Valkyria Chronicles: Review
First off this game is a turn based RPG so for all those people who assume that mean its a terrible game please leave now.
second off kind of a WW2 shooter/RPG so people who say WW2 makes a game crap please leave now.
thirdly this game is purely battle/level based so no roaming between area to advance the plot and no random battles. so those FF7 Fanboys this isn’t for you either now
for everyone else who actually like playing games this is for you. so Review time
Valkyria Chronicles
ok, this is a PS3 only title developed by Sega and it technically falls into the catagory of JRPG, which i think came about due to the graphical style and the plot driven game play but hey. but the whole game seems to be told as someone reading a book but thats never really touched on apart from in some cutscenes. the book is split into chapters and chapters contain a few cutscenes/plot releated events and one or two battles/levels. so nice a simple.
Stroy
now above I mentioned this is set during WWII but that was a lie well kind of. Well the year is 1935 EC and the country is known as Gallia and its the start of the second europan War. ok to Gallia in terms of position on the very deformed Eurpoa map is round about where the Netherlands are and everything east of that is the bad guys. and its amazing the whole war happens the tiny little country of Gallia, which is basically the same as if the whole of WW2 happened in poland, which of course it didn’t. well anyway the reason for the war is the need to resourses and no not coal its a magical jack of all trades thing called ragnite this stuff powers everything and is also used for explosives and healing.
ok to sum it up quickly the big bad emprie is trying to take over poor little gallia because of all its ragnite and you (Welkin Gunther) join the militia along with ur trusty side kick Alica and his adopted sister Isara. and you get promited to a squad leader and you get your wonderful squad 7. and well yea you do missions kills stuff find out the true history of the world lalala you get it.
come on Rosie (Shocktrooper) smile
Gameplay
well the gameplay is nice a simple you are given a mission, which 9 times out of 10 is capture the enemies base which might sound boring but it can be god damn hard because I knows it turn based combat but the enemy can still shoot and kill you during ur turn if you are in there line of fire or when they counter attack you (which is everytime you shoot one of them and you are in there range of fire) so after getting your mission you select the placement of your troops for at the start of the mission of which you can pick anyone member of your squad all with there own perks but there are 5 main classes, which i’ll explain in a bit. once the battle begins you will be presented with the a screen very similar to the following this is just used for unit selection and well reviewing the current situation, but this screen will only ever who you known enemy locations if you don’t have them in direct sight they are displayed as a ? 
first the scouts these guys are quick they can get anywhere on the map at pretty much anytime they want so these are best used for well scouting out the enemy. they come equipped with a rifle and a grenade (later they get a grenade launcher as well)
next we have the Shocktrooper these guys can be a pain to fight because if you step into there line of sight well expect a hail of bullets coming your way. unfortantly because they are stupidly over powered they can’t move very far and there range isn’t that good. as you may have guessed they come equipped with a machinegun and later on a flamethrower as well.
next is the mighty lancer who you need to watch out for if you are a tank but normally they can be ignored because there accuracy is terrible but if you get a head shot with them they can kill pretty much anything in one hit. as the name suggest they come equiped with a Lance, which is this worlds equivalent to a rocket launcher with a spike on the end. there main purpose is to take out enemy armor such as tanks, bunkers and turrets.
next up is the good old sniper these guys unforantly have very poor movement as well, actually they are the slowest movers of the game but what they lack in movement they make up with fire power and range. just put one of these in a tower and they can just pick of the enemy one by one. another down side to them though is they only come with 3 bullets and only gain one bullet per turn so they have there draw backs. as you can guess they come with a sniper rifle.
lastly we have the Engineers these little people have a high movement not quiet as much as a scout but enough so they can run around the map stocking up ammo, removing mines, placing sand bags, and repairing your tanks. they come equiped with a large medi pack, a rifle, engi tools and 3 grenades.
ok so after you have your squad you have Command point (the little star things at the top) each one of these mean you can move one unit by there set amount and fire your weapon once and once you run out of these command points your turn is over.
so once you have selected your unit you can run around freely dodging enemy bullets unit you decided you want to unload a few into them. so this continues until you either get a game over or you win simple. well its can be very hard but still simple.
Graphics
now the graphics in this game are somewhat unique becasue the whole thing is set out like a drawing that has been painted with water colours then had some pencil lined added in for shadows etc. but unfortantly i’m yet to find a screenshot they shows this off correctly i suppose you see it more when the picture is moving.
unfortunately that video doesn’t really do it any justice. but you get the picture.
over looking that its just your everyday cellshaded anime style graphics but just the attention to detail
just makes this game all that more special like the fading to just the pencil outline when you get a
game over it just added to it.
Characters
there lovable and let you get into the story, which is what you want really and you can play in both
english and japanese they both sound outstanding, i suppose there are a few squad member who are just plain annoying but still there good voice talents.
the good old squad 7 well the main cast anyway just before a big battle
and after one.
oh and one major MAJOR plus point about the English voice talent Mona Marshall (no offence to her but I’m so sick of that voice)
Music
now this kind of hurts the game becasue the same soundtrack is played over and over but saying that I havn’t found is annoying and i’ve been playing it for over 35 hours now.
Overall
well overall this is defo my favourite game of the year if not this console Generation I certainly have missed the feeling you get when your addicted to a game just a shame this one will have to end soon. but they are doing a big No no and making a Anime out of this (which will be out next spring)
please don’t ruin the game please please please. and no sequels
ok score time
Graphics: 10
Sound: 7
voice: 9
Gameplay: 9
Story: 8
Overall: 9
WOW I actually something a 10! and i only gave it a ten because clearly alot of effort has gone into making it look like it does. and the reason for the story being an 8 the twist were to easy to work out they could of so easily have hid it alot more and done like a flash back later (which the game does do at time but for the wrong events) and all I can say to sign this off with is if your looking for a reason to buy a PS3 and you like RPG’s the above is a perfect reason. oh and if you grab it before Christmas its only £20 at Gamestation (if they havn’t sold out of course) oh and the demo is the PSN so grab it and have a quick play.
Black Mages 3: Darkness & Starlight
I’m not ones to review albums but this one was worth it.
ok for those who aren’t aware who the black mages are they are a rock (in various forms) band formed by Nobuo Uematsu
and the members of the band are as follows (they vary from album to ablum an song to song but here they are)
* Tsuyoshi Sekito — Guitar
* Michio Okamiya — Guitar
* Nobuo Uematsu — Organ
* Kenichiro Fukui — Keyboard
* Keiji Kawamori — Bass
* Arata Hanyuda – Drums and Percussion
* Alex Ha — Director
* Zedhi Huckle — Synthesiser
so basically 4 members/ex members of squaresoft/enix and the others I am guessing are friends of those members.
so lets do a quick run down on the tracks from this album
1. “Opening ~ Bombing Mission” (from Final Fantasy VII) 4:39
2. “Neo EXDEATH” (from Final Fantasy V) 4:39
3. “The Extreme” (from Final Fantasy VIII) 5:51
4. “Assault of the Silver Dragons” (from Final Fantasy IX) 5:01
5. “KURAYAMINOKUMO” (from Final Fantasy III) 4:56
6. “Distant Worlds” (from Final Fantasy XI) 7:32
7. “Premonition” (from Final Fantasy VIII) 5:23
8. “Grand Cross” (from Final Fantasy IX) 5:34
9. “Darkness and Starlight” (from Final Fantasy VI) 15:32
10. “Life ~ in memory of KEITEN ~” (original composition)1:38
ok lets start this off then
“Opening ~ Bombing Mission”
ok thats not the title of the track in the game but we all know what it is, its the opening mission from FF7 where you blow up the reactor everyone who has played it can hear it in there head. but I must admit the BM’s didn’t do it much justice its was basically the original track with a few guitar solos in.
“Neo EXDEATH”
this is one of the track that plays throughout FF5 when anytime something evil is happening and then the whole track is played at the ending during the who thing with the X-zone and the final Bosses (you know what I mean if u’ve played it)
ok I loved this track it hit it just perfect you can see the scenes with this music playing and yea its perfect.
“The Extreme”
yay FF8 this was the boss music at the end of the game and this version is well ACE! its not his best work and when I get this on CD i will be ripping this as flac because the version I have acquired is a bit hissy.
“Assault of the Silver Dragons”
FF9 and kuja. now this one I didn’t really like but its was ok really… well I didn’t really love the original so a remix isn’t going to get me going.
“KURAYAMINOKUMO”
I love the title to this one(translates to cloud of darkness, which is easier to say). now this one was from the original FF3 but I believe is was in the remake I don’t know I haven’t got a DS any more to check. this one I liked it really hit the tone just right with the very long slow opening and then the evil middle and end with the fast battle bit in-between.
“Distant Worlds”
now this is a track that made the name Avenyet famous (if you don’t believe me google it)and I have no idea why… its was the vocal track to FF11, which was only released in japan on a CD the rest of the world had to buy it off either itunes or from the Sqaure-enix music store.
ok about the track in this album… ok its basically a slow track that’s a slight remix of the original with different instruments and no vocals… ok the Bm’s aren’t all about rock ok but this ones a odd
“Premonition”
FF8 again! I think someone like FF8 but who cares because so do I. ok this one is the boss battle with Edea, and once again because I loved the FF8 soundtrack is one great. ok its not great but its good.
“Grand Cross”
Now I know alot of people have been crying out for this one since the BM’s were formed and now you have it. now I hated this boss because even at level 100 he could kill you easily just by using (you guess it) Grand cross. now the opening to this is the same at the game but the start of the track is OMFG! wow! they hit this one right again by leaving in alot of the original stuff and then mixing the rest.
“Darkness and Starlight”
now this is the title track… and its from FF6 i’m guessing it would mean something in Jap i’ll try and find a translation for the opening. but the track is the opera scene from FF6 (Love/Dream Oath: Maria and Draco) i’m guessing he’s actually singing the correct lyrics. I like the fact they’ve done this but i’m not sure if i like this one or hate it…
“Life ~ in memory of KEITEN ~”
this is a song written and performed by Nobuo Uematsu and is a song dedicated to one of Nobuo’s fan’s (named Keiten) who died from cancer earlier this year. its a very sad slow soft track. so I’m not going to rate this one at all because it wouldn’t be fair.
well that is if you want a listen before buying it let me know and i’ll send you a sample. but for those who liked the first two albums this is worth getting but this first one is still the best but not by much.
Blassreiter
ok going back to this post I had a look at this year Anime and I managed to ID 3 that might be worth watching. so today treat to myself (for working so hard of course) is the first ep of this
So lets to a quick review on Blassreiter then.
ok quick note I haven’t watched any anime in over a year so I might be a bit biased.
ok lets start this off with a big MEH this anime seems interesting but after the first episode it doesn’t leave me screaming for more. ok its an interesting style with most of it being done in CGI with the hand drawn stuff over the top. a few example of this strange style
the first is all the bike, cars etc are CGI and the suits they wear is CGI
This ones the worst part it just looks like something the did about 10 years ago
but in other places it looks amazing you can barely tell its CGI
now in this scene everything was CGI apart from the floor and some of the building (oh and their faces) but its look like its drawn the only way you can tell is if you stare at it a minute and when its playing the movement of the characters its very smooth and life like (cheaper than drawing i suppose). Even in this where all drawn anime character would stand as still as a rock these two in the back will just bob up and down slowly (like you would normally)
This bit was weird it was a CGI character with drawn smoke….
now this bit was 100% CGI the background the motion blur even the speed line were all CGI
now this bit the back drop is drawn the character is drawn but the helicopter isn’t…
ok I would go on about the story but I got confused a bit I don’t know if its a plot hole or the translation was bad (or it even skipped a scene) but I was confused.
well to sum up the story is basically Mai Hime mix with some tokko secert police thing… and a dash of Ghost in the shell
now I don’t like GITS but I don;t know what to think of this one I suspect its got a gripping story with a few evil twists but I think this one will get swept under the rug… I’ll probably do a follow up on this after/If i watch a few more
CRUSH
Ok slap me on the wrist I got a new game I just couldn’t take it anymore 11 days with nothing to do but watch TV or do uni work!! and its was only £6.99 so meh. anyway its a simple puzzle game its “research” for games dev
Made by sega for the sony PSP
Another Puzzle game I hear you say, well yes I reply but with a difference its not made for a Nintendo console. and now you say its crap shame on you.
STORY (yes it has story, well kind of)
ok on with the game. ok you play at a guy named Danny who is suffering from insomnia caused by stress and repressed memories simple really…
ok the purpose of the game is to make your way thorough danny’s mind to try and find the cause of all this. To do this you use a machine and shes called C.R.U.S.H (Cognitive Regression Utilizing pSychiatric Heuristics).
ok C.R.U.S.H basically allows Danny to jump into his mind and CRUSH his problems (sometimes theres green blood and guts involved)
GAMEPLAY
this is where the fun begins and i think a few screenshots are in order.
so the objective of each level is to collect your marbles to open the exit then go to the exit (sounds simple yes?) but to do this you will need to CRUSH the 3D world into a 2D one.
the 3D to 2D is very similar to paper mario (but Zoe Mode came up with it first) but with on difference you can CRUSH the 3D from the 5 different views top, left , right, front and back, which make the game harder but somethings are only visible in certain 2D views.
3D
2D
This is really one of those game you need to play because watching a video or looking at a screenshot doesn’t really show you how great this game is.
So my rating for this game is going to be a nice big
9/10
now thats a good rating its even better when you consider I paid £6.99 (NEW) for it, now that’s a total bargain I would willing pay full price for it ok not £39.99 but defo £29.99
Assassins Creed: was it worth it?
I feel cheap for saying this but the game is more worth a rent or a preowned buy but not full price new because £40-£50 is alot of money really. but the game was worth the wait
Well in short I think the answer is yes the game was worth the wait but I feel as though it needed a bit more work done to it. to be honest it kinda felt like they has this game finished back in 2006 but they have spent alot of time polishing off the climbing and environments which I can’t complain about because it simply stunning no video or review can describe the freedom you have in this game. but for the last 18 months thats all they did it feels like the programming team said I’m sick of programming this game now and got side tracked and started doing odd jobs on the unimportant stuff rather than making the soldiers have a bit of AI or a few more lines to say. and they could of spent some time fixing a few graphics glitches (god it so hard to talk about graphics glitches in this game). For example on the horse its no uncommon to run round a corner to find theres no floor well theres rocks and trees floating but no floor…
ok on with the review
Stroy
ok well i’m not going to tell you it so 
all i’m saying is you mess up and you get demoted (pants) and you need to work your way up again and to do so you need to kill some people simple. there more to it than that but you really need to play it too find out. so far it seems interesting so lets leave it at that
Characters
well whats to say altair is an assassin and he kills people not much to say really other than hes a bit impatient and moans alot but hey. ok voice acting in this game is good well very good really apart from one person… which is altair I don’t know if thats on purpose or not but his voice is so lifeless and boring but once again it doesn’t really effect the game that much because he doesn’t talk much. ok voice acting on everyone else is good but the only issue here is they have so little to say when trying to save a citizen the guard will probably repeat the same sentence about 5 or 6 times… same when there fighting or chasing you so this is just annoying really.
Music
well it more like sound effect there not really any amazing about the soundtrack its a bit bland they seem to be trying to copy MGS a bit with the elaborate sound effect when you get spotted or kill someone which is nice but at time its a bit OTT.
Graphics
well there very nice indeed despite the glitches. ok let me explain the graphics of the game are very clean and detailed so are the builds trees etc and the “intended” glitches are a new touch which adds something to the game and after a while you don’t notice. along with the detail the lighting, motion and distance blur are very well done unlike most games shadows aren’t great but alot game do have problems with this.
ok on to the real glitches some of these are minor but for a game of this level these shouldn’t be happening. ok the one that pisses me off the most is the fact that altair keeps disappearing but only during “intended” glitches so during certain points in the game like high profile kills etc he will disappear well most of him will which is clearly a glitch in the glitch… (I suppose they could cheat and say it was ment to happen…) another annoying glitch is the disappearing floor well its more of the fact the floor doesn’t load in time because you can get really confused thinking your about to jump off a cliff when it not. but to make it worse is doesn’t even after a few seconds it can be like 5-8 seconds before it loads.
Gameplay
ok now on to the most important part of any game because if the gameplay sucks then whats the point. ok i’ll split this bit into 2 part the first will be the good parts the second is the bad
good
well it fits every demo gameplay and video to date of the game they delivered there promise of free roaming environments with no limits so good one. ok climbing well lets say this game as now set a standard which hardly anyone has the money or time to compete with the climbing in the game is beyond everything you have seen or played if you want this game for a bit of free running then get it (better than the free running game lol). and one last note on that the animation is seemless (almost) they must of spent weeks in motion capture to get all the movements or even months because its just that good. now fighthing this is also a good point if not too easy after you get counter but it does look good better sword fighting i’ve ever played.
ok the bad
first of all the AI of the enemy its terrible first of all you can kill someone when a guard is looking at you and they won’t suspect you of doing it even when your the only other person there. and when fighting you can be surrounded but the ones standing behind you won’t attack even though they have a clear shot you and they will only attack you one at a time which make it a bit easy.
another bad point is the fun but annoying missions. ok there fun but its just the fact you need to do the same thing again and again and again why not give you a mixture. ok you can get away with doing 2 of they out of a choice of 3 but its always the same 3 which are pickpocket, evesdrop or interrogate (punch someone in the face in an alley). ok there other stuff to do like emm find flags climb viewpoints and er save people who are being beaten up… Lastly loading time omg these are a joke its just you running around in nothing a progress bar would have been nice.
socres
story: 8
graphics: 8(due to real glitches)
character: 9
difficulty: 4
gameplay: 6
music: 5
overall: 7 (well the mean of those score is 6.6 but i don’t do halfs)
ok 7 out of 10 isn’t a great score well its not a great game I can honestly say this game is a show boat it does look pretty but with the basic gameplay in shambles i think its fair. ok the missions it does do are great and the story is good but its not enough to save it for me sorry ubisoft and sorry Jade Raymond looks like you worked too hard on making it look good and not enough on the gameplay. but I will say this with my hand on heart that Assassins creed 2 will be amazing because the graphics and climbing mechanics are solid enough for them to make the next one and just work on the story and gameplay.
ok in short this game has excelled in some areas far beyond any game that has came before it but they have totally messed up the basics.
Review Eternal Sonata part 2
ok on to part 2.
first lets start of with the story.
Story
now this is what makes this game stand out from the rest its basically takes place on the night that Frédéric Chopin died which is kinda strange because you know the ending before you start. but the game itself takes place inside Frédéric’s head in his last dream before he dies its a strange place where people who are terminally ill can use magic. in terms of a main character there doesn’t seems to be one but Frédéric is one of them but he doesn’t seem to effect the story much he’s just here for the ride as such then with have Polka who is a young girl who can use magic and start this journey to lower taxes on floral powder (medicine) and make them stop making mineral powder (ultra medicine that has no tax) but along the way they uncover secrets and a hidden plot of war but yea you need to play to see that. ok then we have the leader of the party Allegretto who is also making this journey with his partner Beat to lower taxes on bread and other daily items.
sounds a bit boring doesn’t it but it is good and during each chapter there a little history lesson into Chopin’s life using real photographs and his music.
Graphics
now the graphics aren’t blow you away amazing but who cares there damn good all the character are extremely smooth and the scenery is also amazing to look at so I can’t really fault it. along with the Graphics the animation is very smooth better than most games. another thing about the whole look and theme to the game every has something to do with music like the menu a riddled with notes along with the level up screen even the battles have the odd note here and there this is what i think makes the game stand out it has a theme and uses it throughout.
Voices
now the voice acting is good they fit there characters very well my only complaint is Mona Marshall is the voice of beat ok thats not really fair shes a good VA but every RPG I play atm has got her voice in like Blue Dragon she was the lead. but other than that voices I can’t fault them but I can fault the over use of the echo filter… ok it sounds cool but a bit OTT.
its appears I’ve run out of time again damn…
ok lets round this up
Graphics: 9
Story: 9
Gameplay: 9
Characters: 8
Voice: 9
Replay: 9
overall: 9
sorry for the unvaried score but this game is a must buy it is quite simply a breath of fresh air in the JRPG world
Review Eternal Sonata part 1
I can honestly this game is a breath of free air. ok to sum it up quickly it has a similar battle system to Star Ocean in the same way you run around in battle beating the living C**p out of everything but yea its a bit more mature that what Star ocean was its kind of a cross between Star Ocean and Grandia (trust me…).
You have two buttons for attacking on its a simple attack (A) which does the basic slash/hit/shot gun/bow you know the deal. where as the (Y) or special attack button does your well special attack (which are equipable like in SO) and you have one light special attack and one dark one (you can have more later in the game but there still light and dark). Now to use a Dark attack you must be standing in the “dark” as shown in the picture above and you must stand in the light to use the light attack simple really. ok the (X) now this is the items basically you just hit (X) and it uses the item on the closest thing that needs it most (which is a pain but you get used to it) but you have to equip items and you only have a certain number of item slots and some items take up more slots well ok you get the idea.
ok Now defending, this is a very nice feature because it can really reduce the damage of attacks without it you wouldn’t last long at all. in the screenshot above (sorry its horrible) you can see the word Chance! this basically means hit the (B) now to defend but sometimes it can be really quick so you will miss it and if you hit it too early your well screwed. nice feature though gives you something to do when its not your turn.
well that’s the attack and defence done now did i mention this was turn based? oh I hear you groan but I did say like Grandia so basically you can have 3 party member in the battle but its one at a time which is good no more stupid character AI or “Gambits”(which is probably the best AI in an RPG so far). ok back to the point see the bar to the left that is the active time bar (ATB emm…) which is the time you get to do what ever you want like run around use items use attacks etc etc. But this doesn’t start at the start of your turn it starts either when the TT timer run out (top of bar) or when you move or do something. the TT timer is the Tactical time timer and basically you get a few seconds to think what to do before you do it but most of the time you know already it just for lining up items more than anything.
ok well that all you get for now I’ll do the second part of this review later today (I hope) depends how bored I get at uni or how tired I am when I get back.
oh but before i go this game has a Co-op feature very nice (well not really its just the co-op from FF9) but i think all RPG’s should include co-op like that makes the game a bit more fun when you have someone round who like RPG’s… yea… whatever right?