Okami (PS2)

Hey guys its Yuuki here with my review of Okami. Simply put its awesome go rob a bank and buy it. It's also probably the last of Clover's titles making it especially awesome cause they really pulled out all the stops.

Story: You will be taking on the role of the Okami Sun Goddess. Okami means both Wolf and God. So the game begins with you being reincarnated from a statue by a tree sprite who sends you off to save the world. You then gain a little companion who is a little sprite with a big ego. Then your off to maim evil and collect the 13 celestial brush techniques. These are the joy of the game. Based on the 13 zodiac animals (13th being the Cat.) There are a horde of things to do on the side aswell ranging from some well done minigames to hunting down certain demons and offing them. 5/5

Gameplay: Controls are fluid and battles are both challenging and excitinging. You have a your choice of weapon and sub weapon to making a nice amount of options for fighting style. As you go you'll also gain the celestial brush techs for battle which add even more excitment to the fight. You'll also have to use the brush tech outside of battle to complete missions, earn bonus items and find treasure. All these mix together to make for a great experience that makes you wanna play for hours. 5/5

Audio: The game has no voicing just voice-like sounds which isn't bad. It can be a little annoying hearing the mumble-like voices but you end up never even noticing once you start running around to the beautiful musial scores. Each area has some of the most well composed melodies I think I have ever heard. I had no problem just standing still and listening to the music. Battle music is fast paced and wild making you truly feel like the wolf slash and dashing your way through enemies. It only serves to further absorb you into the game. 5/5

Graphic: Okay this can be hit or miss with people the graphics are supposed to be like the art style in Japan around the time that the game is based on and they did a very good job of making it feel that way. It is cell shaded but honestly it only make you fill like you were truly playing a living art book. Since the game is based on the art and folklore of the time I think they did really well. Not to mention the bestiary and art book which are unlocked as you go have actual art from that time period. 5/5

Replay: There is a game plus which has extra content if you've earn enough stuff the first time through. Even with that aside its just a good enough of a game that you would want to play through it again. if for no other reason than to watch cutscenes or earn more bonuses. I'd even play through it again just to run around. 5/5

Overall: As you can tell I love everything about this game and I think you will too this game can easily be played by anyone it isn't overly complicated, though the story at tims can be a little more mature. The game an grace to it and it being Clover's last big production makes all the sweeter because you can tell when playing the game they wanted to go out with a hit. They succeeded in so many ways. This game I feel will go down not only in history ubt in my heart as truly an awesome game. 5/5

Mage Knight: Destiny's Soldier (DS)

Reviewed by Kit

I think we're going to try and do more short midweek reviews. This way we'll get through games faster. It's an idea anyway, we'll see how it goes. So here's a short review on Mage Knight, a game based on a tabletop game.

Story: Basically the world is at war and destiny has picked a warrior to save it. You pick one of five characters to have as the hero, and they are either melee, magic, or ranged. As you progress through battles you'll earn respest. The higher your respest, the more people will want to help you. It's not particularly amazing story. 3/5

Audio: It's not bad music, but there's nothing spectacular about it. 3/5

Graphics: Again, good, but not great. Still you can tell different characters easily enough. Characters all have special face portraits too that look good. 3/5

Gameplay: The battle system takes some time to get used to. Not because it's particularly difficult, but you are only allowed certain number of actions every turn, and movement and attacks count as separate actions. It takes a few rounds to get used to deciding who should move and who should attack. After each movement you are allowed to face your character in a certain direction. Your back is where you're weakest, but if an enemy comes up to you, you are given the option to readjust your characters. Troops for you army can be bought in towns. You can only take a certain amount into the battlefields. There is a help menu that can be opened at any time, which is very useful. 3/5

Replay: There's no real benefit to replay. You could chose a different hero, but it doesn't make a difference. 1/5

Overall: The game wasn't particularly fascinating. The battle system wasn't difficult, but it was a bit, not overly complicated, but more than was necessary. It's not a great game, but I'm sure there are some that will find it enjoyable. However, I would probably recommend you pass on this. 2/5

Tales of the Abyss (PS2)

Reviewed by Kit

Almost posted this late. The reason, I've spent all day on my new computer. I love my laptop. It's cute, it's convenient, and it's pretty damn powerful for a lappy. However, it's also very cranky. It hates most things I want to run on it now, and if it is able to run the games, then it will overheat quickly. But new compy has been custom built to suit my uber gaming needs :D. And so I've spent the day playing games that lappy has rejected. That stated, let's do this review :D

Story: You take the role of Luke von Fabre, an incredibly spoiled and obnoxious heir to the throne. Seven years ago he was kidnapped and has no memory of the time prior to his recovery. Since being rescued, he's never been allowed to leave his mansion. His only interactions are with his parents, the Princess Natalia, his servant Guy, and his swordsmaster Van. One day while practicing swordsplay (i.e. tutorial) a young woman shows up attempting to kills Master Van. Luke steps in, and something happens. The girl and Luke are both teleported away. The game focuses on musical resonances and harmonies, which explains how this happens, but I don't think I could do it justice. Anyhow, you learn that you are not in your own kingdom, but a neighboring kingdom that is trying to make a peace treaty before war breaks out. There is much much more to the story, of course, but this is the superficial layer that you are presented with, and all I'm willing to tell you about. Sure, the story is somewhat trite, but it's entertaining. And the characters are extremely well developed. Even Luke, who is an obnoxious brat, is somewhat loveable. The story also has some obvious moments where you want to beat the characters and go, how can you not see this. But since it usually happen to Luke, who is a naive twit, it's understandable. Anyway, good story, great characters. 5/5

Audio: The music is pretty good. Like most of the Tales games, they do a great job of suiting the mood. The voices are also well done. The voice actors are just that, professional voice actors. You'd probably even recognize a few offhand. They do a good job of conveying the characters. I think everyone who speaks suits their personality well. 4/5

Graphics: The graphics are very well done. There are occasionally anime cutscenes, that shine well. The regular graphics are also fairly nice. Smooth and well colored. This is a good place to mention the biggest problem I've had with the game, and that would be lag. Primarily it's on any transition to the world map. I think perhaps they over detailed it. It's very annoying because it occurs after every battle. There are some places that are worse than others, but I've fought stuff before and held my breath because I was afraid it had frozen up on me. I haven't had any freezing issues, but the load times are somethign to be wary of. Because of that, we'll lower the graphics score. 3/5

Gameplay: There is a lot to talk about in this. Let's start with travelling. You walk around on a world map going from city to dungeon, etc. Monsters are always visible before an encounter, so you may avoid them as you see fit. In dungeons there is a limited number of monsters per room, and if you kill them all you'll have to leave the room and come back to fight them again. Battles are set on a 3D field, similar to the one in Tales of Symphonia. Attacks use the X button, and you can change what type of attack by hitting the L-stick. Special attacks are linked to the O button. And again, those can be changed by the L-stick. New to the series are the FOF (fields of fonons) which are elemental circles that appear after elemental attacks. Certain special abilities will alter if you are inside these circles when you're using them. Also new is the customization of skills. This is not the combining skills for new ones, thoguh that's still around. When you get certain items, you can equip them to your skills to increase dmg, lower TP cost, raise efficiency, lower casting time, etc. You can only equip one onto a skill at a time, but as you use the skill with it equipped this ability levels. Another customization is the discs which you equip to your characters. They will do extra boosting to at least one of the six main stats are you character levels. All the boosted stats will remain as you switch around discs. Finally, there are the skits which show up and add, if not plot, then at least development to the game. There are 422 of these, and you can watch them by selecting the Select button as they appear. One problem with these is they seem like there should be sound, but there isn't. So you watch them but can not speed them up. If you're a fast reader, then prepare to want to hit the characters to make them talk faster. Overall, the gameplay is well executed, and it's fairly simple to pick up. 5/5

Replay: With different customization you might want to replay things, also there is plus games bonuses. Still, the plot isn't going to alter, so there's no real reason for replay. 3/5

Overall: Overall, this is a great game. I played 5 hours, and instantly loved it. From Luke's annoying attitude to his pet's desperation to please, the game is just something to enjoy. The characters are incredibly well done. I feel like they have personalities, histories, stories. And they are all believable. Even Guy, who has an inexplicable phobia of women (oh the laughing that causes me). I would recommend this game to anyone who likes the Tales games and well as anyone who likes RPGs. 5/5

Cooking Mama (DS)

Reviewed by Kit

Hello again. Time for another game review. Today we'll be talking about Cooking Mama, a stylus heavy DS game where you learn to cook.

Story: Mama is teaching you how to cook, and you must follow her instructions to make the perfect meal. Plot really isn't necessary to this game. 2/5

Audio: The background music is cheery but nothing spectacular. You probably won't even listen to it after a few minutes. 2/5

Graphics: The graphics, like the music, are very cute. They fit the game for its cheery atmosphere, but they wouldn't win any awards. When food is cooking though, the game makes sure you can tell that it is cooking. Colors change, grill marks appear, breading is caked on. While the graphics aren't impressive, they do what they are supposed to. 3/5

Gameplay: You are given a certain number of recipes to start with. Each recipe has a certain amount of preparation. Depending on what is required you might dice, chop, simmer, stew, peel, boil, stir, knead, grill, and/or more. There are practice modes for each recipe so that you can perfect exactly what you need to do for each one. After you go through enough recipes though you'll have mastered all the different possibilities. If you cook the recipes well enough to Mama's expectations, she'll give you a new recipe to cook. Sometimes while cooking you'll be offered the option to change the recipe. This will unlock alternate recipes that you can cook again if you succeed in the preparation. Everything in the game requires the stylus. Gameplay is easy to pick up. 4/5

Replay: Once you master a recipe you probably won't want to play with it again. So after unlocking all the recipes the game will lose its appeal. Perhaps you might want perfect scores on all the recipes, but that's the only reason to replay. 2/5

Overall: The game is a cute idea, but like so many of its type it becomes repetitive quickly. The various recipes are fun to do, but there's no real joy in repeating them. i found my self skipping recipes that involved a lot of preparation or that required potato peeling (I never quite mastered that one). I'd recommend the game for a younger audience, or peopel with a lot of spare time on their hands. 3/5

Disgaea 2 Cursed Memories (PS2)

Hoi Yuuki-san is here with an excellent game. Another one of the lovely gems from Nippon Ichi. They've never failed to bring out some awesome game and this is no exception.

Gameplay: I've experienced a many sequel that varied so far from the orginal it was like entierly new game. Too many games lose what the series is orginally about but, not our friend Disgaea. 2 is amazingly similar to 1. All your favorite demons and spells are back with a few new addons. Not alot to say other than this was a great joy for me to not have to learn a unch of new crap. 5/5

Story: The basic premise is that an Overlord named Zenon has taken over a human world and turned everyone into monster except 1 guy named Axel. He plans to beat Zenon and turn his family back into human. His now demonic mother who is a powerful summoner attempts to call Zenon so Axel can fight him but, only manages to someone his whiney spoiled daughter Rozalin. The 2 then set about trying to find Zenon while Rozalin secretly tries to kill Axel along the way. 4/5

Graphics: Another joy of playing a Nippon Ichi Game it looks cool. Run around the world with your little chibi (means mini) characters and enjoy the full body anime like portraits when characters are speaking. Which are equiped with facial expressions for any situation. As always they deliver some awesome battle graphics with the over animed spell and skills which we all love. 5/5

Audio: Again they come through for us again. Many times a great game can be ruined by bad music and terrible voice acting. Not this though. You'll fine many familiar voices and a new slew of awesome music. Battle music is some of the best I have ever heard especially later into the game and the character themes are catchy. Truly a well made game. 5/5

Replay: Well like the orginal its very long with lots of side quests, multiple ending, and all that good stuff. A hardcore player will want to go through more than once the rest of us will be satisfied with our first play through and probably wait a while to make a third. The point is that if we wanted to play through again there is alot of content to accommodate us. 5/5

Overall:Let's see the game the game almost all 5's the only that brings it down and not by much is that the new characters don't seem to have the same chemistry as the ones of the orginal. Though I wouldn't say it was if not to make it not worth playing in any way. The return of some familiar faces brings things up and in the end the game easily makes up for the and small flaws. 5/5

Harvest Moon DS

Reviewed by Kit

A midweek review? Has the world gone mad? Well, yes, but this has nothing to do with that. We're ahead on our games, so we're putting up some reviews midweek. Expect the Disgaea 2 review Sunday.

Story: The Harvest Goddess and a local witch are constantly at odds. So the witch decides to shut the goddess up, by accidentally turning her to stone. Then when she tries to fix it, the goddess is sent to another world. Not one to think things through, the witch then sends all the harvest sprites to the other world to find the goddess. Suddenly realizing that might be a bad idea, the witch sends you, a local farmer, to perform tasks to bring back the harvest sprites. These can be found by doing things such as drinking at the bar, shipping crops, or trying to escape town. Nothing exciting, but then it is a Harvest Moon game, and plot is not what they are known for. 3/5

Audio: Standard Harvest Moon sounds. Nothing spectacular, and the music gets repetitive after a while. 3/5

Graphics: Again, the game retains the standard Harvest Moon cutesy look. People all have portraits that come up when you talk to them. Nothing great, but it keeps with the Harvest Moon feel. 3/5

Gameplay: Like all Harvest Moon games, your first priority is to build up you farm by growing crops, raising animals, and selling the random native plants. You can also go mining and fishing. The first mine available has only gifts for girls in it, but if you talk to Carter at the right time he'll open up more mines. Mines that you will need to get materials for tool upgrades. Also you have to talk to Galen at the right time to getthe fishing pole. The town is laid out like the town from A Wonderful Life, and the characters are also from there. Characters from Friends of Mineral Town make appearances though. In your house you have a phone, which you use to call the stores in Mineral Town for your shopping needs. Though thereare shops in your home, you will be expected to buy a good portion of things from the Mineral Town shops. When upgrading, or building things, you can choose between four materials, fodder, wood, or stone, or gold lumber. Gold lumber is indestructible, but not worth the cost of buying. So the best things to build with is stone, which has a very low rate of being destroyed in storms. In the mine you will find monsters that you have to kill by hitting them with tools. All items stack in your rucksack, though this causes some problems. If you pull it out without separating one from the group, you might end up giving a girl all the flowers in yoru inventory. As always you can woo the women in town for a happy marriage. You can also woo the visiting women from Mineral Town if you have the GBA game in your DS, but that leads to the end of the game if you marry them. There are many other things in the game, but it would take forever to go through them all. I think this sums it up. While gameplay is simple and there are some nice ideas, there is somethign about it that doesn't work. 3/5

Replay: There really is no incentive to replay the game. If you do pick it up again, then it is because of a deep love for Harvest Moon. 2/5

Overall: The game has some interesting ideas, but when implemented, they just don't work that well. If you desperately have to play a Harvest Moon DS game then pick it up. However, I would recommend waiting for one of the other Harvest Moon games that is coming out eventually. 3/5

Samurai Warriors 2 (PS2, X-Box 360)

So tonight we have both of us reviewing a game. The game Samurai Warriors 2. So let us begin.

Story: Based off of historical Japan, with of course have been altered to suit the gameplay. While there are stories to each characters, none of them are particularly important, and you will probably find yourself skipping through the story information. 3/5

Audio: The music is good. It suits the atmosphere well. Also some of the music is recycled from the first game, which is nice for nostalgia. The voices are hit or miss though. Some are improvements over the first game; some are horrible horrible accidents of nature. Pronounciations are done well. 4/5

Visuals: The cutscenes are amazingly beautiful, and the ingame graphics aren't too bad either. There are still some issues with too many people on screen so not all of them show up. If you are playing in one person mode, the screen slows down for the death blow. It's very nice to see them going down. 4/5

Gameplay: There are some new variations to the old gameplay. Instead of having ranged attacks with the R1 button, now you use special attacks designated for each character. As in the previous Samurai Warriors, you pick a character to play and then go onto the battlefield to kill hundreds of people. Killing is simple, you attack using either a basic attack, a charge attack, or if your musou bar is filled, a special attack. You are given missions to perform to earn money (money is used to buy skills, bodyguards, horses, or upgrade your weapons). Missions are not done with any particular effort anymore. Sometimes you won't even find out about a mission to do unless you are right next to the target you have to kill. Also, most missions are not individualized for the character. You're just as likely to get a particular kill mission with Hideyoshi as you are with Ginchiyo. Besides the story mode,there is also Survival mode and Sugoroku. The former involves you taking a character up a tower full of enemies and do missions for bonuses. The latter is a board type game where the goal is to earn a preset amount of money. 4/5

Replay: If you want to unlock all the characters and their 4th weapons, you will need to replay the game. Luckily, it is good for replay, if only to try out the different characters and their move styles. Also the game is good with friends. 3/5

Overall: People will either find the game way better or way worse than the first game. It's an entertaining game, and if you like Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors, then you will probably want to pick this up. 4/5