Thursday, March 26, 2009

   Resident Evil 5 - Capcom - Playstation 3
This game is epic. There is no if's and's or but's about it.

First off, the storyline is epic. EPIC! They fill in just about every single plot hole and make sense of everything. Like, I haven't beaten a few of the mainstream RE games, and I still got things answered for me that I had questions for. It was that. good.

Visually, the game is impeccable. All of the infected people are insanely detailed. Chris Redfield got a HUGE makeover. And by huge, I mean his biceps have more rips than an old pair of jeans. He's got a new hairstyle too, to keep up with today's modern styles. And Sheva has some bangin' curves. There were three things I stared at in the game: the zombies, my health, and Sheva's butt. Her accent is pretty stupid though. It's like a cross between African and British. Africish? Ugh. It's bad.

For those of you who loved the new style of gameplay they implemented in RE4, rejoice, because it is back and better than ever. They allow you to have a set of controls with strafing if you want, but I just stuck to the plain old RE4 controls. They are much tighter in this game (I tried going back to RE4, and thought there was something wrong with my controller). But it handles really well, with very little problems. The camera cooperates very well, unless you're using the Gatling gun. The backpack is way too big.

Oh. The biggest thing about RE5? Two player co-op. Hell. YES. Wonderful, flawless, and a damn necessity on the harder difficulties.

The only complaint I have is the stupidity of your AI. Sheva is really useless on the harder difficulties, unless I just haven't mastered the technique right or something. But the harder the game is, the more of a liability she is. It's seriously the only complaint I have. Well that and when the frick the next RE game is coming!

If you own a PS3, you need this game. Period. End of discussion.

Rating
9.5 / 10
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Sunday, August 31, 2008

   Threads of Fate - Squaresoft - Playstation
It seemed like every time I wanted to post in here, MyOtaku was down in some fashion. Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe it was plotted, I'm not quite sure, but it explains some of my period of absence. But without further adue, I bring to you more reviews.

Threads of Fate is a story about two individuals, Mint and Rue, who are searching for a relic to grant them what their hearts desire most. They both set off on their own, with their own agendas in mind, but find that they cross paths multiple times. Along the way they find that they are not the only two people in search of the relic, and while some are willing to cooperate with them, some are also out to stop them to get the relic for themselves.

The game, in terms of it's story is quite amazing, especially for being nine years old as of this date. The characters all have loving personalities, and are just fun to watch develop from the beginning of the game to the end. The story also blurs good and evil, so its hard to tell who's actions are not so malicious. It's really a commendable job by the staff.

The gameplay is something else too. This was the first game (that I recollect playing) that you did not level up. Instead, your stats were boosted by your actions. Strength and Defense were built up by items, HP was increased by getting hit, and MP by using magic. Its interesting, but not my personal favorite. I found myself a few times grinding a little to make the bosses a little easier.

Being able to choose between Mint and Rue give the game decent replayability but its definitely worth beating it with both people. Not only do you get the stories from both perspectives, but the characters develop just slightly different for each one. This gives you the opportunity to sort of fill in the blanks and make the story your own.

Graphically, its not anything over the top. The characters are all original, and no sprites are reused. There are no FMV's or CGA's at all. This sort of leaves the action sequences a little lacking, but not to the point where the game is unbearable. The music was something fantastic though. Each area had a wonderful melody that complimented each area, and Rod's tune was a riot.

Overall, I enjoyed the game thoroughly. I did so even more when I finished both stories. If you get a chance to play this game I would definitely give it a shot.

Rating:
7.0 / 10.0
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Super Smash Brothers Brawl - Nintendo/HAL Labratories - Nintendo Wii
When you see a game having a sequal, you generally expect there to be a lot of improvements from the previous (assuming the formula was a bit shabby) and you want new features. Brawl encompasses everything you would expect, plus a little more.

Still one of the best party games out there, SSBB has made some significant improvements over the previous. I'm going to try my best to capture them all.

We'll start with the game modes. There are countless modes that are available to you right off the bat, followed by two that are unlockable (sorry, gotta play through the game to find out what they are. Hehe.). They brought back the Home Run Contest, Smash The Targets, and Multi Man Brawl. We'll start with those:

Home Run Contest is a game where you have to inflict as much damage as you can on a sandbag, then with a home run bat, smash hit it as far as you can within 10 seconds. This game was always fun but they made a substantial improvement on it. Around the circumference of the starting platform they put an invisible shield that prevents the bag from falling off accidentally. However, this shield will break if you repeatedly beat the sandbag off of it.

Smash The Targets (formerly known as Break The Targets) is a mode where you run a character through a level filled with targets and try to break them as fast as possible. In the past, each characher had his or her own individual course. This time around there is a default stage but there are five levels. With each level you progress, the targets become smaller and the stage much more hazardous. Its definitely a plus.

Multi Man Brawl is essentially a bunch of different challenges that you can do against generic characters. In the original everything was called melee (100 man melee, endless melee) and they changed it to brawl (10 minute brawl, cruel brawl). Not significant, but just shows they pay attention to detail. Also the wire frames have been replaced by colored alloys. Its a neat change. They kind of look like spacemen. Heh.

Now onwards to what was Adventure mode, and classic mode:

Adventure mode has been renamed to The Subspace Emmisary. This one has much more of a storyline (and a wonderful one at that) and is really very awesome. No longer are you limited to using one character throughout the mode, but you are given an option depending on what is going on in the story. Also, the cutscenes have no spoken words, and yet I found myself gasping and laughing during surprising and funny parts, respectively.

Classic mode is back in all of its glory and needs no real introduction. You play through 12 stages of characters and fight the Master Hand at the end. Its been this way since the original, and holds true.

Something I noticed about all the modes is that the AI is really intelligent this time around. I mean REALLY smart people here. Playing on a difficulty above hard is near impossible, and I'm a pretty good player.

Another thing they added, is that every single player mode can be done cooperatively with a friend. This, in my opinion is wonderful. It adds so much more potential to the game.

There are all new events for you to play through, and again, all can be done cooperatively. The difference in this mode is that single player events and multiplayer events are slightly different, so they count them as separate events. So when you fire up your game and only see 10 events, breathe easy, there's really 20.

Graphically there's no tremendous improvement. The backgrounds are a bit more sparkly, and the character models are rendered a bit smoother, but aside from that there are no real big changes. They did add widescreen compatibilty so all of you with enormous tvs can smash on your friends in full 16:9 glory.

Musically, however, is a different story. The amount of music and the quality of this music is simply outstanding. They have so many old and new music for you that you will constantly be excited about each new song. But it gets even better. They now allow you adjust the music frequency so you can hear more of what you want, and less of what you don't. For example, the Zelda stage,Bridge of Eldrin, they play four songs: Legend of Zelda Theme, Ocarina of Time Melody, Hyrule Field, and the Twilight Princess field theme. Since I love the OoT melody so much, I have that playing as frequently as possible. No more crossing your fingers and hoping the Zelda temple played the Fire Emblem theme. Hahaha.

There is also a custom stage builder, where you can create your dream battlefield, with whatever music you want, and play on it. You can even send that stage to your friends so they can play too.

The items are extensive too. There are old favorites and new ones, but two items that really stand out are the smash ball and the assist trophy.

The smash ball incorporates a new feature called a Final Smash. Basically this is like the creme de la creme of all attacks. It does severe amounts of damage and almost always kills your opponent if they have over 30% of damage before being hit. They are unique to the character and look amazing.

The assist trophys are just an added perk if you are a Nintendo fanboy such as myself. Grabbing this item, you have a random Nintendo character pop from inside. Be it Lyn from Fire Emblem, or a Labrador puppy from Nintendogs, they really put thought into these. Each character that pops out does something that's a signature move in collaboration with its game. Even Little Mac made it!

Ahh man, all this. Does it get any better? Yep. The characters:

The first thing I said when I saw the characters was wow. I was simply blown away. 35 total characters, which is definitely the most yet. This doesn't count two transformations: Zelda to Shiek and Samus to Zero Suit Samus. How about them apples? And believe me when I say that each of these characters are absolutely phenomenal. I still wish they would make a few of them more unique but hey, there are more than enough characters to fill your needs somewhere.

So with that all being said, you're probably wondering if there is a flaw in this game. Unfortunately there is, but it doesn't even lie in the game itself. The load times are not so great. The game is a dual layer disk so it takes the Wii greater effort to find the data it needs, and the most load time I've run into was about 8 or 9 seconds. Doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up when you want to play a quick game.

Overall though this game is above and beyond everything it has ever done. If you're thinking about getting into the series for the first time, and are on the fence about it, climb on over, its definitely worth it. Even if you played (or own) the other two games, buy this one too, because there are enough things to do to keep you busy for a long time.

Did I mention there is a wall of unlockables? :]

Rating:
9.5 / 10
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

   Odin Sphere - Atlus/VanillaWare Inc. - Playstation 2
I'm surprised I haven't done this game earlier. It was about this game (maybe a game or two before) when I really started to notice how much I loved Atlus.

All right, so Odin Sphere. This game puts an all new spin on 2D Adventure RPG games. The story itself is intertwined amongst five different characters, and I've only played through about one and a half, so I really can't give you a thorough story background. Just take my word that its good. :]

The art is what is really captivating. VanillaWare Inc. do all hand drawn sprites and it shows. The backgrounds are lush and full of life, the characters are articulate, and all of the cutscenes are done with voice overs that match the characters' personalities perfectly. Really, it is all quite breathtaking.

The gameplay is unique too. The concept of 'square mashing' is defeated by a POW bar (power bar). Basically, every attack you do depletes that bar. The stronger the attack, the more it depletes. Let it empty, and you will be stunned for a set amount of time. You can mash on the buttons and rotate the joystick for a speedy recovery however. If you do not wish to be stunned, simply not attacking will allow your POW bar to regenerate. Also, being struck by an enemy replenishes it as well.

Your HP is recovered by eating food, but each piece of food has a set EXP value to it. After so much EXP, your HP 'levels up' and you gain a larger max HP. This is where strategy comes into play, because if you level your HP up, you also refill your entire bar. Its a very interesting concept.

Your 'magic' in this game is called phazon. When you defeat an enemy, plant a phazon plant seed and have it mature, or complete alchemy of sorts, it releases phazon for you to absorb. At the same time, phazon is used to grow plants, so you have to juggle leveling up your phazon (by absorbing it) or leaving it float in the air (for your plants to absorb).

The alchemy in this game runs off a small math system, so basic understanding of it definitely helps (though they do provide you with a brief in game tutorial, in which case a basic understanding on how to read helps). The seed planting is nice, as you can see the plant developing so you always know how much phazon went into the plant.

The maps are run on closed circuit boards meaning that if you run left or right far enough, you will eventually run in a complete circle. This is not a problem, because it helps you from being lost.

There is only one significant err I find within the game: it loads a whole lot. Granted they are not long loads (the first is usually the longest, being at about 5 seconds, and the rest being only a second to a second and a half), but goodness. If you enter a new area, it loads, back track an area, it loads, storyline unfolds, it loads. I think you get the picture. Its not enough to bring the game down though. Not in the least.

The game has many new features that I have not previously seen in any other game, making this an 'Editor's Pick', if you will. I really recommend this to anyone who enjoys an adventure game with RPG elements tied in. Even if you don't understand those concepts, this game is solid enough for anyone to just pick up and play.

Rating:
8.5 / 10
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

   Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth - Square-Enix - PSP
I tell ya, this game most definitely took me by surprise. The general style of gameplay is unlike anything I've ever played, but I still enjoyed playing it greatly.

You are the Valkyrie, a goddess sent from the heavens to find warriors to fight for you. You train them up while you're with them, then you sent them off to heaven to prepare for battle. This is basically the style of gameplay that is followed throughout the course of the game.

The characters are beautifully rendered. I've never seen art quite like it, and they're all very detailed in their personality. It is something to be reckoned with, though I suppose I should expect no less from Square-Enix. Also, the voices fit the characters perfectly. I'm thoroughly impressed.

The battle system is a cross between RPG and Action. Each character in your party is assigned to one button (square, circle, etc) and to attack with them all you do is press the corresponding button. Using this, you are able to link together lengthy combos resulting in the devastation of many foes. It's impressive.

The CG animations are also beautiful. And the option to view them and listen to all the music is definitely an added perk. I'm curious to see if there's going to be extras at the end of the game.

One downfall that kills me is that there's really no set destinations when you're playing, so its very free roaming, and that for me is bothersome. This is especially hard because each town or battlefield you visit takes up one period, and after so many periods go past, the chapter ends, so you're contained in a 'time frame'.

Overall, if you have a PSP, I'd say check this game out, even though it's hard to find. Its a solid game to own.

Rating:
7.5 / 10
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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

   Drawn To Life - THQ - Nintendo DS
Again its been another period of absence, and I apologise, but I have returned, and with a great game!

Drawn to Life is almost exactly what it sounds like. You are the hero, a old wooden mannequin brought to life by a God (who is essentially the player) and you are asked to make right what is wrong in the little world of these strange bunny like creatures (Sorry, I haven't played in a while so I've forgotten the names of them).

The game is compelling, to say the least. Literally everything they ask you to draw is implemented into the game. From clouds, to springs, to submarines, even your hero is drawn by you. It makes you feel a little more involved with the game itself. The idea of using your own creations to play the game puts you on a whole new level. Ever thought, "Wow, if I made that, I would want it to look like this?". Well, now's your chance. They also offer TONS of palettes of colors, so you're never lacking any colors, or limited to just one shade of every color.

The gameplay is a little simplistic for more hardcore gamers, but there's no doubt that the drawing of everything will keep you more than occupied. There are tons of secrets and unlockables to keep you going at it for a good while. There wasn't any point in the game where I felt like I was doing something repetitive.

The music in the game is really great. THQ wasn't always my favorite publisher, but they seemed to work well with 5TH Cell, and composed a decent soundtrack. Granted I wouldn't go to the Overclocked Remix site and download their music, but it wasn't annoying enough to just shut off and have a different source of music.

One of the downfalls I think is that sometimes they ask you to draw a bit too much. Say if you draw a cloud, and you happen to come across the same cloud a few stages later, they'll give you the option to redraw it. Its a little annoying, seeing as how you're allowed to edit the first time you draw something as much as you want. The only other nuisance is for people like me who have no artistic skill. My hero was named Insomnia, and basically he was all black, with white circles for eyes and a mouth. It was really a sad sight to see. Haha. They do offer character templates, so you're never left hanging.

Overall, the game is a great game for the DS library. The little fuzzball people are quirky and lovable, the storyline is decently strung together, and add in the fact that you draw your own graphics for just about everything, and you've got yourself a solid game that is Drawn To Life.

Rating:
7.5/10
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Monday, July 9, 2007

   Excite Truck - Nintendo - Nintendo Wii
When I first looked at this game, I was so skeptical about it. I peered it and eyeballed it and even tried a demo in a store, and still wasn't impressed with it. But I figured, what the hell, I'm going to rent it and see what its all about. And now, after playing for at least 2 and a half hours, I'm going to buy it.

Gosh, where to start? The speed in this game is just out of this world. It puts a new meaning to you're either first or last. And let me tell you, if you try and blink, you will be last. Don't think its too fast to play though, its perfect in that aspect. The game is just...whoa. Imagine if you syphoned down like 4 energy drinks. That would be the equivilent of the speed this game is on. Its insane.

Its not your typical racer either. The game is all about the high flying, rubber burning speed from start to end. The jumps in this game are phenominal, and its just like, you can't help but laugh when you come crashing on top of someone, or when you're playing two players, and your friend laughs because you hit a jump and they see you fly in front of them on their screen. Its just outrageous how much fun this game can be.

The controls I'm happy, and a little disappointed in. But not disappointed in the wrong ways mind you. What they did for the controls works. They have the buttons doing your gas, brakes, and boost, while tilting your controller back and forth is the way to steer. They are flawless in this manner, and work wonderously with the game. However, a method of switching over to normal controls would have been a bit of a help, because there have been times when I forgot that if you're not holding the controller horizontal, then your truck will drift off to either side. It became a fuss when I started getting tired, and wanted to lay down. Haha.

Visually, the game is beautiful. The graphics are rendered well, and things are smooth. Even with mass chaos going on (truck wrecks, flames from your boosts, etc) there isn't one drop of lag, which makes for a promising game. The only time the game slows down is when you wreck, but its intentional to dramatize the crash.

Now, something that really put the icing on the cake is custom soundtracks. Should you have an SD card loaded into your Wii, with MP3's on there, the game will recognize them, and you can jam to your favorite hits while you race. I nearly had a stroke when I saw the option. And chaning your music is easy as pie. I've never played a racing game that was this user friendly. It just really amazed me.

Overall the game is marvelous, and going from not really wanting to play, to oh my God I need this game right now, is really something, especially for me. If you own a Wii, you should defintely have this game as well.

Rating:

9.0 / 10
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Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Steambot Chronicles - Atlus - Playstation 2
ZOMG a new console?! Haha, yeah, I decided to review something new. I'm not exactly finished with this game, but I think I have a basic understanding of it to review it.

Vanilla Bean, a boy who possibly crash lands his ship on a beach, and is awaken by a girl he thinks is named Coriander. Why is everything variables? He's lost his memory. Its up to you to guide him through this newfound town, and see if you can jog his memory and see where he came from.

The game is very open ended, allowing the choices you make turn you into a hero, a villain, or somewhere in between. On the back of the box, they say that if Miyazaki were to make a game, this would be similar to what it looks like. I suppose from a certain view, I can see it, but that was really shooting for the stars. Its a sandbox style of gameplay, and they make it well known from the title screen. Basically, it means that you don't have to follow the beaten path the whole time if you don't want to. You're free to do what you will.

Gameplay consists of playing musical instruments, which all have a neat way of going about it, to maneuvering in the Trotmobiles: vehicles of mass customization. I mean, everything on these things are interchangable, from the most useless things like the license plate to the more essentials like the body and legs. They're a nifty little thing, and kind of give off a Mechwarrior feel.

The controls are perfect for the game, but I think they could have made them a little more comfortable, mostly for the Trotmobiles. You use the two joysticks, pressing both forward to move forward, one up and one down to turn, etc. But there will be times when you are fighting someone and you'll not be facing the foe completely. It tends to get a little frustrating, but you can get used to it. Also, Vanilla is SLOW without a Trot, so make sure you have yours readily available. He becomes even more slow when he's hungry.

The visuals are great. Everyone is beautifully colored and drawn, the towns look great, coming alive at nights, and busy worker people running around during the days. Its really quite awe inspiring. Also, all of the main scences are done with voiceovers, which are synched extremely well. The voices also fit the characters properly too, so none of that "he should sound more like this".

Other little quirks are the mini games to earn money, the album collection for your records, and two player pool and trot battles give the game a little icing on the cake. I wouldn't not recommend the game to anyone, I just feel that slapping Miyazaki's name on it was a cheap shot. :P Atlus makes wonderful games, they don't need tactics like that to sell.

Rating:
7.5 / 10
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Monday, July 2, 2007

Harvest Moon DS - Natsume - Nintendo DS
Ah, the farming sim that everyone loves. What would we do without it, huh?

HMDS for me was highly anticipated, and although it added some new things, most of it is more of the same. I mean, come on, how much can you really do with a game in which your main goal is to farm, and build a family? You all know the story by now: Somehow, Jack (the main character) is left a farm by his dad, granddad, whatever, and he's given command to bring it back to the way it was. The only catch to this one, is now, the Harvest Goddess, along with 101 of her little harvest sprite people, were sent to another dimention, thanks to the lovely Witch Princess.

Most of the basics are all there. The farm map is set up very similar to the A Wonderful Life map. The only difference is that it's 2D. A lot of the crops are the same, with one new addition to each season. Also, they let you grow a few different types of trees, which is a definite plus. There is TONS of places to farm, with there being a plot of land in almost every acre you come across.

Marriage is a tough one. It seems like no one in this game wants to give you affection at all. Lol. Trying to build up a girls heart rating is the most difficult task thus far in the HM series. The brides you can choose from are quite varied though. You've got the four AWLSP brides, but you can also marry the Cave Girl (Her name slipped my mind), the mermaid girl, Lettuce, The Witch Princess, or the Harvest Goddess if you save her. Not only that, if you plug in your FoMT game pack on the bottom, you'll also have access to those five potential brides as well. 14 girls is a lot of choices, so no one can complain.

The art in HMDS was something that caught my eye. I was a little disappointed when I saw that they used the same sprites from FoMT. After seeing Animal Crossing on the DS, its easy to see they could have made the graphics similar to Magical Melody, or something. Hell if they wanted they could have just used cel shading like they did in Save The Homeland. But alas, they were lazy, and they didn't have to make as many sprites this way. The graphics that they show when you talk to the people are absolutely awesome though. They got rid of Karen's highlights (were they always gone?) and they made Nami look terribly similar to a male, but other than that, the women are beautiful. Their facial expressions are flawless, and they are all very adorable. I have no complaints in that department.

What really tore this game down for me is the lack of touch screen controls. I mean, they have them, but they feel sloppy, and tacked on. You use the touch screen for most of your menu navigation, which makes moving around it faster, but also means you need to be in a building, or the time will continue to advance while you're trying to find something in your rucksack, or whatever. You also use it when you get the touch glove, which allows you to pet, brush, milk or sheer your animals. They also give you a score, which determines the affection rating you get out of the task, and gives you bragging rights amongst your friends. As nifty as it is, its very tedious after the second or third time, and after awhile, you don't even bother to put the glove on. It was just disappointing.

Some of the pluses though were the plethora of items there are in this game. Lots of nifty little perks you can find. Oh yeah, and did I mention that your inventory in your rucksack is amazing. Not only can you have 52 spaces, but each space can stack up to 99 of a certain item. <3 I love you for that one, Natsume.

I'd recommend this game to either someone who hasn't played the series heavily (maybe bought one or two of the console games), or is a hardcore devoted player, but if you're new to the series, or only heard about HM from other sites, please save yourself the trouble and buy a different one. There have been better.

Rating:
7.0 / 10
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Sunday, May 20, 2007

   Mario Hoops 3 on 3 - Nintendo/SquareEnix - Nintendo DS
I know, I know, ANOTHER DS game. Well, if you knew why, then I'd have to kill you. Haha. :) Don't worry about it, and just enjoy the reviews dammit! I'm not doing this stuff for my health, that's for sure.

So, Mario Hoops. I know. The first thing that ran through my head was probably the same as yours, "FUCK MARIO!" We're all sick of seeing him in sports games now. Soccer, Tennis, Baseball, and now Basketball. Notice how he doesn't play any manly sports like football or rugby huh? Haha, oh well. Don't worry though, this game doesn't totally suck.

I won't lie, the only reason I really picked this game up was because SquareEnix tagged along for the ride. I bet you $20 that if they weren't involved, this game would totally blow. I started playing though, and I was fairly impressed.

You pick three characters to be on your team. Yeah, a little 3 on 3. How big of a secret was that? Anywho, each character specializes in their own thing. There are All-Around, Technical, Speedy, Powerful, and Tricky characters. I'm not entirely sure of what each one does, but the Powerful and Speedy ones are a little obvious.

What you do, is you go around dribbling on the court to collect coins. Your character dribbles automatically, but you can tap the touch screen to make him/her dribble faster, allowing you to collect coins faster. You can collect up to 100 coins before shooting, and that's how you score (duh). For normal shots and dunks, you get an extra 20 coins, and for special dunks you get 40.

The touch screen is used just as much as the D pad, allowing for jukes, ball slaps, jumps, passes, whatever. If you wanna do something other than moving, then you better have a second hand. While on defense, the ? blocks can be touched to get some signature Mario items like the green/red turtle shells, banana peels, and a bomb.

The game is really simple to just pick up and play, but its quite a challenge to master. I'm still unlocking things (which there are plenty of) and trying to master the aspects of the game play. With many game modes, and the option to play with someone else, this game is sure to be a good addition to your DS game library.

Rating:
7.5 / 10
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