Monday, May 30, 2011
Dead or Alive Dimensions review: Comedy masterpiece theatre
Dead or Alive Dimensions review: Comedy masterpiece theatre: "
Team Ninja does not make life easy for game reviewers. Dead or Alive Dimensions, a sort of anthology volume combining all four Dead or Alive fighting games on 3DS, is clearly a great translation of the series to a portable format, beautiful to look at, and also more accessible than any DOA game to date.
It's also marred by some terrible decisions, mostly around the presentation and the structure. As I played, it kind of felt like everything awesome about DOA Dimensions had been intentionally paired with a huge mistake. However, after a period of deep reflection and soul-searching, I came to the conclusion that the awesome parts are sufficiently awesome to outweigh most of the janky stuff, and a lot of the janky stuff turns out to be super hilarious anyway.
Besides, the technical criteria for a successful DOA game are if the female characters' pendulous chests display soothing, hypnotic waves, and occasionally people get knocked off of waterfalls, and in both categories this game passes with flying colors. Colors flying right off of a waterfall.
Team Ninja does not make life easy for game reviewers. Dead or Alive Dimensions, a sort of anthology volume combining all four Dead or Alive fighting games on 3DS, is clearly a great translation of the series to a portable format, beautiful to look at, and also more accessible than any DOA game to date.
It's also marred by some terrible decisions, mostly around the presentation and the structure. As I played, it kind of felt like everything awesome about DOA Dimensions had been intentionally paired with a huge mistake. However, after a period of deep reflection and soul-searching, I came to the conclusion that the awesome parts are sufficiently awesome to outweigh most of the janky stuff, and a lot of the janky stuff turns out to be super hilarious anyway.
Besides, the technical criteria for a successful DOA game are if the female characters' pendulous chests display soothing, hypnotic waves, and occasionally people get knocked off of waterfalls, and in both categories this game passes with flying colors. Colors flying right off of a waterfall.
Continue reading Dead or Alive Dimensions review: Comedy masterpiece theatre
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings: "
RPG of the year?
By anyone’s standards, The Witcher 2 is the best fantasy RPG of the last few years. It is more polished than Dragon Age, more expansive than Dragon Age 2 and in a different league to Risen, Two Worlds II and Gothic 4. It has a strong story, a fascinating world, exceptional graphics and superb production values. If you like fantasy RPGs, it’s a must-buy.
A shame, then, that The Witcher 2 can seem hell bent on putting you off. By accident or design it’s a divisive game, separating those who are willing to spend time studying the in-game journal, learning the various game systems and putting up with a fearsome difficulty level from those who would, frankly, like a good story while chopping monsters into bits. Like the equally challenging Demon’s Souls, The Witcher 2 demands and rewards commitment. If you’re not prepared to put in the time and the energy, don’t bother picking it up.?
While some will tell you that this is a good thing - that it’s about time RPGs focused back on the hardcore fanbase - we’re not sure we fully agree. The opening “prologue” section is a nightmare, shoving the hero, the titular Witcher, in the middle of a siege battle sequence without bothering to break you gently into the combat systems or the core game mechanics. All you get are some blink-and-you’ll-miss-em tip boxes. Playing on the normal difficulty level, your humble reviewer died multiple times in battle with overwhelming numbers before working out that the best way to survive was to scuttle around the initial area, engaging single soldiers by finding the points at which their AI routines triggered then, erm, boldly scurrying away. This is not the stuff of which heroic tales are made. A subsequent encounter with a grumpy dragon involved doing the same stretch of action some 20 times before we somehow fluked an escape. Mucho swearing and sulking ensued.
This is where the commitment comes in. Combat as a whole in The Witcher 2 is on the tough side, and you’ll need a solid grasp of your signs (effectively spells), traps and crowd control tactics to survive. You’ll need to research monsters and their weak points, get to grips with crafting and potions and - most of all - check your journal all the time. Constant usage of the quick-save and quick-load keys won’t hurt either. Some of you might get through the game without consulting an FAQ at any point, but we suspect you’ll be in the minority. If you’re not looking for a serious challenge, do yourself a favour and dial the difficulty down to “easy”. There’s no shame if it means you’ll enjoy the game.
And it’s a game worth enjoying. The tale begins with Geralt, our white-haired witcher (or magically-endowed monster-slayer for hire) stitched-up for the murder of his king, Having escaped his captors, he sets out to clear his name. Of course, there’s more to it than that. Geralt has gaps in his memories and the killer seems to know him. What is their connection, and how does it tie in to the fate of the world? The story has a nice, epic sweep, but it’s closer to gritty heroic fantasy than the high fantasy of Tolkien. As with Dragon Age and its sequel, much is made of man’s inhumanity to man, and man’s even worse inhumanity to non-humans.
It’s dark, thrilling stuff, with a strong cast of characters, and very well told through cinematic cutscenes and in-game dialogue. Maybe we could have done without the dubious, cleavage-obsessed approach to women’s clothing and the even more dubious sex scenes - CGI fantasy soft-porn isn’t really our style - but we’re sure that millions of you will disagree. If you like your fantasy heavy on blood, boobs and bad language, The Witcher 2 delivers.?
The Witcher 2 is also a beautiful game. Played on a half-decent gaming rig, it easily knocks Bioware’s slightly uninspired efforts on Dragon Age 2 for six with detailed medieval architecture, lush forests, creepy, mist-covered glades and dingy caverns. While Heavy Rain and L.A. Noire have spoilt us with their realistic, motion-captured character animation, The Witcher 2 does the best it can with more conventional, artist-animated faces, and the models look reasonably convincing. The lighting and texturing is so good that even a quick walk through the woods will yield a few scenes of photogenic wonder, until you bump into the local, highly aggressive fauna. We haven’t been so impressed by the graphics of a fantasy RPG since Oblivion, and The Witcher 2 sets a high mark for the upcoming Elder Scrolls: Skyrim to pass.
Most importantly, once you’ve adjusted to the gameplay, The Witcher 2 is a deeply satisfying RPG. The combat is heavy on the action, but too tactically demanding to ever turn into a button-masher, and each area comes packed with main quests, side-quests and monster-hunting bonus missions that, by the time a chapter comes to a close, you’ll feel like you’ve really explored your surroundings. Each chapter also has choices to be made, often through a fine dialogue system that has you adopting an ethic and a way of doing things, so that you change the world and the direction the game will take from there on in without feeling like you’re making hard black and white choices.
The character upgrade system can’t match the one in Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age 2 for simplicity, but then it doesn’t really try. Here it’s all about depth, about working out which traits you want to emphasise, which items and weapons you’ll need to conquer, and about gathering the recipes and the raw materials you’ll need to get them manufactured. It is - unquestionably - geeky, but when you combine the action with the strong story, incredibly compelling. Like the best RPGs, The Witcher 2 gives you a world you can get stuck into, and plenty of reason to get stuck into it, and that’s exactly what you’ll do.
Verdict:
In a way, the Witcher 2 leaves us wishing there was a middle ground between the dumbing down of the RPG and this slightly wilful “rtfm” (or “rtfj” with “j” for journal) approach. The game could do with a more forgiving start and some more obvious ways of filtering in advice, and without irritations like swarming, respawning critters and unskippable cutscenes placed before a boss battle. Overall, though, it’s a game that more than gives back whatever you put in. The longer you play it and the more you think about how you play it, the more absorbing and incredible it gets.
At times, The Witcher 2 seems to take a perverse delight in scaring off more casual gamers, but the story, the tone and the visual style are so strong that anyone with an interest in fantasy adventure should persevere. It’s a stronger game than Dragon Age 2, and a serious contender for RPG of the year.
Tags:
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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 27 May 2011 21:22:00 +0100
"FIFA 12: The revolution you've been waiting for?
Personal note: I think that Fifa is lacking some new killer features to justify a purchase every year. It doesn't mean it's getting weak, I think it's completely the oppose: it's too strong and complete. Although, is always possible to revolutionize the concept and this year, EA Sports is promising that deserved revolution. Is it coming?
To look at, FIFA 12 is no different to FIFA 11. At least not to our highly-trained eyes.
Click here to read the full article"
Metal Gear Creator Sitting out E3 [Blip]
Metal Gear Creator Sitting out E3 [Blip]: "
Metal Gear Solid 5 isn't the only thing sitting out this year's E3, the stealth series' creator Hideo Kojima also won't be at E3. Last year, there was a flurry of MGS news at E3. This year? Probably not. [@hideo_kojima] More »
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Metal Gear Solid 5 isn't the only thing sitting out this year's E3, the stealth series' creator Hideo Kojima also won't be at E3. Last year, there was a flurry of MGS news at E3. This year? Probably not. [@hideo_kojima] More »
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Final Fantasy Type-0 -- New Details
Final Fantasy Type-0 -- New Details: "
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Two months ago Dengeki PlayStation magazine introduced us to three of the main characters of Final Fantasy Type-0: Ace, Nine and Queen. All three are members of the elite Class 0 of Suzaku Peristylium, a magic school in the nation of Rubrum, and are fighting to protect their country from the other t...
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Chrono Trigger Review
Chrono Trigger Review: "
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It feels like we've come to the end of an era. It's been over four and a half years since the Wii's Virtual Console first went live. In that time, we've seen the re-release of nearly four hundred different retro titles some masterpieces, some duds and lots of in-between, average 'classics' of yeste...
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Rumour – NGP to be called PS Vita
Rumour – NGP to be called PS Vita: "
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Reports from multiple sources suggest that Sony’s codenamed NGP will be officially christened PS Vita at E3.
Domain registrations for PlayStationVita.com and PSVita.com were made on April 20 through NetNames, a major registrant service.
Mega Rock Blog is said to have been the first to post “prepared graphics for E3″ showing off the handheld’s alleged new name.
Although a cache exists of the post’s text and author comments, the blog is now inaccessible.
Joystiq reports before the blog closed, an apology appeared, calling the post “one of the stupidest things [the poster had] ever done”.
It’s not clear whether this ‘stupid thing’ was leaking information, or flat-out making it up, but now Ripten is claiming an insider source on the matter.
Adding its voice to the PS Vita claims, the site also reports that the upcoming Uncharted game for the system will be subtitled Golden Abyss. Images have also surfaced showing a rebranded-console with an angled face.
Prior to its official reveal, Sony’s expected new handheld was rumoured to be called “Veta”. Vita, which can be translated as “Life”, appears to fit in with Sony’s early marketing for the console as a lifestyle device.
As ever during the month of build up, we’ll have to wait for E3, and Sony’s press conference on June 6.
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Rumour: The Last Story to see Western release
Rumour: The Last Story to see Western release: "
Nintendo may be planning a Western release of gloriously beautiful Wii RPG, The Last Story.
A Nintendo representative apparently mentioned the localisation to JRPG Tribe at London’s MCM Expo.
Nintendo said in January it had “no plans” to bring the game over.
Booth reps aren’t always fully briefed (or cautioned against what not to say), so it’s a slim straw to grasp at – but Nintendo of America did register a domain for the game.
Hopefuls have fingers crossed for an E3 reveal during Nintendo’s press conference, somewhere in between the Project Cafe excitement. We’ve asked Nintendo for comment.
The Last Story is the most recent game from Mistwalker, the studio headed by ex-Final Fantasy boss, Hironobu Sakaguchi.
Thanks, Cubed3.
"Kojima starts recording for new title, posts image
Kojima starts recording for new title, posts image: "
Metal gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima recently tweeted that he’s started recording for his new project – and being the mysterious guy that he is, also posted an image containing a picture of a character from the game.
The image shows a recording studio where two monitors can be seen, with what looks to be a snap from a cutscene displaying on them.
We haven’t got the slightest of clues as to what this image or his new project might be but don’t let that stop you from speculating.
Kojima recently said that the thing he had spent a year preparing had become meaningless, so it’s good to see him recording for a project.
Two Koijima Productions titles are rumoured to be announced at E3. Get hyped.
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