Sonic 4: Episode 2 goes a long way towards making up for the mess that was Episode 1. A fun title that still should have been more but definitely could have been less.

As a long-time Sonic fan, it was an exciting day for me when Sega first teased that a new 2D Sonic title was in development. I was even happier when they later announced their intention to boldly title the game Sonic the Hedgehog 4, deeming it the continuation to a series that played a major role in my video gaming as a kid. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, however, disappointed on an almost catastrophic level. All but outsourced to DIMPS, the studio responsible for the decent but pretty underwhelming Sonic Rush games, it played like a low-budget rehash of the first Sonic the Hedgehog instead of a full-on sequel, with some terrible controls to boot.

I had lost much of my hope in the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 project at that point, and downloaded Episode 2 with my expectations vastly lowered, and maybe that was what it took. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 certainly doesn't have the energy or the clever platforming seen in the recently-released Sonic Generations (DIMPS is simply no SonicTeam, there's no getting around that fact) but in improving the controls, in designing a game that feels new and not like a homage, and in upping the production values substantially, DIMPS has successfully created a fun platformer that at times really does feel like the Sonic 4 that we were promised years ago.

Visually speaking, Episode 2 is leaps and bounds above its predecessor. These are some beautiful levels, ones posessing a great sense of scale and detail. The art direction is very much in the spirit of Sonic but at the same time feels like something entirely new, and short and charming cutscenes before and after certain acts feel like a true step up from where this type of storytelling left off in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The music's done in the style of the Genesis Sonic games, and while it provides a bit of nostalgia at times, the songs generally loop far too quickly almost to the point of annoyance.

As far as the gameplay's concerned, Episode 2 sees the return of Tails, though his role's been expanded far beyond what it ever was in past Sonic the Hedgehog games. With the press of a button, Tails will fly you on command, an action which you have full control over. There are other moves, including an admittedly ill-advised team spindash, that the two characters can pull off together. The addition of Tails and his increased importance is the exact type of risk that I felt Episode I should have taken. The role of a sequel is to expand upon where its predecessors left off, not to simply copy them, and I give Episode 2 credit for having the guts to bring something entirely new to a franchise as sacred to some as Sonic the Hedgehog. One of Episode 1's few new features, the homing attack, returns here, but this time the game fully embraces its presence instead of tepidly introducing it, and it's all the better for it.

Bosses too are all new and they're the type of crazily elaborate fights that we just didn't see too much of in the Genesis era, or of course in Episode 1. They may be a little too long (as dying results in you having to restart them) but that's really my only complaint. Once again, this is what Episode 1 should have done to begin with.

It's important to note though that this isn't a game without its flaws, mostly involving the special stages. As with Episode 1, you gain access to a special stage by completing a Zone with 50 rings or more. Episode 2's special stages are reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog 2's in appearance but play quite a bit differently. I'm neutral on them in and of themselves; Sonic's movement definitely feels a bit stiff, but they're fun to play and feature appealing visuals. The big issue, however, is that they were designed with co-op in mind, and to say that the AI-controlled Tails will not pull his own weight is almost an understatement; he will do almost nothing whatsoever to collect rings for you. This isn't such a big deal at first but as the stages become more and more demanding, you'll truly be at a loss without his help. I'm not currently paying for Xbox Live and I'll admit, finding someone my age who will sit down and play Sonic with me isn't looking very likely. It may not have been such an issue if you could select failed special stages from the main menu and try them again, but instead the game requires you to go back through the level to re-access them, which alone makes it not feel worth the effort. The lackluster reward for completing all of the special stages isn't going to compel many solo Sonic 4 players to bother.

Though this issue doesn't hurt the game much in theory, it's a problem because it takes away much of the value from the product. Like with Episode 1, this is only 4 Zones we're talking about here, and though the 3 acts (plus a boss) of each are long and varied, it's impossible to ignore the fact that you can complete this game in 1 sitting, and even at $15 I'm not entirely sure that it's worth the money in this day and age for the main story alone. If you have somebody to play co-op with or are interested in collecting the red coins or clearing the special stages you'll get a good deal more value out of the product, but it's a short game, no doubt about it.
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Verdict: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 goes a long way towards saving what had been such a mess. With far better controls and physics, beautiful graphics, levels that feel much more original, new enemies, and a cool Sonic/Tails element to the platforming, Episode 2 is a fun game that at times even feels worthy of the Sonic the Hedgehog title; with a little more content, it could have been a true home run. And that's where I shake my head and wish that this had all been done differently. If Sonic the Hedgehog 4 had originally been conceived as a 60-level retail game like, say, Rayman Origins, and had it featured Episode 2's physics and creative levels to begin with, we could have been looking at the true platforming epic that this deserved to be. Instead, handicapped by its digital medium and with the weight of Episode 1 on its back, we have a fun title that will satisfy your craving for more 2D Sonic before ending far too quickly and leaving you wanting more. I'd be eager to play an Episode 3, but would I be happy to pay $15 again for yet another bite-sized adventure? Honestly, I'm not so sure.

Presentation: The menu and structure from Episode 1 returns, though increased story elements and a Sonic/Tails dynamic add some much-needed charm to the proceedings. Special stages though could have been integrated better.

Graphics: Gorgeous visuals with true scope and a great sense of detail. Game looks great and enemy and boss designs are awesome.

 Gameplay: Improvements all around. Tails is not just a visual prop but actually plays a crucial role in the platforming. Levels, while fairly linear and definitely not up to the standards set by Sonic Generations' 2D zones, are still almost all fun to play. Great bosses. Special stages...meh.

Sound: Sonic's sound effects will always be here and they'll always be awesome. Some tracks are great musically (White Park Zone Act 2) while others loop so quickly that they quickly become grating.

Replay Value: There's additional stuff to experience if you want to get the most out of your $15, though I wouldn't even bother with the special stages unless you can play them co-op. The main game itself, though, is still too short.

Overall: 7.5/10 (Note: My reviews go on a .5 scale. This is a review of the Xbox 360 version.)

Review: May not have the level of content you'd expect from a game bearing the Rockstar brand-name, but L.A. Noire's a unique, fun, and immersive experience

When L.A. Noire released back in May 2011 (it's April 2012 as I write this) it was one of the few Rockstar Games titles that I didn't have a ton of interest in. None of the trailers grabbed me, the setting didn't look all that interesting, and the detective gameplay seemed sluggish and repetitive. One of my friends picked it up on release day, and I had the benefit of watching large portions of the game as he played through it, which, I have to say, didn't sell me on it either.

What I've learned though is that L.A. Noire's a game that has to be played to be understood. It's hard to see what's so satisfying about what Team Bondi (with help from Rockstar Games) built here unless it's actually you solving the mysteries, making your own decisions, interviewing people at your own pace, and letting yourself be absorbed into 1940s Los Angeles. Though I waited a long time to play it myself, in the end, I'm happy that I did. This may not be a perfect game; it certainly isn't up to par with the open world adventures Rockstar Games develops in-house, but L.A. Noire's a fun and highly immersive experience, one that does its own thing and isn't afraid to be something other than a GTA clone, which it definitely isn't.

Graphics and Sound: I have to combine these two because both work to achieve a stunningly immersive world. 1940s Los Angeles has been re-created here with such care; everything from the radio stations to the cars, the advertisements, and the look of the city gives off a great sense of time and place. The audio is equally impressive, with the convincing sounds of the city set against a backdrop of birds chirping during the day, crickets at night, and other such environmental touches that really bring the world to life. Even the California sun has been faithfully re-created with L.A. Noire's graphics engine. On a technical level it may not hit the heights of GTA4 or Red Dead Redemption, but artistically, L.A. Noire's a beautiful game that really takes you there. One of the biggest selling points has been the use of Motion Capture technology to create realistic facial expressions, something that proves crucial to the gameplay, as determining whether people are lying or telling the truth is often reliant on properly reading certain facial expressions and subtle details. It works more often than it doesn't, as most of the facial expressions are natural and convincing, while only occasionally will they look blurry or just downright strange. With the motion capture being such a key aspect to L.A. Noire's gameplay, it was crucial that the tech be up to speed, and the results are impressive, especially given all the scrutiny that the game demands you place on it. The voice acting's universally strong, as you'd expect from a Rockstar Games release, though main character Cole tends to overact (both facially and vocally) just a little bit from time to time. It's an important category with this game, moreso than with most games, so it's good then that the graphics and audio are able not only to transport you into its world, but are able to power the interview sections convincingly.

Gameplay: L.A. Noire's different from other open world games in many ways, and it won't be everyone's cup of tea. There's not much to do outside of the main story, with cars and landmarks to be found while driving around the city pretty much the extent of the sidequesting available. If you're expecting a large list of side stuff to take on and mini-games to play, you will be disappointed. You can't access your weapon until the game allows you to, so you can't run around wreaking havoc, GTA-style, either. Instead, L.A. Noire is a guided and cinematic experience that takes its main story quite seriously, and if you're not interested in that, then this probably isn't for you.

You are Cole Phelps of the LAPD, a man still haunted by the memories of his days as a commanding officer in Japan during WWII. Driven primarily by his desire to prove himself and to move up in the force, he's not the most likable main character, though he does become more interesting as the game goes on, with flashbacks to his military days revealing that some of his actions may not have been all that respectable. L.A. Noire's story carries you across several different cases as Cole moves up (and down) through the department, and all cases involve you investigating crime scenes, interviewing suspects and witnesses, and engaging in the occasional chase scene, fistfight, or shootout. When investigating an area, the controller rumbles when you are near an object that can be examined, and doing so will oftentimes reveal a clue, which Cole will write down in his notebook. The more clues you have, the more leverage you'll gain in the following interviews, where the clues can be brought up, forcing the person being interviewed to tell the truth. This is the heart of the game, and a very high percentage of L.A. Noire is devoted to the act of examining evidence and interviewing suspects. While it may not sound like too much fun on paper, in practice the interviews are rife with tension and wind up being incredibly addictive. There's little that's as satisfying as backing someone into a corner and forcing them to reveal what they know, or correctly reading a facial expression and knowing that someone's lying. Though some of the interviews later on can become a little too challenging, the game (for better or worse) doesn't punish you too much for botching one, most of the time allowing the story to move on regardless, or letting you retry when it doesn't. If you don't have enough evidence to charge a suspect, or you mess up the interview, it's very possible that you'll arrest the wrong person, and in most cases the game lets these scenarios play out, which is a good thing.

Far less substantial are the action scenes. Fight scenes, car chases, and gunplay are in there but these scenes are often kept realistic and short; there are no over the top action scenes like what you'd expect in GTA. The shooting utilizes a cover system similar to the one featured in GTA and Red Dead Redemption, and it works well for what it is. The combat system's all new, and the cars handle well. These parts are fun but certainly don't make up the bulk of the game. For those who are more interested in this type of gameplay, you'll be offered the chance to answer dispatch calls as you play through the story missions, and these supply some additional action. To me they came across as interruptions more than anything, so eventually I stopped bothering with them, but they can be fun and I understand why the developers felt the need to throw them in there, even if their "shoot first, ask questions later" nature is completely at odds with the rest of the game.

L.A. Noire is almost unapologetically guided. When conducting an investigation, the game will tell you what objects you can examine, and when you do, whether that object is a clue or not; you don't get to make that decision. Nor do you get to decide when to start shooting enemies, or when to engage them in hand to hand combat. Though it may appear at times that you have some leeway in which clues to tackle first (do I follow up on the Bar lead now or first interview the person down at the warehouse?) going to one location will often just lead you to the other one. ("Hey, nobody's here, I'll come back later.") It becomes clear very early on that you're just along for the ride, something which some won't mind and others will hate; even during certain on-foot chase scenes the game almost seems to control your character for you. You can't upgrade your weapons (unless you pick a more powerful one up in the middle of a shootout) and your pistol has infinite ammo, so there's really little influence you have over the game's proceedings outside of the interviewing segments. Again, this is something different for the genre, and it's not something that all will be on-board with.

What I found to be more of an issue is the repetition. Though it's not a particularly long game, (clocking in at a little under 20 hours for me, including doing 14 out of the 40 available Dispatch Missions) it does drag a little towards the end, as you find yourself doing yet another investigation, yet another interview, yet another foot chase or easy shootout...Unquestionably, L.A. Noire's biggest weakness is that its gameplay variety is sorely lacking. Thankfully the experience is fun throughout, but I think even the game's biggest fans may find themselves getting a bit antsy at around the 15 hour mark.

Storyline: Rather than focusing on one mystery, L.A. Noire carries you across many different cases, with the plot focusing more on Cole and less on an over-arching scenario. Though a big part of me wishes that the game focused on a strong central narrative instead of a few smaller ones, it does build to a pretty cool finale and the WWII flashbacks keep things interesting, as does a plot line running throughout about a therapist/drug dealer. With the exception of the cast of annoyingly cliche partner characters writer Brendan McNamara saddles Cole with, the writing throughout is strong and the cases, for the most part, are all compelling. A stronger (and more Noire-like) central narrative would have been nice, but there's so much else going on here that I don't think many will miss it.

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Verdict: L.A. Noire is an experience that dares to be something different. It's an open world detective story set in a convincing world and featuring investigative gameplay that I really haven't seen before. It may not be perfect, especially with regard to repetition, and at times it holds your hand a bit too much, but it's a great first attempt and a breath of fresh air. I recommend it to gamers with open minds, and who are okay with having their patience tested on occasion.

Presentation: The open world may lack things to do but it provides an excellent sense of place and really makes you feel like you're there. A well-delivered story that may lack a strong central plot arc but that presents some compelling cases all the same. Load times aren't too long, and the game has great atmosphere.

Graphics: Not the most technically impressive game out there but still has strong visuals. A thoroughly convincing re-creation of 1940s L.A. and great-looking characters, not to mention those facial expressions, leave a lasting impression.

Gameplay: Guided and rather linear for an open world game, but the investigations and interviews are all something fresh, and the action, when it does arrive, is realistically handled and fun. Maybe not a game for everybody, but worth trying all the same.

Sound: Great voice acting, incredible sound effects that make you feel like you're there, and an appropriate musical score.

Replay Value: Not much here to come back to, though several DLC cases are available. Game for me clocked in at around 19 hours with around 14 Dispatch missions taken on. There's 40 of them if you want to get the most out of the game.

Overall: 8.0/10

(Note: My reviews go on a .5 scale. This was a review of the 360 version.)

Review: Mass Effect 3's a fun game worth playing for fans without hitting the heights of Mass Effect 2; Bioware can't help but place too much weight on frustrating shooting.

Mass Effect is a series that has been known amongst the gaming industry for its quality. When listing the excellent new franchises to come from the HD era thusfar, most people have Mass Effect in there at least somewhere. Despite being a gamer who far prefers Japanese RPGs to their Western counterparts, and despite my dislike for what I played of the first Mass Effect, I found Mass Effect 2 to be a great game, one that integrated choice so well into what also happened to be a compelling storyline. The cover-driven 3rd person shooting that made up the game's combat may not have set itself apart like the rest of the experience managed to do, but it was solid, at times incredibly fun, and the great interaction with the characters and world in between the shooting parts more than made up for it.

I still encourage you to seek out Mass Effect 2 if you haven't already, and while part 3's held back by some bad decisions on the part of Bioware in the gameplay department (the much-discussed endings I thought were fine, to my surprise) that should by no means stop you from stepping into this deep and compelling RPG universe. Just start with Part 2.

Graphics-wise, Mass Effect 3 carries the same look of its predecessor, though it no longer packs the same punch as it did back then. It's still a pretty-looking game despite occasional glitches that rear their ugly heads and the typical load screens. It all runs well, especially if you install it to the HDD. The characters, especially the various alien races, all carry with them very distinct appearances and detail, while the cutscenes look and animate far better than anything Bioware's done to date. These cinematics may not have the same level of flair that their Japanese counterparts do but Mass Effect 3 undoubtedly raises the bar for story presentation in a Western RPG.

The story told here picks up from where Mass Effect 2 left off....sort of. It starts off on a weird note, making the assumption that those playing it have delved into the content/comics released between the two games (I didn't) but it overcomes this rather quickly and gets the gamer mostly up to speed with where we're starting off from. The showdown with the Reapers is finally almost here, and Mass Effect 3's story centers mainly on preparing for this conflict. I don't want to go too in-depth here because I'd hate to spoil Mass Effect 2 in the process, but former friends become enemies, and Mass Effect 3's story has no shortage of dramatic moments and intense battle scenes. A new villain named Kai Leng is introduced, one who apparently stepped right out of The Matrix movies, and he proves to be a worthy (and fun) adversary. All in all, the storyline itself in Mass Effect 3 serves as a compelling and action-packed backdrop, while at the same time missing much of the intrigue and some of the subtleties of Part 2's plot.

It's flawed, there's no doubt. While Kai Leng's a fresh face who spices things up, much of the rest of Mass Effect 3's new additions to the cast are bland beyond belief. James seems to have been designed specifically with the intention of being the most boring "1st character you meet" in gaming history, and others you run into are, for the most part, placeholders replacing the characters who got killed in my Mass Effect 2 game. Edi, the Normandy's entertaining AI, gets to take on the form of a metal human this time around, becoming a full-on party member while losing much of her personality in the process. She and returning character Liara (who I used just because she has the same voice actress as Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII) made up my party members for about 90% of the game; I couldn't be bothered to try out anyone else. It's not that the cast is totally without merit, as there are still some great conversations to be had, both in your ship and when wandering the Citadel (a helpful map tells you where each character is as you explore it) but a lot of the spark is gone. And it's too bad because in Mass Effect 2 I remember always making it a point to wander my ship between missions to speak with almost everyone in my party, something I rarely ever felt compelled to do here. It's true that I got a lot of my favorite party members killed off during Mass Effect 2's deadly suicide mission, but to say that Bioware didn't bother to find worthy replacements is almost an understatement. Even many of my surviving characters play only minor roles in Part 3; just my luck, I guess.

I feel it also should be noted that Mass Effect 3 features an ending (or endings) that many series fans have taken issue with. To be honest, I loved the ending, and thought it wrapped things up beautifully, though after taking the time to read some of its criticism, I can also see where it falls apart under scrutiny. I'd say that if you're someone who just plays these games for fun, you'll probably be okay with the ending. If you're someone who considers yourself to be a die-hard fan and who knows all the series' lore inside and out, you'll probably have major problems with it. I liked it, and I guess that's all that I can really weigh in on the subject.

What I found to be a far more crippling issue with Mass Effect 3 is its gameplay, and Bioware's continuing belief that they have developed a great 3rd person shooter here. In Mass Effect 2 I saw the combat as something I had to deal with; the shooting wasn't as good as what you'd find in dedicated third person shooters such as Vanquish, and the "walk forward, get in cover, clear enemies, walk forward, get in cover, clear more enemies," formula was repetitive and standard, but it wasn't something that hurt the game as much as I feel that it does here. Mass Effect 3 introduces many new creatures to face off against, some of which are impossibly agile and fast. They've set up many of the shooting set pieces in the form of battlefields, where enemies can run at you from any angle at any time. They've made it so that you can be fired upon from above, giving enemies the ability to hit you even when you're in cover. All of these changes make sense in theory but where they fall apart is in practice; this is just not a shooting system that's well equipped to handle this type of combat. Take the Banshees, for example. They fly around the battle area at warp speed, can send wide-ranging fire at you, and if they happen to grab you, it's an instant kill. This can create some exciting intensity, as you must sprint around, leaping behind and out from cover, doing all you can to keep yourself as agile as they are while you whittle down their HP. Unfortunately, the Cover button is the same as the Sprint button, which is also the same button that you use to pick up health, to do a combat roll, and to revive fallen characters. So when running from a Banshee, a difficult task in and of itself given the stiff Gears of War-like controls, you stick to cover objects like glue (since you're holding the Cover button to run) stopping you dead in your tracks and leading to almost certain death. On the other hand, countless times I tried to get into cover, only to instead roll directly into enemy fire. Whoops. And it's not even that Bioware will occasionally throw a Banshee at you, it's that they'll throw two of them at you, or even three, often with other enemies in the area firing bullets left and right. You can't run backwards, and you can't leap backwards over cover. To top it all off, the game no longer enters a helpful slow-mo mode when you run low on HP, taking that advantage away from you as well. What results is that the shooting system went from "serviceable if not exactly outstanding" to "tedious and frustrating" in the span of one game. Though Mass Effect 2's corridor-style shooting may have gotten repetitive, you'll long for those moments when Part 3 throws yet another one of these large-scale battles at you where you'll die countless times.

The sad part is that, at heart, this is a solid combat system. Leveling up is simple but customizable, the combat wheel where you select the powers you can use is intuitive, and a lot of the powers themselves are fun. But by the end of the game, where you're dealing with a climactic battle that goes on and on like the worst Michael Bay movies, it's no longer any fun. In trying to emphasize and evolve the shooting system, Bioware hasn't taken into account that A; many RPG fans aren't great at shooters, and B; it's not fair to introduce agile enemies while the players' characters still run around like tanks, even with a sprint button and a powerful new Melee move. It just doesn't work.

Probably Mass Effect 3's biggest misstep is that it puts so much weight on its shooting; like with Part 2, almost every mission involves gunning down countless enemies and hitting switches, though unlike Part 2, which featured several cities to explore and NPCs to interact with both between and during these missions, Mass Effect 3 is almost all shooting once you begin a mission. You go in shooting, you leave when all enemies are dead. It's strange that Bioware doesn't seem to understand that their biggest strengths with these games are the RPG elements, especially the interaction with other characters. When exploring Mass Effect 3's only city (the Citadel, returning from Mass Effects 1 and 2 in a much smaller form) the atmosphere's mindblowing. You can hear galaxy news reported on the TVs, there are countless inhabitants around to talk to (or listen to) there are many quests to pick up, there's party members to chat with...this is all fantastic stuff. Interacting with other characters using the Dialogue Tree system is addictive and fun, with conversation feeling natural and you feeling like you have plenty of control over it. I wish Bioware would realize that this is the stuff that makes these games so amazing to so many people; the shooting's fine, it's "the shooting," but what makes Mass Effect so incredible is the lifelike world we get to explore, the level of interaction we have in the conversations, the immersion we get from getting to run around these alien cities and take on quests in them...

Why are they so convinced that the shooting is more compelling?

The audio on the other hand is top-notch, with mostly strong performances from the cast and film-quality music all throughout. The atmosphere can be very strong, and a big portion of this is due to the incredible sound design, which is as strong as ever this time around.

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Verdict: All in all, Mass Effect 3 is a continuation of Mass Effect 2, and it's a must for fans of the series who want to continue the story. It lacks much of what made Part 2 great, mainly due to frustrating shooting segments and a decreased focus on character interaction, which makes this far less friendly to those new to the series. It doesn't make Mass Effect 3 a bad game; all said and done it's a fun journey that I'm glad I took, but it definitely makes it a bit of a disappointment.

Presentation: Some menus (like the loadout and War Map) aren't great, but the way this series allows you so much to do while keeping it out of the way in case you don't want to do it is one of its biggest strengths. A great example of accessible depth. Story's exciting, even with a few corny lines and less intrigue than its predecessors.

Graphics: Great-looking characters. Some beautiful areas with stunning art direction, along with some not so great-looking areas. Occasional glitches, load times, framerate drops, but for the most part it runs well.

Gameplay: Conversations, the Citadel, and the easy to use Map system all return in top form, though much is de-emphasized in favor of shooting, which remains a solid, but unremarkable, element of this series. Mass Effect 3 sees several additions that make this a good deal less fun than it was, but all in all, a fun, if frustrating, game. The way lines are blurred between main quest and sidequests is another plus.

Sound: Quality voice acting as is always the case in Bioware's titles. Great music, great sound effects.

Replay Value: There's the promise of future DLC, of course, for those interested in that. The main adventure lasted me a little longer than Mass Effect 2, though that may be due to all the times that I died. 24-28 hours with optional quests undertaken and lots of dying.

Overall: 7.0/10

Note: My reviews go on a .5 scale. This is a review of the 360 version.

Blog Post; Binary Domain's sales woes and the difficulty involved in marketing new IP

It's never an easy thing to sell a new property. Looking back at Binary Domain's ride to release, it was certainly on a road rife with ups and downs. The game's first trailer was not received well, to put it mildly. The script, voice acting, and character designs, often a tricky thing with games coming from Japan, all came under immediate scrutiny, and for a different reason than is often the case; this was a game that tried, maybe too hard, to appeal to Western tastes. It was a game intended as a worldwide hit, and probably a new franchise for Sega, whose own Toshihiro Nagoshi (Yakuza, Super Monkey Ball, F-Zero GX) headed up its development. But even so, very little was done in the West to establish and promote Binary Domain as a must-have title. Though future trailers unquestionably got better, this never was positioned as a potential hit, its marketing never established its own identity, and it didn't, I feel, do enough to highlight its distinguishing features and to make it stand out from the crowded market of third person shooters.

Once released, reports of modestly successful sales in Japan were clouded a good deal by what can only be described as a complete sales tragedy in the UK, and the game is already being discounted at several retailers in North America; never a good sign, especially for a title developed for worldwide tastes. Binary Domain, it's sad to say, was an example of the difficulty often experienced by publishers to release and promote new franchises, especially when a Japanese studio is attempting it in the West. This is what I personally feel could have been done better in this case. Keep in mind, I haven't played this game beyond the demo (Mass Effect 3 came out this month, more on that later) so this is coming, I'd like to think, from a place of non-bias. I'm a gaming (and gaming industry) fan and a Sega fan, certainly not one with marketing experience or the knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes at companies like Sega. But this is what I feel, as an observer, were the flaws in the marketing of Binary Domain and many other new franchises which stumble out of the gate.

Target Demographic
Before anything else is accomplished, before a game is even finished with its development, I feel that deciding a target audience should always be the first step. If this is accomplished early on, it then allows a publisher to immediately begin to focus on interesting this audience all throughout its development. Binary Domain's focus was always tricky; was it targeting fans of Japanese games or fans of Western shooters? Was it targeting sci fi heads or the more mainstream Gears of War fans who likely think of sci fi as nerdy? It really was just never clear what type of game this was, with some trailers highlighting a heavy focus on story while others showed off Binary Domain's various gamaplay systems. But little was here that made this game pop out to anybody who wasn't already looking out for it. And very little to alone attract any sort of strong following in any particular demographic.

Take a game like Skylanders, for example. For all intents and purposes, this was a new IP that just happened to feature Spyro the Dragon; the planned sequel will be removing Spyro from its title entirely, which just goes to show how much the Skylanders have become their own entity. Never was an effort made to cater to Spyro fans, and I definitely never saw any commercials for Skylanders during the shows that I watch on TV, but the kids the game was targeting all had seen them and were well aware of its release. Activision has clearly managed to market well to their target demographic of 8-13 year old kids, and the game has become a massive hit. Had Sega West picked a demographic for Binary Domain and focused on appealing to that group, rather than the sometimes confusing "who is this game for" marketing direction that we ultimately received, I think we would have had a stronger-selling title.

The Game Itself
To be fair, not all of this may be Sega West's fault. Some aspects of Binary Domain's confusing transition to overseas markets may have more to do with its own developers. It would definitely surprise me if Sega West was not asked for any input throughout the development of this game, especially with the developers' focus on Western markets, but then again, that's the only conclusion that I could reach when I first saw the laughably stereotypical and overly "macho" cast of characters. People, especially gamers, tend to be cynical, especially when they see noticeable attempts to be "catered to." From the start this was a stumbling block with Binary Domain and though I definitely don't believe that the West should have any input on games being developed for Japan, or a large amount of input on Japanese-developed games in general, a game being made for Western audiences I feel should have been graced with a little bit of at least, "hey, I don't think these characters will go over well with the audience you're trying to attract." The second your potential fanbase thinks "there's a 3rd rate Gears of War," then your game's in trouble.


Delay and no follow-up

What I found so strange about Binary Domain was that the amount of media coverage it was receiving didn't increase as it neared release. You wouldn't have known, from Sega's and the media's treatment of the game, that this was a major title. Instead, I'd compare its handling to that of a small Japanese title coming from a company like Xseed. When a game hits its release date and arrives in the marketplace, that's when the publisher is expected to follow its hype up with a marketing blitz, or at least a moderate bit of awareness raised. Binary Domain didn't have this, and in fact, its situation was complicated by a last minute delay from January to February, which made the little ad campaign it did have (which was mainly focused on internet ads) completely worthless. Internet advertisements are booked far in advance, and I remember being surprised when I began seeing Binary Domain advertisements with relative frequency on game sites like IGN and even movie sites like Comingsoon.net....back in January, after the game had been announced as delayed until the next month. February then rolled around, and at that point, nothing.

Delaying a game at the last minute is rarely a good business move, especially when it's moved into a month where it then finds itself in competition with the highly-anticipated Mass Effect 3, which likely stole a good portion of its potential audience, myself included, I have to say. Not a great move.

TV campaign

Television is of course an expensive brand of advertising and not one that works for all types of games. There is a demographic, though, that TV advertising has done very well with, and that's with games like Gears of War; who doesn't remember those chilling commercials? Certainly action game fans did, and that new franchise did incredibly well.

Marketing's important, there's no doubt about it. By their nature, people cling to what they know. If they enter a store to buy a video game, it's likely going to either be a franchise that's proven itself with them in the past, or a game that "they've heard of." If they haven't "heard of" Binary Domain, why buy it? Commercials are a big way people "hear of" video games, in my experience, and while Binary Domain may not have deserved a gigantic advertising campaign, at least something to get its name out there would have helped. Bayonetta had a North American TV commercial and that game did fairly well here for such a Japanese title. It helps, more often than not.

To sum up

It's never easy to guarantee success with new IP. It's entirely possible that Binary Domain could have had all these things and still flopped majorly on these shores, we don't know. Some things, like its decidedly less-than-great Metacritic average, are areas that the game's actual developers over in Japan bear the bulk of the responsibility for. But these general failings on the part of Western publishers to know how to market or to understand Japanese-developed IP are very common. But it's my opinion anyway that you never know unless you try, and when a company like Sega has Sonic to fall back on financially, it would have been nice if they had tried a little harder with Binary Domain.

Review: Mixing the old with the new, Resident Evil: Revelations is a true Resident Evil experience and a must-have for 3DS owners

It's pretty amazing to think about the changes that the Resident Evil series has undergone in the past 7 years. While at one point it looked like an archaic 1990s franchise about to be lost in the modern gaming landscape, Shinji Mikami's final contribution to the series he created was to completely re-invent it before making his departure. Resident Evil 4 debuted on the Gamecube back in 2005 to critical and commercial success, restoring the series to the mainstream popularity it once had by giving it a major overhaul, one that retained a dark atmosphere while taking things in a much more action-driven direction. Many felt though that Resident Evil 5 took things too far in that direction, removing almost all traces of horror and suspense in favor of non-stop linear action, complete with auto-saving, loads and loads of ammo, and scripted set pieces, almost all taking place in broad daylight. There developed a desire among many long-time Resident Evil fans to see the series return to its survival-horror roots, and Resident Evil: Revelations promised to deliver; which it does....sort of. If you're expecting another puzzle-heavy and isolated Resident Evil game like the series featured up through Code Veronica, this may not do it for you, but if you want to enjoy modern Resident Evil gameplay in an atmosphere reminiscent of those games, this will fit the bill.

Graphics and Atmosphere: From the start, what's been one of the game's standout features and its most easily noticeable has been its visuals, which look incredible for a handheld title. More than any other 3DS game that I've played to date, Resident Evil: Revelations proves that a console game experience really can be equaled, or even surpassed, on a handheld. From start to finish, each room you enter is loaded with detail and gorgeous lighting effects. The CG cutscenes are frequent and look excellent, especially in 3D, and the in-game stuff looks quite good too. If other developers choose to take advantage of the 3DS this way, we can definitely have a handheld that will be capable of far more than its games up until now have shown. The sound design's also great, with unsettling effects, the crisp sounds of the guns, and pretty solid (if sometimes a little campy) voice acting creating an incredible atmosphere that, as far as I know, hasn't been accomplished yet on a handheld. Music may not be the series' best but it too does a great job at setting a tone, providing a good backdrop for both the scarier parts as well as the game's more action-packed segments. Though the visuals aren't flawless (the framerate can chug like you wouldn't believe in certain situations, and some of the load times are on the long side) this is one to show that your $170 (or even $250, in some cases) was spent on good hardware. The horror atmosphere provides a sense of tension that definitely beats anything the series has done recently, and while it may not be quite as scary as some past installments (the cruise ship this takes place on is significantly smaller than the settings in other Resident Evil games, though still huge for a handheld title, and the corridors are narrow) the atmosphere here will definitely keep you on your toes and even have you yelling out, "oh ****" on occasion.

Gameplay: What needs to be made clear right away is that despite the return to a horror setting, Resident Evil: Revelations is not a throwback game. It still has many of the modern touches that have been added to the series in recent years, including auto-saving, (somewhat) linear gameplay, a partner character, and more emphasis on gunplay than puzzle solving. The good news is that while Resident Evil: Revelations is indeed broken up into episodes and does save automatically, you can still backtrack and explore the ship at your leisure, unlike Resident Evil 5. If you discover that you haven't yet picked up the shotgun, you can venture back through the ship to find it, even if you had explored those areas in previous episodes. During the episodes themselves, though, a blip on your map (which fills in as you go) always clues you into at least the general direction you should be heading, and the characters will communicate their objectives to each other very frequently. The days of setting your character in a quiet and deserted mansion with no objective and no clue what to do next are gone and probably never returning to the series, but Resident Evil: Revelations at least makes it a point to try to capture the feeling of those games as best as possible, and it does a good job at that. The aiming and shooting system's similar to the one featured in Resident Evils 4 and 5, though you can choose to take advantage of limited movement while aiming, a first for the series. There's a dodge mechanic that's a little iffy but when it works, it works well. Playing with the default control setup I had no issues, though you can opt to use the Circle Pad Pro accessory, sold separately, if you want to play this with a 2nd analog stick, not that I'd say it's necessary.

As you explore the ship you'll encounter various weapon upgrades that you can distribute to your arsenal at item chests scattered throughout; when you reach one of these and enter the weapon upgrade menu, the music seems to be attempting to give you the same "save room" feeling of the earlier games, though I wish we'd just gotten those back instead of the game auto-saving. Still, as with Resident Evils 4 and 5, the gameplay here is fun and well-paced, with this game containing for the most part a fun balance of thrills and scares, not to mention some cool boss battles. Though it positions itself as an old-school Resident Evil game at first, all throughout are signs of Resident Evil's action-driven "present day." Revelations cuts between Jill's adventure on the creepy cruise ship to other characters' adventures elsewhere, with the gameplay in these parts much more along the lines of the linear shooting gameplay found in Resident Evil 5. Thankfully the majority of these don't go on for too long, and they do push the story forward while providing some gameplay variety. If there's one thing that prevents me from giving this game the 9/10 score I may have originally wanted to give it, it's that Resident Evil: Revelations ends up going overboard with its action by the end. The sections on the cruise ship are amazing, but even here the action ramps up as the game nears its final act; the earlier games did this too, but Revelations overdoes it. Don't get me wrong, the final few chapters are exciting and action-packed, loaded with some fun twists and turns and surprisingly well-controlling underwater sections, but these climactic action scenes go on for too long, ending the game on an exhaustive note. I missed the far scarier and more interesting cruise ship sections of the first 2/3 of the game.

But that's a small flaw in the grand scheme of things. Admittedly it would have been nice if Resident Evil: Revelations embraced its survival horror roots a bit more confidently than it ultimately ends up doing, but in an age when seemingly every game tries to be Call of Duty, this game's return to a horror atmosphere for a good portion of the experience is probably the best we're going to get, and in doing so, Capcom has created a great modern Resident Evil game with a classic twist. Fun to play from start to finish.

Storyline: The story here continues the series' trend of becoming increasingly more convoluted with each installment (or CG movie) released; now we have another infected city winding up nuked and a whole other virus to deal with, but the story manages to keep you up to speed and doesn't feel too confusing, which is a pretty big achievement. You'll definitely want to continue playing to see what happens next, and the twists and turns towards the end are entertaining. If I were to complain about anything it would be that the characters aren't exactly great, ranging from bland to irritating; one of them actually goes by the name "jack*ss," just to give you an idea. While Resident Evil has never exactly been known for its characterizations, it has been better than this. Jill Valentine's the main character, but she really could have been anybody given how little of her personality or her past adventures come into the picture. Still, the story's top-notch presentation (seriously, these are some good-looking cutscenes) manages to make up for these flaws. This plot may not do much to take the series forward but it's definitely an entertaining backdrop to a fun game.

Verdict: If you want to play another Resident Evil game that actually tries to scare you, this is the one. The emphasis on action towards the end may overstep its boundary just a little, but here's a game with great gameplay, a scary setting, incredible visuals, and high-quality cutscenes. Not bad at all for a handheld title.

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Graphics: Incredible despite some framerate drops. This is the first game to *truly* show off what the 3DS is capable of.

Gameplay: A fun mix of the old and the new, we have modern Resident Evil gameplay in a classic setting to truly great results. I wish they'd tilted the balance a little more in favor of the horror than the action, but this is probably the closest we're going to get to a new "old school" Resident Evil game. Controls well. Definitely a complete experience.

Sound: Great sound effects, great music, appropriate voice acting. Incredible atmosphere.

Replay Value: Game's around 10 hours or so to complete on a first playthrough but you unlock a harder difficulty plus a whole multiplayer mode (online or off) that can be incredibly addicting. Definitely a lot of game here for $40. Amazing amount of content for a handheld title, especially given all the CG and voice acting.

Overall: 8.5/10

(My reviews go on a .5 scale.)

Review: Probably best left to fans of the original, FF13-2 is a fun and ambitious sequel. It's also flawed and even a little insulting. Truly a mixed bag.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a unique game in the sense that as I sit down right now to write this review, I'm at a loss as to the score I'm ultimately going to give it. It's a sequel that improves in a couple ways over the love-it-or-hate-it 13th installment in the long-running Final Fantasy series, yet falls behind it in others. It's a game that both had my jaw dropping in awe and my head shaking in frustration. It's a game that struck me as being fun throughout yet ends in such an unsatisfying way that it almost feels like it wasn't even worth playing.

Almost. I won't go that far, because at its heart, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a game that I'm sure was made with good intentions, and the developers should be commended for trying to do something different. This is not just a phoned-in sequel, and what they've created is a (mostly) fun game, so in that sense, I don't regret playing it. But frankly, I'm wondering if you will.

Graphics: But for now, let's start with the visuals. At a little over two years now since Final Fantasy XIII's Japanese release, the tech on display may no longer pack the same punch, and here it comes packaged with some ridiculously long load times, but the art direction's still incredible. From the second I first gained full control of Serah in the town of New Bodhum, I was drawn into this world by the incredible art direction. The way the sun's rays, weakened by a heavy layer of clouds but still visible, pour out from behind the crystalized wreckage of Cocoon, the way the whole area's bathed in a slight haze...it felt like I was waking up in some sort of dream, and that was the perfect feeling for the start of this story. Oftentimes where Final Fantasy XIII-2 impresses visually is in its weather effects and use of vibrant colors, and Isamu Kamikokuryo, returning from Final Fantasy XIII, does not disappoint with his art direction. The characters still look good and animate well, especially in the in-game cutscenes, which continue to feature this console generation's best facial expressions. CG scenes are incredibly few in number this time around, but they're the series' best-looking, and it's truly showstopping whenever one does happen to arrive. I guess it's maybe a little disappointing that the graphics saw no major boost from Final Fantasy XIII, and that this sequel comes with far longer load times and even the addition of some slowdown, but the beautiful art direction and colorful world makes this game great to look at anyway.

Story: Picking up from where Final Fantasy XIII left off but branching off in a different direction almost immediately, this one goes all over the place, as most plots involving time travel do. I can't describe it too much without going into the ending of Final Fantasy XIII, which I'd rather not do, so I'll leave it at this. Final Fantasy XIII-2 stars Lightning's sister Serah, who played a small but important role in XIII, along with new character Noel. Why he's named Noel, I have no idea, but he actually winds up being one of the more down to earth and compelling main characters the series has seen in quite some time, and Serah surprised me too. She's strong but in a very different way than Lightning was, and the two of them have a great dynamic. They manage to make the plot, which is laughably convoluted at times, almost make sense. The cutscenes are incredible, and some of the action sequences have to be seen to be believed. I wouldn't say the storyline here lives up to the stories of any of the Final Fantasy games that came before XI, (many of the emotional moments fall flat, for whatever reason) but it's not a total trainwreck, either. Well, until you get to the ending, which is, unfortunately, as bad as you may have heard it was. But I'll get to that a bit later.

Gameplay: Unlike with Final Fantasy X-2, the previous direct sequel, this one doesn't throw out its predecessor's battle system, instead, it brings it back with some tweaks. You only get to control the two main characters (Noel and Serah) this time, along with the addition of a monster character, several of which you capture throughout the game. Though I was initially afraid of what this change would mean, it turns out to work pretty well. The monsters have their own different ways of leveling up (using items that you collect from battles) and they reach their peaks far sooner than the other two characters do, but you wind up with such a large deck of monsters to choose from, all with their own Job, (Paradigm) and their own skills to learn, that it doesn't get old, and I never missed having a 3rd party member. Also nice is that no longer do you get the Game Over screen when your lead character dies, with the game switching automatically to your other character. Leveling up has been streamlined even further from where it was in Final Fantasy 13; now, once you pull up your Crystarium, you simply mash the A button until you run out of Crystogen points. Where you get to make some decisions is when you reach certain bonuses. You can choose to add another segment to your character's ATB gauge, or you can teach them another Paradigm, or increase the bonuses they receive from the same Paradigm....all that stuff. By and large, the game provides you the freedom to develop your characters in the direction you want, with no level caps until you hit 99. Add in this game's respawning enemies (versus the "once they're dead, they're dead" battles from Final Fantasy 13) you can level grind to your heart's content.

Not that you'll find yourself needing to all that often. What's so bizarre about Final Fantasy XIII-2 is how easy it is. With the exception of 3 bosses (two of them coming at the end of the game) I blew through almost all battles and boss fights here with almost shocking ease. Final Fantasy XIII, which was one of the more challenging modern games in the series, prided itself on creating a combat experience that forced you to strategize, to constantly be on your toes, and to switch your Paradigms frequently to adjust to the many different enemy types and their strategies. Here, well, you grab a strong Commando or Ravager monster character and the game becomes a cakewalk. It literally reaches a point where I wasn't sure whether what I was fighting was a boss or just a big random encounter, and I got 5 stars on almost all of them. There's just no difficulty progression whatsoever until you hit the very end of the game, and even those fights have little on what the last game regularly threw at you. Maybe Final Fantasy XIII was too challenging at times, but here we have an experience at the complete opposite end of the spectrum: a game that feels like nobody developing it even gave the difficulty (and its progression) a moment's thought. This leaves me in a weird predicament as someone reviewing the game because while I have to say that the battle system is unquestionably fun, as it was in Final Fantasy XIII, the gameplay here is simply broken; there's just no skill necessary to play the vast majority of Final Fantasy XIII-2.

But I'm going to step back from combat for a minute because where Final Fantasy XIII-2 differs most from its predecessor is that there's more to its gameplay than just battling. Whereas the original decided to focus almost exclusively on combat and the presentation of its story, Final Fantasy XIII-2 tries to throw in everything but the kitchen sink, to very mixed results. First thing's first; one of the biggest dividing factors with Final Fantasy XIII was that it sacrificed explorable towns in favor of non-stop action gameplay. One of Final Fantasy XIII-2's big selling points is that it was said to be bringing back the RPG aspects that were missing from its predecessor, so did towns make a return? Honestly, that's a difficult question to answer. Yes, there are now areas where you can wander around: places where you can listen to and chat with NPC characters without battles going on, and yes, some of these NPCs give you sidequests that you can choose to take on. That said, most of these "towns" resemble basically a square packed with people, which seems town-like on the surface, but you still can't enter any buildings, there are still no shops save for one rather annoying shopkeeper who follows you everywhere, there aren't any inns, and all the sidequests basically take you outside the towns anyway, so really, in my opinion, there aren't towns here. These are just small environments packed with people and no battles. The one exception is a massive (and incredible-looking) city you visit and get to explore towards the end of the game, and though there's still very little you can do in there except to walk around, it's a true highlight and something I wish we saw more of across these two games. I appreciate the inclusion of these town-like areas (and Final Fantasy XIII certainly would have benefitted from them) but I feel like the developers missed the point, and wish they'd go back and re-experience Final Fantasy cities like Lindblum, Midgar, Luca, and hell, even Final Fantasy XII's Rabanastre, to see what we're missing here. Close, but no cigar.

Sadly, this expression can be applied to almost every new aspect of Final Fantasy XIII-2. In an attempt to add variety to the gameplay, bizarre puzzle segments were thrown in, and while I can understand the reason they were included, their implementation is so poor that I wish they hadn't bothered. The instructions given to you at the start of each puzzle are fairly confusing, and there's no way (unless I missed something) to pull them back up once you begin the puzzle and actually have your bearings. The puzzles themselves stick out from the rest of the game like a sore thumb, and the story really stretches to justify their existance...again, I wish they hadn't bothered. Luckily, the developers seemed to have forgotten about these puzzles pretty quickly, with the game all but abandoning them once you get about 1/4 of the way through it.

In an attempt to make up for the lack of mini-games in Final Fantasy XIII, you can now visit a theme park of sorts where you get to play some of them, something that sounds like a cool addition on paper, but again, it feels like more could have been done with it. The theme park takes the form of another small "town square," one which contains a whopping two activities: Chocobo Racing and Slot Machines....Gold Saucer this is not. I half-wished they just brought back Nautillus from the original and added these two mini-games to it, as that area was far more exciting than what they threw together here.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 also sees the inclusion of dialogue trees, where cutscenes will pause, allowing you to choose the next line of dialogue for your character to say. The game makes surprisingly frequent use of these, and while it's a fun novelty, it doesn't add all that much to the experience. Your choices rarely seem to have an impact on the story, (not that I really think they should...this is a JRPG, not Mass Effect) and it's often obvious which choice is "the right one." What works a little better are the addition of QTE-like segments to the cutscenes, and again, while I wish this concept was taken farther than it was, (getting to choose which move Lightning uses against the enemy in the opening cutscene is sadly the exception, not the norm) it's a fun new feature that adds some satisfaction to the cutscenes and lets you feel like you played a part in them. The game always warns you when they're about to happen, and you're rewarded for doing them well and not punished for failing, so it's a harmless addition.

Probably the most substantial new feature is the Historia Crux, which serves as your gateway to the game's locations. Final Fantasy XIII-2's plot relies heavily on time travel, and this is how that's reflected in its gameplay. How this works is that there are various Time Gates scattered throughout the locations you visit. To activate each, you need something called an Artefact. The Artefacts needed to progress through the story are given to your characters automatically as the plot dictates, but to enter other, optional ones, which open branches on the Historia Crux that take you to new areas to explore, you're tasked with finding their respective Artefacts, either given to you by completing sidequests or just by finding them hidden in the environments. It's through this that all the locations in the game are criss-crossed across the Historia Crux timeline. It's a cool idea that gives you some freedom to explore and the ability to find new areas, something lacking in Final Fantasy XIII. You can even return to areas you've already visited, reset them, and live through those events again, this time with your more advanced characters.

As ridiculous as a lot of this sounds, I was on board for most of it; this mechanic encourages you to explore each environment in search of Artefacts, and the ability to find and explore hidden locations is a breath of fresh air after Final Fantasy XIII's corridor-like gameplay. But towards the end is where Final Fantasy XIII-2 totally lost me. There's a point where to progress through the main storyline, the game has you return to areas you've already visited to hunt down tiny objects which are literally invisible. It's filler in the worst sense of the word, the type of thing I have no patience for, especially when I ran out of "Wild Artefacts" and had to go back on a search for one of those too. The game goes from this item hunt into the final dungeon, which makes use of the new (annoying) Jump feature to have you platform hop across a maze of rotating blocks and stairs over a bottomless pit. Not fun in the least. And it was as I became more frustrated with Final Fantasy XIII-2 that it began to occur to me that I never really felt like I was a part of this game's world. The Historia Crux has you jump from one area (and time period) to another, so these locations are all completely disconnected from each other; as a result, we have a game that feels more like a series of episodic set pieces and less like an adventure.

Sound: "Confusing" doesn't even begin to describe this game's music. Very heavy on the vocals and synth, not exactly great with the atmosphere, the soundtrack has nothing on Final Fantasy XIII's, or any other numbered Final Fantasy game for that matter. A couple of the new tracks are interesting, (Oerba's music is kind of cool in an 80s throwback way, and the song playing in New Bodhum has a nice dream-like quality to it) but it's never a good sign when recycled Final Fantasy XIII tracks constantly upstage the music that was composed specifically for this game. The voice acting,on the other hand, is pretty excellent, with Noel (especially) and Serah's actors doing some great work throughout, which is good, because you have to hear a lot of them. All the actors from Final Fantasy XIII whose characters have parts in the sequel are back, which is always a nice touch.

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Verdict: All in all, I'm honestly stumped as to who I'd recommend this game to. The combat system remains fun, the story definitely has its moments, and many of Final Fantasy XIII's locations have been given cool new re-inventions, along with the inclusion of some new ones. The addition of NPC areas, sidequests, and exploration are all nice, even though none of these are really taken as far as they could be. But then the game's final act is so tedious that it left a bad taste in my mouth, something that's certainly not helped by the total "**** you" of an ending that they tacked on, and frankly, if you didn't play Final Fantasy XIII, you'll be completely lost in this game right off the bat. Speaking as someone who did play it, I found the lack of closure provided by this sequel's ending to be all the more irritating when taking into account that this is the second $60 I've given to this development team, and that clearly, they want me to pay even more.

Aside from the ending, I have to say that Final Fantasy XIII-2 isn't as insulting to its predecessor as Final Fantasy X-2 was to Final Fantasy X. Final Fantasy XIII, though, still feels to me like a more epic adventure than this sequel is; it's certainly the more polished and better-balanced of the two. As a game Final Fantasy XIII-2 tries to do more, and the boldness of some of its experiments and improvements are commendable, but then the game doen't take them far enough. When all's said and done, this is still.....it's just not Final Fantasy; it's very much a part of this new series that began with Final Fantasy XI and hasn't gone anywhere since. With this game's lack of a cohesive world, its dialogue choices, its "pay to continue the story" DLC structure, its filler item hunts, bad jumping mechanics, and an unfinished ending.....I can't help but feel like that old Final Fantasy series is further away now than ever.

Presentation: Interesting but messy storyline that's helped immensely by its two great lead characters. Slick menus, but long load times.

Graphics: While no longer as technically impressive as these graphics once were, the art direction shines through, creating an often visually-stunning game. Cutscenes look and animate fantastically.

Gameplay: Fun combat system with some nice tweaks. Introduction of exploration and "towns" are welcome, lack of difficulty progression is not, and please, Square-Enix, keep jumping (and that irritating "Wound" status ailment) FAR away from Final Fantasy. Filler item hunt towards the end is unfortunate.

Sound: Music is decent at times, unbearable at others. Voice actors though do an incredible job.

Replay Value: Higher than most other games in the genre, especially Final Fantasy XIII. Ability to go back and make changes and unlock other endings is nice for those who want it. Game's around 20-25 hours for just the main quest.

Overall: 7.0/10

(Note; My reviews go on a .5 scale. This is a review of the 360 version.)

Guess that's my score. Good but seriously flawed game for fans of the original, everyone else probably can look elsewhere.

Review: Not an essential purchase, but for some fun platforming nostalgia, Rayman 3D fits the bill

It seems today like a far gone era, but there was a time when the 3D platformer stood up there with the most popular and exciting genres in the industry. After Super Mario 64's impactful debut, much of the 32-128 bit console wars were spent watching classic platforming franchises leaving their 2 dimensions behind and venturing into full 3D gameplay. Rayman 2 was one such game, an example of a 3D platformer at the height of 3D platforming, and though it shows some age today, and while the implementation of the 3DS' features are rather hit or miss, this is still a fun way to experience (or re-experience) one of 3D platforming's greats, especially as the genre continues to head back in a more 2D direction.

What was striking about Rayman 2 at the time of its release (especially if you happened to snag the Dreamcast version) were the visuals. With art direction that's both colorful and yet slightly gloomy at the same time, with such oddly charming characters, and with a high level of detail on almost everything, Rayman 2 may not be taking advantage of the 3DS' hardware capabilities but I can hardly tell; the game still looks great. The stereoscopic 3D capabilities of the handheld give the varied worlds you traverse through an extra bit of flair, even aside from the occasional headache you'll get from the game's converted-to-3D-visuals (when the camera occasionally gets stuck on objects, for example, the 3D goes haywire). The controls remain simple and accessible, with no added use of the touch screen except as a display, but that's alright. Rayman 2 existed without gimmicks and that hasn't changed with this port.

At its heart, this is pretty simple platforming, with you running, jumping, hovering, and hitting switches to clear one level at a time as you venture across an island map, unlocking the next one as you go. Throughout the levels there are the traditional Rayman "Lums" that you collect; glowing items that trigger bonus stages at the ends of the levels if you collect them all, though I can't for the life of me figure out what the bonus stages actually do for you. Having a certain amount of Lums is also a requirement at various points to progress through the game. Rayman will learn various new moves as you go, though these can feel under-utilized and don't do much to shake up the lack of variety in the combat system. The platforming itself is solid though, with Rayman's hovering feeling great and the developers' decision to focus less on the "pit deaths" common in 3D platformers helping to keep frustration to a minimum. What will occasionally test your patience however are various flying segments; when Rayman hops on a rocket of some kind and shoots through certain parts of levels while you guide him around obstacles. These parts actually benefit from the system's 3D, as it allows these environmental hazards to pop out more and helps you to see them further in advance. So while I found myself cursing these parts on occasion, the variety they add to the gameplay is I think a nice tradeoff.

A couple little things that certainly don't ruin the experience but are still worth pointing out; the sound quality in this version is pretty weird, with the often-impressive musical score coming from the 3DS' speakers with an almost tin can-like effect, clearly having not been optimized for them. The "save" system doesn't actually save your progress mid-level, just the Lums you collect, which they could have been more clear about, and you have to select a language each time you boot it up, which is a little annoying. Similarly, they start you back at the beginning of the map each time you load your file instead of putting you at the entrance to the level you left off at. Again, not major problems but just slight issues that I wish were resolved for this version, since they really didn't do much else new with it. This is definitely a bare-bones port, but it's a bare-bones port of a great game, and the lack of 3D platformers in today's marketplace makes it feel all the more special. Rayman 2 was fun and charming, something that's still the case today. While the combat feels dated and the stereoscopic 3D can sometimes be a little messy, this is, all in all, a solid port and not a bad purchase.

Verdict: Back when Rayman 2 was first released, it was seen as a triumph of platforming and a big step forward for the genre. These days, it (like many other once-great 3D platformers from then that you go back and play) feels more like visiting an old friend; one who nowadays you may not always quite see eye-to-eye with, but who you can still enjoy hanging out with and reminiscing with about the past.

Graphics: The Dreamcast was a strong and very distinct system technically and for that reason, this game's visuals still hold up today despite no noticeable improvements. Stereoscopic 3D helps the pretty environments pop even though it can occasionally feel glitchy. Some slowdown.

Gameplay: Great example of fun and simple 3D platforming through well-paced levels. A lengthy main quest, a couple cool bosses, and variety that keeps things fresh. Occasional camera problems.

Sound: The "Rayman voice acting" in the characters' own weird language is in full effect here, which you either love or hate, but this isn't a game where you'll be sitting watching tons of cutscenes, so it's not a big deal. The soundtrack's impressive, though its sound quality takes a noticeable hit when coming from the 3DS' speakers.

Replay Value: Plenty of Lums to collect, but all in all, not a ton else to do. At roughly 8.5 hours to complete the main game, though, it isn't bad.

Overall: 7/10

(My reviews go on a .5 scale)