The Lost Planet spin off is finally out, taking a new look and game style, But how did It turn out?
Gameplay- The Game is very simple to play which make the game very easy to just pick up and play with no steep learning curve. The game involves you going along your daily life in the academy. You'll be take on a lot of missions and later unlock a VR room to play new missions to train up and collect item and money. Anyway on to how the game plays The game is very simple to play and is not complicated at all. Theres simply a button to shoot primary, a button to fire secondary, melee, evade/boost and lock on. There is also a button for an EX attack with can be used when collecting enough energy.
The game basically involves fighting enemies, VS's and Akrids. The game mostly plays like hunt from monster hunter with most missions involving taking down a set number of enemies or making your way through a level to fight a boss Akrid. The game is extremely easy to understand and isn't too complex which makes the game very appealing.
As you progress through the game you meet new people who can me used as partners in VR missions, partners each have their own unique weapon to them so no other partner will use the same weapon as another. They have their level which can go upto 10 increasing their life points. With this there is also a relationship system with characters that increase by using them in VR missions and missions, unlocking weapons, items and new costumes for that character. Besides the VR and main game there is online co-op which is a lot of fun. You can play as any of the characters you have unlocked as partners and play with up to 2 friends doing missions in teams of 3. There is also an online competitive play which I would say is kind of lacking in a way but I have not fully explored and played.
With the game having a lot to offer in terms of game play and replay value as the VR missions can be replayed over and over and each have 2 extra objectives to complete. There a lot of weapons to upgrade and characters to level up which also adds to the replay value of the game not forgetting the online co-op which offers a lot of fun.
Graphics- The game takes on a kind of anime Cel-shaded graphics, which many including me would find very appealing, but doesn't offer much of realism. The characters designs again are very appealing like an anime. The games cut scenes tend to take the form of a comic book panel which is quite different.
Sounds and Music- The sound effects are pretty good and the voice acting is good too though it is all in Japanese. But onto the Music basically to sum it up the soundtrack to this game is simply amazing. Its very good and it really adds to the game value.
Accessibility for none Japanese players- even though the game is in Japanese which can obviously provides some issues. The game itself isn't too hard to navigate through, the person you need to talk to at the time is highlighted with a mark so you know who to talk to progress with the game and the VR is pretty simple to navigate. The only issue is the item names are in Kanji which can provide some difficulty with trying to find the enemy with certain items but does not offer a huge problem.
The game itself on PS3 is very easily purchased through places like amiami, Play-asia and ebay.
Summary- This game is a fantastic play I have to recommend it all I can because it is fantastic game and really deserves the score I gave it. The game is very easy to play which I think is one of the best points of the game is its easy to play game play. The game itself is very enjoyable game to go through and offers a lot of game play and aspects like weapon upgrades and characters to add more value in the game.
But let's talk if you're a Lost planet fan. The game does not really play like lost planet much, It does take place in the same world, but the game plays a lot different its plays more like monster hunter than lost planet. But if you want to explore the world then you should enjoy it. But please take into consideration it is very anime style based so if you dislike anime I would maybe think about sitting it out.
Besides the issues mentioned in the accessibility it can provide some issues but none of the are really serious or provide many problems towards playing the game. But as Capcom have said there will be no plans to release it in the west so it basically means you need to weigh up not playing it or dealing with the issues.
+ Great visuals
+ Great Soundtrack
+ Easy to pick up and play
+ Very appealing
+ Online co-op is a lot of fun
- Language barrier
- Online competitive is kind of lacking