"First" Archimpressions: Bushido Blade 2

 There's nothing like this out there.

 Sweet mother of jesus, this game knows how to get you tense. When your life could be over in your next attack, you really start being careful "Am I close enough?", "Is he gonna parry?", "What if he attacks now?!" and other questions. It's even worse when you are playing as a sub-character, where defeat means having to start all over, if you want to unlock him/her.
 What baffles me the most, is how the six default characters have a unique costume for Story mode, yet use another one on the other modes, Tatsumi's schoolboy costume is not as good as his story mode costume. Speaking of costume, the character designs are hideous. The art itself looks pretty amateurish, and the designs look as if they have no rhyme or reason! THERE'S A GUY WITH AN AFRO ON A RONIN GAME. Ronins? Eh, assassins fits the bill better, me thinks.
 Regardless, I'm loving the game. Onwards!

Archview #31: Injustice: Gods Among Us

 Also known as Batjustice: Batman Among Us.

 Injustice is the latest fighting game from NetherRealm, the developers of Mortal Kombat(And they will have you know it by writing "From the creators of Mortal Kombat: Injustice" every chance they get!). For this outing, they decided to try something different, instead of being your usual fighting game, they added stage transitions and interactives. The game is confined to the 2.5 D realm though, and just like MK, borrows attack strings from 3D fighters like Tekken or Virtua Fighter, while borrowing command specials from 2D fighters like Street Fighter or King of Fighters.
 There's four primary actions: Weak Attack, Medium Attack, Strong Attack and a unique Trait. Traits range from buffs to actual attacks depending on the fighter, admitedly, I expected something a bit more... unique, like Blazblue, as most Traits are merely buffs, but it's still a neat idea. Best of all, NetherRealm Studios made this game Arcade Stick friendly! Actions like grabbing no longer take up a button, you can press Medium Attack+Strong Attack to grab. Stage interactives are performed via their own button or Medium+Strong. There are two other buttons, Flip Stance and Meter Burn, press them together to use the Super Move(Which consumes the full Meter bar). Meter Burn is pressed after inputing a Special Move to enhance it, it's anything from adding knockback to adding attacks, and you can pushblock too, by pressing it while blocking. Flip Stance looks useless, but certain combos only work on certain stances.

 The game borrows the 2 health bars 1 round system from DarkStalkers, so fights can go by quite fast. It seems NetherRealm wanted to attract Street Fighter players, as blocking is now done by holding back, and the game is much faster than Mortal Kombat, and it's much more combo-friendly. You can also change the controls in order to turn the MK motions for Special moves into Street Fighter motions(Turn Down,Forward+Punch into quarter circle+punch).
 Interestingly, overhead moves are now universally performed by pressing Strong+Forward. Strong+Back has two functions, first it causes the oponent to rebound from the edge of the screen, providing juggling opportunities, but, perform it close to the edge of certain stages and you'll inititate a stage transition. Stage transitions are very damaging, but after a while tend to last just a bit too much. The game introduces a "Clash" mechanic, or wager, usable when you are on your 2nd life bar, by pressing Forward+Meter Burn when you are hit, you'll engage in a clash. By waging your meter you can regain health(If you outwage your enemy) or get damaged if you lose.

 The game uses MK's engine, so visually, it looks quite similar. The character designs can be hit or miss, some disliked the new armored look, I dig it. The models themselves get the job done, but couple of them could've been better, right Wonder Woman? Her official render is stuff from nightmares. Regardless, it shows that NetherRealm is getting better with animations, while there are a few stinkers here and there, most of the animations are really nice, and some are surprisingly fluid. The stages are very interesting however, and they get destroyed as you fight, which is kinda cool. While it's clear that they were going for a dark setting, there's a notorious lack of color. Every color is very light, even the Green and Yellow lanterns, and it haves an overall washed out look, it is a very dark game.
 I can't really comment on the music, since it's too low, you can barely tell it's there! On the other hand, voice acting is fantastic. They managed to get Kevin Conroy, and most characters are voiced by people that voiced them previously on other media! The sound effects sound as if they came straight from Mortal Kombat 9, and they get the job done.

 There are many modes, stand-out among them is the Story mode. While shorter, it feels a lot tighter than Mortal Kombat, though you might need to be a comic book fan in order to enjoy it the most(Parallel universes), and those that have been reading the prequel comic book might feel a bit disappointed with the direction they took. The next Single Player mode is called S.T.A.R. Labs, a series of 240 missions themed about the 24 characters. Some of the missions are actually mini games, like dodging missiles or flying through the air while avoiding flaming rocks, they are not exactly engaging, but their inclusion doesn't hurt. There's also Arcade, where each character has his/her own ending and Versus(Both online and offline).
 As for unlockables, there are loads. There's about 20 different Arcade mode variations, like "Heroes only", "Survival", "Mysterious buffs and debuffs per round", "Infinite meter" and a lot of others. You can also unlock concept art(Which is pretty nice, by the by) and alternate costumes. For the costumes themselves, while NetherRealm is providing paid DLC costumes, there are not many free costumes. Few characters get three costumes, while each one has at least a Regime and Insurgency costume. Problem is, on most characters, Regime and Insurgency are pretty similar. You can play as Flash or a slightly different flash. Aquaman or a slightly different Flash with beard. Armored Batman or even more armored Batman. Worst of all, alternate colors. There's only one alternate color per character, but the differences are in the shade. You can be Red Flash or a slightly different shade of red flash. It feels as a bit of a missed opportunity, as they could have made cameos with Colors(Dr.Zoom Flash? Red/Blue alternative for each Nightwing Costumes?).

 Lastly, each character has only 1 win pose, and they are a bit on the long side, so they might get a bit boring. The first couple of times Joker burns his opponent are awesome, the next couple of times where you have to sit and wait 'till he is done to pick rematch or character select are not. Also, unlocking stuff can get a bit long in the tooth, the game uses a "Level up" system, as you play you earn experience, every time you level up you are entiltled to 1 or 2 unlocks of your choice. Let's just say that there's enough stuff locked to last you a loooong time, from the costumes and arcade ladders, to galleries, avatars and music. But after you reach level 50, leveling up starts to take a long time.
 Injustice: God Among Us is a great game, there's few real complaints to be had, and everything it does, it does it very well. Easily the best fighter released this year.
8 out of 10

"First" Archimpressions: Robotech Battlecry

 It's oh so good.

 I remembered this game being fun, and fun it is. Just cleared the first chapter, and it was a lot of fun... except that boss, jesus. To be fair, when I went to lower the difficulty to easy I found out that I was playing on hard all along, not cute, not cute at all.
 For the first time ever I get to watch the story! And my god is it a borefest, I'm ever tempted to just skip them, but I won't, I'm better than that. Well, there isn't much more left to say, it's as good as I remembered it, so I'm expecting a favorable outcome, ranging from 7-8, just how bad could it get?(In before the next missions are repetitive shooting galleries, god no).

Archview #30: Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore

 That was fast.

 The game that made bouncy breasts popular! Even though DoA 1 had it too, it didn't become so hilariously obcene 'till DoA 2, but I digress. This is a 3D fighting game that relies less on finesse, but pretends to give a more... entertaining experience. That's why it's such a fast-paced game, with emphasis on flashy moves and pretty graphics that still hold up to this day!.
 DoA 1 had it's roots with Virtua Fighter, and it holds true for DoA 2, however, it's a much faster game. You've one punch button and one kick button, pressing various combinations of both provides strings, just like Virtua Fighter. There's also a "Free" button, which is used for free movement, guarding and holding. By stanging still when you press it, the character will guard. By pressing Guard+Back(Upback or downback for higher and lower attacks), your character will initiate a hold, time it right and you will counter your opponent's attack You can use Hold commands even while being subject to an attack string, which is why Juggling is so important in this game, if your oponent's feet are on the air, they can't try to hold your moves. Characters also have access to grabs by pressing Free+Punch.

 DoA 2 was one of the, if not the first, fighters to include "Transitions". Using a knockback move on an opponent against a wall will send them flying through it into another part of the stage. Some stages also have "Danger Zones", knock an enemy onto one and you'll deal loads of damage. The game has Story Mode, which is an Arcade mode with the ocassional in-game engine cutscene every now and then, there's no loading times between battles, which is quite awesome. Then there's Versus, Time Attack, Survival and Tag Mode. Surprisingly, Tag Mode is nicely fleshed out, with special Tag throws, some character duos even get special tag moves.
 Graphicwise, while not incredibly detailed, the character models are pretty good and smooth. The faces are a bit weird, but not too jarring. The attack animations are incredibly fluid, specially when moves are countered, strangely, some of the Win Poses feel a bit... stiff, different animators maybe? Voice Acting is passable, both on the English and the Japanese dub, but the soundtrack is fantastic. Each of the 14 characters have their own moveset(Well, Bayman and Leon are clones) and they are pretty long. There are about 6 costumes per character too, and most of them must be unlocked, so there's plenty of replay value.

 DoA 2 is not the most technical of fighters, but it's a fun pick-up-and-play alternative to Tekken, you can just grab the controller and start pulling of 5-hit combos from the get go, and the Hold mechanic is a fun gimmick, if a bit casual.

 8 out of 10.

New adquisitions!

 Eh... lots of them

 Let's see....

 DoA 2: Hardcore: Actually a replacement disc, but I will play it again and review it. The copy I have was a used copy from Gamestop, came with the console. It actuall runs quite fine, but it's incredibly scratched and won't run the CG gallery. Besides, no Instruction Booklet... 'till now!

 Robotech: Battlecry: I loved this game. I never watched Macross nor Robotech nor anything, but I loved this game, and I'm not into airplane shooting games either, guess morphing into a Mech helps!

 Rival Schools: I knew about this game, but I was never interested in it.... 'till I played it's demo included in Pocket Fighter. I think I had more fun with that demo than with the game itself. It was insane, all this ground recoveries, and it was so fast! And it looked nice, albet blocky. Ah well, I got the Rival Schools 2 game, japanese only, and I loved it. And I guess I won't be missing Eiji and Ran(I think those were their names? The Swimmer and the Camera girl).

 State of Emergency: True, I was part of the million of suckers who read "Rockstar" and thought, for the longest time, that it was developed by them. REGARDLESS, I enjoyed the game for what it was. I even had the PC version.

 Bushido Blade 2: I can't wait to play this one. Which is why I will probably leave it for later. I loved this game, like most of the games I purchased this time, heh.

 The Legend of Dragoon: I actually didn't like this game very much. Surprsing, as it has a red-associated main character, who controls flame, wields a sword, is related to Dragons and has an alternate form. That's like my recipie for Love. I always felt the game was a bit of a drag as it made you re-treck through dungeons, if they were on your way. Also, I think I found some of the bosses a bit hard. However, a Man's gotta do what a Man's gotta do, and if that means beating LoD and finally reach a final judgement, then so be it.

 I will probably tackle these games in this order:
DoA 2, Robotech, State of Emergency, Rival Schools, Bushido Blade 2 and then... Legend of Dragoon.

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.