VideogameVagabond.com

09. The Shin Megami Tensei franchise (PS2, PS3)

Whether it’s Digital Devil Saga, Nocturne, Devil Summoner or the Persona series, few RPG franchises were as prolific as Shin Megami Tensei in the past decade. The interesting thing is what sets them apart; they’re hard to beat, darker in tone and definitely M-rated. That bucks the trend of most RPG developers, which is to dumb down RPGs to gain mass appeal.

Also interesting is how varied and different each series in the SMT franchise is; few people will mistake Digital Devil Saga for Persona, or Persona for Nocturne, for example. That kind of variety is hard to find, even in as prolific a franchise as Final Fantasy.

Sure, some of the games are a bit on the esoteric side and, as a result, as appealing as searching Orange NJ invisalign users for matching dental records, but hey, quirkiness is good when too many RPGs are “me too” in approach.

Still marveling over how much better everything looks in 1080p!

I’ve started playing Fallout 3 over from the beginning, and Silent Hill: Homecoming, the only true PS3 iteration of the franchise, looks far more creepy and atmospheric than before. Over on the Xbox 360 side, Fable 2 doesn’t seem to benefit that much, but most of the SquareSoft RPGs certainly do.

From the details in background landscape to the wood-grain rendering in lambo doors, there’s simply nothing that doesn’t look a lot better in 1080p than it did on 480i. Yahoo!

Ever since the launch title Resistance: Fall of Man appeared on PS3 systems, there has been a lot of speculation on what its inevitable sequel would be like, and it’s been as loud as a fire alarm. Well, Resistance 2 is finally here and every expectation was at least been met, if not surpassed. Playing off the idea that the first Resistance title’s story did not go well for those of us who are Earth natives, Resistance 2 builds for us a world even more oppressive and apocalyptic than the previous title.

The title is definitely a showcase for the PS3’s HD skills; the game is sharply detailed and rendered, and the boss characters you face off with fill the screen not only with mass, but lovely details that make PS2’s Shadow of the Colossus seem like a children’s coloring book (even though that was a great title).

The level design is impressive in its size and scale, with plenty of room to explore without running into frequent loading delays. The visual effects on display are spectacular and the best aspect of the game is that the action is quick and fluid; especially on HD displays.

In fact, a game like this is certainly a motivator to finally pop for at least a 720p set to play it on, if not a True 1080p HD system, simply because standard definition displays just don’t have nearly as much room to contain all the eye-candy on display in this title.

One thing I enjoyed as a gamer who is not typically a fan of shooters is how intuitive the game system is; there’s never a feeling that one is lacking the depth of a more involved RPG, yet the system for changing weapons, reloading and such never bogs down the action.

Another element I appreciated is that the title has some odd things happen – such as creatures that appear and attack, but don’t stick around to finish you off, necessarily, but who pop back up later to offer a more critical challenge. While it might be overstating things a bit to compare Resistance 2 to the really fun movie Cloverfield, it would seem that the developers were singing from the same hymnal, at least, as the makers of that movie.

If all-out action with a solid story and solid shooter action are what you’re itching for, Resistance 2 delivers it in spades, and ought to be sufficient to keep PS3 fans from feeling like they are missing out on games like Halo 3 or Halo Wars, if they don’t own a 360. Resistance 2 is an instant classic on its own merits.

Star Ocean: Second Evolution for the Sony PSP is a remake of the classic Enix PSone RPG that introduced the series to American audiences. The first installment, made for the SNES, was only released in Japan and thus never made much impact outside of import shops in the US. The original US title of this second installment, localized by Sony themselves, was Star Ocean: Second Story, thought the localization was about as interesting to read as a handbook on mesothelioma.

For its time, the game was a PSone classic. Released in a summer crowded with RPGs, the second Star Ocean stood out because of its unique approach to capturing the feel of pen-and-paper RPGs on a home console game; for example, it was one of the early RPGs to ever make use of non-combat skills. Although such skills were part and parcel of pen-and-paper RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, or Shadowrun, Star Ocean: Second Story was among the first to attempt to simulate such a system and make it an essential part of the game world.

By doing this, Enix made sure the action-style RPG appealed to fans of turn-based RPGs, because despite the battle system, there was still a deep feeling of control and development of one’s character maintained throughout the game. Of course, the early implantation of this non-combat skill system was awkward; in the original game, if you tried to use your cooking skills to make a hearty beef stew, you were more likely to whip up a weak miso soup that had as much chance of poisoning you as it did restoring hit points.

In the remake for PSP, Star Ocean: Second Evolution, the weaknesses of the system have been patched up to make using them less frustrating; while you won’t be successful every time you use a non-weapon skill, you won’t fail nearly as often.

Another element that’s been polished up is the story, which is essentially the same, but offers up a lot more by way of spoken dialog and cut-scenes than did the original. The difference is like reading the Reader’s Digest version of the story, then reading the full novel; there’s just more depth and detail this time out.

From a gameplay standpoint, SO:SE plays essentially the same as Star Ocean: First Departure, which is understandable since SquareEnix borrowed much of the game engine for that remake from SO:SE. That’s essentially a good thing, though.

In SO:SE, you can play through either as female hero Rena or male hero Claude, and though their stories vary a bit, they dovetail quite nicely. One change in tone for the series is that although it is still a multi-world, science fiction epic, you don’t leave the initial homeworld quite so quickly as in First Departure, and the hokey, hackneyed Star Trek ripoff feel of the first title disappears here for a tone that’s a bit more original – though perhaps by a few inches rather than a mile.

Still, in the end, Star Ocean: Second Evolution is a very good, deep and sufficiently lengthy RPG to give your PSP a solid workout by the time you finish it; it’s a welcome addition to the PSP library and certainly appeals to any RPG enthusiast. While not quite as eye-popping as Jeanne d’Arc or as wonderfully comic and inventive as Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, Star Ocean: Second Evolution certainly deserves a prominent place in any PSP owner’s game library.

Star Ocean is one of the slower-moving RPG series around; the first installment appeared on the SNES system, and never made it to US shores. Star Ocean: Second Story made it to the US, but by the time it appeared, the platform of choice was the original PlayStation. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, the third chapter in the series, didn’t make its debut until the PlayStation 2 era, and sometime later this winter, we are expecting the Xbox 360 debut of the series, in the form of Star Ocean: The Last Hope, the fourth installment in the epic series; at this point, no PlayStation 3 version of Star Ocean: The Last Hope is planned, though it has not been completely ruled out.

In the run-up to the first new Star Ocean since 2005, SquareEnix is releasing the first two Star Oceans on PlayStation Portable Slim (PSP Slim), and Star Ocean: First Departure is the first of these two PSP remakes. It marks the first time the first Star Ocean has ever appeared on North American shores, outside of import shops.

While the game definitely possesses a retro feel, the story is engaging and the various systems from battle to skills to item creation possess enough depth to keep most gamers happy and playing through the entire length of the journey. Although mildly updated, the game’s graphics do not stray too much from their SNES roots. The characters are sprite-based, though more detailed than in the original; and the battles are real-time affairs that will keep action RPG fans mildly satisfied, despite the overall retro feel even of the battle system.

The story centers on Roddick Farrence, a boy determined to save his village from a petrification problem when, in a very Star Trek-style moment, he meets visitors from another planet who tell him the only hope for his world won’t be found on his own. In the update, SquareEnix’s team used Star Ocean: Second Story’s game engine to bring the game’s systems up-to-speed with the rest of the series. That includes an item creation system that allows you to manufacture just about anything with the right ingredients and a recipe, even tire chains. Also, the game was given a fresh, American voice cast and offers up hours and hours of voice acting that were never present – for technological reasons – when it was first released on the SNES.

In the end, Star Ocean: First Departure is not ground-breaking or innovative, but it is an essential key to the origins of the series, and the first appearance of the title on US shores makes it noteworthy in and of itself. Fans of the series will see it as a must-have; it also provides a fine jumping-on point for those who played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time on PS2, or are looking forward to Star Ocean: The Last Hope on Xbox 360, and are wondering about the origins of the series.

Country Music Television is the producer behind this Toby Keith film; unless, that is, you count Ford Motor Company, to whom this film is a passionate love letter; especially when it comes to the Ford F-150 truck. A country music and music video star already, Keith makes his movie debut in this film about southern lawmen whose exploits are only remotely connected to the classic Keith-Willie Nelson duet of the same name.

The plot of the film revolves around the arrest of a group of small time anhydrous ammonia thieves that just happens to include the brother of a powerful Mexican drug lord and whose intelligence in said pursuit resembles fig trees. Keith, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film with Blue Collar Comedy Tour comic Rodney Carrington, stars with Carrington as the arresting officers of the drug lord’s brother.

The twist comes when Keith’s girlfriend, played ably by Claire Forlani, is kidnapped by said Mexican drug lord and a swap – brother for girlfriend – is demanded. The film has a decent and deep cast, including Ted Nugent, Tom Skerritt, Willie Nelson and Mac Davis.

There are light comedy moments and action film intensity that call to mind Witless Protection, the product of another Blue Collar Comedy Tour member, Larry the Cable Guy. What grounds the movie, however, is Keith’s rumbley bass voice and commanding screen presence. He comes off convincingly in his role, which holds the rest of the film together.

Rock legend and conservative talk radio standby Ted Nugent is effective in a comic non-speaking role as Skunk Taylor, a lawman who eschews guns and uses instead a bow and arrow to take down his opponents. Of course, that means a genuine hunter’s compound bow, not some Robin Hood lightweight stick-and-twine.

The plot is nothing original, but as a popcorn movie it keeps a person interested from beginning to end, despite some over-the-top antics by Carrington. The biggest strike against the movie is that there are no positive Mexican roles in the film and by casting all Mexican parts as bad guy roles, the film can come off with a negative racial bias, especially with some of the anti-Mexican comments tossed into the movie by Keith and Carrington.

This problem could have been solved easily by tossing a Mexican FBI agent, eager to help take down the drug lord with Keith and Carrington, into the mix, but that choice was not made in this case. The film suffers for this oversight, limiting its potential appeal.

The annuls of television drama have rarely known as odd a duck as Dr. Gregory House and this collection of Season Four episodes is a perfect example of why the show has become a runaway hit for Fox and made an international superstar out of the actor in the title role, Hugh Laurie.

Although Laurie is best-known in the US for his role on House, in Great Britain he would have struggled to get cast in a similar drama due to an early career as an extremely silly comic actor, whose roles ranged from supporting bits on Rowan Atkinson’s Black Adder series, all the way to a sketch comedy show with Stephen Fry, known as “A Bit of Fry and Laurie.”

His transition to drama, however, has been nearly seamless. Using his British wit to make Dr. House seem cruel and dispassionate, Laurie has made the role uniquely his own and garnered quite a bit of acclaim in the process of playing a curmudgeon. He has worked hard behind the scenes against any efforts to soften his character up, preferring to play House in the bitter, asinine mode that the role was originally conceived in.

Season four, like all shows last season, was shortened by the writer’s strike (and perhaps some troubles with light fixtures), cut off at a mere sixteen episodes. Yet despite losing six episodes from their typical twenty-two episode season, it turned into one of the series’ most memorable.

Unlike most shows, who stay with the same core cast members throughout its entire run to the maximum extent possible despite taking place in a supposed “teaching” environment (how old were the sweathogs on Welcome Back, Kotter again?) House last season struck out in a bold direction by graduating its three main residents under Dr. House’s tutelage and forcing House into selecting a new group of understudies.

Of course, House maximizes the cruelty of the selection process, as well as our entertainment value, but putting the prospective interns through a reality-show style series of challenges. As the numbers dwindle over the course of the first ten episodes or so, the stars who possess the best chemistry with Laurie on screen eventually emerge, leading to the casting of Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson and Olivia Wilde as the newest recruits.

Of course, the original cast members were kept on, but their episode appearances have been cut back, beginning with this season and continuing into the current season five airing on Fox right now. This changing of the guard was a risk for a hit show, but was pulled off craftily enough to inject a sense of freshness into the drama, rather than making it feel like the show was gutted.

And the casting call stunt led to story possibilities even for some who didn’t make the final cut, setting up – in a strike-shortened year, mind you –the most affecting season finales of the show’s four-year run. All sixteen episodes, of course, are here in the collection, as over a half-dozen special feature documentaries and a commentary track on the season’s penultimate episode, House’s Head.

In all, any fan of the series will find this collection a must-have and it may be a season that helps hook new fans into the show, since the new cast of residents provide three new touchstones within the show.

It takes guts to step into the shoes of a legendary horror director like George A. Romero. Blood and guts, actually. And brains … plenty of … BRAINS! And yet, that’s exactly what Zack Snyder attempted in 2004 with this remake of the George A. Romero classic, Dawn of the Dead, part of Romero’s classic Dead trilogy of zombie movies.

With a $28 million budget and gross receipts over $100 million worldwide, Snyder had a much larger palette to paint with, compared to Romero, who made his version in 1978 with a budget of $650,000 and yet went on to gross $55 million worldwide … at 1978 ticket prices. Despite the much larger budget and a cast featuring stars like Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames, it’s hard to say Snyder did a more effective job than Romero on about 1/50th of the budget.

Dawn of the Dead is set primarily in an American shopping mall, where a group of non-zombified survivors attempt to hold zombie hordes at bay, hoping that by dawn, help will arrive. In the intervening action, many fall and transform to zombies, many brains are eaten (resulting in a memory upgrade for the undead), and much blood and gore is displayed all ‘round.

In the bleak original, the help never came and in that sense, Snyder’s ending places a new twist on the film, seeming to offer a sense of hope, only to snatch it away in the closing seconds of the film. The gutsiness of taking on an intimidating project like this has defined Synder’s directing career, the most recent example of which – with the impending release of The Watchmen, the long-desired film version of the classic Alan Moore comic book – is due to be released in March 2009.

The Blu-Ray offers stark detail to ever scene, and there are plenty of extra features to satisfy the morbidly curious. The best feature is the commentary track, lifted directly from the four-disc DVD Ultimate Edition release, which included Romero talking with Snyder about the film. While the track is, by now, a bit dated, since Romero was still at the time trying to find financing for his fourth Dead film, it is nevertheless the jewel of the assemblage of special features.

Also nice is a home movie on the making of the film, made by a zombie extra; a tour of the Crossroads Mall, and several other mini-documentary features. With a decent, if not quite “better,” remake of the original film, the only major complaints here is the absence of the Romero original movie and several really nice special features that didn’t make it over from the four-disc Ultimate Edition DVD.

October is typically a crazy month for videogame retailers and this year is no exception; titles are flooding the market and sending GameStop managers into drug treatment for all the stress they’re under as their stores stock up for the holiday shopping season.

In fact, I know of a couple EB managers who are still going through drug rehab stemming from last year’s holiday rush, but that’s beside the point; as consumers, this is one of our top months, so we must spend our dollars more wisely than ever, so as not to get caught with a stink-bomb game. Here’s our list of the best Xbox 360 games for October 2008:

Dead Space

Available October 14, this is one of EA’s rare entrances into the popular survival horror genre. You’re a communications tech trying to repair the damage done to ship’s communication on a mining vessel in space, cut off from all sources of help, when you discover most of your fellow crew have been massacred by an alien entity that now has you in its sights. Looks to be can’t-miss stuff.

Rock Band 2

Available October 19, this sequel to last year’s genre-growing title guarantees your investment by being completely backward compatible with all original Rock Band songs: instant music library! And because we’re recommending RB2… no, Guitar Hero World Tour does NOT make our list for the 360.

Fable 2

Several years in the making, Fable 2 is the game many people bought their Xbox 360 to play. Well, it’s finally here October 21 and looks like it’ll live up to all the hype. Nuff said? You bet.

Fallout 3

Available October 28, the folks who brought you the first great RPG of the 360 era are back and pushing the envelope again! Bethesda’s Fallout 3 is among the most anticipated RPGs of the year, and a great way to round out a very very strong month for the Xbox 360.

You may need contact lenses to see our list of the top Nintendo DS games for October 2008… it’s not very long.

In fact, it’s completely empty, and considering there are over 50 titles releasing next month for Nintendo DS, that’s saying something. Sure, there’s a couple titles by SquareEnix, but they’re not RPGs and SquareEnix never does well at non-RPGs.

And then there’s one RPG, but it’s by Disney Interactive and is a sequel to boot. It just doesn’t capture my interest; sorry. And then there’s a Fantasy Harvest Moon title, but it’s a sequel that doesn’t look to bring much new to the table.

So let it be said this way: there are well over 50 DS titles coming next month, but not one of them are anything I’d spend my money on, so I’m not going to suggest anyone else does, either.

September marks the beginning of a rush of great titles for all game systems and never let it be said that VideogameVagabond.com doesn’t lend a helping hand! Whether it’s an RPG or a game about cat supplies, here’s the list of titles we’re looking forward to this month on the Nintendo DS.

Dragon Quest IV – SquareEnix

The Dragon Quest titles are finally getting their due alongside Final Fantasy with this strong remake of Dragon Quest IV; originally an SNES classic, DQ IV is a must for any fan of the series. Available September 15.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure – Atlus

Released at the end of the PSone’s life cycle and overshadowed by PS2 releases at the time, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is a classic music-based RPG that has been hard to find, and expensive to acquire on secondary sources like eBay. Definitely a must-have for fans of quirky RPGs everywhere, this DS reissue should help anyone wondering what all the fuss was about. Available September 23.

Disgaea DS – Atlus

Following up on the success of the PSP reissue of Disgaea last year, the Afternoon of Darkness package, this DS version is remade from scratch to take advantage of the DS system and its unique features. There’s also a new story focus and a brand new ending, so even if you’ve played it on PS2 or PSP, this DS version may be worth having. Available September 23.

Those are our top three favorites for September on Nintendo DS!

It’s quickly becoming clear that the Xbox 360 is becoming the new platform of choice for RPG fans, and Atlus’ Spectral Force 3 release is a clear case-in-point. As a Tactics-style RPG with a strong Japanese influence, Spectral Force 3 is exactly the kind of RPG that, in the previous generation of hardware, would have appeared on PlayStation 2 without a second’s hesitation; so its appearance on Xbox 360 with no announcements of a PS3 version could signify a lot about the direction of RPGs in this generation.

The game focuses on a band of military mercenaries under the leadership of grizzled veteran Judo; when he receives a mortal wound early on, he makes a split decision to pass leadership of his ragtag group of warriors on to the raw, mostly untested Begina, rather than a more veteran member of the cadre.

It’s a decision that seems destined for ridicule and to drive Begina to an addiction to weight loss pills, though eventually the rest of the group comes ‘round and decides to give him a chance.

As for the gameplay itself, it is standard Tactics-style RPG fare. This, of course, is a good thing if you consider games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea to be the pinnacle of an enjoyable gaming experience; many do. The game offers a solid mix of storytelling and action, loads of side-quests and a challenging battle system that keeps adding new elements to maintain freshness throughout the epic storyline.

The leveling up system is quick and easy, and allows you to make gains right in the middle of battle, as soon as you reach the necessary level of experience to advance. Each battle also rewards you with some pooled experience points you can distribute as you see fit, post-battle, and is useful for helping newly-acquired characters catch up to the rest of your party if they join up later in the game.

The backdrop is a European-like continent that is in a continual state of war as multiple sides fight for dominance; early on, you’ll receive most of your missions from one side only and the main missions will help turn the tide of battle to their side. However, as the story progresses, you’ll be able to change allegiances like any true mercenary.

The story itself is rather generic when it comes right down to it; the characters do not aspire to grow beyond genre expectations and the plot developments won’t surprise veterans of this genre much. Still, the dialog is witty at times and the core attractions, really, are the lovely complex battles.

Sure, the graphics are nothing revolutionary and could just as easily have been pulled off on last-gen hardware; but then Tactics-style RPGs have rarely been noticed for their cutting-edge graphics – game play is king.

Due to some great depth, smart map design and a wide variety of foes offering various challenges to success, Spectral Force 3 is a solid entry into the genre that won’t leave you bored after the first dozen or so battles. The only thing holding it back from true greatness is a more engaging and original storyline. Beyond that, the challenge level ramps up at a nice, accessible pace while still offering a chance to be outwitted every step of the way. Good show!