 |
| Max seems to find himself narrowly avoiding more than one Hollywood special effect. |
Genre: Action, Third-Person Shooter
Release Date: 15th May 2012
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Uncharted, Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption
Showing posts with label 8/10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 8/10. Show all posts
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Max Payne 3
Rockstar have always been known for creating iconic games. I haven't played a bad game developed by Rockstar yet. Max Payne is a franchise known by every veteran gamer. When the first title in the series was released in 2001, it was an instant classic and a step forward for TPS gaming. The slow motion bullet time effect and advanced graphics were an instant hit for the market. 11 years later, we have the third edition of Max Payne, bringing back the linear third person shooter we all love so much.
Genre: Action, Third-Person Shooter
Release Date: 15th May 2012
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Uncharted, Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Action, Third-Person Shooter
Release Date: 15th May 2012
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Uncharted, Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Final Fantasy: Tactics
After creating the first Final Fantasy: Tactics game, Square tried to build on it with a couple of other handheld titles on the Gameboy Advance. Sadly, the franchise didn't really take off. But FF:Tactics was a brilliant game, worthy to be remade as War of the Lions for the Iphone and PSP. Every time I decide to go shopping, I always end up finding another beautiful title that I just can't pass up on. This is one of those iconic games, that every gamer should at least have a little experience with.
Genre: Strategy, JRPG
Release Date: 20th June, 1997
Platforms: PSP, Playstation
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Final Fantasy, Vandal Hearts, Fire Emblem
As expected of a Final Fantasy game, Tactics has the usual turn-based combat. However, the addition of terrain navigation and strategically positioning your units changes the game considerably. As a Playstation game, it's getting very old. It's aged magnificently, but Final Fantasy: Tactics is old enough to be rife with minor annoyances that don't plague the new releases of today. I hated waiting for my turn. Spell animations are a minute long. At least a third of your time playing this game you won't be doing anything but waiting for your turn. It's frustrating that none of the issues from the original edition have been adjusted. It should of been fundamental for Square to polish the game before porting it. The only real downside however, is it takes a dangerous amount of patience to enjoy Final Fantasy: Tactics. Oh, and you can't skip a second of it.
Ivalice has been a part of three Final Fantasy games to date, and although it's not a full world it made quite the debut in tactics. The inhabitants of Ivalice can use both magic and technology, and it has numerous races of denizens and monsters. Although you don't get to see much of the location in Tactics, you get to see Ivalice in all its glory in Final Fantasy: XII.
The story begins with Ramza, a young mercenary with the blood of a noble. Ivalice has just ended a war, and the king is dead. A baby is the only remaining heir. With nobody to keep the nation under control, two factions fight for rule. Prince Goltana and Prince Larg have started a full scale war just to seize power. Ramza is unfortunately caught between these two lions as a pawn. So instead of taking a side, he instead fights for justice.
Aside from the nobles kicking sand at eachother, the commoners of Ivalice are also starting a fuss. The peasants are upset for being treated like dirt, and many uprisings are afoot. Delita, Ramza's childhood friend hates the privileged nobles so much, he seeks to manipulate and destroy them. In other words, the shit has hit the fan in Ivalice, and it's Ramza's job to vacuum it all up.
You will meet many characters on your journey, some of which can join your party as guests. The pompous nobles of house Beoulve who are always trying to manipulate their way up the ranks. Delita, your childhood friend and peasant determined to change the world. Agnes, a holy knight under the service of Princess Ovelia. Every person you meet in the game is surprisingly deep. The dialogue is short, yet still manages to convey a lot of information.
FF:Tactics has a story that all revolves around politics. Most of the scenes you watch are about people plotting to take their seat on the throne, or to rise above their station. It's basically medieval cloak and dagger stuff. It didn't really interest me that much until I made a fair amount of progress, once I'd played for about 10 hours I started to feel invested in the plot. I was more interested in fighting battles and adjusting my army.
During a playthrough of Tactics you will typically rotate between the world map and battles with the occasional cutscene. The map lets you choose from blue locations with towns to buy new gear and read rumors; and green places with potential battles. Certain points are marked red and guarantee battle. If you defeat all the red areas then the story progresses. Ultimately this pushes you into a simple rotation. Story, grind, gear, repeat. So if this routine is frustrating to you early on, quit now because it doesn't change. Personally, I didn't mind it. However, I know there's plenty of readers out there thinking 'fuck that' as they read this.
With dozens of classes and the ability to mix and match them, it's an absolute pleasure to customize your party. I spent several hours composing different builds and structuring my soldiers in the best formations. Some classes are really broken, like Monk and Ninja; while others are lacking something important, such as Chemist and Archer. There are so many classes to unlock, you will have to put in a lot of time to fully explore them all.
As a strategy game, Final Fantasy Tactics is a step in a different direction for Square-Enix. For some reason they decided to do the whole battlefield in isometric, which is an old technique and one I've never liked. Who the fuck wants to play a game diagonally? The terrain can block your line of sight and it's hard to move the camera to an angle to a good view. On the Playstation edition of this game, that's where the flaws end. On the PSP version, there is one more major disadvantage to deal with. The slowdown. For some reason, Square-Enix decided it would be a good idea to delay the cast time of every spell in the game. As previously mentioned, this inconvenience is annoying. It's gotten to the point that I put the PSP on the table and do something else when the enemies turn begins. Without this issue, Final Fantasy: Tactics would of been a perfect port.
A battle typically consists of your team being placed on one side of the field, whilst the enemy attacks from several directions. Once a unit's CT gauge reaches 100, it can act. Each unit can move and perform an action in a turn, if you don't want to do anything you can choose to wait and your next turn will charge faster. Using a normal attack or item is done instantly, but casting magic usually takes a couple of turns. The AI isn't particularly competent, so you will have to fight against an enemy with more soldiers under his control almost every time. Most battles can be completed easily by keeping your units together and surrounding one enemy at a time. If you give all of your men the ability to heal themselves, Final Fantasy: Tactics is a game you can steamroll over for the most part.
There are a few nuances in the system that you have to adjust to. If you're firing an arrow at an enemy, it can be blocked by terrain or even an ally if they are in the way. It's impossible to stand on top of a corpse, so standing with your back to a dead monsters prevents anyone hitting you from behind. Climbing up cliffs or stairs makes use of your jump stat instead of your move stat, so some classes and builds can leap up a building and others have to take a longer route.
Every now and again you can tame a monster into your party, that includes other humans and even chocobos. So if you want to have a strange army of monsters and birds, that is entirely possible. However, usually it's better to keep the same 5 units so they get more EXP. Sadly, you never get to field more than 5 soldiers each battle, so recruiting a dozen unique warriors into your party is pretty much a waste of time. If you could use up to 10 people in a battle Final Fantasy: Tactics would of been much more tactical.
Jobs are another word for class, whichever one you pick will change the weapon and armor you can equip as well as the abilities you can use. In the beginning you only have access to 2 jobs: Chemist and Squire. Once you meet the prerequisites it's possible to change to a new class. Character levels and class levels are separate, so changing to a new job puts you back at the beginning. It's fun to explore what each job is capable of. Moreover, some techniques you pick up can be equipped onto your character regardless of class.
When somebody on your team gets downed, you only have 3 turns to revive them or they disappear forever. Although this mechanic will probably annoy you at first, it's easy to adapt to. However, once you get to the later stages in Final Fantasy: Tactics, losing a unit forever is not a viable option. In other words, if you don't resurrect your buddy in time; you're going to have to start the battle all over again. To add insult to injury, restarting a battle requires you to reload the entire game.
It's very easy to abuse the mechanics in FF:Tactics to your advantage. For example, if you want to grind experience all you have to do is kill all the enemies but one. Then, command your party to attack each other whilst healing themselves to avoid death. Each hit or heal grants the caster experience, thus making it possible to level your party members without being in any danger.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a fantastic title, I wholly agree with its transition to the PSP. It's a worthy title that didn't see enough praise on the Playstation. That being said, it's also got many areas that could be improved on. If you want a turn-based game where planning your actions and creating an ideal party is the challenge, then pick this one. Final Fantasy Tactics is not perfect, but it was a great game when it was released, and it's still worth your time now. Just remember, it's very slow paced. Be prepared to put down the console and do something else for a couple of minutes every now and again.
I just wish they'd made a sequel, because using this core engine and perfecting it by adding more classes, bigger battles, side missions and more equipment could make a game that would sit at the top of strategy titles for the next 20 years.
 |
| The graphics are bad by modern standards, but still playable. |
Genre: Strategy, JRPG
Release Date: 20th June, 1997
Platforms: PSP, Playstation
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Final Fantasy, Vandal Hearts, Fire Emblem
As expected of a Final Fantasy game, Tactics has the usual turn-based combat. However, the addition of terrain navigation and strategically positioning your units changes the game considerably. As a Playstation game, it's getting very old. It's aged magnificently, but Final Fantasy: Tactics is old enough to be rife with minor annoyances that don't plague the new releases of today. I hated waiting for my turn. Spell animations are a minute long. At least a third of your time playing this game you won't be doing anything but waiting for your turn. It's frustrating that none of the issues from the original edition have been adjusted. It should of been fundamental for Square to polish the game before porting it. The only real downside however, is it takes a dangerous amount of patience to enjoy Final Fantasy: Tactics. Oh, and you can't skip a second of it.
 |
| The combat can be really tough in a few situations. |
Ivalice has been a part of three Final Fantasy games to date, and although it's not a full world it made quite the debut in tactics. The inhabitants of Ivalice can use both magic and technology, and it has numerous races of denizens and monsters. Although you don't get to see much of the location in Tactics, you get to see Ivalice in all its glory in Final Fantasy: XII.
The story begins with Ramza, a young mercenary with the blood of a noble. Ivalice has just ended a war, and the king is dead. A baby is the only remaining heir. With nobody to keep the nation under control, two factions fight for rule. Prince Goltana and Prince Larg have started a full scale war just to seize power. Ramza is unfortunately caught between these two lions as a pawn. So instead of taking a side, he instead fights for justice.
Aside from the nobles kicking sand at eachother, the commoners of Ivalice are also starting a fuss. The peasants are upset for being treated like dirt, and many uprisings are afoot. Delita, Ramza's childhood friend hates the privileged nobles so much, he seeks to manipulate and destroy them. In other words, the shit has hit the fan in Ivalice, and it's Ramza's job to vacuum it all up.
You will meet many characters on your journey, some of which can join your party as guests. The pompous nobles of house Beoulve who are always trying to manipulate their way up the ranks. Delita, your childhood friend and peasant determined to change the world. Agnes, a holy knight under the service of Princess Ovelia. Every person you meet in the game is surprisingly deep. The dialogue is short, yet still manages to convey a lot of information.
 |
| The PSP adds a few pretty cutscenes, none of which you can skip. |
FF:Tactics has a story that all revolves around politics. Most of the scenes you watch are about people plotting to take their seat on the throne, or to rise above their station. It's basically medieval cloak and dagger stuff. It didn't really interest me that much until I made a fair amount of progress, once I'd played for about 10 hours I started to feel invested in the plot. I was more interested in fighting battles and adjusting my army.
During a playthrough of Tactics you will typically rotate between the world map and battles with the occasional cutscene. The map lets you choose from blue locations with towns to buy new gear and read rumors; and green places with potential battles. Certain points are marked red and guarantee battle. If you defeat all the red areas then the story progresses. Ultimately this pushes you into a simple rotation. Story, grind, gear, repeat. So if this routine is frustrating to you early on, quit now because it doesn't change. Personally, I didn't mind it. However, I know there's plenty of readers out there thinking 'fuck that' as they read this.
With dozens of classes and the ability to mix and match them, it's an absolute pleasure to customize your party. I spent several hours composing different builds and structuring my soldiers in the best formations. Some classes are really broken, like Monk and Ninja; while others are lacking something important, such as Chemist and Archer. There are so many classes to unlock, you will have to put in a lot of time to fully explore them all.
As a strategy game, Final Fantasy Tactics is a step in a different direction for Square-Enix. For some reason they decided to do the whole battlefield in isometric, which is an old technique and one I've never liked. Who the fuck wants to play a game diagonally? The terrain can block your line of sight and it's hard to move the camera to an angle to a good view. On the Playstation edition of this game, that's where the flaws end. On the PSP version, there is one more major disadvantage to deal with. The slowdown. For some reason, Square-Enix decided it would be a good idea to delay the cast time of every spell in the game. As previously mentioned, this inconvenience is annoying. It's gotten to the point that I put the PSP on the table and do something else when the enemies turn begins. Without this issue, Final Fantasy: Tactics would of been a perfect port.
 |
| Some classes can move pretty far in a single turn. |
A battle typically consists of your team being placed on one side of the field, whilst the enemy attacks from several directions. Once a unit's CT gauge reaches 100, it can act. Each unit can move and perform an action in a turn, if you don't want to do anything you can choose to wait and your next turn will charge faster. Using a normal attack or item is done instantly, but casting magic usually takes a couple of turns. The AI isn't particularly competent, so you will have to fight against an enemy with more soldiers under his control almost every time. Most battles can be completed easily by keeping your units together and surrounding one enemy at a time. If you give all of your men the ability to heal themselves, Final Fantasy: Tactics is a game you can steamroll over for the most part.
There are a few nuances in the system that you have to adjust to. If you're firing an arrow at an enemy, it can be blocked by terrain or even an ally if they are in the way. It's impossible to stand on top of a corpse, so standing with your back to a dead monsters prevents anyone hitting you from behind. Climbing up cliffs or stairs makes use of your jump stat instead of your move stat, so some classes and builds can leap up a building and others have to take a longer route.
Every now and again you can tame a monster into your party, that includes other humans and even chocobos. So if you want to have a strange army of monsters and birds, that is entirely possible. However, usually it's better to keep the same 5 units so they get more EXP. Sadly, you never get to field more than 5 soldiers each battle, so recruiting a dozen unique warriors into your party is pretty much a waste of time. If you could use up to 10 people in a battle Final Fantasy: Tactics would of been much more tactical.
 |
| Gafgarion is one badass dude. |
Jobs are another word for class, whichever one you pick will change the weapon and armor you can equip as well as the abilities you can use. In the beginning you only have access to 2 jobs: Chemist and Squire. Once you meet the prerequisites it's possible to change to a new class. Character levels and class levels are separate, so changing to a new job puts you back at the beginning. It's fun to explore what each job is capable of. Moreover, some techniques you pick up can be equipped onto your character regardless of class.
When somebody on your team gets downed, you only have 3 turns to revive them or they disappear forever. Although this mechanic will probably annoy you at first, it's easy to adapt to. However, once you get to the later stages in Final Fantasy: Tactics, losing a unit forever is not a viable option. In other words, if you don't resurrect your buddy in time; you're going to have to start the battle all over again. To add insult to injury, restarting a battle requires you to reload the entire game.
It's very easy to abuse the mechanics in FF:Tactics to your advantage. For example, if you want to grind experience all you have to do is kill all the enemies but one. Then, command your party to attack each other whilst healing themselves to avoid death. Each hit or heal grants the caster experience, thus making it possible to level your party members without being in any danger.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a fantastic title, I wholly agree with its transition to the PSP. It's a worthy title that didn't see enough praise on the Playstation. That being said, it's also got many areas that could be improved on. If you want a turn-based game where planning your actions and creating an ideal party is the challenge, then pick this one. Final Fantasy Tactics is not perfect, but it was a great game when it was released, and it's still worth your time now. Just remember, it's very slow paced. Be prepared to put down the console and do something else for a couple of minutes every now and again.
I just wish they'd made a sequel, because using this core engine and perfecting it by adding more classes, bigger battles, side missions and more equipment could make a game that would sit at the top of strategy titles for the next 20 years.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by sleep
Kingdom Hearts has always been a questionable franchise at first sight. Final Fantasy meets Disney? Isn't that a rather awkward and strange match up? You'd think so, until you got your hands on a copy and realize it's a masterpiece. Square-Enix have developed a unique and wildly addictive combat system that fused action into the genre. It pushed the RPG industry into a new intuitive and more engaging era.
Genre: JRPG
Release Date: 9th January, 2010
Platforms: PSP
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Dissidia
Worth Playing: Birth by sleep was very fun, the story was pretty memorable and the combat was excellent.
 |
| Terra and Aqua. |
Genre: JRPG
Release Date: 9th January, 2010
Platforms: PSP
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Dissidia
Worth Playing: Birth by sleep was very fun, the story was pretty memorable and the combat was excellent.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition
It has been a long time since I've touched the Witcher. I always thought it was a lacking finish, with clunky mechanics. However, that does not change the fact that it was a brilliant game. Spend five minutes on it, and you can tell almost immediately that it is a rich environment with plenty of lore. The combat is smooth and requires a satisfying amount of finesse to master. To start you may have to push yourself to get invested into the Witcher 2, just like in the first game. Eventually it will just pull you in (here is my initial review).
Genre: RPG, Action
Release Date: May 17th 2011
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect
 |
| The graphics are really something special. |
Genre: RPG, Action
Release Date: May 17th 2011
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Divinity 2
Divinity II is an under-appreciated game that never really stood out among other instant hit titles of the time like Dragon Age or Oblivion. Whilst it may deserve a spot in the sun, its lack of polish earned it a lonely bench in the shade. Even the hardiest of RPG connoisseurs can overlook or miss out on playing the Divinity games, which is a real shame. Just because the franchise was out shined by better publicized and better funded companies, doesn't change the fact that at its greatest moments; Divinity can easily compete and even beat its more popular rivals.
Genre: RPG, Adventure, Action
Release Date: 20th November, 2009
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, Kingdoms of Amalur, Oblivion
 |
| Yeah, I forgot what happened here. Let's just say magic stuff. |
Genre: RPG, Adventure, Action
Release Date: 20th November, 2009
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, Kingdoms of Amalur, Oblivion
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Torchlight 2
 |
| Begin your journey and it's raining. Fucking British weather. |
Genre: RPG, Roguelike, Hack'n'Slash
Release Date: 20th September 2012
Platforms: PC
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Diablo III, Path of Exile, Titan Quest
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Psychonauts
Genre: Platform/Puzzle
Release Date: October 11th 2006
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar: Crash Bandicoot, Mario, Sonic
Worth Playing: While a basic platformer at heart, Psychonauts is the type of wacky & innane that you cannot help but enjoy.
As a top contender for my favourite game, Psychonauts is really a great experience. Most critics hold Psychonauts in high esteem, despite its lack of sales. Even though it came out back in 2005, the game has aged wonderfully. Even now I'm rather eager to continue, just writing about it is making me want to play. Psychonauts 2 will possibly be coming to town in the future- and despite the douchebag Notch funding the efforts, let's hope he has nothing further to do with the development.
Release Date: October 11th 2006
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar: Crash Bandicoot, Mario, Sonic
Worth Playing: While a basic platformer at heart, Psychonauts is the type of wacky & innane that you cannot help but enjoy.
 |
| The opening screen has you walking on a giant brain. |
As a top contender for my favourite game, Psychonauts is really a great experience. Most critics hold Psychonauts in high esteem, despite its lack of sales. Even though it came out back in 2005, the game has aged wonderfully. Even now I'm rather eager to continue, just writing about it is making me want to play. Psychonauts 2 will possibly be coming to town in the future- and despite the douchebag Notch funding the efforts, let's hope he has nothing further to do with the development.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Fallout 3 guest review
Genre: FPS, RPG
Release Date: October 28th 2008
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim, Knights of the Old Republic
 |
| Image on the case. |
 |
| Artwork is brilliant, but outdated. |
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Final Fantasy 9
Genre: JRPG, RPG
Release Date: July 7th 2000
Platforms: PS1
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Quest, Lufia, Legend of Dragoon
Today I shall continue the reviews on Final Fantasy series, with the ninth instalment of the franchise. Square decided to drop the angsty teenage protagonist this time around, and replaced him with an optimistic monkey man, Zidane. A lot of people dislike Zidane as the main character, and while I can't say I love him, he's not half bad.
Final Fantasy 9 is somewhat a big leap from the previous games, it kicks off by reintroducing the four character combat system, followed by a new ability mechanic that allows you party to learn spells through their weapons. Summons like Ramus and Bahamut are in the game but only usable by two of your female party members later on. It's impossible to say you'll enjoy nine over other Final Fantasies, because it received more mixed critique than any of the others in the series. What I noticed on my playthroughs is Square-Enix have tried to combine what they think are the most successful aspects of their other games into Final Fantasy 9, including the characters (think about it).
The combat hasn't evolved much, it's still very turn-based. However, your party adopts a class system from the earliest games in the series, Zidane is a thief, the main heroine Princess Garnet is a white mage, her guard Steiner is a fighter, and so forth. a new limit break/overdrive has been developed called trance, which boosts the strength of your characters in their speciality. Trance kicks ass, it facerolls boss fights. Overall, there's no drastic changes to the good old Square-Enix formula.
Graphics have a noticeable polish about them in Final Fantasy IX, Characters look more defined and cut scenes are very pretty. It would never stand up to any of the games of today in anything but story, but the game had groundbreaking visuals for it's time, and people can appreciate them even today.
As the only reason to play the game today, the storyline is definitely something. If you know JRPGs and Square-Enix, you have a good idea of what it will be like. Zidane and his oddly assorted band of misfits have to work together, battling through the monster ridden mists to save the world from the greedy Queen Brahne and other evils. Sadly, the bad guys have nothing on Sephiroth, or even a fly. If that wasn't blunt enough for you, the antagonists just plain suck. Despite this, Zidanes antics and the other characters personality depth weaves an intriguing plot.
Even though a copy of this game is hard to get your hands on these days, if you like JRPG games I suggest you play it at some point. As you progress you'll most likely find yourself hooked. Same thing goes for any of the Final Fantasy games. Unlike 7 and 8 though, there is no PC version.
I wouldn't suggest this as your first Final Fantasy, it's not the best of the bunch. Read up on the others before making a decision.
If you're looking for a review on other final fantasy games check out these links:
Final Fantasy 8 review
Final Fantasy 7 review
Release Date: July 7th 2000
Platforms: PS1
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Quest, Lufia, Legend of Dragoon
 |
| Traditional cover. |
Today I shall continue the reviews on Final Fantasy series, with the ninth instalment of the franchise. Square decided to drop the angsty teenage protagonist this time around, and replaced him with an optimistic monkey man, Zidane. A lot of people dislike Zidane as the main character, and while I can't say I love him, he's not half bad.
 |
| Summons are depicted gloriously in cut scenes. |
 |
| The external world map is a feature I've always loved. |
The combat hasn't evolved much, it's still very turn-based. However, your party adopts a class system from the earliest games in the series, Zidane is a thief, the main heroine Princess Garnet is a white mage, her guard Steiner is a fighter, and so forth. a new limit break/overdrive has been developed called trance, which boosts the strength of your characters in their speciality. Trance kicks ass, it facerolls boss fights. Overall, there's no drastic changes to the good old Square-Enix formula.
 |
| Battles are pretty interested with the class system. |
Graphics have a noticeable polish about them in Final Fantasy IX, Characters look more defined and cut scenes are very pretty. It would never stand up to any of the games of today in anything but story, but the game had groundbreaking visuals for it's time, and people can appreciate them even today.
 |
| The graphics are impressive for PSX. |
 |
| CAKE |
I wouldn't suggest this as your first Final Fantasy, it's not the best of the bunch. Read up on the others before making a decision.
If you're looking for a review on other final fantasy games check out these links:
Final Fantasy 8 review
Final Fantasy 7 review
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Mass Effect
Genre: RPG, FPS
Release date: November 16th 2007
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC
Score: 8/10
Similar titles: Dragon Age, Witcher, Deus Ex
Mass Effect is widely known as one of Biowares finest works. It certainly deserves the title. Originally on the Xbox 360, this game was so kickass it was ported to the PC a year later. When researching some other reviews for this game, It was hard to find someone who genuinely disliked the game. Here's a video compilation of the combat that I made, take a look if you're interested:
Using a new approach to their combat system, Mass Effect has essentially created an FPS with RPG elements stitched in. And whoever wove the needle, did it wonderfully. Character customisation is in depth, to the point where you choose a military and civilian background. There's also a fairly interesting class system in place, which allows you to level up your weapon skills accordingly.
If you know Bioware, which you should, you will be expecting a rich fantasy world with an engaging plot. Of course, that's exactly what you get. Set in the near future, you will find yourself in the shoes of Commander Shephard, on board a starship exploring the universe.
It's the early days of space travel for humankind, possible only because of alien technology left behind by the extinct super species, Protheans. Using this technology, the human race encountered extraterrestrial life, led and ruled by the Citadel Council and their agents, the Spectres.
The plot is far from boring, is all I can say.
Not many people have been disappointed by Mass Effect, and I doubt you will be either. The only alarmingly present flaw is the lack of difficulty. There's not enough enemies to overheat your pistol in a lot of encounters, even on the harder difficulties. Combat is fun, so you may find yourself shooting first and asking questions later more often.
Squadmates are talkative and immersive, and pretty useful in battle too. There is a variety of party members to choose from, all with their own backstory. This combined with the pretty graphics, can leave you scratching your head wondering why it's been 3 hours when you were only intending to play for 1.
If you like the video, then look for a copy, since it's very cheap now. Mass Effect 2 is out with 3 on the way, so be prepared to buy those too!
Release date: November 16th 2007
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC
Score: 8/10
Similar titles: Dragon Age, Witcher, Deus Ex
 |
| Commander Shephard, the protagonist. |
Mass Effect is widely known as one of Biowares finest works. It certainly deserves the title. Originally on the Xbox 360, this game was so kickass it was ported to the PC a year later. When researching some other reviews for this game, It was hard to find someone who genuinely disliked the game. Here's a video compilation of the combat that I made, take a look if you're interested:
 |
| Character personalisation has some variety. |
Using a new approach to their combat system, Mass Effect has essentially created an FPS with RPG elements stitched in. And whoever wove the needle, did it wonderfully. Character customisation is in depth, to the point where you choose a military and civilian background. There's also a fairly interesting class system in place, which allows you to level up your weapon skills accordingly.
 |
| The level up screen shows your moral compass and skills. |
If you know Bioware, which you should, you will be expecting a rich fantasy world with an engaging plot. Of course, that's exactly what you get. Set in the near future, you will find yourself in the shoes of Commander Shephard, on board a starship exploring the universe.
 |
| Travelling between solar systems is incredibly quick. |
It's the early days of space travel for humankind, possible only because of alien technology left behind by the extinct super species, Protheans. Using this technology, the human race encountered extraterrestrial life, led and ruled by the Citadel Council and their agents, the Spectres.
The plot is far from boring, is all I can say.
 |
| Some skills are really awesome. |
Not many people have been disappointed by Mass Effect, and I doubt you will be either. The only alarmingly present flaw is the lack of difficulty. There's not enough enemies to overheat your pistol in a lot of encounters, even on the harder difficulties. Combat is fun, so you may find yourself shooting first and asking questions later more often.
 |
| A skilled FPS player will trash this game with ease. |
Squadmates are talkative and immersive, and pretty useful in battle too. There is a variety of party members to choose from, all with their own backstory. This combined with the pretty graphics, can leave you scratching your head wondering why it's been 3 hours when you were only intending to play for 1.
If you like the video, then look for a copy, since it's very cheap now. Mass Effect 2 is out with 3 on the way, so be prepared to buy those too!
Sunday, 12 June 2011
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Genre: RPG, Action
Release Date: May 17th 2011
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect
I've been meaning to get around to review the Witcher 2 for a while now, because it seems rather popular at the moment. If you want to read a review on the first game, go here.
As a sequel to an inspired yet flawed game, the Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings needed a lot of drastic changes to fulfil a standard worthy of Bioware or Blizzard in 2011. Surprisingly, CD Projekt have done their jobs properly, and learnt from their mistakes. They have carefully replaced the majority of the time consuming and inconvenient design issues from the first game. Instead of giving the graphics engine an overall polish, they built a new one entirely. The scenery is truly beautiful, and you won't have any trouble immersing yourself in the world.
It begins where the first game left off, following the escapades of white haired Geralt of Riva, a Witcher taught to fight and kill monsters - usually for a price. I'm not going into detail about the storyline. All you need to know is that it is both intricate and magnificent; a compliment not frequent in my vocabulary. Advancing dialogue is quite interesting in the Witcher 2. Instead of picking archtypical lines from the good angel and evil devil on your shoulder, you will find yourself choosing options based on the possible consquences later in the story. In other words, karma will bite you on the ass later in the game if you're a silly billy.
Wonderful plot aside, I'm going to talk about the thing that impressed me most in the Witcher 2 - combat. Adopting a new action orientated style, fighting as Geralt is better than ever. The mechanics allow you to smoothly navigate the battlefield while stringing together blows to slay enemies. The signs (magic) system is also improved, the spells are cooler and cause devastation, and can be deployed effectively using the new combat menu, which slows down the fight to a managable pace. If you experienced the fairly sluggish you hit I hit from the Witcher 1, then you will be astounded by the new design.
Levelling is much simpler this time around; each level aquires you one skill point to allocate into a specialisation. Since you won't be completing all of the trees in one playthrough, choosing wisely is advised. Each specialisation has some awesome talents, enough to make you eager to plow through quests to get that overpowered upgrade. Armour also provides stat boosts, providing another way to customise and compliment your build.
Alchemy works much the same as any profession in an RPG game, materials pile up from your relentless monster killing and ruthless herb collecting - then you mash it together and you have a hulk concoction. I'd like to say you can play the game without becoming an addled potion chugger, but there's no doubt you will. When you get addicted to drugs, blame the Witcher 2. Eventually alchemy starts to yield some pretty badass recipes, so take advantage of it.
If you're looking for something epic to kill some time before Diablo 3 or Skyrim, this is the game to get. Completing all the content should take 40-80 hours, depending on how you play it. The Witcher 2 kicks off 2011 as a promising year for RPGs.
Release Date: May 17th 2011
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect
I've been meaning to get around to review the Witcher 2 for a while now, because it seems rather popular at the moment. If you want to read a review on the first game, go here.
As a sequel to an inspired yet flawed game, the Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings needed a lot of drastic changes to fulfil a standard worthy of Bioware or Blizzard in 2011. Surprisingly, CD Projekt have done their jobs properly, and learnt from their mistakes. They have carefully replaced the majority of the time consuming and inconvenient design issues from the first game. Instead of giving the graphics engine an overall polish, they built a new one entirely. The scenery is truly beautiful, and you won't have any trouble immersing yourself in the world.
It begins where the first game left off, following the escapades of white haired Geralt of Riva, a Witcher taught to fight and kill monsters - usually for a price. I'm not going into detail about the storyline. All you need to know is that it is both intricate and magnificent; a compliment not frequent in my vocabulary. Advancing dialogue is quite interesting in the Witcher 2. Instead of picking archtypical lines from the good angel and evil devil on your shoulder, you will find yourself choosing options based on the possible consquences later in the story. In other words, karma will bite you on the ass later in the game if you're a silly billy.
Wonderful plot aside, I'm going to talk about the thing that impressed me most in the Witcher 2 - combat. Adopting a new action orientated style, fighting as Geralt is better than ever. The mechanics allow you to smoothly navigate the battlefield while stringing together blows to slay enemies. The signs (magic) system is also improved, the spells are cooler and cause devastation, and can be deployed effectively using the new combat menu, which slows down the fight to a managable pace. If you experienced the fairly sluggish you hit I hit from the Witcher 1, then you will be astounded by the new design.
Levelling is much simpler this time around; each level aquires you one skill point to allocate into a specialisation. Since you won't be completing all of the trees in one playthrough, choosing wisely is advised. Each specialisation has some awesome talents, enough to make you eager to plow through quests to get that overpowered upgrade. Armour also provides stat boosts, providing another way to customise and compliment your build.
Alchemy works much the same as any profession in an RPG game, materials pile up from your relentless monster killing and ruthless herb collecting - then you mash it together and you have a hulk concoction. I'd like to say you can play the game without becoming an addled potion chugger, but there's no doubt you will. When you get addicted to drugs, blame the Witcher 2. Eventually alchemy starts to yield some pretty badass recipes, so take advantage of it.
If you're looking for something epic to kill some time before Diablo 3 or Skyrim, this is the game to get. Completing all the content should take 40-80 hours, depending on how you play it. The Witcher 2 kicks off 2011 as a promising year for RPGs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)