May 5, 2010

Undead Knights

Filed under: Gamer — Tags: , , , — Yukino @ 8:41 PM

Status: This was a pre-release build that I had to send back. Need to buy a copy & finish it.

Purchase Undead Knights from Amazon

Reviewed for GamingAngels – Sept 17, 2009

Repost of review:

Disclaimer: This review is based on the review build that was sent out. The final version of the game may have some slight differences and tweaking of gameplay.

I haven’t played a good hack and slash game in a very long time. So when you tell me about a game that incorporates zombies into it…. well, I’m sold! Tecmo Games has done just that, with a great new game for the PSP – Undead Knights.

The story is a simple one: the King, influenced by his hot and busty young new wife, has decided that the House of Blood (a family who has long serviced the throne) should be wiped out. Little did the King know that his daughter had just married into the family, and the House Leader Romulus, the princess Sylvia and her new husband Remus were slaughtered on their way to share the joyous news with her father. The House of Blood has powerful blood pumping through its veins, and so in death, the three are reborn, commanding forces of the living dead as they systematically destroy those who were behind their murders.

Let’s begin with choosing which character is right for you!

Romulus: The most balanced of the three, Romulus wields a decent blade and has decent recovery time between hits. He is good for the beginner player.

Remus: Speed makes up for his weaker rapier attacks.

Sylvia: Her scythe attacks do heavy damage, but her slow movements leave her vulnerable to attacks.

Characters are chosen at the start of each chapter, so if you find one isn’t working out for you in a particular chapter, you can always chose another when you restart. You will also choose your difficulty level for each chapter, thus allowing yourself to face tougher challenges.

There are 20 chapters in Undead Knights, providing you with tons of zombie minions to clear the way for you. Turning zombies is relatively easy. Hold the Circle button to perform a choke hold on the enemy. As you progress through the game, you will find that some enemies need to be grabbed twice as they become stronger than earlier levels. Another way to turn zombies is by activating a powerful Wrath move that will instantly kill and turn any enemies caught in its wake. Sometimes you need to stun the soldier before you can grab him. Using the Triangle and Square buttons you can attack your enemies and weaken them.

There are several things you can do with your newly turned minions. They can climb on top of each other to build bridges, take down structures for you, and you can throw them at larger enemies to stun and distract them. The most important command you want to give them is to attack the enemies. By stringing together attacks you will increase the amount of White Souls you earn at the end of the chapter.

On the topic of souls, green ones will replenish some health, and red souls will help fill your Wrath bar quicker. Red souls are generally found in giant chests hidden in each level, while green souls comes from destructible vases and other such items.

At the end of each chapter you will be ranked on Souls Earned and Clear Time. The combination of the two ranks will then give you an overall rank and determine the amount of Dark Energy you have earned for customization. Upgrading your character is key in this game. By doing so you will be able to increase your strength and the destructive power of your weapons. Keep in mind that Dark Energy is shared between all three characters, so upgrade accordingly.

As you progress through the game you will also notice that you unlock Revenge Titles at the end of chapters. You can check which Titles you have gained in the Records of Revenge. You can also see your chapter records from this section as well.

Ad-hoc mode will let you hook up with friends for various multiplayer matches. Survival Race, King Battle and Undead Battle. Unfortunately I was not able to try out these mode for the review, but I bet they are a blast.

Fans of metal music will love the soundtrack to the game. There are three metal groups who have music featured in the game: Lightning Swords of Death, Endless Blizzard, and Valdur.

Overall Opinion: As far as hack & slash games go, this one ranks right up there for me. I normally don’t enjoy these titles too much, or at least I haven’t since the original Devil May Cry. (The sequels just weren’t fun for me at all.) It also was another reason to charge up my PSP and use the thing again. There isn’t a whole lot of dialogue in the game, but for what there is, the voice acting was just the right amount of cheesiness. If this was ever to get the movie makeover, it would have to have Bruce Campbell star in it.

I really enjoyed the game, although I did run into a couple instances that I am 100% sure will be fixed for the retail release. You can just pick it up and play a couple levels at a time then come back to it later on or play it through in a sitting. Sylvia was my Anti-Hero of choice, and I loved every minute I spent swinging that enormous scythe around the screen. And while not a big metal fan, I did find that the soundtrack was extremely fitting for the game. I am so glad that I was able to enjoy this title earlier than I originally expected to.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Filed under: Gamer — Tags: , , , , — Yukino @ 8:25 PM

Status: Further than I did in the 360 version, but not completed
Trophies: 12 of 51
DLC Purchased: None

Purchase Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 from Amazon

Reviewed for GamingAngels – Oct 2, 2009

Excerpt from review:

Having played (and been stumped) by the original version of Ninja Gaiden 2 on the 360, I decided to give the Sigma version of the game a try. Traditionally, the Sigma and Black versions of Ninja Gaiden have been near impossible to play difficulty-wise. Yet, knowing this full well, I find myself enjoying the latest Team Ninja had to offer me.

Some people will laugh at me. “Ninja Gaiden isn’t that hard,”  they’ll say. Well, let me tell you, as some one who is not the best and hack & slash-esque titles, even playing this on easy is more difficult than most other games in this genre. Add in the fact there are a couple new bosses and you have one female gamer mashing buttons like crazy trying to take out the Black Spider Ninja Clan who have been pestering Ryu Hayabusa for so long.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is going to require some install room on your PS3, so make sure there is a little more than 3.25 Gigabytes of space open for it. The install itself took my 60gig system about 10 minutes to load to its memory. (Yes, you will still need the game disc in order to play!) While the game puts vitals on your harddrive, you are treated to a voiced over version of the comic that is included in the Special Edition booklet.

We open to see the Black Spider Ninja Clan attack Special Agent Sonia and Muramasa in his shop. Ryu shows his face, and its time to whoop some evil ninja butt. The control layout is very similar to the 360 version. X is your jump function, Square and Triangle are your light and heavy attacks, Circle throws shuriken and is your interaction button (opening chests and using the save and shop totems), with L1 as your block button. As you progress, you will also pick up ranged weapons which you will be using the L2 and R2 buttons to utilize. Wielding your katana and making sure to block, you will quickly find yourself discovering new abilities and techniques, acquiring some easy Trophies for your collection when successfully learning them.

As you chase after the Black Spider Ninja Clan and the elusive Elizebet, not only will you learn new moves, but you will also locate various weapons for Ryu’s arsenal. My personal favourite is the Lunar Staff, but there are many other types of blades you will find. Each weapon can be upgraded at Muramasa shops that have the blue light shining beside them.

You will also find yourself traveling the globe in pursuit of the mysterious Elizebet, who is in possession of the Demon Stone stolen from your village. You will be battling against the Greater Fiends as they transform various locations such as New York City into Fiend Realms, as well as Genshin, leader of the Black Spider Ninja Clan, and others who have sided against you.

Some very powerful female characters are included in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Other than the evil Elizebet, we are treated to a newcomer in the Dragon Shrine-Maiden Momiji, the dangerous yet beautiful Ayane, and Rachel the Demon Hunter. These three women are available to play during Team Missions mode, once they have been unlocked.

Team Missions mode allows you to play over the PSN with another player or team up with an AI partner and reach certain goals. Available partners, weapons and skills are all determined on how far along you are in Story Mode. There are a few simple rules for this mode:

1) Items cannot be accessed during this mode
2) Weapons and Ninpo cannot be switched once the mission has begun
3) If you cannot save your team mate in time, or you both die at the same time, the mission is over and you will have to retry

In comparison to the Xbox 360 version of the game, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is very close to the original in terms of music and graphics to what I recall. I will say, the design team has tightened up the overall look of the game, and the redrawing of the characters to make them look more adult is a big bonus. I much prefer the new look for Ayane as compared to her usual babyfaced DOA (Dead or Alive franchise) style.

I have only had two issues with the game. First off, the game requires you to be signed into your profile in order to play. While I understand that it wants access to your profile so that it can keep the leaderboards updated, it is not to the player’s advantage if there is an internet issue in your neighbourhood which is keeping you from playing your game. As for my second issue, I cannot be for certain it is the fault of the game itself or if it has to do with the latest PS3 firmware update. I have experienced “black outs” on the screen during boss fights and randomly at other points in the game. I will be playing and the game will pause momentarily, hitting a black screen for a few seconds. It does come back, but always throws me off when it does so.

The last is not so much an issue as it is a slight annoyance. When acquiring items such as technique or notebook scrolls off fallen bodies, I’m noticing it takes about 10 seconds after I hit the Proceed button to return to gameplay. Exiting from Muramasa’s Shop also has this problem. I don’t recall so much of a lag with the 360 version of the game.

Overall Opinion:

If I was to choose between the 360 and PS3 versions of this title, I would have to call it a draw. While this is a bit easier than the first version, it also has the drawbacks of requiring an install and the minor lag issue I noted. That said, this is still an incredibly fun game. The blood has been toned down a bit to a more realistic level than NG2 but that really does not detract from the game. I do give this version a slight plus over the 360 edition purely because I have been able to play it for a much longer period of time. I’m sure that has to do with the fact I am finding it easier to play on Acolyte mode. Team Ninja’s Sigma edition is not nearly as impossible as Ninja Gaiden Black (thank goodness!) which makes it less of a chore to go back in and take another go at a boss that stumps me. If you have less patience than I do (and trust me, sometimes I have very little), then this game is not for you.

May 3, 2010

X-Blades

Filed under: Gamer — Tags: , , — Yukino @ 4:41 AM

Status: Did not finish, traded in
Achievements: 4 of 37
Gamerscore: 50/1000
DLC Purchased: None

Purchase X-Blades from Amazon

Reviewed for GamingAngels – July 12, 2009

Repost of review: (Note – This was the old format for reviews which changed in Summer 2009)

Graphics: Once you have a moment to sit back and take in the sites, the detailing in the ruins you progress through is actually quite well done. Ayumi’s overall character design is pretty nice, and her cel-shaded anime moments in the few cut scenes are lovely. But after a while, all the textures being to look the same and it just becomes boring.

Controls: There is not much to the controls of this game. A button mashing free for all. One button for your blades, a trigger for the guns, the other for targeting, and then assigning 4 extra buttons for magic & skills that you can purchase buy trading in collected souls. The difference between X-Blades and other games that use this system is that you can purchase these upgrades right away instead of waiting to find an altar to exchange them at.

Fun Factor: I’m sure once upon a time when everyone sat down at the table, some people had their thinking caps on and thought “Hey! Why not make a really cool game similar to Devil May Cry, but more on the fantasy side of things.” They came up with the thinnest storyline they possibly could, because, well, for some reason they seemed to have stuck it in their heads that they wouldn’t need to worry about having any semblance of story as long as they through in a practically nude buxom blonde. She’d be hacking & slashing her way through oodles of baddies, and whenever she jumped, you could get a great look at her bare behind each time. Slap on $60 price tag on that, market it to horny teenage boys who’s parents don’t bother to look at the ESRB ratings on games and you have easy money.

Female Aspect: X-Blades has you playing as the anime-inspired Ayumi. She fits all the qualifications of the fan-service type character: big boobs, scantily clad in barely there bra top & microshorts. While I admire the character design itself, you can clearly tell that Ayumi was developed with the underage or immature male mentality in mind.

Yukino’s Comments: I was really looking forward to this game. Overlooking the fan-serviceness of Ayumi, she was a strong adventurous female character, kicking some butt with her gunblades and fantastic magical moves. It had promise. An anime version of Heavenly Sword or Tomb Raider, minus the puzzle solving. And while it does offer several enemies and multiple power ups and skills to learn, a la Devil May Cry, I just cannot seem to get past the repetitive nature of the gameplay. There is no direction throughout the levels. No clues or hints as to where to go or what to do. For instance, at one point you are trapped in a room with spikes coming from the floor. There is no camera zoom to a potential hidden switch or even anything you can target in the room. And the story… Well, that just takes forever to get anywhere. Level after level of hack & slash with practically no story progression whatsoever. Some levels are boss battle after boss battle, which is also ridiculous as it takes forever to kill them. They take very little damage even with a direct hit.

Another issue I have is that with what little storyline that had been injected into the game. Ayumi’s voice work is less than stellar; it’s very flat and uninteresting. Supposedly she is a treasure hunter searching for an artifact that will give her fame, power, money – all the usual things that every treasure hunter based game seem to have in common. One day, while selling another artifact she had found, she just happens to find a funny blocky artifact that just happens to match one she for some reason is keeping in her pocket but never sold. A door unlocks, she walks in, slashes some enemies, touches an orb which gets her goopy, fights a boss called The Light, and that’s it for story for a very, very, very long time. If you want to keep someone interested in a game, you need to let them know they are slashing their way through all these enemies and bosses for some reason. That reason just takes too long to get to, and make X-Blades lose it’s appeal very quickly.

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