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Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Record of the Jade Blood Review

April 14, 2013

Hakuoki: ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Record of the Jade Blood
Studio: Studio DEEN
Publisher: Hanabee
Format: DVD
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $59.99 (Buy Here)

Overview

Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Record of the Jade Blood is the second season of Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~. The series revolves around a girl named Chizuru and her band of pretty men called the Shinsengumi.

The events of the first season was covered in my review that can be found here. The second season follows nearly directly after the first and my full impressions can be seen below.

Story

The events of Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Record of the Jade Blood take place nearly immediately after the events of the first season of the series. In this season of the series, the Shinsengumi must fight in a war, while also dealing with the new threat of demons. This is also in combination with the even more immediate danger presented by man made demons known as Fury.

Very frequently in the series, however, is that whatever immediate storyline action that is occurring at the time will often be sidelined in favour of some cheap melodrama. Now in my review for part 1, I said that this was an issue as well. However, in this part of the storyline, it is a problem that has been turned up to 200% and, as such, is approaching nearly laughable levels.

What was even worse about this release is that, even though it kind of directly follows the events of the first, there isn’t a sense of direct continuity because the final scene in the first season is never referenced at all. This is quite annoying because it left the impression that I wasn’t actually watching the following season, but probably a season further down the line. It took research to learn that this was not the case.

I also feel that the story in this season of Hakuoki was an excuse to dress up the already rather fetching male cast in even more fetching outfits. Now, not only are the pretty boys, pretty, but they are almost erotically so. Only they’re as sirs, instead of gimps. I mean, did the cast really have to be dressed so dashingly to fight in what is ultimately a war? From a story perspective, this is rediculous considering that (even though most of the story spends its time avoiding battle in the battlefield) the main characters are actually fighting battles with dangerous weapons on actual battlefields.

It is incredibly evident that the story in the second part of the Hakuoki saga was designed with a female audience in mind. This is because, throughout the story, you can see blatant Mary Sueism on the main character, as well as having this kind of harem thing where every male character fills some kind of specific role to service the one female character. As a male viewer, this left me feeling alienated and quite disengaged with the series. I figured that I could at least fall back on the battle sequences like with the first season, but no, each fight was depressingly broken up by melodramatic nonsense.

Ultimately, unlike the first season, I just could not engage with this half of the series. It was quite boring and the way they ramped up all the worst parts of the first season made this an almost unbearable watch. Female fans will probably enjoy this.

Visuals

Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Record of the Jade Blood retains the same visual style as the first season. This is good because it keeps things familiar for the home viewer. And not only that, it’s actually a pretty good visual style.

While I wish I could compliment the fight scenes in this half of the series, they were just too broken up by pointless melodrama to really count on. The only real fight scenes are the important ones, and they’re fluid when there is actual combat going on.

For fans of the pretty boys, the boys are now prettier. While I would have preferred their pretty samurai outfits, their pretty British sir clothing is even prettier. I’m sure that the target audience of this show will be swooning from their chairs after copping an eyeful of these beautifully, magnificent, not-so-manly looking men. If I was a woman, my pants would probably be off after seeing those costumes.

Audio

Unlike the opening theme of the first season, the second was quite atrocious. I mean, for a series about samurai, you would think that having a wild west sounding opening would be an atrocious of music. And hey, it was. What was even worse was the accompanying opening video showing a samurai on horseback, further cementing the horrible western theme.

The voice cast from the first season returns on the English dub for this series, but unfortunately I don’t have an ear for Japanese, so I couldn’t tell you if the same cast was present for the second half. Once again, I still disagree with the choice of cast in the English dub and the Japanese dub is clearly superior. While the English dub is bearable and watchable, if you can even on an off day listen to Japanese Audio, I suggest you do so with this release.

The music was largely forgettable in this season, I mean not only from an Opening and Closing theme perspective, but also from a general background audio perspective. This is a horrible thing for a show that is already lacking to not be doing well.

Extras

Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Record of the Jade Blood is a very bare-bones release when it comes to extras. Unlike the first season of the series, it does not contain any trailers for upcoming releases. It does, however, retain the clean opening and closing extras. Also included is a pretty swell artwork in the back of the cover featuring two of the shows prettiest males. Pin the cover to your walls ladies.

Overall

Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Record of the Jade Blood is a series that somehow manages to take what was bad about the first season and then accentuate on that with the second. While it’s understandable that the target audience probably enjoyed that aspect, as someone sitting on the edge of that audience, it made things significantly worse. If you’re a fan of the Shinsengumi, female or have a thing for very pretty boys and melodrama, then this release is for you. Anyone else, avoid.

Super Little Caves Review

Frank Inglese

April 14, 2013

Super Little Caves
Developer: Record Set Shed
Publisher: Philip Bemis
Platforms: iPhone (Reviewed), iPod Touch, iPad
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $2.99 – Available Here

Overview:

Little Caves has had quite a run, there’s been a couple updates and each time the game has gotten better and better, reception of the game has not yet gone down after the release of an update so it’s safe to say people are really liking this game. It’s an Independently developed game and I guarantee all the Indie game fans out there would’ve played and enjoyed this. Mazes have never been this funky!

Story:

Super Little Caves is one of those games that seemingly has no story, well, little story; you’re a fly who hears of the capture of Princess Luna Moth so, like a good little fly (yep you’re a fly), you set out on an amazing adventure through caves, canyons, underground caverns and a whole bunch of weird and wonderful places to find her, save her life, bring her back and maybe have her fall in love with you. It’s a typical hero story that’s in a setting like you’ve never seen and that’s what makes this game great. Now as you go through the game you start to talk to different animals and creatures and soon realise that each and every one of them has a little story of their own, from lost friends to deep insecurities to miniature apocalypses, it kind of makes you feel worldly in a way and actually makes you want to play through their little tasks and missions, you feel as though you’re actually helping them. You spend most of your time wandering but you come into contact with so many things that makes it feel like more than just wandering and meaningless gaming.

Visuals:

Along with the Audio the Visuals that Super Little Caves sports are, in my opinion, what makes this game awesome. You’re put in this incredibly colourful, incredibly vibrant and just, seemingly, everlasting, 8-Bit world that just blows you away. Look at some points it seems as though there is too much detail and you can easily become lost or even slightly disoriented (within the game), that mixed with this everlasting vibe the frustration can easily build while hitting walls you couldn’t clearly see or sliding down paths you didn’t know were paths but, and it’s a big but, after playing this game for a while you DO tend to get around that, learning what’s what and learning from mistakes is the key to getting over this wall.

Audio:

I haven’t been this impressed with a chip tune sountrack since Hotline Miami. The music seems to slide between genres and tones with such ease and in a way that doesn’t get you feeling annoyed but really impresses you. The BGM goes through the waves from eerie to chirpy to funky to intense, it continues to change and evolve depending on the situation. Now there isn’t much else to the audio of this game apart from the odd sound effect and the chatter notes when talking to NPCs but I felt as though you really didn’t need it because the music did so much to over compensate for the lack of other sounds.

Gameplay:

So it’s pretty simple; you fly around as a fly with the use of a control pad which pops up wherever you decided to touch the screen and that’s about it really. There’s no combat, there’s no A button or B button, just a control pad and a little, tiny, fly. So basically the entire game involves you flying through tiny cracks and cave systems, meeting NPCs who gives you little tasks (or big depending on who you talk to) and you just have to go around and complete them. It sounds really simple and, yeah, it is but it kind of just works. The game has you using your big brains to solve different types of puzzles at different difficulties, what I didn’t like was that there was no indication or hint as to where you could search or look or do, now that would be ok if the map wasn’t so damn big, you spend a very long time going back and forth between places you don’t even have to be and yet sometimes they intend to have you fly back and forth but because of your previous thoughts you assume it’s got to be close to your current location. Let’s just say this game will definitely get to you. It would’ve been helpful to have a mission indicator too, just something that you could click and it could remind you what exactly you were doing. I played this game every spare minute I had, 5 or 10 minutes at a time, and if I wasn’t constantly thinking about the game when I wasn’t playing the game I felt that I lost track of it but, once again, this IS a puzzle game and it puzzled the hell out of me at some points! Manoeuvring through this game is fairly hard at first but after an hour or so of playing this game you tend to get a good grip on it all and it starts to get a lot more enjoyable from there. Remember: Learning and remember your surroundings is the key to enjoying this game!

Overall:

This game is a must have for any puzzle freak out there! Long, thought out mazes will definitely keep you entertained, if not overly hooked on this game for hours on end. If you’re not the biggest fan of games that make you think (much like me, just quietly) but are still a fan of well-made games that look good and sound good and restore your faith in the indie development world than this game is also for you. If you’re easily frustrated and tend to throw things around you when upset still play this game but I suggest maybe playing it on someone else’s iPhone we don’t want any of YOUR valuables destroyed. So go and check out this game if you’re even the slightest bit interested because it’s a fun game that’ll definitely keep you occupied for hours.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign – Director’s Cut Review

Luke Halliday

April 14, 2013

Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign – Director’s Cut Review

Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign – Director’s Cut
Developer: Space Monkeys International
Publisher: Sanuk Games
Platform: Playstation 3
Release Date: April 3, 2013
Price: £3.99

Overview:
Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign – Director’s Cut is a hidden object game parading as a point and click adventure game, that has been ported from the PC to the PlayStation Network. It puts you in the role of Detective James Voodoo as you investigate a series of mysterious attacks. It sounds interesting enough, right? Well unfortunately for a game with such a simple premise and concept, Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign is an incredible mess. If this game is considered a Director’s Cut, I must ask the question; did they cut out all the good bits?

Gameplay:
What we have here is a case of a cheap port that had been given very little thought or care. To differentiate it from the PC version, the game can be played with both the Move controller or standard PS3 controller. Unfortunately the game is incredibly unresponsive to any manner of input, which of course makes what should be a very simple game a very frustrating game.

The majority of gameplay requires you to find an object within a still image, as one would see in a hidden object game (which this game really is). Troublesome as it may be the game doesn’t seem to like you playing it, requiring numerous clicks before it will register that you are actually clicking on the right item. The general lack of response to input it very frustrating and quickly becomes a great point of irritation.

There is also a number of mini-games to be found within the ‘adventure’ which are also equally unresponsive to your input. There also appears to be a pesky lag when the game attempts to load or recognize that you have completed the puzzle. Which is of course just another part of the big problem with Voodoo Chronicles.

The game is split into two main gameplay modes, Single player and Multiplayer. Both modes are afflicted with the aforementioned issues, but it is worth noting that there was one major problem I faced. There was no way to pause the game or to return to the main menu of the game, none whatsoever. In order to switch gameplay modes you must exit out of the game entirely and reboot it. A major issue to say the very least.

Single player mode follows the ‘story’ of James Voodoo but it is essentially just about moving from one hidden object puzzle to the next with a bit of story in between. The multiplayer mode cuts the formalities and serves as a straight up hidden object game played between two people. It also doesn’t help that there is no option to zoom in to look more carefully at things, which results in you having to come up close to your TV to look more closely. If you can look past the game’s obtrusive issues and have some patience about you, you might be able to tolerate it.

The biggest problem of all with Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign is that it feels like a low-budget online flash game. It is poorly produced and honestly just plain bad. I feel that this game should have simply stayed on PC, it doesn’t belong on the PS3.

Visuals and Audio:
Aesthetically Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign – Director’s Cut is pretty decent in all honesty. It has a nice level of variety to its environments, but there are a few odd graphical quirks and effects that seem rather misplaced. The art style is relatively plain all around, with a campy vibe to it. There isn’t anything technically wrong with the game graphically but it certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

The soundtrack of Voodoo Chronicles is likewise meandering. It’s a tempered pedestrian musical arrangement with little to no flavour. Echoing every other facet of this game, there is nothing special here. It’s tepid at best.

Overall:
What we have here is a relatively broken game, that is more frustrating than it is anything. The most disappointing thing about Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign – Director’s Cut is that is so simple that it couldn’t possibly fail, but somehow – someway – it did. It’s not that the people behind the game didn’t try, this game is something, but it just isn’t good.

Despite the fact that the game isn’t anything special, it is hard to go wrong at this price point. Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign – Director’s Cut is a cheap game in every sense of the word, both in price point and quality. In that respect it may be worth a purchase if you can get past its issues. If you can’t look past it, then it’s best to just avoid this game.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Fate/Zero, Samurai Pizza Cats Announced by Madman

Sergei Lazarev

April 14, 2013

Fate/Zero, Samurai Pizza Cats Announced by Madman

Madman Entertainment have just announced Fate/Zero and Samurai Pizza Cats at the Supanova Pop Culture Festival in Melbourne. Fate/Zero is confirmed to be released with both English and Japanese voice tracks. Release dates for both titles are as yet unknown

The Fate/Zero English dub is planned for North America to stream on the Neon Alley service, with a previous Blu-ray release being a subtitled-only, limited edition import from Japan via Aniplex of America.

Fate/Zero was written by Gen Urobuchi and animated by Ufotable, with the sound track composed by Yuki Kajiura. The prequel to Fate/stay night started airing in late 2011 and, following a break, finished in mid-2012.

Samurai Pizza Cats is an English dub of the series Kyatto Ninden Teyandee, airing from 1990-1991 with 54 episodes. It soon became a cult hit among anime fans thanks to its pop-culture references.

Check out our recent review of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works and the English trailer for Fate/Zero below!

Zombie Invasion at Centennial Park Sydney

Vicky Martin

April 14, 2013

Zombie Invasion at Centennial Park Sydney

Sydney’s Centennial Park was invaded by zombies yesterday from 11am onwards, for what appeared to be a feasting celebration. Following this news story will be a gallery of photos to support the theory that the zombie apocalypse is closer than we expect!

Welcome to the Zombie Picnic, an event brought to you by the Zombie community to raise funds for Australia’s Brain Foundation. Enjoy delicious zombie-themed food and treats, zombie make-overs, three-legged races, zombie march around Centennial Park, Walking Dead trivia quiz, scavenger hunt and many prizes to win!

The Zombie Picnic drew in an impressive amount of characters in creative zombified costumes from well-known movies, such as Alice in Wonderland and the hit AMC TV show, ‘The Walking Dead’. Check out the pictures below in the gallery to see the other different types and forms of zombie costumes.

For those that missed the Zombie Picnic, register for free in the Zombie Walk from Hyde Park to Prince Alfred Park on November 2^nd later this year.

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Evangelion 3.0 Announced for Reel Anime 2013

Sergei Lazarev

April 14, 2013

Evangelion 3.0 Announced for Reel Anime 2013

Madman revealed yesterday via their Facebook page that Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo is coming to Australia and New Zealand’s Reel Anime film festival late this year. It is the first of four titles announced for the screenings, with further reveals hinted at during the Supernova Pop Culture expos.

Evangelion 3.0 opened in Japanese theatres late last year and managed to garner $60 million at the box office. Drawing ire from some diehard fans, the film goes even further to distance itself from the original series. New characters, Eva Units and a fresh turn of events suggest an ending that might be wildly different.

Set 14 years after the third impact of the second movie, Shinji awakes in a changed world where he hasn’t aged a day. With widespread damage across the Earth and NERV shut down, people he once knew now harbour a new resentment. As Shinji befriends the engimatic Kaworu Nagisa, their struggles against the Angels continue towards the end of the world.

The movie is being released in Japan on BD/DVD on April 24 as Evangelion 3.33.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 Review

Zac Elawar

April 13, 2013

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: EA
Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $49.99 (Available Here)

Overview

I haven’t played a golf game in many, many years. But I always enjoyed them when I did, although I never owned one myself. But this year’s iteration – Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 – has been touted by many as the best overall golf game yet, and so I thought it timely to re-enter the fray, find my old caddie, pick my clubs and play some holes. EA Tiburon is back, giving us more content than you can wave a putter at! (so bad) Boasting the highest number of courses and players in the franchise’s history, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 comes closer to being as authentic as the real deal than any previous title. But, is it that elusive hole in one, or does it disappoint like a long putt that you just can’t sink?…

Gameplay

Again, having played for the first time in ages with this review, I was happy to see such an increase in gameplay options among others. You can customise individual aspects of the game’s difficulty, such as the Swing and Shot Shaping accuracy requirements. In virtually every mode you choose to play within, you can customise options specifically for that session – for instance, I can choose to turn off Ball Spin in the quick match’s dedicated menu, but have it on as default in the general game settings of the main menu. And depending on how hard you make it for yourself, your XP attained from playing a game will be multiplied accordingly. I’ve found success with custom settings giving me (only) a 1.45x multiplier. I know, I suck, but I am getting better!

The basics of the gameplay will be familiar to fans as even I jumped right back into it, although I forgot how to add spin to the ball when in mid-air. Now you can swing and follow through with either the right or left analog stick (set in options). A larger emphasis has been placed on the drawback and follow-through of your swing with meters telling you if you’ve under or over-swung and the speed of the stroke. An arc materialises based on your chosen club once you “address the bell” and get ready to swing. Follow this arc as closely as possible and the swing should be perfect. Wind also plays a heavy role, especially for high shots which are affected much more heavily. At the end of the day though, it’s still just golf. As numerous the modes I will detail are, mechanically, golf games inherently lack a certain versatility. It’s just the nature of golf simulations.

But I digress…spawning from the want to make every golfer feel unique and play as close to their real life counterpoint as possible is the new fade/draw functionality. Moving your stance left or right will position yourself for a fade or draw respectively (directions naturally change if you are left-handed). These shots are more successfully pulled off by skilled players and are good choices to battle heavy winds and curve a shot around a tree that maybe a problem obstacle. It’s also just more realistic to have it as every golfer in real life does not hit the ball straight every time, or even chooses to. Speaking of skill, characters also specialise in being either power or control types. These attributes also apply to your gear, which will have different qualities based on those traits as well as accuracy, workability, spin, recovery and putting.

After customising everything to fit your play style/skill level, don’t forget that you can also play the game using Kinect. It will track your hands and body movement, measuring your real-life swing (attempt at one, more like it) and translating that to your character’s swing in-game. Now, the results are going to be much more varied and less accurate than with a controller, as seeing as I’ve never played a game of golf in real-life, I didn’t find much success – I’m certain my form was atrocious. I also encountered issues with its implementation; navigating menus and aiming shots was an unintuitive mess. I’d much rather use the controller for this game, and honestly don’t think I’ll use Kinect for it every again. I appreciate the team’s efforts in trying to make it work, but maybe next year fellas. To skip you must swipe your hand left to right, and sometimes when sitting and watching the A.I.’s turn (perfectly still I might add) it would skip and I realised I had the Kinect on and it somehow misread me as performing that action. So all around, it’s a nuisance.

There are modes a-plenty in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14: Career, Legends of the Majors, Quick Play, Connected Tournaments, Country Club and Xbox Live. Touching on Career mode, many fans may be pleased to discover that the LPGA has been integrated as an option. So female golfers/fans, you can now cease embodying a man in order to enjoy your golf games…and guys…don’t, just don’t. I started my career and was directed to choose between the British and U.S. Amateur Opens. From this point on you will enter different tourneys once you meet their qualifications. For the first time, all major championships are here: the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship. If you deem yourself not… up-to-par (one in every review folks), then you can skip an event. The returning Boost Pins will be of great help here, your collection of which can be viewed in the Extras sub-menu.

Legends of the Majors is the much-touted addition that gives you a timeline of golf history and allows you to relive all of the most important moments of each era, dating back to the late 19th century. Legendary golfers Seve Ballesteros, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sam Snead and Lee Trevino are playable, alongside some less-than-legendary ones who also played a part in making golfing history. Their, as well as current players’ biographies can be read in the Extras sub-menu in the main screen. True fans will value this mode, and it may also help others gain a better appreciation for the sport. Quick Play is a familiar mode for sports gamers which allows you to partake in the weekly Featured Event, enter Practice and play a quick, final round from a myriad of tournaments.

Connected Tournaments, Country Club and Xbox Live are all part of the same online eco-system. You can challenge others around the world to every manner of match type previously mentioned. Connected Tournaments entails you seeing up to 24 other live golfer shot arcs out on the course with you as you compete in custom tourneys at the exact same time. That might sound distracting, but it really isn’t. Online country clubs are back, with your present club’s (you can only have one at a time) stats being weaved into everything you do. The member limit has been raised from 25 to 100 and you can take them all down to earn the title of club champion if you so wish. There is also a dedicated club text-chat interface that can be accessed in the Country Club sub-menu.

That all sounds amazing, but I did run into some hitches. Firstly, I still get agitated by the seemingly constant loading screens in EA Sports titles. The game also froze, at which point I restarted my Xbox and started up the game only for it to freeze once again at the splash screen (probably a good idea to install to your HDD). I disconnected Kinect and it hasn’t happened again, although I doubt that had any bearing. I withstood some terrible lag during the weekly Featured Event and also had one of my shots deflected in mid-air due to what seemed (and sounded) like an invisible rock/hard surface; a really odd glitch. And while the online experience was smooth in terms of connection and lag, barring the top left-hand status box, the visual while spectating would freeze until my turn was up. Whilst being a spectator and watching your competitor’s attempt, the camera is stuck to one position behind them and can only be titled and zoomed in, making it impossible to accurately gauge where their ball has landed. All of these things were fairly substantial annoyances for me.

Visuals

For the most part, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 looks great, but this has been the case with every iteration. The courses look fantastic, the weather effects and lighting alterations caused by changes in the time of day are equally impressive. But then there are the same old visuals elements you’d expect to be improved, but still haven’t. Character models’ faces are nigh expressionless and extremely stiff. And try not to drive the ball out of bounds because you will catch a glimpse of the distorted, low quality textures of the sea-side rocks and fauna. The crowd looks just as bad as they’ve always been; being low-poly clones with rigid animations. It’s funny to see more time and detail put into something like a club’s grip then people.

Speaking of the clubs, because you can unlock and purchase new equipment, you are able to take a closer look at them in the appropriate menu and as I just mentioned, they are fairly detailed and realistic-looking. Presentation-wise, I had no real qualms with the U.I/menus’ looks. The sepia tone wash on the Legends of the Majors stages was not something I was expecting, not having looked at much promotional material for the mode beforehand. It’s an appreciated touch, as are the old clubs (although “the Jigger” made me do a double take) and period clothing the icons of the sport wear therein. I just wish there was some ragtime backing music during those levels…

Audio

With annual releases such as EA Sports titles, it’s common for the audio department to be the most neglected. If there’s nothing new that needs to be recorded in regards to sound effects (can the ball being struck sound any better?!), I can see how developers may not want to tinker with what they have just for the sake of it. The main issue every single gamer has is with the commentary however. Even in Fifa and other sports games, the commentary is repetitive, bland and at times downright poorly delivered. In Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, it’s no different. You will hear the same lines over and over again – yet, there are a few rare gems – and I did encounter an isolated glitch where the commentary between shots was garbled. There are less character-specific phrases than you’d hope for also.

In fairness, narration has been given to the Legends of the Majors mode and new tournament introductions have been recorded, which is nice. Crowd reactions adapt as your ball position changes, which I found hilarious in some instances where the ball would roll off the green at the last second, met with a polite clap turned disappointed sigh. The main menu music is very chill, with a few tracks almost sounding like part of a score to a sad film… may be appropriate as Tiger destroys you and dashes your dreams of becoming a Grand Slam champion! They are part of the familiar EA Trax playlist, that can edited in the main menu. In general, and I know golf is a quiet game, I found the silence in specific situations to be quite unnatural. In certain modes even the usual transitional filler moments (showing stats, etc) are missing their audio/could do with some sonic accompaniment.

Overall

EA Tiburon have done their best to pay homage to the history of the sport and deepen the gameplay experience with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14. With so much new content, from the Legends of the Majors mode to the inclusion of the LPGA, 5 new courses, a day/night cycle, full Kinect integration (as frustratingly inaccurate as it might be) and much more, this entry in the series is the most robust and complete. Unfortunately, technical hiccups, an uneven, lacklustre presentation and frequent load screens put a significant damper on the experience.

And with as many options as are included, there are still a few key omissions such as the ability to restart a tournament from the pause menu instead of having to quit and return to the main menu and change cameras as a spectator in head-to-head online matches. If you’re a golf fanatic, you’ll (mostly) love this game. If you enjoy a golf game but are merely casually interested, maybe wait for the price to drop, or even next year’s edition. It’s always hard to flat-out recommend a yearly release to a casual fan…

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge Review

Travis Bruno

April 13, 2013

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Platforms: Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
Release Date: November 18, 2012 (Wii U) April 2, 2013 (360/PS3)
Price: $39.99

Overview:
A little over a year ago, Tecmo Koei and Team Ninja released Ninja Gaiden 3 onto the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However despite this being the first numbered title in the series (not counting re-releases) in four years, both fans and I found it a lacking experience that suffered from terrible gameplay decisions which ended up ruining the experience for many. However now the company has brought Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, originally exclusive to the Wii U, to these consoles, has the company managed to salvage the Ninja Gaiden name?

Story:
For the most part, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge continues to tell the same storyline of the original game. However a few aspects have been removed while a little bit more has been added in. For example, the game’s entire prologue sequence has been removed and although the title’s whole curse aspect still remains, it isn’t as ham-handed as before.

Anyways, the story follows Ryu Hayabusa who has being called out by a terrorist organization that is threatening the lives of a number of hostages. Upon investigating the situation, Ryu finds that a masked alchemist called “Regent of the Mask” is responsible for everything. This alchemist then curses Ryu with a curse called the “Grip of Murder” which fuses his signature Dragon Sword into his body and feeds upon the deaths of others. However despite this curse, Ryu continues to struggle against the alchemists and must put an end to their plans which will throw the entire world in chaos if they come to fruition.

One thing removed entirely from Razor’s Edge is the whole demonizing of Ryu’s slaughter. The original title featured enemies which would moan and cry for mercy after being critically wounded and even enemies begging for their lives and Ryu ignoring their pleas and murdering them in brutal fashion. This does create some disconnect from the game’s whole demonizing of Ryu’s murders though which can be a bit confusing and feels un-finished.

Outside of that, Team Ninja has also added a couple of new chapters to the game’s storyline which focus on the female ninja Ayane. Being playable for the first time in NG3:RE, Ayane’s storyline runs alongside Hayabusa’s and while it doesn’t add much to the storyline, it does help freshen things up for those who have already experienced NG3’s predictable and underwhelming storyline.

Visuals:
As far as graphics go, NG3:RE remains as impressive visually as its predecessor with highly detailed character models and an actual increase to the amount of gore in the game thanks to the new executions and the various dismemberments that occur pretty much against every enemy. Ryu and the new girls added to the cast, Ayane, Momiji and Kasumi are well designed and features fluid move-sets which look great in action.

Unfortunately while the character models and enemies are great looking, the environments themselves are very sub-par in appearance and while they are varied enough to keep things interesting, every stage tends to feel very superficial.

Audio:
Thanks to the revision in enemy behavior, the enemies that the player fights against no longer will simper on the ground or beg for mercy repetitively, however instead they will now often repeat the same lines in combat, usually cursing the player after critically wounding them and setting them up for an obliteration technique, so ultimately the company has traded begging for cursing in this regard.

The game’s background music is mostly forgetful though the overall sound effects of combat are rather impressive. Unfortunately the game’s voice work is still very underwhelming and although Ayane has been given more of a role, her voice actress is actually a bit of an annoyance more than anything else thanks to the way that the character is voiced.

Gameplay:
One of the biggest issues that many took with Ninja Gaiden 3 is that everything in the title simply was mainstreamed to the point where it wasn’t even the same game fans had come to love. Players were saddled with only one main weapon, one room clearing Ninpo attack, a number of little QTEs and various other combat choices which ultimately led to a poor experience. However Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge rectifies most of those issues and offers a brand new experience that fans of the series will likely be accustomed to.

Instead of one simple sword, some shuriken and a bow and arrow, players are now able to use a large number of weapons for melee attacks, though the way that these weapons are added to the player’s inventory are shoddy. Since the company chose not to design a shop system, though they did design upgrades and skill unlocks which I will mention later, the various weapons and Ninpo abilities the player obtains are usually dropped off from a Falcon at a save point or unlocked by collecting Golden Scarabs which are scattered throughout the level.

These weapons, including familiar ones such as the Lunar Staff, Eclipse Scythe, Falcon’s Talons and more, all have unique combo-strings and are a joy to wield. In fact, each weapon is so different it is possible to simply play through the game simply to enjoy using one of the newest weapons you’ve unlocked. The aforementioned skill and weapon upgrade system is handled via “Karma” points which are obtained for performing stylish kills and various actions in the game and provide the player some form of customization to their playstyle, which was something that NG3 was sorely lacking. These upgrades often unlock more combo chains for the weapons you are wielding, new skills for combat or provide stronger versions of the three Ninpo abilities that are now in the game.

Perhaps one of the biggest highlights, especially for those who found the lack of challenge in NG3 a major sticking point, is that Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge has seen a significant increase in difficulty. Enemies enter suicidal states when critically wounded and no longer beg for their life, which means that they can deal high levels of damage if the player doesn’t finish them off quickly and the enemy AI has been revamped as well. So much in fact that almost any foe you face off against has to be seen as a legitimate threat, especially since there still are no healing items in NG3:RE. Instead, the only way to heal is to use Ninpo or Ki with an unlocked skill which makes some of the revamped boss battles all the more difficult and frustrating, however that frustration and difficulty is something fans have been asking for. Of course there is a “Hero” mode that often prevents the player from dying by auto-blocking and avoiding strong attacks automatically. This is great for those who simply want to enjoy the game but may not want to sample its biting difficulty and often terrible camera.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge retains the various multiplayer modes all held within the “Shadows of the World” option and these have gone largely unchanged. Players can still take part in clan battles where they battle against other players in what can best be described as a chaotic mess, however finding a match, let alone one with a full set of players, is relatively impossible.

What has been added in is the ability to access a number of Ninja Trials with your customized ninja, Hayabusa, Ayane, Momiji and Kasumi. These trials can be done in co-op and actually these manage to work quite well with a number of active players eager to join. Ayane, Momiji and Kasumi are also playable in the game’s Chapter Challenge mode which has returned for Razor’s Edge. In this mode players are able to run through a level using any of the characters they feel like and this certainly help’s the game’s replay value as playing as Kasumi (a first for the franchise) and Momiji are a breath of fresh air for those who may have grown tired of Ryu and Ayane.

Overall:
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is everything that fans of the series probably should have been expecting back when Ninja Gaiden 3 was released back in 2012. That being said, the game’s storyline still is very predictable and now various missteps are quite obvious where Ryu’s cursed nature was not properly re-worked to fit with the new attitude of enemies. Still, not only has the game’s combat system been entirely overhauled and expanded but the cruel difficulty has returned for those who want it, and a number of gameplay modes and characters expand the game’s longevity which creates a truly enjoyable experience that was sorely lacking in the original release.

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