Gamesugar

January 28, 2011

Demo Report – Catherine

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 5:50 pm

Catherine Demo
Catherine’s recently available Japanese Demo opens with a separate slice of animation, a montage that offers glimpses from iconic cinematic genres, including the biblical, the love story, the monster movie, and the horror film – and then the brief bit of video ends and the game’s protagonist, Vincent, enters the screen to face the first of two tastes from Catherine’s puzzle-block focused agenda. Film genres linger though, every one of those seen in that quick sequence showing some influence within the game proper.

Catherine’s animation builds on the seductive eye-candy of the Persona series, with a color palette and design aesthetic that is visually arresting, but which also shows new signs of maturity – and not simply because of the sexual psychology at the heart of Catherine’s most immediate and deliciously kinky appeal.

Whether through scenes featuring Vincent and girlfriend Katherine talking over tea, or the way a crime scene pulls back into a television report, and then further still to the bar where Vincent and his friends can see that television emitting signals, every shot and transition brings stylish cinematic sensibilities to the screen.

And then there is the playing…

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January 23, 2011

Catching up with the Brotherhood

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood
It’s not easy to get behind a franchise that has made the decision to go annual. The knowledge that the machinery has aligned specifically to bludgeon every last dollar out of the property (and the consumer) is grave in its implications. As an adherent to the existing systems for emulating assassins and their creeds, Ubisoft’s decision to Call-of-Dutyerize Assassin’s Creed was, for me, an ominous sign; the gong of some distant bell signalling the end of all things, save a string of uninspired sequels.

Then, of course, there was the multiplayer. One recalls the dial-it-in multiplayer solutions for traditionally single-player games like Bioshock and Metroid Prime and would be forgiven for groaning audibly. Equally, the human capacity to defy carefully crafted mechanics and break multiplayer game design is well known. Surely, Assassin’s Creed would have no chance of maintaining a mechanic based on careful stealth and patience among the multiplayer community.

Rarely is being wrong so satisfying.

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January 18, 2011

Leaked Screenshots Unveil Terrifying X-Douche

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 5:16 pm

X-Men: Destiny
The destiny you’ve always fantasized about is to play a horrible Jersey Shore reject with the mutant power of extreme douchery, if leaked screenshots from X-Men: Destiny are to be believed.

You can check out a selection of art and screenshots at Comics Alliance, featuring an X-Bro apparently ripped directly from the pages of Modern Design Cliches: 101 Bags, Tattoos, and Beard Styles, who appears strangely out of place as he battles alongside elaborate, brightly colored heroes in his wife-beater. One recalls the original design for Cole in inFamous 2 and thinks “Well, I guess that wasn’t so bad, after all.”

January 10, 2011

The Sony Factor

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:38 pm

PlayStation 3 Games 2011
Sony’s done something I wouldn’t normally find interesting, taking time out to mention that there are plenty of games releasing exclusively for the PlayStation 3 this year, and taking space on the PlayStation Blog to point out what they are.

While titles like inFamous 2, Killzone 3 and The Last Guardian are a given, it’s really nice to see shout-outs for releases from NIS America, such as the next Ar tonelico title – and PixelJunk Shooter 2 is hanging in there, so maybe we’ll finally get to play that sometime soon.

If you’re wondering what to do with your PS3 this year you can hit the list up here.

January 6, 2011

Capcom at CES

Capcom CES 2011
Other late night CES news I didn’t notice while distracted features a release date for Capcom’s sequel to Bionic Commando Rearmed, which hits the PlayStation 3 on February 1, 2011 for $14.99 and the 360 a day later for 1200 MS Points.

Okamiden also gets some love with more art, video, and screens showing off another partner for Chibi, Kurow, along with a wind based mini-game as well as what appears to be a Chibiterasu jam session in the sky.

Okamiden is still set to hit the Nintendo DS on March 15, 2011.

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January 4, 2011

Keeping Up With Grubbins

Costume Quest Grubbins on Ice
Costume Quest’s DLC retains everything from previous save files, making it easy to put a unicorn costume back on while also trying coveted battle stamps with the new costumes Grubbins on Ice offers. The DLC is an extension of Costume Quest so there isn’t anything new introduced in the gameplay – if you haven’t tried Double Fine’s downloadable trick or treat title as of yet, you may want to catch our original review.

The later PlayStation 3 release found me catching up with Grubbins on Ice during the Holiday break, and the DLC actually takes place during the winter as well. Everett and Lucy have been hypothesizing about the monsters they fought on Halloween night, and begin searching for tangible evidence, all of which leads to Lucy getting kidnapped after stumbling upon a receiver in the snow that opens up a portal – of course Everett, Wren and Reynold are left with no choice but to suit up and save her.

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Your Recommended Dose of Hyperdimension Neptunia

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:49 pm

Hyperdimension Neptunia
I’m earnestly not sure whether Idea Factory’s upcoming RPG will be my cup of tea or not, even given the console war tie-in.

But I know plenty of you are interested, and since NIS America offered up quite a bit of character art, it only seems right to share – so catch it below.

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