|
◊Game Reviews◊
 | ◊Final Fantasy XII◊
Click Here To View The Trailer
Story:
Final Fantasy 12 is set in the world of Ivalice, for years the two kingdoms of Arcadia and Rosaria have been fighting against each other in a bitter struggle. Located in a strategically important corridor between the two powers is the small kingdom of |
Dalmaska..
Arcadia's invasion of the kingdom prompts its princess Ashe to join forces with the resistance. Vaan is an optimistic and bright young man yielding from the ancient kingdom of Dalmaska, which has fallen under the control of the Arcardian Empire. Due to the unsatisfactory conditions there, he has cut his ties with relatives there, seeking his very own personal freedom.
As an adventurer, he dreams of being able to command an airship someday. Ashe is the sole daughter of the king of Dalmaska and hence the next inline to the throne. Following the invasion of her country, she becomes the leader of the resistance against the Empire. During a wild pursuit, she loses one companion after the other. Despite her desperate situation, she still hasn't lost the pride of a princess. In this situation she meets Vaan, and before long loses her heart to him. Thus their joint adventure begins
◊Prologue◊
A warrior takes sword in hand, holds a stone to chest
Disappearing memories carved onto the sword
Trained skills entrusted to the stone
The story is told by the sword and continued by the stone
Now, let that story be told...
That is the story of a world called Ivalice.
The strong military kingdom known as the Arcadia Empire
That rules the Valentia Continent,
And the Rosalia Empire that rules the Ordalia Continent
Have been continuously at war for long years.
In the midst of it, Arcadia Empire invaded the small kingdom of Dalmasca,
Positioned in the hallway between the two continents and thus is geopolitically important.
Under the invasion of the Arcadia Empire, the Dalmasca Kingdom accepted defeat.
But Ashe, the rightful heir to the trone of Dalmasca,
Joined the resistance army movements to fight against the empire.
The enemy's chase and attack of this girl with the liberation of her mother nation in heart is severe,
But, she can not be defeated.
At this moment, she meets the young man Vaan.
With this meeting, begins the change in Ashe's heart.
And thus...
The meeting of these two people will greatly change the story of this world.
◊Review◊
After years of countless delays and waiting for Final Fantasy XII it has been very exciting to finally see it arrive to our shores. This game turned out to be quite different to what the series have been lately, but it still was a very fun and unique experience. Its surprisingly big and detailed world opened new horizons at how far a single offline RPG can go.
◊Gameplay◊
Gameplay in FFXII had a major revamp from the previous games. Finally able to roam cities and dungeons with a fully rotatable camera feels great. Map design is very neat and it is never too repetitive. It is also nice that most of the areas are huge. You might actually find yourself at loss once you get to places like the city of Rabanastre.
◊Battle System◊
Battle system had a nice change as well. There are no more random battles. Now players are able to find enemies walking on landscapes and they can run up to them to fight. At first it feels a little dull, but once you get a hold of more than one character in your party battles become exciting. The ability to change battle speed and decide if you want to use active or wait modes is a nice touch.
◊Graphics◊
Graphics have big improvements, too. All the locations look simply beautiful. The colors and very detailed textures make everything appear realistic and full of life. Other RPGs feel completely empty after looking at the environments of FFXII. Character models also seemed to be improved. They’re much more detailed and don’t look as choppy as in FFX. Cutscenes look great as well. They’re very cinematic and are just as pleasant to watch as FMV.
◊Sound◊
Music this time around has been composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto who is mostly known for games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. It adds a completely new and different feel to the series, and makes FFXII’s world become much more complete. Most of it is pleasant and sets the mood of each location perfectly. Almost all of the musical pieces are new, but there are some returning tunes that many fans might recognize like the Prelude and Chocobo Theme.
◊Story◊
Story in this game is more mature then in previous games. It’s nice to finally see a political theme as the main target and not some mushy love story. Character’s different personalities are very likable and their development plays a big role in this game. Because of that, it’s very easy to get sucked in into their world and their problems.
◊Voice Acting◊
Voice acting is pretty great as well. Perhaps it is even one of the best ones available in RPGs. None of the characters feel dull when they talk. Most of them have interesting intonations and accents. Due to the use of the Shakespearean language combined with different accents it’s a bit difficult to catch what they’re talking about when they speak quickly at first, but you get used to it after a couple of hours.
◊Final Thought◊
Final Fantasy XII is an amazing game with an interesting plot that can easily impress most of the crowd. For those who have been waiting to get an opportunity to play something different and of a good quality, this can be just the right game. Of course those who are afraid of a change or expect this game to be similar to the previous games might want to rent this game first. Either way, this entry into the series brings great innovation and very enjoyable experience that no Final Fantasy fan should miss.
◊My Review◊
Finally after a long wait of Square Enix putting it's finishing touch on the game and making me wait I was finally able to get it. I really like the Final Fantasy games. This one has a pretty good story line. The game graphics are so clear. And the battles are easy. You are able to see the enemies that you are going to fight. And I like that the other characters in your party have gambits that you can set up. I like setting mine up to sure. It's nice that I don't have to use alot of my healing postions to cure them. And we just use cure magic spells. And the Cut scenes are nice to watch as well. And I love the espers you get to help aid you in battle.
Contributed By : Tonya (CrystalFantasie) |
|
◊Kids Game Review◊
 | ◊Viva Pinata◊
A wild and easy-to-control kids' game by famed developer Rare. Designed together with the "Viva Piñata" Saturday morning 3-D animated TV series, this Xbox 360 game is a customizable, social and spontaneous game that invites players of all ages and skills to explore an immersive world where they are challenged to create and maintain a living garden ecosystem that grows in realtime. Beginning with a few basic tools, players build and take control of their environment to attract and host more than 60 species of wild piñata, |
utilizing hundreds of customizable elements to create their very own, distinctively unique, thriving paradise.
Viva Piñata gameplay continues to evolve with new content available via the Xbox Live service and the ability to play, trade and interact with Viva Piñata players everywhere.
While Rare may be recently known as the developer of the slick first-person shooter Perfect Dark Zero and the colorful and challenging platformer Kameo, the veteran UK studio has been around, in one form or another, for over two decades. Over that time, the studio's oeuvre has touched on just about every genre, including more mainstream genres such as kids' titles. With its latest release, Rare changes gears and revisits its kid-friendly material with Viva Piñata, an original title that draws on a variety of familiar game elements to offer a unique experience with some multimedia ties. We recently had the chance to check out an early version of the game to see what this unique title is all about
Our demo began with a quick fly-thru of the island, which will serve as the game's setting. When the camera stopped its tour, we were greeted by Dedos, a young woman wearing a festive mask who was there to fill newcomers to the island in on the basics of Viva Piñata's gameplay. Your goal is to tend to a small garden made up of a small plot of land, which is outlined by a white line. The first order of business was to do some landscaping on the unsightly area, which has been overrun with clutter. To do so, our demoer busted out one of the upgradeable tools you'll use in the game--a shovel--and proceeded to mash up all the offending litter. Once the area had been flattened out, the next item to be used was a packet of quick-growing grass, which helped to beautify the bland patch of dirt left by flattening all the debris. After giving the grass a mild watering--courtesy of another of the tools you'll use in the game, a watering can--the simple patch of land started to look inviting enough to catch the attention of one of the island's resident wild piñatas. Yes, wild piñatas.
We'll go ahead and switch gears right now to fill you in on the basic goal of the game, that being to have a garden that's snazzy enough to attract and house the 62 "breeds" of piñatas that live on the island. The wild piñatas will be simple monocolor critters that will gain color once they decide to take up residence on your plot of land. Once that happens, you'll want to keep an eye on them and make sure they're content. If you're lucky, you'll be able to attract pairs of the same breed, who'll take a shine to each other, as denoted by the universal sign of floating hearts above their heads, and head off into a habitat and...dance. Once their jig, which plays out in an in-game cinematic, is over, a stork will pop by and drop an egg that will contain the fruit of their boogying, a baby piñata.
Attracting piñatas will obviously be key toward building your garden's population. To do this, you'll have to maintain a certain level of appearance for your garden and meet certain conditions, as everything appears to be linked in the game. In our demo, the first piñata attracted to the garden was a worm. Once he took up residence in the garden, he was joined by another worm. The presence of two worms then attracted a bird piñata, who obviously had some vested interest in coming to hang out closer to potential meals.
Once you start to get into the piñata-attracting swing of things, you'll find that there's going to be a good measure of multitasking involved. While you can choose to take on all of the assorted duties required to maintain your garden and piñatas in a happy state, anyone looking to have a mellower experience can hire helpers to tend to the different chores you'll have to deal with while playing, so you can focus on one aspect. If you choose to focus on the happiness of your piñatas, you'll be able to click on each of your residents and examine their personal preferences to ensure that you're doing the right things to keep them happy.
At this point, you're probably thinking the game is pretty bland and are hoping for some spice. Well there is some conflict to be found, as the island will contain surly piñatas, called "sours," who will try to encroach on your little oasis and mess with your residents, either by scaring them off or turning them sour, denoted by a dark-red color scheme and generally bad behavior. You can hire some help to ward them off or handle the job yourself. While you may be thinking your shovel would be the ideal way to deal with the malcontents--piñatas being made for a good bashing and all--you'll have to be careful, as breaking a sour open in your garden leaves behind bits of corrupting material that could seriously mess up your population. These bad-seed piñatas are led by the antisocial Dastardos, who, with a name like that, is obviously looking to stir up trouble.
As far as the multimedia hooks go, you'll find two key areas--Xbox Live and television. The Xbox Live hook is a pretty cool use of an upcoming feature of Live--object transfer--which will let you send piñatas from your game to a friend or upload and download them from the Marketplace. A custom tag on all of the piñatas in the game, which will contain user generated art, will flag their lineage, letting the world see whose game each piñata came from. In addition, there are plans for Live content and events in the game, such as the ability to exchange piñatas, online-themed contests, and even races. The television hook is a bit more conventional, as the game is one part of the Viva Piñata "experience." The game's island setting is also the location where an upcoming CG cartoon will be set. The twist will be that the action in the cartoon will take place on a different part of the island from where the game does. However, the cartoon will reveal information that will come in handy when playing the game.
The visuals in the game, which were still very much a work in progress, are likely to be initially underwhelming to anyone expecting a sense-shattering display of the Xbox 360's considerable graphics power. Part of this is due to the game's art style, which is simple and doesn't lend itself to gratuitous uses of lighting, normal maps, or real time. However, there are some nice touches if you look closely. The piñatas themselves, which come in all shapes and sizes, have a distinct look that features flourishes such as the independently moving pieces of papier-mache. Besides the in-game graphics, you'll be treated to in-game cinematics that show off pivotal moments in the game, such as the mating dances between the piñatas.
The audio was hard to judge, as much of it wasn't in our version of the game. Some of the music was in, but the bulk of the voice and some of the sound effects hadn't been implemented properly. The final version of the game will contain full voice for the human characters and a range of effects for the paper-y stars of the game. One thing to note is that, while the game is based on the upcoming CG cartoon, none of the piñatas will speak.
At the end of the day, Viva Piñata is a change of pace for Rare that may surprise some who've only become acquainted with the developer by its most recent offerings. Longtime fans will merely see the game as the developer revisiting its lighter roots. Whether or not this turns out to be a good thing remains to be seen. The Xbox Live functionality is cool, but we're hoping that as more of the game is revealed, there'll be more to it. The gameplay and collection mechanics are geared toward a younger gamer. While there's some potential to hook older gamers, as the Monster Rancher and Pokèmon franchises have been able to do, we'll need to see more and try the game ourselves to see if it will have that kind of crossover appeal. Viva Piñata is currently slated to ship this fall in time with the CG cartoon from 4Kids. Look for more on the game in the coming months.
Contributed By : Tonya (CrystalFantasie)
|
|
◊Game Review◊
 | ◊Justice League Heroes◊
Justice League Heroes is an action role-playing game in which the titular DC Comics superheroes are tasked with saving the world from the evil forces of Brainiac. The game can be played either solo or cooperatively with a friend, and we recently had an opportunity to check out both options--not to mention a number of different levels and playable characters--when Warner Bros. Interactive paid us a visit. Dozens of different superheroes have joined the Justice League |
team since it was founded in the late 1950s, and seven of its most recognizable members will be available for you to play with from the outset: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna. All of the characters have their own unique superhero powers, and as you progress through the game you'll not only gain additional powers, but you'll also be able to develop those already in your arsenal using experience points and "boost" pickups from fallen enemies. Furthermore, there will be a number of additional playable characters to unlock in Justice League Heroes, although Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Hawkgirl are the only three that WB Interactive has confirmed to date.
Although all of the superheroes in Justice League Heroes play quite differently, there are a number of controls and gameplay features that are consistent regardless of which hero you're playing as. The heads-up display, for example, features a health bar (which restores automatically over time), an energy bar that's used to fuel your superpowers, and a "heroic meter." The heroic meter goes up every time you hurt an opponent but takes a hit whenever you sustain damage. As the meter fills up you'll find that your moves become more powerful, so it's a decent incentive for you to put your chosen hero's block move to good use. Punches, kicks, and double-jumps can be used by all of the heroes in the game, but their implementation varies quite considerably. Superman will fly after you double-press the jump button, for example, while Batman will glide using his cape.
Superpowers are accessed by holding down the left shoulder button, at which point a small diagram appears on the screen to let you know which five abilities you currently have mapped to the five superpower buttons. Many of the superpowers that we got to play around with today won't be available from the outset, so consider this a spoiler warning if you don't want to know about some of the powers that you'll be using later in the game.
Each superhero has a unique arsenal of recognizable moves and powers.
The first two superheroes that we got to see in action were Superman and Batman, who were battling "assault bots" in the financial district of a city. Superman's most memorable moves included setting fire to enemies at a distance with his thermal vision and turning them into blocks of ice with his frost breath so that they could then be shattered with a few well-placed punches. With his incredible strength, the Man of Steel was also able to wield lampposts and cars like baseball bats, using them to swat enemies as if they were flies. Batman's martial arts skills were complemented by his abilities to throw batarangs, to summon a swarm of bats, to temporarily stun enemies with flashbangs, and to pull enemies toward him (or himself toward objects) using a grapple claw.
Flash and Green Lantern were next up in our demonstration, battling with extra-dimensional creatures inside a Siberian submarine pen. Flash's powers include a supersonic evade that made it almost impossible for enemies to hit him, a pinball attack with which he could bounce off and hit several enemies in quick succession, and the ability to move so fast that he can actually pass through certain objects. Green Lantern's solid-light-based abilities, on the other hand, lend themselves to a crowd control role, and include placing detention boxes around enemies, throwing plasma-bolt projectiles, hitting enemies with a giant sledgehammer or a pair of grinders, and shielding friendly targets from harm with a protection dome.
The third double act on our agenda was Wonder Woman and Zatanna. While playing as Zatanna our favorite abilities were undoubtedly the area-of-effect powers that allowed us to slow down time or turn all nearby enemies into bunny rabbits. The WB Interactive representative who was playing as Wonder Woman at the time took great delight in grabbing said bunnies with Wonder Woman's lasso of truth before swinging them violently around the screen. The final two superheroes that we got to spend some time with were Martian Manhunter and the unlockable Aquaman. Martian Manhunter's most notable ability appeared to be transforming into a powerful alien form with elongated limbs, while Aquaman (he's the version with a hand made of living water) can turn his liquid prosthetic into a number of different objects, including a shield and the Sword of Atlantis.
Your character choices will vary according to the level.
Perhaps the only feature of Justice League Heroes that we were a little disappointed to hear about during our demo, at least initially, is the fact that you won't be able to simply choose your favorite superhero and play as them for the duration. The game quite deliberately forces you to mix and match your pairings, not only through its storyline, but through environments such as outer space, where it's only possible to use flying characters like Superman and Wonder Woman. We desperately wanted to take Batman up there, but on reflection it's probably for the best that we weren't able to.
Justice League Heroes Hands-On
By Justin Calvert, GameSpot
Posted Sep 12, 2006
So here are my thoughts on the game. First - I am a HUGE DC Comics fan, so this was a critical game for me. I am one of those people that "nit-picks" things that I know a lot about. So, I do own the game and I personally loved it. While a lot of the gaming community disliked it for one reason or another I really enjoyed playing all the characters and leveling them up and being able to replay the game once you have beaten it with the same characters. It was a great surprise to see that we could unlock the Huntress, Aquaman, Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, and Green Arrow. I really would have liked to see the Black Canary - but I guess
I can get over that one. Each time and turn enemies into bunnies. That was awesome! But one of the best people to have is the Flash when it comes to fighting the KEY - because the KEY sends out these weird looking flying creatures that attack themselves to you, but Flash is great because he does his fast/tornado move and whips them allover and kills them. WOO!
The one thing that I would have changed about the game was to make it a little more complex and have more levels, because I was able to beat it in a matter or two or three days. I really enjoy taking a week or more to beat a game. You know? But other than that the game was lots of fun and I approve!
Contributed By : Colleen (Pxyjuice)
|
|
◊Game Reviews◊
 | ◊Gears of War◊
Click Here To View The Trailer
*For The Xbox 360 Adults only language content not suitible for children.
About Gears of War:
The game's campaign tells the tale of a man named Marcus Fenix. He, like the other soldiers around him, is an extremely thick dude |
that very clearly doesn't have time to bleed. The game immediately sets an action movie-like tone, complete with an interesting post-apocalyptic world that's been overrun by a mysterious force called the Locust. Marcus is a former soldier for the Coalition of Organized Governments, or COG. Their soldiers wear ridiculously huge, bulky armor, but can't be bothered to wear helmets. They're just that tough. Or stupid. Either way, Fenix is a former soldier that's been branded a traitor and locked away, but he's busted out of prison at the opening of the game, to help in the fight against the Locust. After a brief tutorial level where you and Dom, the soldier that busted you out, make your way out of the Locust-infested prison and, yes, get to the chopper, you're connected with the other members of Delta Squad and sent out to find Alpha Squad, which is both missing and supposedly in possession of a device that could turn the tide of the war. The game's story isn't very deep, and aside from a very brief mention in the front of the manual, it doesn't really bother to fill you in on the details behind the conflict or the main character's incarceration. The lack of exposition feels like a missed opportunity to make the characters and the setting even more compelling, and there are parts of the game that seem like they were built specifically to make room for some kind of flashback sequence, but the gameplay is so sharp that you probably won't care.
You'll fight a decent variety of enemies in Gears of War. Most of the Locust are humanoids, with minor visual distinctions between the standard troops, ones with shotguns, and so on. Later on, you'll fight some different-looking humanoid-style enemies that are armed with explosive torque bows, and there are plenty of other critters to face--some small, some screen-filling. They all use slightly different tactics, but the same basic rule applies: Wait for them to pop their heads (or other weak points) out and attempt to shoot it off. The enemy response to your actions has its great moments, but it also has its problems. Enemies hiding behind cover tend to not react when they get hit. From time to time, you might catch the back of an enemy peeking just over a piece of cover, and if you start shooting it, he'll usually just sit there and let you drill him to death. But in spite of its few problems, the action is tense and extremely enjoyable.
Gears of War consists of a large series of pitched battles between your squad and the enemy forces. If you leave your fool head popped up for too long, it'll get shot off every single time, so the proper place for you is tucked behind a wall or some other piece of cover. The cover mechanics work very naturally, making it easy to stick to a wall, pop up or around to take shots at the enemy, and get back down safely. Moving between nearby pieces of cover is also very easy to manage.
This isn't the first time that taking cover has been a focus of gameplay--the mechanics work very similarly to a fairly obscure PlayStation 2 game from Namco called kill.switch. But no game has made this sort of gameplay quite so exciting. One of the greatest feelings in this game is that when you pop out to take a shot, you immediately feel like you're taking your life into your own hands, because the enemy is very good at opening fire the second they see you and you'll see those bullets heading your way. This formula remains thrilling from start to finish, though boss fights and a pretty neat vehicle section help to break up the action.
Thankfully, one shot won't kill you, in most cases. The health meter takes the form of a skull and gear icon that appears onscreen in pieces as you take damage. If it's completed, that means you took one hit too many and you're history. But if you can avoid getting shot for a few seconds, the gear fades away and you're restored to full health. It's a much quicker recharge than something like Halo's energy shields, and this helps keep the action moving while reinforcing that you really need to play cautiously.
You'll usually have three other guys in your squad, but they usually aren't much help. They're good for distracting enemies, and they'll take down a few here and there, but they also tend to get dropped a lot. You can revive them, if you can get over to them and hit the X button, but usually it's easier to just finish the fight yourself, which brings them all back without exposing you to the same enemy fire that took them down in the first place.
Gears of War is all about ducking, covering, and blasting your enemies whenever they give you an opening.
Gears of War offers two difficulty settings right off the bat, and a third unlocks when you beat the game. The game defaults to the easiest setting, called casual. On this setting, taking cover only becomes important when you're up against heavy odds or later in the game, when the enemies get tougher. The middle setting, hardcore, feels just right at first--you need to take cover, but you can usually pop up and take shots without immediate punishment. But near the tail end of the game, both difficulties ramp up quite a bit. Hardcore starts to get a little unmanageable. Casual gets to be about as hard as the hardcore setting is near the beginning of the game. And once you unlock insane, you'll find that it's aptly named, though not impossible. Overall, the difficulty feels like it could have used a bit more tuning, or another setting that finds the sweet spot between casual and hardcore. But since you can select your difficulty each time you load up your game, it's easy to set it down to casual if you get stuck at a certain checkpoint, then raise it back up once you've made progress. Making your way through the campaign should take most players somewhere from about 10 to 12 hours, depending on the difficulty.
The game has achievements for finishing each of the five acts on each of the three difficulties, and they stack, so if you beat an act on hardcore, you get the casual points, as well. It only seems to keep track of what difficulty setting you're on when you finish the act, so all this switching around won't cause any trouble on that front, either. The game's achievements are pretty good, with a smart mix of points you'll get for simply playing through the game and some more esoteric ones, like points for playing as Dom in co-op, points for perfectly reloading your weapon many times in a row, doing well online, and so on. None of the points seem that far fetched, but you also won't have the full thousand during your first couple of days with the game, either.
♠My Review:♠
This is the best shooting game other then Halo 2. I like games that I am able to play with my husband. What is great about this game is that you duck and cover behind walls and wait until a locust shoots at you then duck out of the wall and shoot back. There was this one part that was a little hard and it had a monster in the one part called a Beserker. I was so scared to move because if you did she would coming running after you and hit you once and you die. But all in all it's a really good game. I usually don't like shoot em up games at all. But this one really caught my eye.
Contributed By : Tonya (CrystalFantasie)
|
|
◊Kids Game Review◊
 | ◊Chibi-Robo◊
Picking up garbage hasn't been this fun since Men At Work, but that really isn't saying much. That's right, the latest action adventure game from Skip and Nintendo has you collecting garbage, scrubbing stains, fetching odd items, and generally doing things that you might play video games to get away from. But as menial and uninteresting as it sounds, Chibi-Robo has plenty of personality and charm to spare, which ends up saving what is otherwise a tedious and unfulfilling game. |
Chibi-Robo is made of metal, but he has a heart of gold.
Chibi-Robo is a 4-inch-tall robot who is purchased by Mr. Sanderson for his daughter's birthday. The little robot's purpose is to make the Sandersons happy by completing a variety of chores and fetch quests. Right from the start, it's pretty clear that the Sanderson home is anything but a happy one, which means that Chibi has a lot of work ahead of him. Luckily Chibi has the help of his chatty manager, Telly Vision, a robot who looks like a little floating television. Telly not only explains the basics of the game, but also talks on behalf of the mute Chibi.
With Telly's help and some basic yes and no responses, Chibi can interact with all of the living creatures in the Sanderson household. The family is made up of Mr. Sanderson, an unemployed slob who sleeps on the couch and only thinks about toys; Mrs. Sanderson, a neat freak who constantly frets over the family's dire financial situation; Jenny, a little girl who thinks she's a frog and only says, "ribbit"; and Tao, the family dog. The Sandersons aren't the only inhabitants of the house, though. All of the toys in the house come alive whenever the Sandersons aren't around. These characters are all unique and colorful, compelling you to visit them often just to see what kind of silly, funny, or bizarre tales they have to share. There's Space Hunter Drake Redcrest, a superhero who is obsessed with achieving justice through vigilance, shouting, and striking poses; Captain Plankbeard, a wooden pirate who lives in the basement and longs to sail the high seas once again; Funky Phil, a disco-dancing flower; Dinah, a T-rex comedian made of plastic building blocks; the Free Rangers, a group of hard-boiled eggs dressed up as soldiers, and many more. The characters are scattered throughout the Sanderson's modest two-bedroom house. There are several areas to explore, but the entire game takes place inside the house, with the backyard being the farthest you can venture outdoors. Some areas are inaccessible at the beginning of the game, requiring you to complete a task or purchase a specific upgrade in order to progress.
The main goal in Chibi-Robo is to make everyone happy, and there are several ways to accomplish this. You can perform simple household chores like picking up small scraps of garbage and cleaning stains with a toothbrush, or you can complete a variety of specific favors for the tenants of the house. These favors usually involve finding and retrieving a certain object or a series of objects. In an early interaction with Mrs. Sanderson, you have to fetch a sugar cube for her tea, then a spoon to stir the tea with, and finally a cookie to go along with it. There's no direction in the game, so you mostly have to just wander around, talk to characters, and just hope that you can figure out what you need to do. If you want, you can just walk around cleaning all the time--it's entirely up to you.
Whether you're doing chores or playing fetch, you earn happy points and moolah. Moolah is the currency of the game, and you can spend it at the online store via your chibi-PC to purchase flower seeds, spare batteries, and chibi-gear. Chibi-gear is equipment that you can use to help you accomplish your daily tasks. You can buy an arm-mounted blaster cannon, a little helicopter head attachment, and other upgrades. Happy points, on the other hand, are simply the representation of how well you're doing your job. As you accumulate happy points, you improve your rank among all other Chibi-Robots in the world. As you move up the ranks, you'll earn bonus batteries, which hold a charge longer and let you venture farther and farther away from electrical outlets.
There's a lot of trouble in the Sanderson home, but it's nothing a tiny robot can't fix with a few simple tools and a can-do attitude.
Because Chibi-Robo requires electricity to operate, you have to charge up his battery every few minutes. If Chibi is ever completely drained, he'll have to go back to the chibi-house and will lose some moolah. The diminutive robot trails a cord behind him that he can pick up and plug into any electrical outlet to recharge. In the beginning of the game the battery runs out pretty quickly. But, as you earn happy points and get bonus batteries, you can go much longer between charges. It's a frustrating mechanic, because you often have to drop everything you're doing to go find an outlet. Because Chibi is so small and the house is so large by comparison, it takes a long time to get anywhere, especially if you have to climb up and over furniture. It takes even longer when you have to stop halfway and backtrack to find an outlet. Certain areas are so far removed from electrical outlets that you can't even explore them until later in the game when Chibi's battery has been upgraded.
Contributed By : Tonya (CrystalFantasie)
|
|
◊Game Review◊
 | ◊Dance Dance Revolution: SuperNOVA◊
When it comes to newer game systems - Im new at this. I am an old school Nintendo/Atari girl at heart. But I am slowly catching onto the addicition of these newer systems. Back in October I purchased the newest Dance Dance Revolution game: DDR: SuperNOVA for a birthday party - something fun we could do, but it has now become my latest addiction. For the curious gamer who hasn't purchased a version of DDR before, this one is it. I always would watch the kids in the arcade playing DDR and be wowed - now Im the one wowing the |
crowd. This game has many different options, you can play in game mode (playing against somebody), Stellar Master Mode, Workout Mode, and various others. Stellar Master Mode is my favorite. SMM is a gimmicky, tongue-in-cheek mode where the player's are tasked with dominating the galaxy via their dance skills. This is accomplished by completing the game's series of increasingly difficult objectives. Basically, a dancing fairy provides a series of trials and challenges of increasing difficulty, which provide a two-fold benefit. One, they're a distraction from simply playing through a series of songs and accumulating points to unlock new content, and two, they're the only way to reveal some of the game's unlockables. True, all of the music can be unlocked without approaching the mode, but Stellar Master Mode provides a little more icing on the cake, and though the challenges are a bit mind-numbing in the early going, they ramp up enough to challenge the seasoned dancer.
While a lot of fans of the original DDR were upset with the music selection, I found it really exciting. Among the Japanese/anime type of music you can also find Kelly Clarkson, Fall out Boy, Ben Folds Five, and many others!!!!! For me this was great because I knew the songs, I could get into my rythym and I kicked the games butt!
♠Gameplay♠
The general premise of DDR SuperNOVA is the same as the previous Dance Dance Revolution games. There are four game modes in SuperNOVA: Single (one player, using one platform), Versus (two players, each using one platform), Double (one player, using two platforms), and Battle (two players, each using one platform). The Battle mode is similar to that which previously appeared in Dancing Stage featuring Disney's Rave, as well as that of In the Groove.
The player must step to the beat, matching the beat to the arrows presented to them on screen by stepping on arrows on a dance stage. Depending on the timing of each step, the step is scored "PERFECT," "GREAT," "GOOD," "ALMOST" or "BOO". A health bar is on the screen, and starts half-full at the beginning of the routine. PERFECT and GREAT steps increase the health bar until it is full. Almost and Boo steps diminish it. GOOD steps have no effect either way. If a player accumulates too many Almosts or Boos in rapid succession, and the health bar drops to zero, then the song is failed and the game ends. If one player depletes their life bar in a two-player game, they can continue playing if the other player passes.
Freeze Arrows appear on the screen as long green arrows, and require the player to hold the corresponding arrow on the dance stage as long as the arrow remains on the screen (instead of just stepping on the arrow). A player who hits the arrow and keeps it held until the arrow disappears from the screen scores an "OK", which increases the health bar. A player who hits the arrow but does not hold it long enough scores an "NG", which decreases the health bar.
A player may play anywhere from one to five songs in one game (not including extra stages); the maximum number of songs can be changed by the machine's owner/operator. The default setting is three songs. At the end of each song, the game displays a Results Screen, which shows the score, the total number of PERFECTs, GREATs, GOODs, ALMOSTs, BOOs and OKs, as well as a letter grade, for each player. The letter grade ranges from E (which means that the player failed due to a depleted life bar) to AAA (all steps PERFECT). At the end of the game, the game displays each player's score, step breakdown and letter grade based on all stages, including Extra Stage.
SuperNOVA's scoring system has been greatly simplified from prior DDR versions. As in In the Groove, all steps in the song are now valued equally; no longer will later steps in the song be worth more than earlier steps. All songs are worth a maximum of 10,000,000 points. Each Perfect step is worth 10M/n (where n is the number of steps plus three times of number of freezes in the song), and each Great is worth 10M/2n. Unlike DDRMAX through EXTREME, double steps ("jumps") only add 1 to the combo counter instead of 2. Songs are also scored invisibly to the player by "Dance Points," which determine which letter grade is given to the player; each Perfect step is worth 2 Dance Points, a Great step is worth 1 Dance Point, and an OK on a Freeze Arrow is worth 6 Dance Points. Goods, Almosts, Boos, and NGs are worth 0 dance points; unlike DDRMAX through EXTREME, they do not subtract from your Dance Point total. The maximum Dance Point score is therefore equal to double the number of steps plus six times of number of freezes in the song. Due to how SuperNOVA's score is calculated, it is possible to determine your Dance Point percentage by dividing your song score by 100,000. You can obtain an estimate of your dance points by dividing the score by 10,000,000 then multiplying the sum of twice of the number of steps and six times of the number of freezes in the song. Also worth noting is that each individual song has its own high score, which is briefly displayed when the song is selected, but before it loads.
Contributed By : Colleen (Pxyjuice)
|
|
