Reviews

Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga

May 10, 2011

Reviews / Xbox 360 / by Graham Russell /

Divinity II, by Larian Studios, is an action-RPG where you choose a class, level up skills, complete quests, fight random monsters and progress toward an overarching goal. So far, that describes many games to release in recent years, but unlike all those other games, Divinity II has one more thing: you can also turn into a dragon.

The game actually originally released as Ego Draconis early last year, in the wake of Dragon Age: Origins and to a host of glitches and problems on the console. In a sort of mea culpa, the team found a new publisher (Atlus) and put together a new version, The Dragon Knight Saga, which fixes many issues and adds in expansion Flames of Vengeance. The contrast of these two releases is really striking, and made more so with Atlus’ typical policy of throwing in extras like a soundtrack and pricing it at $40.

That said, the game has a bit of a barrier to entry. The system itself is somewhat clunky and dated, from the actions to the movement to the menus. Before you get to the point when you can be a dragon, this means it’s a clearly inferior experience to more polished efforts like Dragon Age and Fable. Once it can start avoiding direct comparisons, it fares a bit better, and everything starts to feel a bit more cohesive when you get through the grating, uninspired first act.

There are cool elements here, though, especially if you like games with loot and leveling. TDKS doesn’t streamline anything like inventory systems or skill trees, but there are certainly those out there who like the old-school approach and appreciate when people keep it. The mage class’ skill options are a bit underwhelming, but others are about what you’d expect.

I usually knock games for touting stuff like this, but the biggest draw to TDKS is its hours and hours of gameplay. With the expansion added in, you could play Divinity for weeks with no problem. This genre, unlike any other, becomes more immersive and enjoyable with time put in. (And, put charitably, Divinity II has its work cut out for it with its first impression.)

There are a few elements other than the dragon thing that are interesting. You can read the minds of NPCs to try to get more information, but this costs experience to attempt (and more for some people than others). This mechanic may frustrate some who just want to get in and hit things with swords, but it makes for an interesting dynamic, where players need to weigh whether the information could be worth grinding more to make up for lost progress.

It boils down to this: if you are looking to play a game for 10 hours or so, Divinity II is not a very good option. It’s really for those who are looking for a 60-80 hour, life-consuming experience and have a high tolerance for system limitations. This is certainly the best version to get, and it’s priced right for what it is.

Pros: Tons of content, you get to be a dragon

Cons: Sub-par foundation, awkward story

Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection

May 9, 2011

PSP / Reviews / by Justin Last /

Square Enix has never stopped pumping out Final Fantasy games, but my personal favorite is Final Fantasy IV. Everybody has played this one by now – it was first available on the SNES, then the PSX, GBA, DS, and now the PSP. Why would you consider playing it again? Because the PSP version returns to sprite-based art and includes Final Fantasy IV: The After Years along with an Interlude bridging the two games that isn’t available anywhere else. For those who have never played FF4, or those that want the entire story on a single platform, Final Fantasy IV Complete is the version to pick up.

Square Enix is no stranger to rereleasing their back-catalog on modern platforms, but with Final Fantasy IV Complete you get updated sprites and magic effects instead of the same graphics you saw on the SNES (PSX, GBA) or Square Enix’s terrible idea of what 3D on the DS ought to look like (DS). Audio is upgraded as well, but you have the choice between the SNES-original soundtrack and an updated score, and both are worth listening to. While the original is full of classics, the update calls back to the original wonderfully. You won’t forget what you’re playing, and you’ll find yourself humming the new music just as much as the old. Where Final Fantasy IV really shines, though, is its characters. Final Fantasy IV plays the most like a true role-playing game out of any Final Fantasy game I’ve played. Characters are complex, have their own motivations for tagging along with you, and don’t have plot armor. You will control up to five characters at a time, and it’s believable because when you have three party members then that is who you’ll use in battle. You will never have people sitting on the bench while your mains fight, and that’s refreshing. Everybody is walking through this cave, and for once in a JRPG they’re all taking part in every battle.

Odds are that if you’re at all interested in this collection you’ve played Final Fantasy IV. New content is probably why you’re here, and Final Fantasy IV Interlude and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years are it. The After Years was originally only available on the Nintendo Wii through the WiiWare download service, and it follows Cecil’s son Ceodore as a new villain emerges and threatens the world 17 years after you saved it in the original game. You’ll control and meet many of the same characters that you got to know over the course of Final Fantasy IV, and everything should feel familiar. The graphics are the same type of upgraded sprites that you’ll find in Final Fantasy IV. The battle system, though, while similar has seen a couple of updates. First, you can “band” attacks together. Banding works like Double and Triple Techs from Chrono Trigger and makes for more strategic battles. Not everybody can summon (just like Final Fantasy IV characters are restricted to their one preset class), and banding gives you a more powerful option to break out in battles. The second addition is that of lunar cycles. Some monsters only appear during certain phases of the moon, and your party’s combat prowess is affected by the moon as well. Some phases favor melee strength over magic while others are the exact opposite. This means you won’t be leaning just on one party member since every stay at an inn can drastically alter who your primary damage dealer is.

Interlude serves to bridge Final Fantasy IV and The After Years with a chapter showing some of the events that take place in the 17 years between the two. It fits well between the two games, and the style meshes well with the rest of the package, and it should since Interlude had may as well be the new chapter 1 of The After Years.

You’re really getting the most bang for your buck with this package. Upgraded sprite graphics, cutscenes from the DS version, content previously only available via WiiWare, and a chapter that can’t be had on any other platform make The Complete Collection the definitive version of Final Fantasy IV. Now maybe SE can move on to giving Final Fantasy VI a similar treatment on the PSP.

Pros: Tons of content, beautiful upgraded sprites, great musical choices, finally a single collection

Cons: Lack of diagonal movement (FF4 was a SNES game, after all)

Back to the Future: Double Visions

May 5, 2011

PC / Reviews / by Graham Russell /

In the Back to the Future‘s fourth episode, Double Visions, it’s clear that we’re getting to the end. The small plot segments in previous installments are finally being tied in, action is reaching a fever pitch, and conveniently all the minor characters’ stories are being wrapped up so they’re out o the way for the grand finale.

(As with the rest of our episodic reviews, we’ll avoid spoilers for this episode but have no problems spoiling the previous ones. We’re also not talking about the engine or character designs, since they’re not new from episode to episode. They’re meant to play in order, and you can look at our reviews of the first, second and third episodes for information on those.)

It seems the series likes kicking off episodes with action sequences and crazy plot developments. Most would have these scenes be the ends of the previous parts, and that would even make sense from a narrative standpoint, so to have the wrap-up of the 1985-Edna setting at the beginning of this part (that’s largely about 1931 again) seems a bit strange. It’s possible that Telltale wanted the variety that having both settings in the game brings.

In a design decision that is just starting to bore us, everything centers around a laundry list of objectives for one specific goal. (Last episode, it was the demerits.) What’s most frustrating, we think, is that these goals just aren’t the interesting parts of the world. We know it can work; thinking through it, the first Back to the Future movie was structured in a way that there were multiple goals to getting Marty’s parents to fall in love. The third installment, Citizen Brown, had many alternate-timeline references, and those were great. The beginning piece of Double Visions makes some nice movie references, but the latter arc relies too much on original ideas to really capture that nostalgia.

To try to crank up the sense of urgency (or just possibly to try to make recycled environments look different), Double Visions uses more tight shots and dynamic camera angles. This creates a bit of an old-Sierra feeling, where you enter largely static views where items have carefully-curated places on the screen. If they went all the way with this, it’d be great! As it is, it’s just a bit off, as Marty himself blocks your view or gets stuck trying to navigate these tight, cramped environments.

All that said, the story’s hanging in there, and after playing Double Visions, we’re still excited about the season finale. We’re hoping it’s the best yet, and with the frantic pitch an end can reach, it has a chance.

Din’s Curse: Demon War

May 4, 2011

PC / Reviews / by Eric Schabel /

Din’s Curse: Demon War from Soldak Entertainment is all about atoning for your characters’ past sins; unfortunately it has a few sins of its own as well. An overhead action RPG in the vein of Diablo and Dungeon Siege, Din’s Curse does not bring much new to the table with one notable exception: almost everything is randomly generated. Demon War is a new expansion for the game that brings a new character class and enemy types to the game, but the core is largely unchanged. There is almost no story to speak of, and the presentation and graphics are right out of the late nineties. If you enjoyed Diablo and its dungeon crawling ilk, however, Din’s Curse: Demon War may be a nice way to bide the time until Diablo III is released.

Basically, the story of Din’s Curse revolved around your character being recalled from the dead by the god of honor Din to fight endless waves of undead and demon monsters in order to make things right for your past misdeeds (what they are, I can only guess). You will only figure out the premise of the game by talking to NPCs in town, if you are so inclined. Even the very first time you play the game, you are plopped into the world with almost no direction beyond a terrible hint system, in the midst of a dozen NPCs and the oversized, deep-voiced god Din himself. You will need to figure out on your own that you need to pick up quests from these characters—and you will need to figure out on your own that failure to do these quests in a timely manner can have dire consequences; most of them are time-sensitive.

One of my first experiences with the game was having my entire town’s population destroyed by invaders within the first half-hour, and I had no idea why. The good news is that failure is not a huge deal: you just generate a new world and start the dungeon diving anew. If you are anything like me, you won’t really know why you are in these dungeons in the first place and you will feel very little attachment to the world and its inhabitants. The only real reason to fight onward is to strengthen your character. When you get down to it, self-improvement is the driving force behind most RPGs, but it is a bit jarring to have any presupposition of a story thrown to the wayside.

The only thing that remains constant throughout the game’s ‘campaign’ (I use the term lightly) is your nameless character and his stats and skills. Every time you fail to succeed in defending your home town, you can start again with the same character in a new world that will look remarkably similar, but different from the old one. All of the RPG archetypes are available for leveling, including but not limited to: Mage, Warrior, Rogue, Ranger, and as of the new Demon War expansion, Demon Hunter. That last one is particularly fun to mess around with. Each class plays differently, and you can even create your own hybrid class, but doing so will sacrifice one of the character’s skill trees. Leveling up and gaining new skills is compelling, and like Diablo you can save up your skill points to invest in the more powerful spells and abilities, foregoing the more basic ones, if you should so choose. There is no doubt that Din’s Curse is all about the gameplay; killing countless enemies, fulfilling quests, and investing skill points in your character are all satisfying to do, and there is definitely fun to be had down underground. The sheer variety of abilities and enemy types provided by the game is undoubtedly enough to keep some people playing for quite some time.

If you are a lover of dungeon crawlers, and wish to be teleported back in time a decade or so, Din’s Curse: Demon War is right up your alley. The game looks and feels like something from that era; the graphics are basic at best, when compared to most games released today—and the same can be said of the game’s UI and presentation. The gameplay is fun when you get into it, but whether or not it is fulfilling is something you will have to figure out on your own. This game, like most RPGs, can be a timesink, and without much in the way of motivating factors such as an engaging story or even a persistent world, you might find yourself wanting to spend your time on something more meaningful. The game does give you the option of increasing the amount of experience you gain, thus quickening the pace of the game, but progress still takes time, as it should. If all you want to do is level up a character by fighting hordes of undead and demons with the click of your mouse, Din’s Curse: Demon War might just do the trick.

Pros: Variety of skills and enemies

Cons: Graphics and presentation are from 1998, lack of story and persistent world may lead to apathy

Motorstorm Apocalypse

May 3, 2011

PS3 / Reviews / by Graham Russell /

Motorstorm Apocalypse is an impressive game in many respects. It’s technically sound, visually impressive and has a deep level of customization that can satisfy anyone who wants to feel like they’re making progress when they play. It’s such an impressive game in these ways that I have to feel bad when I say you probably shouldn’t play it.

Those who have played previous Motorstorm games would know what to expect with Apocalypse. The series is known for the vast array of vehicles all competing at once, and it’s also known for many different paths around the track. Bikes can find high, narrow routes, big rigs slog through muddy patches and street vehicles have to fight it out on the well-trodden middle. That’s still here in Apocalypse, but this entry’s new direction makes that less successful.

The direction? Well it’s now fairly infamous, given its poor timing. See, the game’s set in a city in the middle of an earthquake. We’ll leave the PR implications of that alone, but the gameplay ramifications aren’t great. The entire concept feels like the developers played Split/Second once and decided they wanted that game in their game. Sometime in the race (usually during the last lap), the track reshapes itself with falling buildings and crumbling roads. This goes wrong in two ways. First, with a free-form game like Motorstorm where there are always multiple paths to take, the changing paths are more frustrating than refreshing. You can learn these changes and train for them, but it’s not the kind of thing you can pick up and enjoy the first few times. Second, the game has always had the veneer of an arcade title, but the physics are brutally unforgiving. This wasn’t really an issue in wide-open deserts and jungles, but in Apocalypse, there are little pipes here, cement hunks there and slightly uneven surfaces everywhere. If you hit one, you will crash, and they’re in areas where you wouldn’t expect things like that. This would be even easier to take if there weren’t very similar-looking things that are intended for you to drive and smash through to great effect.

All that said, the game’s still not a bad one. You may not be able to play it at parties with people who aren’t used to it, but it’s sure to gain a following of dedicated players online. The customization is great, too. You pick your vehicle for each class, and customize each one with a host of paint jobs, parts and logos. The addition of perks online is great too. Borrowing from games like last year’s Blur, players can choose slight enhancements for online play and adjust things to their play style. It’s sure to make die-hards very happy.

The single-player campaign has a lot more to it this time, too. Rather than simple difficulty levels, the game has three separate campaigns, each with their own story. This is great, even if the style of the game and the style of the cinematics seem at odds. After all, the core game is high-drama, with intense score and visual realism. (That score, by the way, revolves around this one fifteen-second crescendo that gets really annoying really quickly. It’s avoidable in the race, but be prepared to hear it on every single loading screen ever.) The story is told as a motion comic, though, following incredibly stereotypical characters like a guy who decided to compete in this thing instead of playing pro basketball and an old guy who is supposed to be tough but ends up just feeling goofy. That said, this isn’t Heavy Rain or Uncharted, so the throwaway narrative is okay. (And totally skippable.)

Motorstorm Apocalypse is very cool looking, and if you have 3D you may finally have your showpiece game. There are just a few design choices holding it back, and oh, do they hurt.

Pros: Gorgeous game, deep unlocking and customization

Cons: Frustrating tracks, awkward motion comics

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