Now Playing: Eve of Extinction

 Can I do it? Can I finish it before New Year's Eve?!

 Back when I owned Eve of Extinction, I didn't particularly care about it, but this year I had an urge to play it, so I bought it. Watching videos, and reading things about it, I prepared for the worst... It's actually really friggin' decent! I remember the game having a ton of weapons, and evidently every boss is going to leave a weapon behind... yet, combat is incredibly repetitive and a bit bland. Still, it's kinda maybe sorta fun, graphics are pretty friggin' decent, Music is alright, Voice acting is cheesy but passable, the plot is a prequel to Bionic Commando(PS3) and the gameplay is borderline dull... however, the game is more than a sum of it's parts. So far, I can tell that a lot of effort and thought went into the game, there's great ideas even if the execution is a bit iffy.
 Bottom Line? It's good. It's not awesome, but it's really good.

Review #84: Minority Report: Everybody Runs

 It could've been so much worse.

 Minority Report is based on the movie that goes by the same name, that tells you everything and anything you need to know about this game. The game is your standard,  if a bit generic, 3D brawler. You goal is to move from area to area while pummeling dozens upon dozens on enemies ad nauseam.
 The story pits you as John Anderton, a member of a futuristic Agency called "Precrime". Precrime, as the name implies, are to prevent future crimes from taking place, this is done by relying on Precogs, psychics that can see crimes before they are to be committed. Unluckily for John, the Precogs predict him killing someone, so John must find a way to clear his name, while avoiding Precrime from turning him in. The game is somewhat faithful to the movie, there were a couple of changes here and then, namely the fact that during gameplay you will kill people, Precrime officers above all, but the game won't make mention of it. Gameplay-and-Storyline segregation at it's finest, ladies and gentlemen.

 John has access to punches and kicks in order to get the job done, different three-button sequences of these two produce various different combos. You can also block, which feels useless as most enemies and every boss have unblockable attacks, and by using the same button near a dizzied or fallen enemy, you can grab them and then throw them, or pummel them for good measure. Still, the most invaluable technique of all is the slide, when enemies group together, just use and abuse the slide and it'll be alright. You can also use guns, these aim automatically at the closest enemy, or you can use the right analog stick to switch between targets. As a whole, combat feels a bit spotty, hit detection is alright but at times it feels stiff, it doesn't flow just quite right.
 Hidden throughout each level is money, which you can use in order to buy new combos, temporary power ups(Strength Boost, Armor), Permanent power ups(Just clip size and total health) or weapons. You can buy anything at any time by pausing the game, but you need to be careful, as supplies are limited, you really don't want to waste those Armor power ups until the last level! Another cool feature is that you can interact with almost anything, punch bottles and they shatter, punch glass and it will shatter too, kick silverware and it will scatter. They also applied ragdoll physics to John and the enemies, which looks hilarious most of the time. These two gimmicks, as cool as the interactivity is, take a heavy toll on the framerate. It will chug at almost every time, and while it doesn't get in the way of the gameplay, it's hard not to notice it.

 The game is not too hard, even if the last boss is needlessly annoying. The AI is, initially, pretty dumb, but in the latter levels they learn to block and jump over low attacks, still, the game attempts to bring you down in numbers, it will throw large amount of enemies at the player, with a couple of armed enemies, the most dangerous, for good measure. Still, if you master the art of the slide, it's pretty easy to cheese your way through. Enemy variety is a bit lacking, there's about 4 different Precrime Officer type( Color coded for your convenience), a couple of bystanders that only turn aggressive if attacked and the robots(That are immune to the slide). There's also a couple of stages in which you are given a jetpack, which even though it's not too easy to handle, it's fun to use. For what it's worth, the game is pretty lengthy and there's a nice amount of unlockables, from the challenging Pain Arenas to different skins for John.
 As cool as it is how you can interact with almost everything in every stage, the overall graphical presentation is pretty lacking. Characters are pretty ugly, especially bystanders, and some of the animations look pretty stiff. Music is used very sparingly and when they finally play music, it's really bland, and sometimes it doesn't even fit the game. Voice acting is lame, John being at least serviceable, and the audio effects are just as bad, landing blows doesn't feel right!

 Minority Report is not a bad game. It's not good either, but it could've been so much worse! What's more, I had fun with it. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the game, it's very by-the-numbers, but it's not broken. Minority Report is a rental on a boring weekday, a game to keep you occupied for a little while during the week, you don't expect much of it and you don't get much in return.
 5.5 out of 10.

Review #83: Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate

 This game...

 Fighting games are not known for their tasteful portrayal of women, in fact, Dead or Alive is quite infamous for it. Dead or Alive 5 does NOTHING to help it's cause. There's no other game that let's you choose from four different types of "Breast Motion" at the Options menu, that's how silly it gets. Luckily, one of those four options is to turn it off, which I did, because "Natural" and "DOA" are downright silly while the unlockable "OMG" is just ridiculous. This is Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, a game that panders to the lowest common denominator, and don't you even dare suggest that the reason people don't take the game seriously is it's sexual pandering, else you'll be called a feminist(Do they even know what that is?) or a conservative prude. As for the game itself, Ultimate is not a sequel to 5, it's just an expansion that was released only in retail. Is it worth it? Yes and no...
 As far as Modes, this game has every feature that Dead or Alive 5 had, namely: Story Mode(Which is silly and presented in a disjointed and confusing way, not worth it), Fight(It consists in Versus, Arcade Mode, Time Attack, Survival and Team Battle any can be played in both Single Player and Multiplayer variety) and Training(Tutorial, Normal Training Mode and Command Training, in which you are to complete a character's movelist).  The only new Mode is Combo Challenge, where each character has a set number of combos that you are to clear. There's a decent amount, but there's not a whole lot to it. There's also a really neat feature called "Exhibition Mode" that unlocks every costume for Multiplayer play, but disables stat tracking and trophies, pretty neat if you take the game to a friend's.

 The basic gameplay remains unchanged save for the obligatory balancing done to each character's moveset. Each character received at least one new move called "Power Launcher", which behaves exactly like a Power Blow(You can only use one of them in a given round). The Power Launcher deals less damage than the Power Blow, but leaves the enemy in a juggle state, leaving them open for a full un-counterable combo. New options include the previously mentioned Breasts Motion(Sigh...) and the ability to simulate lag during normal single player gameplay, pretty cool.
 The game adds a total of 5 new characters: Leon, who was considered a Bayman clone by many and probably the reason it was missing in the first place, Ein, often times considered a Hitomi clone(Although Ein came before, and they are not that similar) and is Hayate with a different Moveset, Jacky from Virtua Fighter and Momiji and Rachel from Ninja Gaiden. The new characters come with new movesets, and everyone but Bayman is quite fun to use. Some may want to count Ein among the "Bland new movesets", since he shares moves with Hitomi and Hayate, but he was my favorite character from the DoA series, so I can't complain. Momiji, Rachel and Jacky have totally unique movesets and they are very fun to use, specially Momiji with all of her aerial attacks.

 There's also a couple of new stages, and they are not too bad. Dead or Alive 5 had a pitiful amount of costumes, taking into account the massive costume lists characters had in previous installments. In Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, every character saw his/her wardrobe doubled. This also means that most guys have 8 costumes at most, while gals get about 12, Team Ninja's priorities are quite clear. Oh, and the 5 new characters only have 3 to 4 costumes each. Almost, if not every, new costume was DLC from the previous game, and what's worse, not every piece of previously released DLC was included, still, what they left out were the Swimsuit DLC as it's probably what earns them the most money, the DoA average fan is amazing. Most of the costumes aim at some demographic, you get the "sexy cop", the "sexy nurse" and so on, and they even had the gall to have many costumes shared among characters, which makes the amount of costumes less impressive.
 Is Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate worth it? If you don't own Dead or Alive 5, very much so. As stupid as the sexual pandering is, Dead or Alive is a very easy to pick up and play game, you can just mash buttons and make stuff happen, and if you delve deeper you can find actual depth. And hey, now you can turn off the breasts jiggling, it's a start! If you own DoA 5, however, it's a harder sell. The new movesets are pretty fun, and at least 3 of them are very different from the rest of the cast, and quite fun to use, but there's not enough new content to justify buying it again if you don't really care about fighting games. All in all, Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is what Dead or Alive 5 should've been from the start, but there's no real incentive to buy the same game again.
 7.0 out of 10.

Now Playing: Minority Report : Everybody Runs

 I will finish it before New Year's eve, that I swear.

 I liked this game as a kid, I don't know why, but I liked it. So of course, I had to get it, and get it I did. So far so mediocre. It's not bad, I mean, there are a couple of thingies that really irk me about the combat, but it's serviceable. The game as a whole is serviceable. I'm up to level 6, if I'm not mistaken, and it's not awful. It's not good, but it's not awful.
 Combat is alright, but it feels a bit floaty, and I'm not totally sold on the hit detection. It doesn't help that punches don't pack any, well, punch, combat is not satisfying. Grabbing people and throwing them towards stuff, or even endless pits, is fun as hell though. This game was experimenting with ragdoll physics, and you can tell that it's experimenting, as they are incredibly funny. I love it. It's not a bad game. It can get infuriating, but it's not bad.

Review #82: Okage: Shadow King

 Consider my childhood satisfied.

 Okage: Shadow King is quirky JRPG, a bit reminiscent of Earthbound, it doesn't take itself too seriously, it's set in a very mundane world with NPC that are as weird and odd as they get. It also happens to have been criminally forgotten, is this how people reward uniqueness?
 In Okage, you play the role of Ari, your average run-of-the-mill teenager who lives with his quirky family on the outskirts of the village of Tennel. Ari is, as the people refer to him, a very "overshadowed" person. Everyone downright ignores him and walks all over him, if he wasn't there, people probably wouldn't notice. Soon, his sister gets afflicted with a Pig-Latin curse, and their only hope is the Evil Shadow King Stan, who cures her in exchange of making Ari his slave and becoming his shadow. Ari's sister ends up with a pink shadow as well. Now Ari, slave to Stan, must aid Stan in defeating all the other Evil Kings in order to regain his former power and rule the world. Because that's what an Evil King is supposed to do. Evidently, the game doesn't take itself seriously at all. The game is fairly humorous too, many times Ari will be allowed to choose between three answers, the third one usually being hilarious, but everyone ignores him and his answer doesn't affect anything, funnily enough, it is a conscious design decision, as it becomes a major plot device in Chapter 5.

 The world of Okage is just as interesting. NPCs have very odd and surreal designs and their dialogues are just as weird, in a funny and engaging way. Enemies too are quite interesting to look at, chances are you there's more than a couple you haven't seen before in any other game. The cities themselves are very different from each other and have their own styles, the cities ooze creativity everywhere. Buildings look really weird, in a good way, and their insides are just as unique. There's one house, in Madril the town of Metal, that has giant cogs as tables and giant screws as chairs! Dungeons however... Every dungeon but the last one look exactly the same, same tileset, same objectives(Destroy the Urns. Sometimes you have to step on switches too, but you still have to destroy the Urns). Saddest part is that they are as bland as they are generic, quite perplexing since the rest of the game is so unique. They can get quite confusing too, specially the last one.
 As unique as the setting is, the gameplay is your standard turn-based JRPG. During the course of the game, you'll go from town to town in search for clues as to where to go next. Sadly, a couple times the game isn't very clear on where you should go next, so you'll have to try everywhere and every NPC, which isn't much fun. As you travel outside cities, ghosts will try to swarm Ari, if you touch any of them, battle ensues. There's really not a whole lot to it though, you have basic attacks and spells, you can also defend use items or run. What sets it apart, is that MP is shared among your three characters, some characters may be really strong or get great spells, but they might add a insignificant amount of LP to the pool. You can also set party members to "wait" and then combine your attack on a single enemy for major damage. A very odd design choice is that you can select what enemy to target, you can only target "packs" of enemies, but you'll quickly get used to it. One thing to keep in mind, is that if Ari dies, even if your other two party members are standing, it's game over. It kinda makes sense, Ari is so hard to notice that they probably forget about him, poor Ari.

 The game is not too hard, except a couple of bosses early on. Heck, some bosses sometimes feel very much luck-based, the... third or fourth boss in particular, I had to pray that the lesser enemies alongside the boss wouldn't gang up on Ari, otherwise they would kill him instantly. And I was overleveled for that part of the game! The last boss is also pretty tough, having a higher damage output and total hitpoints that any other boss in the game(The last boss has 10.000 HP, the second to last one has around 2000), so be ready! One of the biggest annoyances was the camera. You can turn it around(The axis is inverted, and you can't change it. WHO DOES THAT!?) but it just loves to get stuck on buildings or objects, often times it feels as if you were wrestling with it.
 As I mentioned previously, graphically, it's very unique. The game came out pretty early during the PS2's lifespan, and it shows. As unique as the whole game looks, the animations are very stiff and awkward, admittedly, it does add up to the overall quirky charm of the game. Music is downright fantastic. Tunes are usually pretty upbeat, but when it wants to get somber, it gets somber. They are also very catchy, few are the times I actually care about the music in a game, this is one of those times.
 Okage: Shadow King is a pretty different game from the norm. Half of it is really unique, the half that has to do with the presentation, the rest of the game, meaning the gameplay, is very basic and sometimes even bland. I always say that gameplay comes first, and since the gameplay is serviceable, I'd it's very much worth it to give this game a whirl just to experience the oddity that is Okage.
 7.0 out of 10.

First Impressions: Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z

 COLOR EDIT!!!

 Dragon Ball Legends is one of my favorite Dragon Ball game ever, second only to Super Dragon Ball Z. Ever since I laid my eyes on Battle of Z I've been incredibly hyped about it, as it seems to be a spiritual successor of sorts. The demo just hit PSN, and I just had to try it, specially since I'm gonna buy it on day one.
 First impressions after the first missions? "It's alright, nothing special, a bit disappointing". But I soldiered on. And after I discovered color edit? Sweet Jesus almighty, the fun I was having with the demo just got multiplied by three. Yes, color edit means that much to me. As for the gameplay, it eventually grew on me, I actually like it. The whole X/Square to ascend descend it's alright, but both buttons acting as a dash is a bit iffy, y'see, if you want to descend you either have to be standing still or double-tap the button, otherwise you'll just dash. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually.
 The one thing I disliked is that CPU allies seem to be dumb. On the Piccolo fight I didn't really keep track of them, but on the previous mission I gave Krillin "Full power" orders and he'd just run around the enemies without attacking. One of the things I liked the most about Legends was watching your allies fighting around you... hopefully, on larger fights they won't act so dumb, since I'm pretty sure that they were kinda-somewhat useful against the Piccolo clones.
 Final Word? January 28th can't come soon enough.... and two days later, Gundam Extreme VS Full Boost gets released, sequel to my second favorite Last Gen game, Gundam Extreme VS. Who knows, Full Boost might be able to dethrone Tekken Tag 2.

Review #81: Donkey Kong Country Returns

 Or how Donkey Kong goes bananas. Again.

 It's been a while, well up 'till this game was released, since gamers had seen a proper Donkey Kong adventure. Donkey Kong Country Returns is everything fans of the older series could've asked for, not only does the spirit of the series is kept intact, but it also adds a couple of features that are very welcome, and a few that are not so much.
 The original duo, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, are the stars of this game. Just as usual, Donkey Kong's banana hoard gets stolen and he wants it back. Since the Kremlings' legal rights are over murky waters, split between Rare and Nintendo, for this entry a plethora of new enemies have been created. The new bad guys are floating tribal Masks, Tikis, and they put the whole jungle under mind-control, but the Kongs won't have any of it. The adventure takes you over 8 different worlds, each one under a different theme(Jungle, Cliff, Volcano, Factory, etc), just like the Platformers of old.

 The game plays pretty similarly to older incarnations of Donkey Kong Country, you run, jump and roll your way around stages. You can also smash on the ground, to uncover secrets, or grab and throw barrels. And here lies my biggest gripe with the game: Controls. For some reason, the developer saw fit to include motion controls, when it comes to smashing on the ground or blowing, it's not bad at all and somewhat fits... but you must also shake the Wiimote in order to roll. For newcomers, rolling is the Kong's secondary offensive option(The primary one is jumping on top of enemies), and having to shake the Wiimote WHILE moving(Otherwise you'll smash the ground) feels very imprecise and awkward. In the older games there was a technique commonly known as "rolling jump", executed while jumping during a roll, which would give you longer and higher jumps, Retro Studios faithfully kept the technique in place, but having to rely on shaking the Wiimote? Not cool.
 You start each level as Donkey Kong and can take up to two hits before losing a life. Sometimes you'll find a barrel with a "D.K" stamp, this one holds Diddy Kong. Diddy Kong allows you to take up to four hits(However, he is gone after the second one), but allows Donkey Kong to use the jetpack in order land jumps safely. The game is pretty challenging and unforgiving, there are plenty of sections where you only get one chance to make the jump or you lose. Luckily, there are Checkpoints, usually longer stages are have more than a couple of them, but are not as hard as the short stages. Speaking of stages, each one has some particular gimmick, so the game never feels repetitive. Each world also has a Shop in which you can buy extra lives, for coins found in the levels themselves, you can even buy 1-time items that let you withstand a third hit, give you a brief period of invulnerability or help you find collectibles.

 Each world has a decent amount of levels, and each level holds a pretty large amount of secrets. Y'see, each level has plenty of collectables: Bananas(Get 100 and gain a life), Coins, Puzzle Pieces and the letters K, O, N and G, getting every Puzzle Piece usually involves finding the hidden bonus sections. Basically, there is a ton to do per level. Getting every Puzzle Piece in a level unlocks items in the gallery, while getting every KONG letter on every level in a world unlocks a secret, extra hard, level. Clear all 8 secret levels and you gain access to Mirror World, which is even harder.
 As previously stated, every level has each particular gimmick. Some may have falling platforms, some may have you activating platforms and many, many others. There are also levels that take place on top of a minecart that have you jumping over obstacles or broken rails onto other platforms. Every time a gimmick is revisited, always in a different world, there's an added gimmick to it. The first minecart level is pretty straightforward, well, the next one will place you inside a rolling egg's shell, as it breaks down due to spikes on the floor, so you'll have to jump over the spikes and onto what remains of the rolling shell. Exciting stuff. This is how the game manages to never feel repetitive.

 Something that I found was very neat, is that Multiplayer and Single Player feel very different, and neither feels easier than the other. Multiplayer has the advantage in that if one player dies, as long as the other one is alive and you have lives to spare, you can revive the other player if you touch the flying homing barrel that respawns them.... But in levels that involve gimmicks like MineCarts, meaning both players on the same object, if you die you lose two lives. Multiplayer also means that Donkey Kong(player 1) doesn't get to use the jetpack, while Diddy has it on at all times. At any time the second player can get on top of player 1 and grant him the jetpack, but that would mean that one player would control both characters and that's no fun at all.

 The presentation is all around top-notch. Graphically it doesn't push the Wii at all, but everything looks very crips and clear, this is a very colorful game. There's a large amount of vistas and backgrounds as you go from world to world, and everything looks fantastic. Music is made up of returning music, remixes and a couple of new tunes. The new tunes feel very Donkey Kongish, and the rest of the music is great. I said it once and I'll say it again: Music in Nintendo games are always phenomenal. Always. Sound effects are also very apt for the game, and I actually grew fond of the sound that bananas make when collected, it makes you want to gather them even more!

 Donkey Kong Country Returns is a fantastic game, it feels just like the older Donkey Kong Country games, it's very lengthy with an incredible amount of secrets to find and levels never feel the same. It's also pretty challenging without feeling unfair. It's a shame the just had to add unnecessary motion controls, they were so unreliable that I wound up just relying on jumps... but, luckily, it doesn't hold the game back by much.
 8.5 out of 10.

Now Playing: Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate

 Oh, Japan....

 So, I go into the options, y'know, I wanted to turn off Action camera, but turn on Hit effects... and there I see it "Breast Motion". Japan... why are you so... so... Japan? Even funnier, you can set it to Off, Natural or DoA, yet even Normal look like sacks of jello, Team Ninja have you ever, ever seen breasts? Someone has to have seen at least a pair, heck, you must have more than a couple female members on your team, that is not how breasts behave. Oh Japan!. What's truly saddening is that DoA fans are equally... weird, DoA forums are filled with brilliant topics such as "Why do they have flat butts?" "Who has the best boobs?" and a couple of other gems, no wonder Team Ninja panders to them, and DoA 5 looked so promising when it was first revealed, less fanservicey 'n everything...
 As for the game itself... it's basically DoA 5 with 5 new characters and some new stages. True, there is this new Power Launcher feature, but it's not quite a game changer. There are a lot of costumes per character now, actually, characters have the amount of costumes, more or less, fans of the series have been used to, that's kinda cool. Bleh, not much else to say, it really does feel like just an update, a v1.0 to v1.1 if you will.

Review #80: Pokemon Y

 After you get over how fantastic it looks, you realize that it's more of the same.

 First things first, obsessive fanboys are disgusting. Secondly, whoever's been playing Pokemon since Blue and Red doesn't get the right to complain about Call of Duty or Dynasty Warriors being the same every year. What I mean to say is, this game is more of the same, if you like Pokemon, you'll like Y and X, if you don't, this game won't change your mind.
 The newest installments place you, a teenage Pokemon trainer, in the new region of Kalos. Pokemon has never had much of a strong narrative, but they tried to change it this time around. The supporting cast is larger than any other game before, and you'll get to interact with them much more than in previous installments. This time around, for example, you don't get a single rival, instead, four other kids set out alongside you, and each one has a different goal in mind. As you go from town to town you'll occasionally run into them, sometimes they'll want to battle, sometimes they'll just run alongside you. I like this change, while they don't get a whole lot of development, they do have their own personalities and you'll get to grow fond of them. The story also touches a few darker subjects, at least when it comes to Pokemon, such as wars or the whole point of Pokemon Battling, the latter never amounts to anything, but it's interesting none the less.

 The game plays just like any other Pokemon game. You must go from town to town, capture Pokemon and earn all 8 Gym Badges in order to gain the right to challenge the Elite 4 and their champion. Battles are turn based and come in to types: Random encounter or Trainer Battle. Trainer Battles are battles-to-the-death(Or rather, 'till one faints), while Random encounters let you capture the opposing 'mon if you have a Pokeball. While going from town to town, you may sometimes have to use a Pokemon that knows a specific "HM", like Cut, to cut bushes, or Surf to traverse the water. Luckily, HMs have been kept to a minimum(5, and you don't really need Fly). Besides HMs, there are also TMs that let you teach your Pokemon techniques to use in battle, and just like Pokemon Black and White, these can be used indefinitely. 

 The game is not too easy and not too hard. Very early in the game you get the Experience Share, an item that gives the Pokemon that fought full experience gain, and gives half of it to the rest of your party. It can be turned off, and if you want a challenge you probably should. I actually like the new Exp.Share, as it makes it easier to grind Pokemon levels, but next time, give it much later into the game, maybe before or after the Elite 4. Lastly, the game has over 600 different creatures now, up to Ruby and Sapphire, it was easy to remember every Pokemon type, or you could roughly tell at a glance the type of the enemy Pokemon... not anymore. It'd be nice to have some kind of way to know the type of the enemy Pokemon, maybe let you access to the Pokedex during battle?

 Finally, one of the most requested features has been introduced: Customization. At the outset of the game you get to choose your gender, and afterwards one out of three generic appearances. As you go through the game you'll run across Boutiques were you can buy new pieces of clothing. There's a nice variety of clothes, although it'd be nice to be able to take off the hat! You can also get a different haircut and change the color of your eyes. Customization is, ultimately, pointless, but it's oh so much fun to finally be able to more-or-less taylor your character to your liking.  As for gameplay, the most important addition is a whole new type, Fairy. and the addition of Mega Evolutions. Some older Pokemons type has been changed to the new Fairy type, and while it's no the gamechanger  they make it out to be, it's one more type to keep in mind. Meanwhile, Mega-Evolution is a temporary(Lasts for the duration of the battle and you can only use Mega-Evolution on one Pokemon per battle) form that gives you a couple of stat boosts, nothing too mind blowing. Then there's also the new horde battles, in which one of the random encounter may pit your Pokemon against five others, these are a novelty and drag on for so long, waiting for each of the 6 'mons to finish their turn, not fun at all, and "Sky Battles", in which you are only allowed to use flying Pokemon, gimmicky at best.
 For the first time ever, the game shows you and keep tracks of IVs. Previously, you had to, if you wanted to undergo specialized EV training, keep track of these yourself, not anymore. One of the three Touch-screen features shows how your EVs are distributed. Then you also get Super Training. Super Training are minigames, all have you drag your Pokemon around with the analog stick while you tap on the screen to shoot. Doing this allows you to increase the EVs in whatever way you want, and even if it's time-consuming, it sure as hell is faster than finding the enemies that drop the EVs that you want. You can also use the touch-screen to pet your Pokemon, Nintendogs-style, feed it muffins or play some minigames that raise their happiness level. Raising their happiness means less missing and more dodging in battle.

 The game is very easy on the eyes, actually, it's drop dead gorgeous. The game is incredibly beautiful, so much so that for the first few hours it will feel like a completely different game from previous installments, which is not. As pretty as it is, animation is a bit inconsistent, the animations for certain attacks are smooth and pretty, but other moves, Double Kick for example, just move the model up and down with no real animation to speak off, which comes off as a bit disappointing. Graphics are a bit too much for the game too handle as well, so much so that you can't turn on 3D on the overworld, 1-on-1 battles, however, can be played in 3D without affecting the framerate, however, when you choose which moves to use and what have you, the game makes use of a dynamic camera on the battleground, which does gets some pretty cool angles, but when it closes up on both Pokemon, the framerate stutters quite a bit, luckily, it doesn't get in the way of the game. Music is excellent, what were you expecting from a Nintendo franchise? Oddly enough, every Pokemon still keep their growls from their older installments... except Pikachu who now says "Pikachu", it feels quite out-of-place.
 The game is a bit shorter than previous games, but you do get post-game content, such as the Battle Maison where fight for points to trade in for items. You can also battle at restaurants in order to get money(There's an entry fee, but between the trainers and the sellable rewards, you earn your money back and more)  Almost every post-game activity is battle-related, but there are some quirky activities like helping out at a Hotel for money, by making beds, finding items and remembering the orders of some customers. I also found the story to have a few pacing problems at the start, you'll get through two-three towns in a row with no Pokemon Gym or Boutiques of their own, so it'll be a while before you can really start customizing your trainer.
 Pokemon Y and X are not bad games, if you've loved the formula so far, you'll still love it now, especially thanks to the new coat of paint. Most new additions are gimmicky(MegaEvolutions, Horde and Sky Battles, Pettin Pokemon) or merely cosmetic(Albeit customizing your trainer is really fun). Being able to see and train your EVs without having to fight is a godsend, though. As a whole, it's a great game, but it's a bit slim in content when compared to other games in the series, and it's the almost same game I've been playing since Pokemon Blue.
 8.0 out of 10.

Review #79: Asura's Wrath

 Don't make him angry, you won't like him when he's angry.

 Here at "Of Swords and Joysticks" I've stood against Capcom's shady DLC practices. I've stood against games that tried to be movies. I've stood against "true ending" DLC, also known as "necessary" DLC. Asura's Wrath has all of these, but it's just so off-the-wall insane in epic proportions that I'm willing to forgive it and look the other way, this one time.
 You'd be wrong to call Asura's Wrath a game, it's not game, it's an interactive movie. Every chapter is made up, most of the time, of three long cut-scenes and two very short gameplay moments. What little gameplay there is, it takes the form of a very simple action-brawler or an even simpler shooting gallery, think Sin and Punishment. Both of these are very basic and repetitive, and every now and then you'll be bombarded with QTEs. I repeat, this is not a videogame, if you want a videogame look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you are in for a very anime-inspired story that could very well be a tribute to the Shonen genre, with great characters, a very unique look and don't mind the fact that you won't be making the flashy stuff happen, then this could be your "game".

 The game pits you as Asura, a demigod that embodies the Mantra of Wrath. Betrayed by the other 7 demigods, they murder his wife, kidnap his daughter and leave him for dead. But not even the depths of Naraka(Hell) can hold the anger of this man, fueled by anger, it takes him 12000 years to climb out of Naraka, and he is going to stop anyone and everyone that dares make his daughter cry. The story pays homage to plenty of Shonen tropes, the friendly rival, the anger makes you stronger trope, the bazillion punches at the same time technique and many, many more. The game also takes a lot of inspiration from Buddhism, with character designs directly inspired on many statues and depictions of it's more mythical ethos mixing it with a lot of Sci-Fi for good measure. It's also very, very insane. Bosses can power up and get bigger than the planet itself, Asura can render a whole spaceship fleet to scrap just by shouting. The feats that Asura will pull off are nothing short of epic, and they make you want to keep on going to see just what will happen next! Cut-scenes are fantastic, and they better be if they are gonna take up 80% of the game!
 As for the gameplay, after a cutscene ends, you'll either be in a brawling or a shooting stage. Brawling stages pit you against tons of enemies or a boss, and they get reduced to the same objective: Hit them or cause enough damage to raise a gauge below Asura's Health bar in order to trigger Burst Mode, which basically pits you in an epic QTE and takes you to the next cutscene. As good as these are, failing the QTEs have no impact on the outcome, most of the time anyways, they only punish you in the grade you receive at the end of the episode and sometimes lose a bit of health. Fighting is very simple: You have a weak attack, a Strong attack that has a certain cooldown period and a dodge button. Asura can also jump and shoot energy pellets from his hands, but most of the time these are pretty useless in brawling stages. Shooting stages also need you to fill the burst gauge, but now you control an aiming reticule as Asura moves along, and you must dodge enemy blasts as you shoot back. As a whole, the gameplay is very basic and at times repetitive, but gameplay is not the game's focus, so in a way, I can excuse it.

 The game's strongest point is, definitely it's presentation. Firstly, the game is styled after an anime show, during each chapter you get mid-chapter bumpers and after each episode you get an "In the next episode" advance. These advances are totally legit and feel right out of a show, so believable that it's quite fun to watch them, even if they spoil a bit of what's gonna happen next. After each episode you also get a couple of extra scenes, these are just handrawn artpieces, by various artists, with text and no voice overs. The art is pretty good and these fill in a couple of details from the story so it's worth going through them. I've stated it at least twice already, but the cut-scenes are really well done. They convey actions very clearly, and blows feel very, very powerful. The sense of scale is truly marvelous.
 The graphics are deceptively involved. Y'see, the game has an art-style all of it's own, but if  you delve deeper, you'll notice that the skin of the demigods was made to look like lacquer, like the Buddhist statues. As demigods get damaged, their skin gets cracked. And that's not even counting just how good character design is, every demigod is memorable and each one has their different markings and styles on their bodies, they are also complimented by their fantastic personalities(And all of them are reminiscent of stereotypical anime characters mixed with the Mantra they are supposed to embody). Music is every bit as good, there's plenty of pieces and they all sound amazing, it's also used in very smart ways, like pitting some pretty depressing songs during certain fights. It works, it works so well. The game has dual audio, and while I didn't delve into the Japanese track, the american dub is nothing short of fantastic. They also have some heavy hitters like Steve Blum as Sergei, Robin Atkin Downes(My favorite voice actor, he voices Travis Touchdown in No More Heroes!) as Yasha and Liam O'Brien as the titular Asura. They do their jobs perfectly, and everyone pulls a convincing performance.

 The game is on the short-side, but there's a nice amoung of unlockables. There's original artwork and concept art, these come with information that explains the world of Asura's Wrath, it's highly recommended that you read them if you are invested in the story. There are also various unlockables life gauges, and these confer various changes to Asura. One makes him die in one hit, one makes him stronger, one makes the Burst gauge raise faster, etc. But it's not all good... Capcom does it again with their shady DLC practices. The game ends with a pretty nasty cliffhanger, so much so that you'd better consider the "Normal ending" as the ending.... unless you cough up 7 dollars for the True Ending DLC. Really Capcom? This DLC is really good, it has some of the most epic moments in the game... but I recommend you skip them and Youtube them. Do not encourage Capcom's shady practices, this is a fantastic "game", but do not encourage Capcom. Do not. And you know they planned it all along, as a DLC-only character's voice actor is credited during the ending. Capcom, what happened to you? When did you stop being cool? You embody everything that is wrong with Videogames this days. EVERYTHING.
 Honestly? I'd rather games not follow Asura's path. Games should be games, not glorified movies. I want to play, I want to make stuff happen, not watch it happen or have the game make me believe I am making it happen by pressing buttons. But still, despite that, the story the game tells is pretty friggin' good. If you like the Shonen anime genre, this is a no-brainer. But if you expect a good game? Skip this one, avoid it like the plague. Asura's Wrath is not a game.
 9.0 out of 10.

Now Playing: Okage Shadow King

 I adored this game.

 Okage: Shadow King was my first PS2 RPG, and I remember loving it. I also remember never finishing it, but that changes this month! Overall first impressions? Graphically dated, but the dialogue is hilarious, it's hilarious how poor Ari gets disregarded so easily. It's also kinda tough as I died on the first battle in the game. Not so fun.
 AH well, I gotta study, gotta go, Asura's Wrath review tomorrow!

Now Playing: Asura's Wrath

 This guy makes Kratos' anger look like a hissy fit.

 This game is not much of a game, but it's a fantastic piece of... interactive media. Yes, this is a case of style over substance, I admit it, and I love it. I love how it has mid-episode breaks, how after each episode you get an advance of the next one, and this advances are so good that they completely sell you on the idea that this is a show, presentation's this game's forte. I love it. I love the story, I love the character designs, I love the world, I love the characters, I love the cut-scenes and what little gameplay there is, I enjoy it.
 I'm up to chapter 5, the game is getting crazy. It's also giving me a very Hokuto no Ken vibe, which is really cool, as Hokuto no Ken is one of my favorite franchises ever. Ever. I can't say enough good things about this non-gamey game. The only con is that the game is, basically, a glorified cut-scene. I admit it. But this is like junk food, you know it's bad, you know it's not good food, but you still love it. This game is not a good "game" because it's not really a game, and it's not trying to, it's trying to be an anime, and it works. It works.
 And hey, it's better than Saint Seiya.

Review #78: Pandora's Tower

 Operation Rainfall: Success

 Pandora's Tower can be considered as somewhat of a swan song for the Wii on North America. Crossing overseas was never a certainty with this game, but we finally got it, and even if Companies want to downplay the effects of Operation Rainfall, the point remains: We got all three games. The good news? The game is really good. The bad news? There's some pretty infuriating game-breaking bugs near the end.
 The gist of the story is as follows: Aeron's sweetheart, Elena, gets cursed, and she will soon turn into a monster unless Aeron can gather the flesh of the 12 masters of the Thirteen towers in order to break the curse. Besides Elena, there's Mavda, a mysterious old woman who serves as a shop, there are no other NPCs. As Aeron traverses the towers, he'll come across notes and letters that further explain the mystery behind the towers and how the 12 Masters came to be. While it's not the greatest of stories, it delves into some pretty dark subjects.

 You start the game at the observatory, the only place in which Elena's curse won't develop, probably due to the power of love? Before heading to each tower, you can speak with Elena and gift her things, which you must do if you want to enhance your relationship with her. Yes, it does feel pretty date-simish. It's not all that bad, if you gift her leather, she will enhance you backpack, gift her food and she'll cook. There are some time-related events too, such as talking to her before dining. While at the observatory, you can also save your game, or talk to Mavda in order to buy or sell items, repair your items(Both equipment and items can be broken by enemies) or craft new items, you can also sleep which helps to restore your health or move the clock forward, as the items you can find on each tower sometimes change depending on the hour at which you tackle them.
 The moment you step into the towers, a gauge on the lower right part of the screen starts decreasing, this is Elena's curse. If you let it deplete, you automatically lose the game. Beating each tower and the boss on your first go is nigh impossible, so you'll have to return to Elena and give her flesh from normal enemies in order to increase this gauge. While it sounds as artificially extending the game's length, returning to the observatory is actually beneficial, as you have limited space on your inventory, plus you get to heal, so it's not as annoying as it sounds, plus, you can activate shortcuts to the exit on the towers themselves, so going back and returning to where you were is not much of a hassle.

 Each tower functions somewhat in the same way. You must find and destroy a certain number of chains, from 2 to 4, in order to open the door to the boss, and then you must find the boss door in order to fight him. The game is more of an adventure game than action game, this means that it's filled with puzzles, usually involving the use of your chain. You see, Aeron is equipped with a chain that he can use for combat, by binding enemy's limbs, chaining enemies together, chaining enemies to objects, shooting at them with it or simply throwing them with it, it also serves as your main tool for most of the puzzles. You will use it to grapple to higher places, spin cogs, pull or push levers and objects and a few other actions. Bosses also follow suit, being puzzle fights, most are pretty easy to figure out, but figuring out what you have to do and then do it while avoiding damage is a bit harder.
  Combat is very basic and simple. The A button is your attack button, you can also charge it for slower, rhythm based blows. Eventually your charge attacks will become your go-to attacks, as they are so much stronger than your normal attacks with the added bonus of interrupting most enemy attacks, and since the clock is ticking, there's no better way to off your enemies. There's three different weapons, and an extra joke weapon, a Sword, two Knives or the Spear, and they function the same, but with different combos, damage and speed, heck, they also affect your moving speed. Aeron also gets a block button, and moving while holding it down produces a dodge, and you'll better get used to, as enemies later on deal quite a hefty amount of damage.

 Rounding up Aeron's options are items that you can carry. There are healing items, items that give you temporary boosts and a couple of offensive-explosive kind of weapons. You also have to keep in mind that Aeron's bag holds a very limited space, so you can't carry everything you find and want, plus, the you equip things in a grid, so you have to sort and turn items in order to make the most of it. Everything but your weapons can break, this includes potions, from enemy attacks, if this happens you have to return to the observatory and have Mavda repair them for a fee. Some enemies also have attacks that place debuffs on Aeron, from the usual poisoning to burning, to attack or armor debuffs, some can even buff themselves up.
 While Aeron starts off pretty weak, as you defeat enemies you earn experience and level up, which gives you higher attack power, a longer life bar and occasionally more room to equip items. Regardless, the game has a very clear emphasis on puzzle solving rather than combat, at times it's even encouraged to avoid it altogether. Occasionally you'll also come across enemies with purple auras, these are more resistant and deal even larger amount of damage than common enemies, earlier in the game it's better to just stay clear away from them, although by the time you can tackle them, they will grant you a large amount of experience points.

  I liked the gameplay, for the most part, although combat quickly became repetitive, dodge attacks and counter with a charged Combo. Sometimes, don't even bother dodging, interrupt them with charge attacks and pummel them. Some enemies are a bit more interesting, you may have to bind their legs in order to trip them, or bind an enemy's wings in order to bring them to the ground in order to attack them. Still, there's a huge setback: The camera. The player has no control over the fixed camera angles, and sometimes the switch can mess up your controls, you may end up attacking the air. It can become pretty annoying when you find yourself fighting in between to different pre-set camera angles. Then there are the deadly game-freezing bugs. As soon as you get to the 11th and 12th towers, the game will freeze when loading them. Luckily there are roundabout ways to get them to load(Copying your savefile to the second slot and then loading your original save, for some reason, works). Every time you return to the observatory you have to quit and repeat the process if you don't want the game to freeze on you. This is quite aggravating, especially since these two towers are very long and will require at least three trips back and forth.
 While nothing too fancy, the game does look very pretty. The thirteen tower are visually appealing, and the 12 Masters are pretty unique. Character designs are pretty alright, Aeron looks like any other anime-hero, who likes to bare his midriff for some reason, and Elena is pretty basic as well, Mavda's design fares much better though. The music serves the game well if anything, and voice acting gets the job done. Aeron's voice isn't very convincing, but he hardly gets any lines so it's no biggie. The game lasts a solid 14-15 hours, with about 5 endings, and finishing the game unlocks a key to open up previously locked red doors, the rewards aren't really worth it(Besides the joke weapon), but it's something. There's also a New Game plus that let's you pick up from different moments in the game, so getting each ending becomes easy.

 Bottom line: Pandora's Tower is a really good game, it's not the game that could've saved the Wii, but it's a great swan song for the system. But as good as it is, the end-game bugs can't be excused or forgiven, which is why I can't give it an 8.0, as much as I would've liked to, as I really enjoyed the game, up to that point.
 6.5 out of 10.

Now Playing: Dragon's Crown

 Do Dragons even wear crowns?

  Dragon's Crown is a game that has received a lot of critical praise, and I myself was looking forwards to it, so... it's not as great as I expected. It is sorta fun, and having four heroes on the screen, with no slowdown, at the same time is a chaos, a fun one at that. Gameplay is also very easy to grasp, but... I'm not feeling it too much. I can't point the finger at the why, as this is the sort of game I've loved since I was a kid.
 Ah well, forwards it is.

Review #77: Killer is Dead

 Yet another fantastic production by the man himself, Goich Suda.

 I've never made any effort to conceal the fact that Suda 51 is my favorite video-game director, I've played everything he has released since Killer7, except Killer Pitch, and I've loved every game. All of them exude personality from every single line of code and they are quite unique in their presentation, heck, Killer7 is unique in it's gameplay too. Killer is Dead is no exception, it's a cocktail of a unique visual style, off-the-wall characters and situations, a rich and at times confusing storyline with gameplay very similar to No More Heroes, my favorite Suda 51 game. If I had to sum it, it's a mix of No More Heroes with Killer7.
 In Killer is Dead you take the role of Mondo Zappa, an assassin from Bryan's Execution Agency that wields a Katana named Gekkou with his right arm and possesses a robotic left arm, and you must fulfill the assassination of a certain target. First things first, this is a very episodic game, there's 12 chapters and most of them are unrelated to each other, minus a few ends that get tied up as you go along. This is an action game, and a very straightforward one at that.  Stages are mostly linear, with an occasional puzzle every now and then that's very easy to solve. That's not to say exploration isn't encouraged, as there are plenty of secrets hidden among stages, if you can find them.

 If you've ever played No More Heroes, you'll be right at home here since Killer is Dead's combat works very similarly. Mondo's basic arsenal include an Attack button, a Guard button, a Punch(that breaks guards) and four different sub weapons. A word of forewarning, at the start movement feels a bit floaty and imprecise, and it actually is, but for a game like this with no platforming at all, it's not bothersome at all. Heck, thanks to sidestepping(More on it soon), moving is precise in the midst of battle, so no complains here, but it's worth noting that it takes a couple of minutes to get used to it. Gameplay is deceptively simple, as there's plenty of depth if you are willing to dig. Moving while holding the guard button produces a sidestep, if you sidestep right before getting hit, the screen will darken and Mondo will close in and you are free to mash the attack button for loads of damage, alternatively, you can press guard right before getting hit and Mondo will parry the attack, later upgrades allow for specialized actions after a parry. As Mondo scores hits with his Katana, Gekkou, without getting hit the combo counter will rise, and as it rises Mondo's slashes will become fancier, faster and stronger, killing an enemy when your combo counter is at it's highest allows you to finish the enemy in one of four different ways, each one yielding a different item drop.
 Besides the health meter, there is the Blood meter. This meter increases when you grab certain enemy drops or as you attack enemies, and these allow you to use any of Mondo's four different sub-weapons(Normal Shot, Freeze Shot, Drill and Charge Shot). You also get access to an instant-kill move that works on any normal enemy, although there are a couple of armored enemies that must be dizzied first. When killed, enemies will drop a mixture of 5 different items: Moon Ore, used to buy upgrades, Health refills, Blood Refills, Health Upgrades, which grant permanent Health boosts, or Blood Upgrades, which provide permanent Blood boosts. As stated, you can upgrade a couple of Mondo's moves and even buy a couple of new ones. There's not a whole lot of them, but you'll probably be missing many of them after the game ends.

 Besides the story missions, before tackling each new chapter you can play and replay a few Sidemissions. These are based on parts of previous stages, but they task you with different objectives and enemy placement. Sometimes they'll even be minigame-ish in nature. Why would you want to do them? Besides to upgrade Mondo, that is, well, because they give you money. Money is used to buy Costumes(No DLC costumes, all of them unlockable, besides the limited edition, Kudos Grasshapper Manufacture) and gifts. These gifts are to be used during the infamous Gigolo Missions. Gigolo Missions are pretty much SideMissions, however these don't involve any bloodshed(Except Scarlet's...). During this missions, you are placed in first person and must win the heart of a beauty. How? By looking at their breasts and crotch areas while they are looking away, you can even use X-Ray glasses to see their underwear. Tacky? yes, Awkward? Even more so, Needless? TOTALLY. They are pretty dumb, and while most of them can be ignored, you must do at least three of them to earn all your subweapons. Clearing the same Gigolo Mission up to three times extends the final, very awkward, sex scene. I was actually embarrassed to have these play on my television, I live with other people after all. Hilariously enough, they are not really all that sexist, as the prostitute here is Mondo(they are called GIGOLO missions after all) and the women pay him, so yeah, the object here is Mondo.
 Speaking of Scarlet, her Gigolo Missions are a bit different. During most of the 12 main chapters you can run across her, if you find her as she is hiding, and she will unlock different challenge missions. Challenge missions offer a nice variety, and they get quite challenging by the end. Besides the money you get after completing each challenge, you also get points towards unlocking the scenes with Scarlet, should you want to watch awkward 3D sex. While all of these sound plentiful, the game is a bit on the short the side, particularly if you don't plan on replaying side-missions for the money.

 Visually, this is Suda's finest by far. It's really hard to describe, but it looks like Killer7. Character Models are cell-shaded, but they have no black borders, everything is also painted in very strong, solid colors giving it a very surrealist look. There are also a lot of solid-black shadows that give it a bit of a comic-book vibe. Stages fare just as well, even if straightforward in design, most of them are very pretty to look at, notably the Japanese one with the cherry blossom trees. As with Suda's finest, the bosses are pretty memorable, both due to how great they look and their off-the-wall dialogue. While the story can, at times, feel slightly confusing, things do make sense and there is a lot of foreshadowing and pretty cool revelations. Voice-Acting is excellent, with a couple of well-known voice actors voicing some of the characters, and the lines they get to deliver are nothing short of awesome. And hilarious. And sometimes both. While the music is not necessarily catchy, the score really fits the game, and the closing credits music is unexpectedly good.
 It's easy to tell thatI loved this game. I have almost no gripes at all. Maybe the insanity of the game might take people not familiar with Suda by surprise, as characters hardly react when coming across aliens or ghosts, they treat it as nothing out of the ordinary. There's also the tacky Gigolo Missions that the game could've been done without. Still, despite everything, I had a blast with it, I had planned on playing a bit yesterday before going to bed, next thing I know it's 9:00 AM. It's really good.
 9.0 out of 10.

Now Playing: Pokemon Y

 So when's Z coming out?

 This game is godammnedly gorgeous, from the opening scenes when the Pokemon professor speaks to the player, to the game itself and the animations.... truly a feast for the eyes. I mean... when you talk to a little kid, your character actually drops to his knees, it's so damnedly kawaii. And you can buy clothes, AND I CAN FINALLY BE A BLONDE POKEMON TRAINER, even if he kinda looks like a girl. And even if you can't take off the hat. I hate hats.
 As for the game itself, it's the same Pokemon game you have been playing for years now. Seriously, it feels the exact same, and y'know what? It's not a bad thing, as the core mechanics are sound. Although to be fair, I haven't gotten any HM or TM yet, so maybe there's new HMs? Although I did come across thorny vines that just want to be cut down, and open seas... guess some things never change. While battles play the same, they now have dynamic camera angles which reminded me of the original Pokemon Stadium(And the only one I played!). The battles look really nice, the animations are quite pretty and the Pokemons look fantastic. Battles are one of the few instances in which you can turn on 3D, and like most games, it produces some slowdown. It's not unplayable, but it's noticeable enough as not to care for the 3D at all.
 Know what my biggest gripe with the game is so far? I can't trade from Heart Gold or Pearl. Eternal hate. Oh no, in order to bring older Pokemon to Y and X you are gonna need Black and White(1 or 2) carts, even worse, it's gonna be a paid service.

Now Playing: Killer is Dead

 Suda 51 strikes back.

 No More Heroes meets Killer 7? The overall aesthetics of the game, both character design and graphic style, look straight out of Killer 7, while the gameplay is very No More Heroesish. Heck, Mondo can use the Darkside step, just like Travis! Getting used to Mondo's movement took a bit of time, since he doesn't come to a stop as soon as you stop pushing on the analog stick, but afterwards it became smooth sailing. Basically, I am enjoying the gameplay quite a bit.... except the Gigolo Missions. They are pretty dumb, and I can see myself growing tired of them, and even if they are optional, the first one gave me the Drill Arm subweapon, so not doing them would probably mean missing out on features. They are also quite tacky and in poor taste, as you are to look at a chick's crotch or breasts while they aren't looking to raise your guts meter. If Suda 51 wanted to pander to the lowest common denominator, he could've made more fanservicey costumes or something.

 Still, this is a Suda 51 game and it shows, what little I've played (A man's gotta study, sadly) I enjoyed, and I'm looking forwards to playing some more. I think I will grow to like Mondo, he seems to be a bit more serious, like the Smiths, rather than off-the-wall insane like Garcia Hotspur or Juliet Starling, and while I love the latter, I don't mind a more serious protagonist every now and then, Garcian and Dan Smith were as serious as Suda 51's characters get, and they were very memorable(Due in part to the game itself, though). Ah well, let's go for more!(Actually, probably not today, but as soon as I have free time on my hands!)

Month Overview: Game of November

 Games completed in November:
 Dungeon Siege III                                        8.0
 Journey Collector's Edition                           9.0
 Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butoden               7.0
 Warriors Orochi 3                                        9.0
 Risen 2: Dark Waters                                   6.0
 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune                          4.0
 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law                 2.0
 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves                        8.0
 Uncharted 3: Drake's Fortune                       9.0
 Anarchy Reigns                                            9.0
 Breath of Fire IV                                          5.5
 Bulletstorm                                                   6.0


 Geez, this is awkward. Last month of classes? Shouldn't I have studied like... hard? Then how did I get enough time to play so many games? I also made time to read the entire Scarlet Spider up to this month, but that is neither here nor there. Regardless, it was a great month, most of the games I played were nothing short of fantastic. There were only three sour spots: Uncharted 1, which was a mess, Harvey Birdman, easily the worst game I've played this year and Breath of Fire IV. Man, I loved Breath of Fire IV when I first played it, before I run into one of the many gamebreaking glitches on the PC version. Maybe I've grown jaded of so many cliched plot and characters, but it was just so... so... generic. On the other hand, while I did rate Bulletstorm and Risen 2 a bit above average, I had a lot of fun with them, but it takes a while for Risen 2 to become fun and Bulletstorm is a glitch paradise, and was a bit too short.
 Ah well, as a whole? November was, probably, my favorite gaming month this year.

 Game of November:

 I don't wanna sound pompous and  presumptions, but not calling Journey "an experience" is a disservice to this fantastic game. After I finished playing it, I was left with a huge smile on my face. I felt satisfied. I felt awe during the last level. I felt marveled as I soared through rivers of gold sand. I actually felt a wee bit sad during the second-to-last level. I felt things, many things, while I played this game, I would easily compare it to Passage, another really short(Even shorter actually) game that leaves room for thought. Journey is fantastic, one of my favorite games of all time. While I did give 9.0 to the collector's package, due to a couple of dumbfounding decisions, Journey by itself was a 10. This game is a little masterpiece and it's a shame that it's an exclusive, as it should be played by as many people as possible.

 Runner up 1:

 There's actually two runner ups this month, I did mention that I played some fantastic games this month didn't I? Well, I just couldn't pick one over the other. I couldn't.
 My favorite genre is Fighting, I love fighting games, and while Anarchy Reigns is anything but conventional, it won my heart. Gameplay, style, music, dialogue.... everything seemed to have been made for me, really. And I really wanted to give it a 9.5 or 10. I wanted to place this game among my favorites ever. But it has a single, fatal flaw: No local multiplayer. This game was meant for multiplayer, it wants to be played with other people. Right now the online is almost dead and years from now, there won't be any servers left, which means that the game's main draw will be gone. Make no mistake, the single player experience is still excellent and you can play every on-line mode with bots, but it's main attraction is duking it out with other players.

 Runner up 2:

 I wanted to like the Uncharted franchise. Everyone, well mostly everyone, loves it, so I marathoned all three of them this month. Let's just say that after Uncharted 1 I was a bit worried, it was a mess. However, a sliver of hope remained, I found Infamous 1 to be kinda fun, but nothing special, while Infamous 2 is among my favorite PS3 games. Uncharted 2? It was really good. Fixed most of my gripes with Uncharted 1, and that which wasn't fixed at least worked better, and it had so many exciting set pieces, it was fun to play. Uncharted 3 upped the ante with crazier setpieces and moments, and no QTEs. Sure, many of them are scripted, but you always feel in control. It has some of the best and most unique moments in gaming. IN GAMING. And sure, some argue that coming up with setpieces first and then the story harmed the plot with a couple of out of character moments(Talbot!), but I've been gaming since I was a wee lad, story means nothing to me if the gameplay is good. Who the hell plays games for the story anyways? Actually, I know someone who does, but it matters not, I STAND BY MY WORDS GAMEPLAY REIGNS SUPREME. My point is: Uncharted 3 was my favorite of the trilogy, and I dare call it a PS3 must have, alongside Infamous 2 of course.

Review #76: Bulletstorm

 More like Glitchstorm.

 The Playstation 2/Xbox/Gamecube generation began to change what FPSes where all about, and then by the PS3/X360/WiiU generation the change was permanent. In these new FPSes you are confined to two weapons and regenerating health, no longer is strafing around an enemy viable, no, now you must take cover as your heatlh regenerates and you pop out and shoot your enemies. Bulletstorm, made by the incredible retro-styled FPS Painkiller teamed up with Epic Games to try to marry both modern and past shooters, and they succeeded, mostly.
 Bulletstorm has you playing as Grayson Hunt, a generic space marine with jock-mentality, who very early in the game makes a bad call and gets most of his team killed, and he himself stranded on a foreign planet. The story is as predictable as it gets, but you are not playing this game for the story, which is a  good thing as the characters are really lame. Most of your teammates are the very definition of jocks and are as unlikable as they get. Bizarrely enough, the main antagonist is actually quite likable, as soon as you meet him, he spends a great deal of time questioning Grayson's motives, "You killed thousands who had families, but since it was to kill me, it was alright" and the such. Oh, and the dialogue is really bad, characters just can't help but to say "dick" every chance they get, they try to be edgy but it ends up being really dumb. Oh, and the ending is totally unsatisfying, in order to place a sequel hook at the end, for a sequel that never came.

 When it comes down to the gameplay, it's actually pretty fun. The first thing you'll notice, is that movement has a very heavy feel to it, which feels really nice. Despite it, movement is actually really fast, you even get a dash button that makes you move even faster, and if you need more speed, double tapping the dash button makes you slide. The slide is one of the best features ever included in an FPS, running into an enemy while sliding acts as if you had kicked them, popping them up in the air for free shots. It's also really useful when you need to back down in to cover, or just to get away from enemies. Ah, yes, cover, this game has regenerating health, like every other modern shooter, but Grayson can actually take a load of punishment before dying, heck, sometimes you are even encouraged to move up close to the enemies and only retreat when taking heavy damage. Another feature is the leash, by tapping the left trigger you can use an energy beam that will drag enemies towards you, you can use it in front of deathstraps to throw them into them. Still, leashing, slinding into or kicking enemies places enemies in a floaty state where they become harmless.
 Theres a very arcadey feel to it, and it actually encourages you to have fun. Enemies are silly, Grayson has enough resistance to run around for a while without having to retreat, enemies are silly and you are rewarded for scoring skillshots. "Skillshots" are fancy names for kills. For example, shotgunning an enemy up close and ripping their torsos off their legs is called "Topless". There are also plenty of enviroment-related skillshots, like throwing enemies into spikes. These skillshots grant you point bonuses, which are then used to enhance your weapons. Y'see, most of the time you'll be using your standard machine gun, as it is the most common weapons enemies carry, but every time you come across a "Dockpit" you can use your skillshot points to buy new weapons and ammo, although you can only carry three weapons at a time, the ammo you have for each weapons is "stored". There's about 8 weapons, each one with an alternate fire mode, and they are very over the top and fun to use. For example, the Shotgun has 4 barrels, and it's alternate shot fires a wave of fire that carbonizes every enemy in it's way. There's a weapon that shoots a pair of bolas that tie themselves around an enemy or an object, and you can detonate them at will. There's also a weapon that shoots drills!

 There's three different modes: Story Mode, which is a single player affair and plays just as described above. Additionally, you are always accompanied by one or two CPU allies, and they are really stupid most of the time, plenty of time I caught them shooting at the air. There are also plenty of QTEs that you can't fail, but the faster you do them, the more Skillshot points you get. Disappointingly, the last boss is nothing more than a QTE, which is really lame as there are a couple of bosses throughout the game and they are not half bad. Then there's Echoes, an online-leader board enabled mode that has you play through certains shootouts of the Story Mode. The last Mode is "Multiplayer Mode", but for some reason when you select it, it turns into "Anarchy mode", probably they planned to add more modes via DLC? Still, this is a Co-op-only affair in which you must survive waves of enemies and reach certain score thresholds. While it sounds good on paper, you will have to repeat and repeat the same enemy wave until you achieve the needed score, it becomes quite boring eventually if you can't manage it. As a whole, the only mode that's any good is the Story Mode, and it's your average 6-8 hour romp.
 This game is a bit on the ugly side. The planet is very pretty, and there are plenty of different zones, with lots of colors and visual treats, like the the water looks pretty good. Character models on the other hand... while they look good from afar, get close to them and the textures turn into a pixelated mess. The game is also pretty visceral, there is a lot of blood and limb maiming around, it's actually quite satisfying. Music is nothing special, but the sound effects deserve a special mention, the pops when producing headshots and the rest of the audio is just really good. Voice acting is alright, Grayson's voice actor is really good though(He voices Jack from Madworld/Anarchy Reigns!).

 As much fun as I had, the game is a glitchfest. There was a time where I restarted the checkpoint multiple times but the next scene wouldn't trigger and I had to restart the whole chapter, searching about it I learned that many other people came across the same glitch, but on different chapters. Ammo is very scarce in the game, so most of it will be from the store, bought with your hard earned skillshot points, well, there's a glitch that clones one of your weapons on one of your three slots, this weapons had 0 Ammo and the only way to fix it is to reach a Dockpit... and then the game will just default that gun's ammo to 0. Very annoying and very frequent. There was also a time when the game made me buy an Upgrade I had already bought. And there was also a time when I died just as a cut-scene triggered, which made me replay the whole scene twice with no sound. Oh! and once, I had a floating clone of the weapon I was carrying over me. This game needed more quality testing.
 I actually liked the game, it's a pretty functional fusion of both old and new. Thing is, there's not a whole lot to the game, there's no offline multiplayer of any kind, online is as good as dead and not much fun, and the story mode is on the short side. And on the off-chance that you were following it's simple story, like me, you won't get any pay off, heck, you'll feel as if you had accomplished nothing. And the amount of glitches I experienced on a 6-8 hour long game is nothing short of embarrassing. Still, as long as you are into older shooters, this game is worth a look.
 6.5 out of 10.

Now Playing: Pandora's Tower

 So far, so good.

 I just started Pandora's Tower and got up to unchaining the first Master's room. So far, I like it. The story is quite engaging actually, and I loved the way it was told: One cutscene at the start that told you everything and anything you needed to know: Girl gets cursed, Old lady aids them, Main character must get her the cure. The characters are alright, but special mention goes to Mavda who is both creepy and awesome.
 Gameplay seems a bit on the simple side, you bash them with the A button and Guard/Dodge with the Z button. The way Aeron uses his chain is quite cool, he can bind enemies(And limit their moveset), bind them to objects or to other enemies.... and then, when they are dying, Aeron(I really hope that's his name, I'm kinda tired and they only mentioned him twice) uses his chain to rip out their flesh for items or, well, flesh. It's also used for exploration, you may have to activate doors with it or use it to propel yourself up to certain ledges.
 All in all, it's a nice little game, at least so far.