“The” Last Story?

Posted on February 18, 2010 · 7 Comments

Every good video game player should be at least familiar with Mistwalker. The company was formed back in 2004 by Sakaguchi Hironobu, the creator of the Final Fantasy Series. Many had high hopes and expectations when their first project was announced, Blue Dragon. Sakaguchi, was joined by Composer Uematsu Nobuo and by Artist Toriyama Akira in a collaboration that previously brought about the SNES Classic Chrono Trigger. I had been waiting for the game so long and had so much anticipation but could barely get through Disc one of three. Overall, Blue Dragon was met with mediocre scores and reviews but did bring some life to the Xbox 360 in Japan. I’ve seen quite a few copies sitting on the shelves used for about 900 Yen.

But enough about Blue Dragon. Let’s talk their other games. ASH: Archaic Sealed Heart. Blue Dragon Plus. Away Shuffle Dungeon. Play any of those? Mostly forgettable as far as I’ve heard. Maybe I’m wrong. Their other title Lost Odyssey, I did hear some good things about that. The story is supposed to have some real depth and the characters are led interesting situations. But again mostly the game was over looked.

I didn’t bring up Mistwalker to trash them. I wanted to point out a situation, one that I think people may not realize the severity of. When the Creator of Final Fantasy makes a Company/Game, you take notice. People took notice. Mistwalker had a couple tries to figure things out and capture people’s attention. Mostly their efforts haven’t lived up to potential. I came across their next two games recently, a iPhone and a Wii Game. For some of us, the red flags are going to go up. This could be a business decision. They’re abandoning high cost development for “safer” waters. It’s a logical conclusion to come to. Both those platforms aren’t exactly a haven for core game players, especially the Wii has been disappointing so that brings up rise for concern. Read more

Filed under Impressions

Here comes a new challenger…

Posted on February 17, 2010 · 21 Comments

MEEEEEEE!!

Why? Watch the trailer of three new fighters for Super Street Fighter 4 to find out.

Truth be told, I would have probably cared a hell of a lot more about Street Fighter 4 had there been at least one character I actually gave two shits about. Street Fighter 4 was mostly comprised of the old Street Fighter 2 roster and some pretty lame new character additions. The problem is that the main series has always had pretty weak female fighter designs — and, as you may know, I fight almost exclusively with female fighters. Why? Eh… I’ve always been a pretty hardcore feminist.

And while I have never really played much Street Fighter 3rd Strike, I was always interested in a couple of the character designs. The one fighter that I would have used, provided I bothered to learn the game, was Makoto. She is small and female. But unlike every other fighting game cliche out there, she was not about quick pokes, chip damage, and weak combos. This girl’s attacks are strong, deliberate, and brutal looking. She had maybe the strongest super in the game, and supposedly even has a two hit KO. Her animations are also extremely cool looking.

Here is a Makoto vs Chun Li match from 3rd Strike so you can get a better look at how she fights:

So I’m excited that she is back. On top of Makoto, Juri is another new fighter I wouldn’t mind learning. These characters might be just enough reason for me to try to finally take Street Fighter more seriously. Though the one concern I do have for these returning 3rd Strike characters is the animations. SF3 was such a beautiful game with its ridiculously smooth flowing animations. These new characters might look a little off in the Street Fighter 4 art style.

Now for me to wait until everyone posts in the comments that Makoto is the hardest character in the game to learn. Yay.

Brad

Filed under General

4PP 156: The Bioshow

Posted on February 17, 2010 · 5 Comments

4playerpodcastitunes

Once again, the stars align as we take our seats around the table to discuss another epic week in games! I am joined by Brad, Joseph, and the intern Nolan for a fun discussion of 2K’s Bioshock 2. We touch on a few other games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Darksiders, and Dragon Age Origins. We discussed some of the recent news out of Microsoft’s X10 event and answer a few viewer questions as well. All in all, there is plenty to listen to so get started! To read our review of Bioshock 2 or if you just want to read more of our commentary on the gaming industry, check us out at 4playerpodcast.com!

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Filed under 4Player Podcast, Podcast