All posts by Soup Tyrant

PC (including HTC Vive/HOTAS set up which is a joystick etc) Android (Note 4) / Nvidia Tablet with a Tegra 3DS

Front Mission 4 (PS2) Review

Developer/Publisher: Square Enix || Overall: 9.1/10

Overview:

Recently, I’ve been disappointed with Square-Enix and their soul-stealing Final Fantasy XI (give me back my friends, damn it!), but Front Mission 4 is a nice surprise. Like the previous Front Mission games, the game is turn-based and you battle in Wanzers, which is pronounced, “Vanzers”. I guess Germans make all the awesome mechanical toys still. So, what do you get with you throw in: giant robots, a sexy French voice actor, and guns? Probably confusion, but I’ll leave that up to you.

Story:

Ah, one of the shining points. As the game beings, Elsa, the woman with the sexy French voice, is training with members of Durandal. Zead and Hermes instruct you on movement and combat against Arrow 2 and Arrow 4. Elsa was a former member of the French Army for some time, but apparently, was never in any actual combat in the French Army. Sucker punch to the French by Square. Next thing you know, there will be an in-game browser that links to here in Front Mission Online, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Elsa and the members of Durandal are sent to investigate the attacks on German bases, no one knows why they attacked or who they were. After arriving at the German Base Sachsen-Anhaltm, the search is slow. With the trouble from Wagner, the commander of Sachsen-Anhalt, and Elsa and Zead suggest investigating to the north. Finding the remains of a landing point in Jutland, Denmark, your team is attacked. Finding a chip as evidence, your bring it back, only to be attacked as you get back to Sachsen-Anhalt by the unknown Wanzers. As the battle ends, you bring your physical evidence (A microchip for leg part stabilizers), and are told to go back to the Durandal H.Q. in the United Kingom. Yes, this part of the story involves lots of conspiracy, and that’s what makes it so engaging. Luckily, there’s an even better side to the story:

Darril, Renges and Chaeffer are members of the U.S.N. who are stationed in Venezuela who have horrible records and never really follow orders. Venezuela is currently becoming independent again with the help of the U.S.N. Wanzers. Patrolling one day, Darril and Renges stop to enjoy a view, as Chaeffer is trying to catch up. After much bickering about turning down a radio to relax, Chaeffer gets a distress call from a transport plane. The plane crashes and the trio checks it out to find no one survived, and the cargo was about three tons of gold. Darril and Renges aren’t too fond of the Army anymore, and decide to take the gold, forcing Chaeffer to join in, too. The gold was the governor’s private little stash, and it wasn’t supposed to exist, so Darril explains that it should be smooth sailing to get it out. Much lying and reckless behavior follows. This half of the story is very entertaining, to say the least.

Graphics:

The graphics are superb. The Wanzers look cool (depending on your parts, of course) and are animated nicely; as Wanzer combat is still relatively new during this time period, it gives added feel that the Wanzers are still sluggish in general response-wise. It’s hard to explain it without seeing it in action. The environments are nice, with lots of little bits of things lying around like barrels, pipes and junk. Not very interactive for the most part, but it’s not really a focus in the game with all the things you need to keep in mind during battle. Weapon effects and camera angles look great in general, yet sometimes it leads to the problem of not being able to see if you’ve hit a few times with a rapid fire weapon, but that’s not a huge or common problem. Much like the previous games, you can customize your Wanzers not only in what heat they’re packing, but their general shape and color. I’m disappointed with the limited ability to change the color of a Wanzer, as more options open up for the “camouflage” as the game progresses. The movies are very entertaining as well, done in the Hollywood way of “Tons o’ ‘splosions”. I like that way. The only gripe I have is that you can’t zoom in close enough during the battle! Things look tiny until you get to the battle.

Sound:

Music is consistently good, fitting the mood, which is generally a, “I’s gonna blow up s’more stuff,” kind of mood. Although, some of the easy listening music while customizing Wanzers can get a little boring. Like being stuck in an elevator playing Risk with grandmother and Bob Saget, it can induce sleep if you’re tired enough. Sound effects are clean and appropriate. There are no small guns here that make loud booms as in other mech games I’ve played. The voice acting in this game is great, dorky people sound dorky, hard ass people sound hard ass. Let me emphasize how good Elsa’s voice is. Men will be able to appreciate it, obviously, because it’s a sexy French voice. Probably the same sort of enticement as Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft’s grunting noises as she climbed up stuff.

Well, maybe not exactly the same…

Gameplay:

Lots of stuff to do here. Combat is essentially a super supped up Front Mission. Wanzers have four basic body parts that can be damaged: both left and right arms, legs, and body. The loss of arms or legs will limit the function of the Wanzer until repaired, and the loss of the body will destroy all of the Wanzer, regardless of the conditions of the other parts. With many weapons and tactics to choose from, there’s no one way to go. The game sort of sets you up by having characters be more proficient with some weapons (Zead is good with missles, for example), but it doesn’t mean you can’t alter them slightly. As pilots battle more or train more in the battle simulator, they gain levels and EP. EP can be used to purchase special abilities that can add special effects. Some of the effects are passive, while others are randomly activated in battle, depending on the skill. Also, pilots can link in this new Front Mission game, meaning if they have the right links set up before a battle, they can help attack when a linked unit attacks, or defend them when attacked. This is very useful, as setting up partners within your squad becomes deadly. With the right links, your Wanzers can be all the more efficient with taking down enemies.

The maps in the game aren’t very difficult until further into the game, which is nice for any new player, or a returning series player who needs to be refreshed on how to play. While they are detailed, the maps aren’t very interactive, sadly. Most of the battles take place on maps which are much like arenas: large open areas with few, if any, obstructions. This isn’t entirely true for every single map, but many of them aren’t too different. Also, the map size stacked on to the unit health to damage ratio often makes for long battles, so be prepared. Just keep in mind that splitting up your forces is not such a good idea if you want a short battle.

Overall:

Front Mission 4 is a great title, especially with Square-Enix’s recent ventures that have been somewhat disappointing. The gameplay is very good, and there’s even an option for the ever-popular “New Game+”, so you can replay the game and get everything eventually. The graphics, story and voice acting are very tightly linked together, and it can be a very captivating experience depending on your tastes in games. Just don’t let it run your life like another Square-Enix game that rhymes with “Spinal Bantasy will-leven”.

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2) Review

Developer: Nippon Ichi Software | Publisher: Atlus || Overall: 8.3/10

Overview
With red-hot popularity in Japan, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is any turn-based RPG gamer’s dream. It plays much like the other turn-based “Tactics” titled games such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, where you control individuals in a set area and take turns bludgeoning each other’s skulls with swords and axes, but there’s something else this game adds in to the mix to spice it up: there is virtually no level cap. You can level to your heart’s content. While there are other additions, this lack of level cap is insanity. Stack on random battle map generations and bosses with a million hit points, and you got yourself some replay value. How will it fare, when replay value is what most gamers nag about? Let’s find out:

Story
You are Prince Laharl, heir to the throne of the underworld. The game starts out as your subordinate, Etna, is thrashing your little body around in hopes to awaken you from your two-year slumber. As you awaken, you find that your father, King Krichevskoy, has died, and the residents of the underworld are in chaos fighting for the title of “Overlord”. As claiming the title of overlord, you go on to kill off any of the opposition to the throne with the help of Etna, your badass lil’ penguins called Prinnies, and anyone else you hire/pick up on the way.

The game has many funny sequences. Spoofs on Power Rangers, lots of screaming, Prinny humor (Dood!), plenty of irony, Flash Gordon spoofs, and lots of sexual and other crude humor. Not to mention a nod to President Bush’s accident with a pretzel (King Krichevskoy died that way, as far as you know). Laharl’s favorite taunt to his female companion’s is “flat chest-ed”. Guys and cooler girls will like this game. Cool girls as in: a girl who would be looking at a game site. Congratulations if you’re a chick!

Graphics
In the tradition of turn-based RPGs of the Playstation, Disgaea uses 2D characters on a 3D map. The sprites are very nice, and detailed enough for their size. Most characters are designed well (Majins are the definition of badass design) and have many animations that fit the part. Characters’ special moves have some 3D flair; lots of explosions and ultimately cool looking moves. Dragon Ball fans rejoice: brawlers do a Dragon Ball-ish move: “King of Beasts”. Spells and the lot are nice effects, but nothing special. Map detail is bland at best. There is nothing really engaging about the environment, especially when you get to the randomly generated maps. Eventually, you’ll feel like you’re playing the same maps constantly because of how boring the levels can be. The drawn art in the game which accompanies the “scenes” are adequate, but one animated sequence for something would have been nice. Side note: if you love large anime breasts, you are playing the right game. Tons of them, and lots of humor on it as previously stated.

Sound
The music is nice, and it fits the game. No gripes here; some of the music can even be catchy. The dubbing is very nice. All of the voices are professional (or at least sound that way) actors. You may even recognize Prince Laharl’s voice as Barbara Goodson of anime dub fame. Most units only have basic voices, like the male warrior’s pretty cool voice (Be gone!), etc. I actually find the English voices much better than the Japanese voices. The Japanese voices are so squeaky… ugh. Perhaps that’s sexy in Japan, but I couldn’t bear it and switched it back to English. Sound effects are decent, nothing really stands out. Just stay away from the Japanese voices. For the love of Pete.

Gameplay
Disgaea will be nothing new to fans of the genre, nothing really out of the comprehensible for veterans of Final Fantasy Tactics or the like. Movement is very nice in regards to the other games. All units move in the same phase, meaning, you can move all the units at once instead of waiting for each unit to get to its own turn. This is VERY handy when it’s the computer’s turn, as all their units will move in a big mass as opposed to 20 units taking turns. Attacking is much the same as other “Tactics” games, but one difference–you can combo if there are units one panel adjacent to you. Combos not only look cool, but often will do a lot more damage. If normal attacks aren’t your thing, there’s plenty of special moves with any of the seven weapon types, in addition to unique character skills (Such as Laharl’s “Blazing Knuckle) and monster skills. The moves can’t combo like normal attacks can, but most special moves affect an area, or hit more than once, perhaps even knocking the enemy to another panel as some do. You’ll also be pleased to know that classes can use and gain skill with any weapons they wish, but they are very proficient with some specific ones. In example, mage/skull classes are proficient with staves, which also enhance their spell range if they practice enough. Using a weapon will increase the skill with that weapon. When you reach a certain level with a weapon, new moves will become unlocked, and your proficiency with the weapon becomes even greater. There are no staff moves, but with increased skill comes enhanced spell range. Without staves, your range will barely go 3 tiles. While there are many skills, I found myself wishing there were more special moves for the weapons seeing as how there’s only 7 weapon types.

Combat is nothing difficult, and very easy to get used to once you gain a grasp of things like geo tiles, colored flashing panels with effects that match what geo crystal you put on them. For example, putting a geo crystal with the effect of “+100% EXP” on a blue tile will make all geo panels of the same color increase EXP by 100% if a unit is killed on that color. Geo panels can also be changed by way of breaking a different color geo crystal (The color of the geo crystal only effects what the color tile it’s on will change to when the crystal is broken) or with the “Change Geo” move of the Scout unit. Get used to lifting other units/geo crystals with your units, as it gets to be extremely useful. While some units will be indispensable, many like the Rouges, Scouts and Knights are just not useful in the slightest. Many other units can do what they do, and much better. If you really want a warrior that cast spells, overlook the Knight and instead give a warrior a mage pupil. When the warrior learns spells from the pupil (One tile away you’re able to share moves with a pupil) she/he will be much more effective than a Knight would ever be.

Also to note is that there’s a deep system for leveling. There is no level cap, and you’re able to reset your characters to level 1 with much enhanced stats. Not only that, but you can alter your weapons, which carry “residents” who enhance the power of the weapons they are on. By entering a weapon, you can raise its base stats with each level you descend in to the weapon, and by subduing residents from other items and putting them on the item of your choice. On top of this, add in many unlockable levels, classes, and items, and you’ve got yourself a couple hundred hours of game play if you are a perfectionist.

Overall
While it is fun, and a very good game, is not exactly all that deep. The story is nice, but short. There’s plenty of gameplay, but sadly, it’s just not deep enough for how much you may end up playing. If the story were longer, or if there were more special moves/things to look forward to as you level higher besides stats, my opinion would be much different. While it supports the capacity for high level characters, it doesn’t seem to do that in anything more than no level cap, and one supremely hard secret boss. I do very much enjoy this game, and I have purchased it, but I have hopes that a sequel will come along and add more depth to this game and its fun and quirky story.

Squackle Guestbook #20614

Sunday 10/19/2003 6:42:12pm
Name: DER SEHR GUT SOUP NAZI
Homepage:
E-Mail:
I like to MAKE SOUP
NOT GIVE PEOPLE SOUP
MASSACRE JEWS
KILL BUGS
DRIVE PANZARS
DRAW PIC-A-TURES
TELL PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE NOT ARIAN
HIT THINGS WITH TWIGS
SHOUT
MEAT 

I NEED MONIES TO SAVE MY BRAIN! SAVE ME! I NEED PERSCRIPTION WITH WAFFLE IN EM! AH HAHA HAAAH AAAAH HAA AHHH! A!

I like Squackle!: Yes
Comments: OMGG~~!~!~!1!~~!1`!~!`1`1~!!`1~!