Castlevania is a series that has had a lot of trouble transitioning into 3D. Unlike Mario, Sonic, and Link, the Belmonts have not had the type of success in the field of 3D as they had in 2D. Castlevania on the N64 was nothing to write home about, and the recent outings on the PS2, while better than the N64 game, where also nothing special. For a while it looked as if Castlevania was destined to stay within the realm of handhelds, downloadable games, and all of them 2D. So it was about time that Konami brought one of the oldest series roaring into the modern era with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
You are Gabriel Belmont, a holy knight on a quest to revive his lost love. You are armed with the Combat Cross, a weapon that reminds me a lot of the whip Belmonts of the past have used in their eternal war against Dracula and his minions of the night. As your journey unfolds you upgrade your weapon to help you progress through the maze like levels, and the upgrades also enable you go back to previous levels to find health and magic upgrades that alluded you before. The cross is also your primary weapon and what lets you partake in one of the game’s best features: combat.
Combat in Lords of Shadow demands a lot from the player. At first it may seem that you can mindlessly spam your two attacks, but you will soon come to learn that you have to use everything Gabriel has at his disposal to succeed. You have to pull off combos, dodge enemies, block and counter demons, and know when is the right time to use your light magic (heals you whenever you land a hit) or use your black magic (your attacks to more damage). Your two magic’s are powered by the souls that your enemies drop, and you have to choose which one you refill: push the left stick in, and the souls you absorb go to your light magic, push the right stick in and your black magic is refilled. You can also get more of these souls by performing combos without getting hit; this fills your combo meter, and once full, every hit you hit an enemy they drop souls. If you are going to get anywhere in this game, you have to master this combat system.
The game feels like a mashing of a ton of different games. A few bosses play almost exactly like Shadow of the Colossus, and climbing (which feels much like a combination of Sands of Time and Shadow of the Colossus) also plays an important part in traversing the world. But do not take this as a mark against the game, if you are going to take ideas from games, why not take them from games regarded as amazing? Lords of Shadow is amazing to look at, it’s a shame then that this is such a double edged sword when it comes to the 360; while the game does look great, it slows down quite a bit. From what I have heard this is not the case when it comes to the PS3, and if that’s true then you can really start to see the age of the 360. The slow down doesn’t affect the game too much, but it does take away from a bit of the amazing places you travel to on your journey.
The story is pretty good so far, and provides a nice framework for the series reboot that Konami has said this game is. Patrick Stewart provides a great performance as your fellow knight Zobek, and as the narrator, while Robert Carlyle as Gabriel also does a pretty good job. The supporting cast also shine, and help to provide a sense that this is a real (albeit very different) place in 11th Europe.
My biggest problem with the game is the camera. While it is nice to not have to babysit it since each area is individual shot much, like the original Resident Evil, it also comes with the same problems that Resident Evil had. More times than not I could not see the enemies who are attacking me, and with camera changing constantly, it can be trying to move Gabriel around the environments. Once you do get use to the camera, things do get easier but it never really feels right.
It has taken Konami forever to bring Castlevania to the world of 3D, but MercurySteam and Kojima Productions finally did it, and they were able to make a pretty good game in the process. Sure it does fall in a few places (camera and frame rate), the story and combat more than make up for it. Also be prepared to rage quit...a lot.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Running on Music
Bit.Trip Runner is rhythm gaming at its finest. Instead of playing notes on your novelty plastic instruments (you know, the ones collecting dust in your closet), you are on an adventure! In the Bit.Trip Runner you are in control of the black rectangle known as Commander Video
In Runner, Commander Video runs on his own through the levels and it is up to you to jump him over obstacles, duck him under hazards, kick away the rubble in his path, and launch him high into the air on springboards. The key to success in this game is to listen to the music, and realize that everything you are making Commander Video do is all in time to the chiptune beats. If you miss a jump, or hit a flying saucer, not only does it stop the music, it also throws Commander Video back to the beginning of the level where you start all over again.
The visuals recall the 8-bit days of the NES, aside from the fact that everything is in 3D. Everything has a clean, crisp, and colourful look to it which makes it’s a shame that you won’t have much time to enjoy the visuals; you’ll be far too focused on navigating Commander Video through these levels to stop and smell the proverbial roses. Yet it is because of this clean visual style that makes it easier to focus on what you have to do to get through each level.
The music is easily my favourite part of this game. A healthy combo of electronica and chiptunes keep your toes tapping, and your fingers pushing buttons to the beat. As you run through the levels, you can also collect items that look suspiciously like D-pads (this game is full of game culture references), which adds more complexity to the music making it easier to get into the beat of things. You can also collect gold bricks throughout the levels, letting you play a bonus stage if you collect them all. Collecting these gold bricks adds a little more flavour to the already fantastic music, so they are worth the effort to collect them.
While originally released for the Wii as title for the systems downloadable WiiWare games, this fantastic game is also available on the PC through Steam. Having only played it on the PC I cannot say one way or another if either version is better than the other, but if you do play this game, get yourself a nice pair of headphones and turn it up...loud.
In Runner, Commander Video runs on his own through the levels and it is up to you to jump him over obstacles, duck him under hazards, kick away the rubble in his path, and launch him high into the air on springboards. The key to success in this game is to listen to the music, and realize that everything you are making Commander Video do is all in time to the chiptune beats. If you miss a jump, or hit a flying saucer, not only does it stop the music, it also throws Commander Video back to the beginning of the level where you start all over again.
The visuals recall the 8-bit days of the NES, aside from the fact that everything is in 3D. Everything has a clean, crisp, and colourful look to it which makes it’s a shame that you won’t have much time to enjoy the visuals; you’ll be far too focused on navigating Commander Video through these levels to stop and smell the proverbial roses. Yet it is because of this clean visual style that makes it easier to focus on what you have to do to get through each level.
The music is easily my favourite part of this game. A healthy combo of electronica and chiptunes keep your toes tapping, and your fingers pushing buttons to the beat. As you run through the levels, you can also collect items that look suspiciously like D-pads (this game is full of game culture references), which adds more complexity to the music making it easier to get into the beat of things. You can also collect gold bricks throughout the levels, letting you play a bonus stage if you collect them all. Collecting these gold bricks adds a little more flavour to the already fantastic music, so they are worth the effort to collect them.
While originally released for the Wii as title for the systems downloadable WiiWare games, this fantastic game is also available on the PC through Steam. Having only played it on the PC I cannot say one way or another if either version is better than the other, but if you do play this game, get yourself a nice pair of headphones and turn it up...loud.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Black and White and Awesome
I was in the seventh grade when Pokémon Blue and Red came out in North America. I remember reading an issue of Nintendo Power where they had an article on the rampant success and popularity of a game called Pocket Monsters over in Japan. An old friend of mine had a copy of Pokémon Green that he had got when he was over in Japan visiting family, and after playing it briefly one day I hopped that this game would eventually come over here. It was not until 1998 when Nintendo released Red and Blue over here. My good friend and I got them day one, at that started a love of those little creatures that has survived to this day.
It’s now been 13 years since the release of Red and Blue (15 since the original Red and Green), and Nintendo has recently released Pokémon Black and White upon the masses. It seems that Nintendo and Game Freak are starting to realize that the series has to start evolving, and they have taken a few steps with this new release, but is it enough?
The storyline in Black and White seems have received more attention than previous outings. While you still go around and collect all the badges, thwart the evil plans of some team or another, and eventually become the Pokémon master, Nintendo has made you more involved in it all. This time, you meet most of the gym leaders before ever fighting them and help them stop the plans of Team Plasma and learn a bit about them as people. Instead of playing out like a “my first RPG story,” the game seems a bit more focused on telling a half-decent narrative. I am really enjoying how this journey is the story of you and your friends growing up. The story focuses on the fact that everyone has to grow up, and that there are going to be trials and tribulations along the way. While this is set against a back drop of battling monsters and saving the world the message is still there, and Nintendo and Game Freak have found (or at least finally realized) one of the series biggest strengths; this is game that kids grow up with, so why not tell a story to go along with that?
Along with this improved narrative, everything from the graphics to the music has been done with a level of polish not seen in the series since Silver and Gold on the Game Boy. One of the biggest additions for me is that the monsters actually move around on the battlefields and are no longer static sprites. This adds so much more personality to this huge collection of creatures, and provides something to watch while the battles are going on. It is hard to imagine that Nintendo and Game Freak took this long to throw this into the game, but I am glad that they finally did; this change was something I never knew was lacking in the series until now.
While Black and White does offer some significant steps forward for the series, they still feel like the same old game with that new layer of polish with what we have come to expect from each new entry: new map, new cities, new gyms, it’s all here, but it’s also the same things we have seen for the last 13 years. It seems strange that a game with such robust online features (features I have yet to use thanks to the DS Lite’s archaic Wi-Fi capabilities) still feels so much like the games that have come before it. What do Nintendo and Game Freak have to change about the series at this point? I really don’t know, and at the same time I wonder if they feel that they have to change anything at all. With Black and White selling over a million copies day one in North America, and also topping sales charts in the U.K., I don’t think we will be seeing Nintendo or Game Freak making too many changes to the Pokémon formula for some time.
It’s now been 13 years since the release of Red and Blue (15 since the original Red and Green), and Nintendo has recently released Pokémon Black and White upon the masses. It seems that Nintendo and Game Freak are starting to realize that the series has to start evolving, and they have taken a few steps with this new release, but is it enough?
The storyline in Black and White seems have received more attention than previous outings. While you still go around and collect all the badges, thwart the evil plans of some team or another, and eventually become the Pokémon master, Nintendo has made you more involved in it all. This time, you meet most of the gym leaders before ever fighting them and help them stop the plans of Team Plasma and learn a bit about them as people. Instead of playing out like a “my first RPG story,” the game seems a bit more focused on telling a half-decent narrative. I am really enjoying how this journey is the story of you and your friends growing up. The story focuses on the fact that everyone has to grow up, and that there are going to be trials and tribulations along the way. While this is set against a back drop of battling monsters and saving the world the message is still there, and Nintendo and Game Freak have found (or at least finally realized) one of the series biggest strengths; this is game that kids grow up with, so why not tell a story to go along with that?
Along with this improved narrative, everything from the graphics to the music has been done with a level of polish not seen in the series since Silver and Gold on the Game Boy. One of the biggest additions for me is that the monsters actually move around on the battlefields and are no longer static sprites. This adds so much more personality to this huge collection of creatures, and provides something to watch while the battles are going on. It is hard to imagine that Nintendo and Game Freak took this long to throw this into the game, but I am glad that they finally did; this change was something I never knew was lacking in the series until now.
While Black and White does offer some significant steps forward for the series, they still feel like the same old game with that new layer of polish with what we have come to expect from each new entry: new map, new cities, new gyms, it’s all here, but it’s also the same things we have seen for the last 13 years. It seems strange that a game with such robust online features (features I have yet to use thanks to the DS Lite’s archaic Wi-Fi capabilities) still feels so much like the games that have come before it. What do Nintendo and Game Freak have to change about the series at this point? I really don’t know, and at the same time I wonder if they feel that they have to change anything at all. With Black and White selling over a million copies day one in North America, and also topping sales charts in the U.K., I don’t think we will be seeing Nintendo or Game Freak making too many changes to the Pokémon formula for some time.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The List: NES
Here is the start of my list of games that any non-gamer should play. This idea came to my friend, Alastair, and me while we were out for some beer and nachos the other day. We had just spent the afternoon at the used game store (where I made off with a Super Game Boy and a copy of Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins), and then we relaxed the reminder of the afternoon playing old Game Boy games. This got us to thinking about the games of our past, and was the focal point of our discussion over our beer and nachos that evening.
It started with talk about what it would be like to meet someone who was never been allowed to play games, and now they want to know what all the fuss is about. What started out as thinking out loud turned into a debate about which games (in our opinion) everyone should play, and here is where our list began. I’m going to start with the Nintendo Entertainment System, and then work my way through to today. I could have started earlier, but my experience with Atari, Intellivision and the like is almost nonexistent, and I don’t feel like I would be able to do them justice. Also keep in mind that this is all based on my own experiences, and since I did not have some consoles growing up (a Sega Genesis, Saturn or Dreamcast, nor the Sony Playstation) I will focus on the games I have played. If I miss anything vital, let me know in the comments section or fire off an email; I would love to know what other games people feel are must plays. Anyway enough babbling, on to the games!
Nintendo Entertainment System
The System that Saved the Industry
1. Super Mario Bros. 3:
I cannot think of any better game to start with than this. Not only is it considered by many to be the best Mario game ever, it is also considered to be one of the best games ever made.
By today’s standards, the lack of a save feature is sure to bother a lot of people who never had books full of pass words, yet aside from that, I cannot think of anything that really hinders the game play experience offered by Mario 3. Sure some of the levels can be devilishly hard, but that was the nature of game design back in the 80s; a lot of developers still had that arcade mindset where difficulty was directly tied to profits. The more times you die, the more quarters you pumped into the machine. Does Mario 3 suffer from this? I really don’t think so, and I am guessing a lot of people tend to feel the same way.
The power-ups in this game are one of its strongest points. Not only does the fire flower return, turning Mario into a fireball firing machine, but you also get things like the frog suit (making the inevitable water level bearable), a Kuribo’s Shore, and the racoon suit that lets you fly. They all help to diversify the game play, and help you to find the many secret warp-pipes and other secrets hidden throughout the levels. All in all, it’s still an amazing game by today’s standards, and I think anyone new to games should play this.
2. The Legend of Zelda:
It would be blasphemous to not introduce someone new to games to the game that started one of the most beloved of Nintendo franchises; hell, one of the most beloved game franchise ever. Is it the best in the series? Not really, but it is nice to be able to play this and see how Nintendo is constantly improving on the Zelda formula. I also think playing this will help to show how little some games have changed (aside from the move to 3D) over the years; why mess with a good thing?
3. Metroid:
I am including Metroid simply because it is the start of one of my favourite series, and it sets the stage for the magnificent Super Metroid (a game we will come to when I get to the Super Nintendo), and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
I am not saying that this is an excellent game by any means. While I do enjoy playing it from time to time, things such as the password system that only records how deep you made it into Zebes, not your current energy and missile count and only starts you off with minimal supplies is an exercise in frustration. Like most games on the NES, this is a game I feel people should play so they learn to appreciate the little things (such as full saves, and battery saves) that are so common in the industry today. Also, after giving this game a go, I would suggest playing the Game Boy Advance remake, Metroid: Zero Mission.
4. Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt:
This game bundle was sold with the NES across North America in 1986; not only did this introduce players new to the world of Nintendo to Mario (a character who then went on to became a cultural icon), it also gave us the NES Zapper light gun peripheral and a dog that would openly laugh at the player.
Super Mario Bros is still a great platformer, and its iconic first level is like playing a part of history, and Dunk Hunt is still one of the best uses of any light gun, and that dog that laughs at you when you miss a duck is hilarious.
I wish I could say more about the games of the NES era, but I never had one and by the time I started to realize that I loved games, the 16bit console war was just starting. I also thought of adding games such as Battle Toads and Ghouls and Ghosts, but then I remembered how soul crushingly hard those games are and how little fun someone new to games would have dying over and over.
It started with talk about what it would be like to meet someone who was never been allowed to play games, and now they want to know what all the fuss is about. What started out as thinking out loud turned into a debate about which games (in our opinion) everyone should play, and here is where our list began. I’m going to start with the Nintendo Entertainment System, and then work my way through to today. I could have started earlier, but my experience with Atari, Intellivision and the like is almost nonexistent, and I don’t feel like I would be able to do them justice. Also keep in mind that this is all based on my own experiences, and since I did not have some consoles growing up (a Sega Genesis, Saturn or Dreamcast, nor the Sony Playstation) I will focus on the games I have played. If I miss anything vital, let me know in the comments section or fire off an email; I would love to know what other games people feel are must plays. Anyway enough babbling, on to the games!
The System that Saved the Industry
1. Super Mario Bros. 3:
I cannot think of any better game to start with than this. Not only is it considered by many to be the best Mario game ever, it is also considered to be one of the best games ever made.
By today’s standards, the lack of a save feature is sure to bother a lot of people who never had books full of pass words, yet aside from that, I cannot think of anything that really hinders the game play experience offered by Mario 3. Sure some of the levels can be devilishly hard, but that was the nature of game design back in the 80s; a lot of developers still had that arcade mindset where difficulty was directly tied to profits. The more times you die, the more quarters you pumped into the machine. Does Mario 3 suffer from this? I really don’t think so, and I am guessing a lot of people tend to feel the same way.
The power-ups in this game are one of its strongest points. Not only does the fire flower return, turning Mario into a fireball firing machine, but you also get things like the frog suit (making the inevitable water level bearable), a Kuribo’s Shore, and the racoon suit that lets you fly. They all help to diversify the game play, and help you to find the many secret warp-pipes and other secrets hidden throughout the levels. All in all, it’s still an amazing game by today’s standards, and I think anyone new to games should play this.
2. The Legend of Zelda:
It would be blasphemous to not introduce someone new to games to the game that started one of the most beloved of Nintendo franchises; hell, one of the most beloved game franchise ever. Is it the best in the series? Not really, but it is nice to be able to play this and see how Nintendo is constantly improving on the Zelda formula. I also think playing this will help to show how little some games have changed (aside from the move to 3D) over the years; why mess with a good thing?
3. Metroid:
I am including Metroid simply because it is the start of one of my favourite series, and it sets the stage for the magnificent Super Metroid (a game we will come to when I get to the Super Nintendo), and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
I am not saying that this is an excellent game by any means. While I do enjoy playing it from time to time, things such as the password system that only records how deep you made it into Zebes, not your current energy and missile count and only starts you off with minimal supplies is an exercise in frustration. Like most games on the NES, this is a game I feel people should play so they learn to appreciate the little things (such as full saves, and battery saves) that are so common in the industry today. Also, after giving this game a go, I would suggest playing the Game Boy Advance remake, Metroid: Zero Mission.
4. Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt:
This game bundle was sold with the NES across North America in 1986; not only did this introduce players new to the world of Nintendo to Mario (a character who then went on to became a cultural icon), it also gave us the NES Zapper light gun peripheral and a dog that would openly laugh at the player.
Super Mario Bros is still a great platformer, and its iconic first level is like playing a part of history, and Dunk Hunt is still one of the best uses of any light gun, and that dog that laughs at you when you miss a duck is hilarious.
I wish I could say more about the games of the NES era, but I never had one and by the time I started to realize that I loved games, the 16bit console war was just starting. I also thought of adding games such as Battle Toads and Ghouls and Ghosts, but then I remembered how soul crushingly hard those games are and how little fun someone new to games would have dying over and over.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Console War
Hyperdimension Neptunia is easily the craziest (if not the craziest) game I have ever played, and this is coming from a guy who owns Cubivore. It’s Japanese in almost every sense of the term; this is a game made by an industry where pushing out the latest girl filled JRPG is the word of the day. I was surprised to see Neptunia released over here, let alone released with a solid translation/English script. Before we jump into the mechanics and such know this: the story is about a bunch of goddesses fighting each other over something or another in the world of Gamindustri (no, I did not make that up), and they’re all modeled after game consoles. That’s right; this is a game about the ever popular console war that nerds have fought over for years on messageboards, and on playgrounds the world over.
At its core, Neptunia is your basic dungeon crawler. You wander around theme based corridors and rooms, battling monsters, and finding treasure. This is all interspersed with digital novel style character interactions of the girls babbling to each other; sometimes about the story, other times about random nonsense. Think of it like those dating simulation games that most of us have heard about, or at least seen on the internet from time to time. Most of the dialog between the characters is pretty good (some of it is a little cringe worthy, especially from Compa), and the fact that at times they seem to be aware they are in a game (a game that is the personification of the console war) makes it all that much better. Also, the constant references to other games are well done; everything from street pugilists, to “Detris!” to “attack its weak point for massive damage!” just makes my day.
Combat is turned based, with an emphasis on chaining attacks into hard hitting combos. It reminds me a lot of Valkyrie Profile, with each button corresponding to different attacks, and the player having to chain those attacks together. Each and every button can be switched out in the menus, allowing for a lot of flexibility when it comes to the battle system. The way you use items in this game is a strange design choice: you never actively use them instead you set percentage rates to use rate of the items on a per character basis. This means that they will only use them at certain times, or when certain battle conditions are met. It’s a different approach, but not one I think works all that well; I have died a few times from my characters not healing themselves when they should have.
In the end, Hyperdimension Neptunia is not a bad game. Is it for everyone? Hell no; you’re average western gamer is going to wonder where the refilling life bar is, and why they’re not trying to stop the evil Russians/Terrorists/Aliens from taking over the world. This is a game for fans of the JRPG, fans of anime, or people who just want to see everything the gaming world has to offer. Or if you’re a closet Sailor Moon fan, this game is going to make your day (you know who you are!).
At its core, Neptunia is your basic dungeon crawler. You wander around theme based corridors and rooms, battling monsters, and finding treasure. This is all interspersed with digital novel style character interactions of the girls babbling to each other; sometimes about the story, other times about random nonsense. Think of it like those dating simulation games that most of us have heard about, or at least seen on the internet from time to time. Most of the dialog between the characters is pretty good (some of it is a little cringe worthy, especially from Compa), and the fact that at times they seem to be aware they are in a game (a game that is the personification of the console war) makes it all that much better. Also, the constant references to other games are well done; everything from street pugilists, to “Detris!” to “attack its weak point for massive damage!” just makes my day.
Combat is turned based, with an emphasis on chaining attacks into hard hitting combos. It reminds me a lot of Valkyrie Profile, with each button corresponding to different attacks, and the player having to chain those attacks together. Each and every button can be switched out in the menus, allowing for a lot of flexibility when it comes to the battle system. The way you use items in this game is a strange design choice: you never actively use them instead you set percentage rates to use rate of the items on a per character basis. This means that they will only use them at certain times, or when certain battle conditions are met. It’s a different approach, but not one I think works all that well; I have died a few times from my characters not healing themselves when they should have.
In the end, Hyperdimension Neptunia is not a bad game. Is it for everyone? Hell no; you’re average western gamer is going to wonder where the refilling life bar is, and why they’re not trying to stop the evil Russians/Terrorists/Aliens from taking over the world. This is a game for fans of the JRPG, fans of anime, or people who just want to see everything the gaming world has to offer. Or if you’re a closet Sailor Moon fan, this game is going to make your day (you know who you are!).
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