June « 2010 « Gamesugar

June 30, 2010

Review – Disgaea Infinite

Disgaea Infinite
It’s fair to say that one never knows what to expect from any new game release, despite the availability of news and early views to encourage plenty of expectations or hesitations. And yet never have I flown so blind into a new title than with NIS America’s new deviation for the Disgaea series.

I was aware of the term “visual novel” prior to pressing start for the first time, and somewhat prepared for a significantly larger portion of narrative authority versus interactive playtime, but I was gleefully ignorant of any real idea toward how it all might unfold across my PSP screen.

(more…)

Comments (7)

Catching Up With Half-Minute Hero

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: 30, Half-Minute Hero, Marvelous, PSP, RPG, rts, Shooter, XSEED Games — Jamie Love @ 1:45 pm

While perfectly suited to quick traveling bouts of play, it wasn’t hard losing an entire day to Half-Minute Hero when I finally caught up with the 2009 XSEED PSP release last week. The game offers four primary modes of play, allowing it to boast a marketing pitch that unites a shooter, RPG, and RTS on a single UMD, all thematically tied together by the thirty-second hook that makes this release the bat-shit crazy and addictive game it is.

Evil Lord 30 mode sunk its teeth in the deepest, an RTS campaign wherein players partake in a summoning spree while guiding the vainest Evil Lord in existence toward returning the only woman he may love more than himself back to human form after being transformed into a bat.

Each quick stage along the path to victory allows players to summon four monster types and seek out elemental gods to overcome armies while blood crazed techno-rock music breathes heavy in the ears – I want to suggest it’s that heavy sort of breathing you get when more familiar gaming tunes go bar hopping with the Future Sound of London.

(more…)

Comments (3)

June 29, 2010

Catching Up With What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: Acquire, Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman, My Lord? 2, NIS America, NISA, PSP, What Did I Do to Deserve This — Jamie Love @ 1:30 pm

What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord? 2
On the surface there’s only so much to be said about a game that puts players in the role of a pick-axe. Fortunately there’s plenty stewing beneath the surface here, much like the plot and play of a release that wears that simple guise only to quickly birth a complex Eco-system. Life spreads swiftly through the twisting tunnels players rush to create, seconds before the tropes of the RPG genre ruin the best laid plans of civil engineers with full on trench warfare.

Though NIS America had to drop half of an impressively long title in bringing another dose of dungeon building 101 to the PSP, What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2 returns the equal share of love and frustration the original offered to give a definitive disc based release to the series.

The sequel to the mobile ant-farm of evil simulator is something I’ve been playing in small doses over the last month. It’s really the only means I have of tackling a game that offers plenty of elements to engulf the player and drag them deeper down their own tunnels, but with end goals that make frequent breaks from the experience necessary for my sanity.

(more…)

Comments (3)

Love in the Age of 8-bit

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: 8-bit Girlfriend, Dating Simulator, Indie, Jaded Horizon, Marketplace, XBLA — Jamie Love @ 12:07 pm

Without question, 8-bit Girlfriend is the oddest game I’ve come across while slurping coffee and catching up on emails from the weekend. Released to the 360 marketplace’s indie section on Sunday, the game is based off a web comic I’ve just seen for the first time, which you can check out over here.

Billed as a comedy-dating simulator, players step into the armor of a “retro knight” and from there on in attempt to court four “retro beauties” – picking through responses to dialogue in order to win either the Princess, Elf, Thief, or Item Shop Girl.

Keep in mind this could be the worst investment of 80 MS Pts ever, but it’s definitely unique enough to warrant a mention.

(more…)

Comments (3)

June 26, 2010

Review – Alpha Protocol

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: 360, Alpha Protocol, Obsidian, Obsidian Entertainment, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation3, Review, Sega, XBOX, Xbox 360 — Brad Johnson @ 9:04 am

With Alpha Protocol, Obsidian Entertainment has opted to take a break from their usual routine of producing sequels to established high-profile franchises in the hopes of establishing a lucrative IP all their own. Despite drawing quick comparisons to Bioware’s Mass Effect, Alpha Protocol is clearly it’s own game, though this is as often to its detriment as it is to its credit.

You control Michael Thorton, agent of the eponymous Alpha Protocol, who quickly becomes embroiled in an international mystery that’s equal parts deep and deeply confusing. You’ll be required to employ stealth and brute force to complete your missions, while, more uniquely, using your wit to navigate the conspiracy in which you’re entwined. The game offers a number of intriguing innovations designed to immerse players in the espionage experience, and many of these are admirable attempts—but a critical lack of development and numerous design flaws leave the experience awkward and unsatisfying.

(more…)

Comments (0)

June 25, 2010

Zombrex Dead Rising Sun

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: Capcom, Dead Rising, Dead Sun Rising, Film, Zombrex — Jamie Love @ 1:38 pm

Zombrex Dead Sun Rising
Capcom gave the word that Keiji Inafune’s film about surviving the Japanese side of the zombie apocalypse will be distributed freely in Europe and North America this summer. Zombrex will be released digitally, via a series of eight episodes with English voice-overs – French, Spanish and Italian viewers apparently get subtitles.

I guess a free movie is a free movie, but really, we couldn’t have the original voice tracks as an option?

Anyway, catch the trailer after the break to find out what a new kind of first person action film looks like.

(more…)

Comments (1)

Your Recommended Dose of Aya Brea

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: Aya Brea, Parasite Eve, PSP, Square-Enix, Squaresoft, The Third Birthday — Jamie Love @ 9:10 am

Famitsu has put a healthy dose of images and screenshots for The Third Birthday online, which you can catch here, and here. It sounds like overdrive – Aya’s ability to inhabit and control other people – is pulling at a more strategic experience than the straightforward body hopping I might expect from any other game. Inhabiting soldiers in order to reposition them, and still being able to attack via them rather than watching events unfold sounds ideal, but at this point what I don’t know about the game could still fill a warehouse.

On the list of things I do know – I need the above image in poster form immediately.

Comments (4)

Older Posts »