Monday, February 25, 2013
The 3DS is Red Effing Hot
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Games: If you’re into strategy games or old-school RPGs, the
3DS is where the action is right now
First off, I’ve put about 25hrs or so into Fire Emblem:
Awakening, and I have to say, the game definitely lives up to its reputation.
Although it appears like a standard tactics RPG at first, I love the
team-up/romance element that occurs between characters. In addition to the usual
"stand next to me and we give each other bonuses" action, this game
goes one further -- characters can actually combine into a pair and up each
other's stats based on how close their relationship is. Married couples are
pretty much unstoppable on the battlefield, no joke.
(Side note: It’s kind of a bummer that the most powerful
relationships can only be hetero, even though I honestly I didn't expect any GLBT
acceptance out of Nintendo. That said, what's the deal with bestiality being
okay? Human characters can marry rabbit or dragon shapeshifters and that's
totally fine, but not gay, lesbian or otherwise? Kind of hypocritical, if you
ask me.)
Also, one of the hallmarks of the Fire Emblem series is that
characters suffered permadeath up until Awakening. Now, the developers have
included a casual mode where instead of being gone forever, teammates are just
knocked out until the end of battle.
While some people may not approve of the
change, I'm of the opinion that casual mode is the best way to go. Why? Well,
there are a number of reasons, but the biggest one is that the writing in the
game is actually pretty damned good! Some of the exchanges between characters
are priceless, and each recruitable person has their own distinct personality
and traits. It would be a real shame to have even one of these stories end
prematurely thanks to a goof on the battlefield.
Play casual and enjoy the writing -- the game is still
plenty strategic without the permadeath!
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The next big reason to focus on the 3DS is Etrian Odyssey
IV, coming from one of my favorite publishers, Atlus.
Although it's not out at retail yet, I've had a review copy for the last
couple of days and this game is the goods. I've always been a fan of the crazy-difficult,
hardcore dungeon-crawling and do-it-yourself mapmaking that it offers, and it's
one of the few titles that genuinely gets better with each new installment.
This latest iteration is just so damn smooth in every way...
tons of concessions to make things more playable, super colorful graphics with
cute animations and great character art, an overworld to explore via airship, and
like Fire Emblem, a new casual mode which dials the difficulty back
dramatically.
Last I checked, this one hits retail tomorrow (February 26) and
I'm guessing copies are going to disappear off the shelves before you even know
it's out.
Eyes peeled!
Coming on March 19 is Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, hitting 3Ds
and WiiU.
If you've ever read this blog, then you know that I'm a hardcore MH
fan. It's one of my favorite series of all time, and I've probably spent over 700
hours with the various games altogether. I can't wait to jump into this new one
(especially since new entries in this series are quite rare in the United
States) and I'm really looking forward to some multiplayer.
If you're not a MH convert, there is a demo up on the 3DS
eShop now that you can check out, but a few words of warning – Capcom has
traditionally done an abysmal job of welcoming newcomers to the series, and
this demo is no different. It tells players absolutely nothing about how to
play the game, how to control the characters, or what players are supposed to
do. On top of that, the game needs the Circle Pad Pro peripheral in order to have an
effective camera system, and the second half of the demo takes place in the
water, which offers a whole host of challenges separate from going after
monsters on land.
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| Needed. |
Quite honestly, this demo is pretty awful and I would imagine that it will scare off a lot of people who might be interested if they actually had a proper introduction to the game. Take a peek at it if you like, but please know that this demo does not give proper perspective on what MH3U has to offer.
If you've got questions about the series or if there's
anything I can answer that might win you over for Monster Hunter, please
drop me a line and let me know. Nothing would make me happier than to see the
series finally take off in the states, and unfortunately, it seems as though
Capcom isn't doing much to help that happen. As always, it's up to fans to keep
the dream alive.
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Last but certainly not least, the good
people of Atlus have great news (again!) for fans of Shin Megami Tensei -- Soul Hackers, one of the only SMT games to
never get an English release, will finally make its way stateside on April 16,
2013.
It only took twelve or thirteen years, but hey, better late
than never, right?
Since Soul Hackers is probably the least-familiar SMT
game to English-speaking fans, Atlus sent over some character profiles and pics
to give players a little taste of what's coming… You can check 'em out below.
For more information, click on over to the official website. As a heads-up, be aware that it hits retail on April 16, and pre-orders
will receive an OST. Expect this one to be in very short supply, so if you miss
out on the goods, don't say I didn't warn you...
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| Judah SinghA Gurkha born in Nepal. He uses a saxophone-type COMP. He was raised and trained to be a warrior, and takes great pride in his training and his family name. He works as a Phantom Society summoner in order to support his rather large family. |
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| Combat |
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Mayone
One of the few Devil Summoners in the Phantom Society’s stable, Mayone
is quite confident and will not accept defeat.
Not much is known about her, but it’s assumed that she is from a wealthy
family. She uses a parasol with special
symbols as her COMP.
|
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| Combat |
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Spooky (Masahiro Sakurai)
Spooky is the founding member of the hacker group Spookies and also
their leader. He’s extremely intelligent
and a very skilled hacker himself. The
rest of the team respects him and trusts him implicitly.
|
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| Get excite! * |
Posts
I am very excite! Got my circle pad pro ready to go for MH3U. Brad do you think it's possible to main the SnS through the solo story? That's my favourite weapon in the demo but the people online seem to suggest it is too weak at the end.
Excellent write-up, and I couldn't agree more. 3DS is really hitting a sweet spot with some of its releases. Fire Emblem was a blast - and I agree with you that having the option to avoid perm-death is a big win that opens the game up to new players who might have been scared off by the difficulty spikes before.
Etrian Odyssey IV and Monster Hunter are both big ones for me as well. Luigi's Mansion 2 is right around the corner also. It's a good time to be a 3DS owner.
Great write-up as always, Brad! I, too, am really stoked RE: the 3DS lately--mainly due to FE:A and EOIV. Sadly, I've yet to start FE:A, but I'm going to do so tonight, no ifs, ands or buts. I'm actually thinking I'll go w/ Casual mode, which is kind of shocking because I never would've done that in the past. BTW, I agree w/ Chalgyr that Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is kind of the cherry on top of this spring's 3DS sundae, if you ask me :)
Late to this party, but it's totally feasible to beat any monster with any weapon type. It just takes practice, preparation, and experience. Any and all weapons are viable to main.