PlayStation 3 Review: Fat Princess

Note: Reviewed before Patch

Who says all princesses are skinny?

Fat Princess is a PlayStation Network exclusive that really tailors itself to the multiplayer community. The heart of the game is capture the capture the flag-style gameplay (with a princess as the flag) combined with class structure-type game play. Since the princess is the objective, the main way a team can make it difficult for the opponent to capture her is to feed her cake, making her fatter and more difficult for one person to carry. This game mechanic really lends itself to well-formed teams that can upgrade facilities like jobs and catapults while fattening up the princess and assaulting the enemy.

Multiplayer and single player host a variety of modes on a great selection of maps. Modes include capture the princess, deathmatch, invasion and a soccer mode. All except the soccer mode are available on almost all maps. The maps are innovative, varied in style and quite balanced for the types of play. Maps contain resources that can be farmed for each team’s castle, and smaller outposts that can be captured for a strategic advantage.

Worker, age, priest, and archer are the five distinctive classes each team has at its disposal. Each class is accessed via hat factories within each team’s castle. A player simply has to put on a different hat to assume a different role. Hats can also be picked up in the field as other players die. The hat factories are upgradeable via the wood and metal upgrades scattered across the map, and each class has one upgrade. The upgrades allow players to switch back and forth between iterations of the same class to have different effects in battle. For example, the can switch between fire and ice upgrades to cause continual damage on foes or just freeze them in place so teammates can more easily hit them. The worker class is the main source of mining upgrades, which, after farming, can be taken back to a captured outpost or castle to be used in upgrades.

Multiplayer matches support up to 32 players with 16 players on each side. Matchmaking is handled intelligently by the game, as weaker connections are not allowed to host more than the connection can handle and, if the host connection is lost, the game will automatically try to find the next best connection instead of kicking everyone in the game. Players can jump into the same game as those on their friends list or players can forgo the specific match choices with the “Jump In” option.

Multiplayer is really where this game shines. Sixteen vs. 16 person play can become a bit chaotic at times, but overall, the game is extremely enjoyable, especially when played with a group of people who all have headsets for voice chat. Unfortunately, one downside of multiplayer is the inescapable stalemates that arise every game. Matches can go on for at least 20 to 30 minutes if players are not well-organized and just end up fighting in one ball in the center of the map. Again, headsets are what make this game shine as even a small, organized group of players can thwart even larger numbers of enemies.

The single-player component of Fat Princess is quite forgettable. It does put a cute back-story to the game, but to get through the story, the player must endure the same stalemated matches with stupid AI (often seen standing around the battlefield) for eight battles. Beating the single-player mode unlocks some customizable parts of your player and a trophy, but the single player is still rather underwhelming when compared to the multiplayer experience.

Fat Princess is a truly enjoyable game on the multiplayer side. Some other issues like unbalanced classes — the and age in particular — are the cause of some annoyance, but the aesthetics of this unique game truly make it shine. Players login to the game and are greeted with several humorous options such as “Twiddly Knobs” and “Play With Yourself,” and the style is further accented by the cute characters killing each other in extremely bloody fashion. These visual options can be turned off, but doing so significantly takes away from the experience.

Despite slow-paced single player, frequently stalemated online matches and slightly unbalanced class structure, Fat Princess is a excellent game. Its style is unique and its game play fun enough to easily overlook the game’s flaws. If you have a PS3 and a headset, this game is a must buy — especially if you have friends who have it.

Grade: B

Platform: PlayStation 3>PlayStation Network

Price: $19.99

ESRB: T for Teen

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Titan Studios

Players: 1-32 (online)

A final fight for Final Fantasy

Dissida: Final Fantasy is a Final Fantasy lover’s dream come true. More than 20 characters across Final Fantasy games from FFI to FFXII come together to fight for Chaos (discord and evil) or Cosmos (harmony).

Dissidia is an extremely deep game. At first glance, the amount of equips, summons and skills may be overwhelming to players not used to action games. The game hosts more than five modes of play with varying difficulty levels for each mode. There is also an unimaginable amount of unlockables including characters, alternates costumes, BGM tracks, additional play modes and character enhancers. If you are looking for a game to sink some time into, Dissidia is a great choice.

The game plays primarily as an action game. After selecting a fighter (and opponent, depending on the mode), the player can choose the opponent’s level, fighting strength, specific rules for the level and even CPU behavior. Fights can be conducted in “action mode” or “command-based mode.” Action mode is like a traditional action-based fighting game: Players use “Brave Attacks” to build up their brave to power up HP attacks which damage an opponent’s HP bar. Attacks are customizable before the battle and can be set to different directions on the analog stick, along with either the circle button for brave attacks or the square button for HP attacks. Unfortunately, these attacks are not quite as responsive as one would like; however, careful input can solve the issue of unresponsive commands. It is unfortunate that the player has to take extra care when the input type could have been tweaked to accommodate for this shortcoming.

“Command-based mode” is more for those who enjoy traditional RPG-style fighting. Commands for brave attacks, HP attacks, defending and other context-sensitive commands are displayed that allow the player to pick one and see how their choices play out. Besides these attacks, players can build up their “Ex-Force” by collecting spheres and cores on the field to activate an extremely strong Ex-Attack. Ex-Attacks often refer back to the Final Fantasy game a character is from for their properties (Squall’s Renzokuken or Cloud’s Omnislash), and Ex-Attacks are often deciding blows in matches that can turn the entire fight around.

Battles are conducted on well-rendered 3D battlefields that players may recognize from previous FF games. Stages such as the Lifestream or the Final Aeon stage make a welcome appearance in Dissidia, and most of the stages are quite spacious, allowing room to take a breather in the fight or the providing the satisfying feeling of knocking your opponent a mile away. Stages are dynamic and allow players to smash through certain stage elements, run up and down walls and interact with stage elements — such as riding on the Lifestream —which adds an interesting element to the game play. In stages with no floor or bottom, characters who run out of jumps land in a void which saps bravery and teleports them back onto stable ground. There are sometimes issues with the camera, most noticeably in stages with many walls. The camera has some issues with maneuvering so that the player can see what is happening when the action gets stuck on a corner or through a wall.

The Story Mode sports a separate story for each of the heroes on Cosmos’ side that allow the same overarching story to be told from several different viewpoints. Unfortunately, the story is lackluster and the characters’ motivations often static and boring; it would have been nice to see character personalities pinned down through deeper story-telling. Fortunately, the story modes are enough to give each character a direction and a higher purpose than just fighting. Other modes, like Quick Play or Dual Coliseum, allow players to quickly earn experience, items and weapons while learning the finer points of a character’s play style. Since all of the fighters in Dissidia are unique and changing characters requires players to rethink their strategies, modes like these are welcome.

Most of the fights start before the battle. Players have a wide array of weapons, armor and accessories to choose from, along with many fighting and support skills. Many weapons cannot be equipped until higher levels or require other specific items to be traded into the shop to obtain. Weapons generally follow the same name and effects as the weapons from the FF game that they are from, and all characters have at least three weapons that are exclusive to each character. While exclusive weapons are the most effective, they often are the most difficult to obtain and getting them requires diligence and some luck on the player’s part. Enemies can drop weapons, items or accessories they have equipped, or the player can “Battle Generate” them. This is a system that, by performing certain actions in battle, increases the probability that specific items will drop after the match. Actions for BattleGen include breaking field objects, getting rid of all your opponent’s brave or ending the match in a certain amount of time.

Dissidia also supports multiplayer via online ad-hoc mode. Though it is unfortunate there is no online multiplayer, the ad-hoc mode is seamless. Players can engage in the same great battles amongst themselves as they do the computer, with the added bonus of getting items, experience and money from human opponents. If a player acquires another person’s Friend Card, the game will remember the final setup that their opponent used so that the player can fight a Friend Card at any time, even when offline. Players can manipulate their levels, equipment and weapons just like they can within the single player portions of the game.

Overall, Dissidia: Final Fantasy is an excellent game. The character models are rendered extremely true to the original concepts, English voice acting is generally very good and the two (yes, only two) CGI cutscenes are excellent. It is a bit of a letdown that there are not more cutscenes, especially in lieu of a better storyline, but the two that are there at the beginning and ending of the story modes are awesome. Such beautiful renderings on the PSP screen are sights to behold, and really make the player pine for more. It is unfortunate that more of these scenes were not included.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy works great on the PSP. A bland storyline, annoying camera and unresponsive controls are the only major shortcomings to this otherwise awesome game. If you are a PSP owner and need a game with some legs on it, Dissidia is an awesome time sink. If you enjoy the FF universe and its characters, this game was made for you, so go out and get it. A unique battle system, deep character customization, and tons of unlockables make this game worth the price. After all, who does not want to see Sephiroth fight Squall?

Grade: A-

Dissida: Final Fantasy

Platform: PlayStation Portable

Price: $34.99

ESRB:Rated T for Teen

Pub: Square Enix

Dev: Square Enix

"Prototype" Review: Crush! Kill! Destroy!

Along with “inFAMOUS” and “Red Faction: Guerrilla,” “Prototype” is one of the few sandbox, third person action games released this summer. “Prototype” puts players in the shoes of Alex Mercer in New York after he dies and awakens in a morgue with amnesia. While escaping from the morgue and the military, Alex discovers he has the abilities to change his body into different weapons and people, absorb humans and take on others' memories. New York has also been quarantined because a virus has caused people to turn into brainless, hostile versions of their previous selves. Alex is set on using his powers to figure out who did this to his body and how to make them pay.

Players advance in “Prototype” through missions and can choose when to complete story missions, side missions or just cause havoc around New York. While some side missions like disguising Alex as the military and destroying the infected are fun, most side missions are forgettable. Story missions are fun when Alex can fight the story missions require it frequently.

Prototype is a fun third person action game, and Alex can upgrade a variety of powers with evolution points from defeating enemies and completing missions. Missions like moving from waypoint to waypoint or gliding to a certain point on the map without stopping are annoying in execution, but they are great ways to earn evolution points. Alex's powers range from different weapons his hands can transform into, such as blades, claws or hammerfists, to stealth upgrades and enhancing his movement.

It's unlikely that players will upgrade everything by the end of “Prototype.” However, some upgrades are useless and it seems unnecessary to have unlockable combo trees or the ability to curb stomp dead enemies. There are enough powers worth unlocking like the ability to glide, air dash or other attacks.

“Prototype” is close combat intensive and the only long range attacks Alex obtains are his whipfist and super-human strength. His strength allows him to grab cars, trees and destroyed tanks and helicopters to become fodder for his projectile attacks. Alex can also commandeer most military weapons like rocket launchers, tanks and helicopters and use it against them.

Alex may have to use stealth if beating his opponents into submission does not work. Alex can absorb and imitate the likeness of any human in “Prototype.” Absorbing others can be brutally fantastic or unnoticeable, but the stealth in “Prototype” could be more challenging because soldiers will not notice Alex unless he changes powers in front of them. Jumping hundreds of feet and beating the people of New York comes as no surprise to them. New York is a veritable buffet for Alex because absorbing people is not only a quick health boost for Alex, but over absorption allows Alex to use devastator attacks. These destructive abilities allow Alex to kill everything within his attacks' sight.

“Prototype” has some stunning visual moments like turning on Alex’s thermal vision or infected vision. There are also no frame rate drops when Alex throws cars, explodes tanks, or kicks helicopters down, and it's a sight to behold. Unfortunately, the in-game cutscenes leave much to be desired. Texture popping and other issues are obvious during in-game cutscenes, but the CGI scenes are beautiful and the memory flashes Alex receives when he absorbs someone relevant to his memory are interestingly done. The memory flashes are a mix of real images and CGI that will make players wonder if similar stories have played out elsewhere.

The music in “Prototype” is not intrusive and complements fighting scenes well. The voice acting is not horrible, but there were several instances when Alex would say one line during the CGI scene and transition to an in-game cut-scene to continue his speech mentally. While this annoyed me, I do not think it will bother too many people.

The story is interesting even if you do not accomplish the story missions, and it's insane fun to start wars with the military and other infected creatures in the streets of New York. While Alex may never retrieve his memories, he will have fun destroying everything. The combat is fluid, powerful and often fun to play as you make Alex crush soldiers, absorb some passerby and then initiate a devastator attack that flattens the two tanks and helicopters chasing you. Some of the visuals and voice acting could have been more polished and fluid, but the memory scenes are presented in a fresh artistic blend of CGI and real images that help immerse players in this alternate version of New York City. “Prototype” is definitely worth picking up.

Rating: B+

Platforms: PS3,Xbox 360, PC

Price: $59.99

ESRB: M for Mature

Pub: Activision

Dev: Radical Entertainment

Players: 1

“Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon” review: A Worthy Addition to the Series

For an action-RPG, “Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2” builds extremely well on “Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner.” Newcomers will the find interesting characters and the diverse gameplay fans have come to appreciate.

“Devil Summoner 2” continues following renowned devil summoner Raidou Kuzunoha as he is charged with protecting Japan’s capital during the Taisho era. Kuzunoha is placed in the Narumi Detective Agency to give him an alibi while protecting the capital. The game is split between bustling cities of people and the dark world full of demons, but most of Kuzunoha’s detective work occurs in the cities. Players must use clues from talking with people to advance the story. “Devil Summoner 2” does a great job balancing detective game play with fighting and action. When Kuzunoha is unable to recieve answers from people, it's often time to use demons.

The diversity of demons in “Devil Summoner 2” is where the game shines. The more than 200 demons to fight and recruit have their own personalities and dialogue choices, and the different personalities amongst familiar “Shin Megami Tensei” demons is welcomed in the saturated selection of RPG’s on the PlayStation 2. Two demons can enter battle with Kuzunoha after being recruited.

Battles occur randomly while walking around the map. At the beginning of battle, barring an ambush or preemptive strike, players can choose to negotiate with demons or fight. During battle, Kuzunoha enters a separate map in which his demons, enemies and himself can move freely and attack. Demons can be leveled up to become stronger, fused to pass on traits and create other demons, or used in investigations to help Kuzunoha. Demons can also learn various skills to complement their inherent strengths and weaknesses, so players must monitor their demons to receive the most out of battle.

Kuzunoha's four basic actions within battle are attacking with his sword, gun, demon skills or dodging and blocking. An interesting feature in “Devil Summoner 2” is the ability to fuse new swords allowing Kuzunoha to use basic or special sword attacks. Sword souls fall into either the sword, lance, or ax class, and special attacks change depending on the soul fused into the sword. The gun can be used to stun faster enemies, but it's a small attack. Blocking and dodging allow Kuzunoha to minimize damage while keeping his demons immune to damage, but it must be used sparingly because some demons disagree to being yanked to his side in the midst of battle.

All special attacks use Kuzunoha’s MAG. MAG is a critical combat element and is accumulated when a demon is defeated or when an enemy is stunned by its weakness. Over using MAG leaves Kuzunoha vulnerable, while not using MAG bars using stronger special attacks, healing, and support skills.

“Devil Summoner 2” has exceptional presentation, but the lack of voice acting is disappointing since “Shin Megami Tensei” games often have excellent voice acting. It also misses cinematic moments by having the screen fade to black, describe what happened in text and fade back with the scene resolved. The series has proven it's ability to handle scenes more artfully, and the lack of cut-scenes to support scenes is disappointing. The soundtrack, composed by the talented Shoji Meguro, is perfect. Comical detective, battle and dramatic music set the mood for critical moments.

“Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2” addresses many of the first game's issues while adding it's own style and flair to the experience. After completing the game, recruited demons and items can be carried over to a new game plus mode. It offers plenty of replay value with multiple endings, hundreds of demons and extra bosses to defeat. “Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2” is an excellent game and definitely worth picking up.

Rating: A-

System: PlayStation 2

Price: $39.99

ESRB: M for Mature