Stella Glow Review

Stella Glow is a turn based JRPG game published by Atlas for the 3DS.

Stella Glow takes place in the world of Regnant, where song was a form of magic that allowed the world of prosper, however it also brought war to the world. God saw the foolishness of humans and took the power of song away. Only witches can sing in this world and they are seen as an omen of disaster.

Here enters you an amnesiac boy by who is given the name Alto by the girl who first found you named Lisette. After some time you became the best hunter in the village of Mithra. But one day you hear a mysterious sound that turns out to be a song sung by a witch. The song was slowly turning the village and its inhabitants to crystal. As you and Lisette fight the witch and her follower, Lisette gains the powers of a witch. You become what is known as a “tuner” in that world. You help control Lisette control her abilities and fight off the witch. As the knights of Regnant arrive you are placed under watch due to Lisette’s transformation. As you figure out that witches are popping up all across the world you are sent on a journey to recruit them to your cause of defeating the evil witch and her followers.

This is an extremely awesome game that harkens back to the age of turn based JRPG games like Final Fantasy.

Undertale….. so many feels edition

Undertale is a top down RPG. It is reminiscent of old school 8 bit games. The interesting thing that it does the old rpg battle system spiced with a mini bullet hell in order to avoid damage. Instead of the traditional battles you may have against enemies you have the ability to spare your enemies through the mercy option. You can go through the entire game without killing a single monster.

The story of the games is extremely touching. You play as a child who was playing in a forest but fell down a hole that led down to the world of monsters. Then you are taken in by the motherly Toriel who only wants to protect you, but you are adamant on going home and thus begins your adventure. The monsters in this world aren’t necessarily evil except for the creepy flower

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Undertale is filled with a cast of memorable characters that embody certain tropes in videogame and tv. 

Overall I give this game a 9.5/10. The replayability is certainly lacking a bit in that department but the experience of going through the pacifist route and genocide route are worth the low price. The games soundtrack is also really great. It fits in so well with each of the characters.

Final Fantasy 14: Heavensward….. content overload edition!

Final Fantasy 14: Heavensward is the expansion to Final Fantasy: A Realm Reborn, which is made by Square Enix.

Final Fantasy 14 has had a fairly interesting history as it was originally released it was met with much anticipation, but as people played it they soon found it lack luster. Then Square Enix had the brilliant move of instead of scrapping the game, rebooting it to its current incarnation through one of the most epic means …. “destruction” of the old world and the “rebirth” of a new one. Players that stuck with the game saw the world end around them with an in game event that ended in a cutscene of you guessed it… the end of the world.

Heavensward’s story picks up where A Realm Reborn left off. You as the “Warrior of Light” must venture to the isolated city-state of Ishgard, who have been at war with the dragons of Dravania for centuries in order to seek asylum after the events of ARR (A Realm Reborn).

Heavensward brings out a boat load of new content.

• 9 New Locations
• 8 New Dungeons (initially)
• 3 New Trials (Initially)
• New 8-man Raid Alexander (currently 4 floors released)
• 24 Man Raid on the way named Void Ark
• 3 New Classes: Astrologian(Healer), Dark Knight(Tank), Mechanist(Ranged Physical DPS)
• Flying System in Heavensward Area’s
• New Race: Au Ra
• Level Cap raised to 60

From what you see there is a ton of new content. As of Patch 3.1: As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness there is additional content released

This new patch bring in:

• 2 New Dungeons: Saint Mociannes Arbortoreum (Aurum Vale 2.0) and Pharos Sirius Hard Mode
• New 24 Man Raid Void Ark
• Continuation in the Heavensward Story line
• New mini game in the Golden Saucer – Lord of Verminion
• Improvments to classes such as the update to the Ninja classes Mudras (Handsigns)
• New Beastman Tribe faction quests
• 8 man Trial : The Minstrel’s Ballad: Thordan’s Reign
• The new Exploration mission : The Diadem

Halo 5: Guardians…. holy 60FPS edition

Halo 5: Guardians is the long awaited sequel to Halo 4, which started off what is known as the “Reclaimer Saga”. Halo 5’s campaign will start off 8 months after the events of Halo 4. One of the most greatest things about it is that it runs at a almost constant 60FPS making for smooth game play.

*SPOILER ALERT FOR HALO 4: After the death of Cortana, Master Chief is stricken with grief but continues his work against the covenant remnants. He searches for the only one who could possibly bring her back, Doctor Halsey his “mother”. END OF SPOILERS*

Halo 5 brings in some new content besides story. Warzone is the new multiplayer mode in Halo 5, where there is still the original 8 vs 8 , red vs blue , but with the addition of AI controlled covenant. Warzone lets you use a special system called the Requisition Cards. These cards are used to bring in special weapons, vehicles, and the use of special abilities.
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Halo 5 also brings in a new multiplayer mode called “Break Out”, which is their version of a mode than can be played in e-sports. It is a 3vs3  or 4vs4 game mode with each player having a single life in a match, first team to 5 wins. It is by far one of the most hectic game modes because of how every person alive on your team makes the difference between a win and a lose. I would recommend this mode for those that play with friends a lot.

Halo 5 also steps up in the department of customization of characters which boasts a whopping 145 helmet, 145 chest piece, and 50 visor color variations. The custom game mode options have been updated to allow a greater amount of choices than previous games.

Currently the game is lacking its iconic “Forge” mode where custom games can be created. It is estimated to arrive in December 2015.

In all so far Halo 5 is shaping up to be a pretty great game.  8.5/10

Destiny:The Taken King Revisited…..

Its been roughly a month since I first got my hands on TTK.  It is by far the best expansion in the series. They have fixed many of the problems that once plagued the game such as constantly having  to constantly grinding to level up your weapons and gear. Now some issues that surfaced with this expansion is the lack of grandeur that was promised to us when first revealed. Dont know what im talking about?

This picture may explain it a bit but for those who dont know. This is Sleeper Simulant a exotic fusion rifle that occupies space in the heavy weapon slot. It is a call back to amazing Spartan Laser of Halo 3. But unlike its cousin this rail gun/ laser lacks the impact that is expected of it. Not only that but the gun itself is plagued by the problem of the quest to obtain it lacking some, if any grandeur to it. We were promised that to obtain this gun we would have to go on an epic “odyssey” to find the parts to obtain the gun. This was none of those…. It was at most a tedious little task without any dialogue from anything. During the entire process i was silently mourning the loss of what could have been the highlight of the expansion. After weeks and weeks of every Destiny player on the /SearchforSleeper subreddit looking for the gun through multiple conspiracy’s and harebrained theories. The gun was introduced very sneakily by Bungie by a small unassuming mission on Earth. The entire mission was silent with no words from the mysterious AI Rasputin who created the damned thing or from your single eyed companion Ghost.

Many people had poured time into figuring out the codes that were on the screens on missions to the point that they looked like they were wearing the infamous tin foil hat or like this guy…. 

Hours spent in looking for an answer that was not even there. When we thought that it would.

Definitely the lowest point within this expansion.

I will say however that the damage that the Sleeper can dish out is on par if not stronger than a shot from the venerated Gjallerhorn rocket launcher. Specifically the interesting thing about the heavy fusion rifle is that it can do critical damage if it hits the enemies critical spot. I would say that it can definitely be called Gjallerhorn 2.0 to some extent.

 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim …. Oh hey look a dargon edition

The Elder Scrolls series is a beloved franchise for many loyal Bethesda fans. The most notable games within the series are Morrowind, Oblivion and the more recent Skyrim. Skyrim was one of the most anticipated games of the year during its release.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a open world “sandbox” game where you play as “The Dragonborn”. A legend within the land of Skyrim of a being who is born into the world with  the soul of a dragon and is able use their language in battle. This is where you come in as the newest dragonborn,who has only recently come into Skyrim during the civil war between the Imperials and Stormcloaks and you have been accused of helping the rebellious Stormcloaks.

Skyrim is a game rich with story and adventure. Where you can be slaying dragons in one minute and seducing a merchant girl in the next minute. The game hosts thousands of hours of game play.

The in game character models leave much far wanted. Mainly due to how ugly most characters look inside the game.

The game also has a very thriving modding scene on the PC even after all this time. The mods range from simple re-textures and redone animations to full on dungeons and story lines. The mods range from being down right silly to being just gorgeous.

However be warned this is game is notorious for its long loading screens and laggy moments.

Review: Amazing game and a great buy on the PC. However avoid the console version of the game if all possible because half the time you are playing will be on loading screens. There are also some very buggy moments such as if you get stuck you will need to reload a previous save file. Suggested to buy this game on sale during a Steam holiday sale.

Bioshock: Infinite…. Circle edition

Bioshock Infinite is a gorgeous game set in 1912. Unlike its predecessors it does not take place in the broken down underwater utopia of Rapture. Instead it takes place in the fictional utopia in the sky’s Columbia. The game is played as a FPS with one hand holding a gun and the other hand allowing the use of special powers called “Vigors”.

In Infinite you play as Booker Dewitt a former soldier during the “battle” of wounded knee turned Pinkerton agent. He has been given the deal of retrieving a certain girl from Columbia in order to wipe away his debts.

Enter, Elizabeth our charming AI controlled heroine. She is by far one of my favorite female characters in any game. She plays a support role in combat by throwing you things that she has managed to scavenge such as salts in order to recharge your power or more ammo to shove into your enemies. Her voice actor nailed the emotions of the character spot on. The most heart wrenching scenes in the game involving her are only amplified through the voice acting.

The game does an excellent tie in to the series through its ending and DLC “Burial at Sea part 1 &2”.

The music is great with some more modern songs being interpreted as barber shop quartet songs which you must look listen for otherwise you will not notice. It definitely all fits in together to make a very cohesive game and fun experience.

Review: Excellent game. Amazing sets of characters. Definitely get it and play it if you have not already.

4.5/5

Persona 4 Dancing All Night …. Friday Night Fever Edition

Persona 4 Dancing All Night is a spin off of the popular RPG Persona 4 which was originally on the PS2 and then ported to the PSVita as Persona 4 Golden. Persona 4 Dancing All Night is a rhythm game that uses remixed songs from the Persona 4 games. It features most of the main cast of Persona 4 as playable characters.

There are 2 versions of the game. The standard and the Disco Fever edition. The Disco fever edition includes a lot of extra content such as physical copy of the soundtrack.

The game has a lot of DLC (downloadable content) such as extra costumes and songs. For a limited time they are giving out some of the DLC for free. Later on they will be releasing new playable characters such as Marie from Persona 4 Golden. They are also including a special guest character in the form of Hatsune Miku one of the many Vocaloids, which are voice synthesizers that are represented by characters with Miku as the most famous one.

The game has both a free play mode and a story mode. Each song has 3 difficulties, and they all have varying difficulties by themselves. Each character has a different style of dancing such as how Yukiko Amagi has ballet style of dancing and Naoto Shirogane has a swing style.

Review: The game is great from what I have played so far. The songs are fairly difficult but I have not gone further than easy – normal mode because I am not used to the controls for the game.

Pros

• Great soundtrack
• Great motion capture
• Easy to understand controls
• Fairly difficult to master
• Good Story mode

Cons

• Hard to get used to controls
• Lots of DLC that need you need money for
• Kinda hard to fit into the Persona 4 time line

 

The Grim Fandango:Remastered …. Plot Twist edition!

Grim Fandango:Remastered is a re-textured version of the original point and click adventure game Grim Fandango by Lucas Art. This little game is beloved by many who have played it because of its intricate story, strong and interesting characters, and the certain charm is has to it. It garnered roughly 12 awards during its first release back in 1998.

This game was originally published by Lucas Arts and was designed by Tim Schafer (the legendary creator of Psychonauts and Brutal Legends). Then between 2014-2015 Double Fine Productions along with support from Sony obtained the rights to the property following the closure and acquisition of Lucas Arts by Disney.

The game is set in the land of the dead and limbo. You play as the character Manny Calavera, who is a travel agent that deals in getting people to the after world. Those that have done nothing wrong in the living world get a swifter way to the after world, while the scum of the world take the long way there. After meeting a saintly woman named Meche, who was supposed to get the quickest way to the after world is cheated out of her ticket. Manny is sent on a mission for redemption and to save Meche along with his sidekick Glottis. The game spans 4 years in which you try to unravel the mystery of why Meche did not get her ticket on the Number 9 train and what happened to her after she left your office.

Grim Fandango is a very charming game that uses the ideas and themes of neo-noire within it. It is very much inspired by Aztec culture, specifically the celebration of the day of the dead and their belief of the after life. The characters themselves are based off of calacas, which are a form of decoration seen during the celebration of the day of the dead in Mexican culture.

Persona 4 Golden…. Social Link Madness Edition

Persona 4 Golden is an enhanced version of the original version of Persona 4 that was out on Playstation 2. This new version is currently out on the PSVITA and was released in 2012. Why am I reviewing this fairly old title. The reason being that the rhythm game Persona 4: Dancing All Night will be released at the end of this month.

Persona 4 Golden is a JRPG (Japanese Role-playing Game) where you play as the “Protagonist”, who moves in with his uncle and cousin in  the little town of Inaba, Japan. In the beginning you meet a very wide assortment of characters such as your home room teacher Kinshiro Morooka or better known as “King Moron”.  You then meet the people that your character will be spending all his time with throughout the story such as Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi. You will then meet the rest of the characters later on within the story. The fighting within the game happens within another world called the Midnight Channel in this world you can call upon a manifestation of your personality to aid you called a a Persona. As the “Protagonist” you can call upon multiple persona while the others can only call upon the one they are given. Each Persona falls under the category of one the Major Arcana of a a tarot card. Most of the main characters of the story that you interact with is also related to a certain Arcana.

The Persona Games use a system called Social Links which gauges the level of a relationship that the “Protagonist” has with another character. You use these Social Links in order to boost up the powers of the Persona’s that you have. The relationship with a character will unlock special powers the Personas have. An example would be that if you progress your Social Link with Yosuke Hanamura, who is of the Magician Arcana. His Persona will unlock a new ability and your Personas that fall under the Magician Arcana would also get a boost.

A second part of social link allows you to pursue a love relationship with one of the female characters or all of them if your feeling adventurous.

 

Persona is a highly regarded series, especially gaining popularity since Persona 3. The next installment of the Persona series is speculated to be within late 2015 and early 2016 (2016 would be most likely due to delays). Persona 5 is causing much anticipation because there hasn’t been an installment in the main Persona series since 2008 with the original Persona 4.