E3 2015: Square Enix Press Conference Impressions

Along with Bethesda, Square Enix is one of the new kids on the press conference block.  They used to have press conferences at E3, but it has been a long while since their last conference.  With Square Enix's big presence at both the Microsoft and Sony press conferences, did they save enough for their very own press conference?

Square Enix did save enough to fill their 90 minute conference, but the great number of titles shown didn't translate into an interesting presentation.  In actuality, it was a boring show that saw a lot more gum flapping than gameplay footage.  At certain points throughout the conference, I closed my eyes and just listened to the corporate jargon the presenters were throwing around.  The show must have been putting the translator to sleep since he had some problems keeping up with the presenters at times.

For all the great titles that Square Enix had to offer this year, it was frustrating to see time wasted rehashing the exact same trailers for Rise of the Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII and World of Final Fantasy that were shown at other press conferences or worthless "behind-the-scenes" trailers that could've been replaced by actual gameplay footage.  Don't have two random animators from Disney tell us about a Tangled world in Kingdom Hearts III, show it as part of the gameplay trailer.

Speaking of Kingdom Heart III, the gameplay trailer was the best thing on this show.  It hinted at the story, showed off the combat system and highlighted some dramatic special moves including the use of Disney theme park attractions as weapons.  Aside from Kingdom Hearts III, the Just Cause 3, Hitman and Star Ocean trailers were the only other standouts from this show.  Everything else just felt like white noise; even the Deus Ex; Mankind Divided trailer which Square Enix was hyping weeks before the conference.

As their first press conference in God knows when, Square Enix performed far worse than anybody could of predicted with their large lineup of games.  At its best, the conference was passable.  At its worst, the conference was like an uncoordinated powerpoint presentation.  Square Enix may need a phoenix down after this dull show.

Grade:  D

E3 2015: The Big Questions

Here we go again.  Another year, another week of gaming goodness or corporate catastrophe is less than a day away.  This uncertainty seems to be the name of the game when it comes to the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).  On one hand, there has been little in the way of earth-shattering news to come out of the video game industry in such a long time that E3 could be a glorious avalanche of huge announcements and surprises.  On the other hand, all the leaks and trailers from the past two weeks could be the extent of this year's offerings.

While E3 2015 could go either way, there a some big questions that the industry needs to address in the coming week.  Questions that concern the video game industry's future in both the short and long-term.

How will a lack of exclusives affect Sony and Microsoft?
This question only concerns Sony and Microsoft because a console manufacturer (*cough* Nintendo) needs to rely solely on their exclusive content to sell their consoles when they have no third-party support.

The challenges Sony and Microsoft face when it comes to their lineup of exclusives are completely different.  Sony has a problem when it comes to mobilizing an exclusive game to fill the void Uncharted 4's delay left, while Microsoft relies far too much on third-parties that their small roster of over-exposed exclusives are struggling to maintain momentum from year-to-year.

Yet again, we enter a Sony press conference with little to no plan for the holiday season.  Uncharted 4 was suppose to Sony's answer to Halo 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider.  Now, all Sony has planned are Until Dawn and Tearaway Unfolded, two great-looking titles that sadly are nowhere close to heavy-hitters.  Sony is also re-releasing the first three Uncharted games on PS4, but the Uncharted Collection's upwards of 70 dollars price point is more of a rip-off than a worthy substitute for Uncharted 4.

Last holiday season, Sony relied a lot on third-parties, especially Activision's Destiny, to move PS4s because their exclusives—DriveClub and LittleBigPlanet 3—weren't the killer apps that people wanted.  These wise business decisions along with an insane wave of momentum Sony has been riding since the PS4's launch has kept the system leaps and bounds ahead of the Xbox One, but that string of good luck will eventually run out.  Sony needs to start capitalizing on their huge lead or somebody else, namely Microsoft, will take advantage of their arrogance.  Sony has an army of game studios at their disposal so how we don't have another huge title to replace Uncharted 4 is absurd.  Slot in The Last Guardian or Guerrilla's unannounced project into Uncharted's spot because Sony cannot spend another holiday season sitting on their hands.

While Sony has a problem with capitalizing on their lead, Microsoft is having problems convincing people to buy the Xbox One.  In all honesty, the Xbox One is severely lacking when it comes to exclusives, especially when you take into account indie titles and timed exclusives such as Titanfall, Sunset Overdrive and Rise of the Tomb Raider.  On top of that, their small roster of first-party properties (Halo, Fable, Forza and Gears of War) have all been over-exposed thanks to yearly releases or franchise mismanagement.  Gears of War may be the only major franchise that gamers are craving for since there hasn't been a new entry in the series for over two years now.

Last year at E3, Microsoft made a concerted effort to show gamers that they had a renewed interest in first-party development with a large lineup of new exclusive content including Scalebound, Crackdown, Quantum Break and Phantom Dust.  Here we are a year later and Microsoft's supposed renewed interest in first-party development has seemingly gone up in smoke.  Scalebound, Crackdown and Quantum Break will not be at this year's E3 and Phantom Dust is stuck in development limbo as Microsoft dropped the game's developer in February and has yet to find a replacement.  Unless Microsoft has a slew of unannounced projects ready to drop on us at their press conference, they are stuck with a major problem that could plague them this entire generation.

Third-party support and exclusive DLC can only take a system so far.  There NEEDS to be a consistent lineup of exclusives or the Xbox One won't have the staying power needed to compete with the more robust lineups of the Wii U and PS4.

Will the new contenders in press conference circuit sink or swim?
There use to be a time when E3 played host to a plethora of press conferences from Konami to Disney Interactive.  Sadly as time went on, some publishers stopped running press conferences due to ever-increasing costs or their own corporate restructuring.  As a result, five publishers were left as the flag bearers for every show: Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Sony and Nintendo.  This time around two new challengers in Bethesda and Square Enix are entering the E3 press conference circuit to try their luck at hanging with the big publishers in the industry.

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding these new conferences because neither company would invest the insane amount of money and effort into a conference if they didn't have a stellar lineup of titles to show.  Bethesda has already announced that Fallout 4 and Doom 4 will be at their presser.  On the other end, Square Enix has confirmed Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's first gameplay footage for their conference along with Final Fantasy XV's absence from the show altogether.  Could this mean we'll get some surprises like the rumoured Dishonored 2 or an official release date for Kingdom Hearts 3?  Those questions may soon be answered as Bethesda kicks off the proceedings late Sunday, June 14th and Square Enix stands as the final press conference before the show floor opens Tuesday, June 16th.

How will Virtual Reality (VR) headsets factor into E3?
With Oculus VR at the helm, virtual reality (VR) headsets have taken the industry by storm.  Game publishers and developers are eagerly jumping into the VR headset race with their own VR headset or games made for the devices.

Is VR the future of video games as we know it?  Maybe in the distant future, but it's hard to say at this point in time.  At this very moment, there are two key issues that can completely halt VR's forward momentum: price and input.  Funny enough, price is the one topic no one wants to talk about and input devices like Oculus Touch have only been demoed through video or behind closed doors.

Since E3 will be the final trade show before VR headsets land on store shelves starting this Fall, it will be the most important show for VR as a whole.  E3 is the final push for these VR manufacturers and developers to convince gamers to shell their hard-earned cash on their products.  There is also a possibility that VR headsets could be a centerpiece at the Sony and Microsoft press conferences considering Sony is developing their own headset called Project Morpheus and Microsoft's newly announced partnership with Oculus.

It will be interesting to see how much of a factor VR will play into E3 as a whole.  VR could either end up being the new input device for games going forward or go the way of 3D and motion gaming.

Bravely Default Review

Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) have a long and illustrious history.  Among the most dominant forces in this genre was arguably Square Enix.  As the JRPG fell out of favour for the freedom of Western RPGs like Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Mass Effect, Square Enix has had an incredibly tough time adapting with the times.  Recent entries in their long-running Final Fantasy series has tirelessly tired to modernize the JRPG genre to varying degrees of success.  Funny enough, the company's recent entry into the JRPG genre, Bravely Default, has captured the hearts and minds of gamers by going back to the basic storytelling and gameplay of early entries in the genre.

Bravely Default's premise is very similar to first few Final Fantasies.  You control the four Heroes of Light (Tiz, Agnes, Ringabell and Edea) as they purify four elemental crystals in order to save the world.  On their journey to purify the crystals, the Heroes of Light must combat the forces of the Duchy of Eternia and discover the truth behind the Crystal Orthodoxy.  On the surface, the story and the protagonists seem to fall under many classic JRPG tropes such as a heroes' hometown getting decimated and one of the heroes conveniently suffering from amnesia.  As the story advances, the depth and complexity of the huge cast of characters becomes evident.  The conflict between the Crystalism and Anti-Crystalism is not as black-and-white as the game originally makes it out to be.  Bravely Default offers a good amount of twists and turns to keep gamers interested.  While the story provides motivation to keep playing, it is not the most compelling feature of Bravely Default.

Bravely Default truly shines above other entries in the JRPG genre through its combat and job systems.  The combat is similar to other turn-based RPGs as the player and their opponents takes turns attacking, defending and using items.  The creative twist in Bravely Default's combat comes from the brave-default system.  Default acts like defending as it decreases damage taken, but also increases battle points (BP).  You use BP to brave, which allows a character to unleash multiple attacks in a single turn or spend on job-specific attacks and abilities.  Braving and defaulting is a risk-reward system that adds an extra layer of strategy to battles.  You can try to dispatch enemies in one turn by attacking multiple times, but you risk leaving your party vulnerable to multiple attacks if they survive your onslaught.  Managing when to brave or default can be the difference between life or death in Bravely Default.  The game's job system has clearly been inspired by the systems implemented in past Final Fantasy games.  Although the inspirations from other titles, Bravely Default's job system is much more approachable than other RPGs due to the improvements Square Enix and Silicon Studio has made.  Jobs level up independently of the character's actual level so changing jobs does not reset a character's overall level.  While characters can only be employed by one job at a time, you can equip the attacks and abilities from another job to use as well.  This feature allows for tons of customization as you can have a white mage that can cast black magic on top of healing spells or a knight that can imbue their blade with a spell fencer's sword magic.  Going along with the customizable jobs, you can equip any special attribute learned through levelling up jobs or those your friends have learned through the Ablink feature.  These two systems are only just one slice of the great suite of features that Bravely Default gives you to play with.  From the excellent StreetPass and online features like rebuilding the town of Norende with the people you StreetPass and connect with online or summoning friends to help in battle to the incredible ability to change encounter rates and game difficulty at anytime, Bravely Default offers tons of features to keep players satisfied.

With all the great features and systems Bravely Default has to offer, it has one critical blemish that almost derails the entire experience.  What easily could have been an excellent fifty to sixty hour experience receives some completely unnecessary padding that doubles the length of the game.  What makes this padding even worse is how tedious it is.  Instead of adding some worthwhile quests to elaborate on the story, you repeat the same exact tasks over and over again until the game deems it time to move on to the true final chapter.  After the second time repeating this process, the story stops advancing altogether until the true final chapter which makes a good twenty hours of the game feel like an absolute waste of time.  You can break from the tedium at anytime to complete the normal ending of Bravely Default, but that does not give much closure to the story of the game.  Funny enough, the normal ending of Bravely Default is more satisfying than the true ending of the game because it lacks the drastic difficulty spike the true ending has and it makes more sense than most of the plot points inserted into the true ending with little to no explanation whatsoever.  The true ending is not worth the time and effort needed to reach it.  In fact, trying to reach the true ending could compromise your enjoyment of Bravely Default as a whole.

Aside from the unnecessary padding, Bravely Default is a great game.  There are enough great features packed into this small 3DS cartridge to keep anyone satisfied for days, possibly months on end.  The one thing holding Bravely Default back from being the definitive RPG experience on the 3DS is the major misstep taken in the most crucial hours of the game.  Padding the game by a few hours is understandable, but by close to fifty plus hours cannot be easily reconciled.  While the padding may leave some upset and disappointed, Bravely Default's strengths more than make up for the underwhelming endgame.  For those looking for an old-school RPG with some excellent modern twists, Bravely Default is definitely a game worth picking up.

Bit by Bit: February 2014

Coming off of the two biggest features I have ever done, it is hard to get back in the swing of regular writing.  I have so many ideas spinning around in my head of articles to write, but no true direction of where I want to take Silver Bit next.  It is a very peculiar position I am currently in with Silver Bit.  Personally, I think getting back into the regular of schedule of work and school after Reading Week will get the creative juices following in this writer's brain.  For this week, I like to revisit an old staple of Silver Bit, Bit by Bit.  Now let us break down yours truly's favourite games and videos of the past few weeks.

Game of the Month
Nintendo always knows how to get people playing their handhelds during February.  Last February, Nintendo released Fire Emblem Awakening, a game which engulfed an enormous amount of this writer's free time and earned Silver Bit's 2013 Game of the Year.  Early this February, Nintendo brought Square Enix's Bravely Default to North America and it has easily won over this gamer's heart.  Bravely Default harkens back to the early entries in Square's legendary RPG franchise, Final Fantasy.  The story is very familiar as the player is sent on a quest to purify four elemental crystals.  Bravely Default's job system pulls a lot from the systems implemented in Final Fantasy III and V.  While Bravely Default does share a lot with Final Fantasy, it captures a sense of fun and wonder that modern Final Fantasies completely lack.  The battle system is turn-based like many RPGs, but it offers an incredibly creative twist.  During battles, you are able to brave or default.  Default acts much like defending as it decreases damage taken, but also increases battle points (BP).  You use BP to brave, which allows a character to unleash multiple attacks in a single turn.  Braving and defaulting is a risk-reward system that adds an inventive layer of strategy to battles.  The choice of braving or defaulting can be the difference between success or failure in battle.  The battles are only just one piece of the great pie that Bravely Default offers from the incredible StreetPass features such as rebuilding the main character's hometown with those you walk past or summoning friends to help in battle to the innovative ability to change encounter rates and difficulty at anytime.  If you own a 3DS and are fond of RPGs, I highly recommend picking up Bravely Default.  It is well worth the price of admission.

Most Anticipated Game of the Month
Usually around this time of the year, I put up my Most Anticipated Games of the Year article.  2014 has been different.  When I write those articles, I personally enjoy writing about a variety of games made by different developers, usually for various devices.  Sadly, there is not much of anything that has gotten me truly excited outside of Nintendo's offerings this year.  With the new consoles, it is going to be a waiting game until E3.  A few announcements may trickle out before then, but nothing too substantial in my opinion.  In the midst of all my pessimism, there is one downloadable game I am really psyched for.  Take some old-school Castlevania gameplay, add in Scrooge McDuck's pogo jump from DuckTales and meld in the themed bosses from Mega Man.  From this crazy concoction, the game you get is Yacht Club Games' Shovel Knight.  Taking inspiration from classics of the 8-bit era, Shovel Knight looks to modernize these amazing elements while keeping the look and feel of these classics.  The more I see of Shovel Knight, the more excited I get.  If you are looking to get in on the excitement, I will share the trailer for Shovel Knight below.  March 31st cannot come soon enough.


Video of the Month
Whoever the person at Nintendo that creates the trailers for Super Smash Bros. deserves a raise.  These trailers are among the best I have ever seen.  Each new character reveal feels like an event and rightly so.  This time around Nintendo pulled the curtain back on one of the most requested Smash Bros. character, Little Mac.  This veteran of the boxing ring will make his first appearance on the battlefields of Smash Bros. in the Wii U and 3DS entries of the series.  Even though it is his first time, Little Mac looks up to the challenge with his all fisticuffs move set and Doc Lewis at the the pink sweatsuit-wearing pugilist's side.

Launch Station: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Gaming's favourite plumbers have explored many genres from goomba smashing platformers to fist pumping sports.  While Mario and Luigi have put on many caps, one genre has blended with the antics of the Mario Bros. better than the platformers they originated from.  This particular genre has been the RPG genre.  Quite a few developers such as Square and Intelligent Systems have successfully brought Mario and company to the realms of role-playing greatness.  While these Mario RPGs have found homes on Nintendo's consoles, there has been one that has dominated on Nintendo's handhelds- AlphaDream's Mario & Luigi series.  AlphaDream has taken the Mario Bros. through the BeanBean Kingdom, the past and Bowser's innards, which shows that there are no limits for where they can take Mario and Luigi next.

For the Mario & Luigi series' first foray on the 3DS, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the Mario Bros. are going to a realm they have never travelled to before- Luigi's dreams.  After their latest adventure, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toadsworth decide to take a vacation on Pi'illo Island.  What originally starts out as a relaxing vacation turns into another princess-saving adventure as Mario and Luigi must save Princess Peach and the habitants of Pi'illo Island from the devious bat-king Antasma.  Only exploring the exotic locales of Pi'illo Island will not lead Mario and Luigi to their goal.  In order to save the habitants of Pi'illo Island from their stone pillow prisons, Mario must enter Luigi's dreams.  On Pi'illo Island, Dream Team plays like every other entry in the Mario & Luigi series from the turn-based battles to team-based puzzles.  In the Dream World, Dream Team turns into a 2D side-scroller in vein of the Super Mario Bros. series.  Considering Mario is in Luigi's dreams, the player is able to interact with the sleeping Luigi on the bottom screen of the 3DS to manipulate the environment or create a great number of Luigis to demolish enemies and barriers.  Luigi also helps Mario when fighting enemies in the Dream World by allowing to hit multiple enemies with successful attacks and through special Luiginary Attacks such as using a humongous ball of Luigis to crush your foes.

The Mario & Luigi series has been a fan-favourite due to its quirky humour, charming visuals, engaging combat and interesting gimmicks.  Dream Team seems to have all that in spades along with a lot of new gameplay options for gamers to sink their teeth in to.  All the interesting ways to manipulate the Dream World both inside and outside of combat looks to be an excellent hook for this new Mario & Luigi adventure.  All-in-all, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team looks to be another great entry in AlphaDream's Mario & Luigi series and yet another great RPG to get for the 3DS this summer.

Launch Station: Tomb Raider

It has been a long wait, but the Tomb Raider reboot is finally here.  Bewitching gamers with its reveals over two years ago as the cover story of the January 2011 Game Informer and its first game footage at E3 2011, Tomb Raider is not the same as we all remember.  This Tomb Raider is a more mature game that looks to characterize Lara Croft as human being than this incredibly sexy female Indiana Jones with unrealistic assets.  A bold move for a franchise that has been so successful over the years no matter the quality of the games, but a necessary move that updates Lara and her franchise to the standards needed to survive in today's video game industry.

Tomb Raider follows Lara Croft on her first adventure.  The story shows Lara's transformation from an innocent, naive and frightened young woman to the hardened confident survivor we all know and love.  Shipwrecked on a mysterious island, Lara has a daunting task ahead of her.  Not only does she have to survive long enough to get help, she also has to find her missing crew mates and friends that have been scattered all over the island.  While there is plenty of danger on this island with the wildlife and the islands' inhabitants, Lara has to face the dangers of merciless band of mercenaries that have stumbled upon the island as well.  Tomb Raider takes elements from the other games in the series and brings it up to today's standards of action-adventure games.  Tomb Raider offers a solid third-person shooting mechanics, new character progression, crafting and skill systems, a whole open world to explore and many animals to hunt and things to scavenge in order to survive this dangerous island.  While the story is a huge focus in Tomb Raider, the open world of the island allows players to complete the many side quests and challenge tombs in the game.  If you cannot get enough of Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics has also included competitive multi-player in Tomb Raider.  It is not the focus for the game, but a cool little inclusion for those who would like more chances to dive into the third-person shooting of the main game.

Personally, I have been looking forward to Tomb Raider ever since I read that cover story in the January 2011 issue of Game Informer.  Crystal Dynamics new take on Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series is incredibly refreshing as it matures a series that many gamers grew up with.  The strides taken to make Lara Croft a much more relatable and multi-dimensional character than she has been in past games have really gotten me excited to play this game.  While many have compared it to Uncharted, Tomb Raider looks to take Lara Croft to heights Naught Dog has reached with Nathan Drake and push it even higher.  This game may not be the Tomb Raider that many remember, but it is the Tomb Raider that will revitalize this franchise and propel it into the future.

Launch Station: Sleeping Dogs

Cancelled by Activision in early 2011, it looked like United Front Games take on the True Crime universe would never see the light of day.  Late last year, Square Enix announced that they had picked up the rights to publish True Crime: Hong Kong under the new name of Sleeping Dogs because Activision still owns the rights to the True Crimes name.  Not many games come back from being cancelled.  United Front Games is very fortunate to have another chance to release the game that have spent the last four years working on.  Hopefully it can live up to some high expectations from the publisher, Square Enix, and the fans of the True Crime series.

Sleeping Dogs follows the story of Wei Shen, an undercover cop apart of an operation to take down the Triads from the inside.  Wei Shen must work his way up in the organization by taking part in the brutal criminal activities without blowing his cover.  As Wei Shen dives deeper into the ranks of the Triad, the lines between truth and honour, right and wrong blur severely and he is left to struggle between his loyalty to the police and the trust he has gained from the Triads.  At its' core, Sleeping Dogs is a open world action game.  You are given all of Hong Kong to explore whatever way you want from walking on foot to driving a variety of vehicles.  While the story missions are necessary to unlock certain areas and content in the game, you are able to complete them at your own leisure.  The city of Hong Kong is bustling with side missions to complete, activities such as gambling and street fighting to participate in and even girlfriends for Wei Shen to date.  While you are able to use guns in the game, most of the combat revolves around hand-to-hand combat, which allows players to perform deadly martial arts and brutal takedowns much like Batman in the Arkham games.  Also Sleeping Dogs features some light RPG elements.  Depending on what you do in the game, you earn three types of experience points, Triad XP, Police XP and Face XP.  Each type of experience points measures your reputation with certain groups or as a whole.

Personally, I have never been a fan of the True Crime series so Sleeping Dogs does not quite appeal to me that much.  I am happy that Square Enix did the right thing and let this game that almost got eaten up by Activision see the funding it needed to reach store shelves.  Now it is up to the fans of the True Crime series that have most likely been following the development of Sleeping Dogs since it was announced in 2008 and those interested in the game to support Sleeping Dogs with their hard earned cash.  If Sleeping Dogs proves successful, it might influence other publishers to help save other games from being cancelled in the future.

Off the Newsstand: Game Informer Issue 232

Just two months removed from the events of E3 2012, magazines are still covering all the big news from the huge conference.  While the July issues of each magazine covered most of the games showed off to the press before E3, the August issues are usually when each magazine breaks down everything at E3.  Giving their grades for each of the Big Three, ranking the games at this year's event and giving away their Best of E3 awards.  For those of us that cannot see every single thing at E3 due to publishers and developers keeping certain games and demos behind closed doors, these issues of each video game magazine serves as our one stop shop for everything that we may have missed at E3.

Being the annual E3 issue, every article excluding the reviews and Game Over sections are all about E3 2012.  From Game Informer's annual breakdown of the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo's showings at E3 to the humongous cover story, which includes previews of Game Informer's Top 50 Games at E3 2012, you are in for some of the most comprehensive coverage of E3 found in any magazine.  For collector's Issue 232 of Game Informer has six different covers.  Each cover showcases a game highlighted in the E3 Hot 50 cover story.  They are all pretty cool, but my personal favourites are the Castlevania, Resident Evil 6 and Splinter Cell Blacklist covers.  The bulk of the issue is dedicated to the cover story which is more or less an expanded previews section and that is not a bad thing.  I am baffled at how Game Informer picked some of the games on this Top 50 Games of E3 list such as Gears of War: Judgment and Star Wars 1313 when they had little to nothing to show at E3 this year, but everybody is entitled to their opinion.  Honestly I do not really see the purpose of even making this a Top 50 when each writer is essentially writing a preview and not selling why a certain game is at a certain spot on the list.  For the sheer amount and quality of the content in this cover story, it is a must-read for any gamer.  Just forget about the numbering because it does not mean much of anything.  This issue of Game Informer also includes interviews with some big names in the industry, an in-depth analysis of Square Enix's Agni's Philosophy tech demo, a rundown of the most interesting downloadable games and Action MMOs of E3 2012, an in-depth interview with Jason Rubin on his new role at THQ and his plans for the future of the struggling company, reviews and a retrospective look at the first game Rod Fergusson, the director of production at Epic Games, ever worked on.

If you have been living under a rock for the past two months and completely missed out E3 2012, Issue 232 of Game Informer is your one stop shop on all the big announcements and up-to-date game previews.  The sheer amount of content crammed into these 116 pages is incredible.  Definitely an issue of Game Informer that any gamer should go out of their way to read.

Launch Station: Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Square Enix has done their best to draw out the Kingdom Hearts series as much as humanly possible before they have inevitably end the series with Kingdom Hearts 3.  For close to six years now, Square Enix has been releasing side story after side story trying to flesh out the entire mythos surrounding Kingdom Hearts that fans have gotten quite anxious for the next numbered entry in the series.  To tide fans over just a little bit longer, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, exclusively for the 3DS, serves as the official prequel to Kingdom Hearts 3 as the ending of Dream Drop Distance is said to lead right into third core Kingdom Hearts game.

In preparation for the return of Xehanort, King Mickey and Yen Sid decide to put Sora and Riku through the Mark of Mastery exam.  As part of the Mark of Mastery exam, Sora and Riku are sent into the Sleeping Worlds.  Sora and Riku's task is to reawaken these Sleeping Worlds by unlocking each world's keyhole and eliminating the new Dream Eater threat that stands in their way.  If Sora and Riku are successful in completing this task, they will be deemed full-fledged Keyblade Masters.  In Dream Drop Distance, there are two playable characters, Sora and Riku.  You never control both characters at the same time, but you will rotate between each character on the fly thanks to the Drop Gauge.  The Drop Gauge, which gradually depletes over time, controls when you switch between the two playable characters.  Once the gauge empties, you will switch control from Sora to Riku or vice versa.  You can add more time to the gauge by fighting Dream Eaters and you can also switch characters at any save point in the game.   The Command Deck battle system that was first introduced in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for the PSP returns in Dream Drop Distance with a couple additions.  Dream Drop Distance adds a new Flowmotion mechanic.  Flowmotion allows the player to interact with their surroundings in new ways to help traversal of the environment and set up new combos in battle.  Along their adventures, Sora and Riku are able to capture Dream Eaters, which can be used to help out in battle and provide different abilities for each character.  In past Kingdom Hearts games the Gummi Ship was used to travel between each world, not in Dream Drop Distance.  Dream Drop Distance makes use of a new mini-game called Dive Mode, which has player's literally diving down a long tunnel, collecting stars and defeating enemies before you reach the world's gate.  Also Dream Drop Distance is compatible with the Circle Pad Pro, which will make it much easier to control the game's camera, and has Augmented Reality functionality, which will allow players to play with the Dream Eaters they obtain in the real world.

No matter what I say, all Kingdom Hearts fans that own a 3DS will pick up Dream Drop Distance.  I do applaud Square Enix for their incredible support for the 3DS this past month.  It seemed like they were the only publisher other than Sega that wanted to keep us 3DS gamers satisfied this July and I along with many other gamers are grateful for that.  Speaking of Dream Drop Distance, I personally think it will be a really good game for the 3DS.  From my time with the demo, I do believe that to get the best experience with the game is to play it with the Circle Pad Pro because without the camera seems to be a quite erratic.  Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance should be a solid portable RPG to keep gamers satisfied for the coming months.

Launch Station: Heroes of Ruin

We must be in the dead of summer as the video game releases are slowing to a crawl.  The next big wave of game releases does not start until July 31st with the release of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.  At least 3DS owners are getting some quality retail games during this drought of video games.  This week the only release belongs to Heroes of Ruin, the second big 3DS game coming to gamers from Square Enix this July.  Compared to Square Enix stables of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, Heroes of Ruin is a brand new IP from Square Enix built from the ground up for the Nintendo 3DS.

Peace in the realm is threatened as the ruler of the city of Nexus, Ataraxis, is slowly dying from a curse.   A message is sent out to all promising a reward beyond measure for the person who finds a cure to Ataraxis' curse.  You play as one of the four mercenaries that goes on the dangerous quest to find a cure.  Each mercenary represents a different class in the game.  You can choose from playing as the sword-wielding Vindicator, pistol-packing Gunslinger, magic-using Alchitect or the fist-swinging Savage.  After choosing your class, you are able to customize your appearance, fighting style, armour set, weapons and class abilities at any time.  Heroes of Ruin can be played solo or co-operatively with up to three other players at anytime.  Square Enix and n-Space are providing daily challenges for gamers to complete for special rewards and achievements, the ability to trade items with others through StreetPass and instantly downloading new game content such as new characters and quests through SpotPass.

Personally, I am have no real interest for Heroes of Ruin.  I will applaud Square Enix for taking a risk and backing an original IP like Heroes of Ruin instead of sticking with just their core franchises.  For those looking for an action RPG experience much like Diablo to take on the go, Heroes of Ruin will be a great purchase for the 3DS.

Launch Station: Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure

Another week, another rhythm game for the 3DS.  Last week saw the release of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy from Square Enix, this week sees Sega's offering in Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure.  It seems in the dead of summer, the 3DS is getting some love with a good stream of quality games coming out.  Well it is a good time to be a 3DS owner then as there will be a new game to look forward to almost every week this month.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure is a first -and-foremost a rhythm game with puzzle and adventure elements mixed in.  In Rhythm Thief, you play as Raphael, also known as illusive art thief Phantom R.  Raphael is searching for the whereabouts of his father, who went missing a few years ago.  During Raphael's adventures, he runs into a mysterious girl known as Marie and a seemingly resurrected Napoleon Boneparte, who is trying to take over Paris.  The bulk of the story mode has you going from level to level playing a series of rhythm games.  Each and every level in the game has a different rhythm mechanic that uses each part of the 3DS (touch screen, d-pad, face buttons and gyro) to the best of it's abilities.  For Sega aficionados, Rhythm Thief features parodies of past Sega rhythm games such as Space Channel 5 and Samba de Amigo hidden throughout the game.   Outside of the rhythm game based levels, you are able to travel to various areas in Paris, talk to NPCs, solve puzzles to advance the story, find hidden rhythm games and story branches and use the medals you earn by completing levels to buy mini-games and movie clips from the shop.  Rhythm Thief also features a multi-player mode where you can take on friends in a variety of rhythm challenges and StreetPass functionality that has you challenging the people you StreetPass to beat your high scores and vice versa.

It is great to see for the entire month of July the 3DS release schedule is dominated by third-party games.  Nintendo makes some of the best games on their systems, but the third-party support is what will makes or breaks any system.  So it is nice to see Nintendo step back for the month of July and let other companies take the spotlight on the 3DS.  Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure has been on my radar for awhile.  Everything I have seen and read about the game looks very unique and a lot of fun.  If you want to see for yourself, try the demo on the Nintendo eShop.  It does take a few tries to get use to each levels control scheme, but once you figure out the rhythm the game is a lot of fun.  While I do not plan to pick up Rhythm Thief right away, it is a game that I will eventually pick-up for the 3DS in the near future.  For those looking for another good rhythm game for the 3DS to go along with Theatrhythm, you should definitely considering picking up Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure.

Launch Station: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy is a video game franchise that has been renowned for its' incredible music.  So much in fact that  there are concerts dedicated to the music and anthologies of CDs that fans look for.  One Winged Angel, the Chocobo theme and the Victory theme are just a short list of incredible music that has been produced for the Final Fantasy series.  Tomorrow, there will be a game that will allow gamers to experience the music of Final Fantasy in a whole new way as Theatrhythm Final Fantasy releases for the Nintendo 3DS.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a rhythm game spin-off in the Final Fantasy series.  The gods Chaos and Cosmos have disrupted the music crystal in a place called Rhythm.  It is now up to heroes from the Final Fantasys I to XIII to increase the output of the music wave known as Rhythpo in order to restore the crystal in Rhythm.  The player is able to choose a party of four Final Fantasy characters.  Some characters you can choose are Cecil from Final Fantasy IV, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, Squall from Final Fantasy VIII and Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII.  There is a level for each game in the main Final Fantasy series.  Each level has three stages that highlights a different song from the corresponding game.  The three stages from each level are a Field stage, a Battle stage and a Event Stage with the option to play through the opening and ending themes of each level.  The gameplay is very similar to Nintendo's Elite Beat Agents for the DS, where you tap and swipe the touch screen in the correct spot in order to keep in time with the beat of the song.  After completing each stage, your characters will gain more experience and level up.  As you play through the Theatrhythm, you will unlock bonus songs to play along with bonus movies as well.  Theatrhyhtm also features varying difficulties, a Challenge mode and a Chaos Tower mode to keep gamers busy playing this game for weeks and possibly even months on end.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy looks like an incredible amount of fan service.  Anybody who loves the music that has been produced for the Final Fantasy series these last 25 years will definitely want to pick up this Final Fantasy themed rhythm game.  When it was first announced, Theatrhytm looked interesting, but nothing really worthwhile.  The more I have seen of it, the more I believe Theatrhythm Final Fantasy could be a considerable third-party hit for the 3DS and rightfully so.  It is a game I will eventually pick up someday for my 3DS.

On the Download: Quantum Conumdrum

For the last few weeks there has been a little drought of noteworthy downloadable games to justify doing a new edition of On the Download.  With retail releases slowing down for the summer, gamers look to downloadable initiatives like the Summer of Arcade for XBLA and the just announced 8-Bit Summer for the Nintendo eShop to keep them entertained during the summer gaming drought.  To officially start the summer is Airtight Games' Quantum Conundrum just released yesterday for download on Steam.

From the mind of Kim Swift, the lead designer of popular puzzle game Portal, and her team at Airtight Games, Quantum Conundrum is a first-person physics-based puzzle game in the vein of Portal.  Instead of thinking with portals, you manipulate objects and the environment by switching dimensions on the fly in order to solve puzzles.  In Quantum Conundrum, you play as the 12 year old nephew of eccentric scientist and inventor Profesor Quadwrangle.  You are dropped off at Professor Quadwragle's mansion to spend some time with your uncle.  Shortly after arriving at the mansion, an explosion occurs, which causes the Professor to go missing.  Trying to figure out what is going on, you stumble upon a glove that turns out to be the Interdimensional Shift Device (ISD for short), which must be used to navigate Professor Quadwrangle's mansion in order to find your missing uncle.  Throughout Quantum Conundrum, you use the Interdimensional Shift Device (ISD) to shift between four dimensions (fluffy, heavy, anti-gravity and slow-mo) each with their own attributes to solve puzzles in each room of Professor Quadwrangle's mansion.

There is no doubt.  Quantum Conundrum is very similar to Portal, but they were designed by the same person.  You can see why there are big similarities between the two.  While I do not think Qunatum Conundrum will reach the popularity or universal acclaim of Portal, it is a unique downloadable puzzle game that looks to test your brain in new and creative ways.  From what I saw at E3, I was very impressed with Quantum Conundrum and it is a game that looking to download in the near future.  At the moment, Quantum Conundrum is only available on Steam for 15 dollars.  For console owners, do not fret as Qunatum Conundrum is coming to XBLA and PSN on July 11th. 

On the Download: March 18-24

It has been a busy week as I start working two jobs.  Once everything settles down and I get more used to all of it, there will not be so many delays here on Silver Bit.  It has been an okay week for new downloadable releases as we take a look at two new iOS games and one HD port of an old classic.  There have been quite a lot of sales.  Chaos Rings and Chaos Rings Ω are both on sale.  There is a huge Square Enix sale on Steam this weekend.  Finally there is Sony's Spring Fever Sale on the PlayStation Store which includes a sale on all things Final Fantasy.  Got Final Fantasy VII for 7 dollars last night so not bad.  So if you use either the App Store, Steam or the PlayStation Store check out these amazing sales on great downloadable games.  Without further ado, let us look at the biggest downloadable games for this week.

Actually Chaos Rings II released for the iOS last Thursday, but considering how many games I was already featuring in last week's On the Download, I decided to hold off a week.  Chaos Rings II is the third game in Square Enix's huge iOS only RPG series.  In Chaos Rings II, time is at a standstill and the Destroyer has brought the world to the brink of destruction.  You play as Darwin, the chosen one, who is sent on a quest to bring salvage this desolate world by sacrificing five chosen people and offerring their souls to the Gods.  When one of the five chosen turns out to be a childhood friend of Darwin's, will he save the world or the girl?  It is up to you the player to decide.  Chaos Rings II features all the great RPG strategy and action that the first two games have with a whole new story, improvements on the graphics and the battle system and a whole new emphasis on the player's choices.  At 18 to 19 dollars depending on if you get the iPod/iPhone version or the iPad HD version, Chaos Rings II is a bit pricey.  If you are looking for a RPG optimized to the strengths of the iOS platform, Chaos Rings II is well worth it.

Well the biggest downloadable release of the week has to go to the sequel to the most popular mobile game of all-time, Angry Birds Space.  With the simple premise of catapulting birds at structures housing the menacing pigs, Angry Birds has gone on the capture the minds of hardcore and casual gamers alike.  Rovio now takes this simple yet addictive premise and has put these Angry Birds in a whole new setting, space.  Space adds many new dynamics to the game such as zero-gravity.  With 60 new levels, new birds, new superpowers, amazing amount of trick shots and regular free updates, Angry Birds Space seems like a beefy package for one dollar.

While Rayman 2 gets a lot of love, the third entry in the series gets overlooked by most people.  Looking to give players another chance to pick it up, Ubisoft has released Rayman 3 HD for PSN and XBLA.  Rayman 3 tells the story of how Rayman stops an evil black lum by the name of Andre from taking over the world with his army of sack-like Hoodlum soldiers.  Rayman 3 HD is the definitive version of Rayman 3: Hoodlum's Havoc and is must play for any fan of 3D platformers.  If you are still on the fence, you try the demo.  If you cannot wait to relive this great game, you can download it for 10 dollars or 800 Microsoft Points.

Launch Station: Final Fantasy XIII-2

Ever since the holiday season and the holiday game rush of 2011 came to an end, there have been little to no new games released.  Maybe one or two Game of the Year editions of a couple games, but nothing completely new.  Well tomorrow, January 31st, starts the first big game rush of 2012 as publishers and developers release their first wave of heavyweight games.  Among the first of this big wave of releases is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII.  Final Fantasy XIII-2 hopes to right all the complaints fans and critics laid on its polarizing predecessor.  Let us take a closer look at Final Fantasy XIII-2 before it releases tomorrow.

Immediately after saving the worlds of Cocoon and Gran Pulse in the finale of Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning is sucked into another world.  Trapped in this alternate reality, Lightning must contend with the evil forces of the main villain of this Final Fantasy game, Caius Ballard.  Left without a sister, Serah goes on a quest to find Lightning, which leads her to meeting Noel, a mysterious time-traveller from 700 years in the future.  Serah and Noel must travel across time and space in order to find Lightning and stop Caius Ballard.  Final Fantasy XIII-2's main focus is on improving on the XIII's shortcomings, mainly the extreme linearity of XIII.  You no longer have to travel down long hallways for hours on end as each location is open for you to explore, complete various side-quests or do whatever you want.  The Paradigm Shift battle system returns from XIII with some additions.  The first addition being little quick-time events called Cinematic Action that play at pre-determined moments in fights that keep you engaged while these epic moments happen on-screen.  The second addition is the ability to tame monsters to use as the third member in your party.  This third party member can be very useful especially for its special Feral Link move, which can deal a good amount of damage when needed.  Along with the additions to the combat, Square Enix has added Live Triggers, which serve as Final Fantasy's take on dialogue trees, and Temporal Rifts, little puzzle-like mini-games that play into furthering the story.

Story is a huge component of Final Fantasy games and time travel could provide some messy plot holes if Square Enix does not do it right.  I was not a huge fan of Final Fantasy XIII when it released back in 2010 and I am not really interested in Final Fantasy XIII-2.  It looks like Square Enix listened to the fans and critics and tried their best to right the wrongs they made with Final Fantasy XIII.  Hardcore fans of Final Fantasy and Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs for short) will most likely enjoy Final Fantasy XIII-2.  I do not think it will grab gamers who have their minds set on Kingdoms of Amular or Mass Effect 3 though.

Demo Impressions: Final Fantasy XIII-2

In this generation of consoles, there are plenty of game experiences people can play free of charge without resorting to any form of piracy.  Through services such as Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, many gamers can get free demos of upcoming and already released games for their consoles or handhelds.  PC gamers can get demos through a developer's website or clients such as Steam or Origin.  Demos have been around for a long time to give gamers a little taste of the full game that they will be able to buy in the near future.  As an avid gamer, I enjoy trying out certain games that I am on the edge on and also those I am highly anticipating.  I would like to think of a better title for this new article other than Demo Impressions, but it is late at night and I don't have much creativity flowing through me at the moment.  So I would like to pass it off to you guys, comment below with your ideas of a new title for this article and I will pick my favourite for all future editions of this article.  As you probably noticed from the title, I am going to give you guys what I thought about a number of demos I played recently.  As these demos are just a slice of the final product, do not consider my impressions to anything like a review.  Try the demo for yourself and be the final judge.

Let us start off this new article with one of the biggest games be released this January, Final Fantasy XIII-2.  Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII.  It follows Serah and newcomer Noel as they travel through time to search for Lightning and stop the evil Caius Ballad.  This demo found on Xbox Live and PSN drops Noel and Serah at some point probably a hour or two into the game.  You are dropped in the Brescha Ruins and have to fight a gigantic titan by the name of Atlas.  The Paradigm Shift battle system does take a little getting use to, but once you spend 15 to 20 minutes with the battle system things flow pretty fast and very smoothly.  The one thing about the battle system I do not like is that it feels like you are on auto-pilot at all times.  You do not directly control Noel's or Serah's attacks or their actions and it makes me feel restricted.  Even though I do not like the return of what seemingly are random battles, I like the new preemptive strike that you can do when initiating a battle.  One of my biggest complaints during my little time with Final Fantasy XIII was that the game felt far too linear for my liking.  So being thrown into an open environment to explore with optional side-quests to complete was refreshing.  This demo also showed off some new mechanics for a Final Fantasy game.  First was the ability to gain monsters to serve as your third member in your party.  I found this third party member very useful especially for its special Feral Link move, which can deal a lot of damage when needed.  Second new gameplay mechanic was the new Anomaly segments which are little puzzle rooms you have to complete every once and a while.  These segments seem like a nice little diversion, but the one in the demo felt tacked on and unneeded.  The last new mechanic can be found in the big boss battles with Atlas at the beginning and end of the demo.  At certain predetermined points during these battles, you enter cinematic action, a little cinematic that has you preform quick-time events to avoid damage or do more damage to the boss.  It is an interesting mechanic that allows for some epic moments while keeping the player engaged.  Overall, this demo for Final Fantasy XIII-2 was pretty good.  It has showed me that Square Enix has at least tried to right the wrongs they made with Final Fantasy XIII.  This demo did not convince me that I should run out and buy this game at launch, but I did get a feeling that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will definitely please the Final Fantasy faithful and those looking for a good RPG.