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Pokemon Black (DS)
by PureDark
I still remember in 1999 when I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of Pokemon Red for my Gameboy Colour. Pokemon was sold out everywhere and getting a copy was near impossible. I remember catching my first wild Pokemon (a Pidgey) and my first Charmander evolving. That was arguably the golden age of Pokemon. At least it was for me. ... Now we're in 2011 and a lot has changed. Now 9 year old kids would rather watch horror films and text their friends than play with lame old Pokemon. Wow it's finally happened ... I'm already a fogey complaining about the new generation of youth! I'm 21 years young and I've played every single generation of Pokemon that's hit the store shelves and this generation is no different. I saw it advertised and simply had to get my hands on it even though I knew exactly what to expect. So is Pokemon still relevant nowadays? Should Nintendo keep cracking out new games or just let the franchise die an honourable death? Here are my thoughts.
So in the 2011 version of Pokemon we have two versions; Black and White. To be honest I thought they would have used these titles sooner. Certainly before Ruby and Sapphire anyway! Anyway that's not the point. You can expect the usual version specific differences such as which wild Pokemon appear in the wild, the legendary Pokemon you'll encounter and also some game locations will be different. Nothing particularly new here. It's the classic formula that has worked for all these years where you need to have at least 2 other friends in order to collect all the Pokemon. This can be a pain if like me, you haven't grown up but your friends all have -sigh-..... Technology has advanced since the link cable days though and you can trade with anyone over the internet thankfully. If anyone wants a trade partner then send me a message! Maybe Nintendo will do as they always do and make a game which combines all the Pokemon so there's little need to trade? Hello Pokemon Grey version.
Now I'd like to reply to those who are outraged at how 'unoriginal' the new Pokemon are. I can definitely understand where you are coming from. There IS a Pokemon which looks like an Ice-cream and evolves into a double scoop. There IS a Pokemon based on a rubbish bag. I'll admit it took some thought to make me happy with some of these new additions but I've decided it's all fine. The original 150 creatures were essentially based on animals! You can't get more unoriginal than that really if you ask me. Rattata was a purple cartoon rat, Pidgey was a cartoon bird, the three legendary birds were birds which were surrounded by either Ice, Fire or Electricity, Pikachu was even described as the 'electric mouse' Pokemon. Pokemon designs have never been original but we've grown to hold the original 150 dear because they're the ones we grew up with. Younger kids might have grown up with Gold/Silver versions and remember that generation more fondly. The new Pokemon are good enough to capture the imaginations of young kids all over again in my opinion. OK so we've established that the Pokemon are good to go, so what's the game actually like?
Gameplay works very much like it always has but attempts to make the formula fresh again and less of a chore for those who have always found the pace of Pokemon too slow for their tastes. I'd say the game has enough to make it feel fresh while maintaining the original formula we all know and love. You'll be travelling from town to town battling gym leaders, exploring multiple routes and caves and of course catching and training Pokemon. I'll talk about some of the new features for those who are thinking about taking the plunge but don't want to play the same game again.
You don't name your rivals and you'll battle them more regularly. They are also more involved in the story than rivals have been before. Tall grass now 'rustles' in certain patches and contains rare Pokemon which as well as being rare will give much more experience than other wild Pokemon battles and probably trainer battles too. This is a welcome change and really mixes up the game a bit as some Pokemon can only be found in rustling grass in certain locations. Any help with training is always welcome right? Your first gym battle factors in your choice of starter Pokemon (if you chose a fire type you'll face a water type etc). The Pokemon centre and Pokemart have been combined into one building to save you walking all over the place. You can run indoors since some inside areas can be quite large. Some areas of grass are even taller and can contain 2 wild Pokemon simultaneously to make training more efficient. There's more but I like to keep my reviews a certain length because I'm weird like that.
Graphically the new games have come along way even since the last generation. The whole of a Pokemon's body is now displayed in battle and they are slightly animated whilst not attacking. The camera also zooms in and out during the battle depending on what's going on. The environments are made much more lively with nearly 3D graphics being used and camera angles showing the scope of some of the landscapes. Pokemon gyms are made to look particularly good, there's even a roller coaster system in one of them so look forward to that!
I'd recommend Pokemon Black/White to anyone who's been a fan of the series, young kids who've never had a taste and RPG fans in general. I firmly believe that it is the best game on the DS platform and an excellent last send off from Nintendo for the now last generation handheld. You can guarantee that as soon as Pokemon 3DS is released, I'll be making the switch. The series has given so much over the years and it's still going. Get involved people.
Thanks for reading, if you have any helpful comments I'd love to read them and again if you want someone to trade with send me a message.
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The World Ends With You (DS)
by Anti
'The World Ends With You' is a role-playing game on the DS, released in 2008. Now, most Japanese style RPGs can be pretty generic in fashion and easy to rehash: you control a party of four characters, travel round the world, defeat monsters in turn-based combat, traverse dungeons and beat a really powerful boss monster/person before ... getting some treasure, rinse and repeat to the end of the game. However TWEWY has been credited with turning the genre on its head with its use of real-time based battles, a locked world map based on real-life Tokyo and unique stats and battle system. This was something that put me off getting the game as I'm not a fan of real-time battles (I'm pretty bad at making impromptu decisions) and heard that its controls were difficult to get used to. Well my sister got the game and got pretty far; she enjoyed the game and I enjoyed watching her, so I decided to give the game a go myself with my own playthrough.
TWEWY is set in an alternative Shibuya, an actual district within Tokyo. Our main character is an angsty boy named Neku who prefers being alone and listening to the music from his headphones. So when he wakes up in Shibuya with memory loss, hearing the thoughts of passers-by he can't communicate with, and being attacked by frogs, you can bet he's pretty freaked out. Neku has been forced into the 7-day Reapers Game; for seven days he is set timed tasks, such as get to a certain area of the district in 30 minutes. If he fails them then Neku will be erased from existence of both here and the real world. He must also defeat Noise- basically the monsters in the game- and partner up with another challenger to fight properly. I liked the story because there is a lot of character development for the main cast, especially from Neku because he is forced to fight with others rather than on his own. There are messages to learn and tough decisions to make, and it results in a great story from start to finish.
You control Neku around Shibuya by dragging the stylus in the direction he wants to go. There are many different areas within the district and various shops which sell clothes and food (for stat boosts), although some might be blocked for plot reasons. Fighting monsters is actually optional as opposed to inevitable- to do so, press the Scan button in the corner of the screen and Neku will start scanning people's thoughts and nearby noise in the area, and selecting that noise will draw it closer to you for a fight.
Now TWEWY's battle system is a refreshing shake-up of traditional RPGs. It takes up both DS screens because your partner fights Noise on the top screen while Neku fights the same monster at the bottom. Neku fights Noise with badges bought from shops or gained from key battles. Each one grants him special abilities such as shooting fast bullets, dragging flames across the floor and causing mini quakes. They are activated by doing various touch screen movements (e.g. the flame ability just involves drawing the path of flames on the screen but many only work for a couple of seconds and take time to recharge. How well your badges will work don't depend on the type of enemy you're facing but how trendy its branding is in that area of Tokyo; a hip brand means they get an attack boost but those at the bottom of the charts will have their power halved. Meanwhile your partner at the top unleashes melee combos on the foe by pressing a sequence of the directional buttons in order, and choosing certain combos will allow you to unleash a double- attack between both characters. I enjoyed this battle system a lot because it was great to combine different badge attacks to keep pummelling your enemy and I soon found my favourite brand ("Jupiter of the Monkey"). However the controls for combat are very difficult to get adjusted to. Your attention needs to be divided between the two screens as you're moving the stylus for Neku's attacks while frantically pressing buttons for his partner, something which I found impossible to do well. Fortunately the developers recognised this and can let the AI control the top screen for you if you're too distracted, which considering how frantic and powerful the bosses get was a necessity for me!
The graphics in TWEWY are great, because while they don't push DS capabilities every design is colourful and fits the intended mood of the game- Shibuya itself is mostly a mix of black and gray, but your characters stand out in terms of colour e.g. Neku and his mostly purple clothing and orange hair. It's all pretty realistic looking as well, which isn't a surprise since Alternative Shibuya is based on the real Japanese district, to the point of many buildings and areas being based off reality. The battle animations are seamless even against the final bosses that take up both screens. I further enjoyed the game's soundtrack which had catchy electro-pop Engrish songs, and these will get into your head as you're fighting or running around. One thing people might nitpick is the English voice-acting, but this is minor because it's only during battles (outside them characters just exclaim or laugh) plus I personally didn't mind that much as they were fitting enough for each character.
With hours upon hours of gameplay and even the opportunity to replay certain days (and one extra day), 'The World Ends With You' is a brilliant role-playing game that's a must-play for DS owners. Even non-RPG players should give this game a chance seeing as its setting and gameplay result in such an original take compared to games of its calibre. Heartily Recommended!
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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
by Anti
'Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney' is an adventure game released in 2006 in Europe for the Nintendo DS. Here, players take the role of the titular character- a rookie defence lawyer- as he must defend his clients in court who are charged of murder from iron-fisted prosecutors and overwhelming evidence against them. It is a favourite game of ... mine which, along with its sequels, I'd like to play over again despite knowing how each case goes, because of the story that links the cases together and finding out how the real murderer committed the crime yourself.
There are two segments to 'Ace Attorney', Trial and Investigation, and in most cases you switch between the two. During Investigation you are gathering evidence and speaking to various people for the upcoming trial. This is done by going from place to place selected from the menu and then speaking to the person in that location specific questions or showing certain items. Furthermore using the touch screen or buttons you scan around the area looking for bits of evidence that the detective team might have missed out (as unbelievable as that sounds it happens every time!). Note that the game won't let you move onto the Trial segments without collecting every piece of evidence or speaking fully to all the people in the areas. You might think the game becomes far too restrictive but I believe this is a good thing because sometimes you need to come back to a witness/defendant and show them something you've picked them up from another area. Therefore to forget revisiting places and jump straight to the trial would make the game unwinnable and pretty unfair, especially as sometimes it isn't clear who you need to speak to next or what to show them to prompt the next scene.
When Phoenix and co. have got sufficient evidence, you proceed directly to the Trial section of the game. Here you cross-examine witnesses' testimonies against your client. If you spot something inconsistent in part of the testimony then you touch the 'Present' button and select a piece of evidence from your inventory, whereupon Phoenix will shout his famous catchphrase "OBJECTION!", and point it out in court. Alternatively, selecting 'Press' on part of the testimony causes Phoenix to shout "Hold it!" and question the witness further as to what they're saying, which might open up other inconsistent claims. Other aspects in the trial gameplay include pointing out inconsistencies in photos (where Phoenix shouts "TAKE THAT!") choosing from a list of theories as to why certain actions regarding the murder are taken. A nifty little feature is that you can shout "OBJECTION!", "TAKE THAT!" or "HOLD IT!" (done for Pressing) into the microphone instead of touching the buttons, which isn't necessary but pretty fun.
However 'Ace Attorney' is a game which involves a lot of problem-solving and 'thinking outside the box', not dumb luck. Phoenix has five lives and presenting an incorrect piece of evidence or making other mistakes will get you penalized by the judge, hence taking off one life. Losing all your lives results in the judge being fed-up with Phoenix's incompetence and declaring the defendant 'Guilty', basically being a Game Over. On the other hand, successfully defeating the real criminal in court nets your defendant a 'Not Guilty' verdict. Sometimes you could be completely lost in what to present or press and getting a 'Guilty' verdict when you're close to completing the case can be frustrating as there is a lot of dialogue in this game and you can't skip it on your first playthrough. You can save throughout, but it is a suspending feature and you have to keep reloading the game from the main menu.
Nevertheless, cracking each case does give you a real sense of satisfaction after putting all the pieces together; after all, we know as much as Phoenix does about the case and this makes us feel we are in the courtroom gallery with him watching each case as it proceeds. Nor is everything revealed in a big rush; cases take place over 2-4 days and you will find and learn a little bit more as the case grows larger.
It's exactly this reason why the plot is so good here too. Phoenix begins the game as pretty weak and incompetent but his skills and confidence grow with each case. He is supported by a colourful cast of characters including his (deceased) mentor Mia Fey, Mia's sister Maya, a trainee medium and all-round happy child, bumbling detective Dick Gumshoe and Miles Edgeworth, a former friend of Phoenix and rival Prosecutor. All the main characters are linked to each other regarding a big scandal that happened many years prior. As a player I was drawn to these characters and wanted to know the reasons as to why they've become as they're are: What was the incident that caused Phoenix to become a defence attorney? Why is Edgeworth such a cruel prosecutor? You'll find many of these questions answered as you play this game. Overall it's a story that can make you jump for joy and cry with laughter.
Equally brilliant is this game's soundtrack. You have many memorable tunes that play during different parts of the trial depending on what's happening, whether it's after winning the case or a new discovery that results in a turn for the worse. A personal favourite of mine is 'Cornered', played when Phoenix is close to cracking the suspected killer or lying witness, because it is so high-tension and reminds you that you're close to bringing the case in your favour. This is very much a soundtrack that is perfectly fitting for this type of game.
Yet the graphics are just ok. Everything is 2D but characters are well-designed and despite limited movements these fits each person's emotions throughout the game. The only time I think it's subpar is the courtroom shot where it shows the gallery audience as brown blobs with basic faces compared to the rest of the drawn characters. Bear in mind that this game was released in Japan in 2001 originally for the Gameboy Advance and has been ported to the DS in this re-release. Furthermore the fifth case is a bonus one added for the DS release which not only makes use of the touchscreen and microphone proper (it is essential in parts of the case but optional for the rest of the game) but also improves graphics slightly and adds some 3D elements too.
'Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney' is a fantastic game and brings something fresh to the DS market. Many more games like this followed in the DS library and with good reason. It might be too linear and not interactive enough for some people, but if you like a game with a deep story and characters and will make you think I definitely recommend this!
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