Dragon Fantasy Book II Has a Release Date - And There Was Much Rejoicing

Thanks to the announcement of the new Vita Summer Select at the Playstation Blog, we now have a release date and pricing information about the upcoming Dragon Fantasy Book II.  On September 10th, we'll all finally be able to get the sequel to the fabulous Dragon Fantasy Book I that I adored, even though I never got around to reviewing it properly to say as much, for the price of $14.99 or, if you're a Playstation Plus Member (because you should be) then it'll be $11.99.  If I'm not mistaken, the original was under the same sort of discount deal, so this is all sorts of wonderful going on here.  It's only for the launch week, however, so you'll want to grab it ASAP because it's going to be so good, you guys.

To be honest, Dragon Fantasy is basically going through my childhood and making everything wonderful again.  Book I took after Dragon Warrior which was pretty much -the- RPG I played on the NES, and Book II is taking after Chrono Trigger which I talk about a lot and might just be my favorite RPG of all time.  The same 16-bit art style, the same on-map battles (meaning no random encounters), Area of Effect attacks and so on, they're all included in Book II which makes it really tantalizing to -me- at least, but you should definitely be interested in it yourself as well.  Book I proved that it can be a capable, enjoyable RPG, but Book II might just end up being a proper evolution into something great, and that's definitely why I'm looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, my brain is not cooperating with me tonight as I've had a headache for several hours, so I'm not going to be very wordy.  I just wanted to bring up Book II's release date and price and convey that I am quite excited for it.  Because I am.  And I'm going to buy it.  Perhaps even review it.  And the original.  Hopefully.

nothing wrong with shorter posts every now and then, or at least that's what I keep telling myself

Touch My Katamari is Pretty Good

Tonight was not my first exposure to Katamari since that honor was given to the demo for Touch My Katamari around when the Vita launched.  It was a really fun demo because the core mechanics of the game are pretty solid and the demo level had some really interesting layout and music that made it rather memorable.  It was because of the demo that I went "Yeah, I'm going to buy this game at -some- point", yet that point never came until today.  Thanks to the fantastic Japanese Game Sale going on, I grabbed the game for $3.75 and I do not regret it even a little bit.  (I also bought Atelier Totori Plus as I said I would, but I don't have 3 Gigs free and I need space for the Killzone Mercenary Beta anyway)  I thought about it and realized that even though I played the demo like fifty times, I didn't really say a -lot- about it.  Yeah, I mean, I said two paragraphs about it all that time ago, but now I have the game proper and it's fresh and new (to me) so I should go a little deeper.

If you're not quite sure what a Katamari is, I have to assume that you're not really up on the niche stuff which is sort of an assumption one can make because of the whole definition of that and whatnot.  Regardless, it was a series that I knew of for a while even if I didn't play a single iteration of it until this one on the Vita.  Basically what the game is about is rolling a ball that captures things on it to make it bigger so you can roll up bigger things.  Like a snowball effect, except you're eventually rolling up cars and people and being a general menace to society by making a gigantic ball of chaos.  Some missions there's a time limit to make as big of a ball as you can, some missions there's an amount of things that you have to collect, and some missions, it's just about getting to a particular size.  Eventually, I think there's a mode where you can just roll up everything and that will be amazing if it's true and I want it, but I'm good with what I've got for now.

It is very....quirky.  Quirky isn't the right word, of course, but it's the only one I can think of without saying "Japanese" and getting all sorts of negative connotations leveled at me.  Even though you all know what I mean, you bastards.  You're the Prince under the King of All Cosmos who is in a guy in too tight tights asking you to make giant balls of things that he can eat and turn into stars.  Please, go into your own minds and think of an appropriate word for that scenario as it lays out.  Try to blame me, I dare you.  Aside from that, there's all sorts of weird animated cutscenes that go on betwixt the missions, which are presented to you by talking to people who are standing on the hat of the King of All Cosmos while also ignoring gravity.  All the missions seem to involve bettering the King in some fashion, either by making a Katamari that has a lot of sports equipment to make him get out more, or a lot of rich things to make him look better off than he is, but really, it's all about rolling a ball around and making it bigger and bigger and bigger.

That works.  It's simple and it's far more enjoyable and engrossing than you might think.  All you're doing is rolling around the Katamari and picking up things so you can pick up bigger things as stated, but there's just something -to- it.  You roll by a King Chess Piece and say "No, too big for now", yet keep it in mind as you roll up about twenty toothpicks, six coins and some batteries that have been progressively larger.  By the time you see the Chess Piece again, you barrel right on through to pick it up because you're big enough now, and thanks to that, you're big enough for something else and so on and so on.  It's that sort of driving force that doesn't make it quite strategic, but distinctly gives the game structure that allows you to play around within those admittedly expansive confines.  Structure that you will eventually roll over to bring into your latest Katamari that will be as large as the day is long, and make a rather impressive star that burns twice as bright.

As stated, there's a demo of the game on the Playstation Store and while the game is $3.75 (only until the store updates on Tuesday) you should give it a shot.  Worst that will happen is the charm, the music (which is fantastic) and the game itself will fail to grab you and you won't spent less than four bucks on something.  Or, depending on your outlook, you'll love it and have to spend less than four bucks on it which is not that big of an issue either.  Basically I'm just saying that there's very little to be lost and potentially a lot to be gained here.  It's not a particularly big game, but it offers a lot of replayability once new modes open up and give you new incentive to try out the previous stages again.  And again, it's less than four bucks for a few more days.  I feel I have to stress that, while also reminding you that there are other games in the Japanese Game Sale that you should also buy like Soul Sacrifice which you should buy because I'm telling you to buy Soul Sacrifice.  Subtly.  Subliminal messaging.

roll up allll of the things!

Welp, Nevermind THQ's Done

Remember when THQ filed for Bankruptcy and the President of THQ came forward and said in an open statement to everyone that 'THQ is fine and isn't going anywhere'?  Yeah, well....that is probably not the case anymore.  Some recent developments with that whole situation over the last weekend were made and they are not pleasant ones for any involved.  The plan was pretty much simple, as it was presented.  Jason Rubin said, basically "We had to go into Bankruptcy and look for an investor so that we could quickly repay the folks we owe as soon as possible" which sounds sensible as all hell and should immediately tell you that it's certainly not going to happen that way.  Because why would it?  I mean, why would things just work in ways that are considerate for everyone involved?

Over the weekend, some groups had raised some complaints to THQ's proposed plan to seek investment through Clearlake Capital Group, well a purchase from them I should say, and there was a hearing about it.  Ultimately a Judge decided that the sale wasn't cool to go through when it was scheduled to because, and this is literally the goddamn reason, 'it doesn't make the most money possible'.  With Warner Bros., EA and other publishers sniffing around, there's a very big, very real possibility that piecemeal sale of THQ's assets will ultimately bring in more money than the Clearlake deal would net, making it the more lucrative option for THQ's creditors.  Because, of course, in this economy when everyone is only too happy to chirp up about how nobody wants to protect jobs or this or that, whine about how outsourcing is too big, an actual plan to prevent the loss of jobs shows up and is instantly swatted away.  It's a fickle thing, clearly.

I guess I shouldn't be too annoyed just yet since there's absolutely nothing stating that the IPs are the -only- things that will go on sale, unless I missed it.  If you all remember when Midway went under, Warner Bros. stepped in and bought the MK IP, but they also got the development team which we now know as Netherrealm Studios and they're doing pretty spiffy, I should say.  So -technically- we could assume that any potential publisher that purchases up the rights to the individual series that will go on sale might also bring the talent over as well, one way or another.  The Netherrealm Studios example isn't the only one of course, as even when Squeenix bought up True Crime:  Hong Kong (later the amazing Sleeping Dogs), they helped United Front Games continue work on it so that they could finish it regardless.  They didn't acquire UFG, but I would assume if a Sleeping Dogs 2 was ever in the works (please let there be a Sleeping Dogs 2 in the works), Squeenix would tap them for a return as well.  If nothing else, perhaps we could assume that sort of situation for whomever picks up these IPs.

Because the IPs are definitely on sale - I mean, it's pretty much a done deal, I would assume.  The end-goal is, I believe, finding out which option will pay more between the Clearlake deal and interested parties purchasing franchises individually.  Whichever one has the biggest bottom line will be the plan that goes forward so that THQ can just funnel that money directly to the people their creditors.  So while it's still technically possible that the Clearlake deal -will- go through, it's highly unlikely as every franchise individually will probably be quite a bit more than a package deal.  As is the case, generally with package deals, which, I suggest is why they are called deals.  At this point it's pretty much just a matter of thinking about who will buy up what and doing a whole lot of hoping and finger crossing.  As much as I don't hop onto the EA Hate Train whenever it rolls around, I'm not at all enthused with entertaining the thought of an EA published Saint's Row 4, for instance.  Picking up the WWE license, however, is a lot more believable and palatable because EA already has like every other sport and they do alright.  I'd just like to think Warner Bros. will do up a thing like they did with Netherrealm Studios.

The ink isn't dry on the deals and there's still a lot of room for the situation to resume changing dramatically, but it's more or less a lot more real now than it was.  I'm pretty bummed, since I really believed Jason Rubin, but at the same time, there wasn't a whole lot to doubt based on what he presented.  He was saying if they didn't do the sale by a certain date, it would cause a lot of problems and that's basically the lynchpin here in that the Judge and others don't agree with that date.  As such, it's basically still up in the air, but I'm pretty sure it's looking like the chips are going to fall on this latter side now, rather than the shiny, bright side that was presented first.  It's a real shame in a sense, but we won't really know the extent of the damages until the actual dust settles.  Whatever happens, it's going to have a rather big impact all around, though, and that's probably going to be a hard show to watch.

Update!:  Well, things are pretty much like it seemed, since it was confirmed that this is a most money wins situation.  The amount of money Clearlake has put up is apparently $60 Million, so that is the number to beat.  If anyone bids -more- than $60 Million for the whole of THQ, they'll acquire everything as Clearlake would, -or- if the sum of the bids for individual franchises from the likes of Warner Bros., EA and such exceeds $60 Million, then that's how that'll play out.  $60 Million is a -lot- of money, so this might be a closer race than anyone could have figured on.  But it just relies on the bids because not only are the companies against one another, but up against this potential $60 Million figure or even more if someone puts in for a whole bid of more than that.  We'll find out around January 23rd just what's going to happen to THQ, so start hoping for whatever outcome you want now.

Review - Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble

Sorry, no theme song for this game on Youtube.  Who'da thought that one, huh.

I honestly didn't figure I was going to be doing a review for this game, but when I sat down to write up the Impressions post for it, I realized "Well, I ran through it completely twice as well as just randomly playing around with it, so I pretty much know what it has to offer".  That is...pretty much the requirement I have on myself for a game that I review: ensuring that I know it pretty well so that I can sufficiently put it on display for what it is.  And saying that I believe I can do that with Kenka Bancho is pretty much a statement on the game itself, all things considered, especially when I start to lay it out as to what kind of game it is.  Not to be cryptic or anything, I just like to have something of a preface up front to work through for the rest of the post which includes something of a hook, ala the previous statement.  Maybe it loses something when I then go on to explain it but whatever, the absurdity matches the mood of the game for better or worse.

I'll say this upfront: Honestly, they could've called the game "Way of the Bancho" and it would have made so much more sense going into it.  The game basically revolves around a school trip to Kyouto which is certainly not Kyoto, get that out of your mind right now, okay?  The main character, Sakamoto Takashi (Or Takashi Sakamoto, I never know anymore) is the Bancho or head badass (delinquent) of his school and, upon arriving in Kyouto, learns that the school trip plays host to a big unwritten Bancho Tournament every year.  He quickly decides to participate in the festivities, which basically means finding the other Banchos and punching them until you win in a fight with them, whereupon they become your 'Peon', signifying that you have 'conquered' that territory.  Really, it's almost like a Conquering game, something you all know I want, only it involves punching people a lot, which again you all know I love.  So this should be the perfect game for me, right?  I should love this game to death by definition.

I don't.  I want to love it, so badly, but I just do not.  Don't get me wrong, I like the game, I really do, but I can't hold it aloft and claim it to be wonderful, I can't say it does everything I want is amazing for it.  Because it simply doesn't.  Clearly, I am going to pick the game apart and say what works and doesn't work and it will be glorious I assure you, but I also talk of games sometimes being more than their parts as well.  When that happens, it's wonderful and I would've liked that to happen with Kenka Bancho, but it simply didn't.  Which is probably the only disappointment I had with the game in that, once I learned of its intentions, I expected to be wowed and was not; which some could rightly argue is simply my own problem.  Indeed, if you keep your expectations down, you could walk away from Bancho with a pretty good overall opinion (like I did) without it being hampered by a nagging let-down.

I would like to highlight what makes the game pretty damn badass first, of course, before going in and picking my nits, since what Kenka Bancho does well is entertaining, which in most cases should be top priority.  First, let me simply point out that the game has fucking eye lasers.

I don't think anybody would think that I made that up.  I don't think I really have to prove the fact that the game does, indeed, include fucking eye lasers.  But that image is less 'proof' that the game has them and more simply touting that fact.  Because it is awesome despite the fact that they are not lasers in the common sense, despite how it may appear in the above screenshot.  You see, the Laser Eyes is actually your 'Menchi Beam" which is basically just a tangible representation of staring someone down which is what is used to initiate fights or, in some instances, cause potential foes to simply soil themselves and run in fear.  As only a true badass can make happen.  Indeed, if you see someone who appears to be a Shabazo (basically someone who you can fight who is -not- a Bancho, but simply a weaker delinquent) you can use your Menchi Beam to 'challenge' them to a fight.  Upon doing so and fighting them, they sometimes drop their Itineraries, which shows where they will be on certain days, thus allowing you to plan where you have to go to take down a Bancho.

Something else about the whole set-up to a fight that is amusing in small doses is that cutting a menchi beam (indeed, this is how the game refers to it) at someone and having that challenge accepted initiates a 'smash talk' sequence.  You are given a statement (one of the ones I remember is "It'll rain your blood!") which is then cut up into three pieces and you have to do something of a QTE to assemble it.  Going step-by-step, you'll get prompts that correspond to the four face buttons (for stronger encounters, L and R will be included as well) that have parts of your statement on them, as well as three other starting phrases that are sometimes intentionally put there to try and confuse you, given that you have a few seconds to hit each part.  So using the example "It'll Rain Your Blood!", the first batch of four could be "Square: It'll stain", "Triangle: It'll Rain", "Circle: I'll pay", "Cross: This Game's" or something to that effect.  To match the Smash talk, obviously you hit Triangle, then the next four pop up, etc. etc.  Using this method, you can assemble the correct Smash Talk statement which gets you the first shot, and should you mess it up, obviously they get the first shot.

Of course, in true fashion for these types of games, there is a -third- option for the outcome of this sort of thing.  Most, if not all, Smash Talk sequences have a 'Hidden Smash' statement that will constitute as a win for you despite not being the right statement.  The pieces of a Hidden Smash appears much as the regular and decoy ones, and you just have to go out on a limb and experiment to find them.  I don't know if they give you more of an edge than simply the correct smash, but I can imagine there's a title in it for you if you use them enough times.  One that I remember, having run into it already is "This Game's Really Awesome!" or something to that effect which is clearly just a wink from Atlus and/or Spike or whomever (wiki lists the developer as 'Bullets'...who don't have a page of course), but other Hidden Smashes have proven to be more along the lines of the general Smash Talk statements.  It's a neat layer of depth that may, in fact, be wholly unnecessary, but I have to acknowledge the fact that it's there, if just because it suggests that the game as a whole isn't wholly rigid in every element.

It may seem like I have talked about every element about the fighting except the fighting itself, since I devoted three paragraphs to -starting- a fight and this is indeed a correct statement.  That is because the fighting gameplay is....pretty simple.  This works for and against it in fairly obvious ways and while it allows you to completely customize every move (by switching it out with others that you learn by leveling up and defeating banchos) it's all held back by a combat system that's just a little bit too slow.  Speeding up the animations by like even a second probably would have made a world of difference, because it simply causes a disjoint with me while I'm playing with it.  I punch and it doesn't immediately slam a fist into someone's face, but rather takes an instant just -beyond- immediately to do so.  It may seem like I'm picking at something really small, but trust me, it shines through when you're actually playing the game.  It prevents the combat system from being great, but it is still fairly good for the mentioned reasons, as well as for being fairly simple to master in a way that will get you the best results.

As with most all combat systems out there, the combat is only as deep as you chose to make it which is something that I'm sure anyone would be more than happy to hold against the game.  True, you can win most fights by simply throwing charged attacks in between grapples involving two attacks and a throw (and then a pin three-hit combo on top of it), but that gets boring.  You can mix it up with dash attacks and jump attacks and generally just decide what the best approach is, depending on your moveset and play style.  The addition of Finishers under the guise of 'Local Specialties' that are just about optional is another layer of depth to the system as a whole as well.  They are, unsurprisingly, strong moves that can only use at the expense of a great amount of spirit (which is restored with items or simply squatting to focus) that do have a good chance of taking a chunk of health off your foes if not take them out completely.  They're best used in circumstances in which you are surrounded by foes, which happens fairly often, as you get the most bang for you buck, so to speak.  What with spreading that damage out as far as possible, since it really does do a good clip.  As they should.

Now, harking back to something I said towards the start of the review, I can finally really clarify just what I meant by calling the game "Way of the Bancho".  The reason is fairly obvious; the trip covers seven days which, upon completing, you can restart from the first day in classic New Game+ sense to redo events, try and fight new banchos, etc.  So much as in the Way of the Samurai games, the game is meant to be played several times to get the whole scope of the game which flows quite a bit beyond the basic "defeat all of the Banchos!" goal that the game sets as the 'over-arching' goal of the game.  Even with my two and so plays, I haven't seen even more than half of all the events that the game has to offer, which certainly inspires replaying as much as the seemingly impossible goal of defeating all the Banchos (47 in all) in a single run-through of the game proper.  It's a basic and fairly effective approach to designing a game, if the four Way of the Samurai games are any proof of that and when it's done well, it's quite a bit engaging.  To that end, I should say that Kenka Bancho does justify its cost, provided you take what it tasks you with as a challenge that you -want- to complete, and not merely one you feel compelled to do so.

As is probably quite a bit obvious by the above screenshot, a good bit of the events in the game revolve around the three ladies that Sakamoto comes into contact with during the trip.  The one on the left-most is Manami, a class-mate of Sakamoto who is a close friend and clearly has a thing for him and he doesn't realize it and blah, blah, you all know this one without me saying so.  She doesn't like Sakamoto devoting his life to fighting people and generally being a jerk which isn't entirely unreasonable, but she doesn't do a whole lot to stop you aside from asking.  Sometimes.  She's....about as compelling as you could assume from her by-the-book backstory and while I haven't quite won her heart over (haven't won any of them just yet, actually) I could imagine just how that would work out.  I'm not sure if it'll actually impact the ending or anything like that, but I imagine I'll find out sometime.

Kotone and Aya (middle and right respectively) are two girls that you meet via an unskippable event in which Kotone gets accosted for being a geisha-esque girl and Sakamoto runs to her rescue because it means getting to beat people up.  I'm not kidding.  After said dudes are beat up, Kotone starts thanking Sakamoto who promptly gets dropkicked out of fucking nowhere, no I am not kidding.  This is done by Aya, of course, who is basically the antithesis of Manami, as is required by japanese law or something.  (I poke fun, obviously, but come on.)  Where Manami is studious and polite, Aya is loud, obnoxious and skips school fairly regularly because why not.  (She attends Ikeda High, the school of Kyouto which is totally not a plot point or anything, no spoilers here.)  And Aya is clearly no delicate flower if the goddamn dropkick did not tip you off in some fashion.  She fills out the requisite trope list quite well enough and, in my experience, does just as you would expect romance-wise on said list as well.  I suppose what I am saying is that the story and such isn't anything new, nor is it something that you -have- to experience, but it's capable enough to carry a game about punching dudes.

The story is, of course, completely divorced from the actual writing itself, as the writing is pretty funny when it wants to be, and it wants to be funny often.  The more obvious examples in attempts come from the smash talk lines as indicated earlier (I say attempts because "Yo momma" and the like are sometimes interspersed in the attempts) whereas the real executions generally be in the Bancho introductions.  The banchos are quite a strange collection of characters, if you hadn't figured, and Sakamoto has no issue with pointing this fact out to them directly.  The exchange with the above chicken-esque bancho stands out as one of the particularly humorous ones, but it is by no means the only example, nor the one that really -needs- to be pointed out as the 'staple' example or anything like that.  Indeed, I could probably boot up the game and discover a couple other legitimately amusing exchanges, but that's a bit more effort than I need to put in at this moment considering I'm....well, writing this.

I will go ahead and say that between the Bancho events (which is basically the before fight and after fight chatter) and the girl events, there's not a whole lot of other story to the game.  At least none that I've found.  Usually in the Way of the Samurai type games, you find at least a few stray storylines to entangle yourself in and while you could simply say those are the girlfriend ones in this, it feels like there should be more to it.  Or just maybe a story about something else to do in the game besides bancho hunt, if that makes sense.  I suspect, however, that this is the part where I just start reaching and hoping for more than the game can sensibly offer, so I won't linger too much on it, simply saying that while novel, it would have been nice for a little -more-.  Maybe just a storyline where you constantly bait and escape the main cop going after you or something to that effect.  Maybe one where you -join forces- with the cop!  Something like that, to which I'm not quite sure (in fact, I would say I doubt) exists in it.

Really, I think I'm not saying anything that you couldn't really glean from a quick look at the game in motion or via review somewhere else.  While I may be a touch more in its corner for the mere fact that it allows me to punch things in a portable game, I can't say things about it that aren't true and that I don't really feel for it.  Despite how much I would like to, since it would fill a hole that could, but never will be filled by another series in a way that matters.  But the game is merely capable at best in most regards, with the highest marks going towards the writing of it.  Or at least the localized script, since who knows if it was originally that funny without relying on cheap jokes and the like as is suggested by the smash talk.  So all in all, that makes it a 'good' game that you will likely play and enjoy, but immediately forget.  I could imagine seeing people letting the whole "need to play it multiple times" slip right over their heads as well, since the game doesn't give you a whole lot of indication about that feature which is....well, a shame, considering it's like a bulk of the game.

The Good

• Allows a lot of replayability by following the "Way of the Samurai" gameplay approach
• The writing is pretty hilarious at times, honestly
• You get to punch dudes...
• ...while 'conquering' Japan, in terms of taking out the Banchos for every province
• Two words.  Eye.  Lasers.
• The screenshot system (using your camera in the map, and hitting select during cutscenes) is fantastic for this purpose exclusively.  I took all the screenshots used here.
• Some of the moves you get are quite rad
• Itineraries are one of the things that carry over between games, so you don't have to re-collect them 
• Seriously, Eye Lasers

The Bad

• The combat system is just short of great which is incredibly frustrating
• The OST is about a notch below "Forgettable"
• Story is pretty 'by-the-numbers' stuff
• Not enough branch-points that I could find
• The Smash Talk thing gets really old eventually, even if Hidden Smashes add a little life to it
• Getting around is a pain until you realize the world map is hidden in the Itinerary menu (Hit triangle)
• After finding the world map in the Itinerary menu, time still goes by too fast
• It honestly just needs a little more polish to be -great-

Mogs Says

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is, as I said, not a -great- game, but it is a good one.  If you are just frothing at the mouth for a brawler on your portable, your choices are basically this and, uh.....but that doesn't mean it wins by default, of course.  It does almost everything at a level that will not offend, but won't get you really pumped either, while giving you a good laugh here and there.  For the sale price of $7.50, you get a lot of game if you want to put in multiple plays (which you probably will) and I can't see a reason for you to regret the purchase unless you pride yourself on only acquiring the best of the best.  Still, maybe take a look at videos elsewhere in case you're on the fence before pulling the trigger, since I can safely say this is a very "YMMV" game, even moreso than the usual fare that I enjoy.

Yggdra Union Impressions

The second game I want to talk about in my big Atlus Splurge is Yggdra Union which was sold to me the minute it mentioned "Cards" in any fashion in the description.  It took me a bit to actually get to the part where I bought it and downloaded it, yes, but I'm sure you understand what I mean.  Unsurprisingly, if you take a look above, the game is another GBA conversion that I had absolutely no idea about prior to actually buying the game, but I think it shows it a little less than Riviera (which doesn't show it all that much itself) does, and if anything, it's more Gameplay that shows it as such than the actual style of the game or anything else.  Still, I should say the biggest thing about Yggdra Union is that I completely didn't know what I was getting myself into by playing it, and I still don't, really.  On top of that, I haven't quite decided if that's inherently a bad thing or not just yet.

As you might have also gleaned from the above screenshot, Yggdra Union is a strategy RPG, of which I could best equivocate it to Advance Wars.  Which is...fitting, given the original platform for the game, for both games, rather, and Advance Wars, I'm told, is a fun game in its own right.  I...don't really remember it too much myself.  GBA was quite a long time ago, you realize, and I didn't play a lot on mine beyond Pokemon and Harvest Moon which was completely not a damn-near prediction of my trend with Nintendo devices or anything.  No sirree.  I mean it's not like I've spent the most time with any game on my DS on Pokemon or Harvest Moo....Well it's not like I'm planning on buying a 3DS exclusively for Pokemon and Harvest Mo....hrm.  (Yes, I'm being facetious, but only because it's uncanny and I didn't realize it until just now.)  Regardless, the staples you might expect here, grid-based movement, combat that you don't necessarily directly control which is influenced by percentages and Weapon affinities, they're all present and drive the game in a way that I honestly don't mind so much.

Just to get this out of the way, the way cards come into play is pretty much the entirety of the game, despite part of them not taking place in at least the first four or five battles of the game.  (the skills.  I say this because I haven't gotten to use a one just yet)  Cards control how many movements your units can take in your turn (move pool is shared, so 12 move means one unit moves twelve spaces, two units move any combination of moves equalling 12, etc.) and how damaging your attack will be when and if you use one.  Notice I said attack, as in singular, because only one unit may attack per turn.  This does little beyond force strategic usage and pad the game length as, if you could attack once per unit, then rounds would last a lot less time.  And of course, it's not so easy as 'only one attack' as you can use the units placement on the map to extend that out for prolonged battles.  Without getting too deep into the specifics, if you have three units and place them just so before attacking, all three of them will launch an attack in succession against that unit unless its own units are in a similar formation, meaning Units just sort of pair off.  If it's 3-on-3, then each one has one attack, 3-on-2 then the first two match and the third one attacks the first unit again, and 3-on-1 obviously means that one unit is in three battles, which likely means poor things for that unit.

Battles are a thing, since you really don't get to influence a whole lot of what happens in it, much like Advance War (I believe), which once again perhaps points at the influence.  You have your unit numbers (Generally I've seen units of 8 for swordsmen and axe-users, but only 4 for Knights which use spears, though I'm sure there's plenty more variation) and every battle starts with a charge and retaliation.  Depending on the weapon affinities, that first hit could just decide a battle.  I've seen units get -halved- on that first strike if the weapon is strong against that type, which essentially means that unit is then proper screwed.  The basic affinity chain, by the way, is like Rock, Paper, Scissors.  Spear beats Sword, Sword beats Axe, Axe beats Spear, no don't ask me how, I have no idea.  Following the first strike and retaliation, the units just sort of stick on their side of the screen and swing their weapons until the complex background math decides that somebody has died.  The battle ends, obviously, when everybody in a unit has died and after that, Morale is deducted from their overall total.  When Morale hits 0, that unit disappears from the map.  Some units obviously take more than one loss to get removed, but the upside is that your cards attack power goes up with every victory, be it a Morale-duster or not.

So what can you do while the little people are flailing about with their weapons and doing things that only vaguely make anything resembling sense?  You can hold Left or Right, of course!  There is a Passive/Aggressive bar that allows you to make your unit fight more....well, Aggressively or Passively.  Fighting Passively restores the bar (which will eventually be used in conjunction with skills) where Aggressive stance drains the bar.  The options merely increase or decrease your attacks effectiveness which means effective use could win you victory in a battle you should technically lose or absolutely spank foes who you hold superiority over.  Aside from that, there's not a whole lot you can do in battle aside from let it play out, which means that the battle is more fought in the way you approach it, rather than the way it plays out.  It's a good sentiment, of course, but doesn't make for the most involved gameplay one could hope for.  Still, it is a bit rewarding to get those victories and those times when it just works out for you when, again, you -should- lose pretty much legitimize it.

From what I've played so far, it's a pretty interesting game.  I can't say that it's wonderful quite yet, but it does have another rather unique set-up that I could see eventually elevating it to something beyond what I've seen.  Especially when skills come into play, whenever that is, since that will of course add an entire new layer, not only for the player, but against them as well.  The story is nothing if standard at the moment but that's how they're supposed to start, anyway, so I'm not really too fussed about it just yet.  Much as with Riviera, I don't immediately regret the decision to buy it, nor do I suspect I will ultimately do so, but I am far more forgiving on games than most, so take my recommendation with a little bit of salt.  Take it more like "If you like these games, this is what it kind of has to offer, so make your decision on that" than me simply saying "This is great, buy it".  Because trust me, if I tell you something is great and you should buy it, you'll know it.  (Still waiting on Second Chapter, XSEED.  You have my money when you make it happen.)

Riviera: The Promised Land Impressions

So as I previously lamented, there is an Atlus sale going on at the moment (Set to go til the end of the month, I believe, so there's still time to jump on it) and suggested that I was going to go on a buying spree.  And I did.  Oh lord, how I went on a buying spree for games that I don't need with money I don't have, but I don't really regret it at all since I have quite the respectable PSP library (digital-wise) in the makings.  Seeing as I don't anticipate PSP support, in digital form at least, is going to drop off the face of the Earth anytime soon, it's an investment into the future clearly, not not something that is incredibly irresponsible whatsoever.  I mean, come on, they're Atlus games.  Well, Atlus-published, at least, since I'm learning the difference between a game that comes -from- Atlus, as compared to a game that Atlus published rather quickly.  The lesson learned, of course, is in quality and while it's not so much that the games are bad, it's just that they're not really on the same level as what I've been exposed to, in terms of Persona and such, which was something I had not quite separated in my mind.

In today's post I'm going to talk about is the above-pictured Riviera:  The Promised Land.  Developed by Sting initially for the GameBoy Advance, Riviera is...quite a unique little RPG, to say the least.  Not quite to the point where it's, ahem, 'too' unique, I would say, but it does skirt that line a little bit.  I will say that the game was clearly designed to be a portable game, at the very least, since you cannot go too far before tripping over the next save point which helps, but also does sort of negate any sort of challenge the game might pose.  Not that it -does- pose much of a challenge, but I could certainly think of an instance where it -would- which...doesn't help matters.  Because it's less "challenge" in my head and more "you done fucked up" thanks to the way the actual game mechanics work.  Which is a crazy, zany story to tell to be sure, since there are some mechanics here that you might know already, but probably haven't encountered them like this.

I guess the place to start is the somewhat defining aspect of the game.  You see, in Riviera, you don't 'level up' per se, but rather 'Skill up' which confers onto you all the bonuses of leveling up (i.e. stat gains) as well as a skill.  You know systems in which you have to equip an item for a while before you learn a skill off of it?  Well, think of that, but more that it simply counts how many times you use the item.  Some just require two or three uses, some require as many as ten before giving you the skill.  Of course, the issue that crops up with that is that items only have a certain amount of uses before they shatter into nothingness, disappearing from your inventory.  And I haven't encountered a 'store' or anything of that sort where I can re-acquire any weapons or such that I might have lost in this manner, so it encourages you to use your items wisely which is a nice sentiment of course, but it doesn't really feel like there's any safety net, so to speak.  Well, there is -one- weapon you get that has infinite uses but it doesn't really -count-.  Because nobody learns a skill off of that except sometimes one of the characters does but I don't know, okay.

So how are you supposed to learn the skills without utterly breaking an object in the process of simply doing so?  Well, quite simply, actually.  To compensate for this style of stat-increasing, the game does offer you a mode in which you can use weapons and items without expending their charges.  It's simply called "Practice" in which you just train against monsters that apparently wander along (of which you can pick, taking the randomness out of it) and for some reason, nothing actually gets 'used', so infinite potions, infinite sword strikes, etc.  Using items and weapons in this mode does not preclude you from learning the skills and is, in fact, the suggested method of acquiring them, so you can actually use the weapon/item 'charges' to make good use of the skills they confer.  One per item, and not everybody gains a skill from every item.  Things are simply tailored to each character.  For instance, one of the characters, Lina, seems to get skills off of clothing items, ribbons, cape, etc. whereas nobody else really does.  Similarly, she doesn't really get skills off of swords (both broad and rapier), where the main character and another character, Fia, do.  I really can't explain it much better than that, so I hope it makes sense.

I find that it unfortunately causes you to either over-value an item or under-value it, however, since I have a weapon in my inventory currently that I literally cannot bring myself to use because it's only good for one hit.  Nor can I throw it away because maybe it'll be useful.  It -won't- of course, since it isn't as if I could sell it, and you only have a very limited inventory space, so it's not doing me any favors by keeping it.  Conversely, I pick up and keep items that I simply have no use for (Clothing mostly, since you don't equip things so much as just get to pick four items before battle to use) since I can learn skills off of them.  And you never know when you're going to get a new party member.  Personally, I would hate to have tossed that one-use weapon before I got the fourth member of my party because surprise she could learn a skill off of it.  Being that skill ups are the only way to raise stats, they are, by that measure, fairly important.  So as I might've implied, it sort of breeds a little distrust for the entire system, considering shit breaks and you never know when you'll get another.  (So far, I've only found basic weapons in chests.  And they're randomized.)

The rest of the gameplay is similarly mixed as a bag, since it incorporates quite a few different themes into one single game.  It's fairly Visual Novel-esque, despite the moving sprites and battles, since the 'world' is divided into cells that you move to and from with a mere command, rather than actually moving about and exploring.  In said areas, you can also make use of the "Look" function, in which certain things might be pointed out to you that you can investigate for the cost of a Trigger Point which are earned from battles.  (Non-practice ones)  Most actions in dungeons require a Trigger Point, making it essential for your prowess to be unmatched; God help you if you walk into a room with a chest and don't have a point to spend on opening it.  (Despite the very real possibility that it will be trapped.)  In the non-dungeon area, you can simply freely walk about and talk to people, which is nice, even if the bulk of them want something, most of which you can only give them if you succeeded a glorified QTE in the previous dungeon with only one try at it.

Something else decidedly visual novel-esque about the game is the fact that it's also partially a dating sim.  Yeah.  You read that.  That is a thing you read.  The game is partially a dating sim.  But not....really in the obvious sense of it, from the experience I've put into the game.  More like sometimes you pick something and one of the girls you're traveling with likes you a little more because of it.  Supposedly, the level of love a girl feels for you by the end of the game will influence the ending, as you might expect, and I suppose I'll see when I get there.  I just don't know exactly how I'm supposed to influence the stats very much aside from the obvious parts where you can agree with Lina or Fia.  Guess which one'll make which one happy!  Again, I'm supposing that I'm not entirely too far into the game, so I hope eventually it'll make it a little more apparent on how I can influence the game and, in essence, the ending.  Seems kind of a basic thing to have in this type of game, at least.

All in all, Riviera is a pretty decent game thus far.  It's definitely an RPG with its quirks and the voice-acting is....not....absolutely horrible.  The fairies, as they normally are, are definitely grating and terrible to listen to, but everyone else does a fairly decent job in their roles.  Not to mention, there's dual-audio for all of you 'dubs suck' folks.  I haven't jumped into it, because I generally leave dubs on when available, but I might switch them on for a session or two (the game asks you when it loads up, which you want, I assume it loads the game differently depending, since you can't switch mid-game) just to see how they compare.  Not that I can -tell- beyond "hey, that certainly sounds like japanese", but hey, it's all fun.  As for whether or not it's worth the $7.49 that's currently being asked for it?  I could certainly think of worse ways to spend the money.  But unless you're looking for an RPG that has a lot of quirks, perhaps too many even for most folks, then you might want to hold back.  I don't regret it, but then again, I rarely regret my purchasing decisions as is.

Goddamnit, Atlus, I Don't Have Money or Time Part Two

Once again, in a situation that is all too familiar from a couple months ago, Atlus USA decided it was the perfect time to dangle the proverbial carrot from a stick before all of us by announcing a July-wide sale on....well, just about everything they've published and/or made on the PSN Store for PSP (and Vita by that measure) and PS3.  As you can see above, this is a large sale in both magnitude of the fact that there's fifteen titles half-off at the exact same time, as well as the stated fact that they are half-priced.  The games were pretty affordable already, but they've officially entered "I have to buy this for this price" territory for people like me who just cannot look a bargain like this in the mouth.  And I know I go on and on about how we should buy games from developers we like when they're full price so we're not cheapening their effort or anything like that, but I can buy Yggdra Union for five dollars, shut up.  And I mean, hey, this is kind of the point, Atlus is saying "Hey, buy our games while we're being nice and selling them for peanuts" and such.

As I've previously stated, all the Persona games will eventually be bought and in my care, or however you want to say it, and by eventually I mean as soon as I finish this post I'm just going to put the $70 in PSN Cards I bought in my Playstation Wallet and buy them as well as like everything else.  But the Persona games are first, no matter what, even despite the warnings that they haven't aged particularly well, specifically stating this with the original.  To be honest, I'm not even sure it's a matter of I want to buy them to actually play them, or just a matter of slapping down the cash so I can say that I have them all to sate the collector inside of me that we all know exists.  I mean, I'd like to give them both a shot, but given my apparent deficiencies in regards to Persona 3, I'm not so sure the Persona games are, er, well, my cup of tea.  Because my cups of tea don't generally like to punch me in the dick repeatedly like the chief of a little village in a terrible, terrible game.

Next up is Kenka Bancho:  Badass Rumble since it is most definitely the closest I'm ever going to get to playing a portable Yakuza game in English with no fuss.  It's not the same, of course, and probably isn't as tight of a game as I could hope for (if reviews are to be believed, which, when it concerns brawlers....I'll take them with a cup of salt), but beggars can't be choosers as they say.  Besides, the game has eye lasers which you use to stare down folks and/or initiate a fight with them which is just as cool as it sounds, considering you can just kinda walk around with the blazing, I believe.  Even if not, you can just sort of stand there and eye laser things for absolutely no reason and look, I just want that.  On top of the whole quirky angle that I'm sure the game will have by virtue of being an Atlus-localized game.  Also the whole beating people up thing.  You know how much I enjoy a game about beating dudes up and if the combat system can prove to be even half as fun as Yakuza's engine, I'll be a happy camper for $7.50.

The other game that's a sure-fire purchase from me is likely Yggrda Union, purely because it's $5 and reading the description of the game on the store has made me curious.  I'm not sure how you can mix turn-based strategy and real-time action effectively, but I'm willing to fork over five bones to discover how STING thinks one does that.  Also in the description are the words "Build your strongest deck of cards" which, as you know, elicits a very, very strong reaction out of me, since I'm not quite sure if it means something like trading cards or what.  But I'm damn sure going to find out and I am doing it fairly blindly which is either a really smart move or a really dumb one.  Or....you know, one that will end up mostly good but not great or something.  Really, I don't think I can lose out on this one and I probably can be proven wrong on that, but I'm not anticipating it.

Riviera:  The Promised Land, Knights in the Nightmare, Hexyz Force and Crimson Gem Saga round out the rest of the potential purchases and by potential, I mean "Look, I have $70 in PSN Cash, I'm buying them".  RPGs, the lot of them, I'm told they all have something rather unique or quirky to bring to the table that offers an experience unlike anything else.  Except maybe Crimson Gem Saga which is meant to just be a pure, simple RPG that harkens back to the days when RPGs were just fun things and not overcomplicated or anything like that.  Which, let's face it, is pretty unique and/or quirky in this day and age of gaming anyway, so there's that.  The only other PSP games offered in the sale are Persona 3 Portable, which we know that I have bought and played already, since I've talked about it at considerable length, and Class of Heroes which....I know absolutely nothing about whatsoever.  Except it says "Dungeons" and "labyrinths" in the game description, which are not words that invoke good things for me.  On the bright side of all of this, I'll have absolutely plenty to keep me busy in the near future!  Also things that I might be able to talk about.  Imagine that.