Pros:
+ Original idea.
+ Strangely entertaining.

Cons:
– Extremely short.
– Poorly written story.
– Very buggy gameplay.
– Camera system is horrible.
? Minecraft reference.

(Overiview)

 Late Tuesday night. I’m finally off of work, and heading home quite quickly do to me picking up a few new games. I sit down in front of my tv, open myself a nice adult beverage, and begin the installation process of FFXIV on my PS4. “Might as well see who’s online” I say aloud to myself; figured I might want to speak with someone seeing that I had about 80+ minutes until my games patching was complete.

 I decide to join the pre-existing BATGR chat that was going on. “Evening guys!” I greet everyone excitedly. “Hey Josh.” Everyone chimes in. “Josh, we have a job for you?” Dustin begins. “Really? What do you need?” I reply. “Well… In your absence tonight. We’ve nominated you to playthrough, and review Octodad.” A few guys snicker at his statement. I always see the trailer for this game at work, and I usually watch it fairly perplexed. Questioning how exactly the developers came up with such a strange concept. I do admit, I was intrigued on some level. Seemed like a game that I would enjoy, do to it being so wacky. “Ok… I’ll do it.” I say with a little grit in my tone. Being thrown under a moving bus is never a fun thing. Then the thought occurred to me, and before I knew it I already spoke it. “I’m buying it, aren’t I?” I closed my eyes, and let out a long winded sigh while I purchased the title.

(Story/Gameplay) 

 Marriage, lovely thing isn’t it. To have, and to hold. Through sickness, and health. For better, or worse. Throughout the course of matrimony; you, and your partners life becomes one. You share the same house, bed, and even bathroom. So, you would think that keeping massive secrets from you wife would be a pretty bad idea right? 

 I’m not talking about forgetting little Timmy at the grocery store, or forgetting to feed the family pet for over a year. I’m talking about the big ones, like… “Honey, I’m a secret agent.” or in this case. “Honey, I’m a Octopus.” You know; the little things. Enter the life of our hero. A flip flopping dad, who just happens to be an Octopus. He wants nothing but the absolute best for his family, while he protects them from the crazed chef that’s hunting him down. Having very little control over ones limbs does make his battle difficult, but none the less valiant.

 This does raise a few questions however. Like; where exactly did the two kids come from, and why don’t they have any genetic mutations. How does the wife touch/kiss this creature and honestly think that it’s human. How does the rest of the world view him as a normal human being when he can’t even walk in a straight line. I know, I know. This games story isn’t meant to be taken seriously, and was written with a tongue in cheek style. Even stating that however does not excuse how little they even explain their own story, let alone the amount of plot holes throughout.

 The gameplay over all for Ocotodad is simple. Your L2, and R2 triggers controls his respective left or right leg. While the R1 tigger is to grab at items. Watching as Octodad flops around like a fish out of water, (excuse the pun, couldn’t help myself.) is strangely entertaining. Somewhat like a train wreak, or the American Idol tryouts.

 However as much as it is entertaining to smack someone across the face with a tentacle, or spray in in someones face. The overall buggy gameplay begins to draw itself to the surface. During my playthrough of Octodad, my character became stuck on objects to many times to count. Now there is different types of getting stuck in this game. The is the accidentally going through the floor and having you limbs become stuck, type of stuck. There’s the whole having you limbs tie around different objects and become knotted in such a way that you a flailing around like a wacky waving inflatable arm tube man, type of stuck. Then there’s my personal favorite. Become stuck in such a way, that you break the game and have to reload it.

 I understand that the developers had a little bit of an uphill battle with this title seeing that it’s gimmick is ragdoll physics. However, releasing your title with this many bugs with it leaves me scratching my head, wondering exactly how thoroughly they even tested their product. Once you think you mastered the controls, you reach your next massive, never-ending battle. The camera. Now, for the most part, you can get it to cooperate fairly decently, then there are time that the camera begins to act like Octodad, and begins to flop around every which of a way, becoming unmanageable. One instance in the grocery store level left me trapped against a wall for the better part of five minutes.

 Gratefully though, your torture will not last to terribly long. Yes, this title is extremely short, to a point where I feel like I was nearly ripped off. I finished this game from start to finish, in just one sitting, in little over three hours. Seeing that the only replay ability in this title is to hunt down dress ties that are scattered throughout the world. Which by the way, they don’t even introduce to you, let alone tell you what the purpose of collecting said items are.

(Graphics/Sound)

 *Bunch of unrecognizable blubs that are meant to represent encouraging words* Yes, that is how Octodad speaks throughout the title, and that is how the subtext even reads. However, have no fear. Everyone else in the game world can understand him perfectly fine, so it’s not like your going to be left out of every cutscene, and conversation and forced to make your own personal interpretation of what exactly is going on.

 As for the rest of the cast, very few voices seem genuine. Most feel like they grabbed someone off of the street, paid them some money, and gave them a list of words to say. I think the only character that really stood out in this sense, and made me laugh due to good acting is the daughter, quite a few lines of her dialogue legitimately made me break out laughing.

 The one thing I do enjoy about the game is it’s very colorful, and interesting art style. Everything seems like it’s from a twisted 1950’s film, met with a darker sub-text. All of the environments are well designed, and extremely interesting to look at. Just take caution when interacting with it.  Character design is a interesting mix of updated textures, and very rigid graphic models. Granted it does lend it a interesting looks, and ads to it slapstick feel, but doesn’t look the best on the PS4. 

(Final verdict)

While Ocotodad is a very unique, over the top, slapstick comedic experience that stands out because of it’s unique ragdoll gameplay. It does fall short in quite a few categories. The primary thing that kills it for me is the amount of bugs that are every present. Be it extremely buggy controls, or the glitchy camera. The faults of the game does outweigh it pluses, which does take away greatly from the experience. Don’t get me wrong, I did find this title refreshing. Innovative ideas are something that draws my interest quicker than anything else.

Here’s to hoping that the next time Octodad come above water, that the team is a little bit more well established, and can provide us with an experience that will last longer, and not make me want to make sushi out of the main charcter. As a side note, I would like to say that seeing the team at Young Horses is comprised of only 9 people, all of which worked on this title between their full time jobs. I am impressed at their product on this point, seeing how much heart and soul they put into this game does give me hope in the Indie market. I do hope to see more from them in the future. However, and I do hope they can appreciate this, I will not be cutting them any slack when it comes to final scoring.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch for the PS4 get’s… A 5 out of 10. – Josh.

Pros:

• Fast paced, addicting gameplay.
• Great level design.
• Very revolutionary idea.

Cons:

• Lack of story, even though it’s an extremely interesting world.
• Lack of innovative game modes.
• No single player what so ever.
• No clan/team system at launch

(Overview)

Reviewers Note: First off. I would like to apologize for the fact that my review of this game is coming out so late. I just recently picked up an Xbox One, and that is why.

Part of the reason I didn’t pick up a One until now, is no exclusive titles really caught my interest. I mean sure, you have a bunch of really cool triple-A titles like Dead Rising, and Forza 5. However nothing jumped out and screamed; “Buy me now!”; Then Titanfall came along. I’m not going to lie, I had my reservations at first. Brand new IP, from a brand new company. Let alone a company forged from the ashes of one of the most burned out franchises in gaming history.

However; something about this title seemed unique. Dare I say, innovative. Could this be the game I was waiting for? Could this bring the much needed breath of fresh air the multiplayer gaming world has been needing? Titanfall’s whole aim is to rock your world with a innovative, and unique multiplayer experience. Part of how they do this, is by changing the way a normal Deathmatch works. As the title, box art, and countless ads hints. You are the proud owner of what is known as a Titan. A brooding, large, mechanical killing machine able to rip through almost anything that stands in it’s way. Well, almost anything.

Even though having a Titan is the main purpose of the game, one will find themselves most of the time without one. However, do not fret. You are still a cable killing machine even without you 40 foot body armor, and even if said armor rears it head. You have the firepower to bring her down and stand victorious.

One of the more interesting ways the battlefield is reinvented is the integration of parkour within the battles. No longer are you limited to the streets, or any interior of a building. You can basically go wherever you would like, climb on top of any building, run across any wall, and hang inside of any corner. This is truly one of my favorite things the developers did with this title, because it adds a whole extra level of chaos that I haven’t found in a multiplayer game in quite some time.

The one thing however that does raise an eyebrow with this title, is that is a online only experience. No harm, no foul there. I think we all knew something of the sort was in store when the developers main focus was the online experience. What I wasn’t expecting though, was absolutely no single player what so ever.

The campaign portion of Titanfall is played online, just like the regular game modes, and in all reality IS the regular online multiplayer that you play. Just a pre selected mode for a map… and that’s it. No special maps, or game modes. Just what you already been doing, just with a convoluted cut-scene prior to battle, and a tiny picture in the top right corner of your HUD.

I like the idea of what they tried to do here, but the execution wasn’t here when it came to the story. Granted, since one of my primary goals in life is to be a writer. I’m a stickler for things like this. I understand that this will not bother most of the crowd who will be playing Titanfall, but for me it does annoy me not to be able to have a clear understanding of the story without going online to read it.

One thing that also surprised me about this title is, that even though the primary focus of the title is multiplayer, there is no clan system built into the game. Granted, this is something that can always be patched in at a later date. However, it does make me question if I spent 60 bucks on a beta.

The main reason I say this is not only the lack of story, and single player campaign, but also that there are only five game modes to play. Disappointingly enough, three of these are rehashes of your standard shooter. (Team Deathmatch, CTF, and Hardpoint) For the other two original game modes, (Pilot hunt, and Last Titan Standing)

Let’s talk about the good first; Pilot Hunt. It’s a interesting take on Team Deathmatch where only the killing of the Pilot will advance your teams score, where as in Attrition (Standard Team Deathmatch) killing even grunts will draw you closer to victory.

Now on the flip side, we have Last Titan Standing. Fun concept, poor execution. Imagine talking to walk down the street with five sumo wrestlers in front of you. With your every move you are being blocked by a massive wall that can not be passed. Now replace the sumo’s with titan’s and you have that game mode. These maps, even though designed for titan battles, was not designed to house 12 titans at the same time. You will die quite a few times just because you will accidentally be getting stuck on fellow teammates either behind you or in front.

The thing though that makes me keep coming back is just how polished, and redefined the multiplayer actually is. With the amount of options you have at your disposal, there is really no two matches that will be the same. Adding all this together with a system called burn cards. (A one time/One life power-up) It makes the old, worn down experience of a twitch shooter feel alive and anew.

The one thing I have to say that the team at Respawn Entertainment excelled at is the world they created. Not only is the art design spot on. Creating a lush, vibrant, unique world for their game. Maps hold secrets of a lore filled world, and with promise of DLC that is right around the corner apparently. Graphically, this is (In my opinion at least) is the best looking game that the Xbox One has to offer. There has been quite a few maps that I have gawked at due to their impressive graphical beauty. Be it the desert alien lands, or the serine beach coast isle all of the levels have tons of detail within them, as well as little hideaways to find.

The sound designers also deserve a major pat on the as well for going out of their way to complement such an impressive world with not only such a awesome sound track, but also so many different sounds that truly make this game come to life. The guns sound like real weapons, when titan’s walk not only do you hear the gears churn but also hear the ground shake underneath your impressive weight.

(Final Verdict)

 Titanfall is defiantly an interesting character. It’s the killer IP Microsoft promised us, yet it isn’t exclusive to just the One. It has an amazing well thought out world, yet little to no lore to back it up. It has a full campaign mode with two stories within, yet you can’t experience said story unless your playing with others. Even though the multiplayer only approach worked for this title, I really hope this is not a prelude to other game pulling the same stunt. A game needs to have a single player as much as it needs a multiplayer, and in all truth. That, plus a lack of content off of launch prevents this from being a perfect 10 in my opinion.

If you own any of the formats that this title is released upon, you need to own this game. No excuses. Plain, and simple. This is the much needed revive for the run of the mill, tacked on multiplayer experiences that we have become accustomed to throughout the past few years.

It boldly takes that mold, and smashes it. Forcing any, and all developers to take a good long look at their title, and making them innovate where they have become stagnant and create a true multiplayer gaming experience that might just be able to stand in the shadow of this titan.

I give Titanfall for the Xbox One… A 9 out of 10

Pros:

• Beautifully imagined graphics
• New ACE Abilities
• New Mercenary Book, which rewards players for completion
• New Missions and Terrain that allow for a breathtaking adventure
• Character Import allows for save data to transfer, but not save completion
• Previously DLC will port over at some point
• Game tweaks provide a better experience for the feint of heart

Cons:

• Screen clutter on PS Vita seems to get cluttered at some point
• UI Control for positioning and or party list would be well suited
• Button placement to the d-pad for target hard-lock can at times be annoying on Vita versus PS3
• Yggdrasil Tower can unfortunately be rather repetitive and requires main story completion

Final Verdict: 7 out of 10

Final Thoughts: As much as I loved the original Ragnarok Odyssey for the Vita when it first released, I found this game to be an instant grab soon as it hit the streets, much like the original. Unfortunately what I bought was a re-imagining of what the original should have been. With expanded content, bug fixes, and a vast amount of game balancing as well as tweaks, Ragnarok Odyssey ACE does deliver a unique experience that can’t be found in the original version. Unfortunately aside from being a beat-em-up fest, the problem with this title is the lack of story. It is fun to take on missions with friends and new acquaintances, but once that wears out, the fun is over. This is one title that is either for the die-hard fan or the new-comer looking for a game.

 When Ragnarok Odyssey launched back in 2012 on the PlayStation Vita, it caused a bit of a stir in the Ragnarok fan-base causing many fans to turn their heads, head to the nearest game store and of course pick it up. Fast forwarding a few years, we are greeted with a version of the game that has decidedly learned a lesson from the previous experience, which was riddled with difficulty scaling, but also game-breaking bugs for the online community. Fortunately, we are now seeing a polished, up-scaled, and bug-free version of the game. With smooth frame rate on both the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita, Ragnarok Odyssey once more allows us to grab our overly muscled men or scantily clad women, and head out with our majorly over-sized weapons to save the world around our characters.

 Ragnarok Odyssey ACE is what some would imagine as the directors cut. With new content from new scenery, weapons, ACE Skills, Mercenary Book, Billionaires Pot, and of course the monstrosity of Yggdrasil Tower, which leads players up to a 400 floor expansion of the original title. When moving this title from the console to the handheld, I was surprised at my ability go online and play very easily with PlayStation 3 users, while finding little to no latency or disconnects. This was something that truly had changed the online experience I had obtained when first encountering the original release. With all the updates on hand, system changes, and of course updated gameplay features system wise (behind the scenes) I noticed increased framerate, no input latency or even the slightest hint of delayed response. This is something that many returning players will be able to take notice of. In Ragnarok Odyssey Ace, another feature players will cherish is the new Billionaires Pot. This little feature is something quite interesting and that’s because of how helpful it is to obtain rather rare items. With it players can obtain weapon expertise tickets, which allows them to create higher grade weapons, and of course upgrade said higher grade weapons. This of course can lighten the difficulty, but also make farming for materials all that much easier. With cards, which add abilities, players can trade them in and get various types of potions, some of them can alter immunities and decrease damage taken by certain elements. While other potions from it can cure poison and of course other various ailments as well. The one that I’ve grown to personally take a liking to as a completionist is the new Mercenary Book.

 The Mercenary Book is a completionists’ favorite thing ever for this game. In the book players will find goals to complete, be it have a certain amount of wardrobe items, a certain amount of weapons, various weapon types, slain monsters, or even regions visited among many other things to do. This is where the game can become a real challenge as players will seek to fulfill this book by running every option possible. This includes buying armor, weapons, ACE abilities, ability cards, and of course potions. Oh and lets not forget the boutique. Yes you even get rewarded for buying haircuts, face changes, and even color changes on top of each of them. Sound fun? Well it should if it doesn’t, these rewards are unique, and many of them will help when it comes to taking on the Yggdrasil Tower.

  ACE abilities are something I found unique to the game, something that actually became a bit of a game changer for me to be quite honest. These ACE Abilities allow for players to take on new combat systems, think of them as ultimate abilities, but with a rather quick cool down. They allow for new crowd executing attacks versus the old repetitive combo system, which still seemingly needs revamped. For example, for the Hammersmith, players will find themselves turning into a spinning hurricane of disaster for the enemies or a sky jumping, hammer dropping, meteor of… Well doom at least for some enemies.

 Outside of these new changes the game remains very much the same. This however, in some ways, is unfortunate. Having hoped for a bit more story depth versus brawling, the game still does bring some enjoyment. This is something that can easily be obtained by joining friends who are online via PlayStation Vita or the PlayStation 3 console. This can be done via ad-hoc and or infrastructure (online), which gives the game quite a bit of replay value: especially if that person is new to the game and is finding themselves having some trouble. 

 Unfortunately my biggest complaint had to be with the PlayStation Vita. With the ACE abilities, players will find their screens cluttered between them and of course potions, health bar, and party list. This overall becomes a clutter, which at times, can make the game rather annoying to play. A change that would have been nice to see and or would be nice to see a UI editing capability, so that as players become accustomed to the game, they can change the UI (User Interface) to a specification of their own versus the default. Luckily though, much of the game remains unchanged, and thanks to the Yggdrasil Tower, players can enjoy 400 levels of monster slaying, item farming, and item upgrading. We just hope many of the players find these subtle changes worthwhile and enjoyable.

Graphics: Much like the predecessor, much of the game remains unchanged, which is a rather nice change. With beautiful color schemes that give the game a rather lively look, many players can say the game itself looks much like the anime it runs along side with. For a handheld and PS3 title, Ragnarok Odyssey is a beautiful game, with quite a bit of customization.

Sound: Unchanged, many players will be able to enjoy the soundtrack, sound effects, and even the ambiance in a beautiful set up on the PlayStation 3 as well as the PlayStation Vita. Much of this of course having remained, unchanged.

Controls: With the transition between PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, the controls remained rather unaltered, which for many games that go between the two, this games controls remains very easy to learn, with minimal tutorials needed. However, combos for new players can be a bit of a hassle to figure out, but with time, they are easy, useful, and fun to use. From personal experience, the PS Vita was the console where the game was found to be the most enjoyable.

Special Thanks:

 I want to thank the multiple PlayStation 3 Users that allowed me to join their games in order to test the online connectivity between the PlaySation Vita and PlayStation 3 versions. I also want to thank the friend (wished to remain anonymous) that allowed me to use his PlayStation 3 version in order to do this review.

Release Date: Available now at most major retailers and digitally through the PlayStation Store on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

To Contact the Writer follow him here on Google+, Twitter or his personal blog!

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Written by Dustin Murphy

Pros:
-Very easy to learn, tutorials are very in-depth and provide insight to future events.
-Controls are very straight forward, easy to learn, and do not demand a high learning curve, very welcomed in this age.
-Tutorials for Prince/Princess Points and can easily be earned with progression and being tentative to request from villagers.
-Graphics and sound are beautifully done, not causing many issues for players who don’t want to deal with old school sounds. The sound and music remind me of the time-frame from the early 16-32bit era, very welcomed, and nice.
-Circle Pad works wondrously with this game as does the directional pad
-Animations are beautifully rendered and are highly in-depth and welcomed for this matter. Gives a true old school JRPG feel. Combat is much like many hack-and-slash RPG’s, very welcomed, loved, and fits pleasantly with the Animal Crossing-esque village tending, and of course the farming and agriculture portion of the game.
-The ability to name, choose gender, and of course make decisions for your character in conversations leads to amusing moments that will leave a player laughing.

Cons:
-Even with the beautiful graphics, the 3D in the game caused a bit of a problem with the eyes, and that could be due to needing adjustment to the games 3D appearance.
-Quests at times will feel as if they left the player hanging if they mess up and lose the quest item. (Did this on purpose to see how I would obtain the item)
-Character conversations at times can leave players a bit confused and dumbfounded.
-Menu navigation feels as if it could be refined with a better tutorial, but this will be easily overcome by spending time not blowing through the tutorials.

Final Rating: 8 out of 10.

Final Opinion: When playing Rune Factory 4, I felt as if I had taken a trip back into my childhood, with games like Secret of Mana, Legends of Mana, and of course Harvest Moon intertwined. Some will say this game is not cracked up to the hype, but in truth, it is quite good, literally.

With hundreds of requests from villagers, conversations, festivities, and in-game interactions let’s not also forget the monster-tending, which was quite fun. Rune Factory 4 is just short of being one of the most interesting JRPG-Sims I’ve gotten my hands upon. A must-have for Nintendo 3DS owners.

 

After having been able to sit down a bit longer and feel comfortable with Rune Factory 4, I was astonished at the level of detail, polish, in-depth story the title has by developer Neverland Co. Having spent already close to 40 hours with the title, I’ve been left with a smile, and of course, a newfound series to build upon. The story revolves around the male or female protagonist you are introduced to based upon your decisions in the intro, for the male players will take on the character Lest or the female Frey. For my adventure, I decided to take on the role of Frey. Why? She from the beginning was rather hilarious, well animated, and of course bubbly. My second play-through (not completed either, there are over 100+ hours) for the 40 hours of game-play so far I decided to play the male character. So far Lest has been amusing, just like Frey herself.

After the course of the introduction, my character was introduced to multiple characters, tutorials, and of course a bit of tending to village needs with festivities while also maintaining the village via projects. Let’s just say my village is in a bit of need for help since I got side-tracked by deciding how bad I wanted to do the story, bother characters, fish, garden and of course take on the silly conversations with the villagers in-town. When conversing with them, players will see a Left and Right bumper button display pop up, what’s useful about this is that it brings up alternative conversation possibilities. From silly little “I love yous,” to “Let’s go on an adventure” dialogues, I found myself grinning from ear to ear with the responses, some of them even calling my character a liar when I used the “I love you” option.

However, for those wondering, as mentioned in previous articles relating to this title, you can actually romance other characters, and of course, betroth them. Luckily since I have not explored all the options, I was able to find an accurate list (will change it if not accurate), and here are the options below.

Male Options:
Amber: First boss in the game and a giggly woman who sprouts wings
Clorica: The stewardess who somehow is never awake or fully awake at that
Dolce: Sarcastic as they come and a lolita with a soft side.
Forte: The serious and seemingly self-centered knight of the story; Kiel’s sister
Margaret: Caring elf musician who performs at Porcoline’s restaurant
Xaio Pai: Clumsy, hardworking, and a rather amusing innkeeper.

Female Options:
Arthur: The laid-back noble who has a thing for glasses… Literally.
Doug: Hotblooded dwarf who loves pranks and harbors a serious grudge
Dylas: Moody-bordering-on-tsundere wolf-boy who likes to fish
Kiel: Smart yet naive nerd; Forte’s brother
Leon: Lighthearted fox-boy who likes to fish
Vishnal: Naive but determined steward-in-training

Though for some, the heterosexual partnering may seem alarming, it provides for an interesting story as a kid will come forth from the marriage as well as bonding. How do you do this? Well having started working on my character’s relationship with Vishnal the Black Star (Soul Eater) type personality-filled butler, my character’s adventure has begun in relationships, and so has my males with Clorica.

 What also makes these characters and the relationships more interesting, from friendship to romance, is the voice cast. With actors like Erin Fitzgerald (Chie, Persona 4), Matthew Mercer (Leon Kennedy, Resident Evil Damnation), D.C Douglas (Legion, Mass Effect 3), and Cassandra Lee Morris (Nami, League of Legends). With a cast such as this it’s only accepting that the voices are well done, humorous, and of course, fitting for their actors. This truly helped bring the game out when conversing when the voices did pop up and become used. 

One of the important things I didn’t get to tackle was the monster taming. In the monster taming portion of the game, which is at any time given, players can keep a combination of livestock, pets, sidekicks, and of course farmhands. For this to happen, players must befriend a monster, this is where they will have to give it something it likes; just like people. For some of the gifts, it’s pretty self-explained, but let’s break it down.

Let’s say I want my character Frey to befriend a cluckadoodle (chicken), players will have to give it an egg, and you’d give honey to an insect-like creature that resembles a bee or wasp. Once they are a friend, they’ll live in a monster barn (this was explained in the beginning tutorials), that can be upgraded, and of course, water the farm while you are gone, which is beyond useful. They, however, do get tired just like your character, which means you should check on them accordingly. Some of the creatures also produce items that can be obtained by going to their monster barn each day; cluckadoodles lay eggs, buffammos (cow) produce milk and the woolies (sheep) produce the wool you’ll need to upgrade some of your items.

These creatures also have HP/RP (Health Points/Rune Points, RP = Stamina essentially) just like your character. So keeping tabs again, is VERY important, and must be done. When it comes to the things I stated before in my hands-on-first impressions, I’d like to revisit, but shortly. The guide itself felt like a bit more of a review than it did an impression. So let’s revisit it.

First off is the leveling up system for professions, weapons, and of course the character itself. Leveling each of these can be done by performing specific tasks related to them, some of them based on weapon uses that in turn unlock abilities, and of course, others obtained by working on professions, which can require prince/princess points to expand upon; so far cooking has been my focus, food is a good thing to have. A good example is when it comes to combat, using a weapon can expand upon abilities it unlocks, and of course gives more edge against enemies, and especially bosses. Farming for EXP and of course weapon proficiency is a great idea.

When all said and done, this title overall is amazing, beautiful, and a nice change from the seriousness of more recent titles. With a silly story, anime-like cut-scenes, and silly characters, this game will provide hours of fun, and by hours, I mean you can’t put it down. Hopefully, this is a title many will not overlook and will hunt down. I know I will at one point obtain another for my bookshelf, for now, the digital does just fine, and provides the same fun thanks to the easy to use control scheme. Players will have no problems getting into it fast, and moving along, which is just what I’ve done. Hopefully, you all can do the same.

Graphics: Beautifully well done, even when meeting characters, players will get to meet beautiful anime-like scenes, and some of them will leave players giggling while enjoying the lunacy that is Rune Factory 4.

Sound: Amazingly good, taking a tribute back to what it meant to have a classic 16-32bit refresh. The music is charming, pleasing to the ears, as are the sound effects used in the game. Amazing voice acting to boot.

Controls: Overall very easy to use, leaving little room for problematic learning curves, and will leave players without question on button commands.

Release Date: Rune Factory 4, published by XSeed Games, a Marvelous AQL Brand, released on 10/1/2013 and is now available on eShop and at most major retailers for 39.99 USD.

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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, MMO’s, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable and can’t be softened by even the biggest names in the gaming industry. 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. To follow Dustin, hit him up on Twitter over at @GamingAnomaly, find him on his Google+. Wanna game with him? You can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.