New Xbox! =D

I got my Xbox 360 fixed finally! Hopefully no more Red Rings for moi! T_T

Dunno if I'll even have enough time to play it though, with uni and all. Think I'll check and see if my Gold subscription is still on, might jump online for a bit. =p

Rather randomly, I got to Radiant Garden in Birth by Sleep. Its pretty cool how you get to see what its like before the main 2 games when it is known as Hollow Bastion. I always liked that area, its nicely designed and has really cool music, which they have kept a similar track for in BBS. Here's 3 of them, Radiant Garden and Hollow Bastion songs from the OSTs:

Now Playing - "Whats Tibetan for RPG?"

I've had a fairly hectic week so far as I just went back to uni on Monday 13th. I didn't think I'd have many classes until this coming week, but the uni has started doing things a bit differently and having lectures and everything else in the first week. So we were thrown in the deep end a bit but I got used to the routine fairly quickly. I didn't have much time for games but because I didn't have my laptop through with me I wasn't able to do a post last week so this one will cover stuff I played for the last 2 weeks.

I was playing a lot of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) on Hard and Crushing difficulty. I managed to finish Hard mode without too many problems, and surprisingly didn't find it boring or stale (this was my 2nd time playing it.) I enjoy the pacing and variety between the stages. They have you doing different things throughout the game. There are a few places where I don't particularly like going through, like the bit with the tank going through the village streets for example... Its a really fun game, both multiplayer and story mode and a fairly easy one to platinum if you are into that sort of thing. There are a few tricky trophies in there, killing 75 enemies in a row without dying and beating it on crushing, for example. I'm not much of a trophy whore, never really been that into getting them all unless I like the game enough to play more of it. I reckon I will try and get the rest of the medals, trophies and unlockables in this game though. Its definitely a must have for PS3 owners, I know most have already played this by now, but anyone out there who hasn't, I'd recommend this once more. Also, if you guys have any suggestions or recommendations for games that are similar (in terms of overall enjoyment factor) I welcome them. But I should note I'm not the greatest platformer fan. I know Uncharted 2 does things differently to what it used to be like, but it still feels limited compared to what Assassin's Creed did. I liked some aspects of AC, but it really dissapointed me overall and as a result, I've not tried the 2nd one. I probably will when its dirt cheap, its in the same boat as Bayonetta, Dante's Inferno and the Bioshock games for me.

I've managed to find around 13 or 14 hours somewhere to put into Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS) and I've really liked it so far. The game world has really drawn me in, from the environments and quality of the script describing things and building up the story to the music, which is something else. Its really powerful operatic stuff, with some kind of gregorian chanting(?) on a lot of the tracks. Very deep and dark and really adds to the seriousness of the game. Perhaps the way the characters react to certain situations is a bit flat, but then it would get old if they were questioning things every two seconds. Teams like the ones in the game would probably be prepared for the unexpected from the outset. The Demon Negotiations are probably the most frustrating bit for me, as I#m trying to register as many as I can. It seems very trial and error and even then it is very unpredictable and hard to succeed at. 

It looks like there is a lot to do, but I am making progress probably quicker than I did with DDS and Devil Survivor (the only other SMT games I've played) as the gameplay difficulty seems to be fairly balanced. It doesn't seem overly easy, but sometimes you will get randomly and cheaply owned by either getting surprise attacked, critted or having all  the enemies pwn your main guy at once. Definitely enjoying it so far though.

Other than those main games, I played little bits of A Witch's Tale (DS) and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS). My first impression of A Witch's Tales is not very good so far, the combat is really poor. Battles go on way too long and even normal enemies can wipe you out from time to time. It actually started out as an action RPG in Japan I believe, and for some reason was changed to a turn based RPG for English audiences. I like the style and characters, it has a slightly Nightmare before Christmas/fairytale world and I quite like it even though at times it does feel a bit childish, like it was intended for younger audiences. Graphically, it doesn't look particularly great but its nothing horrendous. I'm willing to let it slide perhaps, when or if I go back to the game. I put the cart away after only putting in around 2 or 3 hours to it..that was partially down to wanting to play Strange Journey though. Dragon Quest IX's postgame stuff is as hard as always, I've not quite made the jump up because I don't know exactly where to go first or what missions to do first. I do want to play more of it but its kind of impenetrable to me currently. I really liked playing through DQIX and want to give it some more of my time at some point, even though it might actually be impossible for me to 100%, depending on whether or not I can get Treasure maps some way other than going to events like PAX or whatever in America... T_T

I finally got my hands on Kingdom Hearts: BBS! Hopefully I'll find some time to try it out (and not drop SMT:SJ as a result.)

Now Playing - "You mocking the power of vegetables?!"

Earlier in the week I was just playing Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) in an effort to finish it before the weekend. For the 30 or so hours it took me, I was pretty addicted at times to this strategy rpg. I think the story and a lot of the characters were what kept me really intrigued by it. At times some of the battles are just downright frustrating and cheap, and I kind of felt bad abusing some of the gameplay features, like reselecting scouts to cover massive distances and capture bases, leapfrog units from base to base, use snipers or lancers to take out targets from distance by reloading until they got the hit I wanted etc etc. There are many flaws to the battle system I think and I feel they really should have reworked some stuff for the sequel, but I've heard it hasn't changed that much in the places where it really should have. Still, this game is way up on my list of strong PS3 games. It plays very much like a manga or comic reads in some ways, with some very nice cutscenes driving the exposition between battles. The bulk of the game is probably in these cutscenes in fact. This is good for the characterisation, the characters are fleshed out a lot and grow a lot throughout the game, conflicts giving way over time as people's views opened up and they got to know each other. Rosie and Isara's relationship was one that really interested me and tugged at my heartstrings in a critical plot point roughly midway(?) the game. So sad at times this game ;_; 

I love the cel-shaded style of the game. The characters are pretty well designed and some of the cutscenes look absolutely amazing. In fact I have my eye on one of the artbooks for it. Its a massive book, at around 400 pages I believe. Hey, I didn't realise there was an anime of VC :O Might have to check that out, and hopefully the sequel soon. I might try and get the new PSP game for my birthday. 

I started a new game on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) on Hard difficulty as I was enjoying playing the multiplayer (plus PSN seems to be quite inconsistent recently) and me and my friends put in an hour or two, getting to chapter 4 or 5. I really like this game's exciting, smooth and dynamic platforming. As a shooter, it is not quite as good as some other straight up shooters on the market at the moment, but it is still a really well polished, well presented game. I might check out the original game at some point, but I know its going to be a few steps backwards from this one.

I've been kind of casually playing Etrian Odyssey (DS) on and off, grinding up and getting near the end of the 1st stratum. I can tell I'll get to the stratum boss with some semblance of confidence and get absolutely pwned and put in my place. This game seems to do that a lot. FOE FOE!! I might stop playing this and start up Strange Journey, who knows...

We played some multiplayer on Blazblue: Calamity Trigger (360) and Super Street Fighter IV (360) over the weekend when my friends were over, but we couldn't get online thanks to the crappy wireless adapter. Thats one reason I would consider getting one of the New model 360s, but then again I don't like the look of it, I wouldn't have any saves on it and I'd have to pay whatever stupid amount they are. But anyway, Blazblue can be a lot of fun, even though I suck at it. I'm definitely getting the new one when it comes out here..I was actually tempted to get it when I saw an import copy for the PS3 in one of the shops I was in. Still, I'd probably rather wait for the EU version so I can get nice preorder stuff, or the limited edition, we shall see =p I started to pick up Noel and Jin more, as Rachel wasn't working out too well. I'm not sure who I will use in the new one because I heard Rachel has been nerfed completely...

I was going to pick up Valkyria Chronicles II, but one of the shops we went to had a lot of imported psp and ds games. It was between Lunar PSP, Disgaea Infinite, Valkyria Chronicles II (which is out here) and SMT: Strange Journey. I went for Strange Journey in the end, as I had a lot of fun with Devil Survivor and DDS. I've still not played any of the Persona games...heresy I know!

I'm not exactly sure what to play next, as I'll be going to uni a week on Monday. So I might not have my 360 or PS3 available for a while. Probably best to pick up a DS or PSP game, one that is good for short blasts during any free time I might have between classes would be best. I've got a few games that I've started and put on hold for a while now, Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, Breath of Fire III PSP and I'm wanting to play through Golden Sun: The Lost Age (perhaps the first one as well, but I think my cart is corrupted in some way)

Anime Impressions - High School of the Dead

After a long period of being not that into anime or manga, I've slowly started watching some stuff again. Its kind of complicated why it fell out of favour with me, but the show I've been trying to force myself back in with (half-heartedly at least) is High School of the Dead; an ongoing series that a lot of people seem to be talking about.

So after I was showed some snippets by my friend I was quite interested in this, and so far I've watched the first episode. So because I can't comment on the majority of it, this will be my very initial impressions of it.

The opening, wow. XD Fanservicey to the max, I approve of this. I don't know if it portrays quite what the first episode was like though. I can't quite imagine the rest of the show leaning towards fanservice in a different way from what they did in the #1. Its basically just an occasional thing, they don't seem to go over the top on panty shots and whatnot. I hope it doesn't turn into a RosarioXVampire thing or anything...the 2nd season of that looked ridiculous. Like, I think over emphasis on random needless fan service can detract from anime at times. So far in this one, I've not seen too much to be worried about. Wow, in trying to find a pic from google the majority are really NSFW lol...

Ok so I was wrong, in ep2 they just introduced the Nurse, Miss Shizuka who seems to have impossibly big boobs and seems to be all about fanservice so far XD

Its a nice, brutal-a good introduction back into anime for me. I usually tend to go for either mecha shows, vampire, sci-fi stuff and the occasional comedy anime and I don't think I've ever seen a pure zombie anime. I don't know if there are many to be honest. I'm quite a fan of live action zombie stuff, so at least so far it seems like a breath of fresh air. It might get old as the series goes on, I'll have to see. Seems like good mindless fun and I'll enjoy watching the rest of it.

There are many places to stream it online, I'm currently using http://www.animeshippuuden.com/ I may have to acquire the episodes so I can play them on my big TV though...

Here's some more info for you: 

Animenewsnetwork

Wikipedia

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love Review

OK, time for another review! This time it is on a Wii title that I was willing to pass on when I first heard about it, as it didn't exactly sound like my thing. The more I saw of it however, the more curious I became, and by the time it was announced for European audiences by publisher NIS America, I was curious enough to want to pick it up. I had read a few reviews and heard positive things about it, so what did my experience of this first of the series to be brought outside of Japan turn out to be?

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by this light hearted strategy rpg that is as full of anime cliches as it is cheese and mechs. For my first experience of the series, I was very satisfied and in future would definitely pick up other games in the series if they are ever readily available in English. Importing the titles for me isn't that appealing. Not because I am afraid I wouldn't like the games, its just down to the amount of dialogue and text that would be a bit of a barrier to enjoying the games. My Japanese is only the most basic understanding, so I would need to use a guide for understanding the stories. 

Before I start, I should note that this review is for the Wii version of the game, as we didn't get the PS2 version over here in Europe. I'll try and keep this review spoiler free as well.

Story and Characters

The story takes part in an alternate universe full of steampunk mechs and strangely advanced technology, this really got me interested in the game, but unfortunately wasn't utilised as well as it could have been, apart from the mechs and some other technology. More emphasis seems to fall on the characters and how they interact with each other. The story follows Shinjiro Taiga, an ensign that travels to 1920s New York to lead a fighting troupe disguised as a musical troupe to defeat an evil warlord and his subordinates from conquering America as its kingdom. Yeah, it sounds like something from Power Rangers or some ridiculous anime and at times it basically is. If you go into this expecting a deep, dark, serious story you will probably be dissapointed. Or at least, you won't get that, but hopefully you will enjoy it regardless. I had a lot of fun with it.

The characters are probably where the focus of the game lies. The amount of dialogue and character building throughout this relatively short (20 or 30 hrs) RPG is quite impressive. Shinjiro is at first not taken seriously by the rest of the squad. He came over to America in place of his father or uncle, who was some kind of legend in the military. So he has to prove himself worthy, and does so slowly throughout the game. Within the game, of the 8 chapters, there are 5 or 6 which are mainly devoted to telling backstory of one of the other girls in the squad as they either join the squad or have some problem that needs to be solved. Through these chapters, you learn more about the character's past and it uncovers a lot about them. 

Gemini Sunrise
A very cheerful cowgirl who tends to be a bit clumsy. Her master's last words bring her from Texas to New York with her horse, Larry(?!). She is very interested in Japanese culture and tends to daydream often.
Sagiitta Weinberg (Cheiron Archer in the English language version)
A strong-willed lawyer who practices out of Harlem. She is very intelligent and is recognized for her exceptional perseverance, toughness, independence and confidence. She serves as a sub-antagonist in Episode 2 as she works with Steam Frontier to demolish her hometown of Harlem. After facing her in a mock trial, Shinjiro helps remind her why she studied law in the first place and becomes closer with him.
Rikaritta Aries (Rosarita Aries in the English language version)
A Mexican markswoman and bounty hunter despite being only 11 years old. She is very energetic with an abundant appetite and obsession with food.
Diana Caprice
A local birdwatcher who is incredibly compassionate. She is a doctor in training who has initially given up all hope to live until Shinjiro comes and gives her the hope she needed to keep going, despite everything she's been through.
Subaru Kujo
Subaru's true gender and age are completely unknown, though the character tends to use pronouns such as "herself" when speaking in the third person. However, Subaru is definitely a noble from a Japanese family and excels at Noh and other traditional Japanese dances.

There are a few supporting characters in Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love include Ratchet Altair, a former captain of the European Star Division and captain of New York's Fighting Troupe until Shinjiro replaces her, she becomes the vice-commander soon after; Michael Sunnyside, the commander of the Star Division; Cherry Cocker (Plum Spaniel in the Japanese version) and Anri Yoshino of the Rainbow Division, who help the Star Division in battles; Yuichi Kayama of the Moon Division, who owns a Romando shop; and Xingzhi Wong (Gyouchi Oh in the Japanese language version), who is the designer of the STARs and owns a Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately, many of these supporting characters aren't developed as much as they could have been I felt. Yuichi, for example, remains way too mysterious. 

You might be able to tell from these characters that the game has an intensely Japanese feel to it, and you would be correct on that. Despite being set in America, the Japanese culture seems to be deeply ingrained in the game. I found that strange at times but appreciated it as we don't get many games like this. The characters are very strong and over the top and really make this game succeed in my opinion.

Gameplay

In Sakura Wars: So Long My Love, the gameplay is split into two sections-Adventure Mode and Battle Mode. Adventure mode is where you will spend time with the other characters, talk with them and look for various things around the city, all the while building your friendships and relationships with the other members of the New York Combat Revue's Star Division, who, as it turns out, are all girls who you can eventually go out with. Yeah, it definitely feels like a harem anime at times. There is quite a bit of variation in Adventure mode. You will usually have some kind of goal or deadline, before which you should try and accomplish or find something. Outside of that, you will usually have a lot of leeway; you can do things as you see fit. You will have to make a lot of choices, and these come in the forms of multiple choice responses to questions or conversations. Sakura Wars uses the "LIPS" system, seen in many of the other games in the series. There are four types of the LIPS system, these consist of Normal LIPS, which is displayed when the player must make a decision in a certain time period. If you run out of time, you will get a hidden response(usually not a good one); Analog LIPS, which the player can raise the action gauge up or down depending on the situation ie. to shout if you raise the gauge, or speak quietly if you decrease the gauge; Double LIPS, which gives the player a longer amount of time to make important decisions; and Stick LIPS, where the player can manipulate the Analog Sticks to follow commands on screen and raise gauges depending on the situation. As you go through the game, your relationships between Shinji and the other characters grow for better or worse depending on the choices you take, and this is how your characters become stronger in battle. If you are getting on well with a certain character, they will get boosts to their stats in battle; do more damage, take less damage and so on. For me, that was quite an interesting idea in a strategy rpg-there is no grinding to keep up, instead it ties the Adventure mode and the Battle mode together really well. It also puts some degree of challenge into the game. If you screw up a lot of the questions, and this is fairly easy to do in some chapters, where it seems like you are supposed to fall out of favour with the character the chapter focuses on, then you will find it hard to keep that character alive in battle. One thing that frustrated me a lot was that when the character falls in battle, they dislike you even more. I could rage on the stupidness of that...sure I am in control of their actions, but it was their fault they didn't like me to begin with, so they hate me even more when they get themselves killed in battle? @#"%! off! Anway, it didn't really get to the stage that the characters hated me, there are always plenty of options to get them back on your good side. And I can see that they were trying to make the game a bit more tricky.

Battle mode is where you and your team pilot their mechs in a strategy RPG battle system. There is no grid, but similar to say Valkyria Chronicles, when you select a unit, they will have a limit to how many actions they can perform in that turn. There are quite a few options you can choose from: normal attacks, joint attacks, unique supermoves for each character, healing, defending and perhaps some others that I can't remember. There are overall mission strategems that Shinjiro can select on his turn. These skew your characters in one of three directions in terms of stats. You can also transform into the mobile forms of your mechs for aerial battles in certain battles. Sometimes this is used for moving between areas of the battlefield and at other times you need to fight battles in these forms. This adds a whole new layer of depth to the battles and I appreciated this function. I mean, transforming mechs! How can that not make a game better?! =D 

The game is relatively easy once you get used to it. I actually died on the first battle, but after that I got used to it and didn't have many problems until one or two battles right at the end that I had to retry a few times. 

Graphics

Graphically, this game isn't the best titles I've seen on the Wii, far from it. The only times that this really bugged me at all was during the battles, when it doesn't look particularly good in places. I mean, the graphics don't look terrible but they aren't exactly very standout either. They are kinda basic polygonal mechs with not the most detail in their designs, but hey, I wasn't that bothered about them. The graphics, while not the best, didn't particularly detract from my experience of the game. Some of the attacks in battle are nice and flashy, which is good. The character portraits are fairly well done for the most part. 

It does have some gorgeous anime cutscenes, there are a fair few more than a lot of other RPGs out there which only usually have one or two. Still, I would have liked more of these cutscenes.

Audio

The soundtrack to this game fits well with what you would imagine 1920s New York to sound like, and is fairly consistent all the way throughout. Perhaps there are not quite enough tracks, but I thought some of the tracks felt a bit overused. I was starting to get sick of the same songs after a while, even though the game isn't particularly long. Little things like that can begin to grate on my nerves subconsciously for me, at least.

The songs in there are fairly upbeat and catchy, with others that are a bit more serious during certain scenes. Kohei Tanaka's work on this game fits pretty well.

Overall: 8/10

This is a fun, light hearted game that is probably best enjoyed if you are a fan of anime, strategy rpgs, mechs and perhaps dating sims or visual novels. Its a bit of a mix of all of those things and the result is very Japanese and very enjoyable. It may seem on the short side at 20 or so hours, but there is a lot of replayability in there if you want to try and get all the endings. I think there is one for each of the main girls in the story. I'd recommend this Wii title, I liked what I saw of it. 

I'd give it a 8/10. The only reason I'd drop 2 marks would be for perhaps the shortcomings in the story and some of the areas feeling a little bland and lacking depth, ie. some battles.

Now Playing - "Its time to churn!"

Ok, I would have posted this yesterday but I ended up going out for drinks with some friends. We went to Hive which had a metal/rock/punk kind of night on. I don't think I've been on Sunday before, can't really remember. It was pretty dead and I only had limited money to spend on stuff. Drinks were £1 each though, so not too bad a night. 

Looks like we won't be playing Super Street Fighter IV at Daves for a while, Aaron got annoyed, chucked the controller across the room only for it to land on the xbox and dislodge the disc and scratch it to fuck. Joe got so pissed off...

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked..

I was aiming to finish off Ys Seven (PSP) story last week (Sun-Sun) and did so, its a fairly short game for an RPG, and seemed to have to drag itself out a little bit,  but its an enjoyable game. It was a good positive introduction to the series for me I thought. It has really frantic fast paced button mashy combat which is pretty fun. Its on the verge of being an action game as opposed to an RPG if you look at some aspects of it, like combat. 

Omg...blogger signed me out so I lost half of what I was going to say..

Well, I had some fun with the game even though the story is pretty generic and predictable. One or two twists in there keep it interesting though. Some of the cutscenes and fact that you have to go to dungeon after dungeon getting each of the shrines unsealed and then the sanctums one after the other-I didn't especially like that slightly lazy game design. Still, its a pretty cool introduction to the Ys series, at least for me. I'll probably pick some more titles up when Xseed localises them, or I might track down the existing game on the ps2/psp. I think thats about it that we got over in europe, but not sure.

I only picked up a PS3 relatively recently so I am playing catch up on a lot of the big exclusive titles, and at least for fans of the RPG genre, this is one of them. It has its cult following, but a lot of things about it will probably not appeal to the mainstream market, but I am going to try and recommend it to as many people as I can. So what game am I talking about? Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) - I started this up the other day and I've been enjoying it apart from some ridiculous frustrating battles. There are some gameplay balance issues which means you can either abuse them or see the enemy do the same (occassionally, depending on what units the AI has and whether they use them right.) 

It has absolutely gorgeous cel-shaded presentation, I'm really liking that side of it. The character designs and the way everything looks, sound effects popping up like in a comic, textures, effects, backgrounds, environments, graphically I can't fault it. In fact so far I'm finding this game hard to fault. Perhaps difficulty might put some people off, for me I haven't minded too much yet. I kept going on a sort of trial and error basis, slowly learning from my mistakes on where to position, what troops to use, etc. Some of the controls for actually positioning where you want to go don't feel as tight as they could be perhaps though.

Still, I'm definitely liking this game so far. I'm aiming to finish it by Friday, but I seriously doubt that I'll make that. I won't have as much time to play it during the weekend as my friends are coming over if everything goes to plan, and we are going to do stuff from Friday to Monday. Shortly after that I'll be off to uni... *nervous* 

The sequel(second in series, I'm not sure if it is a prequel/sequel) is actually coming out fairly soon for the psp. In fact, a lot of trailers are up, along with a demo on psn at the moment. That didn't really factor into it when I chose to play it, but it makes sense as I wanted to see what all the fuss is about for this game, and as a big srpg/trpg fan(listen to RPGcast#142 and Active Time Babble#21 and you'll understand this pointless semantic differentiation-imo they are one and the same.) I wanted to experience this before I go back to uni and might not have access to my ps3. 

There are some trailers for you to see what I mean, and one about the sequel if you are interested. I've not watched more than the first second or two of the 2nd one as I don't want to spoil it, but I think its the recent English trailer, its from Machinima.

Pain...

I had to go for my check up and appointment with the dentist and hygienist on Friday. I've known for a few months or so that I would need to get 1 or 2 of my Wisdom teeth out as they were growing in at the wrong angle and would cause pressure on my other teeth. So I had to get 1 taken out on Friday. Its sore, and a strange pain...kind of comes and goes in dull waves. I don't like it... T_T

And I still need to get the other top one out next time I go along...no fair! 

I put some time into Ys on the Friday as I had most of the day on trains getting to and from my dentists, so I'll probably hit my aim of finishing the story by Sunday. I'll post some impressions in Sunday's Now Playing post.

Anyway, I need to catch up on sleep now. ~o~ *ZZZzzzzzzzzzz

Woohoo!

Yay! I got into the course at uni I had applied for! My appeal must have gone through successfully =D

After all that stress, emailing, phonecalling, finding certificates, jumping through hoops it paid off! Good times! So I'll start work on my 2nd degree on the 13th of September I believe. I'll have less free time from then on, but I'm back on track again at least. =)

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Review

I thought I'd try get back into reviewing games as I've not done any since I was involved in my Final Fantasy marathon, of sorts. I'm always looking to improve on my review writing though, I tend to go on about things a bit uneccessarily, in terms of length. Plus the rating system is something I've always struggled with. Currently, I'm using a rating out of 10 points (10=top), with individual ratings for certain categories ie. Graphics, Gameplay and a few others, you'll see which ones over the course of this review. (If you read it)

So, first a little about my experience of the series and some background. I'm a fan of the Dragon Quest series, I have been for a few years since I initially played Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 (one of the spin off titles) many years ago. I actually picked up a copy of the first Dragon Warrior Monsters when one of my good friends randomly sent it out to me in along with a lot of other stuff, but thats another story. I've played DQIV and V on the DS (the recent remakes) and really enjoyed them. I'm definitely looking forward to picking up the last of those 3 games when it is released eventually. Dragon Quest VI will be remade for the DS at some point soon, I'm hoping. I still need to get around to playing Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2, I've heard a lot of good things about it, plus based on what I've liked about the series, I might pick up some of the older games at some point if I can find them. So how does this one rank in terms of an entry point to the series? Well, in short, I think it is a fairly good entry point. Similar to Final Fantasy, there isn't any overarching story between the games, so  you don't have to worry about not having played I through VIII before this. Secondly, this one has many of the core aspects fans of the series enjoy, but mixes things up slightly as well, and has some features that will keep people interested, such as the job system, side quests etc. Lastly, this one is not a massively long game, and has a good difficulty balance-it isn't overly grindy or hard so newcomers will not necessarily be turned off. By no means do I believe I am an expert on the series, so hopefully that is clear and hopefully that viewpoint will resonate with some of you out there in reading this review-maybe some of you are in similar situations having played a few of the games and enjoyed them.

Gameplay

Ok, starting with the gameplay. This is one area in which the games are very similar it seems. The fans love the games because of the traditional feel to them-from what I've heard they haven't deviated much from the original games in terms of the battle system, lengthy dialogue explaining things, menus and many other things. So its clear that you have to be ok with the relatively (some might say) archaic gameplay mechanics in order to enjoy these games. Personally, I am fine with this. I don't want to over-generalise, but many jrpgs and some western rpgs still reuse a lot of the unique features that were seen years ago in the genre. Anyway, I am going off on a tangent. 

So where to start? The battle system perhaps. The battle system in this is pretty standard stuff. It has the same commands as some of the other games in the series; you can set up tactics and lineup in the middle of battles (but it isn't that important, I didn't use those once the whole game.) You have standard attacks, spells, abilities, as well as Coup de Grace attacks (basically limit break type attacks depending on the vocation your character has.) So there is quite a lot of depth to the battle system, mainly coming from the different attacks and abilities each enemy has, and the ones your party has access to. It is quite a traditional turn based battle system, basically the same as IV and V although they do make this one look a lot better. The enemies move and the backgrounds are fairly nice but nothing groundbreaking. I do like that when you've selected your moves, the characters and enemies move around the battlefield in order to launch their attacks. It reminded me of FFXIII. Its kind of unneccessary but makes it more interesting to look at. One thing that was absent from this game was the monster recruiting seen in other games in the series. It added a lot in my opinion and would have liked it if this one had that feature. Although there is plenty more to make up for the lack of that. 

There is a lot of optional content to partake in. There are 184 sidequests, including the ones that have to be unlocked via wi-fi. These range from simple fetch quests, item quests and alchemy quests to very challenging combat related accomplishments which might unlock one of the 12(?) vocations and quests involving grottoes, which are pretty challenging postgame dungeons. I'll mention quickly that there is a lot to do after the main story. You'll definitely get your money's worth with this game. Other than the quests, there is the Wardrobe and Item List, the Alchemy list (I can't spell it off the top of my head) and Accolades, which are essentially titles given when you reach certain milestones ie. 1000 battles or progress in your main character's skill tree. Some might not really be that bothered about the accolades, but I think they could be fun to get, and definitely add to the list of things to do, at least for some people.

Traditional stuff: Saving in churches, still there of course, although the quicksave is there and is a welcome addition for a portable game. I used it a few times when I had to get off the bus or whatever. You still need to go to a churce to find out how much exp you need to level up, but there is a spell to make up for that. Thats a minor addition, but it does show that they were trying to move away from some of the pointlessly annoying mechanics. Which brings me to the next point, there are no random encounters in this game, instead, you've got monsters appearing on the world map or dungeon you are in, similar to a lot of games now ie. Tales of Symphonia. If you touch the enemies, you then get drawn into one of the turn based battles. This might have annoyed purists and it can be annoying when you are trying to farm certain enemies such as Metal Slimes, but it does help in places for example when you have to backtrack or run a large distance across the map. Personally, I'd probably rather have the random battles, but its not to say I don't like this system. I enjoyed this as a slight departure from the standard of the series.

I've been going on about the gameplay for about 3 years now, so I'll quickly run over the last few things. There is a strong multiplayer aspect to this game, you can do co-op multiplayer via a local network ie. you need to be in ds-ds close range. But what happens is your friends replace any of your 3 'NPC' characters, well NPC isnt right..I mean they replace any of the characters in your party who are not your main character. I think they get boosted experience while doing this, so that is something I haven't tried but could be fun. You can also do multiplayer things with Treasure Maps and other stuff. In some ways, the game seems intended for this multiplayer, which of course would have had a better chance of taking off in Japan with the serie's success there. Perhaps the game would have benefited from wi-fi multiplayer available from the start, and the Japanese release. So does the game feel weaker as a result of this multiplayer aspect? I don't think so. It doesn't feel essential, but it feels like it could be very seamless and easy to set up. I'd have to experience it to say more though.

Gameplay: 9/10

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Story and Characters

The story in Dragon Quest IX started out full of promise for me. The story starts out in the Observatory, a stronghold in the sky inhabited by the Celestrians, a winged guardian angel race essentially. Your character (which you can customise in a fairly deep creator) basically has to protect and help out the mortals in the realm of the Protectorate below, in order to gather crystallised Benevolessence (yeah, some stupid names in this game.)  The story takes a bit of a twist and you are forced to gather up Fyggs. This takes the form of mini stories involving different towns, and usually a dungeon and boss to solve a major plot quest. I felt this stop start story telling went on a bit too long, you have to gather up 7 Fyggs from what I remember, and meanwhile the main story is essentially put on hold. It leaves a lot of things to the end, in which it picks up a bit, but I was still feeling a bit confused when I first learned of the character who was to be the end boss. The story could have been handled better, but I did enjoy it when it worked. The characters in this game are another area in which the game could have been a lot stronger. The main character and the Celestrians are fairly interesting, we see them at the start and through various points in the story, but perhaps not enough is shown of Apus Major and the other ones. I would have liked more cutscenes interspersed throughout the game, especially during the Fygg collecting bit of the story. Stella, the fairy that joins you throughout your quest is actually quite funny and a good addition. My main gripe about the characters is that the 3 other party members do not talk or have any personality. This is due to the fact that they easily swap out in the event of co-op multiplayer. They are also randomly generated using the character creator. Although you can make your own if you are not happy, you could end up with some bizarre looking silent party members. To be honest, I didn't mind the fact that they didn't have any dialogue. A lot of RPGs are similar in that respect, plus I like the fact that you have a lot of customisation options, in terms of appearance and vocation for your party.

Story and Characters: 7/10

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Graphics

For a DS game, Dragon Quest IX actually looks pretty good. While its obviously not up to the level of Dragon Quest VIII, a PS2 game, textures and colours look pretty good. It seems it is in the same direction as VIII, a semi-cel shaded look for this one. They had the same developers on board for this one and it does show. Things are outlined in black and look quite bold and vibrant. There is a lot of detail put into the important characters and the polygonal stuff never looks too rough or pixelated (not obtrusively so, at least.) 

The graphics in battle look really good compared to the remakes of IV and V. Everything is smooth: the enemies and your character's models are very well done, and move around the battlefield without any technical issues. The font and numbers in battle, for displaying damage etc are clear, easy to read and link in with the sound effects very well. 

The monsters, many of which are staples of the series are well animated and well rendered, especially in the overworld and dungeons. As for cutscenes, they look very nice in this game, with a sketchy, watered down colour look to them. They look good in my opinion and don't seem to tax the DS hardware that much. Take a look at this video and see what I mean. Of course, a bit is lost in quality in the transition to youtube, but you'll at least understand what I mean by the style.

So, it has a nice graphical style throughout, the only real flaw I can note is that there is slowdown in places on the overworld and towns. This only seems to happen occasionally when you have a full party of 4 and there is a lot going on in the area. Its isn't crippling, just a very minor slowdown of things. It might annoy some people, but it is on the verge of unnoticeable. Very good looking game in terms of a DS title. You can tell it was developed with the DS in mind.

Graphics: 8.5/10

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Audio

I was speaking about the combo system in battle earlier. Think of it as a Zelda: Wind Waker style combo system linked with the sound effects. If your characters hit an enemy in close succession, you will get a boost in damage, 1.2x and so on, indicated by a sound effect. This was a nice addition and the sound here is integrated very well. 

Overall, the audio quality is good for a DS game, but many of the actual tracks weren't that memorable. They do fit in with the tone of a lot of the scenes though. I feel they won't be given much credit, as they don't jump out and scream in your face, if you know what I mean. Instead, they are well orchestrated pieces of music by the series composer Koichi Sugiyama. The tone of the story in many places is actually quite dark and sad and some of these pieces fit quite well with the melancholy mood. Some songs are nice and light though as well, like the Tavern song. The battle theme is fairly average, but it works. Its the "I Won't Lose" video below. 

Audio: 7/10

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So overall, I do recommend this game-I had a lot of fun with it and I intend to go back and do more of the postgame optional stuff at some point. The game isn't perfect, but I think its nearly right up there amongst my favourite DS games, despite its few flaws. So if you are one of the people who haven't picked this up and are interested in it, go out and get it. I hope you'll enjoy it. If you weren't interested in this to begin with and managed to read all the way to here, well, thank you! =D I hope I've sold you on this game, which as with all Dragon Quest games, has a lot of charm. There is something about them that always draws me in. This is a solid title, and comes recommended.

Overall: 8/10

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Information on the game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_quest_ix

http://dragonquest.nintendo.com/

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/nds/dragon_quest_ix_sentinels_of_the_starry_skies_17296.html

Upcoming Review Schedule.

Woot! I'm writing some reviews again! I must have too much time on my hands. They are kinda like ninjas on this site, seldom seen...and..they have throwing stars..(gimme a break, I had to make that awesome pic relevant XD) I don't know if you guys care about reviews much, hopefully you do. Feel free to leave me feedback though, as I'm always happy to take criticism on board if it can help me improve in the future, and review writing is something I quite enjoy (if I can find the time to do a good job on them.)

Anyway, these are planned-expect them in the next few weeks, probably in this order:

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS) ~ Wed 25th August

Sakura Wars: So Long My Love (Wii) ~ Wed/Thurs 1st or 2nd September

Demon's Souls (PS3) ~ ???

Ys Seven (PSP) ~ possibly, when I finish it. I am aiming to finish the game this week.

If by some miracle I get through them, I might do some more, I'm sure there are games I finished and had wanted to review but never got around to it. I can't exactly remember what ones though..

RPG heavy...thats all I play apparantely XD

Now Playing - "The end of all things begins!"

I finished off a couple games this week and played little bits here and there of others when I wasn't watching football or TV. I haven't put much time into the games I am currently playing, so I've just got early impressions on them so far. Other than that, I'm a bit worried about my laptop-its been locking up and displaying an error message on startup occasionally. I don't know what it was going on about though...might take it to the computer shop if my friends in computing don't know what is up with it. I don't have a huge amount of stuff saved on it, but I'd rather not do a system restore..I don't like the idea of having to start from scratch. Plus last time we did system restore, it was on my ex-girlfriend's computer and that didn't help much, in fact it caused more problems in places. Damn computers...why do they randomly stop working at times...

Anyway, I'm running out of time just now, so I'll turn my attention to the games I've been playing this week. I'm going out to my friend's place today (in fact I was supposed to be there already.)

I finished up Demon's Souls (PS3) eventually, I was having problems with the False King battle-some of his attacks are really damn strong, plus I hate that he can drain your soul levels. He did that a few times and knocked one of my Spell memory slots off, taking with it Soul Ray, a pretty good spell I wanted to use in the final battle. Speaking of which, the final battle is a joke, I don't see how it can get anywhere near even attacking you if you have spells. For a mage, it seems very easy. But that doesn't bug me really, to make up for it there was a hard fight at the end of 1-4, the one I was talking about previously. Its a very hard game in places, so I can see why people might be put off initially. You really need to be patient with it to get through some of the stages. But once you get used to your character and understand the attack patterns the enemies have, where they spawn, the traps and all the other stuff, it is manageable. And it is very rewarding when you get through the bit you were having problems with. 

Such an atmospheric game as well, it has quite a dark feel to the world and it is pretty disturbing and creepy in places, which I really appreciate. It breathes life into an RPG which is a bit light on the story. 

One other potential flaw I could say it has would be the camera and controls. They can be unwieldy at times and contributed to my death on more than one occasion. Its damn frustrating to get a boss nearly dead, then get backed up against a wall, roll away to dodge and have the camera spinning out of control so you end up walking or rolling into the bosses attack. The lock on feature, while it is pretty much essential for some forms of attack (spells, for example), can also lead to some camera annoyances.

It has some pretty nice music as well, it's never really too jarring and it seems to fit the scenes it is assigned to, even if it is over the top at times. I think it adds to the tense nature of some of the battles, some of which really get you on edge. They leave you shaking from the adrenaline rush. Well, they did for me, I can't take stress very well, but I liked the rush it gave me. Here's one of the songs from 5-3. 

Other than the few minor flaws it might have, this is a brilliant game, probably one of the best action RPGs I've played, definitely up there among my favourites from this year. (We just got the EU release a month or two ago T_T)

I finished up Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS) as well, at least the main story. There is a lot more to do for me, but I've been a bit frustrated postgame, as I don't know what quests to do first, or where to go for the easiest grottoes. I got wiped out by a single normal enemy at one point. So after that, its been neglected a bit. I might go back to this some day and try and fill out the bestiary, do more quests etc. I really enjoyed the game though, it has some very nice graphics and a fairly good story. It is a bit fragmented, and slows down in the middle, where you have to go around doing mini-vignette type stories which involve a lot of talking, a dungeon and a boss at the very least. Some of them I found enjoyable, whereas others (like the Swinedimples Academy one) weren't quite up to scratch. 

As a Dragon Quest game, I can't really tell how it compares to some of the others, its slightly different from say IV and V, but has the same sense of humour and quirkyness, the same life they have tried to inject it with by giving certain townspeople accents to try and differentiate them. One thing I liked about it was the vocations, similar to FFIII or other RPGs with class systems, you can chop and change the classes of your characters when you wish. (Not at any time, you have to go back to a certain area to do so.) That adds a lot of replayability and will make different people's playthroughs go differently depending on what they choose. I like that in RPGs-there should always be some scope to do things differently in my opinion. FFXIII was a recent offender in that area. It puts you into a tunnel for 20 or 30 hours so there really is no chance to do things differently until you get to Pulse later in the game. RPGs should have lots of things to do, they shouldn't be as streamlined as that I reckon. It was a bit of a step back for the series and I seriously hope they change things back for their next games.

I had my eye on Eternal Poison (PS2) ever since it was announced for US release, and sadly it never found its way over to Europe or other PAL regions. I'm a big fan of tactical RPGs and this one had a really nice dark tone and style to it from what I had seen. So now that I can play NTSC games on the PS2, I picked this one up. I've not put in much time so far, but I am appreciating some of the character designs (the artbook it came with is fantastic, by the way) and the story seems interesting so far. Its kinda strange that it is going to be a large dungeon with many floors though, that is more of a dungeon-crawler RPG convention. And apparantely grinding is not possible in this game! ;_; Oh well, I can enjoy other aspects, like collecting all the Majin I can, for one thing. I'll have to play more of this in order to recommend it or otherwise.

Ys Seven (PSP) This game arrived only a few days after the US release! I had been waiting on this game being released for a while now, definitely interested in it all the way, despite never having played an Ys game, so I've put a couple hours in so far and I have been fairly impressed by the battle system which is nice and fast paced and doesn't have that disconnect of the enemies appearing on the world map, or random encounters and then the transition into battle, it is all seamless. You hack away at the enemies as they appear and they shower money and items on their deaths. It is very kind of actiony...like a zelda game or something similar. 

As my first experience of an Ys game, I am fairly happy so far. There are some things that seem odd, like the super silent protagonist, Adol. Its like they go out of their way to make him say nothing, for example, a message will come up saying "Adol thanks the King" or whatever. They could have done the same with less lines of dialogue by making him just say "Thanks" or something similar. The inventory screen will take some getting used to for me, but so far I'm not even far enough in to have many items heheh.. XD

Its got really cool music and some quite nice character designs, as with many Falcom games. Here is the opening to the game. 

I played a little bit more of Diablo II (PC), continuing my Elemental druid playthrough I started a couple months ago. I was determined to get through Act I, as I think it is the most boring of the five for me, as I've seen it so many times. That's due to me having played so many different characters so many times in this game though. I put in a few more hours of this, and got past Andariel (the final Act I boss) really easily. Seriously, she fell faster than any other character I've used from what I can remember. Some of the Druid's Fire spells are pretty powerful from the looks of it. Don't think I've died once so far. I put this back on hold though, in an effort to finish off Demon's Souls and DQIX. While waiting for Ys and Eternal Poison to arrive, I put in a few more games of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) multiplayer. The cover system still isn't perfect, but I'm surprised by how good the multiplayer for this is. It does have flaws though, it seems if there aren't people online for an optimal game, it will throw you in with whoever is on, even if means guys at the max level. It does try to balance the teams out though. I suck at this, but I'm up to lv22 online now. It was pretty satisfying to bring a game or two back for our team, coming back from behind to win. I seem to start really poorly, but improve as each game goes on.

I couldn't find many decent pictures for this post T_T Maybe next time...

Gaems..dunno what to play =/

Ok, so I finished up Dragon Quest IX and Demon's Souls and now I don't know exactly what to play next. Ys Seven and Eternal Poison will be here soon, so I've left out the psp from this random selection in an effort to decide what to play next. I've taken 3 Fortune Cookie Picks from Backloggery, from the following unfinished games on these consoles: PS3, PS2, PS1, DS, GBA, PC. Basically what it does is take a random game and suggest it to you, apparantely it is always right. ¬_¬

#1 Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone (GBA) ~ Hmm, I've tried the start of this game and liked Riviera, which was the first game in the Dept. Heaven series. Might give this a shot, as many people go on about how good this is. Its a tactical RPG with quite a unique flavour to it, as with many Sting games.
#2 Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard (DS) ~ I can't play this yet, not finished the first game and probably will not for a while. Its a hardcore dungeon crawler, with a really cool old school feel in places. Some people say it was a step back from the first, others say it improved upon things slightly. I'm enjoying the first game, getting through it slowly. I'm a bit worried about the fact that your quest log can only have a maximum amount of ongoing quests in this one though. I don't want to have to play with a walkthrough so I don't screw myself over. I'm not using one for the first game and I'm doing ok.  Its rewarding when you progress down a floor or level up enough to take on the enemies or FOEs, but I can tell the first stratum boss is gonna kick seven shades of shit outta me.. -_-
#3 Vagrant Story (PS1) ~ Another highly regarded game which I've not finished. I tried to play this a few months ago when I joined up with the RPG-a-thon on backlog but got frustrated with it and quit. Some of the things about it haven't aged well and pissed me off (camera for one). I ended up getting disorientated and lost. I really should put some more time into this and see where the story goes. Its supposed to be a very good action RPG from the ps1 era. I played it for around 2 or 3 hours last time I played, and I think I was nearly used to the gameplay mechanics. There was one I can vaguely remember that pissed me off slightly, and it was something to do with accuracy in combat, the Risk element...I think. It just seemed unessecary (I can't spell..)

So which one am I gonna play outta these? I'm not too sure. Think I'll put Vagrant Story in for another blast. The story is supposed to be really good. If it annoys me I'll play some Uncharted 2 multiplayer or do some DQIX postgame. I'll probably end up playing Ys Seven when it arrives though.

Games on my Radar #6

I've got a couple games with relatively stupid names I'm going to talk about today. Lets hope the games are better than the names. Rhyming...

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PC/PS3/360) 

I've not seen an awful lot on this game yet, there is only one trailer out and a few pieces of art from what I can tell. It will either be brilliant or really dissapointing. I mean, they've got such good pedigree on the team (is that the right word?) - R.A. Salvatore is designing the world, Todd McFarlane is designing the characters and controlling art direction and they've got Ken Rolston from the Elder Scrolls III and IV overseeing stuff. They have promised a high fantasy western action rpg and I hope they deliver. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of Todd McFarlane's western comic stuff like Spawn and I hope that his stuff doesn't ruin the game, or indeed that any of the other people on board do. If it all comes together, this one could be good. I don't think it will be out for ages, but I'm liking the fact that we are getting more western RPGs. I really enjoyed Dragon Age, at times it was a bit bland, but I had a lot of fun with it. If this is anywhere near it's level, I'll be happy. I'm looking forward to this one, but I'm slightly sceptical as well.

Links: Official Site / Games Radar / 

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP) Lettuce.. wha? o.o Stupid name...

I've never actually played any of these Tactics Ogre games, but I've heard a lot of good things from people on podcasts, youtube videos and various sites. So this one is a remake of the SNES game and it is being handled by the same team that did the Final Fantasy Tactics 'remake' for the PSP, which was really good I thought. I didn't get bugged by the lagging animations or other technical flaws in that game. Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to this one most out of these three games. I love strategy RPGs and this series is one I've not had the chance to try yet. I'm hoping for a deep, customisable game with a good story. From what I've heard, I'll get it from this game. I'll need to look into this series more as the release date draws nearer.

Links: 1UP / RPGamer / IGN / Siliconera / RPGFan / RPGamer

Hunted: The Demon's Forge (PC/PS3/360)

From the developers of The Bard's Tale and published by Bethesda, this will be a 3rd person action RPG with co-op multiplayer. I don't know very much about The Bard's Tale, but I think it had its fans. Regardless, I like the look of this trailer. I do like multiplayer in RPGs, if it is done well. Borderlands for example, looked like it did it fairly seamlessly. I mean, it had its flaws, glitches everywhere for example, and it might not even be much of an RPG depending on your opinion, but hopefully this Hunted game can have something in the same vein.