Monday Impressions: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

It’s such a strange but potentially awesome concept that I had to check it out: Level-5, one of the best JRPG developers out there, teams up with the world-renowned Studio Ghibli to make a game with a hybrid Tales real-time fighting system where you battle with Pokemon-like monsters. How are the results? Ten hours in, and I’m torn. By all rights I should love this game, but somehow I can’t quite bring myself to use that word yet.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Publishers: Level-5 and Namco-Bandai Developers: Level-5 and Studio Ghibli Platform: PS3 Release Date: January 22, 2013

This supposed JRPG to end all JRPGs begins in a 1950s American suburb. Driven by the titular White Witch, out-of-this-world forces forge a terrible accident in which our young protagonist Oliver loses his mother. But worry not: his tears reanimate the stuffed toy Drippy (the self-proclaimed Lord of the fairies), who convinces Oliver that by helping save his world from the Dark Djinn, he can resurrect his mom. This sets off a journey to the parallel realm and sees the player staring at the beautiful overworld within the first hour of gameplay.

It’s a strong opening, and it sells you on the experience, but it’s also kind of misleading, since it begins with a whole bunch of voice acting and fully animated sequences. The hours that follow have progressively less of these cinematic flourishes, and stick to the fetch-quest paradigm that’s traditionally associated with JRPGs.

I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Still, the game’s presentation is so polished, one would think that the same level of efficiency would follow in its storytelling, but such is not the case. Of course, your mileage may vary. Many role-playing fans will appreciate that the game takes its time with its story, setting up rather elaborate threads and many likeable characters right off the bat.

Right away you’ll see that Studio Ghibli’s short but voice-acted animated sequences boast the quality of their feature-length cinematic work and rise above even the impressive in-game graphics, which are used for the vast majority of cut-scenes.

Once you reach Ding Dong Dell, the game introduces the “Give Heart” mechanic, wherein Oliver redistributes some emotional wealth by taking virtuous aspects like enthusiasm, kindness and courage from the well-endowed and passing them over to the less fortunate. Ailing the hopeless and despondent makes for a heart-warming gameplay mechanic, but there’s really not much more to it than finding the right people and talking to them. Also, some quests require you to travel back and forth to Motorville, since affecting an individual in one realm will influence their soulmate in the other.

You’ll be able to tell by this point that this is a meaty game, but giving and taking hearts are just the start of it. There are spells to learn, tales of wonder to read, pop quizzes on those tales, familiars to defeat, acquire, metamorphose and buff, and various bounty hunts and side quests to attempt. There’s never a moment where you’ll find yourself at a loss as to what to do, either, as waypoints are clearly marked on the maps.

The familiar system is also very robust, a welcome addition for fans of games such as Pokemon and the Dragon Quest Monsters series. There are a ton of critters to collect and train, and storing, retrieving and upgrading them is never a chore. Here’s a hint for you: don’t metamorphose them as soon as you’re able to. Waiting a few levels will increase their stats when they drop back to level 1 in their next form. Combat is fun and fast-paced, especially once you’ve got your full team assembled.

That’s not to say that the entire experience has been perfect, however. I’ve taken issue with the fact that it takes a lot longer to lay out its full gameplay mechanics and get from place to place than I might have liked, and that for much of the time you’re not going to have the voice acting or fully-animated cut-scenes you were spoiled with near the beginning. Instead, you’ll be grinding, hunting for monsters and doing (mostly short) heartbreak-healing quests. A lot.

When the game brings it, though, it’s more than capable of handing the smack-down, with some seriously challenging boss fights. They’re a great deal more difficult than your average random encounter, and besting many of them will require a lot of preparation and strategy.

This isn’t the sort of epic journey you can hope to complete in a week or two, unless you have unlimited free time and skip every side-quest. It is a long-term commitment, even moreso than the typically lengthy Tales games. The idea is that it eases you into the battle system bit by bit, and Oliver gains power at the same pace that the story progresses. You begin with one familiar, and then two, then three, and then another person joins your human party. Then there’s another trial before you even gain the ability to tame wild enemies into becoming your familiars. I would have preferred that the game had dropped me into the middle of all of these things at once rather than stretching out the experience with hours-long introductory sections, but perhaps it's to make the experience easier for younger players to get into.

Perhaps the game’s slow pace is affecting me moreso than others because I’ve been embarking on every optional side-quest, but I’d really like for the story to kick into high gear. Usually I like to know what the stakes are up front. There’s still a long way to go until Oliver gets to throw down with the White Witch, and I do care for these characters, so I’ll give the game the benefit of the doubt and carry on fighting. I hope my affair with the game will go from puppy love to full-blown adoration.

Monday Impressions: Gundam Breaker BETA

What's better than a Gundam video game? A GunPla video game. What is GunPla? GunPla stands for Gundam Plastic Model Kits. Those little snap together kits from Bandai. Long have I craved for a Gundam game where you can swap parts. It's not as complex as Armored Core but it still has some charm to it.

The Gundam Breaker beta is only available on the Japanese PS Store so if you want to try this game out, you'd need to have a Japanese PSN account. I made one to redeem my Bayonetta DLC code from my Japanese copy of Max Anarchy from last year which is how I got to play this beta.

Behold! My creations!

Is it worth a try?

By all means. Yes! If you are a Gundam fan or an especially huge GunPla fan, I strongly urge you to check this game out.

Monday Impressions: Final Fantasy XIII-2

I never thought I'd do it, but I did. I actually bought Final Fantasy XIII-2. Before release, this was one game that had nothing going right in my standards, with the combat mechanics being the only aspect of the game I like. The whole time travelling story, Pokemon-ish third character, and Serah (Lightning's younger sister) now taking the spotlight, it didn't strike me as a game I'd like to play. It reminded me of that other Final Fantasy sequel that to this day I have not bothered finishing. what pulled me into buying? I was itching for a JRPG, and with it now on a price cut, I gave it a shot. 

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Hours In: 16 hrs  Platform: Xbox 360

Final fantasy XIII-2 felt more like a big apology from Square Enix. The first game was criticized for it's very linear gameplay. An  RPG that feels like you are on rails. No matter what, you are moving forward, and only after chapter 12 (towards the end of the game,which is 40 hours in) does the game open up for you to stretch your legs and actually explore. In the sequel, you have all the room you need. Thanks to the  confusing time travelling plot, revisiting past locations are now possible, and there are missions and fragments to find to get distracted from the main story. This is how the first game should have been, minus the whole time traveling thing. I still prefer a world map with a sky ship waiting for me towards the end, but this will have to do.

The story is flat-out horrible 16 hours in. Again, time traveling being the main reason. Altering the future to change the past. That phrase alone will pretty much give you the gist of it, and as much as I want to give the narrative a chance, I just start scratching my head and ask why Square decided to make things so complicated. They have Gran Pulse - the open world in the game that has so much potential. Instead, they decided to have players time travel from the current timeline serah came from, all the way up to 300 years into the future, even more at times. The world of Final Fantasy XIII is fascinating, but Square again fails to capitalize on what they have created. It's like creating a masterpiece painting, and you decided to add just a few more touches to spice things up, but in the end, it ruined it.

BEST FINAL FANTASY COMBAT EVER

As expected, the combat is so far the saving grace to why I'm now past the 10 hour mark. The whole paradigm shift mechanic is back and faster than ever. This is easily my favorite game mechanic from all the Final fantasy series combined. Yes, it even beat's Final Fantasy 7's materia system for me. Shifting from paradigms (classes) after paradigms keeps the game intense. The crystarium(level up system) has been simplified, which is a negative, but is not bad that it ruins character progression and the overall fun. The pokemon aspect of the game, having monsters captured by Serah to fight alongside you, filling your third character slot, is actually a great addition. Since you can bring three monsters into battle, there's more character customization in this game. It's like you're worrying about the progress of 5 characters in a sense. Since you can capture any monster in the game, plus them having unique skills and roles, it keeps the combat fresh, since you get the urge to experiment with other monsters, hoping to find the best combination.

The soundtrack for the game so far is a bit subtle for my taste. It doesn't fit well with what's going on in a specific cutscene, even the battle music(which is really important in Final Fantasy games) fails to pump me during a battle. But those are tolerable, what I can't stand is the writing and the voice acting. That damn moogle that Serah uses as her weapon is the new vanille. Meaning, I hate him/her. The high pitch whenever he talks is annoying, and each sentence ends with a "kupo". You get the ability to throw moogle to unreachable treasure orbs, but I sometimes just throw him out of annoyance.

So far, despite the confusing time travelling story, and that damn moogle that I wish dies in the end, I'm enjoying myself. The combat keeps me entertained , and the ability to backtrack to explore new areas is a welcome change. Graphics of course what you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game, but there is inconsistencies. Compared to the 3D models of all the important characters in the game, the NPC's and the less important characters have less detail and less animations, suggesting a bit of rush in this project.

Another new addition that I consider as the worst thing to add in an RPG, especially a JRPG, is QTE(Quick Time Events). These occur during "intense" cutscenes, requiring the player to press whatever button appears on the screen on time to be successful in the fight. It's added to have the player more engaged during a scene, But in the end, it comes out unnecessary .  It's easy button combinations, and gets old after the first few times you need to do it. But thankfully it's a rare addition. QTE's show up for your monster's feral rage, a unique ability. Again, the game is better off without it.

I'll continue playing this game. I'm planning to play it after I'm done with this actually. I'm glad that I decided to give this game a chance, but it makes me worry on the future of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series as a whole. It's a good JRPG fix so far, it even may come out better than the original, but it's definitely nowhere near the standards of past Final Fantasy games like FF 7, FF 9, or FF X. They love experimenting in each Final Fantasy game they release, I get that, but I think it's about time they slow down and look back at what worked in the past. Just my two cents.

Monday Impressions: FTL: Faster Than Light

FTL: Faster Than Light is a Strategy Simulator for the PC. An addicting game that you could find yourself playing for hours. You command your own spacecraft and crew through dangerous territory. It's a concept that should have been tackled before. I have no idea why I held off buying this game, but I'm thankful I caved in the end.

You are given the simple task of bringing vital information to the allied fleet. With the rebel fleet behind you, you have to jump from sector to sector to avoid engaging the rebels. Each playthrough can clock from 1 -2 hours. But don't let this disappoint you because  it's not about how long the journey is, it's how you got there and how you survived. The game is tough, which leaves me still trying to beat it on normal difficulty after 22 hours spent in just a week. yes, it's tough to the point were I spend countless playthroughs trying to reach the end. With this game, once your hull life goes zero, it's over.

After all those hours spend, I'm surprised that I don't find any sense of repetitiveness in the gameplay. The replay value really makes the $10 price tag worth the buy because each new game is different from the rest. Moving from sector to sector, you are given different results, making each encounter and event pretty random and unpredictable.

The gameplay will also make any Star Trek, or any sci-fi series that involves a ship happy. You are in charge of everything on the ship; which crew member man's what, how to distribute ship power between systems, and order your men to either board enemy ships, extinguish fires and repair broken parts in the ship, it looks simply but actually crazy. It can go out of control so fast that I appreciate the pause feature that lets me analyze and plan my next move.

This game can be pure addiction. The day I purchase the FTL on Steam, I download the game, which is only 157MB big, and lost my whole afternoon in a blink of an eye. It's a great strategy game and has a unique gameplay. It makes me wonder why no big developer has bothered to make something like this. FTL: Faster Than Light happened thanks to Kickstarter, and all the supporters that backed the project. It was released last year and I understand now why people were giving so much praise.

The soundtrack is also worth hearing. I'm really not into soundtracks, especially in video games,but FTL's music got me humming every time I play. The sound effects also fit well with the soundtrack, so it's a treat for the ears. For me, It's not everyday you get to play a game and give the music big praise. I honestly can't remember when's the last time I loved a game's soundtrack.

This game is special, a game that's worth more than the price tag placed on Steam. I would love to give this game a full review and talk about other aspects of the game, but I'll hold off for now because I still have to experience other ships you can unlock and actually finishing the game. I'm still very determined to finish the game, even with Normal difficulty kicking my ass every single time. But I love the challenge. I could easily finish the game on easy, but I stopped and really want to get my first win on normal. I'm just stubborn that way. If you got some spare change and want a game that is a definite time sink, get FTL: Faster Than Light. Only regret so far is that I didn't buy it earlier.

Trailer

Monday Impressions: Sony Meeting 2013 - The PS4 reveal

Last week, Sony jumped the gun and revealed the PlayStation 4, the successor to their 2006 console the PlayStation 3. The Sony Meeting was 2 hours long and didn't waste any time during the event. The console's big features and specs were covered, along with exclusive titles with third-party developers backing up the new system. It was a well thought presentation that focused heavily on the game developers and the gamers, but at the end of the day it just left more questions than answers.

I woke up around 6AM to watch the event live, and when 7AM hit, the first presenter gets on stage. With a small introduction, Sony announces the PlayStation 4, all our speculations were correct, now what is the console all about?

Better graphics and stronger specs is expected in new hardware, but what I got from the event was that Sony is focusing on making the console more developer friendly and more social. There was so much talk about the new share button found on the new DualShock 4 controller, making it one of the biggest feature for the console so far. The ability to share any video clip, screenshot, or even live stream your gaming session  to friends and other players in PSN can all be done easy by pressing the button. Sounds cool, but how effective will it be? Also, did Sony take into account consumers with sub-par internet connection? The whole sharing aspect seems to require a decent connection speed to really utilize these features, so I still have my doubts with the whole social aspect of the PlayStation 4, and I really don't see that many people using it. We'll just have to see how fluid and easy it really is.

They also mentioned a feature where you get to play a game while downloading it, and the option to try out any game available on PSN on the fly. Sounds amazing, but brings me back to the same question - Is Sony considering all their consumers? With a bad internet connection, features like that will come out useless, making some buyers unable to fully maximize their investment. Sony is slowly moving into a more digital  structure making online a must, to really enjoy everything. It is confirmed that you can still play games offline though, at least that hasn't changed.

8GB of GDDR5 is good news

When they were talking about the new console's specifications, the big news was the RAM. First rumored to be 4GB of GDDR5 RAM, Sony announced the PS4 having 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, a big upgrade if you compare it to the PS3's 512 GDDR3 RAM. This gives developers more room to breathe when developing games for the PlayStation 4. Many developers consider the PS3 the hardest hardware to work on, and it looks like Sony wants to change their image with game developers.

Another great thing to come out of the meeting was that Sony aims to create the PS4 as a center point for other products. The PS Move gets a new purpose for consumers who bought the motion controller, which I bet is gathering dust right about now. Media Molecule(LittleBigPlanet) is hard at work at a design tool that allows players to sculpt 3D objects with the use of the PS Move, and also allow them to make a puppet band presentation apparently. The presentation from Media Molecule may be the low point for some, but is actually a great avenue for potential. It's a great concept and from what we saw from LittleBigPlanet, there are tons of players that love to be creative. The PlayStation 4, the creative console they say.

The PS Vita also gets some love. The PlayStation 4 will feature remote play, giving the option to transfer any game you are currently playing on your HDTV to your PS Vita's small screen. This was shown during the presentation of Knack's gameplay, the first exclusive title for the PS4. If this remote play feature does get executed in most PS4 games, PS Vita will have a bigger purpose now. But that is if developers take into account in adding the remote play feature during development. It would require the effort from the game devs to implement the feature, so it's hard to tell if it will be available for all PS4 games.

After all the talk about the specs and the features, they shifted to the games. Sony showed a good mix of game engine demo's and exclusive game titles to really show the power of the new console.  The Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games and Square Enix's Luminous game engine makes an appearance, reminding us that we are entering a new generation. A new Killzone game and a new inFAMOUS game were pretty obvious reveals, and it's good to see a game like The Witness included in the reveal line-up, showing the world that Sony does want to create more artistic games similar to Unfinished Swan or Journey. Destiny, Bungie's next big title, shows up with new gameplay footage, confirming it as a next-gen title. I Still don't have a firm grasp on what Destiny is aside from it being an FPS, but it's good to see it coming to the PS4. But among all the game announcements, the biggest shocker for me was of Capcom's presentation of Deep Down and Blizzard entering the stage.

The part where I said "WHAT!?" during the presentation

When I say shocking, I mean in a weird and bad way. Capcom's Yoshinori Ono, better known for his work at Street Fighter 4, goes to the stage. At first, I was thinking a new Street Fighter?  It didn't makes sense that a guy who revived the Street Fighter franchise comes to a Sony presentation. But Ono quickly state's that he's not here to talk about Street Fighter. Apparently he was there to introduce a new game engine from Capcom called the Panta Rhei. To debut the engine, a new game called Deep Down was shown by Ono and looked amazing, but was questionable. Is this game really on real-time? Even with the UI at the bottom left, it was hard to believe something like that was not CG. Deep Down(still a working title, thank god) made me put my guard up. It looks amazing, but I didn't want to get too excited. I'm still not convinced that the Capcom's new engine can produce a playable product that will look just like that. I'd love to be proven wrong though, but for now I'm not buying it.

Then we have Blizzard coming  to the stage, after the people at Bungie showed Destiny. I'm sure I wasn't the only one at the edge of their seat when Blizzard showed up. Blizzard? On a Sony press conference!? All I could think about is, if this comes out as a new title from Blizzard, It's going to be  huge! But no... all we get was a game that's reaching a year old. Diablo 3 was announced for PlayStation 4 and PS3, and I just literally felt my jaw dropped. This felt like the worse possible outcome. Why bring in a game that is not fit at all for console gaming. I was really hoping for a new franchise from Blizzard, but they dropped the ball on that one.

But not all was lost. When Ubisoft took the stage, I knew what was coming. Watch Dogs is confirmed as a next-gen title. A new playable demo was revealed showing the game's sandbox gameplay. This is one title that just looks amazing. This is the game that gave me goosebumps and is definitely in my buy list for next-gen games.

At the end of the presentation, the console was a no show. They never showed the console itself, Just the controller. I guess Sony wanted to act first, but not go all in. Not even a price point was given, which is expected since Microsoft has yet to reveal their next-gen console. But we do get a release window - Holiday 2013. Sony gave us a taste, and with two console's now revealed, the console war has officially begun. I'm sure Sony wanted to redeem themselves after the horrible reveal of the PS3, and I think they did with this Sony Meeting. Some might say it's a bit too early, but I think the timing was perfect. A great start, and the amount of information was enough to satisfy and keep people interested for more.

Looking forward

E3(Electronic Entertainment Expo) is coming up, and I'm positive that's when Sony goes all in. In fact, that's when all three go all in. Microsoft has yet to reveal their console(reveal possibly before June), and Nintendo is definitely going all out with first-party titles during this year's E3. For Sony, I'm expecting the price and how the console looks during Sony's E3 press conference this year, as well as more title reveals. Also, for all you Final Fantasy crazed fans, Square Enix confirmed during the Sony Meeting that a new Final Fantasy title for the PS4 will debut during E3, so look out for that.

You can find our full summary of the Sony Meeting 2013 here. Or, you can watch the whole 2 hour press conference yourself below.