God Eater Preview (Import Demo)

I’m a loot whore, always has been, always will be. Monster Hunter Unite has been the meat of my PSP playtime, and Phantasy Star Portable the desert. I’ve beaten Demon’s Souls and collected most of the loot, played through Borderlands a couple times, and finished Torchlight.

Of all these games though, I found that Monster Hunter Unite was the most challenging and satisfying game of them all. So it isn’t any surprise that I’ve become interested in God Eater, a blatant Monster Hunter clone (I guess killing gods in Japanese games is too cliché nowadays, eating them is definitely the way to go).

God Eater is a success in Japan, topping the sales charts two weeks in a row after it’s release. It’s probably no surprise since it’s inspiration single handedly revived the PSP in Japan.

While the game has been announced for the US in Q3 2010, the demo remains a Japan only deal. Thankfully the demo is also available through a PC download, giving me an opportunity to try out the game. Keep in mind that I might miss certain elements of the game due to my lack of understanding of Japanese.

The customization when you start up a new character is pretty limited but gets the job done. You will be able to pick various options like the hair, face, and customize their colors as well as the characters skin tone. You can then mix and match your character’s outfit, but this option as well as hair style can be changed in the game as well.

After a cut scene and some dialog between several characters, I gained to control over my character in the main hub. This area gives you the option to purchase various goods such as potions, outfits, and weapons. There’s also an NPC that gives you various quests, a computer looking device that gives you options to store/take items, craft or upgrade new weapons and outfits among other things.

The game features an interesting weapon mechanic, your weapon can either transform into a sword or a gun. So in any given situation you can choose to use the most effective type with just a push of a button. The various parts of the weapon can be customized before the battle, there are three different gun or sword types you can use depending on their weight. While the gun doesn’t feel drastically different, each of the sword types have a different speed and damage parameter as well as their own unique special attack.

The weapon can also eat enemies and bosses for crafting material and gun ammunition. By holding down the triangle button in sword mode, the sword changes into a giant black mouth that takes a chomp at the enemy when the button is released. It gets fairly important to use this mechanic whenever a monster is staggered to gain a temporary boost in movement as well as some special ammo.

The transforming animation from gun to a sword, or vice versa, looks smooth but ultimately makes no sense what-so-ever. During the transformation the two parts either shrink or grow to impossible levels. It’s a rather unfortunate design decision since I think they could have easily incorporated a method that made physical sense.

After a couple training missions I finally got into an actual quest with 3 other A.I. buddies. The fight against the monster was pretty easy thanks to the dodge button that lets you quickly dash away from enemies. The tactic I found best was to hit the target with a short combo and dash away, then look for another opportunity to attack.

The game features a lock on system that can target individual body parts, something missing in Monster Hunter for better or worst. The feature is useful when focusing on breaking a specific body part, which leads to better rewards, but the targeting can occasionally be finicky since you might need to cycle between different parts to get to your intended target.

The A.I. companions make the game much more newbie friendly than it’s inspiration as well. They are more than capable of dishing out damage and distracting the enemy. They can also revive you during a fight as many times as they want. After another quest against the larger monster, however, I’ve found a few problems with the game.

As with Monster Hunter, you expect the enemies to deal massive damage to your character. But I found that I didn’t need to waste my potions even when I have very little health left. The healing potions only heal a miniscule amount of your HP, while A.I. partners can infinitely revive you. I ended up just fainting every time while waiting a couple seconds for the A.I. to save me. In all honesty, I believe the A.I. companions can defeat the boss without a singe input from the player. They are just too capable.

Thankfully, you can actually choose how many partners you take along in any given quest (from 0-3 partners). But since grinding for materials is an important aspect of the game, I wouldn’t be surprised if most players just exploit the system they have in place.

Another problem with the game is the environments. While it’s nice to have a single large area with no loading screens, the game has many drawbacks from using such a design.

First, there isn’t a whole lot of detail in the surroundings, making the game world feel really bland. One of the best aspects of Monster Hunter is that it manages to create an illusion that there’s a living world and ecosystem in the game. While the post-apocalyptic setting in God Eater can explain the lack of a thriving ecosystem, the areas mostly consist of square platforms and flat surfaces with little to no signs of rubble or destruction.

Secondly, if they have more than 1 boss type monster in an area there is no way to lure one out and fight them alone. While they aren’t grouped together from the start of a quest, considering that all boss monsters wander the given area, you’ll eventually end up with all of them bunched up together. In one particular quest, the game decided to pit me against 3 bosses. Oh, and here’s the kicker, I can’t bring any A.I. buddies to tag along. It’s an impossible hurricane of fury that only leads to a swift and confusing death.

There’s a similar sense of progression you’d expect from a Monster Hunter game. The crafting and upgrading of weapons is a pure joy. And while the bosses and creatures in the game aren’t as engaging in design or behavior, they are competent and unique in their own way. The combat is good and it doesn’t hurt that it feels faster than Monster Hunter.

Overall, it’s a decent stab at Monster Hunter, but similar to many games that clone successful titles, it ends up feeling a bit shallow and soulless in the end. Here’s hoping that I missed some key elements either due to the nature of a demo or the language barrier. I’m still looking forward to playing the US version of God Eater. Expect a review or another in-depth preview when the game finally arrives in the States.

Game Design Challenge: Free To Play. Mission Failed.

Looking through Gamasutra, I can’t help but notice the feature Game Design Challenge: Free To Play from one of their sister sites. I thought it would have been interesting to see new and refreshing game ideas when I read the challenge, and later read the sites top picks when their deadline was over. To my disappointment, I don’t think any of the ideas presented from the readers are actually interesting and feasible at the same time.

For example, Ramboanasolo’s Unethical iContract, isn’t even meant to be a proper game, but more of technological experiment using the iPhone. The game revolves around people actually coming into close proximity in a given time frame of 3 days at the shortest and a month at the longest. People bet into a pool with real money involved, and the winner takes all. They are ranked through mini-games that occur on the iPhone or by taking a picture of a specific landmark that is assigned to them first.

Might as well play this.

But the mini-games only happen when people enter into each others range. Which means the occurrence is going to be rare, and sporadic. Nobody is going to bet into a pool when they don’t even know if they will encounter anyone. The solution is hotspots… for a single iPhone game? It’s an ‘interesting’ idea but doesn’t really fit the Free To Play (FTP from now on) model, and is unappealing, and unmarketable.

Another game on the list revolves around people putting money into the pool once again, hardly a FTP game at all, while the winner is mostly decided on who grinded the most. And other examples are different skins of the usual FTP market, except with flawed monetary models.

Of course the question is whether or not there can be innovations in the FTP market. I think the Korean market style works, but obviously the challenge was to create something new and refreshing while making it probable for production and sale.

To get an understanding of what the readers had to go against, let’s have a look into some of the traits of a Korean FTP game.

1. All players have full access! Free!

Obviously any blocks on the game would cause a split between the user-base. They aren’t trying to make money on the actual game content or they would have a monthly fee.

2. I’ve only spent a dollar, Micro-transactions.

Korean FTP games don’t want a large chunk of money from a single transaction, they want a lot of small individual transactions that feel insignificant to the users wallet. They are generally show up as in-game items that can be used by a character.

3. No significant advantages for purchasing items. But damn that hair is awesome!

Most items don’t effect the experience too much. Once again, any split in the community ruins it for everyone. Most items are cosmetic, or give experience point boosts, and occasionally have give a slight advantage on less important mechanics of the game, a slightly faster mount for example.

4. Grind. Grind. Grind!

While the content maybe open to all players, how fast they can actually access the content varies. I think most of these FTP games rely on the experience point boosters as their primary income. It’s hard to argue against this method because, in all honesty, this is probably the only sure way for most FTP games to make money.

5. The feeling of familiarity. Déjà vu?

A lot of Korean FTP games borrow from existing popular games, World of Warcraft like MMOs, Mariokart style racing games, Military first person shooters, Power Stone-ish fighters. It’s easy to attract people who just want to mess around with similar games but not actually spend money. Needless to say, it’s mostly generic and uninspired.

Whatever the quality, and I think they are usually decent at worst and good at best, the Korean FTP games have been successful. Creating a game that tries something different wouldn’t be easy, as all the Gamasutra’s rather improbable or uninteresting examples show.

Social network gaming is probably the most successful example of FTP games that are a bit different than the Korean ones. They focus on friends interacting with each other as a method to create a user-base, and a lot of in-game benefits occur when they do so. Of course the actual market is quite similar, you buy in-game items through micro-transactions, but they do have more freedom with game-enhancing items since the community is generally not competing with each other but working together.

So, do I have an interesting idea?

Well, no. Other than, ‘make a great game’, I can’t think of anything new. Quite frankly, the only other option is in-game advertising, and who wants a Coca-Cola ad while walking through a space station? Well, unless it’s Space-Mart, where I can buy a can of Space Coca-Cola along with a cute little Space Hamster. That sounds pretty awesome.

Notable games of February, 2010

Since this is the first post, I’d might as well add the end of January releases. The release schedule of the end of January through the end of April is pretty much the second Christmas for gamers. Anyways here’s the list of games that are worth a look in the coming month.

MAG ( PS3 )
Released on Jan. 26th
Genre: FPS

MAG comes from the maker of the original SOCOM series, Zipper Interactive. The game is a multiplayer only military FPS, designed for big battles incorporating up to 256 players. Anyone who enjoyed the series, or enjoyed the Battlefield series should check it out.

Mass Effect 2 ( 360, PC )
Released on Jan. 26th
Genre: RPG

Bioware is pretty much the leading developer of Western RPGs today. With the release of the phenomenal Dragon Age: Origins, as well as the original Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 is another worthy title in the Bioware library. It’s promised to be more action packed while fixing and improving a lot of the issues with the first game. If you are a fan of RPGs or science fiction, you shouldn’t miss this game. Buy it!

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars ( Wii )
Released on Jan. 26
Genre: Fighting

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is the spiritual sequel to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. This time round the cast of Capcom characters go against Tatsunoko characters, most well known cartoon being the G Force. While Tatsunoko isn’t well known in the west, the game is still a solid fighting game overall. As the Wii lacks any recent fighting games, this is pretty much the best one on the Wii.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle( Wii )
Released on Jan. 26
Genre: Action

Suda 51 is known for his quirky and weird games and the original No More Heroes didn’t disappoint in that regard. You control Travis Touchdown, a geek that decides to become a assassin after his mail order ‘light-saber’ arrives. The sequel promises to fix all the issues with the first game while building and improving upon it’s quirky and over the top nature. If you have a Wii and have a craving for a good action game, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is a great choice.

Star Trek Online (PC)
Released on Feb. 02
Genre: MMO

Created by the team behind City of Heroes and Champions Online, Star Trek Online gives a lot of options to become whatever race in Star Trek you’ve ever dreamed of, even your own custom races. You play as a member of the Federation, battling Borgs and Klingons among other threats, on-foot or in space. Or if you prefer PvP, you can always pick the Klingon side and battle the Federation players. From what I’ve seen so far, the game has epic space battles, and great shoot outs. If you are a Star Trek fan, definitely do not miss this MMO.

Bioshock 2 ( 360, PS3, PC )
Released on Feb. 09
Genre: FPS

The first Bioshock was a dark and atmospheric journey through the underwater city of Rapture. Whether you where entranced by the beautiful yet disturbing environments of a utopian society gone wrong, or were immersed with the various and equally disturbed characters, Bioshock was one of the best games of 2008. A lot of people, including me, think the game doesn’t really need a sequel, and doubt if the development of the sequel was more than a financial decision. It would be interesting to see if Bioshock 2 can live up to the original, while casting away all the doubts.

Dante’s Inferno ( 360, PS3)
Released on Feb. 09
Genre: Action

Loosely, and I mean very loosely, based off the book of the same name, Dante’s Inferno is a blatant God of War rip-off that isn’t afraid to hide it. Since God of War 3 is a PS3 exclusive, it fills the void on the 360 nicely. But anyone who has a PS3 should just look forward to God of War 3 instead. Needless to say, I lack faith in the title, but I reserve my final judgment after some reviews trickle out. (Pun not intended)

Heavy Rain ( PS3 )
Released on Feb. 23
Genre: Adventure

Think of this game as the natural progression of adventure games of the past, it’s much more streamlined and cinematic. You play several different characters in a crime mystery setting unraveling the truth. The interesting twist of the game is that when any of protagonists you play die, the game just goes on. Needless to say, that itself creates a lot of different changes in the plot, but consider that you also get to make different choices throughout the game, so there’s a lot of possibilities to how the game ends. Anyone who enjoys adventure games, or the developer’s other notable title, Indigo Prophecy , should definitely try this game.

Loved Demon’s Souls? Try Monster Hunter! (Part 4)

Part 4: Problems and Tri

Just because Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is one of the best titles I’ve played in recent years, doesn’t mean it’s clear of any problems. I don’t think anything is wrong with the game design itself, but the lack of a decent tutorial to ease new players limits it’s appeal. I’ve seen many people who gave up when coming across the easiest ‘boss’ monster in the game, the Yian Kut Ku. Although the wyvern itself isn’t hard to fight, the lack of a proper tutorial hurts most gamers from overcoming the challenge.

Of course I do think there is some intentional design here, I distinctly remember a quote from Capcom saying the game design is focused around communication. They want people to figure out the mechanics and strategies with other hunters. Internet FAQs as well as Youtube videos are a good resource to learning about the game, it’s the sort of game that requires that you look into the deep end of the pool before plunging in (Demon’s Souls has a similar idea, world/character tendencies and other secrets require that you either discuss or research the game for the full experience).

I admit it is part of the appeal of the game, I enjoyed watching and learning strategies in Youtube before a fight, and FAQs are pretty much a requirement for crafting as well as understanding how to get the rarer carves. It gives the game long legs, an ongoing interest to the community that surrounds it.

I’m sure there are enough players in the US for Capcom to constantly try to push the franchise towards a larger success, but the problem is the online infrastructure, or lack thereof. The PSP’s Adhoc multiplayer makes sense in countries such as Japan, where the population is much more dense. People meeting up to play games is much more common and actually preferred. It‘s impossible to create such a setting in the US, where online play is the preferred method to play with other people.

Thanks to the recently released Adhoc Party, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite can be played online through the PS3. But this option requires a PSP and a PS3 (the PS3 must have a hardwired internet connection as well). It’s easy for anyone to miss one of those on the check list, making Monster Hunter mostly a single player affair. As an example, I’m a HR8 (multiplayer end-game) ranked hunter purely through solo-play. Sure I have pride in my accomplishments in completing missions that were meant for 4 players, but I’d prefer hunting together with other people.

Speaking of online infrastructure, Capcom is finally planning on releasing Monster Hunter Tri outside of Japan. It’s going to be on the Nintendo Wii, and will have a proper online multiplayer. However, I doubt the sales of the franchise will rise beyond a niche level for several reasons.

First and foremost, it’s on the Wii. Now before any Wii owners cry foul, I’m not saying the Wii is a bad platform for the game itself, Monster Hunter games were on the PS2 and then on the PSP, the Wii is more than capable of pushing the franchise forward. The problem is that Capcom relied on the Japanese market to decide the platform, ignoring the global trend of the Wii.

As many of you know, hardcore games on the Wii just don’t sell, the general Wii audience just doesn’t seem to be interested in them. Considering that the Monster Hunter franchise has only shown niche success even around enthusiast gamers, this spells doom for the title already.

On a related note, changing the platform has a possibility of alienating the existing Monster Hunter fans. I’ve already read enough forum posts where people feel betrayed by Capcom’s move away from the Playstation platform, while others don’t own a Wii and have no plans on buying one for a single game. And as someone who doesn’t own a Wii, and can’t afford one at the moment, I’m also regretfully considering skipping the franchise this time around.

Another problem is that it’s still a daunting game for newcomers, probably even more so than Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. New underwater mechanics aside, a lot of the monsters in the game seem to be tougher. Capcom has promised that the game will ease in newbie hunters better than the previous titles, but it has yet to be seen.

It’s all rather unfortunate considering that the game looks to be the best in the franchise ( I’ve carefully studied almost every single monster hunt on Youtube, if that amounts to anything). While it’s lacking in overall content compared to Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, which had at least 3 prior iterations to improve and build upon, the success in the Japanese market guarantees a sequel.

My understanding is that Capcom is going for a strong market push for Monster Hunter Tri in the US. In that case, I believe the Wii bundle released in Japan would almost be necessary in creating buzz around the title. At least it might convince Monster Hunter enthusiasts to purchase the title along with a Wii. Hell, I doubt that I could resist that, even if it means I need to pay it off over several months. It’s probably wishful thinking on my part however.

Going back to the beginning, anyone who enjoyed Demon’s Souls and owns a PSP should definitely try Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Demon’s Souls follows along a lot of what makes Monster Hunter great while adding it’s own unique twists. But I strongly contend that the level of depth and polish of Freedom Unite is incomparable, despite it being limited to the PSP hardware.

Even if you don‘t touch multiplayer, the lengthy single player content alone is worth the purchase. The appeal of Monster Hunter is that all missions usually take around 20 to 30 minutes at a time, with a maximum time limit of 50 minutes. I played the game in small chunks everyday for nearly half a year, eventually clocking over 300 hours of play time (single player takes around 100 hours to finish). It’s like a World of Warcraft addiction except you can just play for half an hour and turn it off.

The future is bright for Monster Hunter. Capcom developed Monster Hunter Tri from the ground up, rejuvenating the franchise and bringing it up to a whole new level of polish. As with the PSP iterations, Tri somehow manages to bring out the best of it’s platform. Hopefully it can achieve the following it deserves as well.

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Go to Part 1: Souls and Inspirations
Go to Part 2: Loot and Monsters
Go to Part 3: Environments and Music

Loved Demon’s Souls? Try Monster Hunter! (Part 3)

Part 3: Environments and Music

The environments you’ll traverse enhance the experience of the hunt. The characteristics of every different region and climate is shown with much detail, affecting the creatures and plants that exist in the areas, as well as the condition of the hunter. Hunters will have a melt down in the desert or volcanic heat, shiver in the cold mountains and caves, all of which can thankfully be temporarily remedied by occasionally drinking specific potions.

The surroundings around you become a hazard and a nuisance to hunters while giving an advantage to the monsters. Some monsters will swim in the water to avoid attacks, others manage to swim in sand or lava. Some monsters prefer to fight in caves, making it hard to maneuver and dodge their attacks. Volcanic areas will have areas with lava flowing through the map, impeding the hunter’s movements while monsters in the region can freely move about. And swamp waters emit poison at night, making hunters avoid contact while monsters aren’t affected by it.

Sounds in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite mostly focus on natural ambience in the environment. But the moment a battle between the you and a monster starts, an epic orchestral score unleashes itself. The music properly conveys the mood of the situation, actually it would be more correct to say that it conveys the monster itself.

The music attacks your senses, overwhelming and instilling fear into your heart, and yet managing to give you a rush to push forward. The properly frantic and epic soundtrack of Monster Hunter adds to the character of the game and leaves a lasting impression on your experience.

There are different battle themes depending on the region or specific monster to keep the music fresh and strong even after countless hours of play.

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Go to Part 4: Problems and Tri

Return to Part 2: Loot and Monsters

Loved Demon’s Souls? Try Monster Hunter! (Part 2)

Part 2: Loot and Monsters

At it’s core, Monster Hunter is an action game. You don’t gain experience or levels and there isn’t any concrete storyline to move along the plot. There isn’t any special abilities you learn, everything is given to you from the beginning. The moment you equip any of the different weapon types, you have access to all the skills that accompany it.

The real semblance to a RPG is the loot system. You collect raw materials from collecting herbs, bugs, ores, and monster parts. With these raw materials you are able to create potions, food, tools, and most importantly, equipment.

Crafted weapons and armor crafted take on the properties and look of each individual monster. So if you create a weapon out of a Khezu, for example, you’ll get a weapon with the thunder element while looking like it was made out of slimy Khezu parts. In many ways this isn’t any different from Capcom’s other popular and enduring franchise, Megaman, where you take on the property of your fallen foes.

There’s over 30 monsters in the game, which doesn’t even account for variations and their higher ranked versions. Couple that with weapon variations spanning great swords, long swords, sword and shields, dual swords, hammers, horns, lances, gunlances, bows, bowguns, heavy bowguns, all with branching upgrade paths, armor and socket-able gems, you have a ridiculous amount of equipment you can create and equip.

Each monster you battle also have fairly unique characteristics and behaviors as well. Every new encounter feels fresh and daunting, as you won’t know how the monster will act. Soon you’ll learn each monsters habits and movements and learn to exploit them. It’s very similar to Demon’s Souls in that respect, careful inspection and well thought out attacks are the key here. Of course what it does better than Demon’s Souls is that the monsters don’t feel like set pieces or a puzzle, they feel like living breathing creatures.

There’s a strong sense of awe and respect towards the monsters you are hunting. First off, they are enormous compared to the size of the hunter. And secondly, they’ll deal the damage you’ll expect from such large creatures against a tiny human. Every hit you take is significant and deadly.

As such, you’ll spend a lot of time circling a monster and looking for an opening rather than blindly charging in. You’ll learn to react to the subtle motions as they twist and turn to prepare for an attack. Learning the moment a monster is open to your own attacks, and when you should back off is a key to your success.

It’s the battle of the wits between a impossibly dangerous and enormous animal, and a seemingly helpless and small hunter. You’ll learn to hate the annoying Plesioth, respect the agile Narga Kuga and be overwhelmed by the aggressive Diablos. Every battle is hard fought and every victory is a celebration.

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Go to Part 3: Environments and Music

Return to Part 1: Souls and Inspirations

Loved Demon’s Souls? Try Monster Hunter! (Part 1)

Part 1: Souls and Inspirations

It seems that Demon’s Souls captivated peoples’ minds at the end of 2009. It was the surprise dark horse of the year, dragging many into the depths of Boletaria and it’s surrounding demon infested environments. I personally have beaten the game and am in the process of finishing up my second play through. It’s a challenging title that knocks you to the ground, waiting for you to get back up again for another beating.

Or so the saying goes…

I don’t believe Demon’s Souls is as challenging as it was made out to be. While there isn’t a auto-check point in the game, there is always a shortcut that opens up either at the middle or near the end of the level. And while losing all your souls, the currency in the game, after a second death might seem harsh, you’ll learn that you gain the most souls upon defeating bosses, as well as a permanent checkpoint, promptly allowing you to return to the hub where you can spend all your souls before venturing into a new area.

Anyways, I’m not actually here to advocate people to try Demon’s Souls. And even though I enjoyed Demon’s Souls quite a bit, I can’t shake that feeling off the top of the head that I wasn’t satisfied enough.

What was it about the game that bothered me? I enjoyed traveling down those dark and lonely corridors, battling blood thirsty bosses, barely vanquishing them with a hair of health. Every encounter was an event, every step was an accomplishment. So what was missing?

Nothing actually. It wasn’t the game itself that had failed me in anyway. It was the enormity of what came before it that effected me, the one game that inspired Demon’s Souls design, and also inspired me to play Demon’s Souls in the first place.

While Demon’s Souls gained popular acclaim among many enthusiast sites, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite hasn’t really gotten much attention throughout the year. Sure there were passing mentions of it to explain the Japanese trend of Adhoc games on the PSP, but nobody went in depth as to why this franchise could have made such a big impact in the first place.

All Adhoc related social implications aside, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite deserves a closer look as to why it was able to change the direction of the PSP and spread it’s influences into other platforms.

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Go to Part 2: Loot and Monsters

Go to Part 3: Environments and Music

Go to Part 4: Problems and Tri

Adding images to text would be great but…

I’d love to add images to my articles but since I don’t have a capture device I can’t add my own.

I suppose I could just get some from the official video game site if I can, since I’d rather not touch anything used by another outlet.

Might not fit the text at times but who am I to complain?

Update: That was fairly painless. Also managed to find out that the paragraphs on my Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes review was jumbled somehow. Fixed it but how did that happen?

Preview – Dark Void (Demo)

While short on story elements, and short in general, the Dark Void demo show cases the strongest elements of the game. Whether or not you see the connections between Dark Void and the Crimson Skies series, as many mentioned in the past, Dark Void makes a case for it’s own with the perfect blend of exhilarating aerial combat and competent and open ended on-foot action.

The demo starts out with the main protagonist, Will Grey, trying out the jetpack for the first time. I made the mistake of pressing up on the analog stick moving forward while engaging the jetpack. In true aerial control fashion, up on the analog stick actually points Will down. After skidding through the ground a couple times and realizing my mistake, I finally got into the air. The flying itself, once you stop grinding your chin on the ground anyways, is fairly straight forward and responsive.

What’s amazing is the details on Will while he is flying through the sky. When you first boost off into the air, he wails around frantically struggling for control. The jetpack constantly jitters throughout the flight as if there is wind resistance, and air streams that appear seem to emphasize this fact. Every bit of attention, from how Will squeezes the control mechanism on his right hand to break or boost, or how he straightens himself out when boosting give a strong sense of realism no matter how fictional or impossible it actually is.

Shooting ground targets while in the air will be easy for anyone, but when the appropriately named flying disks appear it becomes a different story. Thankfully, since it’s near impossible to pinpoint a target due to their constant movements, the game introduces the lock on mechanism to aid you in gunning down your targets. Another option is to jack a flying disk when you are close enough to the ship. After a short mini-game and a quick-time event, you’ll dispatch the enemy pilot and take control over the ship, gaining extra firepower and some cover in the process. Though the aerial combat will take some getting used to, it’s a blast flying through the air shooting down or jacking enemy ships.

Will can also hover in the air, which is useful for jumping to higher ground or landing from flight. Shooting enemy targets on the ground below while hovering above their heads is a fun and empowering experience.

The ground combat also feels right, though the enemy behavior leaves much to be desired. Generally they take cover competently and shoot back at appropriate moments. But when you take cover they seem to try to get up close, which incidentally gives the player the upper advantage. Mashing the circle button makes Will melee any enemies foolish enough to enter into range until they die. Hopefully the game introduces enemies that act a bit smarter or are immune to Will’s deadly fists or this might become tedious.

Other issues with the game are due to it’s low details in the surrounding environment. The textures are fine when you are flying through the air, but once you hover down for a glimpse you’ll see blurry textures and bland environments that remind you that this a game level, and not a believable environment. On certain surfaces Will actually stands above the ground itself, breaking the suspension of disbelief even further. I do think I’m being somewhat overly critical about the environment since most of these areas were meant for aerial combat and maybe because it’s a downloadable demo. But as someone who likes to explore open areas, it does disappoint me that these examples are easy to find. Either way, the textures where you are actually meant to fight on the ground is much more detailed and pleasing to the eye.

While there are other small niggling points, such as how often Will folds onto himself upon death, or how walking into deeper water will immediately kill him without any warning, the overall demo experience was entertaining enough to play multiple times trying out different strategies. Hopefully the title can carry this throughout the whole game when it finally arrives on January 16th.

Review – Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes

While there are many great puzzle games on the DS, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords showed that the blending of a puzzle mechanics and RPG progression make for a compelling and addicting combination. The same can be said of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, a game that successfully mixes Magical Drop, or the more recent Critter Crunch, mechanics into the Heroes of Might and Magic universe. Ultimately, the RPG elements of the game is on the lighter side, but what it lacks, it makes up in spades with the well thought out puzzle mechanics themselves.

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes revolves around a battle between you and the opponent, whether it be A.I or another player. Your army units are on the bottom screen of the DS while the opponent’s units fill up the top screen. The main goal of the game is to reduce the health of the opponent to zero, which is achieved by vertically matching three same colored blocks, or army units in this case, on your side of the screen in a limited amount of moves. After you spent all your moves, it becomes the opponents turn to move their units.

Of course, if it was that simple, it wouldn’t make for a compelling puzzle game. In fact, I was just scratching the very surface. After 3 units are matched up vertically, they move to the top of your screen and two numbers appear on them. One is the attack value on the unit and the other is a counter. This counter is the turns they need to take before they rush into your opponents screen and try to reach the top.

However, your opponent, as well as you against their attacks, can negate damage by placing units or a vertical match of their own in front of the attacking units. Better yet, horizontally matching 3 units will create a wall that can take a decent beating from attacks. Any unit in the way of the attacks will be destroyed but take away points from the attack value.

There are also different unit types that deal different damage, elite or champion units that take up more space but usually have a higher attack value and special properties, how the different Heroes you get to play as changes the looks and properties of walls, units, and have their own spell to use in combat.

The artifact equipment system from the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise also show up here, letting you outfit your hero with one special stat or ability. My personal favorite being the one that reduces your health by 90% but increases all the units’ attack by 100%. There is something very satisfying being at the edge of defeat, yet being ultimately much more powerful for it.

If you were overwhelmed by the game mechanics so far, and I haven’t even mention them all, you can put your mind at ease. Despite all it’s complexities, the game offers a superb tutorial that slowly eases you into the game. I didn‘t have problems jumping into the game itself, but found it harder to talk about among friends. It’s a game that manages to be easy to pick up and play, yet superbly deep and complex enough leave a lasting impression.

While the mechanics of the game are a magical treat, the story of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is a pretty standard RPG fare. The story revolves around the Dagger of Binding, a powerful weapon that grants the user control over demons. After an attack on their camp from demons who came to retrieve the dagger, the five playable protagonists Anwen, Godric, Fiona, Aidan and Nadia, struggle to liberate their lands, seek retribution, and search for the Dagger of Binding. That said, the story is much more engaging than other attempts in this genre. Every story encounter is significant enough to read through, the character’s are likable, and the dialog is concise and to the point.

It helps that the character designs are generally well done and pleasing to the eye as well. The character illustrations, used mostly in dialogs, are done in a Japanese anime style but manage to avoid being over the top or out of place. The in-game characters are shown in a pixilated 16-bit JRPG fashion. Despite their limited size and animation, they are filled with attention and are brimming with life, it hits that nostalgia factor in the head whether or not it was intentional.

All the units in battle look distinctive and easy to tell apart from each other. Different factions, from demons, to knights, to elves or wizards, carry their own unique spin on character designs and attack animations even if they all have the same properties. Even the background maps you travel through look terrific. While you are only able to follow along predestined paths, similar to the proper Heroes of Might and Magic series, the surrounding environments are done with detailed and caring attention. As mentioned above, all the visuals in the game remind me of the 16-bit JRPG era in a very good way.

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is another excellent puzzle game that manages to stand out from the long list of great puzzle games on the DS. And although the RPG elements might not be as deep or lengthy compared to the other puzzle RPG game, it makes up for it by creating a engaging battle system that is unique, simple to grasp yet deep enough to delve into for hours. Couple that with a quick play, multi-card or single-card multiplayer option, this is a must play for people who have an interest for puzzle games, and for any DS owners alike.