kavadias1981's GameSpot Friend's Reviews kavadias1981's GameSpot Friend's Reviews kavadias1981's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:51:46 -0700 GameSpot kavadias1981's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Sat, 01 Jun 2013 19:09:49 -0700 abHS4L88 reviewed Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/zero-escape-virtues-last-reward/user-reviews/811973/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

Before you play this game, it is HIGHLY recommended that you play Zero Escape: 9 Doors, 9 Hours, 9 Persons as that game's story, gameplay and concepts will better prepare you for the wave of mindf**ks that this game will present. Almost everything that was amazing in 999 is even better in Virtue's Last Reward.

Virtue's Last Reward picks up where the last game left off, but in very unexpected ways which you will learn about as you play through the game. I will be doing this review under the assumption that you've played 999 because really, unless you only own a Vita, there's no reason for you to not play 999 before playing Virtue's Last Reward, meaning that if you haven't played 999 and want to play this game, DO NOT read this review and hop onto my review of 999 :D

Story: 10/10

You play as Sigma, a college student who is abducted from his car and placed into the Nonary Game, however this time it's with a twist called the Ambidex Edition. In 999, you only had to worry about splitting up into the appropriate groups and work together to escape, in this game, while you still have to split up into groups and work together, you don't have set number bracelets like in 999, everyone starts off with 3 BP (bracelet points) and must earn (or lose) through playing the Ambidex games, which is basically choosing whether or not you want to ally or betray the person you just worked together with. The game explains it thoroughly so I'll spare you the details. In 999, you had to find the #9 door to escape, in this one, the #9 is revealed immediately, you have to raise your BP to 9 (or higher) in order to escape BUT the door will only open once.

After playing 999, you can expect a lot of twists and really confusing events and information to be relayed and just like 999, Virtue's Last Reward does an amazing job of addressing and tying together everything in a way that makes sense but is still very trippy. One thing I absolutely loved was how Virtue's Last Reward didn't rely on any of the same "twists" that 999 had, such as Zero being one of the 9 people (Virtue's Last Reward reveals that immediately since it'd be obvious that Zero has to be one of the participants of the Nonary Game).

The story of this game will consistently keep you guessing, paying attention to every detail and formulating theories in your head about who's what and what everyone's purpose in the Nonary Game is as well as the ultimate goal of VLR's Nonary Game, it's easily one of the best stories I've ever experienced in a video game. There is a TON of dialogue and if you are someone who doesn't like reading, then this is most certainly not the game for you.

+ Perfectly crafted story
+ Loads of twists and surprises
+ Game ties up all twists and addresses everything flawlessly
+ Does not rely on the same twists present in the first game

Visuals: 9/10

The game is not the prettiest game on the system, and it doesn't have to be nor does it try to be. The setting is a bit drab and lifeless but that's the point, you are trapped in an isolated warehouse with 8 other people and are trying to escape, you're not exactly going to be witnessing some beautiful scenery and stunning settings. Some of the rooms do look very nice but the best part of the visuals are the characters themselves, being fully rendered in 3D this time, it gives the characters more life and movement that was lacking a bit in 999.

+ Characters are perfectly animated
+ Some rooms are vibrant and good looking
+ Visuals are serve their purpose and set the atmosphere well

Sound: 10/10

MAJOR step up from the previous game, VLR now is fully voiced (except for the main character) and has a much wider variety of soundtracks. Like 999, the music of the game mainly serves to add tension and urgency to what you're doing, while other tracks set the scene or add to the event in the story that's taking place. It's extremely well done and adds another layer to the overall atmosphere of the game.

Voices are all extremely well done, each actor matching their character perfectly, with Zero Jr. stealing the show with her hilarious but demented dialogue she has with the cast of characters, which all the more makes it perfect that she doesn't overstay her welcome (as I'm sure many would get annoyed with it if she had a greater presence).

+ Great soundtrack that adds to the atmosphere
+ Perfectly voiced characters

Gameplay: 10/10

Two of the major issues present in 999 were the fact that you'd have to replay through portions of the game repeatedly as well as going through the same puzzles over and over again and VLR addresses both of those issues with amazing results. First off, VLR introduces a "Flow Chart" which allows you to see the path you are going down as well as allowing you to jump to any event in the game so if a decision you made results in a bad ending, no problem, just jump to moment before you made the decision and choose something else. As for the puzzles, you will NOT have to replay through any puzzle ever in the game, every path offers its own unique set of puzzles, so while 999 had around 12 puzzles I believe, VLR has around 25, all of which are very tricky. What's also good about this game is that it offers an "Easy" mode for whenever you're stuck on a puzzle, while I'm sure you will want to do your best to ensure you never select this, there might be a time where are you stuck in a room that'll really get your head scratching, and due to the nature of this game, I highly doubt you'll want to look up guides in fear of stumbling upon a spoiler. The game is never unfair though, if you can't figure out a puzzle, it's because you didn't explore certain parts of the room and haven't figured out the purpose of an object you've picked up.

The game also added in a "Memo Pad" which allows you to write down any solutions or passwords on it which you MUST utilize unless you want to make life hard on yourself. The game will challenge your ability to deduce information, as well as memorize codes, passwords, and events and do a lot of calculations. When I say this is a mature game, I mean it also in the way that'll challenge you mentally and not just giving your mature content.

Now I did say that almost everything is better in VLR, the one thing that is actually worse are the controls. Everything felt tight and solid in 999, since the game is now fully in 3D, the controls don't feel as solid and navigating through a room is not as quick and easy. There are some motion controlled games and they work very well, but if they don't, just reset the system (happened to me and I thought it was the game). The controls are still fine, but in comparison to 999, they will take some getting used to.

Where 999 had 6 endings (although you can get everything you need to know with 5 of them since 1 was just a dud), Virtue's Last Reward has a total of 10 endings along with 9 duds (which you still want to go through out of sheer curiosity).

+ Intelligently designed puzzles
+ Wider variety and never having to replay the same puzzles
+ Double the amount of endings
+ New features to help you out
+ Overall game challenges your mentality and intelligence
- Controls are a bit worse than 999

Value: 10/10

The problem I have with most story driven games is that they typically don't last long, well this game should take you between 35-40 hours, depending on how well you tackle each puzzle. While there are multiple endings, all of them tie into each other and you HAVE to go through certain endings in order to unlock others so while many games' multiple endings are optional, every ending of this game is required in order to beat the entire game.

+ Up to 40 hours
+ Game requires you to go through each ending

Overall: 10/10

From start to finish, Virtue's Last Reward will put you through an amazing ride that'll challenge, move, and screw with you. You learn to empathize as well as feel bothered when a character betrays you. You care about most of these characters and want to do what you can to ensure that everyone escapes safely. It's truly a "mature game" and Zero Escape has become one of my absolute favorite series of all time and I can't wait to see what else Spike Chunsoft has in store for us.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward for the 3DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Sat, 01 Jun 2013 19:09:49 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/zero-escape-virtues-last-reward/user-reviews/811973/platform/3ds/ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 03:13:17 -0700 abHS4L88 reviewed Gunman Clive for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/gunman-clive/user-reviews/809750/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

When approaching Gunman Clive, one would be inclined to think it to be some lame western on rails type shooter, well you wouldn't be doing the developer (made by one guy) and yourself a favor by passing this game up. It's a great platformer/shooter with a pretty cool western hand drawn style to it.

Story:
For a small title like this, no actual story is presented to you, but it's quite clear what you have to do, save the girl.

Visuals: 8/10

Gunman Clive is presented in a sepia toned hand drawn style rendered in 3D and it looks pretty awesome and charming. Although the lack of color might make things a bit bland looking, environments are somewhat varied and the game has an overall kooky atmosphere to it (which you'll immediately recognize the moment you run into an enemy that's not a bandit).

+ Cool style that stays true to the theme
- Visuals can get a bit bland due to lack of color

Sound: 7/10

The music is good but not memorable and the sound effects are rather silly. It's adequate but nothing special.

+ Enjoyable music
+ Silly sound effects
- Nothing memorable

Gameplay: 9/10

Gameplay wise, Gunman Clive is probably the closest to the old school Megaman games (without the whole absorbing of powers of course) although power ups are present in the game but are lost the moment you are hit. The game does move a bit slower than Megaman and the jumps are a bit floaty but are easy to get accustomed to.

Like I stated earlier, the game is silly and has no problems showing it off, enemies are scattered about and while there are the obvious bandits, there are other enemies present also which you'll first think "WTF?" when you see it and as a head's up, everything that resembles a living creature is an enemy.

There are 5 different power ups, a 3-way scatter shot, homing shot, power bullet, piercing shot (goes through objects), and a bouncing fireball (only got this one once). Recovery items are found in the form of a cake. There are a total of 5 stages, each with 5 levels ending with a boss (each being different from the last), and the game automatically saves every time you finish a level.

The game is fairly challenging but nothing that'll require intense concentration and a great deal of precision. There are difficulties but it only affects the amount of health you have as opposed to adding more enemies or making the overall level more intense.

+ Great controls, handles well
+ Multiple power ups
+ Varied boss battles
- Difficulty makes little difference

Value: 9/10

The game is $1.99, making it one of the cheapest games on the eShop and it's a great and enjoyable game, making it definitely worth your money, even if you can beat it within an hour (the initial campaign) but even after that, there's the girl you save who you can play as (can slowly descend because you know, skirts allow girls to do that XD) and another character you unlock after beating the game once (Which you will find amusing).

+ $1.99
+ 3 different characters
+ Game encourages you to play through it multiple times

Overall: 8.5/10

Gunman Clive is a charming and great throwback to old school 2D side scrolling shooters with a unique atmosphere. Despite it's length, you'll most likely run through the game multiple times, trying to up your best time as well as playing through again with the other 2 characters. It's funny and downright silly and amusing (watch the trailer).

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Gunman Clive for the 3DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 02 Apr 2013 03:13:17 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/gunman-clive/user-reviews/809750/platform/3ds/ Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:18:55 -0700 abHS4L88 reviewed Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/nine-hours-nine-persons-nine-doors/user-reviews/809396/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is an exceptional game, while it might not appeal to everyone due to it's graphic novel type nature, it's most certainly a thrilling game that'll have you running scenarios, conversations, and analyzing the behavior of every character in the game in order to discover the truth before the game reveals it to you (which I'm sure most will come as a surprise).

Story: 10/10

You follow Junpei, a 21 year old college student who is abducted to participate in the "Nonary Game," which is a twisted game that revolves around numbers and solving puzzles. It involves 9 people and places all of them in a life/death situation. You're on a ship that's already beginning to sink and if you do not escape within 9 hours, the ship will completely sink. Also each person is wearing a numbered bracelet (which you will learn the uses of) that displays each person's number as well as acting as the detonator of the bomb that the main antagonist has placed inside each person. Basically it's similar to Saw (without the horrific traps), follow the rules, you live, you don't, you die.

Each of the 9 characters are very interesting (some more than others) and as you uncover the history of each, it unfolds more truth behind everything that is happening in the game. The game has a LOT of dialogue and it is in your best interests to pay attention to what each person is saying to you as you are challenged to connect what one person says to you during one puzzle to another person in a later puzzle in order to unveil more facts. There are 6 endings to this game although you technically only need to beat the game 5 times to unlock each ending. It is HIGHLY recommended that you attempt to tackle the bad endings first as each of them do uncover more information for you to use later on. My advice would be that if that if you are presented with a choice that makes you worry/weary, it'll probably lead to the bad ending.

What I loved about the story was that the one thing you'll probably spend most of the game figuring out, turns out to be the most predictable reveal of the game while everything else comes at a complete surprise (seriously, you won't see most of the things this game throws at you coming).

Highlights:
+ Shocking/thrilling story
+ Multiple endings that all tie together
+ Very interesting cast of characters
+ Story that makes you think and deduce situations and dialogue

Visuals: 8/10

The game stays true to its "graphic novel" style as you travel through beautifully rendered areas in the ship and are treated to nice animations of the characters, even if there are only a limited amount of animations each character possesses. The only thing this game was missing were fully animated cut scenes, but I guess that would've taken away from the whole graphic novel feel, also it would've been nice to see the characters interact with the environment in-game.

+ Great style
+ Beautifully rendered scenes
- Limited character animations
- Lack of fully animated cutscenes
- No character interaction with the environment

Sound: 9/10

Although there aren't that many tracks in the game, I actually never got tired of hearing the same ones because it simply fit the whole vibe of the game and added to the whole mystery and intense atmosphere. I also like the little sound effects given, reminds me of the classic Resident Evil games which added to the whole eery vibe. Even walking through doors felt intense.

+ Perfect for the game
+ Added the to atmosphere and eery vibe
- Limited tracks

Gameplay: 9/10

999 is graphic novel type game with a good deal of puzzle solving and investigative elements. The game can be played entirely with the touch screen (although the buttons will be a big help later on). The gameplay starts immediately, challenging you to escape from a flooding room. There is no time limit so don't feel pressured to solve the puzzle quickly. Each puzzle is solved by finding a key (either a traditional key, key card, or series of key cards) but the whole process of finding these keys are very much unique to each room, presenting you with new challenges each time. Take note that every item you pick up has a purpose. You are challenged with figuring out what each item is used for in order to find the hidden key in the room. This game will make you use quite a bit of math but fear not for the game has a built in calculator.

As stated, there are 6 different endings and these endings are decided by how you progress (mainly choosing which door to go through). Through the course of the game, you will be presented with 3-4 major choices (which door to go through), each puzzle will typically reveal more about each character that is with you so pay attention to their dialogue. The puzzles range from fairly simple/obvious to downright confusing, which is why it's important to really investigate every room thoroughly as well as paying attention to your group mates (as they will drop clues based on their own knowledge on how to solve each puzzle). This game will make you do a great deal of analyzing and deducing considering the huge mystery revolving around the game. It's an awesome feeling that really only few would be amazed by (unfortunately).

My main gripe with the gameplay is that you are forced to replay through the entire game in order to achieve each ending. While the game will allow you to "fast forward" through all the text you've already read and will memorize all your decisions, it would've been MUCH better had the game given you the option to skip previously beaten areas. After the 4th time, I had already memorized the codes required to beat certain rooms.

+ Intelligent puzzles and design
+ Every puzzle is unique and almost never recycles content
+ Achieving the good ending will require a great deal of analyzing and attention to detail
+ Game memorizes your choices
- Game forces you to replay through sections

Value: 9/10

The first couple of endings will take you about 3-5 hours to beat (depending on how quickly you figure out each puzzle), if you can achieve all 6 endings with only 5 playthroughs, then the game should run you about 20 hours (the ending itself will take about an hour or two). This is pretty long for a graphic novel/puzzle game. Of course, once you achieve all 6 endings, there's really not much else you can do after.

+ 20 hour long story
+ Multiple endings, each with their own distinct journey
- Game offers nothing after all 6 endings are achieved

Overall: 9.5/10

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is pretty much a great game with a mindblowing story. If you are a 3DS owner and have heard about the amazing Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, it is highly recommended that you tackle this game first. 999 truly embodies what a "mature" game is because really, you would need a mature mind to fully appreciate it for what it has to offer. Even outside of playing the game, you will be thinking about the dialogue each character has along with their behavior in order to figure out the mysteries of this game. As far as I know, the flaws of this game were addressed in the sequel (which I have yet to pick up) so do yourself a favor and be sucked into this thrilling story.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors for the DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:18:55 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/nine-hours-nine-persons-nine-doors/user-reviews/809396/platform/ds/ Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:44:41 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed DanceMasters for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dancemasters/user-reviews/808134/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Let's get one thing out of the way before I start, I'm a dancer, I've loved dancing my whole life and I got serious about street dancing about 5 years ago (check out the current crew I learn under, Blank Canvas).

Also I'm going to be starting a slightly new format in how I review my games by adding in "Highlights" and "Negatives" at the end of every category for all you TL:DR peoples :3

Surprised I didn't review this game earlier since I got it when the Kinect first came out but anyways, DanceMasters right now is the only Kinect dance entry from Konami and is pretty much the evolution of Dance Dance Revolution. While it's no where near as accessible or recognized as Dance Central, for all you aspiring dancers (or dancers period), this game provides a great challenge coupled with some pretty awesome routines that cover multiple genres (especially the JPop genre).

Visuals: 8/10

Dance Masters is a very nice looking game and the main female dancing is pretty. It has a most realistic look to it compared to Dance Central. The game obviously has a lot of Japanese influence in terms of style with a lot of flash and bright colors to it. The backdrops vary but are inconsistent. Some look great and add to the excitement of the dance while others are a bit drab. The visuals effects that go along with hitting each move is rather satisfying and add flare to the gameplay, although it can get in the way sometimes. The game, by default, will you show dancing along with the main dancer but due to the hardware limitations of the Kinect, the footage of you is blurry, usually cropped and delayed so while it's good for a few laughs, I would recommend turning it off as soon as the humor of it wears off.

Highlights:
+ Nice looking character models
+ Lots of flare and great visual effects
+ Interesting looking backdrops for the most part

Negatives:
- A few drab backdrops
- Visual effects can get in the way of the choreography
- Kinect implementation of you is done poorly

Sound: 9/10

Now this will indeed vary depending on who you are and your interests and/or cultural background (I'm Asian and very much into Asian culture). Whereas Dance Central has a wide selection of mostly popular American music spanning the past 4 decades, DanceMasters has some very obscure music that for the most part, you've probably never heard of, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as most of the music is very catchy and fun to listen to. There are some tracks from Dance Dance Revolution on there as well as some popular JPop songs but again, most people would not recognize majority of the tracklist. All I can really say is that if you enjoyed the music from Dance Dance Revolution, you'll definitely love the music of DanceMasters as well as some new tracks that either have a hiphop vibe or retro vibe to it. All the songs are in English.

Highlights:
+ Catchy and varied soundtrack
+ New songs for you to experience
+ Very Asian

Negatives:
- A couple of duds (about 2 songs that are just boring)
- Largely unknown soundtrack which limits appeal
- Very Asian (lol)

Gameplay: 7.5/10

Similar to how Dance Dance Revolution got you dancing by stepping on arrows when indicated, DanceMasters has the main dancer performing the choreography and markers will appear that you have to hit. These range from green poses you have to strike, blue ripple markers you have to hit, orange lines you trace with your hands (sometimes feet), and red arrows that you need to sway your body to (the rarest ones you'll encounter). On the easier difficulties, you'll mainly be presented with the green poses. The choreography does not get any easier, it's just the amount of it you actually have to do is reduced. As you increase the difficulty, more markers are present, up to the point where if you choose the hardest difficulty, "Stealth" there are no markers and you have to do everything the main dancer is doing. There is a Master mode that you can download off of XBL and I do recommend it since it's more satisfying to beat than Stealth (for me at least).

As great as many of the dance routines are, ranging from hip hop, to locking, disco, ParaPara (Japanese dance style), and some others that I'm not entirely sure how to describe (but fun nonetheless), it's a shame that the game does not have a tutorial mode of any kind, leaving it completely up to your ability as a dancer to learn the routines during gameplay. As an experienced dancer, there were about 2 routines that I couldn't master because the steps were just too fast and this is a shame because it will turn off people who are just looking for a good time and will force them to just resort to hitting poses rather than actually trying to do the whole dance.

During each routine, you'll see a circular meter on the bottom right hand corner, when it's nearly filled, you can activate a sort of "Euphoria" mode which gives you more points as well as accessing hidden "Ripples" (if you hit these ripples, you'll hear a quick high pitch noise). The problem with this is how it's implemented. In Guitar Hero or Rockband, to enter Star mode you have to either hit the select button on the guitar or swing the guitar upwards while playing which if you're used to, doesn't really interfere with the gameplay, with DanceMasters, you have to hold out your right hand to the side for about 3 seconds to activate it and I, for the life me, cannot figure out how people do this without missing a move because once you miss a move, your meter goes down. This "hidden ripples" are mainly for achievements so I wouldn't worry about them if you don't care for achievements.

The game does feature multiplayer and even online multiplayer but due to the general unpopularity of the game, you'd be lucky to find someone online. This was clearly the advantage DanceMasters had over the original Dance Central and works perfectly. Although for some reason my sister who can't dance as well as I can always seemed to beat me, maybe it doesn't work that well >.<

Finally, the interface is a bit annoying to do, mainly selecting a song because while you have the standard "Hold your hand up over an arrow to choose a song" to select you need to raise your hand, but what happens is that the game will move to the next song choice before you raise your hand, making selecting a song rather frustrating. Hopefully if they ever release a new DanceMasters, they fix the interface.

Highlights:
+ Great dance routines, spanning multiple genres
+ Markers are rather fun to hit and add a gameplay element to dancing
+ Challenging routines for seasoned dancers (more so than Dance Central)
+ Multiplayer, pitting you head to head with someone else (online multiplayer is negligible due to unpopularity).

Negatives:
- No tutorial mode, making the game far less accessible
- Markers in the easier difficulties don't encourage dancing for the entire routine
- Poor implementation of Euphoria mode
- Frustrating interface

Value: 8/10

DanceMasters features up to 30 songs although you are only given 20 in the beginning and must unlock the other 10 by playing through the Playlists the game presents to you. This encourages you to play through every single song and find out which ones are your favorites. Take note that you do have to score an A rank in order to unlock the other songs but I do highly recommend it as the unlockable songs were some of my favorites, "Secret Rendezvous" is a pretty kickass routine. Replayability does rely on how determined you are to master these dances as well as your general love for dancing.

Highlights:
+ Unlockables and the method allows you to experience every song
+ Lots to learn and master for those willing

Negatives:
- Only 30 tracks with no DLC
- Since unlocking new songs makes you play through every song, you'll have to experience the duds also

Overall: 8/10

DanceMasters is very much a great dancing game and one that I feel didn't get the attention it deserved. Sure Dance Central is more accessible and has a far more recognizable soundtrack but DanceMasters is superior (to me) in its dance routines and how much fun they are to perform. I also personally love hearing a completely new list of songs I've never heard of (for the most part) as it gives me new songs to listen to. While there are some odd choices in the interface and the way things are implemented, as well as a complete absence of a tutorial mode for learning the routines, if you give DanceMasters the effort, you'll come away knowing some pretty awesome dance routines.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed DanceMasters for the Xbox 360..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:44:41 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dancemasters/user-reviews/808134/platform/xbox360/ Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:17:58 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Fire Emblem: Awakening for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/fire-emblem-awakening/user-reviews/807731/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

Fire Emblem Awakening is the first Fire Emblem I've ever played and as it stands, it's easily my favorite 3DS game so far. While it's not perfect, what it does correctly is just so amazing that even though I've beaten the game (75 hours), I'm already ready to dive back in and do it all over again (with different choices and a harder difficulty).

Story: 9/10

Before you start the game, you have to make your own custom character. While the choices are limited, you soon discover why that's so and while your character is very much indeed an integral part of the story, the game mostly focuses around Chrom (a descendant of Marth). Chrom and Lissa (his sister) find you passed out on a field and you have no memories of what has happened, so Chrom decides to take you along. Soon, undead warriors called "Risen" are summoned to the area and through that portal, an unknown warrior comes with them, helping you slay the monsters. With Chrom and Lissa, you return to the capital to find out what's going on.

From what I'm aware of, the story line is not as strong as previous entries and after experiencing the whole story, it is rather predictable in some parts. However, it's still a very well crafted story with some very emotional parts to it. Also the dialogue between the characters, especially during the "Support" sessions, is excellently written, many of which will put a smile on your face.

Visuals: 9/10

While it's not the best looking game on the 3DS, Fire Emblem is still very nice looking considering how huge of a game it is. Every character has a unique look and their models look pretty good in 3D. I know many people had a gripe about the lack of feet, but that hardly bothered me after getting into the game. Battle scenes look awesome, the field itself is nicely done, although the 2D sprites of the characters do look a bit out of place in the 3D environment, it's something you'll get used to quickly. The cutscenes of the game are easily the best looking cutscenes shown on the 3DS (which I hope is a teaser of what Fire Emblem on the Wii U will look like).

Sound: 10/10

The music of Fire Emblem is simply breathtaking and highly memorable. It has a very epic and adventure feel to it. Every track is wonderfully orchestrated and the voice acting is spot on, although it's only the cutscenes that are fully voiced. In game dialogue only gives you either grunts or quotes from the character that kind of matches what they're currently saying. For most, it's fine, but for a select few it can get annoying, whether it be their voice or what they say.

Gameplay: 10/10

Fire Emblem Awakening is still classic Fire Emblem, from the grid like turn based battles, to the "rock paper scissor" type weapons, different classes, and RPG elements. For the first time, Fire Emblem does not enforce perma death. In the beginning of the game, you can choose whether or not your units die in battle or simply retreat. For series's veterans, Classic mode is obvious but for newcomers such as myself, the Casual mode is very much a welcome addition and even though I don't consider myself terrible at strategy games (since I do love Advance Wars, Intelligent Systems's other successful strategy game), the idea of losing one of my characters permanently sucks (to me). Also one simple option that was excluded that I found incredibly annoying was the lack of a "Quit" option. In games like Fire Emblem you can easily make a huge mistake that could cost you the battle and since you can't take back any of your moves, a "Quit" or even "Reset" option would've been extremely helpful, especially since Advance Wars has it, but no, if you screw up, you have to either restart the game or get yourself killed to start over.

I also found it odd that the game barely made use of the touch screen but didn't find it to be a big deal since the controls worked perfectly, it was just weird going from Advance Wars to Fire Emblem. The overall gameplay itself is highly addictive, mainly thanks to the RPG elements (something Advance Wars lacks, giving you less incentive to replaying battles). Every time a character uses a move (attack or support), they gain experience. Every characters starts off as a specific class but it's up to you to experiment with different classes to allow your characters to obtain the best possible skills as well as stats. There are also relationships and for the first time in Fire Emblem, if any of your characters marry, they will have children (Hint: Pair up people who match in terms of stats and abilities).

StreetPass and SpotPass are excellently implemented. StreetPass sending your party to other people's 3DS's while you receive theirs for a challenge. If your party wins or if you beat the challenger, you get "Renown" points (which can be used to unlock special items and serves as a score board). Using SpotPass, you can also summon characters from previous Fire Emblem games and challenge them, also earning Renown points upon defeating them.

The game also has a Barracks mode which is supposed to be a place where your characters hang out and while the conversations that take place are not that great, the good thing about the Barracks is that it gives you free items as well as helping build relationships between characters and sometimes giving them stat boosts.

Fire Emblem Awakening has incredible depth and if you make the wrong decision in almost anything, it could very well haunt you for the rest of the game, but don't worry as no bad decision can be damaging enough to ruin the experience.

Value: 10/10

Fire Emblem Awakening's main story will take you about 10-15 hours to beat, depending on the difficulty. There are 26 chapters but if you just stick to these battles, they will be difficult as your units will not be that strong. There are also 18 "Paralogue" stages, all of which are easily more challenging than the main stages. Aside from that, you can summon "Risen" to the field for training, and like I said earlier, summon previous Fire Emblem characters to battle. The game does support DLC, although I was disappointed with how previous Fire Emblem characters were implemented like Marth and Roy. Even though Marth was free, I paid for Roy, only to find out that the game really doesn't give you any incentive to use these characters, mainly because they can't build relationships with anyone and with around 35 characters, it'd be much more beneficial to focus on them and their relationships.

The game is huge and on my first playthrough, I spent over 70 hours on it, and I have every intention of going back and replaying through it again, making it the best value of any 3DS game out there right now.

Overall: 10/10

Yes the game is not perfect and I do have a couple of gripes with it, but what it does well, it exceeds my expectations and provided me with a insanely addictive, in depth, challenge and super fun game that I really haven't put down since I got it.

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"abHS4L88 reviewed Fire Emblem: Awakening for the 3DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:17:58 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/fire-emblem-awakening/user-reviews/807731/platform/3ds/ Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:55:17 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/golden-sun-dark-dawn/user-reviews/807394/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Golden Sun was the only GBA title I owned when I was a kid (all our other GBA games were my brother's) and I absolutely loved this game, spending more than 100+ hours on it. Although I missed out on the 2nd, I did get to play about half a it and after catching up with the story, I finally get to play the most recent entry. While not as strong as the previous two in terms of story and characters, the gameplay is still solid and just as puzzling as ever (in a good way).

Story: 7/10 (going to assume you're familiar with the first two Golden Sun games)

30 years have passed since the events of the Golden Sun, and the world is still in a state of recovery. Strange events start occurring due to the presence of the Golden Sun and Isaac and Garet need to set off to Sol Sanctum to figure out what it wrong. In order to get there, they need to use Soarwings (a flying device invented by Ivan that is extremely difficult to make due to very rare component needed), problem is Tyrell (Garet's son), takes off with the Soarwing, intent on proving Karis (Ivan's daughter) that he can also use one, breaking it in the process. Soon after, Karis, Tyrell and Matthew (Isaac's son) are sent on a journey to obtain a Roc feather (the rare component needed for the Soarwing).

The game's story quickly shifts away from this objective and of course, turns into a "save the world" mission. One thing I didn't like was how painfully obvious who the "main antagonist" was. Also compared to the original Warriors of Vale, Tyrell, Rief and Karis are kind of immature, Tyrell just being flat out stupid or annoying at times. As for Matthew, well he doesn't talk, at all, instead you can control how he reacts to certain situations (not that it does much). The story is still very interesting, with a lot of interesting dialogue, but it's not as strong as the first two Golden Sun games. Take note that this game will end on a cliffhanger, so expect that, meaning this game is long overdue for a sequel.

Visuals: 8.5/10

I absolutely loved the pseudo 3D visuals the original Golden Sun had and while it matches the game better, the 3D visuals of this game were still really well done (makes me all the more excited for how the 3DS entry will look). Due to the limitations of the DS, all the character models are done in a chibi fashion, the environments are nicely done and the world map is pretty huge (although there are some areas you'll never get to visit).

Sound: 9/10

Like most Nintendo games in general, the music is awesome, the opening song sounds epic, and the overall tone has a very classic fantasy vibe to it.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

Golden Sun a traditional JRPG in which battles are turn based. What's unique to Golden Sun are Djinns as well as the way puzzles are built into the game. Djinns serve to improve the abilities of adepts as well as grant you special moves, the more Djinns you use (and have set), the more powerful summons you can unleash. Keep in mind that summons should be used wisely as setting Djinns will lower your overall stats as well as remove certain useful psynergy (like Wish and Revive). Each character has their own specific element, Matthew - Earth (Venus), Karis - Wind (Jupiter), Tyrell - Fire (Mars), and Rief - Water (Mercury), you can change up their elements by switching around Djinns, but they are most effective utilizing their own element, but if you can find the right combinations, your characters will have some pretty powerful moves at their disposal, but at the cost of a weaker stats.

The puzzle aspect of the game is what truly makes Golden Sun challenging. Some of your psynergy can be used on the field for specific actions like moving an object, growing a vine, or burning an object. The game will challenge you to utilize these abilities in order to progress, as well as analyzing the environments so you can plot your course. There will be times where it can get confusing which psynergy must be used so remember that up until the end, almost every dungeon will most likely use the psynergy you most recently obtained, unless it's an element based dungeon.

One thing I don't like about Golden Sun in general is that the game kind of forces you to be a completionist, exploring every single area and talking to every single citizen and checking every barrel, pot, box for items if you want to have all of the best items as well as every Djinn. Advice for hunting down Djinns in the world map, if you come across a small island (or spit) that seems to serve no purpose, most likely a Djinn is present there. It's important that you hunt down every single one because an imbalance of Djinns could lead to your characters being forced to carry a Djinn of a different element.

Value: 9/10

Golden Sun has always been a huge RPG but handheld standards and this one is no different. I clocked in around 32 hours when I beat the game and that's not counting the optional dungeons that open up after the game is finished. Although since this game isn't as strong as the previous ones, I don't feel as compelled to go back and replay it but it's hard to not call a handheld game that can last you up to 30 hours a bad value when console games hardly last that long.

Overall: 8.5/10

Golden Sun Dark Dawn is a solid sequel to the critically acclaimed GBA titles, while the story and characters aren't as strong, the solid gameplay still remains. Hopefully we see a 3DS title soon since the game did end on a cliffhanger.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:55:17 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/golden-sun-dark-dawn/user-reviews/807394/platform/ds/ Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:09:53 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/advance-wars-days-of-ruin/user-reviews/807358/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

I remember playing the first Advance Wars on the GBA when it first came out, I absolutely loved it, but I clearly wasn't as good at it back then due to my young age. Fast forward a decade later and I've decided to finally pick up where I left off and it's exactly how I remember. Granted I believe Dual Strike changed up the formula a bit, which is why I went for Days of Ruin first to ease my way back into the game.

Story: 8/10

A meteor has hit the planet and destroyed civilization as we know it. Although there are still many survivors, life is very much a day to day challenge as the catastrophe has left the skies clouded with a layer of ash, preventing any sunlight from penetrating through. Not only is coming by food much more challenging, but due tot the lack of civilization, many soldiers have decided to run rampant, killing any who get in their way, as well as a deadly virus that kills its host by sprouting out flowers all over their body.

You primarily use Will, a young soldier who was rescued by Captain Brenner of the Rubinelle Army and you quickly prove your worth to the Captain as well as his 2nd in Command Lin. Through Captain Brenner's unconditional need to help others, Will is inspired to help his cause and fight those who threaten humanity.

It's nothing ground breaking although the story is well written.I can't say whether it's a good or bad thing but the game definitely dose make you hate certain characters, even those who aren't even your enemies.

Visuals: 9/10

Advance Wars has always had a rather simplistic style due to the nature of the game, which works perfectly. Everything is in 2D and the animations (especially during the battle scenes) are great and always a pleasure to watch. I always get a huge satisfaction of wiping out an entire unit in one blow. Though darker in tone than the previous Advance Wars, the art style still suits the game, with a slightly more mature look to all the characters.

Sound: 8.5/10

Although there is no voice acting, the music of each stage is a pleasure to listen to and the sound effects of every vehicle is perfectly done.

Gameplay: 10/10

Advance Wars has always been a turn based war strategy game, sharing a few similarities to Intelligent Systems's other major IP, Fire Emblem. Unlike Fire Emblem where you tend to have a predetermined amount of units, Advance Wars typically tasks you with building up your army. Every unit has its own special capabilities and you must learn how to effectively utilize these units in order to be successful on the battlefield. Focusing on just 2-3 units is easily a good way to be overwhelmed as every unit has a major weakness.

First off, every army has an HQ, unless there's a special objective (like escape or destroy a specific building), in order to win, either wipe out all enemy units, or capture enemy HQ (usually best during battles involving naval units since submarines can be annoying to find). Bases provide you with ground units (infantry, vehicles and tanks), airports grant you the ability to create air units (airplanes and helicopters) and shipyards manufacture sea units (boats, carriers, subs, ships). Infantry (Mechs and Bike) units are vital as they are the only ones able to capture buildings. The more buildings you capture, the more money is granted to you each turn as well as serving as supply/repair spaces for you units. Take note that air/sea units can only be repaired at their manufacturing plants (although they can be supplied if placed close to a transport rig).

Like stated earlier, every unit has a strength as well as a weakness. Infantry units have weak fire power (except mechs although they have the worst movement range), recon are good at picking off infantries (except mech units) and have long vision (during fog of war scenarios), tanks have strong direct fire power but the stronger the tank, the worse the movement range is, rockets, anti tanks, and artillery are powerful ranged vehicles but cannot attack when moved or defend themselves when attacked (anti tanks will fire back though), air units are fast and powerful, but expensive and easily picked off by anti air vehicles as well as eating through gas faster (helicopters are cheap though, but can be attacked by any direct ground unit), sea units are even more expensive but can be devastating when used properly (especially aircraft carriers and battleships). Every unit has a set amount of gas and ammo (although foot soldiers are don't need gas) so it's important to keep track of every unit (the game will tell you if a unit is running low on ammo or gas). Air units as well as subs will be destroyed if they run out of gas. Each commanding officer also has their own special abilities but you don't really have access to those until halfway through the single player campaign, but they do play a huge role in free battles as well as multiplayer.

Units move in a grid like area, when a unit is selected, an area is highlighted, any green area is where the unit can move and the red is the attack range. Everything is turn based and when you attack a unit, a percentage is pulled up, letting you know how much damage you'll deal to the unit as well as how much damage your own units will suffer. The unit attacking will always have the advantage of dealing damage first so say two medium tanks fire at each other, the first one will destroy 2-3 tanks while the one firing back will only destroy 1. Of course, the idea is to try and minimize damage as much as possible so you do want to ensure that the unit attacking has the advantage.

It's an addicting formula and one that doesn't seem to age no matter how advanced gaming has gotten. Keeping track of your units as well as your enemies and effectively placing your units to where they can easily pick off the enemy without getting destroyed themselves proves to be quite the challenge. The game is by no means a breeze, the first few missions are easy but about a third into the game, you really need to start using your brain and planning out your movements as well as analyzing the enemy (who is by no means stupid).

Value: 9/10

The single player campaign is rather short, with only about 24 missions (although most of the later missions can take you about an hour to beat) but the game does provide you with special maps to test your skills (if you think the story missions are hard, prepare yourself for the special maps). There is multiplayer but considering the age of this game, I would think it would be hard to find someone to play online nowadays, although local multiplayer is still an option. The game does challenge you to go back and best your own score. I saw myself repeating certain missions that I got an A ranking in because I knew I could achieve an S ranking.

Overall: 9/10

Advance Wars Days of Ruin is yet another excellent strategy game from Intelligent Systems, placing a great focus on your ability to make tactical decisions and manage your resources. I look forward to seeing what they have planned for the 3DS version.

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"abHS4L88 reviewed Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for the DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:09:53 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/advance-wars-days-of-ruin/user-reviews/807358/platform/ds/ Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:59:22 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Assassin's Creed III for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-iii/user-reviews/806905/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Assassin's Creed is an historical stealth based open world action adventure game started by Ubisoft in 2007. It follows the story of Desmond, a descendant to a long line of assassin's kidnapped but eventually tasked with uncovering the secrets of his past in order to save the future through the Animus. Assassin's Creed placed him inside the memory of Altair, a wise but brash Assassin in Israel during the Third Crusade, in which he learned the knowledge of the Creed. Assassin's Creed 2 then placed him inside Ezio, a charismatic and kind potential assassin during Renaissance Italy and Istanbul in order to gain the skills of an Assassin. During each of his memories, he soon realizes that Altair and Ezio were merely pawns in paving the way for Desmond in the future, setup by the ancient doomed race. With nearly everything uncovered, all that remains is the key to uncover the secrets of the ancients, which Connor of Revolutionary America had accessed it.

Story: 9/10

Desmond and the group have made their way to the cave in the US that holds the key to saving the world. They setup everything and Desmond is quickly sent to his final ancestor. Before you play as Connor, you enter the memory of Haythem Kenway, an English man sent to the Colonies to gather a group of men necessary to place his plans into action. Haythem's sequence serves as a tutorial for new and returning players as there as a few tweaks to the gameplay. After his sequence is finished, you're shifted to Ratonhnhaké:ton (later known as Connor). You first play him as a child in order to witness the events that eventually lead up to him becoming an Assassin.

To become an Assassin, Connor leaves his homeland and joins Achilles Davenport, an old retired Assassin. After learning the ways, both Achilles and Connor plot to assassinate the templar leaders that are attempting to gain control over Colonial America.

Like the previous entries, Assassin's Creed 3 beautifully recreates Colonial America and gives you a perfect visual of what life was like back then. The journey the game takes you through is full of plot twists, deceit and even heart warming stories. It gives you a different perspective of the historical figures back then. However Connor himself is much less appealing of a character compared to Ezio. Although Connor's character is not meant to be charismatic, he's much more devoid of any sort of personality, but I do think his character is more appealing than Altair.

I will say that the ending was rather bad, so don't expect some kind of epic endnaivitying, similar to Mass Effect 3. It basically wrap things up without answering much questions.

Visuals: 8/10

While the environments are expansive and beautifully recreated, the Assassin's Creed franchise is beginning to show its age. It's artistically stunning but graphically weak in some areas. The people are well animated and have a good deal of expression when talking. At some points it does look like you're watching an interactive movie. There are texture pop ins occasionally, and some glitchy areas too. One part of the game that does shine and look amazing are the naval missions.

Sound: 10/10

Assassin's Creed has always had excellent voice acting and a strong soundtrack, and this entry is no different. While Connor's personality may be more dry than Ezio, his voice acting is well done and perfectly reflects the tone, strength and naivety that a Native American would have back in the Revolutionary period. Being Revolutionary America, you are presented with characters from different parts of the world be it the English, French, Native Americans and Irish, it's a good diversity, one that we really haven't experienced in the franchise before.

Gameplay: 8/10

The gameplay is largely the same game with some tweaks and a few additions. The biggest addition in terms of movement is the ability to free run through trees, allowing to easily go through forests undetected as well as making it more difficult for enemies to pursue you. The overall game is actually much easier than previous entries and the changes made to make the game more difficult actually come off more as mere annoyances instead of genuinely making the game more difficult (which I will explain in a bit). Connor is equipped with a wider variety of weapons, aside from the standard hidden blade, gun (which has to be reloaded before using again and this takes time), sword, blunt weapon, axe, poisons and smoke bombs, Connor also can use a bow and arrow (which is highly preferred over the gun as it is just as lethal, is quiet, reloads much faster, and arrows can be retrieved from dead bodies), trip mines, snares, and rope darts. Of all the items, the rope dart is easily the best ranged weapon in the game and when you mastered using it, makes any battle (no matter the size of the crowd) easy since with one rope dart, you can basically immobilize any person for a short period of time, making them open for a lethal attack. You only use up a rope dart when you hang a person or use it during a dual/triple lethal attack. Unlike previous entries, this game does not encourage you to upgrade your weapons at all, especially considering that the Assassin's Tomahawk you're given in the beginning is easily the best melee weapon in the game, and you can easily get by with a bow and rope darts, whereas Revelations and Brotherhood had me using a wide variety of weapons and constantly upgrading.

Along with the ability to free run through the forests, you can now hunt the wildlife, you're first taught how to properly hunt animals and kill them in order to prevent damaging the pelt and meat but you soon realize that the entire process is largely unnecessary as you can clearly see most animals from a distance, kill most of them from trees, and some you can even catch while on foot. Hunting animals is one of the best ways to earn money as this game does make it harder to earn money (no more bank) and with the addition of naval missions, you're going to need a lot of money to upgrade your ship. Going back to hunting, animals will typically run away when they hear you but there are aggressive animals like grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, and even the male elks will attack when provoked. What I hated about fighting these animals was that it's done in a quick time event fashion instead of how you'd normally fight people, it's annoying and these animals can easily kill you if you press the wrong button. Also there's no consequence to constantly hunting. I could seriously kill like 10 beavers in a row and nothing bad will happen, lessening the impact of hunting.

Like I said earlier, the game tries to make things more difficult, but the way it's executed just makes it seem more like a tedious chore rather than an actual challenge. To gain the hidden treasure of this game, you have to find peg legs scattered around America, and while I do appreciate the game actually giving us a reason to grab these items, the actual platforming itself for the treasure is way easier than in the previous games. Also your assassin's are no longer invincible nor can they kill as effectively, but there are hardly any situations in which you'll truly need their help, especially since Connor's a beast in battle. The assassins also take the place of thugs, courtesans and thieves. As for the fast travel option of this game, you have to go through an underground maze to unlock each location but again, this is more of a tedious chore rather than an actual challenge and it's rather pointless because I realized I didn't need it since forts, the shipyards and the exit all allowed me to fast travel to those locations (which spread all around the map) and the fast travel location automatically unlocked is placed close to main mission events.

The notoriety system has been toned down, it only takes two levels before you're notorious, thing is, it takes quite a bit of killing before you reach that level, and all it takes is tearing down one sign, bribing a speaker or a printer (both don't take money from you so it's technically free) whereas Assassin's Creed 2, each lowered your notoriety by a specific amount and gave you more incentive to not become notorious.

What's also been made easier is taking over Templar forts, where in Ezio's time, you'd have to sneak in otherwise risk the fort captain fleeing the base, the fort captain will instead come after you in AC3. They did add another objective of destroying the gun powder reserves but the fact that you can simply charge into the base, kill everyone and take over really took away from the challenge of actually sneaking in and assassinating the guard captain while taking over the base undetected.

The biggest surprise is the naval missions, while tower defense was poorly executed in Revelations, the naval missions are done extremely well and is probably the only genuinely challenging aspect of the game since you have to take into account wind, speed, the environments as well as the position of the ship in relation to your enemies and your weapons. The only negative is that after you do your first couple of required naval missions, the game does little to remind you of that part of the game until your next require naval mission (which happens towards the end of the game) so I found myself doing a lot of catching up, but yeah, they are lots of fun and very satisfying. The naval battles would've been more difficult if they didn't include the swivel gun since that made facing a lot of small ships easy.

Besides that, everything else is standard Assassin's Creed fare, you have eagle vision (which you use far less in this game), can access viewpoints to reveal parts of the map (although this time, climbing all viewpoints won't reveal the entire map, you have to uncover the rest yourself), feathers to collect (for you completionists) and a homestead you can develop (like Monteriggioni in Assassin's Creed 2) although unlike Monteriggioni, you don't really feel compelled to make use of the services of the people, although completing the homestead missions do provide a very nice and heartwarming side story of the game. There are Desmond missions but they're rather short and don't provide much of a challenge, except when inserting a power block, which requires some careful platforming to reach each area.

The Wii U differences aren't much, the GamePad can completely take over as the UI, clearing the screen of the minimap, lifebar, and button mapping. It can also easily allow you to call for your horse. You can also play exclusively on the GamePad (something I never did due to how quickly it would drain the battery). Technically you're getting the same game, don't let reports of the Wii U version performing worse get to you. I played the previous 4 entries on the 360 and this game played just as well as I remember on the 360.

Value: 9/10

Considering that the average AAA game's single player campaign tends to last no more than 10 hours, Assassin's Creed 3 is rather large, you can easily get sidetracked with sidequests and collectibles (seriously, every new area I entered, I did almost every sidequest I could before progressing) and the map itself it huge, bigger than AC2 (but with less areas). I spent nearly 27 hours on the single player game and of course, there's the online multiplayer. I didn't get to try it out but since I have it on the Wii U and don't have to pay for online, this does extend the life of the game for me.

Overall: 8.5/10

AC3 is a pretty worthy end to the franchise (or at least, the current storyline), although the ending was weak, the overall journey was very well done. I didn't like how many of the elements that made the previous entries challenging were removed and in place were elements that seemed more tedious rather than difficult. The naval missions are excellent and a lot of fun while hunting is not as cool as it sounds (especially since it's inconsequential to the main game). What has largely been untouched still works very well but what has been changed has been changed for the worst rather than for the better. In the end, I'm very glad I got to experience this series for it is a memorable one and being someone who loves history, it was definitely a breath of fresh air.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Assassin's Creed III for the Wii U..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:59:22 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-iii/user-reviews/806905/platform/wii-u/ Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:33:25 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/rhythm-thief-and-the-emperors-treasure/user-reviews/806605/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure is a great example of the talent that still remains with SEGA. It's a rhythm take on the Professor Layton formula and does it in a way that feels very SEGA. The result is a fresh and stylish game that could've only come from SEGA.

Story: 9/10

You play as Raphael during the day and Phantom R at night. An interesting thief that steals artwork but returns it the following day. Through his series of thefts, he uncovers a secret within Paris that could threaten the world and it's up to Phantom R to thwart the evil and unravel the mysteries behind it.

Obviously I want to avoid spoilers so the story sounds cliche but like with most game stories, it's more about the journey rather than the premise and this game has its fair share of twists and surprises. It takes a bit for the story to become interesting but when you do, you get hooked.

Visuals: 9/10

I know I've said it but Rhythm Thief is a very stylish game filled with personality unique to SEGA. Like Professor Layton, there are amazing looking animated cutscenes and the cell shaded in game visuals are also very charming. The game has a lot of flash and is just a joy to watch.

Sound: 10/10

It's a rhythm game and a genre that SEGA is no foreigner to, the game's soundtrack is very catchy and upbeat while suitable to the game's overall tone and mood. Several tracks will stick with you or pretty much force you to replay just to listen to the song again. The voice acting is also very well done, adding to the personality of each character.

Gameplay: 9/10

Rhythm Thief borrows some gameplay elements from Professor Layton, with a map on the top screen and a picture of the area on the bottom screen, unlike Professor Layton, navigation through the map is done using the D-pad. You can search around each area for hidden items, mainly coins used to purchase items (games you missed, items for rhythm games or the cutscenes), music tracks, and phantom notes (which you will find are a pain to get but are required to unlock one of the side stories). However the way this is executed is done with less finesse than Professor Layton, whereas Layton hint coins are typically in actual places, Rhythm Thief's items are scattered around the area from the railings, clouds, lights, pretty much forcing you to tap randomly around the area in order to obtain all of the items in the area.

The rhythm games are varied and you'll rarely revisit the same type of game until later in the game (in which I recommend you practice because when the game revisits a specific game, the difficulty is amped up). Rhythm Thief makes great use of 3DS's capabilities, mainly the touch screen but you'll be using the gyroscope every now and then and the face buttons and D-pad. The game starts off easy and remains easy for the first half of the game, although due to the varied nature of the game, some games will naturally be more difficult than others, like I said earlier, I do recommend practicing certain minigames that you struggle with because in the 2nd half of the game, the difficulty spikes and you'll find yourself being smashed with very fast beats and complex combinations. Each game is divided into 3 "stages" of course each getting more difficult with each stage.

While the overall game is very fun, the most infuriating thing about the game is the scoring/grading system, which drops your grade by 1.5 letters (typically) whenever you miss a note. This is fine if you botch the first stage and do well to the next two stages but since the stages naturally get harder, you're more likely to ace the first two stages and botch the third. Even if you score a perfect on every single note but miss the last, you'll be given a C instead of an A, which can be extremely frustrating for anyone who likes getting a high score.

One thing I especially loved was how Rhythm Thief presented you with rhythm games based on their previous music games (if you know SEGA well, you should know what to expect but if you don't, well I won't ruin the surprise).


Value: 8/10

It's a good value, although it took me only 7 hours to beat the story, there are side stories that you can unlock through finding all of the Phantom Notes (the random nature of their appearance makes it difficult to find every single one), completing the Ultimate Instrument (I encountered a glitch that prevented me from getting a sound necessary in completing the instrument so I hope it doesn't happen to any of you) and getting an A on every rhythm game (I wish thee luck). Also one major advantage this game has over Professor Layton is the replayability, puzzles typically are no longer fun to redo once you solve it, but Rhythm Thief's rhythm games are fun to replay and since you are encouraged to get A's in every game to unlock everything it'll only add more value to the game.

Overall: 9/10

Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure is an excellent new IP from SEGA, it gives us hope that the talent that we remember from SEGA back during the Dreamcast days is still present. The game is full of style, personality and great music. The game did end on a cliffhanger so I really do hope SEGA makes a sequel because it can evolve into a really great IP for the 3DS.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure for the 3DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:33:25 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/rhythm-thief-and-the-emperors-treasure/user-reviews/806605/platform/3ds/ Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:48:18 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/lost-odyssey/user-reviews/806354/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

The Lost Odyssey may not push boundaries within the JRPG genre, but what it lacks in new ideas it does an amazing job in refining the elements of a JRPG.

Story: 10/10

You play a Kaim, an immortal who lost his memory and is currently acting as a mercenary. In attempts to reclaim him lost memory, he soon discovers his true purpose.

While the premise is indeed cliche, the journey itself is a very moving one that'll easily suck you in. One thing I absolutely loved about this game was the inclusion of "dreams." As you progress through the game, you'll come across little side events (like a simple conversation between two people) that'll trigger a memory within Kaim. These memories are strictly text based but are delivered in a stunning manner and although I wasn't able to find every memory, of the 30 something memories I found, EVERY single one was well written and very interesting, that alone is reason enough to seek out these memories.

Visuals: 9/10

Before this game, I had been playing many western RPGs up to this point (over a year ago) and Lost Odyssey quickly reminded me of one reason why I love JRPGs, the visuals in this game are stunning and breathtaking. My favorite city to visit was Numara, a vibrant bustling island nation. Character models were well animated and each character has their own personality that sets them apart.

My ONLY gripe with the visuals are the character models. Half of the characters look fine but Kaim himself looks extremely bland. Also the siblings who join your party, one being a boy is dressed like a girl, something that irritated the hell out of me especially since he wasn't girly nor did he fight like one.

Sound: 10/10

Music is almost always a no brainer when it comes to JRPGs, perfectly accompanying the amazing visuals.

Voice is acting is well done, another thing that MistWalker Studios seems to have down. While Kaim is bland looking, his voice actor does a marvelous job of portraying the tortured soul that Kaim is.

Gameplay: 9/10

Lost Odyssey uses a turn based battle system with a unique twist. When rings are equipped, these can be activated when performing a normal attack. While attacking, you have to press A at the right moment (indicated by a marker on the enemy) to activate the ring. Rings have a numerous amount of uses, from strengthening attacks, adding elemental attributes, stealing, status effects and play a huge role in battles so it's imperative that you take the time to make use of the ring system. Unlike most JRPGs, you actually fight with 5 people in a party, instead of the usual 3 or 4.

Another very interesting and unique feature to the formula is how Kaim and the other immortals learn abilities. Immortals cannot learn their own abilities, they instead need to be linked to mortals and learn their abilities. Each mortal that joins your party has a specific set of skills that are vital for your immortals to learn. Of your mortals, you have a black mage, white mage, spirit user (spirit magic is non elemental magic along with buffs), warrior skills, and the last immortal that joins you has "special skills" that you'll immediately want to make use of. This setup is pretty awesome and encourages you to use every character in your party. Of course, this puts a heavy emphasis on the immortals especially later in the game when your immortals have basically learned all of the skills they need, making the mortals more of a burden rather than an asset. Be prepared because while the battle system is rather traditional, the game is rather difficult and you will lose easily if you don't prepare your party accordingly.

I love the fact that this game allows you to run REALLY fast, which makes traversing the huge environments less of a pain. The dungeons in the game do present you with puzzles that you must solve. Also there are items pretty much scattered everywhere and not in just your traditional chests. Any part of the environment that you can interact with (like trash cans), you can find an item.

The main thing I didn't care for is the tired random encounters, something that I'm glad is no longer practiced in JRPGs.

Value: 10/10

This game is freaking long, of the 3 Mistwalker games I've played, I've spent more time on this game than the other two combined (Blue Dragon - 50 hours, The Last Story - 30 hours) which was nearly 90 hours. Of course when the game is done, there isn't much else to do outside of collecting everything, but a game that should run the average gamer around 70 hours, this game is easily worth it.

Overall: 9.5/10

Lost Odyssey is easily one of my favorite RPGs this generation and one of the best stories I've experienced in a long time. The tale of Kaim and his fellow immortals and deep and touching, the memories of his that you uncover are all masterfully written. The combat system, while very traditional, has some unique touches and can get very challenging. The environments are huge and stunning and the overall game is just an absolute joy to play.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:48:18 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/lost-odyssey/user-reviews/806354/platform/xbox360/ Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:45:17 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Nano Assault Neo for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/nano-assault-neo/user-reviews/806156/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Nano Assault Neo is a visually stunning twin stick shooter from Shin'en. While it's fairly lacking in content, its arcade style gameplay ensures that you'll constantly want to come back repeatedly to best either your own high score or those in the MiiVerse community.

Story:

While there's no story told, you are a nano sized fighter ship that's sent to multiple cell clusters to purify them. A pretty unique setting considering games like these usually take place in space.

Visuals: 10/10

The first thing you'll notice about Nano Assault Neo is how amazing the game looks. The environments are highly detailed, along with the enemies you fight. Visual effects look sharp and the each cell looks very unique to each other. This game easily shows off the hardware capabilities of the Wii U.

Sound: 9/10

Along with the visuals, the soundtrack has a sort of electro vibe to it that suits the gameplay perfectly, although not highly memorable, it adds to the intensity of the game.

Gameplay: 9/10

Nano Assault Neo is a twin stick shooter. The left analog controls the ship while the right is used to aim and fire your shots. You can gain up to 4 satellites to increase fire power while also obtain special limited weapons (homing laser, bomb, and electric shock barrier). You start off with 2 lives but can purchase more inbetween each cell with credits that you gather. After you've defeated 90% of the enemies, the exit will open up, giving you 30 seconds to escape and if you so dare, destroy the remaining 10% for a 100% clear bonus (since it is an arcade style game). If you manage to collect the 5 "BONUS" letters, you'll be transported to a bonus stage in which you can collect more credits (tip: buy an attractor before accessing the bonus stage), the longer you survive the bonus stage, the faster it gets so make the most of it.

The game starts off fairly easy, although by the 3rd cluster, the game kicks up the difficulty by a great deal. Before you could just move around and blast everything and clear the stage pretty easily, by the 3rd cluster, you're forced to move carefully and strategize. While the clusters themselves get very challenging, all 4 bosses are pushovers, especially the last one (I took absolutely no damage from the final boss on my first try).

Value: 8/10

It's ultimately what you make of it, but with only 4 clusters, missions that if you want to complete, will keep you replaying the clusters and a survival mode that gets unlocked after, Nano Assault Neo is a pretty good value considering it's $10, this is only if you like arcade style games though.

Overall: 8.5/10

Nano Assault Neo is a stunning looking and very challenging twin stick shooter and a great entry in the Nintendo Wii U's eShop, I highly recommend it for anyone who loves arcade style games as well as intense shoot em up games.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Nano Assault Neo for the Wii U..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:45:17 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/nano-assault-neo/user-reviews/806156/platform/wii-u/ Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:11:34 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Little Inferno for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/little-inferno/user-reviews/805902/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Little Inferno is an Indie title for the Wii U eShop and is quite of a mixed bag. It's a game that I personally enjoyed very much but can't really recommend to others due to nature of the game.

Story: 9/10

It's been snowing for a seemingly endless amount of time, each day growing colder and colder, in the shelter of your own house, there's only one way to fight the cold and it's with your very own Little Inferno! A fireplace made to burn anything and everything you possess so you can bask in the warmth of the fire.

By first glace, it'd be ridiculous to think that a game in which you burn things would even have a story, but this game does and as you burn more and more objects, you interact with others through messages sent to you, these messages update you on the condition of the outside world and if it wasn't for the story, I probably wouldn't have finished the game yet as the story drove me to continue burning through things.

Visuals: 8/10

For the most part, you're staring at your Little Inferno, it's a curious looking device though. The fire animation looks amazing and everything burns the way they're supposed to. Nearly every item has a unique way of "burning" which further adds to the curiosity of the game.

The visuals are very charming and is definitely the style of the developers, especially if you've played World of Goo.

Sound: 10/10

The sound in this game is fantastic, from the retro style music of the catalogs, to the superb sound effects of each item and the fire, it adds a whole level of atmosphere to the game.

Gameplay: 8/10

Basically you have a fireplace, you place objects in it and set it on fire. Every item does cost money and in order to earn money, every item (or little spiders you see crawling about) that you burn (this includes letters you receive) drops money when you burn it. Occasionally you'll get stamps from burning items, especially letters. When you order an item, it takes a set amount of time for it to arrive, obviously early items will arrive as soon as 5 seconds after you order it but later or more expensive items will take longer, the most expensive item takes around 5 minutes to arrive. In order to speed things up, you can spend your stamps for priority delivery, every 30 seconds costs 1 stamp.

The best way to earn stamps is to create combos. On the upper right corner, you'll see a tab, it's filled with up to 99 combos. You have to burn specific items together to achieve these combos. Some are painfully obvious like the first one "Bike Pirate" but others do require a good amount of thinking and reading up on the descriptions of your items.

One thing I especially loved and really appreciated was how the game did little shoutouts to other classic or famous titles (all of which should be obvious to you when you play).

Value: 6/10

The story is short, it took me a little over 3 hours to beat the game and there really isn't much to do after you discover all 99 combos. I'm pretty sure I will go back and redo every thing again to see how well I can remember all 99 combos but yeah, it's really short and depends on how much of a pyro you are :D

Overall: 8.5/10

Despite its length and odd appeal, Little Inferno is still a very interesting and memorable experience, it was on sale for the past 2 weeks so hopefully if you were interested, you bought already but if not, try waiting for another sale because $15 is pretty steep for this game. I personally really enjoyed it for its puzzle elements and the story. If you're a pyro though, you should definitely play this game.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Little Inferno for the Wii U..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:11:34 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/little-inferno/user-reviews/805902/platform/wii-u/ Thu, 03 Jan 2013 23:46:27 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/professor-layton-and-the-curious-village/user-reviews/805742/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the first entry in the Professor Layton series for the DS, takes place in contemporary London and is a puzzle based mystery game that pretty much slams with a great deal of puzzles in order to unravel the mystery ahead of you.

Story: 9/10

Even though puzzles are the main focus of the game, I found the story to be extremely interesting. It takes place in the village of St. Mystere, where Layton and Luke are invited by the late Baron of the Reinhold family to figure out the secret behind his last will and testament, in which he stated that anyone who found the Golden Apple hidden within the town would be entitled to his entire fortune. Although upon entering the village, they soon realize the St. Mystere is no ordinary village, which you will figure out as you progress through the game. While things may seem confusing at first, everything is cleared up at the end and when all the answers have been revealed, it just makes you think "Wow."

Visuals: 9/10

Professor Layton is uniquely great looking, having it's own distinct anime style along with some beautifully animated cut scenes. While the St. Mystere looks rather barren and dull looking, it's rather expected and fits the atmosphere of the game. The residents of the village all of their own quirks and unique personalities, nearly all you will find memorable.

Sound: 8.5/10

Voice acting is spot on, all of the major characters have voice actors and each of them do a great job. The music is fitting although some tracks are overused, especially the one used for the puzzle so it can get tiring listening to the same track over 100 times.

Gameplay: 8.5/10

Professor Layton is first and foremost a puzzle game, the game features around 120 puzzles, although you will only need to solve around 80 to beat the game, but you will need to solve all the puzzles in order to gain every item as you are also tasked with putting back together a torn up painting, putting together "gizmos" to build an something and gathering furniture and decorations for your rooms at the local inn.

The puzzles themselves, well, it really depends on the individual playing. I found some puzzles that were supposed to be easy difficult and some difficult ones to be easy. The difficulty of each puzzle is gauged by how much "Picarats" (the scoring system) it's worth, 10 being the easiest and the highest I saw was 80. There's a wide variety of puzzles, most will challenge you to think outside of the box and look at things from a different perspective. Rarely will the first answer that will pop in your head be the correct one. Several puzzles are worded in such a way that will throw off your though process if you do not read it carefully.

If you are stuck, the game does provide you with up to 3 hints, the first hint aims to point you in the right direction, the second trying to make give you a good idea what to look for or think about and the third either spelling it out for you or flat out giving you the answer. In order to use these hints, you will need hint coins which can be found throughout the village. However, there are a finite amount of hint coins so if you run out and stumble across a very difficult puzzle (especially a mandatory one) you're screwed until you can figure out, someone else can figure it out, or you be a cheater and look online, haha.

Aside from solving puzzles, progression in the game is done in a point and click fashion. Aside from gathering hint coins, the game does encourage you to explore each area and tap random objects as certain items will initiate a puzzle. The game does get a bit ridiculous in how it delivers these puzzles as it could be something like "Oh look a candle, this reminds me of a puzzle."

Value: 7/10

While there are around 120 puzzles to solve, the initial story line is not that long, it took me about 12 hours to beat the game as there are only 9 chapters and afterwards, there really isn't much incentive to go back since the problem with logical puzzle games is that once you figure it out, there's really no reason to go back and try again unless it's a puzzle based on a set amount of moves. 12 hours is pretty lengthy for a handheld game, but it'd be nice of a game to last you more than a week at least.

Overall: 8.5/10

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a great start to the series and makes me want to experience the other 4 games currently out for it (I originally wanted to get Miracle Mask but decided to start from the beginning). The puzzles are well thought out and the story is extremely interesting. I look forward to getting and playing the rest of the games.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Thu, 03 Jan 2013 23:46:27 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/professor-layton-and-the-curious-village/user-reviews/805742/platform/ds/ Sun, 30 Dec 2012 23:09:48 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Little King's Story for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/little-kings-story/user-reviews/805508/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

The Little King Story stands as one of my all time favorite Wii games, it covers a genre rarely touched on consoles (only rivaled by Pikmin) that takes you on a journey that reminds us what it's like to be a child and have great imaginations without ever feeling like we're being treated like children, which is quite a feat looking at the art style and setting of the game.

Story: 9/10

You play as King Corobo, a little boy who stumbles upon the Kingdom of Alpoko, you soon find out from your Advisor, Howser, that you are the true king of the land and must use your power to expand your kingdom and eventually conquer the world.

The story itself is nothing ground breaking, although you eventually learn of the pretty unique setting that you're in, along with the charm of each kingdom that you visit. Every major character is brimming with personality and some of the kings you encounter hit you with some pretty deep and/or intellectual dialogue, which is why this game is clearly not meant for children.

Again, the whole setting and journey of the game reminds us of the limitless wonders a child's imagination can behold and delivers it in a manner directed towards the mature and developed mind, something rarely seen in games today. I will say that the ending itself is not that great, closes the story well but nothing memorable compared to the rest of the game.

Visuals: 9.5/10

Even though it's technically not the most ground breaking Wii title in the graphics department, the art style of this game is very pleasing to the eye and makes excellent use of the Wii's hardware limitations. Really, aside from maybe the character models themselves, this game probably wouldn't look much better on an HD console, because Marvelous has done such a brilliant job crafting a colorful, bright and vibrant world that you would enjoy exploring from start to finish.

Each kingdom has its own unique identity and so do the king's, ensuring that you won't forget any of them, same thing with each major character.

Sound: 9/10

The music is very charming, although not highly memorable, there are some classic tracks remixed for the game. Each track matches each area perfectly and really adds to the mood of each field and kingdom.

As for the voice acting, something I found very special about it was that listening to it at first, it just sounds like a bunch of random gibberish, but I soon discovered that pretty much every character speaks in a different language, although I haven't been able to identify each language spoken, I'm pretty sure characters like Ray speak Spanish, The Jolly King speaks Japanese, and I believe Howser speaks German. Even though it's nothing huge, I still found it something special that further adds to the overall charm of the game.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

The Little King's Story is an RTS game, similar to Pikmin where you control a certain amount of "units" with different classes, all having their own unique capabilities. It's your job to build an army, assign roles to your units (after the Grunt Warrior and Farmer, every other job costs money to train), gather resources (every item you pick up, except equips, is converted into money "Bol"), expand your kingdom and conquer other kingdoms.

There are a wide variety of classes, you start off with "Carefree Adults" which are basically bums who can sort of dig holes and gather items laying around, every new citizen gained starts off as a Carefree adult, from there you can train them (in order of obtainment) to become a farmer (excellent at digging holes and are the only ones that can uncover hot springs), Grunt Warriors (primary attackers), Hunters (long range archers, can take down incoming projectiles), Carpenters (builds bridges and stairs), Lumberjacks (destroys giant tree trunks and can easily break down wood), and I'll let you uncover the rest. It is VERY wise to always bring at least one of each class with you, usually two farmers and carpenters would be good as you will find holes or bridges/stairs that would take a long time to complete. Also take note that the 2nd batch of kings you fight unlock unique citizens that you will need to access certain areas or destroy specific obstacles.

Your success against each king depends on what units you bring to battle, and just to make the final battle for you easier (trust me you'll know when you've reached the final battle), the only non offense type unit you'll need is a farmer (bring 2 just in case one dies), besides that you should bring your best offensive units.

This game is by no means a pushover, if you want to ensure that everyone in your Royal Guard survives, you need to learn the attack patterns of the monsters/enemies and attack or call back your units accordingly. While you can train your citizens to have more health, King Corobo will forever only have 3 units of health and if you die, you start back from your last save point, unless you're in a boss battle. This is a strategic game that punishes you for making bad decisions so always make sure you save before a major battle and plan accordingly.

On a side note, a good way to earn money, especially later on when you've completed your kingdom, is by collecting taxes from your citizens, you can send in every single one of your royal guard but they can only collect once a day. Most houses only give 1,000-2,000 Bol but when you've unlocked the wealthy districts, those houses tend to give up to 10,000-24,000 and when you have a royal guard of up to 30 units, it becomes very easy to amass a great deal of money, although it is rather time consuming to do this.

The controls work great for the most part, the game does not make use of the Wii's pointer capabilities and instead relies on whichever direction the king is currently facing to aim. This works well for the most part but sometimes it's hard to point at the right target when there are multiple targets surrounding it.

Value: 9/10

The game took me about 24 hours to beat, although how much you want out of the game depends on you. The game has an endless supply of side quests, although they mostly amount to just killing certain monters in specific areas after you've unlocked everything. There are a wealth of collectibles to uncover, from the 100 fanart scattered around the world (collecting them rewards you with very useful equips), and of the major sidequests each of the princesses tasks you with. For me personally, because I loved playing this game so much, after I got my butt handed to me by the final boss, instead of going back to fight him again, I decided to replay the entire game over (something I've never done before).

Overall: 9.5/10

The Little King's Story is a fantastic experience from start to finish, it takes you on a very charming journey in the perspective of a child. With several mature themes and intellectual dialogue, along with the challenging gameplay, this is clearly not meant for children. If you enjoy strategy games, this is clearly one to try out and never got the attention it deserved.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Little King's Story for the Wii..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Sun, 30 Dec 2012 23:09:48 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/little-kings-story/user-reviews/805508/platform/wii/ Mon, 24 Dec 2012 02:24:42 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Vanquish for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/vanquish/user-reviews/805109/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Vanquish is Platinum's first third person shooter entry for the 360/PS3 and it's one of the most unique and flat out fun third person shooters I've ever played. Unfortunately the game can be finished over the weekend and there really isn't much else to do after you've beaten the game, especially since there is no online multiplayer (although I would prefer a longer single player rather than online multiplayer).

Story: 7.5/10

You play as Sam Gideon, the almost random person you never really get to know who's using Augmented Reaction Suit, a pretty kickass suit that allows you blaze around the battlefield and swatting down enemies in slow motion and swap out weapons with ease.

San Francisco has just been obliterated by the Russians and you're sent in to destroy the Microwave powered weapon used to destroy the city. The story is fairly interesting but you do kind of feel like you're rushed through it without much explanation, and the way the game ends pretty much calls for a sequel, which would've been fine if a sequel were actually made.

Visuals: 10/10

Vanquish is an amazing looking game, especially for its genre, which is usually filled with brown and dark/gloomy looking games. Vanquish is bright, scenic and simply a treat for your eyes while you travel through the space colony. The game performs well and I didn't experience a single framerate drop, which is pretty awesome considering how crazy and intense the battles can get.

Sound: 8/10

Voice acting is well done, though it's no master piece in dialog, the actors do their job well and no one is bothersome in this department. Music is well done but also nothing memorable, immediately after beating the game I couldn't remember a single track from the whole game.

Gameplay: 10/10

If Platinum knows how to do anything right, it's the gameplay. Vanquish gives you the abilities to move at very high speeds along with allowing you to slow down time (usually occurs when you've taken too much damage). However, if you abuse your boost ability too much, your suit will overheat and during this instance is when you're most vulnerable. When time slows, after it ends, your suit will again overheat. Aside from using guns, you can use melee attacks although I tried as much as possible not to use melee attacks as they also overheat your suit.

You have a pretty wide variety of guns to choose from of which you can equip up to 3 guns at a time along with 2 sets of grenades (one for blowing things up and the other for stunning robots). From your standard machine gun, heavy machine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle and rocket launcher, you also have some unique weapons like a disc shooter (homing device that slices through enemies, VERY useful in the final battle), lock on laser gun, and EMI gun (sends a large but slow and short ranged electric pulse that deals heavy damage to robots). You can upgrade your guns by simply picking up the same gun when your ammo is full (3 times before it upgrades) or by picking up green upgrade boosts that some enemies drop. Your upgrades remain even if you switch to a different weapon so if say you maxed out the shotgun but decided to switch the disc shooter, when you go back to the shotgun later on, it'll still be the same rank.

The game is pretty challenging, while strategy is necessary, above all else, you need quick reaction time and great aim since many bosses will require you to blaze around them while shooting at their weak points. In the beginning, your boost ability will be mostly useful for dodging but later on you'll need to use it while firing at the bosses (especially the final boss). There are a good deal of quick time events which I found either annoying or relieving (annoying when I wasn't expecting it, relieving when I found that it meant that I won the battle).

Value: 6/10

The game is short, I beat it over the weekend and all you have left are 5 missions and challenges, both of which could probably be beaten within one or two sittings. Although considering that in the game they said they only have 8 hours to destroy the weapon, it's realistic within the storyline of the game but still, 7-8 hours for a retail game (for me) is just way too short and doesn't encourage people to spend $60 on a game that will only last them for a couple of days.

Overall: 8.5/10

I didn't pay $60 so I can't feel too bothered by it but it's hard to recommend this game as a full fledged purchase, rather something you should rent or buy pre-owned and return it after beating it. It's a hell of a lot of fun and one of the most intense and crazy shooters I've ever played.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Vanquish for the Xbox 360..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 02:24:42 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/vanquish/user-reviews/805109/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 22 Dec 2012 01:58:57 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Bayonetta for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/bayonetta/user-reviews/805045/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Bayonetta is an outstanding game, full of personality, crude humor, and insanely fun battles, somewhat a spiritual successor to Devil May Cry, it shows off what the talented minds at Platinum Games is capable of.

Story: 8.5/10

You play as Bayonetta, an Umbra Witch who has lost her memory. and on her quest to find out her purpose, frequently encounters the Umbra Witches' enemy, the Lumen Sages.

The story is quite interesting but the presentation of it leaves much to be desired. Instead of fully fleshed out cut scenes, we have slightly animated film strips. Props to Platinum for trying something different in the presentation department but it's not really an effective way to deliver a story.

Visuals: 9.5/10

The game looks absolutely amazing, Bayonetta herself is a very interesting character to behold and so are many of the cast of characters. The animations are fluid, the action is smooth (although frame rate drops a bit when the action gets a bit crazy), monsters look awesome and Bayonetta's torture attacks are insane. The environments can sometimes look a bit bare but the setting itself looks great and compliments the overall mood of the game.

Sound: 10/10

I love the music of this game, especially the cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" (something my mom was surprised to hear when I was playing this game). It's unique to a game of this genre yet very fitting and gives the game more personality and attitude. The voice work is also very well done, I do enjoy listening to Bayonetta speak in her exquisite English accent.

Gameplay: 10/10

Bayonetta's gameplay is what truly shines, even if you don't care for the story or the visuals/sound, the gameplay truly makes this game worth playing. Basically the game is a hack n slash action game, you can get by simply by mashing buttons, but that's no fun nor will you get a good ranking if that's how you play. Bayonetta is equipped with 4 pistols initially, two for her hands and two attached to her shoes (her "high heels" pretty much). You do have unlimited ammo BUT gun fire is very weak compared to melee attacks. Later on you can equip Bayonetta with different weapons aside from guns (I preferred having her use a sword with guns on her feet).

She already starts off with a wide array of devastating combos but in order to obtain the best ranking (Platinum), you will want to make use and master Bayonetta's two main abilities, her time slowing ability which is activated when you dodge an enemy's attack last second (the game will slow the game down a bit giving you the chance so it's your fault if you get hit) and the second is her torture attacks, which are automatically kills and a always fun to watch since it's her hair that she uses to perform these attacks.

There is some light platforming and puzzle solving, but those are just inbetween battles. There are sequences in which Bayonetta's secret ability is used, which is the ability the move anywhere on any surface, defying gravity. It's only activated when there's a full moon. This mainly occurs during escape or boss sequences and not really something that will occur normally.

Value: 8/10

The game will run you around 10 hours, which is pretty standard for most action games nowadays but I still feel like that's too short for a full retail game. Granted there are a crap ton of weapons to unlock and a scoring system that does encourage you to go back and beat your high score but those don't entice me personally, though I know completionists will love it.

Overall: 9/10

Despite its length, Bayonetta is a stellar action game that is just a lot of fun to play. The story is pretty interesting, the music is awesome and the attitude of the game is something that'll stick with you long after playing. It's full of personality and good hilarious fun.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Bayonetta for the Xbox 360..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 01:58:57 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bayonetta/user-reviews/805045/platform/xbox360/ Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:30:52 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-and-all-stars-racing-transformed/user-reviews/804938/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Do not be turned off by the GameSpot score of this, if you read the review, it clearly states that the Wii U version is the superior version provided that the bugs in the game are fixed, which Sumo Digital have since done, making it an amazing kart racing game that takes some serious skill to master.

Visuals: 9.5/10

Something SEGA always does well are the visuals, the game looks beautiful and it's awesome seeing so many memorable SEGA games/characters in full HD. The animations for the cars look great and reminiscent of Transformers and the tracks themselves are a sight to behold. Each character has a unique car and several of them have cool animations when transforming. The game holds up at a very smooth framerate, although I have encountered a couple of glitches but it rarely happens.

Sound: 10/10

Hearing those classic SEGA tracks remixed gave me shivers the first time I heard them. Each racing track is accompanied by a soundtrack that almost always perfectly matches the atmosphere of the stage. Hearing voices for characters like Vyse is pretty sweet also.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

Before, most kart racers would always be compared to MarioKart, as Nintendo not only created the genre, but has upheld a high standard for the genre ever since and Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed meets those standards and surpasses some of them greatly. For one, this is not your typical kart racer that everyone can easily pick up and enjoy, this game is very challenging to master and goes at a much faster pace than MarioKart. Of the 3, the airplane is easily the hardest to master but if you can master handling the plane, it'll easily put you at an advantage over many others. The boat is the hardest to handle as you can easily be steered off course and have a hard time recovering, but it also presents the most opportunities to do stunts to gain boosts.

Stunts in the game work similarly to MarioKart and work exactly the same way they did in the Sega All Stars Racing. Basically you do a stunt in order to gain a boost, but unlike MarioKart where you do a stunt and you automatically get a speed boost, All Stars Racing requires you to land that stunt in order for you to gain a boost, if you land before finishing a stunt, you get slowed down. The more stunts you're able to execute before landing, the better your boost. With drifting, the longer you drift, the better your boost, if you can get it to level 3, it'll basically be the same as using a boost item. Unlike the previous entry and MarioKart, you can actually carry over your drift boost to another turn provided you press the drift button almost immediately after switching directions. While stunts in cars and boats give you boosts, stunts in the airplane only give you boosts if you use it to avoid an obstacle (called risk boost), "rolling/flipping" in the airplane is easily the most important element to master as it can allow you to make sharper turns, build up your drift boost and allow you to maneuver through the course with ease, which is why the airplane is the hardest vehicle to master as flipping/rolling pretty much has to become second nature to you while racing. The items are also pretty balanced and require a skill to use, it's not like MarioKart where you can just let a red shell go and it'll easily hit the person in front of you, and if you are a skilled player, you can dodge most items. However, due to the balanced nature of the items, if you can gain a good lead on the rest of the racers, it'll be nearly impossible for them to catch up as there aren't any items meant to specifically slow down first place (except one called Swarm but it's something you can avoid unless it catches you in a narrow path).

A great addition to the game is the World Tour, something I HIGHLY recommend you doing before taking on the Grand Prix option as the World Tour will easily hone your driving skills with a set of races and challenges that will teach you how to effectively race and use items. It's also where you unlock all the characters. Every time you use a character, they gain experience and level up, with each level they gain a new mod for their car, changing some of its stats. The main difference with most of the characters is their All Star ability, say you like Tails's All Star ability (one of the best) but you prefer to use a car with a great top speed and boost ability, use Tails enough and you'll be able to select a mod that improves his top speed and boost but at the expense of his acceleration and/or handling. Having this does encourage you to use all the characters instead of the previous game where each character only had on given set of stats.

The game can get rather frustrating at times, for example, in some challenge races, the computers will drive much faster than you naturally, which makes these races unfair since the moment they pass you, it's hard for you to catch up, especially since most offensive items don't do a good job of slowing down an opponent who's far ahead. Also some of the tracks have some rather irritating design choices, like the Burning Rangers track which puts a few flat walls or hooks close to narrow paths which can stop you dead in your tracks and require you to turn 90 degrees in order to get back on track, which obviously can make you drop several places.

The variety of characters is pretty nice although I wouldn't have minded sacrificing say Knuckles, Shadow (even though I like using him), Amy, MeeMee and Reala (their presence seems unnecessary since they look very similar to AiAi and Nights) in order to have characters like Ryo (Shenmue), Opa Opa (Fantasy Zone), Billy Hatcher, the ChuChu's and a Virtua Fighter character to add more variety to show off SEGA's rich history. Although characters like Danica Patrick and Wreck it Ralph are pretty interesting additions.

The offline experience alone is still enough to justify the $39.99 price tag, especially since multiplayer allows up to 5 players, however, there is online multiplayer and while it's still a bit hard to find random matches, from what I've played so far, the online works extremely well and I didn't encounter any lag or slow downs during my races.

Value: 10/10

With the huge World Tour mode, Grand Prix, offline and online mutiplayer, Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed offers a great deal of options that can take up lots of your time. The World Tour alone will take you many hours to beat, especially if you're aiming to earn every single star (because many of those challenges can be torture to beat).

Overall 9.5/10

Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed is a great step forward not only for the series, but also for the genre, Sumo Digital made a statement that Nintendo should make the next MarioKart is a crossover game instead of pulling characters only from the Mario franchise, which I very much agree with. Don't look at MarioKart 7 and think that this game is a shameless rip off of that, if anything, it provides the best elements of Diddy Kong Racing and MarioKart 7 and turns it into one hell of a racer. While it maintains all the chaos and craziness standard to a kart racing game, it also provides a great challenge that will take even the most seasoned gamers a while to master. For me, this game is the new standard for kart racers and I hope Nintendo and the others take notice of this game and use it to take the kart racing genre further.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the Wii U..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:30:52 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-and-all-stars-racing-transformed/user-reviews/804938/platform/wii-u/ Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:18:22 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/mario-kart-7/user-reviews/804936/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Like many of Nintendo's biggest franchises, MarioKart is one that only appears once on each of their platforms, and for good reason, the staying power each entry presents removes any need for another entry until a new console arrives and MarioKart 7 proves to be another great MarioKart entry, although a couple of omissions are indeed disappointing.

Visuals: 8.5/10

It's nothing ground breaking, but still very pleasing to look at, although considering that the 3DS is more powerful than the Wii, I would've like to see the visuals look at least better than MarioKart Wii. The stages are well designed and the 3D effect works okay but due to the nature of the game, I wouldn't recommend it as it can distract you from the race if the 3D effect starts to get messed up.

Sound: 9/10

Typical MarioKart fare, which is very much a good thing, the music is upbeat and adds to the overall enjoyment of the game.

Gameplay: 9/10

MarioKart 7 introduces a glider and propeller as part of your karts, which allows for more variety when racing, in the retro tracks, what used to be a place where you'd fall off the track into water is now part of the racing track thanks to the propeller. Both are very easy to use and if used wisely, can easily tip the race in your favor. The controls handle exactly the same way as MarioKart Wii, with drift boosts only being possible the longer (or sharper) you drift instead of the way MarioKart DS and Double Dash did it, making techniques like snaking more difficult. The game also utilizes motion controls, putting you in a first person perspective while using it and although I don't prefer it, it works extremely well and can still allow you to play very effectively with it.

The tracks are varied and introduces a few that are one huge track that you only race through once. Tricks are still present and the items are still very much the same as MarioKart Wii, except the Giant Mushroom has been removed and replaced with the Tanooki Tail (a good defensive item) along with the introduction of the Lucky 7 which spawns a Banana, a Green Shell, a Red Shell, a Mushroom, a Star, a Blooper, and a Bob-omb. (which I actually never cared for since other racers can simply steal the star away from you or activate the bob-omb before you can use it). Oh and the Blue Shell now hits all racers in front of you provided they're in its line of flight, a very welcome addition.

Online play works very well also, with hardly any lag and a system that finds other racers easily.

The biggest disappointment is the lack of a challenge mode that MarioKart DS had, and for me personally, anything that adds to the overall value of the game in a meaningful way is always welcomed, and since challenge modes usually do serve to improve your overall driving skills, not having it is certainly a missed opportunity, especially with the introduction of the glider and propeller which would've made for some interesting challenges.

The characters are also a bit of a let down, while MarioKart Wii had a pretty nice line up of characters, this one seems bit more stripped down, with (in my opinion) the only interesting addition being Lakitu.

Value: 9.5/10

Regardless of the omission of the challenges, the game itself is still very addicting, I spent over 20 hours simply trying to get myself to a triple star rank (which I was successful in doing), online play keeps you coming back for more (although I do recommend for less skilled players to do online when people in Japan are sleeping, haha).

Overall: 9/10

MarioKart 7 is still very much a worthy entry in the MarioKart franchise and I look forward to seeing what Nintendo has in store for the Wii U.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:18:22 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mario-kart-7/user-reviews/804936/platform/3ds/ Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:55:11 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Nintendo Land for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/nintendo-land/user-reviews/804210/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

For most Wii U owners, NintendoLand is probably the first game you've played right out the box. It's basically the Wii U's version to Wii Sports but more like a love letter to long time Nintendo fans along with serving as a gateway game to new gamers into Nintendo's rich history. I'm going rate each game along with the overall music, visuals, and value of the game.

Visuals: 10/10

The game looks spectacular, the lighting puts this amazing shine on the characters and environments, the park is vibrant and full of life, and the art direction reminds me highly of Kirby's Epic Yarn, not a bad thing at all since every attraction looks beautifully crafted and charming. Visually, my favorite games are Balloon Trip Breeze, Takamaru's Ninja Castle and Animal Crossing Sweet Day. The visuals on the GamePad are almost just as amazing as on screen, although you'll notice a bit of jaggies in games like Pikmin Adventure but overall the quality looks really nice.

Sound: 10/10

Very catchy and captures the spirit of a theme park very well. The remixed versions of classic tunes is very welcoming and adds a good sense of nostalgia to each attraction.

First off, the single player attractions:

Donkey Kong Crash Course: 9.5/10

One of my favorite attractions and probably the most addicting, Crash Course is perfectly challenging without feeling unfair. You play as a fragile two wheeled (thingy) and you must make it to the end without losing lives (which you lose by breaking). The fact that you can see the entire course provides a good visual goal for you to work towards. The controls are easy to learn and require precision and coordination. The only thing I didn't care for was blowing into the mic, in which you can just press "X" instead.

Yoshi's Fruit Cart: 9.5/10

Another pretty challenging one, this one requires some problem solving skills along with testing your ability to distance objects from each other since the fruits and obstacles on screen are not present on the GamePad. The goal is to draw out your Yoshi cart along a path that allows him to eat all the fruits on screen and make it to the exit, the exit does not open unless all fruits are consumed. For me, it wasn't as challenging as Crash Course but the puzzle solving elements were a joy to go through.

Balloon Trip Breeze: 9/10

To me, this is the most challenging one but visually one of the best games. You fly with two balloons and must make it to the other side without losing all your lives. You control your character by making swipes on the touch screen to blow wind, the longer your swipe, the more powerful the wind. You want to collect all the balloons on the way in order to achieve a high score. The game gets a bit cruelly challenging during the 2nd day, requiring a lot of precision and patience to not hit any obstacles. You can pop balloons, destroy red spikes and eliminate enemies by tapping on them on the screen along with personally popping them yourself.

Octopus Dance: 9/10

Remember Space Channel 5? Well that's what this game reminds me of. The underwater man (I refuse to use the other term) does a set of moves that you have to copy, sound simple enough, the thing is you control each arm individually, add in motion controlled movements and the game gets rather complicated. I'm excellent at rhythm games and I have yet to beat the first five rounds of this game. It's catchy and rather silly, but definitely lots of fun, especially when other Miis appear dancing like weirdos.

Takamaru's Ninja Castle: 9/10

Probably the most unique one of the bunch, this one has you holding the GamePad flat lengthwise towards the screen to shoot ninja stars at the enemy. The controls work very well although I noticed that my fingers don't slide smoothly across the screen, in which the stylus does, so I recommend using a stylus instead, makes gameplay much easier. The action can get crazy, requiring quick reflexes and good coordination to keep track of all the ninjas. Another minigame I've yet to beat.

Captain Falcon's Twister Race: 9/10

Based on F-Zero, this game uses motion controls the most, holding the GamePad vertically, the screen acts as a map (to quickly see what's up ahead) and you tilt the GamePad to steer. It works extremely well (later found out that the GamePad has better motion controls than even the WiiMotion Plus). The race itself is challenging, requiring precise movements as the courses can get cluttered with obstacles or even worse, bombs. You have to make it pass each course before time runs out. After every 4 courses, you reach a check point, in which the timer resets and the speed increases. After many times, I managed to beat this one.

Now for single, co-op, multiplayer games (will update soon)

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Nintendo Land for the Wii U..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:55:11 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/nintendo-land/user-reviews/804210/platform/wii-u/ Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:49:13 -0800 abHS4L88 reviewed Kirby's Epic Yarn for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/kirbys-epic-yarn/user-reviews/803978/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Kirby's Epic Yarn is the first Kirby game I ever purchased and is easily one of my favorite Nintendo titles and solidified Kirby as my favorite Nintendo character. Of all of Nintendo's mascots, Kirby is probably the one that Nintendo is willing to take the most risks with which is one reason why I love Kirby so much and Epic Yarn is another example of that, mashing together what easily could've been a new IP with the charming and cute universe of Kirby.

Story: 9/10

While Kirby games (like Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong) are never known for their story, Epic Yarn's story is "woven" together like a story book, with a child's storybook like narrative and charming events that's bound to please many kids and make adults playing it feel like a kid again. Basically the main antagonist, Yin-Yarn, captures Kirby and places him in Patch Land, a world entirely built out of arts & crafts supplies. Kirby teams up with Prince Fluff (a blue version of Kirby) to take down Yin Yarn.

Visuals: 10/10

Kirby's Epic Yarn is a shining example of art direction > graphics, winning I believe 1 or 2 "Best Graphics" awards in 2010 along with being nominated on nearly every other site. The worlds are perfectly detailed and beautifully crafted, easily making it one of the most appealing looking (if not the most appealing looking) Wii title ever. What more, the craft style doesn't only serve as a backdrop, but also as part of the gameplay, so seeing areas bunch up, unzips, or unweave make this stunning world all the more amazing. The animations are also done very well and convincingly.

Sound: 10/10

Along with the outstanding visuals, the music is also very charming and cutesy, fitting the Kirby world extremely well. There are some remixes of Kirby classics. The narration is also well done, while again, sounding like a children's story book, it's perfectly fitting for the game. Overall, the visuals and sound alone make this game worth playing through.

Gameplay: 9/10

Now I did say the visuals and music alone make this game worth playing, which is why the fact that the gameplay is a lot of fun simply rounds out this fantastic experience. At it's core, Epic Yarn is a tradition platformer. This time around, since Kirby is made out of yarn, he can no longer suck things in and absorb powers, now he can shape shift. When Kirby dashes, he turns into a car, instead of flying, he now floats as a parachute, and in the water he's a submarine. There are more but I'll let you see them for yourself.

The game is rather easy though, Kirby cannot die although he can take damage. While progressing through the stage, your job is to collect as many gems as possible, trying to achieve a gold medal (1500 gems), while also hunting down collectibles for your loft and collection. If you take damage, you drop half of your gems which can be reclaimed if you get hit on a level surface, but if you fall into a pit, you automatically lose half. There are side challenges which range from hide and seek, carrying an individual to a certain part of a stage, time trials, racing to collecting. They're interesting distractions and must be completed if you're seeking 100%.

The biggest addition to the gameplay are the transformations, which turn Kirby (permanently for the rest of the stage) into power vehicles, changing up the gameplay dramatically. The first transformation you encounter is a tank, allowing you to basically blast everything in your path. There are also others like a UFO, star ship (plays like a shoot em up), dolphin, surfer, and dirt race car. Each are really fun and always something to look forward to when playing through the stages.

Epic Yarn does support multiplayer which can make things more fun and easier or more challenging, depending on the partner. It is recommended since the game is a lot of fun and you can help each other out, you just have to be more careful since both are sharing the same gem count.

Value: 9/10

Epic Yarn is pretty much standard length for any Nintendo platformer, 8 worlds with about 7-8 stages for each (1 secret stage per world). It's a game that you'll definitely want to go back and replay completely (as I am doing right now).

Overall: 9.5/10

Epic Yarn really does live up to it's name, as it is truly one of the most epic games Kirby has been a part of, showcasing the importance of art direction and the variety that the Kirby franchise offers. The game is actually selling for really cheap right now so if you haven't had the pleasure of playing this game yet, you must absolutely add this game to your collection.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"abHS4L88 reviewed Kirby's Epic Yarn for the Wii..." was posted by abHS4L88 on Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:49:13 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/kirbys-epic-yarn/user-reviews/803978/platform/wii/