I walked into void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium not knowing exactly what I’d get and was left pleasantly surprised. Until the New Game + Expo, I had no idea what this title even was but the trailer piqued my interest. Even though this game released during a busy period, don’t let it sneak passed you. I found Void Terrarium to be the perfect companion piece as I played Sony’s two latest exclusives.
Void Terrarium starts off a bit strange. The opening has you playing as a rat in a 2D environment until it activates your true player character, a lone robot. Once awaken, the robot meets a girl who may be the last human. With help from an A.I., who names the robot Robbie and the girl Toriko, Robbie sets out to keep Toriko healthy and safe.
It’s a Lonely World Out There
There’s a charm to the way the bleak world is presented. There are all kinds of muted colors to depict how uninhabitable this world is. The enemies have unique designs to them though after a while you start to see some palette swaps. Toriko has an interesting design as she’s a girl with something in her left eye that looks like tentacles.
In order for Robbie to keep Toriko healthy, he has to venture out into the ruins left by humanity. It’s at this point I learned what exactly Void Terrarium is. It’s a top down dungeon crawler role playing game similar in vein to the Mystery Dungeon games. You explore dungeons to collect items that help you delve deeper. Once you either leave the dungeon or are defeated, those items you’re holding are then converted into crafting materials. You can use this to craft thing s like beds, medicine, and even combat upgrades for Robbie. While Robbie’s level may reset after every run, by crafting items for Toriko you can gain permanent stat boosts.
One More Run
Combat is pretty simple. When in dungeons, everything you do is based on turns. Each step forward is a turn and the same goes for attacks. You level up like in any rpg and you are skills to choose from. These skills can be passive stat boosts or special moves you assign to one of the face buttons. There are all kinds of status affects and traps that can hinder your progress. You can be put to sleep and miss turns, you can be poisoned, and so much more. It’s so easy to get lost in the gameplay and get caught up in doing just one more run.
Taking care of Toriko also means she is properly fed and that her terrarium is kept clean. There will be times when Toriko may contract an illness from the food you feed her. All the food you feed her is contaminated and you have to watch the contamination amount that you feed her. These illnesses can be pretty weird like ballonitis where she blows up like a balloon. Another one sees her turn into a bird. It’s at this point you have to go to special dungeons to find ingredients for the cure to that specific illness.
It’s Okay to Take Your Time
So when I got my review code for the game, I tried to rush through it to review it before release. This is not the ideal way to play this game. You are expected to die in dungeons multiple times before you acheive your objectives. For me, this quite frustrating given that I was playing the intense The Last of Us Part II at the same time. There are also things going on in life that may have added to my frustrations. At that point I decided to take things a lot slower. I began to appreciate Void Terrarium a lot more after that. This isn’t a game you’re meant to rush through. You are suppose to think about why your last run fail and maybe think to how you can do better in the next one.
I find it easy to recommend Void Terrarium to anyone looking for a break from gigantic open worlds and bleak storylines. While the premise may sound dark and depressing, this game has so much heart you can’t help but to feel hopeful with Robbie and Toriko.
Monkey King: Hero is Back feels like it came out fifteen years later than it was supposed to. Back in the PlayStation 2 era, movie games were abundant and their quality ranged from decent to downright awful. Fortunately for Monkey King this isn’t a bad game but it isn’t a great one either.
Developed by Chinese developer Oasis Games and published in the west by THQ Nordic, Monkey King: Hero is Back is a video game adaptation of the Chinese film with the same name. This is a title that I had been looking forward to a lot due how prominent it was at Chinese gaming events. I was under the impression that this game was being pushed so hard due to its quality. I didn’t have the funds to pick it up last year despite THQ Nordic releasing it as a budget title at $40. What I noticed between the time of me finally picking Monkey King up is the relative lack of buzz. Not a good sign for what was suppose to be a big game.
The Legend
Our story begins with our monkey king, named Daseng, getting locked away in cave after some bad behavior and his powers have been locked away. A boy named, Liuer, finds and frees him when he is attacked by monsters. We then learn that kids from across the land are being taken away by a mysterious dark force and Daseng and Liuer set out to solve the problem. I want to make it clear that I have not seen the movie the game is based on so I don’t know how different the two seem to be. I don’t think it matters because there is so little story in this game. You get a few cutscenes here and there but for the most part story takes a backseat to the gameplay.
Nothing New
Monkey King is your standard 3D brawler as you string together combos with a light and heavy attack. You can initiate a one on one duel with enemies by timing your light strikes. You can also time a heavy attack to trigger a one hit kill move called a purge. Combat is really polished and attacks have a good feel to them. It took a minute to get a feel for the combat but once it clicked, the game became a lot more fun for me. You also have access to a few spells which I rarely used. The purge move trivializes most combat encounters once you learn the rhythm.
In some encounters you can use stealth but the game trips on its feet when it comes to this. You can crouch and sneak behind enemies but you have to wait for a prompt to initiate a surprise attack. The prompt can be really finicky and you can end up doing crouching heavy strikes instead of the surprise attack. Another problem is that the surprise attack allows other enemies in the area to spot you. You can’t stealth attack other enemies in the same area.
There are ten linear levels to play through which should take you about ten hours to beat the game. You can extend the playtime by hunting collectibles like scrolls and earth gods. Earth gods can be traded in to increase your magic, health, or combos. None of which is necessary in order to finish the game. You will be fighting the same enemies throughout the whole experience. There are four distinct enemy types with different color variations and four boss enemies who you will fight multiple times. It never bothered me but it may be something that bothers others.
Verdict
Monkey King: Hero is Back isn’t a groundbreaking game nor is it a horrible one. If you have kids I believe this would be a great way to ease them into gaming. It’s also a good time time if you need a change of a pace from AAA titles.
The Ys franchise has been going for quite awhile now, with franchise soon to have a western release coming in 2021. I hope to cover Ys IX Monstrum Nox in the future but before we get to that I’d like to review the beginning of the series, Ys I and II.
The Ys series follows Adol Christian, an adventurer with a bad habit of starting his adventures either unconscious or with amnesia. While separate adventures, Books I and II are two sides to the same coin.
Presentation
The original two Ys games have been remade quite a bit but the version we’re going to be talking about is the one most easily available which is Ys I and II Chronicles for PC. This version of the game comes with updated graphics and music which are fantastic. Falcom is known for their music and you can see why here. You can change it to some of the more retro arrangements but I never did. The sprite based presentation is a joy to look at as well. They have a late PS1 look to them that I find quite charming.
Gameplay
The early Ys games have a very unique combat system. Falcom calls it the bump system. In the bump system, in order to attack you have to bump into your enemy diagonally. If you bump head on then damage is done to you. It’s a simple system that is unexpectedly a lot of fun. That isn’t all there is to combat, however. Like in Zelda, there are different items you can use to aide you combat. There are rings that shoot fire or can change Adol into a monster. The combat really shines during the huge boss battles. Though, I do want note that the second game puts a higher focus on magic.
I found the level design and dungeon progression to be similar to a From Software game. What I mean by that is if you aren’t paying attention you can find yourself getting lost in a labyrinth. Missing key dialogue in a cutscene or not being thorough enough in an earlier level can lead to a lot of lost time. Multiple times through out my playthrough I had to consult a guide. Either, because I didn’t have a particular item or I couldn’t figure out the right way to go. Both games end with huge dungeons that take up half the play time: The Tower of Darm in Ys I and the Shrine of Solomon. These dungeons are huge with multiple story moments and boss fights going down.
Verdict
Ys I and II has quickly become two of my all time favorite games. Each game can be beaten in 7-8 hours, so it isn’t a huge commitment, especially for a JRPG. I strongly recommend these two games to anyone with access to any kind of computer. They can be found on PS Vita, Mobile, and on Steam.
Yesterday, we had a new stream showcasing Japanese games called New Games Plus Expo. There were a large of amount of reveals and trailers and I’m going to try my best to try to gather all of the announcements here.
New Catherine Full Body for the Switch Trailer
Immediately once the stream begins, we can a new trailer for Catherine Full Body for the Switch, which is due out July 7.
SUDA 51, Trollmaster
After the Catherine Full Body trailer, the stream starts off with a greeting from none other than Goichi Suda, a.k.a. Suda 51. He sitting in front of a green screen that had the logo for the New Game Plus Expo and Grasshopper Manufacture but after some time the screen shifted into No More Heroes 3 gameplay. Only problem is he was still sitting in the way so you couldn’t get a good look at the gameplay!
Video captured by Gematsu
Harvest Moon Returns…Again!
Even after publisher Natsume lost the rights to the Bokujo Monogatari series they have still been pumping out games using the Harvest Moon name. The only problem is they lack the charm of the franchise’s true creators. Nonetheless, they revealed a teaser for the newest game in the series, Harvest Moon: One World, due this fall on PS4 and Switch.
Courtesy of NinEverything
Tin & Kuna Rolls Out
Publisher Aksys Games is teaming up with Developer Black River Studios to publish their action platformer Tin & Kuna this fall. You’ll be able to play this promising title on the platform of your choice as it’s coming to Switch, PS4, PC via Steam, and Xbox One.
Billion Road Is On Sale
I’m not even going to try to guess what this Billion Road is about. It looks like a Japanese game of Monopoly and apparently this game has been out for awhile now. I guess this was just an accolades trailer but it sure peaked my interest.
Fight Crab… Sure Is a Game…
Look, I don’t know what kind of drugs you have to be smoking to make a game like Fight Crab but give me some of that. Fight Crab has got to be one of the strangest game concepts I’ve ever seen. You fight well… giant crabs who wield all manner of weapons like sai, katanas, and light sabers?! This brand of Japanese wackiness is brought to you by the fine folks at Playism. It comes to PC on July 30 with a Nintendo Switch port in the works.
SNK Shows Up and Shows Out
Fighting game experts, SNK came with a bunch of announcements. The first one is a bizarre dlc character in the Warden from Ubisoft’s For Honor coming to Samurai Shodown. Fighting games lately have been coming really hard with crossover characters for a while now and this just continues the trend.
Next was the release of the Neogeo Pocket Color game, the King of Fighter R-2 on Nintendo Switch in summer 2020.
And finally, SNK showed off the North American Collector’s edition of the Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection. They also announced that Samurai Shodown V Perfect would be part of the collection, a first for the west.
Re:Zero Is Coming Back with a Season Two and a Game
The light novel/anime franchise is getting a game adaptation coming to the west. Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World: The Prophecy of the Throne will release this winter for PS4, PC, and Switch. Spike Chunsoft is calling this game a tactical adventure game, which I don’t know what that means. One thing that has me excited though is the fact that the original light novel author is supervising the story for this game. Having the original creator of a franchise involved with its various tie in products is always a good thing in book.
Fallen Legion Returns
Fallen Legion had an interesting release back in 2017 with two separate versions released for PS4 and Vita, with Vita title eventually making its way to PS4. Fallen Legion Revenants looks quite a bit different art-style-wise as it seems to resemble Castlevania’s iconic look from the GBA/DS days. These games are action packed rpgs and you look forward to this latest title in early 2021.
NISA Shows Up With a Spoiler Filled Trailer for Trails of Cold Steel IV
Falcom’s Trails series has to be one of the densest rpgs I’ve ever seen before in my life. To be quite honest, it’s a bit daunting to try to hop into the franchise. If you aren’t up to date on the Trails of Cold Steel lore up to this point, please do not watch this trailer as it’s filled with spoilers. Trails of Cold Steel IV releases on PS4 on October 27th.
WARNING: SPOILERS
Death End re;Quest 2 Finally Has a Release
Idea Factory International’s horror rpg, Death End re;Quest 2 finally has a release date of August 25 coming to PS4 and PC. I played a little of the original game but I plan to get through before the summer is over with so I can be ready for this game. Expect a review of both by September.
Fulfill Your Dreams of Being an Idol Manager
Have you ever had the fantasy of managing an idol group? Well now you can with Idol Manager! This honestly isn’t a game for me so I don’t have much to add besides you can pick it up on PC sometime this year.
The Ten Year Anniversary of Danganronpa Is Here
2020 marks the ten year anniversary of Danganronpa and series creator, Kazutaka Kodaka, was here to announce that the series is coming to smartphones. He also mentions that there will be more to come in the future.
A Lot of Otomate Games
Look if you like these games, more power to you be me, personally, I have no interest in them. I’ll leave the trailers below if you care. Enjoy!
Mikage Is Working on… Something?
Developer Mikage and publisher Aksys Games showcased a teaser trailer for a game called Escape from Asura. The trailer really did a good job at teasing as I have no idea what this game could be about. We do know that this game is coming to the Switch and PS4 in 2021.
Bloodstained Is Back with a Sequel to Curse of the Moon.
Castlevania fans were quite eager to get their hands on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night after years of Konami not releasing new games in the franchise. During the wait, Inti Creates put out the much loved spin off Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon which sought to bring back the 8-bit gameplay of the early Castlevania games. While Ritual of the Night takes inspiration from the iconic Symphony of the Night, Curse of the Moon takes inspiration from Dracula’s Curse, the franchise’s third entry. Inti Creates is once again collaborating with Koji Igarashi, director of Symphony of the night, to release Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 for PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch.
Guilty Gear Strive Shows Up with Style
Arc System Works showed off new gameplay of Guilty Gear Strive featuring Millia and Zato gameplay. The game continues to look slick and smooth. You can pick this up in early 2021.
Fairy Tail Heats Up with a New Trailer
One of my most anticipated games of this year is Fairy Tail, the rpg developed by Atelier series creators Gust. The trailer released shows some big moments from the anime/manga and some of the game’s features including things like the request board. While I still think it was a weird choice to go with a turned based rpg for such an action heavy franchise, I’m not complaining. Fairy Tail comes out July 31 to PC, Switch, and PS4.
Neptunia Is at It Again
Idea Factory International has new Neptunia game coming out with what they call a music based hack n slash. Neptunia Virtual Stars comes out in 2021 for the PS4 and I’ll be there to pick it up.
Another One Not for Me
This ain’t for me, dawg.
Shiren the Wanderer Is Back to Explore More Mystery Dungeons
Shiren the Wanderer returns in this port of PS Vita port of a DS game. If you played the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games or Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon then you know what to expect. A hard as nails rpg where if you fall in battle you lose everything. Strategy is the name of this game when Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate comes to PC and Switch some time this year.
Games Galore!!
Next was a sizzle reel of games already out or coming out soon. I can’t find a video of the sizzle reel so I’m going to try pick out trailers that represent what showed up.
My favorite announcement of the event had to be the announcement of Ys IX Monstrum Nox coming to the west in 2021, first for PS4 then on the Switch and PC later that year. If you’ve never played an Ys game before the way I would describe as a more action packed Zelda game. Starting with the seventh entry back on PSP, they added party members to the mix giving me a bit of a Tales vibe. This game looks right up my alley with developer Falcom’s penchant for great music, big boss battles, and pretty aesthetic.
Crystal Dynamics hosted a stream showcasing brand new gameplay and info about their Avengers game. There was a lot of information shared and I’m here to break it all down for you.
I’ve been looking forward to this game ever since it was initially announced. Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot was a fantastic, single player adventure that rivaled even Naughty Dog’s Uncharted game. The combat and traversal felt incredibly slick and smooth with a beautiful presentation to go with it.
Before the gameplay reveal at last year’s E3, I just couldn’t fathom what the gameplay would be. Would you create your own hero? Would they focus on a single character you could play as while the big dogs are like companion characters from the Uncharted games? Turns out the gameplay they had in mind was a bit more exciting. Unfortunately, the presentation last year left a lot to be desired.
My Thoughts on the A-Day Demo
The original footage shown at E3 looked a bit rough. Something just seemed a bit off about the character models. A little while later we got a look at the gameplay demo they showed behind closed doors and in this footage the models seemed a bit cleaned up. We also got our first look at gameplay and I was underwhelmed. Firstly, Thor’s gameplay looks alright, nothing spectacular. Unfortunately, the perfect Thor simulator came out in 2018, titled God of War and Thor’s hammer doesn’t not seem to handle as well as Kratos’ axe.
Next up we have Iron Man with a basic flight segment. After, we’re treated to his ground gameplay and that looks kinda basic and boring too. Hulk is next and his gameplay is a bit cooler, what with the smashing and stuff. The problem with my criticisms is that I can’t feel the gameplay which I can’t do watching a video. The best looking gameplay by far is Captain America and Black Widow. The hand to hand stuff just looks so fun in comparison to the other characters. Too bad Captain America is “dead.”
Now, I know I’m coming off mostly negative but it’s because I know this studio has the potential to come out with a great game. With the improvements the visual keep getting every trailer, they’ve got the look nailed down. All of the voice cast is spot on with Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham reprising their roles of Black Widow and Thor, respectively, from other media. The story is interesting going for a storyline all its own that hasn’t been done in comics or film.
Enter Ms. Marvel
At New York Comic Com 2019, we finally got a look at Avenger’s protagonist, Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel. It was here I became more optimistic about the game. We got more of a look at the story which involves Inhumans and A.I.M. and all kinds of personal drama between the surviving Avengers.
Now… The War Table!
This leads us now to the War Table stream put on by Crystal Dynamics. To begin with, we’re treated to a new trailer revealing the game’s villain, M.O.D.O.K. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing) and shows how A.I.M. came into prominence. M.O.D.O.K. is such an interesting choice because he’s a very comic booky villain, what with him being a giant head and all. They’ve set up a story where we see origin which hasn’t been iterated much since his creation back in 1967. Not many people, myself included, really know his origin so it’s cool that they’re going this route.
Once An Avenger
We’re treated to a look at a mission we haven’t seen before, “Once an Avenger.” There’s a deep cut reference to Donald Blake, Thor’s secret identity from back in the early days of his comic. It’s here where we’re treated once again to Thor gameplay. Maybe because he wasn’t fighting enemies who weren’t just regular humans, it seemed like Thor was having more of a challenge. Moreover, the varying enemies was a pleasure to see.
What I’m liking about the gameplay shown so far is that Crystal Dynamics have really done a good job of interweaving cinematic storytelling with the gameplay. You can see it when Thor finishes off one of the robots the game transitions from gameplay right into Hulk delivering the final blow. One thing I can see being a problem is the in game chatter during missions. It wasn’t a problem here but I can see it being a problem in the full game if over done.
The Structure of Marvel’s Avengers
According to Crystal Dynamics, Marvel’s Avengers is both a single player adventure and multiplayer experience. There’s a single player only campaign called hero missions and the multiplayer missions are War Zone missions. Hero missions dictate who you play as according to the story being told. War Zone missions allow you to play as an Avenger of your choosing with other players. Something I never knew about the War Zone missions is that you could play them solo with A.I. controlled Avengers backing you up. Your squad would be made up of Avengers you’ve already unlocked and leveled up.
Each Avenger can be tailor made to your particular playstyle by leveling up and learning new skills. You can have a more melee focused Thor or you can stay back and rely on your hammer and lightning to do ranged damage. There’s also all manner of gear, perks, and something called artifacts that you can equip to your character. Some gear may even add attribute damage. Iron Man equipped with gamma inducing damage was the example the stream used. All of this seems kind of Destiny like to me and I’m okay with that. My favorite feature added to Smash 4 was customization as I like to play characters who feel a certain way which that allowed me to do. Hopefully, customization is just as deep in Marvel’s Avengers.
So How Do I Feel Now
Okay, so after all that, how did I come out feeling? I enjoyed what I saw. It’s not some giant leap in quality or anything like that. Crystal Dynamics just showed me what I wanted to see: what the game looks like when I get to play with my friends. Hopefully, we get to see some more of Captain America’s gameplay as his was the one I’ve been most impressed with so far. But in conclusion, they’ve pretty much won me over. Not like I was going to not play this game anyway.
In the summer of 2003, my brother and I discovered emulation. We played our SNES until it died in 2002 so when we discovered a way to keep playing our 16 bit favorites we were ecstatic. While trying to get our favorite games, we discovered a slew of brand new games we had never even heard of. Among these games was an action rpg named Seiken Densetsu 3 developed by Squaresoft, developer of our beloved Final Fantasy franchise. I don’t remember much about the story of the game but do remember us having many sleepless nights playing that game. Fast forward to Nintendo’s E3 2019 presentation where in it Square Enix announced that this Seiken Densetsu 3 was coming west for the first time in the Collection of Mana and they were doing a full remake of the game as well named Trials of Mana. Like Final Fantasy VII Remake, I never thought I would get to play this game officially but here we are.
First off, I want to say is don’t expect this remake to be like Final Fantasy VII’s remake. It doesn’t try to transform the original 16 bit version into a game with modern sensibilities or added depth. Instead, it’s a faithful recreation of that original game that I fell in love with all those years ago, for better or worse. Trials of Mana is an action role playing game where you go from town to town buying equipment, beating bosses, and advancing the story; all standard stuff for an SNES rpg. One of the most prominent features of the original version is two player coop which, unfortunately, didn’t make the cut this time around. It would’ve been pretty difficult to implement but it just would’ve been cool to play this game with my brother. Another prominent thing about this game is the fact that you can pick your party of three from a cast of six characters. Now, while I say it’s an action rpg I think it might be more appropriate to call it a beat em with rpg elements because that’s what you’ll be doing most of the time. For my initial playthrough, I chose Kevin the beast man, Hawkeye the thief, and Riesz the Amazon. My second playthrough was with Duran the swordsman, Charlotte the dwarf, and Angela the mage. Each character has their own playstyle with their own unique skills. You can learn even more skills and spells by changing each character’s class. There are four class levels each character can change into with a light and dark variant to choose between. For both of my playthroughs, I stuck with Kevin and Duran, respectively, so the gameplay was more akin to a 3D beat em up which I had no problem with. Playing as any of the less melee focused characters may have provided more of a change up in gameplay but I was having a blast playing the damage dealer.
In keeping with the spirit of the SNES classic, there are no side quests or extra diversions to speak of. The story is very straight forward for every character with plot twists you could see a mile away. The beginning and end of the story may change based on the main character you choose but the bulk of the game is the same no matter who you play with. Even storylines meant for characters who you didn’t choose in your party play out the exact same with those characters sitting on the sideline while your chosen party handles the task at hand. Honestly your choice of character is meaningless until you get to the end. You see, there are three main villains in this game and each main villain is tied to two of Trials of Mana’s six protagonists. The main character you choose determines your final boss as the other two villains back off during the game’s midway point. There are three potential final dungeons before you face the final boss that you could playthrough. Honestly speaking, I don’t find that these minor changes give the game enough replay value to justify playing the game again unless you really enjoy the gameplay. The story being what it is isn’t a bad thing as long as you know what to expect from it. One minor nitpick I have with the story is that your party members rarely interact with one another. There are moments here and there but for the most part whenever there’s a cutscene dealing with one character’s particular story, the others rarely speak and are just background characters. There is an extra arc that unlocks once you beat the main campaign that sees your characters sort of close up any loose ends they may have and gain Class 4. There’s also two added dungeons and the villainess of this arc ties Trials of Mana to other Mana games but that’s all I’ll say about her.
Much has been said about Trials of Mana’s English dub and I must say that I wasn’t as bothered by it. There are times when the tone is off and doesn’t match the character model or when characters have a speech quirk, it doesn’t come off as well as it should. A lot the faults in some of the performances I was able to overlook because for the most part the acting is solid and the characters are appropriately cast. I’ve pretty sure a lot of the problems came down to recording for a game made in Japan that wasn’t finished. This is likely the result of a game with a smaller budget getting a simultaneous worldwide release. It’s hiccups like these that’ll ensure a better release next time. Speaking of the budget, I next want to talk about the look of the game. Trials of Mana looks great and translates the SNES game perfectly to 3D but you can still see where the budget constraints were. Reused character assets and animations are abound. Not really a complaint for me, per se, but something to look out for. In terms of music, you have a choice between the original 16 bit soundtrack and an orchestrated rendition. You can’t go wrong with either one as the music is quite catchy and the modern rendition is a spot on recreation.
Verdict
I have find it hard not to recommend Trials of Mana, especially to people who miss how simple old school game design use to be. The only apprehensions I have about recommending it is for fans of action rpgs who enjoy great stories. While I love the story and world of the game, they aren’t exactly fleshed out and you wouldn’t call it Trials of Mana’s strong point but if you enjoy a simple story with great gameplay you have got to give this game a go.
For as long as I’ve been a gamer I’ve been a Final Fantasy fan. I didn’t grow up following releases but I played the newer entries when I had the chance. My first game in the series was FFIV when it was originally released as Final Fantasy II. When the seventh game release came out, I didn’t have a Playstation so I never got attached to it. By the time I did finally get one VIII was the PS1 Final Fantasy I grew attached to and was amazed by. While I did eventually experience the full story of FFVII, I had no nostalgia for it whatsoever. While fans of Final Fantasy VII were crying out for a remake after the PS3 tech demo, I was happily looking forward to the future of the franchise, never paying the outcry any mind. That is until E3 2015 when Final Fantasy VII Remake was formally announced. For some reason, the announcement trailer was able to fill me with so much nostalgia over a game that I wasn’t even the biggest fan of. Every year after, I would wait with bated breath for some kind of new info on Final Fantasy VII Remake. Interviews, Trailers, anything that would provide me with more information on this game that I was sure wouldn’t come out. Then, this year, I had it in my hands. Like a physical box that had a bluray disc that held a game that I was sure was a unicorn. But here we are. I played it and beat it. I devoured the game like it was nobody’s business. At release, the stay at home order had just been issued so I had no work to get in the way of me and this game. The only thing that came me away from was my duty to my daughter as a father but after she went to bed I would stay up all night playing this game. I think it’s safe to say that this game is my game of the year so far. The rest of the year is pretty stacked so we’ll see how long that stands.
The story of Final Fantasy VII is such a timeless one: An evil mega corporation is harnessing the life energy of the planet for dubious means so it’s up to a group of eco terrorists to put a stop to them. I don’t believe we’ll ever be in a world where there isn’t some corporation out there destroying the enviroment to produce whatever product it sells to the world. Shinra is a step up above that because the company seems to also be the governing entity of Midgar, complete with it’s own military. From the start of the game we are introduced to the eco-terrorist group, Avalanche. They’ve hire our protagonist, Cloud Strife, to help them blow up one of Shinra’s Mako reactors. It’s here where we see one this game’s biggest strengths: it’s characters. These characters feel like living, breathing human beings with their own faults and flaws. Throughout the entire game, you see Cloud as this weird socially awkward character who doesn’t really know how to handle social situations or how to deal with people grow into someone who is a bit more open by the end of this game. One thing I think Square Enix nailed in FFXV was the banter between the main characters and that carries over into this game as well. The writing is on point the whole way through. Whoever worked on the localization script deserves major props as they did a good job capturing the wit of the banter, making the dialogue sound genuine, and giving Barret really cheesy dialog that sounds one hundred percent plausible. All of the actors do tremendous jobs bringing their characters to life. Special shoutout to Brianna White as Aerith was her first voice over role and she nailed it with the perfect amount of purity and sass. While this game is titled Final Fantasy VII Remake make note that it doesn’t cover the complete saga of the original. It ends right after you leave from Midgar and includes many differences to the story. Pay close attention to the story surrounding the mysterious phantoms. Make no mistake, though, as the game ends in a very satisfying conclusion.
Final Fantasy originally started as a series of turn based rpgs but started to kind of shift away from that in more recent years. This game, however, is a beautiful marriage of what the franchise was and what it has become. Final Fantasy VII Remake makes use of an action combat system while a meter charges in the bottom of the screen for each party member. Once full, you can use this meter to pause gameplay and either use items, activate a special move, or use magic. While gameplay is paused you can take your time to think and survey the battlefield. I love the way the combat system works because you have the exhilaration of an action game and the strategy of a turn based game. There’s also a classic mode that sees your characters autobattling while you focus on dealing magic and special attacks, similar to mmos, Final Fantasy XII, and the Xenoblade Chronicles series. Final Fantasy VII Remake features heavy customization of your characters as well. Each weapon you gain in the game can be further modified so you aren’t just equipping the weapon with the better stats. Each weapon when modified can dramatically change up your play style and strategy. There’s also materia that gives your party members magic and special abilities. On top of that, they can also be leveled up and some can even link with others to further boost your materia. The game is at its most impressive during boss battles. These battles are giant spectacles where you have to be at the top of your A game and have all your equipment in order. They feel like mmo raid battles except you have to control a party of three, each with an assigned role determined by how you have them outfitted. Square Enix should really be commended for the way the how handled gameplay here.
In terms of pacing, the game sort of reminds me of a Naughty Dog game: linear and narrative driven. For those use to older titles in the franchise, this may seem like a bad thing but it’s really not. The areas you visit are large and varied but are streamlined so that you never not know where you need to go. Some chapters include side quests that you can do as Cloud tries to make his living. I felt that the side quests were pretty decently embedded into the game. They gave me more of an excuse to enjoy the fantastic combat system and become more a part of the world. There are plenty of minigames and little genre shifts to sort of break up the pace of the game. If you plan on going for the platinum be forewarned that the pull up minigame is extremely difficult. I almost started hating the game from it but once I got through it I was back to enjoying the game.
It’s clear that Square Enix had no problem throwing money at this game. The animation work and character models are highly detailed and polish. The shift between cutscene and gameplay is pretty much nonexistent. There are so many different particle affects and lights to keep combat looking cool and bombastic. Final Fantasy games are known for their excellent soundtracks and FFVII-R is no slouch on that front. Hell, it may even my favorite soundtrack of the entire franchise. While Nobuo Uematsu composed the music for the original game, the remake is composed by Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki who do the original soundtrack justice. They get all of the little moments just right and once the action starts going so does the music. During boss battles things really get pumping. My favorite track has to be the airbuster battle.
I thought Final Fantasy VII Remake was going to be delayed and that I’d never get my hands on it. It blows my mind that it actually came and is my game of the year so far. With excellent combat, story, characters, graphics, and music it’s hard to see how any game this year can hope to top it but the year is still early. If you were at all put off by the episodic nature Square Enix is going for, put your mind at ease. This is easily an instant classic and the story is expanded enough to get your money’s worth. Now bring on Part 2!
Final Fantasy is no stranger to mobile games. From premium ports of the mainline console games to mobile exclusive titles that use a free to play model, it’s hard to say what has or hasn’t been a success. With Final Fantasy being their biggest brand, it’s easy to see why Square Enix continues to put out titles on what is arguably the biggest gaming platform. Today, SE have released yet another mobile title but not one you would expect.
You see, back in the nineties, after Squaresoft released the mega popular Final Fantasy VII, they released a spinoff that would prove to gain its own following in Final Fantasy Tactics. Final Fantasy Tactics was and continues to be a huge departure for Final Fantasy storytelling. Instead of a hero going on an epic quest to save the world, you had a political drama filtered through the eyes of a young mercenary. Instead of the huge bombast on display in the main series, in Tactics, you get a more grounded and subdued fantasy story. Even though Tactics had two sequels on the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS, there was still nothing like it. Instead, Tactics Advance and A2 go for a more fairytale like tone.
Before I start talking about War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, I want to make it clear that I’ve only put in about three or four hours of gameplay. That isn’t nearly enough to make any sort of judgement about the game. The point of this writing is just to share my experience with this game so far.
The story of War of the Visions seems to be following in Final Fantasy Tactics’ idea of storytelling. There are multiple royal families with their own objectives and motives going on within the narrative. From what I can tell Mont Leonis, one of two of Leonis’ princes, seems to be the protagonist. From what I’ve played, the story mostly takes place from his point of view. He’s not really what you expect from hero of a jrpg. Mont comes off as very hesitant and unwilling to take part in battle unless his father urges him to. His relationship with Macherie who maybe the game’s heroine is quite entertaining as she sees him to be nothing more than servant to his father. It’ll be quite interesting to see where Mont’s character goes as the story progresses. I feel like the game is closer in tone to the original Tactics game.
Starting this game up, I didn’t know what to expect. From all of the promotional material I knew this game had already defined characters so I was unsure where the monetization came in. Once I got to the main menu it became pretty clear that this is a gacha game. You are given currency known as Visiore which you use to summon units to be used by Mont as party members. For the most part, War of the Visions is pretty generous with this currency but it had such a successful prelaunch campaign that I don’t know how normal that will be. Battles take place on grid like maps, where your party and your enemies take turns moving and attacking. There are both weapon and elemental weaknesses to take into account as well terrain advantages and disadvantages. There’s a helpful set of 14 tutorial missions that teach you the basics and even some of the more advanced techniques.
Presentation wise, this is the best looking Final Fantasy game on mobile by far. The character designs look like what you would typically see from Final Fantasy but mixed with the outfits you would normally see from Game of Thrones. It gives the game a very unique flourish and helps it stand out from the rest of the franchise. Graphically the character renders match their artwork to a surprising degree. Special attack animations look positively gorgeous. The music continues the franchise’s legacy of having excellent soundtracks. As soon as the first song started playing I was in awe. War of the Visions also features full voiceovers for the main story missions provided in both English and Japanese. I’m enjoying the voice direction and the localization script.
I’ve enjoyed my time with War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius but I don’t know if I’ll stay for the long haul. It’s an absolutely beautiful game and I can tell a lot of love and care have been put into it. Gacha games have rarely captured my attention so it remains to be seen how long it can keep my attention. For now, though, it’s filling a void that’s been empty for far too long.
Ever since I picked up issue 15 of Shonen Jump magazine back in 2004, I have been a fan of One Piece. Eiichiro Oda’s knack for compelling storytelling combined with his quirky Toriyama-inspired art style captured me from the moment I laid my eyes on it. Over the years, I’ve gobbled up all of the media the comic inspired: the anime series, movies, and, of course, video games. No video game, I feel, has captured the essence of a One Piece story. They all sort of just try to rehash the plot of the manga in video game form which I feel doesn’t exactly work. Ganbarion, the developers behind the more adventure focused One Piece games, decided to take a crack at making the franchise first open world game. A no-brainer, right? Take a franchise that has a penchant for adventure and insert it into a genre that is pure adventure and discovery.
I feel like One Piece: World Seeker does the open world thing decently if not remarkably. From the very start of the game, you can explore the entirety of Prison Island. You can go anywhere you want without any limits or restrictions. You can hunt for treasure and materials to craft better gear for yourself. There are plenty of side missions to do along with the main questline. The one major complaint I have with World Seeker is that a lot of what you do is just checking off boxes. I never really felt the need to collect the materials scattered about the open world. For the most part I ignored the crafting except when needed for a particular trophy or achievement. Also, the stealth in this game is horrible and I don’t understand why it was included in this game. There are no options to crouch or crawl. You can only hide in a barrel. There’s no fun in taking the stealthy approach and there are even some missions that force you to use stealth. Combat at first feels very limited but once you’ve earned enough skills on the skill board, the options in battle really start to open up. You two combat stances that feel very different depending on your fighting style and the enemy you are fighting. Observation Haki gives Luffy maneuverability, while Hardening makes him a more offensive fighter. You can switch between them on the fly, so if you get into a pinch with a certain enemy type, you can always have the right style handy. Another issue I have is that none of the other Straw Hats factor into gameplay at all. They just give you quests or show up in cutscenes. Part of the fun of One Piece is the assemble cast and it feels like a missed opportunity to not have them involved in the gameplay. You can have Usopp or Franky create gear for you or have Sanji send one of the other crewmates to gather materials but that’s about it. I also want to mention that it is a blast to traverse the open world using Luffy’s gum-gum powers to rocket from tree to tree or building to building.
In almost two decades of video games, Kohei Tanaka, one of the composers for the anime, has never been involved… until now! Tanaka’s tracks help give World Seeker that One Piece vibe. The soundtrack just sounds like something you would adventure to or fight to. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the soundtrack and I definitely wasn’t expecting the whole thing to be composed with original tracks. I figured we’d get some from the show but, no, this game has it’s very own compositions. The character models look feel a bit off to me, though, and they aren’t exactly animated well. Most cutscenes are told through static models opening and closing their mouths.
Where One Piece: World Seeker shines is its original story. I could easily see this game’s story being like a filler arc or movie in the anime series. We start off with the Straw Hats trying to break into this sky prison where things go awry and Luffy ends up falling off and landing onto the island below. It’s here where he meets a girl named Jeanne and start to learn more about this prison island. World Seeker does a good job of making you care for the people of this island (even if they all look the same) by having you get involved with their personal stories through side quests. You’ll also run into plenty familiar faces on this adventure, and just like the recent movie, Stampede, they all have legitimate reasons for being on this island. Doing all of the side content leads to a bigger payoff once you get to the climax of the game as you’ll have more of an understanding as to what lead to the villain feeling the way he does.
One Piece video games can be hit or miss but World Seeker is more hit than miss. While still not the perfect anime video game, it took quite a few steps forward. Hopefully, Ganbarion will continue to build off the groundwork it’s laid with this game. As for World Seeker, if you’re a One Piece fan, you owe it to yourself to at least give this game a try.
Netflix has finally released the second half of its truncated version of the Saint Seiya saga and boy is it a doozey. Beginning right where Part 1, the Bronze Knights are saved from a cave on by the mysterious Mu. Now our heroes find themselves facing off against various Silver Knights who are hunting them. The Grandmaster of Sanctuary has marked Sienna Kido for death and the bronze knights are named traitors for siding with her. While all of this is going on, Vander Graad schemes finally come to fruition.
You can tell all twelve episodes were meant to be viewed together because one of this show’s own original storylines builds into a two part finale in the end. An issue that arose from this set of episodes that sort of came up in the first six episodes is how squished together the story seems from combining two meaty story arcs together into one twelve episode season. It essentially robs the series of ever having effective dramatic moments the way both its source material and the original anime did so well. We’re constantly moving from plot point to plot point without any event having any weight to them. There is a battle between Dragon Knight Long and a silver saint where Long has to do something drastic to win. Normally, this would be a big deal but this entire battle happens in the span of five minutes. Another thing I took issue with was Shaun’s/Shun’s portrayal being problematic in this set of episodes. Because they changed Shaun’s character to be nonviolent and female, most of her scenes this season make her come off as a weak girl. Ironic seeing as the whole point of the change was to add a strong female lead. Most of her screen time is spent just standing around as Seiya, Magnus, and Long take charge. The first two two episodes start off this set of episodes strongly then the next two episodes rush the Silver Knights arc to it’s conclusion while also setting up the two episode arc that ends the season. Vander Graad is a character added just for this show and his story is really the least interesting thing about the first season. He has a thing against the gods for some reason and is the one who created the Black Knights. Somehow, Graad is able to put cosmos energy into a huge reactor and that is what the Black Knights are using to power their armor. This storyline was so odd and felt completely out of place.
This season of Knights of the Zodiac will change no one’s mind about CGI anime. I find the character designs and animation quite attractive but your miles may vary. I’m not in love with the choreography for some of the fights but the characters move very fluidly. A lot of the fights consist of characters throwing ki blast fists and unleashing big splashy moves. I really dislike that the Black Knights all seem to be Cassios wearing a black helmet. The voice acting, courtesy of Sentai Filmworks, is just as good and consistent as the first half. Yoshihiro Ike’s score continues to mostly unremarkable, never really shining. That’s pretty unfortunate as he’s such a prolific composer.
Netflix’s Saint Seiya reboot continues to befuddle as to who it’s intended audience is suppose to be. It uses terminology from an old, edited dub that barely anyone even saw, has objectionable content not meant for younger audiences, and makes strange changes that alienate long time fans. There’s no way I can really recommend this version of Saint Seiya when the original show is available on the same platform with a dub starring mostly the same, awesome cast. As a fan of the franchise since the aforementioned old dub, I’ll keep watching to see how this show continues to both adapt and differentiate itself from its source material. Its by no means a horrible show or adaptation but I do hope that the further it goes, the more it’ll improve.
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