Me & My Katamari

With the success of We Love Katamari on the PS2, it was natural for Namco to want to capitalize further on the Katamari brand with or without Keita Takahashi’s involvement. In a first for the series, Namco proceeded without him for a new entry made for the PSP, Me & My Katamari, in 2005. Regardless of its issues, the PSP was my handheld of choice for many years and helped get me through high school, with this game being part of my library since I was obsessed with the series at the time. With the announcement of Once Upon A Katamari on modern platforms, I decided to take another look at this game on another save file, though I was surprised to see that I hadn’t played it since 2010. While I would still consider the game to be pretty fun, enough time has passed that its flaws stand out more to me through fresh eyes.

Silent Hill: Origins

After Team Silent disbanded following the release of Silent Hill 4: The Room (SH4) in 2004, Konami shifted development of further Silent Hill entries to American studios. The first of these games, Silent Hill: Origins (Origins), started development under the Los Angeles branch of Climax Action as a PSP-exclusive prequel to the original Silent Hill (SH1). However, development didn’t go that smoothly. When the game was originally announced at E3 2006, it featured a radical departure from the conventional formula and not only more resembled Resident Evil 4 in its design, but was apparently intended as a dark comedy inspired by the TV series Scrubs. Following issues with the game engine and a confused vision, Climax closed their LA branch and transferred development to their UK branch, where Origins was essentially remade from scratch by Sam Barlow, who rewrote the script and altered the level and monster designs within a week. This version of the game intentionally followed SH1 more closely in its design, with the idea of giving fans a more genuine Silent Hill experience, and released in 2007.

A glimpse at the original vision of the game.

Today, Origins is also one of the more affordable Silent Hill games one can buy, much like the other American-developed entries, and I picked up a $10 digital PSP copy during the period where Sony said they would shut down some digital storefronts. Once I finally got around to playing it, I noticed on startup that the game recommended playing it in the dark with headphones on. For the sake of this review, I decided I would follow this recommendation as much as possible, at least during the first playthrough. After three full playthroughs, in which I viewed all three endings, I could see Climax’s intent in closely following SH1’s design and how they managed to make the series’ formula work well on a portable platform. However, I also realized that Team Silent had a point in their approach to SH4.

Resistance: Retribution

Insomniac Games is no stranger to handheld spin-offs of their games being developed by other studios, and Resistance is no exception. Following the release of Resistance 2, the first of these spin-offs, Resistance: Retribution (Retribution), was developed for the PSP by Bend Studio. When I first played the original Insomniac trilogy of games, I didn’t have any interest in playing this game, however news of the PlayStation Store closures (before that decision was reversed) led me to panic buy a physical copy with the intent of playing it at some point in the future. Now that I have, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of the game to where I wonder why I didn’t play it sooner.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Note: This review contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

Before I actually played Final Fantasy VII, I had watched the Advent Children film and played Crisis Core when they first came out. The first time I played Crisis Core, just over a decade ago, I liked it in spite of a general lack of context. Of course, my memories of the game faded over time and after finally playing the original Final Fantasy VII, I decided to go through Compilation, which originally ended with this game. Now that I’ve finished my second playthrough, I remembered why I liked it in the first place, but now I also see more flaws, both in the story and gameplay.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - An Important Stop

When I first played Kingdom Hearts about a decade ago, I was completely blown away. I was having a really fun time and when it ended, I was excited to learn of another game in the series. Since I didn’t have a Gameboy at the time however, I couldn’t really play Chain of Memories (and wouldn’t be able to until the PS2 remake, Re:Chain of Memories), so I ended up skipping to Kingdom Hearts II on PS2. I later learned that this was a bad idea, but since I’ve played Re:Chain of Memories, the story makes just a little more sense (at least as much sense as you can make out of Kingdom Hearts). As the years went on, more games came out, but on platforms that I had no access to, so I was bummed that my lack of a DS would prevent me from witnessing 358/2 Days (pronounced Three-Five-Eight-Days Over Two), though thankfully 1.5 HD Remix was able to fill me in on the details via redone cutscenes. Flash forward to the announcement of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for the PSP handheld. The fact that I actually owned a PSP enticed me to play it, so much so that while walking to the bus during my first College semester, I went by the nearest GameStop and picked up a copy. I then proceeded to start playing as soon as I sat down and wouldn’t stop playing for a few weeks during the same semester. I would play during long wait times, particularly the hour or so before Astronomy class, and my sessions went on so long that I had to keep exchanging PSP batteries with my brother just so I could keep going. As I played Birth by Sleep for the first time (and wrote a terrible review of it on DeviantArt once I finished), it became my new favorite game in the series, overtaking Kingdom Hearts II. Having played it years later in anticipation of Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix, with greater knowledge of the inner workings of the game, I can say that this sentiment still rings true.

It began so simply...

In The Land of Departure, the Keyblade wielders Terra, Ventus and Aqua are all close friends. On the night before Terra and Aqua’s Mark of Mastery exam, which will determine who receives the title of Keyblade Master, Ventus decides to help the two practice and hone their skills. Afterwards, the three of them discuss their friendship, at which point Aqua decides to give everyone Wayfinders that she made to symbolize that their bonds of friendship are strong enough that they’ll be able to find each other no matter where they are. The next day, Master Eraqus, with Master Xehanort in attendance as a guest, begins the Mark of Mastery exam with Terra and Aqua, summoning orbs of light for them to destroy. However, something goes wrong and the orbs are imbued with darkness, causing their behavior to become erratic enough to pull Ventus into the fray. Once the crisis is over, Terra and Aqua have a one-on-one match to display their abilities. In the end, Aqua is declared the Keyblade Master by Master Eraqus because Terra let his inner darkness get to him at one point in the match. As Aqua goes to Eraqus to learn a valuable secret, Terra storms off and is confronted by Master Xehanort, who tells him about his inner darkness and convinces him that it isn’t something to be feared, but channeled and that going to different worlds will help him control it. Meanwhile, Ventus is in his room when he is suddenly confronted by a boy in a mask. The boy in the mask informs him that Terra is leaving, possibly forever, and that Ventus has one last chance to see him beforehand. Once the boy departs, Ventus runs off to where Terra is in an attempt to say something to him. However, Terra leaves in a hurry, causing Ventus to chase after him. Aqua, who has just arrived, tries to stop Ventus and tell him something, but she is too late. Once both Terra and Ventus are gone, Eraqus instructs Aqua to go after them, but keep an especially close eye on Terra, as he is worried about his darkness getting out of hand. Aqua complies, flying away from the Land of Departure in pursuit of Terra and Ventus.

Master Xehanort

It’s interesting to note that Birth by Sleep is a prequel of sorts, occurring ten years before the events of the original Kingdom Hearts. In this regard, it does its job well, establishing several key details that add some depth to the mythos and help explain how certain things came to be, including Sora and Riku’s connections with the Keyblade, the origins of Roxas and even the creation of Castle Oblivion. From a narrative standpoint, as in how it functions on its own, Birth by Sleep is written pretty well. It does a pretty good job handling its gimmick, which has you playing as three different characters, Terra, Ventus and Aqua, who travel to the same worlds, but not during the same points in time. Their independent plot threads do intertwine at times, which helps to establish connecting points to separate the story into distinct parts (ex. before and after the battle with Trinity Armor). As with the previous entries, there are some dark themes explored here and they go beyond the struggle between light and darkness in the heart. Because the three characters are effectively soldiers, darker themes are touched upon, including war, genocide, existential crises and feelings of trust and betrayal. These aren’t as explored as extensively as they would be in, say, Metal Gear, but the elements have enough of a presence that the overall narrative is very engaging and elicits good emotive reactions out of the player. Though admittedly the story can be a little confusing at times, what with the discussions of the Keyblade War and the χ-blade (pronounced Kye-blade) and whatnot, Birth by Sleep is an important milestone to hit to at least try and understand the story as it stands now.

Vanitas (left) is very important to the story.

While the story is very interesting to play through, the heroes do make plenty of mistakes. Terra, for the most part, is easily trusting of the people he meets, including Master Xehanort, and this comes back to bite him hard (though I won’t say how). Likewise, Aqua and Ventus’ stories also rely on them making one poor decision after another, which by the endgame seems to have only furthered Xehanort’s plans without them realizing it. Fortunately, they are able to reverse most of the damage that they cause, but it also comes at a great cost, which I will not reveal here for the sake of avoiding spoilers. In any case, I found it interesting how the Disney-inspired worlds were integrated into the plotline, even if the stories don’t quite match up with the source material (though one should expect creative liberties when putting a work from one medium into another, especially when fusing multiple continuities and independent stories together).

Gameplay-wise, Birth by Sleep is the best I’ve ever played in the series. As with Kingdom Hearts II, there is a further emphasis on action, but the twist here is that they’ve done away with the menu system entirely, instead going with a customizable command deck. The way the system works is that you are given a certain amount of slots (which increase over time to a maximum of eight) to insert commands representing certain physical or magical attacks as well as items. The d-pad scrolls through the commands and you press triangle to activate the one you want, after which there is a cool down period that must end before you can use it again. By using commands, a gauge above the list is filled up, which can lead to a unique finishing move or a new command style that enhances regular attacks and can lead to a more powerful finisher.

One of the most powerful styles: Ghost Drive.

These commands can also be melded together, similarly to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII’s Materia Fusion system, and combined with different crystals to attach various abilities which range from reducing cool down times to buffing or nerfing elemental damage. One of the most essential of these abilities, from my experience, is EXP Walker, which lets you gain 1 EXP for each step you take (for those who wish to know, the most reliable method to obtain it is to combine Blizzard and Aero in conjunction with an Abounding Crystal). In place of summons, the game introduces a D-Link system as well, which lets the player replace their command deck with that of another character that they have formed a bond with (ex. Terra, Ventus, Aqua, Snow White, Experiment 626, etc.). D-Links can be upgraded with a rare star drop that can attach different abilities to the character during usage, making them more powerful for the next activation; when the D-Link gauge isn’t full, it can be replenished with blue D-Link prizes.

The last system introduced is the Shotlock Command, which is activated by holding down L and R and then moving a target over enemies. Pressing X will trigger the Shotlock attack, though pressing the button when the targets are at maximum will not only fire off all the selected shots, but allow an additional barrage of the same attack as well. While these attacks are cool to pull off, the only problem is that the same buttons used to trigger them are also used to rotate the camera, which can be awkward if you’re really not careful.

One of the strongest Shotlock Commands: Ultima Cannon.

I realize that what I’ve written may sound a little confusing, but I think it’s the best system the series has had. Once you get into it it’s very easy and intuitive on top of being incredibly quick and responsive. By taking away a lot of the complexity of previous Kingdom Hearts games, including the already streamlined Kingdom Hearts II, it becomes much easier to manage the player character and figure out exactly what you want. Despite some of the minor flaws in the systems present, I hope that they not only keep the command deck in future Kingdom Hearts titles, but expand and improve on it as well for the best possible experience. It’s a natural evolution of the process and the only logical next step is to move forward with it.

Although Birth by Sleep was developed for the PSP, I’m genuinely impressed by its size and scale. There are several worlds to explore, each with a number of areas and secrets. Each area isn’t always available, in fact limited to how relevant they are to each character’s story, but this doesn’t change that the size of the game could easily rival its console brethren. Birth by Sleep feels as large, and as long, as any Kingdom Hearts game on the PS2 (and now PS3), a feat to be rightfully commended for. There is also a great attention to detail and a fittingly bright color palette with a lot of range. Every one of the Unversed enemies has a unique shape, save the ones that are merely palette swaps, and an easily identifiable color pattern that helps one to figure out exactly how to take them down. On the downside, the graphics aren’t the best, being on PSP and all, since the character models end up a little jagged in places and cloth textures don’t look particularly smooth. Despite this however, Birth by Sleep ends up being one of the best looking games on the handheld and can be seen as a technical marvel.

A Flood, one of the most common Unversed types.

The game also has plenty of challenge, especially on the higher difficulties (I played on Proud Mode), where the bosses can really knock you around like a piñata unless you go into battle fully prepared. No matter what difficulty you play on, you may find the Mandrake Unversed to be particularly annoying, as they attack by firing razor sharp leaves that always seem to match your elevation and they can fire them off in rapid succession to disrupt any combo you might have had going (which can further cause the meter on the Command Deck to start dwindling). The worst part is that not only can they inflict Poison and Confusion if you’re not careful, they don’t appear out of thin air like the other Unversed, rather they are already on the battlefield to begin with and can thus cause you as much pain and suffering as possible; I loathed Mandrakes every time I came across them.

Voice acting and music have always been a strong suit for Kingdom Hearts and this installment is no exception. Since I own the soundtrack, I believe that it contains some of Yoko Shimomura’s best compositions to date, with a grand mix of upbeat world themes and dark and foreboding battle pieces. Voice acting, however, is admittedly kind of a mixed bag. On one hand, we have phenomenal voice work by the recurring Disney characters, who mostly use the official Disney voice actors (for those characters whose voice actors are deceased, they have incredibly convincing sound-alikes). There are also surprise performances from Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamill, each respectively voicing Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus. They both sound like they really put their heart into their work and their many years of experience have certainly paid off. On the other hand, we have the main trio; Terra, Ventus and Aqua. Terra, due to being voiced by Jason Dohring, sounds a little bored in his delivery, downplaying the emotions he should be feeling in certain scenes. However, when Richard Epcar takes over at some point during the plot (I won’t say how), his lines are overacted, which balances that out perfectly. Ventus is voiced by Jesse McCartney and actually gives a solid performance, mirroring his role as Roxas in Kingdom Hearts II. Lastly, we have Aqua, whose voice actress, Willa Holland, has nearly the same problem as Dohring, but not to the same degree. Should these characters return in the future, I hope that Dohring and Holland have picked up a thing or two to make their characters better rounded out.

Mark Hamill does a good job as Master Eraqus.

Before I end this review, I’d like to share some advice with prospective PSP players. You can play the three stories in any order you wish, but the best order is Terra, Ventus then Aqua. Playing in this specific order will lead to far less confusion than playing it any other way, plus it creates a smooth transition to the Final Story. I also highly recommend unlocking the secret video, Blank Points, as it is a good epilogue to cap off the events of the story. The easiest way to unlock it is to complete all of the campaigns on Proud or Critical mode (I would advise playing on Proud Mode, even if it’s your first time playing, since the difficulty will disappear after playing for a while). Finally, there are some settings that would be very beneficial to manipulate. There is the option to install the game to your memory card, which gives the advantage of reduced load times, and you have the option between 200, 400 or 624 MB, speeding up load times in an increasing number of areas for the game (combat, menus, moving between areas, etc.); I recommend doing a full install for best results. Also, there are two specific settings that you should immediately increase: Color Depth and CPU Speed. Upping the Color Depth to 32-bit will provide the best graphics, but sometimes causes slowdown as a result. Accelerating the CPU Speed prevents slowdown, counteracting the disadvantage of 32-bit Color Depth, but will cause the PSP battery to drain much quicker, so it is further recommended that you have an AC adaptor at all times (I call this combination “drain the battery mode” for a good reason). Follow all of these simple steps and you’ll have the best Birth by Sleep experience possible.

In the end, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is what I would consider the best game in the franchise. The gameplay is streamlined and the controls are tight, all without sacrificing the spirit of earlier games or what made them good in the first place. Admittedly the story can be confusing at times, a given for this franchise, and the voice acting may not be perfect, but the game has a plotline that can, to some degree, operate independently of its brethren (though it does serve as the MGS4 of the group by explaining just about everything (for now…)). On top of that, the game is simply a well-crafted RPG that makes owning a PSP very worthwhile. If you haven’t played it yet, I see no reason to wait; it might also be a good excuse to buy a PSP and a play a good game that isn’t related to God of War.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Tactical Espionage Operations

Note: The following review is based on both the PSP and PS3 versions of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the latter of which was played via Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection.

In about a year’s time, I’ve gone from knowing nothing about the Metal Gear franchise to knowing nearly everything about its story and characters. Since I first played Metal Gear Solid for PS1, I’ve become completely drawn in by the world the games have set up and have now been eagerly anticipating new installments, one of them being the recent Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. My attention has now been drawn to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a game which I have been following coverage of since I became more aware of it. However, I realized that in order to understand its events, I’d have to play the previous chronological entry, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. To that end, I got the PSP version and began playing it, but then switched to the PS3 version partway and completed it there. I’ll explain how and why later, but the important thing is that I ended up liking Peace Walker, although I felt some of the gameplay tweaks and revamped mechanics needed a bit of getting used to.

In 1974, ten years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MSG3), Naked Snake, now known as Big Boss, has created his own army, the Militaires San Frontières (MSF; translates to Soldiers Without Borders), composed of those who have abandoned all ties to their home country. On November 4, at Columbia’s Barranquilla Coast, MSF deputy commander Kazuhira Miller introduces Snake to two potential clients from Costa Rica, Paz Ortega Andrade and Ramón Gálvez Mena. Gálvez explains that since Costa Rica has no army, he was given authority by the Costa Rican government to hire MSF to protect them from an invading armed group. Kaz encourages Snake to send MSF as protection, but Snake is reluctant to do so. As persuasion, Gálvez takes out a SONY Walkman, which he gives to Snake, and plays a cassette tape containing a recent recording of The Boss’ voice. Surprised, Snake agrees to help out and is provided an offshore platform in the Caribbean as a base, which is dubbed Mother Base. Six days later, MSF leaps into action. During his mission, however, Snake learns information revealing that there’s a lot more going on than he initially thought.

Ramón Gálvez Mena as he appears before Snake.

Written by Hideo Kojima, the story of Peace Walker is pretty much a direct continuation of MGS3, since The Boss is an important element of the overall plot. She serves as the motivation for Big Boss’ actions and her past and ideals are frequently brought up and discussed. That said, the story is very well-written. Big Boss’ journey leads him to meeting new characters, all of whom are well-rounded, though we don’t always get a glimpse of their entire personality. Every single character is important to the plot and a couple, Huey Emmerich and Kazuhira Miller, are also important to the events of other games chronologically. The game’s theme of nuclear deterrence is also heavily discussed, with characters Huey Emmerich and Dr. Strangelove at the center of the issue via their creation of the eponymous Peace Walker AI weapon. I like how the search for Peace Walker is played with gradually increasing urgency across four lengthy chapters until it reaches a very emotional climax and ends in a way that caps off the major events of the story perfectly.

Peace Walker as it is first seen.

Of course, I feel I should mention at this point in time that while you do go through four chapters to get to the end, there is a fifth chapter that is only accessible after the credits have rolled. This chapter requires the player to go through certain motions or fulfill requirements to keep it going and it doesn’t take very much time to finish. That said, this chapter is also home to some very major plot twists, which I won’t spoil so that you find out for yourself. If chapter four is the emotional climax, then chapter five is more like an epilogue, which isn’t that bad considering the length. At the same time it hints at future adventures for Big Boss, which makes me all the more curious about the events of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

The gameplay in Peace Walker is different from the approach the other games have taken. Rather than simply play through one continuous story, the game is divided into chapters, further subdivided into individual Main Ops missions that take varying lengths of time to complete. As you play through each chapter, you are also encouraged by Kaz to knock out your enemies and use the Fulton Recovery System on them so they’ll end up in Mother Base and expand the MSF’s ranks. By replaying missions, you can not only capture more soldiers for Mother Base, but you can also repeat fights against vehicles to expand your arsenal or have a rematch against one of the AI weapons to obtain parts and AI boards for weapons of your own. Apart from the Main Ops, there are also Extra Ops where you complete different challenges, such as recovering POWs or obtaining classified documents, to gain rewards and further Mother Base’s potential. It gets easy to adapt to this mission setup, but there are a couple elements that will take longer to do so.

Mother Base after a good deal of expansion.

One of these elements is that not only do you have to make sure MSF has a good number of people in it, but you also have to manage Mother Base itself. You are responsible for putting different soldiers into different divisions, like R&D and Combat, with more divisions of Mother Base becoming available as you advance through the story. You can Auto Assign people to these different divisions, but eventually you’ll probably be forced to make some decisions manually and even end up firing those who contribute the least. Your R&D division also relies on GMP from Combat to determine what weapons and items they can develop, with some naturally taking longer than others (completing missions will move time forward). At first I found myself greatly understaffed, which caused me to have low division ranks (which also determine what R&D can do), but when I finished playing I was nearly at capacity, so I would suggest taking some time to figure out who you think really deserves to be at Mother Base to advance development and keep things running as smoothly as possible.

There's also a surprise special guest.

The other element that takes getting used to is the general control scheme. You can choose between three different layouts, with one being based on the earlier Portable Ops, one based on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (MGS4) and another based on the Monster Hunter game series (which, if my research is accurate, inspired the Mother Base management element). I chose Shooter Type so it would feel more natural, down to adjusting the control scheme to mimic classic Metal Gear gameplay as closely as possible. This helped me get through the game better, but having played both the PSP and PS3 versions (I’ll explain how in a bit), I would suggest playing on PS3 due to the better camera and weapon/item selection controls. On that note, items and weapons can, on PS3, be accessed with L2 and R2, but requires you to still scroll left and right in real time on a menu that takes up a majority of the screen. I’m more used to the action pausing to let me switch, so I needed more time to adjust to this method. I also liked certain changes from MGS3, like not requiring the player to go through menu after menu to heal or change camouflage patterns, since you select one camo to use for the mission and “Ration = Health” is reintroduced, along with more cardboard box options and other healing items. The Psyche gauge makes an appearance from MGS4 in place of Stamina, which results overall in a pretty solid hybrid of MGS3 and MGS4 gameplay. I now wonder where future games will go with this idea.

Since I’ve mentioned Monster Hunter, I’d like to spend a little time on that. By completing certain requirements (listen to all of Chico’s briefing files about mythical creatures, then almost complete Extra Ops 029 but go to the ocean instead of the Fulton Recovery Point, then go to the end of the bridge and watch a cutscene), you can unlock missions where Snake fights different creatures from the Monster Hunter franchise. Having never played Monster Hunter, I still found this crossover idea interesting and actually felt my adrenaline going during combat. However, these missions can also be very difficult depending on your strategy, so I only got to beat the first one, Rathalos. These fights can also get majorly annoying, particularly when you mix persistent Velociprey creatures with relentless attacks from the boss creatures, especially Tigrex (who I died against every single time I challenged it). Still, this offers the game quite a bit of replay value and is a good treat for Monster Hunter fans.

Believe it or not, this is even more challenging than it looks.

Before I go into the technical aspects of the game, I’d like to point out one major continuity error. This has nothing to do with the number of minor retcons, like making it so it wasn’t Huey (Otacons’ dad) but rather his dad (Otacon’s grandfather) that was involved in the Manhattan project, as Metal Gear does it enough that you just have to roll with them for the story to still make sense. This is actually about something that one might overlook that goes through the entire game and some might say that I care too much to point out: Snake’s eye patch. In MGS3, the player gets to see the moment Naked Snake (not yet Big Boss) loses his right eye before gaining his iconic eye patch. This moment is so poignant and important to Naked Snake’s development that the game even alters the First-Person aiming so the player is only seeing out of his left eye, forcing one to try and adjust how they fire to make up for this. In Peace Walker however, no matter who Big Boss is fighting, regardless of it being a cutscene or manual aiming, he is always aiming out of his right eye, which means that he is somehow looking through the eye patch to fire off a weapon. After a while I stopped worrying about it, but I could never really let this little detail go because it goes against everything that should logically happen in a universe that is already very realistic (except for the giant robots and technological marvels of course). Hopefully this is just a one-time thing.

Seriously, how is he doing that? Is it nanomachines or something?

Since I mentioned it before, I’d like to explain how I was able to play both versions of the game for this review. When Metal Gear Solid HD Collection was in production, Kojima Productions developed a new technology that Hideo Kojima called “Transfarring” (a portmanteau of “transferring” and “sharing”). This technology allows someone to begin playing Peace Walker on the PS3 and then transfer their save to the PSP version so they can keep playing it on the go; this mindset also applies to the HD Collection in general since you can move your files to and from the Vita version. For veteran PlayStation users, you may recognize this as the Cross-Play technology introduced to PS3, PS4 and Vita, which is essentially a widespread adoption and integration of the Transfarring technology. In my case, I began on PSP before Transfarring to PS3 for the better control scheme. I may not have any Trophies for doing so, but at the very least I was able to more comfortably play and finish the game.

The Transfarring screen for Peace Walker.

Graphically, Peace Walker is actually pretty good. Of course, the character models on PSP look more akin to an average PS2 game, and the PS3 version, though in HD, is simultaneously better and kind of the same, but the backgrounds are amazing. I never got tired of looking at Costa Rica, with the amazing attention to detail on the flora and fauna of the area. I was reminded quite a bit of MGS3, especially in the background noises, but I can’t fault the game for trying to be as detailed as its brethren and, in some ways, succeeding. As usual, Yoji Shinkawa’s art style is really good in Peace Walker, as the new characters go in with the recurring cast perfectly; Paz in particular is actually pretty cute.

The high art quality actually carries over to the cutscenes, which were actually better than anticipated. Ashley Wood, from what I read, was heavily involved with the art for Portable Ops, but in Peace Walker he is actually credited as a guest artist; the art style used throughout is more akin to Yoji Shinkawa, who led a team of artists for the game. To me, this style suits the game better than Ashley Wood going solo, who I still say is best for horror comics, and I think the game is better off for it.

The general style of the cutscenes (Pictured: Paz).

Peace Walker also features very good voice acting. David Hayter returns as Naked Snake, although his voice sounds raspier than usual. Christopher Randolph also returns to voice Huey Emmerich, which makes sense given that Huey is Hal Emmerich’s father. While his performance is not completely unlike Otacon, there’s something a little different about it to set the two characters apart from each other. Tara Strong and Steve Blum, two of my favorite voice actors in general, also return to the series (having previously appeared in Portable Ops) to voice Paz and Ramón respectively. Both of them give strong performances that lend a lot of depth to their characters, which helps the vocal quality in general. Overall, everyone involved does such a good job and I hope this level of quality carries over to future games.

Lastly, the music is very good as well. There is a lot of range in the compositions with plenty of style changes throughout the course of the game. When there is a sense of urgency or triumph, the music perfectly reflects that, but the lack of music in certain situations is also good as it keeps you on your feet.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is an excellent addition to the Metal Gear franchise. The story directly continues from MGS3 in a brilliant way and nuclear deterrence is discussed in fascinating detail. The gameplay changes things up quite a bit and, while it takes some time to get used to it, it’s a very natural evolution and hybridization of MGS3 and MGS4’s gameplay styles. I would highly recommend existing fans to check it out, but I would also strongly suggest playing it on PS3 for the sake of a better control scheme. Newcomers to Metal Gear shouldn’t even try to start with this one, as they’ll likely become lost by the references to previously existing events. In that case, I’d suggest actually playing the rest of the games first, beginning with Metal Gear Solid and going forward by release order. Considering what’s on the horizon, this is an essential game in the franchise that there is really no excuse for fans to miss.

[Revised 3/27/16]

Daxter - This Time, The Sidekick Gets A Turn

After three platforming games and a kart racer set in the world of Jak and Daxter, the PSP set the stage for a new installment, deciding to take the opportunity to lend the spotlight to Jak's sidekick, Daxter. This 2008 game, developed by Ready at Dawn rather than Naughty Dog, is one of the few that I actually own for the system and also marks me being near the end of my coverage of the Jak and Daxter franchise. The first time I played this game I was unsure what to think of it, so this second playthrough has given me a much stronger opinion. With that said, I'm not 100% sure about my opinion.

Daxter takes place during Jak II, more specifically the two year time skip in the first few minutes. While trying to figure out Jak's location after his capture by Haven City's Krimzon Guards, Daxter ends up accepting a job opening for the Kridder Ridder Extermination Company from a man named Osmo, whose previous hire quit out of cowardice. As the subsequent events unfold, a man named Kaeden aims to eliminate the Kridder Ridder business, and Daxter, for good while the ottsel makes new relationships along the way and uses his job as a cover to get his friend out of prison.

Admittedly, there isn't too much to this story, since the bulk of it seems to occur almost immediately before Jak II begins. Still, it's interesting how they handled it to fit the canon of the story. Daxter's side of the story shows how, despite his cowardly exterior, he has an inner drive that enables him to take whatever risk he needs to in order to save his best friend and protect the ones he cares about. There is also another side of the coin that depicts Kaeden speaking with Kor at this point in time, revealing the reasoning behind the later deception necessary for the huge twist in Jak II. Even with this in mind, it still didn't really explain to me why Kor would want a small business destroyed, though I did understand his need to rid the world of the ottsel for his scheme to work. It is because of this that Kaeden feels unfortunately like a cardboard villain that's there simply because he needs to be. New characters Osmo, Ximon, Taryn and Tik fulfill their roles well despite them being minor characters and I found it fun to see how they interacted with the protagonist throughout the campaign.

At its core, Daxter is a platforming game, with solidly designed levels that take full advantage of the abilities at the player's disposal at specific points, though some of the areas felt rather unfair due either to small ledges or the inability to see some part of the area fast enough. In addition to this, there are plenty of secret areas to discover, which can contain Precursor Orbs or other special items. Based on the levels alone, Daxter performs admirably, though perhaps not quite on par with its console brethren.

The other major design element of the game is its combat, and the orange ottsel shows some good prowess in this. The essential weapons used to exterminate the metal bugs are an electric bug swatter and a spray gun, both of which control extremely well. While the swatter stays the same the whole way, the spray gun is upgraded over time with different nozzles to shoot flames or an ultrasonic blast to defeat enemies or reach new areas in the levels themselves. What helps the spray gun stand out as well is its ability to be used as a way to travel across large gaps, as well as overcome various obstacles, with the various heights generated by the sprays providing a great amount of tactical variety and thoughtfulness with approaching what's up ahead.  Defeating the various metal bugs will award the player Metal Bug Gems, similarly to Metal Head Skull Gems, which seem to serve no other purpose than to fulfill whatever objective requires them.

Two other modes are present in this game, those being the Dream Mode and Bug Combat sub-game. The somewhat fun Dream Mode occurs when Daxter decides to rest (read: touch the bed) in Osmo's shop, entering one of six minigames based on popular movies, most prominently The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings. Beating these minigames can either give Daxter a new move in combat or increase his health, which can really come in handy later on. Bug Combat, accessible through the main menu screen, utilizes the other collectibles Daxter can collect during his adventure in a rock-paper-scissors style match between two opposing bugs. Potions can be used to upgrade the stats of the bugs and tokens can be used to give yourself a unique advantage at the right moment. While the game is interesting at first, and surprisingly deep, I got tired of it after a while and didn't end up playing it very much. There is a multiplayer mode, but good luck finding someone else you know that still uses their PSP to play Daxter.

Daxter's graphics are rather impressive for a PSP title, helped by the fact that Ready at Dawn worked on the impressive God of War handhelds as well. The soundtrack fit the levels accordingly and helped it fit in as a Jak and Daxter title, backed by impressive voice acting and clever dialogue to keep a consistent tone throughout. My only complaint might be in the rendering of Daxter's fur during cutscenes, but this is very minor and didn't affect my views at all.

In the end, Daxter is an interesting handheld title that is of an actually impressive quality in terms of its technical capabilities and combat. The story however feels weaker compared to the brilliantly written Jak II and 3 and I couldn't help but wish for something better for the main antagonist at least. If you want something different to play, or you want more Jak and Daxter, I'd suggest giving this game a try.

The next, and final, time I'll be touching upon this franchise will be when I get around to playing Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier.

[OLD] Secret Agent Clank

After developing Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, High Impact Games would return to the Ratchet & Clank series to release a second game for the PSP, Secret Agent Clank, which as the title suggests stars Clank in the main role. The game is a take-off of the in-universe Secret Agent Clank series introduced in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and is noted for having a James Bond theme, as it takes elements of a spy movie and runs with them. While I found it more enjoyable than the last PSP venture, I still found something off about it.

A priceless gem known as the Eye of Infinity has been stolen from the Boltaire Museum and it appears Ratchet is to blame after words spoken against Clank. With the Lombax in prison, Clank believes his friend is innocent despite evidence to the contrary. As Clank sets out to free his friend, a conspiracy unfolds as he discovers the real culprit. Meanwhile, Captain Qwark is writing a "biography" of sorts, consisting mainly of fantastic stories.

Aside from the consistently good voice acting and music, some changes have been made to the gameplay from the last installment. You are still able to upgrade weapons and select from a small wheel of weapons during battle. These weapons are more based on spy gadgets and work rather impressively, although I ran into a problem with one item that you can't refuel via vendor, the Blackout Pen; this gadget is used to disable cameras and deadly lasers with giant blobs of black ink, but you must refuel them using very special and sparsely placed crates that resemble an ink well. The armor system has also been removed, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though you now must use Bolts on weapons for both Clank and Ratchet.

On this topic, there is a much greater variety of gameplay here than in previous Ratchet & Clank games. In addition to playing as Clank a majority of the time, there are also times where you can be Ratchet in prison fights, the Gadgebots in small puzzle segments, and Qwark as he tells an odd story. The Gadgebot segments can really get you to think sometimes, especially in certain sections later on, and the Qwark sections can be entertaining or frustrating depending on how you play them. On the other hand I found the Ratchet sections a little difficult compared to the other character-specific portions, but they are possible to get through after a number of tries. There are also times where you have to play a small rhythm game, but they don't exactly work properly due to the lack of any actual rhythm.

While the game has an interesting story, you can actually see some of the plot twists coming from a mile away (except for the big one which I will not spoil), though this doesn't take too much away from the overall experience. Near the end though, I ran into some trouble with the final boss. Since the game up until then is relatively easy, it's a bit jarring to see the difficulty suddenly spike up a bit to the point where it's nigh unbeatable. All I can say regarding this is good luck.

Secret Agent Clank is a fairly enjoyable Ratchet & Clank game, even if a few screws are loose. There is an extra bonus from having a save of the less enjoyable Size Matters, though it's only a set of skins, and just a basic knowledge of what happens throughout that game is all that's needed to understand the continuity between the handheld games. If you're looking for a decent handheld Ratchet & Clank experience, I would direct you to this game instead of the previous one. When I return to this series, time marches on.

[OLD] Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters - It Sure Does

Continuing down the line in the Ratchet & Clank series, we go from the PS2 to the PSP with the fifth game, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, released in 2007. This is the first game not to be developed by Insomniac, but rather High Impact Games, and is also the game that came packaged with my PSP when I first got it. I never completed it when I first played it, and going back to it again after all this time I remember why.

Our heroes Ratchet and Clank are relaxing on the planet Pokitaru when a little girl named Luna appears, wanting to take pictures of the duo doing "heroic thtuff" for a school project. However, Luna gets kidnapped and is taken to another planet, after which the two go after her. Meanwhile, Clank discovers Captain Qwark spying on him and Ratchet at the beach, trying to jump into their next adventure. When Clank asks why he isn't spending time with his family, Qwark breaks down and is encouraged to find his biological parents (apparently he was raised by monkeys).

Starting with the positives of this game, the voice acting is still rather good like with previous installments, and the music is catchy and fits the tone of each world. There aren't that many weapons and gadgets compared to Up Your Arsenal, but there is still plenty of variety for a handheld game and they all work well. You can also upgrade your weapons by defeating enough enemies, as well as by purchasing mods to enhance their capabilities from a separate vendor. A first for this game is the ability to customize your armor, by way of collecting pieces from various armor sets to gain special abilities as well as increase the damage resistance to Ratchet.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I discovered a few issues that really began to bug me as I went forward. First off, it's a tad difficult to actually move Ratchet or Clank when playing as either of them. The analog stick is the primary form of control, but sometimes it doesn't feel like responding to the simple command of moving forward. The D-Pad is a secondary form of movement, but even then you can only move in so many different directions, so I ended up having to switch between these two countless times just so the character could move in the direction I wanted them to. On the other hand, the analog stick works perfectly fine when playing a hoverboard race or robot combat mini-game, which don't seem to to fit in to the overall scheme of things and felt almost pointless.

An even bigger problem I ran into was the camera, namely adjusting it to match where I wanted to look. Since the PSP doesn't have a second analog stick, camera controls are moved to the two shoulder buttons on the system (holding both allows you to jump higher/farther), and simply mastering it made it rather infuriating for me. This combined with the difficulty to move the player character frustrated me to the point where I had to hold myself back from exercising physical violence against the UMD. None of this is helped by the fact that regular enemies seem slightly overpowered, but that one's probably just me.

Due to the problems I have just described, I haven't actually beaten the game, but I don't plan to continue anytime soon. Aside from that, what I've managed to play of Size Matters wasn't too bad for a small package. If you can get past the problems with the basic controls, then you will have a better time than I did with this game, guaranteed.

[OLD] God of War: Chains of Olympus

This game has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-chains-of-olympus.html

In 2009, Sony released God of War Collection in anticipation for the then-upcoming game, God of War III. This collection packaged remastered versions of both God of War I and II on a single disk, allowing newcomers to experience the series for the first time before the release of the third game the following year. Later this month a similar collection, God of War Origins Collection, will feature similarly remastered versions of the PSP installments, God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta, along with updated control schemes. To prepare for this new collection, I have decided to dust off my PSP to replay the first of the PSP games, Chains of Olympus, originally released in 2007.

A prequel to the first God of War, the story centers around Kratos as he seeks to take down Morpheus, the God of Dreams, who has enveloped the world in darkness after Helios' chariot falls from the sky. Or so you think. Halfway through the game, the story becomes about Kratos taking down Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, who wants to rule all of mankind with the help of a Titan, Atlas, who has been released from his chains in Tartarus. Not to worry, the first plot thread is resolved by the end, though the explanation seems a little offhanded.

Aside from that strange plot detour, the game is amazing. The visuals are good for an early PSP game and the environments are fairly detailed for its limitations. The cut-scenes are also good for an early game, and it's amazing to see it able to use high-quality clips from the first installment without fail. The soundtrack sometimes sounds kind of stock, yet somehow it fits perfectly, especially during battle, and really helps maintain the overall atmosphere.

Along the way, Kratos receives new weapons and magical abilities to aid him in his quest. Along with the Blades of Chaos, there is the ability to switch between them and the Gauntlet of Zeus, a powerful weapon handy for destroying shining objects and dealing mass amounts of damage when charged. Magical abilities include the Efreet, a spirit that burns enemies in a certain radius; the Light of Dawn, a long range attack in the form of spheres of light; and Charon's Wrath, an attack that can instantly deal heavy damage to a foe.

The controls are laid out pretty well for a PSP God of War game, and it's easy to switch between the aformentioned weapons and powers. However, since the system only has 1 Analog Stick, you must hold down both shoulder buttons in order to dodge with the stick. Aside from that mechanic, it seems well thought-out.

Another good aspect of this game is that we get to learn more about Kratos' personality. During the game, part of his mission is getting to be with his daughter Calliope again. Once he achieves this, things start to become worse, but he had given up his abilities. It is then that he must make one of the toughest decisions of his life and give up being with his daughter in order to save mankind. This shows that although he is essentially a rage factory, he is very selfless in his motives and is willing to make such sacrifices if it means helping the greater good.

Chains of Olympus may have a few shortcomings, but it's still a great entry in an epic franchise. It adds something to Kratos' backstory and it's nice to see how it connects with later games, such as why Atlas holds up the Earth in God of War II. With the PS3 remaster on the way, it's a good time to replay this game, if you (still) have it, until that comes out.

[OLD] God of War: Ghost of Sparta

This game has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-ghost-of-sparta.html

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of the God of War games. Every game thus far has been satisfying to play and, despite whatever flaws each game may have, even minor ones, the series has managed to remain as epic as ever. Naturally, due to my love of the franchise, I was really excited to hear about the latest installment, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, for the PSP. After playing, I can tell you that this is by far one of the best PSP games yet.

This game's story takes place between the original God of War and it's sequel, more specifically before the events of the mobile game, God of War: Betrayal. Kratos, the new God of War, is still haunted by the visions of his past, as seen at the end of the first game. Because of these memories, he decides it's time to explore his past, thinking of his long lost brother Deimos. In his journey, he makes it his goal to find out what happened to him. As you advance in the story, you come across some new Greek mythological figures and Deities. These include, but are not limited to, Thanatos, the God of Death; and King Midas.

There are also some new powers and weapons you gain to aid you in your quest, such as the ability to set your Blades of Athena on fire with Thera's Bane for more power in your attacks. Fortunately, this new power comes with it's own Fire Meter, placed underneath the Health and Magic Meters. This way, you can use it whenever you feel like it without having to worry about draining your Magic, which includes the ability to shoot lightning with the Eye of Atlantis, generate voids with the Scourge of Erinys, and freeze enemies with the Horn of Boreas. In addition to these powers, you also obtain a new weapon, the Arms of Sparta, which allows you to defend against large attacks and throw spears at distant enemies.

On the visual side, the look of ancient Greece feels like a real expansion on the game's world, using an amazing contrast of warm and cool colors to keep you interested. The architecture keeps with the Greek aesthetic rather nicely, making every location believable upon sight with the amount of detail they were able to put in. The cut-scenes are equally beautiful to observe, with a sort of quality that actually comes somewhere close to the PS3. These aspects are complemented perfectly by a soundtrack that only adds even more epicness to the events on-screen, using a familiar-sounding choir that doesn't seem to get old.

The gameplay for this installment, like the visuals, was also handled really well. Those that have played previous entries should be familiar with how it works, with a few tweaks taken from God of War III, such as having to look all around the screen during Quick-Time Events.

The only main concern I ran into while playing, however, was the shoulder buttons. Since there are only two at your disposal and only one analog stick, it carries over the mapping from the previous handheld entry, Chains of Olympus, in that you have to press both buttons at the same time in order to dodge. Half the time I did this, I ended up draining my Fire Meter whenever I didn't time it right. Aside from that, I felt everything was mapped perfectly to the system.

This game is a real must-have for any God of War fan. It is amazing, in many areas, that the PSP is capable of what Ghost of Sparta presents. Like every entry before it, Ghost of Sparta pushes the limits of its system to the highest, even surpassing Chains of Olympus, making for a mind-blowing experience.