Archive for the ‘Previews’ Category
Playing the original Persona 3 back on the PS2 was a joy, but one I was never able to finish. My inability to finish RPGs quickly coupled with the release of Persona 3 FES trapped me in a sort of Persona Purgatory. In short, it was a fantastic game that I never got the chance to complete. However, Atlus is looking to give me (and others like me) another chance with the upcoming release of Persona 3 Portable, a PSP port of the original game that spearheaded the Persona series’ path towards dungeon crawling, date simulating greatness.
So the question that I’m sure is at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts is this: “Is it worth buying a third time?”
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If you happen to be the type of person whose brain shuts down at the very mention of “traditional RPG”, then chances are you’d scroll past a game like Hexyz Force without so much as a cursory glance. You could hardly be blamed for such an oversight; on the exterior, there doesn’t appear to be much distinguishing appeal that would lift it above any other handheld RPG.
Do a little more research, though (like looking on the front of the game case), and you’ll discover that Hexyz Force has some fairly significant backing. Developed by Sting, makers of the quirky and complex Knights in the Nightmare, and published by Atlus, Hexyz Force strives to be the ideal handheld RPG. Atlus recently gave us a peek at the game in action, and explained what makes this game a notch above the competition.
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Nobody could ever write off Zeno Clash for doing what’s expected, be it either in visual style (a surreal fantasy world) or genre (first person brawler). However, despite its originality and critical acclaim, it is largely unknown to the broader gaming populace.
This is something that will be rectified in short order as Atlus has teamed up with the game’s Chilean developers, ACE Team, to port the title to Xbox Live Arcade. Tweaked, enhanced and generally rejiggered from its original PC version, Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition will give console gamers a chance to finally experience the hallucinatory vistas of Zenozoik. Atlus recently gave us a look at the game in action and talked on just what makes this port so “ultimate”. Join us inside and see for yourself.
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Since 2005, Atlus’ Trauma Center series has delivered a steady stream of fast-paced, interactive surgery action. After four games based solely on that concept, though, Atlus has decided to shake things up a bit. Instead of focusing strictly on the surgical portion of a medical case, Trauma Team will give you the opportunity to play as characters from six different fields of medicine: First Response, Diagnostics, Forensics, Surgery, Endoscopy, and Orthopedics.
One of goals of Trauma Team is to expand the scope of the previous games, and a clear indication of that intention is the diagnostics mode. We recently had a chance to take in a live demonstration of some of the diagnostics gameplay. Read on for the description.
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Have you ever wished for a game that required very little player input, packed a heavy narrative, and was more of a CG movie than a video game? You’re in luck! Metal Gear Solid 4 is available now!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
This year, another PS3-exclusive game is following in those similar footsteps. I recently got the chance to try out the early demo of Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain. The spiritual successor to Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain is promised to be a narrative-driven interactive experience that tugs at your heartstrings and coaxes an emotional response unlike any you’ve ever had while playing a video game.
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If you haven’t heard of God of War, you’ve either been living on that weird island in Lost since the inception of the franchise, or you don’t have ears. If the latter, I’m sorry; it was a stupid joke.
Regardless, God of War III demands your immediate attention. I recently landed a pre-order code for the E3 2009 demo and played through it a few times. I’m delighted to report that from the looks of it, the game will likely live up to its fantastic predecessors.
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Games get sequels all the time. Sometimes they’re better, sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes they’re more of the same and other times they shake things up too much. Yet as often as games reproduce these days (which looks a lot like watching a cell divide, oddly enough), it’s very rare for them to move to an arguably “inferior” platform. With this in mind, I present you with Valkyria Chronicles 2.
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I’m just going to be blunt and say this up front. There’s no need to couch it somewhere in the meat of the writing.
DJ Hero is hard and will kick the crap out of you the first time you play it. Most likely it will continue to do so for a fair while afterward as well.
Am I saying that the game isn’t worth the hassle? Not in the least! In fact, if anything, the challenge has spurred me to try and find a way to scrape up the cash to acquire a game that until recently I only had a moderate-to-decent interest in. Read on for more on my first excursion into the fine art of turntablism.
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As years of comic books, video games and film have taught us, the Big Bad Evil Guy rarely, if ever, considers himself to be such. Pragmatic or misunderstood or simply superior perhaps, but almost never just flat-out evil and rotten. It’s a complex mix of differing perspectives and powerful self-delusion, but it’s also something every grand villain excels at.
Which brings us to our look at the second demo from Marvelous and XSEED’s upcoming time-challenged RPG, Half-Minute Hero. More specifically, a mode where instead of playing the typical spunky young kid with spiky hair out to save the world, you instead take on the role of the very force he’s out to stop – the Evil Lord.
What’s that? I… oh, I’m sorry. Correction – the “devastatingly beautiful” Evil Lord. Sorry about that, sir. I promise it won’t happen again.
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Half-Minute Hero is a completely generic RPG. There are sidequests. There are hidden treasures. There is an evil Lord who plans to destroy the world. There is a Hero who has been chosen to stop him, no matter what. He’ll kill monsters for experience and gold. He’ll buy new equipment and complete special quests. And, if he’s good enough, he’ll defeat the evil Lord before it’s too late. Sounds familiar, right? Well get ready for a brain-busting twist on this done-to-death formula:
He only has 30 seconds to do it.
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Let me tell you a story. About 8 months ago, I had no interest in hockey. In fact, you could even go so far as to say I had a slight disdain for the sport. “Why, it’s nothing more than guys on skates fighting each other,” I would have spat if approached on the subject. Then one day, my friend Adam convinced me to play NHL 09 with him.
Current-day Scott now owns a Blackhawks t-shirt and several posters. Better yet, he also purchased hockey gear, and spends every Sunday out on the ice, learning to play the game. So trust me when I say, I love NHL 09. The game so effortlessly captures the urgency of an actual game of hockey, where each goal is earned tooth and nail, and overtimes and shoot-outs are a regular, yet nerve-wracking, occurrence.
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We recently got a chance to check out a demo for Hudson Soft’s Deca Sports 2, the sequel to last spring’s Deca Sports for Wii, which shipped two million units worldwide.
How does this newest sports mini-game collection stack up to the competition? Hit the jump for CFD!’s take on four of the upcoming events.
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Rob Thomas
Rob Rich
Sage Knox
Beki Sutcliffe
Dustin Stevens
Jason Smith
Scott Thompson
Aubrey Klanecky
Zuri Grimm
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