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Darkstalkers Resurrection Review

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March 17, 2013

Darkstalkers Resurrection
Developer: Iron Galaxy Studios
Publisher: Capcom
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
Release Date: March 13, 2013
Price: 1200 MSP ($14.99) – Available Here

Overview:
Over the last generation of consoles, many fighting franchises have either been continued with current-day versions. Then there are those franchises which have faded into memory and been succeeded by another as the development team moved forward with new ideas. However one fighting game franchise has always been close to a number of gamers’ hearts despite not appearing in the West in eight years. That series is Darkstalkers and now Capcom has chosen to give the title a little resurrection with their most recent release of the aptly named Darkstalkers Resurrection. Is this two game collection worth a download or should it have stayed in its grave? Let’s find out.

Story:
Considering the two games collected in Darkstalkers Resurrection are Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge (Darkstalkers 2) and Darkstalkers 3 which were originally released in 1995 and 1997 respectively, one shouldn’t expect any semblance of a storyline with these games.

Instead players are presented with the rudimentary arcade mode nearly all fighters from the ‘90s employed where the only time any semblance of a story appeared was once the player beat the arcade mode with a character that was then given a brief fifteen to thirty second long closing cinematic. Since Resurrection does contain two games and the ending sequences of the two differ from one another, there is at least a bit of story to squeeze out of the ancient arcade presented story.

Visuals & Audio:
While Capcom and the development team at Iron Galaxy Studios can claim that they made the game “HD” it is hard to really justify that claim at first glance until one remembers that both of these titles are over fifteen years old. Rather than providing re-drawn sprites the company has chosen to provide a number of filters that players can switch between as they play the game.

These filters are things such as smooth, crisp or even original untouched retro graphics. In fact there is even on option to turn on scan lines and place the game so that it looks like an arcade cabinet screen. This means if players choose to, they can play the game in a way that mimicked the original arcade feel many felt back in the ‘90s. With the crisp or smooth filter turned on the title may not appear fully HD, however it is still great looking thanks to a great art style featuring unique characters and impressively drawn attacks that have aged gracefully over the years.

As far as the game’s soundtrack is concerned, it seems to contain all of the various stage music and bits of theme song for certain characters that fans may remember and each track is crisply presented during combat while the sound effects are still top notch.

Gameplay:
As players begin the game they will be presented with Darkstalkers 2 off the bat but can easily swap between the two games with the back or select button on the controller depending on the platform. It is interesting to note that Capcom has added a multitude of options to Darkstalkers Resurrection but for some reason, a couple of these additions are split between games. The Tutorial Mode where players can learn each character’s move-set is only offered in 3 while the various challenges that players can tackle for each character are only offered in 2.

Both sets have been given a number of bonuses that can be unlocked as the player fights and completes various challenges, such as throwing opponents a certain number of times, winning with certain attacks and more. These challenges provide XP which in turn levels the player’s offline rank and provides points to unlock various bits of concept art, ending movies and a bit more.

Before I discuss the game’s themselves it is worth noting that neither game has been rebalanced in any form. This was to keep the experience as authentic as possible but it does mean that there are some very noticeable character tiers established thanks to the missing rebalance. However thanks to the aforementioned tutorial mode it is possible to learn even some of the weaker character’s move-sets.

Both titles included on the package play relatively similar to one another though Darkstalkers 3 sees the inclusion of numerous additions such as the ability to recover some health if you can avoid taking damage for a period of time and an interesting round mode where the fight is almost instantly restarted once one player’s health bar is depleted. This means that if you were to knock out an opponent while at half health, they will stand back up with a full health meter while yours will remain at half health which can make for some critical moments. Also both titles have unique characters on the roster alongside the standard cast, with characters such as Pyron and Donovan for Darkstalkers 2 and Lilith, Q-Bee and B.B. Hood for Darkstalkers 3.

Darkstalkers’ is designed with a six button system, three for kicks and three for punches and while it is easy to learn and there aren’t too many commands per character, stringing together combos and mastering special moves is the key to victory in this fast paced game. It is worth noting though that, since many combos require extremely precise button presses and analog stick movements, players without a fight stick of some kind may be at a disadvantage.

Both Darkstalkers titles feature fast paced combat, even more so if “Turbo” is selected in character select, and the fighting can be very intricate at times thanks to this. Newcomers to the series will likely want to spend a lot of time in tutorial mode before heading online and perhaps looking into the game’s tier system to watch out for certain move spams.

Did I mention online? Yes, Capcom has offered players a number of online modes including lobby support for eight players, a tournament option and your basic ranked matches. The netcode for the game seems to work flawlessly as, despite losing a ton, none of my matches were interrupted by lag or any other issues. There is even an option to upload replays to YouTube for those who enjoy that sort of thing. It is interesting to note though that thanks to the game’s not being rebalanced, there are numerous online players who will resort to using only the highest tier characters which can lead to a lack of variety online sadly.

Overall:
Darkstalkers Resurrection is true to its namesake. It has resurrected the franchise in the eyes of modern gamers who may have forgotten that the series has existed. Despite offering only filters for improved graphics, the visuals in these games is still impressive and the title features numerous additions to single player and a great online option. While far from friendly to newcomers and the lack of rebalance does create a few issues, Darkstalkers Resurrection offers two solid old-school fighting games that won’t disappoint any fan of the 2D fighting genre.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Fury of the Gods Review

Jamie Laike Tsui

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March 17, 2013

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Fury of the Gods
Developer: Spectral Games
Publisher: Chillingo
Platform: iPad (Reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch
Release Date: March 7th, 2013
Price: $0.99 Buy it Here

Overview

Fury of the Gods is a tower defense game that pits angry mortals against the three brother gods Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades who respectively rule over the sky, water, and the dead. Players will unleash a variety of spells, use famous Greek mythological creatures, or simple beat down the trespassers with a vengeful finger from above to stop the intruders.

Story

After the Gods fail to deliver salvation to the mortals after a series of natural disasters, droughts, and pestilence, the mortals decide to rebel and tear down the temples dedicated to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Besides a short cutscene while the game loads, there is no real progression to the story. The game does not really guilt you for slaying the mortals with reckless abandon, but it does not make you feel great about it either.

Gameplay

Your temple in the middle of a circular arena. Enemies will charge from all sides, climbing several possible routes to attack the temple. The temple has a limited amount of health and can deal a little bit of damage to attackers, recover a little bit of health, and start the game off with extra silver with some upgrades. Enemies are killed in three ways. Tapping on the enemies will do a small amount of damage, defensive units can be purchased to pummel nearby enemies with silver earned from killing enemies, and spells can be dragged from the skill bar on the left hand corner onto enemies. All these abilities are unlocked and upgraded with gold earned from attacks. A small amount of gold is given for an unsuccessful level and more gold is given for completion based on performance. Unfortunately, players will only get an extremely small amount of gold for replaying levels. It seems like you earn more gold by failing a challenging level versus going back to improve your old score. This really puts a huge damper onto the replayability of the game. Unless you feel like playing unlimited waves mode, there is almost zero motivation to improve your scores.

Be prepared to tap your screen more than Tap Tap Revenge. Seriously. Although there are a variety of skills and creatures to assist in the defense of your temples, the main ability is the crushing finger from gods. Unfortunately, this creates my biggest problem with Fury of the Gods. It is literally painfully repetitive. A good 75% of the game is spent tapping attackers at high speeds over and over again, ad nauseum. Although there are five spells to use, the amount of mana available to cast the spells simply cannot keep up with the amount of enemies to kill.

The controls are a mixed bag. You need to tap units directly to register the hit as if you were crushing them like the little ants they are. However, even on the iPad, the finger covers up the health bar which results in over kill or worse, not even realizing the fact you have failed to hit the enemy. On the other hand, the spells and placing movements work perfectly. The UI works well, staying out of the way.

The tutorial did an ok job. It explained the gameplay perfectly, but failed to properly explain the power ups. It resulted in me needlessly expending a few of them to figure out their effects, including the one power up that can only be purchased through an in app purchase. Ouch. I only learned the exact description of the ability when I dug around the skill purchasing menu later.

Visuals

The legendary Unreal Engine powers Fury of the Gods. The game looks fantastic on the iPad’s Retina display. It will crush your battery life and make your devices run hot. The environment is beautiful and from a distance, the units look great. The frame rate runs smoothly with no frame drops or slowdowns.

Audio

The game has four music tracks, one for each god and one for the menu. The songs tend to be hit or miss. They are a bit short and loop rather often. They are all pleasant to listen to, but I found Zeus’ music to be too intense to listen to for long lengths. The sound effects are good, sounding realistic and not too repetitive considering the nature of the game.

Overall

Fury of the Gods could have been a good game. However, repetitive gameplay, little incentives to beat old scores, and problems with the controls hamper the game. Considering the level of in app purchases already included, the game probably would have fared better as a free game versus a $0.99 purchase.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Urban Trial Freestyle Heading to Nintendo and iOS

Jeffery Shull

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March 17, 2013

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After securing the top spot on the PSN sales for the Playstation Vita in February, Tate Multimedia has announced that they are porting their popular Urban Trial Freestyle to the Nintendo 3DS and iOS devices. The game offers game play in the form of realistic racing action; gamers traverse over 45 tracks in the games world, made up of five varied cityscapes. The game also includes highly customizable bikes, 64 custom configurations and options to change the body, wheels, and engine which offers high replay value.

But racing isn’t the only trick this game has up its sleeves, as it also offers a Stunt Mode for players to test their freestyle skills as thet go through the tracks mastering skills such as the Longest Jump and Biggest Flip. For everyone’s inner speed demon, there are also Time Check Mission; Tate has also thrown in some variables to make the races more interesting with environmental factors to watch out for that can greatly affect the race’s outcome. The game boasts advanced physics and animations to pull gamers into the action, and as you progress you unlock more bonuses such as parts, outfits, and trophies.

Urban Trial Freestyle is set to release on Nintendo 3DS and the Apple iOS family this Spring, for more information you can visit the official website or the game at www.urbantrialfreestyle.com.

Civilization V Expansion Brave New World Announced

Simon Wolfe

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March 16, 2013

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A new expansion for Civilization V has been announced and will be offering lots more content for fans of the game to enjoy. Titled Brave New World, the expansion will focus on international trade, culture, and diplomacy. The expansion will include:

New Civilizations, Units, and Buildings – Players will be able to choose from an additional 9 new civilizations and with that be able to access new units, buildings, leaders, and traits.
New Culture Victory – What would a Civilization expansion be without a new victory? Spread your culture worldwide to become the premier cultural influence and achieve dominance that way.
World Congress – Nations will have more say together with the World Congress as they vote and try to maintain diplomacy, such as sanctioning rogue nations, limiting resource use, and other major world decisions.
International Trade Routes – Trading with other countries will be a major component this time around and players will have a lot of leeway as to how they want to set theirs up, from short routes to neighbors, or long routes worldwide.
New Wonders – Eight wonders are being added, such as Parthenon, Broadway, and the Globe Theater for players to try and build before their opposing nations.
New Scenarios – Adding two scenarios, American Civil War and Scramble for Africa. American Civil War will allow players to choose a side in the conflict, while Scramble for Africa will focus on exploring the new continent for its own wonders that changes each play through dynamic-generation.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World will be available for PC and Mac coming this Winter down under, which is Summer for North America and Europe.

Deep Silver at PAX East

Simon Wolfe

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March 16, 2013

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Fans of pretty much any of the games Deep Silver is publishing should be excited for news coming out of PAX East as they will be showing presentations and hosting multiplayer sessions. What can all the attendees be looking forward to?

The main event will most likely be the Saints Row IV presentation. With its official announcement just released, a whole lot of information hasn’t been given about the newest sequel to the crazy action series, but hopefully more will be shown off in the closed-door presentation. Cosplaying at PAX East? Those dressed as Saints Row characters can skip to the head of the line to ensure they can get in. NOTE: Stripping down to your birthday suit to imitate the Boss during the Streaking activity probably doesn’t count.

Dead Island Riptide will also be present in the form of multiplayer at the booth. Attendees wont just be going at it with each other with no clue or information about where they are and what’s going on as a producer of the game will be playing along too. Attendees should be ready to show off how they can stack up against the producer with the first hands on experience.

Other former THQ property and now part of the Deep Silver family, Metro: Last Light will also be playable at the booth. This will be the first time the game has been playable to the public, so be set to see what horrible wonder the irradiated Moscow has to offer.

Finally, Sacred Citadel will be available for multiplayer sessions for three-players at a time as they brawl their way through the side-scroller. A new installment of the Sacred universe, the game combines RPG elements with brawling that attendees will get to experience for themselves.

PAX East will last from March 22nd-24th, where attendees will be able to check out all of these things at Deep Silver’s Booth (#748) and are encouraged to livetweet about them at “@deepsilver” for all those that don’t get to go.

The Thieves Review

Thomas Hellier

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March 16, 2013

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The Thieves
Studio: Caper Film
Publisher: Madman Entertainment
Platforms: DVD, Blu-Ray (Reviewed)
Release Date: Out now
Price: $34.95 (Available here)

Overview

Korean pop culture, or at least the stuff that’s being exported, has a way of taking what used to make American entertainment the best in the world and giving it an extra layer of polish. It seems to be that American blockbusters these days hammer out set piece after set piece, with little consideration about what joins them together. Studios have rightly deducted that audiences will assume that the content is linked because it comes right after the last bit, throwing consistency to the wind. I find that lack of continuity frustrating.

One of the reasons I find myself enjoying Korean films more than their American counterparts these days is that Korean directors still understand how to construct a water-tight plot, a skill that is a requirement when approaching this kind of movie. The heist film genre is almost quintessentially American – getting rich by using style and wit alone. Here we see a film that uses all the tropes we expect from the genre and executes them in a way that isn’t hackneyed or makes you want to scream out ‘bullshit!’ (I’m looking at you Ocean’s Eleven remake).

Story

There’s little background given for the characters that isn’t solely for the purpose of exposition, which goes against the grain for many classic heist films. Usually there’s a reason to justify why we want to root for a bunch of criminals. In ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ Pacino is raising money for his lover’s surgery, in ‘The Bank Job’ it’s hard done by down-and-outers looking to capitalise off the elite. In ‘The Thieves’ they’re just thieves. That’s what they do and they do it well. Not that it’s a significant issue I guess but it’s a telling sign that this movie is most definitely meant to be consumed with a massive wad of popcorn in one hand and the other tightly clenching the seat. The film starts with a cheeky heist that demonstrates the roles each thief has in their clique – as well as showing off the amazing cast that has been assembled for this picture. Chewingum (Hae-suk Kim), an aging alcoholic who has a million covers, is the faux-mother to the acrobatic Yenicall (Gianna Jun) who both work for Popie (Jung-Jae Lee). Popie is the man with the plan, or the man who is handed the plan by Macao Park (Yun-seok Kim). The two have a past that entails all kinds of betrayal, including a shared history with the team’s recently released safe-cracker, Pepsee (Hye-su Kim), whose gaol-time relates to this mysterious past. Oh, and there’s Zampano (Soo Hyun Kim), which the back cover says is the strategy man but I’m pretty sure that he’s just there to be really cute.

If it sounds complicated, it’s really not. Everything is explained in a clean cut way, where it’s not demonstrated directly for the camera it’s explicitly stated. So we have our team, who are all assembled by Macao Park to meet with a team from Hong Kong to pull of the heist of the century. Originally, when the Hong Kong team was introduced they were presented as such creepy assholes that I thought there may be a semi-racist trans-Yellow Sea rivalry being depicted. As the film opens up and friendships, romances and rivalries develops we see a more rounded vision of these characters come to the fore. The Hong Kong team is filled with some amazing actors, too. Chen (Simon Yam) leads their squad, Julie (Angelica Lee) has a surprising agenda of her own and Andrew, (Dal-su Oh) who is a complete asshole, is the only Korean in the Hong Kong group. A few other characters fill out their gang but they get little screen time. After the two teams meet, they get straight to work by traveling to Macau and setting up base. A charming rivalry is depicted as they start scoping out the target – a 318 carat diamond stashed in a casino belonging to the brutal gangster Wei Hong.

The film is tightly constructed into 3 clean-cut acts. I won’t go into the content of acts two and three because duh. It follows the formula ‘to a T’. There’s the set up, the heist, then the ramifications. ‘The Thieves’ knows this and plays this structure like a violin. The theft itself has plenty of twists and turns but it never loses the audience. There are no out-of-nowhere plot twists. Each twist is validated pretty cleanly. The sheer amount of players in the theft makes things complicated but not overwhelming. Each motive is explained efficiently, helping to both develop the characters and keep the narrative moving. This is not a gadget heavy movie, sure there are a few tools that would be pretty expensive to attain but there’s no hacking the mainframe or doing ballet over lasers. The realism of each technique used to exploit the security in order to pull off the job stops this movie from going over the edge in the name of spectacle. There are amazing set pieces, don’t get me wrong here. Deftly controlled manoeuvring between the various cogs that make up the theft keeps the audience in the loop while only feeding us the information we need to know; allowing the film to hold onto that sense of suspense.

Act three escalates this film out of a pure heist film and moves into action territory. Personally, I feel like this is a great move. ‘The Thieves’ isn’t afraid to pull punches here. Escaping the casino or Macau is not clean for our protagonists and things only get messier when they return to Korea. Some of the choices are genuinely shocking and are as surprising as the twists within the caper part of the film. Intrigue is maintained during this section while the film ties up its loose ends. Ending a heist film is make or break. Frank Sinatra’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ will never be beaten for a jaw dropping final twist in this genre and ‘The Thieves’ doesn’t want to take itself into that bleak territory. Light-hearted isn’t exactly how I’d describe it either. Satisfying will have to suffice for the sake of this review.

Visuals

With so many great locations it would be abysmal if they didn’t get their fair share of screen time. Each city is introduced with a wide shot and a title card with its name, pulling back to reveal our cast. It not only looks great, establishing both the location and the decadent lifestyle of the thieves. I mentioned earlier that the film is shot in a way that we’re never confused as to where we’re up to in the heist or why something in particular is happening at that time. The establishment of locations in which key events of the heist are required to occur in is handled deftly. A special effort has gone into making these locations look bright and energetic. A choice that speaks to the idea that writer & director Dong-Hoon Choi had a complete picture in mind before he started. The urban landscape is caught quite well here, there’s a certain beauty to the chaos of Asian cities from dingy back streets and apartments to fabulous buildings and monuments.

Yeong-hwan Choi, the cinematographer, makes everything pop in terms of image definition and the mainstream genre. It suits this film perfectly. The casino interior is a giddying environment, yet spatially aware. The logic of the location is of extreme importance when the core element of the film centres around the ingenuity of manipulating that space. I never had the feeling that somebody had just run 500 metres in 2 seconds or that they’d cheated with slick editing. Sure, a dramatic exit is punctuated by an all too fast disappearance once or twice but that’s a stylistic choice I’ll let slide. It certainly doesn’t happen during the caper. Also worth noting – the majority of the cast look amazing in and of themselves.

Audio

The audio is full of nods to the influences this film draws upon. There’s a very 60’s feel to the introduction heist. Not only does the technique they use to boost the artifact feel like it’s from ‘The Sting’ or another film from that era, it’s punctuated with a very ‘Mod sounding’ score. It’s light-hearted, energetic and exactly what that sequence called for. Unsurprisingly, there’s nothing experimental about the score or the foley, they’re trying to tell a straight up story about a theft here. A car crash scene is articulated very astutely by the sparse use of sound but that about sums it up for anything unique here. Often most of the noise is ambient when not lifting the tension and I think that works for the best, particularly with the dialogue.

Interestingly, as the protagonists are multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, the use of languages has a particular purpose. Some characters speak Cantonese, others Korean, there’s a bit of Japanese throw into the mix and when they group together English is used as a common language. It allows the characters to mock each other openly without losing face which is a great character development tool. Bringing their relationships to the fore without having to show another scene where they’re all bickering behind each other’s backs is economical with screen time and a cool device.

Extras

You could take or leave the extras on the disc for this film. They sum up to around 10 minutes altogether and don’t give any real insight. There’s an introduction to the characters which feels like a promo piece they had lying around so they chucked it in on the cheap. The behind the scenes feels very similar. It clocks in at around 5 minutes and doesn’t really give you much insight to how the film was actually made. I guess it’s kind of intriguing watching them put together a few of the set pieces but there’s not enough time to really get into it. It’s a bit of fluff that they’ve attached simply because they could.

Overall

‘The Thieves’ doesn’t break any new ground but who says that’s necessary from absolutely every single film you see? Fans of the genre will appreciate how clean cut the caper actually is – I’m sure a second watching will reveal some continuity errors or something equally as petty. It’s pretty tightly constructed, you’d have to be splitting hairs or resolutely refusing to suspend disbelief to get angry that it doesn’t ‘work.’ That being said, it is mostly stuff we have seen before. There’s plenty of charisma to be found here, and the characters are all endearing in their own way. Lifting the script from yet another heist film to a cool piece of popcorn cinema is the sheer amount of fun and excitement the actors inject into it.

If you’re a fan of Korean film then you should see what all the fuss is about as it is the second highest grossing Korean film of all time – second to the freakishly awesome ‘The Host.’ Maybe it’s all the famous faces, or the strategic inclusion of famous non-Korean actors but you can’t question that the popularity of this film is in part due to its stand alone personality. I’m not saying this is the greatest Korean film out there because it isn’t. What I am saying is that this will be included in the canon of Korean films that you must watch for some time now – at least until something out performs it at the box office.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Freddy Rodriguez joins the cast of Twisted Pixel’s LocoCycle

Luke Halliday

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March 16, 2013

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Twisted Pixel have announced that they have cast the lead role in their upcoming video-game LocoCycle. The role of the character Pablo will be played by none other than Freddy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has previously starred in hit TV show Six Feet Under and a film called Planet Terror. The character Pablo is a mechanic who gets involved with Lisa Foiles’ character I.R.I.S. as her ally after his pants leg is stuck to her rear axel.

Twisted Pixel also revealed that they will show more of LocoCycle than ever before at the PAX East event. You can see Pablo in the images below hanging from I.R.I.S’ axel.

What do you think of LocoCycle and the newly revealed character of Pablo? Let us know in the comments section below.

Code Geass: Akito the Exiled on DVD, Cowboy Bebop on Blu-ray set for July

Sergei Lazarev

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March 16, 2013

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Madman Entertainment have announced via their Facebook page that they have acquired the rights to release Code Geass: Akito the Exiled on subtitle-only DVD, and will bring Cowboy Bebop to Australia on Blu-ray. Both titles have release dates in July, with exact dates to be announced. Considered a must-see classic, Cowboy Bebop was previously released on DVD but this marks its Blu-ray debut outside Japan. In a surprise move Madman is the first western anime distributor to announce the new Code Geass theatrical OVA, due to be released individually in four 50-minute chapters following cinema screenings in Japan.

The story of Code Geass: Akito the Exiled runs parallel to the original anime series but is set in Europe with all-new characters, where Euro Universe (E.U.) countries are rapidly falling to the advancing Holy Britannian Empire. Desperate, the E.U. forms a special operations unit consisting of Japanese Elevens called W-0, the Wyverns, where the survival rate is only 5%. Akito Hyuuga is the main character who is an exceptional Knightmare pilot, and also happens to be part of this dangerous assignment.

The first episode was released on January 29 2013 in Japan on Blu-ray and DVD and featured a limited edition containing a slipcase, 24-page booklet and 15 postcards. Only the Blu-ray release, priced at around AUD$60, included English subtitles but Madman have promised to release each DVD at a more affordable $24.95. Should a Blu-ray dub ever be produced, as there is none in sight yet, Madman have said it is “likely” they will release it too.

Pricing and release format for Cowboy Bebop on Blu-ray are yet to be revealed. A subtitled trailer for Code Geass: Akito the Exiled can be seen below.

Atelier Ayesha: Alchemist of Dusk Review

Travis Bruno

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March 16, 2013

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Atelier Ayesha: Alchemist of Dusk
Developer: Gust
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Price: $49.99

Overview:
There is something to be said for remaining the same and working towards your strengths while refining your weaknesses and over the last few years, the Atelier franchise has done just that. With the Arland Trilogy coming to an end, Gust has moved on to create a new series of Atelier titles, the first of which being Atelier Ayesha: Alchemist of Dusk. Now with a new publisher and a few design changes from the Arland Trilogy, does Ayesha deserve her own time in the spotlight and more recognition than its publisher wishes to give it?

Story:
Unlike past games in the franchise where the vibrant world of Arland thrived around the player and everything seemed fine, Ayesha’s homeland is in decay. The land is barely providing enough for people to live on and the art of alchemy seems to have been lost forever. In this land a girl named Ayesha works as an apothecary, living alone near the ruins of an advanced building where various medicinal herbs grow.

However Ayesha’s life wasn’t always so lonely. Just three years before she lived with her younger sister Nio. But one day when Nio ventured into those same ruins she mysteriously disappeared. Long thought dead, Ayesha visits her sister’s grave often. However during one such visit, Ayesha is suddenly presented with evidence that her sister is still alive somewhere and the only way to rescue her is to discover the meaning behind a certain flower and research true Alchemy. With hope that she can save her long lost sister, Ayesha embarks on a venture with little to no knowledge of where to start.

The storyline for Atelier Ayesha isn’t as strict as past titles in the franchise. While players are still presented with a three year time limit, various events that take place throughout the story are not limited on how many days have passed, such as reaching a certain alchemist rank or level of kingdom prosperity.

This means that outside of focusing on the main storyline, players have the ability to venture more than before as they are not held to such a strict timeline as before. And adventure you will do as mentioned earlier, Ayesha begins her mission with barely any direction and players are usually only directed on where to go via notebook updates. These vague updates can be problematic since, while the time-frame isn’t as strict, losing track of where to go next is an issue.

Although the stricter time limit allows the player more freedom, it does make it so that the story does feel less important. This can be rather disappointing at times as past Atelier games had players always watching the calendar for fear of passing up specific events or running out of time. When the player does manage to focus on the story however, they are presented with an interesting journey with a clear-cut finish line that is accented with a great cast of characters.

Ayesha may begin her journey alone but she quickly finds new friends and allies along the way that wish to assist her in various ways. Your party members tend to be very likable and each one has an interesting enough personality, though one old man is simply frustrating and a bother to deal with. As Ayesha makes progress on her journey she will interact with her friends in various ways that actually feel believable and this helps keep players focused on the task at hand. You see, while saving Ayesha’s sister is the final objective, watching Ayesha and her friends interact with one another and unveil more of the world’s secrets is the true gem of Atelier Ayesha’s story.

Visuals:
One thing gamers may immediately notice is that Atelier Ayesha feature a more subdued color palette than past titles. While still very colorful, the colors are more earthy and natural and this helps accent the overall aesthetic of Ayesha. With beautifully detailed character models and impressive environment work, the world and characters of Ayesha have never looked better.

However it is worth noting that there are a few issues with the game’s graphics. One of which is due to the fact that there are no longer character portraits during dialogue sequences. Instead any talking is done with the 3D character models, which works since they are still well designed, but the developers chose to not sync the mouth flaps of the characters with the dialogue. In fact, a speaking character’s mouth will move indefinitely until the player advances the dialogue.

As for the game’s battles, the character animations and enemy animations are well handled and since the battle system has been improved from what was offered in the Arland series. It is also worth noting that the game does have some frame-rate issues which rear their ugly head in complicated environments and when some of the visually impressive attack sequences are used on a group of enemies.

Audio:
In what many have called an odd decision, Tecmo Koei has chosen to forgo including the game’s original Japanese voice track. While not much of an issue for those who prefer listening to the English voice work anyways, it is a disappointing removal for fans and an unfortunate one considering Atelier Ayesha’s voice work can be hit and miss. While most of the characters are voiced well enough, Ayesha’s voice actress seems like an odd fit for her character and her personality. It is also worth noting that while most of the game’s events are voiced, there are a decent number of events that are lacking voice work.

As far as the game’s soundtrack is concerned, Ayesha boasts a euphonious soundtrack. Perhaps the best in the franchise’s history in fact, as there are numerous tracks that, despite being a bit repetitive at times, always accents the game’s presentation by making great moments even better.

Gameplay:
The Atelier titles have always been about exploration, fighting and of course alchemy and Atelier Ayesha is no different. However it has received a number of changes to each aspect. First and foremost, a number of adjustments have been made to make Alchemy a bit easier to handle. One thing veterans of the series may remember is that players could always pick and choose which traits they could apply to any created item.

In Ayesha these traits are automatically applied depending on the quality of the items used to create it. This makes the system a bit easier as players no longer need to search for a specific ingredient with a rare trait to create an item, but it can be problematic. It is also interesting to note that creating items with alchemy no longer requires mana.

The exploration of Atelier Ayesha remains very similar to past titles. As players explore the world they will come across various towns where they can not only interact with their party members, buy items for alchemy and equipment for battle, but also accept various quests. It is worth noting that unlike job boards from past games, these quests are usually side-jobs that offer a cash reward and sometimes an item as a bonus. They are given time limits but there is no punishment for allowing a time limit to slip past you, nor do players have to focus on completing these quests, though they certainly offer great incentive to players who wish to complete them.

As for field exploration, the Ayesha continues to feature a world map where players spend a set amount of days traveling between each area. Exploration fields themselves continue to consist of monsters roaming around to fight against as well as harvest points. Harvesting has changed slightly in Ayesha, as your party members can actually help Ayesha acquire extra items while harvesting and some items can only be found by specific party members.

Whenever the player enters battle against an enemy they face off against them in turn-based combat. However unlike past games where enemies and allies stand in a line and hit one another, Ayesha’s combat system sees players and enemies spaced out on the battlefield. Players can now position themselves as they see fit once battle begins, though moving around the field does use up that character’s turn.

Being behind, near, or far from an enemy can offer various bonuses when attacking, though it is worth noting that allied attacks and defense can only be performed with allies near the attacking/defending character. These allied attacks can help position players to their advantage however, as back attacks and pursuit attacks automatically move the assisting character into position for extra damage. This allows players to strategize as they fight and since area of effect attacks now have to be aimed properly, positioning and resource management can sometimes mean life and death in combat, especially since players may end up far away from a town the further into the wild they explore.

Since players have a three year time limit in Atelier Ayesha, it is worth noting that time management is still a very big deal. Every action you take, whether it is traveling between locations, harvesting items in a field, fighting enemies or alchemizing items, time passes by. While the story does seem easier to finish this time around within the three year time restraint, it is still a bit confining. However veterans should be familiar with the limit and it helps serve as a driving force to remain focused and on-task, though newcomers may find it a bit too limiting despite the longevity of the title and a New Game Plus option.

Overall:
Atelier Ayesha is a title that has always worked towards its strengths and Atelier Ayesha can be seen as the franchise taking two steps forwards, one step back. While offering a nice improvement to the combat system, a nice tone shift artistically accompanied by an amazing soundtrack, the streamlining of alchemy removes the creativity of the player and removing the various checkpoints players have to reach along the time frame lessen the urgency of the main storyline.

Pair that alongside a fairly average English dub and no Japanese voice track, and Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk is still an impressive entry in the series. However just like how in alchemy a few low quality ingredients can lower the rating of the highest quality recipe, Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk may bring a lot of improvements to the table that create a superb title but is marred with a few poor design choices that hold it back from being one of the best game’s in the franchise.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition Review

Dustin Spencer

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March 16, 2013

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The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition
Developer: Beenox
Publisher: Activision
Platform: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Price: $39.99 – BUY NOW

Overview
You know, I find it funny that five years ago, a decently sized portion of gamers did not trust licensed titles whatsoever. I mean, sure – Spider-Man 2 was excellent for it’s time and the sequel wasn’t half bad, but that stigma didn’t really disappear until Arkham Asylum showed the market how it should be done. Yeah, we still don’t trust a lot of these IPs, but super hero based romps have gotten much better over time – as everyone wants to be the next franchise to take the leap. Who better than Spidey?

Last year, The Amazing Spider-Man was released to decent praise, bringing back the hero after a few mediocre releases that have popped up on shelves during the past few years. It didn’t shatter records or blow our minds, but it was still a huge jump into the right direction. The Wii U has seen almost all ports since it’s launch, and even though that does become a tiresome sight, getting those blue cases on shelves is a good thing. The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition brings together the full package of the original game we seen last year, adds a few tricks with the Gamepad, and throws in every bit of DLC as a nice bonus. It sounds like a great port, but does Peter Parker swing and miss in his big debut on the Wii U? Let’s find out.

Story
Unlike most movie tie-ins, The Amazing Spider-Man starts it story right after the movie finishes. Yes, this does mean there will be a few spoilers if you haven’t seen the film – but by now I imagine that most can either give it a rental or have already seen the somewhat “ok” reboot of the franchise. Back to the game, shortly after the events of the film, Peter and Gwen find themselves in a total outbreak, with Gwen and a growing number of citizens becoming infected by a cross-species virus. Along with the help of Dr. Connors and Ms. Stacey, this narrative becomes a battle against time and a lot of fodder goons as Peter hunts for an antidote that may or may not save the day.

Yes, it is quite the predictable plot, but it isn’t terrible by any means. Much like all of the other open world entries we have seen, there is a lot of smooth pacing into large events and plenty of cutscenes and collectable recordings to literally put the player in the role of our favorite web-swinger, and Marvel fanatics are sure to enjoy the fan service Beenox pumped into the final product. This story isn’t really rushed or boring by any means, but it does seem a bit lacking considering all of the material this game could have ran on. Sure, saving Gwen and the city is always going to be the primary objective, but when you start to find the side plots (such as the one with Whitney Chang) more captivating than the main story, it can be a bit of a letdown to be forced to go back into a tale that lacks the proper punch.

Gameplay
If you don’t have that swing…well, you know the rest. Thankfully, The Amazing Spider-Man does indeed have it, and then some. I know that is an odd way to start speaking about the main gameplay of the video game adaption here, but it’s very important to tell how exceptional Spider-man’s acrobatics in air truly are. With a tap of the shoulder button, players can find themselves diving through the city at high rates of speed, with the wind crisply slamming into Peter’s suit. It’s one of the most accessible and enjoyable features in the game due to the scope of the city feeling so large, but it’s also the main reason the rest of the game never comes to par with those exhilarating moments.

When The Amazing Spider-Man is at its best, we are doing battle out in the city, flinging from building to building and dealing with both powerful and aerial based foes that are primed with heavy weaponry. You see, the web-slinging ability in combination with the polished in air combat makes these battles feel as epic as you would expect, but they are too few and far between compared to the much more lackluster fodder battles. By “fodder”, I am talking about those moments where you are required to take on wave after wave of standard human and mechanical enemies alike, crawling through dark and dreary sewers just to solve a simple puzzle. Sure, there is plenty of enjoyment to be found on land, but even with the hefty amount of upgrades and tricks up Spidey’s sleeve, they just never match the excitement found in the great outdoors.

The combat itself, and by that I mean your standard punches, kicks, and grounded web abilities – all come together nicely to give our hero a well rounded arsenal to take down any foe that crosses his path. Flipping into a foe from a wall and smashing up baddies “the old fashioned way” comes off as fluid and effortless, reminding us of that same kind of quick and chained combat we seen in the previously mentioned Batman: Arkham Asylum. As more experience is built up, new abilities can be unlocked to further the usage of Spider-Man’s techniques, coming into play during a few missions involving stealth, escape, and general progression. The Web Rush, which is also introduced here, allows for newly added quick-time events to not feel forced, while letting Spider-Man zip from one area to the next safely. This means that if you notice an area with a ton of deadly obstacles around it, you can easily perform the technique to skate across unharmed. While in boss battles, this ability is also used to let Spider-Man slow down time and lock in on a particular target. Yes, there are a few quick time events in these bouts, but the Web Rush helps shatter that image, letting the player feel more in control.

Web Rush, like a few other areas in the game comes with a little bit of frustration. I understand that this is a new mechanic, but others might not be as forgiving when they rush to the wrong area time and time again. Other techniques have a habit of missing as well, meaning that patience comes to be a bit of a requirement while dealing with narrow spaces that require the ability everywhere. The setting itself however is where the heart of the game truly lies. Sure, there will be a lot of forced indoors filler for the plot, but once outside, that feeling of freedom takes over. As I mentioned, swinging through this locale is a blast – but it comes without much focus. From time to time, an objective will appear giving you reason to fly the cityscape, but this comes with little award other than experience and makes the game begin to feel limited as a result. To make up for this, Beenox packed in a ton of collectibles to pick up and photos that must be taken, so those that have a love for completion will at least feel satisfied until every last item is found.

As far as the Gamepad goes, there isn’t a lot to say. I first want to praise Beenox for not going the Arkham City route and tacking in a cheesey feature like the “batarang”, but it’s obvious the full potential of the controller wasn’t explored upon for this port. We do however get to wipe those corner maps off the screen, as your map lies solely on the device – along with the cell phone, making the Gamepad your one-stop menu that can be controlled with a few taps and swipes. The Ultimate Edition proves it’s true worth however by including every bit of DLC that was seen on consoles, with even the Stan Lee quests that are filled with references and fan serviced dialogue.

Visuals and Audio
I’ll start off by saying that as you can see in the screenshots within this review, The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition is just as stunning as it appears on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. With that said, the Wii U’s offering falls short in this area due to performance, rather than look. During the first few minutes of the game, you are placed in a cutscene with Gwen, and can only control the first-person perspective of Peter’s head to look around. Right off the bat, screen tearing rears its ugly head, and continues to be a distraction as the game becomes cinematic. Sure, it doesn’t break the experience, but it does make the game feel a bit rushed. I have seen and played nearly every Wii U game to date, and sadly – The Amazing Spider-Man is one of the worst offenders when it comes to chugging, frame-rate drops, and tearing. Those issues are not always prominent, but they do show that more polish could have been applied before this port was shoved out the door.

The audio does indeed fare better. I think I would have liked to have seen the on-screen performers voice the game, but that in all honesty never turns out too well for these types of adaptations. Instead we get a solid cast that still perform their dialogue well, making this narrative feel as big-budget as the flick. Music wise, there isn’t as much to note, but the intense tunes bode well in big battles, while more subtle sound effects capture wind and background noises give the game a more realistic feel. As for Peter Parker, well, his zingers start to grind after a couple of hours, but it’s a video game, so the player will have decide their own preference before hitting the mute button.

Overall
The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition is yet another hit and miss port. On the good side, all of the same features, visuals, and scope of the original has made it to the Wii U untouched. On the other side, we have screen tearing, bland Gamepad integration, and a script that is a bit lackluster. That being said, this is indeed a great game to see on the Wii U, and with it’s many bonus DLC packs and discounted price, there really is nothing to stop fans of the flick from feeling guilty for double dipping. I know everyone wants to make that next great film to video game adaptation, but this title – Ultimate or not, is just not quite there. There is a lot of promise on this disc packed in along with the solid experience we already knew existed, making this one Wii U title to consider for the backlog down the road. Beenox however have proven they know how to handle the franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man, and as long as their name continues to be attached to our favorite web-slinger, we can rest easy knowing the city will be in good hands.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.