Unsung Marvels #2: Arc Rise Fantasia

 This is the definition of underrated.

 First of all, let's get this out of the way: Most Wii games are unsung marvels. People just didn't give a damn about the Wii, and missed out on lots of great games. One of these games being Arc Rise Fantasia. To be fair, ever since the first trailer got released, most people decided to hate it, since the voice acting was bad. Terribly bad. Not even the funny kind of bad, just bad. Then the game came out and got mostly mediocre reviews, but most people were just fixiated on the voice acting.
 Yes, the voice acting was bad. Some of the few fans this game has say that it "Gets better later on". Wrong, it does not, you do get used to it, though. Evidently, these people weren't there for the earlier years of voice acting on games, I digress, my point is: The voice acting is terrible, but it doesn't ruin this amazing game.

 What may not be readily noticeable, is that this game is a successor of sorts to the Luminous Arc series on the DS. While it has almost nothing in common, the Koppins are here, albeit with a different name, and you can fight characters from LA 1 on the Arena. Arena? Cameo battles? Oh yeah, this game is heavily inspired by the Tales of series. The designs are a bit different, but the visual style employed, down right to the colors, is very Tales of-y, there's even the ever popular skits, and they are both hilarious and a source of character developement.
 The combat however, is a bit more traditional. It's almost turn based, however, instead of each character getting a turn, you get a certain amount of AP per turn, which can be increased by leveling up or by equiping certain equipment. Each action consumes a certain amount of AP, and you can distribute it however you like, you can even have a single character use all the Ap on various actions. There's also an elaborate Magic System, where you can strenghten a spell, and cast different and stronger spells, by having different party members, or a single one, cast certain spells on the same turn. You'll eventually find out that mastering magic is a must, else, you will be wrecked by the bosses.

 Ah yes, the bosses, they are incredibly hard. And the optional bosses? Nintendo hard. There's two ways to get through them: Grinding, which takes a lot of time due to diminishing returns as you level up, or by being smart and learning how the Magic system works and how to make the most of it. You will still be face to face with death mind you, but using magic effectively will go a long way towards your success. Furthermore, you can customize your weapons. Each weapon has a grid, by default it has 2 skills placed in, which may or may not occupy different amount of blocks on the grid, one that can be mastered, and afterwards taken out of it, then placed it on another weapon, and another one that cannot be removed. Choosing how to outfit the grid of the weapon, taking into account what spaces you can't use, and granting yourself different skills is quite fun and allows for different strategies.
 The story is your usual JRPG fare, but executed it in a very smart way. There are twists that you won't ever see coming, party members may die... And in one of my favorite scenes in all of gaming history, you are betrayed. Betrayal by a party member is a rather common occurrence, and a staple of Tales of games, however, in Arc Rise Fantasia, you lose over half of your entire party when the betrayal happens. Very shocking, very cool and a very memorable scene that even the terrible voice acting could not ruin.

 The graphics are fantastic, especially for Wii standards. Many vibrant colors comprise the lands of ARF, and the character designs are really good. Oh, and the main character is named L'Arc Bright Lagoon. Seriously. As for the music? It brought me back to the PS1-JRPG era, which is a good thing, even if the voice acting is grating to the ears, the music will sooth the wounds.
 As per usual for JRPGs, it doesn't have much replay value, however, there is a lot of optional sidequests and bosses, I easily clocked over 80 hours and I 100%ed it. And I loved every hour I spent.
 All in all, it's a shame so many people skipped it due to the voice acting, the game has a lot to offer, and once you understand the magic system, you will learn to love it. It's a fantastic game, and one of the Wii's exclusive hidden gems.

Unsung Marvels #1: Super Dragon Ball Z

 Is fandom the reason we can't have nice things?

 Dragon Ball games before the PS2/GC/XBox era have aged very poorly, Hyper Dimension, the SNES card-based RPG and Legends(My personal favorite, and another Unsung Marvel, but that is a story for another day) being the few standouts. Heck, I'd be willing to say that the first good Dragon Ball game was Hyper Dimension. Regardless, the PS2 era brought us Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi, two different series of fighters, made by different developers, that fans still debate over which one is better.
 I always found the discussion a bit silly, Budokai is the better Fighting game, and Budokai Tenkaichi is the better Dragon Ball Z game. I say this because Tenkaichi has always been a fanservice game. There's over 120 characters, and the gameplay mechanics and character movements and attacks are made to simulate the highspeed flying battles of the show. Budokai fans accuse it of being a button masher, which is a bit true as it doesn't get as complex as Budokai 3, and the character balance is based on the series, rather than seeking every character to be on equal footing. Budokai, on the other hand, has a smaller roster, about to 30 or so characters, and plays more like a fighting game, the camera shows each character on the right and left side respectively(Tenkaichi's camera is on the back of whichever character is on the front, sounds odd, but it works). You have cancels, special cancels and the such, and characters are not overly stronger than others, although Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta is a bit cheap.

 Budokai fans and Budokai Tenkaichi fans hate each other, and they can't have both games coexisting. Either Budokai Tenkaichi is the best Dragon Ball Z game ever and Budokai sucks, or Budokai is the best Dragon Ball Z videogame series and Budokai Tenkaichi is a cheap mashfest. Sadly, one game got lost between these two titans, Super Dragon Ball Z. Released on Arcades first, unlike the other two series, and with the involvement of Street Fighter II's producer, Super was a game that meant to appeal to fans of Fighting games first, and fans of Dragon Ball second. And in the eyes of this Fighting Game fan, they succeeded.
 Super Dragon Ball Z is my favorite Dragon Ball Z game on the PS2. It's setup is a bit more similar to the Budokai series, with the camera having each fighter on both sides. Stages are a bit larger than most fighters, with uneven terrain in some cases, and you can move all around it, your character will be facing the enemy the entire time you move, mind you. Blocking is done by holding back, and you have two attack buttons: Weak and Strong. Interestingly, there's a jump button, a bit odd when you first boot up the game, but you get used to it eventually.

 Besides your life bar, there are two other gauges: Your three-tiered energy bar, which is used to unleash special attacks and an Action bar that governs dashing and flying. Flying is done by pressing jump twice, which will make your character hover(Chi-Chi uses Goku's cloud, Kintoun!(Yeah, Chi-Chi is in the game!)), and dashing is done by double tapping, you've also got universal dashing homing attacks. The biggest departure from the other Dragon Ball games of the era, is that Special and Super moves are performed with directional inputs, like traditional fighters.
 Then there's the presentation. While it's, on a technical level, not as good looking as the other games, featuring a pretty jaggy cell-shading coat of paint, but it aims for a handrawn look instead of the more universal look of the anime. Yes, this game focuses on the manga instead of the anime, so you may notice that character colors are slightly different. The stages look amazing and as if painted by hand. There's even Onomatopoeia's when really strong hits hit their mark. So while it may not boast the highest amount of polygons, it does have a unique look to itself, and in my opinion, the Dragon Ball Z game of the era that I find the most visually alluring. Oh, and I have to say that to this day, I find Cell's Muay Thai stance just awesome.

 The game also has some RPG mechanics. You can create a "Character Card", and every time you play using that card, you will receive experience points. Each character has a different maximum level, usually about 7-8. Every time you level up, you get to pick a skill from two different branches. These skills may be passive effects, or new moves, and some even change parts of your character, like Trunks or Gohan's Sword(Gohan uses a sword here!) or Cyborg Freezer's tail or you can give him a giant Cannon. You may also come across Dragon Balls, playing through Arcade Mode almost guarantees that you will get to summon Shenron. The Dragon is how you unlock characters and little extras, you may even unlock special Skills, like the Senzu Bean, or inherit one skill from any another character(I recommend Cell's), you also get colors and sometimes even costumes.
 So why was this game forgotten? I can see many issues why. First, the one that probably meant death in the Dragon Ball fandom: a 18 character roster. That's even less than Burst Limit(Which had less characters than Budokai 1). To be fair, they tried to get the most iconic characters, while also adding a couple of unique choices, that have never ever made another playable appeance: Gohan with the Z sword and teen Chi-Chi. Then there's the fact that 3 of them are almost clones: Mecha Freezer, Majin Vegeta and Piccolo Daimao play almost exactly like Freezer, Vegeta and Piccolo, perhaps with one different looking move or the such. I didn't play them extensively(I mained Trunks and Gohan!), but I didn't find many differences.

 Then there's the really few amount of modes, them being Arcade, Versus, Survival and Training. There's not much to do(Although I did create one character card for each character, and maxed their levels, unlocked every color and filled all their skill slots!). Oh, colors, yeah, you only unlock them for your Character Card, so if you want to use another color, you have to set it before going into the character select screen, which is a bit of a hassle. As for the music, it's on the blander side, very forgettable.
 As solid as I found the gameplay to be, most Dragon Ball fans wanted a Dragon Ball game and not a Fighting game. While it's a visually appealing game, it's not flashy enough for a Dragon Ball game. I remember going into the GameFaqs forum and making a thread about how underrated it was, one of the first responses I got? "The beams look like crap". Then there's the fact that characters don't zip around the screen or teleport behind each other, no, this game wanted to be a traditional fighting game with Dragon Ball elements, and not the other way around.
 Sadly, it seems that this game is destined to be forgotten. The Budokai series got a successor in "Burst Limit", which sadly received no sequels, and the Budokai Tenkaichi morphed into "Raging Blast", I tried the demo for Raging Blast 2 and.... it was not very good. For what it's worth, there's a "Battle of Z" coming out, and it looks really good, taking hints from the Dragon Ball Legends PS1 game, so I'm actually excited for it. It might not be another Super Dragon Ball Z, but since the Raging Blast series is not my thing, Ultimate Tenkaichi was awful and Burst Limit is discontinued, I'll have to take what I can get.

Archview #52: Dragon Ball Budokai HD Collection

 Writing this while waiting for the teacher to arrive...

 Dragon Ball Budokai HD Collection brings two games of the Budokai Trilogy of fighting games to the HD realm. Yeah, they are skipping Budokai 2, but honestly, it's not much of a loss. The story mode was a drag, and the fighting itself is not as polished as Budokai 3, the only thing you could possibly miss would be the what if fusions, which were a bit of a novelty anyways.
 First of all, I'm gonna talk about Dragon Ball Budokai 1, and... it certainly has seen better days. Surprisingly, the game's standout feature is the story mode, that goes from the Sayian Saga to the Cell Saga. The story is told by excellent cut-scenes that capture the most iconic moments from those sagas as you go from fight to fight. While the initial run takes you through Goku's perspective, you can later unlock missing scenes from in-between that flesh out the story, but if you are a Dragon Ball nut, you probably know it already.

 The gameplay hasn't aged very well. You have four buttons: Punch, Kick, Energy and Guard. While pressing Energy by itself allows you to shoot a small proyectile, stringing together certain combinations of punches, kicks and direction followed by Energy allows you to use the trademark moves like the Kamehameha, provided you have enough Ki to use them. There's also chargeable moves and meteor attacks, but they are pretty shallow. On the flip side, the gameplay is so simple that anyone can pick it up and start having fun in seconds.
 As you play through the Story Mode, you will unlock Capsules that you can use to customize your character. This range from your special attacks, like the Kamehameha to passive effects or special effects, like resurrection. While it seems fun on the outset, you need to get the capsules, and getting the ones you want can be a lenghty, grindy process. If you play Tournament Mode you will get money that you can spend on the shop, but what the shop sells is random , so you will have to enter and exit until you get what you want. Granted, once you get everything, tinkering with characters can be fun, but it's also a must, since the "Normal" movesets for the characters are pretty lame and lack moves, so in order to make the most of it, you will want capsules.

 Visually, it hasn't aged well. Animations look a bit stiff, and sometimes odd. The character models themselves are on the simpler side, featuring little in the way of texture, granted, they do have some kind of charm. The cutscenes, however, are still as fantastic as they were before, but sometimes a few of the shadows may glitch a bit, which didn't happen in the original version, hardly a deal breaker though!. The voice acting is still pretty good, only in english though, but what may surprise people the most... is that there is new music. There were some legal troubles surrounding the odd tunes, so they couldn't use them anymore. The new music isn't bad, but the music used during the Story Mode feel out of place during certain scenes, which is a shame, as they take away from the impressiveness that they used to have.
 All in all, the game is very dated, however, the story-mode is still fantastic and unmatched by any other story mode on a Dragon Ball game, so it's still worth playing if just for that mode alone. There's also an unlockable mode in which you play as Hercule as he tries to take down the Z warriors which is on the funny side. Sadly, most characters feel really samey, having the same punches and kicks, and while their proyectiles have different names and colors, they feel the same too. Heck, most special attacks are very similar. Still, the story mode redeems it(It's that good).

 Then there's Budokai 3. The gameplay builds upon the foundations laid by Budokai 1. You still have the same four buttons, meteor attacks and chargeable moves, but there are new additions. Now you can use special attacks by pressing Energy and a Direction, instead of having to be part of a combo. Now there is Teleportation, by pressing Guard right before getting hit, you will teleport behind an oponent and hit him instead, and by pressing Circle after certain moves, you will follow up and hit them as if they were a ping pong ball, as long as you have Ki to expend. There are also Beam Struggles, if both characters shoot a beam-type proyectile at the same time, they will collide, and you will have to mash buttons in order to have your beam overcome theirs. Pressing all the buttons at the same time initiates Hyper Mode, which gives you Super Armor and enables you to use your Ultimate Attack or a Dragon Rush. Dragon Rush is a 3-stage attack, in which you and your oponent must press three buttons. If the enemy presses the same button as you do, they will block and end the Dragon Rush. While a lot of people love that feature, it gets old really fast, and you'll just want to carry on playing normally, there's a lot of watching during Dragon Rushes.
 The Capsules return, and are just like they were on Budokai 1: On paper, it's a cool and fun idea, but the default movesets for each character are really lame, Goku can't even go Super Saiyan 1, so you will have to grind money and pray for luck when entering the store, in order to get what you want. Instead of a Story Mode, you have Dragon Universe. There's about 10 characters that have a Dragon Universe, and it follows the story of Dragon Ball Z, but it's told via character cut outs and dialogue, not very interesting or engaging. During Dragon Universe, you get to raise the level and place stat points on your character, but this only applies here and in the Dragon Arena. The World Tournament Mode returns, alongside versus mode, and there's a new mode, Dragon Arena. In Dragon Arena, you can take any of the 40+ characters and level them up, as you fight enemies of different levels.

 The presentation is beautiful. Characters now sport cell-shading and unique stances! Animations also flow and look much better, even if some return from Budokai 1. And while there are some basic moves shared among characters, all the strings are unique to each character, so that's pretty cool. The music fits the game, although if you played the original version, you will find out that all the music is different here too. The american dub is still pretty good, but now you can switch it to Japanese, if that is your jam.
 So, is it worth it? Yes. Budokai 1 is pretty dated, and the gameplay is way more polished and satisfying in 3, however, the story mode deserves to be played at least once. And Budokai 3 is worth every penny. As a package, Budokai HD Collection is a bit disappointing though, as horrible as Budokai 2 was(You will need to go through the Story Mode in order to unlock everything), it's omission feels more as lazy than due to it's quality, then there's the minor annoyance that you have to quit the game(From the XMB!) in order to swap games, poor design choice right there, and some people may find issue with the fact that the cutscenes kept the old ratio, at least the gameplay is in complete widescreen.
 Budokai 1: 4 out 10.
 Budokai 3: 8 out of 10.
 Budokai HD Collection: 7 out of 10.

First Archimpressions: Tales of Graces F

 It's bloody fun.

 I'm studying, so I only tallied 10-20 minutes, but it hooked me already. I'm still getting used to the new CC-based combat, but I've a feeling it's gonna be a fun mechanic, however, where are the traditional Artes? I will get traditional Artes, right?!

 The graphics are pretty simple, it was a Wii game and it shows, but it's pretty. Voice acting is, so far, pretty alright, but I won't judge it too hard until the characters grow up. The opening song is fantastic, it's cheesy in the Lunar 1 opening kind of way, which means it fits spectacularily!
 Oh, and judging from Hubert's grown up design, he looks stiff and serious, can't wait to see how he hardens, since right now he is a lovable coward.
 Basically, I'm hooked and I have great expectations for this game.

First Archimpressions: Dynasty Warriors 2 & Dragon Ball Budokai 3

 Uh oh...

 I loved this game as a kid. I adored it. I really, really did. So I picked it up after playing DW 7, DW 6, Fist of the North Star Musou and DW: Gundam series... and it's no bueno. No bueno at all.
 This game has aged awfully. It's so stiff, so visually barren and lackluster... I mean, I can see how it was good when it was released, you picked it up alongside your brand new PS2, and lo and behold, dozens of enemies on-screen at the same time! And they look better than anything the PS1 or N64 could have pulled off!
 Sadly, this was but a fraction of what the PS2 would eventually be able to run... and with that knowledge, this game is just so... so...
 So bad. Mediocre at most. I am sad, I loved this game.

 And then there's Budokai 3. Very first impressions? "Ooooh shiny!". The game looks amazing, and the fights look the part too. Sadly, I came to it right after being done with Budokai 1, so the story mode is quite lame and disappointing, sadly. At least, it's not as bad as Dragon World from Budokai 2, now that was bad. But, it's a fighting game, and anime fighting game, but a fighting game non the less, and the fighting itself is very fun, so it's quite good, for now.

Archview #51: Zone of the Enders HD Collection

 One of the most epic games ever made, now in HD!

 Zone of the Enders HD Collection collects the two PS2 games that made up the series. While the basic gameplay on both games is pretty similar, the execution, and quality, is quite different.
 Firstly, Zone of the Enders 1 pits you as Leo Stenbuck, your typical Gundam-styled kid that finds himself inside a top of the line mech(Orbital Frame) called Jehuty during a raid by BAHRAM, and is soon thrust into battle. The story is pretty simple and feels like a Gundam homage, but a bit simpler, sadly, the dialogue is not up to snuff, which kinda cripples the already simple story. As for ZoE 2, you now play as Dingo Egrett,, but he pilots the Jehuty too, and takes place after a couple of years since the first entry. The story this time is a bit more invovled, with more twists, but basically, Dingo used to work for the big bad, but after being fatally wounded and then revived, he is coerced into fighting BAHRAM.
 As for the gameplay, in both games you play as Jehuty, and he plays mostly the same. Jehuty can freely move around the enviroments, flying around at will. Movement is very fluid and easy to grasp, you'll be dashing up, down, left and right in no time. As for attacking, Jehuty uses one button for melee and ranged, what determines what type of moves he uses depends on the distance towards the enemy. There are three kinds of attacks: Basic, Dash and Burst. Burst attacks are slower, either a giant energy ball or an heavy spin attack, they break guards, but are really slow than the other two. Jehuty can also grab and throw his enemies, and in ZoE 2 you can actually carry enemies around and use them as weapons or shields. In both games, Jehuty can use a variety of different subweapons, around 8(all of them return, plus a couple of new ones in the sequel). While in ZoE 2, at least on Normal and upper dificulties, sub-weapons are a must, they feel quite useless in ZoE 1. The main difference is that while ZoE 1 uses different ammo for each sub weapon, they share a Sub Weapon gauge in the Sequel. As a whole, it's a very fun system, and surprisingly, it feels even tighter and more polished on ZoE 2, surprising because ZoE 1 already nails it so well!.

 In ZoE 1, Leo has to traverse around the space colony, which acts as a kind of stage select, while completing certain objectives. Said objectives will usually have you backtracking to older areas. You usually need to retrieve passwords in order to open up certain packages, and the game lets you know which enemy carries the password, but killing the other enemies, which come in squads, will give you ammo and XP, so it's usually worth it to kill every enemy every time you enter a zone. To be fair, backtracking can become quite a drag, specially since you don't always know where the enemy that holds the password is, so you might have to go to many zones. Every now and then, Rescue missions pop up, in which you must beat every enemy while avoiding causing damage to the buildings, they are a nice break of pace, and actually kinda tough to ace. Regardless, ZoE 1 is one the easy side.
 ZoE 2 is much more linear, and much better. There is no backtracking, at all, and every stage is different from the next, so you don't mind being led from place to place, and there are no searches for passwords. Most stages usually consist on killing everything that moves, save a few exceptions. Still, the ways of doing so are always different. On a moment you are on the skies, taking down a fleet of enemy spaceships, and then you are on the ground blowing up reactors in order to open up a door. There's also a stage filled with pillars that try to crush you down. And the massive war on the dessert in which you must take care of the enemies while backing up your allies? How about the scene where you have to chase and destroy a armored train? This game NEVER lets up, having some of the most epic set pieces I have ever played, and it holds true to this day. And it never gets old, unlike it's prequel. Interestingly, on the default difficulty, this game is way harder than ZoE 1.

 

 Graphically, ZoE 1 is very simple. The cut-scenes are made in FMV, with some horribly dated animations, luckily, in-game it's very smooth. Stages do feel very simple and samey though. There's also not a whole lot of enemy types. Voice acting is really bad, the bad voice acting doesn't help. As for the music, it's not bad, it's just forgettable. Then there is ZoE 2 which looks amazing. It has loads of special effects like smoke, and smoke that trails after Jehuty walks through it!. The Orbital Frames look way more detailed, and the stages themselves have more detail and objects than ZoE 1. The cut-scenes that involve humans, and the cut ins, are now done in anime style, and they look really good. Voice acting ,while not great, is at least passable. And the music? It's really good and fits the game.
 Both games are about 5-6 hours long, however, ZoE 1 has a lot of backtracking and searching for stuff, while ZoE 2 has no padding at all, every single minute is a different, awesome, moment. There's also unlockable versus modes that work about the same on both games, and while it will never have a place at evo, it's a nice diversion. ZoE 2 also lets you unlock EX missions and New Game+, both that let you take all forms of Jehuty(Oh yeah, Jehuty gets upgraded!). There's few complains to be had about these games, perhaps the Frame Rate issues? Luckily I played the patched version, so while ZoE 1 did have a few issues on a couple of bosses, it was nothing game breaking, and ZoE 2 was almost flawless.
 ZoE 1 : 5
 ZoE 2: 10
 ZoE: HD Collection : 10 out of 10. ZoE 2 makes the package worth it, to this day, is one of the most epic games ever created, and I'm not using that word lightly. Not here.

The Second Runner

 Just finished ZoE II. Jesus christ, still one of my favorite videogames ever. While not Top 10, definitly Top 15. Regardless, tomorrow I'm run through ZoE 1 and Zoe 2 again, skipping cutscenes, and getting all the unlockables, then write the review.
 Goddamn, ZoE II is so epic. The battleships scene is one of the most epic set pieces in GAMING. Few moments ever come close to the epicness and badassery that that scene alone entails. And right after that? A HUGE WAR ON THE DESSERT. The Ships scene is hard as balls, by the way, even on normal, so after those two scenes? Jehuty power ups, and then you get to mow down through enemies with 0-Shift. Zero Shift is the tool that makes you feel like a badass. At the press of a button, you instantly move behind your targeted enemy and you can crush'em down before they even know what hit them. It's way more badass than it sounds.
 And how do you top that off? How about fighting on a broken Jehuty against the big bad while you are both being transported at extremely high speed towards a satellite? Damn right. It's a game that after it gets going, it doesn't ever let up. While I'm still bummed about Konami cancelling ZoE III, in a way I'm glad... there is no possible way of ZoE III ever topping ZoE II. It's that good. I seriously can't say enough good things about ZoE II.
 So yeah, ZoE II truly stands the test of time, actually, this videogame generation was so lackluster and filled with "Give me your money for stuff that should have been there from the start" that it's not surprising at all. So... yeah, Archile out.


PS: I finally bought Kingdoms of Amalur. Got tired of waiting for the "Complete Edition", and the demos was extremely fun. Not ZoE II kind of extreme, but I digress.

Finished ZoE 1

 It was quite good, I can't believe people say that it was only worth it for the MGS 2 demo. I mean, it pales in comparison to the epic ZoE II, but as an early PS2 game, it's quite good. For some reason, I'm really fond of early PS2 games, like Onimusha or Okage, and this fits the bill nicely.
 Still, this game is like a huge Gundam love letter, and due to that, people like to hate on Leo Stenbuck, the whiny lead. Because if you were a kid and found yourself thrust into war you wouldn't whine, huh? I got carried away, anyways, I've been meaning to finish this game ever since I fell in love with ZoE 2. Problem was, my country is rampant with Piracy, so back then the only way I could play ZoE 1 was through a copy... and ZoE's copy protection doesn't allow you to save, so I was SOL. Was it worth the 6 or so years wait? Nope, heh, but it was still decent.

Archview #50: Street Fighter IV

 What a lame way to have my 50th review.... and it's gonna be a short one too. I didn't even care about the cover picture, sue me.

  Street Fighter IV is an old game, and it's already on it's fourth iteration(SF IV(Arcade), SF IV(Consoles), SSFIV, SSFIVAE) with a fifth one on the horizon, so I'm just gonna focus on what makes this game different from Super, 'K?. For starters, the game plays and looks just like Super, with the difference that you only have 25 characters and only have one Ultra Combo. Unlike Super, you have to earn your characters, colors and taunts, and it can be tedious at times, specially if you are a Tournament Organizer. So yeah, on one hand, it's cool, having to unlock characters and stuff, it extends the life of the game, in Single Player, and it's fun getting rewarded. On the other hand, it's a nightmare for people that are to organize tournaments and have to unlock everything on every console.
 All 25 characters have different endings and openings, animated at that, but they aren't really worth it since they are really short, and you don't miss anything important if you just go straight to Super. There's also Challenge Mode, that has three different modes: Survival, Trials and Time Attack, and each one comes in Normal and Hard variety. Trials are just like the Trials from Super, but in my opinion, they ease you better on the use of the specific character. Time Attack is actually kinda fun, as you start with a set amount of time, and you can only increase it by beating your oponent, and each stage of Time Attack has different conditions, this holds true for Survival, however instead of managing time, you have to manage your life bar.
 Lastly, and the best exclusive feature, is the Gallery Mode. Why they did away with it is beyond me, but here you can watch any ending or prologue, plus the intro and various art pieces and promotional videos, which you must unlock, of course. Are the exclusive features worth getting vanilla SF IV if you own Super? Nope, not at all. Regardless, the basic game is still fantastic, hence I can't go below 7, yet with Super avaiable, it kinda makes this game obsolete.
 7 out of 10

I don't get Golden Sun fans.

 They are weird.

 Most people that were into the GBA should be familiar with the Golden Sun saga, two JRPGs developed by Camelot, and published by Nintendo, that made the GBA their home. While styled after other turn-based RPGs, they had their own unique mechanics that relied on Djinns.

 Each playable character had a certain affinity to an element: Venus(Earth), Mercury(Water), Jupiter(Wind) and Mars(Fire). Spread throughout the land were many Djinns, some where easy to spot, some had you dealing with puzzles and some were simply random encounters. Each Djinn had his own unique use in battle, from defensive boosts, to special attacks, plus, they passively raised your character stats. Djinns had to be equipped to your characters. Naturally, equipping a Venus adept with Venus Djinn made him stronger... however, depending on which Djinn you gave your characters, you would end up with different classes that affected both spells and stats. The best classes had your characters with Djinns from different elements than their innate, and it meant that another character wouldn't get to use his better classes, so you had to consider if having a powerful character made up for at least one of the others getting the short end of the stick.

 The game also had lots of enviroment puzzles that had to be solved using Psynergy. Psynergy were basically the name that spells went by, and which Psynergy your character could use depended on which Djinn he had, and a few equippable Psynergies were also avaiable. There were loads of Puzzles in the games, and surprisingly, never got boring, even after pushing your 400th pillar.

 Then there is combat. The game used a turn-based system, and as explained before, stats and Psynergies depended on your classes and equipped Djinn. It doesn't end there though, some weapons had "Unleashes". Unleashes were powerful special attacks that would almost-randomly be released. Consider them powerful crititcal attacks. Certain equipment items could better the odds of the Unleash going off. Besides being very powerful, they also looked really cool. Then there were the Summons. By using Djinns, characters lost the stat bonuses the Djinn was giving him(and would change to a lower tier class), and that Djinn would go to a "pool". Djinn in this pool could be then used to cast Summons, which also looked great(Judgement was epic) and dealt loads of damage.

 The games were also very oldschool. Isaac was a mute hero, in the first game, but talked in the second one... However, while Alex spoke a few lines in the first game, he became the main character from the second one and thus lost the ability to speak. Oh! And Speaking could be done through menus, oldschool-style! And combat? Have your characters target only one enemy, and if he dies before everyone had their turns, they would waste it since "there's no target". Despite that, the games were very easy, perhaps the only real challenge was the optional boss Dullahan at the end of the second game.

 Character design was fantastic, every character looked very different and unique, but all of them felt like they belonged in the same world. Graphically, both games used the same engine, and they still looked great. Summons looked as powerful as they were, and every Unleash was so cool that it felt rewarding. The world in which the game took place was a very cool place. There were lots of locations and races, and the setting itself, the adepts, djinns and lighthouses were very original.

 Still, they had their flaws, and for RPGS, I felt they held them back greatly. Characters were very underdeveloped. Sure, they had their motivations, backgrounds and relationships, but they were pretty barebones. And each character, personality-wise, felt very samey. You could probably switch every dialogue speech around and it wouldn't change a thing. And while the story was very original, I felt it wasn't so strong and a bit... Disney. So while they were great games, they were not perfect....

 And here comes my beef with the fans, or the first part: They overrate the games so much. They are great games mind you, but these people will defend them from every and any critique. I was right alongside them clamoring for a sequel, and a playable Isaac in Smash Bros., but I could at least aknowledge their flaws, but not them. Not them. Fast forward to near the end of the DS's lifecycle, and after 7 years since Golden Sun: The Dark Age, came the third entry: Dark Dawn.

 I was there when the first trailer was released. I remember the disussions concerning if it was Isaac, his son or what have you. Eventually, it was revealed that it was Mathew, Isaac's son. By the way, grown-up Isaac is badass incarnate. Garet wasn't so lucky...

 Regardless, most characters from this third entry are related in some way to the other cast. Personally, I felt the game was fantastic. Everything that was great from the older games, remained here. And while it had an open-ended ending that left more than a couple threads hanging, it felt more like Golden Sun:TLA. It was a long 40 hour or more game, it also had 8 adepts, like the second game.
 And my issues with the past games? Now characters actually feel different. The latter 2 do feel a bit ignored, and don't get much time to shine, but the other 6 get plenty of personality. Most Summons from previous games return, and they look even better than before. Graphically, this game was a treat for the eyes. The gameplay itself is every bit as good as the other games were, both exploration/puzzles and the fights themselves.

 Basically, I found this game to be as good, if not better, than the previous two games.... But the fanbase? The fanbase hates this game. "They fixed nothing". To be fair, it was them that kept clamoring that the first two games where perfect and what have you, no wonder they didn't feel the need to change anything. And guess what, they didn't need to. "Dialogue is too long winded". Welcome to RPGs, stories tend to drag a bit, and there's quite a bit of reading to be done. Maybe they want characters that feel the same, like the previous games?. "It's too easy". Newsflash: Golden Sun and Golden Sun: TLA were very easy.

 And thus, I will forever be at odds with the Golden Sun fanbase. The GBA games are not as perfect as the make them out to be. The DS game is not as bad as they make it out to be. Fanbases can be so annoying, eh? At least they are not as bad as the Zelda Community.... "It got an 8, BIAS".
I'm done.
Seriously.
I'm done.

First Archimpressions: Street Fighter IV

 Back to the past, I guess?

 Tales of Xillia is taking forever to arrive, and my free time is running out, so... yeah, I just said "Let's get this game done with". And here I am. Super Street Fighter IV makes this one obsolete, right? Eh... Mostly, yes, mostly, but Street Fighter IV actually has a few unique things going for it. For example, gallery mode, you can watch any and every movie that you've unlocked, which is actually pretty cool, except that I bet no one will ever use it. Still, it's there and SSFIV lacks it. Then there's Survival and time Attack modes, I haven't played them yet, but those modes are gone in SSFIV, sadly.
 Otherwise, it's the same game, but with less characters. And most properties and values are different, so on a high-level enviroment, it's a whole different game(Sagat OP). And yeah, I'm done.

Month Overview: Game of August

 Games completed in August:
Dynasty Warriors 6                                            6
Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition                                            5
Kengo: Master of Bushido                                            5
Evoland                                            7
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger                                            9
Way of the Samurai                                           7

 Check that out, I played the same amount of games I did last month! Cool, and I wasn't busy last month! This month I got a new computer. A real computer. So I played loads of games I couldn't before(Like Team Fortress 2), pretty cool. Games there months were merely alright, with the surprising standout Call of Juarez: GunSilinger, that game was badass. Evoland was a game I've wanted to play for so long, but my computer wouldn't handle it, so I was a but hyped for it, luckily, it delivered.
 On other news, I finally got vanilla Street Fighter IV! And a Bakugan game. I don't even like Bakugan, but it was new and very, very cheap(12 bucks), so... yeah. This week I should be getting Tales of Xillia, hope I have enough time to play it and make Archview #50, but since I finally(really long story, this year shall be remembered as my unluckiest year ever. Ever. Almost. 2nd at least.) started classes... it's gonna be tough.

 Game of the Month:

 This game was awesome. It was fantastic. I seriously can't say enough good things about it. It has it's little flaws, like the AI, keeping it from a perfect score, but it's 100% recommendable. So, yeah. That short.
 Runner-up:

 Initial impressions? Alright game. As you play it, you then realize that, hey, it's really good. It's really short too, but you can play through it in many, MANY different ways and thus influence how the story flows in equally many ways. Really interesting premise, and great delivery. The presentation is really dated though, but real gamers don't care about that.

Archview #49: Way of the Samurai

 Live by the sword, and leave a mark in history. Or not. It's up to you really.

 Way of the Samurai is a third person action-adventure game set in feudal Japan. You take the role of a nameless ronin as he arrives at Rokkotsu Pass, a place which is soon to see itself amidst warring clans and other unpleasantries. You will spend two days in this place, and your actions will determine how it all pans out, want to do nothing and watch it all unfold? You can. Want to fight and kill every NPC that crosses your path? You can. Unless they play a big role later, in which case you'll probably get to fight them later. Or not. You really have a lot of choices and options as how you want to go about each day, and that's really cool.
 As for the game itself, Rokkotsu Pass has about 6 different zones, and you are free to travel anywhere almost any time you want. Zones are big enough as to let you explore at your leisure, although they don't hold many secrets. You'll also get yourself involved in many conversations, and every now and then you get to answer. Answers carry weight here, so answer accordingly! Besides exploring, you'll probably see yourself involved in fights, in which case your Ronin has access to weak attacks, strong attacks, parries, kicking, blocking and jumping. You can also pick up objects like boxes or chairs and throw them, or food and restore your health. Combat is very intuitive, and feels nice. There's about 7 different movesets depending on your sword, which you can carry up to three of, and they are pretty varied.

 When fighting enemies, they will attack you one on one, following their code of honor, so you won't get mobbed upon. When fighting, you must also keep track of the tension on your sword. Having your attacks blocked, specially Strong attacks, makes the tension increase, fill the tension gauge and you lose a point of durability, if the durability drops to zero, your sword breaks. There are dozens of unique swords, each one carried by one of the unique NPCs, and if you want their sword you will have to kill them. There's also a Smithy that can enhance your sword, if you can pay his services(Or kill him if you don't have enough money to pay, he asks for the money after enhancing your sword after all).
 The game is very short, 2 hours or less short, but it's fun comes from it's replayability. There's about 6 different endings, and there are loads upon loads of factors that change the endings, change conversations or even conditions, even after finishing the game 6 times, there's stuff I haven't even seen! There's many unlockables too, from different heads and outfits, to a versus mode and characters for it, but it takes a lot of playthroughs to unlock, and I do mean a lot. It's also pretty unforgiving, while you can beg for your life if a fight isn't going your way, dying means losing all three of the swords you are carrying, and every time you continue your file, it gets deleted, so no save scumming!

 Way of the Samurai is a very old game, and a very plain looking one. It's not ugly, but it's boring. Characters are very simple, and so are the backgrounds themselves. The game also uses a very drab color scheme, so nothing really stands out. There's not a whole lot of music, but it's actually quite good. There's no voice acting, and considering the amount of unskipabble text there is added to how boringly characters flop their lips make for a very boring looking game. Disappoingly, while there are so many endings, all of them are images with text, and many of them share some images. Oh, and typos, there are more than a couple of them.
 As for complaints, the only real issue is the camera. Outdoors is fine, you use the right analog stick and move it around, a bit unwieldy but fine, but on some areas, mostly indoors, the camera switches angles(which you can't change) along the directional imputs, which make for some annoying moment where you try to move to another area, only for the angle and imputs to change and turn around. Very annoying.
 So yeah, it's an ugly, plain looking game. It's also very short, if you are not into replaying, don't even bother, it lasts 2 hours or less. But it's also very fun, combat feels just right, and collecting swords on each playthrough gets addictive.
 7 out of 10.

Archview #48: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

 Spoilers: I loved this game.

 Call of Juarez has a rather spotty reputation, with the third entry considered by many to be quite awful. For some reason, they decided to scale back on the budget for the fourth entry and went digital only, while approaching the series from a new angle. And the end result, frankly, I think is fantastic.
 Like previous games in the series, Gunslinger is a first person shooter with emphasis on Single player. And by emphasis, I mean that the only multiplayer of sorts to be found are the leaderboards where you can compare scores.

 There are three different modes: Story, Arcade and Duel. Story Mode is the meat and potatoes of the game, here you take control of Silas Greaves, an old cowboy who stopped by a bar and is now telling of his exploits. His adventures takes him to do battle with real life cowboys, like the Daltons, Jesse James and Butch Cassidy. The most interesting gimmick of this mode, is that it's basically a story, so sometimes Silas may remember that something happened in another way, or he could be corrected by other people that read about the ocurrance, thus altering the mission. Throughout each chapter, there are secret objects that grant the player Experience points, used to unlock skills from three different branches, and also give you little tidbits of history.
 Arcade Mode is more of an endurance round, there's about 10 different stages in which you must kill every enemy or outlast every wave of enemies. In this mode, you can choose from three different classes, each one has a different experience bar and skills to unlock, and a different starting weapons, though you can pick up weapons from fallen enemies. Then there's Duel, in which, as the name implies, duel other enemies in stand offs, there really isn't much to this mode, but it's there.

 The game plays like most other Modern First Person Shooters, you can only take a handful of weapons with yourself and your health regenerates if you don't take damage after a while. Besides Dynamite, which acts like grenades, Silas can carry two different types of weapons: Revolvers(Can be dual Wielded) and a Rifle or a Shotgun. There are not many weapons, but there are few variations(3 kinds of revolvers, both normal and sawed-off versions of the Rifle and the Shotgun), still, they feel good, which is what matters. Silas also has something called "Sense of Death", it regenerates with time, and when it's full, it let's you dodge a fatal shot. Then there is concentration, which fills by killing enemies, that allows you to slow down time and marks the enemies in red so that you can aim at them more easily.
 The presentation is easily one of the game best assets. The game has a cell-shaded look which looks fantastic. While the models for the common enemies are few, each major enemy looks really good. Character designs are pretty snazzy, and whenever a new character is introduced, he gets a pretty stylish intro. The stages themselves are very westerny, and many stages are a joy to look at, even though invisible walls("You are deviating from the story") keep you from going everywhere, are quite huge. Voice-Acting gets the job done, Silas is the one you will be hearing the most, and he makes for a great narrator. As for the music, it's very westerny and fits quite nicely. As for extras, most chapters are named after Western movies, so if you are into the genre, it's a pretty cool nod.

 There's not a whole lot of replay value, although you do get a New Game Plus, with increased experience gain and you get to keep all your upgrades. There's also three different difficulty settings, if you are into it. For what it's worth, there are many secrets, and the game last quite a lot, plus, it's score-based gameplay lends itself to repeated playthroughs, and Arcade Mode is a blast!. There's not much to complain about, maybe how some stages reuse assets, but then again it's a downloadable game with loads of content, or how the AI may sometimes spaz out. Honestly, neither thing bothered me, definitly one of my favorite games I've played this year.
 9 out of 10.

Bound in Paper Quickie #10: Batman and Robin Volume 3

 The best one yet.

 (Includes issues #9 to 12 plus issue #0)
 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
 Artist: Patrick Gleason
 These issues sees the dynamic duo tackle a group of criminals that are using Batman's symbol in order to cause havoc. What makes these criminals special, is that all of them have been injured and scarred for life by Batman and Robin, and now want revenge. There's also a more interesting sub plot that deals with Damian trying to prove he is the better Robin, as he challenges each ex Robin in duels of varying nature.
 As for the art, I really don't have much to say, it's what you have come to expect from Gleason. Ugly faces, but many dynamic angles and perspectives.
 I give it 10 Nightwings out of 10.

Bound in Paper Quickie #9: Batman and Robin Volume 2

 It gets better.

 (Includes issues 5 to 8)
 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
 Artist: Patrick Gleason
 Continuing from where we last left off, Robin left to join Nobody, as he attempts to "free" him from the self imposed shackles Batman got him to wear. These issues have loads of action and loads of tender moments between Bruce, Alfred and Damian. It also explores a bit of Bruce's past, giving him a bit more depth, plus visiting Bruce's morale and why he chooses not to kill. Sadly, it also has a very cheesy moment, "Forgive me father, for I have sinned"? Seriously?
 Gleason's art started to grow on me, while I still dislike his faces, everything else is pretty on point. Batman VS Nobody was pretty epic. There's also a lot of neat visual treats throught the issue, so I'd say it's pretty nice.
 I award it 9 Batarangs out of 10.

Bound in Paper Quickie #8: Batman and Robin Volume 1

 The Dark Knight gets a reboot too!

 (Includes volume 1 to 4)
 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
 Artist: Patrick Gleason
 Not much has changed in Batman's world, the biggest change would probably be when and how Bruce met the four Robins. Regardless, these four volumes centers upon the eponymous heroes, as they try their mettle against "Nobody"(I read the Spanish translation, so maybe his name might be different), a phantom of sorts from Bruce's past. The story itself is pretty interesting, and the interactions between characters fantastic. Alfred proves to be quite snarky, Damian delightfully aprehensive and Bruce very stiff and brooding, just like they should.
 As for the art, it's not my cup of tea, I'm not a fan of Gleason's faces, but the style is fit for Batman. There are loads of blacks, particularily in the Manor scenes. Something I liked a lot, is how many of these blacks are avoided in daylight outdoors scenes, makes a nice contrast.
 I grant it 9 Red Hoods out of 10.

Bound in Paper #7: Aquaman 3

 Even better!

 (Includes New 52 Aquaman 9 to 12)
 Writer: Geoff Johns
 Artist: Ivan Reis
 What's new? Black Manta is trying to get the old Atlantean relics from "The others", a team of which Aquaman used to be a member. These four issues pack a whole lot of action, while still leaving some room for character developement, as Aquaman's past and his relationship with Black Manta is explored. The members of The Others don't really get much exposition, sadly, but they do have their own moments, heck, even Mera gets to do badass stuff.
 The art? Ivan Reis continues to grow on me. His art is fantastic, seriously, there's really not much else to say, since I've not a single complaint about it! And if you are into it, there are loads of fights in these four issues, and they look fantastic, Black Manta and Aquaman still the show, but even the others get their, smaller, chances to shine.
 I really have no complaints about these four issues. The pacing is fine, there's a lot of action, there's backstory... It has anything you could want... Except Nightwing, there's no Nightwing in here.
 Easily 10 Aqualads out of 10.

Bound in Paper #6: Aquaman 1

 Fantastic.

 (Includes New 52 Aquaman 1 to 4)
 Writer: Geoff Johns
 Artist: Ivan Reis
 Everyone should know that I love Aquaman. People who dislike him probably never read anything about him and just follow the popular misconception about him being lame. This reboot deals with that, Aquaman having to deal with people, both cops and criminals, considering him useless, and him proving otherwise. These four issues deal with the appearance of creatures from the deep, and Aquaman, alongside his wife Mera, dealing with them. While the plot isn't the most interesting, the characters are, from the secondary characters like Shin and Officer Wilson, to even tertiary characters that Aquaman meets at the bar.
 The art is... frankly, it's the best thing about these issues. While I'm still a fan of Bearded Aquaman, Reis manages to give short-hair Aquaman a regal, tough look. Every panel is a joy to look at, and the art is consistently amazing throughout all the issues, with nothing looking odd, while employing many perspectives.
 I give it 9 Aquababies out of 10.

Archview #50 aproaches!

 So, Archview 50 approaches and I wanna make it special. Kinda. Maybe. Hopefully. I've thought of two different... approaches: Either a game that meant something to me or a game that I was or am really hyped for. Going into specifics, I'd rather play a JRPG game of sorts, since I already played many of them this year and I hunger for more. Two games that I considered were Final Fantasy VII, which I player on the latter months of the past year and Persona 4, but I've already talked loads about VII and both games would score 10, no doubt about it, so I want something different.
 As for games I'm hyped about, there are two different games I'd like to make the Archview number 50, either Tales of Xillia or Dynasty Warriors 8. As for Tales of Xillia, I love the Tales series, and after not knowing if it would make it overseas, it would make it a nice conmemoration. But then there's Dynasty Warriors 8, which is considered by series veterans to be fantastic, and unlike most people outside Asia, I really love the series. I've covered DW 1, 6, 7 and SW 3, and do plan to cover the whole series(Which will take longer than expected, since the import laws changed, I hate Uruguay), so DW 8 means at least a tiny something to my blog. I think.
 Other games I considered, a bit less so, were: Pandora's Tower, Quest 64, Castlevania LoS MoF, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Phoenix Wright 5, SMT: Digital Devil Saga 1, Castlevania PoR, Bleach BoF and Zone of the Enders HD Collection.

 Pandora's Tower: I played and enjoyed both Last Story and Xenoblade. I actually sent E-Mails to Nintendo, as part of Operation Rainfall since I really wanted these games to come over. This would have some semblance of meaning, at least to me, so I wouldn't mind tackling it.

 Quest 64: I don't care that people hate it, this, along Final Fantasy VII, were my first RPGs and I still hold Quest 64 close to my heart, and wouldn't mind replaying it. The problem is that I have no Nintendo 64(Selling both the game and the system... Regret undying), and the N64 emulator isn't too reliable.

  Castlevania LoS MoF, Shin Megami Tensei IV and Phoenix Wright 5: These are the three reasons that convinced me to get a 3DS. And I already own 2 out of 3(Capcom, release PW in physical format. You must) so any of them is fair game.... although CV got mixed reviews, and I'm not a fan of SMT IV's microtransactions...

 Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1: This game has one of my favorite endings ever, even if it's a cliffhanger. I really wouldn't mind replaying this game, maybe even playing it with part 2 and reviewing the whole product? But on the other hand, I really would prefer playing something I haven't played before. Or that I own and have not replayed since buying it.

 Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, Bleach the Blade of Fate: The very first DS games I bought, I still adore them so, but I will leave Bleach: BoF for a certain piece I want to write about it and it's sequel.

 Zone of the Enders HD Collection: Zone of the Enders 2 is epic, and one of my favorite PS2 games of all time. And I could never really play beyond the... initial 30 min or so of ZoE 1(Long story)... So this would actually make this both a game I haven't played and one that meant something for me. This one is highly likely to be my Archview number 50.

 So yeah, loads of decisions. Archview 48 will be Call of Juarez: Gunsling and 49: Way of the Samurai, so number 50 is waaay closer than it seems. That will be my second personal milestone! The first one was a 100 blog entries. Oh well, onwards!