Review: Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space – Invading Earth Got… Weird

January 7, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Continuous reasons to play based on multiple classes and coop missions
+Highly customizable range of weapons
+Missions tend to be decent in length giving the game decent playtime

Cons:
–Mindless NPC banter tends to get old quickly
–Getting classes up to needed areas of progression for harder difficulties can be challenging

Imagine a world where aliens have some reason decided that your planet would play perfect host to them. In turn they have also invaded your world with overly sized insects ranging from ants to spiders. This is the ongoing theme with Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space. It’s not uncommon to see enemies who wish to take over and annihilate everything using insects as their main military force. This is something that has become a theme for Earth Defense Force games and has become a part of why the games are quite enjoyable when picked up and played. Granted they don’t top the fun we could have in a good Godzilla game, but these games offer enough for players to pick them up, blow up a few hundred alien ships and insects only to move on with their day having a grin on their faces.

You may want to ask us as to why we have another Earth Defense Force review going up when we just reviewed the one for PlayStation 4. Well the reason is because XSEED Games, D3 Publisher, and Sandlot were very busy to bring these games over and did so beautifully. Thanks to the Christmas break I took, there was plenty of time for blowing up massive alien insects and ships along with the occasional Kaiju or three over the course of around 80 missions. Granted I have yet to complete all 80 no thanks to my want to play each mission with each class on each difficulty, I’ve found myself easing in at around 40 of 80 completed. Granted that may seem like a lot, imagine the fact I’ve played each mission three times on just the normal difficulty, which sets me in at around 120 missions completed even though it’s only been those forty missions three times.

Much like in the previous game we mentioned there are a few classes, the go-to-class for those wanting pure firepower and maneuverability and an occasional vehicle will want to suit up and take the Infantry class. Those wanting jetpacks and amazing energy weapons will be selecting the Pale Wing while others will be selecting the other guy, the games support class who can call in strikes and use turrets. Sadly he’s not as fun as he sounds due to his inherently long cool downs. Thanks to the game’s capability of using both online features and an ad-hoc mode, players can go online in order to complete the missions in whatever order is available to the host in order to assure enjoyability for all those teamed up. This is the only way it seems to truly enjoy the game and play with friends and the way we highly recommend playing it so that the game is more enjoyable.

While these little things are noticeable is that the game is graphically scaled down compared to its PS4 counterpart, which is saying quite a bit as we’ve seen some rather beautiful games on the PlayStation Vita within the past few years. The most noteworthy change between these two versions is simply scale. The PlayStation 4 game, Earth Defense Force 4.1 offers a more robust scale in combat, weaponry, graphics, and scenery. While the Vita counterpart does what it can it is worth noting that combat itself seems a bit harder to do on the PlayStation Vita when it comes to moments that require quick responses when playing solo.

Much like our more in-depth review of the two released games, the most and largest difference between these two games is the fact that this game does not have the on-screen support troops like the PS4 title does, but also the game features a lot less content than its more superior counterpart. While some may find this lacking and destructive to the title, the game is still rather enjoyable, and one that offers quite a bit of replayability due to roughly 400 collectible weapons, hundreds of ways to do each missions, but also the increase in difficulties that can be completed to unlock even better equipment.

Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space – PS Vita (Reviewed)
Developer: Sandlot
Publisher: XSEED Games
Cost: 39.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

Overall? The game is fun, offers a lot of replayability, but does not offer enough for those wanting multiple goal based missions and lots of variation in what they are doing. The game offers the idea of just blowing up insane amounts of enemies at one’s own will. However, it’s not a game that will keep those that easily grow bored with repetition! If you dare? The game will hook you for hours on end.

Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Review: Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair – Despair Peeks In On Earthlings

December 18, 2015December 18, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Multiple classes that feature quite a bit of variation in weapons
+Rather nicely updated graphics compared to previous titles
+Online cooperative play is rather enjoyable
+Narrative of the game will remind many of Godzilla style movies

Cons:
–Intermittent frame-rate spikes can take away from enjoyability
–Enemies can at times be overwhelmingly hard to tolerate

When entering the first mission it’s hard not to find yourself squinting at the ridiculously chosen type of enemy as those giant ants come scurrying across the map in a hurry. The evident choice is one of a few things that will make friends roll their eyes as the game quickly enters the cheesy category, but remains an enjoyable game that those who give it a go will enjoy. To be honest? As my first foray into the franchise, this game is rather enjoyable, loony, but enjoyable as players will take on with collecting new weapons to use for each of the games playable classes.

It’s hard not-to-say that the game carries on the legacy that XSEED Games has become known for, which is in-depth attention to detail on the games that they are working on and ensuring that they bring over the quality we would expect had we gotten the original title, which this games does seem to show off quite a bit. Their attention to the details with the voice acting offers up a great bit to show off the efforts that they have gone through in order to preserve these elements from the original title from Japan.

While it’s hard at times to overlook just how corny the game is, it doesn’t take away that the game has quite a bit to walk away with when it comes down to how enjoyable it is, but also what brings forth the game’s replay value. What causes this replay value is quite interesting as players will find themselves delving into the same missions multiple times as each playable class such as Fencer, Ranger, and Wind Divers. As players get underway the missions can become rather repetitive as they find themselves trying to repeat them across multiple difficulties in order to get the games complete experience.

The nice part to this portion of the game? The fact you can do this in multiplayer with friends in order to keep the game more-so alive than you already have been is astounding as I’ve found myself constantly remaining in multiplayer lobbies in order to once more continue the adventure. Though this game follows a singular note, one that is painstakingly obvious. The game is all action, in that alone, that means the game is about one instance – shoot it all, ask questions later, and blow everything to smithereens before asking any, err… No questions once done. Because, well, everything’s dead. Unlike most games, this one didn’t receive much polish that would allow for the game to present itself among its next-gen peers.

地球防衛軍4.1_20140904010532

As a game that proves that it hasn’t been fully refined, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair proves itself as a problematic game, one that looms over it is the game’s graphics engine, which many have begun to criticize as it almost stands between the PS2 and PS3 ages of graphics engines, which to say the last, is a bit dumbfounding with the power of the new-gen console as well as the capabilities of engines that are available for use. While many such as myself can look past this, it’s a critical thing to think about when it comes to games no matter how corny they are aiming to be. While this is only one of the milder complaints in comparison to frame rate issues or the likes.

The game does suffer from some of its own problems that can be noted by the sudden spikes of frame rate based on what’s going on within the game such as tons of insects, explosions, alien robots or the likes. It’s here where the game begins to show its lack-of-programming prowess in order to better utilize the console it has released on as well as the hardware available in order to ensure the game is a solid launch for all to enjoy. The brighter side of it all? There’s little-to-no lag on the multiplayer side of the game, which is nice as this is something that seems to be a rather large focal point for the title.

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair – PS4 (Reviewed)
Developer: Sandlot
Publisher: XSEED Games
Cost: 49.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

Even with those minor things said, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair attempts to bring the series back for another spin so that fans will once more find themselves etching along city streets with friends in order to save planet Earth from a menacing alien threat that does not seeks to let humanity remain in peace even after several years of no encounters. If you’re one for adventure with friends as well as have the tolerance for high repetitiveness? Earth Defense Force 4.1 is right up your alley, but those seeking a lack of repetitiveness and want enjoyability based on a singular playthrough – this is absolutely not your game as the game seeks reward through repetition.

Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

About the Writer:

Review: Just Cause 3 – Just Causing Some Chaos

December 7, 2015August 22, 2018 / Dustin Murphy / 2 Comments

Just Cause 3 takes places one step further as franchise hero Rico Rodriguez as he helps arm a rebellion, take down a tyrannic leader and faces down some of his most explosive tours of destruction yet. Now it’s time to see just how far he’s gone with our review for Just Cause 3.

Pros:
+Open-world activities feel like they matter based upon the side-mission undertaken
+Gorgeously crafted islands, scenery and city locales
+Movie-like graphics that help provide a cinema-like experience
+Action-packed story that delivers at every turn

Cons:
–Small frame-rate spikes during high-action sequences
–SAM turrets can get quite annoying if not taken care of promptly
–Wing-suit exploring can lead to same face splitting moments

Much like the previous couple of entries, Just Cause 3 introduces us to the franchise’s protagonist Rico Rodriguez who once more looks to charm fans with his accent, quirkiness, and his insatiable want for blowing anything he can up. His new target? Santiago Di Revello’s “charming” nation of Medici, which has fallen under his oppression and has since caused inhabitants to form a rebellion on this splendid Mediterranean like getaway.

In this visually stunning game, fans will find themselves immersed by the chaos that ensues, but also the charming cast members that help bring Medici’s struggles to life as the game plays on and becomes more like an action movie rather than a game. But that’s not why our famed hero Rico Rodriguez has returned to Medici. Instead, he is back simply because, well, things have changed and it’s once more time to bring down the next big a-hole in order to make the world a better place.

Spanning 400 square miles, Medici is by far one of the largest virtual locales that have been created to date. To simply put it? It’s a very carefully, beautiful, and rather lively 400 square miles that offer unique visuals, terrain builds, and secrets for players to discover if they are to take the time to explore the game without using fast travel or vehicles. However, the beauty is taken back when bullets begin to fly due to Di Revello’s troops who follow his insane orders to kill any Rebels on sight. For those wanting a great plot?

The game’s plot is simple as any other, which makes it dull, drab, and boring in comparison to the brilliant gameplay and open world that is given to us to take by the hand and fully explore. The plot is simple – overthrow the bad guy by blowing all his toys up and putting him in time out while joining a Rebellion and becoming its inherent leader. Simple right? Seems so as the plot will easily remind people of those movies we know as “The Expendables”, but this one is about a guy who pretty much plays the guardian role to his family and friends while blowing up the world around him.

Much as expected, players will complete the game by going through certain mission locations that can be unlocked by simply progressing through the game’s campaign. While just going through the campaign by playing does work, it’s not advisable. Instead, the best option is to take over every enemy location possible in order to overthrow Di Revello and his cohorts in order to make the world a better place. When not fighting this guys militarized morons? You can casually run up to one of the island’s inhabitants to grab them, throw them out of their vehicle, and casually drive off, fly off or simply walk away with a cheeky grin casually shown off.

While not turning zones from Red to Blue it’s almost like watching a casual game of risk that the A.I. will inherently lose since that’s well… What bad guys do. When looking away from the fact this is a trending portion of open-world games, Just Cause 3 comes with a few new additions that veer it away from the mindless shooters like the origins, and itself. The newest addition is the rather enjoyable wingsuit that can be deployed in order to assist move players across the land quicker than before. When combat comes nearby? That parachute works even better as players can arm themselves with a weapon that is a part of their own arsenal in order to dispatch groups of enemies only to watch them rag-doll across the screen while on fire.

Needing to change your weaponry? That’s easy using the Rebel Supply Drop in order to exchange your weapons for a setup more suitable for your occasion. Once setup it’s time to reign down fire upon your enemies while preparing to take off in an orderly fashion using a helicopter or a tank or perhaps a plane of some sort. If you’re one to use anything explosive it’s time to find the game comes to a stuttering halt while watching transformers, fuel tanks, water towers or what-have-you explode in order to see the enemy base turn into a ball of flames.

While console or PC begins to render the explosions, it’s hard not to cringe as the frame rate seems to dip down into almost single digits as Rico prepares his own onslaught against enemy troops or vehicles to keep his own alive. If you are unfortunate to stop Di Revello’s forces? Well, prepare for the prolonged load times that have caused a storm of frustration filled cries. With load times averaging between 45-90 seconds, these load times can be between painful and beyond excruciating when trying to quickly maneuver between missions and challenges in order to equip better perks for Rico to use.

While the campaign is almost completely forgettable to some there is a rather charming aspect to this game that has caused me to come back for the extra 40 hours I’ve give within the past week. This charm is the game’s ability to give you plenty of land and terrain to explore so that players can find those odd little tropes that may be hidden around the village, such as the hidden sunken towns that could easily represent places like the “Sunken City of Atlantis” or even the charming landscapes that go from monsoon-like weather systems to Siberian like blizzards that leave little room for visibility.

Later it’s only time to visit the sunny coastlines where players may just decide to find the nearest boat and go for a cruise. While that’s fun and all there are hidden items scattered throughout Medici such as Rebel Shrines to remember those that fell against Di Revello, weapon parts to unlock weapons, and Di Revello’s recordings, which give an insight to just how madly stupid this guy is.

Just Cause 3– PC, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), and Xbox Onee
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Publisher: Square Enix
Cost: 59.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

While it’s easy to say that blowing everything up in an unforgiving manner, Just Cause 3 is charming, beautiful, and a heavy improvement upon the fast titles in spite of the frame rate drops, but also the long load times. If players are capable of avoiding these moments, Just Cause 3 is a solid title that will offer quite a bit of gameplay for completionists while clocking in around 52 hours played for this review with only having completed a quarter of all the recordings as well as about a quarter of all the shrines as well as a completely liberated map.

This is surely a gem that is well worth the money even before the patches that will hopefully smooth out the load times and frame rate drops across all platforms. Even then? Feel free to take in the magnetic beauty of this carefully crafted land as well as the hauntingly realistic sound they used as the lullaby of soft guitars fills the background.

Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter on a daily basis.

Review: Sword Coast Legends – A DnD Adventure’s Legend is Troubled

November 29, 2015November 29, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Beautiful top down cRPG that follows a play style close to Baulders Gate
+Class system is very much along the lines of pen and paper DnD in real time
+Character creation is in-depth, intuitive and does require attention to stats

Cons:
–Requires an online connection to play due to account login
–Extremely Limited Dungeon Master Mode
–Character classes at start are limited as are race selections
–Horrific quest markers that seem out-of-place and rather misleading

Editors Note: Since the game is still a fresh-release we will be placing this review under a review-in-progress status as we know there will be future updates and content for it. Our reviewer, we understand, was quite critical of the game based on his past with DnD. His review should be read at your own discretion and understanding of his view point. Any screenshots scene below are property to n-Space and Digital Extremes and are used for our review purposes only as we do not have our own screenshots available at this time.

Let’s just pretend I’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons a day in my life. Except I have, I’ve played hundreds of hours with former friends Matt and Ben. We used to sit around the table watching Ben’s wild antics as his rather awkward and brilliantly thought out idiotic Half-Orc was about as hilarious as watching a Bill Murray stand up back in the actors prime. However, let us take away the need to stand around or sit around a table, discussing what our moves are, rolling the die needed for certain interactions and even the hysterical moments where players can hear the excitement in each other’s voices. Now? It has been limited down to a digital screen that doesn’t seem to quite have an idea of what it wants to do.

My starting hour was probably the most painful as my Dwarven Great Weapon warrior went about with his claymore and splint armor in tow. As his quests became revealed after a unique opening scene where we witness the parties alleged home at the time being assaulted and burnt to the ground, we are given the idea that the game isn’t just about our character after all, but instead about a group of friends that had some wretched occurrence happen to them and now they seem to be coping with it. Instead of taking on heroic tasks as one would predict this game to start out with, Sword Coast Legends does quite the opposite. We are introduced to a typical MMO element where our characters are sent off to gather mushrooms, fight off some bandits and take on a few Goblins, find missing persons, help bring a friend of ours back to the caravan only to be ambushed and sent on a quest. Meanwhile this is all happening my fingers began to tap onto the escape button since I’m a rather fast reader and prefer not to listen to the dialogue. Downside? You can’t skip it. While the voice acting could be worse, it’s not exactly all that exciting as players will be encumbered with listening to rather monotonous voices and poor voice acting. Just be glad it’s not the original Resident Evil kind of bad. Being as intrigued by what was going on, it was nothing in comparison to the Demon my little NPC team encountered within the fifteen opening minutes. While this was a seemingly enjoyable affair at first, it seemed to turn into one that quickly caused my head to hit my desk in frustration only to shake it off after a few moments.

After a few hours of gameplay my head began to throb as I encountered not just one mistake, but multiples. Let alone are the conversations using the in-game graphics, even on Ultra High the game looks almost like it cloned itself from older titles such as Baulder’s Gate mixed with a touch of Diablo 2. While I appreciated the aforementioned titles, this game doesn’t do it well as character models once zoomed in upon could quite easily be seen as horrific as the quests and story elements that the game has come across. Seeing as I’m a die-hard DnD fan, take no mistake that I’d be rather hard on this game in every element possible. As the quests I mentioned earlier are undertaken the game finds itself attempting to use quite a bit of filler elements such as taking care of your items, stats, party members, going to vendors and even fighting your way through a few small crowds along the way. After a while the game does tend to warm up to players as they settle into the design choices by n-Space and publisher Digital Extremes (Warframe anyone?). The game to some will be quite enjoyable, but to the die hard fans it could be a game that should be played with mildly low expectations to begin with.

Taking notes from rather successful titles such as Shadowrun, Sword Coast Legends does at times tend to miss the idea of what makes DnD locales such as the Sword Coast such an exciting place. Let alone is this place beautiful, it is filled with mystery, story and rather interesting inhabitants, but the game seems to miss the idea of using these elements in its favor just isn’t happening at this point in time. Let alone do the dungeons begin to blend in, many of them use rather familiar tile sets, design choices and even encounter points at any-one given time.

If you’ve played titles like Divinity: Original Sin or Pillars of Eternity, two of my favourite cRPGs to date that have released within the past year, you know that my love for hand-drawn art is rather unique approach and one I prefer. This is something that Sword Coast Legends tends not to use, but instead they go with a more fleshed out and realistic approach. One that works quite well with this newer DnD title. This sticks true to when going into the beautiful fields, forests, cities and sewers that the game brings to life in every aspect. This includes flowing streams, branches swaying in the winds and even small attention to details within the cities. But how does this hold up in comparison to what players will really want – cooperative play via a DM game mode or even the story.

From what I experienced in my five hours of gameplay in the first day, Drop-in, drop-out co-op works like you would expect. It’s seamless and does not interrupt when a player joins or leaves the title. Much like you would expect the game seems to be pretty well rounded despite the fact it was delayed for a short while. While you’ve read in other reviews, I quite agree with many of them as how the game should be played in cooperative. Unless players are friends who are working together, combat can be quite enjoyable, but with strangers I also can’t recommend a difficulty past easy. Simply due to the fact I was constantly dying in these adventures and scoffing as I felt myself leaving the lobby to take on a solo adventure with the game’s A.I. Unlike DnD however, the game doesn’t play like one would expect from titles of this kind. It doesn’t follow the seemingly classical use of turn-based elements. Instead the game takes on a role of its own as players take the Neverwinter Nights approach and go into combat as one solid team and use the Diablo style controls I mentioned for picking a target and attacking them. Minus the fact you can’t click your mouse repeatedly in order to attack since auto-attack does that for you.

Like one would expect from a DnD game, the title does manage to follow through with the game’s rulebook where abilities will go through cooldown periods. The time between their cooldowns is filled in between each characters prefered form of attack whether it’s a melee swing or something as simple as spells when managing combat. Luckily the characters that aren’t controlled in regards to A.I. will take care of what they must through pre-set combat tactics. Sound familiar? It should, quite a few RPGs have used this option. Unlike in solo mode the game will not allow you to set tactics and the likes while in cooperative since the characters are controlled by players and will require communication in order to find success in combat.

Where the game’s biggest fault hasn’t been shown yet, there seems to be a problem with the Dungeon Master mode in regards to the playability of it. To my experience, which honestly wasn’t long, Dungeon Master mode does seem irrevocably troubled due to the DM’s limitations, which follow close to the game’s campaign itself and doesn’t allow for much deviation from it. While DMing was one of my favourite parts of a good DnD adventure, this mode is troubled in the sense that I’ve encountered issues with the inviting process where sometimes it seemed as if the game just wasn’t sending out invites. While I would say the DM mode is fun, it isn’t a game mode that I found enjoyable since there wasn’t any true dungeon crafting left to it in comparison to what one would get if they were to simply go out and buy a few DnD books and learn how to make a grand adventure in pre-made scenarios or ones of their own. While this mode seems like a staple point of the game – it wasn’t hard to take off and go back into campaign where those I did play with seemed to find a bit more fun in the campaign in comparison to the Dungeon Mastering portion of the title.

Sword Coast Legends – PC (Reviewed)
Developer: n-Space
Publisher: Digital Extremes
Cost: 39.99
Release Date: Now Available

While this game is not on par with classic DnD titles such as Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale or Baulders Gate – Sword Coast Legends does have a lot of growth potential and it seems that the developers are quite aware of this as the game does have, as stated, potential. Even though it’s not a classic DnD game it is one that is slowly growing on me in the way that past titles such as Diablo have. While my time on record may not be nearly as high as many other players out there, my time is high enough that I enjoyed the game and was capable of discussing it with fellow friends who are tempted to give it a spin since it’s on sale at the time of writing for 26.99 through Steam.

Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

About the Writer:

Review: Fallout 4- War, War Has Changed

November 21, 2015November 30, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+New graphics engines are beautiful and bring the Wastelands to life
+Voice acting for main characters is spot on and immersive
+Weapon customizations and city building are welcome changes
+New perk system is spot on for S.P.E.C.I.A.L. talents

Cons:
–Frame-rate issues can pop up in certain situations
–Some load times take longer than others
–Companions can sometimes seem to be lost heading to assigned towns

Editor’s Note: Due to the sheer size of the game and massive amounts of content we’ve had to put this and file it as a review that will continuously be in progress till the reviewer feels that the review matches the quality needed to properly represent our thoughts on the game. We will keep you updated once we take the review out-of-progress and when we make changes to it. Thanks your your understanding.

Review Update #1:

As you know our review has been in progress for a couple of weeks now. This latest update, which is the first of many, will discuss the community building situation as well as the modding system for both weapons and armor as well as your Power Armor, which we are sure by now you’ve become rather accustomed to owning.

When talking about a Fallout game we aren’t talking just about how small it is, but we are discussing in general just how big the game is thanks to massive amounts of content. With Fallout 4 we’re looking at more content than I’ve come to realize it has from dungeons to explore to sheer new additions. The latest may seem familiar to some of you who play Fallout Shelter as your goal is to build a community of Vault Dwellers, to take care of them, to get them to come around and become a living and breathing entity. Fallout 4 has embraced this philosophy with allowing players to take a place such as the starting area of Sanctuary or Sanctuary Hills and build a community out of it once completing the beginning game up to a certain point.

When in the building mode, players may become familiar with a small bit of information at the top of the screen that will indicate amount of settlers, happiness, defenses, electricity/energy, food, water, beds and capacity for settlers. These both will be manageable as long as players remember to have the proper resources built into place such as Gourds, Watermelon and even Tato’s in order to properly sustain their food sources. These can later be added to as players progress through the game in time, but so can their population by placing the proper items such as radio towers that will signal survivors to their settlement. Just remember, to bring in more? You have to have more water, higher defenses, proper energy, food, water, beds and even places for them to stay. This is quite important and will require players to improvise by putting down walls, fences, building houses, establishments and even bringing vendors into town in order to sustain a usable economy. Don’t forget though, these towns can be attacked and it won’t be uncommon if or when this happens. One problem that was noticed came with texture collision when it comes to fence angles, item locations and even some terrain based problems. While these problems can be overcome with slight changes in angles or item placement, it does leave a certain irritation for those who want to be perfectionists.

When encouraging players to build a settlement, it’s quite interesting to see that both upgraded weapons and even armor won’t go to waste since settlers (your named ones) can equip these items if players talk to them in order to trade. By doing so this will provide odds that are better suited for the players advantage. For example in my own town I’ve gone as far to equip Preston (you should be well acquainted with this gentleman by now). In my town Preston is no longer in his default armor. Instead he has been heavily upgraded using Synth armors and even some other under armor from the Gunners in order to provide him better protection during any fights he may get into.

When discussing armor it’s important that players do take note that some gear with have a “+” or “-” next to certain stats. Many times this is because an armor has been pre-modified thanks to enemies and of course a players luck. These modifications provide extra energy defense as well as things such as radiation protection as well as basic damage protection. These upgrades to armor can also include poison resistance, extra damage resistance, extra carrying capacity and even lowered weight in order to help players weigh less when wearing heavier pieces of equipment or simply avoiding a strength build to start off with.

Among this unique crafting system “food items” that are collected from enemies such as Mutant Hounds, Hounds or other animals, can and will create foods that can reduce things such as Rads, improve max HP or even increase max AP in order to make characters more effective in combat. The same can go for items such as Buffout, Jet, Psycho and the likes. All of these can be modified in order to make their effects stack with each other, but only if the player has the proper components for the combining of these items.

Weapons have also gotten much of the same treatment as armor in the regards that weapons can be fully upgraded for better damage, lower recoil, bigger clips, better accuracy and silenced, muzzled or however players prefer to have them set for their situations. These weapons, all of them pretty much, can be modified in order to provide better combat prowess for players. We’ll take a deeper look into this as we begin to modify weapons such as the Rocket Launcher, Institute Pistol and even the Laser Rifle with screenshots to follow.

There was a time when I could have told you that I’ve seen it all, done it all and felt that war had finally began to change only to once more be thrown into a Wasteland that seems familiar yet very different from the ones we had seen before. Fallout has become a franchise that Bethesda Zenimax fans like myself can tell you holds a soft place in our hearts thanks to the company’s creativity and attention to detail. With this never-ending attention that they give each of their respective IP’s we’ve seen some of the most amazing open-world RPGs come to life. One of these renowned titles was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which can be noticeably seen in many respects of this game and with good reason. Many of them can be seen deep within the game’s mechanics, skill system and even the overall use of dialogue-defining choices players will make throughout the game.

For many of us Fallout 3 was the last big one we truly enjoyed and found the most creativity in and for many of us it has been a long wait to see another polished title by the amazing minds at Bethesda Studios, but a little bit has changed since our last departure from the safety of our Vault-Tec Vaults. With now seven years behind us it has come our time to place the disks in our consoles and even our computers in order to take on this large-scale experience that has been carefully crafted, but this experience as foreign as it may seem will seem oddly familiar to fans who have explored the wastelands once before. As someone who has been playing Fallout for well over ten years, the games install screen has been one of the most entertaining as the game greets players who decide to boot the game up the moment the install finishes they will be welcomed by a Vault-Tec guide to the wastelands and the stats they will use as well as how they will influence your travels through the Wasteland. The videos being what they are, reflect a 1950’s like era where animated cartoons helped illustrate the world how we should know it.

Once we’ve exited this little introductory portion of the game it’s time to get down to one of the most entertaining portions of any Bethesda game, character creation after we’ve gone through the game’s introductory sequence that helps build up where we want to see things. In these opening moments we are greeted by a married couple, our choice of Wanderers, a male and a female one. Here we get to select our gender, our appearance clear from hair, nose, lips, cheeks, make-up (assuming you are playing a female), eyes and so forth. Unlike before, the game offers us some rather unique look into the world before the bombs fell, before our characters became test subjects to whatever their vault was using tests for. What’s most unique about the characters we play is the fact they are fully voice acted. Let alone are we given a new choice system, but we are given a unique response between both of the genders. While it’s nice to see such a thing approach the most interesting part is that the voices should come familiar as Courtenay Taylor (Resident Evil 6’s Ada Wong) and Brian T. Delaney (Halo 5: Guardians – Roland). While both of these are interesting choices for voice actors they add a rather lively aspect to the game that was never there before in the franchise.

With that aside the game does seem to visit a familiar face as the game at its core remains largely intact from its predecessors where players will focus on several things. This includes exploration, quests, factions and even quests, but the major plot is completely new, original and offers a twisted view as to what could happen if your son had been kidnapped while you were in cryosleep. A large question will emerge as fans attempt to figure out how long it had been since your kid had been taken from you. What’s the exact time frame since your sons kidnapping and your awakening, how long had it been since you saw your family fall apart before you? As your exploration of the Wasteland comes underway players will find themselves going through familiar places such as Fenway Park, the Freedom Trail and even other unique locales that could very well be visit in real life. Though some of these unique places will send players into fighting things such as Super Mutants, Yao Guai and even Synths. While Synths sound like the common one, there is something rather peculiar about them that you’ll find out by entering Diamond City.

The truth? They are the new enemy, the new focal point and even our newest and greatest enemy that will come before us. The question about the Synths and their creators “The Institute” can make things a bit more interesting as we learn that humans are being replaced by them little by little with their Synth counterparts. Story wise, Fallout 4 follows the tracks just as Fallout 3 did; something has happened, you are hunting your family member and the outcome may depend on how far you are willing to go in order to solve your latest problem. This one is why your kid was kidnapped, why they would want to and the outcome to finding out the resolution.

While on your adventures it won’t be odd to not go alone. Easier than in past titles to obtain, followers become a large part of this game. You’ll meet some such as an oafish Super Mutant named Strong to the famed series member Dogmeat clear to the rather uppity character named Codsworth or even the ill-reputed reporter Piper who just seems to piss a lot of people off with her news reporting. While each of these offer unique dialogue they all have their competitive advantages. While Dogmeat is a dog, he offers a chance to snag-and-snare enemies and even disabling them in combat by doing so. While other companions have the chance to use guns as well as more armor than Dogmeat sometimes it’s nice not to hear them randomly bantering as you explore or even their feedback about quests you are taking part in. Even though it’s nice to have human interaction among the Wasteland sometimes it’s just too much depending on what is going on and how. So what has really change this time around outside of companions that can’t die?

For those of you who are familiar with the level up system, many of you are accustomed to S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system there has been a few changes since players can now choose a state to level up or even a perk to level up. Just as before, some of these perks require certain levels, certain stats and even certain requirements in order for players to progress through the game with a bit more ease than before. While many of the perks return, there are some new ones that allow for weapon upgrading/crafting, food making, armour crafting and even alchemy items(drugs, medical supplies, etc) to be created so that players may take to the Wastelands with a bit more ease. Such as crafting items to make stealth a bit more effective, pocketed armour pieces to allow for players to carry more items and even padded so that players can take a bit more damage than before while weapons see vast amounts of choices to increase damage, range, decrease recoil and the likes.

Fallout 4 – PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Xbox One and PC
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Zenimax
Cost: 59.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

While there are flaws I could outline many of these are because of minor bugs that seem to pop up and disappear just as quickly as they first emerged. While some may find these bugs such as dialogue cut outs, randomly situated combat scenarios and even oddly placed items that may not be retrievable. While these minor things to some are critical, we do find ourselves enjoying the game in all its intoxicating craftsmanship. If you haven’t already found yourself down the rabbit hole and still falling we are sure that you won’t be landing anytime soon in regards to the sheer amount of content there is to explore. We just wish we could see the hundreds of thousands of people wandering the wastelands.

Stay tuned for further review updates that will include town building, friendships, etc. We do apologize that this bit isn’t in the review, but due to the sheer size of this game and the amount of content I was unable to include it in the initial review this far.

Our review is based upon the final version that one or more of our team members purchased. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 9 out of 10

About the Writer:

Review: Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer – Halo, the Training Day Edition

November 14, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Friendly character call-out’s is a welcomed tactical use for those not using headsets.
+Warzone offers a unique blend of competitive PvP and Player vs A.I.
+REQ System’s Rewards are fun, unique and offer fun twists to a Attack & Defend situation
+The removal of Spartan Armor Abilities offers a return to classic like multiplayer
+ADS on all weapons offers a nice blend of combat styles for all players

Cons:
–Spartan customization is rather underwhelming in comparison to Halo 4
–REQ Packs offer a nice variation between player setups
–Lack of modes such as Spartan Ops offers a lack of variation for co-op choices

By now we know you’ve had a chance to consume our review for Halo 5: Guardians’ campaign and now we’re finally breaking down the multiplayer in its current state as Big Team Battles is on its way in the games update with a few maps to accompany the title. You can be rest assured we’ll have a hands-on for that portion of the game once it releases. But for now let us focus on the state of the game as it is now as we get to see how the Spartan’s train in the games universe)

Many things have changed over the last couple of installments with Halo as a franchise, especially to the multiplayer what seems to remain as the game’s core piece and keeps the fans coming back more than once. Unlike Halo’s Reach and Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians has decided to step back from how we knew Spartan Abilities to work by having completely removed them and once more placed Power Ups back into the game the way they needed to be. As this has helped return Halo to its former glory, don’t let this change throw you off as things such as increased speed, active camo and the likes have all been thoroughly implemented into the game thanks to Halo 5: Guardians and how the REQ system works.

So what exactly is this REQ system that’s been mentioned several times? For those of you who haven’t had a chance to jump onto Halo 5’s multiplayer yet here is what the REQ system is. By playing matches, winning, losing or whatever have you, REQ points are earned for completing matches in general. Through meeting certain requirements or simply saving up points, players have the chance to unlock new REQ packs, which in-turn can be purchased in order to unlock new things such as weapons, vehicles, exp boosters and even certifications for new items via the REQ pack unlocks. These packs can can also contain unique versions of each gun as well as rarities that provide slightly different capabilities than lesser versions. Though these weapons can only be used in Warzone modes, it’s nice to see them available for those wanting to use them.

While much of the multiplayer remains untouched from the previous mentionings of REQ Packs we do see a few things that would have been viable to the game outside of Swat, Team Arena, Slayer, Breakout, Free-For-All, Weekend Shotty Snipers, and Weekend Doubles with Big Team Battle to be introduced into the game in the nearby future in the games next content update. While many of these modes may seem fairly simple to understand, there are rankings for each one that players will find themselves earning in order to compete with people of similar play styles as well as skill levels known as CSR (Competitive Skill Rank). Thanks to this new system players are divided into several categories such as Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Onyx and finally Champion. Thanks to this new system players will find themselves growing in rank as they win matches as well as decreasing in progress towards their next rank as their teams proceed to lose, which is great, but also punishes players who may have done great on their team only to have been let down by their teammates who may be complete randoms. While Bungies old ranking system was interesting, hard and downright challenging – it almost seems this new system is to balance out the good, the bad and the pro in different ways. The issue with this one? Your rating is also based on your win/loss ratio during your matches as well as your performance overall. I got stuck into Diamond, the issue? I only have a 0.87 K/D which pales into comparison against some of the people I’ve managed to play Halo 5’s multiplayer with.

While I could write extensively on the changes that have been made as well as their supportive attempts to play fair for an entire community, let us take a look at the things that hold Halo 5: Guardians back in ways that Halo 4 succeeded and still does at its core. While the newest game mode Breakout offers a unique spin on the familiar gameplay seen in Call of Duty’s Search and Destroy, the newest mode offers fans a chance to fight over a singular flag with one life in this Sudden Death version of Capture the Flag. While the mode is fun, challenging and ultimately difficulty – some do tend to treat it as an elimination mode, which takes away quite a bit of the games fun. But in truth? It still doesn’t take away the fact that Halo 4 still succeeds in many ways that Halo 5 does not.

Many of you are probably familiar with the episodic storyline from Halo 4 known as Spartan Ops. In this mode players (up to 4) took control of Spartan-IV team members in order to complete special tasks that would help the USS Infinity gain more knowledge of the enemies they are up against. Let alone did this chance give them boots on the ground outside of Master Chief and his hunt for the Didact as well as the after events, but it also gave the newer Spartan-IV’s a chance to go from green to mean. Their story primarily covered the hunt for Doctor Catherine Hasley, the very woman responsible for the experiments that lead to Spartan Augmentations being possible. As she is hunted the teams find out more and more about what’s going on behind the scenes and in turn Hasley is painted to be a traitor. While many of you may know the occurrences, lets leave the rest to wonderment by those who have not had a chance to play Spartan Ops just yet. While this series was a large fuel for success in Halo 4, many players have been clambering for more episodes, some that even take place during the events of Halo 5: Guardians so that players can see more on the side of what Sarah Palmer and her command of Spartan-IV’s can do. Especially with our new villain literally tearing the universe apart just because he or she can.

Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One – Reviewed)
Developer: 343 Studio
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Cost: 59.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

While this episodic series could pose a chance for return thanks to fans hitting the Halo Waypoint forums by force, Halo 5: Guardians could use a bit more to it as the story, as you read in our last review was lacking, plot-hole filled and needed quite a bit of filling in, which Spartan Ops would offer a nice chance for 343 Studios to do in a future update. The only downside? They’ve pretty much said this wasn’t happening according to several websites, we can only wait and see what happens to this since 343 Studios carefully crafted both Spartan Ops and Firefight together with Warzone. Downside? If that’s what we are stuck with, there seems to be quite a few fans that aren’t having that slice of cake and even eating it. They’re throwing it on the ground. Much like Spartan boosters that can be activated during combat, so let us discuss the new Spartan Armor system.

While many of you might be giving off a small shriek of hope for abilities such as Promethean Vision, Active Cloak, Hardlight Shield and the others I would like to say, it’s okay to cry, they’re gone. While it would have been nice to see such streamlined capabilities came back, 343 Studios Opted for something a bit more useful, self-explanatory and unique based on the Spartan Armor tech that the UNSC and ONI command would realistically be using. So what did they bring in? Boosters, thrusters and even hovering modes on the armors allowing for players to hover while using ADS, slide and shoot after sprinting, wall climbing and even a boost that allows players to quickly maneuver to a direction they desire. This allows for players to clamber up walls in order to hit those ledges they need, but also requires a new sense of awareness as players may just get shot in the back if they aren’t careful.

All around Halo 5: Guardians remains quite unchanged in comparison to past titles. Thanks to a slight boost in both combat pacing as well as situational awareness, Halo 5 remains very much the title we’ve grown up with regardless of the small changes that have been made. Whether you use hipfire or ADS, boosts or no boosts or even simple things such as power-ups in Warzone, players of all types will find this game quite suitable for themselves no matter which mode they find as their own. Halo 5’s multiplayer sticks true to its roots in many aspects while risking influences heavily seen in modern FPS titles. While transitions may be difficult for some to learn, Halo 5: Guardians’ multiplayer remains very much the same beast as before. Now if only we could get Custom Games matchmaking and an arena mode for Griffball.

<< Halo 5 Review Part 1

Our review is based upon the final version that one or more of our team members purchased. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 9 out of 10

About the Writer:

Review: Halo 5: Guardians Campaign – 343’s Attempt to Guard the Fans from Failure

November 7, 2015November 14, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
–Strong character development for Fireteam Osiris
–Diverse cast of characters that offers a flowing storyline and history in each Fireteam
–Visual and audio compositions are beautifully created giving life to the Halo universe
–Campaign revival system lightens the difficulty behind Legendary alone or cooperatively played

Cons:
–Horrible A.I. Squad Members
–Confusing and somewhat incomplete campaign story arcs

Editor’s Note: This review is based solely upon the Halo 5 campaign as the writer has focused a large portion of their time to the games campaign in order to bring an in-depth review of it. This review will contain slight spoilers, so please read at your own caution. The multiplayer portion will find itself with a dedicated review as well due to the size of it and how ever-evolving it is. Thanks for your understanding and we hope you enjoy the read.

Ever since the game’s announcement at E3 2013, Halo 5: Guardians has easily become one of the most anticipated games to launch on Microsoft’s Xbox One console. With eyes having been drawn to the title, there is a lot to be responsible for when it comes to a Halo title such as a solid story, a solid online component and a powerhouse combination of musical compositions as well as a graphical prowess that will set the game above all the rest to date. We were given the idea that the game will utilize much of the Xbox One’s capabilities in order to bring a combination of graphical capabilities as well as the consoles non-gaming capabilities in order to bring a rather social experience into both an online component as well as a solo experience for those that don’t want to head into the online component regardless if it’s campaign or even in the regards to a solo experience.

The question for 343 Studios would be unrelentingly reasonable: Where could Halo go after the events of Halo 4 where John-117 witnessed the death of Cortana after she became hardlight in order to see him and touch him as she had always wanted to do so? As Halo 5: Guardians unveils its introductory scene, we are introduced to two Spartan teams. One team consisting of a squad of newly made Spartan-IV’s known as Fireteam Osiris. This team consists of former ONI assassin Jameson Locke (you may remember him from the Halo 2 Anniversary, blurs new comic books, and Halo Nightfall) along with Halo 3: ODST’s Edward Buck as well as newly created characters Olympia Vale and Holly Takana. As for Master Chief’s Blue team? You’ll get to see three very familiar Spartan-II’s that have been rather absent from the games till now – Kelly-087, Linda-058, and Frederic-104.

The opening setting is simple as Fireteam Osiris is dispatched in order to rescue Dr. Catherine Halsey, the very person responsible for the Spartan Program, while Blue Team is assigned to secure a derelict research ship in order to prevent it from being discovered by The Covenant. As you can imagine, it’s there that chief begins to defy orders from the UNSC and sets off on his mission to investigate a mysterious message from a voice that will be all-to-familiar to long time fans of the franchise. As the UNSC learns that Master Chief has gone rogue with Blue Team in tow, Spartan Locke and his Osiris team are ordered to bring John-117 back by whatever means necessary. Unlike previous Halo titles, Halo 5: Guardians begins to become a downward spiral from here, and seems to be a bit more organized than Halo 4 as 343 Studios was wise in ditching the all-too-familiar hidden backstory through terminals throughout the game. While there are datapads, journals and other hidden items; they do not play a large role within the game as they would have in previous titles.

Instead, it became hard to follow the game’s narrative prioritization as the game widely focused on several overlapping arcs. One widely consisting of a hidden Promethean planet by the name of Genesis, which has unfortunately become the secret operating base of the games new ultimate villain as well as the franchise’s newest annoyance only known as the Warden.

From there the Chief defies orders and sets off to investigate a mysterious message from a familiar voice, and Locke and Osiris are ordered to bring him in by whatever means necessary. Halo 5’s story is less scattered and confused than Halo 4’s, and 343 has wisely ditched hiding important backstory in terminals scattered throughout the game. But I was often confused by the game’s narrative priorities as the two overlapping stories began to overlap and interweave before once more splitting apart. This ultimately is what made the campaign difficult to understand and truly enjoy outside of beautifully crafted landscapes and a musical score to accent it.

The game itself consists of rather carefully crafted cinematic experience that seems to display its self-preserving bravado with a rather unsuspecting score that helps highlight those thematic queues in order to help us understand what responses that 343 Studios wanted out of us. With these changes there are subtle changes to sound effects as well as designs for weapons across the board, but also even infamous musical arrangements we’ve come to know and love in past titles. While this is great and all it doesn’t help to understand several of the games occurrences that do seem to happen without warning such as why Blue Team would follow their “brother” John-117 into defying UNSC orders in order to go follow a transmission John himself received from a source that is all-too-familiar, but also why their bonds remain so strong between each other all the years later.

While it’s hard to not acknowledge that they are family, it’s hard to understand why they would follow him when such a strange transmission happened and why didn’t they just report this transmission to Captain Lasky in order to better their resources so that they may combine their efforts to find out why this transmission is happening this way. Instead? We’re taken on a wild goose chase with Blue Team as they defy orders and become hunted by Fireteam Osiris. While the story for Blue Team is mediocre at best there are a few creative decisions that are glaringly problematic.

One of the larger story issues is the time spent during the Sangheili Civil War to the extent that it almost felt like it was impeding upon plenty of chances to bring forth larger narrative and even character development. While it was nice to see the return of the Sangheili and their leader the Arbiter, the two hours spent on this mission in Legendary felt as if they were filler, unimportant, and ultimately made of poor creative direction where-as the time could have been spent with enemies such as the Promethean enemy Warden, the planet Genesis, and even as to why the Prometheans are still playing a huge role within the game’s story development. Afterall there is the large fact that Halo 4 gave the team plenty of story loopholes to fill in as well as ones to work with in order to bring forth a larger story. While I know it seems I have complained this entire time, take note that these are creative criticisms, flaws that have been overlooked and are criminally painful in the long run of things and leave quite a few answers to remain unanswered.

While the adventure has its solid moments there are a few mechanical flaws that make this game almost impossible to enjoy. One of them is the painful A.I. that makes difficulties such as Heroic and Legendary almost impossible to enjoy when it comes down to playing solo for the Lone Wolf achievement for those that are attempting to hunt it down in order to achieve their 100% completion that they may seek in the long run. While the A.I. does attempt to be helpful there are a few outstanding issues that could have been kinked out before the game’s launch. Many players like myself have found the A.I. at times is unresponsive in combat, during revival periods and even seems to be horrible at taking commands when they need to be taking them. While this problem could easily be fixed by better programming or something of the sort, the A.I. is a dying light against what the experience is like when having a fellow Halo fan to play with. Thankfully this is fixed via the game’s cooperative matchmaking system and will allow for fans to team up together in order to purge their experience of such a horrible A.I.

While there are those glaringly large problems to be looked upon there are things that the game does right. With the game 343 Studios promised larger, bigger battles and an overall cinematic experience. With that promise came a delivery and the landscapes aren’t just gigantic, they aren’t linear, they don’t leave players dwindling over an edge when it comes down to hidden areas, breakable walls or even terrains that will offer tactical advantages whether players utilize the new spartan armour abilities or just plain firepower. One of the best representations of this is during one of the game’s largest battlefields on Sangheilios where players will find themselves using high perches in order to get clean shots on enemies and even obtaining weapons such as vehicles, fuel rods, turrets and the fan favoured Beam Rifle. While many players will take note that each weapon does offer ADS (Aiming Down Sights) this is a feature we will discuss in-depth when we get to our multiplayer review coming later this week.

Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One – Reviewed)
Developer: 343 Studio
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Cost: 59.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

While the campaign itself was enjoyable it seemed short, loop-holed, and at times rather weak due to the focus on Fireteam Osiris versus a fair-share of both teams as well as the capability of using background characters such as Sarah Palmer, Dr. Halsey, Thomas Lasky and even Infinity’s own A.I. Roland who remains as ever faithful and even a voice of reasoning when Buck isn’t around to remain that human-like character that is able to reason and question motives behind what is happening. The only thing that can be left to guess? Spartan Ops Season 2 would be a splendid thing to have as it would give us more idea of what’s going on behind the scenes and would even offer a story-fill-in where the plot holes have been carefully plotted. As we already know from the ending scene of Halo 4, there are a lot of Spartan-IV’s on Infinity, so why not give us a bit more detail behind their activities? Till then? We have more answers than questions since Halo 5: Guardians since the game is almost three fourths completed when it finally begins to find a steady pace. All we can say? We have a lot to look forward to with 343’s lead design on Halo as a franchise and we certainly hope that they do take a few notes as to story, narrative and content design as Halo 5 has plenty of it but not enough to satisfy those wanting a long stay with a campaign driven title.

Halo 5: Guardians Review Part 2 – Multiplayer >>

Our review is based upon the final version that a team member purchased. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

About the Writer:

Review: Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax – No Happy Endings Here

October 19, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Colourful cast members some of the most renowned anime’s around
+Franchises such as Sword Art Online and Shana no Shakugan collaborate wonderfully
+Special moves, stages, and character animations are on point

Cons:
–Mechanics are not unique, inspired or seemingly original from other 2D fighting titles
–Neglects those unfamiliar with the anime franchises
–Heavy online lag prior and post release (tested on multiple ISPs)
–Credits can not be skipped in story mode

When coming from playing franchises that helped start the 2D genre like King of Fighters, MArvel vs Capcom, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Beast Wrestler, and many, many more – it’s hard to state that I’m a stranger to fighting games when the truth is I’m not. Though I am drawn to titles such as this that bring such an unusual collaboration between anime cast members such as the ones drawn into this SEGA title. As a fan of the franchises it was hard not to have some form of nostalgia when seeing Shana, Kirito, Asuna, and a select few others step up to duke it out. The unfortunate part? Having had a friend of mine try it who was not accustomed to any of these characters, he was confused and felt disconnected from a game that should be welcoming fans and non-fans to the title. The focal point of this game is not the newcomers, but instead the fans who will be overcome with nostalgia for the selected cast of characters.

You’d think when it comes to 2D fighters that have just released that there would be something spectacular and mind blowingly unique to each one, but unlike other fights this game does not attempt to be unique, creative or different from them. Instead the game’s formula is very simple compared to any other fighting titles I’ve played to date. With that being said fighting moves are quite simple and are tied into the formula many fighters will be used to that have played games such as Blazblue, Persona 4 Arena/Ultimax, and Street Fighter. It does match up to these in the fact it follows traditional fighting game approaches, which outlines a minimalistic story, a lot of fighting, and a bit of fanfare; all something that this game does very well for that matter.

As a Vita game this title does house quite a bit of versatility in game modes such as story, arcade, time attack, online competitive, and a couple of others that are truly not worth mentioning. These are all something that are a baseline for most fighting games for those of you whom aren’t accustomed to such titles. The most commonly that will be played, assuming you like to test your skills against others, is the Online Mode, which will allow you to take your fighting skills online in order to test them out against other players. Regardless of your skill level, the game does tend to not care if you are a beginner, an expert, or a moderately experienced fighter; you will get matched unfairly unless you play with friends. But this is only one of the games true issues, which can be seen as a downfall since most fighting games focus just on that – fighting online against others.

When looking at such a game, you’d think that the game would be beautiful, graphically promising, but instead we get a game that isn’t just graphically flawed bad enough it would pass as a SNES game, but we also get a game that seems inconsistent when it comes to high animation filled scenes. Let alone was the expectation high for Japanese flamboyancy and animations, the game suffers tragically from what appears to be dumbed down graphics and animation on the PlayStation Vita, which has demonstrated graphical prowess on games before this one such as Dead or Alive, Injustice Gods among Us, and even Blazblue; all of them having looked much better than this game itself. With that said? It’s simple to say that there is nothing here to see, move on. I state this simply because stages are beautifully illustrated, vibrant, and alive; character specials are much the same until the characters are drowned out and their rather poorly designed animations are shown. While it would have been nice to see a bit more crispness to the graphics, it seemed that corners were cut in order to ensure that the game launched on the Vita in a timely manner.

Much like any fighting game; Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax does attempt to appeal to the crowd of fans who are still in that phase of transitioning away from the less serious anime’s and light novels to those who are full blown into them, and unfortunately their targeting these crowds works as many of these fans will find themselves in trouble when it comes to the online multiplayer. It wasn’t uncommon that when choosing Asuna that I would find myself quickly booted from the lobby and returned to the main menu where I would once more have to queue up, find a match, and choose a character I wasn’t accustomed to when it came to online fighting. While I admit it is funny to see Asuna getting the ever-living-shit kicked out of her by Kirito or even Shana, I did find myself a bit let down as I was growing used to watching the opposing player teleport across the screen momentarily or the game stutter as it caught up with their connection. While the lag didn’t seem to appear as harshly on the PlayStation 3 as it did PlayStation Vita, it’s still a bit dumfounding as to why the latency is apparent on the PS Vita while the PS3 doesn’t suffer as much.

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax (PS Vita [Reviewed], PS3 [reviewed])
Developer: French Bread, Ecole Software, Sega
Publisher: Sega
Cost: PS Vita: $29.99 USD |PS3: $39.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

While I am familiar with previous titles by French Bread, Sega, and new to anything by Ecole Software, it’s hard to understand why this game feels as if it has fallen flat on its face, and struggles to take it seriously so that the game could stand up in both graphical prowess and even underlying mechanical strength. With a subtly weak netcode, small array of characters to choose from, and a selection of support characters that pales the previous in comparison, it’s hard to understand what went wrong with this game and why the companies couldn’t take it as seriously as it should have been.

Even with the few flaws aside, Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax does try to appeal to fans by its small, but fun list of characters ranging from animes such as Durarara, Accel World, A Certain Magical Index, Sword Art Online, and many more, the company does have the appeal of a stripped down fighter that can welcome fans into it as long as they do not feel let down or even neglected due to their lack of knowledge about the light novel or even anime franchises. While the game will introduce them to some they may not know, the developers should have spent a bit more time on the story elements, and even exactly as to what the Hell is going on with the games campaign. However, with that aside? This game can be enjoyable to those who do know the animes and love fighting games, but take heed that this is not a game for die hard fighting players, but instead for those that want a game that is a pick-up-and-go title that will not be taking itself seriously like many of the other fighting games out there. With that being said? Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax does have a long ways to go and could easily be improved upon with a few add-on contents as well as story add-ons to improve what has already been put into the game.

Our review is based upon the final version that was given to us by the games publisher. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 5 out of 10

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Review: Amnesia: Memories – Remembering Life as it Were

October 12, 2015October 24, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / 4 Comments

Pros:
+Characters are quite amusing, especially Orion who serves as the “Narrator”.
+Well scripted conversations as well as storytelling.
+Visuals are quite easy on the eyes and well done only to be followed admirably by the music

Cons:
–Some character choices for the player are a bit of a let down.
–A few of the characters feel somewhat underdeveloped

While I’d love to say I’ve played my fair share of visual novel games that are driven as a “dating simulation” I was recently introduced to my first Otome (“girl game” is what it literally translates to), I was introduced to a niche genre I’ve only heard of and now find myself enjoying. As my first one I was introduced to “Amnesia: Memories” by Idea Factory. To be honest? This is my first dating sim since I’ve decided to skimp out on the idea of trying out the world renowned “Hatoful Boyfriend” and move onto this one for this sponsored review. So you may ask me to explain this game in a single sentence and to be honest the response you’d get is as follows. “Amnesia: Memories” is a rollercoaster of a ride that plays itself upon doubt, a crime possibly committed, and a use of weirdly feminine males that are meant to capture a woman’s eyes without making them feel overwhelmed, which to some this game may do in an explicative manner. For me? I was left scratching my head due to how many ways my character “Rose” had lost her memory due to the person she had spoken with or relations with for that matter.

Much like any dating sim game I’ve ever read about, “Amnesia: Memories” follows the practice quite well as your character is introduced to a decent selection of people – in this case it’s men – to choose from. Each of these potential partners has a set of likes, dislikes, and even dialogue choices to choose from in order to show your characters true passions as you lock in on one of the suitors that seem best fit for your character. Like many titles, this game comes with a ‘tried-and-true’ formula where your characters end results with one person may sometime suffer due to the choices made. Something I’ve yet seen in any of the titles I’ve watched played or even streamed by other gamers.

Our story starts off with our character awakening in their mind only to be introduced to the games narrator Orion. Orion is a rather quirky spirit who has somehow managed to enter my character “Roses” consciousness where he had caused her to lose all of her memories. As someone who would have surely had a platinum trophy if there were trophies for this game, I managed to spend a lot of time finding that Orion would spend quite a bit of time as the character who would give me a lot of my preliminary dialogue choices. These choices included which guy my character would like to start with in order to start rebuilding her memories. This included going through the game backwards at times in order to discover who she is, who her suitor is, and why they fell in love to begin with. The first time around for myself as a guy was a bit awkward, I felt myself scratching my head a few times before going along with the game only to remember it was once more a visual novel and my rapidly pressing of “X” would “turn the pages” faster and faster as I read through the game before the rather well done dialogue could finish. With the creativity behind each of the suitors, the game offers a rather creative premise based upon who your starting bachelor is. Depending on you choose, as stated, also involves the resolution of how your character became an amnesiac. Well for me it would’ve been nice to have to have had the choice of no one and just had Orion be some clumsy ass sprite who just managed to ram into my character’s consciousness by some weird chance. Unfortunately the game did not offer that and would lead me on towards a possible crime that had been committed, if it had been committed to begin with.

For myself much of my story took place with a gentleman by the name of Ikki who looks just short of being a man in drag due to his effeminate features. As my story progressed with Ikki I quickly took notice between several things based upon each of the “realms” that could be played. There was little variation between each of the stories aside from a few nuances that would make you scratch your head when it comes to the design choices. Outside of this the game tends to try and stay bright, energetic, and even offering a few warmingly tender moments that will attempt to melt your heart during the dating scenes. The downside? I’m the one that’s twistedly dark and would’ve loved to have seen the option to wreck a date or three only to see the alternate ending if there had been one that ended with “Rose” walking off with a smile on her face and her head held high; granted I didn’t see a connection with her or any of the suitors even though you end up with either one in the end no matter how many times you’ve played the game through.

While the game tends to hit a rather cheerful note each time through, it’ll be hard to say that it does much else outside of that. With such a colourful cast of characters it was quite dumbfounding to see that there weren’t deeper backstories behind each character, yourself, and even more fleshed-out personalities that would drive the game more-so than they did before. While “Amnesia: Memories” does just what is expected of an Otome, it’s hard to see that I was overall impressed outside of the art, the dialogue, and the music. The music for-one is what kept me coming back as I loved the little episodic queues between days or even occurrences within that day. Had they made a physical release with a soundtrack bundle? I’d promise you I’d have bought it just for the soundtrack with extended cuts of each of the mini-segment songs. The biggest problem with this games launch is not the fact it’s a bad game at all, but for those that don’t have some idea of Japanese or at least experience with it? Will find the game a bit text-heavy and unfortunately that will yank you away from the title, but don’t let it be deceptive, the game to some will be quite enjoyable for what it is.

Now I know many of you are wondering just how bad the bad endings can be. This is where the weirdo in me comes out and finds the bad-endings rather hilarious since it seems to be the most commonly used one in reviews and the best for the example shows a serial killer coming out and stabbing my dearest “Rose” to death in a rather ironic love-driven rage. While this was interesting it was odd that this character was introduced very shortly before the occurrence and even shows off no reason as to rhyme or reason that drove him to the murder of “Rose”. While it was odd, it was hilarious as to why such a thing happened, and even made the weirdest part of the game one of the most dumbfounding, but even this doesn’t beat the fact that the final bachelor is just downright creepy as Hell. Even more-so than that pigeon dating sim that seems to be all the rage. While the game’s overall plot is weird, “Amnesia: Memories” stays on task with bringing forth both enjoyable plotlines and ones that are so bad that the title tends to fall flat on its face more than once. To some? This is a perfect example of why games should intertwine their scripts a bit better and offer more diversity in why things occur as they do.

Amnesia: Memories – Vita [Reviewed]
Developer: Idea Factory, Inc.
Publisher: Idea Factory, Inc.
Price: 29.99 USD
Released: Available Now

While I’m one that doesn’t enjoy dating sims, “Amnesia: Memories” is a game with a beautifully light tone, warm moments, and amazingly well done artistic uses in the eye candy area. While its visually appealing, the game is also a bit goofy in a mindless sense that kept me coming back for a bit more, which is something Idea Factory Inc. seems to be quite good at. While I would love to have seen more about the cast behind the scenes, the games story is quite predictable and unfortunately quite unaccomplished in comparison to some of their other titles, which to some may make this game feel as if it was made by uneducated children. This is where the genius creation behind this game comes to play and makes it even more appealing for those wanting something that doesn’t want to be taken seriously. So go at it, let Orion take your consciousness away and go for a little ride with this games cast if you want to try out your first Otome.

Our review is based upon the final version that was given to us by the games publisher. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Review: Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls – Where Skirts and Bullets Fly

October 3, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
–A story that fits the franchise perfectly and leads to amazing character development
–The new adventuring in third person as a shooter is a blast
–The soundtrack is amazing well done and fits the franchise beyond perfectly
–The game brings a new and striking visual setup for the franchise

Cons:
–Some mechanics in the gameplay can make the game feel clunky at random intervals
–Visual appeal can be lost at times, which causes a loss of player immersion
–Minor bugs such as sound hiccups and enemies detecting you when their back is turned

You’d probably not be surprised when I say that I actually love this franchise, but when it comes to having an enemy I absolutely abhor? This franchise made this happen, but in an absolutely perfected way. Oddly? It’s not that awesomely disturbing character we’ve come to know as Monokuma; the villain of this games franchise as well as the most homicidal mechanical bear I’ve ever seen in my life. Instead this game features a set of villains that will make you want to rip your hair out if you ever run into a kid like these. In this title we get to see a set of kids that aren’t just crazy, they are self-absorbed, homicidal, and even just shy of being absolutely freaking crazy enough to send chills down your spine. This is something that will be a consistent theme within Ultra Despair Girls.

The game starts off by introducing us to our everyday high school girl who doesn’t seem to have much going for her, except for the fact she is completely normal, and has nothing special about her. In truth, Komaru Naegi is your average girl who likes to chill-out in her Towa City apartment. However, things go nuts when her life gets turned upside down on its head and thrown into a life gone nuts as she is taken captive by an unseen force that eventually dumps her out in Towa City once more, but it is not what she knew. Towa City has been taken over by a massive army of Monokuma’s and a group of children who become known as the Warriors of Hope who are controlling them. Their revolution has incited children to murder adults and cause the house to become a children’s paradise where adults are not present, but instead very dead.

If you aren’t a stranger to Danganronpa, there is one theme you may keep rather familiar with, one of them being the fact that the franchise is beyond well known for its unspeakably difficult and cruel motives that every character seems to have somewhere down the road. This can include small things such as saving people or simply choosing routes that may yield painful plights for entire groups of people. For those who are unfamiliar with the titles, Danganronpa games are an emotional rollercoaster, one where players will find moments that the game will come close to their heart and other moments where the game shows a very harsh as well as cruel reality where players will find themselves going outside of their known comfort zones. This is all charged by the game using a very dystopian feel where all hope will truly be lost in the long run.

The games story isn’t just driven by the dialogue, which is shown off in a graphic novel approach that is uncommon for games such as these. In the game where dialogue isn’t being represented, players will find themselves overcoming exploration as well as puzzles using the hacking gun, which is Komaru’s only tool for survival outside of her wits and cunning. The hacking gun features several unique features such as Blast, which kills Monokuma’s; Dance, which literally makes them dance like a bunch of weirdo’s; Knockback, which does just as it sounds like; Move, which makes things move, and even Reveal that uncovers secret locations as well as hidden messages. This is where the gun is one of the most important tools in the game as players spend time going through leveling, upgrading it, and even making it one of the most versatile utility in the game. With it players will explore puzzles that would otherwise be difficult and purely annoying due to levels of frustration.

Between these rather carefully crafted puzzles that get more difficulty with time, there is an underlying issue that will leave many players wanting to slam their Vitas down in pure frustration such as the Monokuma’s in each puzzle that can easily catch our overly feeble Komaru who seemed to die rather easily if caught. The downside to this portion is the simple fact that Komaru doesn’t even attempt to use her hack gun to survive, but instead merely dies once one comes near her. This shows her lack of mobility, which in the long run is hard to cope with as the maps are huge, boss sequences can take a while, and even difficult when Komaru is taking off larger enemies that will swarm her. This is where her friend Toko seems like she would be rather helpful when she goes into her killer mode known as “Genocide Jack” who seems to suffer a bad case of Multiple Personality Disorder. Though there is something that is more painful than the mechanical flaws such as the timer on Genocide Jack, bullets for the Hacking Gun, and even Monokuma Balls that will chase you down during your game. This is the game deciding to crash during some of the most taxing fights, and even requiring me to reset my entire Vita before returning to the game. Some of these included my Vita going sluggishly slow, which has surprisingly not been seen as of late, but it does happen on a rare basis. Just keep in mind that when this happens, you’ll notice it, and it will become infuriating.

Unlike previous titles, Ultra Despair Girls is not something that will keep you intrigued to play when it comes to this title, but instead it is the story that is very carefully written and even crafted so that fans will remain as engaging as this one. Instead it’s the very text heavy story that will keep fans indulged thanks to how well written and engaging it is. This includes the fact that both Komaru and Toko aka Genocide Jack both seem to pull off quite a bit with their scripted chemistry that allows for a rather amusing time and well crafted senselessness that is a comical relief. Unlike its previous titles, however, the visuals and even the music both add to the experience thanks to how well coordinated they are together in existence. This follows through quite well with the games use of scenery, 3D models, and even the use of of some 2D novel like moments.

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls – Vita [Reviewed]
Developer: Spike Chunsoft
Publisher: NIS America
Price: 39.99 USD
Released: Available Now

Much like the previous titles, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair girls has several things that follow it through and allow it to be a unique twist to the franchise. Such a unique one that the game could easily set the scene for future titles that want to follow suit as a mediocre survival-horror-shooter title that keeps itself unique with the setting, the story, and even the conversations that take place, but to those who liked the interactive novel approach? It seems that this game will be the one that ends this for the series and that is something nice to see as long as the variations keep true to what the franchise is about. Much like the franchise we’ve come to love, Ultra Despair girls is a game that sticks true to its roots thanks to visual dialogue through conversations, insanity, and overall well coordinated character development. This is a psychotic story and adventure that should be enjoyed by all whom own the Vita and love these kinds of games.

Our review is based upon a pre-release of the final version that was given to us by the games publisher. For information about our ethics policy please click here.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Blast Away The Game Review

A little bit of news, a little bit of reviews, and bit of games from around the world for you.

Game Reviews

Review: Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space – Invading Earth Got… Weird

Final Score: 7 out of 10

Review: Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair – Despair Peeks In On Earthlings

Final Score: 6 out of 10

Review: Just Cause 3 – Just Causing Some Chaos

Final Score: 8 out of 10

Review: Sword Coast Legends – A DnD Adventure’s Legend is Troubled

Final Score: 6 out of 10

Review: Fallout 4- War, War Has Changed

Final Score: 9 out of 10

Review: Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer – Halo, the Training Day Edition

Final Score: 9 out of 10

Review: Halo 5: Guardians Campaign – 343’s Attempt to Guard the Fans from Failure

Final Score: 6 out of 10

Review: Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax – No Happy Endings Here

Final Score: 5 out of 10

Review: Amnesia: Memories – Remembering Life as it Were

Final Score: 6 out of 10

Review: Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls – Where Skirts and Bullets Fly

Final Score: 6 out of 10