Reviews
Game Reviews.
October 2009: Advance Wars 2, Black Hole Rising
A little late yes but i can't ignore this game any longer, it was my all time favorite on the gba and this time around you fond your self defending your home country from the invading Black Hole Army which is attempting to take over the world.
After completing the first few missions you join up with other forces and the story begins to unravel as you discover new technology which give you more equipment and tactical advice. Also new is the number of maps available and cast refresh. In fact you may find your self spending more time trying out settings in V.S. mode then getting threw the campaign. Everything seems to be spot on for what you'd expect in this game, they don't play off cheap emotions or twists but rather focus all the attention on the battle system.
Theres been a number of improvements over the first game mainly with the UI and generally streamlining everything too.
This game will give you at least hours of entertainment before you'll even be searching for your link cable. This is another must have for the GBA.
August 2009: Muramasa, The Demon Blade Review
We are reviewing the japanese version of the game to get ahead so not all may be correct.
At the title screen you select one of two sword modes, Tachi a large and powerful sword but is sometimes slow and Ōdachi a lite and fast sword that is useful for taking down large groups of weak enemy's. Then select your player, for this review i went with Momohime, a young sexy princess of Narukami Han.
After being possessed by a foul swordsman, she is forced to flee her castle and accept Jinkuro's offer to complete his plan. As you start off your given a simple but thorough tutorial on how to cut people with your sword, after this you are set free to roam the land and look at pretty graphics, however there is a penalty for doing such a thing, as you are constantly being pursued by foes of many different types you'll find your self being attacked out of no were and even in areas you've already dealt with, although this seems repetitive the enemy's are easy to defeat(most of the time) and its only when you wonder off path do things become an issue and this dose well to keep you on your toes.
In terms of game play it has a fairly solid battle system (However i can't help but wonder why i always seem to find myself fighting off screen half the time.) although not the best i've seen yet, the use of power ups, combos and spells is well balanced and useful rather then an interference. As the game takes place during the time of shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, his thirst for power causes a conflict over immensely powerful swords, the Demon Blades. Because the swords are cursed and are said to bring tragedy, madness, and untimely deaths. The chaos from the conflict spreads, creatures from the netherworld are summoned by these blades, along with Dragon and Demon Gods, you are left to destroy them one by one in order to advance to the next area. In some levels they try to pretend that the game is a mario style platformer(lots of jumping) but this doesn't always work as in one level i fond myself constantly falling down and trying to perform double jumps while having ninja stars thrown at me was far from fun.
Right from the title screen you'd already realize that this is a very stylized game, all the graphics have been hand drawn and placed in a 3d environment to emulate depth, this is done very well, there is some places you find your self in a beautiful opening looking out over fields and hills, in other instances your running across an imperial style roof and the tiles them selves warp and refract light.
Even on the Wii's limited hardware this game shows some impressive visuals with next to no slow down which makes this one of the few truly exceptional titles. Listening to the sound track you'll be pleased to hear traditional japanese music at every turn, its not the greatest soundtrack ever but its still nice and the way it picks up pace during boss fights is spot on.
So how dose it feel all up? Muramasa brings amazing graphics and presentation to a some what flat story and gives it just enough momentum to push you though the game, which gets surprisingly hard after the first few hours. If you like Japan and its culture or just love samurai swords then you'll love this game but if your coming from a PS3 or Xbox360 and after your graphics fix then your going to disappointed in the long run.
December 2007: Advance Wars DS
Advanced Wars Dual Strike takes place months after the events of Black Hole Rising and you are thrown into a war between Omega Land and the Black Hole army and once again must fight it out!
Just as Black Hole Rising was the answer to the original, Dual Strike is next best app out of Intelligent Systems™ and you can guess just what that means, right from the intro you are filled with joy by the almost perfect UI and amazing sound track. But it doesn't stop there, if you are a Advanced Wars fan boy like myself and have just finished the first one then the after the first 5 missions your left feeling, hmm that was easy yet it feels so good! After hitting Mission 6 you find your very first challenge.
Unlike the last installment there is no longer the Orange Star, Blue Moon, etc but they're now allied nations fighting as one, or so it may seem.
Advance Wars DS is just one of those truly touching titles that for whatever your excuse, can not be left un-played. Although the rewards are not as exciting as the GBA's second installment it is more rewarding just to get though the game, and like me you'll often find your self going to the sound room just to enjoy the grate new tunes.
Advanced Wars DS is an exceptional title and an absolute must have for any NDS owner.
With its excellent battle system and very snappy UI makes this title simply one of, if not the best strategy title for the Nintendo DS.
January 2006: Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Phantasia is a Super Nintendo RPG by Namco that came out in Japan in 1995. In January of 2001, the fan based English translation was released by DeJap Translations. This made it possible for us to experience Tales of Phantasia completely in English via video game emulation. Tales of Phantasia was the first RPG for the SNES to feature a full J-Pop song and tons of voice acting. Not only that, the battle system is none like anyone had experienced before. They take place in a separate battle sequence like in any other RPG, but it plays like a 2D version of Secret of Mana. Tales of Phantasia was never officially released in North America because they felt RPGs weren't popular enough at the time and that it wouldn't be worth it.
Tales of Phantasia is definitely up there with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6! The graphics and animation is so good that you'd swear you're playing a Playstation game and as for the Playstation version you'll be having wet dreams for weeks! The songs are so good and so beautiful that you might catch yourself visiting the main screen's sound room quite often. The storyline is so interesting and involving. The battles are extremely fun! The battle graphics will make you piss your pants. With Tales of Phantasia excelling inevery area, you'll have a hard time stepping away from it. The game has one thing few SNES&PSX RPGs have: Detail. If you walk toward a band in a town, the game's music will slowly transition to the band's music as you walk closer to them. As you walk through a cave you'll see lizards and bats moving around. When you walk across the side of a river or lake, you'll see your reflection walking with you. Birds are always flying by - even during battle! The songs blend so perfectly with every moment. Tales of Phantasia is just so amazing! It's overall beauty is so blissful and relaxing. I highly recommended playing it. I'll repeat, Tales of Phantasia is definitely up there with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6! Seriously. Even today I still see gaming communities raving about it.
The Anime: As most of us are into anime, it's a dream come true whenever an anime series is created based on a popular RPG. In early 2005, almost a decade after Tales of Phantasia's release, the RPG community was shocked to hear about a Tales of Phantasia anime series in the works: Tales of Phantasia: The Animation (a.k.a. the Tales of Phantasia OVA). Yup, it's true. The expectations of RPG fans have been met, this anime series is very well made and absolutely gorgeous. The only unfortunate thing about it is that it's a very short series with only 4 episodes.
