Archive for category Game Impressions
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Demo Impressions
Posted by Ceidz in Game Impressions, Media, Ni No Kuni, PLAYSTATION Store, PS3, PS3 software, PSN on December 6th, 2012
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, a heart-warming tale of a young boy named Oliver, who embarks on a journey into a parallel world in an attempt to bring his mother back from the dead. Along the way, Oliver makes new friends and adopts many of the wonderful creatures that inhabit the world, raising them to battle other creatures on his behalf as he takes on formidable enemies. Developed by LEVEL-5 alongside Studio Ghibli, the legendary animation studio, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch combines beautiful animated visuals, masterful storytelling and a sweeping score into an epic role-playing adventure like no other.
A demo for the upcoming JRPG Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is now available on the PSN. This is one of the upcoming games I was the most hyped to play in early 2013, and I’ll share with you my impressions of the demo.
Long story short, the demo blew my mind.
[PSN Early Review] R&C: Full Frontal Assault
Posted by Darrin in Game Impressions, PS3, PS3 Reviews / Vita Reviews, PS3 software, PSN on December 1st, 2012
Quick Summary: This game is awesome. This is definitely the most fun and addicting action game that I’ve played in 2012. I would go as far as to say that this is a contender for all time favorite tower defense, strategy, and solo platforming (haven’t tried the multiplayer features) game.
Most of the game mechanics are familiar from past R&C titles: the weapon wheel and upgrade system, bolts, grind rails, hover boots, Mr. Zurkon, etc. But they all seem to fit perfectly with this tower defense + exploration hybrid game.
A few other points:
- The strategy game element works. You have to choose which weapons to get, which to power up, which towers/barriers to buy, where to place them, and when to stay close to your base and play defensively, when to explore, when to farm for bolts for defense, when to farm for weapon upgrades, and when to take out the enemy level objectives.
- This is a challenging game, but the good kind of difficulty and not frustrating difficulty. I’ve been restarting levels a lot, but every time I learn the mechanics a little bit more and I am excited to try some new strategy.
- Graphically, this game is unusually smooth: The frame rate is completely stutter-free which is uncommon for a top-tier 3D game and the Pixar-movie-style character animation system is unmatched. These aren’t really new to the R&C series, but they really make the underlying strategy game more enjoyable. I know most of the online crowd, including readers here, hate stereoscopic 3D, and I see that feature is hidden from all the promotional coverage, but wow is it amazing to experience. For the first few hours I played without this feature, but when I turned it on, I really felt like I could see and perceive lots of little detail that I couldn’t before. The stereoscopic 3D is unusually good for this title.
E3 2012 Hands-On Demo: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Posted by PAUL FIERCE in Game Impressions, Media, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance on June 18th, 2012
Imagine living in a world where cyborgs rule and various military groups have employed these cyborgs as their personal bodyguards. Fortunately for us, that world is contained in Platinum Games’ Metal Gear Rising. I was very skeptical at first, however, it took me less than 5 minutes to be submerged and fully embrace the world of Metal Gear Rising.
The Demonstration
The game starts off in a courtyard where a person with a German accent is explaining the controls. Targets raise up off the ground, revealing at first, standalone silhouettes. The second batch of targets are a little more challenging, as they appear to be holding hostages. This is where the fun begins. You hold down the L1 button and the game goes into a slow motion, Max Payne bullet time-style mode. With the right analog stick, you guide the “cut line” (indicated by a orange glow) where to cut, then you simply flick the right analog to that direction, and there you have it!
As the demo progresses, you work your way up the chain, so to speak, by fighting cyborg soldiers one at a time, and sometimes even two at a time. Later on, a Gekko shows up meaning to ruin your day, but you make short work of it by grabbing its tentacle and spinning it around like a stringed Yo-Yo. That’s the way I disposed of it, however there are hundreds of other ways. “Ninja Run” was demonstrated, where you simply hold down a button and you can dash on and around cars, over walls, evade attacks, and “rocket jump”.
PlayStation Vita Impressions
Posted by Darrin in Game Impressions, PlayStation Vita, PS3 on February 24th, 2012
Major Setup Warning
When you first turn on the Vita, it needs to do a system update. DO NOT use your existing PSN/SEN login until after the update is done and you’ve passed the initial setup step. If you logically choose to use your existing PSN/SEN login, then the Vita will error saying you need to install the system update first. But you can’t install the system update until you’ve passed those setup screens. This is basically a major setup bug with an easy workaround. I spent hours frantically trying to get this thing to update via the PS3 and my Windows laptop (you don’t need either) before I posted my issue online, and figured out the simple but illogical workaround.
Control Impressions
Having hybrid controls — both console sticks/buttons and smartphone touch/tilt — is amazing. Touch works so much better for any type of menus or item management screen. Physical buttons and sticks are critical for action mechanics. The back-touch is brilliant for touch control when you don’t want to hide the screen with the player’s finger.
One wish list item: the sticks and buttons are rather small. The biggest problem is that the analog sticks have limited range and precision. I’m hoping the Vita gets some quality aftermarket stick extenders (like these). Actually, stick extenders are completely inevitable.
A second wish list item: why don’t games allow tilt to look? Have you used Google Sky Maps where you physically move your phone or tablet and it acts like a virtual window to see the stars? Why can’t they have games like that, where you move the Vita itself to see into the game, rather than using an analog stick?
Non-Gaming App Impressions
The web browser is way better than PS3, but still way behind a decent smartphone. That seems to be a general pattern. My Android phone does all the non-gaming functionality much better, but I’m still glad the Vita has usable versions of these apps.
OS Impressions
The OS is generally much nicer than PS3/360. A phone-style touch screen centric interface is much easier than XMB. Jumping in and out of a game is lightning responsive, but starting a download, or activating any network feature seems sluggish. Still, this is a big improvement over the PS3.
Wishlist: Don’t show games in the main browse area that require a cartridge to play when the cartridge isn’t installed. Personally, I’m buying most of my games as downloads so I don’t have to deal with this.
Game Impressions
Stardust is the perfect starter game for me, because it’s so familiar and still fun to play. It has a lot of improvements since the PS3 version. The optional “Delta” controls are silly, but the core game controls are perfect. The main action controls are just like PS3, the Vita’s small analog sticks work perfectly, and this game adds a subtle tilt-look effect and touch-screen menus. This has tons of cool game modes and is a very content rich title.
Lumines is the best in the series. They added some really mind blowing graphic effects to the different skins. For a falling block game, I really didn’t expect amazing visuals like this. There are tons extras, modes, leveling RPG mechanics that I have only started to scratch the surface of. $35 (on PSN) seems like a lot of a Lumines game, but there’s definitely a lot of content and depth here.
Escape Plan is a clever puzzler that uses the touch + back touch in a natural and fun way. So far it’s a great puzzler.
Uncharted looks technically amazing. I’m not in the mood for an action adventure game, but this is a nice game to see the graphical potential and polish of the Vita.
Overall, a great launch lineup. Stardust and Lumines are established franchises, but these iterations have deep improvements and are surprisingly content-rich; usually launch games are simpler, shallower experiences.
2012 has a really strong lineup ahead. Personally, I’m dying to play Motorstorm RC, Sound Shapes, LittleBigPlanet, and possibly Gravity Rush. Additionally, I’m hoping to see some of the great third party 2012 titles show up on Vita as well.
Asura’s Wrath Demo Impressions
Posted by PAUL FIERCE in Asura's Wrath, Game Impressions, Opinion Piece on January 11th, 2012
**Opinions expressed in this article are solely the thoughts of the writer and do not reflect the PS3blog.net opinion entirely.**
Capcom’s new intellectual property, Asura’s Wrath, does not disappoint. It does not disappoint in the area of giving the developers who worked on this game something to add in their portfolio and resume. Capcom gives us about a 20 minute demo, split in to two random chapters of the game. The first part of the demo pits you in a battle with this huge, presumably, “boss” character. I mean, this guy is huge, as in ,”as big as a cruise ship” huge! Apparently, this boss guy is hell bent on crushing you, literally, by any means possible. He even tries to sit on you. Yup, sit on you!
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