Speculation: Sonic Generations.

Once again we've reached the point in the year where Sega rolls out the dead horse that is Sonic the Hedgehog, this time with his much fatter former self. Now I don't know about you, but I'm guessing Sonic worked pretty hard to loose all that weight, so why people are clamouring for the fat chick I don't know, maybe they think she'll work harder. Yes, what the announcement trailer, released last week told gamers was that Sonic was back! This time modern Sonic and classic Sonic will be working together to achieve a common goal, most likely to stop the evil Dr Eggman, or some recolour of the villain as he turns small woodland creatures into robots. Even after all these years the green message still embellishes itself into the franchise, although by now it's more a staple than a statement. But I digress, this article is not to discuss what we've already seen, but to use this knowledge to predict what we might be seeing from the duo.

Sega is very clear that both Sonic's will use skills relevant to the games they've starred in. Classic sonic has the likes of the spin-dash to aid him, and modern sonic has recent staple, the homing attack to help him out. Now, the 2008 Sega release “Sonic Unleashed” featured a similar concept of there being two versions of Sonic for the player to control. Sonic became a slow and lumbering “Were-hog” for night based stages, whilst he was his regular speedy self graced the daytime portions of the game. This was a good concept, as two separate sets of mechanics is a clever way of breaking up any monotony experienced in a game that just uses the same set over and over. The only problem was that the Were-hog stages were just... You could power a continent with the amount of rage induced by those portions of the game. Which was such a shame, as the daytime stages of Sonic Unleashed were fast, intense and most of all, really fucking fun! In generations, the levels for each character are basically Sonic Unleashed daytime stages divided in half, the 2D portions served up to classic Sonic, and the 3D to Modern Sonic. Essentially, we finally get a full game of fun stages if Sega can handle making a good Sonic game, this is a great opportunity.

Another element that could be called upon in Generations is within the narrative. Why is classic Sonic there? Is there even a reason? If there is, Sega could create some really interesting turns in the same vein of Sonic CD's time travelling system that had players travelling into mechanical futures where Eggman ruled the world, and back into the idyllic, picturesque past where even the badnik's (Read: enemy robots) looked cute and colourful. Well, even more cute and colourful. Putting this into Generations in some capacity could not only increase re-playability, with players wanting to go back and complete each incarnation of a stage. But provide some interesting narrative elements like the stuff seen in games like Time splitters: Future Perfect. In this game, the protagonist: Sgt Cortez, must travel into the past and the future too uncover who is behind the creation of the time crystals. Along the way, Cortez must go back into the past to give himself a key so he can escape a house. This is a cool narrative device, and using a similar tactic in Sonic Generations could provide some really memorable moments for the franchise, for example, in a boss fight, Eggman could be too high up for Sonic to hit, so the other Sonic warps into the future where a higher ledge is easily accessible, before launching back into the past to bring Eggman down. If time travel appears in this game at all, I really hope that Sega take a whole hearted approach to it, and use it to it's fullest.

Finally, I want to talk about what’s already much speculated: co-operative. Personally, I don't see a good way for this to work, without the aforementioned time travel, or some sort of system where one player must open the way for the other player and vice-versa, which would get stale very quickly. Thinking about it, Sonic Team don't have much experience behind co-operative game play. The closest thing I can think of is the addition of Tails in Sonic 2, and his continued control through the second players controller throughout 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. Which, whilst functional, and admittedly very fun, just wouldn't fly in today’s gaming world. Sega would really have to stand back and dream up an innovative co-op system to get people to notice this aspect of the game, and not just tack a co-operative experience on for the bullet point.

But hey, it's all speculation! These are just some things I hope Sega includes, or dabbles in within Generations. At this point we have very little information on the game, so it could turn out to be the best Sonic game ever, or the biggest Sonic flop since 06. Either way, I'm excited to see how the game turns out when It's released towards the end of this year!

- Harley Cosmo

Dragon Age - A brief look at Origins

~There's no I in team~

So any American's woke up today with the opporunity to run down to a store and pick up and brand spanking new copy of Dragon Age II. I, on the other hand, awoke today with the opportunity to wait till Friday for my copy because over here in Britland we don't get our new releases until the titular end of the week. What this has also done, is let me finish the original Dragon Age in preperation for the second one, I'm sure most of you finished the game back in 09 when it actually came out. I got it that year too, having the attention span of a... well, a spanner, I only played through the human noble origin story before deciding the game was a boring mess. Skip forward a year and a half and here I am, salivaiting over the adventures my Hawke will have in the second entry to the series. Now, to state what this article is, this is not a review of the original Dragon Age, nor one for the second, because of the afformentioned silly scheduling. What this is, is me explaining why I think those that put the game down after an hour should pick it back up. Dragon Age isn't just a game, it's an experience. You have to treat it as such by putting the time in, and my God, time is the key word here.

Now, this is my first, and most important point. Companions, if you don't get far enough into Dragon Age to get talking with the people you'll come across in your quest, you're not going to like this game at all, the combat is a grind, and the central narrative is, as is commonplace in fantasy, Lord of the Rings, but again. The lore that controls these characters, and what they talk about is all extremely well thought out, and the characters are developed well too. In fact, some of my favorite momments in the game were when two companions of mine would strike up a conversation when we were running around the world. These conversations were generally pretty humourous, especially when i had the pessamistic Alistair conversing with Morrigan, essentially a realist whose a shapeshifter in my party. They hate eachother, and it was fun listening to their arguments, especially as Morrigan's straightforward approach to arguments won over Alistairs self pity and wit.


Of course, you can talk to these guys yourself, and the conversation system is fantastic for this. In Mass Effect you'll generally enter the game thinking "this character is going to be paragon" or "this time i'll be renegade", and then stick with the correct option for your allegience. This way the conversation, although thoughroughly entertaining, becomes very mindless, as you'll find yourself not even looking at the choices from time to time because you know what you're going to say. In Dragon Age, there is a list of options for your character to choose from, no indicators on wether the option will hurt or pleasure the person you're talking to. This means you have to get to know the characters to get on their good sides, and gives them a much clearer personality. Sure, they've put the Mass Effect system in DA II, but that doesn't stop you enjoying Origins for the system. Essentially, if you invest time into your companions, you'll come out wishing you had even more time with them, and you cannot fail to love Oghren.

Now that it comes to mind, I didn't play this game for the combat, the story, or the world... It's true, the graphics sucked for their time, and thats mainly reflected from the games 2005 start-up and lack of funding. But what I have realised by typing this article is that this game can sell on one aspect alone, it's characters, and the writing behind them. Dragon Age II's combat is much improved from Origins so they have that fixed, and the story looks to be more original also. If Bioware have kept the same depth for it's characters we could be up for a fantastic game this Friday, and I advise everyone to go pick it up, even if you're not fond of the changes. I also recommend you dedicate more time to Dragon Age Origins if you dropped it early on, as that game only gets better, presenting you with some tough choices. My only advice? No walkthroughs! Figure the characters and choices out yourself! This article may have been generally useless, but I hope I swayed some heads towards the original Dragon Age and perhaps towards the sequel.

Peace out!

-Serde

Nier Review

Game: Nier
Platform(s): Xbox 360 (played on), Playstation 3
Nier, a game named after the noise you make when you can't make up your mind on something minor like what flavour of ice cream to get, actually turned out to be a pretty decent game.

It's April 2010, everybody has just been whacked in the face by the substantially dull Final Fantasy 13. They have no trust in Square Enix whatsoever, as their running total of games that don't meet up to the standards of previous efforts continues to grow. Now, if you were at this point in time, would you purchase the next Square Enix epic that looks dramatically inferior to Final Fantasy and is not already part of the franchise? I guess not, because i don't think Nier sold too well. I cant say I helped the situation at all, purchasing the game pre-owned for £10 a month ago, but God Damn, Cavia, the team behind the Drakengrad have done a great job on this one! Being published by Square Enix could only of hindered how this game was recieved, as it is one of the most refreshing J-RPG's in years.

Let's deal with the Narrative first of all, now I don't want to let too much slip, as it's a narrative with many subtleties. I have played the western version, for those that don't know, there are two versions of the game, Replicant and Geshtalt. I believe Geshtalt is the western one, and the main difference i can see is that the main character within it is a father, rather than a brother in Replicant to a character called Yonah. The tale in a nutshell in this version is one of fatherhood, as the protagonist tries to do whats best for his daughter as she has some sort of fatal disease.

I have to admit, the story doesn't really pick up until about half-way through because the
narrative sets itself up for you to explore the world before sending you all over the place quickly for narrative purposes. Either way, the narrative is thoroughly entertaining, if a bit cheesey at times. But hey, it's a J-RPG, what are you expecting? It not to have melodrama? Not gonna happen here unfortunately. Luckily these momments are short lived. An interesting point to bring up is that once the player has finished the central story, you can play through the game from around the half-way point 3 more times to uncover more story and lore behind the characters, and unlock the games final boss. Essentially, you could be playing this thing for months getting a constant influx of new content.


But no game can live on it's story alone, how's the gameplay? Well, it's an odd mix of different things, but what i really want to address is the feel of the game. When wondering around the world i got a distinct Zelda vibe, hell, when you leave most area's is does the same fade to white as your character runs into the light thing Zelda did. But this is not in a way that screams stolen, no, they've taken just enough influence to make the world a joy to be in, and to explore, with landmarks of previous civilisations laying ruined around the landscape, the world is full of mysterious things just waiting to be uncovered, and it's a joy to explore using the mechanics available. At the beginning you have the means of travelling on foot, as always in a 3rd person action adventure... Rpg, there is a roll button which comes in hands when travelling long distances as you move slightly faster. You're also equipped with a double jump, which is odd for a game that feels like Zelda, but welcome nontheless.

Later on, through sidequests you can unlock a horn that lets you travel using boars found around the world. The boars are easy to control after messing around a bit, they don't turn like a car would, but can be turned with the use of the triggers as a drift function, and it's fun to drift around splattering any enemies you can find. Sadly, finding the quest that gives you the horn is not the most obvious thing, so just make sure you speak to all the villagers in town once the opportunity to do sidequests arises. The quest is to kill a boar, and it's also pretty damn challenging. But totally worth it.

Combat gameplay is my favorite portion of the game, there's the standard button mashing sword attack, a charged heavy sword attack, blocks and dodges. You can also equip a large selection of different weapons like greatswords and spears that don't dramatically alter gameplay, but offer some variety. The other half of combat is delievered through the games magic system, which is made up of many offensive spells, most of which are projectile based. You'll collect more and more powerful spells as you go through the game, each with it's own perks like range and damage. You can only equip up to two of these at a time, four if you want to remove the ability to block and dodge, but i don't recommend that. I found myself sticking with a high powered low ranged magic, and a low powered long range projectile throughout the game, but the combat remained fun throughout. A large amount of this is owed to the ability to jump. There's nothing funner than being up in a massive bosses face hacking away at him with all you've got whilst jumping and rolling out of the way of his attacks just in time. Yes, you could sit far away from the boss and just fire projectiles at him, but that would be boring, and i think that's why people think the combat is boring. The game rewards you for being in the fray simply by making it more fun. Most bosses can cut chunks of your health bar out at a time, but there are healing items, health increasing herbs and even a cleric companion later on to help with this.

Which brings me to the companions. You'll be seeing four other characters that join your party in the game, each with their own AI and perks. You have a book that likes to think it's an English gentleman and provides you with your magic abilities, a sword swinging badass who swears like a Tourette's victim, a small shy boy who has the medusa like talent of turning enemies to stone, and a powerful mage whose favorite past-time is to break down and make long speeches. You can command them through the commands menu, but you don't get any substantial control over them, hell, i used the command menu to summon random animals to come up to me than to control my companions. They function well enough on their own though, so it's all good.

The Graphics... They aren't the best graphics around, for sure. But i gotta say, the idea's behind them are beautiful in themself. The world is stunning to look at, and had a feel of a wondorous place that i wanted to explore, the graphics are no worse than star ocean, and certainly aren't so bad that it could be on the previous generation of consoles. One thing that i've noticed people complain about in this department is the protagonist (wether he's called Nier or not i don't know if you were wondering), apparently he's much too ugly. All i can say is... Good. Everyone looks much to perfect in videogames anyway, besides, it's not exactly distracting, you'll be looking at the back of his head for more than 90% of the game. All the character models look great in the graphics style too. Perhaps an interesting point to mention, is one area in the game is entirely black and white. I'm sure this is to represent something, i didn't get the message, but it's nice to see the developers try and move things about. Oh, and an honourable mention to the game for just how good the massive bosses look, alot of them seem to fashion tenticles, but there's a really nice sense of scale without a sacrifice of graphic prowess of performance.


One of the best things about Nier is it's Sound. The soundtrack, composed by Keiichi Okabe, Kakeru Ishihama, Keigo Hoashi and Takafumi Nishimura is just simply amazing. Each bit of music suits it's purpose and the area perfectly. You get a sense of adventure from the sounds of this that can only be compared to the Pirates of the carribean theme. The music is a mix of upbeat composistions and others that tug at the heartstings. Even some melodramatic momments come to frution beacuse of the amazing music. In alot of the tracks, there is a singer, i don't know what she is singing, but it really helps to give the track a very fantastic feel, and you'll come out of the game wanting to listen again. I'd recommend giving the soundtrack a listen, especially the song "Hills of Radiant winds". The whole feel of the game can be felt through this song. Best soundtrack i've heard in a game for years and years, masterful.

On the voice acting side of things, I had no problems, all the English voice acting suited the characters in question, and Liam O'Brien, the voice actor for Grimwoire Weiss, the aformentioned book companion, is halarious. He delivers his lines with great confidence, and the voice suits the role perfectly. He was the character i enjoyed the most because of the brilliant voice behind him. The others aren't bad, they're great. But O'Briens performance blows them out of the water.

Overall, i thought this game was brilliant, it was long and kept me interested enough for a second playthrough, perhaps even the thrid or fourth in the future. It's definitly worth checking out if you like third person action games, and sports one of the most realised and interesting worlds coupled with one of the best soundtracks in a game.

Score:
Narrative: 15/25 - starts slow but picks up massively halfway through.
Gameplay: 22/25 - exciting and fun as hell, but some fights can cause frustration
Graphics: 20/25 - not the best, but present what they set out to wondefully
Sound: 25/25 - there is simply nothing wrong with the sound.

Total: 82/100

Advised stance: Buy it! Even if it was full price it's worth it!

-serde out.

image credit (2nd image onward): Kotaku.com, i.telegraph.co.uk