Pumpkin's Video Game Diary!

[Pumpkin]

Ys: Memories of Celceta (PS Vita)

Story:
This game is a remake of Ys: IV. It follows our Ys hero, Adol, who has lost all of his memories. He stumbled in to town one day and is found by a man named Duren, who agrees to accompany him and help out the adventurous young boy. It doesn't take long before Adol gets himself involved in dangerous missions, and he's offered a job mapping out the forest. The forest is considered quite dangerous and no one who enters comes back out. Adol, being the adventurer that he is, accepts this mission. He might even find some lost memories along the way.

Gameplay:
In this game, you will gain six playable characters. You can switch between them at any time by pressing the circle button. Characters have different attack types, slash, smash, and pierce. By touching the enemy on your screen, you can see what that enemy is weak to. Each character also has a special ability that only they can do, such as open locked treasure chests. You will control one character at a time in a party of three. You can rearrange your party on the main menu as well.

You attack with the square button, dodge with the X, and guard with triangle. Guarding or dodging at the exact right time will have added benefits. You can use skills by holding the R button +the circle button and a directional button to select which skill. Using skills uses a certain amount of SP. To regain SP, do not attack for a moment until your character glows, and then attack. By using skills, you will build up your Extra meter, which can unleash a special attack with L.

You can save at any time and use monuments to teleport to same coloured monuments. There are also sidequests you can undertake, item refining, buying and selling, and a number of other things as the game progresses. There are also artifacts which will allow the characters to do special things like shrink, breathe underwater, or talk to certain creatures.

World:
The world takes place in Celceta, as you grow your map and explore the deepest parts of the forest. There are a good variety of areas, although you can sometimes get lost near the beginning. There is a lot to explore and you'll find a lot of interesting places as you go along.

Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite):
Karna: A young warrior, she has a kind spirit and encourages others to follow their passions. She uses throwing knives and has a pierce type attack.
Frieda: A mysterious woman who is very flirty and knowledgeable. She tries uses a halberd type of weapon and has a slash attack.
Calilica: A young girl who doesn't like to be treated like a child, and is very intelligent. Uses a hammer and has a smash type attack.
Adol: Our hero, a young man who loves adventure and lost his memory. He uses a sword and has a slash type attack.
Ozma: A serious young man who watches and takes care of the sacred beasts. He uses a spear and has a pierce type attack.
Duren: An information dealer who helps out Adol so he doesn't get in to too much trouble. He uses fists and has a smash type attack.

Overall:
I had a lot of fun with this game. Even in the beginning it offers you some amusing choices to conversations. There was not a single character I disliked and the story really kept me interested from beginning to end. I loved getting to new places and exploring new lands. I liked the sidequests, and the battles were fun and easy to get in to. It is on the shorter side for a game of it's type, but overall I don't have too many complaints. It was a lot of fun!

Verdict:
LOVED IT

[Fynn]

I always wanted to try the Ys series but somehow never got to it. Which game is a good place to start? Ideally I would like to start with part 1, but I don't even know the platform it's on

[Vermachtnis]

I always wanted to try the Ys series but somehow never got to it. Which game is a good place to start? Ideally I would like to start with part 1, but I don't even know the platform it's on

Steam has I+II, Oath in Felghana (III), Ark of Nepishtim (VI) and Origin.
PSP also has I+II and Nepishtim. And SEVEN.

I started with Origin. But I missed a lot of references that I picked up when I played I+II. It didn't hurt the story at all, I just had a lot of "OH!" moments later in the series. They're mostly episodic though. It wasn't really until Ark that they started having any continuity. So you can play I+II, Felghana, and Origin in any order. SEVEN picks up right after Ark. And Memories of Felghana is kind of a stand alone since he has amnesia, but chronologically it takes place before Felghana.

[Pumpkin]

I've only played VI, Seven, and now this one. I tried Origin on the PSP but it was a bit too difficult for me. But you can get Origin on the PSP and I actually have a second copy if you're interested.

[Fynn]

I actually left my PSP with my brother, so the only PSP games I can play now are via PSN, on the Vita.

Thanks for the tips, both of you, anyway I'll give this series a try when I have the time!

[Bolivar]

I've been leaning towards getting Celceta for a while, I definitely will now that it's got the Pumpkin stamp of approval!

[Pumpkin]

Suikoden (PlayStation)

Story:
Suikoden follows the story of a young boy who is the son of the great General Teo who is renowned throughout the Empire. Soon, this young boy (default name of Tir) will follow in his father's footsteps. Life is good. His father loves him, his attendants are good people, his best friend Ted is with him. But this is an RPG and things go south when Teo is sent away on a mission. Suddenly, Tir finds himself in danger and is being pursued by an evil witch who wants something he has.

Tir finds himself outcast from his home, now a wanted man. He meets some new people and learns that they're a part of the rebel army, the "Liberation Army", unhappy with how the Empire is run. Tir eventually joins together with the Liberation Army, fighting the good fight against the increasingly corrupt Empire and returning it to what it once was.

Gameplay:
This game is similar to a lot of RPG's, especially the later Suikoden games, although it's a bit rougher around the edges. You can have up to 6 characters in battle at a time and at the beginning of each turn, you'll select an action to do such as "Attack, Defend, Item" etc. A rune can be equipped on characters to allow them to use special attacks or magic. Something of note is that each character has an attack range, S, M, or L. S range characters, which is the short range, can only attack from the front line. M range, or medium range, can attack from both the front and back line. L, or long range, can attack from both the front and back, and can also attack an enemy's back row.

One goal of this game is to recruit 108 Stars of Destiny, special people to join your army. Some join automatically while others will need you to fulfill certain conditions. On top of regular battles, there are also war battles and duels. War battles operate as a sort of rock-papper-scissors match, with Charge beating Arrow, Arrow beating Magic, and Magic beating Charge. Duels also work as a sort of one-on-one rock-papper-scissors match with Attack beating Defend, Defend beating Desperate Attack, and Desperate Attack beating Attack. There are also a variety of mini-games that can be played depending on which characters you have recruited.

World:
This has an explorable map that opens up the further you progress in the game. You can travel by foot and by boat and can also recruit a character who will teleport you directly to areas you've been before. You also get your own castle which grows as you gain more followers. There are towns, a world map, and dungeons. Overall there were some interesting areas and some good variety.

Characters:
(There are a lot of characters, so I'll only be mentioning a few non-missable characters:
Tir: Hero of the story, a young man and son of the great General Teo. Becomes the leader of the Liberation Army.
Gremio: The young Tir's attendant, he is very effeminate and very dedicated to Tir, acting almost as a mother figure.
Cleo: Works for Teo and watches over Tir, she's very wise and not afraid to stick up for what she thinks is best.
Pahn: Works for Teo, he is very dedicated to Teo and wants to do his best for him.
Mathiu: Your strategist, he hates war and fighting but has come out of retirement for what he believes is the greater good.
Viktor: A loud fellow who is part of the budding Liberation Army. He is very resourceful.
Flik: A young man with a short temper and some trust issues.
Luc: Attendant to the Seer Leknaat, he likes to play tricks on people and has a bad attitude.
Futch: A young apprentice Dragon Knight who has a dragon named Black.
Kirkis: An elf who doesn't hate humans and dwarfs but instead believes they should all work together for a better future.
Lepant: A successful merchant and powerful man.
Eileen: Lepant's wife whom he cares about more than anything.

Overall:
Overall I find this game to be incredibly charming. Do be warned that it's very rough around the edges, the graphics aren't so great, and even the grammar and spelling is sometimes off. The gameplay hasn't been made as smooth as later entries either. But underneath all of that is a really engaging story, some beautifully touching moments, and some great and memorable characters. The game is pretty short for an RPG, so if you're interested in seeing the start of an excellent RPG series, I'd certainly recommend it. It's also very affordable both as a hard copy and as a PSN download. I had a lot of fun and I love the story. Great game.

Verdict:
LOVED IT

[Pumpkin]

*SPECIAL EDITION*

Six Months of Video Games: tl;dr version

It has been almost six months since I started this thread, so I will be doing a few things. The first is spoilering the list on the first page so it doesn't get too long, and the newer games after this will be below the spoiler. The second is I will be listing each game in short in order of favourite to least favourite with a short list of pros and cons! Do note that the pros and cons are subjective, so what I consider good or bad, others may disagree with. It's also fun to go back and see if my opinions have changed.

LOVED IT games:

1. Tales of Hearts R
Genre: RPG
Platform: PS Vita
General info: Kor meets a cute girl named Kohaku who is being pursued by an evil witch. While trying to save her, Kohaku's heart shatters in to several fragments and scatters around the world. Time to mend a broken heart
Pros: Excellent gameplay, great characters, engaging story, good sense of humour
Cons: Uhh... the characters could have better outfits

2. Suikoden V
Genre: RPG
Platform: PlayStation 2
General info: Our young prince living in the Queendom of Falena is caught in the middle of a political power struggle when his sister is married off. Also the magical Rune his mother possesses is driving her a little crazy. Oh and he has to gather 108 people to stop the bad guys
Pros: Excellent story, great characters, fun gameplay, beautiful world, great moments
Cons: Long, absurdly difficult character recruitment, slow to get started

3. Tokyo School Life
Genre: Visual novel
Platform: Steam
General info: Main Character gets to spend a few months in Japan, like he's always wanted. He starts to adjust to living with his three lady roommates. Which one will he have a fleeting romance with?
Pros: Sweet, great characters, good storyline, good amount of choices, very PG rated romance
Cons: Very short, two endings not the greatest, a bit cheesy

4. Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven
Genre: RPG
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
General info: Luchs runs an Inn that has never had any guests ever. But that all changes one day when he meets some magical kickass girls with some odd hair colours and some strange monsters start appearing
Pros: Adorable, charming, fun gameplay, good characters, sweet dating sim
Cons: Short, no exploration

5. Tears to Tiara 2
Genre: Strategy RPG
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: A young previously noble man runs in to a young woman who claims to be the Goddess Ashtarte. Together they lead a rebellion against the evil and corruptly religious empire. Based on the Punic Wars.
Pros: Engaging story, excellent characters, large cast of character, fun battle system
Cons: Very difficult even on easy mode, no exploration

6. Ys: Memories of Celceta
Genre: Action RPG
Platform: PS Vita
General info: Adol has lost his memories! Oh well, at least he just got a job exploring and mapping the super dangerous forest. Maybe he'll even get some memories back along the way
Pros: Fun gameplay, great characters, great world, good story
Cons: Short, gameplay can get repetitive, long dungeons

7. Suikoden
Genre: RPG
Platform: PlayStation
General info: Tir, the son of the great General Teo, suddenly finds himself pursued by an evil witch and exiled from his home. Oh well, might as well join the local rebellion, gather 108 people, and overthrow the Empire
Pros: Fun, good characters, great story, touching moments
Cons: Less polished, bad grammar and spelling, terrible inventory space

8. Style Savvy: Trendsetters
Genre: Simulation
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
General info: You run your own fashion boutique, sell costumers clothes, and participate in fashion shows
Pros: Fun, bright, lots of customization, lots of freedom
Cons: Repetitive, small shop inventory

9. Scribblenauts Unlimited
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: Steam
General info: Maxwell has a magic notebook that allows the things he writes to come to life. He sadly used this power to prank an old man who then turned his sister to stone. He needs to go around doing good deeds and collecting starites to save her
Pros: very fun, flexible, great worlds and environments
Cons: Some levels were difficult, my computer kept freezing up (not a fault with the game but it did make it annoying for me to play)

10. Atelier Shallie
Genre: RPG
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: The world is facing a drought and you get to play as one of two alchemists named Shallie as they synthesis items and try to save people from the drought
Pros: No more time limit, replayability, engaging synthesis system, large battle parties
Cons: Not enough character specialization, environments are a bit too dark, short

LIKED IT A LOT games

11. Suikoden IV
Genre: RPG
Platform: PlayStation 2
General info: Our hero is exiled from his home, cursed with a magical Rune that slowly kills him, and now has to gather 108 people to stop the destruction of the Island Nations
Pros: Great story, some good characters, fun gameplay, fun minigames
Cons: Only 4 characters in a party, long travel stretches, less memorable than the otehr games in the series

12. Kitty Powers Matchmaker
Genre: Dating sim
Platform: Steam
General info: You match people up and then play a series of date minigames to see if the couple can stick and get married and have 8 babies.
Pros: Funny, fun, getting to match people up, a lot of freedom
Cons: Can get hard, can also get repetitive after a while

13. Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!!
Genre: 2D Fighting game
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: Some crazy girl is going to destroy the world. Or Japan, a.k.a., the world. It's up to random high school girls, dog ninjas, and young women with supernatural powers to save the day by beating each other up.
Pros: Funny, large cast of playable female characters, fun battle system
Cons: A bit much story for a fighting game, fanservicey

14. Atelier Rorona Plus
Genre: RPG
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: Rorona's alchemy master Astrid is a lazy bugger and they've been threatened to have their Atelier shut down. Rorona has a few years to gain the approval of the townspeople and complete all of her royalty issued jobs so she can save the Atelier
Pros: Bright environments, fun gameplay, manageable time limit
Cons: Not the strongest characters, having to pay party members, some unclear things

15. fault milestone one
Genre: Visual novel
Platform: Steam
General info: Some magical girls end up in a place largely sans magic and they meet a strange girl named Rune who has adopted the name of a psychotic little girl who terrorized the town and then died
Pros: Very engaging storyline, charming, suspenseful
Cons: Lack of choices, only one part (others parts not released yet)

16. Hyperdimension Neptunia PP
Genre: Simulation/Rhythm
Platform: PS Vita
General info: The ladies of Hyperdimension Neptunia have decided to become idols. It's your job to manage them, get them to practice, and even socialize with them. You then get to adjust the camera and props during their on stage performances
Pros: Funny, laid back, easy to play
Cons: Fanservicey, More like a minigame than a full game

17. Persona 4 Golden
Genre: RPG/Simulation
Platform: PS Vita
General info: Life is hard moving to a new town. You have to make friends, maybe get a girlfriend, keep up with your studies. Also you and your friends have to go in to the TV and fight your shadow self in order to unlock your Persona which you use to save people from brutal murders
Pros: Funny, good story, good characters, a lot of freedom
Cons: Some low points, could drag on

18. Doodle God
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: PS Vita
General info: Doodle God created air and water and like... volcanoes and stuff by using the four basic elements. But he started to wonder what would happen if he started mixing the elements together
Pros: Addictive, fun, laid back, hints given if needed, silly
Cons: Sore fingers, weird combinations, misleading title

LIKED IT games

19. Tales of Graces f
Genre: RPG
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: A young noble boy named Asbel and his brother make friends with a Prince, an ill girl, and an amnesiac girl. Asbel doesn't like to listen though and gets himself and his friends in some serious danger. Fast forward several years later to when no one is the same and some people have gone a little crazy
Pros: Strong cast of characters, interesting story, great world, lots of fun things to do, outfit changes
Cons: Less fun battle system, not as charming as most games in the series

20. Atelier Ayesha
Genre: RPG
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: Ayesha is a young apothecary who's sister was spirited away. When she sees her for a brief instance one day, she is led to believe her sister is still out there. In order to get her back, she'll need to use Alchemy
Pros: Interesting story, good characters, nice environments
Cons: Time limit, synthesis less interesting

21. The Guided Fate Paradox
Genre: Dungeon-crawler RPG
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: A teenager named Renya becomes God through a mall lottery (as one does) and has to grant the wishes of everyone from mermaids to zombies.
Pros: Interesting story, funny, fun gameplay, good characters
Cons: Lack of freedom, quite difficult

22. Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Genre: Fighting game
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: Ninjas and stuff fight against evil ninja clones, and regular plebs who are super skilled at martial arts fight it out in a tournament
Pros: Lots of characters, fun battle system,pretty good story for a fighting game, outfit changes
Cons: Over the top fanservice, some really bad characters, way too much DLC

23. The Simpsons Road Rage
Genre: Driving game
Platform: PlayStation 2
General info: Mr. Burns has started a dangerous bus transportation service, so it's up to Springfield to raise money by instead providing an equally (if not more so) dangerous taxi service
Pros: A lot of fun, funny, good character and vehicle choices
Cons: Repetitive, awful load times

24. Persona 3 Portable
Genre: RPG/Simulation
Platform: PSP
General info: It's always odd moving to a new dorm. You have to socialize, make friends, build relationships, maybe start dating someone. And also you need to defeat shadow monsters while calling forth your inner personas during a hidden dark hour. Comes in boy and girl flavours
Pros: Gender select, good characters, lots of dialogue choices, good customization
Cons: Worst dungeon ever, repetitive gameplay, dark environments

25. Long Live the Queen
Genre: Visual Novel
Platform: Steam
General info: You are a Princess who needs to study and behave herself in public. You also need to avoid being assassinated (or try to be assassinated in as many ways as possible for medals)
Pros: Lots of freedom, outfit changes, funny death medals
Cons: Repetitive, less than engaging story

IT WAS OKAY games

26. Fading Hearts
Genre: Visual novel/RPG
Platform: Steam
General info: Ryou has a crush on his best friend who may or may not be in an abusive relationship, your other friend has a crush on you despite you turning her down, and also there's a magical girl that lives in the forest and you can fight monsters if you want to
Pros: Choose your own genre, story can vary greatly, good character
Cons: Repetitive, long spells with little advancement

27. The King of Fighters XIII
Genre: 2D fighting game
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: So some bad people are doing bad things and teams of fighters from other games show up to beat each other up and possibly stop the bad things
Pros: Good characters, characters from different games, team fights, interactions
Cons: Hard fighting system, not super interesting story, not many characters I liked

28. Dragon Quest IV
Genre: RPG
Platform: Nintendo DS
General info: You are a hero. But everything isn't always about you and we also get to explore the stories of some other people and what they have going on, like a tomboy princess, a chubby merchant with a moustache, and a "dancer", until you eventually band together to defeat evil
Pros: Good characters, funny, good story
Cons: Forgettable, lacks charm, not always clear on where to go or what to do

MEH games

29. Virtua Fighter 4
Genre: Fighting game
Platform: PlayStation 2
General info: You fight people
Pros: Getting to customize your own A.I., some fun characters
Cons: Practically no story, not much character development, kind of bland gameplay

30. Cherry Tree High Comedy Club
Genre: Simulation
Platform: Steam
General info: Your main gal wants to start a comedy club, but first she needs to convince at least three more people to join. Better have some topics of conversation ready!
Pros: Funny, interesting characters
Cons: Short time limit, repetitive, a bit boring

31. Hyperdevotion Noire
Genre: Strategy RPG
Platform: PS Vita
General info: Something bad has happened and Noire needs to assemble the troops and fight Startegy RPG style to return Lastation to it's previous glory
Pros: Funny, good characters, lots of female characters, a cute sim section, easy to get in to gameplay
Cons: Way over the top fanservice, questionable sexual assault scenes, repetitive

32. BlazBlue: ChronoPhantasma
GenreL 2D fighting game
Platform: PlayStation 3
General info: There's some bad guys trying to do some bad stuff and some good guys trying to stop them. People fight
Pros: Teach Me Miss Litchi is great, some good characters
Cons: Story hard to follow, not super fun to play, writing comes off sounding kind of amateurish

DIDN'T LIKE IT games

33. Futurama
Genre: 3D platform
Platform: PlayStation 2
General info: Mom has taken over the world and it's time to get the heck out of there. But not before traveling the sewers and other such things
Pros: Funny, loyal to the characters
Cons: Difficult, bad camera, kind of boring

UNRATED games

Umineko No Naku Koro Ni (Episodes 1-4)
Genre: Visual novel
Platform: PC
General info: A family reunion turns in to a series of murders. Who is the culprit? Is someone else on the island? Does magic exist? Let's find out
Pros: Large cast of characters, helpful hints and tips, not needing to solve the mysteries on your own
Cons: Writing style, very long, hard to follow

[Pumpkin]

AquaPazza: Aquaplus Dream Match (PlayStation 3)

AquaPazza is a 2D fighting game staring characters from various other Aquaplus games, such as Tears to Tiara, To Heart, and Utawarerumono. A high school girl is trying to cook herself up a magical love potion, but things go awry when suddenly it causes people from all different worlds to appear. She also realizes she can put people under her control, so she takes advantage of the situation by doing just that and trying to become ruler of this new hybrid world.

In this game, you'll pick two characters for the fights: A fighter and a partner. Your fighter will be the character you use and each have a variety of moves at their disposal. Your partner can be summoned by pressing either the X button, or summoned to use a second move by pressing the X plus either the front or back arrow. Different partner characters have different skills as far as their support, and they cannot be called again until their gauge fills back up.

You'll have a Power Gauge at the bottom of the screen which allows for more powerful moves to be executed. You can fill it up to 5 in regular mode, or up to 3 in simple mode. Characters also have "emotions" which can be raised and lowered in a variety of ways and will affect how well they fight. Like most fighting games, you can change the difficulty, number of required rounds, and time limit for the fights.

There are a few modes to choose from. The regular story mode which explores the main story of the game, "Another Story" follows a second story and you can only use characters with whom you have completed the original story with. There are also online battles you can take part in. In VS mode you can play against friends or the computer if you are alone and friendless like me. There's a practice mode, a score attack mode where the battles get increasingly difficult, and a gallery mode in which you can view movies and images and the like.

Characters:
Ordered from favourite to least favourite and separated by fighters and partners.
Fighters:
Multi from To Heart
Sasara from To Heart
Konomi from To Heart
Chizuru from Kizuato
Morgan from Tears to Tiara
Karulau from Utawarerumono
Riannon from Tears to Tiara
Manaka from To Heart
Touka from Utawarerumono
Hakuowlo from Utawarerumono
Arawn from Tears to Tiara
Tamaki from To Heart
Oboro from Utawarerumono

Partners:
Llyr from Tears to Tiara
Rathty from Tears to Tiara
Ulthury from Utawarerumono
Serika from To Heart
Yuma from To Heart
Camyu from Utawarerumono
Octavia from Tears to Tiara
Ma-Ryan from To Heart
Satsuki from Routes
Mizuki from Comic Party
Yu from Comic Party
Yuki from White Album
Rita from White Album

Overall I had a lot of fun with the game. It has a large playable cast, and a lot of female characters, which I like. The story was pretty great. They kind of tacked one on there, but instead of trying to pretend they didn't, they just had fun with the whole thing and I was laughing pretty hard at a lot of it. The gameplay was also pretty fun. It did get a bit repetitive and there wasn't too much to do with the game though. Also my favourite characters were all partner characters and I wish I could have used them as fighters. This game also might be great for fans of the series featured here, and some of that was probably lost on me because I've never played those games.

Verdict:
LIKED IT

[Pumpkin]

GUEST REVIEW
(If you would like to do a guest review, please feel free to contact me. Reviews are posted on two separate forums)


Test Drive Unlimited 2 (PlayStation 3) by sharkythesharkdogg

What is Test Drive Unlimited 2 about?
Illegal street racing, and how insanely lucrative it can be. You go from a scrub to a wealthy socialite with a ludicrous amount of expendable income in a matter of days! All from street racing. (Brah.) You start with some cheaper cars, SUVs, and cheaper classics. You then proceed to take that money and spend it on more super cars, hyper cars, super bikes, rare classics, etc. to earn even more money. Which you then spend on opulent housing and "garage mahals" to enshrine all of your immaculately cared for and pampered 4 wheel ego boosters.

What are some features of the game you think people should know about?
You have the ability to create your own custom avatar. Race, sex, appearance, clothing. It's limited compared to other games, but it's there. (Fun fact: There is no footwear available for female avatars in this game that aren't heels. High heels are known the world over for being the best shoe to wear during performance driving.)

Your cars can also be customized to a degree. This largely consists of generic paint, graphic, wheel, and performance options. None of it is particularly in depth.

This customization idea is even taken into your virtual homes where you can buy things like new furniture, paint, flooring, and a few other items to customize the house.

There is a decent online component. There are casinos available online where you can attempt to make more money quickly. Also while online you can race against other drivers, bet money on that racing, join community challenge races, join clubs, and other group type events. The clubs are where you form online groups with your online buddies. Virtual tribalism. Mount Akina Speed Stars 4 lyf!

What is the world of TDU2 like?
You start on the island of Ibiza, and eventually gain access to the island of Oahu. I'm no expert on the road layouts or aesthetics of each island in real life, but it seems like this is an area where the developers spent a lot of time. The islands are beautiful, have fairly realistic looking layouts and road systems, and are really quite expansive. There is a lot of time you can lose by simply hopping in a vehicle and driving around enjoying yourself.

What were your favourite things about the game?
How expansive the islands are. They have weather systems, day and night time, expansive paved and dirt roads, and varied areas. For the most part, the cars are pretty cool. There are only around 170 cars, but that seems plenty to me. There's good attention to detail, and the way they drive and handle seems like a fair blend of realism and arcadeness. You can also choose to change how realistic vs. how aracde-like the driving is by selecting from different options in the settings. For example, I want no driving aids like traction control, and more realistic handling physics. It makes it more fun for me when I do something well, because I know it was me. Other people might simply want to jump in and nail the gas pedal. It's not about a realistic driving simulator. It's about tearing ass around a virtual island, and having carefree fun. They can have that be selecting from some options I did not. It's good flexibility.

Once again, for the amount of vehicles available, there's some good variety. Classic VW Beetle to Ariel Atom to Ford Mustang to Pagani Zonda.

Some of the classic cars become unlockable by exploring the island and finding wrecks, so that's fun and encourages your to enjoy yourself driving around.

That exploring leads to you finding really beautiful off-road trails, or hidden race tracks, and some other goodies.

There are 2 or 3 radio stations to listen to if you don't want car noise all the time.

What were your least favourite things about the game?
All of the customization options felt fairly useless to me. Even the houses themselves felt fairly useless. You have a customized character that you never see, unless you walk into your home or a few other buildings. The thing is, you rarely walk into buildings. It's a driving game. I only walk into buildings to change how my character looks, or perhaps my car. I don't care about character looks. Other than some performance mods, I don't care about car looks a whole lot either because it's a bit limited. So the only time I really see my character is for a few seconds when I'm in my garage selecting a car or a few seconds at the community center when I'm entering into race challenges.

Some of the rewards you get for beating challenges or exploring come in the form of unlocked items to customize your character with. New clothes, glasses, haircuts, whatever. Since I don't care about that, it made the rewards for beating certain challenges feel less important to me. At least Pumpkin enjoyed the customizing, so I'd just work on unlocking stuff for her.

I wish there were an option for more realistic car damage. The cars are the classic invincible bricks. They can look pretty beat up, but considering I just hit a tree at 175mph, they should be in multiple parts. On fire. Spread out over half a mile.

They spent a lot of time making the islands look realistic, but once you're in it, it can feel a little dead. There is no pedestrian traffic, and no wildlife. It's probably a limit of what games could do at the time. I'd like to see a more lively, active environment.

The radio stations have funny commercials and a few other things, but they're fairly limited. Like I said, there's only 2 or 3, and they don't have a large amount of songs. More attention needs to be put into the radio stations. GTA knows how to do it.

I wish there were a few more motorcycles, and I wish that you didn't actually have to buy certain cars before you can download them. Like all modern games, there is "pay-to-play" content. Now that the game is no longer being updated or expanded on, just make it free and let people enjoy themselves until you stop supporting the servers.

Would you recommend the game?
If you like driving games and you like open world games, go for it. It's still a lot of fun, even with some of it's short comings.

Pumpkin's Comments:
The world really was very expansive and I enjoyed explore it a lot. Sadly, it did feel kind of dead and it could have used a lot more life to it, which would have made it a good deal better. I did like the customizing and was happy there were a lot of clothing options, but there weren't many options for hair styles, which was disappointing. There were also some excellent looking houses and a few cars I liked. There was a good variety of cars, but most of them didn't appeal to me personally.

Pumpkin's Verdict:
LIKED IT

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Jessica considered her racesuit and helmet for a moment. After all, she expected to hit estimated speeds of 250mph......but no....not tonight. Tonight she wanted to feel sexy while she raced, and that meant Gucci sunglasses, a deep v blouse, and stilettos. After all, she planned to get a few drinks at the club before the race.

[Pumpkin]

Doki Doki Universe (PlayStation 3)

Doki Doki Universe is the story of a robot named QT-3 who needs to learn about humanity. He has his guide, Alien Jeff, and his balloon companion, Balloon. He also has a special little girl he hopes to find again one day. So QT-3 will explore different planets of the galaxy to learn more about humanity. Things like dreams, bullying, discrimination, love, acceptance, and a whole bunch more.

The main aspect of the game is traveling from planet to planet solving problems and talking to people. Or... creatures. Some of them will have specific requests for you, like helping start a robot vs demons club or finding colourful ice cream for them. Some of them may want a hug or want you to dance with them. As you explore the worlds and interact with characters, you'll receive treasures. Some of these are "summonables" which are basically gifts of other such things to give to the characters. You can greet characters by bowing, waving, or blowing kisses. You can also pick characters up and fling them, levitate, and rumble the world, causing a small earth quake. Be careful though, because not all characters like these things. Each character will also have a "like" and "dislike" section which can be discovered, and some characters will give you presents when they either love you or hate you.

You'll also get customization items to bring back to the Home world. These range from trees and houses to other odds and ends depending on what theme you'd like to fit in. When you complete a world you also get it's background to change your Home world to as well. You can also unlock new avatars and flying space steeds. You can make QT-3 anything from a cat robot to a lumberjack robot, and your steed can be a flying pig or a cup of hot cocoa. Whatever floats your boat! You'll also receive messages from characters in the game, and you can take personality tests at little asteroids throughout space. These are usually 3-5 questions that give an assessment. Dr.Therapist will compile a personality profile for you to view, which grows the more tests you take.

One thing to mention is that you won't be getting the complete game for the cost from the PlayStation Network. You'll get maybe about half of the personality quizzes and maybe two-thirds of the worlds. The rest can be downloaded at a fairly reasonable cost, but it is something that should be noted so you're not disappointed when you can't finish the game without further purchases. With that being said, the base game itself isn't very expensive, costing around $15 USD.

Overall:
I really enjoyed Doki Doki Universe. It's cute, it's sweet, and it's very laid-back to play. It's not big on action and drama if that's what you're looking for, but it will make you think about things and has it's touching moments. Overall it's just silly fun and good as a pick up and play type of game. You can also play on your Vita if you have it purchased on your PS3 (or PS4), which is a neat touch. I don't like the DLC parts though, as I would much rather have just bought the whole game and I still haven't gotten around to buying everything yet. But it was a fun game, if not a bit repetitive and awkward with the controls. Overall I had a lot of fun.


Verdict:
LIKED IT

[Colonel Angus]

That's terrible that they make you buy everything else separate.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

It's the design of the game.

It's annoying sometimes, but from watching, I think it works for this game. The gameplay doesn't really change that much, so even if you like it, you might get tired of it after a bit.

By having the game in sections, you don't have to commit to all the DLC unless you really enjoy it and want to play more. I'm pretty sure the initial $15 is a complete game unless I'm totally not remembering correctly.

As for how much everything costs once you unlock it all, I'm not sure.

[Pumpkin]

It about doubles the price with all of the DLC. $30 still isn't bad for a game but I don't like having multiple downloads and all of that