Friends, have you ever wished for a great platformer, like Mario, just not on a Nintendo console? For years that was deemed impossible, nothing could match the amazing feel of a game such as Super Mario Bros. But friends, it has been created. And low and behold, it was created by Sony! Join me on a journey through the crazyness and fun of this wonderful game as It’s Dangerous To Go Alone reviews…
LittleBigPlanet!
Cover
Backstory
Human thought is so massive; we all think random ideas without even realizing it. These random ideas that barely scratch the surface of our conscience all float out into space, and form a planet, LittleBigPlanet. (LittleBigPlanet shall be from now on referred to as LBP
Story
Ummm….how do you define the storyline of a game such as LBP? You begin as Sackboy(Or Sackgirl), a brown little sack creature traveling along to meet the Creator Curators. The Creator Curators are the mythical beings that keep LBP in check, and each personally designs their own sector of the planet, which they rule over. You begin in the Gardens, meeting The King. As you travel, you’ll occasionally see things that seem out of place, such as an NPC that looks different. This oddity is really The Collector, an evil Creator Curator bent on kidnapping the other CCs and ruling over the entire planet. It then becomes your duty to save the world of LBP. And to think, you were just trying to have some fun…
Gameplay
LBP functions as you would expect of a platformer. You use the left analog stick to move Sackboy left and right across the multiple levels, using objects ranging from normal blocks to touch-reactive bombs to further your progress. Throughout every level lie prize bubbles, of varying sizes. You must collect these bubbles to increase your score. Several bubbles in each level will contain more than just points-they will contain items ranging from costumes, to decorations, to stickers.
The level uses 3D effectively to trick the player up. You must use the left analog stick to move between three layers while you move across the game. These layers can mean life or death, as there are occasionally obstacles that can only be touched on one layer or another-not being on that layer usually means a fall to death.
Character
Sackboy is an interesting little character full of fun. Using the directional buttons, you can control what emotion Sackboy displays-be it happy, angry, sad, or terrified. In addition, rather than just play through the game as a boring old brown sack, you dress your character up through use of costumes. Set costumes will be obtained on the first level of a set of stages, but new costumes can also be obtained through the prize bubbles described above. Even though many costume objects are named for a specific costume in mind(Such as a dinosaur or pirate), they are not set like that-you can use the individual pieces to design whatever you want!
Awesome!
Graphics
Since LBP is based on the random thoughts from our minds, the graphics are designed to be the most cutting edge in the world. Rather Blocky in design, each world has its own feel that changes the graphical design, though the primitive sophistication remains key throughout each.
Music
ADDICTING. AS. HELL! Not even kidding. If you die on a level or play it more than once, you will have it’s music stuck in your head for at least an hour (I’ve had a song stuck in my head from LBP PSP since the day I got it, it won’t go away T_T). The music is lighthearted through most of the game, only ever picking up during a tricky moment or during a final stage in a series of levels. All in all, you will love this music.
Online Capability
Now this is where LBP shines. The levels designed by the creators are limited, so they decided to be lazy and gave the controls to us! You can create your own levels using all the items provided, and design whatever you want. You can do anything from a race level, to tutorials on how to design a costume, and others. The most enjoyable kind of level when playing with a group(A max of 4) is the survival level. Random types of explosives will be designed to fall all around you, along with many prize bubbles-the goal being to get the high score and survive the longest. This level, while fun, can be particularly annoying when all 4 of you are online, and only 1 of you is alive and has been living by himself for well over 5 minutes (LordCynical >>). With the abilities bestowed upon you by the creators of LBP, the sky is the limit.
Difficulty
At the beginning of the game, the difficulty is less than zero. However, after about a quarter of the game has gone by, the difficult begins to climb quickly. Halfway through, the levels are much better suited to be completed with at least one other person joining you on your quest. Of course, with proper skill, timing, or even luck, the game can be taken rather quickly.
Overall
If you’re getting/own a PS3, this game is a must. It’s the perfect game to play, both if you’re looking for a game, or just for something to relax with. Even after you complete the story, the possibilities given to you online are endless, making this game a timeless game. At this time of year, however, I’d suggest waiting till November, when LittleBigPlanet 2 is released.
Well, I’m off to go survive an exploding hotel. Just remember, It’s Dangerous To Go Alone!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
CupcakeCarnage - It's Dangerous To Go Alone Reviews...Bioshock!
"I am Andrew Ryan and I am here to ask you a question:
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
No, says the man in Washington; it belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican; it belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow; it belongs to everyone.
I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose...
Rapture!
A city where the artist would not fear the censor.
Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality.
Where the great would not be constrained by the small.
And with the sweat of your brow,
Rapture can become your city as well."
--Andrew Ryan
These are the great words spoken by a true man. A man who has built a great city - one able to contain stability under aquatic conditions. This place is called Rapture. But this amazing and different world can’t be perfect correct?
That’s what happened. The ‘perfection’ crumbled showing the true faces of Rapture - the deranged, insane community has begun an uproar. It's Dangerous To Go Alone Reviews brings you...
Bioshock!
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
No, says the man in Washington; it belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican; it belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow; it belongs to everyone.
I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose...
Rapture!
A city where the artist would not fear the censor.
Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality.
Where the great would not be constrained by the small.
And with the sweat of your brow,
Rapture can become your city as well."
--Andrew Ryan
These are the great words spoken by a true man. A man who has built a great city - one able to contain stability under aquatic conditions. This place is called Rapture. But this amazing and different world can’t be perfect correct?
That’s what happened. The ‘perfection’ crumbled showing the true faces of Rapture - the deranged, insane community has begun an uproar. It's Dangerous To Go Alone Reviews brings you...
Bioshock!
Story:
If you enjoy a rich and moving story that’ll give you goose bumps and actually make you feel. You will love Bioshock. So you, Jack, are sitting on air plane (now if things look all “old” this is because the game takes place in 1960 - during new years actually) gazing at a picture of your family, cigarette in hand. Suddenly Jack’s life get turned around. The plane fails to do it’s job and crashes into the Atlantic ocean. Jack (I’ll just say ’you’ from now on) ends up being the only survivor and paddles out to a building - the only building that leads to the underwater city of Atlantis - heehee jk >:P you just go to Rapture. You take a submarine down and on the wall there a radio. You over hear two people speaking on it, but you don’t know exactly what is going on. You emerge from the water and see one of the men that is speaking on the radio. He is being confronted by an odd person…and when I say odd I mean…insane. The “person” (Splicers are what they’re called) grabs the sane man and ends up tearing him to shreds. After this, the Splicer then attempts to go after you, but you luckily have the submarine for protection. The other man who was speaking on the radio asks you to kindly take the radio with you and step out of the submarine…and your hell begins…
Enough of this - you can find out what happens on your own!
This game will make you go up against some hard times. Take it from me - I won’t spoil it for anyone who doesn't know, but there is a secret and once you find out the truth and when the pieces finally come together - you will be ENRAGED. I am not joking. I actually wanted to physically hurt something I was so pissed off, but you will find out why eventually if you haven’t already :P
These reason foe the Splicers!? Well...they want something...and that something keeps 'em alive and going. They will do anything for a taste...just a taste of ADAM...
Gameplay:
Bioshock is a FPS (first person shooter for some of you who don't know ^^ ) with some RPG.
As you go throughout Rapture, whether it be wrench, pistol, what ever there’s so much more than just guns and such. You gain special powers called “Plasmids”. Plasmids are unique. Your first is Electro bolt - allowing you to shoot lightning from the palm or your hand.
There are also Gene Tonics. There are three sections of this: Combat Tonics, Engineering Tonics, and Physical Tonics. Combat Tonics improve your offensive and defensive capabilities! Ex: Armored shell Prevents 15% of piercing and bludgeoning damage. Engineering Tonics improve your hacking skills! (hacking will be explained in a bit). Lastly, Physical Tonics are quite obvious. The help you out physically and even physiologically! Hooray! Like Booze Hound; drinking alcohol restores a small amount of EVE, rather than draining it. (EVE will also be explained hold on!!!!)
Currency in Rapture is Rapture dollars and ADAM. ADAM is used to purchase genetic upgrades from Gatherer's Gardens! An explanation of EVE would be like "Mana", or "Magic". You have a secondary bar (in addition to the Health bar) that keeps EVE. EVE allows you to use plasmids so you can shock, burn, etc, people! So EVE is good. And yes if you have noticed the use ADAM and EVE ( hahaha see what they did thar!? :B ). Now, how to obtain ADAM you ask!? You get it from small children! ...hey hey now...the people who created Bioshock are not pedos mind you. *Pedobear sits down in my living room and begins to play Bioshock* ...oh no...that could be a problem later...
If you enjoy a rich and moving story that’ll give you goose bumps and actually make you feel. You will love Bioshock. So you, Jack, are sitting on air plane (now if things look all “old” this is because the game takes place in 1960 - during new years actually) gazing at a picture of your family, cigarette in hand. Suddenly Jack’s life get turned around. The plane fails to do it’s job and crashes into the Atlantic ocean. Jack (I’ll just say ’you’ from now on) ends up being the only survivor and paddles out to a building - the only building that leads to the underwater city of Atlantis - heehee jk >:P you just go to Rapture. You take a submarine down and on the wall there a radio. You over hear two people speaking on it, but you don’t know exactly what is going on. You emerge from the water and see one of the men that is speaking on the radio. He is being confronted by an odd person…and when I say odd I mean…insane. The “person” (Splicers are what they’re called) grabs the sane man and ends up tearing him to shreds. After this, the Splicer then attempts to go after you, but you luckily have the submarine for protection. The other man who was speaking on the radio asks you to kindly take the radio with you and step out of the submarine…and your hell begins…
Enough of this - you can find out what happens on your own!
This game will make you go up against some hard times. Take it from me - I won’t spoil it for anyone who doesn't know, but there is a secret and once you find out the truth and when the pieces finally come together - you will be ENRAGED. I am not joking. I actually wanted to physically hurt something I was so pissed off, but you will find out why eventually if you haven’t already :P
These reason foe the Splicers!? Well...they want something...and that something keeps 'em alive and going. They will do anything for a taste...just a taste of ADAM...
Gameplay:
Bioshock is a FPS (first person shooter for some of you who don't know ^^ ) with some RPG.
As you go throughout Rapture, whether it be wrench, pistol, what ever there’s so much more than just guns and such. You gain special powers called “Plasmids”. Plasmids are unique. Your first is Electro bolt - allowing you to shoot lightning from the palm or your hand.
There are also Gene Tonics. There are three sections of this: Combat Tonics, Engineering Tonics, and Physical Tonics. Combat Tonics improve your offensive and defensive capabilities! Ex: Armored shell Prevents 15% of piercing and bludgeoning damage. Engineering Tonics improve your hacking skills! (hacking will be explained in a bit). Lastly, Physical Tonics are quite obvious. The help you out physically and even physiologically! Hooray! Like Booze Hound; drinking alcohol restores a small amount of EVE, rather than draining it. (EVE will also be explained hold on!!!!)
Currency in Rapture is Rapture dollars and ADAM. ADAM is used to purchase genetic upgrades from Gatherer's Gardens! An explanation of EVE would be like "Mana", or "Magic". You have a secondary bar (in addition to the Health bar) that keeps EVE. EVE allows you to use plasmids so you can shock, burn, etc, people! So EVE is good. And yes if you have noticed the use ADAM and EVE ( hahaha see what they did thar!? :B ). Now, how to obtain ADAM you ask!? You get it from small children! ...hey hey now...the people who created Bioshock are not pedos mind you. *Pedobear sits down in my living room and begins to play Bioshock* ...oh no...that could be a problem later...
Well seriously. You find little girls (called Little Sisters) around Rapture only they are... different. (I happen to think they are adorable)
They have been infected with a sea slug and these giant slugs contain ADAM and boy oh boy do these Splicers WANT it! To get the sea slug out of these poor girls is to kill them...yeah...
Readers: O_O what!? Why would you WANT this game!? Shit!!!!!!!
Nonononono! Hear me out my dear beautiful readers! There is another way! You are save them by releasing them from the slug, but you get less ADAM, but hell - they live right? Now I'll let you all know a secret, if you are cold hearted and just kill them all and think you are super cool and epic by saying: ha! Pussies can't kill a little girl! I have more ADAM naoz >:D
No...actually if you save all the little sisters you get presents from a Lady named Tenenbaum (she's like all the Little Sister's mommy/guardian). The presents contain more ADAM. You still won't get as much as the people who kill off the Little Sisters, but here is the secret: you actually only get 10 less points of ADAM...yupp. Not a huge deal! So please save them :) Make me happy!
Oh did I mention - it's not exactly easy getting to the Little Sisters!
Readers: What you gotta smack a few Splicers around?
Uhh...no...you gotta smack around a Big Daddy. Sounds bad eh? Well these incredibly sexy monsters in a diving suit...well some have a giant gun. Others have giant drills that love to dig in you insides...they are the Rosie Big Daddy (the one that uses the gun) and my favorite the Bouncer Big Daddy (the one that uses the hot sexy drill).
Readers: O_O what!? Why would you WANT this game!? Shit!!!!!!!
Nonononono! Hear me out my dear beautiful readers! There is another way! You are save them by releasing them from the slug, but you get less ADAM, but hell - they live right? Now I'll let you all know a secret, if you are cold hearted and just kill them all and think you are super cool and epic by saying: ha! Pussies can't kill a little girl! I have more ADAM naoz >:D
No...actually if you save all the little sisters you get presents from a Lady named Tenenbaum (she's like all the Little Sister's mommy/guardian). The presents contain more ADAM. You still won't get as much as the people who kill off the Little Sisters, but here is the secret: you actually only get 10 less points of ADAM...yupp. Not a huge deal! So please save them :) Make me happy!
Oh did I mention - it's not exactly easy getting to the Little Sisters!
Readers: What you gotta smack a few Splicers around?
Uhh...no...you gotta smack around a Big Daddy. Sounds bad eh? Well these incredibly sexy monsters in a diving suit...well some have a giant gun. Others have giant drills that love to dig in you insides...they are the Rosie Big Daddy (the one that uses the gun) and my favorite the Bouncer Big Daddy (the one that uses the hot sexy drill).
hese Big Daddies are NASTY. Not really nasty on easy mode, but oh boy...they are even tricky on normal mode...but hell if you want that ADAM you gotta kill the Big Daddies! Good luck! <3>< ) so if you hack them, instead of them searching for you, they will catch splicers and have little robots shoot THEIR faces! O and if you stun a little robot the shoots your face you can hack it so it will work for you >:3
Bioshock is a free world, rare for most FPS games! Just thought I would throw that out there ;)
Graphics and Sound:
Now, I don't care about graphics. But the graphics in this game are beautiful! I mean they're unique and quite excellent! And sound - the music is pretty good - I don't have much to say about it :/ And voice acting is EXCELLENT! I mean Splicers sound fucking creepy when you turn a corner and suddenly you get jumped by one screaming profanities. It's great :) I loooove acting like a Splicer :3 And you know how it's hard to voice act crying - well when you kill a Big Daddy the Little Sister will begin to cry (and I do to 'cause I love Big Daddies ;-; ) and it sounds like she's legit. crying! :D I think that's all I have to saaaaay :/
Difficulty:
One Easy, it's not that bad at all - I can breeze through it :/ but normal is actually pretty hard and hard D: uhg frustrating! ><>Weapons and the such:
Just a quick thing! There are different ammo types for guns like - armor piercing rounds for example. They make it easier to hit armored up enemies (obviously :P ) and you can upgrade guns to make them more powerful and etc. And you can upgrade plasmids to make 'em stronger (like Electrobolt 2 makes them paralyzed longer). Just thought I would quickly put that in!
Conclusion:
If you have a Xbox, PS3, or a computer that's good for running big games, get this game! It is definitely a GREAT game! Beautiful, moving, scary, and fun! I find it hard to stop playing once you start! And you will play it multiple times - I assure you! It's definitely a unique FPS and you will fall in love with the story :)
Any complaints comments or concerns about the review or game - don't be afraid to approach me about it!
(Also I apologize that this section on gameplay was looooong, but there was a lot to cover!)
And Remember! It's Dangerous To Go Alone! <3
Bioshock is a free world, rare for most FPS games! Just thought I would throw that out there ;)
Graphics and Sound:
Now, I don't care about graphics. But the graphics in this game are beautiful! I mean they're unique and quite excellent! And sound - the music is pretty good - I don't have much to say about it :/ And voice acting is EXCELLENT! I mean Splicers sound fucking creepy when you turn a corner and suddenly you get jumped by one screaming profanities. It's great :) I loooove acting like a Splicer :3 And you know how it's hard to voice act crying - well when you kill a Big Daddy the Little Sister will begin to cry (and I do to 'cause I love Big Daddies ;-; ) and it sounds like she's legit. crying! :D I think that's all I have to saaaaay :/
Difficulty:
One Easy, it's not that bad at all - I can breeze through it :/ but normal is actually pretty hard and hard D: uhg frustrating! ><>Weapons and the such:
Just a quick thing! There are different ammo types for guns like - armor piercing rounds for example. They make it easier to hit armored up enemies (obviously :P ) and you can upgrade guns to make them more powerful and etc. And you can upgrade plasmids to make 'em stronger (like Electrobolt 2 makes them paralyzed longer). Just thought I would quickly put that in!
Conclusion:
If you have a Xbox, PS3, or a computer that's good for running big games, get this game! It is definitely a GREAT game! Beautiful, moving, scary, and fun! I find it hard to stop playing once you start! And you will play it multiple times - I assure you! It's definitely a unique FPS and you will fall in love with the story :)
Any complaints comments or concerns about the review or game - don't be afraid to approach me about it!
(Also I apologize that this section on gameplay was looooong, but there was a lot to cover!)
And Remember! It's Dangerous To Go Alone! <3
SubBoss - It's Dangerous to Go Alone reviews... Super Mario Galaxy 2!
This is Mission Control, you are clear for take-off. T-minus 5... 4... 3... Screw it, let's-a-go! BLAST OFF!! *flies into space* It's Dangerous To Go Alone is back, IN SPACE! Today we're beaming down our lastest review, taking on the latest platformer from the First Plumber himself, Mario. Mario has had a long and complex career, spanning many different genres and degrees of quality, but his roots lie in his original platforming that shook up the entertainment industry and essentially created video games as we know them today. I'm sure almost all of us have fond memories of playing at least one great Mario platformer, stomping on Goombas and devouring drugs *I mean mushrooms* to grow huge. Since Mario made the jump to 3-D, we've seen 3 major Mario 3-D platformers- the genre-defining classic Super Mario 64, the fun but ultimately disappointing Super Mario Sunshine, and the Wii's redemption Super Mario Galaxy. Let's get my bias out of the way right up front: I. LOVED. SUPER. MARIO. GALAXY. On a platform that has grown increasingly lifeless and full of shovelware and crap, Galaxy was a blast from some other alien dimension where the Wii is the dominant system and aliens leave us lots of fun presents FROM SPACE. Galaxy was the perfect example of what the Wii could do if it applied itself- the controls were damn near perfect, the level design was a thing of beauty, the game looked fantastic, and it overall kept you playing until you got every last star (which I did. Ha.) Now fast-forward to 3 years later, when Nintendo has released an unprecedented folow-up to the stellar title because they had just too many ideas to fit into one game. Was this neccessary? Is the sequel a worthy follow-up? Will Mario ever get anything from Peach? Why am I asking you all these questions? Because these and more will be answered as It's Dangerous to Go Alone reviews...
Super Mario Galaxy 2!
Super Mario Galaxy 2!
Story
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an epic space opera that rivals Mass Effect 2 in its masterful storytelling and intricate characters... PSYCHE! I'm sure I fooled NONE of you with that one. (And if you were fooled, you, sir, are disappointing me.) Here's the plot in a nutshell- Mario gets invited to the Star Festival by Peach, Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser (who's HUGE in this one), Mario gets his own spaceship (or FACESHIP! HA! ...sorry, the game itself used that joke and it still wasn't funny there) and heads into space to gather the lost Power Stars and save her. Because it is ALWAYS stars. It's just the typical Mario 3-sentence plot, which is kind of a shame considering that Galaxy 1 had an interesting side story about the genuinely interesting character of Rosalina, the captain of the Comet Observatory. However, we don't come to a Mario game looking for a story, we epxect a framework that gives us a reason to go gather those shiny Stars. It's interesting to note, however, that until the very end Galaxy 2 pretty much ignores the fact that the first Galaxy ever happened. Mario meets a Luma for the first time, the Star Festival is on again, etc... But again, not really the point, although you will miss Rosalina due to her replacement being a fat, ANNOYING lard of a Luma who attempts to teach you gameplay basics. FOOL! BACK! Go back to your cake! I need none of your help! Moving on...
Gameplay
Ahh, the bread-and-butter of every Mario game's delicious meal. Here is where Galaxy 2 shines like David Bowie on Christmas. The game is a fantasy platformer (as opposed to Prince of Persia's realistic platforming) in which Mario enters a galaxy full of small to large planetoids and navigates the level's challenges to reach the Star at the end of the level. Galaxy 2 retains the amazingly awesome hook of the first Galaxy- the gravity system. Most planetoids enable you to run around the top, sides, and bottom of them as you look for new passages and ways to go. You can run over the edge of a flat planetoid and end up upside-down on its bottom, or run all the way around a spherical planetoid. (NOTE: There are still many planetoids that you CAN fall off of, however, so don't go jumping off every platform you see expecting to flip onto the bottom.) Mario must work his way around the several planetoids that comprise an area and accomplish a goal (getting to the end, getting a key, defeating enemies, etc) so that he can reach a launcher that will blast him into space and send him to the next area in a level challenge. Various Mario powerups will help you reach the end in different ways. Lather, rinse, repeat until you reach the end-of-level star and nab it. Every level (referred to as galaxies) has somewhere between 3-6 Star challenges that you select upon entering it, and to fully clear a galaxy you must collect all of its stars. This gameplay revolves around the simple formula that Mario's been following for years in a new format, and it is one of the best representations of the concept I have ever seen. Every challenge is bursting with creatvity and the developers have come up with endless ways to test your mettle. In an hour of play, I don't think I once saw a repeated gameplay idea or level challenge- there's always something new around every corner and about 97% of it will leave you smiling and ready for the next challenge. Galaxy 2 provides a great sense of accomplishment and gets you hooked, and soon you'll be saying "Just ONE more star!" when you were planning on ending your play session. This experience is heightened ever further by near-perfect controls and excellent use of the Wii's capabilities. The controls are almost perfectly tight and precise, coupling the traditional Mario run-jump-flip moveset with the Wii's spin move and moveable cursor with which to pick up and shoot Star Bits. The game also throws in a couple Wiimote motion challenges like balancing and rolling a big ball or flying a bird, and for the most part they work quite well. However, the challenge involving flying a bird has quite bizzare controls that can leave you angry, but that particular challenge only occurs once or twice in all 121 stars of the main game. The game only uses motion control briefly and melds it in seamlessly with the main gameplay, providing a simple and very subdued usage of it that vastly outperforms the waggle-heavy efforts of Wii games past. Galaxy 2's gameplay is fantastic and will have you coming back over and over.
Level Design
I had to give this aspect another riff because of how simply amazing it is. The level design in Galxy 2 is a thing of beauty. Some levels are better than others, but there simply are no bad levels, and the developers' creativty shines in every last one of them. Levels range from a huge tree culminating in a massive slide, a lava-filled factory where you have to guide rolling Chomps into holes, a huge enemy-controlled tower, levels where the gravity flips without warning, a water world that, with the flip of a switch, freezes over, a haunted house where you're on the run through an obstacle course away from a pack of ghosts, a series of wooden platforms that are, one at a time, sawn apart by massive saw blades as you run vertically up them, the requsite Bowser fortresses, and much, much more. Even when you think you've seen everything there is to see in a level, the game delivers another curveball right to your face with the comet system. Once you find a special Comet Coin in each galaxy (hooray, another item for completists to collect!), a comet can show up that will alter the level, creating a new challenge like a timed speed run or a run through with your max HP decreased to 1. There's never a dull moment in these levels, and it's always fun to discover what new levels you're going to encounter next.
Graphics and Sound
Galaxy 2 is one damn good looking game. Granted, the game still isn't up to PS3/360 levels of pretty (the Wii would probably explode before that happened), but the graphics are quite excellent, with multiple layers of polish and next-gen textures and all that stuff that makes graphics geeks joygasm. This is probably the best that the Wii's graphics will ever get, which is both happy and sad at the same time. It also further proves that the Wii is much better at producing cartoony, vibrant graphics and should not be forced to shove out realistic graphics (ohh, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Edition, how my eyes bled when I looked upon thee...). In the sound department, Nintendo is yet again proving their continual desire to push our nostalgia buttons with lots of remixes of classic Mario tunes and sounds muxed in with sweeping orchestral tracks. This game has a full orchestra cranking out its music, and for someone like me who enjoys listening to the background music, it is just FANTASTIC. If you don't really care about background music, though, you'll still probably ignore it. Shame on you.
Sequelitis
Now, to veterans of the previous Mario Galaxy, this review may seem a tad familiar. What makes this worth another look if I've played the first Galaxy, and how is it different, you ask? Well, I'm here to tell you. And if you didn't ask, I'll tell you anyway. Galaxy 2 has one of the best sequel transitions I've ever seen- it starts off with a BRIEF tutorial level and then leaves all extra instruction to optional TVs- thus, new players can watch the demos while vets can simply ignore em. As seen right on the cover, the best new addition is Mario's enslaved green dinosaur pal, Yoshi. In many levels (WAAAAAY more than in New Super Mario Bros Wii), you can find a green egg that Yoshi will hatch out of, already equipped with a saddle and riding boots. Mario, you swine! Breeding creatures for the sole purpose of riding on them everywhere? You cruel man! I must say, though, this version of Yoshi is the definitive 3-D version of Yoshi and smashes the strange Sunshine version of Yoshi into the dirt. Yoshi retains his trademark flutter jump, allowing him to jump higher and farther. He also uses the Wiimote cursor to guide his tongue. Simply point the Wiimote at an unsuspecting enemy, fruit, or object and hit A and Yoshi will shoot out his tongue in an unnatural direction to gobble it up. Some objects he eats and poops out Star Bits (...), and others he holds in his mouth until you shoot them out at other enemies. Combine this with Yoshi's swinging ability and the powerup berries that let him dash, float, and cast light, and you get a fantastic Yoshi that is personally my favorite version of the little green guy. Another new aspect is Mario's signature starship, Starship Mario (shaped like Mario's head; now you get the faceship pun). It replaces the first Galaxy's Comet Observatory overworld and creates a world map similar to that of Super Mario Bros 3 and New Super Mario Bros that you can move about on. The world map is an excellent new addition that allows completists like myself to feel less guilty about hanging around and collecting all the stars before moving on, but Starship Mario itself is extremely boring. There's simply nothing to do on the ship itself, and every time you come back there you'll ignore the crew completely and dash straight for the helm to go back to the world map. Rounding out the new stuff are three new power-ups, Drill Mario (a drill that allows Mario to burrow into the ground, fun but imprecise), Rock Mario (allows Mario to roll around as a giant rock, useful but really hard to stop), and Cloud Mario (allows Mario to create up to three platforms anywhere that he wants, easily my favorite of the new three). You can also play as Luigi far more often, which is an A+ move in my book (although how many damn Luigi's Mansion references are you gonna give us without a sequel, Nintendo???). Despite these changes, however, Galaxy 2 is extremely similar to the first game, and not much has really changed this time around. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your opinion of the first one, and whatever your opinion of the first one was, Galaxy 2 is not likely to change your mind.
Difficulty
Probably the most major flaw of Galaxy 1 was its odd difficulty curve. Most of the game prior to the final boss was on the easy side, and then after the final boss the difficulty suddenly spiked in some areas and was left the same in others. Galaxy 2 works on fixing this problem, but falls prey to some of the same issues. Galaxy 2 is overall a more challenging game, but yet again most of the more difficult stuff comes after the final duel with Bowser (SPOILER ALERT: Peach is yet again a tease) in the form of a secret world and comet challenges. The difficulty also seems random at times- on occasion you'll come right out of a cakewalk mission only to find yourself in a gauntlet of death traps threatening to EAT YOUR FACE. These spikes somewhat throw off the difficulty curve, but it really won't bother you too much. Also, I never once got the new version of Super Guide to show up, a fact which makes me happy, since if it had I would've punched it in the face.
Conclusion
Galaxy 2 has already been named Wii Game of the Year by many critics, and it deserves such an accolade. Beautiful level design, tight gameplay, engaging challenges, and great gameplay hooks absolutely skyrocket the game over its the odd difficulty curve and boring hub world to become an intricately crafted gaming experience that few should miss. Now, the real question is: is it worth your hard-earned $50? If the Wii is your only system, you should be at your nearest retailer buying this game RIGHT NOW. If you have more options, however, you're presented with a choice. In all further mentions of this game, I will include it in a package with Galaxy 1 as a single game, as I consider it to be a sort of expansion and streamlining to the first Galaxy due to how similar it is to the first one. However, this game still costs the full $50, so if you own more systems then just a Wii, here's my advice. if you played Galaxy 1, loved it and devoted a lot of time to it (like me!), then you should've already bought this one and loved it, but if for some reason you haven't yet, go do it. Even if you just mildly liked the first Galaxy, give this one a shot, as it's essentially a streamlined and slightly improved version of 1. It doesn't matter if you've played the first one, and if you haven't and want to try Galaxy, I'd actually advise going with 2 over 1. If, however, you only thought Galaxy 1 was alright or, heaven forbid, didn't like it, this'll be just more of the same to you and will not change your mind whatsover. So whatever opinion you have of Galaxy 1 will likely be the same opinion you have of Galaxy 2, if not a tad better for Galaxy 2. I'd advise you at least attempt to like this one, though, as it's a stellar gameplay experience that, barring heroic exploits from Metroid: Other M or Epic Mickey later, is also my prediction for the 2010 Wii Game of the Year. I'm off now to explore the depths of the universe, gotta go grab my towel. Froody! And remember, It's Dangerous to Go Alone!
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an epic space opera that rivals Mass Effect 2 in its masterful storytelling and intricate characters... PSYCHE! I'm sure I fooled NONE of you with that one. (And if you were fooled, you, sir, are disappointing me.) Here's the plot in a nutshell- Mario gets invited to the Star Festival by Peach, Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser (who's HUGE in this one), Mario gets his own spaceship (or FACESHIP! HA! ...sorry, the game itself used that joke and it still wasn't funny there) and heads into space to gather the lost Power Stars and save her. Because it is ALWAYS stars. It's just the typical Mario 3-sentence plot, which is kind of a shame considering that Galaxy 1 had an interesting side story about the genuinely interesting character of Rosalina, the captain of the Comet Observatory. However, we don't come to a Mario game looking for a story, we epxect a framework that gives us a reason to go gather those shiny Stars. It's interesting to note, however, that until the very end Galaxy 2 pretty much ignores the fact that the first Galaxy ever happened. Mario meets a Luma for the first time, the Star Festival is on again, etc... But again, not really the point, although you will miss Rosalina due to her replacement being a fat, ANNOYING lard of a Luma who attempts to teach you gameplay basics. FOOL! BACK! Go back to your cake! I need none of your help! Moving on...
Gameplay
Ahh, the bread-and-butter of every Mario game's delicious meal. Here is where Galaxy 2 shines like David Bowie on Christmas. The game is a fantasy platformer (as opposed to Prince of Persia's realistic platforming) in which Mario enters a galaxy full of small to large planetoids and navigates the level's challenges to reach the Star at the end of the level. Galaxy 2 retains the amazingly awesome hook of the first Galaxy- the gravity system. Most planetoids enable you to run around the top, sides, and bottom of them as you look for new passages and ways to go. You can run over the edge of a flat planetoid and end up upside-down on its bottom, or run all the way around a spherical planetoid. (NOTE: There are still many planetoids that you CAN fall off of, however, so don't go jumping off every platform you see expecting to flip onto the bottom.) Mario must work his way around the several planetoids that comprise an area and accomplish a goal (getting to the end, getting a key, defeating enemies, etc) so that he can reach a launcher that will blast him into space and send him to the next area in a level challenge. Various Mario powerups will help you reach the end in different ways. Lather, rinse, repeat until you reach the end-of-level star and nab it. Every level (referred to as galaxies) has somewhere between 3-6 Star challenges that you select upon entering it, and to fully clear a galaxy you must collect all of its stars. This gameplay revolves around the simple formula that Mario's been following for years in a new format, and it is one of the best representations of the concept I have ever seen. Every challenge is bursting with creatvity and the developers have come up with endless ways to test your mettle. In an hour of play, I don't think I once saw a repeated gameplay idea or level challenge- there's always something new around every corner and about 97% of it will leave you smiling and ready for the next challenge. Galaxy 2 provides a great sense of accomplishment and gets you hooked, and soon you'll be saying "Just ONE more star!" when you were planning on ending your play session. This experience is heightened ever further by near-perfect controls and excellent use of the Wii's capabilities. The controls are almost perfectly tight and precise, coupling the traditional Mario run-jump-flip moveset with the Wii's spin move and moveable cursor with which to pick up and shoot Star Bits. The game also throws in a couple Wiimote motion challenges like balancing and rolling a big ball or flying a bird, and for the most part they work quite well. However, the challenge involving flying a bird has quite bizzare controls that can leave you angry, but that particular challenge only occurs once or twice in all 121 stars of the main game. The game only uses motion control briefly and melds it in seamlessly with the main gameplay, providing a simple and very subdued usage of it that vastly outperforms the waggle-heavy efforts of Wii games past. Galaxy 2's gameplay is fantastic and will have you coming back over and over.
Level Design
I had to give this aspect another riff because of how simply amazing it is. The level design in Galxy 2 is a thing of beauty. Some levels are better than others, but there simply are no bad levels, and the developers' creativty shines in every last one of them. Levels range from a huge tree culminating in a massive slide, a lava-filled factory where you have to guide rolling Chomps into holes, a huge enemy-controlled tower, levels where the gravity flips without warning, a water world that, with the flip of a switch, freezes over, a haunted house where you're on the run through an obstacle course away from a pack of ghosts, a series of wooden platforms that are, one at a time, sawn apart by massive saw blades as you run vertically up them, the requsite Bowser fortresses, and much, much more. Even when you think you've seen everything there is to see in a level, the game delivers another curveball right to your face with the comet system. Once you find a special Comet Coin in each galaxy (hooray, another item for completists to collect!), a comet can show up that will alter the level, creating a new challenge like a timed speed run or a run through with your max HP decreased to 1. There's never a dull moment in these levels, and it's always fun to discover what new levels you're going to encounter next.
Graphics and Sound
Galaxy 2 is one damn good looking game. Granted, the game still isn't up to PS3/360 levels of pretty (the Wii would probably explode before that happened), but the graphics are quite excellent, with multiple layers of polish and next-gen textures and all that stuff that makes graphics geeks joygasm. This is probably the best that the Wii's graphics will ever get, which is both happy and sad at the same time. It also further proves that the Wii is much better at producing cartoony, vibrant graphics and should not be forced to shove out realistic graphics (ohh, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Edition, how my eyes bled when I looked upon thee...). In the sound department, Nintendo is yet again proving their continual desire to push our nostalgia buttons with lots of remixes of classic Mario tunes and sounds muxed in with sweeping orchestral tracks. This game has a full orchestra cranking out its music, and for someone like me who enjoys listening to the background music, it is just FANTASTIC. If you don't really care about background music, though, you'll still probably ignore it. Shame on you.
Sequelitis
Now, to veterans of the previous Mario Galaxy, this review may seem a tad familiar. What makes this worth another look if I've played the first Galaxy, and how is it different, you ask? Well, I'm here to tell you. And if you didn't ask, I'll tell you anyway. Galaxy 2 has one of the best sequel transitions I've ever seen- it starts off with a BRIEF tutorial level and then leaves all extra instruction to optional TVs- thus, new players can watch the demos while vets can simply ignore em. As seen right on the cover, the best new addition is Mario's enslaved green dinosaur pal, Yoshi. In many levels (WAAAAAY more than in New Super Mario Bros Wii), you can find a green egg that Yoshi will hatch out of, already equipped with a saddle and riding boots. Mario, you swine! Breeding creatures for the sole purpose of riding on them everywhere? You cruel man! I must say, though, this version of Yoshi is the definitive 3-D version of Yoshi and smashes the strange Sunshine version of Yoshi into the dirt. Yoshi retains his trademark flutter jump, allowing him to jump higher and farther. He also uses the Wiimote cursor to guide his tongue. Simply point the Wiimote at an unsuspecting enemy, fruit, or object and hit A and Yoshi will shoot out his tongue in an unnatural direction to gobble it up. Some objects he eats and poops out Star Bits (...), and others he holds in his mouth until you shoot them out at other enemies. Combine this with Yoshi's swinging ability and the powerup berries that let him dash, float, and cast light, and you get a fantastic Yoshi that is personally my favorite version of the little green guy. Another new aspect is Mario's signature starship, Starship Mario (shaped like Mario's head; now you get the faceship pun). It replaces the first Galaxy's Comet Observatory overworld and creates a world map similar to that of Super Mario Bros 3 and New Super Mario Bros that you can move about on. The world map is an excellent new addition that allows completists like myself to feel less guilty about hanging around and collecting all the stars before moving on, but Starship Mario itself is extremely boring. There's simply nothing to do on the ship itself, and every time you come back there you'll ignore the crew completely and dash straight for the helm to go back to the world map. Rounding out the new stuff are three new power-ups, Drill Mario (a drill that allows Mario to burrow into the ground, fun but imprecise), Rock Mario (allows Mario to roll around as a giant rock, useful but really hard to stop), and Cloud Mario (allows Mario to create up to three platforms anywhere that he wants, easily my favorite of the new three). You can also play as Luigi far more often, which is an A+ move in my book (although how many damn Luigi's Mansion references are you gonna give us without a sequel, Nintendo???). Despite these changes, however, Galaxy 2 is extremely similar to the first game, and not much has really changed this time around. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your opinion of the first one, and whatever your opinion of the first one was, Galaxy 2 is not likely to change your mind.
Difficulty
Probably the most major flaw of Galaxy 1 was its odd difficulty curve. Most of the game prior to the final boss was on the easy side, and then after the final boss the difficulty suddenly spiked in some areas and was left the same in others. Galaxy 2 works on fixing this problem, but falls prey to some of the same issues. Galaxy 2 is overall a more challenging game, but yet again most of the more difficult stuff comes after the final duel with Bowser (SPOILER ALERT: Peach is yet again a tease) in the form of a secret world and comet challenges. The difficulty also seems random at times- on occasion you'll come right out of a cakewalk mission only to find yourself in a gauntlet of death traps threatening to EAT YOUR FACE. These spikes somewhat throw off the difficulty curve, but it really won't bother you too much. Also, I never once got the new version of Super Guide to show up, a fact which makes me happy, since if it had I would've punched it in the face.
Conclusion
Galaxy 2 has already been named Wii Game of the Year by many critics, and it deserves such an accolade. Beautiful level design, tight gameplay, engaging challenges, and great gameplay hooks absolutely skyrocket the game over its the odd difficulty curve and boring hub world to become an intricately crafted gaming experience that few should miss. Now, the real question is: is it worth your hard-earned $50? If the Wii is your only system, you should be at your nearest retailer buying this game RIGHT NOW. If you have more options, however, you're presented with a choice. In all further mentions of this game, I will include it in a package with Galaxy 1 as a single game, as I consider it to be a sort of expansion and streamlining to the first Galaxy due to how similar it is to the first one. However, this game still costs the full $50, so if you own more systems then just a Wii, here's my advice. if you played Galaxy 1, loved it and devoted a lot of time to it (like me!), then you should've already bought this one and loved it, but if for some reason you haven't yet, go do it. Even if you just mildly liked the first Galaxy, give this one a shot, as it's essentially a streamlined and slightly improved version of 1. It doesn't matter if you've played the first one, and if you haven't and want to try Galaxy, I'd actually advise going with 2 over 1. If, however, you only thought Galaxy 1 was alright or, heaven forbid, didn't like it, this'll be just more of the same to you and will not change your mind whatsover. So whatever opinion you have of Galaxy 1 will likely be the same opinion you have of Galaxy 2, if not a tad better for Galaxy 2. I'd advise you at least attempt to like this one, though, as it's a stellar gameplay experience that, barring heroic exploits from Metroid: Other M or Epic Mickey later, is also my prediction for the 2010 Wii Game of the Year. I'm off now to explore the depths of the universe, gotta go grab my towel. Froody! And remember, It's Dangerous to Go Alone!
LordCynical - It's Dangerous to Go Alone reviews...Okami!(Retro)
Well, although the universe has tried to conspire to prevent the word from getting out, I have showed the universe whose boss. The news must be heard! Okami is one of the greatest games you’ve never heard of/played!(unless you have/did)
I’m getting ahead of myself(and the review). Let’s start with a a quick wiki history lesson. Okami was developed by clover studios(The people behind the awesome, but hard, Viewtiful Joe series) for the PS2 and published by Capcom in September 2006, it was later ported to the wii in april of 2008.
Okami is an Action RPG, which draws from Zelda in some aspects (dungeons, how you get new powers in said dungeons, and how it will help you on the boss of said dungeon)
Now that that’s out of the way, on with the review…
Cover~
Story
100 years before the game a demon named Orochi plagued the land. Once a year it would demand a maiden from Kamiki village to be offered to him. When a girl named Nami was chosen to be sacrificed to the beast, the swordsman Nagi stormed orochi’s lair to slay the beast. But he could not beat the beast alone. When things looked bad for Nagi, a white wolf called Shiranui came to is aid. The combined power of the two of them was enough to seal the beast away. But not without sacrifice, Shiranui was struck down by orochi before the beast was sealed away.
The game flashes forward to the now, and some fool accidently releases Orochi from his prison. All is lost! But wait! Sakuya, the wood spirit who watches over Kamiki village used her power to bring Shiranui the white wolf back to life, so that she may once again defeat the demon orochi. But Shiranui is not just a wolf, Shiranui was actually a god. Her name is Ōkami Amaterasu. She wields the powers of the Celestial Brush, which allows her to use the different Celestial Brush Tecniques(13 in all). But she no longer possess them all(only 1 remains), so while on her journey she must track down the 12 other Celestial Brush gods and regain her powers.
Oh and that’s just the beginning of the epic 60 hour long quest. Oh and don’t think the story is always serious. Be prepared to laugh you lungs out, as this game can be moving one moment, and funny the next. Oh, and if this game somehow doesn’t affect your emotions at least once, you are a robot! (This game is one of the few games to actually make me cry in sadness and in joy)
Gameplay
The game is an action rpg(as I said), but it deviates from most traditional rpgs. First off, enemies are not random encounters per say. On the over world you will see floating demon scrolls, should you get close the scroll will chase you and should it catch you, it will engages a group of enemies in combat.
Combat is always in an enclosed area. You have 1 weapon and 1 sub weapon. You can switch these at any time you want, even in combat. You have 3 types of weapon. You have the Reflector, the Rosaries beads and the Glaive(sword). If you are playing the PS2 version I recommend the reflectors and beads for your main and for wii just use the beads.
This game also does a number on exp. You have 4 states, health, ink, money, and “stomach”. To levels these up you spend praise on them. What is praise? That is your exp. But you don’t get it from slaying monsters. You get it from helping villagers, feeding animals, restoring nature, and………slaying bosses(okay, so there are times you get exp from killing monsters…..). What is awesome is that you choose what states you want to increase. I personally maxed out my ink really quick, worked on my health as the game went on, only increased money 2-3 times and “stomach once. This is one game where the NPC’s are very important.
Controls
Okay, the controls on both the wii and ps2 are fine. With 1 minor hiccup on the wii, The drawing on the wii has a learning curve. And it hates circles! There will be times where you will keep failing the “quick time event” cut scenes (don’t worry, it makes sences. None of them are just “press x to not die” They are you doing things for people unbeknownst to them, like slashing monsters, blooming plants, etc.) Because the game was picky on your circles! But don’t worry, there aren’t that many quick time event cut scenes(although it seems like a lot at the beginning of the game)
Graphics
This game proves that high polygon count, HD, and realistic graphics mean NOTHING! This game is one of the best looking games out there. It uses a water color style meets calligraphy style. And this is one of Okami’s best selling points.
Characters
This game is full of quirky characters. There were times I thought I was playing earthbound because of how funny the dialog is from characters. Oh and just saying, you will hate Issun at first as he will make you relive the horrors of navi. But trust me, by the time the credits roll, you will love the little wandering artist.
Music
I’m going to say this right now; I love the music of this game! The music is just pure concentrated awesome. You might not like it if you’re not a fan of Japanese instruments, but trust me. The music is awesome!
Conclusion
If you own a PS2 or a Wii go get this game. GET IT NOW!!!! This game is worth the $10-20 you will spend to get a copy used. If you had to pick a version; the wii version is better looking with wide screen support and brighter colors, but a few control hiccups. Yet the PS2 version has a more “papery” feel with its washed out look and doesn’t have an controls issues(at least that I ran into). So I say it’s up to you, both version are amazing. Just get this game!
Now I’m off to learn how to paint with a divine paint brush, because I need to teach those imps a lesson. And remember, It's Dangerous To Go Alone!
I’m getting ahead of myself(and the review). Let’s start with a a quick wiki history lesson. Okami was developed by clover studios(The people behind the awesome, but hard, Viewtiful Joe series) for the PS2 and published by Capcom in September 2006, it was later ported to the wii in april of 2008.
Okami is an Action RPG, which draws from Zelda in some aspects (dungeons, how you get new powers in said dungeons, and how it will help you on the boss of said dungeon)
Now that that’s out of the way, on with the review…
Cover~
Story
100 years before the game a demon named Orochi plagued the land. Once a year it would demand a maiden from Kamiki village to be offered to him. When a girl named Nami was chosen to be sacrificed to the beast, the swordsman Nagi stormed orochi’s lair to slay the beast. But he could not beat the beast alone. When things looked bad for Nagi, a white wolf called Shiranui came to is aid. The combined power of the two of them was enough to seal the beast away. But not without sacrifice, Shiranui was struck down by orochi before the beast was sealed away.
The game flashes forward to the now, and some fool accidently releases Orochi from his prison. All is lost! But wait! Sakuya, the wood spirit who watches over Kamiki village used her power to bring Shiranui the white wolf back to life, so that she may once again defeat the demon orochi. But Shiranui is not just a wolf, Shiranui was actually a god. Her name is Ōkami Amaterasu. She wields the powers of the Celestial Brush, which allows her to use the different Celestial Brush Tecniques(13 in all). But she no longer possess them all(only 1 remains), so while on her journey she must track down the 12 other Celestial Brush gods and regain her powers.
Oh and that’s just the beginning of the epic 60 hour long quest. Oh and don’t think the story is always serious. Be prepared to laugh you lungs out, as this game can be moving one moment, and funny the next. Oh, and if this game somehow doesn’t affect your emotions at least once, you are a robot! (This game is one of the few games to actually make me cry in sadness and in joy)
Gameplay
The game is an action rpg(as I said), but it deviates from most traditional rpgs. First off, enemies are not random encounters per say. On the over world you will see floating demon scrolls, should you get close the scroll will chase you and should it catch you, it will engages a group of enemies in combat.
Combat is always in an enclosed area. You have 1 weapon and 1 sub weapon. You can switch these at any time you want, even in combat. You have 3 types of weapon. You have the Reflector, the Rosaries beads and the Glaive(sword). If you are playing the PS2 version I recommend the reflectors and beads for your main and for wii just use the beads.
This game also does a number on exp. You have 4 states, health, ink, money, and “stomach”. To levels these up you spend praise on them. What is praise? That is your exp. But you don’t get it from slaying monsters. You get it from helping villagers, feeding animals, restoring nature, and………slaying bosses(okay, so there are times you get exp from killing monsters…..). What is awesome is that you choose what states you want to increase. I personally maxed out my ink really quick, worked on my health as the game went on, only increased money 2-3 times and “stomach once. This is one game where the NPC’s are very important.
Controls
Okay, the controls on both the wii and ps2 are fine. With 1 minor hiccup on the wii, The drawing on the wii has a learning curve. And it hates circles! There will be times where you will keep failing the “quick time event” cut scenes (don’t worry, it makes sences. None of them are just “press x to not die” They are you doing things for people unbeknownst to them, like slashing monsters, blooming plants, etc.) Because the game was picky on your circles! But don’t worry, there aren’t that many quick time event cut scenes(although it seems like a lot at the beginning of the game)
Graphics
This game proves that high polygon count, HD, and realistic graphics mean NOTHING! This game is one of the best looking games out there. It uses a water color style meets calligraphy style. And this is one of Okami’s best selling points.
Characters
This game is full of quirky characters. There were times I thought I was playing earthbound because of how funny the dialog is from characters. Oh and just saying, you will hate Issun at first as he will make you relive the horrors of navi. But trust me, by the time the credits roll, you will love the little wandering artist.
Music
I’m going to say this right now; I love the music of this game! The music is just pure concentrated awesome. You might not like it if you’re not a fan of Japanese instruments, but trust me. The music is awesome!
Conclusion
If you own a PS2 or a Wii go get this game. GET IT NOW!!!! This game is worth the $10-20 you will spend to get a copy used. If you had to pick a version; the wii version is better looking with wide screen support and brighter colors, but a few control hiccups. Yet the PS2 version has a more “papery” feel with its washed out look and doesn’t have an controls issues(at least that I ran into). So I say it’s up to you, both version are amazing. Just get this game!
Now I’m off to learn how to paint with a divine paint brush, because I need to teach those imps a lesson. And remember, It's Dangerous To Go Alone!
RPGShark - It's Dangerous To Go Alone reviews...Final Fantasy IV! (Retro)
My Good Friends, it is time for my official introduction, as part of It’s Dangerous To Go Alone! As the final member to produce a review of my own, I feel it is my duty to ask for your assistance in finding fellow video game nerds who would wish to view out reviews. As I type we are working on the best way to archive our reviews, and should have results within a few weeks. Now, on with the review!
So, what do you think of when you hear RPG? World of Warcraft? WRONG! *Smacks you* No, what you should think of is one RPG that has proven that not all incredibly long series suck or die: Final Fantasy. Since the first game came out in Japan in 1987, the games have been released, rereleased, and rerereleased over more than half a dozen systems, and over multiple companies, be it Nintendo, Sony, and most recently, Apple. My game of choice for this review goes nowhere near as far back as the 80s, but merely a rerelease from 2008. My fellow video game fanatics, It’s Dangerous To Go Alone presents…
Final Fantasy IV!
Cover
In my opinion, Final Fantasy IV(From here on abbreviated to IV, cause I’m lazy) is definitely one of the better games given to us by Squaresoft. Beginning on the SNES, IV has appeared on the Playstation, WonderSwan, GBA, DS, Wii, and on Japanese mobile phones. Besides some tiny cosmetic changes, most of these release appear to be the same, simply in a different format. I have played the most unique of the releases, given to us on the DS.
Story:
We are introduced at the very beginning to the Dark Knight of Baron and Air Force Commander, Cecil Harvey. After stealing a magic crystal from a town of magicians and sorcerers, he begins to question whether the king of baron is actually doing what’s best. (An evil king, stealing? Preposterous!) Upon speaking his mind, the king becomes enraged and stripped of his ability to command air ships and turned into a courier and ordered to deliver a package to the village of mist, which is the only village on the entire planet that has summoners. Now, I just need to point this out-in the Playstation version, the ‘package’ was called the Bomb Ring, give you three guesses what’s gonna happen when you deliver the package. Cecil is accompanied by his good friend Kain Highwind, who’s special power is jumping. You also meet their childhood friend/love interest, Rosa Farrell, whom you won’t see again for a good while. When the two reach Mist, they are attacked by a huge, awesome looking dragon made of Mist. They kill the dragon and enter the village, only to meet a young girl named Rydia. Turns out when you kill a summon(Like the mist dragon), you kill the person who summoned it, in this case the summoner was Rydia’s mother-you bastards! Before you can even begin to feel bad, your conscious gets even heavier as the package turns out to contain four bombs, which blow up the village-big shocker! Rydia, pissed that you killed her mommy, summons a huge freaking giant to cause an earthquake, which separates Cecil and Kain. Upon regaining consciousness, he finds the earthquake has magically teleported him safely to another town. Angered the king would lie about the package(It was called a BOMB ring, what did you think was gonna happen?) He and Rydia set out on a magic quest to stop Baron from doing more evil things. And thus, the quest truly begins. (For those of you who are familiar with brentalfloss, this would be the time to start playing Final Fantasy Classic with Lyrics)
Gameplay and Combat:
IV, like most games in the Final Fantasy saga, allows you to travel over a giant world map, at times coming in contact with towns or some form of nature which you can enter. Nature normally serves as a dungeon, which you must travel through while finding treasure to either progress to the next village, or reach a boss. The villages primarily serve as means to heal your party, buy weapons with which to kill things, or find subtle clues on what to do next. IV was a turning point was a turning point in the Final Fantasy Battle system, as it was the first to unveil the Active Time Battle system. Instead of simply choosing your character’s command and letting the game decide what characters attacked in what order(be it you or your enemies), you could now control your characters in real time. A gauge appears next to the character’s name and HP bar, which will slowly fill. No matter how quickly you input the commands, each character’s gauge would fill at its own pace, allowing you more time to plan a strategy rather than simply clicking ‘attack’ every turn. IV is also unique among FF games in that it is the only game in the entire series that allows you to control a maximum of five characters per battle, as opposed to the standard 3-4. This allows for a wide variety of attack and more fun-especially when you have more characters later on. And there WILL be a lot of characters to enjoy, a max of 12 over the entire game. Being able to rotate between magic, summoning, healing, and attacking all in one round definitely shows how badass this game’s combat system is.
Graphics:
Ok, it’s a DS game, it doesn’t have the best graphics in the world. But for a DS game, they’re pretty damn good(most games from Square on the DS have had great graphics). Here, let’s have a look:
Click here pl0x!
Compared to what these graphics looked like on the original SNES release(Completely flat and scrunched together), these are pretty impressive. And even outside of battle, there isn’t much lost between graphic transitions. If anything, the characters look better when you can get a close up view of them on the world map.
Conclusion:
Final Fantasy IV is definitely my favorite of the FF series, and you can see why. Great gameplay, amazing characters, and a very in depth story. And the best part, being a near 2-year old game, this game can be bought at an actually good price of $20($10 if you want the GBA version). I would greatly suggest at the very least borrowing it from me or someone else, you won’t regret it.
And thus concludes my first review, I’m off to go save the Crystals…or the orbs…or the moon…Whatever.
And Remember, It’s Dangerous To Go Alone!
So, what do you think of when you hear RPG? World of Warcraft? WRONG! *Smacks you* No, what you should think of is one RPG that has proven that not all incredibly long series suck or die: Final Fantasy. Since the first game came out in Japan in 1987, the games have been released, rereleased, and rerereleased over more than half a dozen systems, and over multiple companies, be it Nintendo, Sony, and most recently, Apple. My game of choice for this review goes nowhere near as far back as the 80s, but merely a rerelease from 2008. My fellow video game fanatics, It’s Dangerous To Go Alone presents…
Final Fantasy IV!
Cover
In my opinion, Final Fantasy IV(From here on abbreviated to IV, cause I’m lazy) is definitely one of the better games given to us by Squaresoft. Beginning on the SNES, IV has appeared on the Playstation, WonderSwan, GBA, DS, Wii, and on Japanese mobile phones. Besides some tiny cosmetic changes, most of these release appear to be the same, simply in a different format. I have played the most unique of the releases, given to us on the DS.
Story:
We are introduced at the very beginning to the Dark Knight of Baron and Air Force Commander, Cecil Harvey. After stealing a magic crystal from a town of magicians and sorcerers, he begins to question whether the king of baron is actually doing what’s best. (An evil king, stealing? Preposterous!) Upon speaking his mind, the king becomes enraged and stripped of his ability to command air ships and turned into a courier and ordered to deliver a package to the village of mist, which is the only village on the entire planet that has summoners. Now, I just need to point this out-in the Playstation version, the ‘package’ was called the Bomb Ring, give you three guesses what’s gonna happen when you deliver the package. Cecil is accompanied by his good friend Kain Highwind, who’s special power is jumping. You also meet their childhood friend/love interest, Rosa Farrell, whom you won’t see again for a good while. When the two reach Mist, they are attacked by a huge, awesome looking dragon made of Mist. They kill the dragon and enter the village, only to meet a young girl named Rydia. Turns out when you kill a summon(Like the mist dragon), you kill the person who summoned it, in this case the summoner was Rydia’s mother-you bastards! Before you can even begin to feel bad, your conscious gets even heavier as the package turns out to contain four bombs, which blow up the village-big shocker! Rydia, pissed that you killed her mommy, summons a huge freaking giant to cause an earthquake, which separates Cecil and Kain. Upon regaining consciousness, he finds the earthquake has magically teleported him safely to another town. Angered the king would lie about the package(It was called a BOMB ring, what did you think was gonna happen?) He and Rydia set out on a magic quest to stop Baron from doing more evil things. And thus, the quest truly begins. (For those of you who are familiar with brentalfloss, this would be the time to start playing Final Fantasy Classic with Lyrics)
Gameplay and Combat:
IV, like most games in the Final Fantasy saga, allows you to travel over a giant world map, at times coming in contact with towns or some form of nature which you can enter. Nature normally serves as a dungeon, which you must travel through while finding treasure to either progress to the next village, or reach a boss. The villages primarily serve as means to heal your party, buy weapons with which to kill things, or find subtle clues on what to do next. IV was a turning point was a turning point in the Final Fantasy Battle system, as it was the first to unveil the Active Time Battle system. Instead of simply choosing your character’s command and letting the game decide what characters attacked in what order(be it you or your enemies), you could now control your characters in real time. A gauge appears next to the character’s name and HP bar, which will slowly fill. No matter how quickly you input the commands, each character’s gauge would fill at its own pace, allowing you more time to plan a strategy rather than simply clicking ‘attack’ every turn. IV is also unique among FF games in that it is the only game in the entire series that allows you to control a maximum of five characters per battle, as opposed to the standard 3-4. This allows for a wide variety of attack and more fun-especially when you have more characters later on. And there WILL be a lot of characters to enjoy, a max of 12 over the entire game. Being able to rotate between magic, summoning, healing, and attacking all in one round definitely shows how badass this game’s combat system is.
Graphics:
Ok, it’s a DS game, it doesn’t have the best graphics in the world. But for a DS game, they’re pretty damn good(most games from Square on the DS have had great graphics). Here, let’s have a look:
Click here pl0x!
Compared to what these graphics looked like on the original SNES release(Completely flat and scrunched together), these are pretty impressive. And even outside of battle, there isn’t much lost between graphic transitions. If anything, the characters look better when you can get a close up view of them on the world map.
Conclusion:
Final Fantasy IV is definitely my favorite of the FF series, and you can see why. Great gameplay, amazing characters, and a very in depth story. And the best part, being a near 2-year old game, this game can be bought at an actually good price of $20($10 if you want the GBA version). I would greatly suggest at the very least borrowing it from me or someone else, you won’t regret it.
And thus concludes my first review, I’m off to go save the Crystals…or the orbs…or the moon…Whatever.
And Remember, It’s Dangerous To Go Alone!
CupcakeCarnage - It's Dangerous To Go Alone reviews ... Alan Wake!
For those of you who don’t know - a few people and I are making a review series called: “It’s Dangerous To Go Alone!” (please get the reference!) This team consists of RPGShark, SubBoss, LordCynical, and me - CupcakeCarnage! (yes I'm a girl...what ur point?) So if you like any of our reviews show your friends! Show your neighbors! Tell random people about us! And please, be a critic, but not a douche critic. They make me cry :’( Now let's get stared shall we!? :D
Horror. Makes you think of those terrible gruesome thoughts of guts being torn out, blood painting the walls, and the stench of decaying mammals. As these thoughts come to mind, is there really ANY “horror” genre type movie, game, etc. that doesn’t involve all the gore? Most people are lead to believe one of the main aspects of a game is the gore – and it’s the only thing that makes it “scary”.
I beg to differ. It’s Dangerous To Go Alone review series brings you…
ALAN WAKE
Horror. Makes you think of those terrible gruesome thoughts of guts being torn out, blood painting the walls, and the stench of decaying mammals. As these thoughts come to mind, is there really ANY “horror” genre type movie, game, etc. that doesn’t involve all the gore? Most people are lead to believe one of the main aspects of a game is the gore – and it’s the only thing that makes it “scary”.
I beg to differ. It’s Dangerous To Go Alone review series brings you…
ALAN WAKE
Alan Wake is a brand new physiological/thriller/hor
Story:
Alan Wake has an amazing and deep story, but mind you, like most of these types of games – it can get confusing, but don’t panic (heehee cute reference there huh?)! Just pay attention and you’ll be fine.
Alan Wake (the name of the game and main character so I will use Wake when referring to our main man) is a best-selling author who, unfortunately has a writers block…for over two years…and that freaking sucks! I understand his pain, but OVER TWO YEARS! This poor man! Ahem…anyways…so he and his wife, Alice, decide to go to a picturesque town called “Bright Falls” (can anybody scream the word: Irony!?), in hopes that Wake will regain his amazing ability to write.
The game begins with a nightmare – you fight your way through possessed people and the such, but I will get into detail with that later. For now we will go where Wake…well…wakes up (uhg…punny…it's difficult to avoid that with this game) as they arrive at Bright Falls.
They stop by a local diner to meet a man by the name of Stucky (wtf…) so he can give Wake and Alice the keys to the cabin, but Wake cannot find Stucky there at all. Instead he is approached by and old woman dressed in black with a dark veil who gives Wake the keys instead. Wake walks out of the diner, feeling weird about taking the keys, and climbs into the car. He and Alice drive away just as an out of breath man runs out of the diner screaming his name was Stucky and how she had forgotten the keys to their cabin…oh…shit…I knew I didn’t like that lady!
Wake and Alice both arrive at Cauldron Lake. Here, Wake explains that Alice has a phobia – the fear of darkness (I apologize if this seems slightly random atm, but you will see why this sucks soon enough). Now, after some exploring, Wake goes to see Alice and she tells him that she has asurprise for him.
No no - it's not sex (hey I KNOW at least some of you were thinking it) Wake goes into the study and finds a typewriter and a large stack of paper. Alice comes in and explains that if he get inspired at all he can begin writing, but Wake gets pissed. He had gone there on a vacation - to escape writing and she presses this on him. I would get a little mad too, but maybe Alan got a little too screamy :(. He decides to be left alone, so he goes outside, knowing she won't follow him into the darkness. As he is out there he hears Alice scream. He turns toward the house and sees the lights shut off. She keeps screaming and then you gain control of Wake again. You sprint to the house, flashlight in hand, but once you reach the house you hear a final scream from upstairs. Wake heads up and walks out onto the porch and realizes - she jumped. She dove straight into the lake. He dives in after her, but he never found her…
That’s where I will leave off. Basically, you must fight your way through this dark world and find Alice and…well…save the earth from this darkness.
THAT’S NOT ALL CHILDREN!
Apparently this dark world that comes out when the sun is hiding was created by Wake!
…whut!? Plot twist!? This world came from a book he apparently wrote, but Wake doesn’t even remember writing it in the first place. Along the way you will find scattered manuscript pages and you can read them :3 fun stuff!
And the characters of the game are great and life like! Especially Barry! He’s Wake’s best friend and comic relief guy - you WILL become attached to him!
Gameplay and Combat:
Please do this game justice. Play it at night with all the lights off. Otherwise the whole feeling of the game will be RUINED! So pleaseeeeee play it in the dark for me! Your fave. cupcake! And If you want to go all out like me - when you go for a snack break - bring a flashlight ;)
Combat is frustrating at times. Basically when you play the game you are killing people and objects taken over by this dark presence. Not much to it, but this can be tricky. The game has 3 modes: Normal, Hard, and Nightmare. Now Normal mode isn’t easy! I will tell you now! Don’t say: “Oh. Normal must be the pussy mode!” It’s not. It’s still pretty difficult on normal. Now, don’t think that all you need to do to kill these things is put a revolver to the brain.
You have to first take the dark veil away with the flashlight! This simply requires you to pint the light at them, but it takes awhile. You keep your flashlight pointed at them for a period of time then BAM! You can shoot them with the weapon of your choice which is usually the revolver unless you picked up the shotgun, pump action shotgun, or hunting rifle. There are other weapon choices like the flare gun you simply shoot it and KABOOM! The strong, bright flare lights up and instantly kills all enemies (mind you, they are a pretty rare find and I suggest you use them when your in a tight spot). There are also regular flares. You hold them up and it draws your enemies away from you. Great part about it is if some of your opponents are close enough it will take away their dark veil - leaving them open for shooting. Last and definitely not least is the flash bang! Don’t ask about the name, but it’s just your basic flash grenade. Throw it and after a short while it will go off and your enemies will be wiped out!
The flipside to all these things is that it’s hard to fight these guys. They are SMART! While you are busy with one guy another will sneak around and get you from behind (twss)! Oh noes! This technique these usually use makes me a sad cupcake :’( To avoid this nasty plot you can do a “Cinematic Dodge” as they call it. All you do is time it right! Press the handy dandy left bumper when they take a swing and the dodge will be in SloMo. It’s pretty cool B) .
Now when you think about it - Wake is just a man with a flashlight and some guns. Sure he’s no Kratos or Wesker, but when you think about it - he’s badass! As I just said he’s just a man and all the shit he went through. Man I know I wouldn’t do as good as he did >>;
Graphics:
I don’t give a shit about ‘em, but I must say…the graphics are…ehhhhhhhh…
FREAKING AMAZING! After Wake (uhhhhggggggg) wakes up it shows you the area of Bright Falls and it was breath taking. The water especially and the lighting effects are incredibly realistic! Even when the dark world is taking over and your all scared and stuff some how - I still found everything beautiful ><>Wrapping this baby up:
All in all. This game is DEFINETLY worth getting if you have an Xbox 360. If you don’t - find someone who does and play it. Hell, come to my house and play it with me. At night. You can sleep here. With me. You can stay in my bed. We can spoon. And…well…
Hahahaha JK! :D (sort of). In all seriousness you may ask me to borrow this game or come over to play it I really don’t mind! It’s like $60 ‘cause it’s new >>; but I got the special edition and it was…expensive…it was $80 DON'T JUDGE ME!!!!!!
Anyways, the game is powerful, breath taking, intense, suspenseful and you will become very attached to it!
Remember, It’s Dangerous To Go Alone~ <3
Story:
Alan Wake has an amazing and deep story, but mind you, like most of these types of games – it can get confusing, but don’t panic (heehee cute reference there huh?)! Just pay attention and you’ll be fine.
Alan Wake (the name of the game and main character so I will use Wake when referring to our main man) is a best-selling author who, unfortunately has a writers block…for over two years…and that freaking sucks! I understand his pain, but OVER TWO YEARS! This poor man! Ahem…anyways…so he and his wife, Alice, decide to go to a picturesque town called “Bright Falls” (can anybody scream the word: Irony!?), in hopes that Wake will regain his amazing ability to write.
The game begins with a nightmare – you fight your way through possessed people and the such, but I will get into detail with that later. For now we will go where Wake…well…wakes up (uhg…punny…it's difficult to avoid that with this game) as they arrive at Bright Falls.
They stop by a local diner to meet a man by the name of Stucky (wtf…) so he can give Wake and Alice the keys to the cabin, but Wake cannot find Stucky there at all. Instead he is approached by and old woman dressed in black with a dark veil who gives Wake the keys instead. Wake walks out of the diner, feeling weird about taking the keys, and climbs into the car. He and Alice drive away just as an out of breath man runs out of the diner screaming his name was Stucky and how she had forgotten the keys to their cabin…oh…shit…I knew I didn’t like that lady!
Wake and Alice both arrive at Cauldron Lake. Here, Wake explains that Alice has a phobia – the fear of darkness (I apologize if this seems slightly random atm, but you will see why this sucks soon enough). Now, after some exploring, Wake goes to see Alice and she tells him that she has asurprise for him.
No no - it's not sex (hey I KNOW at least some of you were thinking it) Wake goes into the study and finds a typewriter and a large stack of paper. Alice comes in and explains that if he get inspired at all he can begin writing, but Wake gets pissed. He had gone there on a vacation - to escape writing and she presses this on him. I would get a little mad too, but maybe Alan got a little too screamy :(. He decides to be left alone, so he goes outside, knowing she won't follow him into the darkness. As he is out there he hears Alice scream. He turns toward the house and sees the lights shut off. She keeps screaming and then you gain control of Wake again. You sprint to the house, flashlight in hand, but once you reach the house you hear a final scream from upstairs. Wake heads up and walks out onto the porch and realizes - she jumped. She dove straight into the lake. He dives in after her, but he never found her…
That’s where I will leave off. Basically, you must fight your way through this dark world and find Alice and…well…save the earth from this darkness.
THAT’S NOT ALL CHILDREN!
Apparently this dark world that comes out when the sun is hiding was created by Wake!
…whut!? Plot twist!? This world came from a book he apparently wrote, but Wake doesn’t even remember writing it in the first place. Along the way you will find scattered manuscript pages and you can read them :3 fun stuff!
And the characters of the game are great and life like! Especially Barry! He’s Wake’s best friend and comic relief guy - you WILL become attached to him!
Gameplay and Combat:
Please do this game justice. Play it at night with all the lights off. Otherwise the whole feeling of the game will be RUINED! So pleaseeeeee play it in the dark for me! Your fave. cupcake! And If you want to go all out like me - when you go for a snack break - bring a flashlight ;)
Combat is frustrating at times. Basically when you play the game you are killing people and objects taken over by this dark presence. Not much to it, but this can be tricky. The game has 3 modes: Normal, Hard, and Nightmare. Now Normal mode isn’t easy! I will tell you now! Don’t say: “Oh. Normal must be the pussy mode!” It’s not. It’s still pretty difficult on normal. Now, don’t think that all you need to do to kill these things is put a revolver to the brain.
You have to first take the dark veil away with the flashlight! This simply requires you to pint the light at them, but it takes awhile. You keep your flashlight pointed at them for a period of time then BAM! You can shoot them with the weapon of your choice which is usually the revolver unless you picked up the shotgun, pump action shotgun, or hunting rifle. There are other weapon choices like the flare gun you simply shoot it and KABOOM! The strong, bright flare lights up and instantly kills all enemies (mind you, they are a pretty rare find and I suggest you use them when your in a tight spot). There are also regular flares. You hold them up and it draws your enemies away from you. Great part about it is if some of your opponents are close enough it will take away their dark veil - leaving them open for shooting. Last and definitely not least is the flash bang! Don’t ask about the name, but it’s just your basic flash grenade. Throw it and after a short while it will go off and your enemies will be wiped out!
The flipside to all these things is that it’s hard to fight these guys. They are SMART! While you are busy with one guy another will sneak around and get you from behind (twss)! Oh noes! This technique these usually use makes me a sad cupcake :’( To avoid this nasty plot you can do a “Cinematic Dodge” as they call it. All you do is time it right! Press the handy dandy left bumper when they take a swing and the dodge will be in SloMo. It’s pretty cool B) .
Now when you think about it - Wake is just a man with a flashlight and some guns. Sure he’s no Kratos or Wesker, but when you think about it - he’s badass! As I just said he’s just a man and all the shit he went through. Man I know I wouldn’t do as good as he did >>;
Graphics:
I don’t give a shit about ‘em, but I must say…the graphics are…ehhhhhhhh…
FREAKING AMAZING! After Wake (uhhhhggggggg) wakes up it shows you the area of Bright Falls and it was breath taking. The water especially and the lighting effects are incredibly realistic! Even when the dark world is taking over and your all scared and stuff some how - I still found everything beautiful ><>Wrapping this baby up:
All in all. This game is DEFINETLY worth getting if you have an Xbox 360. If you don’t - find someone who does and play it. Hell, come to my house and play it with me. At night. You can sleep here. With me. You can stay in my bed. We can spoon. And…well…
Hahahaha JK! :D (sort of). In all seriousness you may ask me to borrow this game or come over to play it I really don’t mind! It’s like $60 ‘cause it’s new >>; but I got the special edition and it was…expensive…it was $80 DON'T JUDGE ME!!!!!!
Anyways, the game is powerful, breath taking, intense, suspenseful and you will become very attached to it!
Remember, It’s Dangerous To Go Alone~ <3
SubBoss - It's Dangerous to Go Alone reviews... Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time! (Retro)
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I am very pleased to announce the GRAND OPENING of the new game review series:It's Dangerous To Go Alone! *trumpet fanfare sounds* Yeah, so here's how things will work: The group consists of me (SubBoss), LordCynical, RPGShark, and CupcakeCarnage! Weekly, one of our fine reviewers will share his or her experience with a title, be it a brand-new experience or an old retro favorite and give THE WORD on whether our fellow consumers should go check it out. Reviews will occur mainly when we feel like it, usually depending on what the current release schedule is, so that weekly thing? Can't promise complete consistency. But hey, you might just get multiple reviews in a week! Huzzah! Alright then, so that's the gist of things. If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or desires to shove someone in mud, please feel free to send your comments. We'll be eagerly waiting to see exactly how much you agree with us! Isn't agreeing with us fun? Okay, enough chit-chat, let's get to the main story.
As an opening first review that just so happens to fall on a movie release day, I've decided to do the time warp back to 2003 to talk about a game known to many as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Cover for the game
As you may or may not be aware (you probably are), a movie adaptation of this game was released in theaters today. In honor of the movie and the release of the Sands of Time series' newest game, The Forgotten Sands, I have decided to take a retrospective look at SoT itself. (Oh, and in case you were wondering, the movie is a damn good movie and easily the best video game-based movie ever. Go see it.) So, let us begin this wonderful dissection, shall we? Oh, and in case the picture didn't alert you, I played this game on the Gamecube. So the PS2 or Xbox experience may be slightly different, don't say I didn't warn you.
Premise and Story
Sands of Time (hereby abbreviated to SoT for laziness purposes) is set in an unspecified period in ancient Persia, when the Persian Empire ruled high and mighty over the land prior to getting curb-stomped by the Spartans. The game begins with the titular Prince at the head of an invading Persian army sent to conquer an enemy city. With the invasion raging around him, the Prince must slip inside the inner defenses, allowing the game to present a brief and helpful tutorial. Of course, the city falls, the Persians win, and the Prince gets honor and glory, blah blah blah. The army heads back to Azad with slave girls and a mysterious, shiny, really big hourglass in tow, while the Prince admires a shiny and special dagger that he found in the inner city. Back in Azad, the second cousin of Jafar, know only as the Vizier, tricks our unsuspecting hero into opening the hourglass with the dagger. Oh, now shit's getting real, man! The Sands of Time are unleashed and essentially turn everyone in the palace into sand zombies, with the exceptions of the Prince, the Vizier, and the captured princess-turned slave girl Farah. The Vizier wants the dagger, which is revealed to have the power to use the Sands to turn back time, but the Prince escapes and allies himself with Farah to survive and stop the Vizier. Seriously, no one realized this guy was evil? When you see him, you'll know what I mean. Thus, the story only contains three characters of any importance, but the interactions between them really create an interesting narrative. The pairing of the Prince and Farah is an especially notable one, as the two play off one another with realistic human bantering, taunting, and nagging that creates very witty and at points intentionally hilarious dialogue. The characters feel real and human, and you'll find yourself getting somewhat attatched to them. (Although Farah did accidentally shoot me in the face at one point and killed me. Damn you >_>)
Gameplay
But we're here to play a game now, aren't we? SoT is defined by people who spend their time setting such definitions as a "realistic platformer." Now, a nonrealistic platformer is something like a Mario game where you tackle levels that are designed as part of a game, with floating blocks and the ability to fall from any height. A realistic platformer is one where the levels are integrated into natural, real-world areas, and falling from more than 10 or so feet will cause your kneecaps and leg bones to forceably declare a holiday from service. In this reviewer's opinion, SoT is the best realistic platformer one could ask for. (Here I am carried away and drawn and quarted by legions of Uncharted fans. Let it be said that I have never played Uncharted.) The levels are blended seamlessly in with the architecture and structure of the massive Persian palace that you're in, creating a sense of immersion. The Prince is a platforming whiz with a long jump and the ability to run on walls and flip acrobatically from poles and the like. Once you've completed a long series of jumps, wall-runs, and acrobatics, I can guarantee you WILL feel like a total bad-ass. This is natural and it's good; it's all in a day's work for PERSIA MAN! But even this badassery pales in comparison to the game's central feature- the Dagger of Time. As long as you have sand in the dagger, the Prince can rewind time at any time for up to around 10 seconds as everything runs backwards. This, in effect, allows you to awesomely erase mistakes and redo things that you screwed up. Fall off a ledge or miss a jump and are now a bloody smear on the tile below? Just rewind time and watch yourself fly backwards back up the fall's path until you end up right back where you started. It is simply AMAZING and one of the best gimmicks I have ever seen, and it is integrated perfectly with gameplay, creating a natural flow of platforming and rewinds that keeps the rhythm going and the pace fast and exciting. You'll also have to solve some puzzles of the lever-pulling, block-pushing variety. Some are more clever than others, so you'll have some likes and dislikes in that regard. Farah also helps out, and generally her AI is pretty good, helping you to solve some of the more intricate puzzles. Overall, the platforming is top-notch and one of the best platforming experiences you'll have in a game. I promise badassery.
Combat
Ahh... hehe. About that. Combat gets its own section because it's the skeleton in SoT's closet, the pimple on its otherwise beautiful face that it doesn't like to talk about and will sweep under the rug. When I first got this game I had heard many stories about how absymal the combat once, but I decided to give it a chance. At first, it seemed fine. The Prince's fighting style revolves around his acrobatics- he leaps over enemies' heads and jumps off of walls, striking with quick blows from his sword and the Dagger. Again, the Prince proved to be a badass, leaping over sand zombies to strike them in the head. However, about halfway through the game, enemies are introduced that can knock you out of midair and block any leaping attacks, forcing you to fight on the ground. This point is where things get ugly. The Prince is not particularly great at one-on-one ground fighting, but the game will then toss about five enemies at you at once and see how you do. The Prince also tends to lock onto a single enemy at a time, leaving your butt exposed for a nice sand zombie chew. Also, to get more sand for the dagger, you must knock down an enemy, then plunge the Dagger into its chest and eat its sand, killing it. This is cool at first, but once large groups of enemies show up, you must do this for EVERY kill you make, otherwise the enemy gets back up with revived strength. Thus, tedium and leaving yourself open join forces. The Prince also has special moves that can kill without the eating, but they use up a seperate sand meter, and once that's gone you're back to the old problems. Throw in some scenarios where you're trapped in a small room with a bunch of foes and foes that block most of your basic attacks until a specific moment and you're led to moments of hair-pulling frustration as you lose for the umpteenth time. Farah is somewhat helpful, but is a liability when you have to protect her. There's no other way to say it, the combat SUCKS, but the platforming and non-combat stuff is so good that you'll forgive SoT for this one offense. Just grit your teeth and shoulder through the fights, you'll get back to the good stuff soon.
Graphics
As a retro game this doesn't really apply, but for graphics snobs I'll put up this notice anyway. SoT's graphics are pretty good... for 2003. By today's standards they're not exactly beautiful, but they hold up better than one might think. Details are pretty good, but its no Resi 4 or Wind Waker. The way the levels are integrated into the Persian palace and archetecture deserves another mention, though, as it's a great touch and adds to the immersion. The Gamecube version's sound gets a little weird sometimes, but it's no big deal.
Overall Difficulty
SoT can be both easy and hard when it wants to be. Several platforming challenges are devilishy tricky and can trip you up several times over, but that's nothing a quick time rewind can't fix. This method keeps the diffculty up without ranging into the frustrating. However, some combat scenarios (I'm looking at YOU, Mr. Elevator up the tower) do wander into the dark and forbidden realm of frustration with some of the things the game expects you to do with its weak combat system. Thank goodness that you can rewind time in battle too, but even that's not enough to prevent your ass from being handed to you because of a horde of ridiculous enemies. However, these challenges don't show up often enough to break the diffculty level. The overall effect is a moderately challenging game with a couple high peaks and low valleys of difficulty throughout.
Conclusion
Overall, SoT is a quite stellar game that is one of the gems of the Gamecube/PS2/Xbox generation. It has interesting characters, good writing, fantasticallly crafted levels and platforming, and a true sense of being a total badass. It also has one of the best gameplay hooks ever in the Dagger of Time (which you will wish that you had in real life, trust me), and it has the sense of breaking new ground and trying new ideas to great success that many games lack. However, the combat is extremely poor and some moments can be quite aggravating. It's a testament to how truly great the main game is, however, when I can recommend it without any hesitation. SoT is a prime example of a height of the platforming genre, and it will leave you quite satsfied and ready to take on the sequels (none of which I have played as of yet). If you're at all interested in realistic platforming, I'd say to give SoT a try, especially considering you can get it for around $10 nowadays. I'm off to go tripping through time, see you! Remember, It's Dangerous To Go Alone!
As an opening first review that just so happens to fall on a movie release day, I've decided to do the time warp back to 2003 to talk about a game known to many as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Cover for the game
As you may or may not be aware (you probably are), a movie adaptation of this game was released in theaters today. In honor of the movie and the release of the Sands of Time series' newest game, The Forgotten Sands, I have decided to take a retrospective look at SoT itself. (Oh, and in case you were wondering, the movie is a damn good movie and easily the best video game-based movie ever. Go see it.) So, let us begin this wonderful dissection, shall we? Oh, and in case the picture didn't alert you, I played this game on the Gamecube. So the PS2 or Xbox experience may be slightly different, don't say I didn't warn you.
Premise and Story
Sands of Time (hereby abbreviated to SoT for laziness purposes) is set in an unspecified period in ancient Persia, when the Persian Empire ruled high and mighty over the land prior to getting curb-stomped by the Spartans. The game begins with the titular Prince at the head of an invading Persian army sent to conquer an enemy city. With the invasion raging around him, the Prince must slip inside the inner defenses, allowing the game to present a brief and helpful tutorial. Of course, the city falls, the Persians win, and the Prince gets honor and glory, blah blah blah. The army heads back to Azad with slave girls and a mysterious, shiny, really big hourglass in tow, while the Prince admires a shiny and special dagger that he found in the inner city. Back in Azad, the second cousin of Jafar, know only as the Vizier, tricks our unsuspecting hero into opening the hourglass with the dagger. Oh, now shit's getting real, man! The Sands of Time are unleashed and essentially turn everyone in the palace into sand zombies, with the exceptions of the Prince, the Vizier, and the captured princess-turned slave girl Farah. The Vizier wants the dagger, which is revealed to have the power to use the Sands to turn back time, but the Prince escapes and allies himself with Farah to survive and stop the Vizier. Seriously, no one realized this guy was evil? When you see him, you'll know what I mean. Thus, the story only contains three characters of any importance, but the interactions between them really create an interesting narrative. The pairing of the Prince and Farah is an especially notable one, as the two play off one another with realistic human bantering, taunting, and nagging that creates very witty and at points intentionally hilarious dialogue. The characters feel real and human, and you'll find yourself getting somewhat attatched to them. (Although Farah did accidentally shoot me in the face at one point and killed me. Damn you >_>)
Gameplay
But we're here to play a game now, aren't we? SoT is defined by people who spend their time setting such definitions as a "realistic platformer." Now, a nonrealistic platformer is something like a Mario game where you tackle levels that are designed as part of a game, with floating blocks and the ability to fall from any height. A realistic platformer is one where the levels are integrated into natural, real-world areas, and falling from more than 10 or so feet will cause your kneecaps and leg bones to forceably declare a holiday from service. In this reviewer's opinion, SoT is the best realistic platformer one could ask for. (Here I am carried away and drawn and quarted by legions of Uncharted fans. Let it be said that I have never played Uncharted.) The levels are blended seamlessly in with the architecture and structure of the massive Persian palace that you're in, creating a sense of immersion. The Prince is a platforming whiz with a long jump and the ability to run on walls and flip acrobatically from poles and the like. Once you've completed a long series of jumps, wall-runs, and acrobatics, I can guarantee you WILL feel like a total bad-ass. This is natural and it's good; it's all in a day's work for PERSIA MAN! But even this badassery pales in comparison to the game's central feature- the Dagger of Time. As long as you have sand in the dagger, the Prince can rewind time at any time for up to around 10 seconds as everything runs backwards. This, in effect, allows you to awesomely erase mistakes and redo things that you screwed up. Fall off a ledge or miss a jump and are now a bloody smear on the tile below? Just rewind time and watch yourself fly backwards back up the fall's path until you end up right back where you started. It is simply AMAZING and one of the best gimmicks I have ever seen, and it is integrated perfectly with gameplay, creating a natural flow of platforming and rewinds that keeps the rhythm going and the pace fast and exciting. You'll also have to solve some puzzles of the lever-pulling, block-pushing variety. Some are more clever than others, so you'll have some likes and dislikes in that regard. Farah also helps out, and generally her AI is pretty good, helping you to solve some of the more intricate puzzles. Overall, the platforming is top-notch and one of the best platforming experiences you'll have in a game. I promise badassery.
Combat
Ahh... hehe. About that. Combat gets its own section because it's the skeleton in SoT's closet, the pimple on its otherwise beautiful face that it doesn't like to talk about and will sweep under the rug. When I first got this game I had heard many stories about how absymal the combat once, but I decided to give it a chance. At first, it seemed fine. The Prince's fighting style revolves around his acrobatics- he leaps over enemies' heads and jumps off of walls, striking with quick blows from his sword and the Dagger. Again, the Prince proved to be a badass, leaping over sand zombies to strike them in the head. However, about halfway through the game, enemies are introduced that can knock you out of midair and block any leaping attacks, forcing you to fight on the ground. This point is where things get ugly. The Prince is not particularly great at one-on-one ground fighting, but the game will then toss about five enemies at you at once and see how you do. The Prince also tends to lock onto a single enemy at a time, leaving your butt exposed for a nice sand zombie chew. Also, to get more sand for the dagger, you must knock down an enemy, then plunge the Dagger into its chest and eat its sand, killing it. This is cool at first, but once large groups of enemies show up, you must do this for EVERY kill you make, otherwise the enemy gets back up with revived strength. Thus, tedium and leaving yourself open join forces. The Prince also has special moves that can kill without the eating, but they use up a seperate sand meter, and once that's gone you're back to the old problems. Throw in some scenarios where you're trapped in a small room with a bunch of foes and foes that block most of your basic attacks until a specific moment and you're led to moments of hair-pulling frustration as you lose for the umpteenth time. Farah is somewhat helpful, but is a liability when you have to protect her. There's no other way to say it, the combat SUCKS, but the platforming and non-combat stuff is so good that you'll forgive SoT for this one offense. Just grit your teeth and shoulder through the fights, you'll get back to the good stuff soon.
Graphics
As a retro game this doesn't really apply, but for graphics snobs I'll put up this notice anyway. SoT's graphics are pretty good... for 2003. By today's standards they're not exactly beautiful, but they hold up better than one might think. Details are pretty good, but its no Resi 4 or Wind Waker. The way the levels are integrated into the Persian palace and archetecture deserves another mention, though, as it's a great touch and adds to the immersion. The Gamecube version's sound gets a little weird sometimes, but it's no big deal.
Overall Difficulty
SoT can be both easy and hard when it wants to be. Several platforming challenges are devilishy tricky and can trip you up several times over, but that's nothing a quick time rewind can't fix. This method keeps the diffculty up without ranging into the frustrating. However, some combat scenarios (I'm looking at YOU, Mr. Elevator up the tower) do wander into the dark and forbidden realm of frustration with some of the things the game expects you to do with its weak combat system. Thank goodness that you can rewind time in battle too, but even that's not enough to prevent your ass from being handed to you because of a horde of ridiculous enemies. However, these challenges don't show up often enough to break the diffculty level. The overall effect is a moderately challenging game with a couple high peaks and low valleys of difficulty throughout.
Conclusion
Overall, SoT is a quite stellar game that is one of the gems of the Gamecube/PS2/Xbox generation. It has interesting characters, good writing, fantasticallly crafted levels and platforming, and a true sense of being a total badass. It also has one of the best gameplay hooks ever in the Dagger of Time (which you will wish that you had in real life, trust me), and it has the sense of breaking new ground and trying new ideas to great success that many games lack. However, the combat is extremely poor and some moments can be quite aggravating. It's a testament to how truly great the main game is, however, when I can recommend it without any hesitation. SoT is a prime example of a height of the platforming genre, and it will leave you quite satsfied and ready to take on the sequels (none of which I have played as of yet). If you're at all interested in realistic platforming, I'd say to give SoT a try, especially considering you can get it for around $10 nowadays. I'm off to go tripping through time, see you! Remember, It's Dangerous To Go Alone!
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