- Created By narutobebop
Naruto Shippuden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising Review
I thought Naruto Shippuden Legends Akatsuki Rising was great. I was happy that it's a button mashing third person brawler, that contains combat and RPG elements like Uzamaki Chronicles, rather than another fighting game. The best part of the game for me was taking control of my favorite character, Naruto with Lee and Neji as my supports in the Kazekage Retrieval story arc. I played the Mission, Survival and Akatsuki Mode as Kisame and I liked those too, but I still liked the main story more. There is a good amount of playable characters that include Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Tenten, Lee, Neji, Guy, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Itachi, Kisame, Deidra, Sasori, Sai and Sasuke. The graphics in AR were pretty top notch for the PSP and the voice overs/music were equally as good. Overall, There's still some improvements to be done with the camera angles and such, but I'd give Naruto Shippuden Legends Akatsuki Rising an 8/10. -NARUTONY79
Naruto Shippuden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising
Naruto Shippuden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising releases on October 6th only for the PSP.
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World Review
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is the new game set two years after the events in the original Tales of Symphonia. The story follows Emil and Marta on their journeys throughout the newly united world. The world was once in two parts, Tethe'alla and Sylvarant in the past ToS, but now the worlds have been united. Conflict has torn through the land as completely different people are forced together. The Tethe'allan people and the Sylvaranti start battling each other, but the story actually opens during the Blood Purge, in Palmacosta as it burns. Emil witnesses something horrible, Lloyd Irving, the previous protagonist, murdering his parents in cold blood. The personal issues in this game easily beat the political ones as the lust for vengeance may cloud Emil's judgment. The story takes it's rather predictable twists and turns to create an interesting tale that kept me interested the whole game through. The graphics are like Tales of the Abyss, but with a more realistic style, instead of the chibi type characters of the previous ToS. The music is great. It has fresh new music, remixes and some that haven't changed at all. I loved the remixes and the new stuff. The gameplay includes many of the skills and typical battle tactics from the original ToS. They also added a monster system, much like that of Pokemon, where the monsters play as party members. The thing that bothered me, is that the original ToS party can join you, but they have a level cap of 50 and you can't change their equipment. The controls are limited to only the WiiMote and Nunchuk. It was a bit disappointing to find out that I couldn't use the Gamecube or a Classic controller. Luckily, the Wii controls work very well, with the exception of having to use the - button to change targets, which is extremely diffucult. It still would've been nice to have a wider choice of controllers though. Finally, this game is a fantastic purchase and it's worth an add to any Tales fan's collection.
RPGmaniac79
Eternal Sonata ( PS3 ) Review
Everyone knows there has been a big lack of Japanese RPGs for the PS3 since it's launch. Now, Namco Bandai has re-released its first Xbox 360 JRPG For the PS3 with additional content, but is it worth it if you owned the 360 version? The graphics are very good for the genre. The color palette is wide and it really seems as though the world is LIVING, the exact opposite of a lot of games this generation ( sadly ). The character models are great and the same goes for the details in the environment. Two letdowns : You can't rotate the camera, which would have permitted the players to see the beautiful environments in all their glory, and there is a particular extra dungeon which constantly uses the same room over and over with the same color and it eventually gets annoying. Aside from these 2 things it is really a nice looking game. This is where the game lacks substance, especially the ending which is really weird. Basically, it's the story of Fredric Francois Chopin, famed Polish composer and pianist, who is about to die. The story takes place within his dream. An evil count is putting high taxes on everything except mineral powder ( a very strong medicine that supposedly cures all illness ), which he produces. However, the heroes of this story learn about something that people who consume mineral powder don't know about. A rather displeasing side affect, that turns people into mindless warriors/beasts. They then set out to ask Count Waltz to drop the taxes on other things as well, thinking he doesn't know about the side effects. And it simply goes downhill from there. There are no real plot twists and all that is happening is really predictable, except for the final boss which makes absolutely no sense at all. That aspect of the game really shines. The battles are handled in a similar way than ''Tales of'' games. Similar but turn-based. basically, when you touch a monster on the field ( no random encounters ), a battle starts. The arena is most of the time circular and every character and enemies take turns. When it is one of your 3 characters' turn, you perform actions in real-time such as attacking, using special attacks and using items. When it is the enemies' turn, you can block their attack. However, you cannot simply mash the guard button, you have to get the timing correctly when the Chance Icon appears. Blocking is mandatory and really keeps you on your toes during the enemies' turn. Also, as the game progresses, the party levels raises, hindering some aspect and improving other aspects, such as giving the opportunity to build the echo meter ( thus making the special attacks stronger ) or using Harmony chains ( Chains of special attacks between different characters ). one thing I didn't like about the battle system is that all items you can use in battle are kept in an item set, which you need to reload as your reserves deplete and it can get annoying, especially if you forget to resupply just before a boss battle and you go in with only but a few items. Also, the difficulty is higher in the PS3 version than the 360 version which makes it more exciting. Not much to say about the music except that it's absolutely brilliant. There are brief pauses during chapters in which you can hear Chopin's music playing and most of the music is composed by Motoi Sakuraba. The battle and boss musics are some of the best I've ever heard in a game and the same can be said about the Field music. Overall, this game is a truly great experience that should not be missed by JRPG fans who have been longing for one of those games on PS3. The game can be done in 25 hours if you rush your way through but after that you can play a New Game which is more difficult and in which you can change the party levels at will. The extra content for the PS3 version is : 2 new characters, additional endings, 2 new dungeons and bonus costumes for 3 of the characters. Those who really need a good story might want to pass on this because the story is average at best. Also, the people who played the 360 version really aren't missing out on much but those who have yet to play should not hesitate at all and give this game a chance.
I give Eternal Sonata for PS3 an 8 out of 10.
