Console: Nintendo DS
Developer: 1st Playable Productions / Infinite Interactive
No. of Players: 1 – 2 (Multi-player Wireless Connection)
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Release Date: March 16, 2007 (Europe), March 20, 2008 (U.S.)
Rating: E/+10

Story –

Some say that the universe moves in several cycles. A cycle of death, a cycle of war and and cycle of peace. If that is true, the Agarian Empire has known of the cycle of peace for too long. It is time for the next cycle to begin. You are the Empire’s only hope to see through the next cycles and bring peace once again. Begin your heroic journey as a druid, knight, warrior or wizard to battle monsters.

Presentation – 8/10

For a game that is commonly known as Bejeweled, the Japanese have really outdone themselves by stirring in of a bit of RPG.
The dialogue was much like that of ‘ye olde’ times. You have optional choices on how you will finish some of your quests, much like that of an multi-linear RPG. Side quests and the story line could leave you playing for hours if it weren’t for the fact that this is Bejeweled in disguise. Depending on your difficulty setting, you spend 95% of the time matching and combining gems. With most role playing games I like to play, I prefer having a little more story than that.

Sound – 7/10

Epic on many scales but the DS speakers, like always, let you down. It’s like listening to your favourite band
(to be cool I should say Iron Maiden but my first cassette was Spice World) on your very first cassette player while you’re out on a jog. You come back home and then pop the same album in cd form into your component system and realize that ‘oomph’ you were missing. The sound of this game is exactly like that. Still good on the DS but even better if you were to play it on a different console that requires a television.

Control – 9/10

Unless you have steady and thin fingers, this game functions best and mainly operates with the stylus. It became frustrating at times when pinpoint precision was key to jewel swapping. It could be seen as either good or bad thing that the screen is more sensitive than normal to your stylus’ touch. At times, it was a bad thing when you would make an illegal move – where your combination of jewels or skulls in a pair of three to five was off – that you didn’t mean to make at all. That being said and for future reference do not drink any caffeine or be half asleep while playing. Other than that irritation, a nine out of ten score seemed reasonable.

Gameplay – 9/10

When I first played ‘Bejeweled’ on the computer it was love at first sight. Rather, once I learned how to play it, I grew a gradual appreciation for it. Combining a game I was very skilled at with my favourite genre (RPG) was a match made in heaven.
However that heaven didn’t last long as I sometimes battled the same monster for up to three hours. Fortunately for me, I found that you could easily switch from Normal to Easy any time you wanted. This could be seen as something done for the ‘dumbed down’ generation of gamers but say that to me after what I’ve been through.

Graphics – 9.5/10

For a two dimensional platform with the ever so popular anime stylized art, this nearly receives and A+ from me. I knocked it down a half point because in my own sick and twisted way, I would have liked to have seen more animation.

Overview of Last Season Rosario + Vampire

Tsukune Aono who is unable to get into any private schools due to his less than perfect grades.
When he is finally accepted into one he quickly finds out that his school, Yokai Academy, is a school of supernatural monsters disguised as humans. For his life’s sake he hides the fact that he is human. He meets several Yokai who turn his life upside down. Among one of them is Moka Akashiya – a beautiful young vampire who has one side that is innocent and delightful and the other harsh and arrogant. Only when the rosary and seal around Moka’s neck is removed is her colder yet unusually strong side revealed as it is her true nature and form as a vampire.

Throughout the season, Tsukune is faced with many different challenges. Most notably, his challenge of telling his new found precious friends that he is human.

Chronological Order of Last Seasons Episodes

1. “New Life & Vampire” – January 3 2008
2. “Succubus & Vampire” – January 10 2008
3. “Witch Girl & Vampire” – Jaunary 17 2008
4. “Goodbye & Vampire” – January 24 2008
5. “School Swimsuit & Vampire” – January 31 2008
6. “Newsclub & Vampire” – February 7 2008
7. “Yuki-onna & Vampire”- February 14 2008
8. “Math & Vampire” – February 21 2006
9. “Summer Vacation & Vampire” – February 28 2008
10. “Sunflower & Vampire” March 6 2008
11. “New Semester & Vampire” March 13 2008
12. “Public Safety Commission & Vampire” March 20 2008
13. “Tsukune & Vampire” March 27 2008

Characters

Moka Akashiya
Species: Vampire
Age: 16
Personality: The upbeat and sweetly innocent female protagnonist whose beauty and charm attracts many male and female students at Yokai Academy. Initially weary of humans due to her vampiric nature, Tsukune’s revelation to her that he is human was quite a shock but it did not hamper their special friendship. Throughout the first series, even when Moka was her true vampire self, she shields Tsukune from attacks and even gives him her blood to live again in episode 13 – “Tsukune & Vampire” – of the last series. Her infatuation lies with Tsukune and he reciprocates by nurishing Moka with his blood without resistance.
Weaknesses: Water and silver crosses
Strengths: Super speed, agility and strength.
Voiced By: Nana Mizuki (Love Hina, Full Metal Alchemist, Itazura Na Kiss)

Tsukune Aono
Species: Human
Age: 16
Personality: Tsukune passes with flying colours as a gentleman, being kind and polite but the constant hounding of his female ‘precious friends’ causes his mind to wander from time to time. He is quick to forgive and forget especially those precious friends who at one time tried to kill him and Moka. Though Tsukune has no special powers to speak of now he puts himself in harm’s way to protect his friends. For that reason, he is revered highly and even enviously by many.
In the last season, his humanity was revealed to his other friends Kurumu, Yukari and Mizore. Even with this being known, they all aide Moka in saving Tsukune’s life.
Weaknesses: Anything that could be considered fatal to any human.
Strengths: None to speak of but a few characteristics stand out – forgiveness and compassion
Voiced By: Daisuke Kishio (Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino, Vampire Knight, Inuyasha)

Kurumu Kurono
Species: Succubus
Age: 16
Personality: Kurumu is a typical flirt. She flaunts her largest asset (her breasts) and does nearly everything in her succubus abilities to win over Tsukune. As a succubus, she has the ability to win over men with love potions and by her mesmerizing gaze. Initially, she mesmerizes Tsukune into loving her but by the end of episode two of last season she felt it best to win over Tsukune without cheating. While still deeply attracted to Tsukune, she has hopes to win him over with one kiss that will forever make him her king.
Weaknesses: Lack of combat skills.
Strengths: Her bat like wings, long nails and demon tail when she is in her succubus form she has the strength to carry people while flying. She can also cut down trees with her extraordinarily long nails. She is also able to mesmerize people with illusions.
Voiced By: Misato Fukuen (Devil May Cry, Strike Withces, Soul Eater)

Yukari Sendo
Species: Witch
Age: 12
Personality: Yukari is Yokai Academy’s child prodigy and the top of her class. In the beginning, her childish arrogance and play made her the envy of her classmates. In the beginning, her crush was on the tall and beautiful Moka but eventually her feelings gave over to Tsukune as he defended her from the classmates who tried to hurt her for being smart and a witch.
Weaknesses: Without her wand, she is unable to cast spells
Strengths: Her most common spell is to call upon pots and pans to crash down on people. When she combines her strengths with witch friend Ruby Tojo, their power is nearly unstoppable.
Voiced By: Kimiko Koyama (Ai Yori Aoshi, Happy Lesson, Negima!)

Mizore Shirayuki
Species: Yuki Onna/ Snow Woman
Age: 16
Personality: Much like the description of Japanese Folklore, Mizore is very pale and has a serene gaze. Yet her eyes and aura will become terrifying when provoked or angered. She is generally shy and watches her beloved Tsukune from a distance but when around him, her feelings are made obvious. Sometimes her unexpected appearances will be called stalking by others. She skips classes and doesn’t appear in obvious places. Her heart warms up to the others by the end last season’s of episode eight.
Weaknesses: N/A
Strengths: Manipulating and summoning ice at will. She is also able to make ice clones of herself when in a deeply aggitated state.
Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Loveles, Trinity Blood, Astro Boy)

Ruby Tojo
Species: Witch
Age: 20
Personality: Ruby first met Yukari in episode nine. As a fellow witch, Ruby tried to persuade Yukari into staying with her on the Witches Hill. Ruby’s darkside appeared when she felt others were threatening her, her master and the Sunflower Hill. When Tsukune and the others revealed that her master was conguered in Ruby’s state of extreme loneliness, they asked her to be their friend. Ruby is an unusually powerful witch with many spells up her sleeve. By the next season, Ruby becomes a school aide. She isn’t a very predominant character throughout the series.
Weaknesses: Like Yukari, without her wand she can’t do much.
Strengths: Summoning killer plants and explosions
Voiced By: N/A

Review episode 1 – Reunion + Vampire:

It is finally time to go back to school after two weeks of spring break and Tsukune is dearly missing his precious friends, especially Moka. At the place Tsukune first met Moka, he literally runs into a bad tempered pig-tailed red head who takes a liking to Tsukune’s blood. Or rather, she ran over him with her bike and declares that he is a pervert. That aside, Tsukune meets up with Mizore, Yukari and Moka. All of whom have been swamped by confessional fan letters from the freshmen. One strange letter in particular addressed to Moka rubs them the wrong way. It reads -
” To My Dearest Moka onnesama – Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you. And then this spring I will be able to see you… and my heart is filled with emotion. By the way, I will arrive on the day of the school entrance ceremony… and take your life”
Moka is filled with terror as well as the others. Throughout that day, Moka is giving many of those strange letters by the same person. On the day of the entrance ceremony, the nastily tempered redhead picks a fight with two of her superiors and Moka’s true vampire self is awoken to break it up. Once Moka is back to her more gentle side, the redheaded girl appears again and professes that she is the one to take Moka’s life. Shockingly enough, the redheaded girl is Moka’s little vampire sister Kokoa Shuzen.

Introduction of New Character

Kokoa Shuzen
Species: Vampire
Age: 15
Personality: A pugnacious and ill tempered vampire who possesses nearly the same strength as her sister Moka.
Weaknesses: N/A
Strengths: Speed, agility and super strength
Voiced By: Chiwa Saito (Hell Girl, Lucky Star, Allison & Lillia)

Episode 1 screenshots:

Story

In a small quaint village of the Veo Lu Highlands lived various members of tribes in harmony. A bird-like yuke, a sweetly childish alchemist of Lilty and a devoted father of two twins named Yuri and Chelinka. Together, the twins wielded an mysterious and binding power that their father taught them to harness. One dreadful night, when the moon rose a blood red, their serene lifestyle was torn a part. The story truly begins here as the brave young twins venture out to seek answers and justice.

Presentation – 8/10

I would love to say that the story was genuinely fulfulling but my palette was left with dull colours by the time I reached the end of the game. One could argue and say the need for ‘more’ meant that it was presented well but I think my need for ‘more’ was mostly on the notion that I had been spoiled by previous Final Fantasy games in sense of quantity and an in depth story line. I was stunned by the 3D CG but there weren’t as many villages or other places to visit as I would’ve liked.

Sound – 9.5/10

Close your eyes and think of the adjective ethereous. The opening main screen theme was magical and midst playing the sound and music set the mood. It was very well done and I honestly haven’t anything bad to say about it. There wasn’t a recognizable song or theme to tell you ‘this is Final Fantasy – Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates’. It was more like the subtle fluidity of Final Fantasy’s origins. Back in those days, the franchise didn’t need a pre-eminent song due to its masterful gameplay.

Control – 7/10

While adventuring, you have the advantage of toogling from one party member to the next depending on the obstacle or boss difficulty. While most of the time this could be seen as a good thing, it became increasingly frustrating when my other AI party members were unresponsive during battle or when I would try to reach a hard to get treasure chest. Other than that, the control options were smooth and easy to pick up.

Gameplay – 8/10

There are two modes to choose from – Story Mode and Multiplay Mode. Story Mode is only for single playing. You can toggle from one character to the next as you fight your way onto the next adventure. In Multiplay Mode you and up to four other people are able to create your own character. There are many different ways to play in this mode. There is also a side mode called Moogles, where you can receive Moogle Stamps, paint your own Moogle and trade moogles between friends. The gameplay is also much like FFX-2 where it becomes a hack’em ‘n slash’em thing. For those who enjoy that type of RPG play instead of the strategical turn waiting, it meets nearly all your expectations.

Graphics – 8.5/10

The CG is absolutely staggering. Over the years, Final Fantasy has dabbled with several different artistic representations of their games. Crystal Chronicles likens itself most to FFIX in the sense of an almost childlike/cartoony approach. The cutscenes are short and for the sake of the story I would have enjoyed more of them.

Final Score – 8.2

Crystal Chronicles was fun and hard to put down once I got into the game. There were a few things that upset me but even with those frustrations I would still say it’s a game to look into. I still have yet to enjoy it’s said vast wonders of Multiplayer.

JP: Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi
EN: One And Only Wish
Vocals: Kokia
Lyrics: Jun Maeda
Composition: Jun Maeda
Full Length Version

One And Only Wish

Within the difficulty of accomplishing my one and only wish
I want to show you that I’ll protect you to the end
It’s a promise that I want to fulfill, since you’re irreplaceable

I vow to my pounding heartbeat within eternal love

Within the world covered in doubts
I still haven’t found the answer
Nevertheless, I advance forward – Why?
Cypress trees stretch into the sky the road pointed straightforward
Let’s believe in the miracle called now

A dreamlike reality ~ If it’s something that I can change with my hands…

Within the difficulty of accomplishing my one and only wish
I want to show you that I’ll protect you to the end
It’s a promise I want to fulfill, since you’re irreplaceable

I vow to my pounding heartbeat
I’ll keep on running until I burn out
By surviving, I can feel it
It’s a promise that I want to fulfill
Within the eternal love

Sunflowers bloom at the foot of the hill
It’s yellow color spreads and dazzles
Illuminating a light of hope

When it comes to things that I can change
There should be a varied way of living

All the ways that count, I want shine within my given time
I’m only breathing and my feelings overflow from just being here
I have my happiness just by being able to think so
How much light, enough to be lovely, will this moment release?

Being alone, it’s a distance far too long to advance
Won’t someone open this door? I’m waiting

Within the difficulty of accomplishing my one and only wish
I want to show you that I’ll protect you to the end
It’s a promise I want to fulfill, since you’re irreplaceable

I vow to my pounding heartbeat
I’ll keep on running until I burn out
By surviving, I can feel it
It’s a promise that I want to fulfill
Within eternal love

Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi

Tatta hitotsu no omoi tsuranuku
Muzukashisa no naka de boku wa
Mamorinuite misetai no sa

Kakegae no nai mono no tame ni hatashitai yakusoku

Gimon darake no yo no naka
Kotae wa mitsukaranai mama
Sore de mo mae ni susumu no ~ Why?
Sora e to nobiru itosugi massugu sashishimeshita michi
Ima to iu kiseki o shinjiyou

Yume mitai na genjitsu ~ Kono te de kaerareru mono nara…

Tatta hitotsu no omoi tsuranuku
muzukashisa no naka de boku wa
Mamorinuite misetai no sa

Kakegae no nai mono no tame ni
Namiutte iru kodou ni chikau yo
Moetsukiru made hashiritsuzukeyou
Ikinuite koso kanjirareru eien no itoshisa no naka
hatashitai yakusoku

Oka no shita saku himawari
mabushiku hirogaru kiiro wa
Kibou no hikari o terasu yo

Kaerareru mono nara
Chigatta ikikata aru hazu to

Subete kakeyou ataerareta Toki no naka de kagayaite itai
Tada iki o shite koko ni iru dake Sore dake na no ni afuredasu kimochi
Boku ni wa boku no shiawase ga aru Sou omoeru dake de dore hodo
Kono shunkan ga itooshii hodo hikari o hanatte yuku yo

Hitori de susumu ni wa nagasugiru michinori
Dareka ga kono tobira akenai ka matteru

Tatta hitotsu no omoi tsuranuku
muzukashisa no naka de boku wa
Mamorinuite misetai no sa

Kakegae no nai mono no tame ni
Namiutte iru kodou ni chikau yo
Moetsukiru made hashiritsuzukeyou
Ikinuite koso kanjirareru eien no itoshisa no naka
Hatashitai yakusoku

Doll

A doll that doesn’t have a heart
Was born from warm hands
It does not laugh
It does not speak

Someday, I want you to hear my thoughts
Because they won’t become words
But I’ll strain the limit of my strength
So I can learn what it’s like to live

The doll holds the meaning of the words “thank you”
But it hasn’t used
Or said them yet

Someday, I want you to hear my thoughts
Because they won’t become words
But I’ll strain the limit of my strength
Because I want to tell you ~ “Thank you”

The wind has come out for a bit
And pushes me back
I’ll prepare for my journey again

Someday, I want you to hear my thoughts
Because they won’t become words
But I strain the limit of my strength
I’m crying and shouting because it conveys

Someday, if I can go to the distant sea
To the edge of the world’s end
If I can make my way to such a place
I’ll learn to feel again

Doll

Atataka na te kara umareta
Kokoro o motanai ningyou
Warau koto wa naku
Hanasu koto mo nai

Itsuka kiite hoshii kono omoi mo
Kotoba ni wa naranai kedo
Chikara no kagiri o furishibotte
Ikite iku koto o shiru kara

Ningyou wa arigatou to iu kotoba no imi o oboeta
Demo mada tsukau koto mo
Hanasu koto mo nai

Itsuka kitte hoshii kono omoi mo
Kotoba ni wa naranakute mo
Chikara no kagiri o furshibotte
“Arigatou” ~ sou tsutaete iku kara

Kaze ga sukoshi dete kite
Boku no se o osu kara
Mata tabi no shitaku o suru koto ni shita n da

Itsuka kiite hoshii kono omoi o
Kotoba ni wa naranai kedo
Chikara no kagiri o furishibotte
Naite sakende tsutaeru kara

Itsuka yukeru nara tooi umi e
Sekai no hate no hate made
Sonna basho ni tadoritsuketara
Donna kimochi ni nareru no kana

Status
-Console: Playstation 2
-ESRB Rating: Teen
-Genre: Fighting
- #Of Players: 1-2
-Difficulty: Adjustable
-Published by: SNK Playmore
-Completion Time: N/A
- #Of discs: 2 (additional “The Making of…” DVD)

Presentation: 6/10

The main thing that is notable about the presentation is the box that holds the two DVD cases looks. It is full of color and large CG images of past King of Fighters Characters. The idea behind this game is the merging of 2-d and 3-d gameplay with an all-new story. Whether this game meets the objectives it claims to promote is still very much up in the air. With every step forward, there is something that holds this game back.

Story: 6/10

As with many fighting games, the usual motivation of the story is that someone is holding a fighting tournament and various fighters get invited to beat the stuffing out of each other. However, this game takes the story a little further. The main story follows the exploits of the brothers Meira, and how they seek revenge for the assassination of their leader Fate. Fate was a powerful gang leader of the city of Southtown, a place forever known in SNK history from the Fatal Fury fighting series. Fate also raised both of the brothers from early childhood. Since they feel they owe a large debt for what he did for them, they both enter to meet Duke, the man that put out the hit on Fate’s Head.

Sound: 4/10

The music in this game is pretty well placed. The tunes that you will hear match the areas that you are fighting in. These songs are a mix of jazzy hip-hop, & rock and roll, that really help the player get into beating down on many of the game’s opponents. The sound effects are a good variety of hits and smacks that bring the brutality of the moves up a notch.

On the other hand, the English voice-overs run the spectrum from “Eh…” to downright atrocious. Many of the lines don’t match the lip synchs of the characters, leaving many noticeable moments of people’s mouths moving, but no sound coming out of them. To make matters worse, voices rarely match the characters. This mismatch causes most of the story scenes come off as over-dramatic. The script writing is filled with cheesy one-liners and cut and paste conversations that sometimes don’t make any sense at all. Since there is no option to switch to the original Japanese voice-overs, gamers are left with a sour taste in their mouth when there favorite character loses a majority of the personality that the gamer has grown to be accustomed to. Practically all of the game is dubbed, and gamers will be forced to get used to, or turn the volume all the way down, to avoid this major problem. It is a shame, because the music is pretty good and the horrific voice-overs drain the music out.

-Control: 7/10

The control is pretty easy to get into, but seems to suffer from having more commands than the controller can handle. Most of the difficulty comes from the dodging in the game. The R1 button has the sole purpose of doing the trademark rolling dodges, and the “new” sidestep options. Though it is very easy to do the wrong type of dodge. Luckily this can be remedied by the fully customizable controls.

-Graphics: 7/10

The main thing gamers will notice is just how colorful the game really is. Most of the KOF favorites make the transition to 3-d quite well. Character stances are intact and the moves are made to dazzle. The areas are pretty bland, with most of the fighting taking place in a square or circle of some kind. The environments outside of the fighting are detailed and nice to look at. The people in the backgrounds look very blurry though, as if a 2-d sprite was pasted into the landscape.

Though the character models look nice, they are far from top notch. Mignon Beart, one of the new characters, has a costume that you can see the line from where the creators wrapped the costume skin around the initial body model. Other characters have issues with polygons passing through one another, which is most evident in the profile mode, where hair goes completely through a character’s arm and any other limbs or clothes that get in the way.

-Gameplay: 6/10

The game’s speed is much faster this time around, and puts the familiar special move system on the back burner and replaces it with a combo system much like a Tekken or Soul Calibur. The difference is that many of the moves don’t “flow” into each other and you become reliant on one combo that you can abuse over and over again until you knock out an opponent. The computer does this as well, and makes this tactic their primary mode of attack. Now that characters can take damage while lying on the ground, and can be bounced back into the walls to extend the combos and damage, if you get caught on the ground or in front a wall that you can’t sidestep away from, you will receive massive damage and probably lose. Most of the “old school” SNK fans will get turned off from the lack of power in their favorite special attacks, and the lack of depth in the combo system will turn off the 3-d fighting fans. Many of the battles boil down to a pattern of: “Dodge attack, attack with combo, dodge attack, attack, rinse and repeat.”

Multiplayer: 7/10

The game features the standard VS mode, which gives the option of playing against the computer or a friend in trademark 3-on-3 battles, or just doing a standard one-on-one match. The main drawback to the 3-on-3 fights is the load times between battles.

Longevity: 6/10

The game has a large amount of unlockable content. Through the mission mode, gamers can gain new costumes and stages, and it does a passable job of teaching you how to correctly exploit the battle system. Clearing the story mode with a character unlocks their profile. In this mode, gamers can look at a model of the character, and zoom in and out, while they are in their battle stance. You can find out about their back-stories and the things they like. Unfortunately, there are a few translation issues here as well. For example: Did you know that Rock Howard’s (a selectable character in the game) favorite food is his driving gloves?

The “Rigging Model” area of the profile allows the player to slightly tweak existing costumes. Some changes are minimal, from adding a guitar case on a character’s back, to options that practically make another outfit. It would have been nice to allow the characters the option to wear all of the rigging models, but most of them are intended to be comical, yet the miss the mark completely.

Final Score: 6/10

This game can be fun. The artist Falcoon did the characters designs, and each one comes off beautifully despite the graphical errors. His style gives the series a much needed boost, and a uniqueness all its own. The gameplay, though flawed, can be fun when fighting under normal conditions. I also wish that they didn’t stack the deck so high against you in the final fight. I wish developers would realize that making incredibly overpowered final bosses to increase the challenge doesn’t increase the challenge. It just inspires frustration. In the case of Duke, this game’s final boss, he is powerful enough without the infinite special bar. Giving him that just allows him to abuse his super powered finishing move by using it in sequence over and over. The horrible voice acting takes the gamer out of the experience, and nearly ruins the game by itself. The additional DVD shows trailers, interviews, and a few quick glances of artwork sketches. It features an additional instruction booklet that shows all of the moves and a quick summary of each character’s whereabouts before they were mailed the invitation to the tournament. In closing, this is a series that definitely has potential, but many, many things will need to be fixed before it can truly become the king.

By Plumbum Sol

Presentation: 8/10

The sequel to The King of Fighters Maximum Impact arrives with a new name and improvements in nearly every area. Players will notice more of the little things like being able to have Japanese voice options or not having to exit the profile area just to see same character in their other costume. Menus are also more colorful and full of life than the dark and dreary presentation of the original. From the sound to the graphics, everything is more refined.

Story: 8.5/10

After the conclusion of the first tournament, The Meria brothers defeated Duke, leader of the gang Mephistopheles, and started to restore peace to the city of Southtown. Around this time, invitations to the next tournament began arriving at the doors of the characters that would be invited to participate.

All of the characters that are available in the beginning actually have a story this time around, unlike the first that only focused on about 4 characters or so. Everyone has an actual goal and reason for being there. The stories are pretty interesting and take the series into some strange directions that make it a unique experience, even when compared to its 2-d brethren.

Sound: 7/10

Overall, the sound quality has improved from the last game. Most of the battle noises and sound effects have been carried over from the last game, with additions for the new characters. Punches and kicks still have that brutal sound to them. The soundtrack is less rock and roll and more jazz this time around, and it makes the overall experience less annoying. With the exception of the music that plays during the hard challenges, the soundtrack is very relaxing on the ears.

The voice-overs from the first game remain the same; with some characters having re-recorded lines, and others have a completely different Voice Actors. On the whole, if players hated the English options before, they will probably still dislike them to some degree. Now, the Japanese vocal options are available as well, and provide a nice change of pace. Both tracks suffer from missed Lip Synchs, but the English track has more instances of it being noticed for a longer period of time. Despite that, I found myself enjoying the English track more, and it seemed to be less annoying this time around. No matter what options are chosen, players will still get stuck with possibly one the worst announcers I have ever heard. Neither track seems to be on the caliber of Soul Calibur III, but it the little changes manage to have a large effect on the experience.

Control: 7/10

The controls are still fully customizable. There is no joystick support in this game. With the new addition of the “Sabaki” parries, any configuration from the original setup will result in a loss of something else. It doesn’t make the game unplayable by any means, but it is annoying. Controls are also more responsive than in the previous game. Pulling off combos that switch between Stylish Moves (3-d commands) and Special Moves (commands from the 2-d games) are much easier.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphic quality has improved. The arenas are more filled with life and detail. The little things, like the sun peaking through the background of a large “The King of Fighters” billboard, to the impressive lightshows that go on in certain arenas during the fight, really add a layer of realism. The concept of participants fighting in a tournament that brings a lot of publicity is more believable in comparison to the parking garages and desolate areas of the original. Floors in some areas take damage, and unlike other games in the genre players can actually see the damage to these certain areas accumulate over a period of time. Area damage also carries over to the remaining rounds in the fight.

I’d still like to see characters be able to beat one another through a wall into another area though. The areas in the game usually consist of a square ring placed into a random environment. Having the option for day/night versions of many of the stages is nice as well, but the night locales are often too dark.

The character models are very detailed and almost meet the quality of Falcoon’s visual art style. Each of the 38 characters has a total of 32 costume options, 16 of which are unlockable. While the first 4 of the characters 2 outfit types are just pallet swaps of one another, the unlockable items could easily pass as completely new characters. Rigging models are gone, but in some of the costumes they show up. Many of these costumes are minor tributes to other SNK characters. Character skins are less rubbery this time around, and actually serve their purpose quite well. Collision detection is much better, and the chance of hair passing through a character’s body is rare. Tthere were a few times where characters faced away from each other and were still able to land attacks despite the animations showing the attacking character hitting only the air. Overall, animations are much smoother as well. Moves and special effects are very colorful and easy on the eyes.

One of the new features to the series is the ability to, after pausing the game with the start button, and then hitting the select button, is the option to zoom in and out on the current frame of action. The camera rotates fully above and around each character. This option was originally only available in the XBOX version of Maximum Impact Maniax. It would have been nice if player were actually able to save some of the screenshots to a memory card. Also the character models disappear if they are zoomed in on too much. This is problematic because you can never seem to get close enough to what you want to see. The system also has problems getting the right angles on characters in the air. The area where the camera locks onto usually isn’t where the character is in those situations.

Gameplay: 7.5/10

The gameplay hasn’t changed much from the original, but the minor changes and revisions make the experience feel less aggravating. Still, the best road to success is to find that one combo that a character can use over and over again. Each character has more 2-d moves available to them. Now old school players will have an easier time getting into the game. Also, falling down on the ground isn’t nearly as fatal as it was in the first game. Getting stuck up against the wall still can be very troublesome, since characters can’t roll past one another, but it is not nearly as annoying.

New to the system is the “sabaki” counter option that parries an enemy character’s attacks. It is a useful addition that allows characters to get out of the infinite combo strings that are still in the game. Dodging is still a pain, and is almost worse than the previous game. Characters never seem to dodge fast or far enough. In some cases, dodging proved to be useless because the attacking character’s combo would simply adjust to where the dodging character moved. While it isn’t a large problem in the arcade mode, the sluggish response and sheer difficulty of dodging make most of the additional missions far more challenging than they need to be. Every once in a while, it seems like two different game systems are being used at the same time, 2-d version, and the 3-d version.

The mission mode returns with nearly 5 times as many missions than in the original. In the games 220 missions, players will do challenges that range from fighting a Metal Slug Tank, to attacking boulders that fall from the sky in order to carve them into Moai. While there is a lot to do in this game, doing the regular missions get tedious after a while. When I got around level 70 in the Easy Missions, I was sick of doing them. Once the first 100 missions are unlocked another 100 Hard Missions become available. The only noticeable change between the two sets of missions is that in the hard missions character selection is disabled. The major problem about this is, in a many cases, is that the game FORCES you to gain a nearly intimate level of understanding of the character that is chosen for you. While I don’t have any problems with experimenting with new characters, I didn’t like being forced to learn how to play as someone I had no desire of choosing.

This game also has a unique survival mode, in which players gain points for successful victories and then can spend them on a variety of things from extra storage gauges for special moves, to power and life limit increases. It is a pretty fun adjustment to the worn out survival modes of other games, and it is enjoyable.

Multiplayer: 7/10

All of the versus modes from the original return. Gamers can still play the traditional 1 on 1 or 3 on 3 team battles, both against a friend or the computer. New to the mix is the option to play with a roulette system that can be beneficial (attacks do twice as much damage), or stick you with a handicap (only being able to use one star DOA Thrashing Super Special Moves).

Longevity: 8/10

Fans looking for that coveted 100% completion will definitely get their money’s worth. Almost anything that a player can complete successfully, unless it is has already been completed, will result in something new getting unlocked. The game almost has too much to unlock. It gets tedious going through a difficult challenge, or having to beat the Time Attack mode over and over again, only to get a costume for the character, or a random character if the original character has everything unlocked already. While there are a few arenas to unlock, and a large selection of musical tunes going as far back in SNK history as the original Fatal Fury, (all of those music tunes are unlocked at once), there just isn’t enough variety in what you can gain. It would have been nice to unlock an art gallery, or actually be able to chose which characters outfits would be unlocked in an store/shop area.

Final Score: 7.5/10

This game is a definite improvement over the original, and is really fun to play. The minor changes almost make the original game unplayable in comparison. I really enjoyed the character selection and how it even has some extremely rare characters like Richard Myer, who was in the original Fatal Fury as one of the first 4 bosses, Lily Kane: Billy Kane’s (who is also playable) sister who only showed up in his endings, and Hanzo Hattori, who was in the Samurai Showdown games. It is a shame that the majority of American audiences didn’t get the KOF Another Day Anime DVD that was originally promoted as a free bonus with the game. It was later revealed by the company AFTER its release date, that it was pre-order only. The complaints I have with the game weren’t enough to ruin the experience. If you like the King of Fighters series, you will enjoy this game.

By Plumbum Sol

Presentation: 8.5/10

Since Sony snagged the exclusive rights to SC III a while ago, fans have been wondering how the game will measure up to its mega-hit multi-platform predecessor. With its beautiful graphics, new modes, a character creator, and an improved overall storybook atmosphere, it does a pretty good job.

Story: 7/10

While storylines haven’t been the main draw for fighting game fans, SC III does an admirable job of weaving an interesting and compelling atmosphere. The Azure Knight, Siegfried is finally freed from the bonds of the evil sword Soul Edge by stabbing the blade with its opposing counterpart Soul Calibur. He then goes on a quest to finally destroy it. All the while Nightmare, the personality Siegfried assumed while under control of the sword has been somehow revived and wishes to finally release the true power of the blade on the unsuspecting world. Throw in a bunch of characters that wish to either take Soul Edge for themselves or destroy the blade, and you have yourselves a game.

3 new characters enter the fray this time. Zasalamel, a man with a massive scythe, who found a way to be reincarnated eternally, orchestrates storyline events in hopes of finally finding a way to die. Next there is Setsuka, a beautiful woman wearing a kimono who simply seeks revenge on the man who killed her adoptive father in a duel. Finally there is Tira, the psychotic willing servant of Soul Edge that just kills with a giant bladed hoola-hoop of death out of pure enjoyment of the suffering of others. They all fit very well into the growing cast and add to the huge number of weapon based fighting styles already present.

Sound: 8.5/10

Players are once again given the option to choose between Japanese and English voice-overs. Players that are audio purists will enjoy being able to switch between the two. The English VO is done very well. It is probably one of the better vocal sounding fighting games out there. Nearly everyone seems to fit the roles that they were cast as, and much better than in the previous game. Though, there are plenty of times where the subtitle on screen doesn’t match the audio. It is somewhat understandable with all of the text, but it is disappointing. Also audio lines seem to get cut off suddenly in a few cases.

The music returns with its trademark orchestrated scores, still as good as ever. Though in some cut-scenes the music doesn’t always load. Which is a little strange. The sounds of weapons clashing and slicing in the midst of battle is still seems to be quite realistic.

Control: 8/10

The controls remain the same this time around, one button for horizontal slashes, another for vertical slashes, and the last 2 for guards and kicks. Pushing combinations of these buttons does a variety of things. It is just as responsive as ever. Luckily if a player hates the control scheme, it is fully customizable. The camera works fine, but there are times especially during throws where zooming in on the action can get a little disorienting.

Graphics: 9/10

Everything is improved this time around. Stages are a beautiful sight to see. Whether it is a battle on a samurai ship in the midst of a fierce battle with flaming arrows flying through the air, or fighting in a beautiful cathedral with water flowing down around the battle arena, everything looks really nice. Floors show damage when powerful moves connect, much like in Tekken 5. Character models are improved too, especially in facial details. When gamers watch their favorite character speak in the profile mode, the mouth movements actually look pretty realistic.

The create-a-character mode is pretty impressive, though, it is quite limited. Players only have one body type for their gender. So any dreams of creating your very own hulking giant like Astaroth or a petite character like Talim still remain dreams. Character creations never seem to reach the quality of the original characters. The original characters clothing just seem to be shiner for some reason. Most of the create-a-character’s” clothing just has a plain, bland look. The original characters have an interesting color edit feature, but that is pretty limited as well. Gamers are only allowed to change 3 areas of the character, 2 for clothing, and 1 for hair. It would have been nice if gamers were able unlock some of the main character’s clothing by completing some requirement in the “Tales of Souls” mode or something, but alas, it doesn’t happen.

Gameplay: 8.5/10

One of the new additions to the game is the Tales of Souls mode, in which the gamers play through their own chose your own adventure type of storyline with the character of their choice. Before every match players will be reading a large blurb of text explaining the actions of what a character is doing at that time. It is kind of reminiscent of the Weapon Master Mode in SCII. Players are allowed some freedom in choosing where they will go next, and events will change according to what is chosen.

Sadly, most of the characters share the same cut-scenes and events in their storylines. Also in many of the cut-scenes are moments where you have to press a pre-specified button or combination of buttons. Missing the timed event will usually result in lost health, or starting off the match with a negative status effect on your character. The main problem with this is that it gets boring doing it over and over after a while. There is no way to skip the sequences either. It is especially aggravating when they show up during the character endings. When I would play with a character I’d normally never use, and barely make it through the storyline only to have my ending ruined because I couldn’t hit the up button and square fast enough, it was aggravating. Even if the ending can be viewed in the Museum mode and the timing be eventually mastered there, it still bothered me on some level.

Next, there is the Chronicles of the Sword mode, the hyped RTS mode meant to replace Weapon Master this time around. This is the main mode in which Create a Character shows its stuff. A story of 3 kingdoms fighting for supremacy with a group of shadowy figures manipulating the strings awaits players. The problem with this mode is that the story is so vague and thin; it is really difficult to get anything out of it.

There aren’t any real strategy elements in this mode either. Winning nearly always consists of killing everyone on the map. Most battles consist of either attacking until it is over, or defending until the advancing enemy troops are killed, and then going and killing the general. SC III characters make an appearance in certain bases for no real reason outside of giving players a chance to see what their Job Class is. (Character move-lists can be unlocked with enough player experience in a particular job class.) Many of the strange field effects that each fortification could have aren’t described at all, so players will end up jumping in and finding out what they mean the hard way. Also, created characters in the CotS mode can’t be carried over to the main mode. They have to be recreated in the separate Character Creator. While the mode can be fun, and a nice change from the Tales of Sword mode, it can get really boring sometimes. Players can’t save mid battle, so if they get started and have to quit, their progress will be lost, unless they purposely get all of their characters wiped out. Sadly, most of the items that can be unlocked in the character creator are found here.

These modes are only the tip of the iceberg. There is a tournament mode, which is pretty fun except you can’t save your progress. The Soul Arena offers the ability to participate in a bevy of unique missions from fighting a giant statue to attacking the enemy in hopes of getting the coins that come out of their bodies every time an attack is successful. Also, the arcade style of playing through the game (2 out of 3 rounds, no story) is available as well. There is a new additional training mode, that teaches new players the ins and outs of the system, with a glossary of all of the SC terminology to boot. That becomes very helpful since character’s move lists have changed. It would have been nice if they showed the rhythm of button presses for the commands like in the Tekken games, because just watching the computer do a move successfully, and then actually trying to do it can be difficult.

It sad that Namco didn’t put in the arcade ports of Soul Edge, and Soul Calibur like the development team mentioned in earlier interviews before release, but it is understandable why they didn’t. Decent online play would have been great, especially if none of your gaming buddies are in to fighters. But there is definitely more than enough to keep the fighting game fan occupied.

Multiplayer: 7/10

The multiplayer pretty much remains unchanged this time around. Though the addition of the tournament mode is okay, chances of most gamers finding enough people to play with is slim. It still manages to great for all of the tournament competitors out there. Some battles feature additional effects like icy floors or increased damage for moves that knock an opponent back. Though the best part is fighting with the character creations.

Longevity: 10/10

Namco has made a fighting game that will last for a very long time. They show just how much they care about the single player by placing so much stuff to do and things to unlock. Though some unlockables are very tedious and time consuming to find, the feeling of accomplishment always follows after players find a new event in Tales of Souls, unlock a new fighting style with a character creation, or get the gold medal requirement on one of the challenges in the Soul Arena. The stores run out of items way too early in the experience. There are a lot of things to buy, but I still found myself having a lot of money with nothing to spend it on. The multiplayer combat is just as good as it has always been, and maybe even more interesting now that character creations can battle along with series favorites.

Final Score: 9/10

This game has a tendency to just suck up entire days. Players will find themselves sitting down for a small break, and then looking at the watch to find that a few hours have passed. It is an addictive experience. I just hope that in the next inevitable installment, they will improve the quality of the Create a Character, and put in the arcade ports of the earlier Soul Calibur/Edge games. Only the most dedicated fans will actually sit through to get the 100% completion that they are looking for. The computer intelligence is a lot smarter this time around, and will be more likely to take advantage of positioning and mistakes players will make. It is great that Namco put in the improved training mode and glossary. It makes the ability to rise from a novice to a possible tournament champion that much easier. Soul Calibur III manages to be as deep as ever, and still be accessible to new players. It is a great experience worthy of any videogame fan’s time.

By Plumbum Sol

Silent Hill 4: The Room

No. of players: 1
Console: Playstation 2, X-box, Pc
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Survival Horror
Age rating: 18 (UK)

Silent Hill 4 is considered by many fans of the game to be a bad title on many accounts. Of course this is the forth in the storyline, and in some parts, pieces links to Silent Hill 2. This has many new ideas and styles of play unlike the previous Silent Hill games.

Graphics
The graphics of have improved a lot since Silent Hill 3. The characters look a lot more realistic in terms of face, clothes, hair. Your environment looks more freaky when things turn bad (rusty walls and floors). The creatures look a lot more gruesome than they previously did, such as creatures who emerge from a black dripping hole in walls. There are weather conditions such as fog at certain parts of the game.
8/10

Music
Mostly there isn’t music, mostly creepy sounds, bangs, sudden noises. But during films or key points of the game there will be music. Most of the songs have a creepy feel to them or can capture a certain emotion really well, there composed really well.
9/10

Game play
This is were Silent Hill 4 is made different from the previous Silent Hill games. They have taken out the fact you had to go to the menu screen to check health, as there is now a health bar at the top of the screen. You can now change weapons in real time, instead of going into the menu screen. There is only two guns in Silent Hill 4, a pistol, and revolver, and ammo is much more rare than the last games. This mostly because Silent Hill 4’s combat system mostly relays on a new system relays on melee weapons. If you have a bat, a quick tap will result in a quick swipe, while holding the attack button results in a more powerful swipe. One thing that made Silent Hill fans annoyed was the Resident Evil idea of being able to hold only ten items, and items such as bullets cant be combined, this results in taking up space.
You also have to make a trip back to Henrys apartment to save, heal, and store items, this can be annoying.
7/10

Difficulty:
As with earlier Silent Hills you can pick the difficulty of your game, these range from Easy, Normal and Hard, also you can pick the difficulty of the games puzzles, again, Easy Normal and Hard. Of course, as the game progresses, the game puts you in more dangerous situations.

8/10

Story
The story’s timeline is set after silent hill 2. Henry is trapped in his apartment in South Ashfield, his phone and TV doesn’t work, his windows wont open and his door is locked in chains. After 5 days, he finds a portal leading to areas that are unknown to him, as the story goes on, he finds out he is becoming the next target of a murderer mentioned in a news article in Silent Hill 2: Walter Sullivan.

The story may sound completely strange, but the fact is, the story isn’t about Henry. It revolves around Walter Sullivan, as the game progresses you learn more about the guy. Why is he doing this? Why is your room turning this way? What is actually going on? All this is explained, it’s a nice idea. 9/10

Extras

There’s lots of extras to keep you replaying. There are four endings 1 bad, 1 average, one good yet bad, and a good ending. There are new weapons available once you completed the game. New game modes etc.

7/10

Overall
8/10

By Flame

Story 90/100

The story of Shadow of the Colossus is very open-ended. Even as you finish the game there is no clear answer to who anyone is. All you know is that the main character has brought a dead girl to the ‘Forbidden Lands’ following a legend that he can bring her back to life there. We don’t know who she is all that we know about her is that her name is “Mono”. We aren’t told why he brought her here or why he wants to resurrect her. The only thing you are told is that she was sacrificed and the main character wants to bring her back.

There in the temple where he places her to rest, the main character (who we aren’t told his name but is called “Wander” in the credits, possibly referring to the simple fact that he is wondering the lands looking for a way to revive Mono) meets a being called Dormin. Dormin is a god-like being that speaks from the light coming through from the sky. Dormin originally tries to scare and kill Wander, but after Dormin sees that Wander has the “Ancient Sword” Dormin stops the attack. (We aren’t told where Wander got the sword from either by the way.)

Dormin tells Wander that there is only one way to bring the girl back is to defeat the Colossi that are scattered around the Forbidden Land. Only then will Dormin have the power to bring her back. Dormin warns Wander that in order for him to bring Mono back Wander will have to pay a heavy price. Wander agrees and sets out on his mission to destroy the Colossus. Guided by the light of the Ancient Sword Wander searches the Forbidden Land to find and defeat the 16 Colossal beasts.

As simple as it seems the story seems there is a lot of mystery and suspicion behind it. Firstly having been given such little information about the character, it drives you to want to finish the game and find out more. The ending might leave you more confused that you were when you started the game however.

The few cut scenes that are in the game—mainly the ones following after you defeat a Colossi—are very ambiguous and it makes you curious as to what they are trying to imply. The story being so open-ended gives you a lot of freedom to create your own background story. Many fans of the game have come up with interesting theories as to why Wander brought the girl to the Forbidden, who Dormin really is and etc. Except for the ending, which gives you a bit more information to work with, you pretty much have say as to what you think is going on.

Gameplay 100/100

How many ways can a person say amazing! The gameplay is just to die for! A while back I read an article in GamePro magazine about what’s wrong in video games. Things that were mentioned were: games’ obsession with random boxes scattered around the game’s universe, the use of the “elements” i.e. fire, water, air, ground etc; the fact that your character is the savior the world. Well there are more but that’s not my point, my point is that the article was completely right; Shadow of the Colossus travels on a different path.

Now this might be a shocker but there are no side quests, no other enemies besides the 16 Colossus, no treasure chest, no other weapons besides the ones you start out with, and no other characters besides Wander, Mono, Dormin, and a priest that makes an appearance at the end. A very small cast indeed, don’t you think? Don’t worry that’s a rhetorical question.

Game play is awesome due to several things. The first being that it’s so simple and yet at the same time it’s really requires you to think. I know that sounds like an oxymoron but bear with me. The only sort of battling you do is battling the Colossi, simple right? Well, yes and no. You see the only things you have to kill the Colossi with your sword and bow-and-arrow. It seems like an impossible feat but it can be done, it just requires you to think hard and make use of your surroundings. Most of the things you’ll have to do is use the environment around you to climb aboard the Colossi and find their weak spot while holding on for dear life because the Colossi will try to shack your off and they will try hard! There is no clear why to do it, you just have to figure out how. You don’t have any magic, special weapons or special moves to help you, and no combos for people that love button-smashing. That’s the challenge of the game and that’s its main attraction. Since there are no distractions you’re just left with the core. It’s not easy but it’s very rewarding at the end.

One thing that’s great about the game is the fact that there is no leveling up, or more items to collect, no abilities to learn and etc. I know it might not sound very interesting if nothing new will be happening but it will be.

You’ll be playing this game and be astounded by the simplicity of it and at the same time astounded by the sheer magnitude of what you are actually doing. You are destroying the Colossi, these beasts are literally larger than the screen!

Graphics 100/100

The graphics aren’t the cell-shaded favorites of most fans but they are still amazing. The first thing you will take notice of is the world you are playing in, and how realistic it is. Literally never seen such a realistic world in my game-playing life. The world is huge and, I’m making an estimation here, but 95% of the world is free to explore. Mind you there are no enemies or hidden treasures but still it’s an amazing ride on the horse to just go exploring. It took me close to an half an hour to explore the southern side of the Forbidden Land and I enjoyed every moment of it. I would say a good comparison would be the Calm Lands from Final Fantasy X and X-2 and take three steps up from that. It is just an amazing thing to see.

However the world is just part of it. The next amazing thing about this game in terms of graphics has to be the Colossi themselves. Each Colossi is an amazing sight to behold. Each of them is modeled after something, and it’s clear what that is right off the bat, but what’s amazing about is the realism and contextual amazement each Colossus has, each with their own distinct characteristics which is made clear by the moments and gestures.

The last thing that proves how amazing the graphics are in this game is with the game mechanics. A good example is how the horse moves. Now in many games that I’ve played where you had the ability to ride a horse, it was simply a matter of getting on the horse and pushing a button. Now that’s simple but most of the time it wasn’t very realistic and the horse pretty much went in 7 directions: straight, left, right, 45° degrees right and 45°degrees left—well that’s all different in this game. First of all the horse, whose name in Argo, has a much more intelligent A.I. than most bosses in other games. The horse will freely wonder on its own. You can call on him when you need him and he’ll usually follow you. Also he won’t kill himself because when a cliff is nearby he’ll automatically stop to save himself. Also he gallops like a real horse and that’s because it requires you to do more than just press a button and the direction pad. It will take both analog sticks to control the horse smoothly. This might seem tedious and annoying at first but once you get the hang of it, it runs (pun) very smoothly. And the horse moves like a real horse would.

The most obvious thing to point out is the interaction between the Colossi, the environment and the main character Wander. When the Colossi move and shake the earth, the earth literally shakes and you stake with it. Cool, huh? Dirt and dust is being thrown into the air and you are stumbling to just stand up. The Colossi, in the exception to a few instances where they can’t move because they are so huge, are very responsive to you. Their A.I. is very impressive which just makes defeating them even better.

Controls and Camera 90/100

Controls are so simple! You have just the basics to work with so you don’t have to worry about combos or anything. This makes the game much more difficult because all you have to work with is your sword and bow-and-arrow. You’ll have to think through most battles because your button-smashing ability won’t do you much good. Simply because you’ll have to jump and angle yourself correctly to make the leap, while still holding onto the edge of the pillar, or one of many instances like that one. Plus since the only way to do damage to the Colossi is to hit their weak spot, which is about 0.05 of their body size, you’ll have to do all sorts of stuff to get up there and once your there you don’t want to fall.

The controls will take a few minutes to get used and will become second nature to you.

However, the camera is another story. The camera seems, at times, very out of control. It never seems centered on the main character and several times while playing the camera just took over and went back to the default angle—which didn’t really help me. Still once you learn how to use both at the same time you shouldn’t have a problem. I suggest spending some time just strolling around getting use to everything.

Personal Thoughts

Truly a game that stands out amongst the crowd. It was great to play it all the way through. It’s hard for me to say why this game is so amazing. Usually all the characteristics that this game has are the things you don’t want to have in other games; however, for some reason it works stellar in this game. I think it’s because it was all intentional. The game was meant to be this way. You actually get to see the good to hot having to worry about countless enemies that just annoy you and just focus on what’s important: the bosses. Shadow of the Colossus took a risk removing traditionally always acceptable features in games for something new and different. But it worked well. Shadow of the Colossus is a game not like many others. A game with new spins on the world of video games. There’s an interesting story–well not so much interesting as it is mysterious—and a beautiful world to explore. And most importantly of all: a breath of fresh air from the standard routine of game play. This is worth a try just for the experience alone.

Final Grade 90/100

By Cherubim