Suikoden is quite nice on DS

I haven't really played any DS games for a while (the last one probably was Dragon Ball Origin). More importantly I haven't played any RPG (well, Dissidia Final Fantasy is hardly a pure RPG) for a while now. So, Suikoden Tierkreis is certainly welcomed by myself very much. I guess I kinda like Konami style of RPG, or maybe in general I like those anime-quality RPG. This game certainly reminds me of Jeanne d'Arc for PSP. Anyway, this game is fantastic, considering I have spent 8 hours over the weekend staring on the small DS screen for this game (maybe that is the reason why I got the headache).



Gameplay: This is a classic turn-based RPG, with some new elements. I have mentioned about "fast-paced" in the beginning. Basically, you assign each of the character an action such as attack, using Mark of Stars ability, defend or use item. Then, just chose "Start Battle", and then the sequence of attacks are launched or actions are initiated. If you think it is too troublesome to do that everytime, you can choose "automatic battle" too, and that is really convenient if your characters levels are so much superior than the foes. Of course, similar to other RPG, you can customize your characters with weapons and armors. Good thing is that you could see the weapon change, bad thing is that you don't see any change on the armor. But, I am already satisfied with the weapon change.

Story: The plot opens as the leader of 108 heroes engages the main antagonist known as "The One King" in battle. It is currently unknown whether the defeat shown in the introduction precedes the game or if the game is actually a flashback leading to that scene. The game is set in the Kingdom of Salsaville hich is a part of one of the many universes in the Suikoden multiverse, known as the Infinity. Anyway, the story from my own point of view is quite interesting, and got me hooked continuously for almost 5 hours! I must say, and I always think, Japanese is much better at story-telling in RPGs then those in Western world.

Presentation: It is a universal fact that DS has that much graphic capability. Thus, I don't ask much on the presentation, yet it certainly has satisfied me. The battle field is in 3-D (nicely deployed!). The movement of the characters among different places on a map is done in 2-D, which is quite huge! And, the freedom of movement in the location is done in 3-D, and good thing is that it is not so huge or twisted with multiple paths that can easily get lost. Anyway, I love it. Voice acting is always a challenge. If it is not done correctly, it would become an annoyance, but if it is not enough, it would be like missing something in the game. This game does it just right. Not too much, not too shabby, not too lack.

In conclusions, with a classic RPG with fast-paced elements gameplay (8/10), a good and interesting story (8/10), and nicely done presentation (9/10), I do think this game deserves our attention (25/30)!

Back to my childhood Dragon Ball

When I realized in university that I was still reading some of those Dragon Ball mangas, it was already 10 years since I was in primary school. Unbelievably, Dragon Ball has severed at least 2 generations of childhood, including my own. That is pretty impressive for a manga (well, not as impressive as Doraemon, which has been around more than 50 years of course).

There have been a lot of branches developed from the main original (I really really want to call this original) storyline, i.e., gathering the 7 dragon balls and make a wish to the dragon god. There are Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, etc. etc., which from my own point of view are ridiculous and meaningless. And, sadly there are tons of games developed based on these ridiculous branches of storylines. That's why I am so happy to know that DS is going to have a game based on the original storyline, namely Dragon Ball Origins DS, where we play as the young Goku, meeting with young Burma, and heading for collecting the dragon balls. Boy, it sure has brought back my childhood memory of discussing the story with other classmates in a very enthusiastic yet childish way.

The gameplay is all stylus (of course you can control Goku movement with D-pad, which I use). Basically, it is quite a fun, but can get boring sometimes cause there is no fancy big flash of combos or magic (like those of FF series). Luckily those dungeons labyrith is not that annoyingly complicated. And, the storyline is really based on the original storyline, which counts for everything (at least for me). I really enjoy this game...

More leaked trailers from TGS 08 Square-Enix

Tokyo Game Show (TGS) of 2008!

Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is always a huge event for gamers throughout the whole world. All the gaming giants including Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Square-Enix, Konami, Capcom, EA, etc. would take this chance to do just about anything in order to steal the hearts of the gamers. So, starting from tomorrow till 10 October (Friday), we will see waves of news from TGS over the Internet. Hopefully some of which will rock our world. I personally hope to see some great news for Playstation 3 (PS3) considering its late track record of bad or no good news and Playstation Portable (PSP) considering its loosing support from 3rd party game developers. PSPHyper has listed the complete PSP lineup to be shown in TGS, some of which certainly are my focus such as Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Apparently, we will see the remainder characters from Final Fantasy V (most probably Bartz and Exdeath) , VI (most probably Terra), and VII (of course everyone hopes is Cloud) appear in the game. So, lets get excited together in the following 3 days (despite my busy work work work...)

Sigma Harmonics gives me a dose of detective thrill

Square-Enix is always my favorite company despite the fact that they really slow in developing and releasing any games (especially their trademarked Final Fantasy franchise and now famous Kingdom Hearts series). The quality of their games are undeniably of top-notch quality. In fact, Square-Enix is always not afraid to attempt unconventional spins on the role-playing genre. I mean look at Kingdom Hearts series, The World Ends with You (TWEWY), certainly have rocked the gaming industry and gamers world. OK, the sales of Sigma Harmonics is not that satisfying, but it doesn't mean it is a bad game. In fact, I love it!

The plot of the game is (quote from Wikipedia): The story revolves around Sigma Kurogami (黒上 シグマ, Kurogami Shiguma?) (voiced by Daisuke Ono), a high school student and "sound user" whose family guards a huge clock sealing off the demon Ōma (逢魔, Ōma?). One day, his past is rewritten, causing chaos in his present. He then works with his friend Neon Tsukiyumi (月弓 ネオン, Tsukiyumi Neon?) (voiced by Aya Hirano) to solve an increasingly complex string of murder cases and return his life to normal.

Lets see what to like about this game from my own point of view. It has the Japanese anime / manga-style of representation, which always suits my appetite in gaming. The RPG-style of battle game-play has a certain direction-related strategy (which you will know what I mean when you play it). Well, it is card-based meshed with music themes, but I don't think that is the uniqueness (look at pin-based with music themes for TWEWY). And, this is the main part why I love this game. It lets me play some detective in the game. Certainly it is a surprise to me because I couldn't really link crime-solving detective with weird-monsters-fighting and time-and-alpha-space-traveling storyline. The crime-solving detective part of the game is (for some people maybe very frustrating and boring) quite challenging. I love this game so far. I have already spent 2 hours last night, and see if it is going to let me hooked up till I finish this game.

After a long time no FF...

I haven't played any Final Fantasy for a while now (since Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift). Ever since "Dissidia: Final Fantasy" is announced, I have revisited almost all the Final Fantasy storyline, understanding the characters (their backgrounds and relationships) and also the background of the story. From Final Fantasy I to Final Fantasy X, each of which has its own uniqueness, and each of its has its own fascinating story. I really am impressed by the creativity and innovative of Japanese (maybe for some all these stories are crap). If possible, I will also love to play through some of these games. Lately Cecil and Golbez from Final Fantasy IV have been announced to join the casts. Almost at the same time, the English version of remake of Final Fantasy IV for DS has been launched in the market. I wouldn't let the chance of understanding Final Fantasy IV to slip away.

The story begins with Cecil the commander of Red Wings from Baron obeying the order from the King to steal all sorts of crystals from all sorts of places. Of course, he was very reluctant and of course he turned away from his King's order. And the story evolves into his adventure to seek for justice with Golbez, the alleged man that have been manipulating the King for all the bad behaviour. The story is cool enough to grab my attention. The game play, similar to remake of Final Fantasy III, is wonderfully and beautiful -- all in 3D yet still keeps its fundamental FF gameplay elements. Well, I see I will finish this game in another 2-3 days (after 2-3 days of gameplay throughout the weekend). Now, we will have to wait for Dissidia in December!

Dragon Ball Origins for DS

I remember the first manga / comic book I have ever had is Dragon Ball. And, if my memory serves me right, it would be when I was in Grade 5 of Primary School. Now, after God-knows how many years, this manga / comic has evolved into a God-knows how many TV series, movies, more manga (with side stories and side stories of side stories), games, action figures, dolls, bags, etc. Frankly, I don't give a damn for those side stories (or side stories of side stories). They are mere crap. I guess a lot of people out there agree with me, and finally this Nintendo DS game goes back to the original storyline (hence the name Dragon Ball Origins). That's why you could see the young Son Goku and the gang.

The gameplay itself is not really innovative. I mean, yeah it is using stylus, but there are already plenty of games out there which have been using stylus gracefully. To name one prominent, it would be no doubt The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. However, it is still quite cool to play Dragon Ball not in a 1-to-1 fighting way.

Captured Gameplay from DKΣ3713

We have seen a lot of game play scans from Famitsu on Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts : Birth by Sleep. Frankly those are very nice scan pictures, to feed my hunger for more information on these games. But, they are not enough. So, I captured some nice screen shots on the IGN video of the game play!


Dissidia Final Fantasy is certainly the game I look forwards the most, and it won't come out until end of this year. Even though only 4 months away, yet it feels so long (considering the localized English version is not yet on the horizon). GameSpot has a nice hands-on review on this game, and boy after reading that, I really want to get hold of this game (even though I am not really a big fan of fighting genre).


Frankly, even though I have seen a lot of scans or images of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. I have not seen yet a game play footage, and thanks to IGN, finally I can see and feel how the game play looks like. And, Square-Enix again doesn't disappoint me. Both games graphics are top-notch, and the game play is perfectly smooth. Year 2009 will be a great year, I really believe so!

DKΣ3713 Game Scoop Video

This is a cool short video footage showing the private event of Square-Enix from IGN. Here, you could see the fantastic game play footage (albeit short) of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP), Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (NDS), and Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP). After seeing the footage, I must say my expectation towards all these games just raise higher, much higher! And, I am more certain that these games won't disappoint me. See it for yourself.

Lullaby for you

After about 35 hours in the game, I completed it, and will come back for more. The theme song is pretty nice.

Pins art of "The World Ends with You"

Forever love

After years of gaming (my PS2 was bought in year 2002, PSP 2004 and DS 2007), I definitely have my own "forever love". I am going to just focus on PSP and DS because they are relatively new. There ain't many games that I have my forever love in. Basically it means I would replay it even though I have finished the game. I guess, it has a lot of personal, aka non-objective opinion in it but who cares. The list is in the order of release time:

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is a stealth game directed by Masahiro Yamamoto, with series creator Hideo Kojima acting as a producer. I myself is not very good in stealth game (basically I am a clumsy person). However, out of my surprise, this game has the RPG depth in it. The missions are short or nicely tuned to fit in the PSP. More importantly you could capture and recruit soldiers to build your own army. You could deploy your arm to spy on the enemy, to medic team, or even could put them in the frontline to stealth for you (of course with your control). Due to this depth, I have spent roughly 20 hours in this game, and I like to revisit all the missions. It has won its beautiful 87 average score from all games reviews.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is a tactical role-playing game produced by Takamasa Shiba and the characters are designed by Akihiko Yoshida. I always love tactical games, especially those produced by Square-Enix. Considering I have spent 50+ hours in this game, it shows how much love I have in this game. There are tons of customizable job classes, beautiful cell-shaded cutscenes, not to mention attractive game play experience. It just has so much in it than any other games that I have played before. I certainly hope it will have a sequel (not the DS version that I will talk about later) on PSP! This game has won 88 average score of the reviews. Don't forget it is actually an enhanced port from Playstation One.

The World Ends with You is a action role playing game developed by the Kingdom Hearts team led by Tatsuya Kando (game director), Tomohiro Hasegawa (co-director), and Takeshi Arakawa (planning director). And, it wouldn't be complete not to mention the famous Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi who design the characters. I think I have already mentioned about this game more than 4 times now. Thus, it goes without saying that I really love this game - colourful presentation, wonderful music and beautiful gameplay system. I am now already 6 hours into the game, but I guess I can go further to 15 hours without any problem. This game has also won 87 average score.

God of War: Chains of Olympus is a hack and slash, action-adventure game developed by Ready At Dawn founded by Didier Malenfant, Andrea Pessino and Ru Weerasuriya. The game series is actually started by David Jeffe for Playstation 2, but Ready At Dawn certainly has done a lot to squeeze this game without really shrinking its epic style on the PSP. In other words, the small size does not constrain the epical adventure at all. It runs perfectly smooth on the PSP, with flawless presentation. The gameplay itself certainly feel the same as with the PS2 version. Even the total time required to finish the game is short (roughly 6 hours), but since it has so much worth to revisit, it could lasts actually as long as you want. Not surprisingly, this game has won 92 average score!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix including Yoshinori Kitase, Shinji Hashimoto, Hajime Tabata, Hideki Imaizumi, Takeharu Ishimoto, Tetsuya Nomura and Kazushige Nojima. This game definitely has attracted a great deal of attention because of Final Fantasy VII (for Playstation One). As a prequel, this game is about Zack Fair, a close friend of Cloud Strife. Square-Enix certainly has spent a lot of effort in developing this game. It has push the limit of PSP to another level. The presentation is so beautiful that some even though this game is a PS2 game. The gameplay is interesting and novel in a way it is action, but also a time-based RPG. The combination of both is seamless. Story is thrilling for those hard-core fans, but also touching for those who know nothing about Final Fantasy VII. The game is no doubt won 85 average score.

Patapon is a genre-straddling video game combining gameplay features of music and rhythm games, real-time tactics and God games. The game was developed by Pyramid and produced by Japan Studios, the same studio that developed and produced Loco Roco (the men behind Loco Roco are Tsutomu Kouno and Keigo Tsuchiya). The main reason I choose Patapon over the more-well-known Loco Roco is due to its strategic RPG features. The cartoon-ish-big-eye-ball characters are lovable and customizable, i.e., you could "produce" different types of these to fight for you. The fighting itself is literally musical because you need to beat your drums rhythmically to command your army. This game can surely attract casual and hardcore gamers. I myself even though after 10 hours of gameplay still enjoy it whenever I feel like a music. Patapon has 86 average score.

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is an action adventure role-playing game produced by Tecmo, led by Tomonobu Itagaki. I have played this game for about 3 hours (and the total time to finish the game is roughly 6 hours). The gameplay experience using the DS stylus is certainly a fresh experience. Sometimes I hope I didn't use too much force to scratch the surface. Since the gameplay is so interesting, I really love this game. I don't care much about the story cause I think the story itself is not that interesting. I will replay this game whenever I am really stressed at work. A good way to really release any grief. It has won an average 84 score.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a real-time strategy RPG developed by Square Enix and Think & Feel Inc. The men behind this game include Yasuhito Watanabe,
Motomu Toriyama, Toshitaka Matsuda, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Kenichiro Fukui and Ryoma Itō. This would be the first real-time strategic game for Final Fantasy franchise. By using the stylus function of DS, this game certainly live up to the name of Square-Enix. The gameplay is certainly refreshing. OK, the graphics probably are not as nice as Final Fantasy XII for PS2. But, I think it is the game play and (perhaps) the story that count. I mean DS is a small device, which will never beat console PS2. I have spent about 20 hours (finishing all those side quests) to finish the game. From time to time I am also replaying this game. It has averagely 81 score from the game reviews.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is a strategy roleplaying game from Square Enix developed by Akitoshi Kawazu, Yuichi Murasawa and Ryoma Itō. This is the sequel of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for Gameboy Advance. Unfortunately I am currently playing the Japanese version. The English version won't be so soon. However, the game play experience is still wonderful. I can't wait for the English version.

Love the hip hop and action packed

I think I have been talking about "The World Ends with You" a lot. I have been playing this game a lot. I really like the whole hip-hop, trendy, music style with the action packed. Not to mention the whole gameplay system for me is total buzz for me. "Stride Cross Battle System" is really interesting. Of course, I get frustrated sometimes when I couldn't make the sync fighting between both of the characters flawlessly, but if I can make it, the satisfaction I get is certainly beautiful.

I have only spent so far 4 hours into the game. At first I thought it would be a very short game (probably about 5 hours or so) because the background of the game is restricted to a small part of Tokyo (the huge city) namely Shibuya. However, now I realize there is such RPG depth in the game. For instance, you could enhance the characteristic of your character (albeit not shown on the screen) by putting on some match-to-the-current-trend fashion, you could even have some food or meal to enhance some elements of the character, moreover, you could also purchase pins to have some extra psych power for Neku.

OK, gameplay is cool. Now, how about the graphics? As I have mentioned for such tiny DS, the game presentation is stunning. The Japanese manga style of the characters designed by Tetsuya Nomura (the guy who is behind Kingdom Hearts and upcoming Final Fantasy XIII). Moreover, I have never been to Shibuya before (and I hope one day soon I could roam around Tokyo). The game itself definitely has granted me the feel of the place - rich with its own fashion, accessory, and music culture.

The story itself is definitely interesting and "page-turning". I mean I can't wait to see how it turns out. Even though maybe for some people the story is silly, ridiculous and nonsense at all. But, I guess this is also the beauty of the game. Why do you want to make the game story believable if it is a game.

"The world ends with you" never-ending fun

Finally, this game has arrived in my hand. I am so happy. My family has been here since 3 weeks ago. It has been fun for me to travel with them to Hong Kong, Gui Lin and also Yang Shuo. Of course, now this game is a bonus! This game is wonderful. A very unique game play system, which I have never encounter before. It certainly trained your brain in a very interesting way (not that this game is designed to do that).

It features a main male character named Neku, and a female protagonist named Shiki. Somehow in one of the busiest place in Tokyo (Shibuya), Neku, who is (not surprisingly in most Japanese manga or comic) a character who does not like anyone or anything (some sort of loner), is stuck. He is forced to play the game given by Reapers. Within 7 days, each of these days he is given a mission. He has to clear the mission to not get "erased". Worse (for him), he has to partner with another gamer. And, he met Shiki, a bright young girl. During all these missions, Neku has to scan around (some sort of power) to find and fight the Noise. To do that, he has to fight simultaneously with those Noises along Shiki (i.e., split screens top is the girl bottom is him), and that's the interesting part. You have to sort of follow the "green bubble" to control the characters. At the beginning, I was not really used to it, but after a while, it is kinda fun!

The presentation is great for such small device. The music is hip-hop trendy and cheerful. And, well, it has those Japanese touch in it that I like! Definitely a game that I would buy and collect (and of course play)!

Chinese translated games!?

Piracy is a serious problem in gaming industry. Considering there are mod chips for XBox 360, Wii, and PS2, adapter for DS and software cracks for PSP, certainly a lot of people would choose the "free" way -- download and not purchase.

Some even go further than merely downloading. A gang of Chinese "hackers" even try to change the script of the games. There is always a process of publish games. For instance, if it is a game developed and published by a Japanese company, it would (apparently) first distributed in Japan in Japanese. If the game found a western publisher and distributer, then the company will localize the game (i.e., translate the game into, say, English). This gap normally lasts at least half a year to one year. So, these Chinese "hackers" would do a lot of the Chinese a favor (free!), translate the script into Chinese and put it back into the game. See the videos. I must say I am very impressed by their work. Well, the process could be slow, but it really requires a lot of work (a lot of man-hours work).

"World ends with you" battle system

《世界的尽头是你》, this would how I translate this game into Chinese, but of course the meaning might be far from the origin. Anyway, from the team who have developed the world-acclaimed Kingdom Hearts franchise, this game has already gained some well-respect reviews (Famitsu magazine has granted a nice 8 to this game) in the land of rising sun. One thing is so nice about this game is that this is not a sequel or prequel of any game from Square-Enix.

Another unique thing about this game is the gameplay system. Battle actions take place simultaneously between both characters. The touch screen is used to move and attack with Neku, whose abilities depend on the pins equipped. On the top screen, movement can be controlled with the D-Pad, which is tapped for specific techniques. And, on top of that, some sort of hip-hop trendy pop style (of the music for instance) is blended seamlessly with the game. It certainly brings up some style from this game. Anyway, after Kingdom Hearts, I have all my confidence in Tetsuya Nomura's team.

(via AllRPG.com)

DS Games in March 2008

March is really a busy month for me. Work (my own project), work-related work (some workshops and some proposals), not-really-work-related work (MC tasks and newsletter editing), and definitely-not-work work (preparing for family visit), etc. A lot need to be handled - Internet service extension, gym card extension, etc. So, from first glance, I definitely have no time for game, but I do. In the weekends, despite of doing all the definitely-not-work work, I really relax, i.e., do nothing at all. In addition to the PSP games, two DS games definitely have most of my attention, namely "Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire" (FFTA2) and "Tales of Innocence" (ToI).



FFTA2 certainly suits me well cause I love strategic role-playing-game (SRPG). Considering I have spent more than 50 hours on "Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions" (FFT) on PSP. This is a sequel of FFT. The game takes place in Ivalice, like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy XII. There are seven playable races in the game: Hume, Moogle, Viera, Bangaa, Seeq, Nu Mou and Gria. Chronologically, the game takes place some time after "Final Fantasy XII". The main character, Luso Clemens, is a mischievous boy who lived in the real world until, after being punished for teasing and being late countless times and sent to library clean-up duty right before summer vacation, he finds an old book in the library. The book is full of pictures of swords and wizards, but abruptly becomes blank in the middle. After this, the book commands that the reader should tell/write the person who should fill in this blank (presumably the 'hero' of the story). He then writes his own name on the blank page, Luso Clemens, after which he is transported into the world of Ivalice. And, the adventure goes on.

Next, ToI is semi-action role-playing game (ARPG). The Imperial Capital of Regnum kept itself in peace during the long-lasting world war. Slowly, people with a "special power" began to appear. Feared by normal people, Regnum set out a law to capture all people with special powers. One day, Ruca, the son of a merchant in Regnum, realizes the special power within him. So, the main protagonists are teaming up, with different special power seek for the special power that is going to "save the world". Tales of Innocence has six playable protagonists to the story. Ruca Milda, the protagonist of the game, lives in the Imperial Capital Regnum and is a shy honor student who is picked on by other children. Iria Animi is the impulsive, quick-tempered heroine of the game who runs away from her village after being chased by a mysterious group. A small, strange creature named Coda follows her. Spada Belforma is a warm-hearted, righteous young man from a family of nobility who cut off ties with his family for unknown reasons. Ricardo Soldato is an experienced mercenary who wields a rifle and bayonet with impressive ability who meets with Ruca for unknown reasons. Hermana Larmo is a young girl who was orphaned because of recent wars, who moves at her own pace. Ange Serena is a sister at a sanctuary in a city. She posses powers of healing, which causes the people to refer to her as a "holy woman". She is skilled at the worldly and political matters of society.

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

 After "God of War: Chains of Olympus", this would be another one on DS that I am going to experience some bloody experience. "Ninja Gaiden" franchise has been around for a while now. "Ninja Gaiden Sigma" was on XBox360 then on PS3, and soon this month "Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (DS)" is going to land on DS (I wonder and sometimes hope it would be on PSP). So far, this game has gained some good reviews, with average of 84 ("God of War: Chain of Olympus" got average 92, but not to compare or anything).

The gameplay defines the specialty of this game. It is using the DS stylus to perform all sorts of fighting, magic and ninjutsu. For example: By tapping the screen Ryu will throw one of his shurikens; by tapping and holding Ryu will run to the desired location; by drawing a horizontal line on an enemy Ryu will do a horizontal slash with his sword; by drawing a vertical line he will do a vertical slash; and by drawing up on the screen he will jump. Use of Ryu's Ninpo magic will be activated by tapping an icon on the touch screen; this will bring up the outline of a Sanskrit letter to be traced with the stylus.[2] Successfully tracing the letter will activate the appropriate magic.

Here, I put the reviews of GameTrailers.com and IGN just to give you a rough idea how good this game is.

New launch

A new site for me to talk about games (especially for NDSL and PSP)... life is too hard, games are not only fun but inspiring.