Golden Sun: Dark Dawn by Nintendo

OMG, GS:DD is an RPG on the DS! It's also the most recent installment for the Golden Sun series. As a fan of the series, I picked up Dark Dawn hoping to revisit the world of alchemy and psynergy I enjoyed in the preceding games: Golden Sun and GS: The Lost Age (both for the GBA). While it does improve on the series in a number of ways, there are times I feel it didn't improve ENOUGH on the previous games.

Breaking it down:

Gameplay and Control:

Control can be done handled both with the stylus and with the d-pad and abxy buttons. The game definitely wants you to use the stylus, though. There's even a couple quick access spots for heavily used psynergy (either by using L or R or clicking on the picture in the top left of right with the stylus).

Overall, the control is fluid and natural. There's a few issues when it comes to trying to point at specific items on the screen, but it's largely due to the use of 3D graphics making it sometimes difficult to pinpoint where you're supposed to actually click.

As for gameplay - it's an RPG with a lot of standard RPG elements (customizable character classes, leveling up, etc). Very much like the Final Fantasy series, it also has random battles, turn based attacks, magic (which they call psynergy), summoning and the like. But this is no different than the previous games.

In relation to the previous games, there's a lot of interesting new psynergy and Djinn's (small equipable monsters that are the source of the magic and can change your character class), as well as some old favourites to go along with the new set of characters who are confusingly all direct descendants from the first game's characters (more on this later).

There's even a few new weapons and weapon classes (the bow and arrow) - but this is marred by the way too many old weapons returning. There's something distinctly distasteful about finishing a game that's supposed to be a sequel and having a large assortment of your weapons being the exact same weapons you had in the previous game.

A few other sore points for gameplay are the unupdated battle system, which still requires you to "click" or otherwise "tap" past every single iteration of battle text, and the myriad of forced tutorials that clutter the first parts of gameplay. Game makers would do well to remember they should always, ALWAYS allow for people to skip tutorials - especially when the game is a sequel to an existing series, or if you want people to reply the game ever.

I'd also like to make special note of the weapon forging, since the weapons you get are determined by chance, resulting either in a lot of save-scumming (returning to previous save points), or the acceptance of lower tier or undesired weapons. As a result, forging is nothing but a painful chore... just like it was in the last game.

The most frustrating part of gameplay is probably the "lag" that occurs when casting psynergy; this if of particular issue when it comes to psynergy cast on moving targets, like using mind read (or as this game calls "spirit sense") on an NPC (non-player character). The issue is that the lag only affects YOU. The NPC can, and often does, move out of the way in their random walk-around-in-a-single-spot motions. The only way around it is to either get lucky or force the NPC into a corner so they can't escape their inevitable mind-reading.

The lag isn't as much of an issue when it comes to stationary targets, but it still makes me wonder why Nintendo couldn't just make the entire world stop moving when you're casting psynergy.

Graphics and Musics:

Full use of 3D graphics and very good music selection. Some people say that the graphics of Squarenix' remakes are better, but Squarenix didn't have a fully 3D world: just 3D characters in a 2D backdrop world, so the discrepancy in graphics is not just forgivable, but understandable. No complaints here.

The music selection is good and a lot of the songs are even entertaining to listen to for many minutes on end. None of it "overstays its welcome" as the saying goes.

Story:

The story is you're trying to get a Roc's feather so you can fix the device your idiot companion broke in the intro. That's it. Everything else is just the trials and tribulations that go along with getting a Roc's feather, apparently, that ends up thrusting you into the responsibility of saving the world.

My biggest qualm with this is for the most part you never really know where you're going next. For most of the game you don't have an overarching goal - just a series of small goals that eventually lead you to the ending of the game: fix this device, meet this person, learn that psynergy... they all end up being useful in the end, but almost out of a sort of "coincidence" from the characters' perspective.

This wouldn't be such an issue except there are a number of "points of no return" that can really sneak up as a result. I, being a "100% completionist", ended up restarting the game after 20 hours in because I stupidly didn't keep a backup save file and walked right into a point of no return.

There's a lot of interesting set up for the problems that have arisen in the world since the events of the previous games, but nothing's really done with it except for the ending's sequel-hook. That felt like a bit of a cheat.

Characters:

I'm not going to go into each and every player character and villain - there are some good ones and some less good ones. Sadly, Nintendo seems fond of the "rescue this guy and he joins your team" plot device. So much so that when you're not rescuing someone to make them join your team, they're just joining your team for no reason at all.

As I said earlier, there are so many PC's (player characters) that some get no development at all. There's also the incredibly confusing issue of every character being related to characters from the first game - even to the point that it makes no sense. The first character you get, Mathew, the main character and party leader, is the son of Isaac, hero of Golden Sun. The next character you get it Karis, daughter of Ivan, wind adept of the first game. Then there's Tyrel, Garret's son. And Rief, Mia's son.

But there's no reason for these characters to be related the way they are - it's just like Nintendo was trying to force the connection to invoke some kind of nostalgia from the last game. I don't mind that the characters are "the next generation", as it were, but by the time I got to Mia's son, it just felt so forced!

On the plus side, the many characters allow you to mix and match your party to have characters you prefer over those you do not.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought the game was fun - just not as fun as a sequel to Golden Sun should have been. There's a lot of improvements, but a lot of things stayed the same as well. The characters are either unexplored or uninteresting in their own right and the story is oddly, little more than a protracted fetch quest.

However, I still enjoyed the game for what it was. All the RPG elements are there; there's a good deal of customization in character classes that I, oddly, never bother with (but I'm sure others do), impressive magic and summons, and a quest to save the world that can last hours. The "points of no return" were an unwelcomed addition but I guess there's nothing wrong with them in the general sense.

Overall, I'd say this game is a B. It's fun while you're playing it and you'll want to see how things turn out, but leans a little too heavily on the previous games for nostalgia than trying to define itself as something new.

Triple review: Toy Story 3, Mass Effect 2 and Bioshock 1

Or, as i prefer to call this review: "These things i like..."

I don't like writing positive reviews simply because i don't find them very entertaining.  'Tis far more entertaining to read caustic wit than the idiotic ramblings of the fanboys who are incapable of seeing fault with whatever deeply flawed object of adoration they hold closest to their heart.

However, since times are rough (it's a recession, doncha know), i've limited my funds to entertainment that i'm fairly certain i'll enjoy already.  Because i'm such a discerning asshole, this also means that i pretty much only watch/play movies/games that are top notch.  Which brings me to the uncomfortable truth that i haven't seen or played anything wretched lately, i'm going to be doing a triple positive review.  That way i don't have to spend all that much time talking about positive points of anything.

But even though this is a set of positive reviews, i'll still find the flaws to pick at, even if they are minor details.

So without further ado, let's get down to the review:

Toy Story 3

I'd like to say "people don't like sequels", but i'd be lying.  After all, hollywood execs are "people", too (in the loosest sense of the word) and they absolutely LOVE sequels.  It's a guaranteed built in audience and movies are more a business than a catharsis, so it's win-freakin'-win, even if the sequel is unwatchable shit.

But beyond the execs of hollywood, who really likes sequels?  Not many.  However, every once in a while a sequel comes along that is not only as good as the original, but sometimes even better.  Shrek 2, for example (despite the number of people who disagree).  But a more recent example is Toy Story 3.

While i have always been (and still am) of the mindset that Toy Story could've been the first and last movie in the now-trilogy and still been an excellent film, i must admit that the sequels have actually served to improve the franchise.  Toy Story 3's plot, particularly, feels like the natural progression and conclusion of the films.  The events of previous films are built on, not rehashed as so many other sequels tend to do.  And true to form, Pixar has included their now omni-present touching moments in the climax of the film.

My biggest qualm with this movie is that before it starts you know how it's going to end.  Indeed, you know the only way it could possibly end.  Since Andy is all grown up now, it's highly unlikely he's going to lapse back into the mental state of a kid and continue playing with his toys, so one of two things must happen: Woody, Buzz and co end up "adopted" by another good hearted child or they end up being destroyed or abandoned or some other horrible fate.  Because this is a Disney-Pixar movie, it doesn't take too much to figure out which.

But having a predictable ending does not a poor story make.  If there was ever any doubt of this, watch Toy Story 3.  This is one of those few movies where the consensus of critics throwing perfect 10s are actually entirely justified.  The plot feels like a natural extention of the previous movies and there's just the right mix of comedy, drama and action for it to feel like a well balanced film.  Give it a watch if you get a chance.

Next up...

Mass Effect 2

If there's anyone who likes sequels more than movie executives, it's video game company executives.  While movies that reach a 4th sequel are rare (and almost always confined to children's movies), some video game franchises have installments well into the double digits: Final Fantasy, Castlevania, the Megaman series, all of Nintendo's games..., the list goes on.

But unlike with movies, a crappy video game sequel is pretty rare, as developers often use the time to improve gameplay and story elements, putting more money - and more importantly, effort - into the sequels than movie executives even care to.  After all, a shitty game can sour gamers views on all your wares, while people like M Night Shyamalan (and more shockingly, Uwe Boll) are still making movies. (Seriously, wtf!?)

But enough preamble, how's Mass Effect 2?  Well, just as expected, Bioware took their time to improve the gameplay and story.  While the first Mass Effect was hardly "bad" (you can read my review of the first Mass Effect here), the sequel improves on it a good deal.  Gone are the broken driving segments (and there was much rejoicing) and improved are the combat, story and even basic motions.

Now, you may be wondering what i mean by "basic motions have improved".  What the hell does that even mean?  Well, it's really only something you notice when directly comparing Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 1.  When i revisted the first game after having completed the second, i was getting stuck on all kinds of ankle high terrain.  It was so bad as to the point of frustration... but i didn't notice it the first time playing through the game.  That's what i mean by "improved basic motions".

The other thing that's improved in gameplay is the whole renegade/paragon dynamic.  While the first game largely had it as an aesthetic feature that only occassionally allowed for alternative conversation points, ME2 adds in quick time events and a lot more conversation options that depend on your renegade or paragon score.  This was a vast improvement over the 4 or 5 conversations in the first Mass Effect that required renegade or paragon points to unlock different conversation options.

Yes, ME2 is certainly an improvement over an already excellent game, but like anything, it wasn't flawless.  As everyone has already commented, the planet mining that's needed for all the best upgrades is nothing short of annoying grind work, but the worst, absolute worst aspect of this game has to be the money formula: there will never be a time, in the entire game, where you won't be starved for cash.  And don't expect anyone to do anything more than shave a few bucks off max prices for you, either (and only if you intimidate or charm them).  Sure, you saved the galaxy in the first game and, yes, you have a financial backer with bottomless pockets and, ok, your mission is so important that failure isn't an option... but there's no free rides here!  You're still going to have to buy all your own weapon and armor upgrades, as well as fuel and probes (required to scan planets for resources).

That's right, i said you have to buy your own fuel.  While you're supposedly working for a private military contractor, Cerberus, who is constantly telling you how much resources they've put at your disposal, you're still required to pay for your own damned gas.  What the hell kind of 2-bit operation is Cerberus running?  There are employers with goals less important than "save the galaxy" that pay for their employees fuel charges!

I guess Bioware was trying to make it more "realistic" with consumable fuel, but the only thing they've realistically done is discourage me from exploring the universe beyond the systems i can get to for free.  Those credits are too damned important for my weapons upgrades to bother spending wasting on universe exploration!

All in all, though, Mass Effect 2 is an excellent game and worth the time if you like 3rd persion shooters.  If possible, it's even more massive effective than the first!

And finally we have...

Bioshock

A three year old game that i've only now decided to pick up and play.  Hell, it even has a sequel now.

Bioshock is a game that's mostly all about atmosphere.  The gritty dystopian city of Rapture is clearly designed to make you jump in your seat and inch cautiously down corridors as you plod carefully through the story.  The game even includes a number of specific triggers that, when hit, cause your screen to fade out briefly, only to return you to the same spot, now surrounded by viscious enemies.

Of course, the problem with this is, any replay is guaranteed not to be as enthralling as your first play through, which is a real pitty because, like Mass Effect (and other games of the time), there's a moral choice system.  Naturally, i played through the game the first time like a goody-goody with designs on playing through a second time as a malevolent cock-sucker out for the blood of children.  Of course, since the game doesn't change at all in replay (except, what i'm told, is a different ending), there's not much enjoyment to be milked out of having a bloody moral choice system to begin with.  I can just as easily watch the "bad" ending on youtube and lose nothing for it.

The other thing that bothers me is that while Bioshock is certainly trying to deliver a clever story coupled with some topical political commentary, it completely gives up halfway through.  Many gamers have praised the story's "twist", but it's really not that much of a twist, especially if you've played a video game in your life before.  I won't spoil the twist (god forbid!), but suffice it to say, i called it from the start and was more than a little disappointed when the writers choose to abandon their social commentary in the name of such a weak story device.

Oh well, all in all, Bioshock is still an impressively visual game with an intriguing enough story to keep you entertained, if only for a single playthrough.  Check it out.

So that's my countdown of the "things i liked this month" review.  It's not as witty or comedic as a vitriolic review could be, but again, that's why i hate writing this kind of review.  Oh well, perhaps it makes up for my month in absence.

No?  Well, tough.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days

Let me start by saying that this is not a game for people who know nothing about the Kingdom Hearts franchise.  Despite its release, 358 days over 2 is a bridging game, meant to connect the events of Chain of Memories to the events of Kingdom Hearts 2.  If you've not played one of these, or worse, neither of these, you will be confused by the story.  I hadn't played Chain of Memories, but i was able to keep up to the story, thanks to having played Kingdom Hearts 2 and having watched some online cutscenes for Re: Chain of Memories to fill in the gaps.

You can really feel the love that went into the game, and not just in the homo-erotic way that made the game franchise a success among a certain breed of female fans - though there's certainly enough of that, too.

But enough mindless pre-amble.  Let's talk about the gameplay.

Gameplay and Control

Control is solid.  The touch screen is pretty much unused, but if it was used, it would only feel unnecessary.

The biggest flaw in control is the flying controls.  While B jumps, it's Y that raises you into the air with B, confusingly, lowering you.  It's really quite frustrating, especially in the heat of battle.  It would seem that such "unintuitive" logic as "jump button increases altitude always" has completely eluded the programmers of Squarenix.

The overall gameplay's largely fun, though the mission-mode system seems like a considerable restriction over the open-world exploration of the Play Station variants.  Of course, it's probably just the limitations of the system, so it's largely forgiveable.

Leveling up, abilities, etc are all handled with a "panel" system that you attach to Roxas to give him abilities.  At first i was horrified that this might be a menu-hell gimmick, but thankfully most gear of a similar nature (weapons, for instance) are all sort of shaped the same, so you don't have to waste that much time reconfiguring panels after you upgrade.  The downside is that individual magic spell casts, potions and ethers are all taken up by an entire panel, severely limiting how many you get per mission.  It ends up working detrimentally and forcing you to limit your magic to those "emergency" cases.

My biggest qualm, in general, not just in gameplay, is that killing stuff just isn't any fun.  It's more of a needless chore required to level up or gain valuable drops.  Everything has stupid amounts of health and defence, so battles boil down to taking advantage of the same attack patterns for every single enemy.  Typically it's nothing more difficult than "attack combo" followed by "avoid enemy/dodge attacks".  Repeat until enemy dies.  And you do this for every.  Single.  Fucking.  Random.  Weak-ass.  Enemy.  There's never a change!  Enemy attacks always have priority over yours, so you can't simply wail on them until they die, and many enemies are simply invulnerable to any kind of attack when they are in their "attack combo", so you just have to block or dodge or stay out of the way until they finish up and go back to harmlessly wandering around or standing still.

What's worse is it's not until considerably late into the game when you get strong enough weapons to kill even weak enemies with a single combo.  So even the weakest random foe in the level will be handled exactly the same as a boss, for the most part.  After a while, i just started to run past any enemy i wasn't required to kill simply because i couldn't be bothered.

Graphics and Music

Awesome graphics and music.  I can't complain here.  They do what they can with the system.  Squarenix has always had awesome music selection and the Kingdom Hearts series is no exception.

Others have complained that the music is just recycled from the other Kingdom Hearts games, and this is true, but it's not actually as bad as it could've been.  Ace Attorney: Investigations recycled less music, but still annoyed me with how over-used what music they did have was.  At the very least, 358 days over 2 recycled enough music that you never feel annoyed at hearing the themes.

Story

The story crawls and makes it clear it feels no degree of urgency in getting to the point.  The first half of the game's story is essentially "Roxas and Axel are friends".  Expect countless scenes of Axel and Roxas alone together sensually enjoying a popsickle of salty cream - iced cream.

Anyway, by the time the real story starts to kick in, you'll likely already have logged 10 or so hours of gameplay.

The story, as i said earlier, is definitely aiming to bridge the gap between games.  How well it bridges the games is questionable at times.  By the time i got to the end, it certainly felt like Squarenix was simply beating a path to the ending they wanted whether it was done coherently or not.  As a result there are many in-story threads that never resolve and are sort of left hanging for the "future" game of Kingdom Hearts 2.

Still, the story's definitely worth it for Kingdom Hearts fans, but expect a lot of draggy mundanities of "life in the Organization" from Roxas' perspective.

Characters

The characters are well developed.  You do get to know the Organization members better and they become more than just a bunch of named nameless enemies.  In fact, at times you almost feel like you like them.  I liked Axel's portrayal, particularly - overt homosexuality and all.  But Roxas did come off as little more than an "emo bitch".

There's also a new character that i found particularly unlikeable.  She's sort of central to the story, so i can't say much about her.  But suffice it to say, not once did i understand Roxas' deep, personal connection to her dull-as-dishwater personality.

The one problem with all the characters is that in missions where you have an ally, they are almost always in your way.  They block you from attacking, they stand in your way, they warp into your path in the middle of long distance jumps, etc.  It's really quite frustrating at times.  I'm told that you can change some setting to fix this, but i never got around to looking through the settings that much.

Final Comments

While 358 days over 2 is not an awful game, i wouldn't say it's the best of the series.  I definitely had a lot of fun with the game, but i have trouble pinning down exactly why.  I think it is because i started to appreciate the characters of the game a little more.  I used to think Axel was little more than a needy sex-starved individual with a crush on his best male friend, Roxas, but now i think he's sort of an interesting character in his own right.

It was also nice to get some background into Kingdom Hearts 2 which had previously felt like a very disconnected game to me.

All in all, if you like the series, i'd recommend this game.  You may not find it is your favourite, but it'll definitely add to the experience of the series as a whole.

Mass Effect

No, i'm not dead, i've just been... bored. Anyway, after many a weeks, here's a new review! This time, Mass Effect!

Yup, another video game review - mostly because there's nothing but awful awful movies in theatres recently. I did see an awful movie on tv recently, but that's about it. Maybe i'll review it later.

Anyway, Mass Effect is an "old" game, so let's get on with the review before it's already announced sequel is released.

Gameplay and Control:

I played Mass Effect on my brother's XBox 360, so the control is based on their controller. You play as (insert name here) Sheppard, one of humanity's best soldiers. Actually, you have a choice of making Sheppard one of a number of different character classes from combat heavy soldier to support heavy engineer or anything in between (but the engineer's the best).

As far as most of the game control is concerned, it's pretty good. Using weapons and abilities (the core of combat gameplay) is fairly intuitive and control of the main character is very effortless.

It's a little annoying that Sheppard can't pivot on a dime, instead needing to walk in a circle to turn around. This is only problematic because occasionally you'll end up getting stuck in some piece of background while trying to turn around in very tight spaces. It's not a big thing and happened to me only a couple times, but still annoying. Thankfully, recovery is fairly easy.

The main problem in control comes from using the incredibly broken Mako, a tank of kinds. The mako itself has 6 wheels, but controlling it feels like it's only got one. Slight movements in the joysticks will send your car hurtling over debris and the steering control is nothing short of abysmal. Because of this, one might think straight-aways would be a dream, but no. The overly sensitive joystick will have you veering all over the place even on the straightest of roads.

Ok, so driving sucks. But the bad control doesn't stop there - even shooting with the mako is terrible! The cross-hairs on the screen are largely meaningless when aiming. If the target is too close (and they "don't exist" in memory if you're too far - but their bullets do) the crosshairs provide no degree of accuracy. Essentially, you'll want to "zoom in" on everything if you ever want to hit whatever it is you're shooting at.

This wouldn't be so nightmarish, but you're pretty much required to use the mako in every bloody mission! Sure, you can get out whenever you want, but most planets have "hazardous" atmospheres that will slowly kill you and objectives are impossibly far apart on foot, so you're pretty much required to drive. You will eventually get "used to" the controls, but you will never like them. NEVER!

Other than the combat sections of the game, which are solid, the game has segments of "talking missions". These can get drawn out at times, but are necessary to provide the backstory to the game. They also allow you to shape your character's personality through the game's choice system. There are some combat related choice missions, but most of the choices come in conversations.

Like most games that offer choice, your choices are between "good" options and "evil" options. Unlike most games, Mass Effect also gives you a "neutral" option, but these give you the least interesting cut scenes and benefits, essentially ensuring you never ever use them.

Depending on how you play, you'll get either "paragon" or "renegade" points that will allow you to unlock other speech options in a depressingly few conversations throughout the game. Unfortunately, while the existence of choice is a good novelty, it seems to be only that, and the game will continue no matter what you say or do. To a degree, this is good, since "open sandbox" shouldn't mean the game's story is compromised repeatedly, but it also means you'll only be making the choices for the complete novelty of being known as either a renegade or paragon.

Graphics and Music:

Graphics are good and the create your own character section at the beginning is a nice touch. Unfortunately, and this may be only my XBox, sometimes the details won't load in completely. Colour palettes and other "superficial" details are the usual victims.

The graphics are largely great, but this comes at a horrible price: loading! I hate loading screens. Personally, i'd prefer a trade down in graphics to loading screens, but the graphics whores of the world essentially drive the gaming market now and they don't seem to care about loading screens so long as graphics are top notch. Ultimately, if you can handle the frequent loading, you'll love the graphics.

Music is well done, too, adding atmosphere but staying in the background. There's a flaw in my copy that occasionally has the music trumpet over the voice acting, but with subtitles on, it's not an issue. My only real qualm with the score is it tends to be composed almost entirely of extremely short pieces of music, several bars in length, requiring them to loop it infinitely. Ah well. As i've said before, music is background to gameplay and story, and in Mass Effect, that's not different.

The Story:

Because Mass Effect gives you so many opportunities to exercise choice, i was deceived into thinking the story was far deeper than it actually was. Personally, i was expecting a story with scores of double agents, villains becoming good guys, good guys becoming villains and conspiracy theories aplenty. However, this is a far cry from what the story actually is - and i won't go into the story details here for obvious reasons.

This isn't to say the story's BAD, just a little more simplistic than you'd guess just by the initial set ups.

One of the better done aspects was side-quests that actually fit into the mainline story. Almost all games have side-quests now, but few will bother to integrate them into the story and they just become "tack ons" for those aiming at 100% completion. While Mass Effect sidequests don't drastically alter the mainline story, they do compliment it.

There's also a side romance story that's fun if for nothing else than some of the funniest choice-response combos in the game. I find something absolutely hilarious with Sheppard's flirting style and inflections. Definitely the one moment i was thrilled to have voice acting.

Characters:

Mass Effect's characters come from a variety of different alien races, almost all of which hate each other. While the characters are remarkably well fleshed out, it just seems like your character, Sheppard, is the only one who isn't a rabid racist... that is, if you choose for him not to be.

Unfortunately, despite the scores of characters you will meet on your journey, most are forgettable. In fact, the only characters of any interest are the ones on your own crew who you can talk to between missions. But even your crew has a set of stock personalities and almost everyone's character can be summed up with two to three sentences.

While this is definitely a weak point, it's not enough to make the game bad by any stretch.

Final Comments:

All in all, i liked this game. It was fun, had an interesting enough story and the choices added just enough of a spice up to make me feel like my decisions mattered (even if they really don't).

There's definitely replay value in going through and choosing other character classes or different speech options. There's even alternative difficulties, if you're into that sort of thing. The only downside is that no matter how many times you go through the game, no matter what choices you make, the story will never ever change beyond one or two sentences from select responses.

I have many choices for my rating system here, but all of them are essentially an A.

It's Massive Effective!

Ghostbusters the video game review

Yup, it's another video game review... If you find them long and boring to read, here's a drinking game to get you solidly hammered: each time you see the word "ghostbuster" take a shot!

The first Ghostbusters movie was marketed as comedy, but it was so imaginative and well done, is it any wonder it captured the imaginations of adults and children alike? The movie was so successful, it spun off a sequel, a cartoon series (one which anyone who grew up in the 80's and early 90's will no doubt be familiar with) and a plethora of video games. While the cartoon was an unbridled success for most of its run, the video games were absolutely abysmal! I know; i had the first one for the NES (The Angry Video Game Nerd has an entire set of videos dedicated to the awfulness of the old-school ghostbuster games - see them over at www.cinemassacre.com). Given the poor track record of previous games, how does the newly released (and unimaginatively titled) Ghostbusters the video game compare? Well, let's find out.

First off, i played my game on the Wii, but it's available on all systems. Most people seem to prefer the Xbox360 or PS3 versions, but from what i can tell, it's largely based on superficial graphics preferences. Honestly, though, i can't compare since i haven't played the other systems versions (and i probably never will). So this will largely only be a "Ghostbusters the video game for the Wii" review.

Gameplay and Control

The game is set up so that you play as a new recruit for the ghostbusters there to test their equipment and (possibly) expand their team. The other ghostbusters are all there (with Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Ackyrod and Ernie Hudson even reprising the roles as voice actors), but they largely serve as support characters.

The control for this game is... great! No, really! It uses the wii-mote + nunchuck in the most intuitive possible fashion you can think of. The controls are so obvious that even a child could handle this - and that's how it should always be, people! I'm sick of games that claim challenge because their controls are crippled or difficult to grasp (and invariably poorly explained).

While i'm sure that even a marginally intelligent gamer can figure out the controls without any instruction, the game still provides a few (brief) tutorials on how to use the basics as well as how to switch weapons and equipment. The tutorials are largely done in-game as "explinations of the equipment" from the more experienced ghostbusters and can easily be skipped or even disabled via a menu. This means that you don't have to (unless you choose) watch cut scene after cut scene while replaying levels; it's a welcome addition.

I should also point out that all equipment usage can be done in real time in-game, meaning there's almost no need at all for bringing up the menu, except to pause, read a little backstory or disable/enable unlocks. Finally! A game that understands what a menu should be used for! This does wonders for immersion when you don't have to constantly flip into a menu screen for simple actions.

Gameplay is engrossing and, thanks in part to the interactive control-style of the wii-mote + nunchuck, feels a lot like you are a ghostbuster! Seriously: this is the game that every kid of the 80's has always wanted! Too bad it took more than 20 years to get...

The game is mostly wide open, allowing you (and at times, encouraging you) to destroy almost everything in every room and allowing you to wander the levels mostly unhindered. There are a few distracting game flags (like waiting for another character to open a door for you), but most of the time the limits seem acceptable.

While the ammo is unlimited, the proton pack does overheat from time to time if the stream is used continuously. It's not distracting or anything, but it can happen more times than you want, leaving you running in circles while your proton pack cools down enough to be of use again.

The AI that controls the other ghostbusters also seems to get worse and worse as the game progresses to increase the challenge. This isn't a bad thing, but does make very little sense when you stand back and think about it: how is it that these veteran ghostbusters can't handle a few ghosts without my continuously saving their asses? The harder difficulties (and higher levels) will also see you trying to revive the AI characters more than you care to. Fortunately, if there's more than one, they can revive each other.

Now, according to other reviews i've read, there are some purists out there who insist on controller-style fps (first person shooter, if you're not in the know) controls and thereby conclude that the Wii's controls are "gimmicky" or something; don't listen to these people! Honestly, i liked games like Starwars Battlefront or Goldeneye 64 for fps controls on a controller, but it is by no means "better" than point and click - just a very good adaptation given the tech limitations they had to deal with at the time. Technology has improved since the days of the NES gun, hopefully gamer attitude will improve one day as well. But i'm not going to hold my breath.

Graphics and Music

Graphics... ah, graphics. To the superficial gamer, the Wii's cartoony feel ruins the game. Of course they're wrong and i'll give them no shortage of ridicule as a result. Sure, nice graphics are nice to look at, but they don't enhance gameplay in the slightest nor do they make them more immersive. If you believe otherwise, you're wrong. No, this isn't debatable, nor is it only "my opinion". "Bad graphics" is more an issue of compatibility. When graphics don't suit the "feel" or tone of a game, they're bad (be they realistic 3D models or pixelated nonsense). There are no shortage of games that put graphics above gameplay and suffer as a result. As far as the Wii's version of Ghostbusters is concerned, the cartoony graphics fit the tone to a 'T' and give it a charm all its own.

As for music, it's the music used from the ghostbusters movie. What more could you ask for? It fits the genre and is exactly what the player wants. That's not to say it's perfect: the music repeats ad nauseum to the point it can get droning. Thankfully, it is in the background to the gameplay and story. Suffice it to say, you're more focused on busting the ghosts than listening to the soundtrack.

One last thing: the Ghostbusters theme song! I may be wrong, but i recall the only place it playing was the credits. I mean, i don't expect it to be played everywhere, but really? The credits? You expect me to watch the credits just to hear that awesome music? You bastards!

To the developers credit, they did include a simplistic "catch slimer" mini game that runs during the credits, so you're not just listening. Still, i just missed hearing it more, i guess.

Story

Dan Ackroyd has said that the game is essentially supposed to be a third installment, continuing the story from the 2 movies. In other words, this is a sequel... but good. The script writers make good use of the backstory of the previous movies and exploit the fact that everyone playing the game is intimately familiar with them. That's not to say the story is unfollowable to those who don't know anything about the ghostbusters (do people like that exist?), but it is a lot more gratifying for fans.

While the story does connect to both the previous films, it is more solidly a continuation of the events of the original Ghostbusters film. Gozer's minions seem to be springing back up and it's up to everyone's favourite ghostbusters to find the root cause and put an end to it. While the player character is part of the plot, most of the story is given by the other 4 ghostbusters with sparing references to the player character. Peter Venkman even goes as far as to say he doesn't want to know the players name "just in case". Really, it comes off a lot more charming than it sounds.

As the story progresses, however, the ghostbusters do gradually warm up to the increasingly invaluable "rookie" they've hired (Rookie? Please! I've been playing a ghostbuster since i was 5 years old!). The whole story culminates when, once again, the ghostbusters are forced to cross the streams to defeat absolute evil. Egon, Ray, Peter and Winston start to cross their streams when Ray turns to the player and nods for him/her to join in - this is a team thing, after all! An all but meaningless bit of gameplay follows in which the player (you) must join in with the other 4 in their "heroic sacrifice" and cross the streams... just like a real ghostbuster.

Wow. These guys knew who they were writing the game for!

Yeah, it's not Shakespeare, but it is a lot better written than a lot of mindless action games (particularly those adapted from movies). The humour and creativity of the movies definitely comes through and it's better for it.

Characters

Ray Stanz, Egon Spangler, Peter Venkman and Winston Zedmore are all there, reprised by their respective voice actors. What's more, you can tell the actors actually cared about the roles, giving all the proper inflection you'd expect, even for some of the cornier lines.

I know i downplay voice acting sometimes, but Ghostbusters definitely does it right. The side chatter of the characters is natural and unobtrusive enough that it sounds and feels exactly like what you'd expect the ghostbusters to engage in while on the job.

They are the same characters you're familiar with from the movies and cartoon and the game doesn't disappoint in adaptation. Ray is easily excitable and fun loving, Egon is reserved and thoughtful, Peter is lazy and sarcastic, Winston is eager but practical. The player character is left in the dark for personality (and name!) but it sort of works, allowing the player to sort of insert themselves in the role as they see fit.

The only issue that really comes up is a lack of line adaptations for the male or female player character choices. While most of the time the ghostbusters refer to you with generic "rookie" or "new blood" comments, there are a few points where they will gleefully refer to the player as "he" no matter what. It's a little grating considering how much care they gave the rest of the game. Why didn't they just have identical lines stored with "she" instead? Were the voice actors billing by the word or something?

Final Comments

My one major qualm is the brevity of the game. Sure, they have a few unlocks and scans and art pages to collect as well as a decent co-op mode, but seriously, is that it? They could've provided so much more with very little effort. Why not give a few random "bonus" levels for after the game? Not story driven, just good ol' fashion ghostbustin' (it makes us feel good)! It wouldn't even be that difficult!

Video game developers, take note: make 6 or so random "house" levels (a kitchen, a dining room, a few bedrooms, bathrooms, basement or attic), populate them with a random (catchable) ghost or two from the game and throw in some random minion ghosts for extra fun. You can even have a randomly chosen ghostbuster accompany the player on the mission. There. I just increased replay value and all it would've required was 6 new level designs and a random number generator with everything else just taken from what's already in the game.

As it stands now, there's very little to pull you back into the game other than playing through a few levels on a whim. Replay is definitely very low. However, that being said, this game is by no means bad.

Other reviewers have described Ghostbusters the video game as a "love letter to the fans", and that's exactly what this is. It thrusts the player into the role of "ghostbuster" and allows them to experience what it would probably feel like to be one. Controls are intuitive, gameplay is fun, story is solid and the characters are uncompromised. Non-fans will still find much to enjoy, but this game was clearly made for the 5 year olds inside each of us who remembers fondly the movies or cartoons and the desire to be a real ghostbuster themselves.

It's impossible to review this game without a nostalgia filter because it's so strongly invoked and it's a major part of enjoyment. Ultimately, if bustin' makes you feel good, get this game. I give it an A.

By the way, as for the pic: i was going for "lame". I think it came out well!

Super Paper Mario

I know what you're thinking: who would go through the trouble of reviewing a 2 year old video game? Me, so strap in!

Super Paper Mario, despite being 2 years old, is still the latest rpg installment of the mario series. While i'm certain dozens of people have already reviewed it and anyone who's going to play it has already done so, i'm still going to review it. Just as in my previous video game review (The World Ends With You), i'll cover this one in sections.

Gameplay and Control

Control is entirely done using the Wii-mote and only the Wii-mote. This is kind of refreshing since almost every other game in the Wii's library requires some kind of "add-on" in the form of the nun-chuck or classic controller, if not out of necessity, then simply for ease of control (i'm looking at YOU, Super Smash Bros Brawl). It's kind of annoying when you learn one set of controls based on add-ons you own, only to go to a friends house and have to learn an entirely different set of controls based on the add-ons they have. Since this is mostly a qualm about what the Wii system comes with, i'll try not to dwell on it. Bottom line: either sell all "optional" add-ons together as "one controller" (wii-mote + nunchuck + classic controller) or don't have any add-ons at all!

Anyway, the control is actually very fluid. It's sad that i have to even point this out, but until every single video game developer on the planet gets on the trolley and learns how to make fluid controls for their games, i guess it's the curse of the reviewer to mention them for every game they play, good or bad.

Gameplay is straight up, goomba-smashing fun with rpg elements at its finest - done away with are the random battles of most (all?) of the other mario rpgs (thank you, nintendo). The game consists of 8 worlds, mostly broken into 4 chapters with the 4th chapter containing a boss fight. Yeah, it's unimaginatively stock mario game format, but don't mess with what works, right?

While most of the world's are very fun and entertaining (the bit-lands being a particular favourite), there are a few that are nothing short of annoyingly aggravating. While there are several examples of things that could've been ditched in development, from the top of my head i'd say anything that requires you to navigate a maze of doors should be first. Even though these mazes are almost always relatively short, they're still incredibly monotonous due to the bland backgrounds that are employed to make all the areas look similar. The space world was a particularly egregious offender for this one. The whole land looked similar and ended up being spectacularly dull.

As for the in game fighting, most of the enemies go down quite simple and the boss fights are largely a joke despite being horribly intimidating at first. There are a couple challenging boss fights, but even they become easier once you figure out their one weakness and exploit the hell out of it.

That's not to say the game is a walk in the park - a brisk stroll, maybe, but certainly not a walk. There's lots of little puzzles to solve and the pit(s) of 100 trials offer quite a bit of extra challenge for those of you who need to die repeatedly before you feel accomplished.

Graphics and Music

It's Mario. And he's paper. See the picture? That's pretty much how he looks in the game.

Actually, the graphics are a bit better than that. The characters do resemble "realistic" paper characters (whatever that is) and even though the whole game has a cartoon-y feel, it's quite charming in its own way. Essentially, anyone who thinks the graphics are "lacking" is seriously missing the point.

Music is good and serves its purpose. It doesn't stand out too much, but it doesn't really define itself either. Just the standard Mario style music you all know and love. Is that good? It does its job, i suppose, but it would've been nice to be able to pick out a "favourite song". Mostly it's unremarkable, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Story

Ah, story! The SOUL of an rpg! Well, just like all rpg franchises that last more than one game, if you've played the previous titles, you probably know exactly what to expect. That's not necessarily bad. I mean, the Final Fantasy games have been doing the same thing successfully for years, right? (The first fan who swears their favourite series stories' are drastically different gets bashed in the head - or somewhere where it might do damage.)

The real charm in Super Paper Mario comes from the extremely self-aware sense of humour the game has about itself. While other games would push really hard to have the "darker and edgier"-er feel, Super Paper Mario opts for the more light-hearted approach. Many standard video game tropes (as some would call them: see tvtropes.org) are openly mocked, but in a feel-good sort of way. There's even an entire level that makes fun of "nerd culture" and fanboy-ism that's particularly humourous and fun.

The rest of the story is very simplistic and clearly set in place just for the point of having a conflict. Nintendo kind of has to do it this way, though, since the mario-verse is already so heavily saturated with games that it doesn't leave much room for any original plots. This is a problem in general when dealing with a character like mario who's pretty much "done it all". I mean, what can he really do that would surprise fans now? Mario on vacation? Mario Sunshine. Mario in space? Mario Galaxy. Mario sports? Oh god where to begin! Mario getting drunk and beating the crap out of other nintendo franchise characters? Super Smash Bros.

Ok, maybe Mario wasn't drunk for that last one, but i certainly was - and i'm betting some of the developers were, too.

Anyway, the story is predictable, but the intrigue is in the execution. It's all kinds of fun to watch the game characters get confused by obvious "plot-twists" with hilarious results.

Characters

The greatest improvement over previous Paper Mario games is definitely in the characters department! While the previous titles had mario teamed up with allies like... goombario and kooper (who?), Super Paper Mario has him teamed up with actual Mario characters like princess peach, bowser and luigi. Finally! It took 3 games to get it right, but damn!

Considering how many characters the mario-verse has to choose from, i don't know why it took nintendo this long to get it right but it's certainly a HUGE improvement for the series. There's just something about being able to play as characters you recognize in a franchise you know and love that makes it that much more enjoyable. Is that so hard to understand? Well, i guess so since it took nintendo THREE GAMES to figure it out.

Final Comments

Though i've mostly praised the game in individual sections above, i do have to say the entire experience of Super Paper Mario just feels somehow... unremarkable. While ultimately i'd say the game is well worth playing and will give you many hours of fun, it still ends like a horribly mediocre movie. When the credits roll, you say to yourself "that's it?" and leave the theatre never to mention it again.

All in all, i give Super Paper Mario 2 kidnapped princesses (let's say, Daisy and Peach) out of 3 (Daisy, Peach and Rosalina). That's roughly 66%, but i'm gonna call it a B.