Demon's Souls Review

Demon’s Souls was released for the PS3 in 2009 and is an extremely influential game that led to the creation of an entire sub-genre now known as “Souls/Borne” in the video game market.  It and the games that followed in its footsteps are notorious for their difficulty and, unfortunately, have led to game journalists to start to compare any game with a moderate difficulty level to the original Souls/Borne games, mainly Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3, as well as Bloodborne.  I personally feel that this not only does a disservice to the Souls/Borne games but it also does a disservice to the games that are being compared to the Soul/Borne games.  (If any game journalists out there ever see this review, please, just stop.)

The story of Demon’s Souls is that you are an adventurer who has answered the call to investigate and save the kingdom of Boletaria, which has vanished behind a massive fog wall after it’s king, King Allant got extremely power hungry, and from the demons that inhabit the land.  As you just begin to adventure beyond the fog into the lost kingdom you are killed and your soul gets captured by the Nexus, a place designed to trap the souls of the fallen until the Old One is lulled back to sleep, at which point the trapped souls will be released.  The full story of the game is told in a minimalistic fashion; you have to piece it together through the minimal dialog with the NPCs you come across and the item descriptions of the things you find.  This leads to each player having their own interpretation of the history of the kingdom as well as to what exactly is going on.

Graphically, Demon’s Souls was not that impressive as all the visuals are a bit on the watered down side, even by the standards of the time it came out.  This actually isn’t as big of a negative as some might think because, as muddied down as the graphics are, the graphics actually set the atmosphere of despair and futility that the game relies on to draw the player into the world of Demon’s Souls.  The visual design of each area in the game is unique and gives the different areas a completely different flavor from one another other than the general atmosphere of despair.

Musically, the game is beautiful, that is, when you actually have music because a lot of the areas only use music for key encounters such as boss fights in order to maintain the proper atmosphere that the game is going for.  The only really compliant I have with the music is when the music is changes in the Nexus because the first piece of music in the Nexus is a much more fitting piece than the second one is.  As for the rest of the sound in the game, it is nothing extremely special but it does always fit for the interactions between the player, the environment, and the action that was taken.

The performance of the game is, for the most part top notch, but there are a few areas where the game clearly struggles to keep the framerates up, with the most notorious of these areas being the Shrine of Storms and the boss encounter at the very end of that area.

When it comes to the gameplay, Demon’s Souls shines in most places even though the controls can feel slightly clunky at first but you quickly learn to adjust this and you start to see that is all make sense in the context of the game.  Because of the slightly clunky feel to the controls, combat can feel a bit sluggish but that actually fits the slower paced and methodical combat the game employs.  Once you adjust to the controls, because the game just isn’t as fast paced as the other games of the time, everything begins to flow smoothly and it becomes easy to forget about the once challenging controls.

Demon’s Souls is the progenitor to a whole new sub-genre and, while slightly flawed, that makes it a masterpiece in my eyes.  The punishing difficulty, while not for everyone, leads those who push through and overcome the challenges that are presented to a wonderful sense of accomplishment.  In all honesty, while I think that it is extremely unlikely that we will ever see a remastered version of Demon’s Souls on the current generation of consoles, like we are with Dark Souls, I would happily purchase this game again if it was remastered in any fashion.  The Souls/Borne games as some of my favorites and I would happily buy any of them multiple times and I recommend that if you have never tried any of the games, that you don’t let the difficulty dissuade you from picking one up and giving it a shot, you might just be surprised at how much you like it.

Graphics – 9

Performance – 9

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 10

Story – 10

Replayability – 10

Total – 9.7 out of 10

- Arylin Michelle

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) Retro Review

Since we saw a release of a Shadow of the Colossus Remaster earlier this year, I thought it would be fun to go back and do a review of the original game on the PS2.  Shadow of the Colossus has been hailed as a masterpiece and I will concede that it is a masterpiece, but it is a flawed masterpiece.  Saying this might get all the fanboys after me with their torches but this is my opinion and they can get over it.

The story of Shadow of the Colossus is told in a rather minimalist fashion.  You, the Wanderer, are led by an unknown being on a quest to slay colossi in an effort to perform a ritual to bring a girl back to life.  Beyond that, it is up to you to piece together the story from the bits and pieces that you learn over the course of the game.  I personally like games that utilize minimalistic story telling because it encourages the player to use their imagination to fill in the blanks which creates a bit more personalized experience.

Graphically, this game was awesome for its time.  The environments, while a bit empty and devoid of life, matched the setting perfectly and were a rather breathtaking view to take in.  The character models themselves, from everything from the Wanderer to Agro and even the colossi themselves, are well designed with the tiniest details taken into consideration in their creation.

For the most part, the game performs admirably but there are times when, in some of the battles with the colossi, that there were some framerate drops.  Due to the size of the environments and the detail when it comes to the colossi models, I can’t say that I am surprised given the limitations of the technology back when it was released.

Musically, the game is a bit minimalist as well, choosing only to use music when it is the most effective in setting the mood for the fights as they are about to begin.  The rest of the sound in the game is fairly high quality as well, though the calls for Agro, the Wanderers horse, and the grunts in the battles can get a bit repetitive.

The gameplay is where this game both shines and fails at the same time.  I say that it shines because the intricate designs of the colossi themselves creates clever puzzles that the player must figure out in order to take down their massive prey and that was one of the things that brought me the most joy.  I also said that it fails as well because of the horribly clunky controls for the Wanderer.  The Wanderer controls about like a greased watermelon and you can never tell if he is actually going to follow the commands that you input into the controller.  On top of that, sometimes the hitboxes are off so that you miss that ledge that you clearly should have grabbed or you die when you clearly weren’t close enough to get smashed by your prey.

All in all, Shadow of the Colossus is a wonderful game that is a work of art but it has a few deeply flawed issues that can, at times, be close to game breaking.  That said, I love this game just as I loved Ico before it and I look forward to one day playing the remaster if I can find a good enough deal on it.

(The scores take the standards of the games at the time of release into consideration as opposed to today’s standards)

Graphics – 10

Performance – 8

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 6

Story – 8

Replayability – 8

Total – 8.3 out of 10

- Arylin Michelle

Dragon Quest Builders Review

Dragon Quest Builders for the PS4 is reminiscent of Minecraft, and why shouldn’t it be?  It is clearly inspired by Minecraft in many aspects of its gameplay while maintaining the charm of the Dragon Quest franchise.  Personally, I am not a fan of Minecraft, though I do find the creativity allowed to be the most enjoyable aspect of games like it.  I actually enjoyed this game enough that, despite its flaws, I was jumping with joy when I found out that Dragon Quest Builders 2 in currently in development.  Full disclosure - I am, however, a huge fan of the Dragon Quest franchise and have been playing them since the original (then called Dragon Warrior in the US) came out on the NES.  In fact, when Square and Enix merged, I was extremely excited because my two favorite franchises would now be under the same roof. 

When it comes the graphical standards of today, Dragon Quest Builders can seem to be a bit underwhelming to some but I personally found them to be perfect for this game.  The character and enemy models are a bit on the cutesy side of things but that actually fits the art style that the series is known for.  Visually, all the enemies in the game keep true to the designs they have had over the many years that this franchise has been active and that is a wonderful thing.  The world itself is designed in a blocky style which fits the style of game that they are going for but luckily the developers managed to maintain Dragon Quest’s artistic flair despite the blocky feel.

Performance wise, the game excelled, running smoothly for me the entire time without any framerate issues at all.  This lack of issues, when it comes to performance, tends to be getting rarer and rarer these days as more and more game companies push their unfinished products out the door for the general public to have while hoping they can fix all the issues at a later time with patches. 

Musically, this game is beautiful, with up dated scores from previous games in the franchise.  All the tracks bring back memories of the other games as it hits all the nostalgic switches in my brain.  There is even an option, later in the game, to convert the music back to the original 8bit soundtrack of the first game in the franchise.

Gameplay in Dragon Quest Builders is, at times, incredibly repetitive as you build your towns up from ruins, fortifying them for the inevitable boss battles at the end of the stage.  That said, all the controls are tight and responsive.  The combat itself is simple but fun and it helps to break up the monotony of the gathering parts of the game.  The amount of creativity allowed in the building portions is simply amazing as well and, if you desire, in the free build portion of your game, you can share your creations as well as view the marvelous creations of others

The story of Dragon Quest builders is a bit lacking as it feels more like a vehicle to get you to new areas and newer materials for building as opposed to a real story.  Each chapter has its own story that plays into the overarching story of the world and each chapter has its own unique cast of characters that are both equally parts charming and goofy, which helps to create a truly special atmosphere over all.

Graphics – 8

Performance – 10

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 8

Story – 6

Replayability – 10

Total – 8.7 out of 10

- Arylin Michelle

Final Fantasy VIII Retro Review

For those who don’t know, next year is the 20^th anniversary of the release of Final Fantasy VIII and, just like with the hopes of a remaster of Xenogears, fans of this series is hoping for a remaster to come out on next-gen systems, much in the way that Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII have.

Final Fantasy XIII is a rather unique game in the franchises’ history due to the heavy focus on the love story between the main protagonist Squall, and Rinoa, debatably the most important female protagonist in the game.  The game tackles themes about love, time travel, multiple dimensions, and the manipulation of the past to change the present.  There are also hints of memory manipulation within the main story and over all there, are heavy Sci-Fi elements that help to build and flush the Final Fantasy VIII world out, creating a rich universe that I personally think would be interesting to explore further.

The graphics during the gameplay portions of the game suffer by today’s standards considering the game uses 3D character models on a 2D pre-rendered background as did its predecessor and successor.  By the standards of 1999, though, graphically this game was a powerhouse considering it was on the PSX and by incorporating CGI cut scenes that DO stand up to today’s standards into the game, Squaresoft (now SquareEnix) set an incredibly high standard for its competitors to meet.  Performance wise, the game excels, with only a few moments of slowdown and stuttering in a couple of scenes where Squaresoft was experimenting with incorporation their CGI cut scenes into the standard gameplay portions of the game.

The musical score, just as it has been in all Final Fantasy titles, is absolutely beautiful and is integral in pulling the player into the story and the events that are happening at that time.  The score is so memorable that, after having played the game once, most people can picture their time in the game that corresponds with the piece that they are listening and still feel the same emotions as what they felt the first time around.

Gameplay in Final Fantasy VIII is, as has been the standard of the series, tight and well thought out with the exception being the combat.  Combat is, in my opinion, the dark stain on this particular title.  The standard combat is perfectly fine in the way that is works, the issue comes in when you get your Guardian Forces, or GFs if you will, because once you get them (one in particular) leveled up a little bit, it is possible to go the rest of the game with minimal amounts of combat.  Because of this (and the fact that the enemies scale to your character’s levels) I was able to progress to the end of the game and defeat the final boss while maintaining a level around 20, which is incredibly low, by just repeatedly summoning my GFs into battle, making sure my characters were never in too much danger.  One of the places that the gameplay does shine though, is in the Junction System.  This system allows the player to junction magic to the characters’ stats, providing all kind of benefits, which makes for some really interesting combinations.

(The scores take the standards of the games at the time of release into consideration as opposed to today’s standards)

Graphics – 10

Performance – 8

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 7

Story – 10

Replayability – 10

Total – 9.2 out of 10

- Arylin Michelle

Xenogears Retro Review

With this year being the 20^th anniversary of the release of Xenogears on the PSX, I figured it would be a good time to take a look back on it as fans of the game hope for a remastered version for next gen systems.  Xenogears was, and still is, called one of the best RPGs of all time, with its number one competitors in the console world being Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, both of which came out on the SNES system in 1995 and 1994 respectively.  It tackled religious and Freudian themes with its narration, creating a very thought provoking experience. 

The story centers around protagonist, Fei Fong Wong, an amnesiac young man who was left in a remote village three years prior to the events of the game.  When a battle using giant mechs called Gears erupts between two waring nations and threatens to destroy the village, Fei climbs into an abandoned Gear.  In his attempt to defend the village, Fei accidentally destroys instead and is ostracized by the surviving villagers.  This event is what sets the whole story into motion.  Over its course, Fei is introduced to an interesting blend of characters that join him on his quest.  Each character is extremely well developed and experiences growth over the course of the story and that is a very good thing considering the amount of two dimensional characters in today’s games.

Graphically, by today’s standards, the game suffers but at the time the game came out, they were pretty good, if a bit cartoony.  I believe that is this game were made today, it would probably have been made utilizing cell shading technology which was not available in 1998.  The game world itself is 3D, unlike the Final Fantasy of the time which were 3D sprites on 2D backgrounds, so there are occasionally clipping issues as well as a couple of areas where the environment obscures sections of the screen but, considering the time the game was made, these were very minor inconveniences.

The performance of the game was phenomenal, I never experienced any crashes or freezes, and only got a slight stutter in the frame rate in a couple of area. 

The music and sound were all top notch for its time and even holds up to today’s standards.

As good as the music and the graphics were, the gameplay is where this game really shined.  The environmental movement of your characters was smooth, with a good range of motion and easy to control for the jumping portions of the game.  The combat was an interesting blend of active time and turn based combat that incorporated martial arts move sets which allowed for the creation of powerful combos.  The combat was easy to pick up and learn but took time to really master. 

All in all, I would say that even by today’s standards, Xenogears is still a contender for the top spot as the number one RPG of all time and with this year being the 20^th anniversary, who knows, maybe a HD remaster (and hopefully not a remake that will screw it up like what is currently happening to Final Fantasy VII) is on its way for a new generation of gamer to experience this masterpiece.

(The scores take the standards of the games at the time of release into consideration as opposed to today’s standards)

Graphics – 9

Performance – 9

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 10

Story – 10

Replayability – 9

Total – 9.5 out of 10

- Arylin Michelle

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition for PS4 Review

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition for the PS4 harkens back to wonderful days of Isometric RPGs like Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, games that I personally enjoyed quite a bit on the PC, and that is a good thing.  I have played the original version of Pillars on the PC and, for the most part, Pillars makes a smooth jump from the PC to the PS4, playing almost as if it were originally designed for the console instead.  There are a few issues though that need to be addressed.

*Warning – potential spoilers ahead*

Graphically, Pillars of Eternity; Complete Edition is beautiful.  The game takes full advantage of the consoles hardware to deliver a visual treat that is on par with the PC version at max settings.  This does come with a price though, there were times when, due to the amount of enemies on the screen or the amount of particle effects, I experienced some slowdown in the framerate, creating a choppy, if only briefly, visual experience.  Also, occasionally when going to my journal in order to check my quest log, the game would jumble all the lines of text on top themselves making it impossible to read until you changes tabs in your journal, then when you came back to the quest text the issue would be resolved.  This also happened sometimes with the tooltips for items, weapons, armor, and spells though, in those cases, the issue would persist.

I have previously talked about some of the performance issues when it came to combat but there were a few more issues on top of that when it came to performance.  For one, the load times are often very long and considering that this is a game where you can move a few steps to reach the area that you need to go after entering current area, this can get tedious, especially if you are having to do a lot of back and forth for quest purposes.  Also, in the latter half of the game, including the White March expansions, I experienced frequent crashes about every hour and a half to two and a half hours of gameplay.  These crashes would occur either when loading into a new area or when the game was autosaving after entering the new area.  While annoying this wasn’t too big of an issue with the one exception of the time it corrupted my save data.  Luckily, the game autosaves after entering a new area and keeps multiple autosave files so when this occurred, it was a simple matter of redoing what I had just finished doing in that previous area.

When it comes to the music and the sound in the game, both are superb.  The music is perfect for the fantasy setting with the score bringing to mind the music from The Lord of the Rings movies.  The voice acting was excellent as well, with the actors bringing out all the fun quirks of the cast of NPCs that join your party.  My only real issue when it comes to the voice acting is some of the overly repetitious uses of certain lines and the, by the end of the game, highly annoying “Stand Together!” line shouted by your sneaking thief as she moves to disarm a trap.

The combat in Pillars is, like its predecessors, all about pausing and micromanaging your party member in order to use them to the fullest of their abilities.  The is an option to turn on or off AI scripts that will control your party members for you and, while the scripts are actually pretty good, that helps to fill in the gaps between issuing orders to them but, occasionally, these scripts will leave your party members just standing around doing nothing because the AI can’t figure out the next best course of action.

The story of Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition is, in the beginning what appears to be a rather cookie cutter storyline for a fantasy RPG but, as you progress, it turns into a well thought out tale where the current state of the world is called into question because of the reality behind the true nature of the gods.  The decisions you make over the course of the main story will all effect the flow of events later on in the game and not always in the way you would expect.  Also, aside from a main story that goes from simplistic to epic over its course, each of the side quests have their own well thought out storylines that add character and depth to the world and, in some cases, also affect the outcome of major events.  Be warned though, due to the nature of this game and the presentation of the story, it is very text heavy, requiring a lot of reading to follow the events in play.

In conclusion, Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition is an excellent addition to the libraries of anyone who enjoys the classic isometric RPGs of the late 1990s and early 2000s and I feel that is it an important push in the right direction for a genre that is not often appreciated in todays over saturated game market.

Graphics – 9
Performance – 6
Sound – 9
Gameplay – 8
Story – 9
Replayability – 10

Total – 8.5 out of 10

- Arylin Michelle

*If you wish to watch my entire play through of this game, it can be found on my YouTube channel here*