If you live in Japan and registered your 3DS console before the cut-off date, you’ll be happy to know that Nintendo has announced what free games you will be getting for supporting their system. The ten NES, or Famicom, games that you can download soon include Metroid, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, Yoshi’s Egg, Mario Open Golf, and Wrecking Crew. Super Mario Bros., Balloon Fight, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong Jr., and Ice Climber are also included for free to those who went to the eShop and registered their 3DS. It is unclear whether these games will be the same free games that Ambassadors worldwide will get, or whether Japan is getting these exclusively.
10 GBA games will also be arriving for Ambassadors, although the details on those have yet to be released.
Xenoblade Chronicles Platform: Wii (Reviewed) Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Monolith Soft Genre: JRPG Release Date: September 1, 2011 (AU), August 19, 2011(EU)
Overview
Since Final Fantasy XII, the idea of combat in real-time has become a popular trend in the JRPG genre, but many titles have struggled to find their feet with this style of play. Xenoblade Chronicles is the game hardcore RPG fans have being praying for. It surpasses expectations and breaks boundaries and traditions, creating one of the deepest and innovative RPG’s of the decade. With 70+ hours of gameplay, a massive world to explore, entertaining storyline, epic soundtrack and an incredably detailed combat system, Xenoblade Chronicles is a must have for fans of Japanese Role-Playing Games, and stands as yet another reason to be proud owner of a Nintendo Wii.
Story
The story which ties this epic adventure together is a unique and interesting one that is executed wonderfully, although it isn’t perfect. The opening cinematic for starters isn’t all that engaging, showing a slow-paced, boring battle between two titans, although this does set up for an interesting origin of the tale which makes up for this. These two titans kill each other and over time forests and life develop on their corpses, creating the luscious worlds of Bionis and Mechonis. These worlds are home to exactly to what they sound like-the Homs, biological human-like beings and the Mechon, Mecha/robot type beings. These worlds are still at war but this time it’s the beings of each planet rather than the titans. The game begins as a prologue, throwing you straight into an intense war with fast-paced, exciting, action-packed cut scenes that make a great start to the game, showing you what you’re in for. After this, your taken a year into the future where the story truly begins, introducing Colony 9 and setting you off on a great adventure as Shulk, a researcher of the Monado-a powerful yet mysterious weapon that is the key to victory against the Mechon.
What truly shines with the story of Xenoblade Chronicles however is not the story itself but rather the execution of telling it. Dialogue is believable, and cut scenes are numerous and very entertaining. A huge emphasis is placed on character development and with every cut scene you feel yourself becoming more and more connected with the cast and you can see the bonds of friendship grow between the members of the party. While the first few hours are action-packed and exciting, the developers were not afraid to unravel the story slowly and establish the world and characters firmly before sending them off on a huge adventure. This works well as it doesn’t feel slow-paced but also doesn’t feel rushed, and builds a strong foundation between the characters. Direction in cut scenes is great as well, which is a nice addition since there is a lot of them.
Gameplay
Xenoblade Chronicles is a blast to play. While it does stay true to many traditions of the RPG genre, it has many innovative features that excel in creativity that can appear overwhelming at first, as there is a lot to learn and has a quite bit of a learning curve, but this is taught in brief, easy-to-understand and yet informative tutorials, and all adds to the impressively deep combat system. This is one game that truly caters to the hardcore JRPG fan. While the game may contain overwhelming large amounts of menus covering the screen, Xenoblade will still be appealing to many as the gameplay is quite fast and action-packed. Unlike many games of the genre, instead of a waiting for your turn to attack in real-time, each skill known as Arts have their own individual cool-down time. This means you can be constantly attacking, using a specific skill while waiting for the next to be available, really speeding up combat, keeping it fast and fun. This doesn’t mean it’s a button-masher though, as particular attacks must be used at certain angles to achieve their full potential. Also the more damage a party member takes drastically changes their ability to connect and evade attacks, adding an extra layer of strategy into combat. Various other techniques come into play as well such as issuing a break into a topple when fighting Mechon, luring monsters into safe areas for fighting and the Aggro system that is based on the feelings of your enemies that effects on which party member they will want to attack among others, further deepening this unique combat system.
There are two main innovative elements Xenoblade places a focus on in combat. The first of which is the Affinity system-the bond of friendship between party members that improves the teamwork of the party in combat. During battle players can issue out a battle cry as well as words of encouragement, revive, and help fallen and struggling members to earn and use Affinity points simply by pressing the B button at a certain time. Various other techniques earn Affinity as well such using an Art from the right angle and gaining a critical hit to earn a Affinity Bust. Earning Affinity builds up a meter that will allow players to issue a chain-attack and pull off devastating combos that really give an upper hand and can quickly turn the tide of a battle, so earning the abilty to do these from gaining Affinity is really important. The second main focus of fighting is using the Monado to see future fatal and deadly attacks, and preventing them from happening by warning allies and trying to change the result of the vision. Doing so earns the party Affinity as well, and it’s nice to see these visions of the future coming into gameplay as well and isn’t just a cheesy plot device.
These elements also come into the exploration element of the game, as the Affinity Chart means not only can you level up your players for battle, but you can level up their Affinity as well, providing a whole new level of depth to leveling up. In particular sections of the game, players will find areas where they can initiate heart-to-heart talks, which helps level up the parties Affinity. Affinity can also be leveled up by simply talking to non-player characters, many of which are named which adds an extra reason to talk to townsfolk, which is a nice addition to the game. Furthermore, visions of the future also occur in exploration, as sometimes you may stumble upon an item you’ll need to collect for a later side quest, and so a future vision will take place encouraging you to collect it even before your even needed to, adding another element to the side quests to the game, of which there are plenty, and lengthen the game’s lifespan without making it seem ike its too artificially stretched.
As for the rest of exploration, this is mostly a low point of the game as the camera can be frustrating and unhelpful at times, and the party does seem a little odd at times as they do seem to move unnaturally fast and party members seem to randomly pop in and out on occasions. However, it is still enjoyable as there are plenty of items to collect and equipment to buy and trade, monsters vary levels and mixes things up, but if your ever at level 15 and are killed by a level 70-something monster, Xenoblade is very forgiving and will let you respawn at the last visited landmark, of which there are very common. Visiting a landmark also gives you XP which is a nice addition. Another prime example of how forgiving Xendoblade is the fact that the party will automatically heal itself after a battle-no need for potions! You can also skip travelling certain areas via the map to speed up exploration, which is very welcome as well. In case you can’t tell by now, there is so much depth to Xenoblade Chronicles that it’s really hard to describe without rambling, but it doesn’t ever feel overwhelming, instead it feels very natural and flows nicely, which is a true testament to how great this game really is.
Graphics
The main problem with Xenoblade Chronicles unfortunately are with its graphics, but it’s not even that big of a deal. The game still looks good and environments are big and beautiful, but they could’ve benefited from being presented in HD, and textures can look quite bad in some cases, edges can often look rough and sometimes graphics can appear pretty blurred. Furthermore, animations can appear very stiff at times, and voices are not lip synced with the character models which is a shame. While it’s easy to point the finger at the console itself, there are plenty of nicer looking Wii games out there so it seems unfair to blame the Nintendo Wii for this. Strangely, one of the worst graphical moments of the game is within the prologue, with the environments’ textures looking quite unappealing, which is an odd thing to see as it should be trying to hook in the players. After this short prologue though, the game does begin to look much nicer. On the plus side however, environments are beautifully done and are huge, creating a wonderful sense of freedom emphasising the sense of exploration and adventure with style and grace.
Audio
The music of Xendoblade on the other hand is simply amazing and a delight to listen to, and Australian gamers are treated with a promotional 12-track cd featuring the best themes from the game. The game features a variety of genres, blending orchestral, rock and electronic music that mix well smoothly and effectively. Every environment in the game has you completely absorbed, and a lot of that is due to this soundtrack that truly shines as a standout element of the game. The main theme is particularly great, the general combat theme has a really energetic guitar lead that heightens the experience of the action-packed battle system and the game concludes with a beautiful and emotive song with female vocals. The English localization complements this entertaining soundtrack with some really great voice acting and dialogue as well. The really thick English accents are a refreshing change from the general American voices players are generally used to in video games, and the dialogue is believable and the battle cries never sound cheesy but rather encouraging, further amplifying the fun of combat. The only problem real fault with the audio is that the voices are unfortunately not synced with lip movement, but it isn’t always that plainly obvious and it doesn’t interfere with the storytelling at all thankfully.
Verdict
Xenoblade Chronicles is such a deep game, there’s just way too many things to mention in this review! The best part about it is that it never feels too overwhelming, and even though its very detailed, it has that seldom seen element of gaming that involves a huge amount of strategy yet still keeps everything action-packed, fast-paced and exciting. The soundtrack and voice acting is beyond impressive and really helps in amplifiing the experience, and is filled with unique ideas that feel really natural and fun. The biggest flaw of the game is that it’s graphics do seem a little dated, but Xenoblade Chronicles will amaze you with it’s attention to detail so often you won’t have time to even notice it. I honestly can’t remember the last time I enjoyed an RPG this much, and I doubt I’ll play one again for quite sometime. It’s a shame Nintendo currently has no plans to release this in North America, hopefully they decide otherwise in the near future.
PROS:
Excellent story with great pacing
Superb voice acting
Awesome Fast-Paced Combat That’s Insanely Deep
70+ Hours of Gameplay
Incredible Soundtrack
Cool Affinity System
Beautiful, Huge, Luscious Environments
One Of The Most Innovative And Unique RPG Games To Be Published in Quite Some Time
CONS:
Graphics Arn’t Bad, but the Wii Is Capable of Much, Much More
The slew of remakes and reboots continues on September 14, just a day before the Tokyo Game Show, when Radiant Silvergun launches on the Xbox Live Marketplace. For only 1200 Microsoft Points, or $15, you will receive the classic vertical-scroller, online co-op for two, “Saturn” and “arcade” game modes, different graphic options, and an an optional Ikaruga scoring variant.
With all these companies releasing their past games in newly repackaged formats, it will certainly be interesting to see if they try to come out with a new game based on the franchises they have previously released, or if they merely continue to port their games with added features. Which do you like better?
A brand new mystery will be at hand for puzzle fans when the Testament of Sherlock Holmes is released in fall this year (that’s in the Northern hemisphere of course, my dear Watson). The latest in the series of puzzle games based around Baker Street’s most famous Robert Downey Jr lookalike will see the detective framed for a series of crimes including theft, fraud, and, murder? The people of London, the bobbies of Scotland Yard, and even the ever loyal Dr Watson will all begin to lose their faith in him as Holmes finds himself unable to prove his innocence.
Players will step in to give Holmes and his genius level intellect a hand, examining clues, re-enacting crimes and interrogating witnesses in an effort to clear the detective’s name and solve the mystery.
Testament will be the first of the Sherlock Holmes games to be developed specifically for the PS3 and Xbox 360 rather than PC (although it will release across all three platforms), so the controls and visuals should be a step up from the previous adventures. The screenshots released today are all about showing off the “lush, captivating environments” made possible by an all new game engine, and they do look promising. Dr Watson has his trusty revolver on hand, and Victorian London looks like it should.
Hopefully the success of the Guy Ritchie film (with an upcoming sequel of its own) has revitalised interest in Holmes enough to make the title something worth investing in for both developers and gamers. The focus on consoles seems like a good thing for the series, so hopefully come the end of the year there will be an intresting little mystery on the hands of Holmes fans everywhere.
After a week off we get right back into the mix with new editor to the site Joshua Spudic. We get into what game creatures we would like as a pet, Alexis gets his shipment from NYC and is finally able to play video games again and we all get into the weeks game news.
Cast: Alexis Ayala, Michael Marr, Luke Halliday and Joshua Spudic
Oh yes people, there are some new screenshots and info available for the Nintendo 3DS WWE All Stars game, which for the first time will literally be able to say that it’s in your face. THQ is promising fun arcade style gameplay that will appeal to casual followers and hardcore fans alike – all in spectacular 3D. Every wrestler will have grapples, combos, finshers and signature moves, and the usual create-a-superstar mode is along for the ride as well.
 So what about the line up? Well All Stars claims to have the best roster ever, with a total of 43 Superstars and Legends. Current gen superstars like Rey Mysterio and John Cena will be able to battle it out with Andre the Giant, Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, and for the first time ever in a THQ/WWE game, Macho Man Randy Savage.
“Oooh, yeah!”
There will also be two game modes exclusive to the 3DS: Gauntlet and Score Scramble. A single man at a time style Royal Rumble, Gauntlet sets up the player against every Superstar and Legend in the game, taking them on in consecutive matches with showing off your skills the only way to regenerate health. Score Scramble challenges players to be as over the top as possible, and pull off the most outrageous moves to land the win with the highest score.
Another highlight are the ‘Best of All Time’ match ups, with past and present superstars pitted against each other to determine who’s the champ when it comes to ‘Best Big Man’ and ‘Most Impressive High Flier”, to name a few.
WWE All Stars 3DS will so far be coming to North America (22 November), Australia and New Zealand (24 November) and Europe (25 November).
So can a 3DS WWE title really have the best roster ever? Excited for some 3D brawls? As ever –Â let us know below…
It’s all lights, camera, action as Driver San Francisco shows up with yet another promo video, this time showcasing the ‘film director’ mode. Racing fans who fancy a sideline in movie making will be able to record their own driving using several different cameras and angles, edit all the footage together, and upload the finished product for the Driver world to see.
It’s difficult to tell how in depth the editor will actually be from the brief flashes of interface on show here, but the premise is a good one – being able to recreate your favourite movie car chase can only be a good thing after all. By the look of the opening few seconds, it’s only a matter of time until we get a Bullitt remake a la Driver San Francisco!
Crazy Machines: Elements
Developer: FAKT Software
Publisher: DTP Entertainment
Platforms: XBLA (reviewed), PSN, PC
Release Date: August 24, 2011
Price: 800 MSP – (Available Here)
Overview
A tennis ball rolls down a tube hitting a lever. Suddenly, the lever flings the tennis ball at a nitrous flask. As the flask falls off the ledge, a box of fireworks rests below. BLAST OFF!! This type of phenomenon can only be reached in the labs of Crazy Machines: Elements. Whether you are using electricity to start a fire or a steam machine to power a treadmill, the game takes machine creation to another level. Time for the nuts and bolts break down!
Gameplay
Each level displays a main objective for the player to achieve. Once the objective is completed, the level will be finished. Then the player may choose to retry, go on to the next, or exit the level. An objective could be anywhere from dropping a ball through a hoop to breaking a jar.
The inventory is the mad professor’s arsenal of tools for each round. Through the main levels the inventory is automatically set. By having limited amount of tools, the difficulty is basically a guessing game to match the developer’s line of thought. Starting off the levels are very simple and easy to figure out – i.e., put plank under basketball tilted towards the hoop. However, levels become increasingly complex and take several hours to complete.
The complexity of the each level is also determined by the number of gears to collect. A set number of gears are placed throughout a stage and must be touched to attain a perfect machine. A player may continue on to the next stage even if all of the gears are not collected. All gears must be collected at the time of objective completion. Even if your machine plays past the completion, any gears attained after will not be calculated. I became enraged after finding this little tidbit out. RAWR!!!! Make yourself accustomed to delaying objects.
My personal favorite aspect of the game is to design your own machine. Integrating this custom option lets the player take the reins. A challenge option also becomes available to players. Other players may pose a greater challenge than the developers at FAKT software. Machines can be uploaded online to prove who is the craziest scientist of them all with leaderboards as proof.
Graphics/Audio
Graphics are usually the main cause of misguidance. Inventory items like gears can only be placed on a solid backdrop such as metal or wood. Tools cannot overlap each other, and boundaries are more than likely a factor in item placement. Items like the punching bag need to be correctly positioned on a surface in order to be locked in place.
The in-game items mesh well with each other and deliver a solid animation performance. When a small toy truck is making its way to a nitrous flask, you know for sure that something is going to blow.
On smaller resolutions the text boxes are very small and hard to read. The objectives are crucial to understand the purpose of each level, and a hardly legible text is an unnecessary flaw. After several seconds the text disappears but can be accessed from a hint tool. Having larger text would make gameplay easier on any resolution.
Level music is not annoying which is a definite plus. The scores are tasteful and somewhat relaxing. Depending on the player’s ability, the levels may not last longer than a few minutes but on the off chance the music may become repetitive.
Audio effects are probably the most detailed in the game. While not every action is given its own *ding* or *swoosh*, Crazy Machines: Elements has quality sound effects that tickle your eardrums. A lightning zap here and a cracking jar there is a necessity to the game’s fruition. Without these effects, the audience would not grasp the entire picture. Fireworks without booms and pops are just pretty colors.
Overall
Crazy Machines: Elements delivers a solid backbone of levels for play. By providing a limited inventory basis, the FAKT software minimized available solutions for each stage. While this aspect can be seen as a negative, the player is challenged with collecting all of the gears with limited tools.
But creating a custom machine is exactly the freedom a mad geek needs. Creating a machine and having others try to master your creation can only extend the game’s life. The challenge mode will certainly entertain those who have completed the original levels and give players a chance to rank higher on the leaderboards.
What would Crazy Machines: Elements be without sound? Boring. Explosions, zaps, and crashes make more amusement as well as common sense. With a mellow background music and neat sound effects, this nutty game makes for quite a ride.
With a super tight marketing period, Hard Reset was announced only a month ago and it will release on the 13 of September. This game is aiming to create a new breed of videogame marketing, one where it doesn’t take countless hours of hopeful waiting on your part for the game to release. So far, it appears to be working out well for the team behind the game.
Hard Reset will launch with a price point of $30, although by pre-ordering on Steam, you can get 10% off. The operating specs for the game and the official website are below. It certainly looks like a game to keep an eye on.
MINIMUM:
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon 64
RAM: 2 GB
Graphics card: 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GS / ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
Hard Drive: 4 GB free hard drive space
RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Quad Core 2.3 GHz / AMD Phenom II x4 2.5 GHz
RAM: 3 GB
Graphics card: 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT / ATI Radeon HD 4870 or better
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
Hard Drive: 4 GB free hard drive space
Back at E3, Sony announced a Playstation branded 3DTV, which is to retail at USD $500. There was a vague late 2011 release date attached to it until now, as Sony has announced that the TV shall land in stores in November. Now that’s a little less vague.
The TV features SimulView technology, using the 3D effect to display each player a separate screen, which rids of the half screens of the split screen. The TV will also come with an HDMI cable, one pair of 3D glasses (extra pairs come at a price of $70) and Motorstorm: Apocalypse. Pre-order the TV before September 30, however, and receive an extra game, Resistance 3, on top of the already sweet deal.
Although not an early adopter of 3D, having a full screen for local multiplayer is actually a good idea. I guess, though, the feature will be limited to two players, if you have the extra pair. Have you say below. Are you guys going to pick it up or give it a miss?
