Launch Station: Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

Just over three years ago this week, Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii landed on North American shores.  Xenoblade's release was extremely limited as it was only available through Gamestop and EB Games.  Due to its rarity, Xenoblade Chronicles' resale value jumped well over 100 dollars very soon after its release and has been that way for the last few years.  Unless you were willing to part with upwards of 100 dollars, many were unable experience to the best Japanese RPG of last generation.  With Xenoblade Chronicles being represented by protagonist Shulk and the Gaur Plain stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS and Xenoblade Chronicles X coming out later this year, what a better time for Nintendo to re-release Monolith Soft's RPG epic for the New Nintendo 3DS.

Yes, you read that right.  Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is coming to the New Nintendo 3DS, not any of the previous models.  Due to the game's enormous scope, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D needs the power that only the New 3DS can muster.  It is an impressive feat to see Monster Games fit everything contained in Xenoblade Chronicles from the massive world to the thousands of side-quests into a nice handheld package.  Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is a straight-forward port of the original Wii release with a few new extras.  These extras are unlocked by spending tokens, earned through StreetPass or placing the Shulk amiibo on the New 3DS' touch screen, on music tracks for the Jukebox or 3D models for the Model Viewer.  Outside of these extras, Xenoblade Chronicles is now able to be played in glass-less 3D.  For a more in-depth preview on the story and mechanics of Xenoblade Chronicles, check out the original Launch Station for the game.

In the annals of Silver Bit, I have spoken volumes about Monolith Soft's JRPG masterpiece.  Despite the Wii's lack of sheer horsepower, Xenoblade Chronicles easily stands among the best games of last generation in terms of both graphics and gameplay.  Standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking Gaur Plain and looking out at the horizon to see mountains, green pastures and a continent-sized titan in the distance is a breathtaking experience.  The MMO-style combat and exploration is just as enthralling.  I cannot praise Xenoblade Chronicles enough.  No matter if you play it on a television screen or in the palm of your hand, Xenoblade Chronicles is a must-have.  If you own a New 3DS, do not hesitate in picking up a copy because they will be gone before you know it.

2015: The Year and Games Ahead

Although we are already a month into 2015, the year is still young.  As each day passes, we move one step closer to the next big game release or product launch.  After how disappointing 2014 was, the video game industry will be trying to bounce back in 2015 with grander spectacles, shocking surprises and innovative concepts.  While we may not know everything that is coming in the next 11 months, I want to share, in no particular order, the games and other products I am looking forward to in the coming year.

Amiibo
Yes, I know it's not socially acceptable for a 23 year-old adult male to be collecting little "children's" toys, but I honestly don't care.  Nintendo and their games have and always will be a significant part of my life and the ability to get physical statues of the characters I love without spending an entire paycheck is incredible.  I want to own them all, but things haven't been going to plan considering the low supply and the insanely high demand.  With their cool designs and extra functionality, I am excited to buy future waves of Amiibos, but I am not going to let these toys consume my life like they have for many others.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
If it wasn't for the additional delay, it would only be weeks between me and Geralt of Rivia instead of months.  The delay may be for the best considering all my responsibilities with school and work at the moment.  No matter when The Witcher 3 drops, I know it consume a gigantic portion of my time.  The scope and scale of The Witcher 3 is just mesmerizing as you can literally go anywhere and do anything you want in its open fantasy world.  Every new piece of information, be it a trailer or news story, gets my blood pumping to play this game.  On May 19th, the rampage of the Wild Hunt begins.

Mighty No. 9
Everybody and their mother has been clamouring for a new Mega Man game for years now.  No matter how loud and boisterous people get about the severe lack of the Blue Bomber, Capcom just doesn't want to give their mascot any love outside the occasional cameo or guest appearance.  While Capcom may not be listening to their fans, Keiji Inafune, father of Mega Man, took the opportunity to capitalize on the high demand with Mega Man's spiritual successor, Mighty No. 9.  Launched via Kickstarter back in 2013, Mighty No. 9 easily demolished its goal and has gone onto entice millions to donate money even after the initial funding campaign.  What Inafune and his studio Comcept have shown off of Mighty No. 9 through trailers, closed betas and previews has looked outstanding.  The game has similar elements to past Mega Man games, but combines them with some unique mechanics, such as dashing as the main way of dispatching enemies, that sets protagonist Beck out of his older brother's shadow. With Mighty No. 9 coming to every system on the market today, there's no way you should miss out on the biggest platforming games of the year.

Xenoblade Chronicles X
Back in 2012, Xenoblade Chronicles impressed with its humongous vistas and superb adaptation of MMORPG gameplay into a single-player experience and on the Wii no less.  Sadly due to a limited production run, many people were unable to experience one of the best JRPGs of the last generation.  For those who purchase the New Nintendo 3DS, a port of the original Xenoblade Chronicles is coming in early April, but, in my opinion, the smaller screen of the 3DS will not do the magnificence of Xenoblade's incredible scope justice.  Fortunately, Monolith Soft and Nintendo are joining forces once again to deliver a sequel for the Wii U later this year.  Xenoblade Chronicles X looks to have even larger environments to explore, more refined RPG mechanics and the addition of mechs!  As much as I love giant robots, the added mechs makes the scope of the combat feel as awe-inspiring as the environments.  If you aren't convinced, take some time to watch the 24-minute gameplay trailer Nintendo released a few weeks back and see for yourself.

The Legend of Zelda
The release of a brand new Zelda is always a highly anticipated event.  This time around, the anticipation is at a fever pitch.  Nintendo has shown only two short trailers for the game yet they have been enough to send gamers into a frenzy of speculation.  The reason for this frenzy comes from the significant changes to the formula in the way of progression, combat and exploration.  The most significant change being the creation of a fully realized open-world Hyrule where you can complete dungeons however you choose.  Since Nintendo is aiming to have this new Zelda out by the end of 2015, there is still plenty of information to be revealed in the months ahead.

Year in Review 2013: Disappointments

2013 marked the end of one generation and the beginning of another.  The release of both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One held center stage in the video game industry.  This focus on the next generation saw fewer games release throughout the year compared to years past.  It was very easy to keep on top of the major releases in 2013 and this year saw yours truly buy many games upon release, much more than I have ever bought in years prior.  With buying many games upon release, not every game will live up to a person's expectations.  There were quite a few games that I played this year that fell short of my expectations and left me disappointed.  Being disappointed in a game is not the same as hating a game.  All of the games I will list are fine games, they just left me feeling a little empty after beating them for one reason or another.

BioShock Infinite
The original BioShock was a revolutionary shooter that engrossed gamers in its environment unlike any game before it and few after it.  The impression left by the first BioShock set the bar high for Irrational's next entry in the BioShock series.  In trying to reach a broader audience, Irrational took BioShock Infinite away from the revolution it could have been and made it more of an evolution.  The setting of Columbia and the excellently programmed AI companion Elizabeth are Infinite's clear strengths, but the game is held back by a considerable amount of key flaws such as the last three hours of the game being a relentless slog of dispatching waves upon waves of enemies, the unnecessary additions of the Boys of Silence and Sirens, the shoe-horned stealth sections and the pretentiously convoluted ending.  The most aggravating flaw is how Irrational forgot the tenets of exploration and freedom that makes Infinite stand out from the all the other first-person shooters in the most crucial hours of the game.  Those last hours can make or break one's enjoyment with a game.  In BioShock Infinite's case, it severely derailed my enjoyment of the game.

The Last of Us
First things first, The Last of Us and I have never been on the same page.  While people were crying to the heavens that it was the best game showed at the Video Game Awards, E3 or whatever other video game show, it never impressed me.  I surely wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but it looked too derivative of Naughty Dog's Uncharted series.  When I saw all the excellent reviews The Last of Us got upon its release, I was caught up in the hype and wanted to see if Naughty Dog proved me wrong.  Well they did not.  Do not get me wrong, The Last of Us is a good game.  It is not the greatest game of this past generation that everybody has been labeling it.  The game has some good ideas and an incredibly emotional story, but those two strengths alone do not allow a game with considerable technical and pacing problems to get a pass.  As much as Naughty Dog tried to engross me in the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us, I was taken out from my AI companions running head-first into the strongest enemies in the game, known as clickers, with no reaction from said enemies or hunting for the extremely small triangle button prompt to tell me which objects I can interact with.  While there were some great moments like the entire opening two hours and the Winter section of the game, I never felt much emotional attachment to the characters  or my actions in the game.  The Last of Us is more on par with Naughty Dog's efforts on the first Uncharted.  There is some good stuff in The Last of Us, but there needs to be more refinement before The Last of Us can truly grasp its full potential.

Project X Zone
One of the largest crossovers in video game history, Project X Zone was high on this writer's radar especially considering many never thought the game would release outside of Japan.  Mixing the biggest franchises from Capcom, Namco and Sega into one strategy game was mind-boggling.  Project X Zone's combat was incredibly unique.  While you moved units on a grid-like battlefield like any other strategy game, the combat was more in line with a fighting game where you choose different combos and juggle enemies to cause the most damage.  The combat along with the craziness of the plot gave me hours of enjoyment.  Sadly those hours of enjoyment did not last for the entirety of the game.  Around the 25 to 30 hour mark, the mechanics and story grow rather tiresome and repetitive.  The developers at Banpresto and Monolith Soft could have easily cut down the game by at least 5 hours or more because there are plenty of chapters that feel like padding.  Much like BioShock Infinite, Project X Zone's last few hours became a boring slog through an ever increasing amount of difficult enemies.  Thanks Project X Zone for disappointing me and killing the left trigger on my 3DS.

Sonic Lost World
Ever since the release of Sonic Colors, Sonic the Hedgehog has been on a roll.  The Blue Blur has been slowly but surely gaining back the gamers lost from the onslaught of horrible Sonic games released during the mid to late 2000s.  With the announcement of Sonic becoming a Nintendo exclusive, Sonic Lost World looked to be in a prime position to continue Sonic's upward trend.  All Sonic needed was the solid mechanics introduced in Colors and refined in Generations to be brought into this new Mario Galaxy and Sonic Xtreme inspired world of Sonic Lost Worlds, but Sonic Team decided against it.  What we got was a mixed bag.  Some levels exude creativity and bring the functionality to match it.  Other levels are exactly the opposite as they are poorly designed and can induce high amounts of frustration and possibly rage.  Sonic Lost World is not the total disaster the media paints the game to be.  Honestly, Sonic Lost World is an all-around decent game, but fails at improving the standing of Sega's mascot and it is hard to forgive the game for that major failure.  Lost World was Sonic Team's opportunity to show that the aging Blue Blur can still hang with the platforming giants of the modern era.  Sadly, Sonic Team missed their mark and Sonic fans are left with a decent Sonic game instead of a great Sonic game.

Favourite Games of 2012 So Far

During the summer months, there are not a lot of big games that come out.  While there is a steady stream of great downloadable games that come out in the summer, not many big retail games come out in the summer as they stick to the overcrowded winter and spring seasons.  With this evident drought of games, there are some weeks when yours truly has to think of different things to write about when no actual games release said week.  This week I decided to look back on the my favourite games of 2012 so far.  The games will be listed in order of their release not how much I like them and I am only including games that I have either beaten or have played a considerable amount of.  I hope that everybody enjoys this list and maybe finds a game in this list that they may have overlooked.

Run Roo Run
There is no other iOS game that I have found released this year that is better than Run Roo Run.  Charming graphics, simplistic yet intuitive controls, satisfying gameplay and a plethora of levels that test both your mind and reflexes, Run Roo Run is the complete package for only one or two dollars depending whether you get it for the iPhone or iPad respectively.  5th Cell's first game for iOS is a game that no iDevice owner should miss.

Mass Effect 3
If you have been following this blog for a while now, you would know I full how much I love the Mass Effect series and in turn Mass Effect 3.  While some jaded people got hung up over all the supposed controversy with the ending and the Day One DLC, I found Mass Effect 3 to be an incredible game experience that serves as a worthy finale to this grand video game trilogy.  Mass Effect 3 is a game not to be missed this year as it is quite possibly the best game of 2012 and the best RPG from this side of the world.

Journey
Journey is easily one of the most unique experiences I had playing a game this year.  There are no tutorials, no real instructions.  You are just dropped into a seemingly baren desert with this profile of a mountain in the distance.  The controls are simple yet incredibly intuitive, the graphics and art are just jaw dropping, the music is beautiful and the puzzles, while simple, are very charming and engaging.  Journey is a soothing and relaxing experience that can be finished in one sitting.  If you missed out on downloading this gem for the PSN, you can pick up the Journey Collector's Edition that comes out at the end of August.

Kid Icarus: Uprising
Nintendo may have took 20 years to release a new Kid Icarus game, but Uprising makes the time fans waited well worth it.  Kid Icarus: Uprising is a labour of love from Masahiro Sakurai and Project Sora that brings Pit to the 21st century in style.  While the controls can get in the way from time to time, the fast-paced action, witty fourth wall breaking banter, exciting story and fun multi-player experience sure make up for it.  Kid Icarus: Uprising is easily the best 3DS game of 2012 so far that 3DS should not miss.

Xenoblade Chronicles
One of the last great games for the Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles is a grand RPG adventure from Nintendo and Monolith Soft.  Xenoblade Chronicles has an incredibly gripping story, fun real-time combat and an enormous world to explore with a huge amount of side quests to keep you occupied.  I have played at least 25 to 30 hours and I barely scratched the surface of all the content in this Wii RPG.  For a system that has been starving for RPGs, Xenoblade Chronicles stands tall as the pinnacle of RPGs on the Wii and for Japanese RPGs in this console generation.

Launch Station: Xenoblade Chronicles

It has taken close the two years, but Xenoblade Chronicles has finally reached the shores of North America.  For hardcore Wii owners, Xenoblade has been on the radar for a couple years now.  Released originally in Japan then Europe, Nintendo originally had no plans of bringing Xenoblade to North America as they thought gamers would not buy it.  They were wrong as a whole lot of hardcore Wii gamers banded together to create an online petition known as Operation Rainfall to bring Xenoblade Chronicles along with  The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, three high-caliber Wii RPGs, to North America.  At first, it did not look like Nintendo would ever bring these games over to our shores, but with a little help from Gamestop Nintendo decided to bring Monolith Soft's huge RPG over the pond in exchange to making Xenoblade exclusively available at Gamestop in the US and EB Games in Canada.  With Xenoblade Chronicles on store shelves and Last Story coming this June, it is time for hardcore Wii gamers to put their money where there mouth is and buy Xenoblade Chronicles.  I did.

In the beginning, there were two titans, Mechonis and Bionis, engaged in an eternal battle.  These two titans fought until their lifeless bodies remained.  As time went on, life flourished on Bionis with a race of Human known as Homs while a race of Machines known as Mechon came to inhabit Mechonis.  Much like the titans they live upon, the Homs and Mechons are locked in a seemingly endless war with one another.  After the prologue, you take control of the main protagonist, Shulk.  Shulk lives in Colony 9, which is located at the foot of Bionis.  When Colony 9 is attacked by the Mechon, Shulk obtains the Monado, the legendary energy blade thought to be the sword Bionis used eons ago, in order to fend off the Mechon threat.  The attack on Colony 9 launches Shulk and friends into a grand adventure across the two titans to delve into the conflict between Homs and Mechons and uncover the secrets of the Monado blade.  Unlike most RPGs, Xenoblade Chronicles puts an emphasis on exploration and a real-time battle system than on the story.  Right from the beginning of the game, the majority of the world is open for you to explore, complete side quests, discover secret items and uncover hidden areas.  The scope of Xenoblade's world is comparable to that of a MMORPG.  Xenoblade Chronicles institutes a real-time battle system where the player controls one character while the rest of the party is controlled by the computer.  You are able to switch between characters on the fly and you can manually activate special attacks known as Arts, which replace the RPG trope of magic attacks.  Unlike magic attacks in other games, Arts do not use up a character's mana as there is no such thing in Xenoblade instead they will need to recharge once used.  Arts can be modified out of battle using the Battle Palette.  Xenoblade's battles have a couple of other features such as the Aggro Ring and Vision system.  Each character has an aggro ring.  The bigger the ring around a character, the more enemies will focus their attacks on that one character, which frees other characters up to attack enemies from the side or the rear for more damage.  Finally, the Vision system allows Shulk to see glimpses at enemies' future attacks such as warning Shulk about a fatal attack against a fellow party member.  You can then use this knowledge of the possible future to brace yourself to react to it or prevent it from even happening.

There are so many features in Xenoblade Chronicles that I could fill pages, but I know you guys and gals do not have all day.  Personally, I have been looking forward to Xenoblade Chronicles for quite sometime considering how barren the RPG scene has been on the Wii.  For all those who insisted Nintendo to bring Xenoblade over to our shores, like I said in the intro, time to put your money where your mouth is.  If you do not support Xenoblade Chronicles now, Nintendo may not be so inclined to bring games like Xenoblade over to North America in the future.