GAME REVIEW TOPIC

Welcome to Nintendo Valley, where Nintendo fans from all over the world come to meet and chat!!!

Wanna join our little town? Then register today, and let yourself be introduced!

Make Nintendo Valley your home today!!!

So far, our members have made 9,187 posts within a variety of different topics!

We have 113 members, and we welcome our newest, bloodpheasent741!

GAME REVIEW TOPIC; post your reviews....NOW!
Topic Started: Oct 30 2009, 02:37 PM (31 Views)
YoshiSan	Oct 30 2009, 02:37 PM Post #1
NV's martial arts expert , lousy tactician, and sword lover Posts: 202 Group: Moderators Member #42 Joined: November 18, 2008	I'd say it's about time I hear some game reviews from people (or at the very least what they think of mine). Post your reviews of games here, and comment about other's. You are not required to use any sort of rating system (I personally don't like using ratings), but can if you wish. So I'll start this section with a good 'ol Punch Out Wii review I remembered being both sad and glad that Punch Out was underhyped. On one hand it almost assured it wouldn't recieve the credit it COMPLETELY deserves, but on the other this ensured no annoying reviewers would nit pick it to death like they do with every over hyped game that they attack in a desperate attempt to be different from everyone else. Anyways lets begin. Controls/Gameplay Like many Wii games Punch Out features multiple control schemes you can use. This game in particular gives you three the Wiimote, the Nunchuk, and the Fitness board style. If you like me are a veteran Punch Out fan you probably picked the Wiimote alone for your first option. There isn't anything fancy to this control scheme it plays like a NES controller would in the origional Punch Out game but it's still very smooth and easy to learn what more can I say about it? As far as the Nunchuk control scheme goes it actually works well. I was afraid this control set up would be the equivilant of Wii Boxing's but it actually worked very fluent combining both buttons, and motion controls like No More Heroes did with it's combat system, so the game felt reletively smooth and wasn't over reliant on either buttons or motion controls.The fitness board was a different story. I only used it on several occasions, however simply put it took my worries of Punch Out being over reliant on one form of controls and gave it a spread gun. As long as you avoid the fitness board scheme you shouldn't have any trouble with the controls and I suggest giving the nunchuk style a shot if you become a touch bored of the Wiimote style. The single player mode of the game is arguably my favorite of the entire Punch Out series. You basically fight each opponent, one by one, trying to become the champ, occasionally watching short, amusing, montages, that show your character Little Mac jogging behind Dr.Louis's bicycle in a pink jump suit, and most of all trying to memorize your opponent's fight patterns and ways to avoid their there attacks. It's this that makes Punch Out like a fun cross between a fighting game and puzzle game that requires you to stay on your toes. If you've played the old school Punch Out titles before you'll probably breeze through the first career mode circuits, but when it gets to title defense mode that's when the challenges become interesting. It's here where you need to defend your belt and refight the opponents you've fought before but this mode will feature them boasting faster and more difficult to memorize fight patterns, and for some even protective armor that stops you from punching them at a certain point. For example your first fight in title defense is like in the career mode against Glass Joe, only now wearing a helmet. This keeps you from being able to make any attacks to his head unless it's a star punch, Joe also has faster moves, doesn't let you mindlessly Punch Him as much, and has two annoying hook Punch's that look similar, but move at much different rates of speed. I'm not kidding when I say this but this actually made Glass Joe the boxer ridiculed by all fans of video games as a whimp moderately difficult. Yea I still beat him my first try but that's not to say he didn't knock me to the ground. It's also when I see the title defense mode that I get mad at fans who constantly ranted on about the games small roster. The characters moves change so much in title defense mode compared to their career mode counter parts they practically are different characters as far as moveset goes. The multiplayer experience isn't all that bad either, but it feels sort of...meh. At the very least though, I was able to get my younger brother who regularily won't play any game, but World of Warcraft to play me in it, which is an impressive feat only SSBB has done before. In multiplayer You play as two different Little Macs on a split screen, trying to Punch each other out. The Punches you make are a lot more laggy, than the ones in single player, but the game itself is very balanced, and if you can Punch your opponents enough times, the character you operate will increase in size and strength becoming Giga Mac! Still the multiplayer probably won't be the highlight of your experience in the game. I myself am more than willing to accept this though, after all games nowadays need the single player experience Punch Out Wii offers, just don't use it's multiplayer as the main gaming event if you have a party with multiple friends. Graphics The Graphics are pretty basic cell shade styled visuals, however the textures are all very colorful and appealing to the eye, and the massively oversized opponents you fight are comedically designed to stereo type the country that character is from like all the previous Punch Out titles. I really liked the work the game designers did with the camera angles of the game as well. Despite the game being 2 demensional, every time I knocked an opponent to the ground and saw the camera move to another side of the ring, to show the bruised face of my opponent, with Little Macs shadow glooming next to him waiting for him to get up, I couldn't help but feel a nice sense of 3-D visual awe. The graphics themselves are nothing special but the cutscenes and camera angles more than gets the job done. Sound/Music What can I say about the sound except it's AWSOME! The main battle theme is a well remixed version of the origional Punch Out theme GUITAR STYLE! Every time you win a fight you'll hear another timeless song from the origional Punch Out, but remixed to specify the theme/country of the opponent you just fought and the music in the game overall just gives a wonderous Punch Out vibe! Life Span I can safely say fans will rejoice at the optional challenges you're given. Once you've defeated an opponent you can refight them in an exibition match, just now with a different goal to achieve other than knocking the opponent out. Some times the objective won't even be to win in a certain way but just to say star punch the opponent with three stars, or find all their one punch knock out weak points. Each opponent including their career and title defense mode counterparts have three different challenges to complete. No longer will Punch Out fans be forced to expand the length they play the games with just speed runs and no hit runs (And if you get bored of the challenges you can always try that as well). Despite these challenges, though, this may not be a game you spend the most time on but it'll keep you busy and the work will always be sweet. Overall despite Punch Out Wii's lack of Mike Tyson or the word Super in it's title, it is a very complete package of a game. I won't compare it to Punch Out's previous titles since that could easily lead to a fist fight arguing which is better, but I will say it lives up to the Punch Out name. I can't see much point in saying this bit, since if you are a veteran fan you've probably already brought it by now, but regardless if you have played and liked a previous Punch Out installment you'll like this game there's no doubt. If you haven't played Punch Out and are afraid you may not like it you should slam your head into a nearby wall for even thinking such a thought (I'm only joking...a little), Or I suppose you could check out the origional Mike Tyson's Punch Out on the Virtual Console for $5.00 dollars, then realize what a moron you are for thinking you may not like it, and THEN buy Punch Out Wii. Anyways constructive criticism is welcome, just don't make it all be about grammar, I'm well aware my grammar is terrible. Next time I'll review.....whatever I want to (possibly Assasin's Creed though).
	SWORDS FTW!! I refuse to remove this awsome pic, below, till I have No More Heroes Desperate Struggle "Lets search for that exit they call paradise"


bob8972	Oct 30 2009, 05:51 PM Post #2
Junior Gamer Posts: 70 Group: Members Member #89 Joined: March 30, 2009	What? A bunch of different reviews, by different people? Yea... Good review btw



YoshiSan	Nov 2 2009, 06:39 PM Post #3
NV's martial arts expert , lousy tactician, and sword lover Posts: 202 Group: Moderators Member #42 Joined: November 18, 2008	Hmm well this topic has recieved a lot less participation than I was hoping for. Regardless thank you bob. Here's my Assassin's Creed review Review Assassin's Creed I feel the best way to start this review is to first praise the Assassin's Creed's story. Assassin's Creed is a open world, 3rd person, stealth game, starring Desmond Miles, a bartender apparently containing ancestory of an assassin from the crusades. At the beginning of the story he's kidnapped, by a strange group of research physicists, who apparently have created a device that reads the memories of people's ancestors by exploring their genetic code, and use him as an experiment by exploring the memories of his ancestor Altair. It's a pretty creative premise for a game's plot and as far as story goes it gets the job done in making it interesting. Plus the fact that they didn't make this game another Tenchu (stealth ninja game) rip off, alone shows that there's a lot of creative potential for the game. Gameplay It's hard to put into words my view of Assassin's Creed gameplay. It's quite a mixed bag, it does many things good, but has a fair share of flaws at the same time. The combat isn't necessarily broken, however once you've gotten the ability to counter opponents you can take out any number of gaurds easily, and you don't really have a wide array of moves/counterattacks to perform. I believe part of the combat systems feeling of repetativness is the fact, that about half way through the game you no longer gain any more new weapons to use. Although that's not to say the combat is entirely boring, lodging a throw knife into the throat or a unaware gaurd never seems to get old, and although there isn't a wide variety of counter attacks they're at the very least stylish. Still the combat overall seemed to be slightly lacking, but what does combat matter in a game based mainly around stealth. The sneaking aspects of the game felt a lot more polished. You have a gauge that warns you if gaurds are watching you, or are suspicious about you. If your cover does end up getting blown, there are vigilantes who'll assist you by blocking the gaurds, many spots to hide, and multiple ways to nip off gaurds like a true assassin while they chase you. Although that's not to say there aren't obstacles that keep you from avoiding gaurds, beggars will come up to you and follow you around like nats, and bums will attempt to push you. Both of these distraction are annoying beyond belief, but they at the very least give you a bit more challenge. My only real complaint is the blend ability. I don't understand how gaurds can suddenly assume you're a killer by watching you walk past them, yet will pay much less attention to you if you push the A button and walk at a slightly slower pace and believe me, having to move at such a depressinly slow pace will easily, keep you from the much more enjoyable moments of the game. There are nine missions throughout the game, and in each one you need to go to a city, gain information by, pick pocketing, interogating, ease dropping, and assisting your informers with their work. All while saving citizens from corrupt gaurds. Although it sounds like there is a wide variety of things to do, the game has loads of repatition. The objectivess you need to do each mission are usually very similar to the ones you've done before. This feeling of repatition is worsened, when you notice that not only does each citizen you save say practically the same thing all of them say, but also that you visit only three cities throughout the nine missions. Since each assassination takes place in different parts of the cities this wouldn't be so bad, but every new place in the city looks pretty much the same, save for the mission you need to go to the city harbor to kill your target. Though inspite of this heavy repatition and distinct flaws the gameplay for Assasin's Creed overall works very well. Stealthily moving by gaurds, or simply dispatching all of them, to take out your target hit man style is always the most enjoyable highlight for me, and scaling the roof tops, while jumping from building to building makes Assassin's Creed one of those games where just moving around in your big open world can deliver hours of entertainment. Graphics The graphics are very good. They're the type of realistic graphics that don't see realism as a giant, grey, grit fest. The environments look remarkably good, especially when on the roof tops, and adds very well to the atmosphere of the game. The characters are also quite well designed. Sound/Music The music you hear in this game may not be the most noticable, but when the music does start playing it will convey the mood of your situation perfectly. If your cover has been blown and you're now trying to escape some gaurds, you'll hear that song and be sucked into the game, believing you're REALLY being chased by gaurds. The well done voice acting, and satisfaction you feel in hearing a soldier scream before he dies makes the game all the more emersive. My only real critique to the voice acting is Altair's voice. He's suppose to be some assassing who lived during the crusades, yet he sounds like someone you'd meet at an American Home Depot. He doesn't have a accent, like any of the other characters you meet when exploring Mile's memories and it just seems unnatural. Life Span It's here where I once again have a mixed bag of feelings about the direction Ubisoft took in making Assassin's Creed. Playing through the story alone probably gives it a fair life span, and there's a variety of achievements to complete. However it's here where that big bag of mixed feeling comes in. Although many of the achievements such as throwing 25 different bums, and killing all targets with a full health bar are fun to complete, Other achievements like collecting all of 'this' countries flags, feels absolutely repetative. If you're an achievement whore though, you probably won't care since you're the type of person who'll tackle any pitiful achievement no matter how boring or repatitious, but I personally don't understand how completing random tasks that will easily waste 3 hours of your day sounds like an appealing idea. Once again though you'll still probably come back for more in assassin's creed, especially since you can get loads of enjoyment out of simply moving throughout the rooftops. Although Assassin's Creed had it's fair share of flaws, it also had loads of good to it too and it certainly isn't a bad game. The story, setting, and atmosphere was unique, origional, and kept me coming back to play it more and more just to find out what would happen. My opinion on the game, is the same opinion I have for No More Heroes. It's far from perfect, but it's unique, different, and still really dang fun play. Speaking of which like No More Heroes, Assassin's Creed's sequel looks absolutely brilliant, and something that will heavily improve upon the series. I'll be eagerly awaiting that game when the time comes.
	SWORDS FTW!! I refuse to remove this awsome pic, below, till I have No More Heroes Desperate Struggle "Lets search for that exit they call paradise"


YoshiSan	Nov 14 2009, 05:04 PM Post #4
NV's martial arts expert , lousy tactician, and sword lover Posts: 202 Group: Moderators Member #42 Joined: November 18, 2008	Well it's been awhile since I've recieved any replies so I might as well give another review. Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii) When Muramasa was unvieled I was very pleased with how the gameplay and graphics looked. However I was also concerned that the story would be paper thin and that the gameplay might get somewhat stale since it appeared to be nothing but slashing. These worries however left me the instant I started playing, not only did the story feel like a wonderous Japanese Shinto Mythological esque tale (The sort of story I like), but the gameplay is probably one of the most well varied combat system I've ever seen in a brawler hack n slash style game. Gameplay Muramasa follows two storylines, one of a young amnesiac ninja named Kisuke, and Momohime a young girl possessed by a spirit. Your primary/only weapons are swords. The blades come with their own attack power, and are either light weight so they combo faster, but do less damage or very heavy and combo slower but do more damage. Each sword also has it's own special move that drains the blades soul gauge, blocking attacks will also decrease the swords soul gauge, and eventually break it if you block too many attacks or projectiles. Fortunately all you need to do to restore a sword is resheathe it and pull out another one until it's soul gauge becomes restored. When you switch out a sword if you've waited long enough many times you'll have the chance to unleash a powerful first strike which will damage all enemies on the screen. The game lets you use the Wiimote, Classic Controller, or the GC controller depending on your preference. Not only do you have many options for your ideal control scheme the combat is great too. The battle system leaves you many choices during a fight you can simply choose to slash the enemy till he falls, use special moves till they fall assuming the soul gauge of your sword is high enough, attack them in the air, continue switching out swords and using first strikes on opponents, deflect their projectiles, recover using items, ect. Although that's not to say everthing in the game is perfect the jumping mechanic feels somewhat awkward since you jump with the D pad as opposed to using a button, and there is LOADS of back tracking in the game, if you want to reach your destination, and many times with only a small handfull of fights you'll encounter. The game also lacks coop however these are all very nit pick critiques, and the overall gameplay is not held back by these. Graphics Now lets discuss the graphics. I've never been one to give a bit about graphics (no pun intended), however even I have to say the ones in Demon Blade are gorgeous. It follows a similar hand drawn art style to that of Odin Sphere a previous game made by the same developers of Muramasa. The environments are so beautiful it almost makes the backtracking in the game fun, after all you can't admire the background when fighting back waves of enemies. You'll just have to play the game to understand the wonderous the visual quality it contains. Sound Along with the graphics the sound is also well composed. The songs change depending on the region your in but all are nice to listen to, and fit the feel of their seperate environments very well. Not all the tunes are incredibly memorable but there are several I'd like to listen or see remixed. Lifespan As for the life span of the game it follows three different difficulties. Muso mode is the easiest which focuses more on leveling than actually becoming good at combat. I recommend it towards RPG lovers. Shura mode takes a much more active approach towards the game and forces you to block and strategize more, this difficulty I recommend to anyone who misses that rush you'd feel when playing Contra on the NES. Then theres Shigurui mode the most difficult mode of them all which needs to be unlocked by playing through the game once. This is a difficulty I don't recommend to people who take the game lightly and advise only the determined play. With all three of these widely varying difficulties, loads of area to explore, and plenty of swords to collect this could easily keep you busy if you're a determined gamer like me and like multiple genres of gaming. Final thoughts I've seen lots of games in my time that attempt to satisfy more than one intended audience and only rarely have any of them succeeded. Muramasa however is one of those games that does succeed, I suggest looking into it.
	SWORDS FTW!! I refuse to remove this awsome pic, below, till I have No More Heroes Desperate Struggle "Lets search for that exit they call paradise"


1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)


« Previous Topic · The Arcade · Next Topic »