them.
I've been playing 3D Dot Game Heroes and am too used to using X instead of Square for attack right now.
I like the step-by-step battles to introduce the system as a whole, but I need to get used to the control shift.
Hmm, a smart-alecky black cat for a partner. That's not cliche!
I love how Raidou's senior partner talks about his ability to summon demons as if it was nothing.
Expect to play: It's a tough call since each of these SMT games I've played lately are all uniquely different. Though I think this will come after Digital Devil Saga.

Initial Impressions - 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

2010-03-15T15:39:00.001-06:00

3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

When it comes to PS3 games, I really need to start up the game before I set up the post. That way I'm doing something while data installs/initializes.
Augh! What is with that menu text on the title screen? Is this a secret ploy to get me to play the game only on an HD TV?
I love it when games give trophies for the most basic of things.
So the object of the game is to revive the kingdom's tourism industry.
So far it feels more like an old-school Dragon Quest game instead of Zelda except for the gameplay. Even the "transition" sound between screens is a callback to the first Dragon Quest.
I knew it! I knew there'd be a line that says, "It's dangerous to [go] alone! Take this!"
No! I won't allow any fairy companions!
Sweet. There's an option to revive and re-fight bosses!
Expect to play: This'll likely be my console game of choice for a while.

Initial Impressions - Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PS1)

2010-03-15T10:42:00.017-06:00

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PS1)

Two things I like right off: The character art and the main character being a girl.
This is the only PS1 game I can think of off the top of my head where you can save "anywhere," but I haven't tried it in hostile territory yet.
Have a serial murderer on the loose called the "Joker." Nah, couldn't be.
Hey, the school has a clock tower. Let's go climb it!
I want to play as far as a few battles but... where the heck do I go and who do I talk to?!
One nice thing about this series: the characters that the player and other characters come to hate are the ones who get killed off.
The villain appears. And it's not the Joker, it's Bagman!
Interestingly enough, Maya (the main character) isn't the first to summon her Persona.
I'm glad there isn't much voice acting, it's pretty laughable.
Looks like party member Personas are based on Greek mythology again.
Once again, Philemon is awesome.
The battle system's tweaks will take some getting used to, but watching Maya wield dual pistols makes her even more awesome.
Expect to play: It may be a while since I want to play a different SMT game before this and I still may do Persona 3 first.

Initial Impressions - Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2)

2010-03-15T10:42:00.016-06:00

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2)

It really is a good thing I bought an extra PS2 memory card a few weeks ago, since I still prefer to play 'em on the actual PS2 and not the PS3.
I love how the back of the box puts the notice of Dante's cameo in the bottom corner since it refers to his #2 design and that one's considered the worst by fans. Of course since I haven't actually played any of the DMC games I can legitimately say, "Who?"
In watching the intro movie, not only does the game have Dante, but also an older version of the Architect (a.k.a. Colonel Sanders) from The Matrix: Reloaded.
The main menu has a preview for "Atlus' next game." It felt weird watching the trailer for Digital Devil Saga after playing that before this.
When Yuko said to, "Say my name out loud," I immediately ran to the window and shouted, "MOOOOOONLIIIIIIGHT!!!"
It's been a while since I played an RPG where you get to name everyone instead of just the protagonist. I'll stick with the defaults though.
An overworld map like Persona 1's. At least it's all on one screen.
A cult that owns an artifact called the "Scripture of Miroku." I... got nothing. There are too many obvious Inuyasha jokes.
Have to say, I love how the game sets the right mood and atmosphere at the beginning.
Expect to play: Going to be hard to choose between this and Digital Devil Saga for my next SMT game, and I haven't even tried Devil Summoner yet.

Initial Impressions - Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2)

2010-03-15T10:42:00.014-06:00

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2)

This is the one game of the recent SMT ones I bought where I really have no idea what to expect. The back of the box had nothing but some art.
First thing I notice in the into movie: "Hey, there's a tower! Let's go climb it!"
The unidentified object in the opening movie looks like one of the seed pods from Blue Seed. Or maybe Zophar?
Is it really a good idea to have a silent protagonist as a military leader?
Apparently, it's game over if the main character dies because "a leader can't be replaced."
It's nice of the game to provide an explanation of how the cause of the anomaly that turned everyone into demons is also responsible for random items and equipment being scattered around the world.
Area exploration is done basically the same way as Persona 4. Oh, and the party members use guns. Lots of guns.
Battle system is a normal turn-based system with the option for the characters to take human or demon form. This is going to be awesome!
Expect to play: Currently undecided since I haven't tried out any of the other PS2 SMT games I recently bought yet. This needs to be better than both Nocturne and Devil Summoner to come out on top- if I decide not to play Persona 3 first overall too.

Initial Impressions - Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (NDS)

2010-03-15T10:42:00.013-06:00

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (NDS)

I'll start off by saying that I have never seen John Carpenter's "The Thing" so I am unable to provide any jokes based on it since the game takes place in Antarctica.
However the "Land of Ruin" idea and the opening along the snowy plains may lead to some Final Fantasy VI comparisons.
Hmm, the main character is an American in this one. So much for using the name I normally do in SMT games where the MC is Japanese.
From the briefing on the Demonica suit I feel like the system is going to be a mix of Final Fantasy II (or the SaGa games) with Metroid.
On the personality quiz, answering based on my personality gave me "technical support," but since I prefer speed over anything else I reloaded until I got the speed support.
Murphy's Law of JRPGs #1: There is no getting from Point A to Point B without some kind of interference or sub-quest.
Murphy's Law of JRPGs #2: The main character is always on the only ship in a convoy or army that manages to survive a major attack.
Oh, the "Land of Ruin" is called the Scwarzwekt. Spaceballs jokes, anyone?
So far the battle system reminds me of Persona 1's, but with some slight differences. Of course the most major being complete turn-based rather than the grid.
Oh, thank God for auto-maps. I always get dang lost in 1st-person games without 'em. Even then that's still no guarantee.
Expect to play: This didn't catch my attention as much as Devil Survivor when I tried it out, so I'll likely be playing that first.

Initial Impressions - Super Street Fighter IV (360)

2010-03-15T10:42:00.012-06:00

Super Street Fighter IV (360)

I was thrown off of Street Fighter fandom for quite a while thanks to the Gamecube version of Capcom vs. SNK 2 when all but one of the Capcom roster was from Street Fighter. Thought I'd give this a chance since I'm liking Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.
Trippy opening, though too bad it didn't feature more of the additional characters. How many pervs out there were hoping Ibuki would be nude after escaping from Guy?
Working on training with Ryu since he was always my default character. I like how the flow of combat is much smoother than before (from the SNES era anyway) but I'm quickly learning that the XBox controller is not very ideal for combat.
Being a fan of Linkara I have to shout, "I am a man!" when using Ryu's Ultra Shoryuken.
I'm still familiar with most of the cast, though there are some I never got to use since it's been dang long since I purchased a game in the series. They should be fun to learn how to use.
Expect to play: Like DoA4 I mostly bought this to play with friends, but I'll likely pop this one in more often since more people are likely to be on Live for it.

Initial Impressions - Dead or Alive 4 (360)

2010-03-15T10:42:00.010-06:00

Dead or Alive 4 (360)

I actually weighed on getting this or not for a while because, even though I like the franchise, the characters, and the system, the T&A aspect has always been a bit of a turn-off. After all, I own Arcana Heart, Record of Agarest War, and even one of the Oneechanbara games and this is the first one I've gotten that makes me feel dirty (at least in terms of the girls, Oneechanbara has too much blood for my taste).
Wow, the Team Ninja logo is located in the final stage of Touhou: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.
One thing I always did like about these games is the Exercise option in Training in order to practice moves. Saves a lot of time vs. having to open up a Command List every 5 seconds.
Going to take a lot of practice since I never did play much of the game before. In fact, I lost a fighting game tournament featuring this, Guilty Gear X2, and Smash Bros. Melee because I got the buttons mixed up on the controller.
Expect to play: I mostly bought this to play with friends, but I'll pick it up now and then.

Initial Impressions - BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable (PSP)

2010-03-15T10:42:00.009-06:00

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable (PSP)

I mainly got this because it's easier to play fighting games for short periods of time (while waiting to meet up with friends) than RPGs. This is despite the fact that I haven't touched my PS3 copy in a while and don't even remember if the openings are the same.
My biggest concern over this is of course load times.
It looks like my concerns for load times are pretty unfounded. Even with no option to install data on the PSP's memory, this has got to be the best load times I've seen for a PSP fighting game.
I still need to take time to adjust to the controls and get used to this system, but so far I love playing as Ragna and Taokaka.
The Legion game isn't quite what I expected, but I don't plan on playing it much compared to the other modes.
Expect to play: While I'm out and about with the PSP in hand and passing time.

Insultingly Easy Compared to the Original

2010-03-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

Taking its cue from a list of several NES remakes, Konami has jumped on the wagon and given us a remake of one of the earlier titles in the Castlevania series, not the original (as that was already done on Playstation), but from the first Game Boy entry called Castlevania: The Adventure. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - Record of Agarest War (XBox 360)

2010-03-11T19:05:00.002-07:00

Record of Agarest War (XBox 360)

I bought the "Really Naughty" limited edition thinking that that came with the soundtrack CD. I didn't really want the oppad and pillowcase. Now that I actually have it I wouldn't be surprised if the regular edition also came with the CD. At least the SE box is fanservicey.
I started listening to the soundtrack CD going to and from work today, and I'm liking it. Hopefully the rest of the game will be just as enjoyable.
Compile Heart might want to change the style of its intro movies. I'm already feeling more like I'm playing Cross Edge again. I even noticed several overworld map similarities in the manual alone.
Looks like the best thing to do when going for the full run of the game will be to play through on Hard again, too.
Some people have said that the battle system will take some getting used to. Since I have played Cross Edge (as this system borrows a bit from it and others I've seen recently) I'm fitting right in.
Though I do have to say that this is the first SRPG I can think of where moving and acting are done in different phases.
Expect to Play: Overall, I feel like I have an advantage in playing this, but I may hold off on it for a while since I did just come off Cross Edge and want to do other titles first. But in terms of a game that uses this kind of AP system, it's near the top.

Initial Impressions - Picross 3D (NDS)

2010-03-11T18:49:00.001-07:00

Picross 3D (NDS)

Ah, Picross. I can thank my brother for getting me hooked on this kind of puzzle way back on the first release of Mario's Picross for Game Boy. I ended up playing through all of Mario's Super Picross and ALL EIGHT Picross games on the SNES before they were released in the US as part of Picross DS a few years ago.
I hope the puzzles aren't all-stylus controls. But so long as the blocks are large enough, it shouldn't be a problem otherwise.
First off, what is that THING that acts as the guide in the tutorials?
The same basics as ever apply to solving the puzzles so I think I'll get into this very easily.
Sure enough it's already happening.
The only thing I'm worried about is the occasional accidental strike when I meant to clear another block.
The bonus star system is definitely a good incentive to do well.
...
Well, I started playing 3 hours ago, so I think I'll be focusing on this for a while.
Expect to play: Great to pick up and play while waiting for things to happen.

Review - Chime (XBLA)

2010-03-11T08:22:00.003-07:00

This is yet another title that I'm sure I never would have heard of at all if not for an online reviewer. When I saw Paw's review of the title, that certainly caught my attention, though it still took a while before I actually bought and downloaded the game. When I finally did, the first thing that came to mind after playing was, "Why did I wait so long?"

This one's going to be a bit short, mainly because I won't need a lot of words to cover everything.

DESIGN

The design itself is definitely simple enough for anyone to be able to pick up, play, and have everything figured out after playing just a few levels without actually needing to read the manual, but it's handy to have on hand for a few of the finer details that aren't fully apparent.

While there are only five songs/levels in the game, all five steadily increase in difficulty in terms of speed and level layout, plus color schemes and background effects- all of which are very visually pleasing. Each level also has a different array of pieces to use, but only two are unique to one level each (and you'll be glad they are because they're almost worthless).

In terms of Achievements the game has a very sensible set to total 200 Gamer Points and many of them are easily obtained simply through playing the game. In fact, because over half of the proceeds from purchasing the game goes to charity, one of the Achievements, worth 50 Points, is given to the player simply for purchasing and playing the game as a means of thanking him. There is one that requires the player to meet the challenge of getting at least 100% coverage on every level in the 3-Minute game mode, but that one is glitched. You must, MUST, get the 100% coverage and move on to the next stage with time to spare because hitting 100% just as time expires will keep you from earning the Achievement even if you replay the level! I had to erase my save data and start over to get it, so that was a bit of an annoyance.

GAMEPLAY

Each level in the game consists of a 2D grid with a "beat line" that travels across the screen in time to the music passing over the grid as time progresses. The object of the game is to take the pieces that are given and create quads, 4-sided shapes, that are no smaller than 3x3 squares to cover the grid. When a quad is initially formed, it will begin filling up with color and is considered "in play" until it is fully filled. While a quad is in play more pieces can be added to the edges to make it as large as possible until it is fully filled without further increasing in size. After a quad is out of play, it remains on the board until the beat line passes over and removes it. Once a quad is remove, the area it covered changes color, gets added to the total percentage of level coverage, and the area re-opens for more piece placement. When the player achieves 100% coverage, the level ends. If the player is on Timed Mode (with either 3, 6, or 9 minutes) he'll be granted a time bonus and the next stage (played on the same level) will begin with whatever time is still remaining while the level ends entirely on Free Mode (ie: non-Timed Mode). At least 50% coverage is required to unlock the next stage and a stage has to be played at least once on Timed Mode to unlock it on Free Mode.

While the above paragraph covers the basic premise of the game's engine, there are a few other bonuses and one major setback that can help or hinder progress. As the player forms more and more quads, he'll increase the Score Multiplier by 1, earning more and more points. However, if there is a piece that was used in a quad, but not perfectly, the unused parts of that piece will remain on the board after the quad is removed. Any and all unused pieces can be used to form more quads, but if they're left alone and remain unused after a certain number of passes of the beat line, they'll all disappear from the board but the Score Multiplier will be reset back to 1. On the plus side, as the player earns more coverage over the course of the level in Timed Mode, Coverage Bonuses will be rewarded and grant more time, allowing for the player to choose one of two solid strategies: Focus on maintaining a high Score Multiplier while sacrificing fast coverage or focus on covering the stage as fast as possible while risking keeping a low Multiplier. Clearing a single level's stages multiple times adds a higher and higher bonus each time the player hits 100% coverage so I personally found it better to utilize the fast coverage strategy, especially since the max Score Multiplier is 35x.

My one beef with playing the game may not be the result of the game itself, but rather with how overly sensitive the controls feel at times. Trying to do quick, perfectly precise piece placements takes plenty of practice. However, there are times when just brushing the control pad or analog stick will move the piece just one space off and ruin the entire placement. This is very frustrating when that causes the player to fail a level entirely.

MUSIC

On their own, the songs used in the game aren't nearly as catchy as they are when it comes to how well they're integrated into the gameplay. Because of the seemingly random nature of how each song becomes remixed due to the placement of the pieces and quads on the board, it's hard to describe in words what makes it so enjoyable. In short, it's the music that acts as the capstone to make the game as fun as it is. Despite the limited selection of songs, they're all catchy and my personal favorite remains the song in Level 1.

SUMMARY

If you like music and puzzle games, get this. That's all.

SCORES
DESIGN: 9
GAMEPLAY: 9
MUSIC: 9.5
REPLAY VALUE: Very High

FINAL SCORE: 9.2

Does Dr. Wily Really Have Nothing Better to Do?

2010-02-28T20:20:00.003-07:00

While a bit late after its release but just in time prior to the first release of the next in the series, Mega Man has returned to his 8-bit roots in a fantastic return to the basics that made the series great... if you can get past the complete idiocy that the game passes off as a plot. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - February 2010

2010-02-28T18:29:00.002-07:00

I've decided to change how I do these Initial Impressions posts, mainly because months that have a lot of new releases that I plan to get don't release them all at the same time. For February it's basically been one new game a week and, because I spent a good deal of it focused on Mana Khemia 2, I decided to wait until completing it before touching the new additions. So here are the ones I have now with more to be added later.

UPDATE: Last Rebellion won't arrive until Tuesday so I'll put it in the March list.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (NDS)
Endless Ocean: Blue World (Wii)
Shiren the Wanderer (Wii)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope International (PS3)

Please Nudity!

2010-02-27T19:06:00.001-07:00

One year after the events of Please Teacher! we get this sequel/spin-off series taking place in the same location but with new characters who are the focus of the main plot, plus more nudity in a single episode than in the entire predecessor series combined! What's a guy to do when two different girls comes knocking at his door, both of them claiming to be his long-lost twin sister? Full review here.

Review - Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2)

2010-02-27T13:36:00.023-07:00

Although I recently obtained several of the Shin Megami Tensei games including this, the PSP remake of the original Persona, Persona 3 FES and Devil Survivor, I honestly had no idea that the SMT games even existed until stumbling onto a discussion of hard RPGs on a GameFAQs message board (and I don't even remember what game it was for). I did a little research and became dang surprised at how many games had been released for the series (and those were the US releases) and I'd never noticed. I was still a bit hesitant to pick any up because I'm very selective on what M-rated games I buy, as a lot of ones I've gotten in the past overdo it on the blood/gore without much of a fun factor in the actual game. Some friends who played the Persona games said I had nothing to worry about other than a few thematic/occult elements and the dark tone of the series, so I picked up 3 and this with the intention of playing through #3 first. I still hadn't really done more than an Initial Impression-style demo play of each (before I started the blog even) before I bought Persona PSP and Devil Survivor. Despite my plans to play the games in order, I suddenly developed the desire to play through this one a few weeks ago. I immediately said good-bye to all my free time, with previously planned projects getting preempted because of how hooked I became.

STORY

For the sake of simplicity, I'll stick with the main character's name in the official manga: Souji Seta.

When Souji's parents are sent overseas for work, they send him to live with his uncle and cousin in the rural town of Inaba and to attend his second year of high school. Before he leaves, he has a dream where he's taken into the Velvet Room, a strange world that changes its appearance based on whoever enters it, and meets Igor, a man who tells him that he will meet with an entangling mystery over the course of the next year and that he has the capability to solve it, or else misfortune will befall the world.

When Souji arrives in Inaba he meets his uncle Ryotaro, a detective, and cousin Nanako Dojima, a little girl in elementary school. On their way home, the family stops at a gas station where the attendant gives Souji a brief introduction to the town, but after shaking her hand, he begins feeling ill and has a strange dream that night wherein a mysterious figure inside of an area enshrouded in fog taunts him to try and find the truth. The next morning, Souji attends his first day at school and becomes acquainted with a few of his classmates, all of whom try to help him get accustomed to rural living. Before they leave school, an announcement from the faculty office tells all of the students to head straight home. While walking home, Souji passes by a police investigation site and soon learns that a local news announcer had been murdered the previous night and whose body had been hung on a rooftop antenna, but the police had no leads on a suspect nor could they even determine the cause of death.

The next day Souji meets Yosuke Hanamura, another city boy who moved to Inaba when his father was assigned to manage the local Junes, a chain store very similar to Wal-Mart but much larger. Yosuke and another classmate, Chie Satonaka, take him to the Junes food court for a bit of a welcoming party where they meet Saki Konishi, a third-year student at the school and ultimately the discoverer of the murdered announcer. The three also discuss the rumor of the Midnight Channel, an urban legend wherein the viewer's soulmate would appear on a powered-off TV at midnight on a rainy night. The three agree to try it out that night. When Souji indeed sees a blurry image on the TV, he also begins to hear a voice inside of his head, prompting him to touch the screen. When he does, his hand travels into the screen but the TV is ultimately too small for him to jump inside completely.

Of course Yosuke and Chie don't believe his report the next day, but plot convenience leads them to go to the electronics department at Junes where they're selling wide screen TVs. After the initial panic of seeing Souji being able to stick his hand, then his head, into the screen, all three fall through the screen and land inside of a mysterious world enshrouded in a thick fog. While looking for an exit the three stumble onto an empty room that ends up connecting back to the first murder victim. Because it was a dead end, the three return to where they started and encounter a strange bear-creature who shoves them through the exit before they can ask any questions. Back in the real world, Souji again watches the Midnight Channel and sees Saki Konishi's image on screen. The next morning everyone learns that she too has been murdered.

Yosuke feels that the murders and the TV world are connected, so he drafts Souji into taking him back inside the TV to try and learn more about Saki's murder. Upon entering the TV world they meet up with the bear-like creature again, who turns out to be nothing more than a hollow shell of a stuffed suit, but has consciousness and is named Teddie. Teddie explains that people from outside have been showing up and, when the fog lifts inside the TV world (and it becomes foggy in the real world), the Shadows in that world go berserk and kill the outsiders. Not only that, but outsider's minds will create a reality inside of the TV world based on where they enter (as different TVs lead to different areas). When the team moves to investigate the area where Saki had arrived, Shadows burst out of a vortex and completely ignore Yosuke, but attack Souji. He again hears the strange voice, which tells him "The time has come," and, in his only actual spoken line of dialogue in the entire game, Souji whispers the word, "Persona..." summoning a reflection of his inner self, Izanagi.

With Izanagi's help, Souji defeats the Shadows and the team continues investigation, wherein they're able to learn more about Saki's inner feelings about her life and the people around her. At this same time, a person who looks exactly like Yosuke appears. This Shadow Yosuke, as he's called, reveals all of Yosuke's inner thoughts and feelings that he'd deny even to himself, prompting him to shout, "You're not me!" At this point, the Shadow Yosuke goes berserk, prompting Souji to fight and defeat it. Yosuke has no choice but to accept his other self and the Shadow Yosuke becomes Yosuke's Persona, Jiraya. After these events, the two are able to determine that the murderer is killing people by throwing them into the TV world, leaving them to be killed by their Shadow selves when the fog lifts, and the next victim may well be their own classmate! They decide to form an investigation team in order to find the murderer and to rescue potential victims because only they can do so. All this in Souji's first week in Inaba!

While the game definitely throws quite a bit at the player to establish the plot right away, it does a wonderful job in keeping things paced to cover the course of an entire school year and the various school-related events while covering the main story like a well-written mystery novel. The characters piece the case together bit-by-bit as they manage to uncover more clues, find new leads, and recruit new allies to the team. At this same time, Souji meets and forms bonds of friendship with people around town in order to strengthen his ties to Inaba and have the added benefit of making his numerous Persona stronger as well. The story is a great mix of plot elements, school events, and social events that are mostly at the player's discretion on how to proceed. Of course there are time limits involved in rescuing potential victims, but if the player misses the deadline there's the option to turn back the clock a week and try again. The difference between the good and bad endings in this game mainly deal with tracking down and apprehending the true killer at the end of the year.

CHARACTERS

When I started writing the review I immediately wondered which section would take longer: this or the initial Story summary. We're about to find out.

Because Souji is the traditional silent protagonist, his personality is dictated entirely by the actions and choices made by the player during in-game events as well as when meeting up with numerous other characters in the game to form Social Links (S.Links) that create bonds of friendship with those people as well as strengthen the various Personas that Souji creates and summons. Nearly all of the major cast in the game connects to one of Souji's S.Links and each one represents one of the major Arcanas of the tarot.

The characters who become party members have extra benefits to their S.Links in that ranking them up will also unlock combat abilities that greatly enhance their usefulness in battle and some people suggest focusing on their S.Links first, but it's still possible to spread them out as evenly as all the others (except for Naoto, who only has a month-long window of opportunity) and still get them all.

Yosuke Hanamura of the Magician Arcana is the first to join the party and acts as the unofficial second in command for the investigation team and often formulates new ideas and theories based on the current knowledge the team has about the case. Like Souji, he grew up in a larger city. He finds life in rural Inaba boring and has been hoping for something exciting to happen since he arrived. Because he's the son of the manager at Junes, employees often try to use him to earn special favors/discounts while other town residents blame him and his family for Junes "cheating" locally-owned stores in the shopping district out of business. One of his initial claims for becoming involved in the case is because of his feelings for Saki Konishi, the second murder victim. He's often a source of comic relief as well.

Chie Satonaka of the Chariot Arcana is also initially involved in the group's first encounter with the TV world, but doesn't fully join the party until she receives her Persona during the first rescue mission to save her best friend. Chie is a big fan of kung fu movies and utilizes martial arts in battle, but can't really be considered a full tomboy. She longs to be more feminine, but isn't afraid of it either so she has no problem wearing girls' clothes like various other tomboy characters from other games/series. Her masculine side and strength are further highlighted in the fact that her favorite food is steak, Inaba's local specialty and, while others claim it's tough, she finds it tender. She's energetic and friendly, but has a very short temper and is but one of the game's terrible cooks.

Teddie, the mysterious bear-like creature who lives in the TV world, is of the Star Arcana and simply seeks to realize who he is. He's someone innocent and naive, but quickly casts shadows of doubt on himself as he continually wonders if he even exists. He begins the game as the main support in battle, highlighting enemy data and keeping track of weaknesses, but soon becomes playable in the active battle party when he begins finding answers to his questions and obtains a Persona. At this same time, he's also able to enter the real world and take on the appearance of a young man in order to blend in and stick with the investigation team. He fancies himself a ladykiller in that he's always flirting with the girls, but he isn't always successful.

Yukiko Amagi of the Priestess Arcana is the heiress of the town's biggest tourist hot spot, the Amagi Inn. She is also the first kidnapping victim to be rescued by the investigation team and she joins up with them shortly thereafter. She feels conflicted in the decision of inheriting the inn being made for her and secretly longs for a prince to rescue her and take her away from Inaba. She is very polite, but has the tendency to space out, hear things the wrong way, or even burst out into uncontrollable fits of laughter at times. She's very popular at school, even to the point of all of the guys taking the "Amagi Challenge" in order to ask her out in hopes of not being flat-out rejected.

Kanji Tatsumi of the Emperor Arcana can easily be considered as a misunderstood delinquent. While people quickly judge and label him as being part of a gang, they fail to understand that he once took on a whole gang during middle school and the reason for his behaving the way he does is to appear tough so people don't judge him because of his hobbies. Since his family runs a textile shop, Kanji himself is very skilled at sewing and handicrafts, something he was teased a lot about as a kid and causing him to want to appear tough to end that, though he still has problems in that many people assume he's gay (something he's still trying to find the answer to). He's one of the kidnapping victims who the team rescues and is actually one year behind the rest of the team so he treats his senpais with respect so long as he's keeping his temper in check. Kanji is also responsible for some of the best one-liners in the game, whether he knows it or not.

Rise Kujikawa of the Lovers Arcana is actually the teen idol Risette and appears during a commercial at the beginning of the opening movie. She moved to Inaba to live with her grandmother after becoming very burned out and feeling very depressed that the world was not seeing the "real" her, only the facade that being Risette put in front of her. Despite that, she remains very popular with her fans but doesn't realize it right away. While she is one of the kidnapping victims rescued by the investigation team, she does not join the active party but rather replaces Teddie as the supporting member in battle with those abilities becoming more and more evolved as her S.Link rank increases. Despite being on break from show business, Rise remains very charismatic, outgoing, and is the only one to ever openly flirt with her senpai, Souji.

Naoto Shirogane of the Fortune Arcana is the final party member to join the team and is known as the "Detective Prince" for becoming a detective at such a young age and is soon called in to help the Inaba police solve the incident. However, Naoto's secret is the fact that "he" is really a she. She dressed up like a boy in order for the other detectives to take her seriously, despite the fact that she is very skilled in her work. She intentionally becomes a kidnapping victim in order to help the investigation team learn more about the case and joins the party after facing her Shadow. She is very formal and proper while trying to bury a child-like attitude, but there are times when she loses it. She can definitely be considered the most shy character in the game and tries to avoid appearing too feminine, despite being popular with both the guys and girls at school.

The trouble with a cast like this is that I can't flat-out name the antagonists of the game without spoiling the "Whodunnit?" question of the mystery, so I'll just mix them in with the rest without saying anything else.

Most of the rest of the major cast members are ones with whom Souji can form a Social Link with, starting with his family. His uncle Ryotaro Dojima of the Hierophant Arcana is a detective in Inaba's police force and also a widower; he seeks to find the answer to the question of who killed his wife in a hit-and-run but also uses it as an excuse to shy away from being a father. Nanako Dojima of the Justice Arcana is Souji's cousin who quickly looks up to him as a big brother because of how well he and his friends treat her; she's worried about being neglected by her father and spends a lot of time watching TV and longing to be able to spend time as a family, often just by going to Junes. Several major elements of the plot revolve around the Dojimas late in the game.

Early in the game Souji gains the opportunity to join at least one sports club and at least one culture club, representing the Strength and Sun Arcanas respectively. Kou Ichijo represents the basketball club and is actually the adopted heir to a large family's business but faces an identity crisis when a legitimate heir is born into the family. Daisuke Nagase of the soccer club is normally incredibly gung ho about doing his best and trying his hardest, but the pain of loss as the result of a break-up with his girlfriend from middle school has left him fearful of not being good enough even when trying his hardest. Yumi Ozama of the drama club is a very talented actress but loses heart in it after she learns that her father, who abandoned her and who she's vowed to never forgive, is slowly dying and wishes to see her. And Ayane Matsunaga of the music club is a first-year student who longs for the self-confidence and skill to become a full participant in one of the band's performances, despite not being to do what she originally wanted when she joined the club. Finally, there are two other students at school that Souji can form S.Links with. The first is Ai Ebihara of the Moon Arcana, a bit of a delinquent girl who comes from a rich family and becomes obsessed with looking pretty because of the hard time she had from being bullied when she was fat as a kid, but also quickly learns that looks alone aren't enough. Second is Naoki Konishi of the Hanged Man Arcana, Saki's younger brother who feels isolated because of the special treatment he's receiving due to his sister's death and simply wants someone to accept him for who he is rather than out of pity.

Other major characters include various people whom Souji meets as the result of working or interacting with people around town. First is Eri Minami of the Temperance Arcana, a stepmother of a little boy in daycare who fears that she won't be able to truly love her stepson, especially when her husband didn't tell her about him until right before they were married. At the hospital is Sayoko Uehara of the Devil Arcana, a very flirtatious nurse who longs to find meaning in why she became a nurse especially after she learns of the death of one of her previous patients and overworks herself into exhaustion afterwards. Through working at the hospital Souji also meets Hisano Kuroda of the Death Arcana, an old widow who claims to be Death incarnate due to the circumstances that led to the death of her husband after he lost his memory of their time together. Souji can also work as a tutor for Shu Nakajima of the Tower Arcana, a bright young man who is a top student and his mother's pride and joy but who feels boxed in with no real freedom as long as remaining on top is his only goal. At the local shrine, Souji meets a mysterious Fox who works with Souji to help grant people's wishes and to help bolster faith in the shrine; with the Fox itself acting as the Hermit Arcana and who will support the investigation team inside the dungeons. Finally there's Margaret of the Empress Arcana, Igor's assistant who helps Souji learn more about his abilities and himself by completing her challenges to fuse certain Personas with special abilities (and growing closer to her in the process).

The remaining major characters have no S.Links attached to them but, for one reason or another have strong ties to the story and are worth mentioning. The first is Igor, the mysterious keeper of the Velvet room who acts as a guide in helping Souji fulfill his "contract" to see his mission in overcoming the mystery through. Tohru Adachi, a rookie detective and Ryotaro's junior partner, often spills information useful for the investigation team and also works alongside them every so often. Kinshiro Morooka and Noriko Kashiwagi are both teachers at the school with whom Souji has a lot of contact with, but both of them are very unpopular with the students because of their tendency to badmouth some or all of their classmates; Morooka even has the nickname of "King Moron." Mitsuo Kubo is a student from another but unknown school who suddenly appears at the beginning to attempt to ask Yukiko on a date; an event that causes him to later be thought of being connected with the murder case. Finally there's Taro Namatame, a local man who was having an affair with the first murder victim and who was initially suspected, but had a solid alibi to prove his innocence; despite that he becomes very heavily involved with the investigation late in the game.

The remaining supporting cast comes in the form of several other students and teachers at school plus various NPCs around town who often ask Souji for favors or give him advice on various tasks within the game. Most of them aren't even named so there isn't much point in going over them.

The nice thing about the cast overall is that basically all of them would be people someone could meet in real life. Their real-world problems and dilemmas are what shape their characters and it would be entirely possible to meet and befriend any of them and learn of their situations. The fact that so much thought was given to the characters through their S.Links and/or their involvement with the plot is a testament to show that even "minor" characters, or even NPCs, have a personal history, conflicts, personality, and how they've evolved from the days of saying the same thing such as, "There are many guards in the castle," over the course of the entire game.

I'd like to say that I have no problems at all with the cast... but there is one glaring exception. To quote The Spoony One, "Teddie, I would like to set you on fire and send you straight to hell... I would like to stave your head in with a crowbar." Even for mascot characters, Teddie becomes one of the most annoying things to ever appear in an RPG. While he does have a few moments where he redeems himself a little bit, they don't make up for the three things about him that make me want to beat him with a battle axe every time he appears on screen. 1. Despite being voiced by Dave Wittenberg (who did an AWESOME Kefka in Dissidia), Teddie has got a voice that sounds more appropriate for a 4Kids dubbed anime; it ramps up his annoying factor ten-fold. 2. He's got the attitude of a bad comedian who thinks he's funny because he always laughs at his own jokes; most of which consist only of bad puns that involve the word "bear." 3. So long as he's in his bear costume, he does not blend in whatsoever and sticks out like a sore, bloody, pus-filled thumb. This is most ap-bear-ent when he joins the active party and you're running around dungeons having to listen to his squeaking shoes from beginning to end. I have yet to meet anyone outside of the game who likes, or even tolerates Teddie.

Going back to the voice work (outside of Teddie's), it is definitely one of the best dub tracks I can recall hearing in an RPG as well. With great voices like Johnny Yong Bosch, Laura Bailey, and several others PLUS a great directing job, the game is full of well-voiced moments that leave a lasting impact either both in terms or humor or drama. Some very memorable performances include Troy Baker as Kanji (especially whenever he's in a panic) and Melissa Fahn as Yumi (her voice alone being responsible for one of the most tear-jerking moments in the entire S.Link system).

DESIGN

Finally, a relatively short section.

Along with my usual comments of how the character designs fit their personalities and are nicely distinct, I have one other thing to say about this game's design: everything about it feels very realistic. Most of the characters are people who you wouldn't be surprised to encounter in real-life, the dungeons inside the TVs don't stretch one's suspension of disbelief to the breaking point, and every character's Shadow version of themselves are very symbolic of what they were trying to repress, proving that the designers put a lot of thought and effort into basically every detail.

The menu and exploration systems are very intuitive, but one problem I have with the menu system deals more with the list of skills rather than the menu itself because figuring out which skills do what is like learning a new language. Fortunately that problem is almost entirely solved thanks to the help menu that provides the skill's description. The reason the problem isn't solved entirely is because of skills like Auto-Tsukukaja that says, "Automatically activates Tsukukaja at the start of battle," but doesn't remind the player of what Tsukukaja does.

The shop system isn't entirely status quo, either. While most items can be bought in the pharmacy using a traditional RPG shop system, others can only be obtained one-at-a-time from vending machines or small cafes (which gets old fast when stocking up on a lot). The weapon/armor shop is slightly different as well in that new inventory only gets added after selling materials dropped by monsters in dungeons to the shopkeeper. When enough materials are in his possession, he'll add the new weapon/armor/accessory to the list and it will never disappear.

Exploring the town is quick and easy. While the city map is a simple select menu, interior areas are fully explorable to allow for speaking with NPCs or party members. One very handy feature is the "quick travel" menu that opens up by pushing Square. This doesn't cover every single location, but it is very handy for getting back to the city map from places like the school roof.

Dungeon exploration is done in randomized maps (which I usually hate) but they're never so large as to present a real problem. Some floors in some dungeons are static, but the map still needs to be re-drawn whenever the dungeon is reset (either by leaving the TV world or entering another dungeon). Treasures are also scattered about each floor and a mini-map/radar in the corner of the screen makes it easy to keep track of everything. Red chests can be opened freely while gold chests require Chest Keys to open.

Other than the confusing skill names, I really can't find anything to say against the design of this game.

GAMEPLAY

The game throws a lot at the player but, thankfully, it's very easy to fall into the groove in learning how to do it all.

First up is the battle system: a simple turn-based engine wherein the attack order is determined by the character's agility stat. A character can attack, defend (which will block against weaknesses and status defects once as well as reduce damage), use Persona abilities (which use either HP or SP), analyze an enemy's attributes, use items, signal for Teddie/Rise to look for a chance to escape or (Souji only) switch Personas. The twist on the traditional system is almost entirely involved with hitting a character or monster's weak point. If a weakness is exploited, the affected character gets knocked down and the attacker gets another turn. Once party member S.Links are at a high enough level, they may offer to handle the follow-up attack and, if all enemies are knocked down, the entire available party will unleash an All-Out Attack against all of the enemies (which is dang hilarious to watch). The player also has the option to take direct control of the party members other than Souji or let them act according to their AI. The one thing that I (and many other fans of the game) hate about this battle system is the automatic Game Over if Souji's HP hits 0. While the game's Beginner Mode gives the player a set of "Continue" items, it's still frustrating to see it happen, especially if a monster lands a lucky instant kill attack.

As Personas gain experience and level up, they'll learn new skills. But because each Persona can only remember a maximum of eight skills, it isn't long before new ones will replace old ones. While a lot of the new ones become more powerful versions of earlier skills, there are a few cases where trying to decide which skills to keep can be a tricky decision. This adds to the customization factor of the game immensely. Souji is the only character who gains exp. separately from his equipped Persona. His stats are determined by the Persona, but his HP, SP, and what level of Persona he can create through Persona Fusion are determined by his current level.

Exploring dungeons and initiating battle are both straightforward as well. The player will progress through each floor and open chests while the Shadows are represented by crawling blobs or floating orbs on the map with larger ones being more difficult, flashing ones being rarer enemies, and gold ones being special enemies that yield a nice amount of yen. If the player is able to whack a Shadow from behind, the Player team will get a free turn in battle, but the Shadow can also do the same and gain the same kind of advantage as well. The player also has the option to exit the dungeon and return to the highest-number floor that he's reached when re-entering later on. While it's difficult to stay inside of a dungeon for long periods of time early on, it gets easier as the game progresses and if the player spends time to level up the Hermit S.Link (which will cause the Fox to refill the party's SP for a lower price for each level). By the end of my first run, I spent a LOT more money on Persona fusion than healing from the Fox.

Speaking of Persona Fusion, that's next. While Souji is able to carry a maximum of 12 Personas (upon reaching Level 30), he's able to register his Personas inside the Velvet Room with their current level and ability in order to be re-summoned later (for a price) should he decide to dismiss the current one of that particular Persona but will need it again later. He's also able to fuse 2-3 Personas together to create a new, often more powerful one of a different Arcana with inherited skills from the ones used in the fusions. As S.Links for each particular Arcana get to higher levels, a new Persona for that Arcana will earn a higher exp. boost upon fusion, allowing for around 5 level-ups at a Max S.Link Rank.

After rescuing Rise, Igor gives him the ability to fuse even more Personas but all of the 4-6 range are set "recipes" and all of them are unique. There are a few 2-Persona fusions that are unique but most of them can only be done when the S.Link for that Arcana is maxed out. Persona Fusion is a great way to create higher ranks of Personas for a particular Arcana, or even to create one of that Arcana for a particular S.Link when trying to level it up. Margaret will also give discounts on summoning registered Personas as the compendium becomes filled.

Outside of battle, most of the non-story event time will be spent strengthening S.Links, completing quests at the behest of various people, and/or building Souji's personal characteristics through numerous tasks. Many of these become dependent on each other to some degree. Most of these activities will take up the Day/Evening times and finish the day, so planning ahead and making the best available use of the time is key to maxing everything out in one run.

S.Links need to be initiated before they can be leveled and these can be done by talking to certain people, taking on certain jobs, joining a particular club, or even initially automatically as the story progresses. Some of these require a certain characteristic level to initiate while others require those certain levels to advance beyond a certain point. Hence why it's important to balance out S.Links and character building. S.Link ranks basically require a certain number of "points" to advance. These points can be earned by making correct choices during each S.Link event, doing outside events where that person is involved (such as lunch or hanging out), or by going to bed and dreaming of that person (completely random). Once the Hermit S.Link is maxed out, the shrine opens up to allow Souji to pray to become closer to a select person. Doing so uses up the time, but it's great for rainy days.

The reason for wanting to have a Persona of a particular Arcana when meeting up with the matching S.Link is because that will grant a point bonus during the S.Link events and make it easier to rank up with that S.Link each time rather than spending a full afternoon/evening just "thinking your bond with that person is about to grow larger." Some S.Links have a limited window of opportunity, so maxing them quickly and early is key.

Souji has five different characteristics that he can raise over the course of the year and all of them will affect him in one way or another. The first, Knowledge, is basically how much he knows and affects how well he does on tests or can help answer others' questions; it's raised through studying, answering questions correctly in class, reading certain books, or eating certain meals at Chinese Restaurant Aiya in the shopping district (the Rainy Day special is expensive, but it's a God-send for raising several of these things). Courage allows Souji to face dangerous tasks head-on as well as have the nerve to ask a girl for a date; it's raised by working at the hospital, reading books, standing up for someone, taking a bold stance, eating expired leftovers in the fridge, or eating certain meals at Aiya. Understanding allows Souji to relate to people and hear them out about their problems; it's raised via working at the daycare center, folding origami cranes, giving answers that have others' feelings in mind, reading certain books, or eating certain meals at Aiya. Diligence basically determines how hard Souji will work at certain tasks and mostly affects how many times he can cast a line when fishing (once per level); it's raised by attending the sports clubs, making envelopes or building models, and eating certain meals at Aiya. Expression, the final characteristic, basically goes hand-in-hand with understanding in allowing Souji to express himself in ways that allow people to come to trust him; it's raised by attending the culture clubs, working as a translator, playing with the cat outside of the Dojima house, and giving the correct answer to a classmate during school.

As the game progresses, Souji can talk to various NPCs around town and accept (usually) fetch quests and bring them certain requested items. Most of these items can only be obtained by defeating certain enemies in dungeons, but thankfully, most of these items become a guaranteed drop while the quest is active. The rewards from these quests are often rare items but the quests are completely optional and several are prerequisites to others, but most don't have a time limit other than the end of the game.

Daytime events that will pass the time include S.Links, entering and exiting the TV, eating at Aiya, playing with the cat ouside of Dojima's, fishing, praying at the shrine or working part-time at the daycare center. Nighttime events that will end the day include S.Links, fishing or working outside of the house, working at the work table, reading on the sofa, watching the Midnight Channel, studying at the desk, eating leftovers in the fridge, making lunch, or just going to sleep. All of these activities often have some benefit so it's best left to the player on what needs the current focus based on play style.

As you can see, the game offers a LOT to do and, thankfully, enough time to get it all done. It's entirely possible to max out all of the available S.Links in a single run, but it's not easy. Most of the game's replay value comes in the form of just taking a completely different approach in playing through it, but there are a few unique aspects only found in a New Game+, which is why at least two runs are required to 100% the game. Other than the "Game over if Souji falls unconscious" rule, the gameplay is top-notch.

MUSIC

I'm normally not a big fan of J-Pop and Techno, but I love catchy beats and that's what most of the tracks in the game are full of. One of the reasons I tend to love orchestral tracks in games is because they're often full of exciting, energetic tunes that draw the player into the action. In this case, the sheer energy of the beats and the great variety of dungeon themes is what keeps them from getting old despite the length of the game. Even when battles would drag, I never got sick of the main battle theme despite never being able to fully figure out the lyrics. Even though the music in the game won't make me an overall fan of the genre, it's still all stuck in my head days later (which is a good thing).

SUMMARY

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is definitely the best game I've played within the past year. While not perfect, it offers everything that an RPG fan can enjoy. And while playing this first may affect how I look at the other Persona games, I know full well that those ones had to come first in order for this one to make the necessary improvements in order to become the great experience it is. Unless you're afraid of being offended by some of the game's dark/occult themes, there's no real reason not to buy and play this. I'm already well into my second run of the game in order to take care of everything that can only be done in a New Game+ and am having just as much fun, if not more, than on the first cycle. While I did mention a few nitpicky aspects, most of them weren't major enough to negatively affect the score for that section.

SCORES

STORY: 10
CHARACTERS: 9.5
DESIGN: 9.5
GAMEPLAY: 9.5
MUSIC: 10
REPLAY VALUE: Very High

FINAL SCORE: 9.7

Review - Cross Edge (PS3)

2010-02-26T10:07:00.009-07:00

I first learned about this game while playing through Ar tonelico courtesy of an AT wiki that featured artwork of how the returning characters appear in Cross Edge (or X-Edge as it's titled in Japan). Once I learned that the game is a crossover RPG, I prayed for a US release as it would give me the perfect excuse to buy a PS3. Long story short, it all happened, but while the game itself was my primary reason for getting a PS3, it took a long time to really get into it courtesy of an enormous learning curve and a few other flaws that have turned a lot of people away from it. But was it really that bad? Let's take a look:

STORY

The story begins with the two main characters, York Neely and Miko Aiba, regaining consciousness after a sudden blackout while walking home from school. They find themselves in a mysterious landscape and quickly come under attack by monsters, but are aided by the arrival of Morrigan Aensland of Darkstalkers, who has no memory of herself other than her name. The team soon meets up with a little girl named May, who explains that they've been brought to a special world that consists of layers that resemble the various worlds that all of the characters come from: one layer for fantasy, one for demon worlds like Makai, and one for the modern-day world. May tells them that the only way they can return home is by helping her to release Souls that have been summoned into the world before they're completely consumed by it as the world itself feeds on Souls to sustain itself. As the team searches for souls and gains several new members, they slowly begin to unravel the mystery of the world while all those who lost their memories begin to remember who they are, bit by bit.

At this same time, the denizens of the world, led by a group of young triplets, the oldest of whom, Vivi, communicates directly with the entity known only as the Empyreal One, who lets them know that the release of Souls will destroy their world and them with it. The triplets assign their followers, known as the Twelve Knights and led by a knight named Judas, to destroy the heroes in order to- what they believe- save their world. This adds to the good points of the story in that it's told very much from both sides of the coin and helps establish the characters by explaining their motives and points of view.

The story as a whole is very event-driven, literally. The story progresses in the game by finding event points on the map and entering them, and while the story itself is an interesting twist on an old cliche, the pacing is what slows it down. Most of the story is just "find Souls as pieces fall together with 90% of everything being revealed in the last couple of areas." Most of the rest of the time, the story events are just times in which the team fights against the latest of the Twelve Knights sent to defeat them. The other problem with the pacing is that the gameplay may require a bit of grinding between each story point, making it easy to forget what's connecting what.

By the end, it was the character interaction held my interest more than the story, but I felt that the True Ending (more on that in Design) was very heartwarming and that recovered a bit of the lost score.

CHARACTERS

Definitely where the game really shines because it's an excellent mix of quality, quantity, and an excellent choice of characters from each franchise. I won't go into a full character study of everyone simply because there are too many (and I've already covered some of them in reviews of their original games), but I'll give an overview from each franchise.

All of the original characters make up for about half of the total cast so I'll begin with them. York is the typical high school punk who hasn't quite grown out of puberty and very easily picks a fight, but he can be relied on because he never breaks a promise. Miko is York's voice of reason and revealed to be a key element of the plot based on some supernatural powers she had as a child but repressed out of fear. Their friend Troy is stoic and very skilled, but has a hard time expressing any emotion, rather acting on instinct.

The main original antagonists come in the form of the triplets with Vivi, the only boy, being the oldest but very timid and often on the receiving end of his sisters' shouting but he is respected because he's the only one who can contact the Empyreal One. Cece, the middle, is cruel and sadistic but very quiet and is basically in charge of the Twelve Knights. Mimi, the youngest, is the standard spoiled brat who may also be the most cruel and vocal when it comes to not getting her way. Judas, the leader of the Twelve Knights, is emotionless but very noble in upholding his ideals and ultimately proves to be very respectful. Lazarus, a gun user similar to York, becomes York's rival and prove to be very easygoing yet lecherous. Augustine, the standard psycho of the group who wishes to drink his opponent's blood is powerful but very cowardly in that he only attacks after the team is worn out from a different fight. Raizen (who may or may not be original in here, I'm not 100% sure) is an aging swordsman who lets his blade direct his path while retaining his personal honor. Finally there's Anesha, a young woman who ends up realizing the importance of following her own heart rather than just taking orders (she's hot, too).

From Darkstalkers we have Morrigan, succubus princess who constantly flirts with the guys and behaves just as one would expect. Second if Felicia, the catwoman pop star who loves to play with Prinnies by scratching them up. Lilith, Morrigan's other half and still very innocent despite being a powerful succubus, begins as an antagonist but can join the team if certain events are met. Dimitri is a powerful vampire who remains emotionless but who relishes in the defeating a powerful opponent to drink their blood for the pleasure of it all, can also join if criteria are met. Finally there's Kuja- I mean, Jedah, a demon who excels at manipulating others and speaking in terms as if everything was part of a great, unfolding drama and the characters involved are the actors.

From the Atelier games we have Marlone, who only goes by Marie in this game, the unfortunate alchemist-in-training who has the record of the lowest GPA ever at her academy but ultimately proves to be the most useful character in the game as a whole. She's joined by Razeluxe, Liliane and Whim of Mana Khemia 2. Raze remains stoic and detached, but continues to be a reliable servant. Lily is as lovestruck as ever but her fantasizing out loud remains as funny as ever while poor Whim tries to be her voice of reason (often saying too much). Reicher, also from Mana Khemia 2, joins the Twelve Knights but doesn't have much to do with them as he gladly decides to do his own thing.

From Disgaea we have Etna, Overlord of her realm and who is responsible for some of the funniest events in the game when she narrates a TV episode-like preview of a fictional show featuring the cast as per the first Disgaea, but remains cold and cruel to her subordinates while suffering from her incredible flat-chest complex (and having Morrigan around doesn't help). She's joined by a lone Prinny, who bemoans his fate despite the fact that it's always his fault. And while he isn't the only Prinny in the game, he's the only one who can be considered a party member.

Ar tonelico gives us most of the remaining cast as it is the franchise with the largest number of characters. Lyner, whose being a complete dense idiot is put aside for him being his warrior self to protect everyone; Aurica, whose healing magic is essential in the early game and whose cooking is as scary as ever; Misha, who retains her fear of heights and yearning to be free; Shurelia, whose Song magic is just as powerful as ever while her sense of direction only gets worse; Ayatane, who plays an integral part towards oneo the major plot points near the end of the game while he retains his degree of kindness; and Bourd, who remains loud, obnoxious and power-hungry even though he's among the group that lost his memory.

Last of all is the Soul series, featuring Meu, a fairly air-headed swordswoman who, like Shurelia, has no sense of direction and tends to get lost but is skilled in battle and is an unusual case since she tells everyone that she's actually older than she appears in this world. She's joined by Zelos, a very cold, gun-wielding mercenary who is short-tempered but loves a good fight.

While I can't cite every particular example that I liked, I can definitely say that the character interaction is the funniest part of the game. Whether it be Lily and Whim getting lost and thinking they're stranded right behind the main camp to Meu volunteering to find a lost Shurelia, or even the numerous times where Marie's medicine brings one of the guys to near-death (her final body count is 14, by the way), there are events that will make you laugh and only these characters could make it happen.

The final interesting thing about the cast is how they completely throw away the 4th Wall during the post-game content. While the interaction during the main story was hilarious, I laughed far harder during post-game events, even though there aren't nearly as many. When the characters know and exploit the fact that they're inside a game, poking fun at each other and their own franchises, you can tell that the writers were having a lot of fun. I do have to feel sorry for Judas though because he's one of the most awesome characters in the main story but gets a major downgrade in post-game.

As always when given the option, I stuck with the Japanese voices and felt that the actors did a dang good job. However I have to give the most kudos to Dimitri's actor. I honestly have to say that he has the best vampire voice I have ever heard in any language. If you want a voice that is emotionless yet full of charisma and power, listen to his. As for the English voices... I ran away and never looked back after I saw some trailer videos, but I've heard that Morrigan's did a great job, so I'll give the English voices a chance in my next run. Since the audio language option can be changed at almost any time, there isn't anything to force the player to stick with one or the other.

DESIGN

This is another one of those games where people complain about how the graphics aren't cutting edge (no title pun intended) and don't push the envelope of the PS3 hardward. Once again I just have to say, "So what?" While the game's graphics engine would probably run just fine on a PS2, they still look nice enough to be considered good, character intricacies are reflected in both their 3D sprites and 2D portraits during conversations that keeps things both simple and colorful.

Monster designs contain a good range of diversity, but probably not quite enough. While they come in all shapes and sizes, don't be surprised to travel between one or two worlds before running into the next palette-swapped version of the giant bees or skeleton knights. Even a lot of boss monsters are just palette-swapped versions of regular enemies.

The world designs and graphics contain the same low-key simplicity as the characters, but the backgrounds during battle scenes are what I keep thinking of upon reflection of the game's presentation. While they aren't exactly teeming with life and movement, they give the player a good sense of what it feels like to be fighting at the base of a volcano in Makai, or the forests of a fantasy world, and so on.

After the graphics and character designs, the game design can be summed up in two words: VERY UNINTUITIVE!

For the most part, anyway. The overworld and dungeon maps are the exception to this rule because the overworld map is just the character icon running from Point A to Point B, searching for Souls, Events, and Towns while facing the occasional battle while the in-game dungeons between each world are more like 2D platforming levels with random encounters and treasure chests.

With those out of the way I can explain where most of the game's difficult learning curve comes in to play. The fact that the game utilizes almost every aspect of the PS3 controller in several areas, in and out of battle, without a solid explanation requires some patience in figuring out where everything is and what does what. The greatest offender is the equipment menu because a character must equip weapons/armor/accessories, battle skills, and active skills in battle. While this alone isn't bad, the fact that it's entirely possible to change an equipped weapon, forget to enter a battle with any battle skills equipped, and end up being completely useless for that battle is what will happen likely more than once before the player gets used to it.

Other offenders include having to navigate within the equipment lists by pressing square or triangle to see who can equip what or even what an item is as opposed to it being displayed on screen, or the idea that the option to sort the items in a particular list is separated from simply viewing/using items rather than a built-in function are some other little things that irk people. While tutorials help present everything in the beginning, getting used to it becomes the annoying part that hurts more than anything.

The final part of the design that kills the game a little more is the ridiculous requirements to obtain the game's true ending. Oh they aren't too bad in theory, but keeping track of them and making sure to get them all over the course of a long game like this is what's painful, especially since ONE SINGLE MISSED EVENT will screw up the whole thing and lock the player out of the true ending route. Most of them are simply finding special events during the course of the game, but the other problem is that several True End events also take place in boss battles in the form of defeating the boss before time runs out, defeating the boss's minions but not the boss itself, defeating one boss but not the other in the same fight, etc. The other problem that all of these have in common is that almost NONE of them contain any hints of who to kill and who not to kill in the game itself. This makes it basically impossible to obtain the True End without a guide, and even then it still requires making sure to get everything perfect.

The greatest rewards of getting the True End are the unlocking of most of the post-game content (the final area of post-game content can only be unlocked on Hard) and being able to recruit every single character in the game. While the challenges are nice for the hardcore players who want to take on giant dragons that are 400 levels above the party, not everyone will think the rewards are worth it.

GAMEPLAY

While the rest of the huge learning curve comes in the form of getting used to the battle system, it's actually pretty fun once you get used to it. Battle themselves are turn-based between Player Phases and Enemy Phases while all of the actions between characters are dictated by Ability Points (AP). AP are required to attack, change position, switch characters, or even use items so conserving it is often part of the strategy. Character sides are placed on 4x4 grids facing each other with placement location and weapon ranges determine whether or not an attack will hit, making character placement another part of strategy. AP will recharge each round and characters can accumulate up to 2x their max, so it's often wise to store it up after that first round.

Sounds simple enough, right? We're just getting started.

The only thing to worry about during enemy phases is survival, but the really nice thing is that the player can push L2 to skip attack animations and speed up each battle that much more (it can be done with player animations too, but I don't recommend it until you're able to input combos rock-solidly). When the Player Phase begins, the player can begin to take action without worrying about a time limit and there are no costs other than AP to take action, but once the player begins attacking is where the learning curve really kicks in. After the player takes a first shot against an enemy, a countdown timer begins in the upper-right corner to indicate how long the player has to make another attack before the combo officially ends. During this time the player attack with the same character or switch characters to attack the same enemy. Set attack patterns can lead the characters to team up and unleash Branch Combos, and more are unlocked as the game progresses by collecting special items. These combos help pile on the damage more than anything and are thus essential to learn. Keeping track of who has what skills to unleash which combo is the most tricky part.

As enemies take damage, based on what kind of attack they're hit with, they can suffer from Guard Break to break their defense or Overbreak which destroys their defense almost completely and the attacker(s) who hit(s) for the Overbreak shot will get an AP boost, allowing the combo to go on longer. When an enemy's HP reaches 0, its defense is completely destroyed and it can take up to another Max HP worth of damage to achieve Overkill, which grants an exp. boost and guarantees an item drop. Overkilling enemies is essential to obtaining the hundreds of unique items that most enemies drop and these items are required for item synthesis.

As battles progress and the player is on both the giving and receiving end of damage, the party can earn a buildup of Skill Points (SP) to be used for EX attacks. Characters learn these attacks via leveling up and, if certain groups (usually characters from the same franchise) unleash EX skills in a row, they can unleash an ultimate EX combo. SP are also handy in that accumulating them in battle will also trigger innate skills that characters learn, also via leveling up, that increase various stats and parameters so long as the party has enough SP in reserve.

Earning a battle will grant the player a Rank between S and H, with S being the highest (usually earned by winning the battle in one round). The rank will determine the percentage of battle rewards based on the party's level compared to the enemy's, never dipping below 80%. If the enemy is significantly higher level than the party, it's easily possible to earn %1000 rewards. These rewards range from EXP to gain levels, Gold for money, Bonus Points (BP) to distribute to boost character stats, Equipment Points (EP) for item upgrades, and Technical Points (TP) that can be used in one of the shops or to conduct large-scale searches from towns. All I can say is, practice with the battle system, it's complex but it's fun.

Outside of battle the game remains fairly simple but incredibly huge thanks to the customization system. In towns the player can buy items, verify titles, earn costumes, and revive KO'd party members. The titles and costumes aren't self-explanatory so here they are: Titles are earned by meeting certain conditions: defeating enemies, surviving battles, having certain items on hand, and several other odds and ends with many of them coinciding with trophy requirements. Costumes are bonus equipment for the characters that will give various stat boosts and, in the case of the girls, change the outfits their character portraits are wearing (they continue to look the same in battle) and are, along with the hot spring events, the source of the game's fan service. The costumes are earned by releasing Souls and watching optional events. But all of the above options are a drop in the bucket compared to the Customization Room and the services that Marie offers in there.

Like in many Gust games, Marie is able to synthesize all kinds of new items and equipment if she has the recipe (bought or earned from chests, titles and story events). There's a small chance she'll mess up and create a random item (usually something far less powerful) so it's a good idea to save often when doing a lot of synthesis.

But even that's not all, using EP she can upgrade equipment to be more effective from Level 1 to Level 5, and even once something is at level 5, she can convert it to either an item used in a later synthesis (the only way to earn those kinds) or an Active Skill that can be attached to a piece of equipment so long as it has an available slot. Active Skills range from stat boosts to cutting AP costs and are often attached to various accessories, but several pieces of armor have them as well, so keep an eye out. EP is plentiful later in the game so don't be afraid to do a lot of upgrading while you can.

That still isn't all Marie can do, either. Each piece of equipment has an attribute called Grade. So long as the item has Grade left, Marie can composite other items onto it for various other stat boosts on that particular item. The compositing can be reset to get the Grade back, but the items that were used are lost forever so either choose wisely or composite something that can easily be obtained. As the game progresses, especially without the DLC, synthesizing, compositing and upgrading are the keys to maintaining good equipment. And that's why I say Marie is the overall most useful character in the entire game.

Finally, the game presents itself in three difficulty levels, Easy, Normal and Hard. While all of the best rewards are earned on and the best New Game+ carryovers come from Hard, I highly HIGHLY suggest playing on Easy or Normal to get used to the game mechanics before attempting Hard, especially without any of the DLC.

To paraphrase LordKat: Yeah, you're gonna grind... A LOT.

The reason I mention the game's DLC is because there are several free and paid bonus packs available on Playstation Network that will unlock extra content and some bonus dungeons. Some of these content packages include superior weapons, armor and costumes while the bonus dungeons have a higher encounter rate of rare enemies that give a lot of exp. If you're willing to do more than one run of the game, I'd recommend doing one run on the lower difficulties without shooting for True End to enjoy at your own pace and then a second run on Hard and aiming for True End with as much or little of the DLC as desired. Most of the replay value comes from this and the post-game content, but you'll know full well whether or not you'd want to replay this after one run. I plan to do one more myself (and being able to fast-forward through text in Events by pushing Square will speed that up too).

MUSIC

For the most part, the game's music can be summed up as a mix of light metal and synthesized orchestral, so expect to hear a lot of electric guitars. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. Each world's overworld map and dungeon have unique themes that help the designs set them apart from the others while the battle and boss themes remain consistent throughout the game. The battle theme is interesting in that it's both a good and bad example of a good battle theme. For about 2/3 of the game it's a nice, high-tempo heavy-guitar theme that gets the blood pumping, then suddenly changes to something far more mellow and slow tempo.

This is a bit hard to put into words, but the music is actually better in-game than listening to it separately. When I got my hands on and listened to the OST (before playing through the game), I didn't really care for it all too much, but when I heard it again while playing the actual game, I was pretty surprised at how nicely it added to the experience. Thus the two worked quite well in tandem while the score itself on its own is adequate at best.

SUMMARY

This game certainly isn't for everyone, mainly due to the learning curve and the fact that a good number of the character interaction jokes require understanding of the characters and games they come from to fully enjoy. Hardcore fans of the franchises will enjoy this more than casual gamers and, even then, it's probably better to rent before buying just to make sure you have the persistence and willingness to see the whole game through. In the end I can basically say, if you stick with it, it'll get better.

SCORES

STORY: 7.5
CHARACTERS: 10
DESIGN: 6
GAMEPLAY: 8
MUSIC: 7.5
REPLAY VALUE: Medium

FINAL SCORE: 7.8

Please Fanservice!

2010-02-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Out of the last 5 animes I watched, only the Nadesico TV series was one I really enjoyed as a whole. Thankfully the streak of disappointment has finally come to an end. Take one adult in a high school student's body, have him meet an alien woman who becomes his teacher, and place him in events that end up with them getting married, and you've got a great premise for Please Teacher. Full review here.

Initial Impressions - Infinite Space (NDS)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.027-07:00

Infinite Space (NDS)

Yet another one that I bought because it caught my attention but didn't really know what quite to expect.
"Nude Maker" game developer? Won't that give some people the wrong impression?
Interesting anime-style opening. Yuri's dream of flying to outer space literally falls right into his hands through SHEER DUMB LUCK!
This is an interesting battle system. It's not quite turn-based, but not quite real-time either. All I can say is that it's different.
Thankfully it's possible to entirely skip all of the command and confirmation dialogue every time you attack or defeat an enemy. That would get old fast otherwise.
Expect to play: No clue. I've already got a good backlog of DS games that caught my attention.

Initial Impressions - Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity (PS2)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.026-07:00

Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity (PS2)

I wonder how many young teens bought this game just for the picture of the statue of a nude woman on the front cover of the manual.
Nicely animated intro movie.
I'll probably just play the tutorial to get a feel for the battle system. It feels similar to Final Fantasy Tactics with unit placement and the grid system.
Out of the 3 PS2 SRPGS I bought recently, this one feels the most intuitive, and that's a plus.
Expect to okay: Currently a toss-up between this and Makai Kingdom. When I decide on one it'll depend on if I'm in the mood for something serious or silly.

Initial Impressions - Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome (PS2)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.025-07:00

Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome (PS2)

Yet another NISA SRPG. I keep buying them even though I have yet to actually beat one; NISA SRPGs, that is. I've already beaten several regular ones.
This is already proving to be superior than other of these games: you can skip the tutorials.
It was a bit of a shock to see the characters go from fighting game-style sprites to SRPG sprites once the battle begun.
Looks like Chaos Wars drew heavily from this battle system more than Phantom Brave's. At least the load times aren't pathetically bad.
Interesting. They kept the English voices for battle no matter what the language setting is.
Zetta's already cracking me up. He brags about being an Overlord, but he's got the charisma of a slug when he's at a loss for words.
Expect to play: Out of the recent SRPGs I bought for PS2, this may be the first. Of course I still have Stella Deus left, so it's still not set in stone.

Initial Impressions - La Pucelle: Tactics (PS2)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.024-07:00

La Pucelle: Tactics (PS2)

So the Maiden of Light according to the intro montage is a magical girl. Definitely heavily-themed in anime.
I can already see everyone who sees the main character saying, "This idiot is the Maiden of Light?" Standard JRPG heroine.
I'm liking the sprites in this so far. They're very nicely animated.
Exploring the town is like a combination of Valkyrie Profile and Disgaea.
The battle system is also very heavily like Disgaea's, with the major exception being Dark Portals (that can spawn more monsters) instead of geo cubes.
What's also nice is allies who gang up on enemies will gain exp. even if they don't get to attack.
Expect to play: Tough call given how many PS2 SRPGs I already have.

Initial Impressions - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.023-07:00

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

I'm actually not planning on doing much with this right now since I just want to get a brief feel for how this one begins.
The main reason is I want to make sure I get hooked on #1 and beat it first without letting this one get ahead (as is what happened with the Magna Carta games).
The loading screen icon doubles as a great compass. I'd get perfect circles every time.
This one has a Very Easy option. No doubt the developers foresaw people my skill level trying to play it.
This is the first game I've ever seen that has Twitter connected to it.
All I'll say about the start is that Drake is not having a good day.
Expect to play: Sometime after I finish #1 of course.

Initial Impressions - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.022-07:00

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)

Yet another title that plenty of people had told me to get, but I've been skeptical on ones like this for a while, ever since I kept getting burned by the lousy Indiana Jones games that took the same approach ever since the end of the point-and-click era that concluded with Fate of Atlantis.
Oh, and not only that, I tend to suck at games like this too.
The above point nearly got proven completely when I nearly died in the first chapter on Easy. A lot of practice will be in order.
The game itself has a very nice presentation to get things rolling right away. Graphics, voices, and music are all top notch. I feel like I'm watching a good adventure movie so far.
I stopped at the beginning of chapter 2 and waited for about a minute before I noticed that I was back in control after the cutscene.
Expect to play: Even though I suck at games like this, I'm interested in the story more than anything right now. It's really a toss-up between this and Heaven's Sword for now.

Initial Impressions - Heavenly Sword (PS3)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.021-07:00

Heavenly Sword (PS3)

I'd been moving back and forth between getting this one or not for a while now, and decided I may as well go for it since Gamestop was having a half-off sale for select new games, including this.
Ah yes, more game data installation. Maybe I should have gotten lunch while it did that (I took a break between Resonance of Fate and this to get some).
So the game begins with the final battle. Sounds short.
So I take my first look at Nariko in-game and... GAH!
According to her introductory monologue, like Guts, HER MOTHER WAS A CORPSE!
I love taking on whole armies single-handedly though.
Expect to play: This'll be a good one to play off-and-on when I feel like it, especially since it is pretty short from what I've heard.

Initial Impressions - Resonance of Fate (PS3)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.020-07:00

Resonance of Fate (Ps3)

I swear, the guy with the hat in the intro movie looks familiar. Not quite Sgt. Slaughter though.
The downside to starting out new PS3 games is often having to wait for installations to finish, especially if I never know if they'll even do that to begin with.
The opening movie: providing personal callbacks to Final Fantasy IX, Superman, and Peter Pan.
I guess the "and several months" is important to include in the "One year later" piece of info.
Crap. I hate it when I can't read the text on my fairly small TV. Might have to play this one on the bigscreen upstairs.
Hmm, haven't seen the option to change the on-screen character in any game for a while.
Also nice to see how interactions change based on the on-screen character too.
This battle system... will take getting used to.
The music is once again a very nice draw.
Expect to play: Fairly close to the top of my PS3 list for RPGs.

Initial Impressions - Spectral Souls (PSP)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.019-07:00

Spectral Souls (PSP)

I got this for basically one reason: Meu. She also appears in Cross Edge and didn't know that this game existed while I was working on playing the games I could obtain that had characters appearing in it.
Unfortunately I've also heard that this is a very, very poor port. The developers ported it directly from PS2 to PSP without optimizing it for the PSP's processor. That means lots and LOTS of load times. And most other reviewers have said that killed the game for them. Looks like patience will be the key.
Interesting intro movie. Not because of the character montage, but because the song sounds like a mix of a rock anthem and an American Indian chant.
The opening movie that tells the backstory has much more appropriate music, and not just because it's orchestral.
The Neverland Wars? Peter Pan must be devastated!
Battle maps are the standard SRPG grid system, but I can definitely see how this game inspired Cross Edge's system. So long as a character still has AP he can keep attacking and creating combos.
The music is nicely pumping too.
Unfortunately I can see how people have begun to get tired of the load times from early on. There's always a "Disc Access" message even between pieces of conversation. BUT it still isn't as bad as the PSP port of Mana Khemia.
Expect to play: Sometime after Lunar.

Initial Impressions - Fragile Dreams: Farewell Spirits of the Moon (Wii)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.017-07:00

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Spirits of the Moon (Wii)

This game caught my attention on via a preview video on gametrailers.com a while back, then I forgot about it completely until I saw it available for release earlier this month (it had apparently been delayed once or twice).
Despite that, this one isn't the only one in this batch of new ones where I'm not 100% sure what I'm about to be playing.
Haven't even gone past the title screen and I'm already hooked on the music.
Dual-language audio options! W00t!
Controls feel very much like Metroid Prime 3's, fairly intuitive to adjust to (and the WiiMote is much better than using the DS's touch screen and stylus to look around from a 1st or 3rd-person view).
We have heroine fan service shot already within the opening movie!
I can't help but feel like comparing this to kind of a mix between Zelda and Metroid, since that's the best I can do.
Not a bad start. I feel like I won't regret buying this one.
Expect to play: Not quite at the top of my Wii list, but it may be right after Muramasa.

Initial Impressions - Cave Story (WiiWare)

2010-02-24T19:51:00.010-07:00

Cave Story (WiiWare)

Starts off with a catchy tune in the Wii menu, but it cuts off just as it's really getting good.
I should also say that I never got the chance to play the original. For some reason it never worked on my computer, so this is my first time out on this one.
It looks like there's room for quite a bit of expansion in turns of unlockables given how large the menu is. I wouldn't be surprised if beating the regular game unlocks them.
I'm liking how smoothly the game controls so far, though it'll take a while to get used to using Down intead of Up to inspect objects/enter doors.
So our hero's first action is to break into a sleeping hermit's house and steal his gun!
ATTACK OF THE GIANT SUITCASE! Wait... isn't that a B-movie title?
Had to force myself to stop after getting into Arthur's house. I may end up liking this quite a bit.
Expect to play: Definitely off-and-on when I'm in the mood, especially since it looks like it'll have a lot of replay value.

Initial Impressions - Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (PS2)

2010-02-24T16:12:00.008-07:00

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (PS2)

The first thing I wonder upon looking at the characters and the artbook: Did Kosuke Fujishima have a hand in the character design? Their combat uniforms make me recall Raine and Anise's from Tales of Symphonia/Abyss. A little research reveals that indeed he did. Awesome!
I also love the pic of Gemini as a mermaid in the art book as it makes her look exactly like an anime version of Ariel. Anyway, on to the actual GAME now.
Ironically as I was watching the opening I couldn't recall Sakura Shinguji's family name. Good thing she's the first character the hero meets. I'm vaguely familiar with the series (courtesy of an old RP group) but this is the first time I've played one of the actual games.
Kayama's ukelele is going to get old fast.
I was hoping to experience some of the combat, but after two save points, an hour of play, and no battle in sight, I decided to stop there for now.
Expect to play: I just started Persona 4 so that's at the top of my PS2 list right now, but this will likely push its way into a back-up option if I need a break.

Initial Impressions - Mimana Iyar Chronicle (PSP)

2010-02-24T16:12:00.006-07:00

Mimana Iyar Chronicle (PSP)

Yet another game that caught my attention simply through the anime-style character design. That's been happening since the days of the PS1, actually. That's how I found all of Lunar, Grandia, and Legend of Legaia.
Looking at the back of the box, I'm already seeing some similarity between the cast of Rune Soldier and this. Even if the job classes aren't the same, it's one lucky guy surrounded by cute gals. To recover seven jewels... 7th Saga? Zelda? So many potential comparisons. Maybe I've just played too many games in my life.
Super fast company logo presentations followed by a jump to the title screen.
I'll start the game once I get tired of the title screen's theme. I'm a sucker for piano and violin.
"The Blue Star above us?" This game takes place on Lunar!
Interesting that I mentioned those three games at the top of the list because the gal in the opening reminds me of Liete from Grandia now.
I'm glad I put my headphones on to enjoy the title screen. The opening music and voices sound that much better as well.
The "click" sound effect gets in the way of the music and surprisingly good voice acting, but thankfully it can be turned down without decreasing the volume of one or both of the other two.
The battle system can definitely be considered a mix of the ones from Star Ocean and Tales games, but with the control always set to Manual. It's going to be a nice change of pace. The battle load time, however... (At least on the first battle in an area. It gets better.)
I'm glad I got the version with the soundtrack CD as I'll be listening to it A LOT. I absolutely love this score.
Expect to play: This just jumped to the top of my PSP list.

Initial Impressions - Chime (XBLA)

2010-02-24T16:12:00.004-07:00

Chime (XBLA)

Hey, a 50-point achievement just for entering the main menu! Actually because 60% of the money spent on this game goes to charity, that's just the developer's way of saying thanks.
A lot of people have said this game is a mix between Tetris and Lumines. But, believe it or not, I'm not really a big fan of Lumines as it hasn't really clicked with me yet, but I wanted to give this a chance because I love puzzle games in general.
The added touch of it being a music-based puzzle game also caught my attention.
The game very much reminds me of an old Game Boy game called Daedalian Opus, which was simply to correctly place all of the shapes into a grid to make them fit perfectly.
I'll say this right now: I'm hooked. I couldn't believe how quickly I got absorbed into just the first level. The music and the gameplay basically intertwine into a single entity and play off each other to create something new. I'm going to like this. But if I don't stop now, I may be playing all night.
Expect to play: Definitely one that's good for whenever I'm in the mood for something fast-paced, but surprisingly without a lot of pressure.

Better and Worse than the Original

2010-02-20T11:38:00.003-07:00

Released as the direct sequel to Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis (I draw heavily from that review, so read it first), Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy takes place roughly a full generation later but retains the same basic concept of the original- don't flunk out of school- while making various tweaks, changes, improvements and, sad to say, attempts to fix parts that weren't broken. Full Review Here.

Review - Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (NDS)

2010-02-19T16:20:00.007-07:00

There's been a bit more fan controversy behind this game than I actually expected, especially given the fact that Miles Edgeworth is among the most popular characters in the series, and yet I've heard from more than one fan that this game itself is pointless and no good because it's basically a side story. To that end I say, "So what?" The game itself utilizes the same formula as before in the series, but changes the locations to be outside of the courtroom scenarios and introduces a new system that follows Edgeworth's line of thinking. This isn't a game that should be cast aside because it isn't what the fans expected it to be. And here's why:

STORY

In process of returning from a business trip abroad, Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth immediately finds himself caught up in not one, but FOUR murder investigations over the course of a few days: one on his return flight, one kidnapping incident that escalated into murder, one in his own office, one at a nearby embassy, and even the recollection of his earliest case that got caught up in the domino effect of events that drive the entire game and connect every piece of the puzzle together.

All five episodes end up connecting the main plot of exposing the leader of an international smuggling ring, but each episode is tailored to the point of letting the pieces fall into place bit by bit until the main plot becomes more and more relevant later on. While the story as a whole makes for a great mystery, the first four of the five episodes are played in an entirely different then their chronological order, leading to a bit of confusion if the player doesn't keep solid track of everything.

CHARACTERS

The cast of the game is an absolute treat because it re-introduces several popular characters from previous games while introducing several others, holding true to the convention of a victim, several witnesses, and ultimately the guilty killer.

Since Miles Edgeworth is the main character in this title, we begin to fully understand his development and thought process from the previous games while he retains his well-mannered and very serious personality. The greatest insight we get into his methods is his view on what it means for him to be a prosecutor to both protect the innocent while seeking to punish the guilty. He's definitely allowed Phoenix to influence his thoughts because there are numerous times when he meets with several people who act the way he used to.

The rest of the main characters include Kay Faraday, a young woman and the game's perky sidekick, who fancies herself as a modern-day Robin Hood and is seeking the truth behind the Great Thief Yatagarasu. Detective Dick Gumshoe also returns (making him the only character to appear in all five games!) as Edgeworth's primary assistant while remaining the same lovable lug as before. The final main character is Franziska von Karma, another returning character whose investigations into the smuggling ring quickly cause her to team up with Miles. All three of these characters partner up with Edgeworth at various points during the game.

Other returning characters from previous titles include Maggey Byrde, Mike Meekins, Ema Skye, Wendy Oldbag (much to Edgeworth's chagrin), Manfred von Karma, the Judge, and (again to Edgeworth's chagrin) Larry Butz. All of the above contribute to various episodes in numerous ways, but keep an eye out for token appearances from other returning characters who can only be found during investigations; namely Winston Payne (still the butt of any joke) and Lotta Hart. There may be more.

While the antagonistic forces in the game can be considered the murderers in each episode and the elements involved in the smuggling ring, the game's rival can be considered one as well. He comes in the form of a wolf-like Interpol agent named Shi-Long Lang whose MO is to simply arrest anyone considered a suspect without discrimination and who has a deep hatred of prosecutors. He ends up becoming just as awesome as other rival characters from previous games in that he becomes part of the team to unveil the truth in the end.

Other major characters who are noteworthy include Kay's father Byrne Faraday and Jacques Portsman, both who are also prosecutors, Tyrell Badd who is a senior detective and Gumshoe's mentor, Edgeworth's friend Ernest "Please Mug Me" Amano (a nickname I gave him), Lang's secretary and assistant Shih-na, the proper and professional flight attendant Rhoda Teneiro, and Ambassadors Alba and Palaeno of the split countries of Alebahst and Babahl. Each of these characters and the remaining cast all have intricacies and perks that set them apart from everyone else.

As much as I love this cast, I felt like they intentionally threw Phoenix out the window, especially since this takes place soon after his events in case 4 of AA4. It's natural that the writers wouldn't want to turn the attention towards him and have him steal the show, so it makes sense to simply reference "him" a few times during the main game, but one of Larry's comments in the ending simply made the statement that "He just didn't care!"

DESIGN

Like every other aspect of the game, the design sticks with the classic formula but with minor tweaks. The character designs and naming convention remain the same- each with a hidden pun, but the player's perspective during the investigations changes from the first-person of the previous games to entirely a third person. In short, you'll see a lot more of Edgeworth in this game than any of Phoenix or Apollo in the previous ones.

The control interface remains the same as before, utilizing both the touch screen and button input. What's nice about both of these options is that they're both incredibly intuitive, especially the button controls: mapping each button from its location on the DS to basically where it sits on the interface. This is especially handy for new players to the series. The only time I ever really used the stylus over the buttons dealt with examining objects and evidence in 3D using the same interface as case 5 in AA1 and all of AA4.

The shortfall of the game's design is, despite the exploration option during investigations, the game is far more linear than its predecessors. Most investigations take place only within a single room and are over and done with much faster than previous titles. This puts more emphasis on rebutting arguments and long stretches without any "healing" of the health bar are plentiful, in a bad way.

GAMEPLAY

As mentioned above, the control interface utilizes both the touch screen and button-controls, allowing the player to utilize his own choice, and the gameplay itself is simple: walk around, examine objects and talk to people to gather evidence and pieces of logic. Connect the pieces of logic to further delve into clues and present evidence to people to either unlock further information or rebut their argument.

Much like cross-examination in court in the other games, Edgeworth is able to examine people's arguments, press for further information, and raise objections once a contradiction has been found. This can be done either with the interface or by shouting into the mic.

There are several times where presenting the wrong argument or piece of evidence will diminish from the player's "health," leading to a game over once the bar becomes fully empty. There are few points where a mistake will cost more health than normal, but there aren't any events where a single mistake results in an instant game over. The only way to regain health is to successfully complete an investigation or finish an entire episode. It's also impossible to not advance without obtaining all of the necessary information available from a particular investigation, so there's no reason to think it's possible to miss something and get stuck later. My only real complaint about the gameplay is that saving the game outside of a normal break in an episode automatically suspends play, even though that point can be resumed multiple times.

What makes the gameplay so great is that it is simple and yet very fun, utilizing the same formula from the previous games that elicit logical thinking and being part of solving a murder mystery. There are times when the answer is very obvious, but others where great attention to detail is necessary to find the answer.

MUSIC

Like the rest of the game, the music is a mix of both old and new and for me is actually pretty tricky on pinning down a single way to describe the genre. But I can say that the character themes are what really stand out in the score. By the time you're done playing this game, you aren't going to be able to think of a major character without thinking of their accompanying theme at the same time. This also presents a bit of a backfire because the usage of older themes from previous games (namely Gumshoe's, even though he also has a new remix of his theme at times) are still more memorable than the brand new themes introduced within.

SUMMARY

Even though the main character's role is that of a prosecutor, Edgeworth's character development over the course of the first three games in the series clearly shows as he's changed his way of thinking about what it means to be a prosecutor from simply thinking that it's the objective of finding all defendants guilty to simply pursuing the truth and upholding just law. With a minor twist on the same formula, a challenge of the mind and of connecting pieces of logic, and a classic cast, there's no reason why fans of the Ace Attorney series should not include this in their collection.

SCORES

STORY: 9.5
CHARACTERS: 9.5
DESIGN: 8.5
GAMEPLAY: 9
MUSIC: 8
REPLAY VALUE: Low

FINAL SCORE: 8.9

No "Schooled" Jokes. I Promise.

2010-02-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

Atelier Iris 3 introduced a completely different battle system than its predecessors and it didn't work too well in that title. Fortunately, Gust introduced another game soon after where that same system worked much better and introduced a unique method of story progression: Mana Khemia (which I still don't know how to pronounce properly). Full review here.

Why I'm a Purist

2010-01-31T23:55:00.001-07:00

I've lived with and grown up with various elements of anime all of my life with Voltron and Transformers in the 80s, but didn't really become an avid watcher until the late 90s when I got into Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. Even until after I'd obtained several of DiC's VHS releases I didn't really have a problem with the dub at the time... until I obtained my fansubbed tapes of the entire series, beginning to end and realized how much the series had been butchered compared to the original (I still get an eyebrow twitch whenever I see the term "sailor scout"). In the past decade, with anime becoming more mainstream in the US and more and more series being dubbed into English, I've been able to clearly define for myself what makes an English dub good and what makes it terrible. Since there are more dubs out there that I hate than like, I give you my Bottom Ten Elements of an English Dub. A.K.A. What makes a bad dub bad.

Review - Mega Man 10 (WiiWare)

2010-01-30T17:43:00.009-07:00

I was at work when the WiiWare edition of this game became available and, as I expected, a lot of people had already beaten it long before I managed to get home and get started. That told me that #10 here was either easier or shorter than #9, but of course I have to ask how many of those people were playing Easy mode. Of course, even on Normal, I managed to beat it with Mega Man in one sitting, something I'd never been able to do in any previous title in the series (my late brother handled that). Here are my thoughts:

STORY

...

*Sigh...*

Do I really have to?

All right...

A mysterious robot virus has broken out and begun to affect robots all over the world. At first they just become incapacitated, but after a while they begin to go berserk and try to take over the world! Anyone with any knowledge of history right here would know who to blame, but because humanity has become 100% dependent on their robots, they can do nothing to fight back. It doesn't matter anyway because Dr. Wily crashes in front of Dr. Light's lab claiming that he was trying to create a cute for the virus (Roboenza) but some rogue robots stole the parts, so Mega Man volunteers to get it all back. Proto Man, who seems to have lost all of the intelligence that kept him on top of Dr. Wily's plans in previous games, decides to help Mega Man.

Now then: RANT MODE ON. While this storyline is certainly not nearly as insulting to the intelligence of veteran Mega Man gamers, it really isn't much better than 9's at all, simply for the reason that anyone thinks that Dr. Wily can be trusted for anything for any amount of time! If he wanted to retain any sort of credibility, he would have taken the credit for creating the virus right away and basically said that any robot who attempts to gather the machine parts will become infected. This would have been much more straightforward, allowed Mega Man to selflessly set out, and made much more sense for Proto Man to join in. The only reason Dr. Wily's plans ever get off the ground at this point is because he knows he can depend on the utter idiocy that the good guys just completely radiate to the point of being visible to the naked eye.

I used up a great deal of frustration in my rant against the story in number 9 and really can't think of much else to say at this point because I'm actually more saddened by this story than angry. It still sucks, but it doesn't suck as much this time.

CHARACTERS

Everyone's still the same, so I'll just touch on the robot masters, but first be on the look out for a cameo by Tango from the Game Boy version of 5!

Almost every game in the series has had at least one robot master who was pretty laughable either because of the design or the piss-poor weapon they yielded upon defeat... this game is full of both. The first one that people took note of when the game was announced was Sheep Man, who actually represents electricity rather than an animal figure. The water robot master is Pump Man, whose head literally looks like an old-fashioned water pump. Following him is the fire figure, Solar Man, who seems to be the master of the Hot Heads who first appeared in #2 due to a fairly similar design. The takes us to the game's ice man, Chill Man (insert 90's joke here). Nitro Man, the 2-wheeled version of Turbo Man from #7, represents speed/cars, even though his weapon is one of the slowest. That takes us to the firearms expert of the game, Commando Man, who I wonder how he can be stealthy when he's the biggest freakin' robot master! Blade Man (he'll cut ya!) represents the weapon theme and I swear he looks almost exactly like the title antagonist of Gamera vs. Guiron. Finally there's Strike Man (insert You're Under Arrest joke here), the first robot master who I can think of that represents sports.

What makes this set of robot masters interesting is a lot of them are memorable because of their silly designs, but that also makes them pretty sad at the same. But what makes them fall short is how nearly all of their weapons are almost completely useless, even against the bosses that are weak against them! More on that in Gameplay.

DESIGN

This is what I can definitely brag about because it doesn't get any better than this in a classic Mega Man game: the levels are fun, challenging, and several of them offer numerous branching paths to add to the variety and replay value. The game also figures out several ways to make even recurring themes feel original again, this is especially true in the Wily Castle stages, most notably the first.

While the stage designs are great, a lot of the game's tweaks also fall under the design section, most notably the addition of both an Easy and a Hard mode patterned after those same difficulties in Mega Man Powered-Up, giving gamers of all levels a chance to get into the game at a level they're comfortable with. Not only that, but including Proto Man right away helps add to the replay value, along with Bass who will be DLC-playable in April, adding the potential replay value from just three runs of the game to a whopping nine if hard-core fans want to try to beat all three difficulties with all three characters. After the marathon that was beating all stages on all difficulties with all characters on Powered-Up, I'll be satisfied with one run on each difficult and one with each character.

GAMEPLAY

The basic gameplay remains unchanged and extremely enjoyable, but a few other tweaks have been made as well: most notably the Challenge system. The basic game is to traverse each level, likely defeat a mini-boss, fight the robot master, and obtain his weapon. Like number 9, there are special rewards for meeting certain conditions such as beating the game without dying, beating it on hard mode, beating the robot masters with Mega Man's default weapon, and the return of the notorious Mr. Perfect (beat the game without taking a hit).

Whereas 9 had 50 of these challenges, 10 cut that number down to 12 and added a whopping 88(!) other challenges that the player can attempt once they've been unlocked. These challenges range from defeating enemies and overcoming obstacles to mastering some pretty tricky jumping techniques, but the majority of them consist of fighting each and every boss and mini-boss from the game on all three difficulty levels. These can be won by simply defeating the boss, but aren't truly completed unless the player can defeat the boss without taking a hit (a great way to train for Mr. Perfect, actually).

One other improvement this game has over 9 is that it takes a LOT less time to farm for screws to buy items from the stores. While Proto Man has a lower selection at higher prices, obtaining everything that's needed is still easily done.

So, despite having good things to say about the gameplay retaining its classic element, why does it fall a couple of notches below 9's? The boss weapons. There is almost no reason whatsoever to use them throughout the course of regular levels because the Mega/Proto Busters are far more reliable. While a lot of the weapons have the same problem of simply using way too much energy, a few of them have other major problems: Sheep Man's thunder cloud will strike an enemy with lightning, if nothing touches the cloud (if it does, the thing's basically wasted). Chill Man's chill spike has to hit the ground to form a row of spikes for the enemy to walk onto to do decent damage, otherwise the enemy is frozen for less than a second and takes minimal damage. Commando Man's Commando bomb is the worst because, while it acts as a guided missile, there's no time to ever control it properly and the missile itself is wasted if it hits the enemy directly; rather, the shockwave of the explosion from the missile hitting the wall has to hit the enemy. Other weapons range from having lousy range to being too slow. In the end only Blade Man and Pump Man's weapons will see a lot of use outside of boss fights, and even then mostly for mini-bosses.

Despite that major flaw, the gameplay is overall very solid.

MUSIC

Here's another aspect of the game that fell short of the mark. I mean it's fast-paced and suits each of the levels well, but... I honestly can't remember any of the themes at all, even the ones I liked. The secret to the music of the series is that all you have to do is simply think about the boss to get his stage theme stuck in your head for the next several hours, and there was absolutely no problem with that. It... just didn't happen this time.

SUMMARY

Overall I can say that while Mega Man 10 made a few tweaks that were problematic in number 9, I just have to say that the sad robot master designs, useless boss weapons, and sub-par music compared to previous titles overall make this fall short of what the previous game could offer, though not by much. But hey, the fans will like it and there is a higher degree of replay value while keeping things more sane in the Challenge department.

SCORES

STORY: 3
CHARACTERS: 7
DESIGN: 10
GAMEPLAY: 9
MUSIC: 7.5
REPLAY VALUE: High

FINAL SCORE: 7.3

Review - Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare)

2010-01-30T17:43:00.006-07:00

I'll start off by being brutally honest, when I heard that this game was being remade I was hoping that it would only have a graphics overhaul while retaining everything else, that way the newcomers to the classic Castlevania formula would know the utter PAIN that my brothers and I went through when we first tried Castlevania: The Adventure on Game Boy. It is by far the hardest entry in the series and it was one of the very last Game Boy games I ever owned that I recently beat. My oldest brother died before he could, so having beaten it I felt like I'd avenged him.

Of course the remake is more than just a graphics overhaul, it redesigns all of the levels, improves the jumping mechanics, and adds a few other elements to increase the replay value. The premise of the game returns to its main roots wherein Christopher Belmont is the current generation's vampire hunter to enter Castlevania and destroy Dracula before his reign of terror spreads darkness over the world. Since that's all there is to the story and the fact that there aren't and real characters to speak of, I'll skip right ahead.

DESIGN

While the game itself is quite linear, each level has several branching paths that will evenly converge back to the same point, but some paths are harder to access than others. The same premise holds for each of the first five levels containing a mini-boss along with the stage end boss as the game progressively increases in difficulty with Dracula as the final boss. The stages can take a while to get through, but numerous checkpoints provide respawn points in case the player should die.

The graphics overhaul of the game is definitely visually pleasing, as the character designs for both Belmont and the returning enemies from the game were given a rich, colorful uplift that reaches PS1-era quality graphics. While some people would complain about that, 2D games don't need uber-powerful engines to look great.

Customization includes the option to change between three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal and Hard (whereas Dracula's final form is unavailable on Easy) and the number of lives the player has before needing to continue. There's also the option to play on Classic Mode, which is still the same game, but simply undoes the ability to change directions in a mid-air jump and limits the number of available sub-weapons. It mostly adds to the feel of what the original version felt like.

GAMEPLAY

The premise of the game is simple: guide Christopher through each level and whip anything that jumps out at you. The whip has three levels: leather whip, morning star, and flame whip. In the original game, taking damage would reduce the power of the whip while in this remake the flame whip has a timer on it before reverting back to the morning star. Alongside the whip are the classic sub-weapons of the dagger, cross, axe, holy water, and pocket watch. These sub-weapons consume hearts that can be found by breaking objects and candlesticks.

While the gameplay does indeed elicit the feelings of nostalgia for the original games of the series, the challenge is lost in the idea of having the save system and virtually infinite continues. After beating a stage and saving the game, the player can simply hold right on the title screen to activate the stage select and ability to immediately enter any stage that's been reached on the selected difficulty. While it adds to the replay value on unlocking all of the stages in every difficulty and taking the time to explore each path per stage, it makes the game lose a great deal of satisfaction upon beating Dracula.

MUSIC

The entire soundtrack consists of remixed and familiar Castlevania themes, with each mix leaning towards the light rock side, but containing some nice intrumental portions as well. I don't recall any of the themes being from the original Castlevania Adventure, but all I can really remember from that one is the Level 3 theme, because I had to play it over, and over, and over before I got past it. Getting back on track, it's basically the kind of soundtrack veteran gamers would expect to hear and newcomers will definitely enjoy it too.

SUMMARY

I'm not going to lie, this game was too easy, even on Hard, because even on that I was able to beat it in one sitting. For newcomers, it's definitely a great taste of what the original Castlevania games were like and the customization options for the difficulty and number of lives definitely add to the challenge factor, but for people who have played the original NES and Game Boy titles to the point of mastery, this will seem fairly old fairly quickly.

SCORES

DESIGN: 9
GAMEPLAY: 8
MUSIC: 8.5
REPLAY VALUE: Mid-High

FINAL SCORE: 8.5

Initial Impressions - Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

2010-01-30T17:03:00.002-07:00

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

While I have yet to even unwrap the game from the shrink wrap as of this point, I'll definitely start of by saying I have low expectations.
My already-current running gag with this game is that Snow looks way too much like Seifer's Kingdom Hearts II design.
Can't even look up at the sky in intro movies without seeing something spraying chemtrails these days.
It was too easy to crack riffs on the opening movie. Too bad I don't have decent video capture software to record a rifftrax.
Poor Sazh. Only three minutes in and he's already classified as the comic relief.
The battle system isn't quite what I expected. It'll take some getting used to but otherwise looks like a good mix of previous systems.
I hadn't even reached the first save point before being instantly reminded of traversing the maps in Rogue Galaxy, party members just have to chime in every few seconds.
Expect to play: Not sure, but this will be close to the top of the list for PS3 games. As of writing this I'm still working on Cross Edge and want to finish it first.

Initial Impressions - Last Rebellion (PS3)

2010-01-30T14:58:00.010-07:00

Last Rebellion (PS3)

As is usually the case with games localized by NISA, rpgamer.com absolutely hated this except for the battle system (but I will also say that their reviewers are a bunch of graphics whores as well).
The main character, Nine, immediately reminds me of Asch from Tales of the Abyss.
I refuse to make any Dissidia-related jokes about the backstory.
In watching the intro movie I can see that the in-game graphics aren't anything that pushes the envelope for the PS3, but they aren't terrible by a long shot. The hand-painted character portraits and artwork are gorgeous!
No Japanese audio track? This could be bad... Not too bad so far, thankfully.
Cut scenes are basically a slide show of artwork rather than fully animated using the character sprites. They can be skipped as well.
The battle system is pretty nifty: figuring out the proper order to attack an enemy's various body parts to maximize damage definitely adds to the strategy element.
Some people will find it interesting while others will find it annoying that you have to attack an enemy before you can cast magic on it, but the system makes sense.
While I wanted to play a bit more, I couldn't go beyond the first save point due to lack of time, but I don't think this will be too bad.
Expect to play: Closer to the top half of the list.

Initial Impressions - Blaster Master: Overdrive (WiiWare)

2010-01-30T14:58:00.008-07:00

Blaster Master: Overdrive (WiiWare)

Funny how things work out. The original had been on my mind for enough time to want to warrant replaying it, then I hear about this remake.
Granted I haven't heard a lot of GOOD things about it, I wanted to find out for myself.
And it's already off to a bad start. The intro diddy when selecting the game off the Wii menu sounds like the final dying breath of a broken down Casio keyboard.
Second thing: Why is only the Wii Remote supported? This is a game that begs at least classic controller support. The controls feel awkward otherwise.
In watching the intro... this is not a remake! This is a re-hashed story line that tries to fit itself into the original game. The only similarity is SOPHIA and even then the plot sounds more like Blaster Master 2's (which is an utter piece of garbage, by the way).
At least the music is kept basically the same with a Metroid-esque remix.
Now the gameplay is a little tweaked and there's the option to switch weapons (so long as you have them).
Much like the original, Jason- I mean- Alexander will lose weapon power if he takes a hit in the overhead areas. Thankfully those weapon levels don't reset when loading a save.
Okay... you take WAY too much damage. 3-4 hits and you're dead at the start. This doubly sucks if you're dealing with enemies below you.
This is not Blaster Master!
Expect to play: Not for a while. I'm already regretting purchasing this.

Initial Impressions - Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare)

2010-01-30T14:58:00.006-07:00

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare)

I found out about this remake around the same time I finally beat the original Game Boy game, and I stayed away from this for a while because I was bitter.
In any case, upon getting started on this I do like how the intro is short, sweet, and to the point. Not only that, but easily skipped too.
It looks like the game goes back to the roots of the original mostly in terms of the controls, with a few minor tweaks: especially with the fire whip being limited based on time.
The multiple branching paths option looks like it will be a great source of the replay value.
I can already tell this is going to be a lot easier than the original, even playing on Normal to start off.
The stage select "code" is a great addition since it cuts down on the idea of having to play through the whole thing in a single run. Not in this day and age.
It's classic Castlevania. That's all there is to it. A great moment of nostalgia for veterans and a reasonably good introduction for newcomers (but it'd be best to SLOWLY ease them into the original or Dracula's Curse).
Expect to play: One run won't take more than a few hours so I'll likely go through it sooner rather than later.

Initial Impressions - Mega Man 10 (WiiWare)

2010-01-30T14:58:00.005-07:00

Mega Man 10 (WiiWare)

I had to to go work before I could download this, so I wasn't surprised to see that people had already beaten it before I got home. In thinking about it, this and 9 are about as long as 2.
Roll is a robot and gets a fever... it'd be hilarious to watch her go evil though.
Wow, the populace in these games is even more ridiculous than I imagined. Apparently they can't do ANYTHING without the robots.
As for Dr. Wily's plan: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me TEN times, shame on me.
Starting with Sheep Man with Mega Man on Normal. I'm playing Tetris!
Re-adding the quick weapon select with the shoulder buttons on the classic controller is nice, especially since it adds the icon for easier recognizability.
The boss theme is longer than before, I like it.
Not much else to say, other than it's a Mega Man game.
Expect to play: It won't take long to beat it the first time, but the replay value is dang high.

Initial Impressions - Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP)

2010-01-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP)

I first played the PS1 version of the original game, which doesn't surprise me since my brothers and I were hardcore Nintendo fans during the 16-bit era wars and they nearly lynched me when I got a Genesis, so a Sega CD and Saturn were out of the question.
Dang, XSeed wasn't kidding about a new translation, the lyrics of the intro movie are completely different.
Nice new intro to help put things in perspective. I'm going to miss Ghaleon's original voice though. Giving Mel a Scottish accent is... interesting. The dialogue is already hilarious.
Adding the intro battles with the four original heroes is a great new touch.
Althena's song... sounds more like laughing than singing. Maybe it's just the PSP audio.
Nall's voice is incredibly far more appropriate than before. He doesn't sound like a girl!
Ah, Luna's version of the song is the same as ever. Alex obviously hadn't been practicing in her intro movie (which she notices).
The remixed music sounds nice so far as well. Too bad walking around town is a little slow.
I wanted to do more, but just don't have the time right now.
Expect to play: Top priority for my PSP list, maybe overall for my handhelds too.

Initial Impressions - 3 New

2010-01-29T19:36:00.002-07:00

In my desire to replay Twilight Princess on Gamecube, I obtained that this week and, just today, stumbled onto a clearance sale at one of my favorite stores. While most of the purchases were anime DVDs, I picked up a couple more games with them. And to save room, they're all consolidated onto this post.

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (PS2)
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN)
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii)

Review - Mega Man 9 (WiiWare)

2010-01-28T18:35:00.006-07:00

The original Mega Man game was one of the first NES games that my brothers and I ever owned and made fans out of all three of us for a very, very long time. We certainly noticed the series and its spin-offs having ups and downs, but after X4 when things really began falling downhill, we really didn't look forward to new releases nearly as much (I still refuse to touch X6) and it was Battle Network 4 that nearly killed my love of the whole concept forever, thankfully it was re-ignited with the wonderfully done PSP remakes of the first game in the main and the X series. Having a glimmer of hope, I downloaded Mega Man 9 once I had a broadband connection and, despite playing through it in bursts (for one reason or another), it proved itself worthy.

STORY

If you are a person who has played ANY of the main Mega Man games prior to this: Mega Mans 1-8 plus Mega Man and Bass, STOP READING THIS SECTION RIGHT NOW! Skip to the Characters section, don't read any more! Nobody needs to be as angry about this portion of the game as much as I am. For newcomers, the story may seem to make a bit of sense, but for veterans, this is a complete and utter joke!

Here's the rundown: Dr. Wily claims to have been reformed after his last defeat at Mega Man's hands (didn't that happen in number III?) and states that his work will now be for peaceful purposes. But it "just happens" that robots created by Dr. Light begin to go berserk at this same time. So Dr. Light is arrested, Mega Man heads out to stop the rampaging bots, and Dr. Wily sets up an infomercial network to solicit donations in order to build an army of robots in order to save the world.

...

...

...

DOES HE REALLY THINK PEOPLE ARE THAT STUPID?!

If anyone, ANYONE in that game thinks for even a second that Dr. Wily can be trusted, there's no doubt that they have spent the past 25 years sitting in a cave on Mars, with their ears plugged and their eyes shut. The guy has tried to frame both people and robots THREE TIMES in the past: 4, 5, and Megaman & Bass. Again, for newcomers, it may sound like a plausible idea, but for veterans this is a complete, utter, and insulting JOKE. Even though the Mega Man games aren't well known for their plots, 7 and 8 got it right because they skipped the attempts at giving Dr. Wily any kind of credibility and just gave him a new means in which to try taking over the world in a straight shot.

Oh it gets better (ie: worse). It soon becomes incredibly obvious that Dr. Wily is behind the robots going berserk, and how he does it is a real gem: Apparently the government passed a law that all robots were to be stamped with an "expiration date" and thus be taken out of service upon the arrival of that date... by sending them to the junk yard. So Wily goes and convinces these robots, all of which are only supposed to do what they're programmed to, to fight the system by going on a rampage... I thought Reploids didn't exist until Mega Man X! I mean... is there any continuity left behind in the connection of the series at all? I can buy the idea that Mega Man claims to be more than a robot from the ending in number 7, and I could have bought the idea that Wily simply took some robots that were about to be scrapped and re-programmed them, but this is... this is... I can't even come up with words on how ridiculous this execution is!

Oh, and of course nothing changes in the ending either. While I did get a chuckle from what Mega Man shows to Wily at the start of the ending, there is nothing at all that the game could have done to salvage the story in ANY way.

CHARACTERS

Okay... calm down... breathe... it's still a good game from this point... Phew...

I can't say much about the returning characters that haven't really changed whatsoever since 7, but Mega Man is really the only one who ever comes close to anything that resembles development during this time since we learn that he cares for the well-being of robots as much as humans. But Dr. Light, Roll, Auto, Proto Man and Dr. Wily basically remain as they've ever been, which isn't really a complaint since the good guys form a likable team and Dr. Wily is definitely someone the player hates more than enough to want to utterly destroy him. Rush, Eddie, and Beat never really had any personalities anyway but, as mascot characters, they've always been great.

Since every Mega Man game in the past has had 6-8 robot masters to defeat (including a few repeats in Mega Man & Bass), it's fairly obvious that the designers are having a hard time coming up with new ideas. So this game breaks the glass ceiling by introducing a *GASP!* WOMAN ROBOT! So, since this is such an innovative concept for a regular Mega Man game, I joined most players in fighting Splash Woman (was there a Splash Man already?) first. She of course is the game's water-based boss. The game designers obviously foresaw that most people would begin with Splash Woman because she is indeed the easiest to defeat with just the Mega Buster and the chain can continue from there.

The remaining robot masters fill the roles that seem to have become the template for the most common types of bosses to be found in this game: Galaxy Man for Outer Space, Concrete Man (who isn't a mix of Guts Man and Hard Man, I swear) for earth, Magma Man for fire, Hornet Man for plant/nature, Tornado Man for sky, Jewel Man for underground, and Plug Man (not Spark Man) for electricity. They're all (fairly) new, but, like all of the other Mega Man games, it's pretty much impossible to not remember who they all are after playing through the game once.

DESIGN

Simple. Challenging. Fun. Platforming action. I can't really say much more than that because each robot master's stage and the enemies (plus some mini-bosses) match their themes as is expected of the series, and there's nothing wrong with that. On top of that, they're still challenging even for veterans. Even though I've been playing the series since the beginning, I'm still no good when it comes to the disappearing/re-appearing blocks, and the sound they make still haunts my dreams.

For as good as the design is, it's just shy of perfect. While the game added a Save feature, the only way to access it is to complete a stage or get a game over. There is no way to access the Save menu immediately after buying items or any way to exit an already-finished stage at any time. This seemed especially weird because the game kept the item that will automatically refill the weapon with the lowest energy upon picking up a weapon energy item. Either way, it made farming for screws (more on that in a bit) a bit more tedious.

While Capcom did claim that the game would stick to its 8-bit roots, it did seem to have a few elements that I'm fairly sure couldn't have been pulled off on the NES... meh, it was still well-executed and colorful while retaining the 8-bit flavor. There's even an added option to turn screen-flickering on (something veteran gamers will remember all too well) when there's a lot of clutter on the screen.

GAMEPLAY

The Mega Man formula is and always has been one that worked wonderfully: Mega Man starts off with just his regular attack, his Mega Buster, but upon defeating the robot masters he will absorb their power and be able to use their weapons. Each robot master is especially weak against one of the other's weapons so there are several potential orders that the player can tackle the stages in. Taking the weakness chain is often the most recommended, but there's nothing stopping a player from fighting through the whole game in any order with nothing but the Mega Buster.

The various special weapons have other special effects as well: Concrete Man's Concrete Shot can freeze enemies and even streams of magma, Splash Woman's Laser Trident can destroy certain blocks, Tornado Man's Tornado Blow will carry enemies off screen while adding to Mega Man's jump power, and so on. Some weapons are of course repeats from previous games (the Jewel Satellite as a shield weapon and the Hornet Chaser as a homing missile/item fetcher), but they are fairly necessary at this point.

Along with those weapons and the various power-ups for Rush that Mega Man can earn, he can also collect screws to buy items that enhance various aspects of his arsenal: Eddie to deliver items, Beat to pull Mega Man from pits, special armor to reduce damage by 1/2 for one stage, protections against spikes, and even alternate looks for Mega Man and Roll. The one problem I have with the Gameplay is the fact that buying items is a huge pain, mainly because finding a lot of bolts at a time basically does not happen. It's almost impossible to earn more than 20-30 screws in one run of a level and enemies drop them fairly rarely. Earning enough screws to buy a full set of items takes literally hours. Thankfully screws will carry over into a new game.

Most of the game's replay value comes from the 50 challenges that are scattered throughout the game. Some are fairly simple like beating bosses under a certain time, killing a certain number of enemies, beating the game and so on. Others are incredibly painful in that the player has to beat the game without dying, without missing a shot, and the infamous Mr. Perfect- beat the game without taking A SINGLE HIT. Other options include additional downloadable content that adds harder difficulty levels, a time attack mode, and even the option to play a Proto Man. For me, the regular game was enough.

MUSIC

During the golden age of 8-bit gaming two companies were notable for games that had awesome, AWESOME soundtracks: Sunsoft and Capcom. Sunsoft had gems like Blaster Master, Journey to Silius, and Batman. For Capcom, the Mega Man games. And this title in the series is no exception at all.

The great thing about Mega Man music for me is that the music is catchy, memorable, and has the potential to get stuck in my head, but I can not think of any Mega Man theme that I really dislike. The same holds true for Mega Man 9 and I could listen to some of the themes, especially Wily Castle Stage 2, for hours in a loop and never get sick of hearing it.

SUMMARY

Mega Man 9 turned out to be not only a great re-introduction to the series for veterans, but an amusing introduction for new players in general. However, while keeping the characters, design, gameplay, and music elements the same over the course of the series works quite nicely, rehashing the plot for the TENTH time (don't forget Mega Man and Bass) is no doubt making the veteran gamers other than myself just as annoyed and frustrated. I'm sure I would have enjoyed this game a LOT more if I'd just skipped all of the cut scenes entirely.

SCORES

STORY: 1
CHARACTERS: 8
DESIGN: 9.5
GAMEPLAY: 9.5
MUSIC: 10
REPLAY VALUE: Very High

FINAL SCORE: 7.6

Nothing Stellar, but Nothing Terrible Either

2010-01-25T15:04:00.008-07:00

From the team that handled the DS remakes of Final Fantasies III and IV comes an original title taking place in a fictionalized 19th century earth where airship transport rules the skies, adventurers seek ways to explore increasing numbers of newly discovered ruins, and the son of a world famous adventurer seeks to solve the disappearance of his father. Full Review Here.

Initial Impressions - 4 New

2010-01-21T11:20:00.001-07:00

I wasn't expecting to really pile on a bunch of new titles until next month except for Sands of Destruction, but an inexpensive recommendation from a friend and two new releases that had eluded me added to the total. In any case, most are for DS today.

Glory of Heracles (NDS)
Sands of Destruction (NDS)
Scurge: Hive (NDS)
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement (XBLA)

Ends Up Pressing Your Patience

2010-01-20T19:46:00.002-07:00

One 80s game show classic that was also the catalyst for one of game show history's greatest controversies has been resurrected once again with updated questions while retaining the classic formula of "Big Bucks, no Whammies!" Will Press Your Luck 2010 Edition stand the test of time, or is it time to send the Whammies to the big bank in the sky? Full review here.

Review - Please Twins! (Anime TV/OVA)

2010-01-20T19:06:00.002-07:00

My first encounter with this series actually came about when searching for pictures for one of the sections of my main website. I had an inkling that this and Please Teacher! were connected, but didn't learn until much later that their it was a direct connection. My initial plan was to watch a 26-episode series after finishing Mana Khemia 2, but remembered that I'd wanted to watch Please Teacher! and this, so combining the two easily counted. This makes heavy connections and comparisons to my Please Teacher! review, so I highly recommend reading it first.

STORY

Kamishiro Maiku has no memories of his family. He grew up in an orphanage with the only possession of his from when he was abandoned being a photograph of a house by the lake with him in a kiddie pool with a little girl who he believes is his twin sister. One day he stumbled upon a news report about a UFO sighting in a faraway town, but the house in the report was the exact same as the one in the photo! Armed with a clue and the skills he's developed as a programmer, Maiku moves to that town and is able to rent and live in that very same house. Just as he's getting settled, not one, but two girls who have the exact same photo soon arrive and claim that they are his twin sister: the energetic and outgoing Miyafuji Miina and the proper and shy Onodera Karen.

It quickly becomes obvious that one of the two girls is really Maiku's twin sister while the other is a complete stranger. With this premise in place, they quickly begin the process of learning the truth while becoming a tight-knit family regardless of what the truth may state, but the girls soon begin to develop feelings for Maiku and remain in a constant state of conflict because they would probably never learn if they would be allowed to fall in love with Maiku or not.

While the premise indeed sounds more like something you'd see in a sitcom, I honestly couldn't think of an already-existing series that I could compare the story with. And, just like in Please Teacher!, there are several sub-plot elements that allow all of the major characters a fair degree of development. The overall execution turned out to be quite emotionally driven as the characters move forward together one step at a time until they're finally able to learn the truth and have to deal with what emotions they experience upon that realization. While some questions seemed to be left unanswered for a great deal of time, everything became resolved by the very end.

CHARACTERS

Maiku isn't the standard anime main character. He's a guy who works incredibly hard to be able to support himself, but intentionally distances himself from people and has a hard time making friends, mainly because he is incredibly busy with school and work. But when he meets the two girls who could potentially be his sister, he shows a new side of himself so they'll be able to understand that he would never abandon them. Even though he acts tough and can be short-tempered, he quickly develops a soft spot for those he considers his family.

Miina is the first girl who approaches Maiku with the claim of being his sister and of course becomes overjoyed with the prospect of being related to him, and while she often keeps up the facade of a happy face, she worries more about being lonely more than the other two combined. She isn't used to people worrying about her and thus has a hard time considering others' feelings towards her. She also has a secret from her past that she remains ashamed of because it put an enormous stumbling block in her life, leaving her to believe that her lost twin brother from the photo was the only thing she had left.

Karen is the only one of the main characters who was raised outside of an orphanage and within a foster family. Her foster father wouldn't allow her to search for the house and boy in the photo for fear that she couldn't handle traveling alone- as she is a bit shy and clumsy, and especially due to the fact that she tends to faint if she's over-excited (the "Nyuu~" sound she makes when she does is really cute though). What's interesting about Karen is that her kind of character is usually the good cook in anime, but that role goes to Miina this time.

Most of the supporting cast are actually returning characters from Please Teacher! Mizuho, Ichigo, and Matagu appear most frequently while Kei, Koishi and Yamada-sensei are even more sparse with Hyosuke and Kaede not even showing up until the OVA. Mizuho remains the most unchanged and her and Kei's marriage is common knowledge, but she still makes use of Marie and her alien technology from time-to-time. Ichigo is now the president of the student council and, while still calculating, she's actually become pretty sinister in that she's developed a habit of taking blackmail photos of her friends. Matagu has actually suffered a serious downgrade because the writers turned him from a terminally shy guy who still seemed all right into a pathetic loser who has less than pure thoughts about his little sister.

The remaining supporting cast comes in the form of remaining classmates. Matagu's little sister, Haruko is a super-energetic but very innocent gal who quickly befriends Miina and Karen along with her other two friends (whose names are only mentioned once and their presence is so small that it isn't worth looking them up again). Shimazaki Kousei, Maiku's classmate, is a bit of a strange case in that he initially appears to be gay for Maiku but eventually reveals that he acts that way in order to cover the pain of a previous, failed relationship with a girl. Oribe Tsubaki, the student council vice-president, actually has feelings for Maiku and quickly becomes a bit of a rival for Miina and Karen.

Much like in Teacher! the antagonistic forces are each character's various internal conflicts and how they go about to resolve their feelings of ambiguity and confusion while they take more and more steps into the unknown in pursuit of the truth while trying to sort out their own feelings and fears of overcoming their various obstacles. But even after the truth of the real older sister is resolved, the OVA delves into another problem that quickly arises when the real twin sister doesn't want to share her precious older brother with anyone.

Overall the cast makes a strong impression on the viewer, but isn't quite as memorable as the entire cast from Teacher! mainly because those same characters make up for half the cast and turning Matagu into the pathetic loser in this series counted as a very strong strike against the cast as a whole. Miina does make one observation that I found hilarious: about midway through the series we find that Mizuho has to substitute for other classes quite often and Miina wonders if there are only two teachers in the entire school- which is apparently pretty true because we only see her and Yamada in the whole series.

ART/ANIMATION

Falls just short of flawless. The character designs and locations are just as high-quality as they are in Teacher! but, in short, there were no especially powerful scenes that really stood out as much as the no-dialogue ones previously. While that portion was lacking, I did notice a lot more subtlety in the backgrounds, mostly character expressions in how they were reacting to various events. I wouldn't call them in-jokes, but mostly just how a character would react when looking at another who also wasn't paying full attention to what was going on.

Fanservice was completely rampant in this series and was certainly not nearly as subtle as in Teacher! The main reason for this is because there's a scene of Miina and Karen bathing together in pretty much every episode, but the nudity isn't limited to those two, either.

VOICE ACTING

There wasn't much for me to complain about in general for this series. All of the actors from Teacher! reprise their various roles while the actors for the new characters all do a wonderful job. The parts that fall short in Twins!'s case is the fact that the story doesn't allow the actors to fully express the range of emotions that the characters could have felt. It seemed more like wasted potential than anything else.

I also listened to bits and pieces in the English dub, mostly to satisfy my curiosity in how the English script rectified a few translation issues- such as Maiku telling Miina to attach honorifics to his name or later when he tells the girls to not use any for each other, and I didn't think they were bad. If I get the chance to watch this again, I'll likely do so with the dub voices.

MUSIC

The series utilized a great deal more incidental music that Teacher!, but even though a lot of it was used several times, there was still a nice variety to be had within an entire range of instrumental themes. Light-hearted and comedic scenes mostly contained strong guitar-centered themes while strong piano and/or violin themes to help intensify the characters' emotions and deep thoughts.

The opening and ending themes both conveyed the solemn atmosphere of the town, but were both more fast-paced and upbeat than the themes in Teacher!

SUMMARY

Overall, I really couldn't say that this is better or worse than Please Teacher! because they have their strengths and weaknesses that pretty much even it out. Still, it was indeed a treat to watch, especially with its well-executed premise and the fact that while the characters from Teacher! indeed comprised a lot of the supporting cast, they didn't attempt to steal the show. I can definitely say that if you enjoyed Teacher! you'll also enjoy this.

SCORES

STORY: 9
CHARACTERS: 9
ART/ANIMATION: 9.5
VOICE ACTING: 9
MUSIC: 9
RE-WATCH VALUE: Mid-High

FINAL SCORE: 9.1

Review - Pleaser Teacher! (Anime TV/OVA)

2010-01-19T21:47:00.008-07:00

This is yet another one of those series that I would constantly find artwork and other information for, mostly in the for of fan works, but never really knew anything about it. After a while I finally decided to check out the premise, a high school-age young man having to marry his teacher in order to help keep the secret of her being an alien intact, and figured, "Why not?" And, thankfully, I was able to pick up the DVD collection for both this and its spin-off series, Please Twins, at the same time. But before I start watching that, there's this review to write, so here we go:

STORY

There isn't really much more to say beyond what I stated in the introduction, other than an important piece of information that adds to the premise of the series. Kei Kusanagi appears to be a 15-year old boy in his first year of high school, but in reality he's 18 due to the effects of a disease on his body that causes him to go into a coma-like state of suspended animation called "standstills" whenever he feels sad or depressed. While most of them don't last longer than a few minutes or hours, the event that triggered the condition to begin with left him in a standstill for three full years. Because of all of the time he lost, he decided to live with his uncle and aunt in a remote town where he could start his life over from square one, make new friends, and work to keep his disease from stealing any more large chunks of time again.

Just as things are beginning to resemble a normal life, Kei awakens from an unknown standstill near the town's major lake to witness a strange vortex in the water and the appearance of a humanoid woman. Kei panics and makes a run for it, but falls into the lake and has another standstill, only to wake up in bed the next morning. Upon arriving at school Kei learns from his friends that their class would be getting a new homeroom teacher, a sexy young woman. This teacher arrives and shyly introduces herself as Mizuho Kazami while Kei instantly recognizes her from the night before, but he continues to insist to himself that it was just a dream. After Kei returns home that evening, he learns that Mizuho-sensei is moving into the apartment complex next door and decides to give her a hand. A brief stumble reveals her identity as an alien and, after a few awkward moments and chases, Kei calms down enough to accept that fact and keep it a secret.

During the next school day, Mizuho transports Kei into the gym storage shed to talk with him some more, but they get locked inside for the rest of the day. When Kei's uncle finds them inside, he's also with the high school principal. Kei's uncle tries to keep them out of trouble by giving the off-the-wall explanation that the two of them were married before they moved to town. Rather than risk exposing Mizuho's secret, Kei goes along with the idea and reveals that he is 18 and thus able to be married. In order to make sure that the lie is never revealed, Kei and Mizuho are married in a simple ceremony and begin living together as husband and wife, where they soon begin to truly fall in love with one another.

But if that was the entire story, it would be entirely too simple. While Kei and Mizuho are indeed the main focus of the plot, numerous other elements in the form of Kei's classmates and their various relations with each other, plus Mizuho's family and their feelings on the whole situation begin to complicate matters. Overall the theme of the series is the idea of continually moving forward in life as Kei fights the urge to fall into a standstill and overcome the trauma that led him to lose three years.

For a 12-episode series the writers did a wonderful job developing Kei and Mizuho's relationship while also finding time to focus on the events that focus on the other characters. This is especially beneficial because it is a character-driven story. While the premise is interesting and I enjoyed it from beginning to end, it was also too easy to make comparisons to Ah! My Goddess: from Mizuho's appearance to the couple's living together, to the romantically-interested classmate and even the family member who wants things to move along faster (the mother-in-law in this case) while the jealous little sister wants to drive things apart. Thankfully the story doesn't take itself too seriously, even though the tone for the TV series is kept serious. The OVA is basically centered on the comedic elements as Mizuho's family comes for another visit and things quickly become troublesome.

CHARACTERS

The characters in the series are a very interesting set to study. Kei is the typical shy high school male lead who cares for his friends and keeps his disease a secret so that he doesn't build a wall around himself to block them out. Yet as he works harder and harder to overcome his disease and resolve the situation with having to marry his teacher, more and more burdens are placed on him until he can finally become honest with himself and admit that, no matter what, he only wants and needs to be with Mizuho to be happy. While he's an adult in a young man's body, he's always seeking ways to move forward with his life. While there are also times where he has trouble standing up for himself, he's got a ton of guts when it comes to standing up for and helping his friends.

Mizuho isn't quite what I expected her to be. From all of the pictures and information I found about her, I was expecting a proper, gentle, mature person- but that's only how she is at school. As part of her background, she is actually half-alien/half-earthling as her father was part of the first human expedition to Mars that was lost but rescued by the Galaxy Federation. In order to want to learn more about her father's home world, Mizuho became a Federation Research Officer and accepted the assignment to observe Earth and make sure its civilization isn't heading towards destruction. Outside of school, Mizuho can be very shy but also fairly irrational and even jealous when she sees Kei with another girl, proving that she does indeed have a strong human side to her. She also loves to snack on Pochy (the series equivalent of Pocky) because a box of it was one of the few things that belonged to her father that she still remembers about him. Eventually Mizuho's motives for being an observer take the back seat to her wanting to be with Kei.

All of the other major characters in the story are Kei's family and classmates. His uncle Minori and aunt Konoha Edajima are the doctor and nurse of the local clinic. Minori is quite clearly a pervert who openly admits his jealousy of Kei and Mizuho's relationship, but he's also very supportive of them and even pays for Mizuho's wedding ring and their honeymoon. While Konoha puts up with her husband's lecherous ways, she does have a limit that results in inflicting a degree of physical pain when he goes too far, but is otherwise a very faithful and loving wife who supports the two main characters as much as Minoru.

Kei's classmates are a varied bunch. The most major of the group is Koishi Hedikawa, a young woman who works at her family's grocery store and develops feelings for Kei and attempts to confess to him while unknowingly acting as the catalyst for several of Kei and Mizuho's relationship problems during most of the series. Kaede Misumi, a shy girl who is actually quite tall for her age, is one who believes in the idea that dreams come true and has a firm conviction in the metaphysical, especially when one of her dreams becomes reality and ends up with her finding a boyfriend. Ichigo Morino is the quiet girl of the series who speaks softly and attempts to get Kei and Koishi together (not knowing about Mizuho of course) and her motive is that she wants to be able to know that her closest friends are happy as she harbors a personal secret that she believes will prevent her from ever falling in love. Out of the guys there's Hyoksuke Magumo, the powerhouse of energy whose displays of excitement often draw plenty of attention to the whole group. Hyosuke may seem a bit shallow, but we quickly learn that he's a hard-working student, a gentleman when he's alone with the girls, and even has the dream to go to college and become a statesman to root out the corruption in the government. The final classmate, Matagu Shido doesn't develop as much as the other characters, mainly because his crippling shyness with women keeps him from ever asking one out, but he still has a strong presence and the group of friends never forgets that he's one of their own.

Half of the rest of the supporting cast comes from the school principal and the only other known faculty member, Yamada-sensei. The principal is very strict in terms of the students and teachers maintaining a proper relationship, but he allows Kei and Mizuho's marriage to proceed because his wife is a young graduate from the school. Yamada is a rich young man whose dream is to build a man-powered propeller plane and, while this project lasts the whole series, he also serves as a pillar of support for the students, Koishi in particular. While he has a scraggly appearance and never talks very much, except when it comes to his hobby, the guy deserves a lot of respect because he gives credit where credit is due and doesn't take advantage of Koishi's feelings after she suffers heartbreak.

The remaining supporting cast is Mizuho's family and their spaceships. To explain the latter first, Mizuho's ship's CPU, Marie, and her family's ship's CPU, Miruru, are basically sentient beings that have Teletubby-like avatars that can disengage from the ship and communicate with their owners in order to be able to relay information and data back to the ship while maintaining some amount of discretion. What's interesting is that Marie and Miruru seem to be in love (Marie is a male). Mizuho's family members finish up the cast. Her mother, Haruko, is a bit of a mysterious flirt since Kei reminds her so much of her late husband but she does her best to help keep the spark alive for Kei and Mizuho. Skuld- I mean- Maho initially doesn't approve of the relationship, but soon comes to accept it when she learns of Kei's sincerity and understands that the situation is what Mizuho wants- even though she too soon falls for Kei and blackmails him into going on a date with her in the OVA.

There really aren't any characters that could be considered antagonists in this series. In reality, the inner struggles and conflicts that the characters go through serve as their antagonistic forces, and basically everyone is able to develop most fully by overcoming those obstacles and, in staying true to the theme of the series, move forward once more. With a cast as wonderful as this, keeping it small and focused, the story is driven wonderfully.

ART/ANIMATION

Practically flawless. Not only are the character designs an excellent portrait of their personalities and the animators portray the emotions that run through a character's mind far more powerfully than the dialogue ever could. In fact, this is utilized at one key point midway through the series. The scene where Koishi begins to feel the full effects of a broken heart contains no dialogue whatsoever as she and Kei go their separate directions, and simply proved to be the most character-driven portion of the story. I'll even go so far as to say that it was more memorable than the climax and ending.

But not only are the characters incredibly well-drawn and animated, the scenery, which is based on real-life locations, is just as vibrant and colorful. Not only that, but each location is entirely distinct since the viewer will immediately know where a character is based on looking at the background. While most of the series does take place in the same town, the characters do move to different areas every so often and, if even the layout of the town was kept accurate from real life, I wouldn't be surprised if I were to travel there and recognize it on sight in reality.

As expected with a romantic comedy, there is a fair amount of fanservice included, but most of it isn't very blatant. In fact, other than the normal pan-shots of characters when they're introduced/bathing or the obligatory beach montage, the fanservice is actually quite subtle: things like Koishi giving Kei an intentional view of her cleavage when showing off a new bikini, Kei sneaking a peek at Mizuho's bust for a split-second, and numerous other moments when the fanservice occurs while it isn't even meant to be the focus of the scene. There are quite a few counts of it, but you actually have to be paying attention to catch them.

VOICE ACTING

Overall the voice acting was definitely what I expected from the original Japanese actors, but believe it or not the only character whose voice I had an issue with was Mizuho's! This certainly isn't anything against Kikuko Inoue, but when I recognized her voice as Mizuho, I intentionally wondered if the director was trying to make the series look even more like Ah! My Goddess. The similar story elements did differ in their paths quite early on, but it was indeed difficult to let go of the connection of comparing Mizuho to Belldandy with their having the same voice.

MUSIC

This is another series where the use of silence is just as well-done as the use of the proper songs at the proper times. Overall, the style of both themes and the incidental tracks were soft instrumental with vocals whenever necessary, and when used during key scenes did even more to express the emotions of the characters when the animation did more to carry that along than any dialogue would have. In one sense this actually backfires, because while the music helps to make the most memorable scenes that way, it only makes it easier to remember the scene as a whole and not the music separately.

SUMMARY

This series really wasn't what I was expecting, but at the same time it also wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. While that sounds like a complaint, it hardly dampens the overall score very much at all. In the end, I loved watching this, even though the OVA did take a turn for the silly when compared to the TV series immediately afterwards. Overall, the in-depth look at all of the major characters and the masterful animation plus the artistic use of emotionally heightening music during scenes that require no dialogue are what made the series for me. Not only that, but I will gladly count Kei and Mizuho among my favorite canon anime pairings, at least within the Top 10; Top 5 or below may be a stretch. What I can definitely say in the end is that the series was simply fun: fun to watch, fun to review, and even fun to poke fun at because it never took itself too seriously despite having numerous powerful moments.

SCORES

STORY: 8.5
CHARACTERS: 10
ART/ANIMATION: 10
VOICE ACTING: 8
MUSIC: 9
RE-WATCH VALUE: Mid-High

FINAL SCORE: 9.1

More Like DNA-Screwed

2010-01-19T19:12:00.010-07:00

When the local high school loser is turned into the infamous Mega-Playboy, it would seem that all of his dating troubles are over; at least until his and his descendants' habits of having 100 children each single-handedly fuel the overpopulation problem in the future, it's up to a DNA Operator to go back in time and prevent the birth of the Mega-Playboy by altering his DNA. Full Review Here.

Initial Impressions - Endless Ocean: Blue World (Wii)

2010-01-18T14:58:00.013-07:00

Endless Ocean: Blue World (Wii)

Well, first off, I had no idea that this game came with an accessory: The Wii Speak- basically a mic for voice chatting. I don't think I'll ever get any use out of it.
I certainly can't complain about the graphics, they're just as colorful as the first game, but also much smoother. Did have a couple of moments of lag during the opening movie though.
The plot of this one still sounds fairly simple, but at least this time the player character is the one who is setting out to find the legend rather than just being guided along (and doing all the work).
The classic controller is a nice addition to the game, though it seems a little over-sensitive at times.
The gameplay is basically the same, with a few additional tweaks to include a money system and a more intuitive menu. But the real draw so far has been the music. I intentionally stopped playing just to listen to the various songs presented even at the beginning.
Expect to play: Just like the first game and Flower, this is a great one to just sit back and relax with when wanting to play something meant to not be intense.

Initial Impressions - Star Ocean: The Last Hope International (PS3)

2010-01-18T14:58:00.012-07:00

Star Ocean: The Last Hope International (PS3)

Well, I promised myself in my review of the XBox 360 version that I'd give this game another chance with the International release, so here it is.
What will take longer: Installing the game data or getting through the opening cut scenes without skipping them?
Okay, so manual targeting is only active for a "set" period of time before reverting back to manual? It better be a good amount of "set" time then!
So far the Japanese voices sound as I'd expect them to, though Reimi is the only character whose voice sounds similar on both versions.
The classic layout of the menu is... a bit hard to look at. The anime-style portraits are fine, but putting an orange silhouette against a blue background makes the menu options hard to read.
Load times are much shorter, thank God.
Not much else to say since I've already played through this once.
The true deciding factor on whether or not this is overall superior to the 360 version will be if item creation is still a complete and utter CHORE.
Expect to play: I'm in no hurry. There are several other PS3 games waiting for me first.

Initial Impressions - Shiren the Wanderer (Wii)

2010-01-18T14:58:00.011-07:00

Shiren the Wanderer (Wii)

Why? Why do I keep buying mysterious dungeon games when I suck at them so badly? Same reason I keep buying SRPGs, I still like 'em.
I had to laugh when I picked this up at Gamestop. The clerk who assisted me had been waiting for it too, but had no clue that it was already out. It turns out that the store had just gotten it the day before (Friday the19th), despite the release date having been the 9th.
The primary reason why Shiren has the talking ferret for a partner is because he's the first silent protagonist I've seen in a while (I know that this isn't the first game in the series, but it's only 1 of 2 available in the US).
Easy Mode is definitely a welcome option for those who are casual gamers or have trouble with the genre in general. Stop looking at me like that!
The one thing I've noticed so far that sets this apart from other dungeon crawlers is having the possibility to have the player's party gang up on enemies. Other than that, it's not much different than the other ones I own/have played.
Expect to play: Overall on the Wii list, it's on the high-middle list, but I don't know if I'll finish FF Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon first or not.

Initial Impressions - Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (NDS)

2010-01-18T14:57:00.004-07:00

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (NDS)

The game wastes no time in getting started. The "New Game" selection option popped up almost immediately.
The characters are much more animated during conversations, it's a nice improvement over the previous games.
Already seeing callbacks to other events in the series. I have the feeling that continuity will flow nicely.
The free-roam exploration option during investigations feels much more involved when it comes to looking for clues and evidence.
Ah, Gumshoe, I hope you never change. XD
I love entering the Logic screen. It looks like Edgeworth is about to use Son Goku's teleportation ability.
The "Eureka!" voice clip sounds... kinda weak.
As usual I prefer to use the control pad and buttons over the stylus. The layout for using that scheme is actually pretty intuitive.
Yay! Maggey Byrde!
Although I've played up to the first save point, I'll end the post here but try to finish the case tonight.
Expect to play: This may well just have knocked Spirit Tracks off the top of the list for now.

Review - Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy (PS2)

2010-01-18T11:37:00.001-07:00

It's sometimes funny how things can work out at times. Even though the last console game I finished was the first game in this series, I really wasn't planning on playing this title immediately afterwards, but due to circumstances beyond my control in basically having my Wii confiscated for the "family" TV, I had to choose a game that could be enjoyed on a console still in my room. And since I'll finally be moving on to completing Cross Edge next, I decided to play through this in order to get a good grasp of the characters who also appear in that. Overall I wasn't disappointed, but there are several almost-gaping holes to point out.

STORY

The once-famous Al-Revis Academy has fallen, both figuratively and literally. Figuratively because of a lack of quality teachers (and you'll easily see why in the Characters section) and literally because the power of Mana in the world has decreased to the significant point wherein the school could no longer be held aloft in the air, sending it crashing down to the earth. With the high risk of the school going entirely bankrupt, the principle enlists the aid of a local businesswoman to restructure the school, condense it from three years to one year, change its curriculum to include more than just alchemy classes, and admit any interested applicants in exchange for being named Chairwoman of the academy. With these changes the school begins turning a profit once more, but plans are being made to discontinue the alchemy classes after one more year. In order to help save the alchemy program, the principle enlists the aid of a certain notorious alumnus...

But after that intro, forget about the establishing plot (because the game does) and instead focus on the two main characters: Razeluxe Meitzen and Ulrika Mulberry. These two characters initially become rivals due to a rather poor first meeting, but their separate paths constantly cross each other over the course of the school year until they finally come together to solve the mystery of why Manas have been disappearing from the world.

I can immediately say that, overall, the plot of this game is superior to the original in that it has much, MUCH better pacing. While most everything is still revealed near the end, there is a lot more buildup and a much stronger sense of mystery in trying to figure out exactly what's going on. Both main characters have separate story paths, requiring playing through the game twice- once for each character, and at the end they converge for one final bonus dungeon and the true ending. This is much more satisfying than playing through the entire game the exact same way just to unlock a bonus dungeon that tends to make the game crash.

The major flaw in the story is that the idea established in the beginning is literally tossed aside once the main characters are introduced and their story lines begin. Throughout the course of the game, the resolution of saving the alchemy program is covered in a single scene and then never spoken of again. For establishing that idea as the initial plot point, the fact that the game nearly forgets that it's a problem led me to believe that it was a completely unnecessary idea.

CHARACTERS

While the two main characters, Razeluxe (better known as Raze since no one can pronounce his name) and Ulrika are basically polar opposites, that's what makes them unique in making sure that playing through each of their stories feels different.

Raze used to live alone with his grandpa, Eugene, until the two of them began working for a rich family. While Raze himself feels cool and distant because he's one of those guys who just wants to live in peace but always attracts trouble, he still does the right thing for the right reasons, even though his sense of humor is a little dark at times. And, due to an event in his past, he hates Mana. The problem that Raze has is that he doesn't really have the presence of a main character. He just seems to be dragged along with events whether he wants to or not. Despite that, he's still pretty cool in battle.

Ulrika is a girl who grew up in the sticks and is looked down on from some as a country bumpkin. When she was little, she helped an old man who gave her a special stone that he claimed to be a Mana egg. He told her to take care of it before disappearing. Ulrika decided to attend Al-Revis in order to find out how to hatch the egg and raise a Mana. While she is a bit clumsy, very stubborn, and tends to act without thinking, she also does the right things for the right reasons- even if they distract her from things that need to be done that end up having a negative effect on her grades. To me, she felt more like a main character than Raze because she wasn't just pulled along for the ride. She and her Mana become the catalyst for most of the game's events, both inside and outside of school.

Both main characters are given a supporting cast of four other people in their workshop. The first for Raze is actually his employer, the wealthy but somewhat snobbish Liliane Valendorf and her maid, a water Mana named Whim (who does all of Lily's fighting for her). Etward Dysler, a super strong but very affectionate girl (whose bust is many times larger than her brain), joins the team after she remembers that she met Raze and Lily 10 years ago (which is unusual for her since she almost always forgets her current Assignment). A cool and sometimes sarcastic fire Mana named Yun who works as a mercenary for a very personal reason gets hired by Lily for the year soon after the game begins. And finally there is Puniyo, a little human girl raised by a family of Punis (the Puni Brothers from other Gust games!), but whose presence is causing some radical Punis who hate humans to constantly attack her. And while I did like Ulrika more than Raze in terms of being a main character, I like Raze's party more.

Ulrika is joined by her childhood friend Chloe Hartog, a young woman who specializes in curses (I'm sorry, incantations) and who may well be the most evil character in the game give than she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Ulrika to summon a demon lord, but I won't say much else. There's also Pepperoncino, nicknamed Pepperoni, a gigantic musclehead who claims to be a fairy in training (but isn't completely and utterly GAY like Tingle) and does his best to help out- even though that causes trouble), but his mere existence is actually one of the major plot points revealed near the end of the game. Enna Dysler, Et's younger brother and constant victim of her affection, literally gets drafted into the workshop and is a mechanic by nature who seeks to follow his dad's footsteps. Finally there's Goto, a suave playboy who hides his real identity by wearing cute animal suit disguises, can even assume the form of a ball, and is Pepperoni's best friend and rival. Ulrika's Mana egg hatches early on and, even though no one knows what kind of Mana hatches from it, she names him Uryu and dotes on him like a mother. While this group sounds weird and looks even weirder during the game, they kind of grew on me during Ulrika's path.

Nearly all of the remaining supporting cast is found in the school's faculty. The generic teachers don't have much presence (don't be surprised if you don't take more than a single class from them) but do have interesting designs: Basshun is a new teacher and lacks confidence while looking like a 17th-century composer. Miranda is a bit on the occult and quiet side while maintaining such a low presence that she's almost invisible. Finally the new school nurse, Zokka, is a bit of an interesting character because he's got the perfect look for a mad scientist but doesn't act that way at all. Again, especially on Raze's path, don't expect to see these guys very much.

The remaining faculty serves as a better explanation for why the school's reputation took an enormous plummet: Zeppel Kreiver, one of the teachers from the first game, is now the principal and is even more spineless than before, even to the point of making Bernard from the first game look like the guy who's willing to fight three angry clones of Bruce Lee; you will hate him. The second major case is that Tony Eisler, one of the main antagonists from the first game, is now the main alchemy teacher! He belittles his students, is still willing to pick fights, and basically hates being a teacher- mainly because he hasn't been home to his wife and child(!) for three years(!!!) because of the job, but he does get better throughout the game. However, the final nail in the coffin for the school is hiring Flay Gunnar/Gunnar Damm as a teacher and as the Vice Principal! He's even more insane than he was in the first game and, even though Zeppel brought him on to help save the school, that doesn't slow down his plan to eventually conquer the world. And while he's completely crazy, he's still hilarious and is the only teacher in school to actually have any faith in the students.

There's a nice range of antagonists as well. The first being Marta Schevesti, the woman who directed the school's restructuring and who wants to dissolve the alchemy program and is basically using everyone around her for her own gain, with one character finding evidence of her being guilty of embezzlement and fraud. Other include a man named Reicher who manipulates Raze throughout most of his path; he's also a swordmans who aims to be the best. Another is Sasalina, a lovestruck woman who constantly attacks Ulrika in an attempt to steal Uryu, and Tetri, another woman who seems to have the same mission as Sasalina, but for a different reason. The primary villain over the course of the whole game is the one responsible for directing the events against the characters and the reason why Mana power has been disappearing from the world, simply because he's a sore loser.

Overall I can't really say that the cast of this game is as memorable as in the original (especially since there are some in this one that I loathe), but the character interaction and the humor within it are just as hilarious as before, so the blow is somewhat softened. Development is steadily done through Character Quests once again, giving another reason to focus on those during blocks of Free Time. I'm especially looking forward to seeing what Lily will attempt to do to get Raze to "admit" his feelings in Cross Edge.

DESIGN

There isn't much to say about the game design because nearly everything is lifted from the original: menu select interface for the school and world maps, the major characters all have distinct looks while generics share the same set of designs, monsters are the standard Gust enemies with fresh boss designs, a bit of lag when there's a lot going on on screen, etc.

The two main improvements in terms of the game's design are, first: what I mentioned about the Story and how it makes the second run of the game much more enjoyable. And second, how much less painful it is to get all of the individual characters endings (both Raze and Ulrika have 5 each). Instead of having to select an ending partner by simply completing that character's fifth quest, then doing 1.5 more game chapters, including a long final dungeon, all of every support character's quests can be done (and need to be), and, right before that character's (fairly short) final dungeon, the player is given a choice to talk to the party members. The first person the player talks to (if any) who has had all of his/her quests completed, that character's ending will be the one the player earns. All 5 individual character endings for each story path can be obtained in less then 3 hours. Simply save to some separate files upon reaching that decision point.

While it may sound like the overall design has improved compared to the original, it actually hasn't. Dungeon designs in this game are horrible. They're entirely linear, aren't connected with other areas, and just aren't any fun to explore after the first time- even though gathering ingredients from harvest points has been improved. Not only that, whereas the dungeons in the first game had several tiers of areas that couldn't be explored all at once, each significant dungeon was unique. In this one, a lot of them just look the same. I will give this one another plus in that nearly all of the dungeons are original areas, with enough returning ones from #1 to trigger a nice sense of nostalgia without feeling repetitive in the sense of re-using too much.

GAMEPLAY

Again, there isn't much different other than a few tweaks when comparing this game to the original. The main drive is to go to school, complete assignments, and earn grades based on performance, with Free Time and boss events at the end of each chapter. It's still entirely possible to potentially earn every character's ending in a single run by getting straight A's, but doing so is actually somewhat harder on this one since some Assignments can be tricky.

Dungeon exploration remains virtually unchanged in that the main character can run, jump, and gather items at harvest points, but entering battle has been changed: Rather than slashing a monster icon, the player will come in contact with it and must press the button that appears over the monster's head. If the correct button is pressed, the player's team gets the first strike or, in the case of blue monsters, an instant win. If not, a regular battle commences. Another change to dungeon exploration is the option to Camp at save points and wait until a certain time of day. This is very handy for areas where day and night affect the layout a bit.

The battle system itself also remains fairly untouched, but has some of the better improvements. The Burst Gauge and Variable Strikes have been renamed to the Unite Gauge and Intimate Strikes, but whereas only Vayne could unleash a Variable Strike in the first game, any character can unleash an Intimate Strike in this one. A defensive measure called the Intimate Guard is also available and proper strategic use of these skills is essential for surviving tough boss fights. Finishing Strikes can be unleashed when that gauge fills up and, once again, they provide some of the most impressive visual effects that the game has to offer. (They also answer the questions of what Whim and Yun truly look like and why it wouldn't be smart to mess with a Mana at full power.)

The major change to the item creation/synthesis system is the fact that synthesizing a recipe now requires the main character to work with a partner. Each partner has a passive ability and several active abilities that can help with the synthesis. The Ether Level (E-Level) system of the items is also the main focus since various E-Levels can change the effect or potent abilities of an item or piece of equipment, so getting something to E-Level 100 isn't always the best option for it. Recipes are still earned from either buying them in the school stores or earning them from boss/job battles.

Character development is still done using the Grow Book system, but it is no longer handled in a tree system. If an item is synthesized, it will immediately appear in at least one character's Grow Book and AP can be spent immediately. There is one slight catch in that all Grow Book entries have three power-up slots. Two of these are unlocked simply by synthesizing the item while the third slot is unlocked by synthing that item with an E-Level of 100, and it isn't nearly as easy to do as it is in the first game (at the beginning anyway). Characters also unlock special character classes as they unlock more and more of their Grow Books, and changing a character's class can grant specific bonuses for either themselves or the whole party. This class system replaces the Rumor system from the first game.

All of the side quests in the game are still done via a job board during Free Time. They consist of hunting down optional bosses or delivering synthesized items to people around school. People often request items with certain traits based on their E-levels, so simply synthesizing them usually isn't enough. The challenges for these items steadily increase as the game progresses. Extra jobs during each chapter can only be accessed during a second run as well, and some of the bounties are callbacks to or even enemies from the first game.

While the game does allow the player character to open up a Bazaar during Free Time, it's always better to do Character Quests if shooting for all of the endings. The Bazaar option allows the player to sell synthesized items, allowing those items to be sold in other stores later on. This is handy for being able to obtain some harder items that are used in recipes, but it isn't completely necessary.

Once again the main replay value of the game comes from playing to get all of the endings. However, as has been mentioned, not only are the endings much more easily obtained, but the second run of the game from the other main character's perspective and the unlocking of Extra Mode and the true ending are what make doing so far more enjoyable and far less tedious than the first game. It especially results in a much greater sense of completion and satisfaction.

MUSIC

There isn't much to say about the music that I already haven't said based on the soundtrack from the original. It's the same mix of instrumental and light rock- especially in battle themes- but where it falls short is that the area map themes didn't really stand out as much. This is especially true in terms of how some tracks didn't seem to represent their locations as much, but there are a couple of exceptions, the Dragon Graveyard especially has the right music for a final dungeon.

The part of the score that has #1 beat is most of the battle themes: they're more suitable, more memorable, and sound more like music than just mashing on an electric guitar. The one exception against this title is the true final boss theme- it's in the same style, but the song this time just wasn't as good. In this issue, the two games pretty much balance each other out.

SUMMARY

While it may seem unfair that I spent the majority of this game comparing this sequel to the original of the series, the fact that you have to play the original to fully understand this game justifies that idea. And while the game did some things better, and some things worse, fans of the original and Gust RPGs in general will definitely enjoy this title. It's got a simple but memorable story, a pretty likable cast, an intuitive design, fun gameplay, and a nicely mixed soundtrack- and these have all been staples of Gust RPGs for me, even though some of them tend to do better in areas than others.

SCORES
STORY: 7.5
CHARACTERS: 8.5
DESIGN: 7
GAMEPLAY: 8.5
MUSIC: 8.5
REPLAY VALUE: High

FINAL SCORE: 8.0