Years before developer Naughty Dog started treasuring hunting with Nathan Drake and the Uncharted series, they brought gamers a funny tale of two friends, Jak and Daxter, and their adventures through four main games on the PS2 and two spinoffs. Now, Sony has enlisted developer Mass Media Inc. to give us an HD collection that consists of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3. The games were incredible when they first released, but can they stand the test of time?
Over the past several years, the role-playing genre has been evolving at an increasingly rapid rate. In an industry where JRPGs are beginning to feel more and more antiquated due to the surge of Western developed action-heavy experiences, the genre we’ve all come to know and love has grown into an entirely different beast. I’m happy to report that 38 Studios and Big Huge Games have only served to continue that trend with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, by crafting an innovative fantasy RPG that successfully blends fun and rewarding combat with a massive open world and robust character customization system.
[Editor's Note: Review is of Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII-2, purchased at the expense of the reviewer. The reviewer lives in Japan and speaks/reads Japanese.]
A story that spends 20 hours causing headaches before turning its ship around, a soundtrack with a severe identity crisis, a jumping mechanic that can’t figure out how it wants to work, monster allies, maps that are no longer shoe strings, beautiful environments with opportunities to explore, an addicting level-up and customization system, time travel, and a heavy metal red Chocobo whose theme music will ask you “Are we in Hell?” This is Final Fantasy XIII-2.
Thanks to its dungeon-crawling and loot-packing emphasis, isometric camera, and somewhat detached story, Dungeon Hunter will bring about comparisons to the PC’s Diablo. Perhaps more appropriately, given how much better these games usually are in multiplayer modes than single player, it should be compared to a few PS2 games such as Champions of Norrath or to a lesser extent Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. No one will be telling their kids about Alliance‘s tale of the great king resurrected by a fairy who came back to reclaim his crown, and in the months and years to come, you won’t see it popping up in “Best of…” features. Just the same, it does have its niche, and for those people, it could provide a good experience. For most people, however, this is a game with little to no appeal. Read More »
Acquire, creators of the Tenchu series, eventually had to sell the license to the legendary stealth franchise. Still wanting to make ninja games combining stealth, action, and strategy, the group needed to create a new IP and thus, Shinobido was born. Though its PS2 and PSP iterations never made it stateside, one can jump into Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen and enjoy the gameplay and story without a problem. For fans of stealth games who don’t mind a few technical hiccups, I recommend taking that jump. Read More »
PlayStation Vita owners who’ve never rolled with Katamari before are definitely encouraged to do so with Namco Bandai’s Touch My Katamari. Read More »
The NFL Blitz series is known as an in-your-face, arcade style smash ‘em up that has always held the rulebook in blatant disregard, and this newest installment is no different. I mean that in the best way possible, of course. Read More »
The original Trine was one of the best downloadable games of 2009. Featuring head-scratching puzzles, entertaining platforming and fun fights, it was clear from the start that developer Frozenbyte had a hit on their hands. Its sequel was released just before the Christmas holiday (for North America, anyway), which is of course the perfect time to slay goblins and dragons. Can the Trine strike twice? We’ll find out in our review.
Once Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational is in your hands, it’s easy to see why this is Japan’s best-selling Vita game so far: pure fun. Read More »
In 2005, Sony made a bold move: It went up against Nintendo in the handheld market. While so many others before them had failed miserably to gain any ground against the creators of the GameBoy, Sony, at the time, was the current reigning champion in the home console space and best poised to find success.
And success they found with the PlayStation Portable, selling over 70 million units to date. Still, in comparison, Nintendo’s DS doubled those sales numbers in the same timeframe – Nintendo still wears the portable crown.
The PSP, while extremely popular in Japan, fizzled out in North America far too early. Around the same time, sales of smartphones surged, bringing a somewhat unexpected contender into the fold. Now, Sony has launched their next generation portable, the PlayStation Vita. Competition is more fierce than ever – smartphones are a go to escape for casual gamers, on a device that everyone has in their pockets anyway, and the 3DS, while starting off slow is picking up steam and echoing the success of the DS. Is the PlayStation Vita strong enough to fend them off and make a name for itself?
Namco Bandai gets points for trying new things, but that’s just about all it gets points for in the newest Ridge Racer. Read More »
The Uncharted series is the most recognizable exclusive on the PlayStation 3, so bringing a franchise of this caliber to a portable system is was always going to be a herculean task. But if there’s anyone up to the job, it’s Sony Bend. They’re probably best known for bringing Syphon Filter, and more recently, another PS3 exclusive franchise to the PSP with Resistance: Retribution. Both are noble efforts and make up some of the best the PSP has to offer. Can Sony Bend work the same magic on the PlayStation Vita, but with a franchise that is more cherished by PlayStation fans?
Editor’s Note: This review was conducted on an import Japanese PlayStation Vita using the Japanese import version of Uncharted Golden: Abyss. Uncharted: Golden Abyss features full English text and audio, but some features and aspects of the game, and PlayStation Vita hardware itself, may change for the North American launch.
Have you ever been sitting in front of your gaming console and had the desire to visit the carnival, only you didn’t want to leave the house? Sony might just have the solution for you, with the Move controlled game, Carnival Island, from developer Magic Pixel. The PlayStation Move has just passed its first year on the market and Sony is trying its best to win over the family crowd, however this might be a bit lacking to provide enough staying power in the home.
For those of you old enough to remember anime style cartoons back in the 80′s, you’ll probably recall Voltron: Defender of the Universe. The show followed a group of five soldiers, assigned to the Voltron Force, in a futuristic setting. It was their duty to defend their sector from any and all evil forces that endangered the safety of their planets. These five soldiers each had Urban Assault Lions, which are mechanized lion vehicles, that could be used as five separate vehicles or could be combined to create Voltron, the ultimate fighting machine.
School settings have been especially popular in JRPGs lately, and following suit, the newest Final Fantasy begins in a school, but don’t expect too many giggles and panty jokes. As early as the opening, Type-0‘s story is darker and more constantly serious than most others that use the setting, and even more than most JRPGs in general.
