Just got this today, will try and get a review up soon….

There are a few games coming out this year that have piqued my interest. Here is some of the games coming out this year (hopefully not pushed back) that I might look at getting…

Hitman: Absolution. With the nun trailer just dropping today, I thought it would be a good time to mention this game. I have always liked the series and this one looks like it could be the best yet. You play as Agent 47 and travel around the world completing assassination missions. It is usually best to avoid combat and sneak around, getting to know the environment and your target’s actions. There are multiple ways to kill the target, so half the fun is figuring out different paths to take. Look for the stylish game towards the end of the year.

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. An updated version of Virtua Fighter 5, this fighting game has great looking graphics, a diverse cast of classic characters and incredibly deep gameplay. I like this series and can’t wait to play this. It comes out next week so I won’t have to wait too much longer. Go Sega!

Lollipop Chainsaw. This game looks hilarious and very Japanese. You play as a chainsaw wielding high school girl who gets down and dirty with a lot of zombies. The script looks hilarious and there are a lot of rainbows, but combat looks a bit repetitive so I’m still being a little weary of this game. I don’t think it will knock the queen of action off her throne (Bayonetta). This game comes out next month.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors. I love the One Piece anime. It’s just so colourful and crazy and never takes itself too seriously. This game looks like it will continue this theme with graphics that look just like the anime. The game looks like Dynasty Warriors set in the One Piece world. That means going around bland, boring stages fighting 50 guys per room. And do you know what? Because it’s One Piece, I’m in love! I don’t care that it’s going to be super repetitive. I don’t care that the game will be linear with no branching story lines. Because it’s One Piece! So excited for this one. To play a game based on my favourite anime, that’s bananas. Don’t know when this one is coming, but it is!

Pokemon Black/White 2. The first ever sequel in the Pokemon series. While I’m not expecting this game to blow my mind with amazing new graphics and gameplay features, I am expecting a solid and comfortable adventure through the Pokemon world we all love. These games are like a comfortable blanket, you know what you’re getting and don’t mind. Not sure if I will actually get this game but maybe one day. Not sure when it drops.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. An updated version of the Playstation 1 game, I’m really hoping this gets localised for the Western world. I love the Persona series and this game has faster loading times, better graphics and extra story elements, makes it a must own to complete the Persona 2 story. Fingers crossed we hear news about it at the upcoming E3.

Metal Gear Revengeance. I’m pretty sure this game will come out sometime this year. A new take on the Metal Gear universe, can’t wait, looks really good, check out the trailer further down the page.

There are bound to be many more games, keep an eye out for me.

SEGAGAGA (Azel, Vyse, Akira and Orta)

Reviewing…

University has taken over my life so I’ve hardly had time to check out any games, but in a few weeks I will try and get some more reviews up.

I’ve been waiting for a price drop on SFXT for a while now and praise Nigella, because it has finally happened. I am a big fan of Tekken and was very excited when I first heard the news about the cross-over of these two Japanese fighting game icons.

The game is gorgeous to look at. The graphics are a slight step up from Street Fighter 4 and show a lot of detail in the character designs. The Tekken characters look great and I’m also excited to see the how the Street Fighter characters look in the inevitable Tekken x Street Fighter, where they will more than likely be in 3D.

While I don’t normally play Street Fighter games because the combo system is a little intimidating, I have a couple of the games and do enjoy and respect what they have done for the fighting game genre. Combos in this game are easy to pull off and even the most basic move looks flashy and vibrant. The game is enjoyable and can be picked up and played in short bursts for maximum fun. Getting together with a group of friends or playing online is a blast.

The music is standard for the genre and features lots of upbeat pumping music to bust out to. The story is mediocre but I always appreciate when fighting games at least try and add story elements as it helps me understand a bit more about the characters and their motivations. 

Mashing up two of the biggest games in fighting is a great idea and I think the developers have pulled it off. The game is accessible for people of all skill level, it’s nice to look and listen to and you can finally decide who is better, Ryu or Jin. 

(I have been so busy with uni assignments I haven’t reviewed a game in a while. I have been waiting for new games to arrive in the mail. I’ve had this game since it first came out but didn’t really warm to it at first. However coming back to it I have had another look. Here’s what I think of it…)

The World Ends with You has become somewhat of a cult classic for the Nintendo DS. People feel very strongly about it, embracing it for its modern take on the JRPG and others who can’t stand it’s battle system that does, I admit, take some time to get the hang of.

However, turning this game off because you can’t be bothered learning how the intricacies of the battle system work, ensures you miss out on an incredible game that reminds me a lot of Jet Set Radio on Dreamcast.

The game is set in the Tokyo suburb of Shibuya. Having been there myself I can say the game does a fantastic job of getting the feel of Tokyo right. Many of the landmarks, shops and areas in the game are recognisable and this lends the game a feeling of realism. You play as Neku, a skinny boy with big headphones that wakes up in the middle of Shibuya crossing with no memory of how he got there. What follows is a very interesting and addictive story that involves themes of friendship, love, loss and being alone in the crazy world of Japan. I was involved throughout the whole story and always pushed ahead to find out the next bit of information. The story is very good and has a nice number of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.

The battle system can be complicated to say the least. Battles play out on both screens of the DS in real time. You control Neku with the stylus on the bottom screen and his partner with the d-pad on the top screen, inputting different combinations to create different attacks for the partner. It can take a while to get accustomed to this but soon battles become very fun and enjoyable. There are no random battles, you pick and choose which battles you would like to enter and fight a diverse group of enemies. However, towards the end of the game mini boss battles are thrown at you too many times and this really harms the flow of the game towards the end.

The music is an amazing array of different genres that create a great listen throughout the game. The soundtrack features heavily on my iPod at the moment. It ranges from hip-hop to J-Pop and while some songs should get annoying, they never do. They only add to the feel and tone of the game. It captures something that is very Japanese and the only other games I can think of that do this are Okami and Jet Set Radio.

The game can get very deep at times with the characters discussing some pretty heavy topics and while there is a lot of story it’s always interesting. As this is Shibuya style is very important and each area of the game has conditions for which brand is king. You can buy clothes that enhance your abilities, but where the wrong threads in the wrong area and you could be in trouble by having your attack greatly lowered.

The game is a diverse and eclectic mix of different conventions that probably shouldn’t work together but do, it’s like they squeezed a chunk of the real Shibuya into a tiny DS cartridge. It’s a wild game that shows JRPG’s aren’t dead and that no one makes games like the Japanese do.

Nippon Virtual x Fashion

Capcoms answer to Zelda. Okami is similar to Link’s adventures but very much its own game. You play as a white wolf with the power to effect the world around you with an instrument called a Celestial Brush. This allows you to paint different symbols that affect the world in various ways. This leads of a number of light puzzles that must be solved using different brush strokes.

Enemies are designed amazingly and each new encounter is exciting. Seeing what the new enemy looks like and figuring out how to defeat it remains fun right up to the end of the game.

I am always interested in games with a unique art style and Okami definitely has one. The world is a living, moving, breathing Japanese watercolour painting. Screenshots do not do the game justice. It’s stunningly beautiful at times. The characters all have personality, the environments are fun to explore and the world as a whole is very cohesive.

If I have one big complaint with Okami it’s that it’s just too long. Five to ten hours shaved off of its length would have made it near perfect. A small complaint is the digging mini games that are boring and frustrating. However these complaints are minor. Okami is a wonderful game that should be played by all. It’s steeped in Japanese mythology and interesting for a western gamer like myself to learn about.

The ending of the game is beautiful and worth the hours you put in to reach it.

As usual there is a lot of things this review hasn’t touched on, just know Okami is a great game and should be played just to see the amazing graphics.

The Monkey Island series has entertained me with every game released and while I didn’t quite enjoy the most recent entry in the series, the Tales of Monkey Island, as much as the other games, it’s still an entertaining entry.

However, the third game in the series is one of the pinnacles of adventure games. It’s a near perfect mix of puzzles, story and humour supported by fantastic and colourful cartoon graphics.

The Monkey Island series follows the miss-adventures of Guybrush Threepwood as he tried to become “a mighty pirate”. Along the way he is joined by his love interest Elaine, who is a very underappreciated female character in gaming. She is strong willed and doesn’t get pushed around by men while still having a soft side to her. Guybrush also ends up battling his nemesis in each of the games, the evil undead zombie pirate Le Chuck.

The series has always been known for its hilariously written dialogue but The Curse of Monkey Island is extremely funny. I laughed out loud constantly and it really adds to the overall enjoyment of the game.

The graphics of the game are hand drawn with a huge amount of detail. The characters and environments all have personality and are colourful and varied. It’s a far cry from the browns and greys of today’s games.

The game is filled with people to talk to, items to use and puzzles to solve. The game at times can be quite challenging and I must confess I did look at a walkthrough a few times. While some of the puzzles are a bit obtuse, most of them actually work quite well. One great point is that a lot of the items are used with something in the room they’re in. This eliminates some of the frustration over trying to solve the puzzles.

I replay this game once a year, while not perfect (some of the puzzles can be a bit random) it is very enjoyable with a funny and well developed cast of characters. I love adventuring with Guybrush.