Suikoden is a role playing game released by Konami, and is the first installment of the Suikoden series, in NA December 1996. Suikoden gives the player many things that games don't do these days, as well as being overbearing at the same time. In each game, there are 108 Stars, characters, that are able to be recruited and a castle that is built over time that increases in size as more characters are recruited.
Suikoden centers around a political struggle of the Scarlet Moon Empire, the story being led by a silent protagonist and son of a famous general, Teo McDohl. During the first few moments, Teo is called away to a battle leaving his son in the guardianship of his friends and servants. Among these servants is Young McDohl's best friend Ted, and possessor of the Soul Eater Rune.
Young McDohl is given a mission by a corrupt commander, Kraze, to seek out a Rune Seer named Leknaat, also being acompanied by a corrupt official named Kanaan. On this journey, Ted is forced to use his Soul Eater Rune to dispatch a strong beast. After returning to the capital, to report their accomplished mission, Ted is called into the capital by Windy, the Emperor's sorceress, and attacked. Ted manages to return home to Young McDohl, but is followed by the empire soldiers. Young McDohl is forced to retreat and leave Ted behind, but not before being bestowed with the Soul Eater Rune from Ted.
Young McDohl flees the empire, joining up with a resistance group headed by a woman named Odessa. To prove their loyalty to Odessa and her crew, Young McDohl and his team has to help bandits, Varkas and Syndonia to earn Odessa's trust. Later in the game, Young McDohl meets Odessa's brother Mathiu, a famed strategist, who helps Young McDohl acquire a castle and allows the player to start recruiting party members.
The game is rather lengthy, lasting fifty plus hours, depending on whether or not the player tries to recruit all characters or not. The graphics are pixel based on the World Map, drawn out more in battle and towns. The music in Suikoden is really important, able to set the mood perfectly. While the story seems overly cliche in this day and age, the story for when it was released was engaging and emotional.
Suikoden walks away with a 8/10 for the great character development, story, music, and unforgettable moments. Even with all of the good, there still is some bad. With 108 characters, it's really hard for some characters to get the spot light, and don't develop. Meanwhile there are a lot of characters that get developed the right way.
That's it for this week's Way back Wednesday, be sure to comment and subscribe!
A new Tekken game has been released for the Playstation Network, Tekken Revolution. The last Tekken game was Tekken 6 released on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PSP. Revolution was released only on the Playstation Network as a free-to-play arcade game, on June 11. The game may be free-to-play but, like most "free" games these days, Revolution uses microtransactions for Premium Coins and Tickets, coins being used for Arcade and Tickets for Player vs Player matches.
There are several different modes to accommodate the players, Arcade, Ranked Match, and Player Match. Arcade takes the layer through a series of matches, best two out of three, until they defeat the boss character. Ranked match is exactly what it sounds like, players who battle to be the best and have the most points PSN. Player Match, same thing but without points, players combat each other to see who will reign supreme.
An interesting system that was implemented in Tekken Revolution is the ability to power up your favorite, or all, character(s). Earning money and points from Arcade Mode, a player is able to take said money and increase the strength of a character in either Power, Vigor, or Endurance. Power increases the character's overall strength and damage, Vigor increases critical chance and raises the chances of a character going into a rage, and Endurance increases the character's hit points. This way, any character can be improved and made stronger.
The biggest downfall to Tekken Revolution is their small cast. There are a few characters that can be unlocked, but not enough to consider Revolution over any other Tekken game. Revolution starts with eight characters already unlocked, and four that are locked but can be earned through playing and obtaining Gift Points.
While it's great to have a free-to-play arcade game at my command, I was let down by the cast. Being a veteran Tekken player, having played since the first one, I was expecting to see some other characters like Eddie, Jin, or some of their more silly characters like Gon. The battles are fast and the special attacks are easy to learn, points for that at least! Tekken Revolution walks away with a 5/10, good to play for a time but not a permanent fix for Tekken lovers or an Arcade Fighter.
The Last of Us is one of the most amazing games I have played. It is a survival horror game developed by Naughty Dog, the studio that brought us Jak and Daxter, and Uncharted. Last of Us was released on June 14th, 2013 exclusively for the Playstation 3. Not only does it bring us a survival horror experience, but it also gives us a riveting story, good stealth mechanics, and a fun online multiplayer mode. I believe that this game will be the game of the year for 2013.
Story - 10
Twenty years prior to the story, a strange fungal infection began spreading through mankind. It was called "Cordyceps", because of its relation to the fungi genus. Cordyceps is a parasite that grows on the subject's brain, causing them to become highly aggressive and almost primal. Over time the fungus grows even further to mutate its host and imbue it with special abilities. Most of the human race has fallen prey to the infection. Those who survive must fight to survive. Some become cutthroat survivalists, scavenging the abandoned world for whatever they can find. Others stay behind the walls of the quarantine zone, safe from infection, but under the iron fist of a harsh martial government.
Infected Aren't the Only Thing to be Afraid of
You play most of the game as Joel, a man forced to take extreme measures to survive in this post apocalyptic world. To do so, he becomes a smuggler. After his supplies are taken from him in a deal gone wrong, Joel is forced to smuggle a young girl named Ellie outside of the quarantine zone. Not much is revealed about her, other than that the rebel group called the "Fireflies" want her safe. As you can imagine, there are many complications along the way, but I won't get into them at risk of spoiling anything. Trust me when I say that the story is fantastic, and really stands out as unique in many ways.
Audio - 10
The Last of Us does an amazing job putting together great, atmospheric music, eerie sound effects, and superb voice acting. Troy Baker (Bioshock Infinite, Arkham City) plays Joel, and Ashley Johnson plays Ellie. Though Ashley hasn't done much voice acting for video games in the past, her performance truly breathes life into Ellie. I was quite surprised to find Nolan North (Uncharted, Assassin's Creed) in the credits as well. he plays the side character, David, so keep your eyes open for him if you give the game a shot. The music and sound effects also really set the mood for the game. In some areas the music is evident, setting up a big fight or chase, while in others its nearly non-existent giving room for the strange sounds of the world to sink in and unsettle you.
Video - 10
A Hungry Clicker
The animation for Last of Us is really amazing. It is hard to tell whether you are in a scripted cutscene, or actually playing the game simply because the visuals don't really change much, and there is usually a seamless transition. Beyond graphics themselves, the character designs are fantastic. Each character's appearance gives them as much personality as the voice acting itself. The enemies are also very well designed are quite intimidating. The clicker is especially intimidating, as it makes eerie sounds, moves in unpredictable jerky motions, and has a creepy mutated face. You can check out one of the more recent trailers below.
Gameplay - 10
True survival horror is really hard to come by in today's age, but The Last of Us pulls it off quite well. That is not it's full focus though, it also provides strong stealth mechanics, has crafting features, and fun combat. It uses a shooting system similar to Uncharted, but adds a sway feature. That combined with ammo being hard to come by creates a unique and challenging first person shooter. While hand to hand combat is usually just mashing the square button, the animations for it are extremely dynamic and sleek. Another interesting feature is the crafting ability. There are very few things that you can actually craft, but they are all very useful. You can make nail bombs, molotov cocktails, shivs, smoke bombs and med kits. One thing I really like about The Last of Us, is that everything takes place in real time, so you have to plan ahead for every situation. It is quite a challenging game, even on normal difficulty.
Can You Survive The Last of Us Multiplayer?
The multiplayer features two game modes which are both quite fun. Each game mode features 4v4 combat. The first game type is "supply raid", this is a typical death match. There are a certain number of tickets, or lives for your team to spend, and the first team to lose all their lives loses. The second mode is called "survivors". Survivors is similar to to supply raid, but each player only has one life. When you die, you stay dead till the next round. Each round you gain a certain number of points to upgrade your equipment for the next round. Survivors reminds me of games like Counterstrike. Something that I find interesting about The Last of Us' multiplayer is the idea that you are the leader of a group of survivors. Each match you play gains supplies for your group, and the more supplies you get, the bigger your group grows. The bigger your group is, the more costumes and weapons you unlock. This adds interesting flavor to the usual experience and level system in online shooters.
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The Last of Us is a great game, and the first game that I actually give a perfect 10 to. It is a masterpiece, and a must own for any Playstation 3 owner. This is not a game for players under the age of 16. There is little to no sexual content, but very gruesome violence, and a lot of foul language. The plot also contains a lot of difficult, uncomfortable issues centering around what it takes to survive. I love this game, and really think that this is what modern zombie games should feel like. What did you think of Last of Us? Leave a comment below telling us what you liked about the game, try and keep it spoiler free though. Also, don't forget to subscribe, its a great way to show your support and interest in our posts, and in the coming months we'll be doing something special, exclusively for subscribers.
Microsoft hopes to be top dog again with their new changes, after the fans raged about the system's inability to allow borrowing of friend's games and a daily internet check. There will still be games that must be connected to the internet, much like the video game Mag, and the Kinect is also still a requirement. It seems like no matter how much of a backlash, the Xbox One will still be able to spy on you with it's ever open eye. The company announced on June 19th, 2013 the removal of these aspects, hoping to make their fans happy and to raise the sales of their already bombing system. The real question is, is it too late for Microsoft to regain the faith of their fans? The following links cover the announcement and an IGN article that shows the differences of the next gen consoles.
E3 reveals made a large splash with headline titles we haven't seen in a long time. Mirror's Edge is brought back, but with a prequel. Mirror's Edge has been a game of the past for close to five years, only to be brought back into the light at E3. Another forgotten title to hit the new consoles is Killer Instinct! Lost back in 1996 with it's last installment of Killer Instinct: Gold. Killer Instinct (2013) will be a free-to-play game, set to release with the Xbox One, with one character unlocked, and the rest to be bought with micro-transactions. Star Wars Battlefront is also back, after having been left behind four years ago on the Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable.
Square-Enix came out swinging at E3 with two titles nobody expected to see the light of day. Personally I have lost interest with the Kingdom Hearts series as every other Kingdom Hearts game requires you to buy a new system or handheld in order to play. Kingdom Hearts III was finally announced however at E3 to be released on both the Xbox One and the PS4.
Final Fantasy fans were ecstatic to hear that Final Fantasy Versus didn't die after being announced, originally, back in May 2006. As some fans were happy, others were confused. The game was named, to start, Final Fantasy XIII Versus and was supposed to be a part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. The title now, however, is Final Fantasy XV. The game, while extremely late, looks absolutely amazing, and brings the Final Fantasy fans a new taste of game play that's different from anything we have seen thus far.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has also been stirring a lot of talk lately, as their relentless ads for beta testers have been plaguing the social networks lately. A lot of fans feel jaded as the game flopped hard during it's release. Since it's initial release the game has been taken down, destroyed, and remade. The game is still undergoing final touch-ups for it's future release in August, with the help of their faithful fans who signed up to become beta testers. Hopefully this time, Square-Enix learned from their mistakes and wont make a MMO that makes their fans think twice about every purchasing an online game from them.
That's it for this week's Breaking News. Comment to let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe!
I know I said that I would be doing a 3 part series on Anita Sarkeesian, but I encountered some problems with that. Mainly that for part two I would be reiterating a lot of what was said in the first part. So, I've decided to talk about something different, but still relevant to the original topic. The Last of Us is a game that came out a little less than a week ago, and received outstanding reviews. Though the main protagonist for most of the game is a middle aged man named Joel, his travelling companion Ellie is the character that stands out to me the most.
Ellie is a fourteen year old girl who spits in the face of all the tropes that are commonly used with female characters in video games. She is independent, foul mouthed, gritty, and can pretty well take care of herself. Through the first third of the game, she doesn't really do much. This is not for lack of trying, but rather because Joel believes that she shouldn't help. After all, she's just a fourteen year old girl, what can she do. In this portion of the game, she only does simple tasks such as crawling through air ducts to open locked doors, or being lifted up to help access other areas. However, after this, she becomes a full fledged AI companion.
The turning point comes when Ellie saves Joel from being drowned by shooting his attacker in the head. From now on, she has a gun, and helps you in combat. Previously, she only occasionally involved herself in combat. She would toss a bottle at an enemy, or yell at them to distract them. Now she carries firearms and helps you dispatch of those who are hostile to you. She saved my neck multiple times while playing it myself.
Over the year in the game, Joel and Ellie form a unique, father daughter like bond with each other. The two exchange witty banter, but also discuss many things about their own lives. During the course of the game, Ellie saves Joel more than he saves her. You even get to play as Ellie for a decent portion of the game, and she defies tropes left and right through the whole thing. She gets captured at one point, but instead of being a typical damsel, she engineers her own escape and kills her captor.
Ellie is definitely the star of The Last of Us. When Naughty Dog developed this game, they were right to put her on the front cover. She is actually a great example of a legitimate strong female character in storytelling as a whole. She does not mold to the helpful damsel, or ice queen archetypes, but instead keeps her own individuality and grows through out the game. I would even go so far to say that her personality is more interesting than Joel's. Ellie is definitely one of my favorite characters in any video game. Next week I'll be giving a full review of The Last of Us, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Back in 2001 Bungie studios, in conjunction with Microsoft released one of the most revolutionary First Person Shooters in the history of video gaming: Halo. Halo brought a new feel to the First Person Shooting industry with both a compelling story, and arcade style multiplayer online combat. Originally released for the PC and Xbox console, the Halo franchise has seen 5 new titles, a spin off anime series, several books, and other merchandise released since its successful debut. But what exactly makes this game such a classic? Let's walk down the long road of memories and find out.
Concept art for the alien "Covenant Elites
Halo: Combat Evolved took the general design behind the First Person Shooter genre and turned it into a spectacular visual display for it's time. Bungie created lush environments, from enemy ships, to rolling hills, and even desolate swamps, the game was beautiful. But not only did they introduce an interesting environment, but realistic representations of mankind, and interestingly obscure aliens. There is also a wide array of new technology seen in Halo, which all has very a very convincing appearance. Alien vehicles and weapons have a sleek design, while human weapons and vehicles look like futuristic versions of our own. Overall, the game has great visual appeal for its time, and is even passable in today's age.
The soundtrack for a game is a very important selling point. Background music helps set the mood for the various situations a player will encounter while playing a game. Halo's mood is perfectly punctuated by it's soundtrack. I remember back to when the game was first released, before I had even played it. My friends and I were on our way to the local laser tag arena and someone put the soundtrack for the game on in the car. Immediately I knew the game was going to be an amazing experience.
On the topic of voice acting, there are no big names in the line up. Though a few experienced voice actors such as David Scully, and Jen Taylor are in the cast, there very few voice actors who have done any other games or animations. However, this does not subtract from the quality in the least.
Master Chief is an experimental super soldier who, in an attempt to divert the Covenant attack force, inadvertently discovers a space station called Halo. To provide some clarification, the Covenant is an allien alliance who despises the human race and seeks to exterminate it. They also revere the Halo as a religious artifact. Halo, is a station with an artificial environment, and is of unknown origin. A covenant ship follows Master Chief and attacks the ship he is on, causing it to crash land on Halo. Master Chief must now locate the survivors and attempt to escape, while uncovering Halo's dark secret.
It is a fairly basic plot for any normal video game, but when you make the player experience it through the eyes of Master Chief it turns this basic plot into an intense fight for survival. This story continues in the following Halo 2 and 3, and will continue in the upcoming Halo 4. Halo: Combat Evolved provides a good setting for the following games, and also succeeds at standing independently of the continuing plot.
Halo: Combat Evolved provides many different ways to play. You can play through the single player campaign alone, or split screen with a friend on the Xbox. Or you can play in many different multiplayer modes online on the PC, ranging from free for all death match, to team capture the flag. You do not have access to online multiplayer if you are playing on the Xbox console, however you can play with up to 4 players on one console, or up to 16 with a Local Area Network or LAN. The gamplay does not stand out from modern First Person Shooters but it released many features that are used frequently today, such damage absorbing shield that recharges when you are no longer taking enemy fire. Halo bridged the gap between story driven FPSs like Medal of Honor, and Quake or Unreal Tournament which were multiplayer driven. It set the bar for all shooting games to have both single player and multiplayer game options to succeed, and its influence can be seen in many games today.
The Halo franchise has been successful since its beginnings, and though people may disagree on the overall quality of the recent games, most can agree that the first installment was thoroughly enjoyable. The game's overall quality rating for it's time would be about an 8.75. Personally, I really enjoyed playing Halo: Combat Evolved with friends before the recent games, and even going back and playing it now, so I would give it aa 9.5.
I hope you enjoyed this review even though it isn't really relevant to todays day and age. It's just my overall experience and opinions of older games. What's your fondest Halo memory? What games do you play today that you can see Halo's influence in? Do you think Halo: Combat Evolved should be considered a modern classic of the video game industry? Please leave me your answers, questions, comments, suggestions, or even complaints. And don't forget to subscribe via email for constant updates! I'll see you over the weekend for the next installment of "Oh! I play this game."
Animal Crossings has always been one of those games that draws me in, and keeps me hooked. It is a simple game with little to no plot, very little in game content, and a very small world. The game seems to rely solely on its charm, which it has in abundance. In previous games you would participate in the world, but not fully influence it. You could meet your neighbors and make friends, but you really couldn't do much to the world itself. Now, in New Leaf, you are the mayor, and you get to decide exactly how to build things in your town. New Leaf was released on November 9th 2012 in Japan. The North American version was not released until June 9th. It was developed solely for the Nintendo 3DS, and is a life simulation game.
Story - 6
Your Inauguration as Mayor
The story for this game is definitely its weak point. It is overly simplified, and not really the focus of the game in the first place, which makes it weaker. Basically, you are an average Joe, looking to move to a new town. You get there and are showered with confetti and applause. As it turns out, the townsfolk have all been expecting their new Mayor to arrive today, but he ditched his duties and pinned them on you. So now its you're job to help the town flourish, and create a comfortable lifestyle for both you and your fellow townsfolk. Oh, did I mention everyone in your town besides you are bipedal, talking animals? Not many characters within the game itself have much of a story either. This is the main flaw in Animal Crossings New Leaf.
Audio - 8
New Leaf doesn't really have voice acting. When you talk to people they speak in sped up, slurred gibberish at various tones depending on gender or personality. This doesn't really take away from the game, however. In fact, I think it adds to the overall charm. The music for the game, is very calming and relaxing. It helps provide an almost therapeutic stress relief experience for the player. Most of the sound effects have a similar effect, from the sound of the tide coming in, to the sound of a gentle breeze. The only thing I can complain about is the lack of sound sometimes. In some areas, especially at night, there is absolutely nothing going on.
Video - 9
Animal Crossings, like the last 3DS game I reviewed, has excellent graphics for a hand held. Even the characters are well designed and each unique. However, there are some characters whose mouths seem to just a picture on their face that moves. Whenever they're around I tend to focus on their mouth and it kinda makes me chuckle. I really do enjoy the various character models, because it adds a lot of diversity to the game. You also have the ability to customize your character with various clothes and accessories, or if you so desire, you can design your own.
Gameplay - 10
This is what Animal Crossings New Leaf is about and it nails its goal right on the head. The gameplay is simple, and easy to pick up, which makes the game enjoyable for anyone at any age. You can do various things for your town, like plant trees and flowers, or build bridges, parks and campsites. You can also fish, catch bugs, and participate in various other minigames. There are numerous collectibles for you to find. Some you can put on display in the museum, but most you can display in your house. Overall your goal in New Leaf is to pay for the various construction work you are doing in your town, and expand your house to hold more stuff. The one great aspect about the game is the random events that occur. Every day someone new may come visit your town. Sometimes your town will hold celebrations or competitions of their own. This past Saturday, my town held a bug catching competition. Animal Crossings New Leaf has very simple gameplay, but manages to keep you entertained and relaxed.
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Overall, I think thank New Leaf is a great game, and a lot of fun to play. I am quite addicted to it and usually play for at least an hour every day. I give Animal Crossings an 8.2, which is not far off from my personal evaluation of 8.5. Animal Crossings New Leaf is a great game for gamers of all ages. I'd recommend it for ages 5+, because it relies heavily on your ability to read. All in all, its a great game to own on the Nintendo 3DS.
I would like to apologize for failing to release content last week. I got bogged down with a lot of stuff, and was quite busy. I don't mean this as an excuse, merely an explanation. I will do my best to prevent this from happening again in the future. Be sure to subscribe, because in a few months we're going to be having a special surprise for all our subscribers. Also, don't forget to come check us out more this week for Way Back Wednesday, and Part 2 of Gamers vs Anita Sarkeesian.
Young McDohl flees the empire, joining up with a resistance group headed by a woman named Odessa. To prove their loyalty to Odessa and her crew, Young McDohl and his team has to help bandits, Varkas and Syndonia to earn Odessa's trust. Later in the game, Young McDohl meets Odessa's brother Mathiu, a famed strategist, who helps Young McDohl acquire a castle and allows the player to start recruiting party members.
