Review: Fossil Fighter

First Impression:
I like dinosaurs. Growing up, before I'd had this strange obsession with dragons, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. Naturally, time to check out a game with nothing but dinosaurs and dinosaur battling.

Gameplay:
I suppose I have one formula for this game:

Dinosaur King + Pokemon + Spectrobes = Fossil Fighter.

You play as a boy who journeys to an island to learn how to be a Fossil Fighter which is technically a pokemon trainer who uses dinosau-- right. Vivosaurs, as the game calls them.
Much like Spectrobes, you can find prospective new members of your team by digging them up off the field and cleaning them. However, you can only revive Vivosaurs once you find their heads. Revival is automatic and any other body parts you find from the same vivosaur are added in to give extra experience points and attacks.



And the main point for finding these Vivosaurs and making them stronger? For battling, of course! Your character's main goal is to be a Master Fighter and to have the strongest team of Vivosaurs on the island.
Battle is a simple point and click affair. at the start of each round, you have a set number of FP which are consumed with every attack. Some attacks cost 30 FP, some 50, some 100 or more. Your FP are recharged with every round.
Each team can have up to three Vivosaur in battle at once. One Vivosaur stays in your attack area, the other two in your support area. Those in your support area give status boosters to the attacker and sometimes minus status to the opponent's attacker.



At first, only one dig site is open to you. In order to get to more places, you have to level up your fighter rank by passing a Level Up Exam. One takes place after you've completed the story events of your current chapter.
Level Up Exams are composed of a Cleaning Exam and a Fossil Battle. You will be given a point limit to reach for your cleaning and obviously, you have to win all your battles. You start off with one battle and eventually, you'll have to get through a preliminary battle.
Of course, there's more to island life than just digging up fossils and battling. Where else would an intrepid young adventurer be without foiling an evil plot or two? This game's Team Rocket comes in something called the BB Group (Big Bad Group? I'm not sure. You make the call.) and chapters usually end with you beating a member of theirs or their leader.

You have the option of using the stylus or the button controls. Either one works rather well. Obviously, only the stylus can be used during a cleaning session. On one other note, I was pretty surprised about how fast your character runs, really.

Last words:
I can't help but compare this game to Dinosaur King and Spectrobes unfortunately, because it just reminds me of them so much. I have to say that I've enjoyed this title more than I did those two. it takes the enjoyable qualities of both games and brings them together. There are plenty of dinosaurs to dig up and collect which can hold my interest for a while as I seek out my Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Also, it doesn't have Spectrobes' annoying wannabe wapanese vocabulary. I swear. Several dialogue points in that game made me wanna choke something.
Fossil Fighter is targeted for a younger audience. It's easy to get the hang of and the battles aren't all that tough.

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Rating:
Graphics: 3.5/5
The entire thing is done in a simple sort of 3D. The characters aren't all that memorable but they do have a colorful palette to work with. They... also kinda move weird, IMHO. Of course, prolly just me.

Gameplay: 4/5
The battle system requires good timing and some strategy which is good. Needs more brains than a button masher. Working for good fossils makes it worth it, as well as looking for parts to power up your team. Pretty fun. Lots to look out for and do.

Soundtrack: 3.5/5
Audio cues are quite important in this game, I think. Sound cues help locate fossils on your radar and they can help while cleaning a fossil. That's good... sometimes bad if you need to play and keep the noise down. The BGM unfortunately isn't too memorable. It's pretty generic.

The Look and Feel: 3/5
The menus are slightly strange. Instead of one menu where you access everything, they've assigned the menus to three separate buttons. X takes you to your status screen and the fossils you're carrying around. Y takes you to your team menu and the list of all the Vivosaurs available to you and start takes you to the save and options screen. Would've been easier if they'd just put it all in one menu screen.

Rating: 7.5/10

Heart Gold and Soul Silver announced for English Release!

A few months ago, pokemaniacs around the world were treated to a bit of good news: the return of Gold and Silver as HeartGold and SoulSilver. We held our breath, hardly believing the news. For the more pessimistic, it was more of "Oh no. Yet ANOTHER pokemon game." and for the fans, much screaming and fangasming was to be had.

Be prepared to fangasm yet again.... for I bring you...



THE ENGLISH TRAILER.
Now go watch it! No further commentary from yours truly is needed. Shoo! Git!

Speculated release is Spring 2010.

Good things come in threes?

More details emerged about Rune Factory 3. Lots of details, really! Japanese release date is set on October 22. Those who pre-order get a nice swag kit with a drama CD and an book containing character illustrations and an original comic.



Fanmitsu also revealed other things about the game:
Your character, Mais can turn into a monster which shows you another side of farming life. I wonder how much fun can be had if you prowl around as a werewolly...
Also new to Rune Factory 3 is the Active Seed System.

Active seed grow immediately when planted and can do a number of useful things like help in battle or with the things you've planted in caves. So far, three Active Seeds have been revealed:



Jack:
-Has a pumpkin-like form
-Sucks up enemies and deals damage

Haslider:
-Shaped like a leaf (Lilypad?)
-Can be used as a floatation device over bodies of water.

Mizubasou:
-Floral in shape
-Generates water for sown seeds

Also, Fanmitsu revealed two more eligible young bachelorettes for Mais' perusal. The so far cast list is as follows:



Shia
A kind girl who took care of you when you were unconscious at the beginning of the game. It's because of her recommendation that you started farming.

Touna
A silent girl who works at the city's weapons shop. Why she avoids relating with people is apparently a secret.

Chocola
A girl who dreams of being a chef like her father and now works at a restaurant in town. Despite her tiny size, she has a huge appetite.

Marion
An apprentice witch who also serves as a nurse in town. She dreams of being either a fine doctor or a sorceress like her grandmother. She's childhood friends with Chocola, whom she used as a guinea pig for conducting tests for her magic cures



Rune Factory just recently grew on me... Of course I'll have my eye on this one. No english release has been scheduled as of now but considering that the first two games have been ported... well... three time's a charm, I suppose!

Via [Siliconera.com / Andriasang.com ]

Oh... oh yes please...

Yup. You're seeing it right. Luminous Arc 3: Eyes. Marvelous has started to promote it. Now I know most of the population has mixed reactions about the LA series but I for one rather liked it. The first game... I believe I have to take another look at but the second was actually quite fun. I'm rather mad for the character designs and the characterizstion for some of the cast.



LA isn't a crazy intimidating SRPG which is what made it fun for yours truly. Me and SRPGs, we have a love-hate relationship. I want to love them but they hate me sometimes.

This time around, you play as a student of the Ulgard Magic Academy and inbetween fights, you'll be interacting with your party members and other students. There seems to be a bit of a dating sim aspect with this too, much like the past two installments.
Image Epoch (Sands of Destruction, 7th Dragon) is handling development and Yasunori Mitsuda has been credited as sound producer. The game's due out this winter in Japan. So far, no English release has been scheduled but knowing Atlus... we'll prolly see one come 2010. As Luminous Arc and its sequel has been ported, there's a good chance this'll come up, too.



No doubt I'll have my eye out on news related to this game.

via [Siliconera/1up.com]

Review: Wacky Races Crash and Dash

First Impression:
Ah, Wacky Races. What a part of my childhood. I remember watching this along with Laff-A-Lympics on Saturday mornings. Now everyone thinks I'm ancient. Now that they've decided to revive a game kids today won't prolly know... Will I be able to have fun and reminisce the insane episodes and the randomness of it all? Will I find myself playing a decent racing game that will prolly be fun to spread around to other people I know? Will anyone under twenty actually pick this up? More importantly, will I be able to play as Dick Dastardly? Let's find out, shall we?

Gameplay:
I was expecting a racing game. You know. You're in control of a character in a car and you try to beat other racers. I was expecting control using the directional pads and have a camera angle akin to Mario Kart.
Oh man, was I wrong.

Wacky Races puts you behind the wheel with the entire cast at your disposal. There's no one to unlock. Everyone's there to begin with, from the Slag Brothers to Penelope Pitstop minus Dick Dastardly. Minus major points from yours truly as my one wish of getting behind the wheel of the Mean Machine was shot down. There are no alternate cars to unlock, no extra powers, nothing but an alternate difficulty setting. THAT'S IT.
The rallies play like an episode of Wacky Races: you have three tracks to race in and in the middle of the races, Dick Dastardly tries to stop you from advancing by sabotage and dirty sneaky tactics. In the game, these are represented by mini games. If you pass, you retain your race position. If you fail, you end up at the back, bringing up the rear.



Much like the cartoon, you also get powers. There's an offensive booster which helps you speed up and damages your opponents' cars, an offensive which has you poking the other cars with the stylus to damage them, an aerial power which has you flying over the rest of the cars and a booster that makes you zoom right ahead of the competition. You activate these powers by tapping the icon when it becomes available after you pick up a powerup on the track.

Everything is controlled via the STYLUS. Yes, you heard me. The stylus. You put the stylus in front of your car and move it in the direction you want to turn. There's no way to accelerate or slow down. Now I don't know about you... but that makes racing a bit.. I don't know.. Awkward? The challenege of getting in first place lies in using your power ups and passing Dick Dastardly's minigames of doom.
And the last stretch to the finish like... Oh BOY.
This involves BLOWING into the microphone and scratching on the touch screen with your stylus while your car goes on autopilot. Why? I don't know. It works. I don't know why. But it works.



Last words:
If I was looking for a racer, I'd pick up Mario Kart. I suggest getting this from a rental. Once you've played it, you prolly won't want to play it again... unless you're a big Wacky Races fan. Even if you are, I'm not really sure you'd like it all that much. This game is a once in a lifetime experience: Once you've experienced it, you don't need to experience it again.
I was sorely disappointed by this game. If they'd stuck to the behind-the-wheel camera and kept the powerups and the minigames... this might have been a good contenteder for Mario Kart due to sheer nostalgia power.

---

Rating:
Graphics: 3.5/5
Alright, I'll give them points for retaining the classic Wacky Races look. The characters are done in a clean 2D during cutscenes and character portraits. The cars however are done in a semi-3D. Nice looking. The tracks however... are slightly grainy. They were trying to do the 3-D on 2-D methinks..

Gameplay: 2/5
Seriously. This would have been a fun racing game if it was done LIKE A RACING GAME. The top view doesn't do much for gameplay and controlling your car with the stylus was purely ridiculous. For Wacky Races, ridiculous is good... but that was a SERIOUSLY bad idea. The finish line stretch... SHEER. MADNESS. Horrendous idea. Once again, they tried to incorporate the touchscreen where it wasn't needed.

Soundtrack: 3/5
Nothing too memorable about the sountrack... but it was rather authentic. Points for nostalgia factor... and the fact that they kept the voice of Racing Commentator Guy. (did he have a name?)

The Look and Feel: 2/5
It looks good... the minigames were kinda fun, I admit... but apart from that, it kinda sucked majorly.

Rating: 3/10

Screenshots: Phantasy Star Zero

After a long moment of silence, it seems that some screenshots of PS0 have emerged... confirming an english release. Thanks to news on Joystiq, it seems that Sega IS working on the English port. Hopefully, we'll see a release by fall of this year as promised.

Click on the picture for more images c/o Joystiq.



via[Joystiq.com]

DS Tidbits!

Firstly! XSeed has confirmed localization of RIZ-ZOAWD. Strangely, they've chosen to change the title to Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. I really think they should have stuck to RIZ-ZOAWD. No release date has been confirmed but this does look exciting. Feel free to check out the Japanese trailer below. So far, it looks like a very very pretty game and the soundtrack sounds good.



Via [Joystiq.com and siliconera.com]

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Secondly! Here. Have a trailer. It's for Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. Yep. The full length animated feature is already underway.



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Thirdly!
Here are my anticipated releases for the next few months:

August:
10 - Fossil Fighters
24 - Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
25 - Monster Racers/Harvest Moon Frantic Farming

September
14 - Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
15 - Bleach 3rd Phantom/Scribblenauts
22 - Spore Hero Arena
29 - Battle of Giants: Dragons (*coughs* Can't help myself.)/Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

October
20 - Bakugan
29 - Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island

November
10 - Phantasy Star Zero

Review: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

First Impressions: Shin Megami franchise game for the DS, yay. Yours truly being a mythology fangirl, double yay! QUETZACOATL AND LAKSHMI?! HONEY, I'M SOLD!

Gameplay: The only experience I've had with anything from the Shin Megami Tensei line is Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. That, as far as I've observed is nothing like the recent Persona games.
SMT: Devil Survivor has you in the position of the silent main character (who I will call Hero from now on). You pick his name, dialogue and which stat gets boosted every time you level up.
Hero and his two friends get trapped in Tokyo during a sudden lockdown. All of a sudden, demons start appearing. Hero and his buddies now have to fight back the demons with demons of their own and modified DS units comps.

SMT: Devil Survivor is a strange mix of SRPG, turn based RPG and Visual Novel. You pick the locations to go to via the main map. Key scenes are played out ala visual novel with dialogue boxes and static pictures. Some locations pass time and some locations have battles. As time passes through a day, certain things can happen and you can meet certain people.
Battles are done on a grid where you start out by positioning your party members and having the option of which skill you want to steal from your opponents. It starts out like a strategy RPG where you choose where your party members should move. On the grid, you can use demon skills to heal or up movement. When you attack, the scene shifts to a first person POV turn based battle sequence that lasts for at least two turns, depending if anyone gets any extra turns.
Repeat as much as necessary.



Strangely, there are no items at all available. Your only chance of healing is via heal spells. However, if you run out of MP, you're pretty much on your own.
The strategy comes in where you place your party members. Leave someone alone on the field and it's quite easy for monsters to surround and outnumber them.
You can recruit demons into your party via the auction (where you can bid for them or buy them directly) or fusion. When you get access to higher leveled demons for fusion, the auction is a good place to get fusion material sometimes. Upgrading your team is a VERY good idea, might I add?

As fun and engrossing as this game can get, it doesn't quite feel like a DS game. Everything plays out on the bottom screen. The top screen is hardly used at all. There is also no need for the stylus whatsoever. No touch screen application. It... actually feels like a possible GBA game, really. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. A game like this doesn't really need the touchscreen as it does work fine without it. I do wish they did something more with the top screen though. A field layout at the start of battle or some sorta something else would have been good.



Last Words: This game has high replayability because of the multiple endings possible. This is also hours of entertainment for mythology buffs like yours truly. brb. Squeeing over Quetzalcoatl.


---
Rating:

Graphics: 4.5/5
The characters are well designed and colorful. I love their interpretations of the various dieties. I think they captured them just right. Sprites are crisp and nothing really bothers me much about the graphics. I'm slightly of two minds about the static pictures during battle but that could be just me. The overall presentation is modern and edgy which fits the setting of it all.

Gameplay: 4/5
Controls are good enough. No sloppy or confusing ones for this. Selection is your typical move-with-diagonals-confirm-with-A-button=B-is-cancel thing. Of course, this shows little use for the stylus. Then again, there isn't really any need for them anyway.
The battle system made me wonder at first as to why there was an SRPG element to it all but if anything, it does add a nice twist of strategy to your usual RPG. The turn based part makes me feel comfortable as I'm not really a big fan of SRPGs.
I find fusing fun. I dunno about the rest of you. This time around, you can customize your resulting demon by picking which skills it'll inherit from its parents. Always a plus.

Soundtrack: 5/5
There's a mix of techno for the visual novel scenes and rock tracks during the battle scenes. Catchy and good for the mood. One of the best parts of the game.

The Look and Feel: 3.5/5
I'm still a bit iffy about the fact that the top screen is barely used. There should be more use to it especially when you're dealing with an RPG. Yes, it is used in battle for displaying the profiles of your opponents and your party but I also would have liked possibly an overview of the map I'm fighting on.
Menus are a breeze to navigate through. Unfortunately, scrolling through your demon collection in the Fusion section can get a little messy and distracting even if you have the option to arrange them. Somehow, I still get a little lost.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Review: The Legendary Starfy

First Impressions: Hmm... quirky Japanese game... plays kinda like Kirby... oh why not?

Gameplay: The Starfy series wasn't originally planned for an English release, being billed as "Too Japanese"(?!) for the Western market. Sure, the fact that you play a starfish prince who lives in the clouds who has to go rescue a rabbit in a space suit who gets amnesia does seem pretty strange but it equals good fun.
In every level, you end up either underwater or on land. You have different controls for either one with Starfy doing a turbo swim underwater and dashing on land. You use your Star Spin to beat up the bad guys as well as collecting pearls and treasure chests along the way. You can exchange these pearls for outfits to dress up Starfy and his sister Starly on the menu screen. Match up an outfit with the right accessories and you unlock a scene.
There are also hidden doors that lead to sidequests which you can complete unlock secret areas for you to visit on the world map between levels.
The world map is where you select levels and is divided into several subworlds with a different theme and a different boss at the end.
At some point in the game, Bunston, the rabbit in a space suit gifts you with different forms like a dragon that breathes fire and a seal that can break through ice. These forms can only be used when Bunston is on screen and the appropriate icon for said form is over his head. Sadly, these forms aren't usually available for big boss fights.
This game also allows for wifi connection with a friend. Your buddy can play as Starfy's sister, Starly and you can explore certain levels together or beat up a boss.
That's one of the unique features Starfy has... but sadly, it's also one of the drawbacks. Starly has different abilities than Starfy and these abilities allow her to reach points Starfy can't. A cluster of pearls right over your head you can't get to can be hella annoying. It's not that big a deal, really. Just a bit frustrating.
Levels are pretty linear and getting from point A to point B is pretty obvious sometimes thanks to an obvious path or a trail of pearls.
Between levels, you can access a special menu with a plethora of choices. There's a shop where you can spend your pearls on clothes, a section where Starfy's sidekick, Moe interviews different characters, a minigame section and a cinema where you can replay all the game's cutscenes.
Speaking of which, the story is told in an adorable comic format with no voiceacting whatsoever... unless you count Starfy's squeaks.

Last Words:
This is fun for a pick up and play session. The storyline is quirky and the characters are enjoyable to say the least. The wifi thing can be a bit frustrating specially if you're used to playing alone but it's nothing to lose sleep over. Levels are still enjoyable even without the wifi.
Personally, I'm playing it for the dragon suit.

---
Rating:
Graphics: 4/5
It's a cute, colorful game. The sprites are crisp and clean and the backgrounds are nicely rendered. The bosses are also awesome. My only complaint lies slightly in the 3D models of Starfy and Starly you dress up. Something just doesn't rub me the right way.

Gameplay: 4/5
Controls are responsive but the Star Spin itself can get a little out of hand. Spin too many times and Starfy gets dizzy, leaving you open for attack. Not a good thing just because you tapped Y a little too many times. It's a fun little adventure game with plenty to do and see for the perfectionist collector.

Soundtrack: 4/5
The music's nice and quirky. Fits right in with the game.

The Look and Feel: 4.5/5
Most of the gameplay happens on the top screen while you have an option to pick what you have on the touchscreen during levels. You can pick from a mermaid that gives you advice, to Moe who warns you when you're near a treasure chest, Bunston's collection screen where you see how many forms you have and how many crystal shards you've gathered and Old Man Lobber who gives you stats on how far you've travelled and how many times you spun.
The comic style storytelling works great for the presentation and makes for a fun little game all in all.

Overall Rating: 8/10

E3 Videos!

Scribblenauts is looking interesting. Your main goal is to gather pieces of Starite in the level using any means possible. With over 100,000 words to play with (check out the video to see what I mean) this can lead to some very interesting puzzle solutions!

--


Pokemon Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky has been given a trailer which shows stuff that isn't present in Explorers of Time/Darkness (As far as I've encountered). I see a Shaymin... and an Igglybuff... Intriguing.

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Also, Golden Sun is looking awesome.

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In other news from Siliconera, it seems that Gaijinworks is now thinking of porting Visual Novels?
Gaijinworks' was responsible for the localization of Miami Law and its president was former president of Working Designs, Vic Ireland.
Sounds like a good idea to me! The Visual Novel genre is greatly underrated but I don't really know how Americans would take to it. Always worth a try, though!

First Impressions: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Well, it's finally out and I've gotten myself a first taste of it. Mm.. My first Kingdom Hearts game.
Anyway, we all know how big the KH franchise has been and if you guys know me, I'm actually quite skeptical about it. I thought the first game was innovative and the second was nothing more than pure fanservice without a point.
Let's see if this edition will change my mind, shall we?

I can't really comment on the plot for now as I can't read Japanese for the life of me and there aren't any audio cues for me to pick up so... we'll have to wait until the English edition for me to judge the plot.
For now, I'll tell you what I think of the game in terms of graphics and gameplay.

You play as Roxas, a member of Organization XIII and as a member of said Organization, you get to be Xemnas' (At least I think it was Xenmas and not Saix) errand boy and go on different missions with the rest of the Org members. Most of these missions as far as I've noticed involve taking out a certain enemy.

Graphics wise, this is a very impressive DS game. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was looking at a PSX game. Yes, PSX. Not PS2. FMVs are slightly rare after the first day and these are done with full voiceover. Said FMVs are also skippable with the start button. GOOOOD Squeenix. You learned.
During game story sequences, you find yourself with moving characters that have static faces. I still find it slightly strange when you're talking to a guy whose mouth isn't moving.

I have a slight tick with the camera though. It keeps moving around and at times, I've had Roxas slashing right at me in the heat of battle. It gets to be a bit annoying at times but at least it hasn't caused any fatalities yet.
Action happens on the top screen while on the bottom screen, you have your map, a picture of the world you're in (Or your target for the mission) and the mission gauge which tells you if you've done enough carnage for a silver or gold ranking. Also, you can swing the camera around by swiping on the touch screen. Not for the squeamish as the camera swings around REALLY FAST.

The panel system... can't really comment on it since I don't really know the extent of the items. The things you get are segregated into consumables, equips and magic making things easy enough to find when you need to do some sorting.
You're only allowed to access the menu when you're at the Castle Oblivion. Once you're on the field and on a mission, you're pretty much on your own so make sure you're done equipping those panels before leaving.
In the field, your magic is selected by pressing the X button and choosing it from the menu on the corner left. The number of times you can cast a spell depends on how many you have equipped in those panels. You can assign a shortcut to these spells and to your consumables which makes things handy in a pinch.

---
So far, it looks like a pretty solid time killer but I can't really enjoy it much without knowing what the hell this is all about so I'll have to wait til the English release to give my final verdict on the matter.
It's shaping up to be a pretty fun ride though!

DS Tidbits!

Alright, first off, I apologize for the lack of news. I've been in a bit of a sticky widget for a while but everything's cool now and it's back to work for me!

FIRST!



Level 5 has somewhat confirmed that the sequel to the first Professor Layton game will be seeing an english port within the next six months.
During a Q&A sesson at GDC, Hino was asked about the future of the series outside Japan. He said he'd like all the games to be released in North America and Europe and that his company is currently working on localising the second game in the series (UK title yet to be confirmed).

The sequel has been out since November 2007 in Japan. Seems that the good Professor and Luke have a bit of a Pandora's Box situation on their hands.

Via [officialnintendomagazine.co.uk]

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NEXT!



Natsume is announcing another Harvest Moon game for this year which is called Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands. I'm not entirely sure just how different this is to Islands of Happiness but I did hear something about looking for Sunshine Stones to raise up some islands which had sunk during a freak storm.

Via: [Siliconera.com]

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THIRD!
Have some announced games from E3!

Activision:
-Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Atlus:
-Knights in the Nightmare
-Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Capcom:
-Megaman Star Force 3: Red Ace/Black Joker

Ignition Entertainment:
-Nostalgia

Koei
-Monster Racers

Sega:
-Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics
-Planet 51

XSeed:
-Ragnarok Online DS

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Steal Princess was released this week so expect a review when I get my hands on a copy... and possibly a firsthand look at Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.