Sunday, February 27, 2011

Upcoming Purchases - March - June

I've never really been the type to actually sit down and think about my purchases other than going, "I want that game, when does it come out?  Okay, I will get it then or after." and then, well, doing that.  I sort of mentally budget things, sure, but what I'm getting at is that I never really plan these things.  So I usually find out the date and then when it's two weeks or so til then, I go, "Oh, wait, that's coming out Already?!"  It's pretty good times.  So this is me putting down some of the games I'm anticipating buying sometime, or at least considering it, so I have a reference.

Releases:  March 22, 2011

It's been well-established here that I am a fan of the Dynasty Warriors series - well, most of KOEI's series...es - so that I'm planning on getting this is not surprising in the least.  Or at least, it shouldn't be.  I can understand people's complaints about the games:  They rarely vary from throwing you on a map to kill hundreds of Chinese soldiers while narrating the same story of an ancient novel based on an even more ancient war.  But, well, I like that.  The whole of it all is rather interesting if you really get into the story of it, which admittedly is less prominent than most other games would dare, and seeing the different nuances and ways about the same occurrences they take is fun to see.

However, new to the series, is the addition of a whole new kingdom; that of Jin, the kingdom that was the final product of the war that unified China in the 3rd Century.  While the games have usually focused more on the infancy of the Three Kingdoms war (The Yellow Turban Revolt, Dong Zhuo's treachery and the fall of the Han, etc.) and then usually tailored the stories ending to whichever kingdom you were fighting for unifying China.  However, in reality, it was Wei that ended up winning, but was then turned into Jin when a different family took power from the Caos.  That Jin is in the game says more of a focus will be placed on the latter half of the war, the subsequent dividing of the unified Kingdom, and the reunifying of said Kingdom, which should be really interesting.

Releases:  March 8, 2011

This one completely surprised me when I looked for the release date, and, considering I'm still a bit iffy on it, I won't be picking it up right away.  Down the line, though, when it's cheap?  Definitely.  You'll notice that this is also a KOEI-Tecmo game, one built by the Dynasty Warriors team (I can only assume), and also a Hack-n-Slash game in the same vein.  Of course, it is a bit different, much bloodier and gorier than other Warriors games, and decidedly more character-focused.  Instead of picking your character and going about your ways, your character is dictated by chapter, and force, covering different heroes from the Ten Year Trojan War.

The Warriors franchises have grown over quite a few games:  Dynasty, Samurai, Bladestorm, Gundam, and Orochi, not to mention injecting a similar style into Fist of the North Star with the game, Ken's Rage.  So this is just another attempt to branch out, and honestly I'm all for it.  Of course, I am a fan of the gameplay where some aren't; I just can't resist a good brawler or hack-n-slasher, but seeing all these different takes on historical periods (Of course, omitting the Gundam, Orochi and FotNS games with this statement) is always entertaining and serves to lay a groundwork for me personally when I go in and start researching.  If it wasn't obvious, I am a bit of a History buff after all.  I hope it does well enough to continue encouraging this widening of their horizons.

Releases:  June 7, 2011

I loved inFamous.  That right there is quite possibly a really large under-statement, but I cannot emphasize it enough.  I spent so much time playing the game, and I know I beat it at least 4 times, possibly more.  I'm just an absolute sucker for superhero stories, and even more of a sucker for Electricity-themed things; the manipulation of it and the like.  So having the origin story of an Electric Superhero as a video game?  Yeah, this was made for me, or at least it felt like it, especially while playing it.  Even when I was shard-hunting and fighting through the third island with enemies everywhere.  And that's just because the game itself was just so good, I could play it and have enough fun that I didn't even care about some of the complaints others had.

Some of those complaints even seem ironed out in the sequel, namely the animations which, admittedly, weren't all that great.  They seem a lot better from what I've heard; I've intentionally let myself out of the loop on this game since I want to see how they can surprise me, as I'm understandably expecting big things.  I know they'll be able to deliver, of course, but it's fun to have the anticipation and my own notions while going blindly into the game to see where the middle-ground lies.

Releases:  March 15, 2011

Do I have to put anything here?  I don't think I do.

But just because, here's a video.  It's called the Story Trailer for a reason, though, mind, so if you'd rather have no spoilers going in, feel free to skip it.  Even though the Narrator's voice rules.




Releases:  March 22, 2011
 
Now, Dissidia was actually a pretty good game, despite it practically saying "Fanwankery" all over the cover, and despite the fact that it was, in essence, a fighting game, where I almost universally dislike fighting games.  I guess it's because the fights aren't that drawn out; it's not necessarily about whittling your foe's health bar down, but rather taking the more RPG-ish approach of building your attack and dealing it.  Raw numbers reign, as your brave is just how much damage you do.  And there's enough other RPG-ish elements in it to make it feel like a rather good blend of the genres.  Equipment, items, summons, traveling, the grind, all RPG staples right there in your fighting game, with a few other things thought out nicely for a portable game.

New characters does not a new game make, of course, and even though that's a big focus of Duodecim, there's other new things, including a whole new map system for the story modes.  Gone are the barren chess board type maps that you have to run through, replaced by a more decidedly Final Fantasy feeling World Map, at least from the screenshots, that's what I've gleamed.  Coming with that is a whole new mechanic of assists, something that will surely add a little more strategy to your play, not to mention a revamping of the gameplay mode that tries to mimic a turn-based game, for those who may not exactly prefer Dissidia's standard playing style.  On top of that, the ability exists for everyone with a fanfic to make it into an actual Squeenix game, via the story crafting tools they included.

My god, what have they done?!

I'm sure there might be a couple more games I'm overlooking, and there's games further off on the horizon that I'll have to make a new installment for, a little closer to their release, but this has been a pretty nice look into the pain my wallet is going to feel eventually, as assuredly these games will be part of my library at some time, though not necessarily on the dates listed as their release.

2 comments:

  1. I -loved- Infamous as well. The gameplay, story, 'cutscenes' and everything, it was brilliant. I think, near the end of the game, I felt like things were getting a little repetitive, but right before it bugged me, I got to the end of the game, so it didn't go on longer than it needed too, a sign of a good game. I'd love to go back and play it again as the bad guy this time, or just to mess around.

    However, I'm kind of worried about the sequel. At first, I was super excited to hear they were going to make a sequel. But then they changed up the main character. That just... made so very little sense to me. InFamous was such a hit, why suddenly change the main character for no reason when we're already emotionally invested in him? I was really mad and upset about that, and haven't really looked into the game since then. I'm hoping, like you, that keeping myself in a bit of a blackout about it, will enable the game to surprise me and win me over on its own merits.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "On top of that, the ability exists for everyone with a fanfic to make it into an actual Squeenix game, via the story crafting tools they included."

    Dread and fascination in equal parts. I remember losing hours (ashamedly) to Dynasty Warriors's movie editing special options, so...

    ReplyDelete