As some of you may know, Arc System Works decided to surprise everyone by having their upcoming game, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus’ North American release date suddenly appear for next week on the Xbox 360. Well today it was found that the PlayStation 3 version of the game will be available for download on November 1st.
Also revealed today was a trailer for the game which can be seen below. As for the game itself it will cost 1200 MSP or $15 depending on your console of choice. It is also worth remembering that Arc is planning to update the game after release to upgrade it to the same version found in arcades, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R.
Welcome to my weekly Psycho-Pass episode impressions. This week, I go through episode 1 and 2 of Psycho-Pass. What did I think of the episode? Watch below to find out.
Got any questions for Anime Say? You can send me a tweet on my official twitter or alternatively drop me an email at [email protected]. I will do my best to respond to your tweets and emails as well as try read some out on the show.
What do you think of this episode impression? Let us know in the comments section below.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors Developer: Tecmo Koei Publisher: Namco Bandai Platform: Playstation 3 Release Date: 21st September, 2012 Price:$65.99 – Available Here
Overview:
The One Piece franchise is the best selling anime and manga property in all of Japan, so it’s no wonder that One Piece: Pirate Warriors or as the Japanese know it One Piece: Kaizoku Musou was a major hit in the land of the rising sun. It really goes without saying that anything with the One Piece name attached turns into cash in Japan, it is just that much of a phenomenon. But the same can not be said for the Western world which doesn’t think too highly of One Piece largely due to the horrible 4Kids dub of the anime that ruined the franchise for many people.
So how does one bring a game such as One Piece: Pirate Warriors to the West and try to sell it? Well it’s simple really, don’t aim for mass appeal, just try and hit that niche audience of westerners that love One Piece and you know, it works in the case of One Piece: Pirate Warriors. It works, but to what extent?
Gameplay:
What Namco Bandai and Tecmo Koei have done with One Piece: Pirate Warriors feels by and large like a love letter to the One Piece franchise, providing fans of the series a way to relive the series greatest moments with some Dynasty Warriors styled action in between. It’s effective, but the fact that little of the story is really told with highlight moments instead interspersed throughout it really limits itself to only being appealing to One Piece fans. Now that right there makes this a game that not many will enjoy simply on the fact that they will not be able to follow it or connect with the characters. It simply assumes that you have already been initiated into the One Piece universe. Of course this is not a problem for those the game is aimed towards – One Piece fans. But it does make it a difficult game to recommend.
In terms of how the game plays it is a simple yet addictive arcade style beat em up, reminiscent of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, the Genji series and even a little bit of Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage. You have a variety of characters that you can encounter throughout the game both to fight alongside and against. The main centrepiece of the game is of course the story mode which focuses on the protagonist of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy. The main story mode places you in famous One Piece locales and against many of the series most memorable enemies. Each level generally consists of hordes of enemies for you to beat down on as you maneuver through a number of obstacles that initiate quick-time events that focus on Luffy’s rubber abilities that allow him to stretch and swing and launch himself from different parts of the environment.
Usually quick-time events are boring, repetitive and feel like a lazy excuse for gameplay but they feel fully justified within the context of One Piece: Pirate Warriors and I found some of the most enjoyable levels to actually be quick-time event heavy levels. Most of the fun of the quick-time events is in bringing to life some of the greatest One Piece moments such as when Luffy defeats Arlong with the Gum Gum Axe Kick move.
The story mode itself is incredibly long and covers from the beginning of the series up until the end of the Marineford War Arc, excluding a few arcs which didn’t seem to make the final cut (Syrup Village arc, Loguetown arc, Skypiea arc, Davy Back arc and Thriller Bark arc). I found the exclusions of these story arcs to be troubling as this game had been marketed as the definitive and most complete One Piece game to date, however missing out on some of the series greatest story arcs is without a doubt a misstep of major proportions. I mean who wouldn’t want to play the Luffy vs Eneru fight?
Besides the main story mode, players can play through different stories as other characters in the ‘Another Log’ mode. This mode functions similar to the main story but allows you to play as other characters in somewhat different scenarios to the main story mode.
There is also an interesting online play mode that is essentially a horde mode type of game which has you team up with other players to take on hordes of enemies to earn points. It’s a lot of fun but I do wish there was a death match type of mode somewhere here but unfortunately none was to be found.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors is definitely a fun game, but with a heavy emphasis placed on the story mode it really makes itself nothing more than a tribute for One Piece fans only. Unfortunately this will be a hard game to follow plot-wise if you have never watched or read One Piece. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with the game, because it is an incredibly fun title. No doubt about that.
Visuals and Audio:
Fans of One Piece will find themselves absorbed into the world they have grown so attached to with Pirate Warriors, as it damn near perfectly captures and recreates the unique personality and spirit of the One Piece world through both it’s visuals and soundtrack. Aesthetically there is a great deal for fans to sink their teeth into with players getting to explore the beautiful locales of the series in depth. The game itself is somewhat cell-shaded and looks great for it. The cell-shading style has proven in the passed to stand the test of time (see Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker) and has made for an impressive aesthetic experience for both fans of the series and those just interested in what all the hubub is about.
The game’s soundtrack is a blend of original tracks and tunes from the series itself. I personally loved hearing an instrumental version of ‘We Are!’ play during the game as well as some of the other famous tracks from the series. Not only that but the new original songs for the game are brilliant and of themselves and fit well within the existing musical catalogue of the One Piece franchise.
Overall:
One Piece: Pirate Warriors exists by and large exclusively for One Piece fans. If you love One Piece than you will probably buy this regardless of what I have to say. The fact that this game aims simply for that niche market that is the Western One Piece fandom is both the best route and also the worst route that Namco Bandai could have taken. The problem is that the game has little mainstream appeal and will likely get lost in the shuffle because it doesn’t provide anything to entice non-One Piece fans and it doesn’t care to hold their attention and captivate them in game with the wonderful story that One Piece tells. Instead it simply opts to provide an abridged version of the series greatest moment without an ounce of real connective tissue.
All in all this game is for One Piece fans, it’s just a shame that a game that is pretty fun such as this doesn’t allow itself to be understood by non-One Piece fans. Regardless of that misstep it is an enjoyable experience from start to finish and is easily the most definitive One Piece game to date despite some missing portions of the story and gameplay mechanics that can be improved on. The bottom line is that it’s a good game, but it lacks too many things to be an easy title to recommend. It is best left for the hardcore fans.
EA Australia have announced a major promotion they will be launching for their upcoming open-world racing game Need For Speed: Most Wanted. Introducing the ‘Most Wanted Taxi’ a Lamborghini Gallardo set to drive winners of EA’s latest facebook competition around Sydney for the price of absolutely FREE. All of this is to promote Need For Speed: Most Wanted which releases on multiple platforms on the 1st of November.
So how exactly do you go about getting a ride in the ‘Most Wanted Taxi’? Well it’s simple really, head on over to EA Australia’s facebook page here and ‘Like’ the page and leave a comment in 25 words or less stating why you believe that you are the Most Wanted.
The Taxi will offer winners rides between October 26th and November 3rd. Well there you have it, a chance to ride around in a Lamborghini Gallardo ‘Most Wanted Taxi’. Let us know what you think of EA Australia’s ‘Most Wanted Taxi’ promotion in the comments section below.
Just because your video game has been in stores now for about a week and a half doesn’t mean you can’t release some new artwork to remind everyone about it! Or at least that is what Bethesda and Arkane Studios may be thinking because today the companies has released a few pieces of artwork which can be seen below.
The artwork shown are ten favorite pieces of artwork chosen by the Art Director at Arkane Studios, Sebastien Mitton. Those who haven’t bought Dishonored yet and are intrigued by the artwork shown below can check out our review here and then go pick it up since it is certainly a game of the year contender.
Skylanders Giants has finally hit the retail stores and I for one am exceptionally excited to see the multitude of changes that have been implemented to improve upon an already superbly creative and fun experience in the first installment. The fact that the game now has a difficulty setting was pure music to my ears as I could now play through and experience somewhat more of a challenge as well as getting the pure joy of having well crafted and conceptually brilliant tangible characters with which to play. The most noticeable change is obviously the addition of the 8 new giants representing the various elemental forces as well as 8 new smaller Skylanders joining the already 32 strong army.
The original clan is also back and can all be used within the new adventure, alongside the lightcore characters which have varying glowing properties when in close proximity to the portal. The rare characters have also made a comeback with Glow in the Dark figures already gracing ebays pages and being snapped up by fans and collectors.
Check out the video to see all the changes and for more Skylanders Giants information and character bios visit www.skylanders.com
Ouran High School Host Club Series Collection Studio: Bones Publisher: Madman Format: Blu-Ray, DVD (Reviewed) Release Date: September 5, 2012 Price: $69.95 – Available Here
Overview
Adapted from a manga of the same name by artist Bisco Hatori, Ouran High School Host Club enjoyed one long run on TV back in 2006. Now, the 26 episode long series can be found in one single collection, for the first time here in Australia. Animated by Bones, who also worked on the hugely popular Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Ouran High School Host Club has itself found great success and has developed into a fully-fledged cross-media franchise, with CDs, a visual novel, a live action TV series and a Film also having been released.
The series is well known for breaking the fourth wall with the audience, while also including and parodying many subcultures found within Japan. The setting of a host club lends to the thematic use of Yaoi (“boy’s love”), Yuri (“girl’s love”) and cross-dressing aspects of the overarching Otaku culture, which refers to people who have a keen interest in all things uniquely Japanese in origin and style. Being new to this sort of media, I can see how this will alienate some Western audiences, however it did not do so for myself. Read on to find out if this anime really is for you.
Story
Ouran High School has it’s very own host club, who’s activities we follow throughout the series. It’s members include: Takashi “Mori” Morinozuka, a 3rd year student at the academy, Mitsukuni “Honey” Haninozuka, the youngest of the group, the effeminate twins Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin, who put on the Yaoi act for their “clients”, Kyoyo Otori, Vice President of the club and Tamaki Suoh, son of the school Chairman and founder and President of the host club. One day, a poor bookish “commoner” named Haruhi Fujioka, who is attending the academy on a special scholarship, runs into the host club as she looks for a quiet place to study. After an awkward encounter with the boys, she accidentally bumps into an expensive vase that falls and breaks on the ground…changing the course of her time at the academy forever. The vase happens to be worth 8 million yen! Haruhi realises then that she is in debt to the host club, who proposition her to become the “host club dog” and become a host for them, giving her a quota as a means to pay off her large debt to the group. Of course, they do not realise that the short-haired, tomboy isn’t actually a boy!
And so Haruhi’s time at Ouran High School begins in quite the unexpected manner. It doesn’t take long for the figurative, and literal (as a visual device) light bulbs to turn on though, as the boys figure out, one-by-one, that Haruhi is in fact a girl. Of course, the naive Tamaki is the last to get it, and actually starts to blatantly develop feelings for Haruhi. Almost immediately, she becomes quite the popular host, garnering some jealousy from her peers. As the show wears on, Haruhi takes part in shenanigans to avoid a physical exam, experiences her first kiss – which is with a girl, unwillingly plays host to the group at her “pathetically small, commoner’s home”, gets a part time job at a pension and gets kidnapped by the lesbian Zuka club members. Through all of these events, and along the way to earning her way out of the club, Haruhi discovers that the group of boys she dreaded spending time with have actually become her best and truest friends.
It’s in the dynamic of the relationship between the host club members that the best comedic moments arise. Although there are hysterical moments outside of this dynamic. During a flashback scene, of which there are a few to flesh out the backgrounds of certain characters, a younger Renge skips out on tea with her Father after deciding on a whim to fly out and find the boy she wants to marry. She becomes dressed and packed for a flight in an instant, and then a plane seemingly takes off from the ground floor of the very building they were occupying like a car in a garage. Words can’t describe how perfectly executed this was. And each character is so well defined that they bring their own personality and quirks into every scene and interaction. The show may start off on a slow note for some, and may frequently seem aimless in what it’s trying to achieve, but it picks up, and the episodes get more diverse and interesting as the series progresses.
Visuals
Ouran High School Host Club is very colourful, and animation studio Bones did a great job with the animation itself. The facial expressions are so well defined and expressed, it’s quite impressive. The design and colouring of the school is so effective in creating a rich air about the place, communicating how extravagant and expensive this private school is. The purple, red and pink tones are a constant and scream a sense of royalty and sophistication in the characters. At times, and there are very few of them, the backdrops can look slightly flat, although there are less instances of this as the show goes on. Something I loved were the labels and signs that pop up during introductions and/or events. The English translations, being purposely humorous and not funny through mistranslation, made me laugh quite a bit. For instance, as Haruhi pours the club four cups of instant coffee, the label’s subtitles read “Demonstration of commoner’s coffee, by a commoner”.
One thing I couldn’t stand was the use of flashing arrows to point towards objects of interest. They are meant to be a funny device, but are actually an unnecessary distraction as the camera angles frame the focus of a shot quite well as it is. Thankfully they are not used often at all, appearing maybe a bit more than a handful of times all up. The DVD itself is in a 4:3 aspect ratio, even though I had read online that it was in a 16:9 full screen anamorphic format. Watching it on a big screen, the image does look somewhat stretched at the sides, with no black bars. Overall, however, the image quality is good, especially when considering it is a DVD release of a 6 year old show.
Audio
The audio for the series collection is in Dolby Digital, with no major issues in the mixing, or volume levels (except for the commentary tracks, which I’ll go through in the extras section). Of course, there are Japanese and English audio tracks to choose from, which you can switch between in the main disc menus. This may be one of the few instances where the English voice overs are just as good as the original’s. I think this can mostly be attested to the fantastic work of Caitlin Glass, who did the voice of main character Haruhi Fujioka. Knowing that Caitlin is also the ADR Director of the show, many might scoff at the fact that she has effectively placed herself as the focus of the show. However, once you hear her work, you’ll know exactly why it was the right choice. The rest of the cast are also fantastic, with great performances all around. When viewing with the Japanese language track, the subtitles appear in yellow at the bottom of the screen. The music is very fitting for the overall mood of the show, with the opening theme, entitled “Sakura Kiss”, and the closing theme, entitled “Shissou (Sprint)”, the original by Japanese rock band Last Alliance, both sounding very well produced, and catchy to boot!
Extras
The collection features some very good extras spread across all four discs. On disc 1, there are commentary tracks for episodes 1, 4 and 5, featuring the show’s ADR Director, and voice of lead character Haruhi, Caitlin Glass – who contributes to each of the commentaries found in this collection. Alongside her are such talents as Vic Mignogna – voice of Tamaki, J. Michael Tatum – voice of Kyoya, Monica Rial – voice of Renge and also ADR Script Writer, and Greg Ayres and Todd Haberkorn – voices of the twins, Kaoru and Hikaru respectively. On disc 2, you will find outtakes for the first 13 episodes, textless versions of the opening and closing sequences and a package of trailers for other animated movies and series. On disc 3, there is the lone commentary for episode 18, featuring Aaron Dismuke – voice of Yasuchika, and Luci Christian – voice of Mitsukuni. The final disc includes commentaries for episodes 22 and 24, with Christopher Sabat and Travis Willingham, voices of Ritsu and Takashi respectively, on episode 22 commentary duty. Mr. Tatum and Mr. Mignonga rejoin Ms. Glass for the final commentary. Disc 4 also harbours a second set of outakes for the second half of episodes, the same textless opening and closing, and a new bunch of trailers.
Peculiar, right off the bat, was the absence of the show’s subtitling during the commentary episodes on discs 1 and 2, as discs 3 and 4 did in fact have them. I don’t know why the subtitles would be used in only half the commentaries, but the inconsistency definitely disappointed me. Also, while most commentaries provided sufficient insight, episode 4’s commentary was basically a high school reunion, with constant laughter between the guests and very little talk of the creative process. Unfortunately, when there is valuable information to be given pertaining to certain dialogue or voice acting choices, the show’s audio is turned down so much that you can’t even listen to the dialogue the guests are commenting on. I can’t be expected to remember each and every line they are vaguely referencing when I can’t get a refresher and hear it for myself. The volumes just could have been balanced better.
The outtakes, however, are great all around. Really funny to hear the screwed up lines, and the relationship between the actors as they bounce off of each other. My favourite blooper came from the second episode when Kanako, a regular host-hopper, who gets past her relationship issues and is to receive a farewell peck on the cheek from Haruhi, and is told by her fiancée that “it will commemorate your graduation from being a total whore”. Of course, the real line is much less insulting, and is actually supportive. All around, there are approximately 30 minutes of outtakes…that’s quite a lot! That leaves the textless opening, closing and trailers which are what they are, nothing noteworthy there.
Overall
Ouran High School Host Club is a very funny show that, although at times can get quite awkward (looking at you twins!), does unabashedly speak to the Japanese sense of humour. The DVD transfer on this series collection may not be the greatest, but the show is quite a few years old now and if it’s an issue for anyone (which it shouldn’t be), there’s always the blu-ray option which undoubtedly has the better visual quality. The extras on this release especially impressed me as I’m a sucker for a blooper reel, and the featured outtakes for Ouran are long and hilarious. Also great to hear commentary for 6 episodes, although at times it can come across as shallow and self-indulgent. None-the-less, the passion of the creators for the series is palpable throughout. Ouran High School Host Club Series Collection is a great 4 disc set that is well worth it. Just remember, the themes may not be suitable for those under the age of 15…unless for a laugh, you want to see them utterly confused!
Rebellion has released some new free and pay DLC for the month of October.
Revealed just yesterday, players will receive the previously released pay multiplayer map, the Neudorf Outpost now absolutely free. As well as this fans can now try out the new on-line game types Dog Tag Harvest and Team Dog Tag Harvest (free-for-all and team deathmatch modes respectively). Similar to Call of Duty’s Kill Confirmed game type, players must collect the dog tags of each enemy they successfully down to score the points necessary for victory.
The Landwehr Canal Pack is the latest pay DLC offering from Rebellion Developments. This brand new single player mission requires the player to stake out a night-time Berlin as they are tasked with the elimination of three key German Generals. Players will be tested to the limits of their marksmanship abilities as they devise and execute the precise plans needed to take their targets out. Also included are three new weapons to help get the job done, with some incredibly long lines of sight apparently on offer for the most daring of WWII snipers.
The two packs both free and paid, are now available for download from Steam with the Landwehr Canal Pack running players the small fee of just £2.99 (or $4.63 AUD).
The latest, and final, expansion pack that will be coming for the Battlefield 3 multiplayer portions will be called Aftermath. In Aftermath, players will be able to access the new Scavenger gametype.
In Scavenger, players begin the map armed with only a knife. They must take survival into their own hands by searching their surroundings for newer and better equipment scattered around the Battlefield.
Battlefield 3: Aftermath comes out on the 27th of November for all Premium players. The expansion pack will cost $23.75 additionally for all non premium players to obtain access.
Be sure to check out our gallery below for a bunch of new screenshots and even further below for the embedded video.
The capital letters and full spelling were absolutely necessary for this news piece. Doom 3: BFG Edition is in stores now, this means that the remastered version of the game is available for consumers everywhere.
Doom 3: BFG Edition features not only the enhanced version of Doom 3 and it’s expansion packs, but also the first and second Doom games. The package will retail for $39.99 AUD on the PC and for $59.99 on the X360 and PS3.
On the game, Bethesda had this to say –
“Today we’re bringing back id Software’s genre-defining shooter, with the release of DOOM 3 BFG Edition” said Vlatko Andonov, President, Bethesda Softworks. “We are excited for new and existing fans to play the newly enhanced and extended DOOM 3 – and for them to have the opportunity to play the classic DOOM and DOOM 2 games.”
For more information, be sure to check out the Facebookpage.
