Plot Characters: 7.5/10

Brave Fencer Musashi is a refreshingly simple game to pick up and understand, as far as the story goes. You are the young reincarnation of the brave warrior Musashi, who has been summoned to the kingdom of Allucaneet by the princess Fillet. Initially put off by your small size, Fillet sends you on a quest to retrieve the blades of Luminescence and the five scrolls of power, and use those to save her kingdom from the Thirstquencher Armies. Hilarity ensues.

No really, that’s it. There are side quests that require you to free all of the missing members of the Allucaneet court, but, beyond that, you are simply tasked with saving the Kingdom.

Characters are a cute affair, with the main character, and his rival Kojiro, taken from the Japanese legends. The rest, both good and bad, are named after food, or drinks, and each have their own ‘quirks’. Characters are mostly two dimensional (Fillet is the spoiled princess, Kojiro is The Rival) but this leaves room for fun gameplay, and many laughs at the sometimes anime-esque antics of the story.

Don’t be fooled by it’s light hearted premise though, Musashi could be outright frightening at time, especially for younger children. The game is broken into chapters, and Chapter three began to take a turn for the dark. Lets just say that its a race against the clock, and it’s more than your life at stake if you fail.

Gameplay 8/10

As an action RPG, Brave Fencer Musashi is focused heavily on defeating one’s enemies in combat. To do this, Musashi utilizes two swords; Lumina and Fusion, each with their own unique and fun to use powers. Fusion has the power to drain enemy attacks, so they can be utilized as your own. Lumina, along with the five scrolls of earth, water, fire, wind, and sky, also grant you new elemental based abilities.

Parts of the game’s mechanics revolve around the passage of time through night and day, and the days of the week. You’ll find yourself solving more than a few puzzles that can only be done at certain times, or during certain days. Be careful though! If you don’t allow Mushashi time to rest, his actions become sluggish and lazy!

In addition to the main game, side and mini quests also make up a huge portion of the game’s appeal. My favorite portion came later in the game, where Musashi must get his DDR on to defeat one particularly annoying enemy. Dance or Die!

Musashi is also a game for the completionist in us all. Beating the main story of the game is only half the fun. Mushashi can then go back to free all of the members of court to gain additional techniques, or even collect action figures of friends and foes alike in the town’s Toy Store.

Music: 6/10

Brave Fencer Musashi’s score was composed by Tsuyoshi Sekito, in his first composition for Square and most closely resembles the background music that can be heard in many current free to play MMORPGs (a close comparison could be made between the music for this game and that of Ragnarok Online).

While mostly forgettable, the music was pleasant enough to listen to, and never so annoying or repetitive that I wished to mute the television (though a lot of the voice acting got right up to that point.) The background music for each area often changed between night and day, and the songs for Allucaneet villiage were particularly peaceful and calm.

My favorite song, by far, comes from the aforementioned DDR segment, though it was hard to enjoy while jumping around for my very life! It was repetitive, but memorable; in fact, I find myself humming it right now!

Graphics: 7/10

Graphics were as to be expected for an RPG of the PS1 era. Though lacking the cut scenes of Final Fantasy VII, I would rate the graphics themselves on the same level as the game play, though with a far more cartoonish, and less gritty feel. The areas were well designed, and pretty enough to look at, though, once again, not particularly ground

breaking, or fantastic. The enemy design was interesting, but only on some of the larger enemies, like the Steam Knight of chapter one. Each character had their own drawn avatar that showed up in their speech bubbles, and these were done particularly well. Though the game’s graphics were not perfect, they were not hideous, at least, for their time.

Overall:  7/10

Nostalgia is responsible for much of my love for this game. Looking back, it was a cute and simple way to pass the time, with above average game play, and interesting concepts and side quests. Otherwise, Brave Fencer Musashi is nothing special to look at, or listen to. Still, I think that this is a game that everyone should play at least once, if only to see what besides the beloved Final Fantasy series SquareSoft produced before Kingdom Hearts dominated their action RPG playing field.

Article source: http://www.comicbooked.com/throwback-thursday-7-brave-fencer-musashi/

In a not totally unexpected move, Sony Online Entertainment announced that starting in October the highly popular DC Universe Online MMO will switch to free-to-play.  The MMO will begin a three tiered system that will serve as the revenue stream for the game.  The move comes just seven months since the game came out in stores.

Both PC and Playstation 3 players will be able to download and play the game for free and have the ability to boost their account by in game microtransactions.  The tiered system breaks down like this.

Free
New players will now have access to the current gameplay in DC Universe Online (including Gotham City, Metropolis, and all current raids and alerts), with the ability to create two characters, join a league and many other benefits. Free level players will be able to purchase downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers and more through microtransactions.

Premium
Any player who has spent at least $5 (including former paid subscribers and new players who have purchased $5 of in-game items) will qualify for the Premium access level. Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.

Legendary
Maximum features and benefits are included at this level. Loaded with enhanced additional features, Legendary access will be available for a $14.99 monthly fee and includes all DLC packs at no cost, more than 15 character slots, more than 80 inventory slots, the ability to form unrestricted-sized leagues, and many other benefits.

SOE executive producer Lorin Jameson had this to say.

“I don’t know about you, but my credit card statement every month is this amalgam of s*** of MMOs that I’m too lazy to cancel.  What we want is to offer people a way to not worry about that.  In terms of ‘Is it a result in a drop in subs’ – absolutely not.  This is the right business model.  If I can be honest, the game ended up costing a lot more than we thought it would, and this was our preferred business model from day one.  We are really seeing the benefits of free to play, and we’re really liking it.  Needless to say we’re paying close attention to it and maybe looking to make some surprise moves a little later.”

That was basically all they had to say for me.  Come October, I will be downloading and playing DC Universe Online.  Since I first heard about it I have been dying to play.  The only thing stopping me was the $14.99 a month fee.  If you’re like me, you avoid playing MMOs because of the monthly fee required to play them.  The trend over the past year or so has been many of the popular MMOs going to a free-to-play model that allows players the flexibility to pay for only what they want and still be able to play the game without a monthly fee tacked on.  Earlier this summer Cryptic, the makers of Star Trek Online made the announcement that it would also be switching to a free-to-play system by December of this year.

Tags: DC Comics, DC Universe Online, MMOs, Sony Online Entertainment, Video Games

About the Author

Written by The Nerd

Bryan is a mild mannered IT professional by day. Comic book reading, phaser wielding, video game playing, all around geek the rest of the time. Comics, games, sci-fi, you name it and he is into it or at least has an opinion on it.

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Article source: http://www.comicbooked.com/dc-universe-online-goes-free-to-play/

A few years back, I came across a bit of extra cash and bought a game for my PC pretty much on a whim. That game was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I did not regret the purchase for even a day, and spent many late hours delving into the world, making as many characters as I could, and playing the game through in many different ways. This game, to me, was what an RPG should strive to be. Skills were gained, not by an arbitrary level up, by which you decided where your character would excel, but instead by actually performing the skill you wished to improve. This was the core of The Elder Scrolls to me.

To be fair, for the first few hours all I could do after watching the video was point, and yell expletives to show just how awesome I thought the demo was. Now that I’ve been given a bit of time to calm down, I’ll be breaking this preview into parts, in hopes that I will be a slightly more coherent ball of excitement than usual.

Story

Graphics

Can I use the word ‘amazeballs’ here, and be done? No? Alright. To me, Bethesda Games always boasted absolutely astonishing environments, from the cities and country sides of Oblivion, to the bunkers and barren wastelands of Fallout. Skyrim just takes these concepts and brings them to the next extreme. According to Todd Howard (Skyrim’s executive producer and the video’s narrator), a new engine was created to script, render, and create this fifth canonical installment in the Elder Scrolls series. This engine has been dubbed Creation. What this means is that, like other Elder Scrolls titles, everything from the closest plant to the furthest mountain is detailed. From the video, nothing seemed to be back drop. If you want to climb the mountain way over there, you could, so long as you were prepared to run way over there to do it. Personally? I can’t wait to spend hours playing a pilgrim that traverses one end of Skyrim to the other.

Another subject I specifically want to touch on is item design. The game menu (I’ll go into more detail later) gives the ability to view each and every item , armor, and weapon in the game to the fullest detail, down to the last piece of salmon steak. Such attention to detail only gains points with me, and I can imagine spending a lot of time just going through my items to pick out the prettiest sword (or double axe) to bash things with.

Game Mechanics

Like Oblivion before it, Skyrim is meant to be enjoyed as a first person experience, but can also be played in the third person. While I personally am more comfortable with third person, I have to admit it’s pretty obvious that the game was designed with the first in mind. In the video, I noticed the character moving a bit oddly at times, and the design was very shiny and ‘fake’ for the player character (though non player characters were rendered beautifully). Attacks, magic, and enemies also looked more realistic in the first person than they did in the third; things just seemed to flow better overall when no player character was visible. According to the video, the controls of the game will not be that far a departure from previous Elder Scrolls titles, especially Oblivion. Right trigger still controls your right hand, and left still controls your left. The rest is pretty intuitive, but with a few added quirks to make the game even better. Spells can be dual wielded, and, when wielding the same spell in both hands , a ‘super’ version of that spell can be created. That leads me to question: will different spells be able to be combined to create new spells? How awesome would that be?The menu for Skyrimis also rather simple to understand, with sub-menus for inventory, skills (shaped like a unique constellation for your character) and the map. Skills are the same fare as before. As Howard said “You are who you play”. If you want to become a master at a skill, you need only use it.

Crowning Moment of Awesome: Dragon, Axe. Watch it.

Overall:  This tech demo was exactly what I wanted to see. Come November, let’s just say you may not hear from me for a while.

Tags: Bethesda, Creation, Dragon, Elder Scrolls, Nordic, Oblivion, PC, PS3, RPG, Skyrim, Voice, xbox360

About the Author

Written by InfaPlat

As an avid writer, gamer, and dungeon master, it would be hard to classify Jessica Lynn as anything but a geek. Her favorite past times involve raining unholy fire upon her enemies, devising the next great way to kill her party, and figuring out just how far she can push a PC before it explodes. When not taking out her nerd rage on fantasy characters or inanimate objects, she can be found toiling away in the dungeon known as the IT department. If you’re wondering; InfaPlat is short for Infamous Platypus.

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Article source: http://www.comicbooked.com/skyrim-tech-demo-20-minutes-of-heaven/

Me! Infaplat filled in for me last week while I dealt with the fallout of having my XBOX account hacked. But, as always, it’s my pleasure to be back at the helm of this gaming-news-delivering ship. The Fall lineup is coming. Naturally, as we move into gaming’s busiest season, the industry comes to life with all sorts of news. Let’s take a peek, shall we?

- Diablo III may or may not be releasing this year, and the fans are absolutely ravenous. To help whet appetites, Blizzard released a talent calculator earlier this week. You can check out a full talent tree for each of the game’s five classes. Talent trees made on this official calculator are shareable. So, if you’re a Diablo die-hard, you may want to head over and start scheming about your characters’ skill paths before the game drops.

- In the 1990s,  LucasArts released some of the most critically adored flight combat games: the X-Wing series. Aside from receiving critical adoration, these games set a new standard for space-based flight combat games that definitively shaped the entire course of the genre. After the Rogue Squadron series was released, the X-Wing series mostly disappeared. LucasArts set message boards ablaze the other day when their career opportunities page called out for developers for an aerial combat title. While it’s definitely too early to see where the project is going, it never hurts to hope, right?

- The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection was recently officially street-dated for November 23rd. The Japanese edition will contain a download voucher for the original Metal Gear Solid and physical copies of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. The North American edition, set to release this winter for the PS3 and XBOX 360, will contain MGS 2 and 3 and a console port of the PSP title Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker.  

- Some news for the upcoming 3DS entry for the Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, was announced this week. Neku, the protagonist in the sorely under-appreciated The World Ends With You, will be joining Sora and Riku on their latest adventure. As with every other portable title, KH3D will tie-in to the main series canon. A tech demo for KH3D was on-hand at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show, but no release date has been confirmed yet.

- Speaking of Square Enix and TGS 2011, during Sony’s press conference, an HD remake of Final Fantasy X was confirmed for PS3 and the PS Vita. No official release date or sneak peeks were given though.

- While the main Super Smash Bros. franchise lies in development (with Wii U and 3DS versions in the works), some fans took up the task of “de-making” the series; that is, imagining what the game would have been like if it released on the original GameBoy. The result, Super Smash Land, is a very enjoyable, if not slightly frustrating, experience.  The game is available for free on the previously linked website. If you’re a fan of the series, or just looking to have some cheap fun, you really can’t go wrong with Super Smash Land. Check out this charming “de-make” in action:

That’ll do it for Gamer Pulse this week. In the meantime, check out some stuff from our other video game writers. Elizabeth Hourigan took the wheel with this week’s Throwback Thursday, and Robb Orr covered the new trailer for the long-awaited Max Payne 3. Show them some love, and, as always, thanks for reading. Stay tuned to Comic Booked as we head into the Fall release season!

Tags: Blizzard, comic booked, Diablo, Diablo 3, Diablo III, Final Fantasy X HD, Gamer Pulse, Hideo Kojima, Infaplat, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Kyle Black, LucasArts, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Land, the world ends with you, X-Wing

About the Author

Written by Kyle Black

Kyle Black has been a gamer his whole life. Recently, he has decided to merge his love of gaming with his love of writing. The resulting product: a gig here on Comic Booked writing about, what else, video games!

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Article source: http://www.comicbooked.com/gamer-pulse-guess-whos-back/

Today Rockstar Games released a preview trailer for the long-awaited Max Payne 3.  It has been 8 years since the last installment in the Max Payne series, and it looks like a similar amount of time has passed in the game.  Max is no longer a cop, hooked on booze and pills, and works questionable jobs for shady characters.  He has had quite the fall from grace by the look of things.  But don’t take my word for it, just watch the video and see for yourself.

I think it looks pretty good.  I am not ready to go in-depth and write a huge article over a preview trailer, but this is definitely exciting to watch and anticipate.  You can certainly see that Rockstar keeps pushing the limits and improving their character animations.  Max Payne 3 will be the first game in the franchise to have online multiplayer and a death-match mode.  The game is scheduled to release in March 2012 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, so everyone will be able to get in on the fun.  Max Payne 3 is certainly a game to keep an eye on, and I for one can’t wait to see more.

Tags: comic booked, First look, Games, Max Payne, Max Payne 3, Preview, Robb Orr, Rockstar, Trailer, video, Video Games

About the Author

Written by Robb Orr

Robb Orr is a comic bibliophile and game aficionado from the “Emerald City” of Seattle, WA. He hopes to win enough favor to gain pet status after the upcoming and inevitable monkey apocalypse comes to fruition.

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Article source: http://www.comicbooked.com/rockstar-games-releases-the-max-payne-3-preview-video/

It’s Thursday, which means two things. First, you’ve made it through most of the week, and, second, you’re reading the exciting sixth installment of Throwback Thursday! Sit back and indulge a few moments before taking up the mantle of the next day.

On March 12th, 1992, a video game was released to the American public. The opening screen is dark and foreboding, and for good reason.

Dropped from an orbital station, you first fall through the atmosphere and must immediately fight for survival, and then fight your way through a ruined city, and on. Every corner of this world is being attacked. No place is safe. Firing your choice of weapons at enemies that fly, crawl and jump is dizzying, especially when you consider the pulsing, almost-tribal music. It is a merciless ordeal and there will be no quarter.

Just another 2-D side-scrolling shooter? Hardly. This is Bio Hazard Battle, one of the most brutal Sega Genesis games out there. Now let’s go down the nineteen year-old rabbit hole and score this bad boy.

Plot Characters – 8/10

It is far into the future. The planet Avaron is plagued by an intense barrage of alien and viral warfare leftover from a battle which humanity all but lost. You must command a bioship to seek out a suitable place for a new human colony and, if possible, rid this planet of its invaders and would-be conquerors. Be forewarned; if you’re looking for another human-centric harrowing tale of fighting off disgusting-looking aliens, you will have to look elsewhere. Though none of these enemies are aesthetically pleasing, our familiar human form is never shown. The bioships (mechanical in nature yet biologically alive) are not only profound technological developments, they are the main characters of this game. There are four to choose from, each with individual specifications: Orestes, Electra, Hecuba, and Polyxena. Orestes and Hecuba are the faster ships, while Electra and Polyxena move more decisively. Though they move more slowly, their weapons will stay at a higher degree despite damage taken. The player must weigh these things to make the choice.

This is a world  that has been torn apart by raging war and has been invaded by and infested with viral and bacterial organisms, the growth of which is preventing the first human colonization in centuries. We are waiting with bated breath while the – until recently – cryogenically frozen survivors of the orbital station Odysseus scout out the situation.

There are some who would say that there cannot be much story behind a 16-bit side-scroller, but they would have been sadly spoiled by the last few generations of advancing gaming technology. Once upon a time, players (unconsciously or consciously) used their analytical skills, taking in the painstakingly designed artwork, music, and other details in order to pull up a universe around them. They used their imagination. However, even with this considered, the lack of dialogue and directly imparted storytelling (some sort of preface) is felt most significantly.

Sound – 10/10

The sound effects and musical themes of this game were not only up to par for their time, but they could even be considered ahead of their time. The music pulses with the unrelenting pace of the action, quickening the heartbeat of the player and essentially fueling the atmosphere of desperation first imparted by short blurb on the back of the cartridge case. The sound effects are crisp, hold tight to the actions onscreen, and enhance the general experience.

The music is unique, to say the least. It is memorable – and that is what any good sci-fi action game requires. It should be futuristic and unpredictable, keeping the player’s emotions as on edge as his reflexes.

It sounded good then, and it sounds good now – even played on a newfangled high definition flat screen television.

Graphics – 10/10

The images speak for themselves. Between the background, foreground, and all of the creatures, the graphics create and support a visceral world unlike one the reader has ever seen. The locales are unique and tragically beautiful, and the graphics designs allow the appreciation of this.

A side-scrolling game isn’t just a repeating background. It’s a portrait; a window into the aforementioned world and story. Like so many old world artists, the designers of these backgrounds had to communicate emotions and storytelling through two dimensional imagery.

It looked good then, and it looks good now – even played on a newfangled high definition flat screen television.

Gameplay – 7/10

The controls are simple. The directional buttons are used to move the character in eight directions, and very smoothly. Any of the action buttons could be used to fire the bioships’ weapons. Holding down an action button will begin a buildup of energy around the bioship that, when released, will take out a greater area of enemies. Holding down one of the famed turbo buttons will cause the ship to fire repeatedly.

The player has a choice of weapons. Seeds switching and recharging the weapons are dropped from the orbital station like manna falling from heaven. There are blue, green, yellow, and orange seeds representing the different types of weapons. The blue seed will give Orestes and Polyxena the nova, which shoots in all directions simultaneously; while Electra and Hecuba get the bond, which releases blue pods that are attracted to enemies and explode in close proximity to them. Hecuba and Orestes get the seeker laser from the orange seed, which, as its name suggests, seeks the enemies like a magnet. The stream also absorbs some forms of enemy fire. Electra and Polyxena get the plasma ring from the orange seed. The plasma ring emits rings which bounce and ricochet – this comes in handy in enclosed spaces. The yellow seed give Orestes and Electra the fire petal and Hecuba and Polyxena get the spin laser. The green seed is the same for all characters, a basic pod. The weapons can be strategically chosen as the locale changes, depending on needs.

The side-scrolling nature of this game has the potential to become monotonous and redundant, but it hardly seems to come to that because of the height of challenge it has to offer.

Overall – 9/10

If a game of a certain genre and gameplay type can rise above its peers to stand the test of time, that speaks volumes. There are few games that can have such rich replay value for such a seemingly simply formula.

This 1992 Sega Genesis title is fun, challenging, and generally clever for its and all time. It might be a bio hazard not to try it.

Tags: 16-bit, Bio Hazard Battle, comicbooked, Elizabeth Hourigan, Sega Genesis, shooter, side-scrolling

About the Author

Written by Elizabeth Hourigan

Though eclectic in her interests and hobbies, Elizabeth is best known for her passionate interests in science fiction, music, and video games. She was raised on both Star Wars and Star Trek and she was holding an NES controller since before she could remember; one could imagine where things went from there. She has always experienced anything sci-fi or fantasy as both an emotional catharsis and a creative stimulant. She is a social creature and answers the call of the nightlife but also enjoys sitting in a cafe, quietly reading a book and secretly people-watching; always hoping for scintillating conversations with passersby.

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Article source: http://www.comicbooked.com/throwback-thursday-6-bio-hazard-battle/

As Kyle wages battle in a game of a different kind (I hear they call it Real Life), I’ll be taking over for this week’s Gamer Pulse. Today I’ll be bringing you a mixed bag of updates from last week’s installment, as well as some fresh tidbits. So without further ado, let’s get to it!

-It’s amazing how much information finds its way onto the internet over the course of seven days. Last week, we brought you a first look at the closed beta testing of Blizzard’s Diablo III. Since then, Force Strategy Gaming has compiled a video of leaked beta footage of the login and character generation screens. Also included are screenshots of one of the early quests in the game, where a level five wizard goes on to clear a cellar of infested villagers. Most important is the appearance of the valiant barbarian ‘muddbutt’. Take a look and see for yourself!

-Ninetendo’s 3DS sales are finally starting to increase after seeing a major price cut from $249.99 to $169.99 on August 12th. According to industry research from NPD, the 3DS saw a 260% increase in August’s sales, as 185,000 units were sold in the United States alone. The new price has put the 3DS second only to Microsoft’s Xbox360 in hardware sales for the month of August.

-Fans of all things Grand Theft Auto will get a kick (and a punch, stab… possibly a few bullets… I’ll stop) out of Team RAGE’s Vice City Rage mod for Grand Theft Auto IV.  Due out this Christmas, the mod will give last gen’s GTA a graphical overhaul. Take a look at the ‘trailer’ below for more.

-Cryptic Studios has released additional information on Star Trek: Online’s free-to-play migration. According to a recent report, the game will be broken down into silver (free) and gold (paid) memberships. Free members will be able to enjoy a majority of the game’s content, with most of the restrictions being placed on reduced inventory size and a two character limit. Additionally, only paid subscribers will be able to create missions in the game’s Foundry system.

-For those of us who love a game so much that we are willing to burn holes in the disc from overplay, Rocksteady has added a New Game Plus mode to the Batman: Arkham City experience. While details are few and far between, it has been made clear that things will be a lot more difficult on your second prowl through the streets of Gotham. More details are available in the Arkham City‘s community forums.

Tags: 3DS, Arkham City, Batman, Blizzard, Cryptic, Diablo, Grand Theft Auto, Nintendo, Rage, Rocksteady, Star Trek, Vice City

About the Author

Written by InfaPlat

As an avid writer, gamer, and dungeon master, it would be hard to classify Jessica Lynn as anything but a geek. Her favorite past times involve raining unholy fire upon her enemies, devising the next great way to kill her party, and figuring out just how far she can push a PC before it explodes. When not taking out her nerd rage on fantasy characters or inanimate objects, she can be found toiling away in the dungeon known as the IT department. If you’re wondering; InfaPlat is short for Infamous Platypus.

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Article source: http://www.comicbooked.com/gamer-pulse-this-week-shall-go-down-in-infamy/