Not much, honestly. A few levels stood out here and there but most of them were just frustrating to me
Not much, honestly. A few levels stood out here and there but most of them were just frustrating to me
I hear ya. I'm not all that good at 2D platformers, myself (much better at 3D platformers), but I'm still proud of the fact I managed to beat the first Super Mario Brothers. Mainly out of dumb luck and stocking up on mushrooms into the last level. Smurfing Hammer Brothers.
Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)Story:
Tales of Vesperia follows the story of Yuri Lowell, a young man from the poor part of town, as he begins a journey to recover a stolen Blastia, and ends up saving the world. As happens in RPG's. This Blastia is a device being used to properly regulate the water in the Lower Quarter (the poor quarter), and when it ends up being stolen, dirty water floods the neighbourhood. Yuri can't just let this go, and he and his pipe-weilding dog friend vow to hunt down the thief.
He meets some rather eccentric companions on the way, and soon comes to learn that not all is right with the world. Politicians are torturing their citizens and not paying for their crimes, some of the guilds are acting sketchy, and some dragon-riding person is going around destroying the Blastia that people use to help their everyday lives. Yuri learns that the world is a lot more complicated than he thought, and while his friend Flynn is trying to change things from the inside as a respectable knight, Yuri has to take matters in to his own hands and takes care of what the law can't touch.
Gameplay:
Tales of Vesperia will feel familiar to Tales of fans. Four characters are present for battle, and you will control one of them. An item later on will allow you to switch mid-battle which character you're using. The B button is regular attacks and the A button unleashes Arte attacks that use up TP. TP can be restored using items, by attacking, or having some restored after battle. As you progress you will be able to make your artes even more powerful and perform special skills. You can set your character to manual, where you will take full control, semi-auto, where you select the action and the game positions you correctly, or auto, at which point you can set the controller down and read a book.
Outside of battle, you can synthesize special items, synthesize regular items and equipment, cook and find recipes, and engage in a number of side-quests, RPG style. Characters can also get titles as well as different outfits to choose from. You also get to view skits between your characters.
World:
Tales of Vesperia has a gorgeous world, in my opinion. It is very bright and vibrant and has some very memorable locations. While it starts off fairly linear, you do get to explore freely later in the game. It has a good variety of areas, ranging from forest to desert to ice level. The locations are all also very colourful, and even the darker areas never feel drab.
Characters:
(ordered from favourite to least favourite)
Estelle: A noble woman that Yuri runs in to in the castle. She's naive to a fault, but loving and caring to all things. She has great healing powers and can't help but help those in need.
A mysterious woman with questionable intentions. Judith is who she is and has a lot of confidence about it. She speaks her mind and fight for what she believes in.
Repede: Yuri's dog companion, he has a haughty attitude and likes to troll some of the crew. Very loyal and hard-working for a dog.
Flynn: Yuri's BFF Forever, Flynn takes the righteous path. Having joined the knights, he works to correct the system from within.
Yuri: A vigilante who originally was just trying to get a stolen Blastia back for his friends. He takes matters in to his own hands and can't stand to see the corruption everywhere.
Karol: A spunky but somewhat cowardly young boy who's been in a lot of guilds. He tends to flee from danger but he eventually grows a backbone and founds a guild with Yuri and Judith (and Repede).
Raven: A weird man who tends to come and go as he pleases, usually causing trouble along the way. There's definitely more than meets the eye here, though.
Rita: Genius mage and Blastia researcher, there is nothing she is more passionate about. Not afraid to voice her displeasure, but a bit less willing to provide positive feedback.
Overall:
Overall I really enjoyed this game. The story was fun and engaging, even after the part where the plot takes a weird turn, and it kept me interested. The gameplay was a bit easier to get the hang of the second time around, but it isn't the most intuitive system. The world is probably my favourite Tales of world, I think it's very stunning. The characters were strong, as usual, and all got a lot of good development. I think it was a really strong cast overall. The cooking was a lot of fun as well. The downside is I find it rather middle of the road for me personally. The characters, world, and story are all great, but somehow they don't stand out to me in the face of the series. Still though, I would highly recommend it to both Tales fans and RPG fans in general.
Verdict:
LOVED IT
no way, Tales of Vesperia! Such an amazing game - I imagine you've played Symphonia aswell? which did you prefer?Originally Posted by Pumpkin
I have indeed! I much prefer Symphonia tbh, it's tied for my favourite Tales game ever and is like number 5 favourite game. How about you?
I think I need to play symphonia again as all I can remember is Vesperia, in particular Estelle saying sorry all the time.
Oh, I'm sorry? I can't feel anything.. I'm sorry...
I loved them both, such beautiful games.
Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars (PS Vita)
Story:
This game takes place in a world where monsters attack humans and teens and young adults with the "mark of the Star God" are called upon to defeat them and defend human kind. It follows a theme of sevens, the dungeons being named after the seven deadly sins, and you have seven main heroines in the game. Our hero, Wake (default name) receives the mark one day, but we also find out he's something special. Called "God's Gift", Wake exhibits far more ether energy than the average person and as such he can enter the labyrinths, the home of these monsters, along with a small team. With this power, Wake, the heroines, the Star Children, and everyone else working on this, are dispatched to eliminate these monsters at the source.
Gameplay:
The main game is comprised of two main elements: The story and the dungeons. You will watch some story, complete a dungeon, watch more story, complete a dungeon, and the cycle repeats. During the story section you basically just watch and read, occasionally chiming in with a dialogue selection. The dungeons take up most of the game as they are rather lengthy and time consuming. In dungeons, you'll take one heroine and up to nine star children with you, those nine divided in to three teams of three. Your hero and heroine will make a fourth team. In battle, you will control one team at a time and place them around an enemy. Each enemy has a certain weak spot and attacking from that spot will result in more damage. You can also use skills, form giant robot things, use items, and other such battle commands. Labyrinths are divided by floor and you can exit a floor and resume from that floor, or proceed to the next one. Enemies are visible and of different colours depending on their strength relative to your party. If the enemy is weaker than you, you will walk right through them while still receiving money and experience and such.
Another important aspect to the game is bonding with the heroines. You are given three "hearts" to spend in order to have scenes with the girls, where you will usually have a dialogue choice which will affect their mood and relationship with you. You can only advance their relationship so far before needing to continue the main story in order to get more of their individual stories. You can still interact with them to improve their mood though and can also give them gifts and accessories. You will gain more hearts to spend by resting, going to the labyrinth, or by going through the story. Improving their mood and relationships will result in stronger Star Children. Star Children are units you will use in battle, and you can have several dozen in backup waiting. Star Children are made by classmating (hand holding ritual) with a heroine. Depending on her mood and stats, you will choose a job for the Star Child(ren), such as Cleric, Gunner, Thief, etc. A Star Child will have a level cap, and cannot progress beyond that level. The weaker you and your heroines are, the weaker the Star Child will be and the lower their level cap. Once they reach it, you can retire them to improve your city in a variety of ways and replace them with another Star Child. So make sure to pay attention to their level caps so you aren't carrying a level 12 Star Child in to a level 30 dungeon. Occasionally a special child will be born who can reach level 99.
There are a few other minor aspects to the game such as shopping, accepting quests, sending retired Star Children to find treasure, seeing events with characters, and a few other such things. The game also has an auto-battle mode and a fast forward battle mode for when you get tired of playing and want to watch TV or something. Because those dungeons are long.
World:
The world isn't really explorable. When in the city, you will simply select a location from the menu and an action. The main exploration is in the randomized labyrinths where you will spend most of the game. They each have a theme and a certain decor, and you can find treasures and such things in them, as well as many enemies. They can be revisited after completion and continued from the most recent floor.
Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite)
Torri: Torri was raised in a lab and as such has very poor social skills. She means well and really wants to make friends, but she tends to take things too literally and says some awkward things. Her dream is to fly.
Chloe: Chloe is the not much older than her students teacher. She's a genius who has already written books and had a ton of accomplishments before her time. Well loved by most but suffering the wrath of her superior, she works hard to try and balance everything thrown at her.
Ellie: An odd girl who knows the hero from a long time ago. She's usually well put together but she has a very stressful and secretive home life.
Narika: Shy to a fault, but wanting to improve on her self confidence. She practices making speeches and eventually gains confidence through less than ideal means.
Wake: "God's Gift" with the special amounts of ether and basically a huge source of hope for humanity. A pretty alright guy depending on how you decide to play him.
Fuuko: A girl who enters the academy at the same time as Wake and has an obvious crush on him. She suffered some sort of trauma when she was younger which interferes with a few aspects of her life. She also gets possessed by a friendly ghost sometimes.
Feene: Beautiful and popular with no knowledge of any of this, Feene inspires others around her to love her. She's also in to photography and has some people she misses back home.
Serina: Tiny girl with an attitude who is afraid to show her positive feelings. Feels inferior to her successful, tall, beautiful sister and drinks a lot of milk to try and grow bigger.
Overall:
I enjoyed this game. It was far from perfect but I really liked the characters, there wasn't even one I disliked, which is a huge plus for me. With that being said, the characters all essentially fill out a certain trope and don't really deviate from it. This doesn't bother me, but others may be bothered by it. The story was good and interesting. The pacing was pretty off though with their being way too much gameplay for me. Luckily for the fast forward and auto-battle because the dungeons get really tiring really fast. The gameplay itself is fun enough though and easy to get in the swing of. My biggest issue would have to be the fanservice. Women's boobs jiggle like they're made of jello and there are more than enough uncomfortably pervy scenes. Even the Star Children concept is kind of ick, although on the brightside, the Star Children themselves are adorable and fun and I love watching them run around the dungeons in their little outfits. So I would say it's a fun game although nothing spectacular.
Verdict:
LIKED IT
Last edited by Pumpkin; 12-21-2015 at 04:48 PM.
Have you ever reviewed a game you didn't like?
everything is wrapped in gray
i'm focusing on your image
can you hear me in the void?
Yeah, Futurama
there was a futurgama?
everything is wrapped in gray
i'm focusing on your image
can you hear me in the void?
Indeed. And it was not very good
It was better than a lot of licensed property games. It was very average game play though.
It had a lot of cute references to the show, and the cell-shaded art style worked well for recreating the show's art style.
Omega Quintet (PlayStation 4)
Story:
The world is covered in darkness. Humanity is on it's last legs. Strange monsters are taking over the world. People are dying. What can humanity do? Who can save them? Idol girls of course! There exist special teenage girls in the world called "Verse Maidens" who can sing away the "Blare" and hit monsters with giant hammers, all while wearing cute outfits. It does get deeper and more serious as the story goes on, but it's about as silly and lighthearted as it sounds.
Gameplay:
There are a few aspects to the game. The main one is battles. There will be a lot of them. You get five playable characters, all available in battle at once, and your support main character. The main character acts as support in battle and can be paired up with one of the other five to defend or attack for you. The battles are turn based and have a range of actions you can select, such as attack or skill or item. More options will unlock as you progress, including a harmonics mode where you can chain together several skills to make more powerful skills, and a live concert mode where you will receive requests for actions to perform in battle.
Weapons and various types of equipment can be crafted and given to any of the main five characters. Skills are unlocked in a type of skill tree using points accumulated in battle. You can also get more costumes for the heroines. Costumes do take damage though, so you'll need to repair them as you fight. You can also strengthen them to take less damage. There is a training center which is good for getting rare items and levels. You will receive many (MANY) requests from townspeople as well. And finally, there are character scenes to watch by exploring your HQ, and you can also make idol-tastic music videos. There is also a relationship meter which will affect your ending.
World:
The main part of the world is your HQ, which will allow you to interact with the heroines, make music videos, train, accept story quests, and craft items. You can also visit the city, although you will only get a list of people to talk to, some with quests. The rest of the world is various dungeons you will explore as the game progresses. Some areas will be locked until you proceed with the story, or until you unlock special skills by completing requests.
Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite):
Nene: An amateur verse maiden who doesn't quite enjoy her job. Although she likes guns. A lot. She seems meek and shy at first, but she's actually a rather concerning individual.
Aria: She has been a verse maiden for a long time, but sadly an incident happened that left her with what seems to be some brain damage. She has a hard time showing emotions, making it difficult to tell when she's joking or being serious, and speaks very slowly.
Otoha: A brand new verse maiden and lover of all things verse maiden. She is naive and has a bad habit of screwing up. But she doesn't give up and is a really good person.
Kanadeko: Athletic, active, and fun-loving, Kanadeko can find the brightside in everything she does. She also goes full force towards her goals and doesn't really care for stopping and thinking things through.
Takt: Takt, ironically lacking in tact, is a long time friend of Otoha and manages the girls as their, well manager. He also provides support in battle.
Kyouka: A serious and powerful verse maiden who has made it her life's mission to stop the Blare and protect citizens. She can be a stick in the mud but she means well and she works hard.
Momoka: A verse maiden who is much older than she looks and has a longer career than most ever manage. It is, however, time she retires since she's in her 40's and has been fighting monsters since she was a teen. She is harsh and vulgar but deep down she cares
Overall:
I quite enjoyed Omega Quintet. But then again, I like girly fun dressup turn based games, so it was right up my alley! I had a lot of fun with it, the gameplay was really fun (which is good because there was a lot of it) and I also liked the story. I actually liked it less towards the end because it took a bit of a darker direction, which I wasn't really expecting from this game. The characters were good, although I wouldn't say they were great. The same thing with the story. As far as recommending it, I would recommend it to fans of the Hyperdimension style of games. If you like those games, you will like this one. If you haven't tried any, I would recommend Fairy Fencer F as I find that to be of higher quality, but there's really nothing wrong with this one if it's your style of game. The negatives would be some rather cringe worthy scenes, dialogue wise and fanservice wise, and the fanservicey outfit tears that bothered me. Although I was happy as can be with all of the different outfits, accessories, and hairstyle options. Overall, while it was far from perfect, it was a really fun game, I really enjoyed it, and I would play it again.
Verdict:
LIKED IT
This has been recommended to me by a couple of people, but I just never got into the whole idol thing. And there is no way that girl is 40. She looks younger than some of your party members.
Yeah she looks about 12 and tries to pass as such occasionally.
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