Hardcore Gamer Daily

Trauma Center: Under the Knife Review

2006-06-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

Well in an effort to cover as much ground in gaming as possible I decided to review
another game. This time it's Atlus' Trauma Center: Under the Knife.

The premise at the beginning is quite simple. You are Dr. Derek Stiles, a rookie doctor fresh out of medical school. You've been sent to Los Santos General Hospital to work under Dr. Kasal. You start the game doing the basics, stiching up lacertations, closing wounds, removing tumors, treating aneurisms and what not. Eventually things get much more complicated with the arrival of GUILT, a highly contagious pathegeon apparently created by man. To say much more about the story would ruin much so suffice it to say it gets deeper, a lot deeper and keeps the twists coming until the very end.

The games story is made all the better by it's wonderful case of characters. Dr. Stiles is a rookie doctor with great skills who strongly believes in the value of life, so much that he's willing to put his own on the line to save others. Angie, his assistant is much the same and will do anything to support him. The other supporting characters also are wonderfully fleshed out and likeable, even Dr. Chase ''the death doctor'' becomes a good character during the course of the game, in part due to his denouncement of his old ways. The game is definitly one of the better DS games story and character wise.

Music and sound are presented in the game well. The sound is fitting and well done highlighting all the sounds one might expect to hear in the OR. The game also features short but well recorded and acted voice clips. Though used sparesly they add a great deal of character to the game. The music is fitting and well recorded, sounding quite nice for a portable game, unfortunatly it's not incredibly memorable.
So while sound is not the games highest point it is adequete and gets the job done well.

No one argues though that the real meat of a game is of course it's gameplay. Trauma Center doesn't dissapoint there. Gameplay itself uses the DS hardware wonderfully, utilizing the touch scree well. In fact the touch screen is the only way to play the game. Unlike other games of the sort though such as Wario Ware, Trauma Center keeps the game fresh by having a wide variety of different actions each representing a different surgical tool. You can suture a patient, rub disinfectent gel on him, use the scalpel to make incisions, pull glass out with tweezers and treat tumors with a laser, and of coure wrap him up at the end of the day. Even that though would get old if it were the same operations over and over. Luckily Trauma Center stays fun due to the variety of operations you'll be undertaking. What begins as fairly routine, simple operations will evolve into the complex, difficulty and often times exotic operations as the game progressess. Everything from aneruisms to life :censored: parasites are undertaken before the end. Also Atlus somehow managed to make a portable title incredibly intense. You'll be sweating as you try to get those last few stiches in before time, or the patients vitals run out. Luckily you have a secret weapon, the healing touch. An ability you can use once per operation to slow down time and allow you to operate easier. It can make those really hard operations quite a bit easier, but never comes across as cheap. All of this holds the game up well during it's ten hours of story mode and multiple bonus operations.

Overall I highly recommend this title. Not only is it one of the best Nintendo DS games, but it is also one of the best games of last year and a fitting addition to anyones collection.

I give it a nine out of ten.

Riviera: The Promised Land Review

2006-06-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Riviera: The Promised Land is an odd game, part renai dating sim, part RPG with a lot of new twists to the genre. In fact this is one of the freshest games in years.

The story of Riviera starts out simple enough, 1000 years ago the gods of Asgard and the demons of Utgard fought a great war called Ragnarok. This war nearly destroyed the gods but in the end they were able to win thanks to the Grim Angels, elite soldiers' of the gods. Fast forward 1000 years, we are introduced to the Grim Angel Ein and his compainions Ledah and Rose. They are on there way to Riviera, the land that was once Utgard to stop a second Ragnarok. Along the way they get seperated and Ein wakes up with amnesia in the house of two young girls, Lina and Fia. They inform Ein that he is in Eldenia, a village in Riviera. After Ein spends a bit of time looking around town he finds out that the village has lost contact with the Arcs, a winged race and that Elendia was supposed to send a team to find out what happened. The Village Elder denies the request though which prompts Lina and Fia, as well as Ein to go to the Castle of the Arcs. From there the game introduces many new characters such as Serene an Arc and the cute magician Cierra as well as many more, both good and evil. The game's story may seem simple at first but it takes many twists and turns and ends up far from what it started as. The story is well told thanks in part to the games wonderful cast of characters. All of the main characters have memorable personalitys and this is made all the better by the interaction you can have with them, choosing different dialouge and leaning towards certain party members in fact actually effects which of the games five endings you receive. This makes for great replay value and makes the story fresh even on multiple playthroughs. All in all the story is one of the games many good points.

Riviera's music and sound are where the game truly excels amongst almost all other portable titles. The music itself is amazing, wonderfully composed, memorable tracks that range from upbeat numbers to somber ballads. The quality here is also outstanding, the music for being on a GBA game is excellent, with many authentic sounding instruments. The game also features quite a bit of voice acting, all of which is impeccebly done and well recorded. Quite simply this is one of the best sounding portable games ever.

Graphics, though not cutting edge are beautiful to look at. Bright, well animated characters sprites frolic around a wonderfully realized world, with crisp, clear colors and wonderful variety. And the game's character designs are among the best in any RPG, featuring smooth lines and attractive features. In fact you'll just want to look at some of the character portraits and event scene pictures. Again Riviera excels amongst it's peers in this department.

Of course what game would be complete without the gameplay? And Riviera delivers it in spades. You explore the world one space at a time, using the up, down, left and right buttons to go to new areas or revist old ones if allowed. Although this may not seem to have any interaction at first you'll find that when you press the A button you can look around, examine things and take actions. Many of this actions cost TP to do and most are rythem based mini-games. TP is obtained by winning battles, the higher your rank the more TP. Battles themselves are turnbased affairs but with a difference. At the start of each battle you choose three party members and four items to take into battle. This adds a great layer of startegy as you must choose which items and characters will fit the situation best. Leveling up is not typical either. Instead of leveling with Exp you level your attributes according to how much skill you have in a certain item, when you skill out the item your attributes go up and you obtain a special ability you can use with this item. Special abilitys themselves are governed by a bar at the top that fills as you take damage and deal it. It's shared amongst all party members so you must plan wisely in order to take advantage of it.

A large aspect of the game is it's renai dating sim aspect. Many times you'll have to choose a response to one the games four girls, depending on the response you can either raise or lower their affection for you. This plays largely into what ending you'll get and often leads to the games best comic relief moments.

I can honestly say Riviera is one of my favorite games ever and the best portable game I had the pleasure of playing last year. It has great production values, good gameplay and a lot of soul, something missing in very many games these days. It's also on of the most overlooked titles your likely to find and that's a real shame because it's one of the most solid games out even today. I give Rivera a 9.5/10.

For those of you who may have read my previous blog

2006-06-25T03:02:00.000-07:00

Anime Game Fan is dead. I forgot the info and grew apart from it. Now with a new computer I decide to make a new blog, Hardcore Gamer Daily. Here I'll supply reviews, links and comments on the days best news and editorials. I hope to make it everything I hoped Anime Game Fan would be. I'll be moving a few of my old articles over, but apart from that it's a fresh start.

And now I won't just be focusing on Japanese games. I also intend to include some great Western games in the mix. So all around I hope this'll be a much better experience for all involved.

Until next time, N. Sullivan.

Why mainstream and western gaming are a blight on my life or How I learned to hate an industry

2006-06-25T02:59:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests this is a rant. Be prepared for a lot of griping about the state of modern gaming in the west, and such. You have been warned.

On Japan and the US: Mature and Obscene and the age barrier

One issue that bothers me on a regular basis is western games industry as well as the western gamer. You see in Japan games spread a wide variety of ages and content, from kid's games to hentai dating sims. It is viewed as something of an art form and various small somewhat hardcore games in the US, are huge over there.

Meanwhile in the US gaming is viewed as children's stuff. Something for the young. Granted a lot of adults game as well, but for the most part it is viewed as a toy. This leads to some incidents involving adult content in games, with ''save the children'' outcry on all sides.

The problem with that is that developers cater to that. Year after year they release abysmal games based on all manner of movies and TV shows. They gear these games toward kids and watch them sell. Thus year after year are shelfs are flooded with garbage.

Of course not all games are kids stuff. So called ''mature'' games, flooded with sex, violence and swearing also come out. In fact some of the biggest sellers in recent years fit this description.

This leads to a confusion between ''obscene'' and ''mature''. Gamers cry ''kiddy game'' against a game that doesn't feature obscene content, even though that game might deal with mature themes. The stigmata associated with being called ''mature'' in the states is because of this confusion.

Yet not all mature games are obscene. One needs look no further then the Xenosaga series and the PS2 versions of games such as Kanon and AIR, to see that a mature yet not obscene game is possible.

Yet in the US, to be considered a ''mature'' game you must carry that big bold M.

Sports Games: Tripe with tweaks on a yearly basis

A major player in the US market is the sports game. These games sell millions of copys year after year. But why? Are they really that good? Do they really change from year to year?

The answer is no. Sports games remain a constant. Sure minor game play and graphical tweaks, as well as roster updates are included in each year's ''Madden''. But does that much new content really need a $50.00 USD price tag? Do they really need to be updated every year in both NFL, NCAA and ''street'' versions? Do they all really need to sell for full price? Money can't be an issue as the major sports game publisher EA Games has deals with the NCAA and NFL to be the exclusive creator of games that use their teams, their stadiums, and their logos. EA has a hold on the market and thus has no major competition, thus they earn most of the money in the genre. Even before they made more then enough to retail each installment of Madden for as low as $20.00 USD. But they didn't because they knew it would sell. And it always does.

It sells to Bubba in Podunk, Idaho, It sells to Richie Rich in Beverly Hills, it sells to Joe Average guy in Some Town, Texas. And since it sells at full price and in its current state, EA sees no need to improve. This kills creativity and overshadows other, more deserving games released around the same time.

The RPG: In America that means Final Fantasy

Before closing I wish to address that issue nearest to me.

The RPG. RPG's come in many different types, from traditional, featuring a turn based battle system, to action with their high emphasis on combat and dungeon crawling.

Naturally many different companies contribute to this genre. In Japan many different companies hit it big, from Nippon Ichi to Square-Enix. But in the states, only one name stands for console RPG's. Square-Enix.

Why? Is it because of their games are better? No. Is it because they cost less? Yet again no.
It is because of hyperbole and a single, somewhat lacking game in the series. That game is Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII is often spoken of as a revolution in the genre, introducing new concepts and such never before seen. That is a lie, plain and simple. Final Fantasy VII did nothing but bring a some what obscure franchise to the mainstream, with alot of hype and a system change. It added fancy 3D graphics and FMV cutscenes, but it did not add or improve anything. Summons? Final Fantasy V. Active time battle? Final Fantsy IV. A deep and engaging story? Final Fantasy VI. All it did was take the elements of those games, and modernize them.

Yet for that game alone Square is called the best makers of RPG's in the world.

In America games that do not bear the Square-Enix label, or are from an established franchise flounder. Part of it is due to a lack of hype on the company's side. The other is due to the crushing power of Square.

Square has the resources to hype even their worst of games. They can sell games based on a name alone. These smaller companies do not have this luxury. Perhaps if the common gamer would broaden his horizons, instead of living in Final Fantasy and Square-Enix, more over looked classics would be sold. But this won't happen due to two factors.
1.These games often feature game play that takes a bit longer to learn the the common Final Fantasy title.
2.These games often feature sprite based graphics

The American gamer is very graphics based. He cannot enjoy a game without it having top-of the line graphics. This stifles games that feature 2D art and get them labeled as ''primitive''

In Japan though such games flourish. These small companies are actually huge, they release their games to much fanfare. They sell all sorts of related merchandise. Why? I believe it has something to do with the Japanese knowing a good game when they see one and not relying on names and such to sell. Sure they have a few major franchises. But games seen as obscure actually have huge followings on the other side of the Pacific. I also believe that the Japanese gamer is less focused on graphics then he is on game play. Thus even if the game is 2D it is still bought due to its quality game play.

In closing, I believe that the American gamer needs to broaden his horizons. Look beyond the surface and learn to game for the love of the art, not for the love of the technology.