Review #68: Warriors Orochi 3

 This game is what fanservice is when done right.

 I've played a lot of 'Warriors' games this year, but this is, by far, the best one.Warriors Orochi is a celebration of the Warriors franchise, it brings together every character from Dynasty Warriors(Up to 7), Samurai Warriors(Up to 3) and a variety of guest characters from other Koei franchises and new original characters based in both Japanese and Chinese stories, for a total of over 120 different characters.
 The story picks up from where Warriors Orochi 2 left off, regardless, it's not a necessity to have played any 'Warriors' game before, you may not get the whole scope on character relationships, but you don't really need to. Regardless, this game is much more story-heavy than other Warriors game, instead of following real history, it features a completely original story. The story itself is nothing special, what makes the game, however, are the character interactions. You get to see your favorite characters interact with each other, Dynasty characters that have Samurai counterparts, or characters that share certain traits. You get to see characters from their own universes that wouldn't have possibly met(Due to death or what have you) interact. This is what fanservice is all about, and it's quite the treat for series veterans.

 There's three modes: Story, Free and Battlegrounds. Battleground is a series first, where you can create stages and then share them online. Free Mode is basically useless, as the story mode allows you to pick any stage, at any time, however, Free Mode removes any and every cut-scene. Lastly, Story Mode is the main mode and has Sima Zhao, Ma Chao and Takenaka as the sole survivors of the attack of the Hydra. When all seems lost, a Mystic comes to their aid and grants them the ability to go back in time to certain moments, thus, they set out to save as many comrades as they can in order to amass a force large enough to face the hydra. There are a lot of stages, and even unlockable stages if you raise the bonds between certain characters. Sadly, many of these stages are recycled from Dynasty Warriors 7, Dynasty Warriors 6 and Samurai Warriors 3, however, they have some visual makeovers due to the Hydra's attack, and the mission objectives are completely different from their original incarnations.
 Gameplay compromises both Samurai and Dynasty universes. While basic Square and Triangle strings and Musou Attacks behave like they did in SW3 for SW characters, and like DW7 for DW characters, some changes had to be made. Dynasty characters lose their second Musou attack and Samurai characters lose their unique skill, however, every character has access to a unique special move that consume a bit of the Musou Gauge. For Samurai characters it's a completely new move, for Dynasty characters, most of the time it's a weakened version of their second Musou Attack. As for characters not coming from either saga, they either play as DW or SW depending on the character itself.

 Before each battle, you can equip your characters with different weapons and items. Items are found on the stages, while weapons are either dropped from enemy officers or bought at the shop. There's a very simple, but fun, weapon fusion system that allows you to take skills from one weapon into another, better weapon. You also get to make a team of three characters to take to battle. While only one of them is on the field at a time, you can switch between all three at will. If one of them dies it's game over though, and unlike other Warriors games, you don't charge the Musou gauge by hitting or getting hit, rather, by being "benched", so switching often is encouraged.
 The game suffers from little slowdown, while having dozens upon dozens of characters on-screen at the same time. Generals look very detailed, random enemies, however, do not. Sadly, Samurai Warriors enemies and Orochi enemies look noticeably worse than Dynasty enemies, probably due to the fact that they were taken from Wii and PS2 games, with a coat of HD applied on top. At least the SW generals look as awesome as the ones from DW. Music contains familiar pieces and a couple of remixes, plus some new tunes. Definitely the best soundtrack out of any Warriors game. While there is no goofy english voice acting, the Japanese VAs are really good, so not a major loss.

 Rounding the whole package up, there's a plethora of things to unlock. Many characters get unlockable costumes, heck, you start with a mere 3 characters out of 120, and while you earn most during Story Mode, there are many that require unlocking secret stages. And stages? There's plenty of them, and you'll want to go through them just to watch all the characters interact with each other, via cut-scene or just banter during the battle.
 If you are a hardcore fan, you probably already own it. If you ever were interested, even a tiniest bit, in the Warriors series, this is the game you want. While the recycled stages are a bit of a letdown, everything else makes up for it. This is Fanservice done right.
 9 out of 10

Now Playing: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law

 This game is awful.

 A Phoenix Wright clone? Made by Capcom, the creators themselves of Phoenix Wright? Count me in! Or so I thought. this game tries so hard to be funny, but it's not, in the slightest. I might've chuckled a bit on some scenes, but most of the time I feel like facepalming. And sometimes, what you must present makes no sense at all. Yeah... I hate this game, good thing I only payed 9 bucks for it.

Now Playing: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

 It's time.

 Since I'm done with the awesome Warriors Orochi 3(review soon) and the alrightish Risen 2(Review coming even sooner), and the fact that my sister won't let me advance through Deadly Premonition without her, I needed something new to play, hence, Uncharted. I've been harassed by friends and ps3 users for not having played the PS3 must haves, like Uncharted, so now I'm going to marathon through them, peer pressure at it's finest.
 First Impressions? It's deceptively fun. I wasn't having all that much fun, yet I couldn't put the controller down, and now it's 9:30 in the morning and I should be waking up at 12:00. So much fun. Regardless, I like it, it's obviously a really good game, yet, it's not for me. I've been wanting a respite from so many fighters and rpgs, and I thought and shooter was what I wanted... no, not like this. I like them fast and furious, this one is a bit more methodical, having to hide while my health regenerates is not my idea of fun. The climbing sections are kinda cool, but I'm still not sure if I suck at it or the controls act a bit funky. It's like I'm holding right, but Nate thinks I'm holding against whatever thing he's got his grip on.
 Ah well, up to chapter 6, but time to hit the sack.

Archview 67: Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butoden

 Best Dragon Ball game since Burst Limit?

 By 2013 there's been dozens upon dozens of Dragon Ball fighting game, and they have ranged from the awful to the really good. Nintendo handhelds haven't fared much better, Taiketsu was terrible, Super Sonic Warriors was really good and Super Sonic Warriors 2 dropped the ball. Here we have the second fighter for the DS, and for reasons unknown, Namco-Bandai didn't see it fit to bring it over seas, shame, as it's really friggin' good.
 The game has 3 main modes: Story Mode, Challenge Mode and Versus(CPU, Player). Story Mode is fantastic, it covers the entire DBZ saga, without the fillers. There are are lot of chapters, plus a lot of what if scenarios(Some of which are hilarious, if you can understand what is happening). This mode is very extensive and can easily run over 10 hours if you watch all the cut-scenes. Speaking of the cut-scenes, they are really good... but only a few key-scenes are voiced. If you can't read japanese, like me, you are out of luck and these cut-scenes may seem a bit boring. If you know nothing about Dragon Ball, you might as well just skip them. Regardless, if you are a fan, you will know what is going on, and seeing classic DBZ moments recreated in 3D is really cool, cut-scenes would be on par with Budokai 1, if only they had more audio.

 After each story-fight, you are awarded with a grade, depending on the grade you will unlock extras. Extras like opening up Challenge Mode sections, hidden costumes, stat boosting customization quotes and  customization items. Yes! Customization, you can add accesories to each character, glasses, shades, caps, the Dragon Radar, Roshi's beard or turtle shell. There are lots of items, and every character can equip them. You also get three different customization slots per character! Besides the clothing items, each slot also allows you to equip stat boosting "quotes", but knowledge of Japanese(Or a FAQ) is needed to know just what you are raising. Most of the customization items require an S grade though, but you can get them on easy of it gets too hard. In Challenge Mode, the game tasks you with defeating a series of harder opponents using a team of characters of your choice, sometimes getting healed after a couple of fights. As for Versus mode, it'd be alright if only it hadn't been balanced after the show instead of trying to be, well, balanced. Weak characters in the show get reduced damage, less Ki levels and less HP than stronger ones.
 As for the gameplay, you get 5 basic functions: Weak hit, which can be comboed if you mash it, eventually leads into an air combo. Smash hit, a stronger attack that knocks the enemy away... or below. Ki blast, throws a little energy ball. Dodge, time it right and you can dodge attacks. And a Throw button. The L button is used in conjunction with Up or Down to raise your Ki Level. A higher Ki Level means stronger attacks and faster movement, at the cost of nor recharging your Ki. Lowe levels means less damage, but faster Ki recharge. Ki is used when you use any of your 3 Special Attacks or the Ultimate Attack. Special attacks can be done with motions, Street Fighter style, or by pressing a button on the touchscreen. As for the Ultimate Attack, it requires the most Ki, and initiates a minigame where you may have to time button presses, press certain button combinations or a few others, both you and your opponent get  to do it, so they made avoid damage entirely. Lastly, you also get Burst Mode by pressing all four face buttons together, it gives you unlimited Ki for a while, can only be done once in a fight and after it's gone, it leaves you with 0 Ki.

 This game has, probably, the best graphics I've seen on a DS. Models are very crisp and detailed, stages are colorful and have a lot going on in them. The audio... well, the music used in the Story mode quickly grows out it's welcome and becomes very boring, but the music during the fights is pretty alright. Voices are used sparingly, but the samples are quite clear, and it's neat to hear the original Japanese voice actors. There are over 50 characters(35 something if you don't count transformations), which is pretty impressive for a DS game. Less impressive is that many characters share basic moves, these being the Weak attack and Smash attacks, still, every ultimate get's it's own unique cutscene, and every special moveset is unique, although quite a few of them share the Kamehame ha, which is to be expected.
 When it comes down to it, this is a very meaty game. There is a lot of unlockables, a lot of story mode scenarios and a lot of characters. Plus, it's, probably, the only Dragon Ball game that lets you outfit existing characters with accessories! I can understand why Namco-Bandai wouldn't bring it over, as there is a lot of text needing to be translated, and they probably thought it wasn't worth the effort, it's a shame, as it's a great game for Dragon Ball Fans. Fighting game fans, however, may be a tad disappointed with characters being so samey between each other, or how unbalanced it gets. Regardless, not knowing Japanese isn't that big of a barrier, it's quite import-friendly.
 7 out of 10

First Archimpressions: Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butoden

 What Burst Limit should've been.

 Dragon Ball Butoden series started on the SNES, and frankly, I hate it. It hasn't aged well at all, animation is stiff, gameplay feels wonky and... I simply don't like them. But this? Oh man, oh man. Where do I start? How about... this are, probably, the best graphics I've seen on the DS. And the story mode is fantastic, it's almost as good as Budokai 1's. This one covers the entirety of Dragon Ball Z, with a load of extra "What if Scenarios", the only reason it's not as good as Budokai's is... there's almost no voices. Thing is, there is a lot of text and characters flapping their mouths, but only a sparse few scenes are voices. I understand there's a lot of stuff in the game(The roster is massive for a DS game, and oh so many cutscenes!), but since this is a Japan-exclusive, not knowing what characters are saying kinda takes some of it's charm away. Luckily I'm familiar with the series, so it's easy to follow along.
 As for the gameplay, it's... alright. Thing is, every character feels very sameish, a mashable X combo and you can spread Y(Strong Attack) around. Each character also has 3 specials and a ultimate. While specials and ultimates are different, their basic movesets are very familiar with each other, some characters are downright clones(Minus the specials/ultimate) like Kid Gohan and Gotenks. Still, once has to consider that this is a DS game and a licensced game, and a pretty good one at that. It's easy to pick up and play, even to non-fighting game fans, so it kinda works. I dunno, I like it.
 So yeah, I'm loving it.

First Archimpressions: Risen 2: Dark Waters

 Wow. Not the good kind.

 This game is terrible. And maybe, sorta, kinda fun... ish. I mean, I did spend 3-4 hours in front of the TV playing this game, but I was wishing to turn it off the whole time. But I didn't. Here's the thing, this game is incredibly vexing. Frustrating as it gets. And not the good kind. If I wanted to play Dark Souls, I would. Worst part is, there is NOTHING you can do to enhance your odds of winning a battle, you just mash X and hope for the best, hope you don't get parried much, or countered much, hope you get the opponent stun-locked and what have you. I restarted a fight 3 times before I got it, and I changed NOTHING in between each approach, I just mashed X.
 Oh, and why don't I use skills? They are expensive. You know what else is expensive? Equipment. You can't buy both, money is just too damn hard to get. And the cherry on top? This early in the game, 3:10 hours in(More, since I had to restart countless times) they are giving me quests that require the use of skills I need to buy. With money I can't possibly get. These skills cost, on average, 1000 gold. I earn 200 gold, at most, with each quest. Selling loot is worthless, the most valuable items you can get are pearls, that sell at 50 gold. At least healing items are easy to come by.
 I spent 2:41 hours on Medium before deciding "Eff this" and lowering the difficulty to easy. I still can't get money, but at least I don't get mauled to death so easily. And the partner? They are useless, at least she can take damage for me when facing more than one enemy. And she usually gets lost, which means you need to go back to find her and see how she got stuck on the environment. I hope there's a way to "summon" partners, as if I didn't notice she was gone, I'd probably lose her for ever. Heck, now that I triggered Steelbeard's event, I'm on my own, hope the jungle fellas don't shred me to pieces as they gang up on me.
 And the graphics? There's lots of pop-in. And sometimes the game tries to look cool with Slomo... except that the main character's head looks a bit detached from the neck, resulting in hilarity. On the flip side, the dialogue is fantastic and the voice acting ain't half bad. But while a story can carry a low-budget film, it can't carry bad gameplay.
 This game sucks. But it's kinda fun. Maybe. Sorta? Perhaps? Mayhaps.

Archview #66: Journey Collector's Edition

 One of the finest games I've played this year.

 Who hasn't heard of Journey already? It won several Game of the Year awards in 2012 and recieved even more in accolades and other honors. While initially released as a downloadable game, Sony saw it fit to release a retail package, alongside other thatgamecompany's downloadable games. Presented in this package are Flow, Flower and Journey, alongside 3 minigames.
 The three minigames are just that, minigames. They are visually simple, and their mechanics are even simpler. First we have "Duke War!!!", a multiplayer game in which each player takes control a Duke, as they produce peasants, build towers and gather gold for the king. Everything is done with a single button, and it's actually really fun. "Gravediggers" has you play as a green pixel(Player one) and a blue pixel(Player 2), you have to kill zombies with your weapon(Gun, shotgun, explosives) and trade their skulls for points, if you die, you turn into a zombie and can instakill anything, but you can't carry skulls and must recover your own if you want to revive. Lastly, there's "Nostril Shot", the worst of the bunch, but easily the most visually appealing. Here you play as a very animeish girl, that can turn into a chubbier version of herself as she kills enemies in order to rack up points.

 Of the bigger games, first I'll deal with Flow. Honestly? I didn't like it, at all. It's very boring, although some may call it relaxing. You are a simple micro-organism that must eat other organisms in order to grow. Most of the fodder is harmless, but there are bigger organisms that actually try to eat you back. Eventually you can change into a different organism with a different attribute(The initial one, for example, can boost while pressing any button). The game also has different plains, you traverse "deeper" by eating red organisms, or go one plane "above" by eating a blue one. Still, my biggest beef with this game are the controls, the game uses the motion sensors of the Dual Shock 3, which means tilting and turning. Even after I learned the controls, it still felt annoying.
 Then comes Flower, which is pretty alright. Once again, this is played with motion controls, but this time they nailed it, as it feels pretty alright. In this game you guide the wind and must pass through flowers to collect their petals into your gust. As you go through flowers, you slowly bring back color to the world, plus, there are some surprises as you get to the end of the game. This one is very fun and relaxing, plus, it's nice to look at.

 Then comes the centerpiece of this package, Journey. Going to in-depth about it would spoil the otherwise fantastic... journey the game takes you through. You only have two different actions: Jumping and emiting sounds. Jumping is limited by the size of your scarf, which must be charged by coming into contact with special pieces of cloth. You can increase the size of your scarf by collecting hidden glyphs throughout the game. Sounds are used to interact with many different things throughout the game. There's also multiplayer, in which you are teamed up with a nameless random player(You appear nameless to them too) and the only way to interact is by making sounds. This game is beautiful and the soundtrack is phenomenal, both come together with the gameplay to make for a truly unique experience. This is everyone must play. And hey, it's only 2 hours long!
 Sadly, the package leaves a bit to bit desired. While there are a ton of extras, from trailers, the soundtrack to developer comentary, it has one major flaw... every game must be installed. And even after being installed, you still need the disc to play them. But at least you get Journey on a disc.
 Flow: 2 out of 10
 Flower: 6 out of 10
 Journey: 10 out of 10
 Journey's Collector Edition: 9 out of 10