Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

While I finished Castlevania: Lords of Shadow a few weeks ago, I've had yet to write up my official review of the game.  So here goes.

Lords is an action game, through and through, and leaves you little time to rest easy during its intense, and lengthy campaign.  You play as Gabriel Belmont, and orphan who was inducted into the Brotherhood from a very young age, and your mission is simple.  Find out what is upsetting the balance of the world.  Things get more complicated as you realize that Gabriel's wife was killed only a couple of days ago and that he burns with vengeance, anger, sorrow, and other not so happy-feely emotions.  Soon enough, you discover that the Lords of Shadow are the cause for all of the baddies coming out of the woodwork and it becomes your goal to kill them all.  That's pretty much the premise of the game, although I will say that the story gets much more interesting and Gabriel is a great character who evolves with his actions.  Also, Patrick Stewart voices one of the main characters, which is just awesome.

Lords is also one of the most beautiful games I have ever played, with highly detailed character models and environments that change consistently throughout the game.  Never did I feel wearied by the settings, which was a relief after a few previous iterations of 3-D Castlevania games came to disappoint in that department.  Sweeping landscapes and ominous ruins expand the world of Castlevania beyond the mere castle-crawl, and reminded me of some of my favorite elements from Super Castlevania IV.  The music and sound effects are of top-notch quality as well, with new soaring anthems that have left the traditional Castlevania scores in the dust.  That's not to say that there aren't elements from some of the songs we know and love from the past, but they are hardly recognizable in the fully orchestrated symphony that blesses your ears.

In a way, Castlevania returns to some of its roots in action gameplay.  Leveling and inventory, which have been so popular since Symphony of the Night, have been stripped away.  Instead, a greater focus is lent to fighting enemies using your combat cross and an array of secondary weapons and skills.  The pace is more linear, with less wandering and more swinging, climbing, jumping, and beast-riding.  The camera cannot be controlled by the player, but it does an excellent job of showing you where you can go while maintaining a cinematic perspective.  I read several reviews complaining about the play controls, but I'm a bit baffled by them.  They reported issues with repeatedly falling off of cliffs, but if run to the edge of a cliff you cannot fall off until you press jump, and while hanging from walls Gabriel tends to look at where he will be jumping to.

In conclusion, I loved Castlevania.  The game was challenging without being frustrating (with the exception of one particular stage with some re-animated coffin creatures and no room to fight in). It provided me with around 20 hours of gameplay, and I am still meaning to return to it to play through on Paladin difficulty and unlock all of the hidden items, so it is truly a generous package.  I can't wait for the next one in the series and hope you find this review helpful in making your decisions.

The Verdict

Well, I decided to pick up Final Fantasy XIII. I realized that I haven't gotten ahold of a good old fashioned RPG in a long time and that I was quite eager to see how this newest installment turns out. This isn't a full game review, since I only got it a few days ago and it will probably take me a few months to explore all of the newest installment in the Final Fantasy franchise, but I wanted to leave a few brief impressions.

At about eight hours into Final Fantasy XIII, a mere scratch on the surface, I have really enjoyed what I have seen and played. It is one of the most beautiful games to date, with characters so detailed that you'll be wondering the entire time whether they have been pre-rendered or are in-game. In fact, the game does quite a good job of blending the two seamlessly. Gone are the days of beautiful cutscenes outshining crappy in-game graphics, ala Final Fantasy VII, and we have at last achieved a point where every moment of dialogue is astonishing to look at.

The dialogue itself can be a bit questionable, but so far the story has progressed interestingly enough. The character that sets me the most on edge is the upbeat, high-voiced, semi-Australian accented Vanille, but I have grown used to her character and even smile or laugh at her comments from time to time. My favorite character so far has to be Sazh, the big-haired gun-totting badass who has been dragged along with the main protagonist, Lightning, in her effort to rescue her sister Serah from a cursed life. Serah's fiancee, Snow, is another rather fun character who has some potential for growth in his feud with Lightning. And let's not forget Hope, the coming-of-age kid who has become Lightning's protege.

I have yet to see all of the party members in action, and the story has really just begun. Without giving too much away, the plot has done an excellent job of blurring the line on what forces are good or evil, although I have the niggling feeling that the guys who looks like pope Ratzinger-Palpatine may be of the villainous disposition.

What I really wanted to mention is the battle system. So far it has steadily evolved and grown in complexity, introducing concepts both old and new to the series in a turn-based/real-time blend of action. While I enjoyed the real-time elements in XII, I feel like there's a lot more strategy and control to be had here. The Paradigm system is an interesting concept that allows you to shift your party's class in the midst of battle, whether you want someone to heal, protect, or wail on your opponents. From what I have seen so far, you only control the leader of your party, but the action is so fast and intense this is a welcome aspect. The further I have gotten, the more strategy I have had to use between choosing the skills I want to do and swapping paradigms. And finally, the chain system from Final Fantasy XII is expanded on, allowing you to "stagger" an enemy, which becomes an essential strategy for beating battles quickly and efficiently. If I were to put a score on the battle system, I'd give it two thumbs, 4 stars, or whatever else you can imagine.

I've read that alot of people are troubled by the linear progression in the first chunk of the game, but it really hasn't bothered me. While you don't get much choice in where to go you still get choices in what skills to work towards and what weapons you want to upgrade. The steady introduction of new concepts prevents the game from getting too confusing or stale, and has really forced me to look at things I rarely did in previous Final Fantasy installments, such as certain spells and debuffs.

With so much to go, such as acquiring the full party, all of the summonables (Eidolons), exploring the cavernous world of Cocoon and its feared sister world, Pulse, I eagerly await the coming dozens of hours with relish.

Darksiders Review

I've decided to write some brief game reviews on some games I have played/completed from the holiday season. The first of these reviews is on Darksiders, a third-person action puzzler for the PS3 (as well as the XBOX 360):

Without giving much away, Darksiders is a fantastic blend of swordplay, platforming, and puzzling. You play as War, one of the four horsemen who has awaited the coming Apocalypse, only to be unleashed before his time for havoc has come. While the story is fairly simple and limited in scope, it establishes an interesting setting set in the distant future, long after the Third Kingdom, Man, has been destroyed in the war between Angel and Demonkind. The reasons for your premature release (you can laugh now), are unveiled over a course of well animated cutscenes with surprisingly well-performed dialogue. The only exception to the interesting cast of characters is War himself, who is given a laundry list of generic one liners and a standard gravelly, grumbling voice.

The graphics in Darksiders were particularly enjoyable for me, being a fan of comic-book artwork and diverse, colorful environments. I never bored of the settings, ranging from medieval/gothic cathedrals to flooded subways overgrown with plantlife. The amount of backtracking through the world, which opens up to larger landscapes as you progress, never became repetitive. The animations also complement the intricately designed characters, adding life where too many titles fail (sorry Bethesda, I love your games, but I've grown tired of watching people move around like they are hiding a turd in their pants).

The most important factor of any game is its gameplay. I spent seventeen and a half hours traversing the post-apocalyptic world of Darksiders, and enjoyed nearly every minute of it. The beginning of the game is truly the worst part with linear progression and limited combat and equipment. After an hour or so, the possibilities really begin to open up in the game as you unlock new combat moves, weapons, and tools for solving puzzles. It becomes apparent that Darksiders is not just an action game like God of War or Devil May Cry, but more akin to titles such as Okami and the Legend of Zelda. Everything a fan of Zelda could enjoy is in this game, including dungeons, creative gadgets, and even a horse.

After completing Darksiders, I was left wanting more, which is promised by the final moments, and I can only imagine what will happen once the creators are further able to spread their demonic wings into new territory. Darksiders is a beautiful game, filled with exhilarating moments, and the best parts of familiar titles. A year from now I'm sure to pick it up again for another play through, just like any good Zelda title.