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Vidya Game Reviews
Topic Started: Feb 26 2011, 03:27 AM (11,990 Views)
MementoVivere
Unregistered

Bringing this over at the behest of Lightning.

Anyway, the rules are simple. Post your reviews here. Any game on any console is welcome, and I'll add new sections as we get new consoles represented here. I don't want simple one line or paragraph reviews; I want reviews that go in-depth about various aspects of a game. I want the review to be something that tells the reader you actually played the game and know what you are talking about, whether it's a few paragraphs or a few pages long. Also, make them readable. I expect perfection of nobody, but I expect a reasonable effort to keep errors down. Last, feel free to write dissenting reviews! Disagree with me or anyone else? Fine, write your review with your opinion, but don't flame.

OP will be reserved for links to game reviews. Reviews will be sorted by console, with multi-platform titles getting their own section. My first review is in the next post.


Multi-platform:
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (SaiyanShredder)
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (SaiyanShredder)
Batman: Arkham City (kmr95)
Bioshock (failureatlife)
Borderlands (SaiyanShredder)
Borderlands 2 (Volt)
Catherine (Romanticide)
Darksiders (DucksFAN93)
Deus Ex (SnowmanXIV)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Romanticide)
Final Fantasy XIII (LightningBolt)
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Romanticide)
NASCAR: The Game 2011 (nascargo19)
Portal 2 (SnowmanXIV)
Tomb Raider (MrMarill)
Sonic Generations (MrMarill)
Spec Ops: The Line (failureatlife)



Nintendo DS:
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Romanticide)
Pokemon Black (MrMarill)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (MrMarill)

Nintendo 3DS:
Kid Icarus: Uprising (LifeAgainstDeath)
Mario Kart 7 (MrMarill)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 (MrMarill)
Rayman 3D (MrMarill)
Super Mario 3D Land (MrMarill)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (MrMarill)


PC:
BYOND (SnowmanXIV)
Silent Hill 3 (failureatlife)
Star Wars: Empire at War (failureatlife)
Yume Nikki (Volt)

PS2:
Athens 2004: The Olympic Games (MrMarill)
Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis (Romanticide)
Persona 3 (Romanticide)

PS3:
inFAMOUS 2 (Bigcalv2002)
Journey (MrMarill)
Valkyria Chronicles (LightningBolt)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Bigcalv2002)

PSP:
Persona 3 Portable (LightningBolt)

Wii:
The Last Story (Romanticide)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (MrMarill)
Pandora's Tower (Romanticide)
Super Paper Mario (MatthewJJA)
Xenoblade Chronicles (Romanticide)

Xbox 360:
Gears of War 2 (tfghost92)
Gears of War 3 (SaiyanShredder)
Halo: Reach (MrMarill)

Gamecube:
Luigi's Mansion (metallicflames)

Retro:
Castlevania (NES) (MrMarill)
Mega Man X (SNES (MrMarill)
Ninja Gaiden: Shadow Warriors (NES) (MrMarill)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) (MrMarill)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) (MrMarill)
Super Bomberman (SNES) (MrMarill)
Super Mario RPG (SNES) (SaiyanShredder)
Super Mario World (SNES) (MrMarill)
Super Metroid (SNES) (MrMarill)
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MementoVivere
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Game: Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis
Platform: PS2 (also PSP?)
Genre: RPG
Rating: 8.5/10

I was pretty much sold when I read this game was somewhat like my favorite all-time "modern" game, Persona 4. For the uninitiated, that game has you juggling school, relationships with various characters, and solving a murder mystery. Even if it makes NO SENSE like every JRPG - scratch that, RPG - ever, it's something different from the norm. It's addicting as hell. Oh. Right. Mana Khemia.

Gameplay is fairly typical for the genre. What is an RPG without battles, emphasis on stats/pumping said stats via equipment, melee/magic, and so on? Mana Khemia differs from most RPGs in that you will make nearly every item you use. Each ingredient you use has/adds certain attributes to the final result, which is great. You can tinker until you get the effects you want, provided you have the ingredients. You can buy/find some items, but you will be making most of them via the game's alchemy system. You are an aspiring ALCHEMIST; making items is kind of the point of the game. As you do so, this will open up more nodes in your "Grow Book", which is a lot like FFX's Sphere Grid system. You'll still need AP, earned via battling, to actually obtain the aforementioned goodies. There is no experience in this game, meaning you'll need to get deep into the Grow Book to actually win the game. It's not that hard to do, though; AP is plentiful if you do jobs (aka sidequests). Grinding is pretty much useless for gaining strength, and that's a good thing.

Battling is also relatively normal for a turn-based game. However, you'll always get to know when an action will occur thanks to the card system. It's similar to Arc Rise Fantasia in that way. Knowing who will go when (or what will happen when in some cases) is paramount to success in this game. Also, once you get 4-6 characters, you can switch them in and out nearly at will. The active characters will fight while the inactive characters will recover their SP (magic). You can use your best skills at will, leading to faster-paced and mostly easier battles. You won't be sitting around bashing X for ten minutes or constantly healing. If you're looking for a challenge on the level of an SMT game, you will not find it in the main game. Even so... The final boss has some asshole moves. No healing for several turns? Cloning your characters? Summoning strong enemies? All hax.

The story isn't really all that great, to be honest. It starts off rather slow, with your character getting acclimated with his new school, meeting new partners/friends, doing introductory alchemy work, and all that jazz. It's just... basic school stuff for half the story, then at around chapter 7-8, shit finally starts getting real. The problem is there are only twelve chapters, so there really are only four or so chapters of actual story development. Sure, there are villains beforehand, but even the slower amongst us can see these are not our real adversaries. They're just there mostly to screw with you. A lot is left unexplained in this game, and I'm not sure if the sequel will bother to explain it. Characters are all various JRPG cliches. I'm not going to bother to point them all out, but the one that is pulled off best IMO is Jess. Vayne is a much less meek Emil Castanagier (of ToS2 fame). Flay reminds me of Dekar or Guy from Lufia II in various ways, so he's acceptable too. Muppy is, imo, shoehorned into the game and an amalgamation of the worst cliches I can think of. He's the only character I'd say "totally sucks". He has a use in battle though, so I kinda was stuck with him. None of them are really developed in the main story at all. You'll have to do their side quests during free days to get anything resembling character development. It's like most are there just because otherwise.

Graphics are fairly old-school, reminiscient of the late SNES era. I'd compare this (favorably) to a title like Seiken Densetsu 3, Lufia II, or even Chrono Trigger. Still, even those games are not very advanced graphically compared to... Well, nearly any XBox/GCN/PS2 title, really. The artstyle is great though. Every environment is jawdroppingly beautiful considering that everything was done in 2-D. The characters all look awesome, though very much like they got ripped from some random anime/manga. About the only real complaint is that the game lags at times, which it shouldn't when you consider the technology in a PS2.

I could cream all over the music for daaaaays. It's great. From the second you put the disc in the CD drive, you know shit's gonna be awesome just because the first song you hear kicks ass. Run For Your Life, the opening theme, is a pretty damn catchy piece of j-pop. The best pieces are easily Stigmata and Nefertiti. It shouldn't come as a surprise that these are later boss themes; they tend to be the best pieces in a game. All the background music is at least adequate, with much of it being good or great, and the boss themes all being totally awesome. It's well worth the money to get a collector's edition, even if the game has a music menu.

Single player RPGs have trouble adding replayability to a game. Outside of different endings and new dungeons/bosses, what the hell can they do? Mana Khemia features all of these, actually. There is one ending for each character, INCLUDING the main character. There are eight endings in all. There's also a bonus dungeon which of course comes with its own bonus bosses. As with all RPGs, you'll have to like the game enough to care about trying for all eight endings. With some careful saving, it could be done fairly fast, however.

This game is niche as hell. If you like an old-school RPG, you may like this. If you like RPGs with systems that deviate from the traditional "grind for XP/money", you may like this. If you like a plain old weeaboo game, you may like this. If you like Persona 4, you may be disappointed to find the school/relationship aspects aren't half as meaningful in this game, though they're still good. There aren't a whole lot of people I can recommend it to, but anyone who has an appreciation for the genre may find a gem here.
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LightningBolt
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Game: Final Fantasy XIII
Platform: Xbox 360 (also available for the Playstation 3)
Genre: RPG
Rating: 9.3/10

This was the first Final Fantasy game I've ever played. The game has been very polarizing to fans of the series and to anybody who happens to play it. Well, I'm on the side who absolutely loved the game, as evident by the rating I've given it, but I do have a few gripes with the game, which I'll get to later in the review.

Well, let's start with the plot. Now, since I don't want to give away anything, let's just say that all of the characters you play as through the game are striving for the same goal for reasons that are discovered as the game progresses. You begin to really know the characters through the game, and I personally grew to like each and every one of them, even if some of them started out very annoying. Personally, for me, Snow and Hope were fairly annoying in the earlier stages, but I grew to like both of them by the end of the game. Anyways, all of the characters were different and each brought their own personality to the little group and it worked very well. Lightning was my favorite of the bunch. The game is pretty linear with limited options up until Chapter 11, so the developers were able to keep the story at a good pace throughout the game. This was one of the good parts about the game being linear. I think it added to how the story was presented. Now, I do have some beef with the story. The characters ultimately want to save their home - Cocoon - but I don't think the game did a very good job making you care much about Cocoon as the player. You care far more about the personal things at stake for each character than Cocoon. I personally didn't care what happened to Cocoon, which is a shame because it was a pretty large part of the story. Now, those personal things at stake I referred to are more than enough to keep you engaged with the story, and you will want to know what happens next for a good majority of the game. There are also a few curve balls thrown into the story that you don't see coming that are done incredibly well.

The graphics and visuals are simply amazing in this game. They're the best I've ever seen in a video game. Each area for each chapter looks incredible and they're all very different. You go from cyberpunk-influenced cities to beautiful forests to vast, open plains. The game is almost worth the $25 price tag as a nice piece of eye-candy. The longer and more important cut-scenes are rendered in what I'd guess is CGI animation, and they're visually stunning. The graphics were the very first thing to grab me when I popped in the game. This is an area that will not disappoint you, and if it does, there's something obviously wrong with you. I've talked to several people who have stated that they disliked the game, and each have stated that the graphics and visuals were top-notch.

The music is awesome. In the touchy cutscenes, the music does a fantastic job of furthering the emotion. During the faster and more action-packed sequences, the music is louder and more aggressive. The music doesn't blow your mind, but you notice it, and in a very good way. The music does a great job of fitting the situations, and this will not be an area of disappointment, believe me.

The battle system is one of the more criticized sections of the game from its detractors. Many believe the battle system does the battling for you, and it does help you out a lot, this is true. But you're able to choose your own actions whenever you want, and I believe Marill told me that he switched that to his first setting, so you're able to change which appears at the top of the list (either "Auto-battle", which fills your action sequence for you, or "Abilities", which lets you choose from your list of abilities). I personally had no problems with the battle system. If you were to just hit "auto-battle" the entire time, you'll get nowhere fast. You're always paying attention, switching paradigms, using items, using different techniques (like summoning your character's Eidolon or using Libra to get the info on the enemy you're fighting). You're definitely not able to sit back and let the game take care of your battles for you, and you're always engaged in the battle, if it's not completely easy, in which case you wouldn't be very engaged even if you were picking your own moves. One thing that bugged me a few times throughout the game was the lack of ability to move around on your own during a battle, but I suppose the game would be much easier if you were able to. You could theoretically hide underneath certain enemies, or just run away all together and stay out of range while your other characters take the abuse and heal themselves. Since everyone on the field fills a gauge and uses actions and then waits for the gauge again before attacking, there's still an element of a turn-based battle system. Of course it's not like any other turn-based battle system, but there's still that element of waiting a specific amount of time between attacks, and depending on your enemy's gauge, it can almost turn into what feels like a turn-based battle.

The game itself is very linear up until Chapter 11, but I personally didn't mind this a whole lot. It's not good for exploration, but like I said earlier, it was a neat way of keeping the story as engaging as it is, with cutscenes activating at certain intervals in each chapter. It's mostly traveling towards your destination, with a few sidepaths here and there with an item at the end and maybe a tough enemy blocking said item. Then there's Chapter 11. There is an entire game's worth of side missions here alone. All together there are about 65 missions. I completed 27 in my playthrough, and I still managed to clock in at over 60 hours of playtime. Doing all of these - and especially while trying to net a perfect rating on each - will put your playtime at a pretty high total. There's no grinding needed. I dun goof'd and thought I was going to need to grind, oblivious to these missions that I've spoken of. The missions will put you on track to have an acceptable amount of experience to progress.

The level up and upgrade systems are nice. You use a system called the Crystarium, in which you fill up one peg at a time to increase attributes (the only attributes being HP, Magic, and Strength). I've heard it compared to Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid system. This is a fairly straight-forward system. There are branches in it, and I don't think you need to fill all the branches in order to level up, but I filled them all up for each character as I went, so I can't say for sure. So, if there's a branch of three or so Strength upgrades, and you're using Hope - who has little need for Strength - I don't think you'd have to waste the experience points on these attributes. The weapon and accessory upgrade system is more indepth. You use items that you collect after battles or bought in the store to increase the weapon or accessory's level. When it reaches its max level, a trasnformational item can be applied to upgrade it to the next tier for weapons. After it is then again upgraded to its max level, a second transformational item can be applied. This will put the weapon at its max power. Each weapon and accessory has different attribute and abilities, but this is probably obvious for anybody reading.

Overall, I absolutely loved this game. I've played it every night for 3 weeks or so, playing hours at a time. With an engaging story, utterly fantastic visuals, strong music, fun gameplay, and hours and hours of playtime, this is definitely a recommendation to anyone. The rating of 9.3 may seem weird, but I felt that 9.5 may be too high and a 9 was too low, so I settled somewhere inbetween.
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MrMarill
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Dammit, I wanted to review it when I was done! You should've done all the quests!

I fail to see why on earth people say the game is bad. Auto-Battle really doesn't do the battle FOR you, you have to change paradigms and everything else constantly.

Another gripe I have is that Medics will quite often heal me when I have yellow health over themselves with flashing red health. Urgh.

I'll post a review of Mirror's Edge soon (Y)
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DarkFlashlight
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Psh, 9.3, what a stupid rating.
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MementoVivere
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MrMarill
Feb 26 2011, 04:06 AM
I fail to see why on earth people say the game is bad. Auto-Battle really doesn't do the battle FOR you, you have to change paradigms and everything else constantly.

Sounds like the same gripe some people had with XII. Except you could theoretically have a Gambit setup that makes the whole game like watching a movie. But that's no fun. I always controlled one character and left the others to do their own thing.

Nice review, Lightning. Just needed MOAR VANILLE.
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MrMarill
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Vanille is the best character.
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MrMarill
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Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition

3D! It's in 3D! THREE DIMENSIONS!

We get the idea. Every single game feels the need to announce boldly in its title that it's in 3D! Rayman 3D, Ridge Racer 3D, Pilotwings 3D... You know, I think I would have guessed from the console being called the BLOODY 3DS.

Anyway, SSFIV3D (what a long title) is a port of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 game Super Street Fighter IV. From what I understand it has a few new characters here and there, but otherwise it's the same except it has 3D!

Street Fighter was never exactly known for game modes and it doesn't try to revolutionise here. You have Arcade (beat people up), Versus (beat people up), Internet Match (beat people up), Training (beat people up), Trials (beat people up) and finally Bonus Modes (beat cars and barrels up). Well, the good thing is, beating up people is FUN.

Blocking feels very satisfying, and attacking your opponent when their guard is down feels really good. On the touch screen you have your four main combos, and I'm glad for this. A lot of the combos are practically impossible to pull off on the 3DS- Holding down while doing directional sequences and pressing a button with your other hand- and remembering the combos for every single character is a huge pain.

You'll want to go through every character 'till you get one you like to use. I like using the faster characters who have power and just the cool ones, so I like to use Rose, Sakura and Vega the most so far. Everyone has a character right for them, and mostly they seem balanced. Of course, there are some match-ups which are basically an autowin for one character, but that's always going to happen.

Like I said, beating people up is fun. Every character moves differently, combos differently and just FEELS different. The main Arcade mode is fun to go through and the final boss of it will have you trying again and again to beat him. A lot of the fights later on in Arcade become immensely cheap as the computers get instant-frame reactions, or in the case of the final boss moves which are simply IMPOSSIBLE, but it's not so frustrating it's annoying. Every time you lose there is a reason for it and you'll want to keep retrying until you beat them. Beating someone feels immensely satisfying, and the announcer screaming "KAAAY OOOOH" every time is even more satisfying.

The 3D effect on this game seems unnecessary. It didn't have to be a 3DS game at all. In fact, it's harder to use the Circle Pad so this game could've worked absolutely fine on the normal DS, just obviously they wouldn't have enhanced graphics and all that jazz. I'm not saying the 3D effect is BAD- because it really, really isn't- just unnecessary. The 3D effect in battle looks good and the menus look great. The game's very well presented.

A new feature I forgot about while writing this is the "Dynamic View", or the "3D Battle". This gives you a view of over the character's shoulder while battling, which as the name implies it to utilise the 3D. I tried it. I'll be honest, it seems like they threw it in JUST to show off the 3D. Actually battling with that view is a challenge. It's possible of course but you're just much better off doing the traditional view.

I love this game. I've played it a lot since last Friday, enough to write this review. But that's its flaw. There's nothing to do after a while. It's not like an adventure game or even the original Super Mario Bros that you can play in a five hour session and not get bored, trying out different things every few minutes. Beating people up is really fun, sure, but there's only so many ways you can beat someone up. The game is really fun in short bursts but it just lacks things to do after a while. I'll be playing it for a long time, I'm sure, to get better, but it's not like you can fire the game up and waste an entire day by accident.

Score: 8.6/10
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LightningBolt
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Nice review! I didn't even notice it when you first posted it.
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MrMarill
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Seemingly no one did, I was very disappointed.

Thanks, Imma do a Rayman 3D one tomorrow as I finished it recently =D
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nascargo19
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this review will probably suck since I'm not much of a reviewer

Posted Image
Platforms: PS3, 360, Wii (mines a PS3 version)
Genre: Racing
Rating: 9/10

Without a doubt the best nascar game I've ever played. Other then a simulator in a full size race car when I met Elliott Sadler, but racing in something like that is not something you can do everyday. Not to mention most people would never have enough money to get one of their own, and if they do, they wouldn't have enough room for it.

Now to the game itself. Great graphics, great damage looks, you actually get loose if you come out of the corner wrong. (that happens alot at texas.) Lots of big improvements from EA's Nascar games. This includes every track from the 2010 season, and also Kentucky Speedway witch is new this year.

One thing that I didn't like about EAs is the fact that they would have the paint schemes from the year before. (nascar 2006 had the cars of 2005, ect, ect) Activision is doing this as well, but in about a month, there should be a free DLC pack with all the 2011 paint schemes and schedule. So that's a plus.

Now one thing with the paint schemes is kinda annoying is how they have to take out the Budwiser and Miller Lite sponsers off of the 2 and 9 cars. You guys might not think this is a big deal, but for fans of Kurt Busch (2) and Kasey Kahne, (9) they don't feel like they are driving their car. Same to any other nascar fans that see their car. I do (somewhat) understand how that is technically advertising to minors, but it's still kinda annoying.

One thing I don't understand is how Kevin Harvick's car doesn't have his Penzoil/Shell sponsor, how is Motor Oil not allowed to be in this game? Mobile 1 is on the 77 car, why can't we have Shell?

Create-A-Car mode has also been updated from EAs games. EA only gave you a few little outlines to put on set places. You didn't really have to much to work with. On NTG:2011, you can do MUCH more, many decals, make your own decals, text, rotate them, put them where ever you want, make the shape wider, and much more. I've seen a few custom cars based off of real cars on Yotube. A custom version of Dale Earnharts #3 car looked almost exactly like his car.

I've allredy made a GH:III car, and where the drivers signature usually is on the car (above the windows,) I made some text, and put in Katy Perry. (If I can I'll post pictures of it.)

And the biggest upgrade from Nascar 08 and 09 on PS3? Split Screen Multiplayer, the past 2 didn't have this. (There was on PS2, but that's not as important as PS3)

I haven't played it online yet, but I've heard it's a little glitchy when the green flag drops.

also, I forgot to mention, but in the next patch on tuesday (how nice is that? Ativision gives nascar a patch, but not GH:WoR. I was even upset about that, probably not as upset as some of you guys) they will make Carl Edwards do a backfip when he wins, just like in real life!


TL:DR version: very great nascar game, highly suggest you at least rent this, no matter how much you hated the other nascar games.
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MementoVivere
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nascargo19
Apr 10 2011, 09:31 PM
this review will probably suck since I'm not much of a reviewer

It could use more on the gameplay aspects. I wouldn't know what to expect if I wanted to try this game. Other than the obvious "it's NASCAR" aspect, what differentiates it from other racing titles? Is it a hard game compared to others in the genre? Is there a career mode (or its equivalent), and if so, is it any good? Is online reliable, and if not, why not? I'm sure I can think of more questions, but that's work and stuff. Other than that, it's a good first effort.

"nascargo19"
 
and put in Katy Perry. (If I can I'll post pictures of it.)

You are highly encouraged to post pictures of that shit, more so if it's a hot Katy Perry picture.


Also thinking this should just be a recommendations thread in general. Most of us have that problem where we don't know what to buy/play next. Recommending games to others may be a way to solve that plus get moar activity.

For example, I may want PS3 recommendations in the future. But you all know me - I skew mostly towards RPGs. I'd most likely want non-RPG recommendations that I may otherwise not notice (so not the new CoD/Madden or something).
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MrMarill
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I agree with Romanticide. I can see you're a NASCAR-fanatic, but I wouldn't know what to expect if I got it. You barely touched gameplay, and I usually like a more unrealistic driving game (Mario Kart, RIIIIIDGE RACEEEEER etc.), and while I can expect NASCAR to be realistic, you didn't touch it in your review.

I thought your attention to detail was great though, and it's something reviewers should do. Some minor annoying things really deduce from the experience, like Brawl's online. LAGGGGG for random, only points battles? I'd rather die. On to my next review...


Rayman 3D

Sigh.

Guess what?

3D!!! IT'S IN THREE DIMENSIONS!!!!! Now we've got that out of the way...

So you're Rayman, one of the coolest vidya gaem characters ever. The game starts up in a typical "Darker and Gloomier than the first gaem because we're srs now" setting, which is a floating Pirate Prison Ship which has hundreds of slaves, all Rayman's friends.

Rayman is sitting in his cell all depressed, and suddenly his friend Globox is thrown in with him. It turns out Globox smuggled a magical power from a silver lum (I'm confused too) from Ly (who?) to give to Rayman. Now he can punch! Or so he says, in actuality he throws magic balls.

Anyway, you quickly escape the prison-ship-pirate-robot-thing and go off on your grand adventure. The game gives you a cleverly disguised tutorial which works really well, and you're off like a rocket, charging between levels like a madman.

As it turns out, the entire world is split up into these things called Lums for some reason. An acient... sorcerer, I guess, called Ly is able to use the yellow Lums to give you more powers. In actuality, she gives you one power in the first level and then disappears for ages.

The yellow Lums are part of the traditional "GOTTA COLLECT 'EM ALL" formula that platformers of the time had. Yes, this game is yet another port, and a lazy one at that. It's a game from the N64, and they didn't re-texture any of it. Now, I'm not one to complain about graphics- I thought they were actually quite good- but it just shows Ubisoft are pumping out a title for cash when it has exactly the same mechanics and game from the N64 version. The PS2 version has voice acting and slightly enhanced textures, and this game had neither.

To be fair, though, there are extra yellow Lums. OH YEAH, the yellow Lums. There are usually around 50 dotted throughout each stage, and you probably won't collect them all first go. I only did that once in my playthrough of the main game, and I know I'll be trying to get them all to get... whatever you get. In addition, there are cages which have little animals trapped inside which pathetically shout "Help! Help!" whenever you're close. Most of these cages just contain more Lums, so they're all vital to getting all 1000 Lums and "restoring the world", which is where it gets tricky.

The cages are often hidden in hard to reach places, or sometimes you won't see them at all. In the very first level there's a visible cage at a lake section behind a barrier which I still cannot get to. It adds an extra challenge to the game, and I like that.

I haven't even talked about the controls yet. They're ALMOST perfect. I say "almost" because in some sections you slide down a steep hill (even though sometimes it defies all sense to slide down a hill so flat) and it doesn't make much sense. It says "HOLD BACK TO GO SLOWER!" and that makes you turn to the right, When you're going flat out (by "HOLDING FORWARD TO GO FASTER"), it's strangely really hard to turn right. It doesn't make any sense and is never explained.

Anyway, Rayman's got his fists of fury and of course his jumping. His jumps are so satisfying. He does a flip in the air, and when he lands he does a roll and springs to his feet. You may think I'm being silly, but that animation really, really helps the game. There are a fe of sections dedicated to platforming, and that animation makes everything just that much sweeter. In addition, he can punch so-called "purple Lums" to swing from them, er, Rayman style. *slaps head*

Like I said, there are platforming sections in this game, and they are by far the most fun. They're so satisfying to leap across, they offer challenge, they're creative and if the entire game was just these it would be a must-buy. But... it's not. There are a few sections where you have to fight quite a few enemies, and that is where the game hits its lowest point. Fighting in this game is pretty bad. It's not "I don't want to play this game" bad, but it's not exactly good.

You hold "L" to lock onto enemies, Zelda style. They all look the same. No really, every enemy is a robotic pirate. Yes, a robotic pirate. Guess what else, they're from space.

ROBOTIC SPACE PIRATES!?!?!?

Anyway, you lock on with "L" and use "X" to throw your magical balls of justice. However, when sidling around you'll often miss with your magical balls, so you have to stand still, fire, then move around. The most annoying thing is that every character, you and the enemy, seem to have fourteen hours of invincibility lag. It goes like this:

FIRE! HIT PIRATE! Wait five seconds... FIRE! HIT PIRATE! Wait five seconds... Repeat for every enemy.

What makes it worse is that every enemy, apart from looking the same, battles the same too. They all have the same sort of attack, except the higher up ones, and the game makes them harder by making their health bar longer. Oh yeah. You have to tediously kill them for LONGER! Yay!

Some of the higher up Robotic Space Pirates shoot other kinds of attacks and they're a lot more fun to fight as they move about more. I wish they'd shown more creativity with the enemies and cut down that bloody hitlag.

There are also "puzzle" sections which monkeys could solve. The very first is obviously trying to teach you how the majority of these work, but it's so boring.

When Rayman picks up a barrel, he can smash doors. He also moves at a snail's pace. So this section has you walking down the stairs... across the ground... smashing the door... picking up the blue key... bring it back (same speed)... put it on the blue pedestal. THEN you have to the EXACT SAME THING for the yellow key! What, are the players so stupid they can't work it out after only one time? Do we need to have it hammered into our brains with a spork? These sections actually get a lot better and make up a part of the platforming sections, where you have to time your throws etc. etc.

This review has gone on a lot, but one of my favourite things about the game is that every single level introduces something new... well, almost. You'll be constantly surprised by what the game throws at you, and for the most part the gameplay mechanics work well. The only bad thing is that it throws one of these things at you for the majority of the final level and the final boss which feels like an Unnecessary Gameplay Change. Which brings me to my closing point...

The game is a touch easy. This is a port from the N64 days so I was expecting something harder. The final level gets really difficult at times and some of the closing levels do have challenging parts, but you'll probably get them in a few tries. The only bit which caused me hassle was a simple "Where do I go!?!?" part, which happens a few times in the game, and shouldn't in a platformer.

I know I've hammered on the game, but I really enjoyed it. I barely commented on the 3D! aspect, but it actually really helps and makes the platformer sections fun. It works well and looks simply amazing at some parts. If something gets too close to the lens though, it is really distracting as instead of looking like it's hitting the camera, it goes into crazeh double vision and spoils the whole look of that scene. The platformer sections more than make up for atrocious combat, and the new mechanics and levels really spice things up. It's a great game, and if you haven't played the original, or any of the other ports, I advise you pick this one up.

Score: 8.4/10
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nascargo19
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MementoVivere
Apr 11 2011, 06:10 AM
nascargo19
Apr 10 2011, 09:31 PM
this review will probably suck since I'm not much of a reviewer

It could use more on the gameplay aspects. I wouldn't know what to expect if I wanted to try this game. Other than the obvious "it's NASCAR" aspect, what differentiates it from other racing titles? Is it a hard game compared to others in the genre? Is there a career mode (or its equivalent), and if so, is it any good? Is online reliable, and if not, why not? I'm sure I can think of more questions, but that's work and stuff. Other than that, it's a good first effort.

"nascargo19"
 
and put in Katy Perry. (If I can I'll post pictures of it.)

You are highly encouraged to post pictures of that shit, more so if it's a hot Katy Perry picture.


Also thinking this should just be a recommendations thread in general. Most of us have that problem where we don't know what to buy/play next. Recommending games to others may be a way to solve that plus get moar activity.

For example, I may want PS3 recommendations in the future. But you all know me - I skew mostly towards RPGs. I'd most likely want non-RPG recommendations that I may otherwise not notice (so not the new CoD/Madden or something).

top part: I thought it was very easy, although that might be because I played on easy mode and dominated everything... However if you go to Very Hard, it can be pretty difficult, and I heard in the patch they are making it to where the AI is even harder then before. Carrer is simple, pick a car, do the races in the 2010 season order, get your points for the race, get in to the chase for the cup, get more points, win championship. But you will have the option for the 2011 season when the Free DLC is out (Daytona 500 first, Homestead last, ect. ect.) as I said, I haven't had the chance to play online yet

bottom part: I think you misunderstood, it's bascially just a signature above the windows that both say Katy Perry. Not any pictures.

One thing I don't think I mentioned. NXP (Nascar eXperience Points.) You can get these in many ways.

Winning races - 1,000 NXP
leading a lap - 250 NXP
passing a car - 10 for the first, 20 for 2nd, 30 for the 3rd, 40 for the 4th, 50 for the 5th, then back to 10 (if you don't pass enough in a certain time limit, you go back down to 10 NXP)
Drafting - depends on the length of the draft
Finishing in front of a pre determined rival - 300 NXP
Lapping a car - 30 NXP
Leading for a while - 100 NXP every 15 seconds
Reaching the top speed - 20 NXP (you will most likely only get this at the superspeedways at about 190 MPH)
Your victory doughnut - depends on how much your tires smoke
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nascargo19
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Finally got a chance to play online on NTG:2011. Turns out the only glitchy parts (that i realized) is just random crashes/flips when the green flag drops or you get a restart after a caution. that and some times the loading times take forever.

When you actually the green flag, it's almost perfect online. In almost every online race there is a custom Dale Earnhart #3 car. Nice of them to do little tributes i guess. I've also seen a few #69 cars...
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