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Injustice: Gods Among Us #18 Review
Injustice: Gods Among Us #18 Review
Writer: Tom Taylor
Cover Artist: Jheremy Raapack
NBA 2K13 Review
Another year means another round of NBA basketball in the 2K world. This one is probably even more sweet than even the infamous Jordan 2K11 due to NBA “Elite” (also known as NBA Live) officially shutting down their studios meaning there is only one basketball game in the market. 2K Sports once again adds more Legends to the NBA 2K franchise this time with three different type of games (the cover is Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Derrick Rose unlike the last two years where you can buy the regular Jordan Cover or the Magic Johnson and/or the Larry Bird Cover Edition) and new teams like the World Famous Dream Team, even Allen Iverson and his 2001 Sixers!
Let’s first look at the games Graphics aspect of things. Graphics in NBA 2K13 are usually very good for the game’s superstars and alright for the regular and role players; but in 2K13 I would have to say every character looks like themselves in real life. With the occasional impossible to do hair (i.e. Andre Miller) there are a few slipups, but with the crowd looking actually animated and not paper mâché, in addition to well-defined arenas/courts, the graphics are impressive.
Many changes were added to Gameplay with the MyPlayer probably being the greatest beneficiary. MyPlayer is the process all NBA 2K users must do when they boot up their disc in their Xbox/PS3 where they create a player at either of the five positions and determine what type of player they want him to play like (defensive, offensive, etc.). Most of this is the same, but what had changed was the efficiency of the MyPlayer. In previous games, MyPlayer was ranked very low (as most rookies are) but to an extension of where you literally were worse than high school basketball players in the NBA, and racking up experience (now dubbed Virtual Credit) points to build rating was nearly impossible. With these fixes, along with you starting near a normal rookie overall rating, the MyPlayer is fun experience where you go through the draft, build up your legacy on the court and off the court (using Twitter getting famous followers like Pauly D or NBA Legends like John Stockton), until you finally reach the Hall of Fame (hint: an achievement/trophy). Other little features of the MyPlayer include “Meeting with GM” where you can trash other players or coaches or be a nice guy and praise the job that is being done, or creating your own shoe from Nike.
What about the terms of regular gameplay? Well the Association and Online Association is still there, so you can choose to play as the team or rather play a GM/Coach role, assigning players role’s, making trades, promising minutes, drafting rookies etc. Another mode of play is the Create a Legend mode where, unlike MyPlayer, you take a current NBA player and use him instead making your way to fame. Overall actual gameplay is very accurate and smooth flowing. There are less Out of Bounds calls where in previous games you can almost freely run out of bounds with little to no warning. Game sliders allow you to alter gameplay as in all previous 2K games, there are tips displayed constantly throughout the game to teach you how to post-up, do cross-overs, box-out, all the buttons you never really use. The Shot Stick has now upgraded to a replacement for buttons if you feel they hinder you performance, so the stick can perform cross-overs and of course shoot for you. Jump shooting accuracy is not displayed anymore in practice mode, so you must still figure out on your own where the sweet-spot release for each player on your own. Last but not least, three-point field goals have actually been changed where if you are just a little in front of the line, it still counts as a three rather than in previous games where you were taking a long two.
What kind of sports game doesn’t have Online Mode? Well don’t worry NBA 2K13 continues it’s online play with of course its head-to-head matchups. Head-to-head matchups are just basic online games where you are rewarded a ton of VC per each completion. Next is the MyPlayer matchup, where you do a “pick-up” game of 3-on-3 with your and other random players “MyPlayer” and play to 21 (street rules so: 1′s and 2′s).
Other basic things have to do with Music, which is fantastic and done by famous rap-artist and minor owner of the Brooklyn Nets, Jay-Z. If you don’t like Jay-Z don’t worry, there are some instrumentals and there are other musical artists to soothe your taste. You can customize music in the arena (impossible to hear anyway) or the main menu screen. Lastly the broadcasting team, ACTUALLY keeps up with you in this game. Unfortunately, the more you play the less clever and more annoying they become.
Overall: 8.8/10
NBA 2K13 is definitely the best game when it comes to basketball for any system (duh) and NBA 2K13 many new features keep the game fresh for a long time. If you aren’t a fan of myPlayer, create your own legend, or play an association, sometimes just play for fun against others or local, and achievements in the game give you a new style to play the game (like making you lose on purpose till the 4th quarter, etc.). Sports games are under constant scrutiny to change and not change at the same time and the team at 2K sports is definitely doing the right thing, so here’s to another year of basketball that isn’t locked-out!
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
Why You Shouldn’t Underestimate: DmC
Ever since the announcement of the Devil May Cry reboot (DmC) developed by Ninja Theory, the game has been shrouded in controversy. From the re-imagining of a much younger Dante which rubbed many hardcore fans the wrong way, and now to the point that many fake reviews of the game are being released on the internet. For those that are unaware, DmC is bringing the series back before the original games. In which we are shown a much younger, attitude driven Dante who has the smartarse mouth of a teenager, backed up with the extreme swordsmanship Dante is known for.
Is one simple re-design enough for this game to garner as much hate as it has? I believe not, though he may be visually different from previous games, his personality is Dante all-over. Having gone through the entire Devil May Cry series over the past few weeks, I am here to tell you why DmC shouldn’t be disregarded. It seems to encapsulate the true meaning of the Devil May Cry series, in more ways than one.
Out of the previous 4 Devil May Cry titles the one that stands out as the pinnacle of the series is DMC3, it was able to refine everything that the series was known for and produce a cohesive package from start to finish. One of the reasons this game stands out is because we got to see Dante’s personality in comparison to the first two titles, he could quite possibly be classified as the ‘silent protagonist’ in the original games. Barely showing the slightest of personality, we spent two entire games with our hero, yet apart from his back story we were left questioning ‘who’ Dante was deep down. DMC3 put a stamp on the series, setting it before the original 2 games and providing a much younger version of Dante, in-turn creating a character with a loveable personality, he was frankly badass. Though the odds may have been stacked against Dante, he never kept quiet, showing demons complete disrespect with his crude mouth.
From what we have seen of DmC, this attitude that possessed Dante is back in full-force. Giving the finger to his enemies, swearing and setting his adversaries into a rage with his abusive comments. Have people forgot what we loved about Dante? His attitude gave the entire character a well-rounded base, it showed he was out to rid the world of demons and have a blast doing it. Devil May Cry 3 left us with how Dante truly feels before the credits roll, “I love this! This is what I live for! I’m absolutely crazy about it!” These simple words gave a solid foundation to the characters motives that past games just could not show, he is a born hero, but unlike most protagonists he is crazy about what he does.
This fun-loving attitude against the forces of darkness has from all accounts been pulled off perfectly within DmC, in gameplay videos and trailers we have caught glimpses of this attitude in progress and no doubt it will raise its head numerous times during the campaign. Dante is a teenager and in all respects should give off even more attitude than our cocky, fun-loving demon killer of DMC3.
What makes Devil May Cry stand out in the crowded hack and slash genre? Style. Cut scenes throughout DMC games are full of stylised killing action, for instance, I must go back to DMC3 once again. We start DMC3 with Dante being attacked in his office by a group of demons, from there we get the definition of ‘stylised action’. Dante shoots a white snooker ball mid-air, that then collides with every other snooker ball which then shoot off and kill the demons around him, there is nothing cooler. We even see Dante put on his signature red coat with style, very similar to the way the Dante in DmC gets dressed for battle. These stylised moments made Dante legitimize his skills as a demon slayer and DmC seems to understand this.
The opening video of his trailer being destroyed by that over-sized demon, it reeks of Devil May Cry style, the way he gets dressed, his ability to fly through the trailer and grab everything he needs to kill this beast in slow motion, these scenes are an absolute pleasure. The fact that the opening scene is able to showcase the style Dante has at hand, really does open the doors for the other crazy action moments we could see throughout the game. These were a pleasure to watch and the fact Ninja Theory knows this, should give fans confidence in DmC’s ability to keep to what Devil May Cry stands for, but in their own style.
Honestly though the main factor of Devil May Cry is combat, if the combat feels off then it can never live up to the games of the past. DMC has evolved over time with the first two games restricting the camera, 3 allowing slight movement and 4 giving (mostly) full control, but it never felt exactly right. If DmC is able to make a camera that can clearly function well with the graceful, fast paced combat of Dante, then they will do something that the series itself has never been able to accomplish. Not only this, but from my short time with DmC demo, the combat feels slick, refined and seems to have that in-depth nature that previous titles have grasped.
See Devil May Cry is easy to string together basic combos, but those who master the game truly find the detailed combat available. From all hands-on accounts the game feels like it shines in this regard, having now experienced all the previous iterations, DmC feels strong. This is only from a short sample of the game, but assuming they have the same options of extending your combat repertoire as previous titles, combat could become more interesting as the game progresses.
These are just a handful of bullet points that make the series so great, but they are of course not the only things. The narrative must be strong, what made DMC2 so weak was its plot, it never really made sense and left a lot of holes in the overall story. This is where DMC3 and to a lesser extend 4 stepped up, giving us a strong narrative that showcased the characters well, Ninja Theory was able to showcase great characterization in Enslaved: Odyssey of the West and that ability would work well in DmC.
But one of the main things people love about the Devil May Cry series is the amount of content the game has to offer, offering challenging difficulties, secret costumes that allow you to do some really interesting things (Like play two player through the entire DMC3 campaign). These secrets keep people coming back, adding to the overall package of what DMC is able to accomplish. Though we won’t be able to find out how Ninja Theory handled these aspects until the game ships, the fact they have already included some of the best things the franchise has to offer, gives me great confidence.
So why the hate? Have hardcore fans just jumped to the conclusion from a slight re-design, that this character and the overall product is not worth their time? I think that is a silly assumption, re-designs can offer some great new aspects to a series and as we saw with Halo 4, new developers handling a series can even sometimes find a way to outshine the original. Though DmC has not been released, the wait for the final product is growing ever shorter. I think those writing DmC off as ‘not a Devil May Cry game’, are missing the true essence of what Devil May Cry is about.
DmC is a dark horse, that I believe will be able to provide a fresh take on the series, whilst giving nods to the past. Could I be wrong? Of course, but until that time I will continue to wait for DmC to arrive on my doorstep with great excitement, because like Dante before me. “I love this! This is what I live for! I’m absolutely crazy about it!”
Jamie Briggs manages Analog Addiction where you can find all his latest reviews, interviews and features and also like them on Facebook. Also follow his daily life on Twitter @AnalogAddiction and their videos on YouTube.
Street Fighter x Mega Man 25th anniversary Review
Whoa!? A new Mega Man game!! Well not exactly, alright at least Capcom released it….oh wait that’s not true either. WELL, at least we got a new Mega Man game for his 25th Anniversary all right!?
Street Fighter x Mega Man is a simple game paying homage to the 8-bit Mega Man using gameplay mainly consisting of Mega Man 4 (as you can charge and slide), with the occasional slips of other classic Mega Man elements. As in all Mega Man games you fight off on eight bosses, in which after you travel to fight three additional bosses, do a boss rush mode, and of course fight the final boss. Alas, it is different in this Mega Man game as Dr. Wily is no where to be found in this game, for the special is the Street Fighters have come out to play.
Story: As Mega Man is ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy his anniversary; Ryu and his fellow Street Fighters over here this as their anniversary is coming to an end and would like to do one last battle before they officially close the books on theirs. Now, Mega Man must take on the Street Fighters request and enjoy a friendly duel between Capcom icons….or is there more?
Gameplay: Well to compare to old Mega Man’s is a bit of stretch, as though it may look and sound like classic 8-bit Mega Man, gameplay wise it falls a bit short. First off, compared to recent Mega Man games (Mega Man 9 and 10) the difficulty is ridiculously easy, it took me an hour to beat the entire game. Secondly, there is hardly any Rush, just the beginning of one level where you use him as the Rush board. Third, the levels feel a lot shorter than classic Mega Man games and in addition there is no save function, so its playthrough or quit.
- HADOKEN
Other than that the game does adopt to any Gamepad put in the game, as long as you reconfigure it in the start menu, which I had no problems. Jumping and shooting, aka the premise of the game, flows smoothly, although occasionally sometimes when you want to jump with your controller/gamepad it will slide. All the powers added in the game, after you defeat each boss, are wonderful, from your Hadoken, to your…watermelons!? (Mega Man 8 soccer power homage). The visual is clear and crisp, the designs of each level are fantastic, it’s just missing the Mega Man “argh” factor.
Music: Fantastic. The music is mainly original but some of the tracks have some of the scores from the original games (like Dhalsim stage has the Snake Man intro).
Replay Value: Depends. Seriously its not very high but its not very low. You can try all the hidden easter eggs in the game or you can do a Mega-Buster challenge only and best of all you can try to get the secret boss!
Overall: 7.5/10- Good
While SF x MM isn’t the best Mega Man game I’ve played (obviously) nor is it the worst, but I respect the game for what it is. A fan-made homage to the Mega Man series with a unique twist. The addition of Street Fighter characters was an awesome element and I really had fun playing this game for about the 3rd time now. The game is free to download as well, so my money was well spent (in this actuality it was time).
Now Capcom we’re waiting for a real Mega Man release, because we all know this doesn’t cut it!
- BISON!!
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
Is Mario the king of RPG’s as well?
Mario, Nintendo’s icon and presumably video game’s icon all over the world. Mario is most famous for his jumping skills, hat and overall combo, and looking endlessly for Peach in wrong castles…or just in general. Mario has jumped in all gaming aspects, from platformers, to adventures, to even party and sports games. But there is another title to add to the Mario legacy; his involvement in RPG. Mario first starred in a RPG during his Super Nintendo days, where Nintendo teamed up with Squaresoft (their Final Fantasy partners of the time) and created a game we had never seen before: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. The game was was a traditional turn-based RPG with a twist of action-RPG, as pressing the trigger at the right moment would do extra damage. This game left a craving for the Nintendo audience, which in turn led to a spawn of Mario RPG series’ : Paper Mario and the Superstar Saga series.
In playing all these Mario RPGs and being an avid Square[-Enix], squaresoft, square, fan I have come to say most of Mario’s games are very consist in the RPG world, which is something of a rarity. Most RPGs, that I’ve noticed, are something of a hit-and-miss kinda thing. You look at Final Fantasy IV and say the game was a very good game, then you look at Final Fantasy V or XIII and you are going what happened!? If you look at reviews from Mario’s RPG adventures and games they all have very favorable reviews, where the game with lowest score would be Super Paper Mario for the Wii (which in turn is it’s most recent and not much of an RPG). The dialogue of each story are great, funny, memorable, the battle systems are always unique and work to perfection, the side-quests are simple enough, every character has his own story (think of Luigi in each Paper Mario Game), the graphics are always well-done and clean, and the games itself are pretty innovative. While most Mario RPG games are welcome with open arms, a few have criticized the easiness of an “RPG” the Mario series has.
While the Mario role playing series games don’t jump my top RPG games of all time (FFIX, KH) they do come close to them.
Lets rank the Mario RPG in bottom to top order:
#7- Mario and Luigi Partner’s In Time (DS)
Partner’s in Time was the long awaited sequel to the GBA hit-success Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. This game had high expectations going in, considering how well M&L did, but all in all could not live up to them. The game ran a similar system to Superstar Saga, and while it added new elements it took away at the same time. For example, Bros’ Supers did not exist, they were replaced with items. In addition, you technically had 4 players to control and the baby Mario and Luigi were almost like backups in case you were losing a fight. The over-world was done very well but its puzzles were less than enjoyable and you constantly had to do ‘solo’ adventures with your baby forms which weren’t all that pleasant. This game had me drifting in and out because it just wasn’t…Mario. The dark story was a good, but it wasn’t well presented or played and there really wasn’t anything memorable about this game.
7/10
#6- Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Super Paper Mario is actually a great game that only gets ridiculed for changing the “Paper mario way” (which does upset me too). In SPM, you play old classic Mario style side-scrolling platformer style, but you level up in it…so think Super Mario meets RPG. Goombas don’t die in one hit like an old game they have HP as do you. The unique feature in this game is obviously battles are faster since it is open world and there are no turn-by-turn battles. It really plays as in what if Super Mario Bros was an RPG? This game finally allows you to play as the other main characters of the Mario gang, but at the cost of not having a partner (quick note this is a first in the Paper Mario series as in Mario RPG you play as Bowser and Peach). Each has a unique special power. Mario can go “3-D” and see the world in both vision, Peach can float and use her umbrella as a shield, Bowser has x2 power (cause he has no double attack a la double jump) and can breathe fire, and Luigi can super jump. The game’s story is fantastic, possibly the best in the Paper Mario series, the gameplay is fun, the game is long so you get your RPG hours in, has some memorable characters, and creative worlds. Nothing bad to say about this game except for the overworld; because it is the only world with a town and real explorartion.
8/10
#5- Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside story (DS)
Bowser’s Inside story was a save from the disgrace that was Partner’s in Time. This game combined elements from PiT and M&L SS well enough to make its own game, along with a few new tricks. The biggest new feature was playing as Bowser of course, who had his own reckless and fun adventures. The time you weren’t spent as Bowser smashing things, you were playing as Mario and Luigi inside his stomach. A very cool feature was that of solving puzzles in this game, as some of the puzzles required you to control both sets of characters to get to further areas, thus Bowser needed Mario’s help and vice versa. The story connects well but isn’t all that amazing but the specials are “redone” again to make it more player orientated. The game overall is the easiest of possibly all Mario RPGs as it aimed at newer and older audiences, so that is understandable.
8/10
#4- Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
This is the first Mario RPG game and the most classic of all of them, although that doesn’t mean it is my favorite. Yes, the game has an a die-hard story, awesome characters, and started the trend for the other Mario RPGs, but the game had a slower, more traditional RPG pace than the rest of the gang and I was looking for something new with Mario. The game uses the idea of open-world enemies in which you can see them and really changed the map for RPGs as it combined elements of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, and Secret of Man all in one! The game keeps simplicity in its equipment/items area, making it easier to understand for new players, the trigger-action commands keep the gameplay more engaging, and you won’t forget the time you had in this game; from solving puzzles to pretending you were a statue, this game really brings out the best in RPGs.
Score: 9/10
#3- Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. (GCN)
Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door, one of Gamecube’s classics. In this game there is awesome “paper” graphics, you can finally use the “Paper” element and transform Mario into objects to solve puzzles like a paper airplane, boat, etc., and there are a bunch ofcrazy sidequests which even lead to another character! Mario RPGs have always had a strong suit for story-telling and this game keeps the trend alive, from its own deep story, to that of Luigi’s own Paper Adventure. This game improved on everything Paper Mario had, making fights now in front of a live audience who may assist or hurt you, the ability to let your partner take the lead, and cool badges like the Wario and Luigi costume badge. Everyone should try this game!
9.3/10
#2- Paper Mario 64 (N64)
When I first put Paper Mario 64 into my N64 I was taken back. This colorful game, which I heard was the”sequel” to my favorite game not named Super Mario Bros 3 I had to get it. I didn’t know what to expect so I popped it in and started a file and went to Peach’s Party and saw Luigi and other Mario characters and was immediately ready to play. Right after fighting bowser with the simple no action commands and LOSING (cue gasps here), the game just picks up from there, with you fighting your “rival”, to getting your first partner in Goombario. I loved this game, the badge system, the random funny charcters, like old man goomba, having the best sidekick ever named Koops, fighting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Power Ranger Koopas, using my assists powers to solve puzzles, and pressing Z to spin everywhere, heck even delivering mail is fun in this game. Nothing in this game ever bored me I couldn’t stop playing; the controls are magnificent, the story is funny and entertaining, the sidequests are amazing, like after each chapter playing as Peach sometimes in a quiz show), I love the soundtrack, and hey I love Mario. (Did anyone feel the wish rod was stolen from kirby though? haha)
Score 9.6/10
#1- Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga (GBA)
THIS. I should end the summary here for Superstar Saga right now. I’ve beaten the game 15 times and I still play it the game just has that kinda hook (don’t forget the multiplayer of classic arcade mario bros with it!). This game added comedy (many laughs during each playthrough), drama, suspense, action, RPG all into one! In fact, the game feels like two plays for the rescuing Peach and destroying Cackletta and Fawful to the Bowletta part. The Bros Combos are absolutely fantastic, in addition every move has a hidden command in it and you can do them forever! Solving puzzles are a game of in itself, from Mario and Luigi combining to high jump, helicopter, or to just you going to the arcade to play games. The overworld is well animated and clear and vast, the characters, like Fawful are unforgettable, and the game is just really entertaining.
Score: 9.8/10
So is Mario the king of RPG? No…not yet but he will always be close behind with these innovative game he makes. The Mario RPG series are all fun games, no doubt about it, but they are only about 20-30 hrs each and the difficulty doesn’t make it stand up to other Final Fantasy and Dragon Age games. If I had to say where Superstar Saga my #1 Mario RPG game would rank it would be behind FFIX, KH2, KH1, Dragon Quest IX, Superstar Saga, FFVII, FFVIICC (no tactical rpgs are counted).
Don’t forget Paper Mario 3DS: Sticker Star is coming out!
So guys objections?
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
Halo 4 Review
Halo.
End of review that’s it I mean this is how the cool kids write blogs right?
Alright, but seriously, Halo 4, you know aliens, Master Chief, the thing everybody knows from the original Xbox. Halo 4 is no different from its predecessors in terms of overall gameplay but Halo veterans know and feel the differences once they pick up the controller and play the game (for example B to crouch!? *cough). From new enemies, to new weapons, to amazing visuals, and an unexpected story, 343 Industries does a great job taking a series many were upset Bungie to leave; integrating senior Halo players while simultaneously introducing the game to the new audience.
Story: Like all Halo’s, the game revolves around John-117 aka Master Chief and his partner/AI system Cortana and their struggle against an inevitable evil. Halo 4 continues right were Bungie left the game off at Halo 3, with Master Chief and Cortana waiting to be rescued on the ‘Forward onto Dawn’. About four year, seven months, and ten days pass* (explained below), before a disturbance on the ship causes Cortana to wake Master Chief from his slumber and thus your adventure officially begins as you step out of your sleeping pod. As you investigate the ship, wondering why the UNSC still hasn’t saved you from a distress single you’ve sent out from the end of Halo 3, you notice that Covenant (the aliens) have overrun the ship and are looking for something [oddly enough the treaty you have with the Covenant is of no help here]. Since there are new enemies to be introduced 343 takes the path of familiarity in the first two missions/levels, having Master Chief investigate a strange sound wave and try to contact a UNSC ship, while fighting off the Covenant. Because of this ‘strategy’ of 343 Industries you are left off just as confused as Master Chief and Cortana and just proceed to do what you think is correct while learning about Cortana’s condition, rampancy. The reason why there is an asterisk on the specific time passage is because due to the Chief’s long slumber, and Cortana being already alive for about four year before Halo 4, she has “lived” past her obsoleting date thus causing her to become rampant. Upon later circumstances (can’t spoil it but I’ll have you know the Covenant unify with the bad guy) you meet the new hoard of enemies replacing the Flood as the main antagonist called Prometheans, and their leader the Didact (pronounced Die dact). With this new menace a threat to the human race itself, it is up to Chief and Cortana to stop him and save our planet, while at the same time to get home to save Cortana before she becomes completely rampant and dies.
Gameplay: Halo 4 is obviously a First-person shooter and like I’ve stated before plays like its predecessors, although more towards Halo 3 rather than Bungie’s last game Halo Reach. Assassinations still exist, most of the weapons are still intact with a few new ones, and legendary is still a pain in the butt requiring you to become more patient than the Zen Master (any Laker fans out there?) There are three types of “gameplays” on Halo: The Campaign, Spartan Ops, and Multiplayer. The Campaign bit is fairly simple, choose a difficulty and fight your way through eight levels as Master Chief, aka the one man living army. Campaign is recommend for beginners because it teaches them the fundamentals of the game while at the same time teaching them about all the different guns in Halo and the different abilities.
Spartan Ops is basically multiplayer meets Campaign, without Master Chief. You play as ‘your’ Spartan (the guy you customize for online play) and work for the Infinity (an important ship in the Campaign) clearing out short missions. You can either play by yourself or with your friend, but are REQUIRED to have Internet/Live to play. Each Spartan Ops is broken up into Episodes with five Chapters; but at the same time they are about 20x shorter than any campaign mission.
Multiplayer (dubbed War Games) is…well multiplayer, nothing new and nothing old at the same time. From team slayer, to regicide, to oddball, to TONS of games; Halo multiplayer proves once again why everyone loves this game long time. New additions to multiplayer have been that off a pseudo Call of Duty loadouts (allowed a maximum of 5 loadouts), where you choose what ability you have, what your primary and secondary weapons are, and what perks you want (called Support Upgrades and Tactical Packages).
To break it down the Primary and Secondary weapons are standard issue weapons from all three sides (UNSC, Covenant, and Prometheans) so no ‘special’ weapons like shotguns or rocket launchers. Support Upgrades vary from Ammo, Awareness, Ordance Priority while Tactical Packages range from infinite sprint, faster reload, etc.
Music: Halo has always had an amazing soundtrack and Halo 4 is no different. While not as memorable as Halo 2 or Halo 3’s soundtrack, the OST in this game is something that never leaves your head while running through mission campaigns.
Graphics: The game pushes Xbox to its very limits and all I have to say is WOW. I had to play the game in standard 360p output and I was already blown back. Once I saw it in 720p I have to say Halo 4’s graphics are pretty close to just looking out the window and holding up your Xbox 360 Controller.
Replay Value: Very High. If you aren’t replaying the campaign because you were too noob to run through it the first time Legendary Solo, or you just want that one co-op achievement; I’m 100% sure you are playing Spartan Ops and War Games till 3am in the morning…oh wait that’s me.
Overall: 9.6/10 Halo 4 game out with guns blazing and I still feel like this monumental success still has room for improvements. 343 Industries has exceeded my expectations (along with many others) and has proven to us, the Halo community that they can be trusted with a series we all have come to love. Here’s to Halo 5…wait I mean 4 it isn’t even a month old yet!
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
Final Fantasy IX review
Final Fantasy IX, the ninth installment to the main series spanning 4 discs. The game was originally planned to be for the Playstation 2, but was released at the end of the PSX/1′s life span and because of this is generally overlooked by the mass.
The game introduced new features to the series like the ‘Active Time Event’, ‘Mognet’ and a unique equipment and skill system.
Final Fantasy IX‘s plot centers on a war between many nations. Players follow a young thief named Zidane Tribal, who joins with others to defeat Queen Brahne of Alexandria, the one responsible for beginning the war. The plot shifts, however, when the characters realize that Brahne is working with an even more threatening person called Kuja.
Final Fantasy IX was developed alongside Final Fantasy VIII, but took a different approach by returning to the more traditional style of the early Final Fantasy games. Consequently, Final Fantasy IX was influenced significantly by the original Final Fantasy game, and features many allusions to other titles in the series. The game has been subject to extremely positive reviews, receiving 94% on Metacritic, making it the most critically acclaimed Final Fantasy game on the website
Leading up to its release, Sakaguchi called Final Fantasy IX his favorite Final Fantasy game as “it’s closest to [his] ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be” (and the one he believes should have a direct sequel, unfortunately it was X who received a sequel.
A fun fact before I start is, FFIX release was delayed due to RIVAL ENIX’s Dragon Quest VIII coming out. [Don't forget Squaresoft developed this]
On to the review:
Gameplay- FFIX uses mainly traditional RPG elements with each character having specific jobs and learning of more advances skills as the player progresses to a higher level. Let’s break this down into the two types of gameplay FFIX has to offer: hubworld/main world adventuring and battling.
Main World Adventure- IN FFIX you control the main protagonist Zidane at most times during the game and are able to interact with NPC’s, travel around to different towns, play mini-games, and go to various shops or inn’s. In addition, sometimes you can interact with your teammates (be on a ship or before a big battle), you can watch ATE’s (*Active Time Events-where you can see what is happening with other characters while you complete certain missions or on the other side of the planet [thus giving life to you and all your characters]). The mini-games are found in different towns and offer rare prizes, my personal favorite mini-game is the Jump Rope Game for Vivi. Card battling is done by pressing select and you face anyone at anytime.
FFIX uses a random encounter system, so while you are in the hubworld you may cross a random monster at anytime. Later in the game you receive airships and/or chocobos so fighting in the hubworld doesn’t become a problem; but still in area’s that aren’t towns (say Forests, Caves, etc.) random encounters still exist. The hubworld does have sidequests for Chocobo’s as you can collect treasures and even upgrade your chocobo to a Golden Chocobo to fight the game’s secret boss. All in all the hubworld is separated into various islands, which you gain access to over time and you an added bonus is you have the ability to save at anytime; if you are in towns you must find a Moogle.
Battle Gameplay- In this area I will not only cover the battle section, but the ability and menu selection. Battling is the same as all previous Final Fantasy’s as you have a party of four (unless circumstances cause you to have less). You have basic weaknesses (fire to water, holy to undead, etc). Each character has a specific job such as Zidane being a Theif, Garnet being a summoner & white mage, Vivi being a Black Mage. Each character has special attacks in which they can in Trance (an ultimate form that builds up per battles you fight, increasing all your stats and giving you a new ability). Vivi gets Double Black Magic, giving him the ability to cast two spells per turn, Zidane gets a whole new skill called Dyne replacing the Skill area in your in-game-battle menu.
Equipment plays a major role in FFIX in not only stats, but abilities as well. Abilities are additional stats, for each character that most character can learn together. Say you gained a rare item like Feather Boots (not the real item) and the ability it has is Auto-Haste. So to equip Auto-Haste it takes 15 AP (listed right under your characters HP) and you have that ability to start each battle, the problem is you only have it while you have said item. So as you fight more, the item ability eventually becomes learned and you can unequip it, give it to another character and still have the ability.
Music- Music once again, and like all Final Fantasy’s is a series strong point. Some themes just go flawlessly with either the character or the level, while some are great scores, but easily forgettable compared to some of the more memorable ones like Beatrix’s Theme.
Story- The game is 4 discs long and the story only gets better as the game progresses. You think one thing and bam another thing happens and you’re just playing wanting to know what will happen. And to make matters worse (or better in this situation) the sidequests and ATE makes you love not only major character but minor character as well, like Zidane’s family of Tantaulus. Also on the plus side, you are usually rewarded after watching the ATE’s. (the game is quite funny in some aspects but mostly serious)
- Did I mention how funny FFIX also is
Replayability- It’s great, even for a Final Fantasy. You can run through the first time and realize how much you actually missed. The game is at least 50 hours (unless you speed run to get Excalibur 2, the best weapon in the game but you have to defeat Hades at/by 20 hours). Playing 50 hours makes you realize how little you missed too! You can get lost in playing card games, replaying the I want to be Your Canary, talking to townsfolks, or even just finding FF1 through 8 memorabilia.
Overall- 10/10.
[Available on PSN]
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review
Well, when I first got Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, it was back in 2006 when I didn’t have a blog so after a nice replay for about two weeks, I finally can write a review. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess “continues” off in the path of the Adult Link from Ocarina of Time; you know when you have to return the Master Sword after defeating him? Well you don’t do that for this timeline. Twilight Princess was originally created for the Gamecube, but was ported over for the launching of the Wii, which proved to be a fantastic move by Nintendo. [my review is that of the Gamecube version, which is a mirror to the Wii version]
Story: Since the mentioning of the Adult Hero of Time timeline, centuries have passed and the sages had tried to execute Ganondorf, but only failed and had him banned in the land of Twilight. From here, Link is a simple village boy from Ordon, working with others being known as a jack-of-all-trades. In this game, you already have Epona from the get-go (so no hassles there for newbies) and you are supposed to drop off a new sword to Hyrule castle, per request for Russel. Before your journey, your childhood friend Illa captures Epona to give him a bath, in which you go to her to only find her being kidnapped and you unconscious. Now your journey begins, as you are set to rescue her (and your horse may I mention) only to be confronted from some strange wall of light. Being thrusted into the land of Twilight, you transform into a wolf, and are soon approached by an imp named Midna, who claims she will help you for something in exchange. From there, you meet Zelda, collect pieces of a mask called a “Fused Shadow”, venture Hyrule, and meet the person who is causing the lands to be covered in Twilight, Usurper King Zant.
Gameplay: Twilight Princess continues to use the formula built down from Ocarina of Time, which includes auto-jump, Z-targeting (L for the gamecube), and many other old features revamped. Many advancements have taken place though in Twilight Princess, starting first with sword-and-shield battle gameplay. Firstly, now you can direct your sword attacks from a thrust, to a vertical or horizontal swing (by moving the stick in said per motion). Next, you can learn new Sword Art Techniques, be it one of the ‘Helm Splitter’ to that of the back-roll and slice. This idea, was first put the Minish Cap handheld game, and was implemented for the first time in a home console.
Basic home-world traveling is the same, though days and nights last a little longer than they did in Ocarina of Time. Once you acquire Epona, you can see the real major change they placed in the game, because you can do so much more with Epona now. Not only can you use your bow-and-arrows but you can use all your items while on Epona, and even sword fight! (which plays a major role in your quest). This game also introduced the first time bombs and arrows can be combined in a home-console version, the idea of dashing while swimming, and the double hookshot (named Clawshots). One, last thing about Link gameplay is that of your character’s speed. You travel much faster than previous games, including your roll, and once you get later in the game you can warp to checkpoints, like the Bird did in Link to the Past.
Now, for wolf-gameplay. Wolf Link is generally simple, you don’t learn new skills, you are a wolf who can dash, dig, and sense. Although it sounds simple, Wolf Link plays a vital role in the beginning of your journey and is a key to many puzzles. Sensing is that of seeing areas where you can dig, checking for Poe’s, and lastly seeing what was there in the past. As weak as Wolf Link’s gameplay is, you need him on your adventure, especially his technique to attack all enemies in his ranged circle, it kinda helps against those Twili Beasts.
Music: The music is fantastic in Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, although I feel most of the songs were rehashed and redone from Ocarina of Time. My favorites in the game include the Hidden Village, Hyrule Field, and Midna’s Lament.
Replayability: Well, while this was my second replay of it I am probably done with this Zelda game, but it does have a pretty good replay value considering all the mini-games that are available in the game, from snowboarding, to the clawshot game, to the collecting all 60 poe souls, or getting all the golden bugs. So the value is pretty high moderate or low-high.
Overall: 9.5/10
Twilight Princess does everything you wanted to Ocarina of Time and more! From the addition of many new items, even the ball in chain(!), to just the masterful gameplay of you on Epona fighting hoards of enemies on Hyrule field, the additions are something to appreciate. Not only that, but the main world is much larger and there are many secrets to be found so this 25-35 hour game can keep you going for a long time!
Not only that if you remember this is my replay and the reason why I love this game a lot more was because I played after playing the trash that is named Skyward sword. My appreciation for this game, which I already enjoyed, had gone up further (as did most of the other Zelda’s…even Majora’s). While this game didn’t have the greatest bosses, it still far outclasses Skyward Sword in every way from gameplay to it’s dark story, to it’s great dungeons.
read full skyward sword hate here <3
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
Mega Man X4, X5, and X6 reviews
It’s been two weeks hasn’t it? So that means I’ve at least beaten a game or two….or maybe three. And the lucky game is: the Mega Man X series (again!?) but this time for the Playstation 1 our very own Mega Man X4, X5, and X6. Mega Man X4, X5, and X6 play similar to its predecessors on the SNES except for the fact you can now choose to play as Zero (in X4 the whole game but in X5 and X6, you can select per mission). Another fact is this is Mega Man X5 is the first game to allow you to unlock multiple armors, in addition, to that of not allowing single armor equips and giving Zero an armor. This series still sticks its root with the action-platform genre with 3D character models and shades, with 2D adventure.
Story: In Mega Man X4, the story revolves around the Maverick Hunters (Mega Man or Zero) and an army called the Repliforce. The Repliforce are Maverick Hunters such as yourself, but when the incident of “Sky Lagoon” happens and rumors of the General of the Repliforce meeting with a mysterious cloaked figure, the Maverick Hunters declare the Repliforce and are forced to fight them. The story alters a bit choosing between the two characters (as you fight a different sub-boss before Sigma), but all in the all it’s the same ending.
In Mega Man X5, Sigma is revived again (spoiler or shocker….but not really) but this time, he changes his plan. Instead of going after the hunters and trying to eradicate mankind, he creates a virus dubbed the ‘Sigma Virus’ and uses it to try and unlock Zero’s true potential. Mega Man X5, utlizies alternate scenes and endings to the max. Beginning with Enigma, a large laser to stop a colony from falling on Earth, (it either fails or succeeds, you can’t determine that), then depending on who you play as you fight either X or Zero, but there are 3 forms of Zero. Maverick Zero, regular Zero, and truly awakened Zero; which in turn leads to many different scenes. In addition, there is a good and bad ending.
In Mega Man X6 (fun fact Keiji Inafune wanted the series to end at X5 but Capcom decided to make an X6 anyway), Zero is proclaimed dead since he has been missing ever since the end of Mega Man X5. In addition, something new called the “Zero Nightmare” is spreading chaos around the world and X goes to research this Maverick and restore his former comrades name. Once it is found out that researcher named Gate was the one using this title and X and (a recovered) Zero go to stop him.
Gameplay: The easiest part of the review, the gameplay! In Mega Man X4, X5, and X6 the gameplay is similar to the SNES predecessor. You can still dash, wall jump, charge shot, gain special abilties etc. The difference in these games besides receiving various armors, is Zero can also learn moves as well. While, most of his abilities do revolve around sword movements, he can sometimes use his seldom used Z-buster. The ultimate armors, are only a cheat code able to used in the beginning of the game (except for X5 you can actually unlock it). Both in X5 and X6, you can find two set of armors besides original X and whatever Armor you start from the previous game (so in X5 its Fourth Armor and in X6 it’s falcon). Also, in X5 and X6, you can equip ability parts, to allow your character to move faster, shoot faster (i.e. Speed Shot), have more life, and much more.
Graphics: Graphics and animation are very smooth in this game. From its nice 3D landscapes or platelets (X and Zero) to its 2D backgrounds. There are no glitchy areas, no over-vibrancy of color and best off, blowing up bad guys is just as fun to look at.
Music: As usual, the music for Mega Man games are great. The themes go with most of the levels and bosses, they are catchy, and really never annoying. While in X4, they use the hilarious FMV and english dub and Mega Man sounds like a 10-year-old girl, you learn to live the AHH and more AHH’s to love the game.
Replayability: I’d say all these games have very good replayability. In Mega Man X4, you definitely will want to play both ways (obviously to see the other cutscreens). In X5, you will love seeing all the alternating endings and scenes, because at first the story is pretty confusing. Lastly, X6 may be the least likely to replay, but the game has so much to offer and the usual two endings (Zero and X) you may just give it another go.
Overall:
Mega Man X4: 8/10
Mega Man X5: 9/10
Mega Man X6: 8.5/10
Mega Man X4 receives the lowest score, because I felt it was the weakest of the three (in addition to being the funniest for the wrong reason). The game X4 didn’t change that much from X-X3 and actually felt dumbed down from X3. Mega Man X5 is the best in the series, smooth gameplay, alternating Zero-X option, a lot of secrets, and heck the multiple scenes was actually addicting in this game, Mega Man X6 I really enjoyed because it is one of the tougher Mega Man X’s. Levels were a bit longer, there were a lot more spikes (to my streaming watchers Gate’s Lab Level 1 when i was blade armor Mega Man) and not to mention tougher bosses. Seriously, Nightmare Mother was hard as crap but Gate’s no pushover either.
I thought Mega Man X’s for the PSX/PS1 was a great game and if you’re bored and looking for a new game to play, this game may fill that need.
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
Earthbound/Mother 2 Review
Mother 2, Earthbound, a cult classic, a game I had only heard of but never gave it a chance. Earthbound is a 2D roleplaying game for the Super Nintendo and the only game of the series (there are three) to make it to the States. Released in the mid 1990′s, Earthbound was a type of parody on fellow RPG games such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, because its theme set was in the 80′s-90′s. Instead of swords, distant lands and kingdoms, you had bats, yo-yo’s, frying bans, hotdogs, hamburgers etc. Other basic RPG elements though were involved such as leveling up, “magic” called PSI, and many more. Let’s break this down RPG style with Story, Over-wold gameplay, Battle Gameplay, Music, and Replayability.
Story: Earthbound tells the story of a young boy named Ness, who is one of the chosen four destined to stop an evil alien named Giygas. The game starts off with a meteorite crashing near Ness’ house who in turns investigates the scene. Upon meeting Buzz Buzz, who tells him the future and Earth is dominated by an evil force called Giygas, Ness runs into his neighbor and “friend” Porky who tells him his brother has gone missing. After learning he must visit eight sanctuaries and record their songs with a Sound Stone, Porky’s mom kills Buzz Buzz, mistaking him for a dung beetle. Now Ness is ready to begin his journey; along the way Ness travels to Onett, Twoson, Threed, and many other locations around the world, meeting various characters such as the Runaway Five, his three destined partner’s Paula, Jeff, and Poo, Apple Kid and the sanctuaries. Ness must fight hoards of zombies, Giygas’ army of Starmen, meet unique character’s called Mr. Saturn, and save the Earth from its predicted demise.
Overworld Gameplay: In Earthbound you control the main character Ness for about 90% (the other 10% is varied between Jeff and Poo). During most of the open-world you can either walk or bike ride, and later on you learn how to teleport from town to town. In each town there is a hospital, a hotel, a store, a hint-store, and random NPC’s that either give you hints or are just useless. Earthbound plays like the RPG of Chrono Trigger in its open-world; there are no random encounters. as you see the monsters at all times in the worlds. To get a preemptive strike you must approach the enemy from behind and the same goes for the enemy approaching yourself. Besides the open-world adventure, there are many unique towns within Earthbound, from cities to villages, to swamps and the desert. One additional fact has to be you are not safe from enemies anywhere, as bad guys lurk the towns as well, so always be on guard!
Battle Gameplay: Earthbound plays like many RPGs, but I feel it closely related to Pokemon. Each of the four characters you control (Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo) all have different charactersistics. Ness is the most balanced and powerful of the four, having the ability to do high damage, and PSI ranging from offensive, defensive, and support. Paula, is a PSI heavy character with the abilities of Fire, Ice, Thunder, like a Black Mage. Jeff is the character who specializes on item attacks and has no PSI powers at all. Poo, is similar to Ness’ character but is able to learn one different move than Ness. While battles are normal RPG command (per turn basis), during battle you may also become poisoned, crystallized, blind (crying), or possessed. Possibly my favorite thing about Earthbound is the AI encounters. If crystallized you are technically “dead” until you are un-crystallized, which you can’t self heal until way later in the game. As I told you before, monsters are in an open-world in this game, but more advanced than Chrono Trigger where it still has some random encounters. Earthbound’s “enemies” only rush you if you A) are weaker than them or B) haven’t cleared the “level” (aka collect the soundstone). Otherwise outside enemies actually run away from you because they know they will lose. In fact, if you are stronger than them by many, they automatically die when you touch them and you gain the experience and a possible random item. The only game I can think of comparsion to that is Xenoblade Chronicles, in which the enemies only ignore you, no automatic deaths; so Earthbound is very advanced in its open-battle world. The reason I compare this RPG to Pokemon is for a couple of reasons. First off, while battles may be turned basis, the main process goes by speed so your character’s attack in almost an unprecedented order, similar to that of Pokemon. another comparison is that when you are poisoned, if you do not heal it, you lose damage per step and when you are at the end of your health you are warned, like Pokemon that you are about to die and need medical attention. The last aspect has to be during battles, enemies sometimes do nothing, or more precisely do some type of useless action, like laughing, sneezing, etc. In Pokemon, some enemies you face may constantly do just a Tail Whip or Growl and that same AI repetitiveness is found in this game.
Music: Earthbound has a pretty good soundtrack, fitting its fun undertone. When the game gets dark or serious, the music is more of a type of “lack” of music, with a somewhat scary motif. Music is somewhat of a big aspect towards the game, because you must collect the song of the sanctuaries to move on with your Soundstone, but hey I think it’s just good not great.
Replayability: Earthbound has around an intermediate replayability level. Many people may be inclined to replay the game, to re-experience the story, or to get items they missed before (like all of Poo’s rare equipment). While there aren’t that many sidequests, compared to most RPG’s, there are still plenty of ways to prolong the experience that is Earthbound.
Overall: 9.4/10 Earthbound is a fantastic game and I am so glad I finally got a chance to play it. The last “RPG” I played was Pokemon White and I needed a refresher with something good and this fit bill. The game with its great battle system, good amount of difficulty (not really the hardest but a real pain, like a more difficult Pokemon), funny one-liners in the script, and of course epic boss battles will make anyone enjoy this game. Also shout out to TardisofHyrule and Mrteagle for watching every stream and helping me out in some parts!
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Michael Troina writes features and reviews Nintendo games for Analog Addiciton. When he’s not writing or playing games or sports, he’s out at his job at the Daily Bugle taking pictures as the web-slinger we all have come to love…either that or he’s getting sandwich saving one world at a time. Find him anywhere with this flavors.me/michaeltroina
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