Tag: visual

Review: Phoenix Wright – Ace Attorney (DS) review ~ Objection!

Opening statement

downloadsSo, I got no time to look into the case file for this one. So, they say this game isn’t one of the best entries on the Nintendo DS? HOW CAN THEY SAY— Calm, Jonezy. It’s only the opening of this case. You can do this.

Well, they have a point. When you overlook one piece of evidence, this game can be pretty frustrating. Also, this game can be pretty linear. That are the only two negative points I can say about this game. If I’m allowed to nitpick even, the game is sometimes a tad bit too hard. You need to think outside the box. Even when you are already thinking outside the box. Some cases really demand your full attention and remembering everything of the case.

But it’s time to raise an objection! Time to prove that this game is actually not as bad as you first might think! So,

OBJECTION! This game is amazing. Mind-blowing. And here are my evidences to prove it!

Evidence #1: Amazing gameplay.

As I explained in my CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – 3 Dimensions of Murder I already explained why games like this are fun. Your honor, think about it. How fun is it to solve a crime? Isn’t that why we are all here? To solve something feels extremely rewarding.

Look at this first case, actually. In this case, you get easily introduced to the mechanics of the game. Without being a real pain and actually telling you how to play the game. It’s in the story as if it’s part of it. It’s a nicely hidden tutorial.

Also, the game is pretty easy in its controls. You don’t really need more than your touch screen, actually. The controls are easy enough that you can finish this game without pressing any button. And it can’t get any simpler than just that.

Exploring the crime scenes, the interrogation of people, showing them evidence… There is a lot to do in this game. While it’s true that once in court you do the same thing over and over to win the case but hey, it’s fun. Since it makes you think and test if you paid attention during the story.

Evidence #2: Kick-ass story.

675848-phoenix-wright-ace-attorney-nintendo-ds-screenshot-cross-examinationWhile it’s true that without a great story, you can’t get into a game. This game has a story that will keep you in its grip for extremely long. It has been months since I played this game but till this day I know most of each case, your honor. This game is extremely memorable.

Apart from the first case, all cases are extremely thrilling to play. It’s sometimes a real mystery who the killer is or how you are going to prove somebody is innocent. The only thing you’ll have to accept is how sometimes Phoenix has the suddenly solving answer up his sleeve. It’s a game, you have to forgive it that.

About the characters, many are so memorable that when I hear his or her theme song, I directly remember the character. Their personalities are extremely well-made. Some people are created, so you love to hate them, other you can relate. But they stay humans, and they aren’t generic characters who stay stuck in their role all the time.

Evidence #3: DAT music. DAT music, man!

The music for this game is one of the best ever that I heard for a visual novel game period. It gets stuck inside your head for a long while. I admit that even when I’m writing or editing your honor, I play this music here and there. I prefer it above my usual music.

Each character has his or her own theme and really sets the mood correct. You will have a hard time to sometimes press the “A” button to continue to the next part, since the music is THAT good.

When a game it’s music gets played in an orchestra, well then it’s amazing. And keep in mind, this started in Japan as a Game Boy Advance title. So, they actually had its incredible music there already.

Yet, I have to give the attackers of this game one thing. This game misses voice acting. You only hear “Objection” / “Hold it” and the crowd in court whispering. The sound effects really set the mood for this game and the characters, but voice acting would have made this game perfect.

Too much evidence.

aa-1Your honor, to save ourselves some time for the next cases, I’ll be short now. Apart from the bad replayability, this gem has a lot more to offer. It’s a pretty long game. Which actually makes this game miss another element. A log for what happened.

But I haven’t talked about the remarkable graphics. This game really does look pretty. Colorful and inviting. With high attention to detail.

The animation of the characters is also incredible. You really associate it with the characters and of some you hope to see what they would do in certain situations.

Thank you, your honor, that there is a save feature done nearly perfect. You can save anywhere in the game. If only they said it to you that you have to press “START” anywhere in the game to save. But hey, that’s nitpicky and that breaking off the 4th wall would have been overboard too much.

For the DS remake, they actually added a case. Which makes people who already played this game have something completely new. The final point I have to say is that when you hold done the “next” button on your touch screen, it speeds up the text when you made a mistake. Which is extremely welcome.

But I think I’m going to leave it here, your Honor. Time to wrap this up!

Conclusion

The bad:

– Can be repetitive.

– A log to check what happened, or more detail would have been nice.

– No voice acting.

– The replay value is pretty low.

The good:

+ Amazing music.

+ Memorable story.

+ Memorable characters.

+ Pretty long game.

+ No annoying tutorial. It’s neatly integrated into the game.

+ It’s easy to get into, but hard to finish.

+ The ability to shout “HOLD IT” & “OBJECTION” yourself is so rewarding.

Final words:

Phew, I won the case. Man, that was lucky. Since I haven’t even studied to become a lawyer. It looked so boring to me. Having to do all that legal paperwork. But this game shows that it can be fascinating and rewarding.

It’s a game that once you give it a chance, it will be so hard to put down. Everything is so amazing is this game that the bar was set extremely high for new visual novels on the system.

This game is so perfect that reviewing it makes you look for things they can improve on, but without those items, the game still stays incredible. I can’t stress this enough, this game is one of the best out there on the Nintendo DS. And if you are any kind of fan of a good story, Capcom, a great adventure, amazing music, great characters… You really owe it to yourself to play this game! No doubt about it!

Score: 85/100

First Impression: Corpse Party – Book Of Shadows (PSP) ~ It’s not over just yet.

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Link to the official website

You thought it was over after Corpse Party? Well, think again, Corpse Party Book Of Shadows shows the tale extremely different. With the opening of this game, you get the impression that this game is a sequel but once you actually start with the game, it’s clearly far from a sequel. Corpse Party was an excellent visual novel horror adventure game for the PSP, I truly enjoyed playing it and directly got myself the sequel. And I have been playing it often. The game is extremely different from the original and in this article I’ll talk if those changes are for the good or for the bad. Be warned, this article is about my first impressions of the game. I have only played a major part of the first chapter. I’m also finishing up the bonus chapters in the original, since you can unlock content with it in this game. But enough talking in this introduction, let’s dive right into Corpse Party – Book Of Shadows.

Deeper story.

In the original game I would go far if I told you that the characters weren’t developed. While it’s true that you don’t get a lot of information about the characters themselves, the actions of the characters easily shape a picture of them. But this game takes it a step further. In the first part I played of this game, I have already gasped several times.

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In this game, things that you could suspect in the original return. What’s Seiko’s deal with Naomi’s ass anyways? Well, you get the answer in this game.

This game seems to have a deeper story. You can always check back on the previous conversations by the touch of a button. And here, it’s getting in the right direction. You can scroll up and down and get to the top and bottom rather easily.

A major improvement is the ability to save anywhere you want and there are even more then just one save file! The save system is greatly improved since the original.

One thing I didn’t like is that you have to watch the introduction movie if you start the game for the first time. I honestly admit that I forgot to save the game after the first time I played it and I couldn’t skip the long introduction. Before you can get to some gameplay you will have to go through huge parts of text. I’m sure that this first part took me more then a hour to get through. Man, I wish I had a speed-up button.

The original is a joke

617350_20130124_640screen001Yes, the original is almost like a joke to this game. The visuals are kicked up a big notch. You now run in a sort of 3D world. The graphics are extremely nice made for this game. You can see the cursed school from all it’s 3D glory. And this get a thumbs up from me.

The voice acting is extremely well done too. I have had the annoying part where you tapped the confirm button way to fast that the voices couldn’t follow. Yes, the original had that slight problem. This game doesn’t have that issue.

Also, the more the cure gets to you, the more blurry your screen gets. And this is such a nice addition. I actually don’t understand the mechanics of that just yet, but I’m sure that’s just a matter of time.

The controls aren’t explained but they are straight forward non-the-less. You can search each room easily and when you can get information about something, you cursor will turn blue. Also, the parts that are timed, don’t interrupt the gameplay at all. But those didn’t interrupt in the original game either.

Time to turn up the amazing dial. 

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I gave the original game already a high score, but this game seems to run past it with ease. And I have only played the first chapter. The music is tense, and memorable.

With hints to the first game everywhere, in the music and story, this game is an improvement of the first game. I can’t repeat that enough. With the save files you can now see when and what time you made that save file.

There is one step back though, with the name tags list, they were better organised in the original. There it was per chapter and you had a little picture for each corpse. Now, both aren’t there. Oh well, that’s a minor nitpick anyways.

I realize that my thoughts in this article are all over the place but what I forgot to mention with the story is that thoughts are now no longer simply between brackets. Oh no, they are now in a different colored box. That’s great for newcomers to the genre. What’s also better is that there are more visual pictures to look at while the story is unfolding. There is less use of a black screen with a box in this game.

Have I mentioned that this game is slowly growing towards my list of most influential games in my life of all time? Only my favorites get  on that list and this game is a big blast to play. I don’t mind the long waiting times between gameplay since the story is extremely well written. The voice acting draws you in even more. The sound design is one of the better ones I have heard in a game for a while.

Music that I want to listen daily too, memorable characters, great design and a challenge for every gamer. This game is getting a high score from me already, but is the game going to keep it this game throughout the whole game. That you will read in the review, when I am done with the game. But for now, NekoJonez signing out.

First Impressions: Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories (Wii) ~ A mystery novel

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Nintendo version of the website

So, I have this Wii sitting in my room. I got my Wii after I graduated from high school. Before that, I played a countless amount on my Nintendo DS. On there I played Another Code from the amazing developer Cing. They went bankrupt and they are no more. But when I saw that this game had a sequel for on the Wii, I didn’t doubt for a second, I had to play this game. I started to play it three days ago, and I have trouble putting it down. Yup, that’s my first impression in extremely short for you. But this wouldn’t be a valid blog entry if I didn’t explain myself. Otherwise, I will look as a fanboy of this game to you guys, which I kind of am. Visual novels always interested me and I love playing them. They always have a better story then other games and this game is no exception. Let me explain why this game is great and you all should give it a go. But, I’ll also explain some flaws with the system. 

The story.

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This game is a sequel to the great Nintendo DS game Another Code, it’s named that way in Europe. The American is Trance Memory. I actually advise you to play the DS game first. The Wii game takes place two years after this game. The story of the DS game is very often referenced.

The familiar characters from the original DS game are exactly the same in this Wii entry. There are also a lot of new characters, and you can easily get a reminder in the menu. Which is an awesome option. If you forgot which character was who, a reminder is there in game.

There is no voice acting. Which is a shame in my view. This game would have had big benefits from voice acting. Now it’s only the text displayed on the screen.

From what I saw of the story, it’s an enjoyable tale. It made me think back to the days I played the DS game. The main thing is again about memories. What I truly praise in this game is that at the end of each chapter, you get a small quiz to remind you what happened in the chapter, and it really helps when you forgot or didn’t play the game in a while.

 But enough about the story, I’ll dive more into that in the full review. The gameplay mimics a lot from its DS game. The controls, you’ll need to get used to them, are actually quite unique, and the mapping is great. Although it’s a pity that the detection of the Wii Remote seems a bit uneasy to use sometimes.

In this game, you can’t really run everywhere you please. It isn’t a step back, actually. This mechanic is set up in such a way that you can easily explore certain area’s and view them. Probably this made the developers have time for some great visuals.

As you guys might know, I’m not that difficult to please when it comes to graphics. But this game blew me away. The location of the game is bright and colorful, detailed and well-made. It feels great with the realistic story and nothing feels out of place. It’s detailed enough that it draws you into the story easily.

Can’t put this down.

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This game is also a puzzle game. And a great one. With some side quests like recycling, there is a lot of variety to the game. You can even choose how your character reacts to a situation. It adds some replay value to the game to see how it plays out if you react in another way.

I don’t know if there are different endings, but I don’t assume there are. Otherwise, I would be extremely impressed. Because in other games with different endings, this game is good at hiding it then.

One flaw in this game is how you can look back at the previous conversation. This is a very welcome feature, but I haven’t seen a game get this right. I have to say, happy scrolling if you want to look for something.

There is no real tutorial. This is extremely welcome. Thanks to this, you can explore and learn the game at its own pace. You don’t have to “learn” everything at the start of the game, and you truly feel more free playing this game.

While exploring the area’s, things you can investigate blink in a yellow color. There is also a great indication on the screen to remind you. And pay attention, places you have explored, can also be of use later in the story. There are even various ways to control the game. Using the on-screen buttons or the buttons on your controller, it both is fluent.

This game is easy and difficult. For new players to the genre, this can become quite a challenge in certain area’s. But, for advanced players in this genre or style of game, you can progress without getting really stuck anywhere.

Various story lines.

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This game has various story lines running all at once. Thankfully, it’s never getting too much. When ever it’s too much to follow, a story line ends.

This game also has a very creative use of the buttons on your Wii remote. You’ll have to play the game to understand what I mean.

Before I close off this article, I want to mention the music. The music is pretty lighthearted. And it fits the tone of this game extremely well. You even have a music player in game to listen to the tracks or let them play as background music. And you can’t listen to tracks you haven’t heard in game yet.

That are most of my first impressions of this game. I’m nearly halfway in this great game. The length is great from what I played till now. This seems like a game that will take you more than one day to complete. If you really want to enjoy it at its full potential. Whenever I finish this game, I’ll surely write a review for you guys. But until the next time, and happy gaming!

(16+) First impression: Corpse Party (PSP) ~ Elementary school gone bad.

Corpse Party (USA)

 Link to the site

!! While I do realize that the majority of people ignore age labels on games, I want to warn you that this game is a graphic game and contains elements that maybe can influence younger minds or weak hearted in the wrong way. !!

That how the legend went. Yeah, the red text is a warning. Or is it? Well, it’s true that this game isn’t for the “pussies” of gamers. This game has the potential to either make you shiver or somewhat scared. It has disturbing moments and it’s fun. In this new series I’ll talk about games you should play or you should try out. I found this game recently, sadly enough not the European box-art, and I find it sad that in so many top 10 lists of PSP games this game gets overlooked. This game is very well crafted and once I finish it I’ll put up a review for this game. So subscribe to my blog or one of my social networks to be kept up-to-date. But for now, let’s go on with my first impression. What do I think about the game? And why do I recommend it? Let’s dive into this game that’s based on an excellent manga that every horror fan should read. 

Why shouldn’t you play it?

corpsepartyreview12076101Well, let’s switch things around like you usually would expect these articles to go. The game has some issues and why you shouldn’t play this game is simple.

The game has a terrible saving system in my opinion. This game could have gotten way better in the save department.

Also, the music glitches are a big bummer. I sometimes had the pleasure of walking in a silent area when there was supposed to be music.

And sometimes you wish there was a “skip dialogue” button. That’s all I have to say about that for now.

And that’s about all I can say for now. I’ll go more in depth in my review of course.

Why should you play this game?

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This game can take adventure games of guard easily. Oh yes, because one of my major hobbies is writing, I normally see plots coming but the start blew me away. It’s one of the better starts to a game or story I have ever seen. It truly pulls you in.

The game has the feeling of a visual novel and the art style truly does this game justice. I’m quite happy that they have chosen for this style since it gives me memories of seeing people play those old NES games like Sweet Home, yet it looks modern and RPG-ish.

But it’s for the story you need to play this game. It’s a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I’m truly bad with horror since I can’t stand jump scares, and believe me, there are so few you wouldn’t even notice.

The gameplay is great. It gave me a vibe of exploring like Alone in the Dark & Broken Sword for example did. You need to find clues but the twist is, if you do sometime wrong, or take a wrong path, well; You get the wrong ending and you need to start the chapter over or from your last save point.

CorpsePartyMy advice.

I already said in the introduction that this isn’t my review yet. But for now I truly recommend this game. It isn’t flawless but the game is truly worth a play.

The start of the game I experienced at night, just before I went to sleep, with my curtains closed and my room all dark. I attached my old headset and put the volume on nearly the loudest volume it could go. And then the game truly shines.

It isn’t a game that will make you go call your mommy awake because you as teenager gamer got so scared, but it will make you feel awkward and uneasy. It also made me want to read the manga.

If you can look past a bad saving system, this game can be something for you. But for the weak of heart, I truly advice thinking twice about this game since some things can truly be scary for you. Maybe I’m overly cautious here but sometimes it’s better if you do that.

Keep out an eye for my review to know what I thought of this game and what score I’m going to give it. I like to finish the games to looked for other points I would like to mention. But yeah, this rambling isn’t doing this article any good since I wanted to talk about this game.

I’m going to leave it here. Continue my playthrough of this game. I’m currently about to beat the 2nd chapter and once I finish this hidden gem of a game, I will hunt the sequel down. That’s for sure for me. So, happy gaming guys and let me know in the comments if this game was actually a nice recommendation.

Review: Virtue’s Last Reward (3DS) ~ But you promised…

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Official site.

You are locked up. You don’t know where you are or what your goal is. It’s time to play a game. No, not with a Saw but with a bunny. Yes, Zero Junior. You thought you could escape in the previous game, 9 hours 9 people 9 doors (For the DS, I’ll review this game one day)? Then think again. This time, you will have some major trouble. The game will go totally different now, and you will have a lot more explained.  Are you ready for an adventure? One that you rather didn’t have, one you regret living for? Okay, enough of that. This game got me extremely excited to play, I even didn’t know this game came to Europe. But when I saw it in my local game store, I bought the game with the little money I had and that night I didn’t sleep. But why? Is this such a good game and if it is, did it deliver? Or  was my sleepless night because of the terrible game I had to play? Well, let’s dive into this game and let’s check if it’s actually worthy to be played.

Zero III.

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This game isn’t your regular game. Oh no, it proves that the 3DS has games that aren’t for kids. This game is for 16 and up and for a good reason, it’s a scary game. Not supernatural but the scenery and the story is pretty creepy.

The game’s story is amazing and is extremely well done. It can be a bit cheesy here and there, but I can forgive that. Some reviewers will tell that those points in a story are boring and all that, but those things actually aren’t all that bad, they don’t take you out of the experience.

A big improvement is that you can now jump inside the story. The game has several endings and to unlock the final true ending, you need to have seen most, if not all, other endings. If you are playing with breaks, the story can get confusing when you jump though, so pay attention.

If I talk about the story, I might spoil it for you. But it’s a great story. For the people who follow me on Twitter before I started this blog, you might have noticed that I tweeded this game to some YouTubers who looked for new games on their 3DS.

Even talking when this game takes place in the series in a spoiler. But the new UI in this game is a vast improvement over the last interface. Like I told earlier, this game’s jump manic in the story helps out a lot, so you don’t have to redo parts of the story like in the original. Also, it’s more clear which path you need to take to unlock a new ending, so the danger of running into a same ending twice is gone.

What pissed me off in the game, but is an extremely nice touch is that some endings have a story lock. Yes, you need information from another ending. Confused? Well, I was too. But it gets extremely well explained in the game and I advise you to play it for the story alone.

I want to get out!

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The game is a mixture of visual novel and puzzle game. Your goal is to escape a certain room and find more clues. What’s unique in this game is that when you do it without getting hints, you unlock developer content. This makes for a lot of replay value in a visual novel game. Yes, they succeeded into getting replay value in a game that’s extremely story driven. Most visual novel games collect dust after they are finished.

The animation is extremely well done. Each character has their unique expressions and makes the story come more alive than the previous game. Even in 3D, the game is extremely awesome to look at. The location of the game itself is well done. You truly get the feeling of being trapped and wanting to escape.

The puzzles you need to solve aren’t that easy. Most puzzles require you to use that thing up in your head, your brain. The game will challenge you with sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and much more. A great tip is that you need to carefully look around in a room to not miss anything.

No area is repetitive. Each one has unique puzzles related to that place. I even didn’t find any similar puzzles from the previous game. The story and gameplay is also way different, except the escaping parts. In this game, the door to escape is right in front of your face, yet, the “key” isn’t.

The music is, are you ready for this, epic. I can’t find any bad song in the game or any tune I didn’t like. Often, I start a playlist on YouTube and listen to the music while I play games like Minecraft. The music gives the right vibes at the right moment. Surprisingly there are a lot of different tracks and all are of a decent length. Most of the tracks even have one word long names. Which is a nice touch of the developers.

Some parts in the game have even voice acting. This makes the game feel alive. You feel that you grow a bond with the characters and this makes you want to play more.

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Perfect?


This game is extremely close to being perfect to me. The music, animation, story, gameplay… It’s all there. Yet, I found some flaws in this game that really made me wonder. Are they going to address these issues in the sequel?

The first issue is the disappointing save file corruption glitch on the 3DS. Yes, I truly advise you all not to save in the puzzle rooms or your data can get corrupt. I learned it the hard way. The developers have yet to come out with a patch sadly enough.

In my opinion, the sound effects are lacking. Not that they aren’t good, they are pretty well done. But the same is silent without the music and really could use a bit more in the sound department in my opinion.

Also, some puzzles, the one with the liquor especially, are a bit tedious. Changing liquor and changing and more changing, it gets boring extremely quick.

Another small flaw is that the story becomes a bit predictable in yet to unlock endings if you finished others. Either you already know some information or a similar path is walked on. But it helps with the continuity of the story though.

As a final remark, this game has a flaw it can’t fix. This game’s story will leave you with an empty feeling when it’s done. You don’t want to see “The End” anytime soon. This game is perfect and the length, well it’s a long game. But when it’s over, you want more. More escaping…

Conclusion

The good:

+ Epic story.

+ Great soundtrack.

+ Amazing gameplay.

+ Various and many improvements over the original.

+ The new elements in the game really helps the game.

+ Voice acting.

+ Additional content.

The bad: 

– Sounds, could be done a bit more.

– Save file corruption.

Conclusion:

This game is really close to getting a 100 off me. Did I enjoy this game? Of course, I did. I was sad when the game was over, and I actually plan to replay the game this summer. I might already know what is going to happen and how it will end, but the puzzles and the whole game are so fun to play through.

This game isn’t for everyone though. But once you get into the gameplay, you won’t let this game go easily. It’s such a well done game, I wish I still could play it a bit more. I normally don’t care about additional content like texts of the developers but in this game I did. Can you unlock them all?

Score: 99/100