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Yakuza 0
We asked for it and now we finally have it. Yakuza 0 has been fully localized for the US and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve played the Yakuza series religiously since the original release on the PS2, and after putting over 50 hours of gameplay into Yakuza 0 I think I may have a new favorite. One of the greatest things about Yakuza 0 is its status as a prequel. If you are new to the series, there is no better place for you to start. In this review I’d like to share my thoughts on the game and why you should give it a try. At first glance Yakuza…
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Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky
Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky, published by Aksys games is an interesting take on the traditional JRPG gameplay formula, being a hybrid platformer and RPG, attempting to mix elements of both. The background of the setting is that an alternate world exists, mirroring the real world. Killed by a mysterious force, the main cast awakens in this alternate world, unaware of their surroundings or the reason for their presence. The narrative here has potential in the premise, but is ultimately lackluster in the delivery. With reveals coming too far in-between, allowing the player time to forget the small threads being woven. The story additionally suffers from the…
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Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy XV (FFXV) is the latest entry in the seminal RPG series that is a mainstay of Square-Enix (SE). In it you play the role of Noctis; a prince on his way to his royal wedding accompanied by his retainers. This is the first game in the main series to truly cross into being an action RPG, and SE bills it as “A Final Fantasy for Fans and First Timers”. This distinction may be great for first timers, but is a bit of a mixed bag for fans. There’s a bit of something for everyone, and a lot of small details they get right, but the gameplay itself is…
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Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~
I wasn’t a fan of the original DS in the least. I felt that the second screen would rarely be utilized and only serve as lost potential and extra battery drain. Turns out I was only mostly right. One group of developers got it right on two different occasions. The first was Trace Memory and the second, Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Both of these games were a delight to play and really tried to capture the heart of what the DS was about. I remember a puzzle in Trace Memories where your character picked up a rubber stamp pad and you had to close the DS’s lid to press the…
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Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls
Superdimension Neptune vs. Sega Hard Girls(SNvSHG) is is a RPG for the Vita where you play as the anthropomorphized representations of console systems & hardware. Combined from two different series (Hyperdimension Neptunia & Sega Hard Girls) that follow the same basic premise of hardware themed characters, we finally see a cross-over game as the two series go head to head, vying the girls representing modern consoles against classic Sega machines. What could go wrong? Unfortunately everything. SNvSHG suffers from a bewildering series of problems in its design, but let’s get one of the worst offenders out of the way; the frame-rate. Well the game plays at a fairly normal 30FPS,…
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Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle
I would like to preface this review with a statement, and the statement is thus: I am not the intended audience for this game. I have nothing against puzzle games, in fact I enjoy many of them. However, this particular genre of puzzlers is not my cup of tea…At all. If I was dying of thirst in a desert and all I had to drink was this cup of tea, I would just roll over and let death take me. That being said, on to the review! Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle is an action puzzler game. You move the aforementioned ninja rabbit around levels constructed with different types…
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Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
As a fan of the SMT games and a die-hard fan of their spin-off Persona games, I wanted to like SMTIV:Apocalypse, but I just can’t get into it. I played a bit of the first SMTIV and really didn’t care for it. This game is more of the same, but with less likable characters. I love the post-apocalyptic setting and the imagery, however the NPCs that you share living space with are completely devoid of character other than their names/descriptions like as “irrational woman” or “grizzly man”. No joke, these are the game’s style of naming unimportant NPCs. I guess it gives the idea that there are more people living…
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King of Fighters 14
When the first trailer for KOF14 was released, there was a strong reaction in the gaming community as most people said it looked like a Playstation 2 game. SNK assured fans that it was still early on and that it would be much better looking in the final build. Trailer after trailer, the ugliness gradually faded, but it still isn’t the most gorgeous game. By switching to polygonal models, SNK left behind the absolutely gorgeous 2D graphics of the previous game. Many fans, myself included, were not expecting much from this game. We’ve seen what happened that last time they attempted to use polygonal models. KoF Maximum Impact, and it’s…
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Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
Originally released on the PS2 half a year after the PS3 came out, Odin Sphere launched with much fanfare. It’s music, art direction, and gameplay was just what everyone needed at the time. 2D beat-em-ups had all but gone the way of the dodo, but Vanillaware showed us that we needed them in our lives. With all of it’s beautiful environments and colorful characters, the game was a success with the niche market, and even got some positive mainstream press. Much of that praise came from lead designer George Kamitani’s animation decisions. I’ve always enjoyed his art style as well as his animation techniques. Using multi-sprite bosses where each body…
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Mighty No. 9
After numerous delays, and 3 years of development, Mighty No. 9 has finally released to the public. As you may know, I was extremely excited for this game, and even backed it. It’s been a long time since a new Mega Man game was released, and that’s why the Kickstarter fared so well. Perhaps this very reason is why I enjoyed Mighty No. 9 so much. Truth be told, MN9 hasn’t done so well in reviews. I’d like to talk about why that might be. MN9 is not a bad game, but it is a budget game. One with a very high budget for a an “indy” title. I think…
Handheld Gaming Reviews
