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Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword - 1
November 27, 2011 By In Reviews, Wii

After the disappointment that was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, it seemed that the magic of The Legend of Zelda franchise had been lost. Gone were the vibrant and youthful adventures we loved, replaced with an awkward attempt at darkness and realism. With the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Nintendo aims to go back to the franchise’s roots and recapture the magic that was lost back in 2006. After delving deep into Link’s latest adventure, I can say with confidence that anything lost has been returned; better than ever.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is, chronologically speaking, a prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time and tells the origins of the Master Sword and Ganandorf. In this adventure, Link takes off from Skyloft and travels to the world below to give chase to the apple of his eye, Princess Zelda. Apart from serving as an introduction to key portions of the franchise, the game presents a familiar story of saving a princess in need. In this way, Skyward Sword, like most games in The Legend of Zelda series, is its own entity. The game shares many common elements of other games in the franchise, but provides its own take on concepts and adds a huge amount of brand new ideas.

The most prominent of these new ideas is the addition of true motion controls. Fighting enemies with 1:1 control of Link’s sword is something fans have been fantasizing about for years. To Skyward Sword’s benefit, the motion controls are precise and intuitive. The new control scheme is simple enough that anyone can pick up and begin besting Moblins, while veterans will have to remain focused on every attack even on their second or third playthrough. The challenge provided is one of the keys to the success of the new control scheme. As mentioned, combat is no longer z-targeting followed by one button press. Now, players must face every enemy head-on, watch their defensive position, and then instantly plan and execute their attack. Sure, you can wave the remote and usually defeat enemies in earlier areas, but to master the game, concentration and skill are a necessity.

Apart from combat, the game also offers some cool motion-controlled tidbits. Players will have to balance Link with the Wii Remote while walking tight ropes, spin the Wii Remote to solve boss-door puzzles in dungeons, and drop it down to their side, then flick to bowl bombs. All-in-all the new re-worked motion controls are a great addition to the franchise that will hopefully remain in Link’s future console adventures. While the controls can be troublesome if you aren’t playing in a large enough space, they are a great innovation that was necessary for the franchise to remain fresh. 

While controlling Link through his latest adventure, you will surely notice how colourful the world is in Skyward Sword. With a visual style that combines all of the last Zelda console games, including the cell-shaded Wind Waker, it was pretty much guaranteed to appease all fans in this department. Unsurprisingly, the visuals are fantastic, despite the lack of power provided by the Wii. What did surprise me though while playing Skyward Sword was the audio. Of course the lack of voice-acting was no surprise, but the soundtrack throughout the game had me amazed. The soundtrack to Skyward Sword is one of the best in the series since Orcarina of Time. While none of the songs will likely have same longevity as songs from Orcarina of Time, they are so unique and wonderful in their own way that I hope they at least get some recognition among the die-hard Zelda crowd.

With such beautiful environments and music, it is understandable that gamers want to be lost in Skyloft and the world below for hours. Luckily, Skyward Sword offers an incredible amount of fresh gameplay to keep gamers going for 50 – 100 hours in their first playthrough. With decisions to make, areas to explore, and side-quests to complete, the majority of players will be giving their Wii more play time than ever before.

After 50 hours of exploration, I can safely say that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is one of the Wii’s best games. With a new, more challenging approach to the Zelda franchise that doesn’t forget its roots, Skyward Sword accomplishes what most games on any platform aspire to. If there is one Wii game that deserves your attention this year, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is it.

Score: 9.5/10

Review: Disney’s Epic Mickey

Disney's Epic Mickey -- 1
December 30, 2010 By In Images, Reviews, Wii

Since his golden days on the SEGA Genesis, Mickey Mouse has been mostly MIA in the video game industry. Now in late 2010, famed developer Warren Spector aims to bring everyone’s favourite mouse back to gaming with the release of Disney’s Epic Mickey. After playing the game I am sad to say that Spector’s version of a darker Mickey has been tainted with some debilitating gameplay mechanics.

Epic Mickey tells the story of Mickey Mouse and his adventures in , the place where forgotten Disney characters end up. Mickey must save this land of forgotten characters from a giant blob of paint thinner called the Shadow Blot after accidentally spilling paint thinner all over the world. It is clear that the story is Epic Mickey’s strongest trait. Seeing Mickey as the villain after the accident puts a spin on the character and his change from obliviousness towards the accident to remorse about what he has done creates a masterpiece of character development and storytelling. Seeing each of the forgotten characters attempt to convince Mickey of their relevance adds a layer of humor to the dark plot that is uniquely Disney. It is clear that Spector is a Disney fan who has had its influence rub off. The story of Epic Mickey is so good that if you can get through the horrendous gameplay — which we will get to in a minute — I recommend you play the game just to experience it.

Now for the gameplay. Oh boy, the gameplay. Well to be fair, the gameplay mechanics in Epic Mickey isn’t exactly terrible by itself, it’s just the awful camera that ends up making the gameplay terrible. The camera in Epic Mickey seems to have a mind of its own and will always position itself in the worst places. It can be controlled using the d-pad on the Wii Remote, but the camera then tries to fight the player over control. This creates a mess and makes the 3D platforming, one of the biggest gameplay mechanics in Epic Mickey, nearly impossible. This causes immense frustration and had me wanting to throw my controllers across the room on multiple occasions. Where the gameplay and not just the camera fails Epic Mickey is in its simplicity. It is clear that the gameplay was just added between story segment when you start to breakdown each objective. The gameplay is set up through missions which have the player doing MMO like tasks that are either: find X person, collect X amount of item, or destroy X amount of enemies.

Thankfully the 2D platforming in Epic Mickey is immensely better and while it doesn’t come close to that of Mickey’s Genesis classics, it is still great, classic platforming. However Epic Mickey once again falls flat on its face with its morality system, or lack there of. The game tries to give the player morality decisions by using paint to make things grow or thinner to destroy them, but the lack of effect on the gameplay makes this a nearly non-existent feature. If there is an Epic Mickey sequel, I want to see the use of paint for thinner actually mean something. The best part of the gameplay in Epic Mickey are the boss battles which have the player doing something fresh and unique each time, but those are so far and between that it doesn’t make them worth it.

Epic Mickey uses the infamous Gamebryo engine and its graphics suffer from it. The in-game graphics in Epic Mickey are dark and ugly, which as I’ve said many times before, is the worst thing a Wii game can be. Dark doesn’t work on Wii and Epic Mickey further proves this point. The character models look pretty good especially Mikey, Petey, and the Pirates, but everything else is just plain ugly. As for the story cut scenes, they are done with very bright pastel drawings that look fantastic. There is also a fantastic looking CG cut scene at the beginning of the game. It’s once again sad to see that how story and gameplay in Epic Mickey are once again polar opposites. The audio in Epic Mickey is okay. There are barely any voice overs which is quite disappointing, but for the most part the music fills in that giant quality gap.

In the end it feels like Epic Mickey would have been much better as a movie or television series. It is obvious that the gameplay simply half-asses itself in between segments of Warren Spector‘s masterful story to make it a video game. From gameplay to graphics it also seems as though there are two different forms of media shoved together. Unfortunately, its the game side of the two pieces of media that is awful. I can only recommend Epic Mickey to the die-hard Disney fans who can slave through the gameplay. Everyone else should just avoid the whole thing all together or find a way to extract only the story from this overall poor and disappointing experience.

PROS

  • Masterful story
  • Good character models
  • Great music

CONS

  • Debilitating camera
  • Terribly simplistic and repetitive gameplay
  • Ugly graphics
  • Lack of voice-overs

Score: 5/10

Review: Sonic Colors

Sonic Colours -- 2
December 19, 2010 By In DS, Images, Reviews, Videos, Wii

Our favorite blue hedgehog hasn’t had the easiest transition from 2D to 3D. While Mario was blowing the minds of children across America in 1997 when he moved from 2D to 3D, Sonic’s transition has nearly killed his franchise. One sub-par game after the other from Sonic team have made the words “Sonic” and “3D” together have become the most feared in gaming. But with Sonic Colours, Sonic Team is looking to remove all of the stigma.

From the start it is easy to see that Sonic Colours is focused towards a younger crowd. The story of Sonic Colours has Sonic and Tails going to an amusement park built by Doctor Robotnik. Robotnik claims that the amusement park was built to show how sorry he is for all of the times he tried to defeat Sonic. But the blue speed demon isn’t going to be believe such non-sense. He knows that Robotnik is up to something and goes to find out what it is. At the amusement park Sonic and Tails talk to these alien creatures called wisps. Sonic soon discovers that the point of the amusement park is to attract the aliens and capture them for their resources. Sonic then must team up with the wisps to defeat Robotnik once and for all.

None of the Sonic games have ever been about the narrative, so it’s no surprise that Sonic Colours’ story isn’t that great. The whole premise and everything else down to the Wisps is very childish. Usually this isn’t a problem, such as in Kirby’s Epic Yarn, but Sonic Colours chose to have some humor in it too which is groan worthy. The worst part is that the cut scenes appear after every through levels of gameplay. It is obvious that Sonic Team wanted to tell the player a story, they just don’t have a particularly good story to tell.

Where Sonic Team begins to regain respect from fans is in the gameplay of Sonic Colors. It’s obvious that the team went back to the drawing board to see what gamers want in a Sonic game. In the end they came out with a fantastic combination: speed, platforming, and exploration. Unfortunately they had a hard time balancing the elements of this combination. They then fall flat on their face as they try too hard to copy the Super Mario Galaxy games.

Getting some speed in Sonic Colors is a fantastic feeling. There is nothing better than having the camera positioned behind Sonic and watching as the environment passes by in a blur. But in typical Sonic Team fashion, they have to ruin it. Every time Sonic gets a good amount of speed going, the developers throw a platforming section or large group of enemies to stop Sonic right in his tracks.

The same thing happens when the camera switches to a 2D side-view. In this position the platforming is great, but the placement of the platforming sections and the balance between them and speed is horrible. If the gameplay in Sonic Colors had been left at this, my opinion of the game would have been much higher. But unfortunately, the developers had to “pay homage” to the two best games on the Nintendo Wii: Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. They do this through the use of characters called “Wisps”. Wisps are pretty much the power-ups found in any Mario game — but more specifically the Galaxy games — as in-game NPCs.

This a pretty good concept on paper, but the execution is horrible. Each of the Wisps’ abilities aren’t that useful. With the exception of one or two Wisps, Sonic is able to complete levels perfectly without their help. For the most part they act as more of a visual treat than helpful solution. You can either just run through the level as Sonic, or use a Wisp and look “cool” completing the level. Despite my distaste for the Wisps, I will give them one thing: they are great for exploration. While they aren’t helpful most of the time for completing levels, they are useful for finding little hidden items and exploring around the levels. This is great except for the fact that the majority of Sonic Colors’ players just want to beat all of the levels and not bother with exploring.

Sonic Colors may have a lot of problems when it comes to gameplay, but thankfully Sonic Team doesn’t force you to spend 15+ hours with these faults. For anyone who wants to just beat all the levels and never touch the game again, Sonic Colors is a very short game. It took me around 5 hours to play through each level only once, and that seemed to me like the perfect amount of time to spend playing the game. I don’t mean to sound condescending, but the brevity of Sonic Colors works in it’s favor.

What also works in Sonic Colors’ favor is it’s controls. Sonic Team was smart to not force tackle motion controls down the throats of players…for the most part. The standard control layout is a horizontal Wii Remote, just like all other platformers on the Wii. However some motion controls are thrown in when players activate the special abilities of the Wisps. Thrusting the horizontal Wii Remote is how the Wisps are activated, but it doesn’t work very well. Having this control fail multiple times lead me to discover that my Gamecube controller works with the game. The Gamecube/Classic controller option is vastly superior to the Wii Remote as it doesn’t require any thrusting. The only downside is that it makes the game seem like it would have been the exact same experience on a last generation console such as the Gamecube or PS2.

Visually Sonic Colors is once again mediocre. The game has some fantastic looking CG rendered cut-scenes, but from there it gets much worse Much of the game is in either dark lighting or uses dark colors. There is a ton of black, brown, purple and red which do not work well on the Wii. There are some bright areas that look nice, but even in the right lighting, Sonic Colors doesn’t look spectacular. As I said earlier, this game very easily could have been on the PS2 with it’s graphical quality. Unfortunately the audio isn’t much of an improvement either and features a generic sound track. Most of it seems unique, but is hopelessly boring and completely unmemorable. I don’t even remember hearing the classic Sonic theme.

Overall Sonic Colors is a mediocre attempt at cloning Super Mario Galaxy. The Wisps and the sort-of space environments all pale in comparison to easily the two best games on the console. The story is childish and irrelevant, the gameplay has some major faults and the visuals and audio at mediocre. One of the best things about Sonic Colors is that it knows exactly when it should end. This however is a slight turn in the right direction for Sonic Team. They have all the elements of a fantastic Sonic game here, they just need to figure out how to balance them. Sonic fans will more than likely enjoy the blue hedgehog’s latest attempt at returning to relevancy, but everyone else should just turn and run away from this pile of mediocrity.

PROS

  • Has all the elements of a good Sonic game
  • Beautiful CG cutscenes
  • Wraps up at the right time


CONS

  • Story is childish and irrelevant
  • Gameplay balance doesn’t work
  • Bland graphics
  • Forgettable soundtrack

Score: 5.5/10

Review: Rock Band 3

Rock Band 3 -- 5
November 12, 2010 By In Images, Playstation 3, Reviews, Videos, Wii, Xbox 360

It’s been almost three years since Harmonix launched their revolutionary music video game series Rock Band to praise and hype from around the world. Despite the sharp decrease in popularity of the music genre as of late, Rock Band is still a series that manages to bring more and more people with every release and Rock Band 3 is no exception. Going back to revolutionizing the genre like they did back in late 2007, Harmonix is adding the keyboard instrument and pro versions of all instruments to this fairly young, but quickly aging series. Unfortunately, Harmonix was only able to provide us with a stand-alone copy of Rock Band 3, so our review will be a little different. This review will be through the perspective of someone who already invested enough into the plastic instrument genre, and want to know what advances Rock Band 3 will be able to bring them.

To be clear, Rock Band 3 isn’t completely revolutionary. Before you start panicking, I can tell you that the same gameplay you know and love from the original Rock Band is there. Guitarists push coloured buttons and strum, drummers hit coloured pads, and a singers sing at the correct pitch and length, all to music of various artists. The revolution comes from the added keyboards and pro-versions of the instruments, but as I mentioned in the intro, we won’t be getting into those.

The overall game of Rock Band has been overhauled with the third entry. Once you start up the game, you are asked right away to create a band. This is done to make everything the player does in the game relate to his/her career. Every song you play, point you earn, and goal you unlock counts towards your career and it is such a great turn for the series. Instead of having to make different bands and choose different players for every mode in the game, you stay with one customizable character and band. This makes everything incredibly streamlined and easy to follow.

Another overhaul is how the career mode works. Instead of only playing set-list after set-list to completion, the career now revolves around completing goals. Each goal can feature everything from connecting online with the game to completing a specific set-list. This works great as it brings in more variety for the career, but does have one big downfall. For players like me who aren’t connected online with their consoles, you will not be able to complete the first goal of the game. With each goal having various things to do, if you can’t complete one, you don’t get the goal completion. Harmonix softens the blow a bit by making the amount of goals fairly small, with each goal specific to an instrument. The only exception to this is the first goal which revolves around setting up the game. Taking the gameplay of music rhythm games to a whole new level by removing the monotony of restrictive set-list playing and breathing some new life with interesting takes is something Harmonix may never be able to top.

If you thought Harmonix’s near perfection of Rock Band’s gameplay was surprising enough, you’ve got another thing coming. The fantastic graphics of the Rock Band series have been nearly perfected, as I don’t see them getting any better. When you look at the character models in comparison to those in Rock Band’s main competitor Guitar Hero, you realize how superior Rock Band is in yet another way. Along with the fantastic character models is the beautiful effects Harmonix puts over the performances for certain songs. For example, while performing a nice, slow ballad, the performance will sometimes slow down or go completely psychedelic. While I appreciate the nice effects, they do come at a bit of a cost. When the performance slows down and the note chart stays at it’s regular speed, a bit of a destruction is made. It becomes hard to focus on the notes and I personally felt a bit nausea having my eyes darting back and fourth between slow and fast. Despite this, Rock Band’s graphics, especially the character models, are the best yet when it comes to music games.

Harmonix matches the fantastic graphics with awesome audio and a great setlist. The audio quality of each and every song is at a high level, and it never drops once. When it comes to the setlist, there is a song for pretty much everyone. The list is full of hits, and covers everything from the ’60s to the ’00s. If For some reason none of the songs on the disc appeal to you, Harmonix is celebrating the release of the 2000th song on the Rock Band network. With literally thousands of songs, there is no excuse for not liking at least one song available for Rock Band 3. Also as a cool added bonus, Harmonix has thrown a little paper manual in all retail copies of Rock Band 3 that lists the 2000 songs on the Rock Band Network.

When it comes down to it, Rock Band 3 has set the bar for music games. As it stands, nothing is better. Even from the perspective of someone who hasn’t played with the new keyboard or pro instruments, the great improvements of pretty much everything prove how great this game is. If you are going to purchase one plastic instrument, rock focused music game this holiday season, Rock Band 3 should be it

PROS

  • Gameplay is still great
  • Fantastic graphics
  • Outstanding audio
  • Soundtrack will appeal to everyone
  • Despite new instruments, the game is still great for those with original instruments

CONS

  • Some visual effects are hard to see and cause confusion
  • Some goals impossible to complete without being online

Score: 9/10

Review: Disney Sing It: Party Hits

Disney Sing It Party Hits -- 1
November 3, 2010 By In Images, Playstation 3, Reviews, Videos, Wii

I’m not going to lie, Disney Sing It: Party Hits is not a game that appeals to my demographic. I was cautious about the game from the bad press that previous Disney Sing It games have received. Once I loaded up the game and started playing, I quickly realized that Party Hits is a competent music game. It is far from a black sheep of genre, but also doesn’t add anything spectacular to this style of game. Those who look past the Disney title shouldn’t be surprised considering the game is developed by Zoë Mode, a developer known for its work on the SingStar series.

Party Hits is just like every other singing game you have seen before. The music video of the song you wish to sing plays behind a karaoke style on-screen box that displays the lyrics and pitch lines. In order to score points the player must sing at the proper pitch and at the correct length in order to match the pitch lines. This gameplay doesn’t mess with the standard of singing video games but it also doesn’t add anything to improve the genre. The gameplay in Party Hits is divided into three modes.

The main mode for Party Hits is the “Sing It!” mode, which is the game at its most basic form. This mode is played solo and has players choose which song they want to sing along to and at which difficulty they wish to sing at. From there, the player simply sings along and trys to score as many points as possible to unlock awards.

The two additional modes available are the “Party Play” and “Vocal Coach” modes. The Party Play mode is identical to the Sing It mode, but allows for multiple players. The Vocal Coach mode features Disney star Demi Lovato teaching players how to sing. It incorporates the use of the pitch matching gameplay and teaches players how to improve their performance in the game. Having the Disney star teaching the lessons keeps the audience of the game: children, engaged with what is happening. If you’ve never taken a vocal lesson before, this mode is perfect for starting out and learning some tips and tricks. My only problem with it is the constant auto-saving between lessons. With some lessons taking less than a minute or two to complete, having to wait 10 – 20 seconds for the game to save can be quite cumbersome. But this is a small flaw that can be easily overlooked.

Sound wise, Disney Sing It: Party Hit is really impressive. The music in the menus and in the gameplay is crystal clear and has no hiccups. When Demi Lovato is being the “Vocal Coach” her audio is very clear and easy to understand. When you get down to the actual set list of the game, it is hit or miss depending on your musical tastes. If you are a young girl who loves to watch the Disney Channel, you will likely love the entire set list. However if you are the average “gamer”, not a single song on the disc will appeal to you. Ultimately the quality of the set list comes down to personal music tastes, just like all over music video games.

Replay value is where the wheels really start to fall off with Party Hits. By genre standards, the 28 song set list is quite small. Pair that with a complete lack of DLC, and Disney Sing It: Party Hits won’t last that long. Scoring high on all of the songs will endow players with various awards and trophies. Unlocking all of the awards will take a little bit of time especially for younger players. Every high score is also recorded on an in-game leaderboard however the complete lack of online functionality with the leaderboard puts a bit of a damper on it. I feel that Zoë Mode could have tried a lot harder in expanding the replay value of the game opposed to simply releasing an inevitable sequel next year.

If you enjoy the tween focused set list of Party Hits you will find an above average singing game. The game doesn’t break the singing genre but also doesn’t add anything revolutionary to it. Gamers who want a more mature set list should obviously avoid this game but shouldn’t scoff at the Disney title. The developer, Zoë Mode, can make a good singing game but the tween set list will leave the game only appealing to a small demographic.

PROS

  • Good gameplay
  • Vocal Coach mode is fantastic
  • Great sound
  • Perfect music game for children

CONS

  • Too many auto-saves break up the gameplay
  • Lack of replay value
  • Likely will have no DLC
  • Only 28 songs on the disc

Score: 6.5/10

Review: Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Kirby's Epic Yarn -- 3
October 23, 2010 By In Images, Reviews, Videos, Wii

Back in June at Nintendo’s E3 2010 press conference, I was skeptical of a game titled Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The childish, yarn filled graphics didn’t appeal to me at first, and I laughed at the somewhat lame use of “Epic” in the title, especially considering the other “Epic” Wii release Disney’s Epic Mickey. After getting just a small taste of this new Kirby adventure, my skepticism of the title was completely thrown away. I was knitted into this epic yarn, and couldn’t get enough. I would even go as far as saying that Super Mario Galaxy 2 may not be a shoe-in for Wii game of the year.

This review is going to start with a statement that will be repeated mutliple times: this game is aimed at young children. The cute story, gameplay, graphics, sound, and atmosphere will all be appealing to a younger crowd. Thankfully, all of the sections that make up Epic Yarn will appeal to gamers of all ages. The game starts with Kirby eating a Metatomato while walking through Dream Land. Kirby quickly finds out that the Metatommato was owned by an evil wizard named Yin-Yarn, and he is not too pleased with Kirby eating it. In a fit of rage, Yin-Yarn sucks Kirby into a sock tied around his wist, turning sending Kirby to Patch Land where he becomes yarn. Being in Patch Land removes Kirby’s powers, so there is no sucking up baddies in this game. Shortly after ending up in Patch Land, Kirby meets Prince Fluff. Kirby and Prince Fluff quickly become friends, and Prince Fluff explains to Kirby that Yin-Yarn has separated the different patches that make up Patch Land. In order to sew them back together and defeat Yin-Yarn, Kirby and Prince Fluff must collect pieces the pieces of Golden Thread to sew Patch Land back together.

The quest to collect each piece of Golden Thread will have Kirby going from level to level, with traditional 2D platforming. The platforming is controlled with the Wii Remote in a horizontal position. Just like all other 25 side-scrollers on the Wii, this helps the game give off a retro vibe. The controls in Epic Yarn are very simple. The directional pad has you controlling Kirby, while pressing 1 will allow Kirby to attack enemies, and holding 1 allows Kirby to roll up enemies. Pressing 2 has Kirby jump. Apart from these basic platforming elements, Kirby has also gained some special powers in his transition to Patch Land. Holding down on the D-Pad turns Kirby into a weight, while pressing down twice turns Kirby into a fast moving car (sled in snow levels). Pressing the 2 button twice also turns Kirby into a parachute, which is perfectly to floating to other ledges. Jumping into specially marked portals will turn Kirby into a level-specific creation. This will turn Kirby into such things as: a yarn tank, yarn dolphin, yarn monster truck, and many others. Very few of these are ever repeated, which makes every level feel fresh. If I was ever bored by the basic platforming in Kirby’s Epic Yarn (which happened rarely) I was still excited to see what new creation Kirby will become.

In order to make the gameplay in Kirby’s Epic Yarn accessible to very young characters, Kirby is unable to “die”. During the level there are tons of beads that can be collected for points, and doing actions that would “kill” Kirby, result in loosing beads. This type of gameplay reminded me of Wario Land II on the Gameboy and Gameboy Colour. In Wario Land II, there were coins to collect. Instead of “killing” Wario, you simply lost coins. While this gameplay will be very fun for the audience that Kirby’s Epic Yarn is aimed at, more mature gamers may be turned away from it being “too easy”. Personally, I was okay with not having death as a consequence. It did make the game incredibly easy, but it also allowed me to just relax with the game, and not have to worry about difficulty. I would have liked a bit of a difficulty increase towards the end of the game, but it isn’t a neccesity. Hal Labratory and Nintendo knew their audience with Epic Yarn, and played to that audience perfectly.

While playing through Kirby’s Epic Yarn, I was constantly reminded by the graphics that this game is cute. The environments ooze with cuteness and will have you and anyone else watching, going “Aaaaah, that’s so cute!” Other than being cute, the graphics are also beautiful. The patchwork world is perfect for the Nintendo Wii, and show while the Wii may not be powerful, it can still have some gaphcially heavy-hitting games. It’s hard to explain with words just how visually astonishing Epic Yarn is.

Sound wise, Kirby’s Epic Yarn once again hits it out of the park. The game takes the classic Kirby theme, spruces it up a bit, and throws in some other great tracks to create an overall outstanding visual experience. Just like everything else in Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the sound is cute and appeals to a younger audience. I don’t say this often, but the soundtrack of Epic Yarn is something that I would buy on its own. The music of Kirby’s Epic yarn is outstanding, and sets a bar that other Wii games should aim for. Story segments in Epic Yarn are presented like a story book, and are fully narrated. The narrator of the story sounds fantastic and is a pleasure to listen to. The clear, crisp voice of the narrator is easy to listen to gets the story across quite well.

Overall, Kirby’s Epic Yarn is an outstanding video game. It is the perfect example of a game aiming to a young audience while also being appealing to gamers of all ages. The story, gameplay, graphics, and audio are all shining examples of video game development on the Nintendo Wii. Kirby may have not had a console appearance since 2002′s Kirby Air Ride, but his return is more than welcome.

PROS

  • Fantastic Story
  • Great Gameplay
  • Visually Stunning Graphics
  • Outstanding Audio

CONS

  • A Litte Too Easy

Score: 9.5/10

Review: NBA Jam

NBA Jam -- 2
October 15, 2010 By In Images, Reviews, Videos, Wii

Back in ’93, Midway released an arcade classic. The game was NBA Jam, and it is an understatement to say that it set the arcades on fire. Over the years, the game was ported to various consoles such as the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and the Sega Game Gear. Personally, I had no idea NBA Jam existed until it was too late. I was born in ’93, and then was too busy playing Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past at the age of 8 and Crash Bandicoot on the PS1 to care about NBA Jam. Years later I finally discovered what the game was, but I was never a huge fan of basketball games and didn’t bother looking further into the game. Now it’s October 2010, NBA Jam is on the Wii, and I’m assigned to review it. I dived in head first, and this is what I found.

When I first picked up NBA Jam, I went right into the tutorial titled ”Jam Camp”. The game taught me exactly how to play the game, and I was quite satisified with the tutorial. Best of all: once the 5 – 10 minute tutorial is over, you unlock Big Head Mode. After that, I jumped into a Classic Campaign with the Phoenix Suns. I wanted to experience the classic gameplay that I’ve been hearing people talk about since the game was released, and this was the best place to do so. With my big head bobbing, I was instantly immersed in the quick and snappy gameplay of NBA Jam. Jumping for three-pointers was easy with the snap of the wrist, as was pulling off insane dunks. The amount of nets on fire and “Boom Shakalakas” from the announcer instantly had me hooked, and I gladly played through my 36 game campaign. For hardcore basketball fans, Classic Campaign features a special “retro” battle every sixth game in the campaign where you fight classic versions of certain teams.

After my 36 game campaign, I finally dipped my toes into the “Remix Tour”. This is the main selling point for the new NBA Jam, so I had high expectations when I went in. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet my personal expectations. When you first enter the Remix Tour after picking your team, you will see a map of the US split up into divisions. All of the divisions except for one are locked, so the game forces you to start in one place. After selecting the open division, you are presented with five different teams to play. Each team has bronze, silver, and gold challenges to complete. Each of these challenges is a special Remix Mode, which consists of the following:

  • Remix 2 V 2
  • 21
  • Smash
  • Domination
  • Domination 2 V 2
  • Elminiation
  • Boss Battles

2 V 2 is a regular game of NBA Jam. The only differences are playing on a special court, in a darker area with vibrant lights and the handful of power ups that can make you shrink, become a giant, run faster and more. 21 is the classic game everyone knows. For those who don’t, two to four players compete in a game half-court basketball with the winner being the player who scores 21 points or more first. Smash is a 2 on 2 battle that has each team trying to smash their opponents glass backboard first. Domination has you shooting from one of five specially marked spots to “own” them and gain points. The goal is to “dominate” the majority of the spots and gain more points than your opponent(s). Domination 2 V 2 is the same as regular Domination, except 2 on 2. Elimination is very similar to 21. Four players play half-court (without need to clear the ball) and attempt to score as many points as possible. Each round the player with the least amount of points is eliminated until only one player is remaining. Finally, boss battles have you playing one of these modes against a classic NBA star.

My biggest problem with the Remix Tour is how all of the modes (except for Remix 2 V 2) are, or feel like, mini-games from a regular NBA game. Playing Domination against big headed NBA stars is fun, but not praise worthy. It is definitely not enough to sell an entire $49.99 retail game on. I may be a bit hard on this feature of NBA Jam, but I just felt completely underwhelmed by the experience. Not to mention that having Larry Byrd kicking my ass on easy time-and-time again is not my definition is fun. I hope that long time NBA Jam fans get a kick out of the Remix Tour, but personally, Classic Campaign is the way to go with this one.

Graphics wise, NBA Jam is a beautiful game on the Wii. The game isn’t flexing any graphical muscles as it is all pretty simplistic, but you can’t beat its cartoon-y charm. The characters have great physics and all of their moves are very fluid. The other team members on the bench do their little dances whenever you score, and it might be a small feature, but carries the charm of the game so far. The graphics do their job perfectly by telling anyone who looks at them that this game is not serious at all, but can be if you want it to.

Sound wise, I wasn’t quite as impressed. Clearly missing from NBA Jam is a great EA Sports soundtrack. The game features some cliche filled, generic rap beats in the background, and doesn’t improve from that. While that does sour my opinion a bit, the fantastic voice overs from the announcers almost make up for it. The classic NBA Jam lines I have heard on the internet are clearly spoken throughout, along with new lines that are nearly as good. If you love the announcers, but don’t love a licensed soundtrack, NBA Jam will keep you more than happy.

As you probably guessed, NBA Jam is chalk-full of replay value. Since 1993, NBA Jam fans have been surviving on Classic Campaign, and that is only a fraction of this new game. The Remix Tour is just begging for multiple playthroughs, and in the Remix Modes section of the game, you can play all of the individual modes. NBA Jam also has a bunch of in-game achievements called ”Jam Challenges” along with a record of all of your high scores. Where NBA Jam really missed the mark is the complete lack of online play. Gamers had their fingers crossed since the game was announced that EA would bring online through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but they failed to deliver and the game suffers from it. Online play has become such a standard that its absent from NBA Jam is very noticeable. Despite the large amount of replay value, I have a feeling that most Wii owners won’t keep Jam in their Wiis just for local multiplayer. This will inevitably turn Jam into a party game, but really only for guys who remember playing Jam in their dorms ”back in the day”.

Overall, NBA Jam easily lives up to its name. The Classic Campaign is absolutely fantastic, but the Remix Tour is not nearly as fantastic. Graphics in the game are simple, but beautiful and add a lot to its charming look. The soundtrack is awful, but the voice-overs are fantastic and the local replay value is another strong point. However the complete lack of online multiplayer takes a lot away from what this game could have been. EA Sports has left me scratching my head as to why they completely excluded any kind of online modes, even just some simple 2 V 2 matches. If you are a fan of the original ’93 classic, NBA Jam will bring you back to the past and remind you of why the arcade game was so great. Those who aren’t NBA Jam fans may have quite a few bones to pick, but shouldn’t necessarily push it off of their radars.

PROS

  • Fantastic classic campaign
  • Beautiful graphics
  • Classic voice-overs
  • Huge replay value

CONS

  • Remix Tour feels like a bunch of mini-games
  • Awful soundtrack
  • Complete lack of online multiplayer

Score: 8/10

Review: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock -- 3
October 5, 2010 By In Images, Playstation 3, Reviews, Videos, Wii, Xbox 360

Over the past few years, the Guitar Hero series has been on an increasingly devastating spiral down. After hitting its hayday in 2006 and Harmonix leaving in 2007, the series seems to have gotten worse and worse. Personally, I was always a huge fan of the Guitar Hero games. I loved the challenge they brought opposed to their competitor Rock Band. It’s easy to see that the series was self-destructing, but I was holding out hope for this new entry. Does Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock reinvigorate my love for the series, or having me say goodbye to a series I loved?

For this new entry in the series, Neversoft wanted to reshape and rebuild the stagnant series. The first step in their attempt to rebuild the series is adding in a narrative. In the months leading up to Warriors of Rock’s release, Activision tried to sell the game based on this feature. Unfortunately, this feature is horribly implemented and not a must buy feature. The over arching story is about a group of eight rockers coming together to topple the demigod of rock. Through playing set lists, each of the eight rockers turn into their “ultimate” forms and come together to save the Demigod of Rock from a mechanized character called “The Beast”. What ruins the story is how boring it is. Each character has about 30 seconds of CG showing them approaching the stage they play on. After the set list, there is another CG video that shows off their transformations. Throughout the story mode there are a few more cutscenes, but nothing that left an impact on me.

Now most of you are probably thinking: “A bad story, no problem. Guitar Hero is all about the gameplay; Guitar Hero is all about the rock!” Once again though, Neversoft misses the mark. The base gameplay of pushing coloured buttons to corresponding notes on the screen is still there, but hasn’t reached a proper evolution. Neversoft has attempted to evolve the gameplay by adding more notes and special abilities, but it all falls short.

The increase in notes and special abilities are an attempt to reach the hardcore audience and make the game harder. However it does the contrary, and instead makes most of the game much easier. The increase in notes but decrease in difficulty create an ego boosting effect for those who are deep in Guitar Hero. The power-ups available are each character specific. Some examples of them are protection to prevent from losing streaks, increased star power, and the ability to come back after failing. After relying on power ups and special abilities, I have found it hard to play a previous Guitar Hero game.

Probably the worst part of the gameplay in Warriors of Rock is the uninspired and uneven setlist mechanic in the single-player Quest Mode. Every Guitar Hero game has certain setlist tiers to guide players throught the story mode, each setlist tier increasing in difficulty as they go on. In Warrior’s of Rock, the setlists are not organized by difficulty, but by genre. This makes for setlist tiers that can be boring to certain players and full of music they don’t like. It also leads to uneven difficulty. Every other setlist includes one song that is at a much higher difficulty than the rest of the songs. Overall this seems like a simple mistake that Neversoft made, but has such a huge impact on the game. This mistake is balanced a bit by the ability to instantly change your difficulty level while playing. No longer do players have to have a different career save if they want to play on a higher or lower difficulty. The ability to switch at any time may seem like something that is small, but can have a huge impact on someone who is uncertain about what level they should be playing the Quest Mode on.

Warriors of Rock also has Quick Play modes, online modes, and the song creation studio, but none of those features are worth going in depth into here. All of these modes have just been copied from previous Guitar Hero games with a few additions here and there. The game has an impressive amount of modes and stuff to do, but keep in mind that most of it isn’t new to the series. This gives Warriors of Rock a cumulative feeling that makes me think that this may be one of the last, if not the last traditional Guitar Hero game we see.

Graphics wise, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a slight upgrade from the previous games. Just like Guitar Hero: World Tour and Guitar Hero 5 the environments in the game are restricted to the stage. This time around some of the stages are in some interesting locations, but are nothing to write home about. Certain CG cutscenes have some impressive graphics for the series, but they still do not compete with the rest of the games being released. Unfortunately, the character models don’t change my opinion on the graphics. While Neversoft has finally gotten the character models properly proportioned, the upgraded characters look terrible. The character designs seem like Neversoft had some cool ideas, but ended up coming way to short when trying to make it appeal to a younger audience. For instance, one of the female characters rips her skin off to transform. She transforms into a snake which is cool, but looks so much like a cartoon that it completely removes the dark and brutal feel of the game. It’s a shame that Neversoft didn’t get these character models right because you can see they had such great ideas, but once again misstepped when trying to implement these great ideas.

From the beginning, there was one important area that Warriors of Rock needed to rule. That area is the sound department, and ultimately, Warriors of Rock does a pretty good job with audio. To start, Warriors of Rock has an okay soundtrack. The soundtrack appeals to the typical metal head Guitar Hero player, but has a few other songs thrown in for others. Personally I’m not a huge fan of the music, but I recognize that Neversoft knows their audience and is catering directly to them. What isn’t good about the soundtrack is the inclusion of a few questionable songs. In every addition to the series, it seems that more and more “fluff tracks” are added in order to snatch a few unknowing gamers and have them playing a game they won’t like. Warriors of Rock features “Bleed it Out” by Linkin Park, “Dance, Dance” by Fallout Boy and “How you Remind Me” by Nickelback. These songs stand out as sores in their respective setlists and do more harm on most gamers’ opinion of the game than good.

Each of these songs continue to have the great audio quality that the Guitar Hero series is known for. Most of the songs sound like they are master recordings, and the live performances are also of great quality. Unfortunately, the big increase in notes makes the guitar drown out the sound of the quality audio. Unless you are playing a few feet away from the TV and have the sound up really high, you will end up hearing the clacking of the guitar more than the songs you are playing. All of the game’s Quest Mode is narrated by Gene Simmons. Simmons has a great performance, but it is easy to see how over-the-top it is. While Simmons performance may be great, the lines he is given to read are absolutely terrible. Full of terrible puns, cliches, and immature jokes, the narration is hilariously bad. Thankfully, these lines aren’t plentiful in the Quest Mode. I wish Simmons was given much better lines as his performance could have had a much bigger impact on how good the Quest Mode is.

Another bright spot for Warriors of Rock is the huge amount of replay value. Once players are done with the six to eight hour Quest Mode, there are a plethora of other game modes which I have touched upon earlier. The huge setlist can be played locally with the guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and it can also be played online. The song creation tool and the “Jamming” tools can also suck up a bunch of time. While most of these modes may be recycled from the other Guitar Hero games, they can still take up hours of time, while also remaining fun.

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is the ultimate misstep in the Guitar Hero series. Neversoft had a bunch of good ideas, but they all fell apart in execution. The prospect of an epic narrative in the Guitar Hero series was interesting, but it ended up being a mess. The increase in notes and the addition of special abilities in the gameplay may appeal to the hardcore fans, but end up ruining the game for everyone else. On a better note, the audio is fantastic and the game has a ton of replay value. Warriors of Rock is a game that feels good when you first start playing, but ends up falling flat on its face when you are done with it. I can only recommend this game to the most hardcore players of the series. All other music game fans are much better off skipping Warriors of Rock and holding out hope that Neversoft can turn this dieing series around.

PROS

  • Good ideas despite poor execution
  • Fantastic audio
  • Improved graphics
  • Great replay value

CONS

  • Poor narrative
  • Uninspired and boring gameplay
  • Fun has been completely removed from the classic gameplay
  • Awful character designs

Score: 8/10

Review: Metroid: Other M

Metroid Other M -- 3
August 31, 2010 By In Images, Reviews, Videos, Wii

For the first time since 2002′s Metroid: Fusion, Nintendo is publishing a brand new Metroid game with 2D side scrolling gameplay. Taking the lead this time is Team Ninja, known for the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series’. Fans of Nintendo and Team Ninja have been dreaming of what this combination could produce. After a slight delay, the product of this great combination has finally been released as Metroid: Other M for the Nintendo Wii. Will Metroid fans love this new, but different addition? Or will it become the forgotten child of the Metroid series?

The story in Metroid: Other M picks right up after 1994′s Super Metroid. At the end of Super Metroid, Samus escapes Planet Zebus as it is exploding. Other M has Samus awakening on a Galactic Federation ship. On the ship, she receives a coded distress signal — titled “Baby’s Cry — which sends Samus to its source: the Bottle Ship. Once Samus reaches the Bottle Ship, she encounters a rouge group of Galactic Federation Soldiers after a monster attacks, they all split up to find the source of what is happening on the Bottle Ship.

As most gamers know, the Metroid series is not known for being focused on story. With Team Ninja taking a role in development, story has taken a more central role this time around. This time around, Metroid has also taken a much darker turn. The atmosphere and story are creepier, and includes people other than Samus. Other M is full of intense situations that grab you and demand the focus of your attention. I wish I could tell you that the intense story grabs you and doesn’t let go, but it does let you go multiple times. There will be intense moments that you will love, then you will be running through the Bottle Ship for a few hours with no story aspect. After that, the intense story will grab you again and you will be interested. Despite the story dropping in and out, overall it is a great addition to the Metroid series. I hope to see more 2D Metroid games that incorporate story.

Other M’s gameplay is divided into 2.5D side scrolling and 3D first person shooting. Players will quickly realize that most of the gameplay is in the 2.5D perspective. If you have played any Metroid game before Prime, you will immediately feel at home with Other M. Running through corridors, jumping on platforms, rolling through tunnels as the morphball and intense shooting are what Other M is all about. As noted, the exploration is conducted just like other 2D Metroid games. However, Other M is a much more linear and story driven game. This leaves the player little room to explore far from the beaten path. Although there are still plenty of times when gamers will have to explore a small area to figure out what to do next, it is severely cut down from the other games. Many Metroid fans may consider this a fault, but I consider it a positive to the game. I have always hated not knowing where to go/what to do in video game, and the Metroid series has been the hilight of that hatred. No matter which way you look at it, one thing is for sure: exploration in Metroid: Other M is damn fun.

The main difference you will notice in Other M’s 2.5D gameplay is the combat. While it is classic side scrolling shooting at its core, it does have a slight Team Ninja flair to it. Most notably is how frantic it is. There are a lot more enemies than in other Metroid games and jumping around and blasting is mandatory. It should be noted that although there are more enemies, it doesn’t necessarily make the game more difficult compared to other Metroid games. Also infused in the combat is the ability to dodge quick attacks and — if prepared — unleash a quick charge beam. This is very similar to “Witch Time” in 2010′s Bayonetta. Games can also have Samus jump on the head’s of certain enemies to unleash strong attacks on vulnerable spots, and unleash “Lethal Attacks” on certain downed enemies.

All of this exploration and combat would be nothing without a bunch of upgrades for Samus to come across. Upgraded beams, more missles, and new suits are all items that Samus will collect. Fans of the Metroid series will have a bit of deja-vu as all of the items have appeared previously in other Metroid games. The ice beam, grapple hook, and Varia Suit are just some of the classic items in Other M. While the items may be classic, the way you collect them is not. Previous Metroid games have players running around and exploring in order to find items, but Metroid: Other M gives Samus them from the beginning. However, Samus can only use them once she is authorized to use them. It may sound weird in writing, but it works so well once you experience it for yourself.

The other part of the gameplay takes place in a first person 3D perspective. This is identical to the gameplay in the Metroid: Prime series. By having the Wii Remote in the vertical position and pointing it at the screen, you can shoot missiles at enemies, scan the environment, and scan bosses to see how much health they have left. Unfortunately, this is not executed well. For the 2.5D gameplay, players hold the Wii Remote horizontally. Having to switch it vertically in order to shoot missiles and scan can become a huge nuisance. This becomes especially frustrating when players have to quickly switch in order to shoot an enemy with a missile. This paired with the so-so horizontal Wii Remote controls make the overall controls feel very clunky. The best way to describe trying to move Samus with the horizontal Wii Remote is to compare it to playing Super Mario 64 for the very first time, but with a NES controller instead of a N64 controller. Bottom line, the controls are not very good, despite the gameplay being quite good.

All of this exploration and combat would be nothing without a bunch of upgrades for Samus to come across. Upgraded beams, more missles, and new suits are all items that Samus will collect. Fans of the Metroid series will have a bit of deja-vu as all of the items have appeared previously in other Metroid games. The ice beam, grapple hook, and Varia Suit are just some of the classic items in Other M. While the items may be classic, the way you collect them is not. Previous Metroid games have players running around and exploring in order to find items, but Metroid: Other M gives Samus them from the beginning. However, Samus can only use them once she is authorized to use them. It may sound weird in writing, but it works so well once you experience it for yourself.

The other part of the gameplay takes place in a first person 3D perspective. This is identical to the gameplay in the Metroid: Prime series. By having the Wii Remote in the vertical position and pointing it at the screen, you can shoot missiles at enemies, scan the environment, and scan bosses to see how much health they have left. Unfortunately, this is not executed well. For the 2.5D gameplay, players hold the Wii Remote horizontally. Having to switch it vertically in order to shoot missiles and scan can become a huge nuisance. This becomes especially frustrating when players have to quickly switch in order to shoot an enemy with a missile. This paired with the so-so horizontal Wii Remote controls make the overall controls feel very clunky. The best way to describe trying to move Samus with the horizontal Wii Remote is to compare it to playing Super Mario 64 for the very first time, but with a NES controller instead of a N64 controller. Bottom line, the controls are not very good, despite the gameplay being quite good.

While Metroid: Other M may be retro with some of its gameplay, the graphics are far from that. Other M is a beautiful game. I would go as far as saying that Metroid: Other M is graphically superior to all other games on the Nintendo Wii. Nintendo and Team Ninja have out done themselves by pushing the Wii to produce graphics at a quality that I have never seen before on the Wii. The textures, environments, character models, and varying beams and suits that Samus collect all look fantastic. To top it all off, everything in the game is highly detailed. The only problem I have with the graphics is how they appear on an SD TV. The game attempts a native resolution of 16:9, opposed to the 4:3 standard for SD TVs. This seems to be a trend for newer Wii games, but does not make sense as the Wii is not designed as an HD console. Also, a large percentage of the game is very dark and is sometimes hard to see on an SD TV. If these slight do problems affect you, they can easily be overlooked.

The darker approach to Metroid: Other M is magnified by the audio. Walking down any hallway can be a nerve racking experience as the dramatic and ominous music pours from the speakers. While not a scary game by any means, it is definitely creepy. The soundtrack for the game fits this creepy and deserted atmosphere quite well. Best of all, the soundtrack is never overbearing. The daunting sounds can only be heard when you stray your attention away from combat and choose to focus on what is happening around Samus.

Although the soundtrack is perfect for the game, the voice overs and dialogue aren’t so great. It is very obvious that Metroid: Other M had its original Japanese voice overs dubbed by an English cast. As with most media that chooses this form, the results are near disastrous. All of the characters in Other M have little to no personality. When they talk, they sound soulless. It is almost as if the cast was completely uninterested and ran through the dialogue in a day to get their pay check and get the hell out. Despite this, I maybe shouldn’t be so hard on the dub cast as the source dialogue is also pretty terrible. Putting on subtitles will show you how forced, awkward, and at times generic the dialogue is. It goes without saying that Other M’s story is best told without dialogue.

Once you get through the 10+ linear story, there isn’t that much to do. Like most Metroid games, there is absolutely no form of multiplayer, competitive or co-op. However, if you are able to finish Other M with 100% of the items collected, you will unlock a “hard” mode. This is the simply Other M story mode with the difficulty cranked up. While this may not seem like a lot of replay value, this is a Metroid game. For a Metroid game, this is a ton of replay value. Nothing would have been worse than a shoe-horned competitive multiplayer mode in the game.

Metroid: Other M is easily one of my favourite games of 2010. Being a huge fan of Super Metroid and the other 2D Metroid games, Other M played on my retro love. The intense story, great gameplay, and fantastic graphics make Metroid: Other M a true winner. Although the controls are clunky and the story falls at times, Other M is still a fantastic game that all Wii owners should own.

PROS

  • Intense and griping story
  • Fast-paced, retro infused gameplay
  • Best graphics yet on the Nintendo Wii
  • Incredibly atmospheric audio
  • Great replay value for a Metroid game

CONS

  • Stories drops in and out
  • Frustrating and clunky controls
  • Terrible voice acting and dialouge

Score: 8.5/10

Review: Arc Rise Fantasia

Arc Rise Fantasia -- 1
August 6, 2010 By In Images, Reviews, Videos, Wii

With the Wii being such a popular system, the lack of RPGs — Japanese or Western — is surprising. The similarity of the console with the PS2 also has me scratching my head as to why there are little or no RPGs. Whenever a new RPG comes along on the Wii — especially JRPG — niche gamers crawl back to their little white console. Will Arc Rise Fantasia be able to stand up to their high standards?
Arc Rise Fantasia has a story that is all around typical JRPG. It’s a typical “boy is injured/looses his memory, meets girl, must find ___/ become ___, joins group of friends, then must use what he found/become and his friends to destroy an over embarking enemy.

In the case of Arc Rise Fantasia, you take the role of L’arc who is a soldier in the Meridian Empire. Enemies called Fell Dragons are attacking the Empire, and L’arc along with the rest of the Meridian Empire is sent to attack them. During this attack, L’arc is severely injured and then saved by a girl named Ryfia. L’arc along with Ryfia and his friend Alf — the Prince of Merdia — travel to the town of Jada to find the Rogress — located in the Dragon Prison — who supplies Rays to the Empire. L’arc meets the Rogress and becomes the Child of Essa. Ryfia’s goal as a Diva is to protect the Child of Essa, which forms the basis of your party. Also, The Evil God, Real, is trying to destroy the world by having it encased in crystal by a Diva, so L’arc (The Child of Essa) and his party must destroy Real.

Unfortunately, this story is not nearly as interesting as it may sound. The terrible pacing and generic overtone really ruin it for me. Intense JRPG fans may find something to enjoy here, but most gamers won’t.

The gameplay in Arc Rise Fantasia is classic JRPG through-and-through. You must gather a party of nimble fighters and move around the overworld meeting people, visiting towns, and fighting enemies. The overworld map in Arc Rise Fantasia is fairly basic. It’s a mix between plains and hills, but you stay confined within a central area. Within that area, there are a bunch of towns to explore. Entering these towns provides you with inns and shops, along with special NPCs to meet.

Some shops allow you to buy items, while other shops allow you to upgrade your armor and weapons. The upgrade process for this is unnecessarily confusing. most RPGs provide you with stats to show you whether a weapon you want to purchase is an upgrade or downgrade. Unfortunately, the shops don’t provide you with this information. All they provide you with is a 4×4 square with different colour tiles in it. Needless to say, I had no idea how to know what I was buying was better or worse than what I have. What left me scratching my head more was that once you purchase a new weapon, the stats are shown in your inventory. It’s very strange that they wouldn’t provide you with this information before you purchase new equipment with your hard earned gil.

Once you have visited towns, and met NPCs, it is time to complete missions. There are main story missions which are completed by following along the path the game sets for you. Also, you can complete much smaller missions by visiting a guild. These missions are completely optional, but provide you with money and special weapons.

In terms of story missions, moving between them is very open. While the missions may be quite linear, you can travel wherever you want (for the most part) between them. This is usually only within the confines of the town you are currently in, but the towns are quite expansive and full of NPCs. Unfortunately, this time can only be spent learning more about the uninteresting story from NPCs, buying items, or grinding. This clearly shows how expansive the developers wanted to be, but how restricted they were due to the Wii hardware.

Last but not least, the final part of the gameplay is the battle system. The battle system revolves around controlling a three man party. For some reason, your party can hold for members, but the fourth member is always controlled by AI. This leaves you with the other three or less to control. At the beginning of each turn, you are given a set of AP (Action Points). Each action — such as attacking, defending, moving, using magic, or using items — costs a set number of AP. You must swap between your characters and assign AP to them. Once you have depleted your AP, or have used as many as you like, you initiate your actions and everything plays out. Personally, I really enjoyed the battle system. It was actually a bit refreshing, considering how stale the rest of the game is.

Graphics wise, the game looks like a dated PS2 game. The overworld is very bland, and is entirely green and brown. Not to mention that the scale in the overworld is terrible. If you walk by a town, you are as big as a house. Also, you are about half the size of any cliffs. Once you go into a town, the game looks much better. The environment is varied, and there is increased detail. The only downside is that nearly all of the houses look the same in each town. It’s almost as if they used the same house asset over and over again.

All character models in the game look ugly. The prominent characters have different colours and body shapes, but the NPCs look bland and unoriginal. Just like the houses in the game, it seems like they got five or six NPC assets, and repeated them throughout the game. Once you initiate conversation, 2D shots of the characters appear along their dialog. While these 2D shots look quite nice — especially compared to the 3D models — but like other games that use this strategy, they quickly reuse the same shots.

If you thought that this game couldn’t get any worse, then just wait for the audio. To start it off, Arc Rise Fantasia features some of the worse voice overs I have ever heard in a game. The English dub is atrocious. None of the voice actors have any passion in their voice, nor the ability to even differentiate between emotions. I have never seen a game before where the same was used for “Hello”, and “Aaaaaaaah!”. Also a side note: the developers didn’t match the mouths up with the English dub, so it looks like you are watching an English dub 1980′s Japanese Kung-Fu movie.

The terrible voice-acting doesn’t seem so bad if you compare it to the failed dialog. The game is chock-full of bad cliches, poor vocabulary, nonsensical conversations, and sexual innuendos. It is literally a stew of the worst dialog pieces someone has ever thought of. For example, the main character (L’arc) is unintentionally bipolar. At the beginning of the game, he is very caring and sympathetic. A few hours later, he becomes a jerk with some terrible attitude. A few hours after that, he goes back to being a nice person. If you enjoy dialog, or talking to NPCs in your JRPGs, then Arc Rise Fantasia will only cause you pain.

The soundtrack in the game is also terribly bland. Most JRPGs have very memorable music, but I can’t remember any from Arc Rise Fantasia. It’s so faint and bland that you are better off just putting on your own music while playing through Arc Rise Fantasia. At least your music should be able to drown out the awful voice acting.

The replay value in Arc Rise Fantasia is pretty much non existent. If you can swallow a playthrough of this less-than stellar game, you can spend tens of hours playing. Once you complete the game, there is nothing to do. There is the odd side-quest you can take from a guild, but I don’t see anyone taking this game through a second playthrough.

Overall, Arc Rise Fantasia is a pretty bad game. You get a constant feeling of mediocrity while playing, until you come across something that is absolutely terrible. The story is boring, the gameplay is average, graphics are bland, audio is horrid, and there is practically no replay value. This is really unfortunate as I was hoping for a lot from Arc Rise Fantasia. It looked promising, but just came together as a dated and generic JRPG. I can only recommend this game to JRPG diehards who must play any and all games in the genre.

PROS

  • Refreshing Battle System
  • Detailed Cities
  • 2D Character Shots Look Nice

CONS

  • Boring Story
  • Generic Gameplay
  • Bland and Dated Graphics
  • Horrible Audio
  • Terrible Dialog
  • Very Little Replay Value
  • No Point to Even Completing the Game Once

Score: 4/10