God of War Ascension review – Perilous Descent

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Kratos has always been portrayed as an angry, violent man. A man who stops at nothing to destroy those who have betrayed him. A man whose temperament is coarser than the finest grades of sandpaper and Brillo pads. But Sony Santa Monica was determined to give us a prequel (to a prequel) to show the more “human” side of Kratos. They said they would show us that Kratos has emotions other than anger and feelings outside of pure rage. We were supposed to see who he was before and how he got to where he is now.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that God of War: Ascension fails at this task and wholly fails at meeting the expectations that come with being a God of War game. On the surface, it appears to be God of War, but digging deeper proves that appearances can be deceiving.

The narrative is a mess from nearly all angles. The three Furies are the primary antagonists in Ascension and they had the potential to be interesting, but they (along with another major character) were never fully fleshed out. The opening cutscene is about the extent of their back-story, and that’s a shame because we’re never given a reason to be invested in fighting them.

Kratos faces a similar (though less exaggerated) lack of depth. Instead of the Charmin-soft side of Kratos we were promised (okay, maybe not that soft), we get Kratos going from upset to his traditional irate. The primary issue is the story’s starting point is about six months too late; at the beginning, his family is already dead. To show a more emotional Kratos, we need to experience that event with him and the sadness that accompanies it, not another tiny increment of the story we already knew.

While development of the characters falls flat, the story itself would be difficult to navigate on its own. It jumps soullessly back and forth between past and present settings; it’s extremely difficult to know which one you’re currently playing in. The only times I knew what time I was playing in was when it transitioned back to the other while I’m thinking “so that stuff was all the past?” It feels like multiple ideas were haphazardly implemented and thrown together in a way that barely works; there’s more jumping through time in Ascension than all the Prince of Persia games combined.

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From a gameplay perspective, this is still God of War. You will flail your chained Blades of Chaos at your enemies, rip their weakened bodies in half, and complete quicktime events to finish off bigger enemies and bosses, all while grunting feverously and collecting red orbs for upgrades. Ascension only grants you one weapon (there are disposable subweapons I didn’t find much use for), but you’ll gain magic throughout the campaign to imbue the Blades of Chaos with four elemental powers. While they do offer some variation for tactics, it’s not evident until much later in the game exactly what effect they have on enemies aside from smashing and a few pretty animations.

Aside from magic, you’ll get two other items that help out in combat and with puzzles. Problem is, you get them so late, you barely have time to get used to using them effectively before the game ends. There is very little variety in combat, and having these much sooner would have helped alleviate this issue. Rolling is still mapped to the right stick, but it’s accompanied by a slight delay, making utilizing it effectively more difficult than it should be. You can still block attacks, but there’s been a curious change to the way you parry. Instead of a well timed press of the block button, you now must hold block and press a face button. I don’t know what brought on this change, but it caused me much frustration. My entire combat experience with Ascension was that I spent my time surviving battles, not thriving the way a grizzled veteran should. Every battle after the beginning, I was wondering when it would end, hoping I wouldn’t run out of life before I ran out of enemies.

Typical puzzles and platforming sections are still around. For the most part, they’re not too intrusive and offer a break from the aforementioned combat struggles, though at times I felt they overstayed their welcome. One puzzle in particular took longer than I expected; the answer was relatively simple, but not clear how I would initially achieve that resolution without extended trial and error. Platforming sections were littered with very generous checkpoints, so missing a jump didn’t require retreading through any long sections of gameplay a second time. I was thankful for this, since I sometimes spent my time gazing at all the imagery in the background. Ascension is a very good looking game.

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For the first time, a God of War game features a multiplayer mode. In it, you’re able to form an allegiance to the God of your choice (I chose Ares…) and customize your Spartan’s look and abilities. There are few options available from the start, but plenty to be unlocked. There are four modes available: Team Favor of the Gods, Match of Champions, Trial of the Gods, and Capture the Flag, covering your standard Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, a co-op Horde-type mode and, well, Capture the Flag.

While not particularly deep, each mode is functional and it’s interesting to face-off both with and against other God of War players for the first time. While it’s likely not polished enough to encourage long term play, I can see this being iterated upon and improved in a similar manner to the Assassin’s Creed series’ multiplayer. Personally, I thought this was the best part of the Ascension package (unless we’re being real cynical and saying that The Last of Us demo is the true prize).

In a series that has spawned countless wannabes and clones, it’s a shame Ascension couldn’t emulate its own prior glory. Kratos bound by his own chains in the opening scenes is fitting, as the entire experience is held back by the grand nature of his previous (future?) exploits and the inability to convey the emotions we were promised. God of War Ascension is a serviceable game, but in a series where scale is everything, serviceable isn’t grand enough.

Final Score
6

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Available on Playstation 3
Dev: Sony Santa Monica
Pub: SCEA
Buy: Purchase God of War Ascension from Amazon | Gamestop

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Full disclosure: I purchased this game for review. I spent approximately 25 hours with it, completing the game and spending several hours with the multiplayer.

Tomb Raider review – Becoming a Croft

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Think about all the things that the Tomb Raider series has meant to you. Backflips, twin Uzis, shooting tigers, searching the large mansion, huge breasts, the short shorts, solving elaborate puzzles, surviving traps, and perhaps most importantly, raiding tombs.

Most of that has no place in this new Tomb Raider, and that’s okay. Developer Crystal Dynamics has taken yet another shot at the franchise, but this time opting for a complete reboot to focus more on the development of the protagonist, Lara Croft, rather than just tacking on another adventure to list on her resume.

This is Lara’s first true expedition. Lara and company set sail on their ship, the Endurance, with the goal of finding the lost island of Yamatai. No one knows its exact location, or even if it exists, but this young Croft is determined to discover it. And that she does, as a violent storm literally rips the ship apart and the crew washes ashore. The situation escalates quickly from there, as Lara is almost immediately captured before gathering her bearings and is tasked with escaping her captors and saving her friends.

The entire opening sequence through Lara’s escape is a highly cinematic affair with little interaction; move forward here, a quick-time event there, all to establish the setting and unveil the emotional and psychological impact on Lara. Many of the hints to create this type of setting are very subtle – while wading through high water or traversing dark areas, you may catch Lara looking back over her shoulder to see if anyone is following her. There are many of these moments, all of which are thoroughly believable, thanks to the expertly-done character animations.

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Lara moves well and despite a grungy appearance, she looks great doing it. Crystal Dynamics also went out of their way to score Camilla Luddington (of True Blood and Grey’s Anatomy fame) as the voice actor for Lara, and she reprises the role perfectly. Occasionally, Lara will sit down at a campfire (save points) and give a brief monologue on her thoughts and condition, and these were a joy to listen to, both for narrative reasons and because the voice acting was so good.

The overarching story is about in line with what you’d expect, which is to say, not that much. You find that all the inhabitants of Yamatai are violent cultists that are looking to revive the Sun Queen and unlock her supernatural power. Literally every other human you meet that wasn’t on the Endurance is looking to capture or kill you, and you learn this very quickly. The real story is about Lara’s evolution from a bright-eyed explorer to a battle-hardened, full-fledged adventurer. Most of this change is very gradual and nuanced – at no point does she instantly flip a switch and say “okay, I’m going to act this way now”.

Her changes are out of necessity. She’s on a strange island and everyone and everything is trying to kill her. No, really, everything is trying to kill her. From islanders (known as the Solari) to wolves to any random cliff she’s near, death wants to claim her. The amount of times random falls and tumbles happen to Lara borders on a Looney Tunes level of ridiculousness. Did you know the average female has about 10 pints of blood in their body? I estimate that Lara should have lost somewhere around 35 pints throughout her adventure. The developers said they wanted you to care about Lara, and they decided they were going to beat her up until you do.

Lara is given a fair amount of options to defend herself. She starts with a bow, and eventually gets a pistol, shotgun, and even a grenade launcher. There is an upgrade system that allows for weapon mods to increase their effectiveness and she learns skills to assist both in combat and in traversal of the island. Of note, she’ll learn how to counterattack using some pretty gruesome sequences to fell her foes. Upon sensing there are enemies in the area, Lara will crouch instinctively to avoid detection. There is no “cover system” – Lara is smart enough to duck down when necessary. The combat is satisfying enough, but at times (particularly toward the endgame) the game leans on it a bit too much. And for once in a video game, the shotgun feels underpowered.

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Yamatai is home to environments both lush and dangerous. Traveling across the island will take you to a wide variety of locations, ranging from a exotic forests with bustling wildlife to damp, dark caverns to underground bunkers with potentially deadly and free flowing natural gas. The transition between areas feels pretty seamless (for the player, at least; Lara might beg to differ). The island is broken into multiple hubs where you can quick travel between campfires once you’ve reached them. Most hubs are relatively small, but there are two or three massive ones that can make it feel like an open world game. Most areas also have a sense of verticality, and almost all of them are littered with collectibles. What’s nice is upon pickup, collectibles feature a description that is actually narrated to you by various characters and the island map will tell you how many of them you’re still missing, making them more rewarding to find.

Once you’ve completed the story and found all the collectibles, there’s very little else to do. You can run around and enjoy the gorgeous scenery and clear areas of enemies a second time, but they won’t respawn for a third go-round. There’s a couple optional tombs to find, but they house some fairly simple puzzles and are about as shallow as a puddle.

This Tomb Raider brings you something you’ve never seen in the series before: multiplayer. When I first heard that a multiplayer component was being added, I was just as skeptical as you probably are. I thought that it didn’t need multiplayer, that it didn’t belong. And boy, was I right.

Online play in Tomb Raider is about as exciting as reading the bullet points about its features. Here, let me show you:

With the new Tomb Raider multiplayer, you get

  • Five gameplay modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Free For All, Rescue, and Cry for Help!
  • Five great maps with vertical gameplay!
  • Gain XP to gain levels up to 60, then Prestige and start over!
  • Find Salvage to unlock new weapons and skills!
  • DLC coming soon!

See how riveting that was? That’s about the extent of actual fun you’ll have with the online modes. Most likely, you’ll give it a whirl and never touch that part of the game again.

Tomb Raider succeeds in being a great game despite its multiplayer missteps. Crystal Dynamics has taken an iconic character with a previously established identity and crafted the foundation to build her back up to it. By the end, Lara is once again strong and courageous, ready to take an another adventure and the ending implies as much. Thanks to this strong showing, I’ll be ready for it and you should be, too.


Final Score
9

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Available on Xbox 360 (reviewed), Playstation 3
Dev: Crystal Dynamics
Pub: Square-Enix
Buy: Purchase Tomb Raider from Amazon | Gamestop

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Full disclosure: I purchased this game for review. I spent approximately 30 hours with it, completing the game and spending several hours with the multiplayer.

Crysis 3 review – Cloak Engaged

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Crysis 3 makes a great first impression. Right away, you’re greeted by a main theme song that’s both simple but surprisingly elegant. It invites you to come in and take the Nanosuit-wearing protagonist for a spin. The visuals match the score, creating a beautiful, awe-inspiring scene but, unfortunately, this honeymoon doesn’t last. That sense of wonder and intrigue is eventually replaced by befuddlement and frustration.

A lot of small things come together in that first impression that many players will appreciate. The aforementioned music, of course, but also what greets you when starting the game: all difficulties are unlocked from the start and there is a “Previously on Crysis” option to help sum up the story of the previous games in a brief cutscene. It’s more like a set of slides and it doesn’t go into detail, but it’s great that it’s even there. More often than not, games continue a story that is overly dependent on playing the previous games to understand.

Another small item I noted was the game’s separate tutorial. It gives you a great initiation to your Nanosuit powers and practice getting used to the controls, but it asks you if you want to do it. I love it when the tutorial is entirely optional, and Crysis 3 doesn’t disappoint.

It also doesn’t disappoint graphically. Even on the seven year old Xbox 360, this game looks fantastic – it’s likely the best looking game to come out so far. Seriously, there were a few times I thought I was surveying the field for enemies and hiding spots, but I ended up just enjoying the look and feel of the environment. I was drawn in by the tall grass and rusted, broken buildings… until my active camo ran out, anyway.

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Taking place 20 years after the events of Crysis 2, Prophet is awakened from a sort of cryo-sleep and sees visions of the future from the Alpha Ceph – the leader of the alien race that originally inhabited the planet. Meanwhile, the Cell are the generic organization trying to harness the Ceph’s power and technology to take control. Prophet naturally wants to stop both the Cell and the Ceph, and as a supersoldier, he’s naturally the only one who can do it. There are a few interesting twists and revelations, but none that really come out of left field. It’s likely you may see them coming, but they’re executed well enough that they’re still interesting. Overall, though, it seems a bit dull. If not for your partner’s accent, I may well have forgotten it all.

The story isn’t necessarily too complex and it’s not required you play the previous games to get a grasp on what’s going on, though. Crysis 3 delves into a little bit of backstory and makes clear references to past events that you’ll be able to mostly put two and two together.

Crysis 3 is billed as a first person shooter, but really, it’s really a first person stealth game. You’re given the bow early on and using it doesn’t take you out of active camo, so the most effective way to play is to sit in a corner, invisible, and line up the headshots. You can run out and recollect your arrows, too, so you might never want or need to use another weapon until some of the later levels. The bow is very overpowered – an arrow to the knee (what? There’s an achievement for it) will kill most enemies in one shot – but it is by far the most fun and satisfying weapon in the game.

Trying to fight enemies without using stealth is far less fun. Despite being a supersoldier, even in armor mode, it takes so little to actually kill you. A couple bullets and you’re restarting from the last well-placed checkpoint. It’s just not that fun to fight enemies head-on, but spots where you are forced to come with increasing frequency in the last few levels, culminating in an annoying final boss fight. While we’re talking about the final boss encounter, I was unable to beat the game because of a recurring glitch; every time I load up the final checkpoint during the boss fight, it froze despite supposedly being patched.

But a special shout-out goes to the enemy AI. The enemies in this game are downright stupid. I understand that they can’t see you because you’re cloaked and camping in a crevice somewhere, but I could predictably shoot guys in the head with arrows, listen for their yell (“He’s hunting us!”, they’d say), then wait for the next guy to slowly walk up the same path where I just shot his friend. I then retrieve my arrows and repeat until the area is clear. Call me crazy, but I was expecting them to react more like the enemies in Arkham City – slowly getting more and more nervous, firing random shots and trying to stick together. I will give credit to their optometrist, though. These guys can spot you from 100 yards away when you’re not even in their field of vision. No cloak, no problem.

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The multiplayer on offer is fairly solid, thanks to the wide variety of modes and progressive unlocks. You have all the modes you’d typically expect: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, various objectives game types and a new mode called Hunters. In this gametype, a couple players are designated to be the Hunters and are permanently cloaked for the duration of the round with a bow while everyone else is a normal Cell operative and trying to kill the Hunters. It’s basically the same as Halo‘s Infection, where getting killed by a Hunter converts the Cell into Hunters as well, until there are none left or time runs out. It can be a really fun, exciting mode when everyone plays to the spirit of the game; sometimes, people will just sit in a corner and wait it out, which is no fun.

Crysis 3 does make iterative improvements on the multiplayer found in Crysis 2. No longer is it nearly impossible to see a cloaked opponent (and most of your opponents will probably be cloaked). Now cloaked players have a faint shadow outline which is visible, but not to the point where the cloak isn’t useful. That was the main gripe with Crysis 2‘s multiplayer, and I’m glad to see it become more balanced. The bow is still overpowered and they’ve added a small amount of vehicle stuff for a little variety, but the bottom line is if you liked Crysis 2‘s multiplayer, you’ll like this one.

Crysis 3 suffers from one main problem: you’re a supersoldier that isn’t quite super. Having all those powers is fun, but leveraging them should make you feel more powerful, not as fragile as a character in Call of Duty. It can be a very fun game at times, but it doesn’t really provide the freedom of playstyle that it would like you to believe. The whole time playing, I’d think to myself “Master Chief can do everything Prophet can do, but better”. In a world of Call of Duty and Halo, Crysis 3 finds a place as a brief, entertaining distraction; fun in its own right, but forever the mistress.


Final Score
7

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Available on Xbox 360 (reviewed), Playstation 3
Dev: Crytek
Pub: Electronic Arts
Buy: Purchase Crysis 3 from Amazon | Gamestop

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Full disclosure: I purchased this game for review. I spent approximately 20 hours with it, reaching the final checkpoint of the game and spending several hours with the multiplayer.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance review – Scrapped

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Metal Gear Solid: Rising was a failure.

That project was originally intended to explain the events between Metal Gear Solid 2 when Raiden was initially introduced and Metal Gear Solid 4 where he reappears as a decked out, katana-wielding cyborg ninja. However, they couldn’t figure out the gameplay and the game was quietly canceled.

Thankfully, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is anything but a failure. Platinum Game’s latest creation is fast, fun, flashy and fluid yet still finds a way to retain much of the Metal Gear feel, despite being a drastically different type of game.

Set four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, Raiden now works for a PMC (Private Military Company) called Maverick and is on a job to protect an African president. As expected, the situation turns sour and Raiden now has to face off with a group called the Desperadoes, who are lead by multiple enhanced cyborgs known as the Winds of Destruction.

Revengeance, while not directly part of the Solid sub-series of Metal Gear, retains many features of those games so series veterans can feel right at home (well, as much at home as possible, anyway). You’ll see both Dwarf Gekkos and regular Gekkos – the latter of which I affectionately refer to as “Moo-Moos” – and hear classic Metal Gear sound effects like the codecs and low health noises. They even have a Metal Gear Ray as the first boss you face.

The plot is very much a Metal Gear plot, which is great, because it is considered series canon. Every major enemy will give you their own philosophical spiel shortly before you dispatch them and the overarching plot is thin and easy to miss. While more narrative depth and backstory can be gleaned through listening to the optional codecs, it never reaches the levels of crazy and convolution that is normally reserved for primary Metal Gear entries. It’s condensed Metal Gear, if you will.

Previous games bearing the Metal Gear name have been mostly stealth based affairs, but Revengeance takes the entirely opposite approach. You can actually use stealth in some areas (cardboard boxes make an appearance), it’s kind of awkward and contrary to the game’s design. Raiden is a cyborg ninja, after all. He’s meant to slice things into many small pieces. And slice he does; you can take your blade through much of the game’s environments, though it doesn’t let you slice your way into a corner that would prevent you from progressing.

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But the game is most satisfying when you’re slicing up your enemies. Swordplay is fast and intense, allowing you to string together combos and literally cut your enemies in half. Your typical enemies will go down in a few hits, but later, armored and heavy cyborgs are introduced to keep you on your toes. To dispatch your foes in the most stylish of ways, you can enter Blade Mode which puts you in slow motion while you “precision slice”. If the enemy is weak enough, there will be a target box and cutting through it will allow you to perform a Zandatsu – ripping out the enemy cyborg’s spine to retrieve their electrolytes and restore your health and energy. I love Zandatsu; it makes Blade Mode a relevant gameplay mechanic and just looks cool.

Another gameplay mechanic that is just as important (if not more so) is parrying. There is no outright block button, so parrying is your greatest tool for defense. Timing and execution are very important to parrying and mastering it can take some practice. Only problem is that Revengeance hardly takes any time out of its schedule to properly introduce the mechanic, creating a steeper difficulty curve for many. You can beat all of the game’s normal enemies without every parrying, but facing bosses often require a level of skill most players aren’t yet ready to face.

Raiden isn’t just limited to his blade, though. Defeating each of the Winds of Destruction will grant you access to their unique weapons that range from interesting to useful. Additionally, there’s rockets and grenades available. They’re littered fairly liberally throughout the game’s 8 missions, although using them isn’t always practical; once combat is initiated, the use of sub-weapons are made more difficult by the high speed action because they’re so slow.

As a cyborg ninja, Raiden is not slow. While he’s not Sonic the Hedgehog, he does have a Ninja Run that lets you sprint and automatically scale obstacles., deflect bullets or just do a “run-by” while randomly slashing your sword. It’s worth noting that the camera sometimes struggles to keep pace with the action, making for situations where you’re being attacked from off-screen. Using the lock-on feature mostly takes care of that, but groups of enemies can still be bothersome.

About halfway through, Raiden changes from normal sounding to a more scruff, Christian Bale Batman-esque voice and gains access to Ripper Mode. It makes your attacks stronger, but it uses the fuel cells you’d otherwise need for Blade Mode. It’s meant to create a sort of balancing act between the mechanics, essentially making you choose at times between Ripper Mode and the ability to perform Zandatsus.

While mostly underdeveloped as characters, the bosses in Revengeance are fantastic. Each boss provided a very unique challenge to the player with their varied attack styles. I found all of the these fights to be very memorable and (aside from Jetstream Sam) my favorite parts of the game. I even enjoyed a lot of the heavy and fast-paced music, and that’s saying a lot.

Metal Gear Rising is meant to be replayed multiple times, with four difficulties and rankings at the end of each fight. Rankings range from D (the worst) to S (the best) and these affect how much BP you get at the end of the mission to use for upgrades to Raiden’s weapons, skills, or to buy new skins. The game is fairly short as well – my initial playthrough took me 9 hours (with a lot of deaths), my second took 4.5 while I was collecting all the items. If you really want to, I’m sure you can blast through in less than 3 hours when skipping all the cutscenes. When you’re done with the campaign or looking for a change of pace, you can try your hand at the VR Missions once you find them hidden throughout the levels. There are 20 in all (DLC will likely add to that) and you’re scored, so there’s additional replay value there, too.

Platinum Games ventured to rescue a scrapped project, and their hard work shines here. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is, for lack of a better phrase, frustratingly fun. The pure bliss of gracefully slicing enemy cyborgs in two and the challenging boss fights are more than enough to make up for the game’s shortcomings. I just hope that if (when?) they make the sequel, I can still play as Gray Fox.


Final Score
8

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Available on Xbox 360 (reviewed), Playstation 3
Dev: Platinum Games
Pub: Konami
Buy: Purchase Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance from Amazon | Gamestop

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Full disclosure: I purchased this game for review. I spent approximately 18 hours with it, beating the game twice and several of the VR missions.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch review – Getting real Familiar

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I almost didn’t buy Ni no Kuni.

Like many others, I dismissed it as a kid’s game based on its appearance. Only in my desperation for a new JRPG did I change my mind and decide to delve into it. 55 hours later, I discovered that while the protagonist is a young boy, this is definitely not a kid’s game.

Ni no Kuni begins innocently enough. Oliver, the game’s protagonist, finds himself getting into mischief, as 13 year old boys are often wont to do. But Oliver has an accident, and the ensuing series of events culminate in the death of his mother. While crying his eyes out in his room, his tears bring to life his doll and it introduces himself as a fairy named Mr. Drippy. You are then told there is a small chance of saving your mother by rescuing her soulmate in another world, and your quest officially begins.

One of the first things you notice is just how interesting Mr. Drippy is; he’s voiced by a Welsh actor and much of his dialogue is spelled out phonetically. Believe me when I tell you that Drippy – a small, booger-like character – is in the early running for Character of the Year. His dialogue is always entertaining – never a dull moment with him, which is great because Oliver himself can be a little dry until far later into the game when the story really takes off.

Follow Drippy into the other world and you are introduced to some of the most visually stunning environments and designs. The world is vibrant and everything fits so well together to immerse you in the experience. The cel-shaded graphics are a real treat and look so much like a cartoon that I’ve heard many say they preferred that look to the animated cutscenes contributed by Studio Ghilbi, going as far to say they have a Pixar-esque appeal to them.

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The music is no slouch, either, as the soundtrack was done by Joe Hisaishi and features some very good, upbeat tunes. My only complaint is that aside from variations of the main theme, most are fairly forgettable. The voice acting is actually pretty well done – the delivery is effective and each character’s personality was well-represented. I wish there were more of it , though, as it seemed to be fairly sparse and inconsistent – at times, they’re being voiced but then it switches to text when I expected to just keep listening. Another minor niggle here, but I’d recommend keeping the subtitles on since the music’s volume seems to overpower the voice acting during some cutscenes.

Narratively, Ni no Kuni is a very slow starter – more so than many other JRPGs. You go through the initial period of tutorials and learning how the world and systems work, but even then, it’s a slow burn. For most of your adventure, you unveil small glimpses of story upon completing each area, then move on to earn yet another small piece as your party runs across the alternate world to find ways to deal with the Dark Djinn Shadar. I implore you to stick around past the somewhat shallow midsection and reward yourself with the major plot points revealed later, because they are well done and serve to further develop Oliver’s character.

But the whole story isn’t told through the main plot. There are very interesting bits contained within some of Ni no Kuni’s deeper side quests that serve to flesh out the main plot. I’d even argue that some of this should have actually been integrated into the story instead of being relegated to side missions. Aside from that, there is a very expansive in-game reference book called the Wizard’s Companion which contains what seems to be an inconceivable amount of information. You can refer to it any time you want and missing pages are filled in through in-game progress with spells, alchemical recipes and even the 12 Tales of Wonder to recount tales of the world’s past. They are extremely well-written and comparable to the optional text–laden dreams from Mistwalker’s Lost Odyssey.

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Early on, you’re given one of the game’s Pokémon-like creatures called Familiars and introduced to the surprisingly deep combat system. Each party member can have a maximum of three Familiars each at any given time, leaving you with the ability to balance between each of them and your human character. And you’re expected to, considering that each Familiar has a stamina gauge and different abilities to utilize. Also, the Familiars share health and magic with their human counterparts, but only humans can use items, further creating the need to swap between them.

Your two teammates and their Familiars are controlled by the AI which, quite frankly, can be a bit boneheaded. While you do get to provide some limited control over what they do via the in-battle Tactics menu (similar to the Tales series, but more simplified), you’re still going to need to help them out sometimes. You can switch to your other human characters and their Familiars any time you like, so some micromanaging is possible, though not entirely feasible.

Combat itself often requires more attention to detail than it lets on. You can move freely around the battlefield, but you scroll through a list of commands in real time (unless you choose a spell or item). As mentioned earlier, you share HP and MP with your familiars, so one wrong decision can get you killed quickly. Near the beginning of the game, I suffered an expedited death because I wanted to try out a new Familiar that was under-leveled and had very low defense. I actually got killed several times in the early going due to my inattentiveness – something that rarely happens to me. You can continue after a death and keep your items and experience, but you suffer a penalty of 10 percent of your total guilders (money).

I wouldn’t say the game is hard or requires much grinding, however. As long as you don’t actively avoid enemies, you should be powerful enough to progress with little to no issues. I will say that most boss battles seem difficult, but once you learn their patterns, they end up being a cakewalk. In one case near the end, the random encounters I was facing were much more difficult than the boss of that area. If you do encounter any issues, though, the option to switch to Easy mode is always available.

Despite those complaints, fighting in Ni no Kuni can be incredibly addicting and very rewarding. There are over 300 different Familiars in the game, and hunting for them, serenading (capturing) them, and experimenting with them is loads of fun. I often found myself saying “Just one more battle” as I tried to level up just one more time, only to see the next Familiar require a battle or two to level up as well. With Ni no Kuni, there’s always someone about to level up.

Once your Familiars have leveled up to a certain point, they have the ability to metamorphose. Doing so requires a catalyst item (which is easy to come by or create via alchemy) and evolves them into their next form. The transformation resets them back to level one, but they tend to catch back up relatively quickly and further the “one more battle” effect. Every Familiar has three stages of evolution – a first and second form, then an option to choose between two different final forms. Depending on what path you choose, they will learn different tricks (skills) and their stats will grow in a different pattern.

But you also have some limited control over their tricks and stats, too. You can feed your Familiars different treats to boost their stats. It’s not necessary, but it’s yet another thing you can lose track of time doing. It’s a fun game within itself to figure out what your Familiars’ favorite treats are – they let out a happy squeal when you do.

The many side quests in the game generally fall under two appropriately named categories: Hunts and Errands. Hunts involve you finding a specific special monster and defeating it in battle, while Errands, for most of the game, involve you taking certain types of heart from those with an abundance of it and sharing that with those who are lacking. Many of the Errands during the main storyline are very simple, but the post-game stuff is much more involved. You get stamps on your merit cards for completing the quests, which allow you to trade them in for some passive abilities which are well worth the effort (ie, walking faster on the world map or getting more item drops).

In a time where it seems like the JRPG is dying, Ni no Kuni thrives. It does so many small things right, it’s easy to take them for granted. A guiding star here, a small animation there, even a series of puns that would seem out of place anywhere else. But not here. Ni no Kuni creates its own charming world, making the marriage of Level-5 and Studio Ghibli work and leaves you craving for more. You actually feel like a boy on an adventure; you are the Chosen One.

Note: Ni no Kuni requires a 4 GB install for the language of your choice.


Final Score
9

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Available on Playstation 3
Dev: Level-5
Pub: Namco Bandai
Buy: Purchase Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch from Amazon | Gamestop

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Full disclosure: I purchased this game for review. I spent approximately 55 hours with it and beat the game and completed most of the side quests.

Microtransactions are fine, for now

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Dead Space 3 screenshot

Electronic Arts has been in the news again lately with yet another controversial addition to one of their games. It has been discovered that the upcoming Dead Space 3 will have microtransactions built into the framework of the game, inciting the ire of gamers everywhere.

Microtransactions in console games have really been a long time coming, and I’m actually a bit surprised that it didn’t happen sooner. You can look at it as a type of evolution from the old days when additional content was received from expansion packs to your PC games. This generation has brought that to home consoles in the form of DLC – something that nearly every game has now.

DLC has become extremely popular in the last few years, and companies are seeing a new avenue to create profits. Microtransactions are exactly that – an avenue for profits. Free-to-play games have been doing this for years and in some cases, likely making more money than if they would have been traditional pay-for experiences. Team Fortress 2 and Gotham City Imposters are popular examples (although both were initially pay-for but later converted to free-to-play). There are countless mobile games as well that have adopted this philosophy from the start and have done quite well.

I believe from a business standpoint, it’s a very smart decision to put microtransactions into retail games. Like it or not, we have to remember that EA is a business and they want to maximize their profits, especially with them having a down year (for them). With the way it is integrated, it is completely optional and not an in-your-face issue so you have the choice to use it, but your experience with the game won’t be hampered if you don’t buy the extra stuff. That’s the key. So long as it’s not affecting the flow of the game itself, I’m okay with it.

While Dead Space 3 has taken all the flak for this, it’s not the first retail game to include in-game purchases. Last year, Need for Speed Most Wanted had specific cars you could find while free roaming and when you tried to drive them, you’d be prompted to buy it with real money. Also, Ubisoft’s Assassin Creed III contained microtransactions in the form of in-game currency in multiplayer. You could earn points by playing, but also purchase a different type of points to unlock stuff faster. I’m sure there are more examples of this practice, but the precedence is already set.

EA has been no stranger to controversy over the past few years, going as far as to become a trendsetter in the industry. At times, their policies end up being consumer-hostile, like Project Ten Dollar. They pioneered the Online Pass, citing it would help pay for the infrastructure and server costs for online games. Yeah, right. Now their justification for microtransactions is mobile gamers expect it, despite this being on a home console game.

EA, we’re not buying your crap, so stop trying to BS us. While I hate the very existence of the Online Pass, this time they’ve found an option that isn’t intrusive and as long as it stays that way, I’m okay with that.

DmC Devil May Cry review: Stuck in Limbo

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DmC Devil May Cry has been a very controversial game since the onset. Capcom decided to give the responsibility for this reboot to the developers at Ninja Theory (Heavenly Sword, Enslaved), entrusting them with one of their core franchises. And what did they do with it? Completely changed the look and feel of the series’ main character, Dante, and incited the wrath of the Devil May Cry community. For self-proclaimed series purists, you can stop reading now, because DmC is actually a pretty good game.

DmC starts off with an introduction to the villain, Demon King Mundus. He has taken over the world using soft drinks and propaganda perpetuated by his Raptor News network while simultaneously keeping the world suppressed under mountains of debt. Meanwhile, our formerly white haired protagonist is out partying and getting wasted, before waking up to a mysterious girl (named Kat) who warns him of an oncoming attack.

As a display of how crazy the game is, Dante answers the door and carries on the conversation butt naked and eventually gets dressed while floating through his trailer just before it is destroyed; his manly bits are tastefully censored by a baseball bat and a half eaten slice of pizza. Ninja Theory went out of their way to establish Dante as crass and juvenile, and they succeeded. They even go as far as to blatantly poke fun at those who complained about his main design change before moving on. I have to say, I LOVED that.

Ninja Theory knows how to tell a story, and true to form, DmC does an excellent job weaving the original story for Dante (and his twin brother, Vergil). While the actual fiction is nothing to write home about, the presentation of the story is great and keeps you immersed in-between bouts of slicing up demons. The characters actually have an individual arc, too, so you can see the slight changes in the attitudes in them by the time the credits roll. That final mission in particular gave me everything I could have wanted and more from a character standpoint. I often felt the other Devil May Cry games were missing character progression, so I welcomed the addition.

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An addition I did not welcome, however, is the music. The soundtrack is mostly composed of dubstep and hard rock (the kind with screamed lyrics) which I found grating; it was just much more intrusive and overpowering than that of previous games in the series and I found I was better off when I turned the volume down. Thankfully, the visuals do not suffer the same way. For series veterans, the stylized look may take a few levels to adjust to, but once you do, you’re golden. It just looks great, from the characters to the cutscenes to the world.

Speaking of the world, it feels like it really wants you dead. The setting is split between the normal human world and the demonic world known as Limbo, which is where you spend the majority of your time. Limbo is constantly moving and contorting itself to confuse and destroy you. At times, walls will cave in, the floor will shake or even rip apart, and pathways will draw further away to keep you on edge. There were a few times I’d try to make a jump and the ledge would pull away, forcing me to react and approach each jump with caution. It never once felt cheap, but rather refreshing that it would be so volatile.

Combat has always been the calling card of Devil May Cry, and once again, it is the shining star of DmC. You’re initially equipped with your old faithful sword Rebellion along with twin pistols Ebony and Ivory, but you acquire new weapons along the way. One of the biggest changes is you now get two additional types of weapons: angelic and demonic. The angelic weapons are quick and cover large areas, helping you attack many enemies at once, while the demonic weapons are slow and powerful; very deliberate. These weapons also provide you with a grappling hook that is used both in battle and during the platforming segments; angelic pulls you to the object, demonic pulls the object toward you. It makes for interesting combo possibilities, and helps fights remain fluid across larger areas as you drift from one group of enemies to the next.

DmC also makes the combat much more accessible, as it is much more forgiving than any other DMC. In the past, I’d often struggle to get SSS rank combos (and Mission Ranks, while we’re on the subject), but I’ve been able to reach the highest rank on multiple occasions and felt great doing it. Assuming all the enemies don’t die first, there were times where I was able to string a combo using every weapon in the game, flinging myself and enemies back and forth across the map with ease. It’s a very liberating feeling and can be felt by nearly anyone with a bit of practice.

And practice you can. It just so happens that DmC has a dedicated Training Mode. It’s very simple – it puts you in a white room with one enemy and a command list and lets you go to town. That enemy will never die, so you can hone your combos whenever you like.

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While the combat is equal parts frantic and poetic in the best of times, it does have a few annoying quirks that bring it down a notch. While you can switch between weapons in the middle of any given combo, going to one weapon to another creates a slight delay – small, but perceivable – that can throw you off a bit. There is also a slight pause between the time to press the button and the time Dante decides to evade attacks which throws off your timing. Playing on harder difficulties, this could be a bit troublesome as you are facing stronger enemies. It just seems like some of the animations cannot be canceled out of once they’re started.

But if you die for whatever reason, fear not, for DmC has autosaves and mid-level checkpoints. So aside from costing you some pride and points on your final Mission Rank, dying actually isn’t as big of a hassle as previous games. I think many players will find this valuable when facing more grueling challenges or just don’t feel like finishing that long level right away.

As is par for the series, Dante’s attacks and abilities can be unlocked and upgraded at statues placed in levels or before starting the next mission. A few key differences here, though; Dante still collects red orbs to use in the shop, but upgrades are handled using white orbs that are awarded based upon your Mission Rank. The white orbs are pretty easy to come by, but even if you use them and have upgrader’s remorse, they’re not permanent. You can easily undo any previous upgrade and apply it elsewhere, encouraging you to try new things. A small feature, sure, but I found it helpful for experimentation.

Despite complaints about DmC using Epic’s Unreal Engine, I didn’t encounter much in the way of bugs or other technical issues during my time with the game. I had one moment where somehow the platform I was standing on was no longer visible, but I just ran off the edge and everything was fine (well, it did cost me a smidgen of health). Everything was fluid and smooth, although the camera is a bit sticky when you’re near walls and some ledges, so be wary of that.

Everything changes. The world changes, people change, character designs change – it’s something we just have to accept. In this case, change is good. The team at Ninja Theory managed to create a very good game that deserves to have you at least give it a shot, even if you have reservations about it. DmC delivers on multiple fronts, including the most important one – fun. They nailed it so well, they even nailed Capcom’s style and are offering the Bloody Palace as (free) DLC down the line. If anything, you gotta commend them for that.


Final Score
8

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Available on Xbox 360 (reviewed), Playstation 3, PC
Dev: Ninja Theory
Pub: Capcom
Buy: Purchase DmC: Devil May Cry from Amazon | Gamestop | Microsoft Store

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Full disclosure: I purchased this game for review. I spent approximately 20 hours with it and beat the game on Devil Hunter (Normal).

Nintendo is Evolving!

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As of February 16th, Nintendo will no longer have separate console and handheld divisions. The reason, confirmed by Engadget, is because the Big N has decided to merge the two together in an attempt to streamline its offerings and breed more innovation and interactivity between the soon-to-be single entity.

When I read this news, I instantly became excited about the possibilities of this union. Nintendo has tried in the past (to minimal success) to integrate their handhelds with their consoles, but with today’s technology, I feel they can be infinitely more successful. Does anyone remember the thing where you could use the GBA as a Gamecube controller?

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Or maybe you recall the Super Game Boy, a device that allowed you to insert Gameboy games into your Super Nintendo and play them on your TV?

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Either way, Nintendo has dabbled in this space a few times, but seeing them give it an earnest shot could give them the edge they need. As crazy as it may sound, they should take a few pages from Sony’s playbook when thinking about their plan for implementation. The following are just ideas and speculation on my part – things I’d like to see happen. With that said, I’d like to see:

An Ecosystem

More than anything else, Nintendo needs to create a complete ecosystem between the 3DS and the Wii U. It’s bad enough that the Wii U eShop doesn’t transfer over the Wii points that were left over, but currently, the Wii U and 3DS stores are completely segregated and that has to change. Everyone else has an ecosystem that provides a real incentive to stick around.

For example, the Playstation Store sells items for PSP, Vita, and PS3 in its store. Apple sells apps that are compatible across multiple devices in theirs. Nintendo should be able to pull off some combination of the two. Also, having accounts that aren’t tied directly to the console would aid this cause. Hopefully they’ll release some firmware to make this a reality.

Cross Play and Cross Buy

Another area where Sony’s got the right idea. If a game sees a dual release on both Wii U and 3DS (which we haven’t seen yet), buying the Wii U version should net you a digital copy of the 3DS version and you should also be able sync your saves to the cloud (which would need to be created) and resume on the other device. An added benefit the Nintendo version would have over the PS3/Vita combo is that the 3DS can emulate almost anything the Wii U can in regards to second screens and touch controls.

Improved Social Functions

Nintendo has made some huge strides when it comes to online communication and multiplayer… but so much more can be done. Playing online on the Wii U is somewhat of an awkward situation because of the restrictions Nintendo has put into place, like the lack of on-screen notifications for messages and having the friends list and Miiverse as separate functions. People play multiplayer to interact with other people, so they should be trying to prevent it from being a lonely experience, not gimping it.

Speaking of Miiverse, the 3DS needs this. The Miiverse is a brilliant idea and porting it down to their handheld makes so much sense and would allow them to expand upon it and make it even better. It’s its own social network, and they should leverage that.

There are certainly plenty of other opportunities for Nintendo to capitalize on their restructuring and other ideas that only they could think of, and I hope they do. I hope they continue to improve upon their product and silence those they believe both the 3DS and Wii U are failures. And above all else, give me a full fledged Pokemon title on the Wii U.

20 Reasons for an Empty Wallet in 2013

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If you haven’t taken a look yet, 2013 is PACKED with heavy hitters, particularly in the first half of the year. The second half is being tightly held under wraps, leading some (myself included) to believe that new consoles and possibly new IPs will be making their debuts in the fall. But for now, we can only really deal with games that have already been announced.

While this is nowhere near a comprehensive list, I’ve put together a list of 20 games I’m looking forward to enjoying this year. Games are listed in order they’re currently projected to release.

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DmC: Devil May Cry
Release: January 15

Starting us off in 2013 as the first major release (with apologies to Anarchy Reigns) is DmC – the franchise reboot being handled by the fine developers at Ninja Theory. While much has been made of the change in protagonist Dante’s appearance and Vergil’s fedora, one thing that hasn’t changed is the fast-paced combat and over-the-top boss battles. If the demo is any indication, this will be a great game.

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Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Release: January 22

If you looked at this game and thought it was an anime, you’d be forgiven. The graphics in this game are absolutely fantastic in their ability to make this game look and feel like one. A few months ago, this game was hardly on my radar. I knew of it, but I’d been sitting on the fence. But I’m taking the plunge on it and hoping that my faith is rewarded. If you’re like me and in dire need of a JRPG, check it out. Just know that the demo for THIS game likely doesn’t do it justice.

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Dead Space 3
Release: February 5

I’ll probably be crucified for saying this, but at the time of writing, I have not even started playing either of the main Dead Space games (unless you’ll let me count Extraction). I own them, mind you, just haven’t gotten around to them. So why am I looking forward to the third entry?

Co-op. It makes all the difference here; I can enjoy the game with my girl and she can hold me when I get scared. I’m intrigued to see how they handle the co-op, and if done right, it can really make this game the best of the bunch.

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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Release: February 19

Metal Gear Solid meets Devil May Cry meets Afro Samurai. It’ll have a deep, engaging and outrageously confusing story, complete with some decent length cutscenes with the high speed hack and slash destruction that Dante is known for and gives an updated look at the precision slicing that Afro used in 2009.

While many people didn’t like Raiden back in Metal Gear Solid 2 (I didn’t mind him), I’m sure that sentiment will change. I’ve played the demo that was included with the Zone of the Enders Collection, and it feels great. I’m confident this will be one of my favorites this year.

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Crysis 3
Release: February 19

The Crysis games are always pushing the limits of how gorgeous games can look on whatever platform they’re on, and Crysis 3 will be no different. I enjoyed how streamlined your abilities were in Crysis 2, where you could walk around as a tank or sneak around under a cloak of invisibility. I’m really only looking forward to more of that, plus a new bow weapon to pick enemies off with.

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Tomb Raider
Release: March 5

Another fun fact: I’ve always liked the character Lara Croft, but never liked any of the games she starred in. But this reboot caught my attention from the moment I first saw the reveal trailer. It looks great and apparently goes back before the double D’s fully developed and intends to tell an intricate story – something I can really get behind. Add in that the gameplay will be up to modern standards (something I found lacking in previous entries in the series) and you’ve got all the ingredients for success, even before accounting for getting True Blood star Camilla Luddington to voice Lara Croft.

For the first time, Tomb Raider will also feature multiplayer. It seems like an unnecessary addition now, but who knows? It could turn out okay, too.

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South Park: The Stick of Truth
Release: March 5

Although THQ is on fire, the house that’s building South Park: The Stick of Truth is in another castle, and looks to be crafting an excellent RPG based in everyone’s favorite animated city. The creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been deeply involved with this project to ensure the South Park quality, and I believe the voice actors from the show are reprising their roles to keep it genuine. The only question isn’t whether or not it’ll be good, but how many times they’ll kill Kenny.

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God of War: Ascension
Release: March 12

After it seems like he’s killed every deity there is to kill and finally unleashed his rage, we take a step back and realize we don’t know the full story as to how he became the Kratos we love to watch as he rips bodies in half. Ascension will revisit Kratos’ origin story and show us how Aries got the best of him. Ascension will also introduce multiplayer to the series, with a public beta currently accessible to those who have Playstation Plus (I’ll see how that turns out and report back on it later).

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Bioshock Infinite
Release: March 26

Going in, this is my most anticipated game of 2013. I was really hoping to get my hands on it at some time last year, but it got delayed a couple times. My fingers are crossed that there are no further delays, because this game looks fantastic. When I look at it, it gives me the same feeling of atmosphere and excitement as the original Bioshock, except it’s on a sky island. And I am also pleased to hear the multiplayer isn’t being shoehorned into the game. A definite must-buy.

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Army of Two: the Devil’s Cartel
Release: March 26

Despite their mediocrity, I’ve really enjoyed the first two Army of Two games. They’re simply a joy to play in co-op, and the Devil’s Cartel shouldn’t be any different. I don’t know how I feel about swapping out Salem and Rios for Alpha and Bravo, but I’m okay with the more serious approach they’re taking with the story. If you’ve got someone to play with, Army of Two should get some of your time.

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Injustice: Gods Among Us
Release: April 2013

What a difference the cast of characters can make. Two years ago, this same studio made the reportedly excellent reboot of the Mortal Kombat series, but I didn’t take to it – I’ve grown out of Mortal Kombat. I thought it was fun to watch, though, and seemed as good as everyone said it was. Now, they’re back creating a fighter that, to my eyes, looks strikingly similar right down to the character stiffness but with DC Comics characters and my interest level is through the roof. I’ll probably be terrible at it, but at least I can watch Batman take down everyone.

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Splinter Cell Blacklist
Release: April/May 2013

Splinter Cell Blacklist seems like the game we thought we were getting with Conviction. While Conviction was far from a bad game, it was quite a bit more action focused and fast paced than most would have liked. Blacklist promises to offer multiple paths to complete objectives to allow you to play your own way. Whether you want to be sneaky and passive, aggressively murderous or a combination of the two, this game will accommodate you. I’ve always loved this series, and this looks to be another great entry.

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The Last of Us
Release: May 7

Naughty Dog has graduated from treasure hunting and moved on to a sort of post-apocalyptic world, where many people are infected crazies and those that are not are dangerous heathens. Some have already written the game off as a 15 hour escort mission, but I firmly feel that this is going to be a fantastic title and will transcend their previous work on the Uncharted series. Watch the trailers and you’ll be treated to some intense struggles to survive and visceral kills. If you own a PS3, you should be getting this.

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Remember Me
Release: May 2013

Capcom is coming back with a brand new IP where you play as a woman who can alter peoples’ memories and thus make them think or do different stuff, depending on what memory you planted in them. That seems like an interesting premise, and the trailer did an effective job of showing that off. Also, there appears to be a very deep and customizable hand to hand combat system. From what Capcom has shown, it looks like the most comprehensive system since Rocksteady’s Arkham City. I’ll definitely remember to pick this up and you should, too.

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Release: October 2013

While this game technically hasn’t announced yet (unless you count the advertisement from the MyCAREER mode in NBA2K13), it’s about as sure a bet as any. 2K Sports gets their basketball game out each and every year and they raise the bar on quality gameplay for the sport. I can only hope they improve in all the non-gameplay areas where NBA2K13 was lacking (presentation, soundtrack, extra content).

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Beyond: Two Souls
Release: TBA 2013

Quantic Dream has created a whole new engine for this game instead of using the same one they used for Heavy Rain, and as far as we can tell, the results have been worth it. What was shown of the game looks and sounds so, so good and the main character looks EXACTLY like the person voicing her (Ellen Page). Quantic has said the story can truly branch out in some very different and meaningful ways, and I hope they pull it off.

Unfortunately, it looks entirely possible that this may get pushed to 2014.

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Watch Dogs
Release: TBA 2013

Watch the trailer for this game. It looks AMAZING. We haven’t heard anything else about this title since they wowed us with its announcement, but they do claim it’s a current generation title. I look forward to hacking all the electronics in the city and causing pure carnage all around me.

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Bayonetta 2
Release: TBA 2013

Another title that may get pushed out of this year, but I’ve got my fingers crossed for a 2013 release. Platinum Games has this one set as a Wii U exclusive (it’s being published by Nintendo) and was one of the major influencing decisions behind me buying the system, so it better be great. But I’m confident it will be, since Platinum seems alright and the original Bayonetta was a blast.

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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Release: TBA 2013

After the events of Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2, Lightning is back for a third game and an adventure solely based around her (she’s the only playable character). Square Enix has stated they’re doing something entirely new with the combat system and Lightning only has 13 days to save the world from what is likely imminent destruction. I look forward to seeing how everything comes together.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
Release: TBA 2013

I have no idea how well polished or fun this game will actually be. But as a concept, it sounds great since they’ve stated they understand what The Walking Dead world is about – people, not zombies. Also, they’ve got Daryl and Merle from the TV series reprising their roles as, well, themselves. No idea if this game will be good or bad, but it’s got my interest so I’m buying.

By the end of May, my wallet is going to be pleading me for help because it’ll be so malnourished due to all of these games. I’m almost afraid to think of all the other titles that might get announced and released this year, both for retail and downloadable platforms. If you can afford it, 2013 will be one of the best years the gaming community has ever seen, with a game or two for everyone.

I’d like to hear about the games you’re looking forward to this year, too. I’m sure there are plenty that I’ve omitted that others would have included, so leave me a comment and let me know all about it.

17 Picks and Game of the Year (2012)

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Now that 2012 has come to a close, we can reflect on another solid year in the gaming community. While there weren’t as many heavy hitters released as there were in 2011, there was still plenty to play for everyone. I have taken the time to select winners (or losers, in some instances) in 18 different categories in a bit of a different style than last year’s more VGA-centric and poorly formatted style. Feel free to take a look at last year’s awards. For this year, keep reading.

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Game of the Year 2012
Halo 4

Without question, Halo 4 is my 2012 Game of the Year. While I enjoyed Halo Reach, it didn’t stick with me the same way that Halo 3 did. The multiplayer felt a little off to me and was missing some of the fun factor I had grown accustomed to in the Halo games. On top of that, the campaign didn’t feature Master Chief and I was never compelled to finish it.

Then Halo 4 comes out, made by a different studio, and breathes fresh life into the franchise. Master Chief is back, and we’ve got a few new enemies and weapons to toy with that vary the gameplay a bit. The multiplayer takes some obvious cues from Activision’s Call of Duty franchise, but still retains all the things that make Halo fun to play. Adding the Sprint button speeds up the pace and makes for a great addition. We’ve also got the Spartan Ops mode – a co-op centric mode separate from the campaign – that offers free, episodic content.

Taken together, Halo 4 is packed with content, and I glossed over several additional features (like Forge and Theater modes, for instance). It gives me the most bang for my buck, and is the only game I can guarantee I’ll be still playing 2-3 years from now, or whenever it is the next Halo releases.

Runner up: The Walking Dead

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Best Xbox 360 Game
Halo 4

What did you expect? My Game of the Year is also the best game on the only console it’s available on.

Runner up: Fez

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Best PS3 Game
Journey

I initially didn’t think I would play Journey. I rarely pay more than $10 for downloadable games and Twitter was exploding with overwhelming love for this game. All the “games are art!” craziness and it made me want to play it less. But then they released the Journey Collection and I rented it from Gamefly.

Man.

Although it is a very brief game, I think that in this case, brevity is a plus. You can and should experience this game all in one sitting. The visuals and art direction are so smooth and it sets the mood with an award-winning soundtrack. There’s not much to concern yourself with other than taking it all in – no way to die or fail, just keep going and enjoy the relaxing, emotional trip the game takes you on.

Runner up: Rainbow Moon

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Best Wii U Game
New Super Mario Bros U

While I was tempted to go with ZombiU in this space, I decided to stick with Mario because of the pure fun factor. My very first experience with my Wii U (after the update, of course) was playing New Super Mario Bros U with my future brothers-in law. 3 players in Boost Mode. It was a blast and the most fun I’ve had in a Mario game since Super Mario 64.

Playing single player is pretty fun in its own right, and the game certainly does have a bit of challenge to it in the later stages. And since I haven’t played either of the two previous New Super Mario Bros games, this was a fresh experience for me on a brand new console. Plus, Mario looks great in HD.

Runner up: ZombiU

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Best Shooter
Halo 4

As there is every year, there was plenty of competition in this field, but Halo 4 stands head and shoulders above the rest for me.

Runner up: Gotham City Imposters

actionadventure

Action Adventure
Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs is a fantastic game and you should play it. You’re an undercover cop working your way through a large Triad gang in Hong Kong, and kicking all kinds of ass all the way through. If it sounds like a throwaway-type story, I’d have to tell you it is, but you’ll likely enjoy it all the same. The voice acting is excellent and the story bits are well presented, immersing you in the daily struggles of Wei Shen.

It sports a hand to hand combat system akin to Arkham Asylum, and although less refined, it’s still incredibly fun. You get to do some gruesome environment takedowns, and there’s something called Action Hijacking, which allows you to steal vehicles while you’re on the move. So much awesome there.

The city of Hong Kong is beautiful, and you’re encouraged to explore all of it. This game has allowed me to impale someone with a swordfish and taught me how to become a man: by eating a Pork Bun. This is the best game I played this year outside of Halo 4 and The Walking Dead.

Runner up: Assassin’s Creed III

bestrpg

Best RPG
Final Fantasy XIII-2

I was skeptical about FFXIII-2 coming in after hearing that your third party member was essentially a Pokémon, but seeing as it was a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII – a game I enjoyed – I knew I was going to get it. I’m happy that I did.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 was able to respond to many of the criticisms about its predecessor with adjustments that ended up making the game more open. While the story itself was pretty weak, the villain was fairly awesome and the presentation was good, helping mask some of the deficiencies. But most of all, it was fun to play. I liked the Paradigm system before, and I liked it in this game, too.

Runner up: Rainbow Moon

sports2012

Best Sports Game
NBA2K13

When I first played it, I was underwhelmed and disappointed. I’m not enamored with the presentation and it felt a bit off at release. The control scheme has a steeper learning curve than previous years and it didn’t really seem like a clear step up from the Jordan Challenge of 2K11 and the Historical Matchups from 2K12. And the soundtrack is, for the first time in the series, terrible (it consists of years-old Jay Z songs that we’ve heard a billion times already).

However, move past the learning curve and add in the balancing patches and bug fixes, and the gameplay is terrific. In this regard, it greatly improves on the already great gameplay from NBA2K12, and that in and of itself is an accomplishment.

Runner up: None. I didn’t play any other sports titles in 2012.

racing2012

Best Racing Game
Need for Speed Most Wanted

While not nearly as good as Criterion’s own 2010 release Hot Pursuit (at least in this writer’s estimation), Need for Speed Most Wanted presents an open world that’s ripe to be explored. I do feel that the racing and events are a bit of a chore, but everything outside of racing (admittedly an important part of a racing game) is still pretty fun. If you’ve got a bunch of friends who have this game, it feels good to see their face on a billboard and then smash it. A little too good.

Runner up: None.

fighting2012

Best Fighting Game
Dead or Alive 5

For those that know my gaming preferences, this should come as no surprise. For those that don’t, it’s so much more than just the fanservice. The Dead or Alive series has more checks and balances than the US government in its Triangle system. You’ve got your regular strikes, throws, and holds (counters) and they’ve become more diverse than ever before.

It used to be that you could counter your way through difficult battles, but now it requires much more skill as the hold commands have become more complex and the openings are much smaller than in previous titles. There’s a story mode which acts as a tutorial and the Tag Team mode is just as fun as ever. There are so many smaller changes that affect the balance of the game for the better and it goes without saying that the game is gorgeous. Oh, and massive boobs.

Runner up: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

downloadablegame

Best Downloadable Game
The Walking Dead

2012 was a great year for downloadable games. We got The Walking Dead, Fez, Journey, Mark of the Ninja, Papo & Yo, and so many more and I love the growth we’ve seen from “indie” games (not so indie anymore, huh?).

That being said, this was an easy choice. The Walking Dead is such an excellent experience – one that I think everyone should try – because it’s just so well presented. Even when you can see the things being foreshadowed in the game, it still finds a way to make every decision tense, every line of dialogue feel important, and every event gut-wrenching. The environment presented is dire, and you have some say in how you react in the spur of the moment.

The Walking Dead will depress you… and you’ll be glad that it did.

Runner up: Journey

graphics2012

Best Graphics
Halo 4

There were a lot of games in the running for this category. I considered Far Cry 3, Journey, Dead or Alive 5 (glorious cleavage, duh!), and a few others, but Halo 4 wins this by a slim margin. I really love the way everything about the game looks. I didn’t notice any awkward textures, screen tearing or other graphical glitches while playing it, and everything animated (or ragdolled) smoothly.

Runner up: Far Cry 3

character2012

Character of the Year
Lee Everett from The Walking Dead

After giving this some real thought, I have to go with Lee. When you play The Walking Dead (and you have played it, RIGHT?!), you basically project as much of yourself into Lee as you can, and there’s no more awesome a character than me. You form a real connection with the character and thus, feel what he feels. Plus, he has some spot-on facial expressions.

Runner up: Asura from Asura’s Wrath

hdcollection

Best HD Collection
Journey Collector’s Edition

I was >this< close to awarding this to the God of War Saga, which packed five full games in one collection, but I ended up going with the Journey Collector's Edition. I really liked Journey, plus there's fl0w and Flower, which are pretty laid back games as well. Throw in three more small games, some awesome backgrounds for your PS3, and the soundtrack, and you've got a winner.

Runner up: God of War Saga

surprise2012

Surprise of the Year
Journey

Going in, I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t think I’d like it much. But, being the fair man that I am, I gave it a chance and I was mightily impressed insomuch that it is my number 4 best game this year (behind Halo 4, The Walking Dead and Sleeping Dogs).

Runner up: Papo & Yo

underrated

Underrated Game of the Year
Asura’s Wrath

If I told you there was a game comprised mostly of Quick Time Events and cutscenes, you’d probably scoff and tell me that sounds like suck. But what if I told you it was a game that’s basically an interactive anime in the vein of Dragon Ball Z and the main character was similar to Vegeta with a bit of The Hulk sprinkled in?

Do I have your attention?

Because that’s what Asura’s Wrath is. It’s simply fantastic and filled with so many grandiose moments that you’ll likely have a hard time choosing a favorite. And you will have favorites. If you’re still on the fence because of the QTEs, just know that you can really fail them. Being slow only affects your rank at the end of missions.

Runner up: The Darkness II

disappointing2012

Disappointment of the Year
Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil 6 is not a bad game, but it clearly has a lot of bad parts to it. Going in, we all had high hopes for it. I mean, we could finally move and shoot at the same time! Despite that (big) change, it turned out to be decidedly mediocre because of the way it tried to please everyone by offering a campaign for essentially every type of player with overly long branching stories. Every campaign had something to hate in it, whether it was Leon’s ridiculously long final boss sequence, an annoying area and boss in Chris’ part, or multiple poorly executed vehicle segments with Jake.

While they did fix a few things, like the camera (that I personally never had issues with), I was more underwhelmed with the implementation of the co-op partner in Ada’s campaign (simply named Agent) who looks similar to many of your early enemies and can’t even open doors. Plus, the DLC for the multiplayer modes (currently only available on 360) still don’t allow you to play online with two people on the same console.

I am cautiously optimistic for Resident Evil 7 when it is inevitably announced, if only because there’s plenty of feedback from Resident Evil 6 for them to look over.

Runner up: Need for Speed Most Wanted

And now, what you’ve really been waiting for…

wgoty2012

Worst Game of the Year
Amy

This was the very first game I played in 2012, and boy, was it a stinker! I honestly don’t know how this game got released in the state that it was in, because it was practically unplayable. It’s a shame, too, because the premise was good and it appeared to be very promising. Nothing about this game is good, and you should avoid it at all costs. No price is low enough.

Don’t believe the non-hype? Take a look at THIS.

And that’s it for passthemsticks’ 2012 Game of the Year choices. I hope you enjoyed reading them and feel free to sound off in the comments.