Getting Reacquainted: Ar Tonelico

 Oh boy...

 I stopped playing this game a couple of years ago, and for a good reason. It wasn´t very fun. The game is, alright-ish, a tad too cheery for my tastes though. I was so bored last time that I decided I´d call it a day after  getting one of the bad endings... nope, not this time, I´m getting the best ending. Damn right.

 For what it´s worth, so far it´s not AS bad as I remembered it, but it´s not too entertaining. Could be worse!

Archview #16: T´ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger

 Your Kung Fu is no good here.

 Let´s keep it short and simple, T´ai Fu is really good. The story is not as interesting as it´s setting, keeping it short, you play as T´ai Fu, sole survivor of the Tiger clan, raised by Pandas(I´m not making this up), and must journey to learn of your past and avenge your clan, who fell to the Dragon clan. There are no humans in the game, just various animals, part of different clans, who each have their own martial arts. As you play through the game you´ll be taught from the Mantis, Leopard, Monkey and Crane masters.
 T´ai´s moveset is not incredibly large, but it gets the job done. As you play through the game, T´ai will earn new moves, imitating his masters, running like a Leopard, hovering like a Crane or rolling like a Monkey. All styles serve T´ai Fu to move around through the levels, as he will need to make use of their abilities, but each one also has combat purposes. Combat itself is pretty simple, and enemies are not too challenging, most of your deaths will come from the traps each level has. Lives are quite plentiful, sometimes it seems as if the game is looking for excuses to give you more one ups!

 The graphics are great, characters look really good, and there´s virtually no slowdown, great lightning effects too. Stages themselves are quite varied, from the jungles, to the snowy mountains, there is a lot of variety. The music is quite forgettable, but it´s appropiate for the martial arts setting. The voice acting is quite good, surprising for it´s time! All in all, the game sells it´s Kung-fu inspired setting really well.
 While the game´s lenght is appropiate for the type of game, ending before it gets repetitive, there´s no replay value at all. Stages, while not small, don´t house many secrets, and said secrets are mostly one ups, nothing worth returning for. After you beat the game, you only get the ability to Level Select, but there´s nothing new, no new moves to try, nothing!
 Despite it´s lack of replay value, I had fun with T´ai Fu. It´s fun, and the presentation is quite interesting and well done.
It´s an 8 out of 10.

Archview #15: Alundra 2

 I´m doing this without my notes, so I might forget some stuff....

 For starters, Alundra 2 has nothing to do with Alundra, any similarities are purely coincidental. This time around, you play as Flint, a young Pirate Hunter, who gets roped into helping princess Alexia to free the kingdom from Baron Diaz, who replaced the king with a Puppet. Yup, it also tries to be funny, but the game has a very... quirky sense of humor, more often than not, it falls flat on it´s face.

 Although Alundra 1 was very clearly inspired by The Legend of Zelda, Alundra 2 tries, and manages, to do it´s own thing. Puzzles no longer rely on various tools, but revolve either around 4 elemental rings or the enviroment itself. Puzzles get almost as hard as Alundra 1, however, they don´t ever get frustrating, since most rooms reset themselves if you screw up. And screw up you will, puzzles are very varied, from setting up chain reactions, to acting as a tile for a statue to go over, the puzzles are quite varied.

 Combat is a bit challenging, due to the clunky system, it´s not quite obvious when the invincibility period, after the enemy gets up, ends, so you might end up getting sucker punched while you hit an invulnerable enemy. Another issue, is that the fine folk at Activision decided to rename "Normal" and "Hard" into "Easy" and "Normal", so if you are like me and choose Normal... get ready to recieve tons of damage from the enemies. Bosses are not as hard, since you must learn their patterns and how-when to attack. Some bosses are quite original, there´s one boss where you need to grab the bombs the lesser enemies drop, walk under the boss´ fire attack, to light up the bomb, and time it, so that when you throw it towards the boss, it explodes in the air. Another one has you evading his attacks, until he winds up for a punch, where you must slide into his feet, to throw him off balance, and hit his head.
 The game looks... quite bad actually, graphics are simply and messy, there´s clipping everywhere, and slowdown is quite frequent when there are many things on screen. The music is quite generic and forgettable, voice acting however, is quite decent. Luckily, the ending is much more fulfilling than Alundra 1´s, however, there are loads of loose ends by the end of the game. How did Flint´s father survive? Will Flint ever find out that that guy is his father? And the king, did they ever find him?... there are many loose ends.

 There´s almost no replay value, but the game is as long as Alundra 1, and has as much hidden stuff to find. It also has loads of minigames, like Shooter, and many secret activities, like dog hearding. Sadly, most of the good rewards require you to play the games for a long, long time, even games like Shooter, which are fun, end up becoming quite boring. Also, getting the item for the best shield in the game, means that you will almost surely give up on the magic ring enhancements, since they use the same currency, and it´s hard to aquire with the dart games. And you also need to farm loads of darts from enemies... so yeah, they are nice distractions, but the game overstimated their appeal.
 All in all, Alundra 2 is a good game. I enjoyed it more than Alundra 1, however most of it´s charm is missing. Hardly a classic, but it´s quite fun.
7.5 out of 10.

First Archimpressions: T´ai Fu

 Coming from Alundra´s 2 less than spectacular graphics, this is... whoa.

 I´m on level 3, just cleared it actually, and so far so good. Game looks great, although the music is a bit on the boring side. Combat is fun, and levels are just long enough. It does seem like the game lacks replay value, since there are not many areas, and most of them just house extra lives. Still, first impression? The game is gonna be fun. On a sidenote, why does T´ai look different on the cover? Lampshading maybe?

How Capcom killed Darkstalkers.

 Remember how Capcom blamed fans for the death of Megaman Legends 3? They expected the fans to BUY a DEMO to help THEM with the game, kinda like Raccoon City, except it wasn't a complete game, if you could call Raccoon City complete at launch that is. Said demo never made it through since Inafune left, Capcom got cold feet and blamed the fans. Regardless, they now killed any hope of Darkstalkers 4 through bad decisions.
 Capcom, fans wanted Darkstalkers 4. You didn't need to do much really, all we wanted was the full Darkstalkers 3 cast(The Playstation port that had everyone), you could skip on Dee, that new inclusion from DS collection, which was Demitri with a new head and Donovan's moves. You could also skip the Sprite edits, like Oboro Bishamon and Gold Talbain. You needn't make any new characters. Just a new engine, which you could've borrowed from SF IV or MvC , the same characters everyone loved, with a new coat of paint, and maybe a few new mechanics.
 What did you do? Port two older games and hold DS 4 hostage. You wanted to earn twice as much money, by ransoming DS 4 if DS Ressurrection sold well. If fans really wanted DS 4, they would have to buy Ressurrection AND DS 4, sneaky. So what's the problem? You offer Vampire Saviour 2. Sure, it has better graphics than the PS 1 port... but not as many characters, which makes it inferior, even if it looks twice as good(It really does look much better). And the worst part is expecting it to sell much. True Darkstalkers fans probably own these games in other way or forms:
The Saturn Vampire Saviour 2 port? The Ps1 Darkstalkers 3 port with all the characters? The Dreamcast port of VS 2? Darkstalkers Collection for PS2 importers? Darkstalkers Chronicles for PSP? Emulate it for free with M.A.M.E or WinKawaks?. The people that want and clamor for a new Darkstalkers game have, more than likely, already bough the game before and probably own it more than twice. Another blunder? Digital only. I admit that if it had come out in disc form, I would have bought it.
 So, Darkstalkers: Ressurrection, while being the 7th most sold game on PSN of it's month, failed to meet Capcom's expectations. Capcom is either very, very blind or thinks it can ride off nostalgia forever. It can't pretend to take as much as they can from the consumer, without giving them what they want instead of devicing ways to rip off their fans.

First Archimpressions: Alundra 2

 Hmmm, it's alright. It's no TRAG.

 This game feels almost nothing like Alundra so far, so I dunno why call it Alundra 2. Sure, the view is sorta the same? But it feels much, much different, and I'm not just talking about the phyisics. I'm almost an hour in and I've mixed feeling about it.
 The music is the sort of music you'd expect from a game like this, it's nothing special, but it's not bad. Surprisingly for the time, the voice acting is quite decent. The graphics however are quite bad, not only are most characters very simple and low poly(Seriously, the textures for the faces are so simple and bad) and worst of all? It will have slowdown at times. With graphics this simple, they've no excuse for it.
 The controls are alrightish, it's a bit odd that the game supports the dual shock and you can control de camera with R1 and L1, yet you can't move it with the right analog stick, it feels like a missed oportunity. Also, moving the camera while moving Flint sometimes makes the left analog stick behave oddly, it's hard to explain. On the whole, they are not as tight as I would've liked, but it's not too annoying.
 I like it a bit so far, not as much as I liked Alundra 1 when I first played it, but I doubt it's gonna be a bad game.

Archview #14: Tekken Tag Tournament 2

 Part 2 of the Double Review Special

 This is my favorite fighting game ever, no lie. So, where to start from... Hmmm... There's 59 characters. Yup. There's only like 10 clones or so, and even then, they have different moves and different properties to some of the shared moves. Besides, some of these characters are here just to please the fans, and that's what this game is about, pleasing the fans and celebrating Tekken. Almost every character from previous games are in here, the few exceptions are Jack 1, Jack 2, Gunjack and Jack 4, however, Jack 6 takes their place. There's also missing Gon, for obvious copyright reasons, but then again, Gon is not really part of Tekken, so he's not a necessity. There's also Kuma 1, Armor King 1,King 1 and Roger missing, but King 2 , Armor King 2, Roger Jr. and Kuma 2 take their place, and they looked the same anyways.

 Just as there are loads of characters, there are loads of modes. Arcade ladder, Ghost Battle, Time Attack, Survival... and then, you can also play in pair-play mode, with 2 players, each one playing as one character on the "Team". Customization returns, but I'll speak of it later. There's also Fight Lab, and while it was presented as a "great tutorial into all that is Tekken", that's an exageration. It teaches you some basics, but you are left to do most of the work. For example, it teaches you what a launcher is, but since each character has different launchers, it's up to you to find them out. Fight Lab will not make you a master at Tekken, it will just teach you rough fundamentals, with some funny missions.

 Speaking of customization, it's a step back from Tekken 6. Now "Arms and chest" got grouped into Chest, "Legs and feet" into Legs, and creating hairstyles got a tad more cumbersome. The accesory department got expanded though, with lots of "in-hand" equipables, and most swords and knives are usable in battle! Most of them have a slow startup and deal little damage, so they won't affect a serious match, being there mostly just for show. It does feel like there are less pieces of clothing though, and some of them don't look too good on the characters. Luckily, most of previous alternate costumes from the characters are unlockable for equipping(You have to unlock both Chest and Legs pieces though, or just mix them with other clothings, who's judging?) and they do look good. Most of the unlocking is done in Ghost Battle, however what you unlock is random, so it could take a while before you complete your favorite character's wardrobe. It's worth noting that characters do have default alternate costumes, but most of them are really, really bad and feel completely uninspired, probably made in a couple of seconds just to have them. The game does provide around 10 slots per characters, so you can make up for them.

 The game looks amazing. While I feel, but can't prove, that the bodies feel a bit more streamlined, characters are still impossibly detailed, I dare say the most realistic muscles in a videogame ever. Characters algo get dirty and/or wet as they fall into the various types of ground, it looks really good. One thing I disliked though, is that replays got shorter, now it only plays the last 3 seconds before the killing blow, which is quite dissapointing. The music is your usual Tekken Techno, it's a shame they also got rid of the "Play your own music at any time" from Tekken 6, but the music is good. Voice Acting is great, each character speaks in it's native language! Portuguese, French, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, German, Japanese, English.... it proves just how much attention to detail they payed. Oh, actually, Lars is half german, but still speaks Japanese, go figure. Another neat touch, is how endings(Yeah, endings! In a fighting game! Again! Finally! REAL ENDINGS, WITH ANIMATION AND NO TEXT!) use many and different styles. Some are in FMVs, some are handdrawn, some use different filters... there are loads of different ending styles, and it's so good!. And, obviously, they reek of Tekken's trademark humor.

 Gameplay is your tried and true Tekken fighting system, forged in fire through over 7 iterations of the franchise, with the addition of tag mechanics. It's not just tagging, there's tag assaults and tag throws too, and a bunch of defensive tag additions. Wanna tag in safely? Just give up you red health and rage, and you can tag in while on the ground. Like the previous Tekken Tag Tournament, characters recover red health when they are not active, and rage is activated when you take damage... however, it's your partner character who gets enraged. There's a whole Allegation chart, based on character relationships, that can make your partner get enraged sooner, or take more time, depending on who's his partner. Wait, learning two characters is too hard? Well, characters do have at least 60 moves, some go beyond a 100, and all those stances... worry no longer, you can go 1 v 2(Or 1 v 1, if you are boring). Playing as one character limits your options, since you no longer have access to all those neat tag mechanics, but you do get more health, and get enraged sooner, still, fun people play as two characters.

 Tekken Tag 2 is an extremely fun game, proof of that is that I spent over 10 hours fooling around in ghost mode before even going to Arcade mode and getting the endings, it's that good(Also, the fact that most of my friends dislike Tekken. If you are reading this, EFF YOU, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.). It's not totally perfect though, I dislike how Arcade Mode and Survival mode are littered with crappy looking custom characters instead of their default looks. Also, most oponents "pretend" to be players, so you'll be running against the same teams multiple times, I've had prefered random teams, like Tekken Tag 1!. Also, there are few victory poses and special victory poses, specially for a game as big as this one. Then there's the "free" dlc. Yes, it's free, but if you don't have Internet,or 10 years from now, when PSN and XLive are dead, you won't have access to around 10 characters. All of these are just nitpicks though, and hardly get in the way of your enjoyment with TTT2.

 Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is the best Tekken yet. If you don't like Tekken, this game won't change your mind. If you do, this is a no brainer.

10 out of 10.

Archview #13: T.R.A.G : Mission of Mercy

 Welcome to a double Review Special, part 1: T.R.A.G

 T.R.A.G is a criminally underrated PS1 action game. It never seems to be mentioned anywhere. No Top 10s, no "Obscure PS1 games", no nothing. EVER. And it's a shame, 'cause it's surprisingly good.
 The game plays like Classic Resident Evil, characters move like tanks, you've got fixed camera angles on pre-rendered backgrounds. There's also lots of information logs, items(mostly keys) that are needed to open various objects. There's also a limited quantity of healing items, and the game never heals you, so you have to keep that in mind, albet enemies tend to be quite generous with health packs(These can't be stocked though). Unlike Resident Evil, however, you play as four different characters, each character can be swapped on the fly, and each one has a different weapon and fights quite differently from each other. Unlike REvil, however, combat is quite fast. You've got backsteps and special moves, using the D-Pad.

 The game looks pretty good. Characters and enemies are a bit on the simple side, but they look good, specially for a PS1 game. The music variety is a bit small, but it works for the game, voice acting on the other hand..... To be fair, back in the day, voice acting wasn't common, and it wasn't good, at least the dialogue is cheesy, so it kinda, kinda meshes well with the bad voice acting. One thing I loved is the amount of details, like different descriptions depending on which character is doing the examination, and the amount of alternate CG cutscenes and lines depending on which character you are using!.
 The game is a tad too short though. It's a shame, since it has many great ideas, like the initial sequence, where Alex and Michelle break up and each one handles a different area. You can switch characters and proceed at your own leisure, it'd have been nice to have more moments like that. Also, you can choose which character handles which area, so you get different CG cutscenes and dialogues, and a different latter consequence, but alas, the game is too short, and it's a one time deal.

 After finishing the game, two different endings by the way, you unlock different colors, and depending on certain conditions, different weapons and costumes(In some cases, like Alex and Rachel, it changes their moveset) for each character, plus, having Alex and Michelle take the paths they didn't last time, so there is some degree of replayability. My final complaints lie on the fixed camera angles, like other games of it's ilk, sometime it can make it hard to see what you are fighting, specially when the camera angle changes and on the controls. Tank-like controls probably wasn't the best way to go with this kind of game, and movement sometimes is a bit cumbersome, but it doesn't get in the way of the game.
 So, in conclussion, T.R.A.G: Mission of Mercy is a great game, and everyone who hasn't played, nay, hasn't even heard of it should get shot.
 It's a 7 out of 10.

Archview #12: Strider 2

 Short 'n sweet.

 Strider 2 is one of the most action-packed games ever, rivaling the best Contra has to offer. It has you travelling from airship to airship, through the artic, battling a gravity defying machine or fighting over flying cars. This game is awesome. It's also over a little too soon.
 The game is very simple, you have a Slash button and a Jump button, go wreck havoc. The game is very fast paced, but the controls are very tight, you always feel in control. Imagine Sonic, but less watching and more playing, that's Strider 2, kinda.

 At the start you can choose from 1 out of 3 missions, and as you clear them you'll unlock 2 more. Each stage is incredibly action packed, but the game, as a whole, is very, very short. It's also quite hard on the default setting, but you get infinite continues. It's a very short game, no doubt about it, but it manages to cram so much fun into it's length that it's quite astounding, and it's highly replayable. Also, beating the game unlocks Hien, and while he is just a Hiryu headswap, his attack is quite different, providing a slightly different experience.
 The game looks good, it has flat sprites on 3D backgrounds. Both are very jaggy, but it doesn't get in the way of the game. Activating Boost also can take a toll on the frames per second, but it's not too annoying. The music is... you'll never hear it, you'll be stuck with Hiryu's "HA!"s everytime he swings Cipher, and you will be mashing that Square button.
 So yeah, it's a short game, but it's also very fun. It's highly recommendable, and it also comes with Strider 1, a much harder and much more punishing game(And despite what the hardcore fans may say, Strider 2 is much better.).
 It's an 8 out of 10.

Archview #11: Godzilla Destroy all Monsters Melee

 It grew on me...

  For starters, I know jack about Godzilla, I mean, I'm familliar with the franchise, I know what is a Mothra, I know that there is more than one Mecha-Godzilla, I know that the franchise involves aliens and humans as much as the kaijuu themselves(Well, maybe not as much). So I hope I don't mess up too badly as I fumble around the review.

 Godzilla: DAMM is a fighting game in which you take control of a "Kaijuu", a giant monster, and have to battle another giant monster. Battles take place in various cities, which can, and will, get destroyed as you fight. You have a Punch, a Kick and a "Limb" button, stringing them together you can get combos, and coupling them with the analog stick you get more moves. Punch+Kick is grab, and Punch+Limb unleashes the rage move, provided you are in Rage mode. There's also a Beam button, that can be charged to unleash... a beam attack.

 First complaint: Controls feel wonky. Yes, monsters react slowly to your button presses since they are supposed to be big and heavy... but they are still wonky. Also, if you are not exremely precise with the Grab or Rage move combination, you'll end up just punching the air. It happens a lot, and it's annoying. Another baffling mechanic is... Head rotation. By using the C-Stick you can rotate you monster's head, in order to better aim the beam attack(Since homing is also wonky). It's a really strange mechanic, and due to the camera angles, it never manages to become second nature.

 Monsters are caged with laser walls, touch them, and get knocked back while taking negligible damage. Throughout the stage, sometimes power ups will appear, they can be either Health restores, Energy restores(Energy recharges slowly, and it's used for beam attacks), Rage(This puts you in rage mode, allowing you to use the Rage attack AND goes through monster resistances) or... Mothra. Yes, Mothra, one of Godzilla's trademark enemies is a mere power-up. He flies by, zapping the enemy.

 Stages also have the military forces and alien spaceships, and both like to take their anger out on the Kaijuu. While they do little damage, occasionaly you'll get frozen by the ice beam, granting the enemy a free attack. Some buildings can also be picked up and thrown. Something I disliked, is that it's not immediately obvious what can be picked up, unless you get close to it and it flashes red.
 The game looks really good. While buildings are very simple, the monsters look really good, however the beam attacks look really puny. They sound puny, and the visual feedback looks as if the other monster simply got a weak push. Monster screams are quite fitting though. The music is barely noticeable, but it's better that way, it sounds way more epic to have all the little explotions and monster screams fill the enviroment.

 There are 11 Kaijuu, and one of the neatest things, is how each one feels very different from one another. Actually, Godzilla 2000 is a slightly different Godzilla 90s, and Mecha Gidorah is barely different from King Gidorah. However, those particular cases aside, each monster feel very different. For example, one of the has a spiked shell, hit it, and your monster will get stunned as he grabs his paw or foot  in pain. Another one can dive into the ground, and a couple of them can fly. One thing I disliked though, is the Blunt, Sharp and Beam resistances. Some monsters are particularily resilient to one type of attack, and weak to another. It's a bit annoying, but I guess it adds some un-needed depth.
 This game is a case of "It's better with friends", 'cause y'see, if you play single player, you can only play: Adventure mode(Where the AI is horribly cheap and the Military seems to target you exclusively, shame it's how you unlock everything), Versus(You versus 1 CPU) and Survival. However, if you have friends, you can play Melee, a 4 man free for all. You can also play Destruction, where you race to destroy the town before the other player. You also get the added bonus that human players won't own you like the CPUs.

 Godzilla: DAMM is not a bad game, but it's not for everyone. Godzilla fans will eat it right up, anyone else, tread carefully.
 It's a 6/10.

First Archimpressions: Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee

 No bueno.

 I got hyped. I did, I heard and read about this, supposedly, great GC Godzilla game, so I just had to try it... and it's no bueno. For starters, the controls are clunky, yes, it was done on purpose, since these are huge monsters, but they are still clunky. Physics are incredibly floaty, the jumps have no weight to them, and these are supposed to be heavy monsters, remember the clunky movement?.

 Another beef I have: Affinities. There seems to be different some kind of resistance system? Some monsters are strong againt blunt attacks, others agains sharp, and some against beams.... Basically, the balance is broken. Attacks also lack oomph. I had to cut back to 1-round fights since it was so boring. Visually, the attacks lack any sort of "ouch" factor, soundwise they seem puny, and the life bars take so much time to go down.... Specially maddening with the beam attacks.

 So, yeah, I'm not liking this game. At all. Hope I get done with it soon.

Archview #10: Alundra

 Finally got here, Review number 10!

 Alundra is an adventure game in the same vein as Zelda. Almost exactly like Zelda. Actually, it's a Zelda clone, and it doesn't even try to hide it, you've got puzzles, you've got elves, you've got bombs... however, there is one big, highly noticeable difference... Alundra is hard as balls, call it Zelda: Hard mode, if you will.
 The game puts you in the shoes of Alundra, the eponymous hero of the game, who suffers an accident and wounds up in the town of Inoa, where people gave up the ability to create in order to gain the ability to control their dreams. However, people begin having deadly nightmares, and it just so happens that Alundra comes from an ancient race of dreamwalkers, so guess who has to save the inhabitants of Inoa?.

  Surprisingly, the story takes some very dark turns later in the game, suffice to say, it doesn't shy away from killing defenceless kids. And this, being a game localized by the now defunct Workings Arts, has some pretty funny lines. The game is filled with humor, even in the darkest moments(For example, when a certain pothead dies, the game says "X has take the ultimate bad trip". They make light of every situation!).

 As for the game itself, it's pretty good. Controls are very simple, and are responsive, most of the time. Just like Zelda, there are some times in which you are going to return to the pause menu numerous times to switch items, but it doesn't get annoying... not that part, at least. The game is brutally hard, some of the puzzles are quite taxing, and worst of all, the game punishes you constantly. Rooms don't reset unless you exit them, which means on rooms that have 3 or more tasks to complete, fail even one of them, and you have to do all of them again, that barrel you just lost, is gone forever until you exit the room.



 The worst aspect of the game is the jumping. The game has a dumbfounded focus on jumping. Jumping in this game is annoying, due to it's 2D with a 3D plane nature, gauging distances is hard, and some jumps need to be pixel-perfect. The worst part? The game is filled with jumping puzzles, all the way to the end. Some can get quite frustrating, since you might, actually, WILL, need to reset a lot of rooms that have jumping puzzles. It's quite surprising on the amount of jumping the game pretends you to do, and blemishes an otherwise great game.
 The game could've also used maps, it's easy to get lost in the main world of the game, at least until you learn the landscape. Most of the dungeons are small enough as not to need one, but the last dungeon can get quite confusing. Another annoyance comes from the health of enemies. Enemies take a lot of hits before going down, specially early in the game... and the bosses? Working Arts said that the in the Japanese version, bosses had even more health... hard to imagine. The latter bosses specially, will soak up a lot of damage before going down.

 The presentation is one of the game's best assets. It looks great, the sprite art is charming, and has a very distinct style, with their big feet. The music is fantastic, there are a lot of pieces, and they are all really, really good. The localization is top-notch, worthy of the Working Arts logo.
 The game is really good, but it's hard difficulty may turn off some people, nothing a guide can't help ease, however the jumping puzzles are an exercise in frustration, probably the one thing that kept this game from becoming a classic, instead of just a cult hit.
 It's a 7 out of 10

PSA

..... Really?
 I just finished Alundra. After the most impossibly complex and sanity-taxing dungeons ever. After a 3-boss gauntlet that anything but easy, all we get.... all we effing get is a long-a$$ anime-cutscene in which, no only does the girl leave Alundra, but it makes no sense. It mixes past adventures with stuff that happens in the presente.
 So, SO unsatisfying. I'm mad.
 Review coming shortly.

Archview #9: Dynasty Warriors 7

 So I don't need an HD TV for this one?(Ed's note: Dat neck)

 Ah, another Dynasty Warriors game, it's the same as the others.
1/10.
......
...
..
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 Still here? Good. I'm one of the few that actually enjoy Dynasty Warriors, and one of the few that's willing to give each entry a chance. I'd mention "what's new", but seeing how the last DW game I played was 4, I don't really know, so I'll be looking at it as an stand alone game, which is how most games should be looked at, even if they are sequels.
 What is Dynasty Warriors? It's the evolution of the sidescrolling beat'em up, the kind that was popular back on the SNES days.You play as a general of your choosing, around 60 for this entry, and are to lay havok on thousands upon thousands of grunts(As a matter of fact, there's a trophy for slaying over 3000 enemies on a single stage.). The game is pretty easy to pick up and play, there's a jump button, a normal attack, a charge attack(I like to call it the "modifier", more on it later) and a Musou attack. Normal attacks can be strung together up to 5 times... but press the charge attack in between the string to perform a completely different move, depending on when you use it during the string. The Musou attack is the screen-clearing special attack that requires a certain gauge to be filled.

 The game takes place on big, open areas, filled with enemy soldiers, in which you must usually take care of a certain general to finish the mission, but it's encouraged to defeat as many officers(Stronger soldiers) as possible, since they drop various permanent power ups. There are a few missions that get a bit annoying, specially in the Story mode, in which you must protect an absolutely brain-dead ally as it makes it's way to a certain spot. They tend to get stuck, or choose to engage even when low on health, to say that they need constant baby sitting is an understatement. Enemy AI is a bit dumb too, but if they were to attack you constantly, you'd be dead in seconds, seeing how it's 200 or more vs 1(The allies deal negligible damage when you are close by, so don't rely on them). By the way, enemy archers are overpowered. They deal a ridiculous amount of damage, always attack from behind enemy lines, and if you jump, can stop you dead on your track.

 There are about 62 characters and 31 weapon styles... which means there are a lot of clones. You can have up to two different weapons equipped(And can be changed just by going to the pause menu, even during battle). Each character has different affinities with each weapon, from getting slow charge attacks to being able to get extra gimmicks with a weapon. However, each character has a single EX attack, unique to each general, with his special weapon. This hardly makes it unique, the only things that differentiates characters are the two Musou Attacks and the EX attack, otherwise most characters can be reduced to clones. Sword specialists are specially abundant, and every character is proficient with swords, so if you are stuck with a character whose best weapons you don't like and isn't proficient with better weapons, you can just fall back to the Sword.

 Story mode is fantastic. Unlike previous entry, where each character would get a what-if-ish story mode, each Kingdom gets it's own story mode, and this time, it follows the Romance of the Three Kingdoms more closely. Voice acting is all over the place, some VAs, like Liu Bei's are amazing, but some of the others are decent at best. The soundtrack is fantastic, filled with the synthetic rock the series is known for, while having some excellent pieces, like the song that's played during "sad moments", proof of this, is scenes like Sun Jian's death, while the VAs try their hardest to ruin the scene, the music overcomes all, fitting the mood perfectly. Props to the Cut-scene director, they are incredible too, in spite of some of the VAs.
 The graphics are great, each general looks awesome, with pretty intricate armor designs. The same can't be said for the NPC generals and the common soldiers, housing less polygons than their peers, but they don't look too bad. The stages are a bit on the simple sad, and the props, like scarecrows or boxes can't be broken, which is a shame, but it's probably the cost of having so many soldiers on-screen at the same time. The FX are a bit on the bland side too, many of the sparks look quite bad, and are prone to clipping through the floor. Not a a huge deal, but it's noticeable, particularily on Sima Yi's EX move.



Besides Story-Mode, there's also Conquest mode. Sadly, for the first time in the series, as far as I know, Free Mode is absent, but Conquest mode is a better alternative... mostly. Conquest Mode provides over 100 different stages, of varying difficulty levels, and different goals. Escort Missions, conquering missions, dueling missions.... it all boils down to killing thousands of soldiers. One thing I like about the mode, is that it incorporates the What If stories from previous games into "Legendary Battles". Each general has a different set of Legendary Battles, they range from historically accurate to ridiculous, with Sima Shi being mad at Sima Zhao for eating his food.
 In both modes, you will amass gold, which is used to buy more weapons. This weapons come with built-in seals, that provides different bonuses. Defeat enough enemies with the weapon, and you'll master it, allowing you to use it's seal on different weapons. Each weapon has a different ammount of open slots, so you can customize your weapon to better suit your style. Grinding for stats is as slow as ever, with enemy general leaving +2, +4, +6, +8 or rarely and only on harder difficulties +16 strenght or defense power ups. Seeing how most generals start with 200-300 base stats, it's gonna take a while. There's also a relationship system with other generals, but it's a very shallow affair, and consists on taking them to you on battles for no rewards what so ever besides some dialogue lines.



 So, how do I feel about Dynasty Warriors 7? A game with untapped potential. Story mode is fantastic, graphics are great, for this type of game, but... characters feel replaceable with each other, they don't have enough differences between each other. Luckily, it seems DW 8 adresses it, since they made a different weapon for each character! And the few that share weapons, use them in very different ways, and the graphics look even better than now... oh yeah, I'm hyped. But enough about 8, this is seven.
 And DW 7 is a 7 out of 10.

Progress Report

 Oh boyo...

 Dynasty Warriors 7: Almost done with Conquest Mode, just a few more stages, and I'll review it. It's really good, and the most involved I've gotten in a non-spin off DW since 2. Near the end of April, I'll get DW 1 and start going from 1 to 7:Empires. Just hope I don't get burned out from all the repetitiveness. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

 Alundra: 20 hours in, just got inside Murgg woods, don't know how much longer 'till the end. Alundra is fantastic, but some of the puzzles are nerve-wrecking, and the platforming is a mess, the latter which is probably what kept it from becoming a classic.

 Megaman Starforce 2 Zerker X Ninja: Oh boy... My interest in this game is fading. Starforce 1 was almost, almost as good as I remembered it. This one is... dissapointing... I mean, it's more of the same, but the story is not as engaging as the first game. Gameplay-wise? It's better. Graphically? A little bit better... but the Skyline is such a tedious affair... I'm 10 hours in, and I can't wait to wrap this one up.

Sequels that got it Wrong: Shaman King: Master of Spirits 2

 I'm so cool, I've got a sister featurette to STGIR.

 On the other end of the spectrum, we have sequels that got it wrong. The kind of sequel that fixes nothing, maybe even makes it worse(Yes, I speak of Xenosaga episode 2, but there are other such sequels, albeit not as impossibly bad as that one). I'm not gonna start with Xenosaga 2, no, that'd be too easy. Instead, I'll save it for a... day in which I'm with a crappier mood, that game deserves no sympathy. So today, dudes and dudettes, we be talking'bout:

 Yay! Metroidvanias! I love me some Metroidvanias. Wait, it's also made by Konami? The Metroidvania creators themselves?!(You could argue that Nintendo were, since they did make Metroid, but I'm more fond of Castlevania romps), just what could go wrong?! Eh, a couple of things. Shaman King: Master of Spirits was a good game. It wasn't amazing, and it had some very tedious mechanics, but it was fun. A tad short, clocking in at around 5 hours(With 92% complete to boot). Then came the sequel...
 Most "good" sequels(Not the ones that "got it right", I'm referring to the lesser, but still good kind) simply tend to be "more of the same". On their defence, most games that get sequels are usually good enough to warrant and allow a sequel to be greenlit. Not in this case. All Konami did was add more of the same, while fixing nothing.
 Annoyance number 1: Travelling. Master of Spirits 1 wasn't your average Metroidvania. It was divided in many short sub-stages, but like every Metroidvania worth it's salt, they were filled with areas that you couldn't reach unless you had the right power up. This also means loads of backtracking. However, you couldn't just go from point A to point B, oh no, you had to go through EACH substage in between A and B. Yeah, near the end of the game you get an ability to bypass the stages, but you still have to enter the stage, then wait as the Dragon takes it's sweet time to get into the screen. And then you have to wait for it to carry you out of the screen, while taking his sweet a$$ time. Again. What did Master of Spirits do? They added a few Warp Zones here and there, not nearly enough to alleviate it. Even worse, it still takes a long time to get the Dragon again.

 Annoyance number 2: "Get the Dragon again". Yup, all the old abilitiees are back. Master of Spirits has a total of 90+ different spirits(Equipable power ups or skills). Guess how many of them are new? A measly 24. They are mostly overshadowed by the old spirits, however you likely won't get to use them, because...
 Annoyance number 3: Cumbersome abilities. Y'see, you can only take about 2 "Field abilities". You can have 4 presets, interchangeable with Select, but y'know what's fun? 8 slots are not enough. There are more than 8 types of obstacles, and you also need a combat setup, to fight bosses or enemies. These problems were already present in Master of Spirits 1. This means going to the menu, to swap spirits quite often, everytime you fail to predict what obstacle is next. Now couple this with the obnoxious amount of backtracking. Going through so many stages, and you will also need to change abilities accordingly, so that you can proceed. Other Metroidvanias don't have this problems, since they integrate your new abilities into your exisiting moveset. Maybe a second jump just by pressing jump again? How about sliding by crouching and pressing jump? No, that's too easy, Master of Spirits 1 and 2 want you to go through as many menus as possible. Fun.
 Annoyance number 4: If you clear the game, you can fight any boss, either from MoS 1 or MoS 2. Pretty cool, huh? A nice extra? Ye...no. During the Story-mode, you face 17 out of the... 19 or 20 total bosses. You copy me? 17 out of 19 or 20. Yup, you(probably/hopefully) guessed it... bosses are recycled from the first game. There are only 9 new bosses, and the returning bosses? Behave exactly like they did in MoS 1. Even in Castlevania, known for recycling most of the common enemies, they have the decency to make new bosses. Not here. But what's even better? You have to get the SAME abilities to get throught the SAME obstacles from MoS 1. It's basically the same game!
 Annoyance number 5: All the equipment pieces are from MoS 1. Yup, you go through the same 3 swords, which you must find again. You must go through the same 4-5 same armor pieces, which you have to find again. Did they even try....?

 For what it's worth, they did add a couple of new abilities, done with button combinations. There's also a couple of new enemies(Just a few). The stages are all brand new(As far as I remember) And there might be new music, I'm not much of a music guy, and I don't really remember.... Also, the game looks pretty good, it does use the Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow engine, but then again, most of the assets are reused. Back when I played Cardinal Syn, for as bad as it was, at least I could tell that the developers tried. Konami didn't even try with this one. Shaman King: Master of Spirits 2 is a sequel, a Sequel that got it Wrong.

Sequels that got it Right: inFamous 2

 Could it be...? An actual feature?

 So, umm... yeah, a feature, pop the champaigne and bring forth the trombones. Oh, and don't forget the confetti. As the name implies, here I will write about sequels that I feel almost completely overshadow the previous installment of the franchise. I'm not talking about a good sequel, say, God of War 2, Onimusha 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's chest(It was good), but something that goes beyond what one would expect of a sequel. Something that most people would agree that puts the previous installment to shame.
 And what better way to... debut this feature than to mention a game that surprised me...

 Ah! inFamous 2, probably my favorite PS3 exclusive so far. What makes it so much better than the prequel? It's actually... hard to say. It has a certain je ne se quois that makes it feel so good... but I will try to dissect some of the improvements.
 For starters, the city itself. inFamous 1 was set in a very urban area, comprised of three big areas. The whole game was very heavy on greys and browns, and while each area had a couple of distinguishing landmarks, be it the seaport, the park or what have you, it felt a bit samey. Then came inFamous 2, with a much more tropical look to it. The game uses many more colors, and it looks amazing. The city feels alive, and it's a joy to explore. Not to mention, that while still consisting of three big areas, each area is completely different, one is a normal town, with a few jungles on the outskirts, the second area is a flooded town, which means Cole has to take to the skies and rooftops, lest he wants to die, and finally, the third area is an industrial one, with power plants and what have you.
 Another thing they did right, Cole's powers. While Cole gets de-powered at the start of the game, he gains his old powers back shortly, and then some. See, in inFamous 1, the unlockable powers were mostly little gimmicks. Like the electric missiles, if you were Good Cole, you could direct them by shooting electricity close to them. If you were Evil Cole, you'd get two mini rockets alongside the big one. Oh yeah, being Good Cole sucked, you'd mostly get precision upgrades, and Evil Cole would get destructive ones. Here, while Cole doesn't upgrade his powers, and doesn't get "new" powers... he gets new variations. For example, instead of a Shockwave, you could use a slimmer one, but that'd travel further. Or one that would make the enemies float, instead of pushing them back. And Good Cole can get an ability that makes electricity do minimal damage to innocents, alleviating the need to be careful that one had to have in inFamous 1. It doesn't end there, the idea here is "expanding", midway through the game, you get a choice for Fire powers or Ice powers. For example, remember the shockwave? Now you get an ice version, in which Cole produces various ice shards and blasts them with a shockwave, not only is it as awesome as it sounds, it feels oh so satisfying.

 Cole got a new voice actor. Yup, they recasted the main character. I can't remember the reason why, but it proved to be good. Old Cole seemed to be trying hard to sound gruff, dark and tough. New Cole sounds a bit... dorky, initially, but eventually it grows on you. Not only does New Cole have a better voice acting overall, the voice ends up fitting him quite nicely and has some very badass boasts, taunts and lines, and as a result of his new voice, he becomes much more relatable.

 inFamous 1 story wasn't really all that amazing, but it had some great moments and an amazing plot twist at the end. While inFamous 2 doesn't have such a plot twist, the overall story is much better. There's more side characters involved, and they are much more than just "voices". Cole directly interacts with them a lot more, and the dialogues are quite interesting.
 So everything got better. Graphics? Prettier. Sound-design? Better. Gameplay? Better. Story? Better. But topping all those additions is... controlling Cole. Yeah, it's part of the gameplay, but something that shocked me was... how much better it felt. Parkouring in inFamous 1 was just a means to an end. In inFamous 2, I can't pinpoint why, maybe the fact that the city is much more interesing? Dunno, thing is, controlling Cole feels better. Tighter even.
 inFamous 1 was a good game. inFamous 2 is an amazing game. In fact, inFamous 2 is so good, it makes inFamous 1 worth playing, just so that you can get the full gist of the story. inFamous 2 is a Sequel that got it Right.

What is wrong with my Dynasty Warriors 7? Part 3

 It's 6 AM, just came back from the hospital. I'm shaking, I'm too scared to go back to my room and I don't know what to do. My friend came home to play this "cursed DW" as he mockingly called it... We booted up the game, and it skipped al cinemas and got right into the game itself. My friend doesn't play DW, so he didn't find anything odd, meanwhile, I knew something was gonna happen so I... I smiled. I didn't know this was gonna happen, I feel... I feel so stupid, so bad. I was such an idiot.
 Let's see if I remember it right, my mind is still a bit foggy, and I'm getting goosebumps all over. Heck, I just locked my room's door, just in case... Anyways, I think my friend was made to play as Xiahou Ba, and it was on one of the jungly stages. Everything was fine, allies weren't attacking him nor anything, so I went into the kitchen to fetch food, and when I came back.... My friend he... he was  convulsing frenetically on the floor, and I could tell he was bleeding from the nose.
 I called an ambulance, and while it got here, I unplugged the PS3, while the Cao Cao-Lu Bu on the screen was laughing in the creepiest, most hollow-like voice I've ever heard in my life.  Once in the hospital, the doctor started questioning me, and I didn't know what to say. My friend had never had any problems with convulsions, as far as I knew, and if I told them "A videogame did it" they'd think I was some kind of idiot, so I just stuck to "I don't know, we were just watching TV".
 Thing is, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm scared. I'm too scared. Every now and then I peek into the doorway just to check. Please, help me. Help me.



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What's wrong with my Dynasty Warriors 7? Part 2

 I tried to play again after a good night sleep, and... oh man. I picked a random mission, and selected my tuned up Cao Pi. As soon as the mission started, my allies started HITTING ME. I tried hitting back, but my moves would go through them. I figured the game glitched, so I paused the game, to pick "End Mission" but as I went to pick the options I noticed... the game wasn't paused at all and I was getting hit!. Worst part? After I picked End Mission, the game just... unpaused. I tried again and same deal. I figured I'd just kill the enemies and be done with the mission, right? Wrong. Both enemies and allies were had it in for me, and  I was managing pretty well, untill I noticed... whenever I killed one of the enemies, my Kill counter wouldn't go up, and their HP would refill.
 It gets weirder. I started running from them, and Cao Cao appeared on top of a Black Red Mare. Weirder yet? It was Cao Cao's face on Lu Bu's body. He signaled at me, the PLAYER, with his sword and emitted a sound... the same sound from the glitched room from yesterday. Then a "Failed" popped up and I was allowed to exit the mission...
 Guys, I don't believe in supernatural stuff, but I'm pretty weirded out right now. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about this. Should I keep playing or throw away my disc?

UPDATE: Koei's response:
Dear Ignacio,
 Thank you for purchasing DYNASTY WARRIORS 7, we recieved your inquiry, and this is the first time any of us at the offices had heard of anything like it. I asked the translation team and they said that no such line was recorded or even put into the script. My co-workers at QA said that your console might've overheated, and you probably thought that you had heard it. If problems persist, send us your disc, and we will send you a new one.

                                                      Chip Soon Sun, Community Manager at Tecmo-Koei

 

 Right, 'cause sending them my defective disc is totally posible from where I live. Regardless, I'm sure, SURE that I heard what I heard. Since my friends kept egging me on, and just to prove Koei wrong, I will play again tonight, when one of my friends comes over to check this out.

What's wrong with my Dynasty Warriors 7?

 Hi guys, today's entry will be a little different, 'cause honestly, I'm incredibly creeped out right now. Y'see, my family just left for the holidays, but I stayed at home, so right now I'm completely alone in my apartment. Due to the LoL EU tournamente, I kinda haven't slept in like... 35 hours or so, so every now and then I start getting sleepy.
 Anyways, here's the deal, I was playing Dynasty Warriors 7, a game I love, and I was playing Zhang Liang's legendary mission 3. I noticed my conciousness started slipping every now and then, since I'd find myself on top of my horse running towards a wall, but as much as I tried to muster my energies, I was playing half asleep.
 Suddenly, I come to my senses and I'm stuck in a room, behind locked doors. What's funny, is that the sky is red, the clouds are black, and the walls surrounding me, including the big door are white. And for some reason the music got glitched, and started making funny noises. I tried hitting the walls, jumping towards them, searching for switches, mind you, DW 7 has no switches, but I was desperate. Also, the green arrow signaling my position was placed OUTSIDE the map. I don't have a capture card, but I taped it with my phone, so I'm gonna try to upload it on youtube after adding some words with Video Maker.



UPDATE:
HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT.
I dont even holy shit. I was editing the video, and while trying to get the damn program to unfreeze, I played it back... the sound WASN'T GLITCHED, and a perfectly clear voice could be heard saying "stop killing us or youll regret it" Holy fucking shit, english isn't my native language, so when I figured it out I shat bricks, literally. Im still scared.
Worst part?
The video got lost. The file on my cellphone got corrupted. Im freaking out right now. Maybe Im so tired Im messing up? I mean, right now I know im on my senses, but it doesnt make any sense otherwise. Dammit, my fingers are still shaking, so sorry if my typing is a little wonky. I'm gonna send Koei an E-mail, maybe I got into a debug Room, or it's some sort of joke? The voice was in english, so Koei's american branch is in the know.