In recent years, Nintendo has pulled back from the traditional E3 presence. Instead of the tried-and-true press conference and booth combination, Nintendo has opted to provided a constant stream of content from the Nintendo World Championships to the daily Treehouse Live stream. The crown jewel of Nintendo's week is their Digital Event, a special one hour video that highlights their biggest titles for the upcoming year. With the Wii U Legend of Zelda skipping the show, could Nintendo announce some titles to fill that void this holiday season?
Nintendo didn't have one single answer to that question as they went for a sheer numbers approach. Starting with Super Mario Maker, there will be eight titles across Wii U and 3DS, including Star Fox Zero, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Yoshi's Woolly World, releasing this Fall. While there may not be a single title that will move tons 3DS and Wii U units, this is one of the most robust lineups Nintendo has had for the holidays in a long time.
Looking at the Digital Event as a whole, its content was good, but the video was completely underwhelming and disjointed. Nintendo tried so hard to be charming and wacky with the puppet skits, but it came off as embarrassing awkward. Also the announcement of certain games felt out of place.
Although I am not as upset about the Metroid Prime 3DS games as others, the way Nintendo just unceremoniously dumped it on us was a little insulting, especially for longtime fans. Federation Force and Blast Ball are two refreshing new takes on the franchise that I look forward to seeing more of, but these titles shouldn't have been the only Metroid announcement of the show. Plus the huge focus on Super Mario Maker and Mario's 30th Anniversary was a little lackluster considering the Nintendo World Championships did such an incredible job promoting that game. I will admit, revealing that the Mario transitions were actually the Amiibo support for Super Mario Maker was awesome.
While Nintendo's Digital Event felt lackluster as a whole, there were some titles that really impressed me. Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes looks to be the Four Swords sequel/co-op Zelda I've been craving for a long time. The ability to play core Zelda dungeons with others both on and offline is great. The proper return of Mario Tennis with Ultra Smash for Wii U was exciting to see. If Nintendo adds in robust online multiplayer to the game, it could be up there with Mario Kart, Smash Bros. and Splatoon as another great multiplayer game for Wii U. Last but not least, Level 5's Yo-Kai Watch was impressive as it had a great amount of charm and some unique RPG elements that looks to appeal to all ages.
The easiest way to describe Nintendo's Digital Event is a mixed bag. All the games showed off looked to be a lot of fun and it gave perfect picture of Nintendo's holiday lineup, which looks to be their best in a long time. The show just didn't have the cohesion or a big punch to keep fans from felling a little disappointed. Plus where on Earth is Retro Studios!?
Let's address the elephant in the room. I know I promised to have things back to normal by the end of March and it's now three weeks into April. I am sorry for the delays, but school consumed my entire life until last Wednesday. Between writing close to 20 pages for final essays and studying non-stop for exams that involved copious amounts of writing, I wasn't in much of a mood to write anything else at that point in time.
Although I originally wanted this edition of Bit by Bit to be the first post back from the hiatus, I am very happy that I got the Launch Station for Xenoblade Chronicles 3D up in time for its release this past Friday, especially considering my reverence for the Wii original. Since school is winding down for the year (only one exam left!), I will be able to once again post to Silver Bit on a regular basis. With all that being said, let us rewind the clock to last month and look back at the best and worst of March 2015.
Shame of the Month
Typically, I highlight the best game I played in the past month, but I think the game I am talking about today deserves an exception. While I critique games, I don't usually review games I find middling or bad because I don't spend enough time with them to justify a review. Personally, I like to experience everything the game has to offer before writing a review, including playing through the single-player portion and spending a good amount of time with the multiplayer. It is a time-consuming commitment that I don't usually make for a game that I despise playing. Now, I want to start playing a greater variety of games, in both genre and quality, to widen what I talk about on Silver Bit. Although too much time has passed for me to give a full review justice, I will still honour this game as the very first Shame of the Month.
In the middle of all the craziness that was March, I decided to download a little free-to-play game that was popular among everybody I met through StreetPass—Pokemon Shuffle. At the core of Pokemon Shuffle, there is an okay match-three puzzle game. Sadly, that core is wrapped in frustrating gameplay mechanics that are only in the game to make players shell out their hard-earned cash.
Unless you have a gripping need to spend real money to play Shuffle for hours on end, it is best to play for the short amount of time offered through the five regenerating hearts. You will see everything Pokemon Shuffle has to offer in the first 30 to 40 stages, leaving you over 100 stages of recycling the same challenges with increasing difficulty. What makes the game even worse are the mechanics, such as the catchability meter and enemy disruptions, that are tweaked in such a way that it forces players to pay money in order to advance in the game. Yes, there are ways around these frustrations by hording jewels until absolutely necessary, but the game continually tempts the player to use them for five more turns or 20 more seconds to catch their desired Pokemon. These deceitful freemium practices just put a bad taste in your mouth.
Hopefully with Nintendo producing games for mobile platforms, these cash-sucking titles will be exclusive for those markets instead of infecting the 3DS and Wii U eShops. Pokemon Shuffle is pretty much the exact same game as last year's Pokemon Battle Trozei with new Mega Evolution screen-clearing combos and tons of devious ways to steal your money. Pokemon Shuffle may not be that fun, but it is perfect start to Silver Bit's Shame of the Month.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
This past March, Nintendo pulled the curtain back on Splatoon and does it ever look good. About midway through the month, Nintendo brought video game journalists from media outlets like IGN and Gamespot and Youtube personalities like ProJared and The Completionist to play the game at their American headquarters. The onslaught of videos and articles that came from this event highlight Splatoon's various single and multiplayer modes.
Back when the game debuted at E3 2014, I initially thought Splatoon wasn't anything special as it looked like a neat little downloadable title. I can say now that I was totally wrong and I am glad to be wrong in this case. Splatoon looks to be a very comprehensive game with a Mario Galaxy style Octo Valley single-player campaign and fully-fledged suite of online multiplayer modes like Turf Wars and Ranked Battles. I am especially looking forward to spending lots of time in Octo Valley launching from floating island to floating island, using ink in unique ways to battle enemies and finding interesting ways to traverse platforms with some cool ink-squid combinations.
If you would've asked me about Splatoon at the beginning of the year, I would've shrugged the game off as Nintendo giving the third-person shooter genre the good ol' college try. Now, all I want to do is play it. I know I overuse this saying, but I seriously can't wait until May 29th to play Splatoon. I am that damn excited.
Video of the Month
In 1987, Hironobu Sakaguchi was a young video designer for Squaresoft that just wanted to finish the final game in his contract to pursue the greener pastures of hip hop. Unbeknownst to Sakaguchi, his "final fantasy" spiraled into the long-running franchise many gamers know and love and a seemingly never-ending extension to his contract. How did the success and popularity of Final Fantasy affect the legendary game designer? Watch Mega64's totally real behind-the scenes look at the making of Final Fantasy to find out.
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.
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.
Just over a year ago, Nintendo surprised everyone with the reveal of the 2DS, a value-priced model of the 3DS without the system's signature glasses-less 3D feature. While the opinions on the 2DS were polarizing upon its initial announcement, the system has by no means been the flop like many suggested. In fact, the 2DS has sold well over two million units since its launch back in October of last year. Seeing the success of the 2DS must of inspired the decision makers at Nintendo announce yet another model of the 3DS before the end of August because the Big N is at it again.
In the wee hours of the morning last Friday, Nintendo announced the New Nintendo 3DS during a Japan-only Nintendo Direct. The New Nintendo 3DS is very similar in design to past models, but there a significant amount of additions to the hardware that justify the title of "New". The most noticeable features of the New 3DS are the additions of a small analog nub referred to as the C-Stick, the ZL and ZR shoulder buttons, coloured face buttons and a volume slider located on the top screen. The other features of the New 3DS include built-in NFC functionality in the touch screen for use with Amiibo, facial tracking via the inner camera to improve the line of sight for the glasses-less 3D effect, the use of Micro SD cards instead of SD cards for storage and more processing power to improve download speeds and graphics capability. With the additional processing power, Nintendo has confirmed there will be exclusive games, such as an enhanced port of Xenoblade Chronicles, coming to the New 3DS. Sadly, these games will not be compatible with previous versions of the system. The New 3DS is currently set to release in both standard and XL versions on October 10th in Japan with no official announcement on worldwide release at this time.
The announcement of a brand new system, be it console or handheld, is suppose to bring excitement and joy for the next advancements in video game software and technology. When I saw the announcement for the New 3DS, I was stunned and not in a good way. In all honesty, I love Nintendo and the 3DS XL is one of the best designed handheld systems on the market today, but I do not understand Nintendo's incessant need to annualize the release of 3DS hardware especially when it alienates owners of previous versions. Video game handhelds are in a completely different beast than smartphones and tablets because people look for a dedicated system to take the quality gaming experiences on the go rather than a multipurpose machine where gaming is not much of a focus. Due to these opposing mindsets, there is no need to adapt the practice of updating hardware (no matter how minor) annually that is so prevalent in the smartphone and tablet market into Nintendo's handheld strategy.
Although I do fear Nintendo is looking at smartphones and tablets as influence more than they should, my main problem with the New 3DS stems from the exclusive games for the device. In no way has Nintendo officially confirmed if the New 3DS is their next generation handheld, which leaves the system feeling like it is caught between the current handheld generation and whatever Nintendo creates next. Considering the New 3DS sits amidst two handheld generations, it begs the question: why should someone buy a New 3DS when the next generation of handhelds is maybe two to three years away? The exclusive games seems like Nintendo's way to elicit people to ignore that question, yet the install-base of the New 3DS will never reach a point where it is more viable sales-wise to release large portable franchises like Pokemon exclusively on it. With that thought in mind, I do not see the New 3DS's exclusive games being more than Nintendo-published ports like Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story, and experimental titles such as WarioWare. In my opinion, the whole exclusive games conundrum will cause more division between the 3DS consumer base than unity because there will be two groups of gamers with systems that are compatible in some ways and incompatible in others. Much like Nintendo's missteps with DSiWare during the DS era, it is a short-sighted move by Nintendo to coerce people into buying a New 3DS with exclusive games.
While the New Nintendo 3DS adds some highly requested features like a second analog stick and improved stereoscopic 3D, it is not needed at this point in time. The 3DS is the most successful console on the market today. There is no need to change up the formula or make significant changes to this system to ensure success other than continuing to release compelling software for the 3DS on a regular basis. Gamers would rather see a remake for Majora's Mask or a new 2D Metroid over a brand new 3DS with the processing power of the Wii. I may sound like a broken record, but Nintendo needs to focus on improving the sales of the Wii U over anything else. The poor sales of the Wii U is the main cause of Nintendo's current financial woes, so it is better to right that ship than meddle with the one that is raking in all the money. The final verdict on the New 3DS will have to wait until it reaches North American shores sometime in 2015. Right now, I am no where near convinced that the New 3DS is worth my hard-earned cash especially after buying a 3DS XL earlier in this year.
Aside from Sony's offerings this year, E3 2014 can be summed up in one word-- safe. For the second year in a row, Nintendo looks to usurp convention with their Nintendo Digital Event. Details surrounding this event have been clouded in mystery since the Big N announced it. A lot of people especially Nintendo fans were hoping to see Nintendo move out of the financial woes of the Wii U with this event. Did Nintendo's Digital Event deliver?
As a whole, the Nintendo Digital Event delivered as a perfectly paced entertaining forty-five minute show. It provided a great amount of new information on Nintendo properties people were most concerned about and wove it into a fun captivating presentation including smooth transitions, funny Robot Chicken skits and a steady pace. With all that said, the presentation felt pretty safe and underwhelming in this writer's humble opinion. Not to mean Nintendo's performance was bad, in fact it was better than last year's showing, however nothing truly surprised or caught this writer off-guard. Also this writer would of ended the event with The Legend of Zelda reveal instead of the Palutena character reveal for Super Smash Bros. Speaking of The Legend of Zelda reveal, the new game looks incredible with a cel-shaded anime art style and the futuristic technology mixed with medieval fantasy. A more substantial Zelda trailer or gameplay would have been nice yet what we got was great nonetheless.
Super Smash Bros. saw Palutena and Mii Fighters revealed as new additions to the character roster. Masahiro Sakurai took a bit of time to focus on the Mii Fighters as they look to be Smash's answer to create-a-fighters in other fighting games as you get to choose the Mii's style (brawler, sword-fighter and gunner), special moves and most likely appearance. That news was coupled with an excellent one-on-one fight between Reggie and Iwata and the introduction of amiibos. Despite the weird name, amiibos are Nintendo's answer to the collectable toy genre popularized by Disney Infinity and Skylanders and they allow you to store, transfer and unlock different data across multiple Nintendo games. Currently confirmed to work with Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8 and Mario Party 10 among others, the amiibos showed off at the event looked really well crafted. There were a lot more games covered in this event including Mario Maker, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2 with the first Bayonetta included on disc, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Yoshi's Woolly World. Sadly, most of them are coming out in 2015. Not much incentive to buy a Wii U this coming Fall, which is a mistake on Nintendo's part, but in 2015 the Wii U will be releasing games at a considerable pace.
Before the Palutena reveal, Nintendo ended off with a brand new property for Wii U called Splatoon. Splatoon is a third-person shooter where you play as a squid-human hybrid and the goal of each match is to cover the arena with the most ink. Ink plays a greater role than being your ammo as you can use it travel far distances quickly in squid form and slow down opposing players that get caught in it. While Splatoon looks more like a downloadable game rather than a system seller, it was nice to see Nintendo introduce a brand new property for the first time in what seems like years. Splatoon is hopefully a sign of more good things to come from Nintendo.
Although this writer did find Nintendo's Digital Event thoroughly entertaining, it was not the home run the company needed. Nintendo did a great job in developing a definitive lineup for the rest of 2014 with set release dates for all their titles except Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, giving fans confidence in the games further down the pipeline and wrapping it all in an entertaining package. Despite all that great stuff, this writer wanted Nintendo to make a much bigger statement this year and they fell short. The Wii U will definitely gain some much needed ground in 2014, just not enough to compete on the same level as Sony and Microsoft.
While there were quite a few games that I did not get around to in 2012, there were plenty of games that yours truly got to spend some quality time playing. Some games on this list I played to completion before the end of 2012, some I did not. Those games on this list that I did not complete, I still got quite a ways through them. Enough so that they deserve to be mentioned in my top games of 2012. Due to how busy I was in late 2012, my top games of 2012 will not be organized in a list of ten games in ascending order. The games will be listed by the order of their release. Each person is different so my top games of 2012 will most likely differ from your top games so I hope everybody will enjoy my opinion and feel free to share some games that I 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.
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 easily be finished in one sitting, which makes the game easy to sit down and play again. I cannot stress enough how great of an experience Journey is. If there is one game on this list that I highly recommend every gamer go out of their way to play, it is Journey.
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 and one 3DS owners 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 over 30 hours of Xenoblade 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.
The Last Story
The Last Story was the Wii's last story, pun intended. From the mind of the most recognizable name in Japanese RPGs, Hironobu Sakaguichi, The Last Story looks to take the Japanese RPG in new and innovative directions. The Last Story's biggest strength is its innovative real-time battle system that has you controlling the protagonist Zael while commanding the rest of your party to set up big combos of magic and physical attacks. Along with Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story is another great RPG for a system that sure has needs it.
Darksiders II
Originally coming out for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in August, I did not get to try this excellent amalgamation of genres until I bought my Wii U in November. The combat of great action games like God of War and Devil May Cry, the loot system from classic dungeon crawlers like Diablo, the massive over world of an action adventure game like The Legend of Zelda, the parkour-like platforming of a Prince of Persia and the classic leveling and skill system of a classic RPG can all be found in Darksiders II, but Vigil Games takes all these elements and makes it their own. Vigil's effort has created a game that you can easily get lost in for hours at a time. While a few glitches may pop up from time-to-time, Darksiders II is an incredible game that no gamer should pass on.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Not many licensed games are worth playing; fewer are praised both by critics and fans. High Moon Studios' Transformers: Fall of Cybertron falls under those select few, no pun intended. Taking the great framework set by War for Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron takes players through an incredibly focused and diverse campaign that explores the Transformers' final days on their dying homeworld. Fall of Cybertron does justice to the Transformers like no other piece of media (TV show, comic or movie) has done for the franchise in the last number of years. Also it has one of the finest final levels I personally played all year.
New Super Mario Bros. U
Another year, another side-scrolling Mario. Many gamers, myself included, can remember a time when it was rare to see Gaming's Number One Plumber star in a brand new side-scrolling game. While Mario platformers are some of the finest games around, it is a little hard to get excited when it seems like one comes out every year. Seriously, we got two Mario platformers in 2012 alone. While I was not really excited for New Super Mario Bros. U, I still picked it up for my Wii U at launch. After putting the game in my brand new system, I learned once again to never doubt Nintendo. New Super Mario Bros. U is easily the best game in the New Super Mario Bros. subseries and can stand among Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 as one of the best Mario platformers of all-time. The levels are expertly designed, the difficulty ramps up at the perfect pace (making use of all those lives you accumulate in earlier levels), there are a great number of secrets to find and plenty of modes like Challenges and multi-player that will keep you coming back for more Mario. The one game that all Wii U owners should pick up when they buy their brand new console and one of my personal favourite games of 2012.
Much like with Xenoblade Chronicles that released earlier this year, gamers have had to patiently wait for The Last Story. Originally set to release in the middle of June for Wii, The Last Story's release date has been up in the air for a little over a month until Xseed Games came out and announced the official release date, August 14th. After months of pleading Nintendo to localize this game along with Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower, The Last Story will finally be available in North America this Tuesday. Even though there seems to be no plans for Nintendo or any other company to localize Pandora's Tower, but two out of the three games featured in Operation Rainfall making it to our shores is a victory nonetheless. For having to wait so long for The Last Story, Xseed Games has spoiled us. The first edition of The Last Story to hit stores this Tuesday will be a special limited edition that comes with a Steelbook case for the game, an exclusive art book and a short CD for those who pre-ordered the game from certain retailers. For the 50 dollars The Last Story will be at launch, this package should be a must-buy for RPG enthusiasts and hardcore Wii owners. Much like with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles, it is time for hardcore Wii gamers to put their money where their mouth is and support this game that you have been pleading Nintendo to bring to North America for about a year. I have done my part. I will be buying The Last Story on launch day. It is time to do your part.
Lazulis Island, governed by Count Arganan, has become a small wonder of power for it's nearly impenetrable defence and mysterious attributes. Lazulis Island's reputation brings in many people looking to make a fortune. Among those people is Zael and his fellow band of mercenaries. Even though on Lazulis Island mercenaries are perceived to be upon the lower classes of society, Zael and his friends catch the eye of none other than Count Arganan. Waving the caveat of knighthood in front of their eyes, Count Arganan employs Zael and his friends to complete missions for him personally. On one of Count Arganan's missions, Zael is bestowed with a mysterious power known as the Gathering that sends him and his friends on a journey they will never forget. With The Last Story, Hironobu Sakaguchi and his team at Mistwalker looked to evolve the rather stagnant JRPG genre in new and creative ways. With this directive in mind, The Last Story employs an innovative real-time battle system that has not been seen in any other JRPG. Battles happen all in real-time with the player controlling Zael while the computers control the other party members. To help set up big chain attacks and other strategic plans, you are able issue commands such as directing allies or telling a magic user to destroy a bridge to your party members in real-time. The Last Story has a full-on cover and stealth system that works in tandem with the battle system that allows players to hide behind cover in order to avoid enemy fire, get the advantage on certain enemies and pick off dangerous ranged enemies from a distance. The Gathering power that Zael gains can be used in battle to help your party as it draws all enemy attention to Zael, which buys party members enough time to cast spells, heal or take a much needed rest from the onslaught. Lazulis Island is a rich setting that players can explore at anytime during the game. There are over 30 side quests to complete, tons of items to collect, new powers such as Focus and Seek to acquire and an incredible amount of additional backstory and information about the world of The Last Story for players to discover. If players tire of the huge single-player story, The Last Story also includes both competitive and co-operative online multi-player modes. Players can either team up against monsters or battle one another in order to collect some rare items for use in the single-player.
Coming off of the heels of Xenoblade Chronicles, which turned out to be a success for Nintendo, The Last Story looks to be the last great game to release for Nintendo's aging Wii console. It will easily tide hardcore Wii gamers until the release of the Wii U. Hironobu Sakaguchi's newest creation looks to be one of his finest. It is a game that every hardcore Wii gamer and JRPG aficionado should pick up this coming Tuesday.
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.
With this rather slow two months for video games, it has allowed me to keep up Off the Newsstand with my reading. Averaging reading a whole magazine each week. As long as my subscriptions come at a steady pace, I will be able to post Off the Newsstand every week or two. Earlier this week, I finished the May issue of Game Informer. Here are my thoughts.
Not much has been said about Halo 4 since Microsoft revealed the game at last year's E3. There were a few tidbits of what the game was shaping up to be through various videos made by 343 Industries showing the behind the scenes on Halo 4, but nothing as substantial as this cover story. Game Informer's cover story is split into two parts. The first part takes a look at the opening few hours of the main campaign and has the developers at 343 discussing some of the plot points of Halo 4 such as Cortana slowly dying, exploring Master Chief as a character rather than an all-powerful superhero and the mystery of the Forerunners. The second part takes a look at Halo 4's multi-player now called Infinity. Infinity has a story of its own as you train a Spartan IV aboard the UNSC Infinity. Spartan IVs train on the Infinity's combat deck, which like Star Trek's holodeck or the Danger Room in X-Men can replicate any known environment for the Spartans to train on, in red vs. blue matches. There is a new co-op mode called Spartan Ops, which allows players to complete unique missions and challenges with other Spartan IVs. Spartan Ops will be updated every week with new missions, new challenges and a new movie sequence to advance the co-ops' story. The multi-player story even converges with the main campaign as Master Chief will run into the UNSC Infinity and its' crew at some point in his campaign. At first I thought this story on Halo 4 would not interest me much like last issue's Assassin's Creed III cover story, after reading it I am genuinely excited for Halo 4 especially the Spartan Ops, which I think it an excellent way of keeping gamers engaged with Halo 4 for weeks, months even years after completing the game. Also packed into this Issue 229 of Game Informer was an in-depth playthrough of Guild Wars 2, some articles on the Game Developer's Conference (GDC for short) like a look at Quantic Dream's new engine for the PS3, a look at the winners of this year's Independent Game Festival and Indie Game Challenge and an interview with Epic's Mike Capps, a look at the controversy surrounding Mass Effect 3's ending and much more.
Issue 229 is the best issue of Game Informer since February's Issue 226. The cover story delivers, there are insightful articles on GDC and current issues in the video game industry, previews of the biggest games of 2012 and reviews of the biggest games of the first quarter of 2012 like Mass Effect 3, Xenoblade Chronicles and The Witcher 2. Issue 229 is definitely worth the 6 dollars to buy it at your local EB Games or Chapters.
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.
With all that came out this past March, there has been no room for yours truly to look at the latest issues of the various gaming magazines I read. Also for a good few weeks in March, I was without a magazine to read. That was until this past week when I received the newest issues for all my subscriptions (Nintendo Power, Game Informer and Electronic Gaming Monthly). Now I at least have some reading material for the coming weeks.
With Epic Mickey: Power of Two announced earlier in the week, it came as no surprise that the exclusive Nintendo Power teased in Issue 276 was no doubt Mickey's return to the Wii. Well Epic Mickey: Power of Two was not the only Epic Mickey to be covered in this huge cover story. Nintendo Power got the first details on Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for the 3DS, which is the spiritual successor to Castle of Illusions for the Genesis and will release alongside Power of Two this fall. While nothing too in-depth, this cover story was very enjoyable. It gave readers a nice look of what these Epic Mickey games will be about when they release later this year. This cover story had two really good interviews with the creative directors on these games, Warren Spector and Peter Ong, which are both interesting reads. Like most issues of Nintendo Power, Issue 277 is 96 pages packed with great content. Apart from the cover story, you got a retrospective look at The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past to celebrate 20 years since its North American release, an extended hand-ons look at Mario Tennis Open with accompanying interview with the game's producer and lead designer, a look back at the Nintendo 3DS's first year and an in-depth profile of Hironobu Takeshita, producer at Capcom and creator of a little Wii gem known as Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. Issue 277 also has reviews on two big Nintendo games, Kid Icarus: Uprising for 3DS and Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii.
Another all around solid issue from Nintendo Power. Nintendo Power has been on a roll as of late and personally I hope it keeps going. While Nintendo Power does cater more to the big Nintendo fans such as myself, it does provide a great read for anybody who owns a Nintendo system or handheld.
Now that 2011 has closed its doors and we have entered into 2012, that means we are all on step closer to new game releases and console launches. Each year, the video game industry tries to top itself with bigger blockbusters, cooler surprises and more innovative ideas. So today, I would like to list in no particular order the games and consoles I am really looking forward to get my hands on in 2012.
Mass Effect 3
The Mass Effect series has become one of my favourites among this generation of consoles. BioWare's previous two masterpieces perfectly blended RPG gameplay with the mechanics of a third-person shooter and put together one epic space opera that completely sucked me in. Personally I cannot wait to finish the story of Commander Shepard as he unites the galaxy against the Reaper threat. I am a little bummed that there will be no split-screen co-op as I would rather play the multiplayer with my brothers than buy a month of Xbox Live in order to complete the multiplayer missions, which affect the single-player story. Nonetheless, March 6th cannot come soon enough.
Kid Icarus: Uprising
The one reason that I bought my 3DS is almost here. Just have to wait three months, but that probably won't take long as time flies. Kid Icarus: Uprising's third person in-air and on-ground action looks to be as stellar as the Sin and Punishment games that it is definitely inspired by. The action looks very fast and fluid so to keep you on your feet. The addition of local and online multiplayer should be great. If Nintendo adds the online system they used in Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus' online multiplayer should be the place to be for all 3DS owners. Even though, I was a little sad that Nintendo held it back until 2012, my thirst to play the new Kid Icarus is as great as it has ever been.
Xenoblade Chronicles
The game that all core Wii owners have been begging Nintendo almost a year will finally arrive this April. I don't know for sure if it will be coming to EB Games/Gamestop in Canada yet, I am still very hopeful. If worse comes to worse, I will order it from Nintendo myself. Xenoblade is a rich RPG for the RPG-starved Wii that has said to be the Final Fantasy of this generation of consoles, which is a huge honour. Considering how hard many gamers worked to get this game to come to North America, I hoping Xenoblade sells well enough to get Nintendo to bring Last Story and Pandora's Tower over and give the Wii one last hooray before the Wii U takes over.
Wii U
Well speaking of the Wii U, Nintendo's first high-definition console is set to release in the summer or fall of this calendar year. If you have been following this blog for a while, you have probably noticed that I am a huge Nintendo fan. I like Sony and Microsoft as well, but Nintendo holds a special place in my heart. So I am really looking forward to Nintendo's new console and all the first and hopefully third party games that will be released for it. From what was showed off at E3 2011, I am impressed with the different ways that the new tablet controller can be used (I really want to play that Shield Pose) and I am looking forward to see some innovative uses for the controller.
Tomb Raider
I was introduced like many others to Lara Croft's new direction through last January's issue of Game Informer. I was impressed then and I was impressed when Crystal Dynamics showed it off at E3. Now I cannot wait to Fall 2012 when Tomb Raider is released for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Much more gritty and dark than any of the other Tomb Raider game. We finally get to see how Lara Croft became the woman that we have been playing as for the past 15 years. It should be an adventure like no other and I cannot wait to play it when it comes out much later in the year.
