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Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning Review

November 26, 2013

Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning
Developer: Marvelous AQL
Publisher: Marvelous AQL
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: September 19, 2013
Price: $30.00 – Available Here

Overview
It is the 15th anniversary of the Harvest Moon series of games and with it comes a release that boasts that it will be a new beginning for Harvest Moon, a series that has been defined by its simple and almost completely unchanged formula. What we have here isn’t exactly a new beginning for the series, but it is a step in a new direction. The thing is, Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning really just takes its time in taking that much need step forward. But if you are patient enough, you’ll watch this game grow into something truly special.

Gameplay
The core formula at the heart of the Harvest Moon franchise is one that has been largely unaltered since the series inception. With Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning that formula remains in tact for the most part. The difference here however is that the tried and true formula is expanded upon in subtle yet important ways that take the series forward in a way that feels natural and satisfying.

Starting off slow the game forces you through a hard slog of a tutorial followed by in-game weeks of menial tasks with very little in the way of actual progression. The early parts of the game feel painfully slow at times due to being text heavy and gameplay light. Thankfully after that difficult slog passes things begin to move forward and more options become available to you, bringing out the real Harvest Moon charm rewarding players for the slow start.

Once things kick into gear you’ll be tending to crops and your animals like a true Harvest Moon veteran. The game like previous installments of course focuses on building up your farm, which requires daily attention and tending to. In the beginning this can be done a little too quickly but soon enough it becomes quite a hefty task once your farm expands exponentially.

Interestingly enough, Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning isn’t simply about building up your farm, but it also focuses on building up your town. As you progress your farm, more customization and farming options will open up to you, as you implement these features more and more people will return to your town and it will once again become a prosperous town like it once was.

It is in the journey of rebuilding the farm and town that you see where Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning takes a step in a new direction. While previous games focus almost exclusively on expanding your farm and ultimately finding a wife, Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning brings exploration into the forefront, giving new locations for the player to discover and gain resources from. It adds some extra layers to the gameplay that makes for some great fun. However what really makes Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning so special is the way in which it rewards players for there tiresome efforts. The more effort you put into your farm, the more you are rewarded with customization options and other abilities along the way.

The game does struggle a little in the story department, but that has never exactly been Harvest Moon’s strongest or even most important facet. The plot is simple at best and serves the purpose of setting up the game quite well, but it is nothing Harvest Moon fans haven’t seen before.

What Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning ultimately brings to the table isn’t change or a new beginning, but a nice improvement upon the basic formula that has echoed throughout each and every Harvest Moon game to date. It isn’t a leap forward into new horizons but this is a nice solid step into some expanded territory for the series and in that regard it is a success.

Visuals and Audio
The graphics for Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning are vibrant and brimming with life but at times ring a little hollow with some of the charm of previous installments being lost in this Nintendo 3DS exclusive. Some textures are simply flat with no sense of depth, which is an odd contrast given the consoles 3D feature. The palette can lean a little to much to the brighter side of the spectrum at times leaving some portions of the visuals with a plastic vibe that feels somewhat artificial. It is a mixed experience aesthetically, but still a decent first go round making it specifically for the 3DS.

As for the score, it is as fluffy as you’d expect from Harvest Moon and at times quite quaint. The musical composition are well conceived all around with some memorable tracks to boot. For the most part the soundtrack amplifies the gameplay by giving it a playful child-like wonder and an atmosphere of glee that fits Harvest Moon just right.

Overall
What Marvelous AQL have done with Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning is not exactly revolutionary but it is a pleasant enough game that builds upon the series’s successful formula in logical ways opening up the series to some new ideas. Fans of the Harvest Moon series will no doubt find themselves rekindling their love affair with the series once more with Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning. It is without a doubt the natural progression for this series which has been defined by its insistence on staying the same.

It should be said that this is easily the biggest and best Harvest Moon title to date. It has everything you’d expect from a Harvest Moon game and even more to boot. Whether it is farming crops, tending to your silly little animals or wooing a lovely lady, Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning is the definitive Harvest Moon experience. This isn’t really a new beginning for the series so much as it is the pinacle of it. Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning is Harvest Moon at its very best. Well what are you waiting for? A new moon is rising and its time for a brand new harvest.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Pokémon The Movie: Genesect And The Legend Awakened release date set for North America

Travis Bruno

November 26, 2013

Pokémon The Movie: Genesect And The Legend Awakened release date set for North America

Today Viz Media has announced that fans of Pokémon can expect the next movie, Pokémon The Movie: Genesect And The Legend Awakened to be released in North America on December 3rd. The release will be on DVD only and will cost $19.97 and it will also include a special Pokémon trading card in every print while supplies last. The manga adaptation for the movie will also be released on the same date and will cost only $9.99.

Pokémon The Movie: Genesect And The Legend Awakened follows Ash, Pikachu, and their friends as they have to rescue a city’s power grid after a group of Genesect start to make their nest there. To make things worse, Mewtwo appears and the leader of the Genesect takes issue with its presence. We recently reviewed the English cinematic version of the movie and that review can be found here.

Zetman: The Complete Series Review

Travis Bruno

November 26, 2013

Zetman: The Complete Series
Studio: TMS Entertainment
Publisher: Viz Media
Format: Blu-ray, DVD (Reviewed)
Release Date: November 5, 2013
Price: $44.98 – Available Here

Overview
A number of the most popular anime series have been adaptations of manga series and while many of them are the result of the immense popularity of Weekly Shōnen Jump. There is a problem with adapting a manga to an anime however, the pacing. The Zetman manga has been running weekly since 2002 and featured 17 volumes by the time its anime adaptation was created. With such massive amount of material to try and cover and only thirteen episodes to work with, does Zetman manage to tell an impressive story with its limited length?

Story
Almost everyone has wanted to be a superhero at one time in their life. Whether it is to protect people close to them, save the innocent, defeat criminals, or simply have a superpower of some kind, superheroes are often shown as being true and just, with no faults. However the real world is far from simple and the minds of men with too much money and no moral compass can create nightmares.

In a modern-day version of Japan with enhanced technology, an organization once manufactured human/animal hybrids called ‘Players’ to fight against one another in an underground arena where people of power could gamble away their money while the creatures tore each other apart. One day however, the Players manage to escape from their restraints and brutally slaughter every member in attendance and nearly the entirety of the staff that manufactured them.

Only a few people lived through this disaster, one of which happened to be the head scientist that manages to steal a child away from the organization. In an effort to give this child a normal life, the boy is raised as Jin Kanzaki, a normal human child except for raised circle on his left hand. Except for living the life of a homeless person, Jin protects those around him and helps those in trouble while also being friends with a rich brother and sister named Kouga and Konaha.

After disaster strikes and tears away the only person in Jin’s life, it is revealed that he possesses a great power that makes him the perfect weapon to defeat the Players, even if it means that he must leave the normal life of being a human behind. After numerous time skips, we find that although many Players are content with living amongst the humans, a rogue element has begun to organize, leaving Jin and Kouga, now gifted with a suit that grants him the power needed to fight the Players, to put an end to their plans.

Now, it is very obvious from the beginning that Zetman is rushing things as numerous developments come at the viewer at full-speed with little time to recover. Surprisingly though, despite the blistering pace that the story moves at and the numerous time-skips, the main story comes together in a hap-hazard way that requires the viewer to pay full attention to the series or a crucial detail could easily slip past, since a number of small but important pieces of information are dropped so quickly that you can blink and miss them.

There is an issue as far as character development goes. While Jin and Kouga are given proper time to develop, as they are the key players in this story, all of the side-characters in the series are given little explanation or even fleshed out. There are numerous times that a character, often Hanako or Konaha, will act in a certain manner towards Jin that is simply out of place considering there has been no build up as to why they should act that way until later in the series.

Where the story really shines in Zetman is the contrast between Jin and Kouga and watching them learn what their own sense of justice is. Jin has always lived a hard life with everyone taken away from him and with his powers he may vow that no one close to him will ever be hurt again and he will go to any method to put a stop to those trying to harm people. On the other hand, we have Kouga, a rich boy who has idolized superheroes since a young age and wants to believe in justice above everything else. Where Jin’s hard life and connection to the Players drives his development, Kouga is tested and tried throughout the series as his sense of justice is called into question numerous times as he must make life and death decisions, where other lives are hanging in the balance.

Thanks to some intense fights there is plenty of action to be had, but as mentioned before thanks to the rushed storyline, while it might come together partially, each development that occurs in Zetman feels like it has been cut and shortened simply to accommodate the short run time. That being said, Zetman: The Complete Series does manage to offer a solid ending, though viewers may feel like the ending is a bit too familiar to a certain western film that was released a few years ago at this point.

Visuals
While there are some issues with consistency during a few fight scenes, Zetman feature some rather incredible looking character designs and even better looking fight sequences. A lot of attention to detail has been given to the way that each character’s facial expressions and the monstrous Players that have to be defeated are quite a sight.

It is worth noting that Zetman is a rather bloody series and although the first episode does feature a minor bit of censorship, the series is uncensored meaning that there is plenty of blood being spilt here but nothing that really pushes the bar. There is also mild nudity but it mostly circumstantial and isn’t played off as a standard stereotype.

Audio
With Zetman, Viz has provided both the original Japanese voice track as well as their own English dub of the series. The original cast does a great job handling the characters but the English voice actors also pull the series together well enough that viewers could easily go either way on this series depending on the viewer’s preference.

As far as the series’ soundtrack goes, the fight scenes feature some decent background music but most of the dramatic or dark moments are only given weight thanks to the animation techniques as the music is largely forgettable here. The opening theme for the series is “Dots and Lines” by You Hitoto featuring Mummy-D which works well with the series and is a great opener while “Tomeru,” also by You Hitoto, is a generic ending theme.

Extras
The bonus features for Zetman: The Complete Series are a bit sparse, with a clean opening and ending theme being the standard inclusions and a four and a half minute interview with the series creator Masakazu Katsura at New York Comic-Con padding out the bonus content. The interview is worth checking out as Masakazu mentions a few differences between the manga and the anime.

Overall
Zetman: The Complete Series is something that in the end, only feels like a complete series thanks to a decent enough ending on the final episode. It is clear throughout the series that there are pieces of the story cut away to fit into the episode limit and while Jin and Kouga are developed well enough to accompany the story, it doesn’t make up for the rushed pacing. There are still plenty of twists and turns to be had though and plenty of action in this dark super-hero series that takes a closer look at what it means to be a hero.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

World of Warplanes Preview

Sergei Lazarev

November 26, 2013

World of Warplanes
Developer: Wargaming
Publisher: Wargaming
Platforms: PC
Release Date: November 13, 2013
Price: Free-to-Play

The countdown timer reaches zero and me and fourteen other team mates take off in two large groups, boosting our engines to gain altitude. I level out my old Soviet I-5 biplane, used extensively during the 1930s, and scan the horizon for the enemy. It doesn’t take long before the two sides reach each other and I spot a wing of hostiles ahead but several hundred metres below. I angle down and line up a target, waiting to get within firing range before unloading the old pair of 7.62mm guns. Most of the shots miss but some manage to clip its wings, sending it immediately into an evasive maneuver.

Pulling out of the dive I turn onto his tail, boosting the engines once more. Up ahead a team mate in an American P-12 bursts into flames after colliding with his target while another desperately passes in front of me, a trail of black smoke marking him as easy prey. Regaining focus I get within range once more and riddle the enemy with bullets again, this time crippling his engine. If I don’t finish him now the chance will be gone so I stay on his tail, ignoring the trails of cannon fire coming from behind me. Finally, another burst sends the hapless foe, now a fireball, down into the canyon.

But not without a cost. Two fighters are now right behind me, putting holes into my already ailing airframe. No amount of barrel rolls can save the biplane now. In a matter of minutes it’s all over and I’m reduced to watching the rest of my team suffer the same fate.

Wargaming has careened into the free-to-play MMO market with World of Tanks and has now taken to the skies with World of Warplanes, an accessible team-based flight combat title for the PC which we recently featured on our CC Impact! After spending some hands-on time with the game, it’s safe to say World of Warplanes is looking like a winner for fans of older military planes, multiplayer matches and extensive player progression.

From the Hangar you have five Tier 1, bottom of the line planes to start with and take into battle from the get-go. Each one is from a different nation; U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Germany, Japan and U.K., meaning you can play around with each and decide which Tech Tree to progress with. This is crucial because each step costs precious Experience gained from battle to research as well as coin, also gained from playing, to purchase an aircraft should you choose to do so. Once you have your sleek new bird you can upgrade its parts including engine, airframe and weapons as well as add pricey equipment such as reinforced armour and improved optics.

Warplanes are split into three categories; Fighter, Heavy Fighter and Attack planes that go all the way up to Tier 10. Fighters are nimble but lightly armoured, designed to take out enemy planes while Attack planes go after ground targets such as AA guns and ships. Each game faces off a total of 30 players, which ends once all players on one side are downed or if a team reaches air superiority. Air superiority is determined by ground targets destroyed, fighters downed and whether team kills or suicides occurred. This means that you can still lose, regardless of how many planes are left on each team if the balance favours the enemy.

You will be spending a long time playing to reach the very top but like most F2P games, you can buy Gold using real money which can then be used for pretty much anything in the game. New players wanting to use this method be warned: regardless of your shiny equipment you will be shot down by highly experienced players relative to the Tier of your plane.

That’s right, matchmaking puts you next to those scrambling planes of the same Tier as yours, meaning that each game starts pretty much fair. After that, it’s up to each team to coordinate lest they fall victim to an opposing team that works together. Regarding matchmaking, I was playing from Australia with US players at a surprisingly satisfactory latency and unnoticeable lag.

You are rewarded with currency and experience after every match, meaning upgrades are never in scarce supply but you will have to work for the increasingly-harder to attain warplanes, all the way up to the very first jet-engined aircraft. First and foremost this is an action flight combat game, not a simulator. That’s not to say there isn’t a learning curve, because you will struggle to land a kill during your first couple of hours as you get to know the limits of your plane. Climbing too hard will reduce your airspeed, risking a devastating engine stall. Engines and weapons can overheat, fuel leaks reduce airspeed and engine damage prevents boost while controls are not twitchy and take time getting used to.

Speaking of controls, Wargaming has done a great job catering to the mouse, keyboard or joystick players, including a control scheme for each. I did find my preset Logitech Extreme Pro settings were far too sensitive and it took some tweaking to get them right. But eventually I just stuck to the mouse which does a surprisingly good job in World of Warplanes. This is a game that doesn’t require flight sim gear.

There is so much to do here for those who loves classic military planes and you have to put the effort in before you acquire an iconic WWII plane such as the Spitfire, Yak-9 or the P-51 Mustang. The only downside is the lack of maps and terrain variety which I’m sure will be expanded on in the future. Currently, the game can get a bit samey when you’re trying to grind points for that next big upgrade.

With the level of detail and a price tag of “free”, it’s hard to find fault with World of Warplanes and hopefully with more content the game will offer more to keep players in the skies.

Sci-Fi Trivia Night Coming to Event Cinemas George St.

Zac Elawar

November 26, 2013

Sci-Fi Trivia Night Coming to Event Cinemas George St.

Event Cinemas George St. in conjunction with Kings Comics have announced that the next trivia night to be held at the Set Bar will indeed be science fiction based!

Originally, the rumour was that Doctor Who would be the basis for the next trivia night, but it seems those plans changed. Maybe it was too niche? I know there’s a lot of fans of the franchise, but to have its own event? Regardless, you can follow the instructions on the poster below to secure your seat and attend on Monday, December the 9th, from 6-8pm. Get your cosplay on and you could win a prize for best dressed!

Don’t Starve Chester Plush Kickstarter Success

Vicky Martin

November 26, 2013

Klei Entertainment and toy designer Erick Scarecrow have successfully kickstarted a Chester Plush Replica; the much loved character from Klei’s hit indie videogame, Don’t Starve, in under an hour and a half. Based on the huge support from the Don’t Starve community, the developers were able to reach their first stretch goal of adding a Shadow Chester to the game.

The Kickstarter campaign was initiated to support the development of a high quality prototype of Chester, as well as debut the highly anticipated Don’t Starve blind box collectible figure line.

Chester-Plush-Replica-2.0 — Shadow Chester

So what can fans expect from the Chester Plush Replica?

Furry friend is 11” tall and he sits 9” wide.
Eye Bone is 8” tall and fits inside his mouth storage.
Body comprises of ridiculously soft high grade faux-fur.
Soft plush material and durable embroidered accent stitching for feet, tongue and horns.
In addition, rare colourways will be available in Chester plush replica Kickstarter.

Don’t Starve Blind Box Figure Collectibles include:

12 figures based on game characters, each with unique accessories.
1 of 14 random mystery accessories included in every box.
Highly detailed unique sculpts and paint on each vinyl figure.

There is just over a month left for the Kickstarter campaign, so don’t miss out on this great opportunity to show your support for Don’t Starve Chester Plush Replica here!

Four More Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Character Posters

Zac Elawar

November 26, 2013

Paramount Pictures have released another batch of four character posters from the upcoming Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. After the most recent one featured Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), these shine the spotlight on Chani (Kristen Wiig), Jack Lime (James Marsden), Linda Jackson (Meagan Good) & Baxter!

Check them out and click to enlarge in a new tab. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues releases nationwide on December 19. For now, you can also check out the newest clip which will be particularly funny to our Australian readers. And don’t forgot to enter your submission to become part of Ron Burgundy’s news crew. Stay classy!

New Mobius Trailer And Screenshots Released

Nathan Farrugia

November 26, 2013

Fans of classic adventure games and great stories are in for a treat, as the studio founded by Jane Jensen (responsible for adventure game genre standouts Gray Matter and Gabriel Knights) is nearing release of their new third-person mystery adventure game, Moebius. The game was successfully funded by a Kickstarter campaign and is the first adventure game Jane has completely overseen since Gabriel Knight 3 in 1999.

The story of Moebius follows Malachi Rector, a genius who can size up artifacts and people in a glance to distinguish a genuine treasure from a cheap fake. This talent has made him rich in the world of high-end antiques. But it also gets him in trouble. When a secretive government agency enlists Malachi for an unusual project, he realizes that there’s more to his uncanny talent than he knew. His discerning eye, his aloof personality, the childhood trauma that shaped who he became — all are historically significant. And Malachi’s about to meet a man in his travels who holds the key.

Moebius is planned for release in early 2014 for PC, Mac and Linux, with an iPad and Android release soon to follow. Check out the newly released trailer and screenshots below and to find out more information on Moebius, please check out the official website.

Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom Review

Andrew Day

November 26, 2013

Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom
Developer: Magenta Software
Publisher: Sony
Platforms: PS3 (Reviewed)
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $49.95 – Available Here

Overview

The Invizimals have had a storied history on Sony’s hand-held devices. The Pokemon-inspired monster capture series has never been groundbreaking or overly memorable, but it was still fun for kids to play. Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom is the series’ first foray onto a home console, and the transition did nothing to help the franchise. Instead of the typical ‘collect monsters and battle with them’ gameplay, Lost Kingdom is an action/platformer that takes a page out of Ben-10’s book and has you turning into the Invizimals themselves.

Story

The story of Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom takes place separate from the main Invizimals storyline. Here, you will play as the young Hiro as he ventures into the world of the Invizimals to save them from a mechanical army that threatens their very existence. When he reaches the world, Hiro begins to bond with various Invizimals who in turn grant him the ability to turn into them at a moment’s notice.

The game feels like a cross between Ben 10 and Digimon. Hiro, donned with a pair of goggles and a wrist-mounted device heads into a mysterious other dimension filled with strange monsters and is able to transform into them. In fact, that is the entire plot line of Digimon Frontier. Regardless, with Ben 10 still being such hot property, this will more than likely grab the attention of Mr Tennyson’s fans. One has to wonder though, why do the Invizimals need the help of a young boy to stop the robots, when all he is doing is turning into another Invizimal?

Gameplay

The Lost Kingdoms, in a drastic departure from the series’ norm is a 3d action platforming title. Instead of collecting the Invizimals, you will become them. Turning into an Invizimal grants you access to all of their powers and abilities which in turn allow you to progress through the game’s platforming puzzle sections. Although, ‘platforming and puzzle,’ is a very loose term here, as there isn’t really much of either. The game’s difficulty is simplistic at best, and that extends to the game’s combat.

During your trek through The Lost Kingdoms, you will occasionally (and I do mean occasionally) come across enemies to defeat. Many of these are taken out with one or two punches, and even the later enemies only take a couple more. There is no skill or finesse required here, and no cool looking combos to string together – just hit the attack button a couple times until the enemies are destroyed.

The game’s hook of allowing you to turn into Invizimals doesn’t do all that much for me as a player. With 16 Invizimals to unlock and transform into, I expected a wealth of variety in not only their combat styles and abilities, but also in the environments and puzzles to progress through. In most games of this variety, there will be different bonuses and advantages to playing as different characters outside of their ability to complete certain puzzles. Unfortunately, in Lost Kingdom there are little to no differences in how the characters move and fight, so I found very little reason to keep me playing as anything other than the first Invizimal – Ocelotl and only switching out to the others when the need arose.

One major aspect of the game is the collection of the game’s two in-game currencies. One currency works for single player upgrades, while the other is far more scarce and is used in the game’s multiplayer arena. The collectible currency is limited, and always found in plain sight. During my playthrough I only managed to miss a few dozen pick-ups by and even so, going back and finding them was a far simpler task that I would have liked.

Each of the game’s levels features a locked door. Locked doors require you to spend your currency to progress through. Inside you will find a few enemies to defeat, a canister of the multiplayer sparks, and less coins than you spent to enter the room. It really feels like a waste, and after your first few unlockable doors, when you realise that the rooms behind them are always the same, you quickly lose interest in opening any more (except that you have to in order to get the 100% completion in each stage).

Lost Kingdom also features multiplayer connectivity with the PS Vita title – Invizimals: The Alliance, as well as its own competitive battle arena for up to 4 players. I wasn’t able to try out the connectivity with The Alliance, but the multiplayer battles put you in the role of one of the Invizimals, doing battle with your friends. As I mentioned earlier, there is no real difference in the combat abilities of the Invizimals, so these battles quickly lose their luster.

Visuals

Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom is by no means an ugly game, but it certainly has its problems. It is probably best to say that the game would look very good, if it was a few years older. The character models for the Invizimals are all very brightly coloured and feature a tonne of visual uniqueness and detail that you wouldn’t expect. The world of Lost Kingdom is equally well drawn, with everything getting an almost cell-shaded, cartoon quality that really looks great. The problems in setting come from the fact that so many of the set-pieces are reused over and over again.

The game’s biggest graphical problem though is the fact that certain animations are just missing a tonne of frames. I found this most noticeable in combat and when using Ocelotl’s grappling hook, but it appears so frequently that it is almost impossible to miss. Once you deploy Ocelotl’s grapping hook, you will immediately find yourself in the air swinging. There is no jump animation, or an kind of transition, just press the button and suddenly you are mid-swing.

Another serious problem is the fact that the game features a locked camera. Players can only shuffle the camera angle a couple of degrees either way and even then, letting go of the thumb-stick will flick the camera back to its position. Considering how many of the game’s maps are designed, it is often hard to tell whether you are heading towards a hidden chest, or about to jump off a ravine.

Instead of creating the entire opening cinematic on a computer as it the norm these days, Magenta Software have boldly opted for something a little different. Lost Kingdom’s cut scene is a live action video of Hiro in the real world. As he explores, he is attacked by an evil Invizimal, which is done in CGI. It is a cool little deviation from what we expect, and aims to show the difference between the real world, and the cartoony Lost Kingdom when Hiro steps through the portal. Unfortunately, the clip features overly corny acting and cheap visuals to the point where I almost wish they took the standard route. Still, you can’t fault Magenta for running with the new idea, even if it stumbles along the way.

Audio

The game’s audio suffers in much the same way as its graphics. The sound effects and voice acting of the Invizimals is impressive end engaging, but the rest of the game sounds bland and uninspired in comparison. Every action in the game has recurring sound effects – every time you hit an enemy sounds the same, every time you climb a wall sounds the same, every time you jump sounds the same.

Invizimals also features a recurring, guiding voice that comes from Hiro’s wrist communicator. This voice serves much the same role as Navi or Fi from The Legend of Zelda games; explaining to Hiro where to go next and what he has to do in order to progress through the stage. The thing is that the game is incredibly linear, and all of these explanations make it feel like the game is hand-holding you even more than it already is.

Overall

Invizimals: The Lost Kingdoms has its fair share of problems, and the best way to describe it would be to say that it lacks polish. Repetitive visuals, audio and level design, combined with a laughably easy difficulty level and a sense of hand holding throughout make for an experience that I didn’t find too enjoyable. This is definitely a game geared towards a much younger audience, and they will likely be far more forgiving to many of the problems that are present and still get some enjoyment out of it. However, if you are looking for a gateway into the action/platformer genres, there are better titles out there.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

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