Review: Ragnarok Odyssey

Posted on November 1, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Game Arts

Publisher: Xseed Games

# of Players: 1 (online 1 – 4)

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Score: A- (90%)

Another key Vita game hitting stores and PSN at a prime point in a pretty busy year, Ragnarok Odyssey is one of the better JRPGs on the handheld thanks to addictive, fast-paced gameplay, plenty of tough enemies in offline single and online multiplayer modes and lots of lovely visuals and sound to groove on as you play. The game clicks in just about every area and fans of Ragnarok Online and the under-appreciated Ragnarok DS will be pleased to know that the game has enough familiar elements that it feels like a natural extension of those games that can be enjoyed on its own merits. The game is so good that the only major flaws here are some lock-on issues and the lack of a PlayStation 3 version or the ability for Cross Play functionality. The PS3 could use a decent new MMO/Action RPG experience and this would have been superb had GungHo Online and developer Game Arts seen fit to bring the game to that console.

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Review: Dokuro

Posted on October 31, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Game Arts/PonKotz Troops

Publisher: GungHo Online Entertainment

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: A (95%)

Combining a cool storybook visual style and a compelling mix of puzzle, platforming and combat elements, Dokuro comes to PS Vita owners at a crucial time for Sony’s handheld. The Vita absolutely needs some key titles to prop it up as it finds its user base and GungHo Online Entertainment’s first of two games for the system (both from veteran Japanese developer Game Arts) ends up as a must-by for fans of old-school gameplay (and new school game delivery systems). This PSN game manages to be compelling right from the start thanks to the likable (and very dead, but cute) “hero”, the solid controls and how the surprisingly emotional story unfolds as you play.

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Import Review: Earth Defense Forces 3 Portable

Posted on October 27, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: SANDLOT

Publisher: D3Publisher

# of Players: 1 – 4

CERO Rating: C (Ages 15+)

Official Site (Japan)

Score: A (95%)

Much more than a straightforward port of the former Xbox 360 exclusive, Earth Defense Forces 3 Portable comes screaming onto the Vita as the game developer Sandlot most likely wanted to make in the first place. The return of Pale Wing and her energy-based weaponry (from EDF 2 on the PS2 and PSP) adds a new way to experience the game, while an up to four-player co-op mode, rebalanced and all-new weapon drops, new enemy types, trophies galore and seven new levels makes this an absolute must-buy for anyone with a Vita. While the import is indeed entirely in Japanese, the fact that the game is coming to the US this winter in English means Vita owners here have a great game in the pipeline that will get plenty of play and replay. For those who’ve played the 360 version to death, there’s definitely enough new content there to get you equally obsessed (and yes, perhaps it’s time to get that Vita if you’ve been on the fence).

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Review: Naughty Bear: Panic In Paradise

Posted on October 21, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PS3 (also on Xbox 360)

Developer: Behaviour Interactive

Publisher: 505 Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 & Up)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

A much more improved update to the original Naughty Bear (one of the great guilty pleasures for me this console cycle), Naughty Bear: Panic In Paradise adds more of everything fans asked for plus whatever wackiness developer Behaviour Interactive (formerly Artificial Mind & Movement) cooked up to make this a bigger and better game experience. While the visual style is the same (deceptively plain for the most part), the amount of content here is staggering, particularly if you’re a gamer who has to unlock every single piece of gear and uncover every secret. Add in a budget price point and you’re getting a ton of game here for not a lot of loot, always a good thing in this day and age.

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Review: Tiny Troopers (PC/Mac)

Posted on September 7, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PC/Mac

Developer: Kukouri Mobile Entertainment

Publisher: Iceberg Interactive

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Tiny Troopers is a really fun blend of action and light strategic elements reminiscent of the classic PC game Cannon Fodder with a tiny bit of Taito’s ancient arcade game, Front Line for good measure. Ported from the mobile version by developer Kukouri Mobile Entertainment, TT is a great little budget game that packs in 30 increasingly challenging missions, a nice selection of unlockable gear and upgrades and even a small set of Achievements for gamers who feel the urge to milk every penny of the ten dollars the game costs. Some may gripe about the lack of an actual story, no online play, some occasionally wonky pathfinding and a handful of other things. But overall, you’re absolutely getting your money’s worth here in a game with a decent amount of mission and map variety.

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Review: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Posted on September 3, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3 (also on Xbox 360, PC)

Developer: High Moon Studios

Publisher: Activision

# of Players: 1 (Online 2 – 12)

ESRB Rating; T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B+ (85%)

High Moon Studios swings hard for the fences with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, and while not quite a clean home run (it’s more of a hard rocket shot that clangs off the correct side of the foul pole into the stands), the game manages to be a fantastic follow up to Transformers: War on Cybertron, despite the loss of co-op play and the twin campaign structure. Previous experience with the last game isn’t really necessary for any player to hop in and have a blast, but A true Transformers fan will tell you that you’ll need to know where the story began before tackling what’s here. It’s definitely going to help in terms of understanding what’s going on in all the chaos, as the game assumes you’re playing it because you’ve been around for the first installment. FoC is also packed with fan service in the form of in-jokes, references to the cartoons and the animated movie and more hidden goodies than you can shake a Minicron at.

(Although, shaking a Minicron would probably not be a good thing to do unless you were really mad at it for knocking over a vase onto that napping cat by “accident” or something…)

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Retro Review: Sorcerer’s Kingdom

Posted on August 25, 2012 by geelw

I remember the first time I saw screenshots of Treco’s Sorcerer’s Kingdom in an issue of Die Hard Game Fan back around 1992 or ’93 and immediately wanting to track down the game based on the art style and interesting battle system the article described. When I finally got the game, I wasn’t disappointed one bit. In fact, the rather brutal level of challenge right from the beginning kept me playing early areas of the map until I could take down the first actual boss in the game with relative ease, yet still aware that the next area would be geometrically tougher.

While the story is your pretty basic quasi-medieval RPG stuff that’s somewhat predictable in a few of the usual spots, the game doesn’t look at all like it’s stealing from some nameless anime or manga and it’s in the unique combat system that most players will find their fun and yes, frustrating moments…

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Random Indie Game of the Week: Epic Elf

Posted on August 19, 2012 by geelw

While it’s got a few pesky typos (and is yet ANOTHER game that’s making me wonder if I should join the fine folks over at RPGMaker.net and ask people to send me their scripts to proofread), spirit_young‘s very cool and often crudely funny RPG, Epic Elf manages to be well worth checking out for a few reasons. His spin on the treasure hunting rogue and his slime minion is a fun one, complete with modern day cursing (hey, it made me laugh) and plenty of increasingly challenging battles. I liked that the game wasn’t a complete walk in the park and some of the dungeons past the first area require your party to be properly leveled, packing some powerful gear and spells in order to take out enemies and much more brutal bosses. You can swap your trusty slime out with another useful minion once you find it, but be sure to level the new one up a bit or it will constantly be dying in combat.

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Quickie Import Review: Airs Adventure

Posted on August 7, 2012 by geelw

I was moving some games last week and this one fell on my head, so I had to see if my memory still works by recalling what it’s about. Well, other than being a collaboration between the generically named Game Studio with ToysPress and May Music, Airs Adventure for the Sega Saturn is pretty dated if you judge it by today’s standards. Granted, it was probably dated by 1996 standards because the game isn’t all that complicated or challenging save for some wandering about necessary mid-game to solve a puzzle. Despite the language barrier It was one of the first imports I was able to complete it twice without understanding any Japanese thanks to the simple combat system, only two party members to deal with and for the most part, fairly linear progression.

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Review: Brave The Video Game (NDS)

Posted on July 2, 2012 by geelw

Platform: Nintendo DS/DSi

Developer: Behaviour Interactive, Inc.

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: B- (75%)

While not perfect, with Brave: The Video Game for the Nintendo DS, Behaviour Interactive has managed to bring the familiar fun of plenty of great action platform games from the past. While the portable version is skewed a bit more to younger gamers than the console ones are (don’t let that E 10+ rating fool you), there’s a decent amount of fun to be had with all the sword swinging, bow shooting, platforming and super to mildly simple puzzle solving. If you’re able to get over the otherwise fine PSOne-era visuals, occasional AI silliness and some jumping issues a better camera angle would have helped fix, you’ll find this to be a nice (albeit brief) diversion if you’ve got a few hours to kill.

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