CNY... Hmm... let's skip with the usuals and have these reviews:
Shin Onimusha: Dawn of DreamsIt's a pretty good game overall. Though there isn't much difference from its immediate predecessor, safe for the now controllable camera system (Which is a gimmick by the way), there's still lots of fun in terms of storyline and gameplay.
The game starts you with the character Soki. A young warrior who possesses the power of the Oni as he rampage through a city littered with the undead hordes. Oh did I mention the game starts with a yummy intro? It's certainly up to par with Onimusha 3's.
Happy to report that this time around the number of characters you get to control reaches the max of 5. And now you are involved in a buddy system (Whereby 2 characters: 1 main, 1 support, appear in a mission at the same time). This buddy system serves well in battle as well as some interesting puzzles. By default, Soki will always be in the battle. Each character has unique trades and the puzzle elements require you to choose your characters wisely in a session. Thank God you are not stuck with just one chosen support character in a given mission, you are allowed to interswitch them in a checkpoint. Oh did I mention you can switch direct controls among the 2 different characters during the mission?
The battle system is half RPG'ed as well. Spotting an upgrade system to both weaponary and skills. When upgraded to the max, a character can charge his/her skill attack to the 3rd level and cause a hella damage to the opponent. You can do critical hits onto multiple targets in succession when skills are upgraded accordingly. Not only do you get eye pleasing animation, you would probably clear out the battle field in no time.
One very notable fact to highlight is the storyline, though the developers claim that this has no connection to the previous installment, those who are hardcord Oni fans will immediately notice the tie ins to all 3 previous games. I especially love the last part when I find out that one of the support character is actually the main protagonist in the previous 2 games. Oni 1 and 3. COOWL!
This game is hard. Though I played it in beginner mode, it was a breeze till I reached the last part. It proofs that you must wisely upgrade your characters properly. Not just focusing power on one. No spoilers here. You will find out soon enough.
Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable game. Gets a 4/5 from me. The last boss is a skanky bastard though. =P
Wild Arms 4Is an RPG... so RPG hates be gone. ahaha.
Though this is of the RPG genre, it's more like moving chess pieces around because you do have grids, and choosing to move your characters in these grids require proper planning. So it's a more real-time approach for an RPG game. Unlike Final Fantasy's way of inputting your attack, defensive commands and wait for success or death.
The story is a little bit offensive. Kinda reminds me of Code Name Kids Next Door where kids reign superior over adult tyranny. Bleh* Bull shit I tell you. Though this is no where as extreme and lame as Kid's next Door, it still does place you in a state where kids are always the most innocent and that most adults would make decisions that could only lead to chaos.
Putting that aside, the other lame part is that you've only got 4 characters to play with. Each with different attributes: Melee combatant, Projectile combatant, Magic caster (offensive), magic caster (defensive).
The use of Grids (So called hexs in the game) places you in a real time strategy. Each move you make can determine quick victory or demise depending on your decision. It adds a whole lot of suspense where by you are fighting enemies that boast different attributes themselves.
For example, you have 7 grids altogether each time you start a battle. 3 grids will contain elemental attributes (Eg. Fire, wind, water). Your enemy is weak against wind attacks, so in order for you to do quick kills and overpower it you have to make your way to the wind grid. It's not so simple though sometimes, enemies may tend to stick to the grid you wanna be on.
Thank God your characters' personal trades allow you to manipulate the way you approach the grids. For example, all characters are only allow to move to 1 grid per turn that is next to him/her, however, Jude's ability allows him to move to any grid even though they are on the far corner. etc.
This simple system makes a fun and strategic gameplay. Though I am not sure if it's your cup of tea.
The enemies are pretty f**ked up though. One slash from them and it's half of your HP gone. Likewise, you can do that to them too.
Have not finished the game, though I'd give it a 3/5 rating. It's got pretty good musical score.
Now that I'm done with the games, let's move on to my CNY movie outing.
Fearless
As expected from Jet Li movies, story is very lienient. Nothing much to write about.
Kung Fu fight choreography is good. And the character is likable. I like the Japanese martial artist guy. Ahehehe... *kawaii*
Overall, 3/5. Pretty enjoyable.
That's about it I guess.
Pretty upset with P... For no reason I guess. Just that I did asked the person wanna go watch Fearless with me... the person said that watched already. Then later found out the person's gone to watch it again... whatever lar...
Oh yeah, I've finally found the game I wanted so badly for the xbox. It's original so naturally it cost me a bomb!! Panzer Dragoon Orta! A must have xbox game. Bye bye RM235.
Images courtesy of IGN.com
