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Tekken: Dark Resurrection PlayStation Portable
PlayStation PortablePrice: $11.86 to $39.82 Compare PricesAugust 29, 2006
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Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2Price: $10.88 to $23.98 Compare PricesJuly 22, 2006
An RPG That Truly Gives Old School A Good Name
Pros: beautiful graphics,lengthy gameplay,very challenging,please fans of old-school.
Cons: the game can get too difficult at times,lack of save points,not-so-interesti
ng story. I've played all the DQ before (in Eng ver of course),including 5 and 6 through emulation, and this game blows them all away.
STORY: 7/10
Here is where the game suffers most. SquareEnix, the godfather of RPG's, are renowned for their storytelling skills, and weaving a heart-breaking tales of love, war conflict and peace throughout most of their games. Level 5, however are renowned for good games, but rubbish storytelling skills, and this is where the game falls down.The problem with the game is it's predictability, and usless things that happen on your giant quest, that could be put out of the way, leaving the way open for a more mainstream quest. You often find yourself realising what is about to happen, 1 or 2 hours before it actually happens in gametime, so it is hard to be suprised by anything that happens.
GRAPHICS: 10/10
One thing I can say for sure is that the cell-shaded graphics of Level 5 keep impressing me with every game they do. This game looks VERY good. The level of detail that went into it is just amazing. From the town structure to the monsters. Everything is well crafted and enjoyable to the eyes.
SOUND & MUSIC: 9/10
I was floored by how good this soundtrack was. Not many composers could pull off a fully orchestrated soundtrack and especially sound this good. I love the music when you are exploring and every mode of transportation you get, there is a different piece of music that really just makes the game feel more epic. The battle music seems decent at first, but once you get used to it, you start liking it more and more. Every piece of music fits well with the game and I just love it! The US version has voice acting and I must say I am Impressed,though the voice acting in this game is not in pair with other Square games like FFX.
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
Gameplay is considered by many, and frankly by the sane gamers, as the most important element in a game, high over graphics or whatever you might have. Thankfully DQ8 pulls this off easily, and well, tremendously well, but has one downfall, which is BIG, but thanks to everything else being so good, you dont really care about it, because if you take your time to level up, the obstacle becomes nothing.The game world is huge, I mean, really, really huge!You do have to backtrack in this game, but dont let this put you off, because your characters learn, very early on, a spell that can warp you to any place previously visited, so there is no worry there.
The battle system is actually FUN and leveling up can be enjoyable instead of a nuisance. Almost all of the monsters have weird skills and actions that they do and most of them are hilarious.The bosses in this game are not easy, they require a lot of thought, and carefully selected choice of attacks and skills to perform in battles. Here is also the game's downfall, some random battles can be very hard, or take very long. Some enemies can poison your party, send them to sleep, and deal about 100 damage or so, all in 1 or 2 turns. There can also be a ridiculous surplus of enemies in occasional battles, such as 8 of a powerful enemy.Money in this game is also hard to find.An enemy you defeated nets you 300+ exp,but only 40+ gold.This game is surely very challenging even to expert players.
VALUE: 10/10
This game will take your hours, possibly hundreds. This is not because it is bad or anything, far from it. The main quest will take at least 75-100 hours to compelte, even for the most experienced RPG gamer, for others it would take 125-150 hours. Now lets through in the numerous sidequests such as Princess Minnie's Mini Medals, this would take roughly 10 Hours to collect everything, and with the other multitude of quests, your are looking at 125-200 Hours of gameplay.
FINAL COMMENTS:
This game should appeal to almost all RPG players, except players who are dedicated to complex battle systems and story lines. While the story line is good, it's not going to be made into a play on ... -
Monster Hunter Freedom PlayStation Portable
PlayStation PortablePrice: $12.75 to $39.82 Compare PricesJuly 2, 2006
an improved ver of an average PS2 game
2 of 2 Yahoo! Users found this review helpfulPros: Best graphics on PSP to date,100+ gameplay hours,ad-hoc mode to play with 3 other friends
Cons: control is a drawback,camera is a pain,sometimes can be hard for solo play.
Monster Hunter Freedom is a great game, no doubt.You hunt monsters in this game. Dragons, dinosaur like things, all kinds of stuff.
Graphics: 10/10
Can’t complain here, the game looks stunning. Crisp textures, and a world that’s on par with the Ps2 version. Also, no matter how many enemies or things are on screen, I never once saw the framerate drop. Yes, there are load times, and no, they don’t affect the game at all really. There are loads every time you enter a new area, but that can be forgiven for how awesome the game looks (remember, this is a portable).
Sound : 7/10
The sound in this game is great, hearing the monster roar and scream as you hit them, or your character yelling as he slices his sword into the enemy dragon. And the music that plays is also pretty good. Nothing too great, but okay.
Gameplay : 9/10
First of all I will say a word or two about the camera. First of all the camera always finds a way to get in front of you and lead to your death. Sometimes if you're fighting a big wyvern and you're getting a little scared you'll hit the down button on the Directional Pad. What this does is moves the camera pointing upward like it's a puppet being controlled from the back of its head.
The game starts out too slow, but will eventually pick up, so don't worry.This game is a RPG/Action game, and the games premise, fighting huge dragons, works very well. Each monster you have to kill will react differently, you have to watch what it does, and learn from your mistakes. This makes hunting a lot harder, but so much more rewarding than taking out a normal boss character in an action game. The game is not too hard, but can be frustrating some times.You use many weapons, such as Sword/Shield, Dual Swords, Great Swords, Hammers, or Bowguns. Each play differently.And then there's item combing... Almost every item can be combined with others to create other items, which serve all sorts of purposes. Also, you can link up with up to 3 friends and the 4 of you go hunting together, which is awesome. There is so much to do in this game .
The inventory-limit is a setback here,since there are too many items to collect in the fields,and you may find 1/2 of your inventory filled with necessary items like the herbs,potions,wetstone,..at the start of each mission. ...
Value/Replayability : 10/10
The game basically has infinite replay value. You could easily just keep playing the game more and more and get 100s of hours of play time into it, because... the game never ends. There are tons of different quest to complete, and you can redo any quest you want at any time. This game could last forever. And trying to get all the different items and item combinations could take forever too. This game's replay value soars above others.
OVERALL : 8/10 (should be 9 if not for the issues in the game)
All I can say is, that I'm impressed. I had high expectations, and was impressed with how fun this game is. Go buy it, right now. You won't regret it. -
June 29, 2006
An excellent sequel of a great series.
1 of 1 Yahoo! Users found this review helpfulPros: Beautiful art,Superb voice acting & music,tons of Disney & Final Fantasy characters.
Cons: not much adventure,magic is useless,camera sometimes is still a pain.
In 2002, Square Enix and Disney released a game called Kingdom Hearts,in which they put together the idea of Square's characters & Disney's characters, and a lot of people thought at first that this one was not gonna work. But, soon everybody played it and loved it. Then comes Chain of Memories for the GBA, which continued the storyline, but wasn't much in the gameplay department. Now, in 2006, 4 years after the original (for those who suck at math), we finally get Kingdom Hearts II. This game greatly improves over the original, but even at that, there's still something missing to keep it from being the best.
Graphics: 10/10
Let's get one thing straight first. The PS2 is not considered the graphical powerhouse of the consoles (even though some titles have been proving them wrong). This game doesn't change anything as far as realism goes. But, they do pay a great amount of attention to detail. Every Disney-movie-themed world looks exactly like the movie did, even down to your menu screen. Every movie character looks exactly like they should (Exhibit A: Capt. Jack Sparrow). Also, any other characters look pretty good too. The cut-scenes are very well done. The opening one specifically is great. This game proves that even if the characters aren't very realistic, attention to detail is always better.
The game's soundtrack is remarkable. If you like the songs from the Disney movies, then you'll like this.The voice acting is amazing, This game is told through excellent voice acting from such well-known names as James Woods and Geoffrey Rush, and through numerous cameo appearances of other beloved and infamous Disney characters such as Aladdin, Ariel and Capt. Jack Sparrow. The Final Fantasy 7 characters were voiced by the same people who did the characters in FF7: Advent Children (the characters also sport their AC outfits), a nice little nod to the movie.But IMO,the Disney's got better voice-acting than the Square's characters.
Gameplay 8/10
They have definitely changed a lot since the last one. Firstly, there is a new button called the Reaction Command, which, when pressed at certain times, will do different things. This comes in handy with boss fights. Also, there's a new feature called "Drives". This allows Sora to combine himself with one or both party members to become a two-keyblade wielding ass-kicking machine. Drives also have their own meter to use. Summons are also used with this meter. Now then, all these new features are nice, but here's the main problem: THIS GAME IS TOO EASY! You can just button mash and win most of the time (exception is a few boss fights). I didn't have to use offensive magic ONCE.
Story: 8/10
At first it seems confusing because you don't start as Sora. You actually start playing as a new guy by the name of Roxas. In case your wondering, Sora and Roxas are connected in a way but I don't want to spoil it for you. So KH2 is the continuation of Kingdom Hearts 1 & Kingdom Hearts:Chain of Memories where Sora and company have to find their lost friends ( Riku and King Mickey). There's also a rather interesting main plot involving the heartless, nobodies, and a group called Organization XIII. The plot include several delightful twists and turns that make it all the more interesting to play through.Trust me, if you don't like confusing stories, this one ain't for you. It's actually one of the least confusing stories ever. Still, people who have played the other games will fit right in.
Overall : 9/10
= 4.5/5 = round up to 5/5 (am i bias here??)
This game is a must buy for anyone that's into action RPG's. There's a lot of unlockable stuff as side missions for people who like depth and replay in their single player RPGs. Expect about a 30-hour playthrough without bothering with the sidequests, and a 50-hour game if you go through them.Almost every aspect of this game is incredib ... -
June 29, 2006
Hideo Kojima's greatest work!!
Pros: amazing story,amazing graphics,amazing sound,amazing music,amazing.......
Cons: few gliches,the control might piss some off.
The Metal Gear Solid series has been recognized as a classic for a very long time. Fans were blown away by the shocking and unique style of MGS1. 3 years later MGS2 the most controversary PS2 title that came out. Many fans yet again shocked, this time by possibly the biggest and most shocking twist seen in a video game.
Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater is no exception. I'm a huge Metal Gear Solid fan so I had big expectations for this game. The game has been completed and it was worth the wait! Below you'll see a fairly short review on why I believe Metal Gear Solid 3 is the best game I've ever played.
Gameplay 9/10
The gameplay in this game will not dissappoint anyone. It has SO much more depth than Metal Gear Solid 2 that you'll feel like you're playing a completely different game. You'll have to use several new strategies in order to complete the missions at hand. The Boss Battles are no dissapointment in this game, they're all incredible and have you thinking out several strategies in order to reach a justice. The camera could use a little bit of work however but any skilled gamer won't worry about it at all. Yet, it can be better. By the time you beat this game you'll understand why Snake gets his new Codename.
Story 11/10
The story in this game is beautiful. It is the most straightforward and easiest to understand of all the Metal Gear Solid games. There are far less radio calls in this game as opposed to Metal Gear Solid 2. It helps tie up some of the loose ends that existed at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2. One of the great things about the story of this game is that because it takes place in the past, it fits in relatively well with the real history of the Cold War. The main characters are well developed throughout the game, especially Ocelot. I thought it was a nice touch to see what the only antagonist to survive all three games was like in his younger years. The story is darker than the previous two Metal Gears but is much more emotional as well. The final boss battle and ending sequences are beautiful. The ending is very touching and almost had me in tears.
Sound 10/10
About every MGS game had perfect sound and music. Snake Eater continues this excellency. David Hayter is back and is joined with a great cast. Harry Gregson Williams is back and gives gamers the music that will definitely get the blood flowing.All in all, the sounds are just completely perfect and could not get better.
Final comment:
I highly recommend that you buy this game. This is definitely game of the year material because of its new innovations and amazing story. Everything about this game is memorable.Hideo Kojima has given Metal Gear Solid Series fans a masterpiece well worth the wait. ... -
June 29, 2006
one of the best MMORPG
1 of 1 Yahoo! Users found this review helpfulPros: gorgeous graphics,innovative gameplay,very addictive
Cons: maybe not suit to those who prefer click&slash all day.
Guild Wars is a Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game or MMORPG. It is one of the few that you don’t have to pay each month for, which is very convenient as it is one of the greatest games of all time.
Graphics 10/10
These are some of the greatest graphics I have ever seen! The cut-scenes and even the game play graphics always look great. In fact they are done so well that I had to turn the graphical quality down to get rid of some minor lag. You can see every individual blade of grass, which seems unnecessary but who cares! When you walk in the water it ripples perfectly which is beautiful! The weapons, armor, and shields have extraordinary detail.
Sound & Music 8/10
Now, I normally like the music in a game, but to date the music has been too low in volume. But what I heard really does set the mood for what you are going for.
Gameplay 10/10
You start off the game by picking which mode you want to do. There are two different modes. Story Mode and PvP Mode. Story mode basically takes you into the game and you learn everything about Guild Wars, find items, kill monsters, level your character, etc
The PvP Mode puts you right into the PvP portion of the game. You basically make your character right there and jump right into the game. The point of PvP Mode is strictly PvP. I personally haven't made a character for this yet, so I can't speak much for what you can actually do outside of PvP.
PvE is basically story mode, and you can still use your character in PvP arenas. However, if you make a PvP character it starts off at the max level 20, and can only PvP. Both modes are fun and PvP is great for when you get bored of PvE. You can also join or make guilds, thus the name guild wars, and guilds can compete amongst each other. Every guild has their own emblem, or cape each emblem is different from another guilds and it can have great detail, or be simple.
Overall 10/10
This is a great game and it is very difficult to write everything about it. You should indefinitely buy it. In fact, why are you still reading this!? Go buy it now!!!!! It’s not like you have to pay each month. It is just one payment and you are good to go. You get 4 characters to play with and there is so much to do. If your computer doesn’t meet the system requirements for the game then it is a good reason to upgrade your computer. There is no reason not to buy this unless you hate RPGs. Even then I think you would like it. There is just so much to do! ... -
June 29, 2006
suikoden is back
2 of 2 Yahoo! Users found this review helpfulPros: 108 stars of Destiny to recruit,lengthy gameplay (40-60hrs),very good plot,6-members battle system returns
Cons: lackluster graphics,only a few good tracks,the war battle seems to wear you down after a time.FREQUENTLY LOADING TIMES.
Story (10/10)
My favorite part of the Suikoden games has always been the narrative and the plot and here S5 does not disappoint. It has all of the political intrigue, surprises and fleshed out characters that have traditionally made the series one of the most involved in all of RPGdom.
The story starts off a bit slow but picks up later and ascends from there. It unfolds at a good pace and the player is there for every bit of it. You can actually feel like you've contributed heavily to the story.
IMO,the story is on pair with S2 (&S3 maybe).
Gameplay (8/10)
Suikoden has always been known for its three different styles of play; duel battles, normal battles and war battles.After S4,S5 mark the return of the 6-members battle (S4 only hav 4) and is better than ever.
What I didn't expect in SV is the sensitive and frustrating random encounters and several with long duration of loading screens.
The most largest change is the war battles. Suikoden 5 adopted a real time strategy system. This allows for many new strategies and adds the thrill of war,but it's far from perfect,and sometimes you just want to get thru it ASAP to continue with the story.
Graphics: (7/10)
The graphics are good , the backdrop fits to the story, with exotic outfits! The sprites need more improvement, they became smaller, or rather the camera view moved further. And since it's full 3D, it doesn't necessarily fit for the sprites to be smaller.Cut scenes' graphics are back with polygonal figures, but fighting styles and magic effects are of high quality during battle systems.
Animation doesn't suffer much, the motions in battle are rather stiff and unreal. Running frame by frame are smooth, character designs are as unique as it is, rune effects gave high density which proves to be highly powerful.
Sound & Music (7/10)
The sound system is clear, themed music you can hear as you travel around the country.A few melodies from S1 & S2 are back as well.
The voice sets are back--you can now collect voice sets hidden in treasures only for your hero, some are funny to here. The voice acting is remarkably lively during cut scenes, and the music are as lovely as ever, only they sound like amateur midis.
Value 10/10
If you dont care about collecting characters and only follow the story,you might complete the game in 40-50 hrs.If you're some kind of perfectionist,it might take you 60+ hrs to finish everything.Chances are, one won't collect all 108 characters on the first try (unless you use the guide).
When you finish the game, you will result to a new game+ (plus). Items,(except for highly rare items such as Blinking Mirror,etc)Equipments, runes, etceteraz, stored in your inventory will bring through in the new game+. You will also be able to run by pressing triangle.
Last words:Suikoden V is a great game that should not be missed. Suikoden V captures the essence of what it truly wants to be; an in-depth, gripping war tale. This game will have you glued to your seat for days to come. ...
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The best Fighting Game for the PSP!
1 of 1 Yahoo! Users found this review helpfulPros: stunning graphics,great sound,great gameplay,tons of replayabilities.
Cons: control's not so comfortable
Tekken, Namco's popular fighting series has finally made it to the PSP.This has got to be the best game on the PSP. It has the graphics, tolerable load times(heck, if you can even get riled up by them, they are very short), diversity, and even different modes that offer a variety of game play tactics to conquer.This game is a port of Tekken 5, which came out on the PS2. PLUS, it has extras that are exclusive to the PSP game.Lili is the name of one of the new characters. She rocks and is pretty hot.
Another new addition is the Tekken Dojo, which allows the player to travel around various Dojos becoming the #1 rank in all of them. Also, online has finally seen the Tekken genre, and shone a light of glory upon it. ...Unfortunately, you still won't be fighting your penpal in Tokyo, Japan in this game. It seems that Namco is rebellious to pit fighters against each other. Anyway, you technically CAN fight other people... by fighting their GHOST DATA!!! That's right, ghost data can be transferred to the internet, so that you could upload your best fighters, or you can pick out which fighters you think will pose more of a challenge to you in you variety of modes to play.
GRAPHICS: 11/10
The graphics blew me away! Guess what? The graphics are the same from Tekken 5 on PS2! I never thought that the PSP could handle graphics this good. I thought they would at least be a step down. As it the graphics are truly awesome.
SOUND:9/10
From the beautiful music of the opening movie, to the sound of the punch that you landed on your opponent's gut, the sound will totally immerse you in the game. The river's whooshing, the ground breaking, the grunts in battle (although they are used often) are absolutely astounding. You will be amazed that they squeeze so much stuff into a game, and there is still many things left. Voices are also very similar to the PS2 game, so there is no need to worry about that.
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
This game has everything to offer in Tekken 5 for the PS2, AND MORE!!!Each characters has a set of moves which consists of grapple, combos, holds, juggling, etc. If you not familiar with the series, you might button mashing in the beginning but soon, you will find out you need to learn a bit of how the system works. There are a variety of different modes you can play in the game. If you're looking for a quick battle or if you want to play survival mode, Tekken has it all.There is another character that is making an appearance in this game: Armored King.By winning and earning money, you are also able to customize your characters by buying different items such as a different hairstyle and even different colors.
The factor that troubles the fighting games is the D-pad on the PSP. However, when playing the game, it felt it was pretty easy to use when executing the moves (also helps since a lot of the moves in Tekken doesn't require full circle motion on the D-pad). If you pre-order this game, you should have receive the D-pad attachment. I highly suggested you to use that attachment. It helps a lot when playing fighting games such as this one. If you do not have one, there are online stores that sells these attachment.
I am rather quite disappointed with the online features of the game. There isn't any official online fighting mode which I would like to see. However, you are able to download "Ghost Files" in order to test your skills. There are also some mini games where you can sit back and enjoyed if you don't want to spend your time fighting. There is also a theater mode where you can watch the videos that you unlock from the main game.
VALUE:10/10
More than 30 characters to master, almost 10 modes to master them in, PLUS the Dojo mode must be done with all charcters to be considered complete.
If you have PSP and have any remote interest in fighting games I recommend you to go out and buy this game right now! Even if you already own Tekken 5 for PSP this game is s ...