Archview #29: Dynasty Warriors

 So underwhelming...

 Set in ancient China, around 1800 years ago, Dynasty Warriors presents itself as a 3D one on one weapon-based fighting game. The game is pretty different from other games of it's ilk, however. The game is played with four buttons, two buttons do the attacking(Thrusting and Slashing) and the other two provide the defense, parry and deflect. Slashes are to be parried, and thrusts deflected, do it right, and you'll open up your enemy for an attack, time it wrong or choose the wrong counter and you'll be open for attack. There's also blocking, done by inputing nothing or holding back, like other fighters.
 There are other functions, like grabbing, by pressing both attack buttons and sidestepping, by pressing both defense buttons. By attacking at the same time as your opponent, you'll initiate a clash, however mashes the most buttons wins and opens up the enemy for a counterattack. There's also Chi bars on the bottom of the screen for both fighters. It charges steadily as you stay on the offense and hit your opponent, getting blocked or backing away makes it decrease. Once it's filled, a green light turns red, and you are allowed to use a Musou Attack, the bar will decrease steadily, so it's a use it or lose it situation. If you are on the last 30% of your HP bar, the Musou Attack will be enhanced. Musou Attacks are performed the same way for every character, and there's two of them per character.

 The presentations is pretty lackluster, models are very blocky and the animations are merely serviceable. The character themselves look bland and lack any sort of personality, heck, they only have one win pose. And their movesets? Disappointingly short. To add insult to injury, the stages are boring. They consist of a infinite floor and a low res background image, sometimes it's hard to tell what that image is supposed to be. On the other hand, the soundtrack is pretty engaging, it's not the kind of music that would be used in future Dynasty Warriors games, but it's pretty good nontheless.
 As for modes, they played it safe with the usual "Arcade, Versus, Time Attack, Team Battle, Survival", y'know, the classics. There's a total of 16 characters, 10 default characters, 3 unlockable characters(Via beating the game with the default characters) and 3 bonus characters. The bonus characters are clones from other characters and are unlocked via button presses.
 All in all, Dynasty Warriors is a pretty mediocre game, it tries to do it's own thing, and while it gets commended for it, originality doesn't make up for fun.
 5 out of 10.

First Archimpressions: Dynasty Warriors

 Oooooh boy...

 As I read the instruction booklet, and saw how it only had two attack buttons, but two defense buttons, I expected to find a really good and original, but forgotten, fighting game. I'm afraid that won't be the case. So I just finished the Arcade mode twice, with Zhao Yun and Guan Yu and... golly. For starters, each characters has such a small movelist, and the only way to access it is the... instruction booklet. Movement is very clunky, feels like Toshinden(And Toshinden is the definition of clunky).
 The character designs are really lame. They lack personality and some of them looks so generic... It's astounding how this game fathered the Dynasty Warriors game. Ah well, I'ma keep on keeping on, maybe as I get more comfortable with the game, it might turn out to be fun, but I can't see it happening.

Archview #28: War of the Monsters

 I took no notes while playing this(GG) so I hope I remember everything....

 War of the Monsters is an arena-based fighting game for up to four monsters at the same time. As your monster of choice, you are placed on a large arena, filled with climbable buildings and loads of throwables, ranging from cars to statues, heck, you can impale other monsters on antennas! As previously stated, monsters can impact the environment on many ways, almost every structure is destructible, almost every medium-sized object can be grabbed and thrown or hit the enemy with. The object of the game is to defeat the other monsters, no matter the mode you are in.
 Speaking of modes, there's not a whole lot of them, in singleplayer you have Adventure, Endurance and Free for all, while on multiplayer you have three unlockable minigames and versus. Still, the game itself is very entertaining, so the lack of modes is not a huge deal. Excepting the mini-games, the game plays the same on every mode. Each monster has a projectile attack, weak and strong attacks, jump, block, strafing, a  close-range special attack and a long range special attack. Each of them plays very different from each other as well, with different combo strings, attack speeds and damages. The only real similarity is the close/range special move which always turns into some enveloping-kind of explosion.

 Besides the interactive objects, there are power-ups spread across the stage. Some may be hidden behind buildings, some lurk at plain sight, and they respawn frequently. These range from health-restoring pick ups(In 5%, 25% and 100% varieties), stamina restoring pick ups, Special Attacks and cloaking devices. Regarding Stamina, each monster has a blue-bar that depletes as it attacks(Projectile attacks usually consume a lot of Stamina), and you can restore it by not attacking for a while, grabbing the stamina power up, throwing or attacking with items or by killing monsters. You can actually go beyond the 100% with pick ups, and if you do so, you are granted an Special attack for free.
 It has to be said, while the game itself is very fast, and feels very arcadey(Which I love), the CPU is a bit of a bastard.... frustratingly so. During Adventure Mode, whenever it gets below half HP, it will run directly towards the healing items, if it's a faster monster than you, have fun taking it's life away. Again. Even worse, on battle with more than 2 monsters, the CPU will always gang up on you, and when one goes to grab the health pick ups, the other one will do it's darnedest to hold you in place, very annoying. It's in your best interest to take the 100% and 25% health restores as soon as possible(Take some damage so as to be able to use them) so that they may not take them.

 Visually, it has an almost cartoonish look. Each monster is very different from the others, and they look fantastic. Each of them has 3 unlockable costumes, for a total of 4, and the fourth ones go crazy, some are almost entire redesigns. There's also little details, like small pedestrians running away, and if you step on them, tiny blood splatters will appear on the ground. The music pays homage to the Kaijuu genre, even the monsters shrieks and roars are very fitting. The game is a big love letter towards the Kaijuu genre, from the looks to the sounds to the monster backstories!
 There really are few bad things to be said about the game. Maybe 10 monsters is a bit small for a roster, but they are very distinct. Maybe the fact that the AI is a bastard, but on Multiplayer, the game is a blast. Maybe it could've used more modes? Sure, but the game is so much fun that you won't need more modes. All in all, War of the Monsters is a great game, criminally forgotten.
 It's an 8 out of 10.

Progress Report 6/10/13

 Status:

 Injustice: Woot! All misions finally done! They were... eh, I didn´t really care about them, but at least they are there. Now I´ma tackle Battle mode, objective? Try each mode at least once, attain all endings, get all costumes.

 War of the Monsters: Completed! Well, as much as I could. Turns out I need a Twisted Metal Black savefile to unlock Agamo´s last costume. I didn´t try the mini-games, since I need another person to try them AND who would I convince to try them out when the game itself is so much fun? Review later today or tomorrow.

 Next Gamez: SMT: DS 2? I need to finish it, dammit!. This week I should be getting a couple of PS1 games, I think I might want to replay Bushido Blade 2. Maybe. Perhaps. Mayhaps.

"First" Archimpressions: War of the Monsters

 Coming from Godzilla:DoM, it´s like night and day...

 Holy... This game is amazing. First of all, both Godzilla:DoM and and War of the Monsters show a tremendous amount of love towards Kaijuu films, but they took very different directions. While Godzilla feels slower, and heavier, they went for a very arcade-like feel with War of the Monsters, which I felt payed off much better.

 The game looks gorgeous, enviroments are HUGE, and monsters can interact with almost everything. Buildings and walls can be climbed, rocks and civilian cars can be used as weapons, heck, you can even impale enemies with antenas and other props. Each character also has 4 costumes, sadly, one of the most awesome skins requires a Twisted Metal Black savefile, a game I no longer own, but I think the skin is worth it...

 Anyways, there´s one thing that keeps getting on my nerves though... on free for all, the CPUs gang up on you. Adventure mode can prove to be annoying due to it. Imagine, you almost slay a monster, and the other one comes, the weakened CPU goes after health, which they always do and know where to find, while the other one stalls you. It´s not fun. Gladly, it´s my only gripe.

Archview #27: Legacy of Kain : Blood Omen 2

 Now that is how you suck blood.

 Blood Omen 2 is a third person action game in which you play as a depowered Kain. After a war between the vampires, led by Kain, and the Sarafan Lord, Kain was slain, and his sword, the Soul Reaver, taken from him. Years later, Nosgoth is under the rule of the Sarafan Lord, and Kain is revived in order to aid the Vampire Resistance take him down.
 To do battle, Kain has access to Claws, the natural weapon of all vampires, but he can also take the weapons of his fallen enemies. Every weapon has a 3-hit combo, only varying in speed and damage. The combat itself feels a bit wonky, colision detection is iffy, and most battles are dealt with in the same manner: Avoid Yellow and Red attacks, block 2 or 3 normal attacks, and then counter attack with your combo. Bosses, however, are more puzzle-like in nature, requiring your to use your enviroment or your vampiric powers to take them down.

 Thoughout the 11 chapter adventure, Kain will regain access to his powers, 5 in total, which must be used to complete the many puzzles that lay ahead. Kain can blend into misty areas, which allow him to score stealth kills, "Charm" civilian-enemies in order to have them push levers, Telekinesis, which is used to activate certain switches and a long-range jump. Where you must use what is always very clear, albeit some puzzles may take a couple of minutes to figure out. Kain can also suck the blood out of his dead enemies to heal himself, and he is constantly losing HP, so it is a must. Interestingly enough, there are loads of harmless civilians around the stages, but weather they die or not is entirely up to the player, with no negative consecuence of any kind.
 The AI in this game is really bad. Civilians will run away if they see Kain doing shady stuff, but even if you kill someone in front of them, after a couple of seconds they will have forgoten everything about it. The enemies are a bit smarter, but they are prone to... questionable stuff, like not reacting to seeing an ally die right next to them.

 This is a very ugly game. Models are very ugly, specially the hands. Everyone has malformed hands, and the fingers are spikes, even on human characters. Everyone but Kain has some of the lamest and most uninspired designs I´ve seen. On the other hand, the cities of Nosgoth are very engaging, and look very nice. The few chapters that take place outside the city are not as interesing though. Music is used sparingly, and it´s nothing special. Voice acting is a mixed bag, Kain is astoundingly good, but the rest or the cast are either good or really bad. The dialogue is also a mixed bag, some lines are incredibly good, some are cheesy and some are borderline stupid.
 The game has plenty of design flaws, specially the controls. Blood Omen 2 uses the Resident Evil style controls, which means that Kain moves like a tank, and in a fast-paced game, where you´ll be facing off in melee combat against up to three enemies at the same time, it´s not fun. And attacking? You can´t attack unless you are targeting the enemy, which is just dumb. Something that left me scratching my head is when they placed misty areas.... next to an enemy that can detect Kain even when cloaked. What´s the point of the mist? Geez.... Oh, and checkpoints are placed in the most random areas. Sometimes they could be just a room away, other times you´ll be wishing for one, and the thing that makes this even more annoying? Unskippable cut-scenes. Died after a long cut-scene? You´ll have to watch it again, and some can get quite boring.

 Bottom line, Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 is not a bad game. It´s also not a particularly good one either, it´s just... there. You are not missing anything by skipping it, but it´s no Xenosaga.
6 out of 10

Progress Report 6/3/13

 Well, because, why not? I might make Progress Reports a weekly thing. So, right now I´m playing two games: LoK: Blood Omen 2 and Injustice, and here´s the skinny:

 Blood Omen 2: It´s clunky, in a lot of ways, but it´s really fun. I just started chapter 7, out of 11 I believe, so I´m nearing it´s end. Kinda.

 Injustice: After completing Story Mode, instead of tackling the "Battle Mode" I went to the Star Labs. I just finished Deathstroke´s missions(Which means I´ll deal with mission 81/240 next) and... dunno. Some of the missions are kinda interesting, the ones where you have to fight while avoiding stuff or the such. The mini-game type missions however, are a pain in the... I mean, most of them are meh, but they had the Dual Shock 3 in mind. By Harley´s shooting Gallery I said "Eff it" and switched to the pad. Thing is, when I see a Squarem and I have to press it, my finger memory reacts to the shape, whereas when using a Stick I´ve to think first about which button stands for the square... not nice. And Shazam´s last mission?... Le no.

 After I´m done with either of them, I think I´ll take War of the Monsters for a ride. I loved that game so much. Also, any day now I will tackle Devil Summoner 2´s last boss. I started this game last year, but I never finished. The last boss kicked my butt, so I fused loads of new demons, with Physical resistances but never went for the rematch. Any day now.