Watch List: LittleBigPlanet

Every Friday, I look at one of the games on the Watch List, the list of games that you should be keeping your eye on for news and reviews.

Name: LittleBigPlanet

Format: Playstation 3

Website: Official website of Media Molecule

What is it?

The game, first seen in March 2007 at the GDC, doesn't have a story as such, but it revolves around user created content. In the game, you have a chance to create your own levels, and upload them to the Internet for other people to play. To play, you would create your own character and either tackle the level on your own, or tackle the level with others as you help one another through the obstacles that others will put on you.

The first sign of the game stunned everyone (OK, nearly everyone) with it's graphical style and the possibilities of the game as a whole. It's being widely regarded as one of Sony's trump cards and is one of the most anticipated titles on the PS3.

No release date has been given for the game, but it's expected to arrive in 2008. A PSN demo of the game is not fully confirmed, but is likely to arrive sometime in the next few months.

Endless Ocean confirmed for Europe

Well, even more of a surprise now! It seems that Nintendo have confirmed that the scuba diving sim, Endless Ocean, will be diving it's way to Europe on the 9th November 2007 (or at least the UK, you get the drift). The game scored a respectable 35/40 in Famitsu and despite early reports of the game crashing, we can look forward to seeing what it's really like under the ocean.

Maybe...

Source: CVG

This week's UK releases (28th Sept to 4th October)

Every Thursday, I report on what is being released this week on all consoles. Releases are subject to last minute delays and changes.

PLAYSTATION 3
Conan
FIFA 08
Ratatouille
SEGA Rally
Stuntman - Ignition

XBOX 360
Conan
FIFA 08
Juiced 2 - Hot Import Nights
Ratatouille
SEGA Rally
Skate
Test Drive Unlimited (Classics)

WII
FIFA 08
Ratatouille

PLAYSTATION 2
Bratz The Movie
FIFA 08
Grim Grimoire
Impossible Mission
Juiced 2 - Hot Import Nights
Ratatouille

PC GAMES
ArmA - Queens Gambit Expansion Pack
Blazing Angels - Secret Missions
Boxing Manager
Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts
Enemy Territory - QUAKE Wars
FIFA 08
John Woo Presents Stranglehold
Moto GP 2007
Neverwinter Nights 2 Expansion Pack 1: Mask of The Betrayer
Ratatouille
Requital
SEGA Rally
The Settlers VI - Rise of an Empire

DS
FIFA 08
Jam Sessions
Juiced 2 - Hot Import Nights
Luminous Arc
New York Times Crosswords
Race Driver - Create and Race
Ratatouille

PSP
Brunswick Pro Bowling
Crazy Taxi - Fare Wars
FIFA 08
Ratatouille
SEGA Rally

Source: Eurogamer Forums

Game Review: Riviera: The Promised Land

Every second Wednesday (OK, every so often then...), I write about a game that I've played in a short/long review. These are only my thoughts and I'm not responsible if you buy a game based solely on my review and you hate the guts out of it...

Note: This is the same review as the one I submitted to Eurogamer. Not much has changed, though a few things were taken out...

Game - Riviera: The Promised Land (PSP)

Ports eh? You either love them or hate them. For some, they can't stand them. For others, a chance to reflect on the past with hopefully new content. There's also a few who like them for another reason though. Namely, the newer gamers around who didn't get the chance to play the games that others have and loved.

One of the games that passed me by was Riviera: The Promised Land. This game came out on the Wonderswan in Japan (so the West knew little about the game's existence). This was followed a few years later by the GBA port of the game, with added CG scenes, a new art style and added events along with voice acting. This game was released in the US as well as Japan. Now, the game has received it's third remake on the PSP.

Story

Riviera didn't just come out of the blue though. 1000 years have passed since demons from Utgard last overran the gods of Asgard. These demons were defeated by the grim angels sent by the gods. Ein (your character for the whole game) and Ledah are Grim Angels, sent to Riviera to activate the Retribution, a hidden power which would destroy the demons, but would also lead to the destruction of Riviera. Ein has his doubts, and when he reaches the gate to Riviera, Ein is captured by Ursula, who upon finding out Ein's potential good, entrusts him with guarding Riviera and stopping the demons, before the Retribution takes place...

Gameplay

Obviously, the journey won't be easy. For one thing, you don't move Ein as in a normal RPG. Instead, you choose from 4 different directions to get from one side of a sub-area to the other. This is done in "Move" mode. You also get the chance to investigate your surroundings in each area by switching to "Look" mode and again choosing from one of the 4 directions. Some of these include opening chests, examining a ledge, or looking inside a well. At certain points, you might be asked to play a very quick mini-game where you have to hit the x button at the right time, or put in a password, or hit the right buttons at the right time. Most of this won't matter though. As you will need "Trigger points" for most of the game.

Trigger points are needed in order to view most of the area's surroundings (the red points of interest). These trigger points can only be obtained, either at the end of a chapter, or by winning a battle with a good evaluation of your skills.

This makes battles in Riviera that much more important as doing badly in a single battle, can lead to a shortage of points, and potentially make decisions later on harder to make. Do you take the chest or the alternative route?

It's easy to understand once you get further into the game, but it can be a little difficult to begin with. Thankfully, your faithful familiar Rose and your female companions (lucky guy) will help you throughout the first part of the game to get you customised with the system. It feels different despite a tentative link to Unlimited SaGa's system in moving. That said, the game makes you work to be able to explore and makes your journey harder if you mess up. It's a little dull not being able to walk through the world and walk into trees though!

No RPG is complete without monster fights. They're not random, but set at different points of the area. After a quick bit of dialogue, battle begins (unless you run...).

"Cadenza!"

Battling in Riviera is thankfully different as well. At first, it looks like a version of the Final Fantasy 7 ATB (Active Time Battle) system. Each player has a wait gauge and when it's empty, you execute a command. Sound simple? It is.

Well, at least until you know that you can only use items in battle. Four of them to be exact. Before battle, you must select the items that you will take into the fight. Nearly every item has a set number of times it can be used (called "Endurance points") before it disappears. Your choices here can win or lose the battle which adds a bit of tension to the game. I always had to make sure I chose the items I wanted, and even sometimes chose my items, before deciding on an almost different set of items before the final confirmation.

Some items allow a character to use a special skill aside from the normal use of an item. These can help turn battles in your favour and is one of the key factors of the battle evaluation at the end of the fight. If you were in desperate need for trigger points, you have to plan even more carefully about what items to take into battle, making the choice more tactical than you would think. Use that uber powerful weapon now? Or save it for the bigger enemies?

To unlock a skill, you need to have the character gain experience points with the item by simply using it. Training battles can be used (from a certain point in the game) at any time to gain the experience needed as items won't lose endurance points unless the enemy uses certain skills.

This method of training isn't for the easily bored gamer though as it can lead to a huge amount of grinding, which will put off some gamers. Even worse is that the inventory size is so limited, you might want to complete training with an item before it becomes full. This led me to actually train with every new bit of equipment that I picked up and slowed my progress down quite a lot.

All this talk of the skills, don't the enemies attack? Of course they do. They don't use items, but instead use a set skill at certain stages of the battle, depending on how much they've been hit, and how many in their party have fallen. It does make for some tense battles as some skills can potentially knock hundreds off your HP (and before you ask, no you cannot revive characters in battle, or at least I haven't been able to).

That all said, if you do actually fall in battle and retry the battle, you will have a slight advantage added on which can help you to finish the battle off. I never had to resort to this advantage myself but it's nice to know that the game allows this.

Conclusions

The way of moving your characters and a fresh battle system all makes for an interesting game. There's numerous endings to get (depending on which of the all female party (minus Ein, of course) likes you best, which is based on your decisions in the story) and a sense of charm that certain games lack along with it's own laugh out loud parts. The game is fairly standard for the PSP, clocking in at 30 hours (with full training). This increases if you want to get every single item and CG scene in the game (which includes getting the different endings). There's also the added ability to choose between Japanese and English voice acting, which will please the ones who hate American VA.

The battles will grate a few people though, especially those adverse to grinding in RPG's. Therefore, it's not the beginner's choice for an RPG. The game also lacks additional side-quests and is fairly linear. That limited inventory also irritated me (but does make for more decisions that can decide how the game goes on).

Unfortunately for me (I'm not aware of any other reports like this), as I played it through to it's conclusion, the game had some technical issues as well, which really marred my experience. The sound was skipping more than Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo and worse, sometimes my load files would not open. One time, I actually thought the game had managed to break the PSP altogether as I couldn't switch it on after 3 failed attempts to get my file loaded until I plugged it into the mains. I persevered because I liked the game itself and was able to overlook the issues I had. However, many gamers won't be quite as forgiving.

Which is a shame really. However, if you haven't played this before, are looking for an RPG, and are willing to overlook the technical hitches that might occur, this game will do you just fine. It's a good game, but the tedious battles will get to even the most hardened RPG player.

Score: 8/10

Most Wanted: Brave Story

Every Tuesday, I look at a game on my Most Wanted list and discuss why I want it so much as well as some details from the game.

Name: Brave Story: New Traveller

Release Date: Out now in Japan and US, unlikely to arrive in Europe

Format: PSP

Developer: Game Republic

Websites

Official website

What is it?

An RPG, loosely based on the manga of the same name by Miyuki Miyabe.

Why is it on the list?

The PSP has always been criticised for it's issues when loading games. However, Brave Story has been touted as one that doesn't fall into this trap. The game's anime style has won over many players and reviews are generally good for the game, mainly praising the graphics but hating the fact that it doesn't quite break the mould.

That said, if you're a PSP player looking for an RPG, you can do a lot worse than get hold of this game.

Trailer: Oboro Muramasa (TGS 2007)

This new game is from the makers of Odin Sphere and well worth keeping an eye on. The sprites look as lively as ever on the Wii!

Trailer: Steambot Chronicles 2 (TGS 2007)

One of the smaller hits last year in Europe for the PS2, this game shifted over to the PS3. At the TGS 2007, it was shown as a trailer. This was filmed by someone for your enjoyment!

Note: Not an official trailer. Even Gametrailers has a camera filmed one only :-)

Last Week (17th to 23rd September) - TGS 2007 special

Here's the full list of trailers that I picked out from the massive load on offer from the Tokyo Game Show 2007.

White Knight Story/Chronicles
Zack & Wiki
Little Big Planet
The Last Remnant
Valkyrie of the Battlefield
We Love Golf!
Patapon (gameplay)
Time Hollow
Infinite Undiscovery

You can find the rest of last week's news here.

Last Week (17th to 23rd September)

It was a week full of Tokyo Game Show news as Japan's annual game fest got under way. Famitsu was in fine form, revealing a massive load of news.

First of all was the surprising news that Eternal Sonata was being released on the Playstation 3, after initially being shown as an XBox360 exclusive title. The good news for the PS3 continued with the announcement that Steambot Chronicles 2 was heading to the PS3, with a portable version also announced for the PSP.

The PSP then got another few bits of good news as Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions was given release dates for Europe and America, with Europe getting it first on October 5th (unless you order online in the UK, in which case you'll get it on the 12th or there abouts because of postal strikes :-( ). Even better news was the news that Everybody's Golf will be getting a full sequel on the PSP (none of that silly GPS stuff). This new version will boast full online play for 16 players and will be in Japan in December, with a European and American release sometime in 2008.

Then I posted a trailer of Fire Emblem for the Wii which looks impressive. Worth looking out for. Oh, speaking of looks, the blog has a new look now. This new wider look allows me to post those Gametrailer videos much more easily. The Team ICO Gamers blog was also made to capture all the latest news for Team ICO's next game and beyond. Finally, Blue Dragon has been rumoured to be made for the DS (though many say it's a card based game).

Tokyo Game Show trailers are listed here.