Yes, this is my first two parter and it's a game that well deserves this treatment. I;ve talked a lot about Rune Factory, so let me finally explain why I like ti so much. This first part will explain farming, combat, story. Without further adieu, Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny!
So Rune Factory starts off with your guy Aiden (you can custom name him) waking up and having amnesia about where he's from and how he got here. You realize your friend whos a girl (im sorry i have to say that) is inside you! Her soul is trapped inside your body, but she can still talk to you and other villages...someway. "Here" I mentioned previously is the island of Fenith, where a humble group of village folk reside, carrying out their daily lives, whether it be blacksmithing, bartering, running a church or just plain exploring. Odette, the village innkeeper, welcomes you to th island and gives you a place to stay. You learn the basics of living your life, when suddenly a rock golem sprouts from the side of the isalnd, and is now your companion, who you can ride the seas with and explore other islands. You defeat some dungeons, find out these orb..things, the local dragon on the finally leaves, lays an egg, it hatches, you name it, you defeat all 4 deungeons, you fight the big boss, the girl inside you leaves, you name her, games over. Yeah, as you can tell the over-arching story is kinda weak and I didn't really care for it. But whatever, noone really cares about that stuff anyways, lets get to the good part, living out your life!
The great thing about Rune Factory is you can do whatever you like and live out your life freely. Want to explore dungeons, level uo your weapons and advance the story? Sure can! Want to simply farm, cook and interact with villagers all day? You can do that too! It gives you a great amount of choice in this aspect, so some days you can chill out, while others can be spent fighting and leveling up. Which brings me to the 3 main aspects of Rune Factory: Farming, Dungeon Crawling, Sea Exploring, and Village Interaction. I'll talk about the first three in this part.
Farming is what it sounds like-you farm. Your golem has a teleporter to bring you to the special farm-islands. Here you can use a spirit wand to plant sprouts in certain plots. Here your monsters (which I will explain in a sec) will grow those plants, and eventually they will grow into fruits, vegetabkesm or even trees, depending on which monster you have out, as certain monsters only plant certain things. In past Rune Factory games, farming as a lot more direct, having you water each plant directly and harvest them yourself. Now the monsters do literally everything, and all you have to do is pick up your plants in the mailbox on each island. Plants and harvest is used as the main source of income in the game, as well as sources for ingredients for cooking. Overall, I liked this aspect. It was a lot less direct, which made it a bit less satisfying, but the money I got was fantastic and I eventually had over $200,000, which is about 100,000 more than id ever need. This allowed me to explore other aspects of the game I wouldn't have, due to the fact taht i'd be focused on farming. It's alright, but a lot of fans didn't like this focus away from the farming.
Combat has a huge focus in this game. Not only is it the only way too progress the story, minus certain instances, but it also got the most attention in development and has been the thing fleshed out the most from previous Rune Factory games. It's a lot more dynamic and up close, featuring combos, many different weapons to speak of and 4 dungeons, but each being incredibly long, with a tough boss fight at the end. You can get high level weapons by crafting them, or gaining them through special quests. Sometimes the items through quests can be absolutely DEVASTATING, and some rods I got early on I used throughout the entire game. The dungeons usually contain mini-puzzles for each floor, and you can warp to any floor from the dungeon entrance, which is nice. Monsters can be recruited for the farming I mentioned earlier, and since each monster has it's own special ability, experimentation is required. Overall combat feels fun and satsfying, and it's dissappointing that it's probably never going to be this fleshed out again.
Amd finally, Sea Exploration. Using your golem, you can travel around a humonour sea, and lift up islands out from the bottom of the ocean. Some islands have special story purposes, but others are merely there as mob spanwers for grinding, and maybe a hidden treasure chest or two. This is actually a really cool concept, as you can easily get lost finding the huge amounts of islands scattered across a vast ocean. It does give a very literal feeling of adverturing aqnd exploring uncharted territory. You can even fight with your golems in awesome sea battles with sea monsters. Overall it provides a great way to explore it's world, while simultaneously creating a new story aspect and an easy way to acess your farms and monster barn.
So what did I like about these aspects? Well, a lot actually. First off the graphics in this game are excellent. Loading times have been drastically reduced, so it all feels very smooth and fluid. Environments, while not terribly detailed, are great to look at and the changes between seasons is very nice to look at. Character designs are also great, getting a mix of cute and perky girls, to rough and tough fishermen. It does tend to lag a bit in dungeons when multiple enemies are on at one time, but attacks are really flashy and full of visual flare, so it makes up for it in the long run. The vastness of the sea ia also a spectacle, and makes you feel very small, as you should.
I reall enjoyed the farming, dungeon crawling, and exploring. Each one I feel were improved and fleshed out for the better (maybe not the farming) and are aspects I hope Yoshifumi (creator of series) keeps in mind when creating the next Rune Factory Games. Theres also cooking, crafting and forging, all skills that can be leveled up in yoiur house by use of various apliances. This adds a whole nother level of depth to the game and just adds replayability. Mini features like being able to see where people are on the map and being able to jumpo GREATLY add to the experience, and overall there's never really a dull moment in Tides. There's always something to do, and I love it for it.
Check bak in Part where I talk about eh good stuff, dating aspects! Juicy!
Thursday, 4 April 2013
FIMP: Gurren Lagann (Anime)
A new segment, a new anime, a new thing to complain and whine about. Just another day at John's Super Blog.
Let me just clarify: Gurren Lagann is a good show. It has good action, and its entertaining. I'm going to be complaining about it a lot in a second, so just know that despite it all, it's still okay. But it has it has it's fair share of problems, one of which is unforgivable and unfortunately typical for certain anime of this type. I'm only 8 episodes in out of 27, so bear that in mind while reading. Alright I've beaten around the bush long enough, let me start talking.
Gurren Lagann is a mecha anime set in the future, where humans have been driven underground by evil aliens in gunmens (mechs) that have conquered earth and turned it into a desolate wasteland. Or at least I'm pretty sure thats what it is, Im not too sure on the setting and the villian here, so I'll just do my best. Cut to Kamina and Simon, 2 antsy villagers wanting to explore the world above the surface. A gunmen crashes into their village whilst fighting a teenager girl sharpshooter from above, a pair of bre-I mean Yoko. After that they steal the gunmen, get introduced to her village and set off to find the gunmen headquarters and put a stop to it. Overarching story is okay, the typical set off on an adventure with 3-4 characters thing, but I've always liked that so the overarching story was actually pretty good. Setting's pretty boring though. Like deserts? Thats all it is. Don't like deserts? Well too bad.
So in the 8 episodes I've watched they've fought a gunmen every episode, which sounds great "awww yeah, robot fighting action!" but its very underwhelming. The fights dont seem dynamic in the slightest, and I dont feel like the characters are truly fighting, merely advancing the story. Many times gunmen or even our heroes just sit there and take hits from the enemy, without the defense we all know they have. I know, I know, this is to make the fight not seem one sided, and the animation is limited because of how much detail they have to put into the mechs. But still, a lot of humans in One Piece are pretty detailed, and they had fantastic fights! because of this all fights are merely "meh" and only serve as visual entertainment for their crazy attacks and graphics. I mean, yeah, they're fun to see, but never engage you like other shows and fights do, so you end up feeling very disconnected from it all/ Sucks from a show thats all about fighting, doesn't it?
The characters are hit and miss so far. Kamina was AMAZING as a lead. He's strong, confident, cocky, yet oblivious to everything as all hell. Always wanting to be a man about everything and never back down, Kamina's spirit really made you excited for each battle, and and he was just plain fun to watch. Simons shy and nerdy, but great in a pinch, which translates to boring. Yoko is almost too perfect, having great hair, body, skills, and just about everything. She's hugely popular on the internet, and I'm pretty sure why. She's literally every guy's dream girl, which makes her extremely unappealing as all I can see is a pair of breasts with a mouth. Other side characters are so underdeveloped and ignored they're not even worth mentioning. The enemy, as little as I've seen from them, has been alright, but nothing special.
So seems like am pretty average show so far, right? Well no, it screwed up. Big time. IT KILLED OFF KAMINA, THE MAIN CHARACTER, IN THE 8TH EPISODE. THEY KILLED OFF LITERALLY, THE ONLY THING THIS SHOW HAD GOING FOR IT. What the hell guys?!?!? They were a big fight with one of the gunmen generals, then he just takes like, 10 hits for no reason, just sitting there taking it, they finish off the enemy with one attack, and hes dead. What. The. Hell. His personality was literally the only thing that kept me from being completely and utterly BORED from this show. It shows such arrogance to kill off someone they know the audience likes, and I hate them for it. No doubt this is going to lead to Simon becoming stronger for the sake of his friend, Yoko and Simon finally being able to have a relationship, probably a time skip, and whatever. But I don't like pussy Simon! I like Kamina! Everybody likes Kamina! Ugh, this pisses me off so much. The worse part is, in an earlier scene Yoko said she had his back, and was covering him for a while from other mechs. Uhm, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, YOKO? The way he stupidly died just to keep the story going infuriates me.
So what do we have left? Boring mech fights with no Kamina, boring characters with no Kamina, boring setting with no Kamina, and a boring SHOW with no Kamina. Yipee. I look forward to more perversion on Yoko and side characters getting no development. Sounds like fun. Oh, and mech battles that are about dynamic as a sloth fighting another sloth? Count me in! Btw a random complaint but they really need to turn on the lights in this show. It's so dark, even when it's daylight you could mistake it for overcast. No doubt a way to save money by not having cleaner lines, but it really distracts you from the experience.
But it's not all bad. The first 2 episodes were fantastic, offering a great introduction into the surface world, and had one scene where they finally burst upwards that still gives me goosebumps when I watch it. Mech designs are pretty creative, same going for the attacks, and the opening and ending themes have been awesome. I guess this means the show isn't afraid to do anything risky like this, so unpredictability may be one of it's better points. I'm still looking forward, curious to see how they handle this and how the characters change because of it. But for now, I friggin hate Gurren Lagann, and want my Kamina back!!
Next Post: Ur & UA: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (Part 1)
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Let me just clarify: Gurren Lagann is a good show. It has good action, and its entertaining. I'm going to be complaining about it a lot in a second, so just know that despite it all, it's still okay. But it has it has it's fair share of problems, one of which is unforgivable and unfortunately typical for certain anime of this type. I'm only 8 episodes in out of 27, so bear that in mind while reading. Alright I've beaten around the bush long enough, let me start talking.
Gurren Lagann is a mecha anime set in the future, where humans have been driven underground by evil aliens in gunmens (mechs) that have conquered earth and turned it into a desolate wasteland. Or at least I'm pretty sure thats what it is, Im not too sure on the setting and the villian here, so I'll just do my best. Cut to Kamina and Simon, 2 antsy villagers wanting to explore the world above the surface. A gunmen crashes into their village whilst fighting a teenager girl sharpshooter from above, a pair of bre-I mean Yoko. After that they steal the gunmen, get introduced to her village and set off to find the gunmen headquarters and put a stop to it. Overarching story is okay, the typical set off on an adventure with 3-4 characters thing, but I've always liked that so the overarching story was actually pretty good. Setting's pretty boring though. Like deserts? Thats all it is. Don't like deserts? Well too bad.
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| Mech designs are good |
The characters are hit and miss so far. Kamina was AMAZING as a lead. He's strong, confident, cocky, yet oblivious to everything as all hell. Always wanting to be a man about everything and never back down, Kamina's spirit really made you excited for each battle, and and he was just plain fun to watch. Simons shy and nerdy, but great in a pinch, which translates to boring. Yoko is almost too perfect, having great hair, body, skills, and just about everything. She's hugely popular on the internet, and I'm pretty sure why. She's literally every guy's dream girl, which makes her extremely unappealing as all I can see is a pair of breasts with a mouth. Other side characters are so underdeveloped and ignored they're not even worth mentioning. The enemy, as little as I've seen from them, has been alright, but nothing special.
So seems like am pretty average show so far, right? Well no, it screwed up. Big time. IT KILLED OFF KAMINA, THE MAIN CHARACTER, IN THE 8TH EPISODE. THEY KILLED OFF LITERALLY, THE ONLY THING THIS SHOW HAD GOING FOR IT. What the hell guys?!?!? They were a big fight with one of the gunmen generals, then he just takes like, 10 hits for no reason, just sitting there taking it, they finish off the enemy with one attack, and hes dead. What. The. Hell. His personality was literally the only thing that kept me from being completely and utterly BORED from this show. It shows such arrogance to kill off someone they know the audience likes, and I hate them for it. No doubt this is going to lead to Simon becoming stronger for the sake of his friend, Yoko and Simon finally being able to have a relationship, probably a time skip, and whatever. But I don't like pussy Simon! I like Kamina! Everybody likes Kamina! Ugh, this pisses me off so much. The worse part is, in an earlier scene Yoko said she had his back, and was covering him for a while from other mechs. Uhm, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, YOKO? The way he stupidly died just to keep the story going infuriates me.
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| RIP Kamina |
But it's not all bad. The first 2 episodes were fantastic, offering a great introduction into the surface world, and had one scene where they finally burst upwards that still gives me goosebumps when I watch it. Mech designs are pretty creative, same going for the attacks, and the opening and ending themes have been awesome. I guess this means the show isn't afraid to do anything risky like this, so unpredictability may be one of it's better points. I'm still looking forward, curious to see how they handle this and how the characters change because of it. But for now, I friggin hate Gurren Lagann, and want my Kamina back!!
Next Post: Ur & UA: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (Part 1)
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
WOM: Nintendo for E3 2013
So we start off the non-PC reviews with a topic that has been a bit of a big one these days. Now, the WiiU has launched and has been settling in to the gaming community, but for January and February there was absolutely no games coming out, and seemingly from April to around June, nothing is really coming out for the system.Now this has been causing people to say the usual "OH MEH GERD, DER WII U IS DERMED! PS4 AND OVERPRICED GAMES FTW!" and it's not fun talking about these people so I'm going to make this as quick as possible.
But to be quite honest, I'm a little dissappointed myself. I mean, it's true, there were no WiiU games from January to March. Thats kinda sad. When everyone else are getting Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite and other AAA games, we arent really getting anything. Or rather we weren't, as Lego City and Monster Hunter came and sprung some life into the system. But now we have to wait again, as Nintendo's big guns aren't gunna come out or be heard from until E3 this year. Since third party developers are scared to develop for WiiU, Nintendo needs these games to attract audiences, push systems and earn developer faith.
But hope is not lost and I'll tell you why. First off, remember that Nintendo Direct WiiU conference? Yeah, that still happened. We still have games like Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, and the absolutely PHENOMENAL looking Monolith Soft game. People seemed to have forgotten these games, but theyre still coming. And when they do, theyll boost sales so high you wont be able to see them.
Why am i so confident in that? Its because its already happenned. monster Hunter 3 Ultimate boosted sales of WiiUs by 150% in NA, and 300% in Europe. Damn. For a game that is essentially an expansion to a Wii game from 2010, thats pretty damn good. If something like that can boost sales, Bayonetta 2 should flock fans of all shapes and sizes. Nintendo has been pressured to price-cut the system, but Nintendo have stated countless times that GAMES will sell units,not a price drop. Obviously, they are right.
Oh yeah, we still have E3 to talk about. Well if a Monster Hunter game and Bayonetta 2 will increase sales, how about a new 3D Mario and a Mario Kart? How about a Windwaker HD? How about Monolith Softs new game? All these have been confirmed for E3 and I'm excited as hell. These games are gunna bust consumer's wallets and will no doubt rocket WiiU's sales. A new mario kart alone would help, but the newest 3D Mario for Nintendo's new console? The last one was frickin Mario Galaxy! Everyone is excited to see what Nintendo has in store for their 3D plumber. Lets hope its new and at least somewhat innovative (please?). And when you consider the fa ct that they have had months with no game releases and pure time to work on games, I think we can expect some very high quality titles, as well as some surprises, coming at E3 this year.
So now we wait. Right now we may be missing Tomb raider, Bioshock Infinite may slip through our fingers, but do not give up hope. If Nintendo is best at one thing, it's rising to the challenge to critisism and doubt. they did it with the Wii, they'll do it now. I believe, and I will wait. Viva Nintendo.
Next Post: FIMP: Gurren Lagann
But to be quite honest, I'm a little dissappointed myself. I mean, it's true, there were no WiiU games from January to March. Thats kinda sad. When everyone else are getting Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite and other AAA games, we arent really getting anything. Or rather we weren't, as Lego City and Monster Hunter came and sprung some life into the system. But now we have to wait again, as Nintendo's big guns aren't gunna come out or be heard from until E3 this year. Since third party developers are scared to develop for WiiU, Nintendo needs these games to attract audiences, push systems and earn developer faith.
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| Seriously, this game looks amazing. |
Why am i so confident in that? Its because its already happenned. monster Hunter 3 Ultimate boosted sales of WiiUs by 150% in NA, and 300% in Europe. Damn. For a game that is essentially an expansion to a Wii game from 2010, thats pretty damn good. If something like that can boost sales, Bayonetta 2 should flock fans of all shapes and sizes. Nintendo has been pressured to price-cut the system, but Nintendo have stated countless times that GAMES will sell units,not a price drop. Obviously, they are right.
Oh yeah, we still have E3 to talk about. Well if a Monster Hunter game and Bayonetta 2 will increase sales, how about a new 3D Mario and a Mario Kart? How about a Windwaker HD? How about Monolith Softs new game? All these have been confirmed for E3 and I'm excited as hell. These games are gunna bust consumer's wallets and will no doubt rocket WiiU's sales. A new mario kart alone would help, but the newest 3D Mario for Nintendo's new console? The last one was frickin Mario Galaxy! Everyone is excited to see what Nintendo has in store for their 3D plumber. Lets hope its new and at least somewhat innovative (please?). And when you consider the fa ct that they have had months with no game releases and pure time to work on games, I think we can expect some very high quality titles, as well as some surprises, coming at E3 this year.
So now we wait. Right now we may be missing Tomb raider, Bioshock Infinite may slip through our fingers, but do not give up hope. If Nintendo is best at one thing, it's rising to the challenge to critisism and doubt. they did it with the Wii, they'll do it now. I believe, and I will wait. Viva Nintendo.
Next Post: FIMP: Gurren Lagann
Thursday, 21 March 2013
*PC Blowout Finale* Aion Ascension
And finally we come to the MMO I am currently playing, Aion Ascension. I was able to find this one researching MMOs with deep character customization, after some dissapointment found in Dragon Nest. How will this one fair?
Very well actually. First off the presentation is a huge change for me and it's really cool to look. Gone are the old cartoony characters and now I am finally playing with full grown humans. Each character model has a nice shone to it, and environments are detailed and pretty nice to look at. My computer unfortunately is unable to handle this, so I had to go to medium quality becuase the lag was too much. Still, even on medium it retains some shine and overall looks great. Animations featuring birds flying you across the map to reach a waypoint are beautiful to look at and the worlds in this game are absolutely humongous, with certain scenaries being a feast for the eyes in terms of scope. In order to aptly judge this game, I will tell you about my experience when first starting.
You start by creating your character based on 2 races. Ones more human like, while the other is more dark elvish. Both sides are good, so theres replayability to try out the other class. You can pick from 4 classes: Warrior, Scout, Sorcerer or Priest. You are greeeted with a TON of cutsomization features, and it was a breath of fresh air that really got me attached to my character. You are then sent to a rn down looking field, where you learn the basics of combat and accepting and carrying out quests. It starts off REALLY slow at first, giving very little skills to play with and very little options to choose from. But progress through the fields and get you first town, which is...still boring. Not much to do and quests are much of the same. Go to a forest, do some quests, go to a mine, do some quests, it gets pretty boring. Certain cutscenes though take you to your past, and you get to see your former self, who you have long forgetten of due to amnesia, flying through an intense battlefield as air combat surrounds you, warriors cheering as you enter in. This is great buildup and allows for story progression outside of blocks of text. Keeping that with you, you do mondane quests, slowly building up your character. The limited item options are starting to get more apparent and you kind of want to break out of your shell. Finally, when you hit level 10, you pick your division in your class you wish to follow (ex in the scout class, you can either be a ranger using bows or an assasin using dual blades), and they send you off to the Sanctum. This is where the fun begins.
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| Flying around the gorgeous vista |
So that was the beginning of the game, but now that I'm more experienced, how is the game? Well its still pretty damn good. Certain areas allow for free flying and its one of the best features in the game. The environments are gigantic and offer great sceneries and perspectives. Quests overlap each other so it's not the worst grinding in the world, and the extra things to do make this game. The amount of side projects you can do with your character is awesome. There are certain skills you can build up like handicrafting, alchemy, construction and cooking, which allows for creation of useful items and equipments, without the need to buy them from the trade broker. At lvl 21 you get a free studio apartment, and the cozyness and comfort here is awesome, and if you level up your construction skill you can make your own furniture as well! You could create your own legion and have your own personal cape and emblem, which is pretty awesome, and there are a variety of costume shops which allow you, if you have the cash, to mix and match with different colours and styles. This is all so amazing that whenever combat gets to
o over whelming and frustrating, theres always something to do other than combat to cool you down and better prepare you for going out again.
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| Sanctum in all its glory |
But what didn't I like? Well unfortunately there are some issues. Mainly some combat areas of the game can be downright AWFUL! One place in particular forced you to kill a crap ton of extremely hard enemies, whilst they constantly patrol around and join in on the beatdown when they see you fighting. For me as a Ranger, with weaker armour, if one other enemy joined in I was screwed. Running away from enemies is hard enough as it is, and yet the make it so easy for enemies to lay the beatdown on you. Oh did I not mention, THIS GAME IS HARD AS HELL! For any enemy on your level or even one below, you need to utilize all your skills to take them down. This makes grinding extremely annoying as you can't just mow down enemies, each one needs to be taken down efficiently and quickly, which would be fine, but when you get quests saying to kill 15 enemies, it can be absolutely dreadful. The autoroute in this game is also non-existent. Seriously, why didn't they put an autoroute in this game? The game has really wide areas, how hard could it be to program your character to move around a couple objects? Eden did it, this game can too. There is an auto run option where he walks without you having to hold it down, but it causes more toruble than its worth by leading you into enemies and it should friggin stop when I enter into combat. Who would need to autorun in combat? Some quests can be VERY cryptic to the point where I had to look them up online, and the community for this game sucks. Everyone opens shops selling items for way more than on the marketplace, and the couple times I socialized with people they were rude, snobby, and overall people I don't want to socialize with or make a legion with. Also costumes can't be put over armour, they REPLACE armour. This is bad as you lose a TON of defense and a lot of the armour sets in this game look like TRASH!
So with all that, this game should be terrible, right? Well no, its actually fantastic. Whenever any of these issues are bothering me, whether it be me dying cheaply by gang-banging enemies, quests being too cryptic or grindy, or even dying having way too many penalites, I take a step back from combat, prepare and ready myself, buying items, crafting equipment, and I go back in ready and willing. The game offers so much to do its not even funny, and everything is presented elegantly and you really feel like youre part of a greater community of people. And there are some good combat areas too. I actually loved the Odium mines, the Verteron Observatory and others alike. The story cutscenes in this game help motivate you and tell you what you are fighting for, and right now, for the first time in an MMO, I know what Im friggin fighting for. Thats amazing. Pair this with fantastic customization options, replay value, the best hub world Ive seen so far in an MMO, addicitive activities and wondeful graphics and environments, and you got yourself an MMO ill be playing for a LONG time. Aion Ascension earns a 9/10 with a recommendation of Download It! This is a great place to start for MMOs and offers a fantatsic free-to-play experience.
Next Post: WOM: Nintendo for E3 2013
*I also just want to quickly say Ill be adding in another segment to my blog: FIMP, which is my First Impressions and Opinions and a huge game I've just started. Also all the picture you saw in this review are mine I've taken from the game, and I will be doing this for now for all PC games I review or talk about.*
*PC Blowout* Dragon Nest
After Eden I went searching for a new MMORPG to get myself sucked into. After some failed attempts in Mabinogi* and others alike, I looked for the best MMORPG of 2013. What I found, was Dragon Nest.
DN is a real time combat rpg, lending itself as more of an action game than your traditional MMO. Attacks are very dynamic and nearly every one can have u move while attacking. It actually feels a lot like a beat em up in the style of Devil May Cry or God of War, as you slash down huge enemies and tens of small enemies. The action here is incredibly smooth and is by far the driving point of this game. Battles are now a lot more dynamic and action packed, lending itself more to timely dodges and strafing rather than spamming a certain skill while standing still. That will get you killed in this game. This takes out some of the grindy aspect of killing a lot of monsters, as you can now take out ten enemies with a well placed shot. By far one of the best combat systems Ive seen in any PC game.
Graphics wise, this game is absolutely GORGEOUS! Enviornments are sprawling with details, vision glare for up close and far away objects, fully rendered cutscenes, grass movement in the wind, oh my god I could go on! The games style is phenomenal and is another driving force of the game. Seeing what kind of dgn layout they have planned for you next can be really exciting. Ill get into the varying types of dgns a bit later, but towns all look gorgeous and the attention to detail is commendable by any means. While there was some lag when lots of enemies came on screen, my computer isnt the greatest so I wont hold that to it.
Story wise its actually not that bad! Who'd have thunk someone like me who skips through most MMO stories would actually like this one. Cutscenes are frequent to progress plot and they do so much of a better job than any amount of text too. I actually knew what I was fighting for and who I was trying to save. Thats pretty awesome. English voiceovers are all throughout the game, giving characters an actual feel to them, with their own accents, dialects and emotions. Never have I seen so much polish towards characters and story in an MMO.
In terms of menu placement, UI and others, it handles itself very well. The UI is relatively easy to navigate, and even though your mouse usually directs the camera constantly, a little hit of the ctrl button will allow you to interact with the options and overall works great. Though some features are handled better than others, this is a very easy to learn system. The auto route in this game kinda sucks though. You'll constantly get stuck on walls and it's unreliable at best. Which brings me to its transportation system. Eden was set up with a main overworld with small enemies for sidequests, and DGNs to go into for larger quests and boss fights. This worked well as sidequests could be accomplished easily and quickly, while major quests are easy to stack and prepare for. In Dragon Nest, they split it up a lot more. One area is your town, for accpeting quests and talking to NPCs. One are houses the entrances to each DGN, with no enemies in them. And finally are the DGNs, which house all the enemies youll need to face. This to me is kind of sloppy. For smaller quests youll need to dedicate yourself to playing through an entire dgn, just for a couple enemies. It encourages stacking of quests for larger trips, but if you miss one youll have to do the whole dgn again just for the one you miss. Also NPCs like to send you back from where you came! "Finish a quest in the mines? Great! Heres another quest in the mines! You just went there? Too bad!" It gets frustrating. Thank god the dgns themselves are always really awesome. Each have their own theme to them, feature either an abandoned library, to a dark, nightmarish farmland, to a deserted island ravaged with pirates. This mixes things up and when your not going to the same dgn over and over again, it can actually be really enjoyable.
So what didn't I like? Well, a little ...tiny...small...aspect...THE CLASSES ARE GENDER LOCKED! WHAT?!? Want to play as an archer? Well youre a female, no questions asked! Why would they do this? This completely sucks any immersion I had into the game. But hey, if I can make her at least look cool, it shouldnt be a problem right? Well the customization in this game is a joke. 4 types of hairstyles, 4 colours (all very similar) and 4 eye clours. Thats it. No facial features, no expressions, its all the same. Everyone playing this game looks like a clone and its terrible at making you feel unique. Also, this game is rather...ecchi. What I mean is it has a lot of fanservice to it that sticks out like a sore thumb. Some girl NPCs will literally lift up their skirts whenever you talk to them. And yes, you can see their underwear. That's gross. I also didn't like the limited amount of costumes they gave me, all parading my girl's body around. This sucks any connection I have with some of the characters, including my own, and I can only see them as tools for perverts to express themselves. And finally, theres no community. I apparently picked a server to build my character on that gets no action, as I could barely ever see people walking around and doing their own thing. Chat is very rare to see and I kinda felt lonely playing through it. Theres marketplaces to list items and participate in arenas, but because of my server noone would use these, making them utterly pointless. When a quest would come up requiring or recommending a group, I have no choise but to turn it down or go it alone. Thats just....sad.
But overall, Dragon Nest is still a really great game. The graphics are amazing, storys intriguing, combats phenomenal and enemy slaying will never be more satisfying. Given that though the lack of community, gender lcoked classes, grindy dungeons and overall pervyness, I can't really give it that high of a score. I had a ton of great fun with this game, but I can't give it any higher than a 8/10 with a recommendation of Look Into It!
Next Post: *PC Blowout Finale* Aion Ascension
*Bonus Review: Mabinogi. 0/10 The worst combat i've seen in a videogame, horrible graphics and it's stupid. Never Download It!
DN is a real time combat rpg, lending itself as more of an action game than your traditional MMO. Attacks are very dynamic and nearly every one can have u move while attacking. It actually feels a lot like a beat em up in the style of Devil May Cry or God of War, as you slash down huge enemies and tens of small enemies. The action here is incredibly smooth and is by far the driving point of this game. Battles are now a lot more dynamic and action packed, lending itself more to timely dodges and strafing rather than spamming a certain skill while standing still. That will get you killed in this game. This takes out some of the grindy aspect of killing a lot of monsters, as you can now take out ten enemies with a well placed shot. By far one of the best combat systems Ive seen in any PC game.
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| Vision blur is awesome! |
Story wise its actually not that bad! Who'd have thunk someone like me who skips through most MMO stories would actually like this one. Cutscenes are frequent to progress plot and they do so much of a better job than any amount of text too. I actually knew what I was fighting for and who I was trying to save. Thats pretty awesome. English voiceovers are all throughout the game, giving characters an actual feel to them, with their own accents, dialects and emotions. Never have I seen so much polish towards characters and story in an MMO.
In terms of menu placement, UI and others, it handles itself very well. The UI is relatively easy to navigate, and even though your mouse usually directs the camera constantly, a little hit of the ctrl button will allow you to interact with the options and overall works great. Though some features are handled better than others, this is a very easy to learn system. The auto route in this game kinda sucks though. You'll constantly get stuck on walls and it's unreliable at best. Which brings me to its transportation system. Eden was set up with a main overworld with small enemies for sidequests, and DGNs to go into for larger quests and boss fights. This worked well as sidequests could be accomplished easily and quickly, while major quests are easy to stack and prepare for. In Dragon Nest, they split it up a lot more. One area is your town, for accpeting quests and talking to NPCs. One are houses the entrances to each DGN, with no enemies in them. And finally are the DGNs, which house all the enemies youll need to face. This to me is kind of sloppy. For smaller quests youll need to dedicate yourself to playing through an entire dgn, just for a couple enemies. It encourages stacking of quests for larger trips, but if you miss one youll have to do the whole dgn again just for the one you miss. Also NPCs like to send you back from where you came! "Finish a quest in the mines? Great! Heres another quest in the mines! You just went there? Too bad!" It gets frustrating. Thank god the dgns themselves are always really awesome. Each have their own theme to them, feature either an abandoned library, to a dark, nightmarish farmland, to a deserted island ravaged with pirates. This mixes things up and when your not going to the same dgn over and over again, it can actually be really enjoyable.
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| Very intense battles |
But overall, Dragon Nest is still a really great game. The graphics are amazing, storys intriguing, combats phenomenal and enemy slaying will never be more satisfying. Given that though the lack of community, gender lcoked classes, grindy dungeons and overall pervyness, I can't really give it that high of a score. I had a ton of great fun with this game, but I can't give it any higher than a 8/10 with a recommendation of Look Into It!
Next Post: *PC Blowout Finale* Aion Ascension
*Bonus Review: Mabinogi. 0/10 The worst combat i've seen in a videogame, horrible graphics and it's stupid. Never Download It!
*PC Blowout* Eden Eternal
I have recently been getting into PC Free to play MMORPGs, so I think ill do the three I've played so far. Yes, it's not my usual style, but eh, you run out of ideas sometimes. Heres the one that kickstarted this trend, Eden Eternal!
From the guys and gals at Aeria Games, this game features cartoony, anime style graphics, character customization, multiple classes per character and more. It has a decent popularity and overall good reviews. I decided to play this one first due to the fact it looked very much like the one the girls in Lucky Star were playing in the anime. But screw everyone else's opinion, what did I think of the game?
It's good. really good actually. Very polished and very realized. The most obvious aspect is the graphics, which are awesome. the entire game feels like one big anime and I love it for it. Environments are varied from forests to volcaoes to harbours, and the menu design and UI is sleek and easy to use. Text is presented nicely and abilties and options are all put in a way so it never gets confusing. Attacks, while nothing special, are all fluid and damage is seen to enemies only after the attack actually hits, which is nice. Cutscenes are non-existent in this game unfortunately, so the only way of story youre going to get is in text, which is kinda a bore. I never read the story into these games, they put way too much text into it. Dungeons are also varied and have a certain theme or element to them that sets them apart, though some are forgettable. Overall game looks nice and it's atmospher eis pretty good. I started the game and was able to pick up the controls and gameplay rather quickly, which should be a testament to it's great design. All MMORPGs start you off in a small town or area, levling you up and getting you used to the controls, than they send you to the main hub of the game, where all players from all towns meet and set off on their adventures. The hub in this game is Aven, and it's pretty great. It's designed well and has that city atmosphere, which it should. Different merchants and specialist NPS are littered throughout the area, and slowly you start to talk and use every one of them. its a nice progression and is a pretty good hub for what it is.
Speaking of gameplay, thats pretty fun too. i was an archer, and all of my attacks had to deal with slowing them down at a distance, then heavily damaging them as they slowly approached. It provides a good level of strategy and is way more fun than the basic "I'm a warrior, im just gunna hit em hard" gameplay that most people are accustomed to. Different attacks are given to you as you level up. but theres not only your level as a person, but your class level. This game gives you the option to play as every single class simultaneously, switching through a menu. Each class has it's own level, and certain rewards are given for leveling up each of them. Though it's not technically required to do this, and other than hunter and martial artists, i didn't use anything else and was just fine. Certain armour can only be worn with certain classes, so armour collecting, at least for me, was hit or miss. Of course everything loses durability after a while so mainting them is a factor, but not really intriguing. All it adds to is going to a blacksmith and clicking each item to repair them. How...fun? Interesting? Not needed? I digress. Overall edens gameplay is simplistic, but still strategtic and very fun.
The quests in this game though are eh. Im aware that these games need to have grindy quests so they can be 50-100 hour games, but it can get really tiresome after a while. Seeing a quest for killing 25 enemies is really disheartening. Quests can be overlapped and done together, but after a while they give next to no XP, resulting in doing the same chunk of quests over and over and over. The quests could have been more varied too. Its either killing enemies, delivering something or going to a certain spot and collecting something. Wheres maybe a quest that has you race an NPC? How about a quest that has you say the right dialogue choices to NPCs? I wouldve liked a way in which each quest felt like their own in a little respect, rather than them all clumping together. An awesome part of the game is the auto route though, allowing your character to instantly walk to an NPC, area, dungeon, group of enemies or anywhere on the map via the setting of waypoints this allows for you to travel long distances while organizing your inventory and doing other mondane tasks that you would otherwise ignore. This takes some of the grind away from quests, as if u set a waypoint on an NPC, it'll automatically talk to them, so you can set a waypoint far way, get a snack, go to the washroom, and come back to your given NPC. Items and skills even increase ur running speed, so it shortens the time greatly.
The social spect is also awesome. The chat is easy to see and distinguish, and you can filter the text you see to only be certain people or certain types of messages. They even have a guild system which I dabbled in. Because social interaction is very good in this game, when I was asked to join a guild, i accepted. I then found a great group of people who welcomed me and taught me various aspects of the game I was unsure of. I made some very good friends, had a lot of laughs, guild raids, dance offs, and even a lot of drama between people. It was a great experience and without the guild I probably wouldn't have stayed as long as I did. You can even get married in the game to another player, and have marriage bonuses! Whoa! If you're into the social aspect of MMOs this game will appease you and your wants.
So what didn't I like? Well for one thing the environments arent as varied as they should be. Theres like, different forest areas, two deserts, and a couple towny-city ones.i felt like I was going to the same damn areas after a while. Also the agme is really formulaeric, not wanting to switch it up at all. Gameplay can be described as: Go into new area, do required quests, have to get to higher level to do new quest, grind old quests until reached new level, do required quest, do required dungeon, need to get to a higherr lvel, do another required quest, another required dunegon then move onto next area. It NEVER switches it up, and really bogs down what could have been interesting new areas. Also while the guild system is great, it doesn't offer very mcuh in terms of awards for leveling up your guild. You get a runned down town with nothing to do in it as an ultimate prize. Fun.
So overall Eden Eternal was a great first entry into MMORPGs for me. Great, smooth gameplay, great graphics, great social interaction and high production values are littered throughout this game. If they had spent more time varying quests and making each Environment more varied, this would have been a higher score. Eden Eternal gets an 8.5/10 with a recommendation of Download it!
Next Post: *PC Blowout* Dragon Nest
It's good. really good actually. Very polished and very realized. The most obvious aspect is the graphics, which are awesome. the entire game feels like one big anime and I love it for it. Environments are varied from forests to volcaoes to harbours, and the menu design and UI is sleek and easy to use. Text is presented nicely and abilties and options are all put in a way so it never gets confusing. Attacks, while nothing special, are all fluid and damage is seen to enemies only after the attack actually hits, which is nice. Cutscenes are non-existent in this game unfortunately, so the only way of story youre going to get is in text, which is kinda a bore. I never read the story into these games, they put way too much text into it. Dungeons are also varied and have a certain theme or element to them that sets them apart, though some are forgettable. Overall game looks nice and it's atmospher eis pretty good. I started the game and was able to pick up the controls and gameplay rather quickly, which should be a testament to it's great design. All MMORPGs start you off in a small town or area, levling you up and getting you used to the controls, than they send you to the main hub of the game, where all players from all towns meet and set off on their adventures. The hub in this game is Aven, and it's pretty great. It's designed well and has that city atmosphere, which it should. Different merchants and specialist NPS are littered throughout the area, and slowly you start to talk and use every one of them. its a nice progression and is a pretty good hub for what it is.
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| My class of choice as a Hunter |
The quests in this game though are eh. Im aware that these games need to have grindy quests so they can be 50-100 hour games, but it can get really tiresome after a while. Seeing a quest for killing 25 enemies is really disheartening. Quests can be overlapped and done together, but after a while they give next to no XP, resulting in doing the same chunk of quests over and over and over. The quests could have been more varied too. Its either killing enemies, delivering something or going to a certain spot and collecting something. Wheres maybe a quest that has you race an NPC? How about a quest that has you say the right dialogue choices to NPCs? I wouldve liked a way in which each quest felt like their own in a little respect, rather than them all clumping together. An awesome part of the game is the auto route though, allowing your character to instantly walk to an NPC, area, dungeon, group of enemies or anywhere on the map via the setting of waypoints this allows for you to travel long distances while organizing your inventory and doing other mondane tasks that you would otherwise ignore. This takes some of the grind away from quests, as if u set a waypoint on an NPC, it'll automatically talk to them, so you can set a waypoint far way, get a snack, go to the washroom, and come back to your given NPC. Items and skills even increase ur running speed, so it shortens the time greatly.
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| One of the prettier environments |
So what didn't I like? Well for one thing the environments arent as varied as they should be. Theres like, different forest areas, two deserts, and a couple towny-city ones.i felt like I was going to the same damn areas after a while. Also the agme is really formulaeric, not wanting to switch it up at all. Gameplay can be described as: Go into new area, do required quests, have to get to higher level to do new quest, grind old quests until reached new level, do required quest, do required dungeon, need to get to a higherr lvel, do another required quest, another required dunegon then move onto next area. It NEVER switches it up, and really bogs down what could have been interesting new areas. Also while the guild system is great, it doesn't offer very mcuh in terms of awards for leveling up your guild. You get a runned down town with nothing to do in it as an ultimate prize. Fun.
So overall Eden Eternal was a great first entry into MMORPGs for me. Great, smooth gameplay, great graphics, great social interaction and high production values are littered throughout this game. If they had spent more time varying quests and making each Environment more varied, this would have been a higher score. Eden Eternal gets an 8.5/10 with a recommendation of Download it!
Next Post: *PC Blowout* Dragon Nest
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Review- Nintendo Land (WiiU)
Kicking off my first Wiiu review is the launch title of Nintendo land. I've heard mixed things about this game, but does it measure up? Find out in my review!
Nintendo Land was shown off at E3 2012, and got people midly excited. It does feature 11 Nintendo franchises, each with a unique minigame, but it just seemed a little weird and not many people got excited. But hey, people didnt't get "excited" about Fragile Dreams, and that game kicks butt. This game does actuallt come with the WiiiU deluxe package, but it is sold as a fully featured game on it's own.
The game features 12 attractions, each based on a Nintendo franchise, and each having their own specific minigame to play. Theres Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Pikmin, even F-Zero too! Some are only singleplayer and some are only multiplayer, but each are fun in their own rights. Here are all twelve games, in order from least favourite to favourite:
Yoshi's Fruit Cart: Wow, I hate this game. This game deals with drawing a path for your Yoshi on the gamepad, catching fruit and making it to the goal. The catch is you can only see the obstacles on the TV, so you need to coordinate where you need to make him go so you can't hit anything. The problem is the line you're drawing doesn't show up on the TV as you go, so it's kind of a guessing game as to if you'll hit something. This game is borderline impossible. Honestly they start making the objects MOVE! How the hell are you supposed to not only aim your line to the object, but TIME it so you don't miss completely! This happenned wayyy too much in the later levels and made the game unplayable to me. The core concept isn't even that fun in the first place. I probably played this one 5 times and I will not play this one again. A stupid concept for a minigame and it's just not fun. 3/10
Takamaru's Ninja Castle: Okay, this one I don't actually mind, it's just kinda weak. This one has you hold the gamepad sideways, and swipe your hands on the screen to throw ninja stars at cardboard enemies. It works, and can be really fun as you get into the zone, but isn't ideal for aiming and it kinda hurts your hand after a while. Theres about 3 stages then a boss, and thats the main problem. I beat the game once, had fun, realized the secret ending of the game, beat it again, got a Platnimum rank (Ill explain at the end about ranks), and literally never played it again. Theres nothing more to it than that. it has nothing more to give then two playtghrough, each about 10 minutes. Yes theres powerups, but the novelty wares off quick. Plus given the fact that it's from a franchise that never got realized outside of Japan (they could have EASILY made this a pokemon game) and you got an mediocre game all around. 5/10
Balloon Trip Breeze: This one was kinda fun. Guide your balloon man across a moving 2D screen using the gamepad, controlling the wind around him to move him using his balloons, dodging obstacles and getting balloons for points. It works and is functional, but doesn't have much lasting appeal. Yes this minigame lasts long, but it's not very replayable. It doesn't have that "pick-up-and-play" feel that the other games have. It's good, but nothing really special. 6/10
Octopus Dance: I actually enjoyed this one. Memorize the dance moves of a mii then do them yourself using the analog sticks and tilting the gamepad. While not really showing off the gamepads capabilities, it is still really fun. They really mix up the moves and have to deal with slow timing and smooth slides of the analog sticks. It all works and can get really intense in the later stages. They even have a floating picvture of your mii face, which is a pretty cool novelty. I guess the reason this isn't higher is because it lacks personality. This is based off a game and watch minigame, which yes is known, but not a major franchise. The game itself doesn't have anything really appealing in terms of visuals and charm. So I can't put it any higher this. 7/10
Donkey Kong's Crash Course: Wow this one was hard. Guide your Donkey Kong cart through a huge labyrinth by tilting the gamepad to move in any direction. The cool part is this game is actually really hard. What woul,d have been an "eh" game before is now a really memorable "omg I need to beat this!" game. The puzzles are clever and the physics are spot on, making sure you don't go too fast as to crash into a wall, but don't go too slow as the flip over and die. Really well exectued, just a bit lack of visual charm. the background is like a chalk board, which is cool, but have another stage where we are in the actual Donkay Kong game, beams and all. that for me would have made it more Donkay kong like and probably could have made it higher on this list. 7.5/10
Animal Crossing Sweet Day: Okay, first multiplayer one. One player guides an animal running around collecting candy, and another player controls two guard dogs with the gamepad analog sticks trying to tackle the other player. The guard dog analog stick concept is absolutely genius, and makes it for easy to learn but hard to master controls. With 4 players they all become different animals, making use of trees that hold candy, but can only be activated by 2 people. This puts a level of teamwork into it and can be loads of fun. The setting is also great featuring animal crossing homes and beaches, staples to the series. A really fun game that includes a good level of strategy for the minigames. 8/10
Luigi's Ghost Hunt: Another multipalyer only offering. One person playes as a ghost, and the other players play as Luigis. the ghost attempts to sneak up behind the Luigis 3 times, and the Luigis attempt to drain the ghost's health bar using their flashlights. The catch is only the gamepad ghost user knows where he, the ghost, is. This can result in very intense matches and extremly satisfying gameplay. It even features multiple maps to it as well for some decent variety too. Light can shine in from windows to reveal the ghosts location so it's not completely one sided, and the wiimote players remotes shake when the ghost is near. Overall this is a very smart game. Fun controls and gameplay with balancing features that prevents it being too one sided. Setting is also great, featuring a rooftop, basement and main hall all with their unique features and settings. 8/10
Captain Falcon's Twister Race: This one's cool. The last of the singeplayer only affairs, this game allows for racing in crazy tracks with spikes and obstacles, while holding the gamepad vertically to turn the car, but to also see a much better angle of the track to see coming obstacles before it's too late. the controls and turning need some getting used to, but once you do its quite fun. Tracks are hard but you never feel too discouraged. It's a very pick-up-and-play game, and it works to its advantage greatly. Going back just to do a track or two is very fun. The setting is also great, featuring a polished city and atmosphere for those into F-Zero. I guess the reason it's so high is because of how much fun it was when I first played it. As soon as you got those controls down you were King, and it even has extra courses once you get to a certain point in the game. Overall, extremely fun. 8.5/10
Pikmin Adventure: Another fun one. A multiplayer or singleplayer affair, this game allows you to control either Olimar or a Pikmin, smashing enemies, destroying blocks and making it to the end. It uses the basis from the past pikmin games, but with thrown in powerups and the ability to play as one of the pikmin. This can be really fun in multiplayer, as even though you play as just another pikmin, you can do just as much damage, or even more, than the Olimar. This makes it balanced and can result in some great coop gameplay. This also isn't an easy game either. Certain stages have you run through it on a time limit, and some can be absolutely brutal. Bosses can also decimate your pikmin in attacks, so strategy is a key feature here. Paired with great visual style and atmosphere, and you have a great game. 8.5/10
Zelda Battle Quest: Good fun this one. Another multi or single player game, and it's pretty awesome. Players can control either a sword wielding Link, or use the gamepad and control the archer. Go through stages on rails slashing enemies, killing bosses and solving puzzles. Coop is good, as it really helps out being the archer. Singleplayer for me is better though while wielding a sword. Provides for some great boss battles and setpieces. This game also isnt a pushover, as it will constantly hit you with tough enemies and attacks that require very good timing. The setting is amazing for this game. Classic Zelda songs are littered throughout the stages and bring back some of that nostalgia from previous games. The yarn setting is extremely apparent in this game, as everything as their own fabric and slashing causes rips and sews to come off. its presented brilliantly and this game is most people's favourite.
Mario Chase: Excellently executed. This multiplayer only offering is simply genius and is some of the best local multiplayer I've seen in a LONG time. One player uses the gamepad and runs throughout a maze, with a view of the map and all players on the gamepad screen. The other players control their miis with wiimotes and goes to catch him. The catch is only the gamepad player knows where everybody is, so it gets really hectic and really intense as you search to find the one gamepad player. Its really simple but soo much fun. Chases are hilarious to watch and after each one they show a little map of where the gamepad player went and just how far off or close the other players were. The setting is also great, featuring great mud effects in oen stage and an awesome slide in another. The multiple stages, simplistic gameplay and great fun supplied by this game makes it deserve this high. 9/10
Metroid Blast: Oh yeah. Multiplayer or singleplayer, this game allows players to control either an on foot samus or samus in a ship using the gamepad. This can be played coop OR competitive, and can vary in gameplay. Coop has you shoot down enemies and bosses, while competitve has you shooting each other. The gameplay here is fantastic. Controls are great for both and the amount of little details here are awesome. The on foot people can grapple onto the bottom of samus' ship and the other player can ride them around the stage. This is fun as hell to do in it of itself. Stages are brilliant offering high skyscrapers for sniper points and tunnels for those wanting a showdown. Perfect level of difficulty, content, setting, nearly everything. Simply fantastic. 9.5/10
Other than the games though, there are some things to mention. All aroudn the park a flying computer named Monita following you, giving you instruction and prvoiding the part of the enemy in each game. Shes boring, and just like Fi. I will say nothing more. The park can also be custimized with parts and figures pertaining to each minigame, bought through the plinko machine. For each minigame you gain coins, which can then be thrown down a plinko machine to hit orange dots. Once all orange dots are gone you get a figure. It's pretty fun at times, but a part of me just wishes they had a regular shop for a bit more choice in what goes in your park. Miiverse posts from people can be seen as you walk around your park, which is a nice touch as well.
Overall Nintendo land is a fun game. Lots of games to choose from, the best local multiplayer of this gen, tons of collectibles and unlockables, and a great visual style. If they had made some of the games better designed I would have given it higher, but I can safely give this game a 8.5/10 with a recommendation of Buy it! due to how much fun i ahd with this game.
Next Post: *PC Blowout* Eden Eternal
Nintendo Land was shown off at E3 2012, and got people midly excited. It does feature 11 Nintendo franchises, each with a unique minigame, but it just seemed a little weird and not many people got excited. But hey, people didnt't get "excited" about Fragile Dreams, and that game kicks butt. This game does actuallt come with the WiiiU deluxe package, but it is sold as a fully featured game on it's own.
The game features 12 attractions, each based on a Nintendo franchise, and each having their own specific minigame to play. Theres Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Pikmin, even F-Zero too! Some are only singleplayer and some are only multiplayer, but each are fun in their own rights. Here are all twelve games, in order from least favourite to favourite:
Yoshi's Fruit Cart: Wow, I hate this game. This game deals with drawing a path for your Yoshi on the gamepad, catching fruit and making it to the goal. The catch is you can only see the obstacles on the TV, so you need to coordinate where you need to make him go so you can't hit anything. The problem is the line you're drawing doesn't show up on the TV as you go, so it's kind of a guessing game as to if you'll hit something. This game is borderline impossible. Honestly they start making the objects MOVE! How the hell are you supposed to not only aim your line to the object, but TIME it so you don't miss completely! This happenned wayyy too much in the later levels and made the game unplayable to me. The core concept isn't even that fun in the first place. I probably played this one 5 times and I will not play this one again. A stupid concept for a minigame and it's just not fun. 3/10
Takamaru's Ninja Castle: Okay, this one I don't actually mind, it's just kinda weak. This one has you hold the gamepad sideways, and swipe your hands on the screen to throw ninja stars at cardboard enemies. It works, and can be really fun as you get into the zone, but isn't ideal for aiming and it kinda hurts your hand after a while. Theres about 3 stages then a boss, and thats the main problem. I beat the game once, had fun, realized the secret ending of the game, beat it again, got a Platnimum rank (Ill explain at the end about ranks), and literally never played it again. Theres nothing more to it than that. it has nothing more to give then two playtghrough, each about 10 minutes. Yes theres powerups, but the novelty wares off quick. Plus given the fact that it's from a franchise that never got realized outside of Japan (they could have EASILY made this a pokemon game) and you got an mediocre game all around. 5/10
Balloon Trip Breeze: This one was kinda fun. Guide your balloon man across a moving 2D screen using the gamepad, controlling the wind around him to move him using his balloons, dodging obstacles and getting balloons for points. It works and is functional, but doesn't have much lasting appeal. Yes this minigame lasts long, but it's not very replayable. It doesn't have that "pick-up-and-play" feel that the other games have. It's good, but nothing really special. 6/10
Octopus Dance: I actually enjoyed this one. Memorize the dance moves of a mii then do them yourself using the analog sticks and tilting the gamepad. While not really showing off the gamepads capabilities, it is still really fun. They really mix up the moves and have to deal with slow timing and smooth slides of the analog sticks. It all works and can get really intense in the later stages. They even have a floating picvture of your mii face, which is a pretty cool novelty. I guess the reason this isn't higher is because it lacks personality. This is based off a game and watch minigame, which yes is known, but not a major franchise. The game itself doesn't have anything really appealing in terms of visuals and charm. So I can't put it any higher this. 7/10
Donkey Kong's Crash Course: Wow this one was hard. Guide your Donkey Kong cart through a huge labyrinth by tilting the gamepad to move in any direction. The cool part is this game is actually really hard. What woul,d have been an "eh" game before is now a really memorable "omg I need to beat this!" game. The puzzles are clever and the physics are spot on, making sure you don't go too fast as to crash into a wall, but don't go too slow as the flip over and die. Really well exectued, just a bit lack of visual charm. the background is like a chalk board, which is cool, but have another stage where we are in the actual Donkay Kong game, beams and all. that for me would have made it more Donkay kong like and probably could have made it higher on this list. 7.5/10
Animal Crossing Sweet Day: Okay, first multiplayer one. One player guides an animal running around collecting candy, and another player controls two guard dogs with the gamepad analog sticks trying to tackle the other player. The guard dog analog stick concept is absolutely genius, and makes it for easy to learn but hard to master controls. With 4 players they all become different animals, making use of trees that hold candy, but can only be activated by 2 people. This puts a level of teamwork into it and can be loads of fun. The setting is also great featuring animal crossing homes and beaches, staples to the series. A really fun game that includes a good level of strategy for the minigames. 8/10
Luigi's Ghost Hunt: Another multipalyer only offering. One person playes as a ghost, and the other players play as Luigis. the ghost attempts to sneak up behind the Luigis 3 times, and the Luigis attempt to drain the ghost's health bar using their flashlights. The catch is only the gamepad ghost user knows where he, the ghost, is. This can result in very intense matches and extremly satisfying gameplay. It even features multiple maps to it as well for some decent variety too. Light can shine in from windows to reveal the ghosts location so it's not completely one sided, and the wiimote players remotes shake when the ghost is near. Overall this is a very smart game. Fun controls and gameplay with balancing features that prevents it being too one sided. Setting is also great, featuring a rooftop, basement and main hall all with their unique features and settings. 8/10
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| Great looking backgrounds too! |
Captain Falcon's Twister Race: This one's cool. The last of the singeplayer only affairs, this game allows for racing in crazy tracks with spikes and obstacles, while holding the gamepad vertically to turn the car, but to also see a much better angle of the track to see coming obstacles before it's too late. the controls and turning need some getting used to, but once you do its quite fun. Tracks are hard but you never feel too discouraged. It's a very pick-up-and-play game, and it works to its advantage greatly. Going back just to do a track or two is very fun. The setting is also great, featuring a polished city and atmosphere for those into F-Zero. I guess the reason it's so high is because of how much fun it was when I first played it. As soon as you got those controls down you were King, and it even has extra courses once you get to a certain point in the game. Overall, extremely fun. 8.5/10
Pikmin Adventure: Another fun one. A multiplayer or singleplayer affair, this game allows you to control either Olimar or a Pikmin, smashing enemies, destroying blocks and making it to the end. It uses the basis from the past pikmin games, but with thrown in powerups and the ability to play as one of the pikmin. This can be really fun in multiplayer, as even though you play as just another pikmin, you can do just as much damage, or even more, than the Olimar. This makes it balanced and can result in some great coop gameplay. This also isn't an easy game either. Certain stages have you run through it on a time limit, and some can be absolutely brutal. Bosses can also decimate your pikmin in attacks, so strategy is a key feature here. Paired with great visual style and atmosphere, and you have a great game. 8.5/10
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| Great multiplayer fun |
Mario Chase: Excellently executed. This multiplayer only offering is simply genius and is some of the best local multiplayer I've seen in a LONG time. One player uses the gamepad and runs throughout a maze, with a view of the map and all players on the gamepad screen. The other players control their miis with wiimotes and goes to catch him. The catch is only the gamepad player knows where everybody is, so it gets really hectic and really intense as you search to find the one gamepad player. Its really simple but soo much fun. Chases are hilarious to watch and after each one they show a little map of where the gamepad player went and just how far off or close the other players were. The setting is also great, featuring great mud effects in oen stage and an awesome slide in another. The multiple stages, simplistic gameplay and great fun supplied by this game makes it deserve this high. 9/10
Metroid Blast: Oh yeah. Multiplayer or singleplayer, this game allows players to control either an on foot samus or samus in a ship using the gamepad. This can be played coop OR competitive, and can vary in gameplay. Coop has you shoot down enemies and bosses, while competitve has you shooting each other. The gameplay here is fantastic. Controls are great for both and the amount of little details here are awesome. The on foot people can grapple onto the bottom of samus' ship and the other player can ride them around the stage. This is fun as hell to do in it of itself. Stages are brilliant offering high skyscrapers for sniper points and tunnels for those wanting a showdown. Perfect level of difficulty, content, setting, nearly everything. Simply fantastic. 9.5/10
Other than the games though, there are some things to mention. All aroudn the park a flying computer named Monita following you, giving you instruction and prvoiding the part of the enemy in each game. Shes boring, and just like Fi. I will say nothing more. The park can also be custimized with parts and figures pertaining to each minigame, bought through the plinko machine. For each minigame you gain coins, which can then be thrown down a plinko machine to hit orange dots. Once all orange dots are gone you get a figure. It's pretty fun at times, but a part of me just wishes they had a regular shop for a bit more choice in what goes in your park. Miiverse posts from people can be seen as you walk around your park, which is a nice touch as well.
Overall Nintendo land is a fun game. Lots of games to choose from, the best local multiplayer of this gen, tons of collectibles and unlockables, and a great visual style. If they had made some of the games better designed I would have given it higher, but I can safely give this game a 8.5/10 with a recommendation of Buy it! due to how much fun i ahd with this game.
Next Post: *PC Blowout* Eden Eternal
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