With each new generation of consoles that comes out, gaming takes another step to push its limits. The action becomes more over-the-top, the graphical detail takes another step towards photorealism, the gameplay evolves and steps up. But there’s also a small number of games which push the envelope in another direction: to tell a story like never before. That’s the kind of game Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is – it is a story first and a game second.

Since you probably don’t want to hear a rant on the status of video game storytelling/games as art, or a debate on whether this results in a good game, it’s very important to make an important distinction right in the beginning of this review:

As a game, Fragile is only so-so. As an experience, it’s incredible.

So thus follows the resulting implication, which is arguably more important than any score for determining if you’re going to like this game: To get the most out of this game, go into it fully intending to get engrossed. Play late at night, when nobody is awake to bother you or make snarky comments. And let yourself get drawn in. If you’re willing to do that, you will find Fragile to be an incredible experience. But, if you’re not the kind who ever feels anything for games; who doesn’t care for story or atmosphere… well, first off, you’ll be really missing out, but second, you can set the game aside and perhaps come back to it one day when you do care.

Created by Namco-Bandai (Tales Of), with Tri-Crescendo playing a major role (Tri-Ace’s music department, from games like Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, or Baten Kaitos), Fragile saw a long wait between Japanese release and even a North Americain announcement, long sitting on game sites lists of “Great games that the Wii will be getting… that we’ll never see”. It came as a surprise when XSeed Games, a still rather up-and-coming localisation company, announced they would be bringing it over.

All most western gamers knew of the game – if they had heard of it at all – was that it was an atmospheric, quiet, and beautiful title, about a dead world and a boy looking for survivors. And that was about it. Very few people knew more, or had actually played the game. As it turns out, this is more or less correct. But now that the game’s out over here, we can take a great deal more look at things. So, let’s start with the single major problem area of the game…

Fragile Dreams is best described as an Atmospheric Adventure… maybe. In truth, the game really does merge elements of the Horror, Action, Adventure, and RPG genres, but none of these are very strong. While the game is incredibly atmospheric, it settles for being eerie, sad, lonely, and rarely disqueiting, as opposed to being Silent Hill-esque horrific. You do get into fights, but combat is very basic and is more about slow movements and watching your foes for openings. You’ll be exploring a lot, but there’s almost no real puzzles to solve or high-level interaction you’d expect from an adventure game. There are levels, but you’re hardly going to notice. In the end, the game settles for arguably carving its way outside of typical genres which the gameplay would decide, and focuses on telling a story and portraying a world – for all the good and bad this decision means.

To be honest, despite how excellent every other aspect of Fragile is, the game’s chief issue is it’s gameplay, which is a pretty significant issue. Let me stress first off that what the game actually does is actually done really well on a technical level – you won’t be encountering glitches, freezes, sprite clipping, and all that stuff. That’s the good.

Here’s the last part of the good. You control Seto, a youth who explores the ruined world with a flashlight in one hand and a weapon in the other. The Wiimote’s pointer is used to determine where Seto is looking and pointing his flashlight. As such, you have to point towards the edges of the screen to get Seto to actually turn, which takes a bit of getting used to, but it does feel fine by the end – and if moving with a combination of Nunchuck joystick and Wiimote pointing sounds odd, you can point the Wiimote away from the screen and navigate traditionally with just the joystick. To look around in more detail, you hold the B button, and can use the A button to examine things. Because important objects are always marked with a couple small fireflies dancing overtop, missing something important is not something you end up having to worry about, though you may still miss things in small nooks or crannies.

What is nice is the little touches done to exploration. When you look at a sign in Japanese, most of them will cause an english subtitle to show up. Your Wiimote’s speaker is used a lot in this game too, and very well – when pointing your flashlight at where enemies will appear, for instance, you can often hear a sound effect signalling what kind of enemy it is. Or, for most of the game, lifting the Wiimote up to your ear will cause any partner with you to speak, adding a bit of personality or a bit of guidance. It adds that extra little bit of atmosphere.

So while the exploration is fine, combat isn’t. When Seto enters combat, being rather inexperienced, he’s unwieldy and slow. There are four weapon types he can use – quick slashing weapons, long pole weapons, heavy blunt weapons, and ranged weapons. This is pretty much the whole of the variety right there; you have four different ways to attack and that’s it, and because switching items requires you to pause the game (More on this later), switching isn’t something you’ll want to do. While the enemies are half-decent in that by the end of the game you really do need to be paying attention and attacking them only at the right time, combat feels notably too slow. It’s hampered a bit by the fact that there’s only about 10 or so different enemy types throughout the whole game (Though they get recycled with slightly different looks and higher attack power and HP later), and the boss fights – when they occur – are generally either disappointingly easy, or destroy you because you got trapped between three enemies, couldn’t run out, and they beat you down mercilessly. In the end, even if it’s reasonable that Seto can’t fight all that well, the game still fails to make it all that interesting.

Speaking of disappointingly easy, gamers who absolutely must feel a level of challenge in order to be involved in a game should probably think twice; while it doesn’t necessarily bring down the game, the whole game in general was clearly not made with the intention to be challenging. If ever it is challenging, the game has so many save points – there’s one or two instances where you can see a save point from the save point you’re currently at – that you’ll rarely lose much progress. This could be seen as good, as the game’s objective is to focus on its story and let people experience that, but all the same it feels a bit disappointing.

The final aspect of gameplay that deserves mention is the inventory. Seto can only hold so much at a time. Using a traditional grid-based inventory, he has to carry his flashlight with him at all times, plus at least one weapon. Anything above that – keys, healing items, extra weaponry – takes up his limited space – and at the start of the game, these spaces get taken up very fast. If you want to pick up other stuff, you have to rearrange or discard other items. This becomes a little irritating. Fortunately, at any of the plentiful save points, you can access your Briefcase and move items in and out (Why can’t he do this elsewhere?), and you can hold as much as you want in there. You just have to make sure to drag out anything you want, or put back anything you’re done using.

The complication comes from “Mystery Items”, which are items that Seto won’t be able to identify until he sits down and looks at them thuroughly. These go from gems dropped by enemies (which instantly turn into money for you to spend at the game’s freaky, randomly-appearing Merchant, who makes the Resident Evil 4 merchant look like the average joe), to useful items, to the beautiful memory items. But you’ll never know what they are until you bring them back to the firelight, and oftentimes there’s really just too many between you and the next save point, forcing occasional extraneous backtracking.

Speaking of backtracking, the final complaint is that the game starts to drag a bit in design after the first half. After being forced to backtrack through previous areas a couple times, be ready to spend most of the second half of the game in rather monotonous, huge stone tunnels. It’s really disappointing, actually.

Now that we’ve covered the bad, here’s the good – Fragile is an absolutely gorgeously created world.

Graphically, while there are instances wherein you can really feel the fact that you’re playing a Wii title (Such as the old ’2d lines of grass’ trick), there are other moments which will simultaneously drop your jaw, whether because of beautiful scenery or artistically stylish cutscenes. Because the game is so small, a lot of the game’s environments are very carefully detailed, and extremely believable. For instance, an old fairgrounds’ structures are rusting and falling apart, the grass is growing wildly and untended, and vines are now creeping up the old fences around it. Little details are paid attention to, to create an inhabited world that simply has not been.

This is helped by the game’s music – or, rather, the lack thereof. It sounds odd that an empty backdrop with nothing but Seto’s footsteps would be fitting, but it is. It just adds to the feeling of being alone. When the music does play is usually during cutscenes or important encounters, and there, it’s always fitting for the scene; from carefully played melancholy upon a piano’s keys, to childish bells and energetic violins capturing a moment of happiness. The music is simple, soft, and oftentimes minimalistic, but never once does it ever take away from the game, and it adds its own depth to the scenes.

One minor area of possible contention is the voice acting. While it isn’t terrible, it also isn’t that great in english – admittedly, a large chunk of the issue, however, comes from the fact that it uses relatively well-known english gaming actors, such as Johnny Yong Basch playing Seto. In a game like this, recognising these voices can draw you out of the world at hand, and that’s extremely undesirable. It’s suggested to play with Japanese voices on, if you find it possible – the voices are very well done and full of emotion in both languages.

==The Excellent – Everything Else==

Fragile Dreams is a story that takes place in a world that has begun to decay after humanity’s death. The civilized world is slowly falling apart without its maintenance. Seto, following the death of his caretaker, seeks to find someone else in this empty world so he’s not alone – and loneliness is the feeling that the world will evoke to you in this game. Though you may be walking the city streets at one point, it may as well be a ghost town, and the game makes it completely believable.

Of course, Seto isn’t alone. He soon encounters a single human – a silver-haired girl, who quickly flees from him. Now certain that there is a chance not to be alone, Seto chases after her, desperate to have someone to cling to, so he isn’t left to wander the world alone until his death. Along the way, Seto meets a sparse cast of others – a robotic backpack, an energetic thief and a flirtatious ghost are just a couple of the others.

Amazingly though, as odd of a cast lineup as that sounds, these characters are incredibly moving. Even as they toe the line between simple human and something unlikely, they’re written in such a way that you can really believe them. Each represents a different existence, but all of them are facing the same problem Seto is – loneliness in an empty world. They each deal with it in their own ways, with their own insights about their lives, and their own thoughts about how valuable their bonds with Seto become.

As these characters approach their ultimate fate, good or bad, their meetings with Seto are incredibly moving and could even bring you to tears. Each leads you on, piece by piece, to understanding what brought about the end of humanity, and taking the final steps to prevent what little survivors may remain out there from falling prey to the same mistake that brought about humanity’s end once more. While the game goes a little more dramatic near the end, it never aims to be overly so, and remains melancholic the whole time. Even when you’re facing your final hurdle, the music playing is not a massive orchestral mix of dangerous energy, but rather soft, regretful, and sad. To some, the cast may seem all squishy and unexciting, but they are believably human, and that’s the most important aspect of the world.

To flesh out the world farther, Seto can find Memory Items – mundane items into which the thoughts and memories of people have been attached, as humans from all walks of life faced the end of their own lives. These range from single moments in time, to multi-part stories, each telling of the sadness of those who felt unfulfilled, of those who thought philosophically, of those who desperately clung onto hope. They are the true reward for exploration, and even the most innocent of stories can give you pause for thought as you picture in your mind the lives that these came from, however little we’re getting to see of them.

If I haven’t made it clear yet: Fragile is a depressing game, but it is a very human depression. The game does an excellent job of portraying the sadness of humanity, both before and after its near-extinction. But it should be said that if you’re not willing to let a game make you sad, you won’t be as affected. Regardless of that, though, there’s a feeling that these are real people behind these thoughts, that these are real stories that could have happened. They’re not outlandish or heroic… they’re ultimately human, and in many ways, that’s why so much of this game is powerful. Even when the game toes the line into shades of science fiction and the occult, it’s all done in such a way that it still feels like this could all be real.

In the end, Fragile puts together almost every piece necessary to create a perfect experience. It’s hampered down a bit by its unoriginal, simple gameplay, unfortunately – but that’s the only thing really holding it back. That, and the fact that the game will only take about 10-15 hours to complete. All the same, those are going to be 10-15 of the most moving, touching hours you’ll have ever experienced in a game.

Fragile isn’t so much a game as it is an experience in humanity. Treat it as such, and your heart could be touched in incredible ways.

Triforce-News Final Score 89.5%

GRAPHICS: 9/10. The graphics here are nothing really special, but they fit with the game perfectly. Buildings are now 3D, which may or may not be well-received by some. I see it as being nothing horrible though. The sprites have been improved fairly well since GSC, as one could easily notice. There is one feature that they added in that stands out though: your first Pokemon in your party will follow you around. This is certainly not a bad feature, and it’s hilarious when you have something like a Wailord or Magikarp following you(although Wailord, being 44′ long, gets scaled down sadly ). There also is the weather and day/nighttime effects, which adds into it. The graphics here just work.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10. If you’ve played any Pokemon games before this one, you’ll know just how the game works, but if you don’t, here is the gameplay in a nutshell: You capture Pokemon to raise them to battle and complete your Pokedex. You also challenge the Pokemon League by challenging 8 gyms and the Elite 4. You basically fight trainers, level up your Pokemon, stop an evil organization, and become Champion of a region. The thing here, is that the gameplay just works. The game is an RPG at heart, but does it just fine. Even after completing the storyline, there is still a lot to do, like trading, completing your Pokedex, etc. etc. You can also explore the various regions of the game, such as caves and such. There are also other things to do, like try your hand at gambling at the game corner. Or if you’re interested in building stronger Pokemon, you could breed for better ones.

CONTROLS: 10/10. I have absolutely no complaints here, and even in this area, they’ve improved it majorly. The same basic controls are still here, such as the D-pad to move, A button to interact, B-button to run, Start/X-button to pause and save your game/use items, etc. Even in this area, they’ve made use of the DS’ two screens. For one, they moved the menu down onto the bottom screen, where everything is just a tap away, so you don’t have to hit the X button or Start button. This was definitely a smart move on Game Freak’s part. Another notable change is the Running Shoes are now toggle-able through a button on the bottom screen, saving many B buttons around the world from being constantly pressed in. By extension, you could “register” a key item, like a bicycle, for use with the Y button, and there’s even a button on the bottom screen for that.

MUSIC: 9/10. Game Freak really changed things here, by remixing a lot of old tracks from the old games of GSC. Anyone who played the old games will notice that the tracks and sounds are similar, but yet different at the same time. A lot of it is catchy too, and doesn’t sound bad to the ears either. The cries of the Pokemon aren’t horrible, but they’re nothing special. And in a major bit of fanservice, Game Freak added in a key item that lets you listen to the old 8- or 16-bit tracks from GSC itself. This is majorly awesome overall, and the sounds are nothing horrible either. Overall there isn’t much to say here, except that it just works.

DIFFICULTY: 8/10. The difficulty, in brief, is fairly good for this game. Most trainers seem under-leveled to you, even if you train a full party. However, the real challenge here lies in the Gym Leaders, where some of their Pokemon are very tough to beat, or very powerful at the level you are. Some Pokemon can be hell to beat, but difficulty here is subjective, and the first time around, some actually gave me problems, simply because I wasn’t prepared.Overall, I can’t say much here.

REPLAY VALUE: 10/10. There is a LOT to do in this game, and I mean a lot. After clearing the storyline, which could easily be in excess of 20-30 hours, there is even more to do, such as challenge the Battle Frontier, work on completing your Pokedex through trading and evolving your Pokemon, or simply level up to level 100. Also available is the concept of competitive battling, which is easily a huge part of the game for those with WiFi. Alternatively, you can start over with a new starter Pokemon, and try your hand with it. Either way, there is enough here to keep you busy for a long, long time.

This easily worth the import/buy. This game is a lot longer than others out there now anyway, and this game will keep you interested/busy for a long time. As a last bit of random musing, the game might seem to be a children’s game, but anyone can enjoy it.

Triforce-News Final Score 85.0%

I have never really liked Ragnarok Online. I am not a fan of MMORPGs and I never quite understood what is so good about them. Most of these games are totally dependent on their community and the way the player interacts with this community. I may look senile when I say this, but I really do not enjoy chatting with teens so I can buy or sell stuff and share loot. I prefer the good old fashioned way: inviting home a couple of friends and spend some time playing with them. Nevertheless, the fact is that I do not like the “Massive” aspect of MMORPGs, therefore I stay away from them as much as I can.

But it is hard to let them go by unnoticed. Ragnarok Online was a huge success among my friends half a decade ago. A couple of them still play the game to this day and seem to be completely addicted to it. When Gung Ho announced that a version of Ragnarok would be released for the DS, I got interested because it was not going to be a MMORPG. So, while millions of people whined and cried in anger, I was happy. I would finally get to experience the world of Ragnarok without the need to commit to a genre I mostly dislike.

It took a long time for Ragnarok DS to hit North America. I can speak and read a bit of Japanese, but since the game is so dependent on the plot and characters, I decided to wait for the North American version so I could understand the story in a language I can actually understand. This is my first point of criticism, since the plot is so thin and the characters are so obnoxious I ended up disliking them. Ales, the protagonist, is a young boy looking for adventures so he can earn some money and start his own guild. When he is about to leave home for his adventures, he finds a mysterious girl named Sierra and the two of them become partners so Sierra can recover her lost memories and Ales can start his guild. Yes, the plot is overflowing with cliches, from the amnesic girl to the oh-so-valiant swordman.

When you actually get control of your character, you will notice that the game offers very little in the way of exploration. It is a good thing that you are never alone, after all the game was inspired by an online game in which the player is never alone, anywhere. You can only directly control Ales, but the behavior of the other party members (a maximum of two) is defined as the player likes. If you want your magician to save SP (the way the game calls magic points), just order her to do so through a convenient menu in a hotbar. If you want your archer companion to run away from enemies, just make your choice in that same menu. It never feels like you can control them (and you can not), but it is always good to have some kind of influence on their actions.

But it is not like you have complete control of the main character, Ales, as well. All the controls are stylus-based, so if you want him to go to a spot on the screen, just tap where you would like him to go once and he will walk there. Want to attack a monster? Just tap it. Want to open a chest and collect treasure? One single tap over it and you can do that. Not very immersive, but it fits well with the style of the game and goes along with the MMORPG roots. The problem is that sometimes the controls feel a bit stuck. You tap the screen and Ales just refuses to go there, so you have to type it again or maybe even a third time until the game recognizes your command. But it is not common and most of the time you will drag the stylus around the screen without a single problem.

Cookie cutter plot and slight problems with the controls do not sound very well until now. The audio is also mediocre, with forgettable tunes and the sound effects that barely do their work. And, I can not forget, fans of the original will curse the game because it is not a MMORPG. So, what’s Ragnarok DS’s saving grace? There are probably two. First, it nails the look and feel of the Ragnarok world. The characters are well drawn, detailed and the sprites are simply huge. The environments are actually quite bland, but the game is all about the way the characters and monsters look, and those just look great. And second: the game gives you rewards in small doses, so you can always come back for more. You want that armor being sold at the store? Just defeat a couple more monsters and you may probably find a rare item which you can sell for a lot of money and finally be able to afford the armor.

The controls may not be very tight all the time, but the gameplay is well crafted and well implemented. Monsters usually drop items that you can either sell and make money (so you can buy better weapons and armor, as I pointed before) or store them and wait until someone in town asks for this particular item (so you can deliver a bunch of this particular item for them and make even more money). The good thing is: the best weapons and armors come with slots in which you can place cards. Cards are dropped by monsters and have a variety of effects, from increasing a character’s hit points to letting someone more resistant to poison. Also, your characters all have different jobs, which means that you have a big deal of freedom in crafting the best warrior there is, may he be a strong swordman or a skilled magician.

It is also a good thing that the game lasts for a long, long time. There are dozens and dozens of quests you can take and you can even repeat some of them. And if you get tired of repeating the same quests, you can play together with a couple of friends (or go online and find people who want to play the game with you). The problem is you can only have access to this feature after you go through the Mirage Tower in the single player mode, what will probably take 10 hours or so to reach. Needless to say, if your sole purpose with this game is playing online with friends, you will be disappointed. If you are desperate to play an RPG online with friends, your better choices are Phantasy Star Zero or even Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time. Ragnarok DS is better suited for a single player experience.

In the end, when it comes to technical details, Ragnarok DS can be classified as a broken and lackluster game. But when it comes to how fun it is, very few games can match the experience. It keeps the player busy for so long and knows exactly how and when to give rewards, so it will be hard to put the game down even though it has so many flaws. Enough proof that you can not judge a book by its cover. If you want a portable version of the MMORPG phenomenon, you are out of luck. If you want to be sucked in for months, you have nothing to miss giving this game a go.

Triforce-News Final Score 70.0%

“FFXIII is best JRPG released in at least 5 years.”

As the tagline states, I believe this game easily surpasses any other JRPG of this generation. It manages to do something engrossing and unique while avoiding many of the pitfalls that nearly other JRPG of this generation has fallen into. I’ll try to give a brief idea of what you should expect if you pick this up and discuss the wedge points which will make you love or hate this game in particular.

Graphics: 9/10
Square is known for making incredibly beautiful, stable graphics with rich art design, and FFXII is no deviation from that tradition. This game offers a variety of colorful environments and truly amazing FMV sequences that are top notch. You find a more technically impressive RPG experience no matter how hard you look.

However, it’s best to keep in mind that the game does run at a higher resolution on the PS3. It is noticeable if you have a large HDTV, so if you have the option and the proper setup, I’d suggest snagging a PS3 to have a graphically superior experience.

Sound: 9/10
I’d heard some reviewers claim that the musical score isn’t as impressive as in previous entries, and I couldn’t agree less. I find the battle music especially impressive, and the sound effects aren’t bad either. The voice acting is excellently done for most characters, but Vanille’s voice does great a tad. I can’t say Snow’s performance is perfect all of the time either.

Battle System: 10/10
One thing that I think a lot of reviewers failed to mention is that the positioning of your opponents is relevant in the same way that it was in Chrono Trigger. This isn’t just an ATB battle system souped up so that the action is more real time; you have to take into account the position of your enemies in order to judge your area-of-effect combat moves and utilize your ATB gauge to the fullest. You only control the main character directly, but you give general roles to each party member, and I can’t imagine how insane it would be if you tried to control more than one at a time (one is often challenging enough).

Some reviewers also suggested that using the auto-battle command is the best way to go about it, but in doing that you’re missing out on so much effectiveness. The ability to execute commands early, take enemy positioning into account, and develop more in-depth strategies is entirely lost if you focus on the auto-battle command. After the game opens up a bit once unlock paradigm shifts, the battles are fast-paced, beautiful, and incredibly challenging.

The paradigm system allows for on the fly job-switching so that you can dynamically adapt your strategies and give your AI partners a general role to fulfill (though it also changes the party leader which you are controlling). This paves the way for deep, challenging fights where strategy is king.

Gone are random encounters, replaced by a familiar system where you try and get initiative in battle by engaging your enemy before being sighted. There’s items called shrouds which help you obtain the advantage on the field, similar to the way that some games allow you to set traps. These features aren’t new, but they’re well-done for FFXIII.

Upgrading/Customization: 8.5/10
The bad news is that there’s only two slots for you to equip your characters, weapons and bangles. The good news is there’s a fair degree of involvement in those particular slots, including leveling up your weapons and refining them by various means. Compared to FFX and FFVIII however, the game’s equipment system is handled amazingly; in both of those installments things were vastly oversimplified and revolved entirely around upgrading via component collection.

As far as progressing the characters themselves go, the new system is like the Sphere Grid with a little bit of the license board thrown in. You unlock stat upgrades, abilities, and auto-abilities (think passive traits) by spending points earned in battles to try between nodes. Each character has a different path to traverse for upgrades for each of their paradigm roles (think jobs), where abilities learned can only be used by that paradigm but stats affect the character in all roles. It’s an amazing system which gives you a great degree of freedom and choice in character progression.

Story: 9/10
It isn’t Shakespeare, but it’s a vast improvement on the storyline offered by the previous installment. Where FFXII focused largely on an over-arching plot, FFXIII is focused on a more personal level, though the personal struggles of the characters do eventually become part of a larger saga.

This is one area where FFXIII finally breaks the precedence of cheesy, uninspired dialogue with plenty of philosophical, unbelievably trite lines set by JRPGs of this generation. There are a few times where you’ll be wincing at the stupid things characters say and do, but the game often recognizes that and realizes that the characters in question are behaving foolishly (and will often punish them for it).

Sazh and Lightning are the most sober, realistic, and mature characters to breach the genre in a long time. They serve as a perfect counter-balance to the cliches of Snow and Vanille, and keep the plot grounded in believability and decent writing where Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean IV, and other JRPGs of this generation fell off the cliff of shoddy-dialogue and into the abyss of storyline apathy.

Exploration/Freedom/Pacing: 6.5/10
I’ve heard people claim that this game is nothing more than running from one battle or cutscene to the other, that’s really not the case, but they have distilled out a lot of traditional features that fans truly enjoyed.

Sidequests don’t open up until much later in the game, though there are a lot of them. There’s not a lot of backtracking, but this could be considered both good and bad. Towns are no longer places to relax, they still serve a purpose in the storyline and are impressive, but shopping is done from save points.

It isn’t until later in the story when exploration elements even begin to crop up, because you travel through packed corridors for the first disc or two of the game. The same can be said of the game’s progression system: for the first 1-2 hours you haven’t even unlocked the ability to have your characters progress. It takes awhile for all of the features to open up to you, this is undeniably the biggest problem with the game.

Final Score: 9/10
This really is the best JRPG to come out in forever, but I cannot emphasize enough that it’s very Japanese. Western RPGs focus on open world exploration, non-linearity, and freedom of choice. But where Final Fantasy XIII shines, is in the creation of a character-centric completely linear plot, a challenging combat experience, and graphical immersion.

Much like FFX, FFXIII creates the feeling that you’re coming along for the journey with a team of six individuals with an extraordinary fate. In some ways you’re just a spectator along for the ride, but if the trip is worth taking (and it is), sometimes you don’t mind stepping back and taking in the grandeur around you.

Triforce-News Final Score 95%

“Bioware sets the bar yet again.”

The first Mass Effect really caught me by surprise. But ME’s classic sci-fi leanings, unique combination of RPG and shooter elements and it’s top notch plot got me really invested into the first game of the trilogy. But I have to admit, despite my fondness for Mass Effect 1, the experience didn’t really stick with me. A few months after finishing it, it quickly passed out of memory. My anticipation of the sequel was mostly due to the plot and the chance to see how Commander Shepard’s story would continue to pan out. I had a feeling I would enjoy it, but I had no idea of just how much a colossal experience it would be.

Gameplay
The gameplay in Mass Effect 2 has undergone an almost complete transformation from the first game. Gone are many of the more strict RPG and inventory elements, in favor of a more streamlined approach. RPG enthusiasts the world over have expressed their disappointment with this. It’s a fair enough argument, but I think it’s a slightly weak one. It’s 2010 and I think it’s about time gamers stop desperately holding onto RPG elements in a game just for the sake of RPG elements. Said elements made ME 1 feel cluttered and clumsy in more ways than one. Yes, it worked, but this streamlined approach makes a ton more sense. Instead of piles and piles of loot, with a cartoon-esque amount of guns pouring out of your locker after every mission, you simply have a few weapons within each archetype (Assault Rifles, Heavy Pistols, SMG’s, Sniper Rifles, Heavy Weapons, Shotguns, etc.) and are able to purchase upgrades for more damage, more accuracy, bonus headshot damage, and so on and so forth. It might sound a bit underwhelming but trust me, it works out splendidly.

Also gone are the tedious Mako vehicle sections from the last game. No more cut-and-paste arid desert planets with a generic compound overrun by Geth. This time, if a side quest is available on a certain planet, it will be detected as an Anomaly alerting you of said quest. After a brief cutscene you’ll be on the ground with your squad mates ready for action. No more driving around and searching for your next battle.

The basic shooting mechanics are as solid as ever, as is getting in and out of cover. The improved visuals and framerate also help take the action to another level. Everything plays out so smoothly and fluidly, it gives combat an extremely enjoyable breakneck pace. With a quick press of the LB button you bring up a radial menu that lets you switch between weapons, or command a squad mate to switch to a different weapon.

Holding down the RB button brings up a second radial menu for powers and abilities. This is where all your biotic powers, tech powers and special attacks are located. Pressing this (or LB) temporarily pauses the game while you quickly choose a course of action, and then seamlessly places you back into the fray. You can also map certain abilities and attacks to the shoulder buttons, as well as having your A.I. squad mates automatically use their special attacks whenever they are off cooldown. No matter which option you choose, the perfect pace never falters and it all feels extremely responsive. Each and every battle is a blast to play through and tactically coordinating attacks with biotic and tech powers and traditional weapons never gets boring.

The only mediocre gameplay element to me is the Planet Scanning. You’ve likely already heard heated discussions about this but basically, it replaces the Mako as your way of finding side quests and exploring planets. When you fly to a planet in the galaxy on the Normandy, you enter it’s orbit and this brings up the scanning menu. Basically this consists of holding down the left trigger and dragging a reticule across the planet’s surface. A readings chart on the right hand side of the screen will rise if there are minerals present. Pressing right trigger when this happens will let you harvest any minerals at that location, or letting you land at a given Anomaly for one of the many side quests in the game. It’s not awful by any means, you don’t have to spend a ton of time doing it, even if you plan on getting most of the upgrades. But given that every other part of the game is so perfectly paced and integrated with one another, the scanning feels slow and a bit jarring at times. Especially after an exciting mission. Again, it’s not awful, just not great. It certainly isn’t bad enough to derail ME 2′s overall experience.

Visual and Sound Design
ME 2 shines in just about every way in this category. The graphics are fantastic. Whether it be character models, futuristic city skylines, mysterious environments on the dozens of uncharted planets, combat animations, biotic power effects: it all looks amazing. Mass Effect 2 also has awesome facial animations and lip syncing, two things that many games fail at. Participating in any of the many conversations in this game becomes extremely absorbing because the characters look so lifelike when they’re speaking to you or each other. The sound is no less impressive. Combat consists of a myriad of quality weapon blasts and power effects, as well as a diverse set of enemy sounds.

Something I definitely remember about the first Mass Effect is it’s fair share of audio and visual glitches. These, thankfully, have been fixed. On my play through I didn’t experience any sort of visual problems or audio drop-outs. And as previously mentioned, the framerate is wonderfully fluid without any major slow-down, even in the thick of heavy combat.

The voice acting is also second to none. Every race represented in the ME galaxy has their own unique sound and inflections, and every single NPC has it’s own unique personality. No matter if it’s a squadmate, a conversation character, Shepard himself, or even random conversations that you can eavesdrop on in one of the game’s hub cities, every character is distinct and brought to life by phenomenal writing and voice work. My personal favorite has to be Martin Sheen as the mysterious Cerberus leader, the Illusive Man. It should also be noted that the dialogue wheel is back. It still works well, and this is where most of your moral choices will happen throughout the plot that help shape your character. And finally, I feel obligated to give a nod to the soundtrack. Sweeping orchestral work mixed with icy keyboards and other sci-fi sounds is peppered throughout the game at key moments. It all sounds very cool. It personally brought to mind the music of Blade Runner at many spots.

Controls
I’ve already mentioned the major points about the controls, so I won’t retread too much here. They feel superb and all the different aspects mesh perfectly. The easily accessible radial menus for weapon swaps and special attacks do a bang up job of keeping the action focused and well paced. Also, the multi-branched dialogue wheel continues to provide a premiere method of RPG character progression.

Story
This will be brief since I don’t want to reveal any spoilers. Basically, the game continues Commander Shepard’s story after the events of the first Mass Effect. The plot continues the ME / Bioware tradition of being extremely engaging and emotionally investing, with it’s fair share of twists and build up towards the trilogy’s conclusion. However, something that really stands out to me in ME 2, other than the main plot, is the characters. A lot of my favorite parts of the game story-wise came from conversations that I had with squadmates on the Normandy or with NPC’s in the various cities and planets throughout the universe. The writing and conversations are truly unmatched by any other game that I’ve played. And never before have I cared so much for video game characters. As it progressed, I found myself instilled with more and more genuine hope that all of my team would make it out alive and onto Mass Effect 3. They’re that good.

Closing comments

So I’ve heaped a lot of praise onto ME 2. I have no doubt that some people will be inclined to view this whole review as hyperbole. But I can’t stress it enough, this game is that good. It improves on the first in every way and sets things up beautifully for the third and final installment. There is just so much quality content in this game, it’s astounding. My first playthrough clocked in at 38 hours, nothing to slouch at by any means. But as soon as the credits rolled, I started it up again, this time playing as a more rebellious character, as opposed to my first Space Boy-Scout Shepard. As someone who never ever replays single-player games, I think that says a lot about how much this has to offer. Every 360 and PC gamer owes it to themselves to check out Mass Effect 2. I think you’ll have a hard time resisting it’s fascinating cast of characters and intriguing, vast universe. Already, I’m itching for the chance to explore the galaxy once again in the conclusion of this mind blowing and epic saga. Bring on Mass Effect 3!

Triforce-News Final Score 95.0%

(We won’t be doing many non-Nintendo titles, so when we do, they tend to be top notch games and we try to deliver the best review and account possible, without any bias we have as Nintendo fans)

Our first review is for the DS game Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

“Reach out to the truth…”

There’s a corpse slumped in the corner. Blood everywhere. Judging by the wounds, he was shot through the gut. The weird thing is, the guards didn’t notice anyone enter the room. The door was supposedly locked the entire time. Nor are there any other exits or places to hide. It couldn’t have been suicide; there’s a gun on the floor nearby, but it hasn’t been used. Only his prints were on it, too. There’s no residue on the victim’s clothes, which means he wasn’t killed by short-range fire. No bullet holes in the wall, let alone any signs of a struggle. No one even heard the gunshot. There’s no way this murder could have happened here. Yet here this man lies, left to rot for all the world to see. It doesn’t make any sense at all. That means only one thing:

Somebody’s lying.

It’s up to Miles Edgeworth to figure out whom. As the district prosecutor, it’s his duty to bring criminals to justice. Ace Attorney Investigations focuses on his struggles as he deals with a series of insanely convoluted cases. What starts as a homicide in his office ends with the pursuit of an international smuggling ring, corrupted authority, and the appearance of a legendary thief. The story is well-written; ties all of Edgeworth’s adventures together while providing a decent amount of plot twists and insight into his character. You’ll get to see him deal with everything being accused of murder to one of his earliest professional cases. The story plays with the importance and meaning of truth; Edgeworth values it above all else, but characters (especially newcomer Kay Faraday) do a better job of presenting its moral ambiguity. But if you’re a series veteran just looking for another Ace Attorney fix, there are tons of cameos and references to the previous games. Despite focusing on a supporting character, the game remains true canon throughout.

How Edgeworth approaches it, however, is completely different. Unlike Phoenix Wright and the other defense attorneys in the series, he builds cases against suspects. He spends little time in the traditional courtroom setting; the majority of the game involves him scouring crime scenes, collecting evidence, and following leads. It’ll usually start with him stuck in a room and making observations. By using a small targeting reticule and the stylus, you can pinpoint things for him to look at. Most of these are pretty basic stuff; Edgeworth will keep track of the murder weapons, positions of the bodies, nearby objects, layouts of the rooms, and anything else he might think is important. Many of the evidence items can be looked over in 3D, which can offer more clues. If you come across something particularly significant, he’ll store the information in his Logic Menu. By tapping related clues together on this new screen, Edgeworth will make the connection and make the deductions necessary to progressing the case. By the time you’ve figured out everything, all of the logically-based loose ends will have been tied up.

Getting that far isn’t easy, though. Making the wrong connections and assumptions causes Edgeworth’s deductive reasoning (represented by a small energy bar) to falter. Screw up enough, and he’ll be off the case. You’ll have to uncover every last shred of evidence before you get anywhere. Literally. You can’t move on to the next stage of the investigation (or even out of most of the rooms) until you’ve seen and gathered everything you need. It’s kind of limiting compared to the freedom given in the last couple of Ace Attorney games, but it cuts down on unnecessary exploration and allows you to focus on the task at hand. Sometimes just the clues aren’t enough; you’ll have to ask other NPCs for information. In true Sherlock Holmes style, Edgeworth even recruits his own assistant for each case; Detective Gumshoe is the obvious choice, but the inclusion of suspects and the return of a certain fan favorite keep things interesting. They might be there to make the prosecutor look good, but they’re just as relevant to the story as he is.

Kay Faraday is easily the most important of them. Despite being a new character (and arriving near the halfway point of the game), she serves as the connection between the various cases. Her biggest contribution is a device that can reproduce a crime scene using holograms. By having her input whatever clues you’ve gathered so far, she’ll be able to present you with an image of it. That allows you a different perspective of the events and analyze any inconsistencies your theories might have. It’s a brilliant way to approach the investigative gameplay; some gamers who struggle with keeping track of all the text-based facts might have an easier time with a visual representation of them. The problem is that it’s underutilized; since Kay isn’t always your assistant, you’ll only need to use this feature a few times. It’s a shame that so little of the game was devoted to such an interesting concept.

Instead, it focuses on the what made the previous Ace Attorney games so awesome: the arguments. There are a wide variety of characters to interview at the crime scene, and they’ve all got their own takes on what happened. The thing is, most of them are either lying or completely wrong. You’ll have to listen to the person’s testimony, sorting through any information and comparing it to what you already know. If you come across something that doesn’t fit with what you’ve got, you can press the witness for more information or present evidence to prove them wrong. You’ll get penalized for arguing the wrong stuff, which means you’ve got to be careful in how you go about the confrontations. Your opponents offer all kinds of seemingly rational explanations, which can lead to some pretty epic plot twists and revelations. It’s a double-edged sword, though; since everyone just loves arguing down to every last logical detail, the cases can run kind of long and wear down your patience. Especially when you know the answer but have to wait until you can find the statement and evidence to prove it. Since you can only fast-forward through discussions you’ve already heard, it’ll take hours to cover everything.

Besides, reading is only half the fun. Like its predecessors, one of the most entertaining aspects of the game is the character art that goes along with the text. As you argue back and forth, you’ll be able to see people’s reactions to your statements. They can range from anything from a sneer to a complete hysterical breakdown. The animations are lively and frequently over-the-top, making even the blandest banter interesting. Not to mention the awesome soundtrack (the “Cornered” theme never gets old) that makes many of the scenes even more dramatic. One of the best moments has a character not only mocking Edgeworth for his immaculate grammar and fashion sense, but doubled over and wheezing in laughter at the same time. Such insanity highlights Edgeworth’s cool and collected demeanor; just try naming any gaming character that could debate his or her way out of a murder accusation. With their hands ties behind their back, no less. It’s a shame that the investigative segments didn’t get the same kind of treatment. You’ll wander the crime scene from a third-person perspective, which reduces the usually expressive characters to a bunch of sprites. The graphics are hardly the worst you’ll find on the DS, but they’re only decent at best.

That doesn’t make Ace Attorney Investigations a bad game, however. Nowhere near it. It has the clever writing and style that made the previous games so amazing. It allows you to see the series from a different perspective, offering new insight into a character that gamers only thought they knew. Fans will be treated to a slew of newcomers and cameos alike. Collecting evidence, making logical deductions, following leads, and debating offer a similar, but more analytical approach to the typicalAce Attorney gameplay. It’s just a shame that the assistant mechanics weren’t more fully utilized; the image-based investigation is a wonderful idea for those who get bogged down by the written details. Considering how lengthy and wordy some of the cases are, getting through everything is a slow process. It pays off, though; Phoenix Wright might be gone, but Miles Edgeworth more than makes up for it.

Triforce-News Final Score 80.0%

But it apparently can be done– all licensing issues and hold-ups be damned! Many were stating, even Capcom themselves, that Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Cross Generation Heroes (the Japanese title of the game) would stay exclusive to the land of the rising sun. Each character in the West belonged to a different studio, so it was all but an impossibility. Somehow, someway, Tatsunoko VS. Capcom has reached North American shores as Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. With so many memorable Capcom characters and the Tatsunoko line of impressive heroes, it is an honor and a privilege to be able to check this game out now that it has migrated to the West.

Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars features a myriad of modes and challenges for players to sink their competitive teeth into. The main single-player mode is Arcade where players take a team of two (or if they select one of the two giant characters, an army of one) through eight progressively more difficult battles. The fourth battle is always against one of the game’s two gigantic opponents while the last fight is a three-stage battle against the boss character of Tatsunoko VS. Capcom. To round out the single-player component, there’s time attack and survival modes. The first has you taking on foes with the goal to take them out as fast as possible whereas the latter has you trying to survive round after round of combatants. If that’s not enough, there is an unlockable mini-game that can be played which delves more into the genre of the shoot-em-up than the fighter.

You can alter nearly everything to do with battle in Tatsunoko VS. Capcom. You can set the difficulty of opponents, how much health each side has, if you and your opponent both start out with maximum power bars or not, and the time limit of a said round. The customization options are incredible, and that means you can play the game your way whether you are just beginning to enter the world of fighters or are a ten year vet of the genre.

As you play through the single-player component of the game, you earn zenny, the currency of most of Capcom’s games, which can be used to purchased a wide assortment of items in the shop. There’s character portraits and models, new costume colors, arena diagrams, and special movies. Sure, it’s all fluff, but it keep players coming back for more if the fun, addicting combat and gameplay of Tatsunoko VS. Capcom doesn’t do it first.

Speaking of the gameplay, Tatsunoko VS. Capcom may just be the best of the Versus series bunch. There are twenty-six playable characters in all with thirteen all-stars representing each side. You have old standbys like Ryu from Street Fighter, Chun-Li from Street Fighter II, Roll from Mega Man, and Viewtiful Joe from his eponymous series. You also have the other half of characters most players might not be familiar with– the Tatsunoko side of the equation. That notwithstanding, these fighters bring enough of their own unique fighting styles, personalities, and awesome character designs to the table for any fighting fan to fervor over. By completing the Arcade mode a set number of times, you can unlock five new characters exclusive to the Western version of the game: Zero from Mega Man X, Frank West from Dead Rising, Joe the Condor, Tekkaman Blade, and Yatterman-2. The characters are varied enough, and no two fighters feel the same which is important for a game of this caliber and not Super Smash Bros.

Tatsunoko VS. Capcom uses a two-on-two battle feature. At any time during battle, you can substitute your current character for the person sitting in standby. In standby, that fighter’s health will slowly regenerate a set amount. You can call your partner in to attack for a brief moment to help chain combos or throw in some extra damage. Tatsunoko VS. Capcom is very newbie-friendly. Combos are easy to pull off, but the more technical attacks take practice to master such as aerial combos, hyper combo breaks, and baroque attacks. It’s like any good, worthwhile fighting game should be. The game’s power super moves known as hyper attacks are activated by rolling the d-pad or analog stick around while pressing down two attack buttons. These attacks use up the bars on the bottom left or right side of the screen with a fighter’s master hyper needing three full bars of power to use. You can use any control type you can think of from the Wii remote by itself to the Gamecube or Classic Controller to a fight stick. The Wii remote and nunchuk control types make the experience a bit more dumbed down than the other options which may put off some more advanced players. As the game’s newbie-friendly, don’t be surprised to see massive numbers of shoryuken-spamming Ryus online that want to do battle with you.

Yes, you heard right. There is an online component aside from local multi-player that allows two players from across the continent or across the entire world to battle it out against one another. Depending on your connection and how far away your opponent is determines the latency of the battle. It seems one out of ten battles is laggy showcasing input lag among other nasty treats. It’s not a common occurence, so most battles should so off without problem. If a player has a habit of disconnecting mid-match, his or her profile will search for other players who disconnect during the heat of battle. Teach you to disconnect on me, Rupaul17! In addition to ranked and random battles where you earn points to allow you to face stronger opponents, there’s friend battles. You just need to exchanged those dastardly friend codes in exchange for the time of a fighting fan’s life.

Tatsunoko VS. Capcom sports what Capcom is calling a “2.5-D” look. Both the characters and backgrounds are beautifully-rendered with lots of eye candy going on in each of the game’s fifteen unique stages and character-specific attacks. The character models are especially impressive, and they look absolutely marvelous. On the audio side of things, Capcom opted to keep the Japanese voices solely without deciding to dub them into English. The Japanese voices are fine (save for Frank West who purely speaks English), but I would have preferred the ability to have a choice in the matter. Due to licensing issues (and boy, were there a lot of them), the character specific themes of the Japanese original have been replaced with more generic– yet memorable all the same– tunes.

As a tyro to most fighting games, Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is a fantastic fighting fan package. It has twenty-six characters to learn and master, dozens of team combinations, a sleek and pleasing graphical style, and plenty of goodies to unlock and enjoy. There is enough here for both beginners and masters of the genre to love without isolating either camp. Did I mention the virtually seamless online play again? Yeah, that’s there, too. For those looking for the best of the Versus series even without knowing what a Tatsunoko is, Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is the fighting game for you.

Triforce-News Final Score 90.0%

Three years. That’s how long it’s been since Travis Touchdown became the world’s greatest assassin…and vanished without a trace. It’s ironic. You’d think someone as socially inept as Travis would revel in his hard-earned glory. But he left it all behind, and no one knows why. Maybe he got bored; it’s not fun being a killer if there’s no one left to fight to the death. He got off on taking down worthy opponents, not murdering innocent bystanders. Or perhaps he got a real job, something that could help him afford his rent and unhealthy obsession with anime. Either way, the champ is long gone. In the realm of competitive assassination – a sport he helped establish – he’s become an urban legend, like some kind of twisted, murderous folk hero.

Times have changed, though. Travis’s gory exploits made the city of Santa Destroy famous, and its televised assassination tournaments have made it haven for people looking for bloodshed. Everything is run by corporations now; between the Pizza Bat franchise and the United Assassins Association, most of the old establishments are getting muscled out. Regardless of how mainstream killing has become, no one has forgotten what Travis did…especially the people he hurt. A lot of folks were killed as he carved his way up the ranks, and most of them had friends. Families. Travis never bothered to consider that after he abandoned his title. That lack of common sense cost him. Payback was inevitable, and the results were grisly. They didn’t go after him directly. Instead, they butchered Bishop, his best friend.

That was a big mistake.

You don’t piss off a legendary assassin. Especially when he’s Travis Touchdown. He was already borderline psychotic, but murdering his buddy gave him a new motivation to start killing again. It’s not just about clawing through the lineup of professional hitmen and deranged criminals anymore; it’s about revenge. The guy responsible for it all happens to be the new #1 Assassin, so it makes things even more convenient. Travis starts off his crusade at the lowly Rank #51 and spends the rest of the game hacking and slashing his way through anyone that gets in his way. However, he won’t have to fight fifty competitors to get there. Due to the design of some of the battles and other story-related circumstances, you’ll only have to slaughter 15 bosses. Some of the fights have you face several assassins at once, but the majority of these additional fighters are throwaway characters that get killed off via cut scenes.

That’s quite a letdown, but the fights make up for it. The original No More Heroes gave gamers some of the most bizarre bosses ever conceived, and Desperate Struggle does it again. It’s got everything: giant robots, poison-spewing femme fatales, morbidly obsessive fangirls, gunslingers, gothic lolita snipers, cosmonauts, motorcycle duelists, and a few other crazy opponents. One of the most interesting ideas is the concept of a lower-ranking assassin challenging you. There’s only one, and it’s entirely optional. It’s a shame that it wasn’t better utilized; having extra ranking fights would have provided a decent way of padding out the game between the story-related battles. Fans of the first game will rejoice in the return of two of its most infamous bosses, both of which deliver some awesome follow-up battles. Some of the good guys return, too. You’ll get to control both Shinobu, a badass samurai schoolgirl, and Henry, Travis’s handsome foil and occasional rival. Don’t expect too much, though. Neither of these characters are playable for very long; rather than giving them fully-fleshed out storylines, they’re limited to what amounts to glorified cameos.

It’s disappointing, but understandable. The game is about Travis’s quest for vengeance, not adventures of his would-be friends. It keeps things focused. If anything, you’ll probably just play through the game for the sake of seeing the next crazy plot twist or over-the-top cutscene. The main characters are aware of their existence in a video game, and gleefully break the fourth wall whenever possible. They shove plenty of eye candy in for good measure, too. Everything in the game, from Travis’s fluid movements and Shinobu’s facial expressions to Sylvia’s tantalizing costumes, are rendered with crisp cel-shaded animations. Some of the fights are all about atmosphere; there’s nothing more badass than going mano-a-mano with a samurai as the sun sets in the background. It’s definitely a step up from the imagery of the last game. It’s so pretty, in fact, that you might be distracted from the game’s underwhelming ending. Many of the battles leading up to the finale are among the best in the series, but the last showdown and its aftermath are surprisingly boring. It works well enough, but No More Heroes veterans shouldn’t expect anything too mind-blowing.

That’s assuming that you actually live long enough to see any of it. Before you lay a hand on any of the main villains, you’ll have to slash through small armies of generic henchmen. You’ll face guys with crowbars, axes, guns, chainsaws, and the occasional sword. None of them look particularly fearsome. But get enough of the mooks into a single room, and you could find yourself getting an ass-kicking. The AI is surprisingly competent; the thugs will gang up on you and change tactics depending on how the battle is going. You could be beating down a group of bat-wielding hoodlums, only to be stopped by a hail of bullets from someone out of the camera’s range. That can be a serious problem, especially in some of the ridiculously long fights in the latter half of the game. It’s not a bad thing – these skirmishes are a huge improvement over those of No More Heroes – but you might reach the point where you start wondering how much longer it’ll take to get to the next area.

The only thing keeping you alive is Travis’s insane combat skills. He wields a beam katana (complete with the Star Warslightsaber sound effects) and can dish out stuff that would make a Jedi blush. Rather than forcing you to swing the WiiMote, the game lets you mash a button to attack. The moves change depending on the angle of the controller; tilting up or downward alters Travis’s stance. If you’re using the Classic Controller, you won’t have to worry about any of that; the various attacks are mapped to the buttons instead of the motion sensing. Either way, the controls are wonderfully responsive and accurate. The game encourages you to play offensively. Guarding against attacks drains the sword’s battery. If you do it too much, you’ll have to run for cover and shake the controller until the thing recharges. You’ll also be able to purchase a few more katanas, all of which have different ranges, combos, and limitations. It’s too bad that there weren’t more weapons or ways to customize your arsenal, but the small selection works well enough. Besides, you won‘t really need them. By the time you get the dual-sword set, there’s not much incentive to switch to anything else. Nor should you; changing blades mid-battle screws with the pacing of the fight and leaves you wide open for attack.

Instead, you should spend more time mastering the other moves. They’ve been improved immensely since the last game. Rather than just hacking and slashing through his victims, Travis can mix things up with punches and kicks. They’re not just useful for breaking an enemy’s guard; they’re essential to linking combos together and keeping baddies off-balance. If you knock someone into being dizzy, you can punish them with lucha libre moves. Pile-drivers, suplexes, and nearly a dozen other badass techniques. All you’ve got to do is move the Wiimote in the direction shown on the screen. The same goes for the finishing moves for your sword combos, which usually ends up with someone getting cleaved in half and spurting a fountain of blood. The more enemies you kill, the more Travis’s bloodlust – the strength of which is indicated onscreen by a fire-breathing tiger – builds up. You have the option of releasing the energy with the push of a button, or it can be randomly activated whenever you finish someone off. These temporary powerups (with cute names like Strawberry on the Shortcake and Cranberry Chocolate Sunday) give Travis super-speed, fireball projectiles, and even a room-clearing explosion. The best is the Gooseberry Sugar Donut, which transforms him into a man-eating tiger.

No, seriously. Travis turns into a tiger, and it is badass.

Though the combat is an upgraded version of the previous game’s mechanics, it’s basically the same. The overall structure of the game, however, had been redone from the ground up. The first No More Heroes had you riding a motorcycle around an utterly unremarkable and lifeless town, doing part time jobs with the WiiMote controls, and earning enough money to afford the entry fee for the next ranking match. Desperate Struggle reworks this entire system and streamlines into something far more efficient. Rather than cruising through Santa Destroy, you just have to select your destination from a menu and watch the screen load. It makes getting around far less of a tedious task, and it’s far more effective than having a generic Grand Theft Auto knockoff. You no longer have to pay anything to move on to the next boss fight, which allows you the freedom to tackle the story at your own pace. You’ll even be able to complete timed challenges in which you murder Bishop’s killers. Those aren’t required, but they make a decent complement to the main storyline.

Instead, you’ll probably spend more time working on the side-jobs. You’ll do menial tasks, like exterminating bugs, harvesting coconuts, cooking food, and picking up trash. Unlike the previous game, all but one of these missions are done completely in retro 2D style. For example, you’ll have to deal with a sewage backup by laying out a plumbing system a la Pipe Dream. Instead of delivering pizzas the normal way, you’ll have to weave through heavily pixilated freeways straight out of an old Atari or NES racer. Even Travis’s gym coach (a guy who practically oozes stereotypical homosexuality) enforces a strict 2D training regimen of treadmill running and sparring. The old school gameplay works well; it makes the mini-games feel more entertaining and less like the obligatory motion-based challenges of the first game. Those are saved for Jeane, our hero’s overweight cat; you’ll spend time mashing the controls as you make her exercise the pounds away. These little side-quests pay off, too. Not only will you unlock additional features, but you’ll have more than enough money to buy all of the dozens of t-shirts, pants, jackets, and sunglasses that make up Travis’s customizable wardrobe as well.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of stuff here. The game takes about eight hours to beat, and that’s if you don’t get addicted to everything else being offered. Regardless of how you approach it, Desperate Struggle is an amazing game. It takes everything that worked from the previous title and expanded upon it, and fixes nearly everything else. The story is still as insane as always, even if the ending is kind of lackluster. It’s got style and humor in spades. The sheer variety of boss fights and crazy assassins keeps things interesting. The additional playable characters, though horribly underutilized, give longtime fans something to enjoy. It doesn’t matter if you’ve played the original or not; the improved combat mechanics and challenging enemies make this game far superior to its predecessor. Besides, the 2D mini-games and the rest of the sidequests are enough to keep you from getting bored too quickly. You won’t, though. No More Heroes is back. And this time, it’s personal.

Triforce-News Final Score 90.0%

What it does do right is creating a hero that is practically naivety incarnate and slowly developing him via interactions with characters. He’s not the only one either, whilst each of the characters introduced never get enough screen time for you to say without a shadow of a doubt, I know this character inside and out, each of them are developed enough for you to get a strong feel for them and their emotions. The pacing of the story and the script are both wonderfully done as well involving plenty of jokes(both between your party members as well as enemies) with just the right amount of seriousness.

What it did do wrong though was kill off enemy characters too easily. A lot of enemy characters are introduced, built upon and then killed off within 10-20 minutes which leaves the player a bit bewildered as to why the creators bothered to create the enemy character and give it some personality to begin with. The general background of the game is rather lacking as well. Some of the plot points are a bit weird as well such as the World Annihilation Front being called a group yet… being VERY lacking in members or the Golden Lions seeming to have no purpose storyline wise. A HUGE problem with it is that it is extremely short, an rpg veteran would probably plough through the game in no more than 24 hours at the most.

Overall, whilst you’ll really grow to love or hate the main characters, a lot of the story never gets expanded upon so you’re left with what feels like half a story. That said, that half is very well written and you’ll be left wanting more rather than wondering why you bought half a book in my opinion.

Voice Acting – 8/10
The voice acting is used to good effect in the game with most major events being fully/semi voiced. The voice actors themselves gave a wonderful performance overall outside of a few minor character getting less than stellar voice acting. The jokes were made to sound like jokes, the serious bits… were fairly serious and voice acting made at least one scene (without spoilers, that area on top of the temple would have been less fun if there weren’t voices.)

Music/Effects – 4/10
To be honest, I’m being generous, some of the music feels and sounds ripped off from other games. Most of it is boring as whole. There’s a small (2 maybe 3 tracks) that you may enjoy but overall I have to say I was utterly disappointed by the soundtrack especially after the hype that the game got for employing Yasunori Mitsuda(a very very well known music author who produces in my opinion extremely high quality work.) for the soundtrack.

Graphics: 7/10
I love the designs and costumes in the game, most of the areas look different and interesting. The only reason this has a somewhat low score is because the level of detail is a bit lacking in comparison to other games however, I am comparing this with other consoles. If I had to give it a score on the DS, I’d say a 9/10 is a more fitting choice.

Gameplay – 3/10
There’s a lot of systems and sub systems in the game so I preferred spreading them out to a few wide sections.

Battle system in practice
This… is the main problem with the game. The battle system is broken beyond belief. Any single one of your characters can quickly and easily become a demigod as soon as you hit level 20. This is because the game employs a combo/button input system somewhat similar to Xenogear’s combo system where you can unleash a number of deathblows together if you save ap. There’s just one problem. There’s absolutely NO drawback to doing this whatsoever other than having the challenge in the game drain away to nothing.

This is rather sad as the game actually employs a wide variety of skills to make battles more fun. Blow attacks which are meant to hit hard and have special effects such as stunning the opponent or delaying their turns, followup skills which work on stunned enemies and spells which debuff the enemy lose meaning when you can kill the opponent with one press of the button. There is no strategy, no skill, nothing involved whatsoever when it comes to the battle system. The odds are heavily stacked in your favor.

This coupled with the high encounter rate (which end up being button tapping matches with little or no danger to your survivability at all) ensures that players will need good patience to make it through the game. To add insult to injury, the game features puzzles which are usually interesting but can be a pain since most of them involve a great deal of exploration(and thus random battles) to solve.

There’s only one point where battles may become frustrating which is when you run into boss battles. Apparently their idea of scaling the game was to make it so bosses are extremely cheap enemies who generally move fairly fast(and move faster as you attack them more) and can easily annihilate your party if you’re not careful. … Basically boss battles end up being a question of who can break the game more rather than who has the better strategy.

The actual Battle system
Each character is given between 1 and 3 starting bp depending on how much morale they have. With the obvious point of more morale = more bp. Morale is highly dependant on accessories and requires a fair amount of time to affect even if you give the character 2 accessory pieces that they like/dislike.

For each BP, the character is allowed to attack using either a flurry of weaker attacks or a status effect inducing blow. When they reach 6 bp, a special attack which hits all enemies can be used.

There’s very little depth to this system other than being reminiscent to Xenogears/Xenosaga. A lot of the depth in the system comes from the abilities and quips which are covered below this.

Skills Upgrading
The game employs a CP system which works like skill points in most other games whereby you can spend a set number of points to enhance the power of your skills, unlike most games however, there are drawbacks to upgrading most skills as well. Spells become more expensive as you make them stronger whereas skills become less accurate. I found this system to be pretty interesting as it forces the player to choose between being a balanced hybrid or concentrating on one end of the spectrum. In addition, bonuses are given to those who focus on one aspect(such as Crit rate +5% or SP cost reduced to 1) and those who severely overlevel can even max both parts of the skill for a second bonus.

At set levels, The player can also choose to get either more slots to further enhance the skill or choose to fortify it’s ability. Fortifying abilities I felt was an interesting idea as you could choose to focus on the effect or you could choose to focus on raw damage/efficiency. With a wide variety of effects such as delaying the enemy, stunning the enemy, tossing the enemy, it’s an interesting system to play with as a whole. Sadly, Flurry attacks become flurry combos via this method.

All in all, I have to say the skills upgrading system is interesting but easily abused.

Forging
Forging allows players to graft abilities onto weapons such as elements, stat ups and the like. Intriguingly, one can even upgrade weapons via this method however it’s rather difficult and time consuming to do so. The system is fairly basic and has a small number of problems(namely you need at least one spare weapon to switch to whilst forging as you cannot forge a weapon you are currently using even though you can’t break it.)

Interestingly, the forge can even extract abilities from weapons and return them to their raw state(where you can graft it onto another weapon) perhaps even keeping the weapon intact if enough money is paid.

An interesting thing about this system is that late game materials can even affect the growth rates of characters allowing you to easily max your characters stats before they hit level 99.

Overall, an interesting system but one that serves no purpose in this game since you become godly even without bothering with it.

Special abilities and Quips.
Ah. Quips and special abilities. Ranging from the overpowering Empower Agi and Atk to the much hate War Paint, these abilities inherent to most pieces of armor add a new dynamic to the battle system. For instance, characters who get attacked often may equip equipment that gives defiance(lowers wait time if attacked) or maybe braveheart(applies Empower Attack to the defender) which allows you to create a strategy that kills the enemy faster.

Quips are short voice action clippets which each have a certain effect they can create such as Ironfist(raises attack dramatically, stacks with all other buffs),Rally(sets allies at 3 attack points each.) and even ensnare(ends opponents attacking turn) Each cast of character has their own unique set of quips which help to separate them from each other. For instance, Agan and Kyrie are the only characters who have access Quips which cause the ironfist effect. Quips do not always take effect however unlike armor based abilities.

There’s plenty of overlap here such as braveheart(Several characters possess a Quip equivalent) which is why these two sections are together. These abilities are interesting as they allow players more depth to their strategy by perhaps equipping nul-elements armor when fighting mages or equipping Empower Agi accessories for more turns, due to the large number of possibilities with 1 armor slot, 2 accessory slots and 4 quip slots, each character can be adequately prepared to fight under a large variety of circumstances.

I love the special abilities and quips. They’re interesting. In this game however, they serve to make an already broken game that much easier.

Summary of Gameplay
All in all, a lot of ambitious systems. Sadly unlike the other innovative title for the DS, The World Ends With You, the entire thing collapses because combat becomes a dull chore rather than a fun experience.

Summary
Overall, The Sands of Destruction is an interesting effort. I love the game very very deeply(probably moreso than I should considering how much I bashed it in this review) but it’s a flawed effort. There’s a LOT of potential here but I really cannot in good conscience recommend anyone to buy this without first renting the game and giving it a try. This is truly a love it or hate it game in my opinion.

Triforce-News Final Score 70.0%