Koei Tecmo

Review: Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea – Does More Mean Better?

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Highly rewarding JRPG elements
+Two stories that differentiate greatly between each other
+Unique scenery that becomes ever-more enjoyable with time

Cons:
-Frame rate issues can become problematic for those preferring smoother frame rates
-Encounters can become too easy for fans to enjoy, but at the same time, too difficult

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Last year when I first got my hands on the Atelier series on PlayStation Vita, I was new to this series that’s been a long run JRPG franchise that has adored its fans for years. This was also the first game that would attempt to lure me in so that I would find myself enjoying. However, it was a series I wasn’t immediately hooked on due to the games creativity.

Thankfully, the Plus editions of the games are ones that carry on a bountiful amount of new content players have yet to see. Luckily, the Plus versions seem to be rather hefty in content for their discounted price. Technically speaking, for a new version of the game that comes to life, and offers plenty more for fans to enjoy with the games new improvements. Lucky for us, we get to see this new version continue the cycle, even with the release of Atelier Firis coming up this week. With a plus version for the PlayStation Vita, we get to see the series reach an even broader audience in order to bring in new fans.

Released just shortly before Atelier Sophie, Atelier Shallie was the final title to launch on the PlayStation 3 for the series, but it was also the finality to the Dusk Trilogy of the Atelier series. Luckily, the games do see some minor improvements to the games overall lifespan as well as dungeons for fans to enjoy. Luckily, some of the tweaks help fine-tune some of the games narrative in order to help iron out complaints from the fans such as plot holes, improvements of characters, and even a chance to quash out any nuances within the game.

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Much like the last time we reviewed this game, the story revolves around Shallistera Argo and Shallotte Elminus, or Shallie for short. The game introduces players to both through small introductory scenes where they will get to experience both of the characters momentarily before ultimately choosing who they wish to experience first story wise. Both players will find themselves rather familiarized with the games town as both of the girls live there, and both of them are ultimately after the same goal. While this seems that playing the game in the same setting will make the game boring, transparent, and lacking for content, that’s not the case with this game.

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Review: Berserk and the Band of the Hawk – A Band of Berserking Madmen

/ Dustin Murphy / 1 Comment

Pros:
-Throws non-fans of Berserk right into the guts and glory of the 27 year old franchise
-Animation, sound, and design fit the world of Berserk perfectly
-Decently lengthy for the average Warriors and Beserk fan to enjoy

Cons:
-Repetitious hack’n’slashing that offers little-to-no depth for story elements
-Non-campaign modes are incredibly short
-Character customizations are too incredibly close to the Warriors titles

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Berserk is one of the longest running franchises out there. Having spanned more than 27 years of multifaceted formats ranging from OVA’s, anime series, and even mangas – it’s a series well worth a chance in the modern era of gaming. It’s also a difficult task to think of an anime that is best suited for Omega Force’s well vetted Warriors meta-series than this very one. Much like any character from say Samurai Warriors, Guts is a man that lives and breathes this genre quite well. With his large sword, hunger for blood filled battle, and his unique back story, many would take the fact Berserk and the Band of the Hawk would fit quite well into this meta.

Sadly, its a game that seems to  miss the point of what Berserk is all about. It’s a game that decided to take a one-dimensional approach to this rather large universe that animes, manga’s, and fanfics have helped bring to life. Instead, it’s a game that lead me to skipping through countless cutscenes since they were yanked straight from the anime, and placed right within the game. Granted I ended up having to go back and watch them for the sake of the review, needless to say, I regretted doing so as the core of the game is all about Guts, Griffith, Casca, and the rest of their band of mercenaries.

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Much of this is due to the fact I was spoiled quite well with Omega Forces adaptions to the Warriors meta with Hyrule Warriors and Dragon Quest Heroes, which lead me whirling through well renowned worlds, and parading around as some of the best characters in the history of those franchises. The downside here is that these two games used the hallmark mechanics of the Dynasty Warriors franchise and did it even better. Berserk, however, is extremely limited on mission goals. All of these goals range from destroy, rescuing someone, and killing someone. Sounds simple, right? Well it is, and it’s irritating that one of the best anime franchises out there got this treatment.

Want to hunt down hidden objectives? That won’t happen. Want to find secret rooms like Hyrule Warriors? That’s not happening. Want to find different elements for your weapons like Dragon Quest Heroes? Let me laugh for you. It’s simply not happening, which is disappointing due to the games walking potential with such a deep, rich, and lush background that the Berserk franchise has. Even more-so because the game could have adapted quite well to the franchise over the span of 46 story chapters. Sadly, by 25, I wanted to quickly close the game and go back to enjoying the well-rounded Attack on Titan game that succeeded in bringing the anime to life via gaming.

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The game is as one would expect. It’s surrounded in Guts’ need for revenge as well as his intense desire to kill anyone that gets in his way of what he’s searching for. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t even reward players for carrying through with this task, and doesn’t even offer the capability for players to change out Guts’ sword with upgraded ones. This is done via buffs that players can pick up by cutting enemies down. One of the best moments the game has to offer is one of the biggest downers. It revolves around sending Guts into a frenzy where amassing a bloody mess of over 1,000 bodies during each objective. This sense of completion is the most satisfying part in these rather lifeless missions that seem to serve almost little-to-no-purpose. sadly, the cutscenes become the most appealing part of the game over the course of the campaign.

While most missions will carry multiple objectives out of the one above, there are a few queues from other Warriors meta-driven games. Players will find mid-mission plot twists where the objectives will rapidly change so that a sub-objective comes to life. It’s here that players will find themselves flying through most of the games chapters in 10 minutes at most. Mission results don’t help to alleviate the pain of this games shortcomings. Missions as you would expect are rated using an alphabetic ranking system. Sadly, getting a “S” is mostly a long-forbidden dream that players will find themselves clamoring about to receive. Luckily the games intermissions are pulled from Berserk’s Golden Age where Berserk was coming up into a rise to fame.

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If you are wondering how Guts’ repertoire is expressed? The game does it quite well through rather simple combos. You’ll find yourself constantly mashing square or triangle to use Guts’, Griffiths’, or even Casca’s combats in order to cut enemies down. While the occasional switch after so many presses of one button offers a sense of accomplishment, Guts or any of the others, show off their brutality by using his musuo-like mode. This mode allows Guts to build up his “ultimate” meter where he unleashes his rather devastating attacks in order to disperse enemies rather quickly. This also shows-off the fact the game follows the Warriors meta for mechanics quite closely.

While the novelty of playing famed characters exist, Free Mode is where players would probably want to go in order to enjoy the game at it fullest. Here is where you’ll be most disappointed since it only features previously cleared missions. Bummer, huh? At least you can try out the games supporting cast int his mode in order to see what they are made of. They all control rather similarly to Guts.

Beserk and the Band of the Hawk – PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Cost: $59.99
Release Date: Available Now

Each brings in their own blood-filled combat tactics in order to cut enemies down. Griffith serves as one of the more lustrous characters in the title. His ability to kill with his lethal grace is a prestige no-one-other has. He moves through the combat beautifully in his zigs, zags, and ultimately gracious movement. Casca on other hand is not as brutal as her colleagues. Her attacks are more like that of a ninja. She’s fast, she’s dangerous, and she implores the player to take advantage of this in order to take out dozens of troops at once.

While the games sound, art quality, and appeal to the manga’s are almost on par, the game seems to miss the depth that Berserk is known for. While playing as the bloodlusted and battle experience Guts is a blast, it seems that the Warriors style meta misses its mark with Omega Force’s latest iteration. Luckily, there’s still room for improvement for the game on the sense of combat and adding depth via DLC. However, Omega Force’s more imaginative and more-accurate efforts seem to have been missed in this latest title. While story is what most of us will come here for, it seems this game won’t have that to offer and it will be one of those games that would have gratified itself better using a Ninja Gaiden style approach to the game in order to keep us entertained like the game should have at this point.

Our review is based upon a retail version of the game given to us by the games publisher. For our review, we used a PlayStation 4 Pro with a 7200RPM HDD.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 6 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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: Nioh – Where the First Western Samurai Fight

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Creative use of Japan’s Sengoku Period
+A unique take on the Bloodborne and Dark Souls franchises combat systems
+Each stage requests players to spend hours clearing every inch of them
+Each boss provide a unique scaling of difficulty
+Armor designs feel historically accurate and quite well rendered

Cons:
-Stats feel almost useless in comparison to Dark Souls or Bloodborne
-The approach to coop decreases the games overall difficulty
-Little variation or importance of different builds
-Graphics and performance could use some better PlayStation 4 Pro optimizations

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What do you imagine when someone mentions Japan’s Sengoku Period? Cities lavished in lanters lit to walkways, Sakura Tree’s dropping beautiful pink petals upon the ground, and perhaps Samurai clad in their armor walking among dirt roads? Or do you imagine a land filled with mystique and fantasy where mystical creatures roam? That’s exactly what Koei Tecmo has done as they show their fondness for Japan’s rather sumptuously rich history.

Nioh is one of those games that follows the tradition of the Dark Souls-inspired combat while also entrenching itself with touches of Ninja Gaiden. After all, what more could we expect from Team Ninja, the minds behind the Ninja Gaiden franchise? Much as you’d expect, this is a game that balances out the virtue of patience and the value of learning how to defend yourself against a lethal enemy. This is something Team Ninja has been known for in the past and continued to do so quite well to this day. This means tactics, dexterity, and a keen memory will play a rather large role in order to overcome the inevitability of dying, and dying a lot.

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The game takes place during the explorations of protagonist William Adams, a true Western Samurai, whom adventured to Japan in the 1600’s. Our story uses this factual piece of history as its smelting point and forges forth from there. The game, however, depicts him as a an hunting down an antagonist whom just happens to be an occultist, by the name of Edward Kelley, whom actually exists in English history. Both of these men are hunting down one of the same thing: Amrita. This magical stone is abundant and Japan, it has also been seen as an artifact that holds power, and could turn the tides of war in Queen Elizabeth I’s fight against Spain.

However, this also means death is a heavy feature in this game and it’s not tied to the frequency of player deaths, but also the fact Japan is torn in war and ridden with yokai (demons). If you ever wanted to see a blend between anime, gaming, and a good Akira Kurosawa film, here’s your chance. Koei Tecmo blended perfectly the chaos of ruins and corpses littered across the lands. However, Nioh’s elegance isn’t due to the scenic creativity that Koei Tecmo exhibits with this game, but rather its combat.

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Much as you would expect, Nioh is a title that thrives upon creativity and its artistic measures. It’s a game that bases itself around the premise of combat with multiple enemies. Combat is one that shines most when players are taking on enemies in one-on-one duels. Here players will exhibit choreographed combat based upon the stance in which they choose. Whether it’s deducing an enemies combat capabilities by standing in a over-head stance or whether or not it’s by making low-stance quick attacks. Here players will take on enemies decorated in ancient Japanese armors. Even the Yokai themselves dawn these kinds of designs. However, it follows through with their discipline and attack with their greatest combat efficiency. However, this game will make you debate upon whether or not to attack enemies in crowd.

The highlight to this aspect is it follows rather well into the game as players will find themselves moving between Jutsu or Onmyo focused builds. This will determine whether or not players will alternate between using ninja combat tactics or magics to enhance their combat prowess. As players gain experience from combat, they will notice Amrita serves much the same purpose as souls from the souls series. They will invest their Amrita into specializing William to their play-style. Unlike Dark Souls, however, it’s no longer about how well you can balance your talents, but instead, what weapons you decide to use and how you want to use them. If you prefer sickle and chain, then you may want Kurisagama, while Body will drive you to be more efficient in combat with spears.

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When looking at Nioh, managing stamina, rather ki for the sake of this game, is quite the task, and something that you’ll find yourself doing quite often. To complicate matters, enemies will find themselves moving away from combat, and even letting ki regenerate before diving back into combat once more. To alleviate this players can opt to use stamina enhanced consumables as well as ki-specific weapon enhancements to allow combat to last longer. If you’re a  more dexterous player, a quick shoulder button push of the R1 will help you refresh your stamina recovery boost. Also, this will help you bolster against enemies who corrupt the ground around you and ensure ki can’t regenerate.

Outside of combat, Nioh is aesthetically as well as audibly pleasing. Followed by its carefully crafted Japanese aesthetics, the game serves up a rather palpable dish of creativity, and authenticity. In comparison to most modern games, it’s one of the closest things players will find themselves enjoying for such a challenging adventure. Artists Hirohisa Kaneko and Tsutomu Terada deliver a pleasing art style that serves Nioh quite well. Between their delectable art style and Yugo Kanno’s compositions, players will find themselves sucked into Nioh for hours on-end.

Nioh – PlayStation 4
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Koei Tecmo, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan
Cost: $59.99
Release Date: Available Now

With the Twilight missions offering a rise in difficulty and rare pieces of crafting materials as well as armor, there is surely quite a bit for them to take in until the DLC releases later this year. Just remember, the Dojo does serve a purpose and will offer rare resources that you will quite frankly need later on within the game.

That brings forth the need for players to enjoy such a unique title and spend the hours they should on it. Just note that this game is not for players who haven’t played games such as Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden and will offer a challenge that surpasses that of what they might be used to. With that being said, Nioh is a unique title, one that offers up new challenges around every corner and will keep gamers busy for hours on end. Just remember, this game will kill you, over, and over again.

Our review is based upon a retail version of the game we purchased. For our review, we used a PlayStation 4 Pro with a 7200RPM HDD.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 9 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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: Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers – Gods Will Fall

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
-Carries through with traditional Dynasty Warriors storytelling and absurdity of battle
-Character development stands along the lines of normal Dynasty Warriors normality
-Graphics are beautiful, which compliments the RTS style rather well
-Synchro Gauge moves are amazing and a delight to use

Cons:
-Battlefield tutorials can be hard to play for beginners
-Dialogue can be too much at once, and can be tedious to the players.
-Almost all combat scenes immediately beg to be skipped over

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If you’ve ever played a Dynasty Warrior game, you already know about their absurd approach to story telling of real life events. You’re familiar with how well they also attempt to stay as historically accurate as possible. You would also know this is a series that is unwavering in its use of traditional gameplay mechanics. It’s a series that is rife with the ability to decimate entire armies with the use of two buttons. It is also one that emphasized on you working as part of a team in order to decimate your enemies.

Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers changes this mechanic and moves away from the rather fluid-like combat we’d all been used to. Instead, this new title takes us on a RTS style adventure, which will seem rather familiar to fans of games such as Fire Emblem or Advance Wars. The story is told through both an esteemed warrior Zhao Yun and his pal Lei Bin. This duo just happens to be accidental when they awaken an ancient God whom gives him (Lei Bin) the power to influence the minds of others and the ability to control them in battle. This, however, is not an accurate telling of the true real-life events, but instead is a rather unique telling of the game going from an action game to a turn-based strategy title.

If that is something that could be seen as a disgruntlement, I wouldn’t let it stop you from experiencing the title, if that’s something you like. Dynasty Warriors has done this before as a series, but not as a Warriors title thanks to Koei Tecmo’s other series – Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This game delves into those roots and follows forth quite well in doing so, however, it isn’t as hardcore as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but instead sits right in line with Fire Emblem, and will welcome those familiar with the series.

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While it is fun in the other titles to sprint across China as a dedicated leader such as Cao Cao, Lu Bu, and even Zhao Yu. While that is something you may be quite used to of this franchise, which is a relief to some, with the release of Dynasty Warriors: Godseeker. Instead, now, you spend your time going through controlling the game with grids to complete each task, and fully move forward. As you do, you’ll find yourself seeing generals both come and go throughout the course of the game. You will see much of your experience focus around both Zhao Yun and Lei Bin, but also the God they awoke.

For fans who don’t mind this change, the game did a fine job of bringing the series to a main title, which is nice mainlining this as a title, and even bringing this game to the way it should be. Each character, as you would expect, and makes the movesets as natural as possible when selecting attacks. Thanks to Synchro and Musou, players can also move through the title as expected, and means you’ll find your way picking and choosing your battles. If you have a rather large queue of enemies infront of you; or entire armies; it’s best to use attacks to disperse entire crowds of enemies. However, a memorization of even character may help understanding each characters attacks, and understand the dinstances covered by each attack as key to higher-level play in the game.

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This is something that reverberates through Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers, which follows quite well in other games, such as the Fire Emblem games, and many of the characters will use this similar grid. If you don’t throughout the game, it is extremely important to watch each characters formations, abilities, and movements. This will allow you to suitably position to take out an optimal amount of enemies as possible, but also setting up the most optimal way to keep your team alive. These damage bonuses that can be executed, are awarded handsomely, and will allow players to execute synchro attacks and musou attacks in order to devastate enemy forces.

While planning carefully could lead to entire enemies being devastated in one simple going. Of course that’s one of those that will also make enough ruckus that you could feel like you’re going Super Saiyan in real life. Just don’t burn yourself with special affects. While the game does push narrative to the front, it’s a game that does wish players to become emotionally invested with their characters, and unfortunately, it just won’t happen due to the need for players to pay attention to detail.

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You’ll also, unfortunately, find yourself growing rather bored due to the fact you’ll need to watch your enemies and allies take their turns. While the ever-so-handy fast-forward button will get abused, but you will also find yourself annoyed with having to do this ever-so-constantly. It’d honestly have been a better practice to allow players choosing whether or not they wanted to see this happen at fast-speed movement instead of teleported enemies.

While combat is this games primary focus, you’ll find yourself sifting through an insane amount of dialogue, all of which is in Chinese unless you read the subtitles. While long-time fans of the franchise won’t be bothered by this, it’ll be rather tedious for anyone who is not, and they will find themselves growing enamored by this rather quickly. Veterans on the other hand; not so much.

While the game’s battles do offer a high point to the title, the idea that this is becoming one for fans to be invested in, will wear off rather quickly, but this isn’t a bad game. It’s a game that is seemingly aimed at drawing in fans of Fire Emblem among other games of the type. While you would expect Goodseekers to hold the depth of its competitor series, don’t expect it, as it does come up short in turn.

Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers – PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Cost: $59.99 | $39.99
Release Date: January 31st, 2017

While the game can be mildly entertaining, you’d find yourself scratching your head wondering why this game wasn’t made as a hack and slasher, or even a adventure game much like Assassin’s Creed. While that’s a lot to ask, it’d been interesting, and enjoyable for those wanting a console experience. However, God Seekers felt right at home on the PlayStation Vita, and operated great the way it did. It felt more at home on the hand-held device. While this game is one I found difficult to play, it’s a game that will fill that craving for a strategy game, and will keep you busy for hours to come. For now, however? I’ll probably stick with the Vita version to keep my cravings at bay.

Our review is based upon a retail version of the game given to us by the games publisher. For our review, we used a PlayStation 4 Pro with a 7200RPM HDD.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 5 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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.

 

Sit-Rep: Attack on Titan – Attacking Head On and Demolishing Everything

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
–Offers an authentically fun Attack on Titan experience
–Fans of the anime will enjoy the anime art style and storytelling approach
–Offers multiple characters to play, each with their own unique play style
–Animations and soundtrack look as if they are taken directly from the anime
–P.S., you get to play in Eran’s titan form. Need we say more?

Cons:
–Combat can get monotonous
–Farming for minerals means killing titans, not just searching
–Targeting limbs on titans can be rather annoying and problematic

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Attack on Titan has been considered one of the most fan favored anime franchises in recent years. Following steps in many ways to AMC’s The Walking Dead, Attack on Titan follows suit with similar footsteps. Humanity is in shambles due to an enemy threat only known as “Titans”. These titans come in different shapes, different sizes, different abnormalities, and even different origins. What makes them bothersome isn’t the fact they are as lethal as ever, but also the fact their hunger for human limbs is almost insatiable.

Welcome to the world of Attack on Titan where the walls are falling and you are the last line of defense that humanity has. Taking the role of multiple characters in this lightning fast game is a spot you’ll discover yourself in most of the time. Fans of the series that have been following it since 2009 as a manga and others who have followed it since 2013 know what is coming. While this game could be compared to the 2013 disaster that landed on the Nintendo 3DS, this newest adaption has managed to redeem the franchise for the better as a game. This is a commonplace issue for licensed products of the genre. But the question remains  – can it portray the anime and manga narratives without relying on a bit of knowledge from source materials? That’s where we’re about to find out.

From Manga,to Anime, to Game – It’s Attack on Titan

It’s hard to justify an Attack on Titan game for the most part. Why? What the anime and the manga both did was amazing. They brought a unique look at a dystopian future and made it even more frightening by making all hope become lost. With humanity in its state of peril, there seemed no hope, but even in the darkest moments, there is light. For gaming? This light just happened to be Omega Force giving Attack on Titan a chance, which the Nintendo 3DS title did rather hopelessly.

While fun, it was troubled in every aspect of the word. But how do you do a game based on a franchise that has already had almost all its pivotal plots revealed? How do you keep with making a legit franchise into a licensed product such as a PlayStation 4 game under the same title? This is where famed publisher and developer duo Omega Force as well as Koei Tecmo come together and breath light into a franchise that’s already begun to unravel into a bigger story. Thanks to the story in place from both Manga and the Anime, Attack on Titan for PlayStation 4 wields a powerful story that follows the adventures of Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Levi. Each character wields their own unique set of skills that they will carry into battle.

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From Eren being a power house that can easily dismantle titans to Armin who can tactically bring titans to their knees with the aid of a squad. Meanwhile Mikasa is an expert at tearing titan’s apart with multiple precise attacks when landing her combo only to be an offset to Levi’s powerful charged attacks that sends him spiraling towards titan’s in a blazing fury of blades. Luckily for many of us that have seen the anime or read the manga, this sticks true to how each character plays out, each carrying their own unique traits, and carrying them out throughout the anime. This sticks true even for players wishing to take on Eren’s titan form that just obliterates almost any enemy near by.

Attack on Titan’s Unique Combat System Carries Over Quite Well

As one would expect, the most important thing for Attack on Titan to have is the weapons and the 3D maneuverability system using the gear they do. Whether it’s the swords that break away and have their blades replaced mid combat or the pressurized gas canisters being replaced as their gas pressures lower. However, how well does zipping across the screen to replace crippling blows to titans carry over?

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Omega Force pulls it off quite well for such a complex system that would be translated over into a game. Zipping across the screen manages to work quite well as players take on each titan by setting their target by R1. Doing the R1/RB press switches players instantly into a combat targeting system that allows them to choose which part of a titan they wish to dismember. Whether it’s arms, legs or simply going for the killing blow by cutting off a titans nape of their neck.

The way Omega Force has implemented this makes combat smooth, fluid, and intuitive. It shows just how much attention the team put into their developing the game in order to make it follow the show as close as possible. This even goes to say the maps feel just as good, even if players will revisit areas like the Trost District a few more times than they’d want. Luckily for those looking for detail, the cables used when moving across the cityscapes or from titan to titan feel genuinely crafted as they don’t randomly appear, but only attach to nearby buildings, trees or fixtures.

Attack on Titan’s Camera, Attack Angles, and Titan’s Can be a Pain

As one wold expect, not everything is going to be work in the players or the developers favor when it comes to the fast paced title, players will eventually find shortcomings to gripe about. Unfortunately for Attack on Titan these become apparent within minutes of playing. Some of the biggest and most troublesome underlying issues are the ones that stare you in the face while playing.

It isn’t uncommon for players to find the camera getting stuck as players drop from dead titans or buildings being obliterated by one only to find the camera stuck. This means players will often find the camera chugging along the best it can while players drop down onto the roads, between houses, or just in general becoming a problem when being surrounded by groups of titans. Luckily the game does its best to make this problem none-existent by forcing players to keep on the move using their gear. If players are good enough at it, they’ll find themselves quickly adjusting to the games odd camera situations that tend to pop up.

As time progressed in our playthrough, the problems seemed less frequent as we learned to keep moving from building to building, and combining our attacks on each titan just as quick as the one before. But another large issue is one that stares you point blank in the face while titans are laying around with their arms and legs cut off. Players will often find themselves being bounced off these monstrosities more-often-than-not due to their positioning being wrong or the titan rolling around. Sometimes it’s things just as simple as titans crumbling buildings underneath them and obscuring the players angle so that they have to maneuver to higher grounds in order to attack their target.

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Attack on Titan – PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Xbox One, and Windows PC.
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Price: $59.99 USD
Released: Available Now

Closing Thoughts

Attack on Titan is a franchise that’s hard to make games and spin-offs for due to how carefully crafted the writers, artists, and directors are. Luckily, the game fills all the needed spots whether its the beautifully crafted anime-style engine that makes the game look like a high-end 3D anime or the soundtrack that’s been pulled directly from the anime. Attack on Titan succeeds in most areas where the previous Nintendo 3DS title failed.

All though much of the screen is cluttered by the HUD, mission status, equipment menu, health, map, allies, etc, Attack on Titan is a beautiful masterpiece that shows it belongs right where it’s at on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Whether it’s players zipping across the map to the official soundtrack or watching the anime-like cutscenes that are dubbed over in the original Japanese voice-tracking, Attack on Titan is a game that won’t leave fans disappointed as they find themselves completing the main campaign.

While the game does have a multiplayer, it isn’t much different from the main game, which is nice when taking a break from the story and wanting to mow down titans with a pal or two. Overall, the game is just as one would expect and hope to see for a game under the Attack on Titan licensing allowing Omega Force to take a long awaited pat to the back as we wait to see more of the franchise come from their studio.

Our review is based upon a version provided to us by the games publisher.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 7 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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.

 

Sit-Rep: Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – When Alchemy Decides to Backfire

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment
Pros:
+An astonishing soundtrack that stays true with the games locales and scenery.
+Character designs are top notch bringing Sophie and Plachta to life
+A newly implemented alchemy system that brings both new and old to life
+Outfit changing brings the game to life from being stale and boring
Cons:
–Brings forth a lack of story, which is not known in previous entries
–The battle system feels weak and troubled since the days of Escha and Logy
–New Game+ is absent in this newest title
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Much like any Atelier game, our newest title starts off pretty plain, pretty simple, and with a bit of a trademark design. In the beginning we are introduced to our playable character – Sophie. With her aspirations to become a great alchemist recognized, it’s time for he to take on the works of her grandmother whom has passed. With her family legacy being known as a renowned alchemist of the atelier arts, it’s now Sophie’s turn to try and take to such greatness. With her grandmothers book in her possession, it’s not her time to take over and begin picking up where her legacy begins.
As one would expect, the book is where much of her story will unfold as it is not just any book, but a special one known as Plachta. Working along side Sophie, Plachta will help Sophie unlock the memories hidden within Plachta to find out the memories her grandmother left behind that have since become hidden. While exploring the world in order to unlock a rather tough alchemical formulae and the memories, the two will take on extraordinary tasks as visitors will come and go within her life while they explore new recipes and materials to help create them.
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As one would expect, the Atelier titles do live up to expectations on their graphical standard. With their visuals becoming more consistent across each release; their’s a sense of tradition to the titles as they have taken on their cel-like anime approach with shading. Those of you familiar with the titles on both PlayStation 3 and even the PlayStation Vita – they’ve remained on-par as they upgraded into their 1080p standard. For those of you who visited titles like Night of azure, Dragon Ball Xenoverse or even Digimon Cybersleuth, you’ve come accustomed to what the graphics will be like. The graphics are perhaps one of the most appealing things about the game as players find themselves lulled in by them next to the songs that play throughout the game.
Even with its anime like approach to character designs, anime-like soundtracks, and traditional crafting gameplay, the game has been tweaked a bit to ensure that even the most hardcore of fans won’t get bored. With each character in the series, girl that is, remains lighthearted, loving, ditsy, cute, and even a bit damsel-ish, the games remain fun as players get underway through their tales. Unfortunately, that’s about it for this game as it does find itself a bit troubled when all-else comes into play.
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Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – PlayStation 4 (Reviewed)
Developer: Gust
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Price: $59.99 USD
Released: Available Now
While this game does offer up a common moniker that the series is renowned for it doesn’t fail to drop the traditional JRPG like mechanics. Combat is straight-forward within the title as players will pick what attack they want to perform, items to use, and what their combat rotation comes out to be. After a good 30-40 hours in, players will find themselves incomplete in ways if they are wanting to finish unlocking their trophies. While New Game+ has been a traditional piece of this franchise, this one falls short of doing so and leaves players with a single playthrough.
As you’d expect – Atelier Sophie is a decent game. Definitely not what was expected especially being the first one for this generation of console. Character design and soundtrack were wonderful as to be expected with the Atelier titles. The new alchemy system felt new yet familiar which was very refreshing. However it doesn’t make up for the lack of good story and feeling like you are getting nowhere fast or even a normal pace. Time management, Battle system, Leveling, and lack of a NG+ among other things kept this game from being better then it was and/or expected to be. However still looking forward to what the next Atelier game will hold for us fans. Hopefully the next time around will try a tidbit harder to bring back the love the series got from previous titles.
Our review is based on a copy provided to us by the games publisher.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 5 out of 10

About the Writer:

chris_adeeChris Adee is one of B.A.T.G.R.’s newest writers who seems to love three things. Sleep, games, and MOBA’s when he’s not goofing around on Warframe and SMITE. He also likes games. A lot. Oh and anime. Did we mention anime?

Review: Nights of Azure – Dancing in the Night with Demon’s

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Solid battle system that feels like a true spiritual successor to Folklore
+Beautifully crafted romance between the leading ladies
+Character designs feel solidly crafted to fit the world perfectly
+A very relaxing soundtrack that soothes throughout the game

Cons:
-Muddied and blurred CGI scenes
-Breast emphasis is a bit overwhelming

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When it comes to games that are thick and immediately accessible on a narrative, it’s Nights of Azure. This seems quite simple to say that this is good, something that we know Gust has been great at with past titles like Ar nosurge Plus have proven that stories are something they are great with. With Nights of Azure, we’re given quite a few twists and even characters to remember as the story gets underway, which is easy to say – is a good thing as Gust has gotten it all right with this title. With our leading ladies Arnice and Lilysse, we find the two as our characters of interest. That being said, we get to see them at the same locale where they just happen to run into each other – the abandoned Ruswal Island. Otherwords? A place known as “The Land Without Night”. A place where the island’s inhabitants turn into monstrosities after the wicked Nightlord through contaminating them with his Blue Blood, which corrupted their very souls.

After having come in contact with it, Arnice has managed to somehow managed to retain at least half her humanity. This enabled Arnice to turn into the demon-slayer we get to know. Like any tale of where night dawns, this is where Arnice finds herself at her peak, and will find herself purging the island of the residents that were cursed by the Nightlord. The downside to this tale? Arnice must find a way to stop him without having Lilysse force herself from being sacrificed in order to do so.

As much as one would expect, the story is one that is rather respectively done as the relationship for the two women is a same-gender type. One that is not littered with cheap, porn style emphasis nor does it take on the internalized shame experienced by either women. This makes their relationship believable, realistic, and noteworthy as the women get their story underway. All you need to know with these two? They love each other, they find themselves sweet, refreshing, and enjoyable for the viewers to experience. Something that is pure as it gets when it comes to any game out there yet. One that does feature natural drama and action within the story elements given to them.

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While the story is what shines the most, the games battle system is one that shines quite a bit. As those who experienced Folklore will know, the game seems to be a successor to that same one, and even offers up unique battle sets that are comprised of “Servens” that players will have battle it out during the battle phases. During the combat phase, players will find themselves pressing upon the corresponding button to that Serven in order for them to attack. The biggest difference between Nights of Azure and Folklore? You have to pres the buttons instantly in Folklore to attack while Nights of Azure allows for companions that are summoned to be summoned into combat and fight with the player. This gives the characters you fight along side a sense of life as they fight uniquely as part of the party rather than being controlled as the party. This is something that also seems that Gust has intuitively designed using Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch as a reference point. The biggest feat to this entire system? Players can unlock new Servens as they progress through the game in order to change up how the battlefield feels. This allows for the combat situations to feel rather fluid as if it was meant to be this way without any second thoughts.

While combat does see Servens as a big part of it, transformation as well as weapons play a rather large role within the game. As you know, combat coincides with the use of Servens, which you equip through your loadout, which allows you to change up during situtations as players will find themselves building up a transformation bar. Here players will find Arnice transforming into a demon-esque creature. One that is based upon what Servens are in the character loadout when playing. This means that are multiple transformations, but the two experienced most? Fire demon, which is the basic transformation that is obtained upon starting the game. The second and personal favorit eof mine? The Bunny Girl, one which makes fast jabs, kicks, and even uses a finisher that allows for enemies to be hit in a certain vicinity. If you’re used to playing the .Hack G.U. games the weapon change system will also seem rather familiar. All weapons do have their uses based upon the enemy type being fought. The downside? The changing of weapons does feel sluggish from time to time.

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Combat aside, the game shines through its soundtrack where players will find themselves relaxed to each soothing tone, one that can be attributed to its light side as well as its beautiful darkness that is embedded within it from time to time. Something that is beautifully accentuated by the games ambient sounds that are perfectly placed to add more essence to the games life. Something that seems to follow perfectly with the games graphical designs that allow for an anime-like approach that works quite well. While areas of combat are smooth and stay so for most of combat, the game does see slight frame rate dips in high action moments. Though the dips are not as noticeable as one would would think. The games graphics offer quite a bit of clarity to the detail while the depth of zones are easily enjoyable thanks to the games use of background as well as backdrops while exploring.

While each environment seems rather dark and gloomy, it works quite well for the games story approach as well as the world that it takes place in. This case makes it rather gorgeous, beautiful even. While each zone may seem small, each is well designed, thought out, and easy to navigate so that players don’t get lost when trying to navigate between zones. The fact this has been done, seems easily to attribute to Gust’s Ar tonelico franchise. The downside? Some are ones that will shine that the boss is there by simply stating “BOSS” on the entry way, notifying players what encounter is up ahead.

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Aside from the games overall design, there is something unique that comes to happen as players enjoy the title: Decisions matter, and they matter big time. Depending on the decisions made, the game does change out the experience that players will have as the title gets underway. This can be things such as dialogue can depict on the aspect of things that can happen. This also means the options that become available throughout the game. This means even negotiating within the games progress with currency such as Libra and Blue Blood, which allows players to obtain items they need. Libra being the basic that can be used at trade shops for items or Blue Blood, which is where decision making really comes into play. This currency can only be obtained through defeating enemies. This currency is used to purchase items from alternative traders, which have items that can be used by the

While the game gets the good graces it deserves, there are a few places where the game stumbles quite a bit. This comes to cut scenes, which seem rather muddied, blurred even during their moments. While the CGI moments seem rather problematic, but when the game uses the in-game animations? The graphics remain pure, clean, and beautiful as if they were never bothered with during their creation. Sadly this seems to follow through with the character breasts, which seem to take center stage at times as they seem over emphasized upon. While this isn’t bad for some games, it’s something that does take over during certain scenes as well as parts of the games story as the character chests bounce during walking, running, and even while breathing during stand-still moments. This seems to take away from the games sincerity quite a bit during the campaign, but doesn’t deter the enjoyment of the overall title.

Nights of Azure – PlayStation 4 (Reviewed)
Developer: Gust
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Price: $59.99 USD
Released: Available Now

Overall, the game is enjoyable, one that has noticeably and carefully crafted for players to experience during their time with Gusts latest title. This title is one that fans of both the Atelier and even the Ar tonelico franchise can come and enjoy when looking for a new game to play by the same developer. For Ps4 owners? This is definitely a game that should be considered during the drought of JRPG’s on the console.

Our review is based on a copy provided to us by the games publisher.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 8 out of 10

About the Writer:

chris_adeeChris Adee is one of B.A.T.G.R.’s newest writers who seems to love three things. Sleep, games, and MOBA’s when he’s not goofing around on Warframe and SMITE. He also likes games. A lot. Oh and anime. Did we mention anime?

KOEI TECMO and SCEA Announce Nioh for PlayStation 4

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

NIOH_05

Sony’s PlayStation Experience was filled with exciting announcements. As of this weekend our friends at Koei Tecmo officially announced their newest project in development by Kou Shibusawa, Hisashi Koinuma, and Team NINJA. Their upcoming title is coming exclusively to the PlayStation 4 at an unrevealed date.

In this upcoming title by Team NINJA, Nioh will allow players to traverse across a war-torn Japan. As they do players will battle demons as a character by the name of William, a blonde-haired swordsman who comes as a fierce warrior and an in-depth knowledge of the blade that allows him to survive and fight through a demon ravaged land that once belonged to the samurai. Known as Yokai, the demons that William will take on inhabit the lands in dangerous locations and in dangerous numbers. These enemies will push players to the tipping point of their skills as they go into supernatural sword battles that will assist them in taking out multiple targets while also honing their samurai skills, patience, and strategy to take on their upcoming foes.

Official Information:

Offering a deep and original storyline that takes place during the Warring States Period of Japanese history alongside strategic sword-fighting action, Nioh will challenge players in a way that makes every mission and accomplishment feel earned and worthwhile. More information on this comprehensive, action-packed RPG experience will be released in the coming months.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Launches on the PlayStation Family

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

OPPW3_logo

If we weren’t already happy with the release of One Piece: Unlimited World Red and spending a lot of time with it, we’re now being given another taste of the crazy and wild crew of the Straw Hat Gang. As of now? You can get your hands on the game in North America while our friends down in Brazil only need to wait one more day to get their hands on the game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. How much will it cost you to join the Straw Hat Gang? 59.99 USD on PS4, 39.99 USD on PS3 and Vita while Steam users can snag it up for 49.99 USD.

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For those unfamiliar with the title, One Piece: Pirate Warriors was developed by the Japanese based team Koei Tecmo Games and combines the familiarity we have come to know and love with the Dynasty Warriors franchise while also adding in the One Piece twist that fans of the anime have come to know and love.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

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.