Project X Zone 2 [Demo] (3DS): the Good, the Bad and the SaHD

The Good:
The demo showcases the combat, which I still really enjoy.  Plus, you get a bonus in the real game for completing the demo.  UP TO 10 TIMES!  That's crazy (crazy cool), and I want more demos to do things like that.

The Bad:
Skipping all the talking is a chore.  The start button will skip a small section, but you still end up having to mash it to get through it all.  This isn't a problem the first time through, but it sucks after the second time.

The SaHD:
The game tells you the enemies get harder if you go through again, but it does so each time you go through, which I didn't know.  The enemies were actually a threat during my 9th and 10th cycle.

I'm really looking forward to the full version, since I loved the first game.  I didn't get a review code, so I'll have to buy it at some point.  This kind of works out, since I prefer to have any Nintendo software in physical format (their digital system sucks).

(Project X Zone 2 Demo was obtained as a free download from the 3DS E-shop)

Year End Wrap-Up, part 4

The Future
While the first two parts looked at the past, the fourth will look to the future.  There's a few things, mostly gaming related, that are on my radar for next year.

From Bamco (Bandai Namco), I really want to play Project X Zone 2 and Digimon: Cyber Sleuth.  I loved the first PXZ and I'm confidant I'll like the sequel as long as the combat hasn't been ruined.  Sure, they have shuffled some teams around, for better or worse, but I like a lot of the character choices.  It's still a game that I'm likely to sink hours into.

I've liked the Digimon franchise since I watched the first season, and I've actually enjoyed a lot of the video games.  It's been years since we had a Digimon RPG, as the last one were the Dusk and Dawn versions of Digimon World on the DS.  While initially I wanted the Vita version of Cyber Sleuth, I might go with the PS4 version.  Even the pre-order DLC looks awesome.  Agumon dressed as Tai is cool, and you get Beelzemon Bluster Mode!  I already know my favorite Diaboromon is in the game, so that's two slots on my team that are already taken.

Bandai Namco also announced late in 2015 that they are bringing over God Eater Resurrection and God Eater 2 Rage Burst.  I enjoyed what I played of Gods Eater Burst on the PSP a year or so ago, and would love to play these on a more current system.  Hopefully the release of these is spread a bit through the year, rather than have two different God Eater games for two different systems (PS4 and Vita) release simultaneously.  It would be a bit confusing.  Given their track record, I might not get review copies for any of these four titles, but I will definitely check them out down the road.

A few more games I'm looking forward to that may or may not end up being released in 2016.  No Man's Sky, which I am really hoping to review, still looks like a lot of fun to just go exploring the universe.  I'd also like to see more of two hopefuls, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Re:Core.  We have seen very little about these, and if they aren't releasing in 2016, I'd like to see a good chunk of gameplay to see if they look good or just mediocre.  Who knows, we may even see Mighty No.9 release as well!

In non-gaming areas, I'm also psyched to see some cool looking Transformers toys coming out next year with Titan Wars.  While not as cool as this year's Combiner Wars, there are some good toys shown that I'm going to try and get.  He'll be expensive, but the Fort Maximus looks cool and I'm hoping for a recolor/remold of the leader class Blaster as my favored Soundwave.  While the games I know I can either get a review copy of or wait for a great price, that doesn't usually work with the TF toys.  I'll have to figure out some way to get the money for them, but I'll likely have to continue to be choosy about which ones I pick up, and hope that the Hasbro Toy shop has them in stock when they have the % off coupon codes.

There were a lot of fun games I played in 2015, and 2016 should have its fair share as well.  Happy new year readers!

Project X Zone 2 and Monster Hunter Stories Announced!

Wow.  As a fan of the first Project X Zone, I was happy to see late last night that Bandai Namco (Bamco, as I call them) announced not only the release of a sequel, but that the sequel was heading outside of Japan as well.  Planned for a fall release in the US, I am definitely excited to get it!  The first was probably the first game I played on it that made my 3DS purchase worth it.  Project X Zone 2 will of course be adding new characters, and even replacing a few, based off the trailer.

Gone is Pai, replaced with Kage, both from Virtua Fighter.  Leon from Resident Evil 6 is joining, as is some people from the Yakuza series.  Thankfully X and Zero return from Megaman X, and now Virgil from Devil May Cry joins his brother Dante (eat that, stupid Dimitri!)  And for better or worse, Haseo from .Hack//GU is replacing Blackrose from the original .Hack.  While I liked GU and think it should have some representation, it seems weird that they replaced two females with guys.  Either way, I'm still looking forward to playing it on the 3DS later this year.

You can see the trailer for it here.

Also on the 3DS, Capcom announed Monster Hunter Stories.  Slated for release in Japan in 2016, I am hoping the game makes its way west as well.  It is an actual RPG this time, with cutesy graphics, but still with the terrifying Tigrex.  I have no idea why they would use him in a trailer, since... ah, nevermind.  Anyway, it seems you play as people who ride some of the monsters, since the trailer has the protagonist ride a small Rathalos to escape his pursuer that doesn't understand "no means no".  I'm sure Mark will love that.  The game definitely looks different, I'm still deciding if I like it or not.  Still, I'm hoping it makes its way outside of Japan with the forthcoming Monster Hunter 5.

The trailer for Monster Hunter Stories is here.

Best Games in 2013

Looking back at the last year, I thought I'd collect a list of the best games I played (or reviewed) in 2013, in no particular order.

Dishonored
Yeah, the review was posted just after the new year, but I was playing it before the review posted (obviously).  And yes, the game came out the year before, but I really played the game in 2013, since that's when I finally purchased it.  Even so, the game is a fantastic single player experience if you enjoy stealth games.  The whole game is just done right with regards to stealth, travel and playing it your way.  The sheer amount of freedom and the options at your disposal make the game worthy of replaying.  It may be short, but it is sweet.

Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds
Fun, beat-em-up gameplay, awesomely 16-bit sprites and fluid animation make this a fun game to watch and play.  There's challenge, skill and stat upgrades, unlockable characters and multiplayer.  What's not to like?  It's a shame more people don't know about this title, since it is one of the best games I've played in 2013.

Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness
I had some reservations about playing this game.  The original Disgaea is my favorite game, so I was unsure if the sequel would live up to the expectations I would have.  While it did not replace the original as my favorite game, Disgaea D2 is a wonderful strategy RPG that had many improvements to the series.  I'm not as hot on the plot, but the gameplay is top notch.  Definitely a worthy successor to the series and a great game that I recommend to RPG fans.

Project X Zone (3DS)
True, there is no formal review of this great RPG on my site, but that's only because I had other ones to right when I was playing it.  I will hopefully still have a review in the future, as the game is really fun.  I love the combat, since it rewards you for timing, and they find a way to cram in all the character's signature moves into the combos.  While I don't agree with every choice for who is included in the game and who isn't, the insane amount of characters, enemies and locations from each franchise is amazing.  The story isn't great, as it is a flimsy excuse to gather all the characters, but I really enjoyed the game.  Try the demo, and if you like the combat, check the full game out!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (3DS)
Finally, the Phoenix has come back!  To 3...D...S!  I love the PW series, but didn't enjoy Apollo Justice or Ace Attorney Investigations as much.  I was excited to see the return of my favorite defense lawyer (sorry Perry Mason) to the courtroom, and it was worth the wait.  The story is engaging, the characters memorable, and it still has the best 3D effects in any game I've played.  No objections to this game!

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U/ 3DS)
Surprised?  Probably not, if you ever listen to the XGR weekly podcasts.  While still only an improved and expanded version of the Wii, it is very worthy of pouring many, many hours into (almost 300 and counting).  It's a bit strange to do, but the cross-save feature works, and the cross play is great too.  I wish the 3DS could connect to the Wii U game and both could play online, but alas, no dice.  It's a fun multiplayer experience that has my friend come over every Tuesday so we can put some more time into it.  Hopefully Monster Hunter 4 will come to the states, so we can keep it going!

So there you have it.  Kind of surprising to me that I had three games for the 3DS, when I'm not that happy with the system in general (maybe if I had an XL...).  There are a few that just didn't quite make the cut, so I'll list them below, in no particular order.

Runners-up:
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep (Borderlands 2 DLC)
Foul Play
Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2
Saints Row IV (rental review)
Diablo III

Project X Zone Demo Impressions

The long awaited demo for Project X Zone dropped onto the Nintendo E-Shop the other day.  I'm looking forward to the main game, so I had to give the demo a whirl.  The first thing I noticed (and other people did too) was that you have a max of 5 uses for the demo.  Wow.  I thought the 30 for a few other demos was pushing it.  I don't play a demo more than a few times, so I don't understand why they even limit it in the first place.  Five seems way too small, even if I don't play it more than twice.  That might sound silly, but so is limited the number of times someone can try the demo they downloaded.

I love the graphics in the game.  At first I thought the cut in scenes (when using a super, or cross assault) would be 3D themselves, but they are just on the front plane.  They still look great.  The 3D is pretty good too, and I can actually have it on while playing and it doesn't make it harder to play.  Hearing the songs I recognized from the respective IPs was simply cool (yay Sakura Wars!), so the music was spot on, even if it can be weird that it changes every time your character's turn comes up.  The voices are Japanese, which I already expected since they said they weren't going to dub the game.  While I would prefer it dubbed, I'm willing to do without since it means the game is coming out here.

If you have played Namco X Capcom, you will be right at home with combat in Project X Zone.  Basically, the field map is a grid-based strategy RPG, or SRPG.  When your turn comes up, you can move anywhere in a set movement grid.  You can attack an enemy within a few panels of your character, and if next to friendly units, they can jump into your battle for an attack.  You can also use items and skills before you attack an enemy.  I like that you can use multiple, so you can heal multiple units before starting a fight, as only selecting end turn or attacking will end your turn.

Combat is a very pretty combo-fest.  You control a team of two characters that can do multiple attacks, and each one has a lengthy animation that hits multiple times.  The idea is to time your various combos and juggle the enemy (the Tekken characters should have an advantage there, hahaha.) without letting them hit the ground.  This is essential on the armored or strong enemies, as you have to break their guard to do damage.  If you do all the different combo attacks during your turn, you are rewarded with another attack.  It didn't take long to figure out when to start the various attacks to maximize the juggle time and damage.  Adding more characters did make it much more difficult.

A third character is equipped to each group, save the Sakura Wars team (in the demo), which can be summoned for more damage.  It took a time or two to figure out when to best summon them for max damage.  As mentioned earlier, another group can also jump in your battle for crazy amounts of damage and attacks flying around the screen.  It looks awesome and I really like it, but it makes it harder to time the attacks for the best damage.  You will want every point of damage you can get for the boss in the demo.  She's tough, but you can easily overcome her if you rush her with all your characters when she appears.  I wanted to clear out all the enemies, which cost me 2 of my units.  I should have taken her more seriously.

Just for reference, the characters you are given are: Soma and Alisa from Gods Eater Burst, Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, Kite and Blackrose from .Hack, Riela and Kurt from Valkyria Chronicles (2 or 3, I have only played the first for a bit), Gemini and Erica from Sakura Wars (the latest one on the Wii and PS2), and later Sakura and Oogami from the old school Sakura Wars.  The 'solo' characters (the third that you can equip to a group) are Imca from Valkyria Chronicles, Devilot from Cyberbots, Lindow from Gods Eater Burst, and Ulala from Space Channel 5.  The enemies I recognized were from Space Channel 5 and Gods Eater Burst.  Geez, that's a lot of name dropping.

There's only 1 stage (set in the Sakura Wars universe) which can be completed in 30 mins or so.  It's just enough to give you a taste of the combat, which was what I really wanted.  I had fun playing the demo of Project X Zone, so I'm still looking forward to the full release later this month.  I almost wish it were on a console so others could watch the flashy battles on the big screen.  Europe is getting a second demo (their first is the same as ours), and it would be nice if that one hit our E-Shop before the game is released too.

Go Go Special Editions!

I recently saw that Namco Bandai announced the special edition of Tales of Xillia is coming to the U.S., and I'm really hoping to get one (not as much as my wife is hoping we get one, though).  It's $100, and comes with the game, art book, soundtrack and a statue of one of the main characters, Milla.  At first, only Gamestop had preorders available, and they stopped taking them in the stores after a few days.  Now Amazon has now added it, too.  I'm sure they will run out soon.  Also my second most anticipated 3DS game, Project X Zone, will have its own limited edition.  I'm sure that will be the only edition, as I feel it won't be printed again.  It has a "mini" art book, "mini" poster and soundtrack cd.  I'm going to jump on both of these as soon as I can.

I'm always a sucker for special editions.  Back when I had the funds, I bought many of them.  If you make it shiny, I was more likely to get it.  Art books are always my favorite, especially if I like the art style of the game (and even more if it's anime style).  Being an artist/designer (my degree), that makes sense.  I have most of my promo artbooks on a bookshelf in my living room.  Yes, I'm a huge nerd.

On the other side, my wife really likes getting soundtracks.  It has nothing to do with her major, but she likes listening to music, so another soundtrack is always welcome.  You could see how most special editions were perfect for us.  Now, it's not really feasible to get them.  I'm going to do what I can to get that Xillia one, though.  I'm also going to try for the Project X Zone one, although I'm convinced there won't be a non-limited version of the game here.  I'm sure when I do, I will have reviews up for both of them.  I'll also finally learn something about Milla and Jude from Xillia, instead of what little I could gleam from Tales of the Heroes.

And speaking of reviews (yes I know I shouldn't start a sentence with the word 'and'), I'm working on a few now, so they should start appearing in the next few days.

Project X Zone Crosses Over?!

I was very excited when my friend told me that really cool looking SRPG Project X Zone was coming to North America.  And it wasn't his usual trick of it being a mobile game!

I read the official press release and sure enough, it's coming in the summer.  I'm ridiculously excited to play it, since it's one of three games that came out in Japan that I was sure wouldn't come here.  Since the 3DS is region locked (grrr...), I would have to buy a Japanese 3DS, and I certainly don't have money for that.  I figured it would be a pipe dream to play it, but no more!

It is very reminiscent of a PS2 game called Namco X Capcom, which was really fun.  I watched my friend play it, and eventually bought an import copy so my wife and I could play it.  The battle system was my favorite part of that game, and was excited to see a similar one in domestic release Super Robot Taisen: OG Saga.  Sure, it barely has robots, but the game is awesome.

The cast in Project X Zone is cool too.  Since I'm currently going through Gods Eater Burst, I'm pumped to see two characters from that game in here.  If the battle system of Namco X Capcom was my favorite part, the cast was a close second.  Project X Zone continues the tradition and has added characters from Sega and others to the mix.  Summer can't come quick enough now!  At some point, I'll have to have a review of it on the site, so look forward to that!