End of Eternity (Resonance of Fate) - TGS Hands-on Impressions

End of Eternity, to be known as Resonance of Fate outside of Japan, is a forthcoming strategy/RPG game with guns a plenty. It’s being developed by tri-Ace (the Star Ocean series) and published by SEGA (Sonic Unleashed). I had a chance to play the 15 minute demo at TGS on the Xbox 360 (EOE will also be on the PS3) and I came away with mixed impressions. The layout of the demo was relatively straight forward: move from one area to another whilst following a linear path, using your three characters to defeat a succession of enemies, which culminated in a boss showdown.

End of Eternity mixes aspects from a number of different games and genres, and from what I could tell from the 15 minute playable demo, it does so relatively successfully. Combat is a partially real-time affair, where by making use of angles and positioning yourself between your other characters, you can pull off satisfying combos which see you jumping through the air effortlessly, wielding your dual guns. The battles moved quickly and smoothly, and despite not being entirely confident with the set up, I always felt in control. The battle system was certainly fluid and allowed the player free roam of the enclosed level. However, the enemies were relatively dull and generic, and seemed quite content to do the same attack over and over.

The combat areas were a succession of small enclosures, with an industrial, steam punk feel. Upon vanquishing one set of foes, you ran to the highlighted exit, which in turn transported you through to the next area. There was no room for exploration in this set up, but there was no indication if the whole game would be like this or if other parts would play out in a less linear fashion.

As anyone who has seen the current trailer will know, EOE is rather stylish in its presentation, and puts a great deal of stock in the balletic gunplay of the leads. The character animations are impressive, but the in-game levels were bare and uninspiring for a current generation title and there was an abundance of grey throughout. Bloody steam-punk!

My brief experience with the demo left me interested in, if not entirely sold upon End of Eternity. There is certainly a great deal of potential, and the game mechanics are pretty sound, but its just not quite there yet. Give it a while, and maybe it will become the game that people are hoping for.


ODDS & ENDS

Two final thoughts on TGS, both hardware related :

Of the hundreds of Xbox360s that were up and running during the 4 days of TGS, I wonder how many red-ringed? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to learn the failure rate of the consoles that were working overtime during that extended weekend? I’m sure it’s the kind of information that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo would want to keep very close to their chest. I did notice that every 360 I saw was accompanied by a large external fan.

What happens to all the consoles and peripherals that were in use during the show? Are all the controllers disinfected and used again for the next industry show, or are they simply discarded? These are the kinds of questions that keep me awake at night!

TGS 2009 – PSP Go and Little Big Planet Portable Hands-on Impressions

At Tokyo Game Show on Thursday and Friday, I had two relatively brief opportunities to get my hands on the forthcoming PSP Go, due October 1st in the US and EU, and 1st November in Japan. My first hands-on was 3 minutes spent playing Gran Turismo, whilst the PSP was attached to a Sony employee by an elastic cord! It was rather off putting trying to play the Go whilst connected to a full grown woman, so I couldn’t really come to any sort of conclusion about the system.

However, the next day I was afforded a second chance to play 15 minutes of Little Big Planet on the lilliputian Go, and this time I was only attached to the playing stand, which made proceedings that much easier. I’ll start with some thoughts on LBP, which thankfully remains as fun and as charming as its home console brethren. The available stage had an Outback setting and contained all the gameplay elements that any fan of the original will be acutely familiar with: jumping, seesaws, swinging from objects and lots of pushing and dragging boxes. It all seemed well and good, though some of the problems that plagued the original were still present, most notably the fiddliness of moving between the foreground and background of the levels. Still, I am happy to report that all seems to be well in the strange universe of LBP.

As for the PSP Go, it’s a mixed bag. My main concern, the relative proximity of the face buttons, was a negligible problem at best. I didn’t have cause to use the d-pad, but simultaneously using the analogue nub and the face buttons was comfortable and easy. The system fits nicely in the palm, and does look the bees-knees. And although the screen is slightly smaller than the PSP 3000, it didn’t impact my enjoyment in any way, and to be honest, I didn’t really notice the difference.

However, one problem did rear its ugly head, and made me sour on the system considerably. Whilst using the analogue nub, face and shoulder buttons is easy, and surprisingly comfortable, my remaining six fingers were forced into a rather un-natural and uncomfortable position at the rear of the unit. Due to the significantly reduced size, my fingers were forced to interlock and overlap, which caused some minimal discomfort, which I can only imagine would be magnified over a longer playing session. I must stress here that I did only play for around 15 minutes, and I could only remove the Go so far from its display stand, as for security reasons it was attached by a short cord, thus I didn’t have the freedom of movement that I would have liked. Still, it’s definitely a concern.

Alongside my hands-on session, Sony’s backtracking on original statements suggesting there would be some sort of goodwill program, allowing the existing base of PSP users to trade in their UMDs for their digital counterparts, has led me to drastically change my tune concerning the Go. Add the high price point into the equation, as well as some worrying, though granted, limited rumblings that some retailers are refusing to carry it, and I really cannot justify picking one up for now.

I think the PSP Go is a brave and logical move by Sony. I can foresee it achieving a certain level of popularity initially, being a smart looking portable that has appeal for an audience that always welcomes new gadgets. But, I struggle to envision it sustaining any sort of continued success, particularly if Sony is unable, or unwilling to shift their position on a goodwill UMD exchange programme.

Hands-on Impressions From Tokyo Game Show - Day 2, part 2

Ok, here is part two of my TGS Day 2 round-up. The first part of day 2 can be found here. Day 1 is here.

Bayonetta

SEGA were on fine form at this year’s TGS. Alongside Bayonetta, Valkyria Chronicles 2 and End of Eternity which were playable and the Yakuza 4 mammoth preview constituted a very successful showing for SEGA and its partners. I was fortunate enough to get some behind the scenes time with Platinum Games’ Bayonetta, which meant I could play for longer, and avoided the queues on the main floor. I was a happy man! As for the game, the combat is absolutely frantic. Although it’s certainly more than reminiscent of Devil May Cry, I would say it goes a step beyond. During the first section I played, Bayonetta is fighting a collection of demons on a huge clock face, which has evidently fallen from a huge tower, and is now tumbling through the air. With so much going on, and so many OTT moves available, you would think it would run the risk of trying to do too much, yet I always felt in full control of the combat. It’s extremely pretty and it also sounded great. My only concern is, when playing through the whole game, will the frantic style begin to wear thin and become a little too repetitive, as I found to be the case in the Devil May Cry series. However, in a short burst at least, Bayonetta proves to be highly entertaining and worthy of the hype.

Monster Hunter Tri

My knowledge and experience of the Monster Hunter series is extremely limited. But, upon entering the Capcom demonstration room, in a hotel across the street from the main convention, I was ushered into a 4 player co-op game of the forthcoming western instalment of Monster Hunter Tri. It was fun trying to take down a massive beast with my fellow hunters, and I can certainly see the appeal of the concept. The guy who was leading us through waxed lyrical about the system of upgrades and special moves peculiar to each class, and it all sounded suitably impressive. However, it was not without its faults. It wasn’t exactly the prettiest game in the world, even for the Wii, and the slightly bumbling controls were less forgivable on a home console than they are on a PSP.

Samurai Spirits

SNK’s latest instalment is coming to the Xbox360. It all seemed ok, though I barely played it for more than 2 minutes. Truth be told, I had to play one more game at the 360 booth to receive these fetching badges (pictured), and SS was the only game that had no wait!

Biohazard: The Darkside Chronicles

I had two opportunities to play the follow up to Umbrella Chronicles, once at the Capcom booth and the other in the aforementioned press room. This afforded me the chance to explore levels from all three of the scenarios (Resident Evil 2, Code Veronica and a new narrative following Leon and Krauser), which all played in a very similar fashion to its predecessor, which I viewed as extremely good news, as I thoroughly enjoyed UC. The zombies seemed a little less susceptible to bullets this time round, there is a nice array of enemies and Capcom have once again ensured that the on-rails gameplay is supported by a strong narrative. I only had one real gripe, that being the overly wobbly and disorientating camera, which attempts to build suspense but ends up leaving you feeling a little travel sick. Otherwise, it’s another sound entry into the Resi series, and one that I will be picking up when it’s released in November.

Darkside Chronicles also provided one of the funnier moments of the two days. I played co-op with one of the girls at the Capcom booth, and she seemed rather impressed when I turned down her advice to play the demo on easy setting, inside opting for normal! Anyway, she held her own throughout the game, but pulled back at certain points to allow me to fully experience the game. However, her competitive nature quickly shone through, as time and time again she raced to pick up new weapons from the foreground before I had time to even register their presence! Oh well, I guess she needed something to keep herself amused after two days of playing the same game over and over again.

Ryu Ga Gotoku 4 – Yakuza 4

The extended trailer was definitely one of the highlights of the show, as well as being one of the highest profile Japanese titles featured. A good ten minutes longer than the trailer that I have seen doing the rounds online, it was as impressive as it was loud. Led into a closed-off theatre in the SEGA booth and greeted by hostess models, we were treated to a trailer which covered the 4 main characters, the story, combat, setting, product placement, available extra curricular activities and the voice talent. The story follows four main protagonists through their life on the streets of a pseudo-Shinjuku, and was as bloody as it was exciting. The combat is as crazy and unrealistic as previous instalments, and the cut scenes demonstrated an impressive eye for detail, and were a real graphical achievement. One scene that particularly stood out depicts one of the leads, a dangerous looking, hulking assassin, entering a Ramen store full of goons, which he proceeds to light up Desperado style with his vast array of pistols, one of which he keeps clasped between his teeth. Of course there are the obligatory past-time activities to keep you amused, like karaoke, bowling and visiting a hostess bar, and the create a hostess mode looks like it will provide hours of fun. A bearded hostess anyone?! The whole thing was extremely film like, and with the recent announcement that Yakuza 3 is getting an English translation, we may allow ourselves to be optimistic, that in time Yakuza 4 will follow suit.

More Lost Planet 2

Yes, I played it again, though this time I had a go at a different portion of the game. As I previously blogged about here LINK, on day 1 I played the 4 player co-op where you aim to take down a gigantic beast, in a very Monster Hunter style. It’s the same monster you take down at the end of the demo available on the PS3 store, and I absolutely love it. This time around, I played a 4 on 4 capture the flag type mode, which was also highly enjoyable, although wasn’t nearly as fun as taking down the beast in the first co-op demo.

Quantum Theory

Tecmo's venture into the realm of Gears of War clones was extremely forgettable. I applaud Tecmo for trying their hand at something a little different, for them at least, but the game has too many issues at present for me to be more optimistic. The concept of organic surroundings that shift according to your movements sounds very promising, but was not immediately evident in the demo. Graphically, its unimpressive, the combat was fiddly and unresponsive and it tried to ape GOW more than I was comfortable with.

Game Bar A-Button

As you may have guessed, this isn’t a game, but a bar. Myself, thedogbarks and a friend visited in the evening, had a couple of drinks, shot the shit with the owner and played yet more games. It’s a nice place to wind down in the evening, and is a 5 minute walk away from Akihabara. Well worth checking out, though due to its small size, you can’t always guarantee that you’ll get in.


So that was day 2, and I still have plenty more posts up my sleeve, including my reactions on the PSP Go, MGS Peace Walker and a picture blog. I’m currently debating as to whether I should brave the crowds tomorrow for one last visit. Deep down, I already know the answer.

Hands-on Impressions From TGS - Day 2, part 1

So day two is done and dusted, and the busy public days have just begun. I’m currently sitting at my computer, in my Saturn t-shirt, press pass dangled round my neck, now rendered useless, mourning the passing of two of the most enjoyable days of my time spent in Japan. It’s back to reality on Monday, with a possible brief return to TGS on Sunday, but in the meantime, here is the first half of my TGS Day 2 round-up. Part 2 will follow later today, with a look at the PSP Go, a picture journal of events and loads more impressions from TGS to follow shortly.


Uncharted 2

My first point of call for day 2 was Uncharted 2. As soon as the doors opened, I made a bee-line for the Sony booth, where I was able to sit straight down and get into my most anticipated game of the year. I know its near release, has a popular and widely available multiplayer beta, and has already garnered sparkling reviews, but I just couldn’t resist the chance to sink my teeth into the singleplayer a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. Set in the already familiar 5th stage, in a war-torn town, events unfold with Nathan Drake being chased down an alley by a runaway truck, and moves into a shoot-out and climbing section. The stage adequately demonstrated Drake’s combat and climbing techniques and was an absolute tour de force. And for the record, the water effects are excellent once again, with water realistically rippling, and leaving our protagonist’s clothes drenched. It was just a shame that, playing the JPN version, I wasn’t treated to the voice of Drake as I know it. It’s not exactly breaking news, but Uncharted 2 positively oozes charm.

Assassins Creed 2

First off, the demo had a really nice set up, with an English speaking member of staff demonstrating the controls and answering any questions I had, in full. I jokingly asked him how many times he had played through this section of the game, and he informed me “about 100 times”, with a smile. As for the actual game, there was only so much I could garner from the Venetian level. The climbing and diving head first off a building remain as exhilarating as before, but there were some very evident problems with the collision detection and the combat remains quite limited, especially considering that Ezio is supposed to be a multi-skilled assassin.

The first new feature that the demo guy wanted to show me was that you can now swim, the omission of which he was quick to admit was a little strange and frustrating in the first game. Obviously, this is quite helpful considering you are plying your trade in Venice! Another welcome new feature was the ability to earn money, which you can use to buy the services of onlookers. For example, you can hire a couple of fetching ladies, or strong armed thugs to cause a distraction to aid you in your endeavours. Graphically, the game looked a little rough around the edges, which is a concern consider how close it is to release. Overall, from what I saw and experienced first hand, Assassin’s Creed 2 is sure to please fans of the original, but is unlikely to win over its original detractors.

PSP Go and Little Big Planet

I was able to spend more time with the PSP Go on day 2. I have a few things to say about it, so I will save it alongside LBP portable, for the post after next.

End of Eternity

Initially, this was not a game that I was particularly interested in. However, I will soon be contributing to a UK based website, more on that soon, and they wanted some information about tri-Ace/Sega’s forthcoming RPG strategy gun-fest. End of Eternity, to be known in the West as Resonance of Fate, mixes aspects from a number of different games and genres, and from what I could tell from the 15 minute playable demo, did so relatively successfully. Combat is a quite straightforward, real-time affair, and by making use of angles, and positioning yourself between your other characters, you can pull off satisfying combos. It’s stylish in its presentation, though the in-game levels were quite bare and uninspiring for a PS3 and 360 title. Although very linear in its design, moving from one predetermined arena to the next, it was enjoyable and displayed a great deal of potential. We will just have to wait and see if it fulfils it.



I will post the rest of my day 2 round-up in the next couple of hours, where I will touch upon the Yakuza 4 video, Bayonetta and Biohazard – Darkside Chronicles amongst others.

Hands-on Impressions From Tokyo Game Show - Highlights From Day 1

Day one of Tokyo Game Show was as hectic as it was entertaining. From playable demos, and non-event keynotes, to golden thrones (sorry about the last post HERE) and SEGA Saturn t-shirts, it was absolutely a day well spent.

I’m a little pressed for time at the moment, with another early start ahead of me for day 2, so what follows are a few of my musings concerning day 1 of TGS. I will post in a lot more detail over the weekend and share the vast array of photos that I have been taking.


The Sony Keynote

The first part of the day for most of us, and a slightly disappointing one at that. There were no big announcements, and aside from a few interesting sound bytes from SCEI CEO Kazuo Hirai, there was nothing new. Kaz Hirai merely recapped Sony’s performance of late, stressed the importance of network and interactive entertainment, waxed lyrical about Little Big Planet, waved around a glow stick/motion control wand and talked about his dreams of video games that respond to your emotions. I will write about this in a bit more detail over the weekend.

God of War 3

I’m a big fan of the first two games, so I was positively chomping at the bit to finally have a go at the third installment. So I joined the back of the queue and prepared myself for a longish wait. An hour and 20 minutes later, and I was well and truly sick and tired of seeing Kratos pull out a Cyclops’ eye on loop, on a screen overhanging us waiting punters. Finally I was summoned behind an ominous black curtain, only to be ushered into a second, but much shorter queue!

Anyway, eventually I got my grubby hands on the game, and I have to say, I was a little under-whelmed. The gameplay was standard GOW fair, and there was a certain amount of graphical polish, but it just didn’t seem to come together. Granted, it was only a 15 minute demo, but it left me just a little less excited about its March 2010 release. Of particular concern is the dodge/roll command which is controlled by the right analogue stick. It was very difficult and disorientating to pull-off when used in tandem with other buttons.

Ninja Gaiden Σ2

Now this was more like it. A brisk 30 second wait over at the PlayStation booth, and I was playing a surprisingly entertaining PS3 title. I have never played a Ninja Gaiden game, so I had very few expectations and came out thoroughly impressed. The main character moves very smoothly and effortlessly, gracefully jumping from one enemy to the next, severing a leg here, and an arm there. It also featured some rather impressive backdrops, from modern rooftops to a river lined with cherry trees in blossom. Tecmo, you have my attention.

Lost Planet 2

Now, this was very, very good. An all too brief co-op with four players, but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless, Capcom have seemingly taken the approach of making a Monster Hunter clone, but with guns, and it comes across really well. Looks to be the ideal co-op games to play with friends, and its 2010 release is now firmly on my radar. Far and away the most fun demo I played all day.

Metal gear Solid - Peace Walker

This game received by far the most floor space at the Konami booth, with the Raiden led MGS Rising being notable only in its absence. Upon joining the line, we entered a small staircase, where we were greeted by a merc barking tongue-in-cheek orders. We were then led into a cargo crate full of screens and USB cables, where we were able to download the TGS demo of MGS PW to our own PSP, to take away and enjoy. I have only had a brief go, during my long wait for GOW3, but I will be dedicating an entire post to a review once I have had a chance to play it through more thoroughly.

Valkyria Chronicles 2

I loved the original, so I jumped at the chance to try SEGA’s sequel on the PSP. Sony had dedicated a large portion of their booth to the PSP, with a number of games available to play on a raised platform overseeing the show floor. Anyway, fans of VC will be happy to hear that this is more of the same, and I mean that in a good way. Despite the overwhelming number of kanji, I had no problem navigating the screens and taking the enemy’s base. The story book style graphics are still present, as are the central game mechanics, but as for the narrative, a real strength of the first game, the trailer didn’t reveal any new details.

PSP Go

I had the briefest of goes with Sony’s new, and apparently improved, PSP. A number of women from the Sony booth were walking around with a PSP attached to their belt by an elastic cord. They made for a rather oversized strap/accessory! I played Gran Turismo, and the proximity of the button layout didn’t cause me any problems. However, I spent far too short a time playing to give any real verdict, so I will try to get more of an extended session with the Go, elastic cord and Sony employee, tomorrow (which has now become today as I’m writing this!).

Final Fantasy XIII

It’s everything you would expect it to be, playing smoothly and looking amazing. Though I have to say, my gasps of awe were saved for the final screen of the demo, which revealed the price point of ¥8800, before tax! I had the chance to play through two short sections of the game, with two different characters, which were centered on a series of short fights. Instead of glossing over the experience, this is another post that I will save for the weekend.


So all in all, it was a great day, and a real eye opener. My plans for tomorrow are:

Buy those SEGA Saturn T-shirts
Take more pictures
Play Uncharted 2, the new Okami game, Heavy Rain, Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, Assassin’s Creed and some of the smaller, lesser known titles on show.

For now, I better get some rest. Be sure to check back tomorrow.