Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 (PS2)

Oh Look a game ruined by bad translations...okay not really its still a freakin awesome game despite the bad english translations the removed content and the in general raping and converting of the game's culture.

Gameplay: It doesn't play like you average fighting game sliding the diretional button and spamming attack doesn't really get you anywhere. The game requires you to go to your opponent and stab them in the face. It's not as simple as it sounds. The giant host of items, teammates, secret and special attack, stages traps, and so much more make each match engaging and fun. 5/5

Story: The game does have a story in the psuedo story mode...it follows the anime and orginal manga for a bit then goes off on a line of story that never happened and is total crap...making them total ***holes...2/5

Graphics: Graphically the game is only middle of the ground. It is bright and areas are vivid, characters too. The main problem is the game is acutally kind of old like 3 years old so it wasn't made to the best graphical standards but its no less cool. 3/5

Audio: The music has been given an...."edgey" feel...you edgey make you wanna go on a killing spree...and the voice acting combine with the translations will eventually make you hate life. I may just be bitter but I feel it shouldn't be hard to translate something with out crapping on it and trying to make it more american friendly...1/5

Replay: Hahaha if you have any friends at all this game will have serious replay value. You can spend hours murdering your friends and making any of the characters teammates to be used in battle. The game all has a couple of annoyingly oddd yet fun minigames. 4/5

Overall: It conclusion if you have never seen then japanese or you are a moron and think this game was made in the states then give the audio another point...If you have seen the japanese and attended high school then you understand how much translators suck at their jobs...Other than that the game is perfect and unchanged. Minus 2 stages and 1 ice ninja from the movie they didn't know was coming out...most likely because they're all morons...

Wii

So I've caved into the marketing pressure and buoght a Wii. We can now do requests for Wii games.

Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm (PS2)

Hello, boys and girls. Yes I am reviewing this game on time. It's a miracle, I know. So let's begin, shall we?

Story: You control Edge and Iris, a pair of young raiders. To be a raider means that they will hire themselves out to do various quests for the people of their town. Such quests often bring them to places known as Alterworlds, which are different planes of existence. During one quest, they come upon a glowing orb and light, which is sucked into Iris's special book she holds. They come to believe this is the Escalario, a fabled book said to grant any wish of whoever possesses it. Along the path of collecting all the pieces necessary to complete the Escalario, they meet variety of interesting people, including Nell, who later joins you as a raider. It's not the greatest plot, and some might say it's generic (not me, but some), but I find it's enough to keep me interested. 3/5

Audio: The characters have voice actors for important dialogues which suit their roles well. None of them seem overdone. The music itself isn't the greatest, but again, it's not bad. it's just there in a light hearted and cute sort of way. 3/5

Graphics: The graphics aren't terribly impressive. They are relatively simple, but the artwork is beautiful. If it's not completely stunning with gorgeous art, it is keeping with the light hearted attitude the Atelier games seem to strive for. 3/5

Gameplay: This is the area that will completely turn a person on or off the game. It is not told in the typical RPG fashion where you go from Point A to Point B to Point C until you've found the great evil about to destroy the world. Instead you center the game around your hometown and the alterworlds that connect to it. Everythin in the game is done through quests. Each time you rank up as a raider, a mission will appear, requiring that you complete it before you can continue with quests. The mission is an important story point. Doing quests for people will earn you alchemy recipes (did I forget to mention Iris is an alchemist who makes things from the items you find in the worlds?), money, guild points, items, and the affection of the different peopel you are assisting. By helping out others you will gain insight into their backgrounds and their personalities. Along the way you will run into the Elementals. Iris can make a pact with them and summon them in battle, while Edge and Nell can bond with them to make themselves a different style of fighter. With new fighting moves, Nell and Edge seem like completely different characters when bonded. Battles are turn based. The game calls it "active cost card battle", but really this just means you can see the order of who attacks at the top of the screen. Abilities in battle are based off a bar at the top that can fill up to 9. It fills by the characters attacking regularly or by the characters being hit. Needless to say, the strongest of the abilities cost more. Also there is a burst gauge that is filled by the number of hits the enemy takes, while being reduced by the number of hits the enemy gives. When the bar is full you go into burst mode, which allows skills to do much more damage, count combos, and instantly fills the skill bar to 9. When in the alterworlds you have a time limit to being there. You can find items in the field that will extend this time, and if you beat an enemy in about 2 rounds (everyone going twice) battles are considered fast and don't count against your time limit. I think that's all the key points. many people have issues with the quest style set up and the time limit in the alterworlds. As to the quests, that's one of the things I loved most about the game, as well as the class changes Edge and Nell can do with elementals. I'll play so much longer than intended because I just want to complete one more quest. As for the tiem limit, I've never really had an issue where it ran out too soon. The worlds aren't too difficult to navigate, the maps are autodrawn once you've explored a room, as it were, and you lose nothing by running out of time other than you have to start at the beginning again. Monsters that are too weak to you, you can slash outside of battle to get rid of them. Monsters that aren't, it's fairly easy to avoid if you want. As said, the gameplay will turn you on or off. For me, it was a winner. 4/5

Replay: There isn't a real reason to replay. 2/5

Overall: I think it's an incredibly endearing and entertaining game. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes NIS games. At the same time, if you're someone who likes constant action and fighting the great evil and getting to the end as fast as you can, this probably isn't for you. Atelier Iris 3 is a game designed for enjoyment, for looking around and exploring, and for stopping to smell the roses (which you can grow in certain alterworlds). 4/5

Shining Force EXA (PS2)

Hey guys and girls its time for a review of another Shing game, Shining Force EXA. A game about taking over the world with a a cast of half animals, annoying mages, and a zombie. All while tucked safely inside a giant death fortress.

Story: The bulk of it goes boy finds sword of ancient power, boy uses sword to attempt to change the world, alas everyone else wants the sword so taking over the world will be a bit hard. Its not a bad story but its not an amazing story that keeps you wanting more. 3/5

Gameplay: The gameplay's not bad its actually pretty good AI allies are customizable to a point and tend to do their job for the most part. The main heros are kind of basic. Toma a fighter that's it that's all he does hit things...Cyrille a Mage thats all she does...burn zapp freeze things. She can use crossbows but she's not very good. All in all the gameplay is a bit basica but oddly addicting. 4/5

Graphics: It's a cute game not an amazing awesome game but definately cute and egaging enough to watch. The game does suffer so slow down when you get flooded with enemies pr spam magic and skills. Not the best it could be but still pretty good. The good thing is all wepsons and armors for each character change their respective appearances. 4/5

Audio: There is a hefty amount of voice acting and the music is really good. Probably the best part of the game is the music and voice acting. Most areas are enjoyable to be in thanks to the music. 5/5

Replay: There is a game plus and some nifty things to do in it but Ican't say for sure its worth it. Its really a toss up and mostly about personal preference. 3/5

Overall: The best thing sbout this game is music and the fact that even tho the battling running around its all that good its still addicting enough to play through the game. It really is a middle of the ground game. It has not glaring faults or sparkiling gems its just okay. If you like the shining series pick it up. 3/5

Odin Sphere (PS2)

Hey boys and girlstime today for another review of Atlus gold :) with Odin Sphere. A game based around Norse Mithology so let's begin.

Story: There is one large story focusing around 5 main characters. The valkyrie Gwendolyn, The Pooka Prince Corneilus, The Fairy Mercedes, The Shadow Knight Oswald, and The with Velvet. Each character has a mostly unique sotry with a few ties to te others stories. Completing one character will unlock the next so on and so forth making the epicness of the game even grander. 5/5

Gameplay: Each character has similar move styles up attack, down attack, etc. Though each character preforms these moves differently the main bread and butter are the Magics and unique skills. The valkyrie can fly and dive bomb people while the Fairy can rapid pound into an enemy with her gun. Each character has a good balance of similarities and differences making the game even more unique. 4/5

Graphics: Graphicly the game is pretty though you wouldn't think side scrolling through a circular stage could be that cool looking but it is. Spells skill and characters are all done very we'll the only problem is the occasional lag. 4/5

Audio: Voices are awesome though they like to pause without reason sometimes. The music is fun too and helps to get you into the story. Besides whats more fun then hearing your enemies scream as you hurl napalm onto them. 4/5

Replay: This depends...the game has difficulty settings but this doesn't change the story and though the game is really good you may not want to play it again but for me there is enough to warrant another play. 3/5

Overall: Definately another gold Atlus title. I'm a raving fan of most of their games and this won't be an exception. Odin Sphere has a great story good character design and development. It's just plain fun and I recommend it to all you out there. 4/5