Game of Thrones: Episodes 1-4 | XO1/1/2016 People die. One fact anyone familiar with either the book or TV adaptations of Game of Thrones will already know. The real trick is, can a game trick you into caring about its characters as much as the fans of the show, in particular, know and love? Unfortunately despite all the games' steps forward it's still held back by poor quality control. It's difficult to go a playthrough of even a single episode without some loading issues, pregnant pauses between scenes or characters mouths not moving in conversation.
It seems fairly basic and obvious but when the game doesn't seem to be graphically challenging - the likes of the Witcher 3 prove that shiny visuals can be delivered on Xbox One - it's disappointing to notice these sorts of slip-ups, as it immediately draws you out of the story and reminds you that you are, in fact, playing a game. The story remains the highlight, as the tempo ramps up it's clear that this would even make one of the more effective arcs in the TV series. Hopefully the payoff at the end will not only feel satisfying, but the player will be able to feel like their choices have shaped this world, even in a small way. This game is essential for those who are big fans of the show and want to spend more time with the characters when they are off-screen (characterisation of Tyrion and Jon Snow in particular are perfect), but with just a bit more polish from a gameplay point of view this game could be Telltale's greatest work to date. To be continued... Final Fantasy Type-0 HD | Xbox One1/1/2016 You know a game is going to capture your attention and adoration when the opening scene makes you burst into tears. As with most Final Fantasy games, story is king, and it's done on a pretty epic scale. (Trying to write spoiler-free here, so no plot giveaways intended...) The game centers around a war, in which you control a class of elite cadets -Class Zero. Each Agito Cadet is trained in a different weapon specialisation, but all are equally deadly. At first, having so many characters at your disposal - and, of course, having to level and outfit them all with the relevant equipment - is a pretty daunting prospect. In reality, despite the game putting a specific emphasis on the need to level them all equally, you'll probably find yourself favouring and performing better with a select few; and sticking with those most of the time. That's not to say there's no need to try and keep them all leveled to a certain extent - whenever a cadet is knocked out in battle, one of the reserves can jump into the fray to take their place, and an under-leveled Cadet could mean the difference between life and death. Battle itself is where this game comes alive, with its mix of fast paced action and elements of strategy combined. You choose three of the cadets to form a team to take into battle, equipping different spells and abilities dependent on the enemy you'll be facing. Anyone who gets knocked out can be immediately replaced with another cadet from your reserves, so you're rarely left short. You can also accept the support of other cadets, and they will join you at random intervals throughout the mission to help take down enemies. Using these is entirely optional, but not only are they super handy, it also nets you SPP (that’s Special Power Points...or something), which you can cash in for new items and equipment in the Command Center back at Akademia. The missions themselves are basic, and come in two different guises - taking over bases and towns in a standard, point A to point B type affair, sprinkled with a few RTS missions (which I didn't take to as well as I could have done, but were nonetheless enjoyable). The only criticism of them, really, is that not only are they short, but they're very linear. This is countered, however, with the appearance of what every Final Fantasy fan yearns for - a lovely, sprawling world map to traverse between towns and dungeons; and also side quests. Simple, yes, and you can only take on one at a time - but they are there, and that's what really makes these games the enriching environments and experiences that they are. Although not on par with the graphical quality we're anticipating from XV when it's released this year, Type-0 has a lot to offer as a separate game in its own right Between all of these missions, the cadets are based in Akademia, which is for all intents and purposes a military school producing the sort of deadly students Battle Royale would be proud of. When you finish a mission, you're given a certain time (which varies) until the next one starts, and this timer goes down dependent on your actions and what tasks you choose to undertake in your free time. Talking to and completing quests for people with an '!' above their heads will take two hours off your time, exiting the school to take a stroll around the world map will take off six. There's plenty to do while you're there, as well - different sections of the school reveal plenty of different characters and conversations, and the combat simulator is a good way to gain experience and get used to the different cadet's own weapons and abilities.
By far the best part, though, is the Chocobo Ranch. Chocobos can be used as a form of transport across the map if you want to avoid battles. You can also breed and raise your very own big yellow birds, with different greens and circumstances dictating what sort of bird you'll get out of a mating. It's a nice diversion and reminiscent of the breeding side quest in Final Fantasy VII. Although not on par with the graphical quality we're anticipating from XV when it's released this year,Type-0 has a lot to offer as a separate game in its own right, and the cut-scenes have been done to a fabulous and beautiful standard. It's fun to play, the story is captivating and engaging, and its not afraid to pull a few punches with your emotions, either. The story could easily become too dark and depressing, but it's equally weighted with the humour and personality of the cadets and other characters. Releasing this was a good move on Square Enix's part, and it's a joy to be able to finally play it. Pros
Cons
Score 8/10 Funk of Titans | Xbox One1/1/2016 You can’t help but shake the feeling that Funk of Titans was the result of a ‘What if’ conversation in the pub which went to far and actually turned into something people are expected to pay money for. Graphically, the cartoony style isn’t a challenge for the Xbox One, and the game is generally very well put together. A particular visual highlight is the levels which put the light source in the background and lead to a slightly Limbo-esque silhouette effect, but, sadly, this is a wasted opportunity as the gameplay remains unaffected by the change. A Flappy Bird-inspired bonus level would already be enough to hammer the nail into the coffin, were it not for the painfully dull ‘boss battles’ which put you up against a trio of musical stereotypes who have scrambled out of the Guitar Hero rejects bin. The threesome will tax your thumbs with some of the most unimaginative use of button prompts ever seen as you supposedly face off on some sort of dance contest, but disappoint further by performing the same whether the player hits the buttons or not. levels seem to stubbornly refuse to progress like a four-year-old screaming in a supermarket. In short, this game has ‘Future Games with Gold’ stamped proudly all across it, and unfortunately only builds the stereotype of what “an indie game” is. With Rayman Legends going free on Gold this month, it may be waiting a while for its time in the spotlight, but with such competition, and higher caliber from many other titles from ID@XBOX, it is unacceptable to not match the standards set by 2D platformers decades ago.
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Score 1/10 FAST Racing NEO | Wii U1/1/2016 Remember the late 90’s? When high-speed futuristic racers were as much a part of pop-culture as Impulse deodorant, Opal Fruits and headset microphones? The single player Campaign mode offers up three different difficulties, or speeds, in Subsonic, Supersonic and Hypersonic. Inside these speed classes reside four cups, made up of four separate tracks, all perfectly named for the game (Xenon, Cobalt, etc.). You’ll have to finish on the podium in every cup to advance upwards towards the next challenge, and along the way you’ll unlock new vehicles to pilot, all featuring unique stats and handling. It’s a brilliant challenge, and getting gold on every cup across all three speed classes will be tough for even the most hardy of speed-freaks. The fact that you can also see your world ranking across each cup is huge motivation to head back to the track. Time Attack is, as always, pretty self explanatory: race on every track, across all three speed classes, to initially beat the Shin’en set time, followed by your own. Times from players around the globe are again shoved in your face here, pointing their grubby little fingers and saying “You can’t beat me!” whilst blowing a raspberry. It’s a great system and a ginormous stick up the backside to keep on racing. Times from across the globe are shoved in your face, pointing their grubby little finger and saying "You can't beat me!" whilst blowing a raspberry... Hero mode follows F-Zero’s classic style of gameplay - the orange and blue speed bursts now also function to recharge your craft’s shield; bump into other racers or the side of the track and you’ll lose valuable boosting power. There’s also the constant fear of knowing that one misjudgement will lead to your flying off the track, and in this mode solely, to your instant death/disqualification. Online multiplayer operates in much the same way as fellow Wii U racer Mario Kart 8 - three tracks are pre-selected before you and your globally-scattered associates decide which one to race on through a voting system. It’s all very democratic, really. In the time we’ve spent online there have been no instances of lag, it runs just as smoothly as the single player, with no obvious drop in graphical fidelity or frame-rate. The local multiplayer is also great craic and a mode that we really don’t see enough of these days, especially outside of Nintendo platforms. In this instance, however, the graphics are scaled down for three and four player races, along with a drop in frame-rate to 30FPS - but it still runs smoothly and provides lots of entertainment. The gameplay present across all modes is simply stunning; the vehicles handle fabulously, and you never feel like you’re being unfairly punished at corners, off ramps, or during collisions. The very simple phase-switching mechanic works superbly, really making you learn each of the sixteen playable tracks. The tracks themselves are well designed and take in a variety of terrains - deserts, jungles, rainswept utopias and avalanche ridden mountains. The graphics are exquisite too, with wonderful visual effects and particularly impressive motion blur. It’s a true showcase for the Wii U.
The music and sound effects are also spot-on; from the fondue-cheese announcer (the same guy from F-Zero GX), to the roar of the vehicles themselves, to the thunderous crashes and collisions. The pumping techno so maternally connected with the genre is also present, naturally complementing the action splendidly. We only have two gripes with the game; the ridiculous name (c’mon Shin’en, try a little harder) and the fact it isn’t an official F-Zero game. Neither are actual issues, mind - which speaks to the quality on offer here. All in all £10.99 gets you a cracking game, chock-full of content. What more could you possibly ask for? Shin’en even managed to compressed all this wonder into a meagre half Gigabyte, so it won’t dominate your undeniably measly Wii U hard drive, either. If you have a Wii U, don’t be a plonker - FAST Racing NEO is a superlative piece of gaming that you miss at your own peril. Pros
Cons
Score 9/10 Villages in Shropshire are quite quiet, apparently – but generally speaking not devoid of people completely. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture has an idyllic and beautifully imagined setting; rolling hills, country pubs, sweet cottages, winding rivers and even a windmill. Oh, and an observatory the size of a small country. The only issue, really (or maybe not, if you’re really anti-social like me) is that you’re the only one in it. Everyone has, indeed, gone to… well, somewhere. In terms of gameplay, Rapture is as simple as it gets. Your controls consist of three buttons – the left stick to move, the right stick to control the camera and ‘X’ to interact with objects and open doors. Simple to grasp and easy to get around, the world you are to investigate is never strenuous or massively taxing – it credits you with just the right amount of intelligence without being too vague to figure out and making you feel like an idiot (looking at you, Myst). Rapture is a touch of difference in a sea of similarity when it comes to digital releases recently. Your movement is, however, really slow (I surmise it’s supposed to be reminiscent of walking pace, but it feels like you’re walking through mud). There is, it appears since release, a way to speed up walking by holding down R2 – however having used this a few times today it’s hard to determine a real difference in the speed, and in some instances it doesn’t increase it at all. It’s also not listed as a control in the settings menu so… it’s odd. The story is a decent one, by any stretch of the imagination. To begin with it seems convoluted and confusing due to the way it’s presented (more on that in a bit), but the further you get into the game the more each person and their story becomes more intricately entwined, their relationships and lives more relevant. Indeed, it becomes a very emotional aspect of the game, pulling you in and toying with your feelings. The Chinese Room haven’t pulled any punches with the apocalypse here in this village - you’re constantly reminded that everyone has fallen victim here. Adults, children, animals - nobody has been spared. Through memories you’re shown people’s last moments, all as heart wrenching as you’d expect when you’re presented with a woman cradling a baby, singing it to sleep, all too aware that as her child sleeps it will be taken by the force sweeping through the valley. You progress through the story as you travel further into and out of the village to other areas. Each area (all easily accessible from the others) focuses on memories of one particular person and their interactions with other people. To that end, certain things will happen and some discussions will be had that simply don’t make sense; either because you have no idea who or what they’re referring to. They do, however, become clearer as you progress. Interestingly, it is possible to go right to the last ‘story’ and end without doing the rest of the game – in fact there’s actually a Trophy for doing just that. The narrative is complemented by finding radio broadcasts and phone calls, which although entirely optional really add to the story and give more of an insight into what is happening. If there’s one criticism it’s that the ending feels a bit of an anti-climax, although to its credit very cleverly done and played out - it is bound to keep people talking and coming up with theories as to what exactly ‘it’ is and, indeed, ‘who’ you’re supposed to be playing for some time to come. Rapture is a touch of difference in a sea of similarity when it comes to digital releases recently. With no high octane action or fast paced story it may not appeal to all potential purchasers, but by all accounts it is well worth your money and time. Pros
Rodea the sky soldier | Wii u1/1/2016 When you read tall tales of completed games being shelved and subsequently released at a later date for a new platform, trouble always seems to arise. Unfortunately, Yuji Naka’s (Sonic, Nights into Dreams) latest game, Rodea the Sky Soldier, is no exception to the rule. That’s not to say that Rodea isn’t fun, as most of the stages have their moments - from the ziplines that you charmingly hang on to by your tail, to the enjoyable smash of Rodea’s skull on every checkpoint bell. The classic arcade style of gameplay is also broken-up with small tasks like collecting herbs, something that definitely helps both the flow of the game and it’s droll little story.
The sheer amount of stages, medals, collectibles and rankings here are also a huge selling point. For those that can get to grips with the controls and routine camera niggles, there’s a treasure trove of lastability. The stages themselves are quite long, and many of the boss encounters can be tough, so you’re looking at many hours of gameplay here - it’ll just depend on your patience with the aforementioned issues. There are some great ideas here and a good game hiding away somewhere, we just can’t get past the controls and poor camera. The soundtrack is marvelous and the voice acting amazingly, joyously bad, but outside of the audio, the game’s an all round disappointment. Wii remote controls not being available for the Wii U version are an unforgivable oversight - if that’s the control scheme the game was created for and the control method is compatible, why don’t we have access to it? All in all, Rodea aims high, but flaps ungraciously back to earth in this missed opportunity. Positives
Negatives
Score: 5/10 Are you a fan of Yuji Naka’s work? Have you picked up Rodea, and if so, on what platform? Let us know your thoughts and comments below, or on the forums. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Xbox One1/1/2016 Fantasy is a genre where you feel like you know it all. There’s magic? Sure. Werewolves? Fine. Griffins? Great. It takes something special for a world to really make a distinct first impression when some of the ground has been so well trodden in the past. Like many RPGs the game’s journey is more significant than the destination, but the experience is slightly tailored by both your Witcher 2 save (if you have one) and offering three endings depending on how you progress through the game. In reality this amounts to a slightly different fate for both the world and some of the characters and some different coda-type ending missions. The story itself lives and dies on the strength of Geralt as a character and his dry wit and gravelly voice, oddly similar to Jim Caveizel in Person of Interest, remains endearing the more time you spend with the characters. The Wild Hunt itself is an undead horde of specters which acts more of a symbol of death and destruction with hangs over Geralt through the game. The game is well thought through and put together, deserving hours and hours of your time. On the flipside, and something which is fairly well known about the game, is the adult content, which amounts to Geralt getting his rocks off on potentially multiple occasions. Stylistically it’s perhaps a bit more risque than the endless fade to blacks you may have come across in Mass Effect, but really in terms of the experience of the game you can take it or leave it. Like most games there are niggles that never quite feel right, and the one thing which stuck out is that Geralt doesn’t seem to have a fast walking pace, he goes from a slow walk to a run with only a small movement of the analogue stick, which reflects the fact that this game was truly made for PC. This also explains why the graphics are another level above on the platform, though the detail offered up on Xbox One definitely sets the standard for what the console can reliably produce.
With hundreds of quests and side quests to explore in the game it’s likely that your experience of the Witcher will differ a fair amount from ours, but what’s clear is that the game is well thought through and put together to deliver the first experience to deserve hours and hours of your time since Skyrim but in a way which makes the genre much less daunting for new players. If you haven’t picked the game up already, then it’s definitely an adventure worth taking. Pros
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Forza Motorsport 6 | Xbox One1/1/2016 Launched back in 2005 Forza Motorsport has grown to become a flagship series for Microsoft and Xbox, being presented on equal footing alongside gaming giants such as Halo and Gears of War. The tracks are as ever very detailed, and all have a different feel to them; personally I rather enjoy the Alps and Prague tracks, long winding stretches of road with a stunning views and lighting effects the entire race length. Gone too are the heavily criticised micro-transactions of Forza 5, meaning all currency must be earned in game. Actually earning money can feel a bit slow at times, but longer races reward bigger rewards and the game borrows Horizon 2's spin system, whereby leveling up unlocks you cash, cars or mod packs (more on that later). At no point in my time playing so far did it feel like I was short of money, with there being many affordable cars and fairly cheap upgrades available. While it doesn't stray from the Forza style in any way it does add much needed new content. Now Forza as a racer game has always been very good, and that's not changed. The car handling is excellent, whereas some games have very lightweight feeling controls there's a real sense of power and weight to this. You can feel in the controller when your car starts to lose traction, and cornering and drifting well is a hard art to master. The graphics are simply gorgeous, and visual design is good in general. There have been some some basic but general improvements too, physics objects no longer reset each lap, and tyre walls actually react to impacts now, small differences but nice ones. While it is a racing game there is a fair bit of variety, there's a campaign mode of sorts where you work your way through races using ever more powerful cars, then there's the usual free race and multiplayer options (which includes some less serious modes like drag racing or tag mode). There's also special races called showcases, which vary from overtaking challenges to Top Gear events to two hour long endurance races. Plenty to do then. And now to the big changes, the biggest of which is the long awaited introduction of weather effects. Many games have rain in them, but generally speaking all they do is make the ground look shiny and make your car slide around more. Here however the entire handling of the cars feels different, braking time is massively increased, corners need a much wider berth and puddles can really mess up your race, as hitting one at speed or a bad angle will completely spin you off course. Visually it looks good too, with spray and mist obscuring the track in front of you. The windscreen effects aren't as good as that of Drive Club but they're impressive none-the-less. Also new is night races, which again make things harder given the limited visibility, but otherwise there's no real gameplay changes to them. Something else new is the introduction of 'Mods', which make changes to the races, some of the are beneficial, such as increase grip on a certain track while other make things harder for a bigger reward payout. They're completely optional and are found in randomised packs which can be bought or won. It isn't entirely perfect to play, having damage on for example is a very risky affair, when the AI drivatars themselves seemingly don't take damage, making crashes a very one sided affair; the first three Forza games allowed you to turn tire wear and fuel usage on without car damage so that's a bit of a backwards step still not changed. The games rewind feature can also be a little temperamental, with rewind times varying or it not activating. Also while not a problem in anyway the Drivatars do not seem that all important, I rarely see people cut corners or aggressively play as it's claimed they will, though they do sometimes crash quite spectacularly. In short, Forza is a racing game, a very good one at that, if you don't like racers it is not for you. If you do however it's a great game, one you can play as a simulator or an arcade racer depending on how you set your assists. While it doesn't stray from the Forza style in any way it does add much needed new content. Pros:
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Score 9/10 Xbox One Elite wireless controller1/1/2016 There’s nothing massively wrong with the standard Xbox One controller - yes the bumpers are niggly and if you drop it you might find the shell cracks open at the seams, but on the whole it’s a solid piece of kit. So why would you fork out enough money to pay for three of them to procure a single Xbox One Elite wireless controller? It isn’t an upgrade for everybody, but those willing to splash the cash will get a premium product to match the premium price-tag. A free app makes customising the software side of things just as simple as the the hardware: you can put your personal stamp on everything imaginable, from stick and trigger sensitivity, rumble intensity in each individual motor and the brightness of the Xbox button, to, of course, button layouts. Any two configurations can be saved to the controller’s memory at one time, easily and instantly toggled at the flick of a switch; configurations not currently in use are stored in the app and there’s room for more than you would ever conceivably need. It’s all incredibly simple to get to grips with and the two simultaneous setups are of great convenience - you might use them for different elements of the same game (for example one to run and gun and one to stay back and snipe in an FPS), or implement your favourite set-ups for your two favourite games and be set for the foreseeable future without needing to again access the app. If you aren’t the tinkering type, first party games have developer-made custom presets (that's Gears, Halo 5, Forza 6 and Sunset Overdrive presently) corresponding to variables like campaign, manual gear shifting and multiplayer in their respective games. Naturally they’re expertly put together and we’d recommend using them where possible. Whilst there isn’t any offering at launch, expect to see more third party-developed and published games jumping onboard in the future. One foible with presets is the language used, they may be intended for ‘pros’, but the terminology isn’t accommodating to those outside of that circle. Gears touts easy slipping and bouncing, whatever that means, and Halo 5 has presets for “Fishstick” and “Hell Jumper”... anyone have a clue? There are a couple of things to be mindful of when customising the controller, both physically and through the software app. Firstly, some paddle configurations will cause overlap and thus pressing one will trigger both button inputs. Secondly, remapping can be taken to silly extents (you could map RT to depressing the left stick, for example) - go too crazy with your setup for both memory slots and have fun getting things back to normal when you don’t know what buttons do what. Whilst the above aren’t true negatives and might prove useful to some, there is one true issue and it lies in putting the controller down. It’s just fine on a flat surface, but if you place the pad on the arm of your chair or lap, expect the paddles to activate and unpause the game, un-snap your app, or quit party chat. Naturally, it’s always something catastrophic. As we recently discovered thanks to Guitar Hero Live's remodelled guitar, adding new buttons and methods of control to those longstanding can be a struggle to grow accustomed to. The Elite controller’s paddles are no exception. You’ll likely find yourself gravitating towards standard control methods out of habit and consciously having to be mindful to use the paddles, but before long it becomes second nature, their services called upon just as often as your friends A, B, X and Y. The Elite controller features a headphone jack that enables receiving game audio straight from the device, so there’s no further need for extension cables to trail across the floor from the back of your TV - your parents/partner will be happy! A smaller, yet no less technically impressive addition is the ability to update the pad wirelessly, though whatever witchcraft is responsible we can only assume harmful to humans, as you're instructed to leave it close to the console and not move it during the process. For the uber-serious gamer that doesn’t want to eliminate cables because of the ever-so-slight input advantage they carry over wireless, you’ll be glad to know that for all the wires it gets rid of, the Elite controller comes bundled with a lengthy one of its own. For everybody else it can be used to power the pad if you don’t have any batteries to hand, or to replace your Play & Charge Kit’s shorter offering. As you’ve probably just worked out, the Play & Charge Kit is indeed compatible and know that whatever power method you choose, despite all the fancy extra features, the controller is far from power hungry - in tens of hours of play the home screen’s battery indicator hasn’t yet indicated any level of depletion. With all that said, does the controller actually help improve your performance in-game? That largely depends on the game in question, but you should be aware that whilst it’ll help improve your game, it won’t carry you from zero to hero. It actually provides great value for money - it’s cheaper than its closest competitors, much sexier, of a better build quality, and official. Gears of War Ultimate Edition plays like an absolute dream. Using the custom preset, main weapon switching occupies rear paddle buttons, P3 and P4, whilst A and B occupy P2 and P1 respectively; this setup means your thumbs rarely need leave the analog sticks - equipping a pistol or grenades and picking up weapons or ammo are the only necessary occasions. This means you’re always ready and able to act and react to whatever is thrown your way, combine this layout with active hair-triggers for faster shooting and aiming and a domed stick on your aiming side (you can flip for lefties) - which allows your thumb to roll over and achieve a smoother aiming arc - and you may as well be cheating. I didn’t lose a game thanks to the ability to track opponents during melee attacks and maintain camera control during rolls, cover transitions and roadie-runs, neither of these are viable on a standard controller as they’d require using the right stick and face buttons in tandem. It’s worth noting we were already pretty good at Gears (and modest too), but the controller was a definite tool at our disposal and did boost performance. The experience did further highlight the fact that the damn inconsistent Gnasher spread needs fixing, however! Other shooters tested similarly well and really they’re the controller’s bread and butter along with MOBA SMITE, which sees a similarly sizeable improvement. Mapping the face buttons to paddles makes for more accessible and quick to employ abilities that can save you and your team in clutch situations, complete that kill on a fleeing God and help capitalise on that short buff/negative status effect window after a little bit of practice. In a game with a high point of entry, it helps level the playing field. Fighters see less of a performance boost, however. We opted to remove the paddles as with no use for the right stick, thumbs are free to tangle with the face buttons. The faceted d-pad helps somewhat with MKX and KI combos: it doesn’t roll in a perfectly smooth fashion, instead the eight directional inputs are clearly defined and the feedback lets you know you’ve hit them and with that when to stop, or change direction as appropriate. The difference was disappointingly slight, but it is there and the hair-triggers also help with timings on move modifiers thanks to their faster reaction time. Serious fighters will want to hold onto their fight-sticks. Switching gears in racing games has never felt more natural, though it’s insignificant by comparison, truth be told. Then games like Divinity: Original Sin and Project Spark didn’t benefit in any way from the controller, though it was still nice just to be holding something more comfortable regardless. The Xbox One Elite wireless controller is easily the best we’ve ever held, but, that said, it should be, considering it’s the most expensive we’ve ever held. Comparably it actually provides great value for money - it’s cheaper than its closest competitors, much sexier, of a better build quality, and official. It has genuinely changed our gaming experience for the better; after a lifetime with no paddles, hair triggers and other gadgetry, we’re now glad to have them in our lives and will never look back. Pros
J-Stars Victory VS+ | PS41/1/2016 There are a few things you kind of expect when you play a anime based game from Bandai Namco – bizarre humour and breasts. J-Stars gives you both. and move freely around the map. Your characters can jump on buildings, and smash scenery to pieces with punches. Or by throwing your opponent into them, which is always fun. Interestingly, battles aren't one-on-one all the time, either – you control one character, and the CPU can control a couple of support characters to aid you. Fighting various other characters can encourage them to join your fighting roster, enhancing your team and your choices for battle, whereas some just seem to want to fight you for the hell of it. The system itself isn't as convoluted as a lot of fighters – there's no six button-press combos to remember or anything here, it's all quite basic, and easy enough to get to grips with (although I did find the J-Adventure mode considerably easier than the others). However, this is a double-edged sword, because after a while the fighting can get a bit samey and repetitive with limited numbers of moves to pull off. Other modes included are 'Victory Road' – a mode where you create a team from the list of available characters and fight groups of set opponents. Arcade mode, which is of course a standard six battle long game in which you just fight to get as far as you can. Free Battle, where you can custom create matches by selecting what characters will take part and the stage that will be used; and of course an online mode (which I didn't get chance to try out, playing pre-release). Also on the Main Menu is the shop, where you can use J-Points earned in battle to purchase new characters (both main and support), items for use in Adventure mode, and Cards to enhance your deck, which can power up your team. This seems a nice feature, though not overly well explained to begin with, so can be difficult to get one's head around.
Graphically, J-Stars isn't going to win any awards. It does a good job of representing the art styles of anime and the character designs are decent, though, and it's brightly coloured visuals are pleasant to look at. The narrative is subbed with small excerpts in Japanese, which ties in nicely with the anime theme and sounds better than English dubbed voices. Generally speaking, J-Stars is a game that can be fun to play (though I imagine it would, as with most fighters, be more fun to play with friends) but it just feels a little lacking in terms of longevity. You don't need to be a hardcore fan of either anime or the fighting genre to play it, which is of course, a great thing; and if all else fails, there's a whole lotta cleavage for you to look at. Pros
Cons
Score – 7/10 |
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