Game 39: Another World

Another World (Out of this World) is a cinematic platformer released on just about every system back in 1991. Now the phrase, "cinematic platformer" gives me shivers because of its sheer potential of awfulness. When I hear those words I think of terrible gameplay and ugly, "realistic" looking graphics. The games are typically rotoscoped to give them a unique graphical style, which usually doesn't bother me, it's more the style of gameplay that makes me experience nasty flashes of nostalgia. If you've ever played the original Prince of Persia games, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Another World is known as Out of this World in the United States. Much like Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit, the game is renamed for some stupid reason that leaves people confused and wondering whether the stone is the sorcerer's or the philosopher's. Either way, the game supposedly influenced Fumito Ueda, who went on to create Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. So at least this game was good for something, but let's check out the first hour of Out of this World to see if it can properly defend itself and (in my opinion) the thankfully lacking genre known as the cinematic platformer.

I'll be playing the 15th Anniversary Edition for the PC released in 2006. The game features higher resolution graphics and more detailed backgrounds.

(minutes are in bold)
00 - I select New Game and the first hour of Another World begins. We're looking at a lonely building under the night sky. Suddenly a car screeches to a halt in front of it. A man gets out of the vehicle and enters the building. An elevator door opens and our orange haired driver steps out.
01 - He types in a code on a keypad and gets scanned. All his vitals match and the computer types out, "Good evening professor." It even knows what car I drove here from the key I'm holding.

02 - The professor is sitting at a workstation now and enters CDOS. He types in the command, "Run Project 23."

03 - He's running a particle acceleration experiment.
04 - Once that is complete he starts a practical trial, pops a soda and watches the fireworks. Literally! A storm outside shot a bolt of lightning into the cyclotron, opening up a portal on the professor! Him and his entire desk is gone!

06 - Woah, the professor landed in a deep pool of water and it was almost too late before I realized I had to swim him up and out of the water! At the last moment it looked like tentacles were reaching out to me. As I crawl out of the pool, a strange creature runs away.

07 - Well, for better or worse I now have total control. I walk right, kicking slugs along the way. One falls on me and stings me! I fall dead! Wow, that was fast!
08 - I crawl out of the pool again... a moment later I'm dead from another slug!

09 - Well what the frak? (Battlestar Galactica is back by the way!) The giant monster that was watching me climb out of the pool just pounced on me and killed me! How was I supposed to fend that guy off?

10 - Stupid slugs.

11 - Well, I figured out how to run so this time I run from the monster, but when I enter that screen again I immediately get killed. This is going to take a lot of trial and error I believe. Man, I wish I could just run over these slugs.
12 - Okay, the monster follows me from screen to screen, looks like I'll have to run and jump over the slugs and get back to the pool? No idea.

13 - Ugh, I got away and the monster tripped, so I became lazy and stopped. Bad idea, I was dead a moment later.

15 - WOW! Epic! I ran all the way to the left from the monster, jumped off a cliff, swung from a vine to the other side of the brute, ran all the way back to the right, and then the beast got blown away by some guys cloaked in black! Then they shot at me! Now I'm hanging in a tiny cage with some ugly looking dude.
16 - I actually have control so I start swinging the cage back and forth using my momentum. Ha, owned! We land the cage on a guard's head and take off running.

18 - Whoops, I got shot. Now I have to do the cage sequence again. This time I notice that the guard dropped his gun and I grab it. Awesome!

19 - Ugh, I got shot in the back. No idea where that guard came from. Cage sequence again.

21 - You can make a shield with your gun. And that's exactly what an enemy just did. This is tough!
23 - I finally make it past the shooting sequence and we hop on a lift and head down... Oh, by the way, the guy who I was in the cage with is chilling out with me. Luckily I can't shoot him!

25 - Dang, I get shot. This time I head up on the lift, nope. Dead end. We head all the way to the bottom of the lift and I shoot a guard in the back. Nice. There's some flashy thing on the wall so I shoot it, I think it shorted something out.

27 - Man, this game is brutal with replaying sequences!

28 - Odd, I just fell down a hole and now I'm rolling around. Geez, I keep dying brutal deaths in here, nasty! Falling too far isn't a big deal for most video game heroes! I think I keep getting killed by water rushing down on me. This is really weird.
31 - Well, I finally made it out and into some force field room. As I enter the force field my hair stands on end and I get zapped! I didn't die though so it must have triggered something...

32 - As I head outside and kill a guard, my buddy runs by in the foreground and is being chased by three guards! Cool! Hahaha! I just got impaled by a spike when I failed to jump a ledge!

34 - I've been impaled two more times... I am able to jump down to a ledge further down but I have no where to go. Hmm...

37 - This is getting really annoying. I wish I knew what that force field area did. The game keeps returning me right there after I die.
40 - Oh, I was supposed to shoot the wall with my powered up gun. Oh. Wow, the backgrounds in this cave are beautiful!

41 - As I head further right I can hear water running. Geez, it's like a waterfall in here! I try to walk on the platform, and well, that doesn't work.

42 - I head up some stairs out of the cave and am on the other side of that massive jump. All right! Well, another waterfall room. Doesn't look like I'm supposed to be going this way. Deeper into the cave I guess.

43 - Oh man... I'm in the room underneath the pool of water that the waterfall rushes into. I am so tempted to blow away the small piece of rock holding it all up. Okay, I'm going to do it. Haha, I died immediately. But it looks like I might have been able to run away?
45 - Well, you can run away, but I'm not doing a very good job at it. Honestly I don't even know why I would want to do this in the first place?

46 - Okay, that was funny. I made it over a jump and watched the water rush into the pit. Then I just stood there, all of a sudden the whole cave below me must have filled up because the water was rushing up right at me a moment later! Awesome!

50 - I'm starting to wonder if that water sequence was just a red herring as I found another part of the cave where it seems you might be able to proceed differently. But there are a bunch of rocks falling on my head and I keep getting squashed!

51 - I somehow time the rocks amazingly well only to get squished immediately on the next screen.
53 - Phew, I've made it past the falling rocks, but now there are many eating tentacle monsters trying to get me!

54 - Man, these guys are really bastards. You have to time all these lame jumps perfectly well and since this is a "cinematic platformer" you also have to deal with all the crappiness that goes with that!

57 - If I make it past the tentacles I just fall in the pits anyway. Grr...
58 - I'm going to have nightmares of these tentacle monsters eating me.

59 - Finally, I have made it to a room with no tentacles and no pits! Too bad it's empty and there's no where to go.

60 - Yeah, that's a great place to stop. In an empty room.

Now for some scores out of 10.
Story: 6
Another World's story was intentionally left vague, so I kind of have to wrap my own details around what I'm playing. Personally, if I got teleported to an alien world where I was getting shot at, chased around by giant man-eating beasts, and getting devoured by tentacle beings, I would be pretty freaked out. The guy in this game (Lester, can't actually figure that out from the game as far as I can tell) is holding his composure pretty well. I think the most interesting aspect about the game is not Lester being transported to "another world," but his immediate friendship with his fellow cage-mate. I wish the game would have paired us up together a little longer in its first hour, but it redeemed itself about half way through when I saw him running in the foreground. I was reminded that we're both unwelcome in this land and if we're going to get out, it's going to be together.

Graphics and Sound: 7
The 15th Anniversary Edition of Another World brings a remarkable graphical improvement over the game's original release. In my opinion, the game looks so much better and is even pretty passable as a 2D platformer. The backgrounds have evolved the most, and benefit greatly from the higher resolutions, but the characters are also a bit smoother. The animations haven't changed as far as I can tell though, but that's more of a gameplay issue, which I'll get to next. Another World is light on sound effects but the music I heard in its first hour was excellent.

Gameplay: 4
I guess the thing with cinematic platformers is that you either love them, hate them, or have never even imagined such an atrocity of a sub-genre. Because of the way the animations are recorded and rotoscoped, you can't take tiny little baby steps because the game has specific step lengths already programmed in. This is most frustrating when running and jumping, because you really have to plan your jumps far in advance and if you started your running animation at the wrong point, you will probably fail at your jump.

As you can tell, I'm not really fond of these types of games, and I was honestly starting to get into Another World. That is, until I realized the game was obsessed with trial and error and making me replay sequences over and over again. There are plenty of checkpoints, but they're generally placed directly before time-sucking scenes so you waste a lot of time just doing the same thing over and over again. I bet you could beat this game in less than an hour, probably far less than that, but first time gamers will be frustrated. I do think that if you're good at this game you'll have fun and blaze through it in a short afternoon.

Fun Factor: 6
Though I rip on Another World's gameplay pretty harshly, there are some incredibly awesome sequences that when you pull them off, you'll pump your fist in the air and come away with a big smile on your face. Of course, these all come after many attempts and lots of time trying to figure out exactly what to do. It is satisfying moving on from a level knowing you've figured out the game's behind-the-scenes puzzles, but it's not all fun and laughter.

Minutes to Action: 6

Overall: 6
In my opinion, Another World's first hour suffers most from the genre it was developed for. Cinematic platformers probably sound great on paper as you get realistic looking animations, but the gameplay usually suffers from being unnatural and just not fluid. I've personally never played one that I really enjoyed, but I think I might actually continue on with Another World. The story is intriguing enough and I think I can put up with the frustrating gameplay to finish it, I'm pretty sure the game isn't too long. I guess that's a good feeling to have when coming out of playing the first hour of a video game. Undoubtedly the most important. To have the will to finish it.

The game's creator, Eric Chahi, has a great site detailing Another World's development from start to finish. I highly recommend it.

Game 36: Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer is a new Nintendo DS adventure that is actually a port of a 1995 Super Nintendo game released only in Japan. Shiren's gameplay is based off the classic computer games Rogue and NetHack. This means randomly generated stages, turn-based gameplay, and harsh character death penalties. Games today are wussified to the point of being able to save anywhere and three hour long tutorials that wean you into the game, Mystery Dungeon is kind of a breath of fresh air. Even if it is a 13 year-old breath, it mixes up the portable scene a bit.

Not much left to say about Mystery Dungeon, I think the review and screenshots will explain the game pretty well.

(minutes are in bold)
00 - I select "Create a Travel Journal" and the first hour begins. I leave the character's name as Shiren (pronounced she-ren if you're wondering). A scroll unravels and the story begins... The Divine Bird of Legend, the Golden Condor lives in a golden city. A man named Shiren is looking for this city in memory of his friend.

01 - He has a pet weasel who talks to him. The pair are in Kobami Valley. In the distance we can see a tal, narrow mountain with a waterfall falling from it. Beautiful. The weasel introduces himself, his name is Koppa.
02 - Shiren is sleeping now, on the top screen is his dream. Looks like the mountain top and the golden condor are merging together.

03 - Still the opening cutscene as Shiren leaves the hut. Ah, the game is really starting now, the first level is called, "Road to the Hamlet." A tutorial begins. "Use A to defeat monsters and get to the stairs." Just A, huh? Oh, use B to move faster. Well that's easy enough.

04 - Woah, immediately after reading the dialogue I get attacked by a monster! I take him down with some timely presses of the A button. Is Shiren using a sword or what?

05 - The world is laid out like a grid, think walking around in Final Fantasy VI. What the heck? Holding B just kinda teleports Shiren across the screen. It's almost like I'm fast-forwarding the game... I'm going to be very leery of this B button.

06 - I fight another rabbit or something and get some experience for killing it. You regain HP by walking around, which is nice I suppose. This game seems very forced RPG though. Enemies run up and it's almost like a short turn-based battle between you and the baddie.

07 - I find a rice ball that I'm supposed to eat to reduce my hunger. Odd.

08 - Sweet, level 2! There's a convenient mini-map on the screen that shows me the areas I've uncovered and the positions of characters and enemies around me. Just killed a rabbit in one hit.

09 - I'm on the next level of the stage, oh, a robber is trying to kill me! He goes down in one hit. By the way, the rabbits are technically called Mamels.

10 - I find 133 Gitans on the ground. Gitans are the game's currency. Next I find and equip a wooden shield.

12 - Shiren just found a cudgel! Nice. And I also reach level 3.
13 - The game informs me that I may die of hunger if I don't eat rice balls. Ouch. My "fullness rating" is 53/100, guess I'll have a snack. That popped me up to 100/100!

16 - I'm just walking around now, killing bad guys, getting experience, and finding stairways. Nothing really to it all right now, pretty easy.

17 - Oh, I have successfully cleared the adventure. Interesting. Shiren is level 4 and my score is 70643. Next stage is Canyon Hamlet.

19 - I guess this is less of a stage and more of a town where I can talk to people and store items. I store a spare wooden shield in the warehouse.
21 - After talking to some villagers in the bar, I learn more about the game's gameplay. If you die in the game, you return to Canyon Hamlet and are reset to level 1! Woah, if you eat monster flesh you turn into that monster! Awesome! Reminds me of Final Fantasy Legend III.

23 - Interesting... every time you make a move, the monsters also move, but if you don't move, they won't move either. Good stuff to know, and pretty much confirms my suspicions of being a turn-based RPG.

26 - Well, Shiren has left the hamlet and is now on the Old Cedar Road. There are more villages every four areas.

27 - I'm in a forest now, and the gameplay seems a little deeper now that I have more information on the game.

28 - I encounter another wanderer in the forest, this guy shows off his +15 Katana and says he kept having it smithied on over and over again at the blacksmith. You think he would have called it something besides his +15 Katana.
30 - Woah, I just got whomped on by a boss I think! His name was Snaky and he was hitting me for 5-7 damage when I only have 19 total! Well, that's it for that adventure, my Shiren is returned to the hamlet's inn. I'm also back to level 1 and I don't have any items! Ouch.

32 - I go retrieve my wooden shield from the warehouse and equip it. I head right back out to the Old Cedar Road. I'm doing a lot less damage now without my trusty cudgel.

34 - What the... I just tripped over a rock, took damage, and dropped everything I had. Lame.

36 - This game is pretty easy when you don't have bosses beating down on you. Guess I just have to level up a bit before I challenge Snaky again.

38 - I entered an area thinking I was going to fight Snaky again, but turns out I'm at some mountain stream. And this chick is hitting on me! "I can make you feel special. Would you close your eyes for me?" What the... wonder how much this costs?
39 - I was blinded! All I can see is Shiren and the mini-map! This sucks.

40 - Phew, I can see again. Good thing there weren't any enemies.

41 - Oh man, speaking of enemies, Snaky just blitzed me! But this time I used a healing item and was able to take him out through attrition.

42 - Lame, Snaky wasn't a boss at all, just a normal enemy. I know this because I just fought another one! And then two at once! Unfair!
45 - No bad guys for a few minutes, but I'm starting to get hungry so I eat the rice ball I found at the beginning of my journey. It gives me 50 fullness points.

46 - I have reached Bamboo Village. Typical twangy Japanese music is playing.

47 - I enter a shop and there's crap laying all over the floor. One guy in the bar did say something about stealing... What, this ugly kid just said he was my brother. Odd.

49 - I buy a cudgel with my available funds.
50 - I'm back adventuring now, and the first thing that happens is a monster that steals 80% of my money and then runs off before I can kill him. Bastard. Another pickpocket has just stolen the last 20%. I'm sad.

52 - The good news is that I can beat Snaky's in only two hits now.

54 - I'm back in Bamboo Village, must have taken a wrong turn somewhere... Just found the blacksmith though, he can upgrade my weapon for 1000 Gitan. I only have 200 now thanks to those pickpockets.

55 - This village is really badly designed. There are a bunch of buildings and they are really spread apart so you have no idea where you're walking to next. There's just path after path and then a random building.

57 - A scene starts as I enter the bar, it's Pekeji, the brute who says he's my brother. I sympathize with him for a bit and then he wanders off. Weird.59 - Well, enough of that village, I'm now on Pegasus Ridge. Wow, there are fire-breathing Firepuffs up here. They sound fluffy but they look like mini dragons! One of them almost kills me.

60 - There's a lot more enemies on Pegasus Ridge and they're a lot tougher. Nothing is too tough for Shiren though as he hits level 7. But that's it for the first hour of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer.

Now for some scores out of 10.

Story: 4
There isn't much story in Mystery Dungeon beyond the opening cutscene, and there's not much meat there either. We have this wanderer named Shiren who is accompanied by a talking weasel. Shiren says his motivation for wandering and finding the golden city is because of his friend, who has died or something. My favorite aspect of this game's story is that there are also a lot of other wanderers/warriors hanging out in the levels, doing their thing. It reminds me of Final Fantasy X where there are a few other groups of people working parallel to you on the same quest.

Graphics and Sound: 5
An important part to consider when developing or porting a Nintendo DS game is effective use of both screens. Mystery Dungeon does not use the top screen well at all, it's just an overall map that is useless. I would rather see my current stats or maybe place the mini-map up there instead of overlaying it on the bottom screen. The graphics are also pretty simplistic, I don't know how they compare to the original Super Famicon version but the grid-based gameplay and a relatively confined playing area don't hold this game back as much as you would think.

The sound in Shiren the Wanderer is nothing special. The music is generic Japanese twangs and I honestly can't even remember if there are sound effects when fighting. Nothing stands out.

Gameplay: 7
Undoubted the most unique aspect of Mystery Dungeon is its wannabe-hardcore gameplay. All maps are randomly generated, though in the first hour they're all still pretty simplistic. But in this game, if you die, that's it, you're done. You restart at level one and are returned to the original village, losing all items you were carrying. I'm guessing this makes Mystery Dungeon all about slowly powering up your weapons and armor, while carefully making sure you don't lose them. I'm not sure how much I like the sound of that, but in its first hour, it's a pretty typical Zelda-style game with turn-based elements. All these combinations makes this game unique, but definitely not for everyone.

Fun Factor: 8
I actually had a pretty good time playing the first hour of Shiren the Wanderer. Once I realized that this game is turn-based it added some new layers of strategy that made me rethink what I was planning when enemies were around. There are some really annoying parts though like "running" which I'm pretty sure is literally just the game fast-forwarding itself. Worst of all, the areas that are NOT randomly generated are horribly designed. Basically every town is way too sprawled out and just plain obnoxious to navigate. Fighting is much more fun than running errands.

Minutes to Action: 4

Overall: 6
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer's first hour is just a slightly above average port of an old game and even older gameplay. The game runs with a unique concept that most console only gamers will never have experienced, and I believe most will be frustrated. The first hour though is nothing special. If you want to try something new, then this game seems like a really good portable experience for the patient gamer. If you're impatient or annoyed by strict death rules, then definitely pass on Shiren. By the way, what kind of lame name is Mystery Dungeon anyway? It sounds as lame Final Fantasy would now if the first game was just coming out.

The Japanese cover for Mystery Dungeon is so much better than the English release.

Game 30: Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams is the fourth Onimusha game in the main series and was released in early 2006 for the PlayStation 2. I personally love the Onimusha series and find them some of the most satisfying games around. The games are heavy on katanas, demons, and blood, and Dawn of Dreams is no exception. I was introduced to the series after the second one came out and I've been playing them ever since. I even rented the crappy Super Smash Bros. ripoff, Blade Warriors. Back to Dawn of Dreams though, this game was actually kind of an unexpected sequel. After the third game was released, Capcom repeatedly said that this was to be the final Onimusha game, even though the game's own ending seemingly contradicts this. Thankfully though, this was an outright lie and the series went on.

Dawn of Dreams is a hack-and-slash game set in late 16th century Japan. Many of the heroes and villains are based on important historical figures at this time, just imbued with generally evil and demon-like powers. This makes for a really interesting alternate history game where the timeline kind of veers off onto a crazy path and eventually meets back up when things settle down. Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams continues to use completely 3D backgrounds, thus giving the player complete control over the camera (this opposed to pre-rendered backgrounds with pre-determined camera angles, the technique used for the first two games) and overall better control over your hero. You also have a second member with you most of the time allowing you to switch between characters for combos and using different powers. Capcom may not have originally wanted a fourth game, but it seems they had enough ideas to start the series anew. But let's play the first hour of Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams and see if they pulled it off.

(minutes are in bold)
00 - I select New Game and the first hour begins. The classic Onimusha ringing sound effect goes off and the opening cinematic begins. It's the year 1596, two men are on a rooftop and they're about to do battle. The two look battle hardened and one appears to be wearing an Onimusha outfit, the other names himself as Mitsunari, retainer to the Toyotomi Clan.
01 - The Onimusha-clad warrior is Tenkai. They exchange words for a long time and then finally do battle. Mitsunari defends himself well and then sends a wave of giant centipedes at Tenkai and holds him in the air, dangling.

02 - Tenkai strikes back and stabs Mitsunari with his polearm, but then Mitsunari swings him around and throws him off the building. Only if the Black Oni arrives will his plan be stopped, Mitsunari announces to no one in particular. Foreshadowing. We switch to a town scene, in the distance is a giant castle with something evil looking growing out of it.

03 - Suddenly the castle erupts and the town begins to cave in on itself. Destruction everywhere. A little girl is left standing alone in her kimono, suddenly a bunch of skeleton warriors run at her! Just before she is killed, our hero appears!
04 - He destroys scores of bad guys single handedly, I wish I could play this scene but it's still the opening video. This guy is not Tenkai from the opening. Coming from the castle is a horde of bad guys: ninjas, flying creatures, and 200 foot tall colossi! Our man yells "HIDEOYOSHI!" (think "TETSUO!") and then pulls a red sword from his back.

05 - He's glowing blue now, the 200 foot tall colossus actually seems scared, rightfully so because this guy can fly! His two swords decimate the giant in one quick slice and our Japanese blonde walks towards the camera through the dust.

06 - He then bends down to give the little girl her ball back. Looks like he's not out of trouble yet, enemies rush in as he does some fancy sword moves and the title screen appears: Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams.
07 - The first chapter is about to start, Stage 1: Dawn of Nightmares. Ah, now I'm looking at the in-game graphics for the first time, and I also get control. The game looks so incredibly different! Some hints appear at the top of the screen: Square is attack, X absorbs souls.

08 - If I hold R1 I can lock on and see the bad guys' health. More skeletons approach me. L1 blocks, that's good to know.

09 - Locking on seems to help a lot as Soki (our blue clad, blonde hero) will just start comboing his sword at thin air!
10 - In-game cutscene of the one of the super giants knocking down a building, Soki looks ready to fight him! But am I? He hops onto a building and faces him down.

12 - The giant is knocking down the buildings I'm trying to fight him on, but I can't attack him directly right now. I'm just killing skeletons. Ah, finally a new enemy! They just look a little fiercer and don't appear to be resurrected peasants. I also level up, interesting! Oh, now I'm facing the colossus for real! Soki glows and turns into an Onimusha! Basically a super human with glowing eyes.

13 - The giant is doing typical stupid giant stuff like getting his sword stuck in the building so I can hack at his arm. But he is shooting a chest machine gun at me... odd. Oh, I should mention that there's like rock music playing. Not as bad as Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within though.
14 - After a few hits his giant sword flies away. His health meter still has plenty of life left in it though.

15 - Okay, now his swordless hand is getting "stuck" in the roof. Lame. He also performs this giant sweeping hand motion that seems unavoidable.

16 - The brute goes down and I receive 1000 exp. Soki delivers the finishing blow by running up his arm and slashing his face, trying to be all Legolas-like The colossus explodes, haha!
17 - Soki looks pretty sweet with white hair and evil looking eyes. Ah, a cutscene: ancient Japanese art (Okami style) appears. A woman's voice begins telling the story so far. Nobunaga had attempted to use Genma (demons, baddies, not really a Japanese word) to take over the land, but the Onimusha stopped him (this is basically a really quick recap of the first three games, minus the time travel and Frenchmen). Then Hideyoshi Toyotomi took over and united Japan (this is what was hinted at during the Onimusha 3 ending... but it also happened in real life).

18 - Hideyoshi is not a nice man either. On June 29th, 1596, the Omen Star appeared in the sky. Hideyoshi changed that day and Japan fell under chaos. Massacres and slaughter all over, including Westerners arriving there for the first time.
19 - Then an earthquake hits Kyoto! Genma climb out of the cracks and start taking over Japan. The art shows the land on fire with demons killing humans. Ouch.

20 - I'm asked to save, nah. Stage 2, The Blue Demon. Two years later... January 1598 in the Plains of Suruga. Soki is lying in a house when some genma start walking down the center of town carrying what looks like a tree.

21 - Soki wakes up (he's fully armored out and he even has horns in his head). All of a sudden some weirdo pops out from the ceiling, Minokuchi! He's like tucked in a small sack hanging from the roof. Soki heads outside to confront the Genma.
22 - He tells the lead Genma on a flaming horse to head home. Ah, they are carrying cherry blossom trees. This town seems absolutely deserted except for Soki, oh and Minokuchi, who suddenly appears flying about carrying a sword.

23 - Soki is ticked that the demons ate some bugs, not sure what that means. Soki draws his sword and challenges the Genma. Looks like a fight!

25 - The bigger they are, the harder they fall. This guy was kind of tough, guarding was incredibly important as he knocks my energy away quickly with giant hits, but I whittle him down slowly. Hitting Triangle unleashes Oni Magic which delivers some large damage using the power of Oni, or something.

26 - Another cutscene of a crow and two people standing on a building. One is a woman, the other Mitsunari from the opening cutscene. He says the Blue Demon (Soki) is famous for being a traitor to Hideyoshi.
27 - Soki set the tree on fire and it seems to be moaning and crying out. Minokuchi... seriously? What is this guy and where is he hanging from? We're outdoors and he's still dangling from something.

28 - Back inside my house, our two friends Soki and Minokuchi discuss what just happened. I guess I can rest here before I head out again.

29 - I can save here along with enhancing my equipment with the souls I've collected. I level up my sword and armor a few times. I can also learn new skills from points I earned when leveling up. I put all of my points into Attack and Thrust.

31 - Geez, there's also a shop here run by some scary dude that could be Minokuchi's great-grandfather. I buy some medicine to refill my health in the future. I guess I'd better save in case I blow it.
32 - Next up I speak with Minokuchi for a bit. Seems like his life goal is to become a samurai... too bad he's two feet tall and hangs from the ceiling in a potato sack.

34 - I head for the door to leave, and then Soki decides to sleep. Stage 3, Jubei Has Arrived! Jubei... that's the main character from Onimusha 2. It's now February and a cutscene is playing. A young woman with one glowing red eye is walking through town when she gets approached by two drunk looking men. Guys, she's wearing a short sword and dressed like a mini samurai, do you really want to mess with her?

35 - She ends up breaking one guy's mug and basically breaks another guy's neck! She asks for the Blue Demon.
36 - Minokuchi has some sixth sense and is able to tell that there is a "child" in trouble. I think this girl can handle herself pretty well. But Soki decides to head out anyway as he doesn't know that. Time to make my way towards her, but the Genma think otherwise!

38 - I find the diary of a drunkard (literally). He writes about how the world has gone to hell and his only solace is the bottle.

40 - I find a puzzle box on the ground, to receive its contents I have to solve a color puzzle. I have to rotate these colored circles so that there's a straight line of one color from left to right. Kind of hard to explain but this one was really easy. I even received the Fire Dance sword!

42 - Woah, I just critical killed an enemy by hitting him right before he hit me! The screen went white and he went down with just the single blow, I also got a bunch of extra souls for that. This move could come in handy.
44 - Not really sure where I'm going, I find a piece of burnt wood to walk over but Soki refuses to cross because it won't hold his weight. Then I find a small hole here that someone small could squeeze through... suspicious.

46 - Some archers appear but they're expectedly weak. I reach level 6 as they fall. Nice.

47 - The game is trying to stop me from proceeding by placing a one foot tall cart in my way, lame level design. I approach another small hole and then a cutscene begins.

48 - It's the girl again, geez her red eye is creeping me out. Minokuchi sneaks up behind her and scares her. She also isn't very happy to see the Blue Demon! She starts fighting with me but Soki recognizes her fighting style.
49 - Sweet, time to do battle with this rugrat.

50 - This chick is quick but I corner her and give her a whallop. She says her name is Yagyu Jubei, Soki is stunned. Minokuchi starts crying that we're out of time and then a bunch of Genma approach. Is it time for a tag team battle with Jubei?

52 - I can give Jubei instructions using the D-pad, but I can't seem to control her directly yet...

54 - Jubei keeps going on and on about how no human sword can kill the Genma, but I can see her killing them with her own short sword right in front of me!

55 - Cool, another puzzle box. Just as easy as the last one though.
56 - Genma keep flying out of the sky in large numbers. I hate unlimited enemies, but these guys are easy enough, for now.

57 - Hey, a Test of Valor. It's a challenge to kill an axeman in less than a minute. Well, this toady goes down in 15 seconds thanks to Jubei's quickness and my strength.

59 - Oh no! Soki and Jubei get separated when a ladder is destroyed. Will we make it out alive? Well, yes. I find another ladder and unbar the door so we can meet up again.

60 - One final Test of Valor in the game's final minute! This time I have to fight off three axemen, but it's still pretty easy, we take them out in 38 seconds and receive a Bronze medal, dang. My reward is Grass. What the...? Well, that's it for the first hour of Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams.

Now for some scores out of 10.
Story: 7
As I stated in the introduction, Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams provides an alternative historical look at a turbulent time in Japanese history. This isn't something like Call of Duty where you're just a soldier in a war, this is a total rewrite with the same characters but with many more fictional elements. I believe that this kind of writing meshes really well with video games, and Dawn of Dreams is an example of that. However, I'm disappointed in how Capcom fumbled this opportunity because Dawn of Dream's story in the first hour starts dragging at the end. We get a great opening with interesting (and real) characters doing crazy things, but then we skip ahead two years and we find ourselves in a ghost town in the middle of nowhere. The game feels more like an American Western with swords (Rising Zan, anyone?) than a 16th century retelling set in turbulent Japan. Also, what the heck is going on with the Minokuchi character? That is seriously messed up and reminded me that I was just playing an insane Japanese video game instead of interacting with alternative historical fiction.

Graphics and Sound: 7
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams suffers from the nasty case of awesome-looking-opening-cutscene-then-horrible-in-game-graphics syndrome. Of course, the in-game graphics aren't that bad, but after six full minutes of beautiful cutscenes, nothing will look that hot. The most recent generation of consoles is dissolving that difference quickly, but Dawn of Dreams still suffers from it. It's disappointing, and after a bunch of Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS games, that much more noticeable. The graphics were improved though since Onimusha 3 and the fully rendered environments are again welcome. This is probably one of the better looking PS2 games, but the art style is a little tired coming from an Onimusha veteran.

Sound is above average also, most notably the Japanese language option is music to my ears. Onimusha 2 only had English voices which ticked me off to no end, but is the only game in the series lacking Japanese.

Gameplay: 6
Dawn of Dreams just doesn't seem to compare to a game like God of War 2, which has much more fluid action and a larger variety of weaponry, even early on. Combat is relatively simple: target, attack, block, and a super move. There are timed criticals available in the first hour but that's about it. This would have definitely received a higher score if it would have let me control Jubei directly, something that is available later on (but why not right away...?). I've also noted in the past that fighting huge bosses early is usually a huge plus, but when they're this stupid, you can't help but think of how much hand holding is really going on. There seems to be a lot of depth though with weapon and armor power-ups, along with collecting more weapons with different attributes. I believe the game has some promise there. Can't forget the puzzle boxes either, those should provide a nice side challenge later on.

Fun Factor: 5
Onimusha's appeal lies in a great setting, interesting good and bad guys, and its action-oriented gameplay. Dawn of Dreams fails at nearly all of these completely in its first hour. After the opening scene we find ourselves in a deserted town with no explanation on why Soki is staying here. The only semi-interesting character is Mitsunari but he's relegated to the back seat while crazy stupid Minokuchi and his rope from nowhere tries to steal the show. And finally the action feels really confined and sometimes quite awkward. Targeting is a must, something that really wasn't necessary in the early Onimushas, and I even felt kind of weak compared to the skeleton peasants. Why aren't I taking them down in one or two swings? Also the fact that I have a second character tailing me but all I can do is tell her to fight or just stand there is a great opportunity lost.

Minutes to Action: 7

Overall: 6
Dawn of Dream's fun factor describes my overall feeling of its first hour: opportunities lost. It is set during a super interesting period of Japanese history, and the best story Capcom can come up with is that there are evil cherry blossom trees and that bugs are the cause of the genma? And why can't I control Jubei? The game's first hour is slightly above average though: the graphics look great when you don't compare them to the opening and the Japanese voice acting is stellar. Onimusha is an action game at heart and so it's not that huge of a loss when the story is underwhelming. There does feel like there is something lacking in the gameplay but it is still a solid hack-and-slash. Give Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams a try if you've played any of the others, but I would recommend starting at the beginning of the series if you're new to it.

Art by John Devlin - used with permission.

Game 28: The Lost Vikings

The Lost Vikings was released in 1992 and was one of Silicon & Synapse's first games. Never heard of them? They are now known as Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of many, many good games that end in Craft. Anyways, The Lost Vikings was released on the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and various other systems throughout the years, and gives gamers nowadays a really interesting look at the early history of Blizzard. The game itself can be described as a puzzle platformer, where you have to use the different abilities of three Vikings to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and progress through the game's levels. My minute-by-minute update should help describe the game better. I will be playing just the first hour of the Super Nintendo version of The Lost Vikings, so let's get right to it.

In case you're a World of Warcraft veteran, you may recognize the three Vikings: Erik the Swift, Olaf the Stout, and Baleog the Fierce. They all make a cameo appearance in Uldaman, an ancient dwarven complex that serves as a mid-level dungeon. If you play as a Horde character you can even kill them for some unique items!

(minutes are in bold)
00 - I select New Game and the first hour of The Lost Vikings begins. Quick note, what's up with this hip-hop soundtrack? A small, snow-covered village appears and Erik the Swift introduces himself, he can run like the wind and jump high. He's gotta go meet his friends Baleog and Olaf for some hunting.

01 - Erik says goodbye to his Viking wife and kids and runs off. Olaf the Stout comes out of his house, he can block anything with his shield.
02 - And finally Baleog the Fierce appears, he is the toughest of them all.

03 - Our hairy friends run around and show off their skills. It's kind of like a tutorial that I can't play.

04 - After running far enough right, the Vikings arrive back at their village. Small world. Erik foreshadows a bit saying he hopes he never has to leave his village...

05 - Later that night... Oh geez! Our heroes are getting sucked out of their homes by a giant spacecraft! That didn't take long. At least they didn't destroy the village.
06 - I now have control of Erik on the ship. Time to find my friends.

08 - Well that was a simple enough level, the L and R buttons allow me to take control of a different Viking and guide them to the exit. Hey, a password... GR8T.

09 - In the next level I approach a friendly alien who tells me I need to destroy the ship's computer. Erik doesn't believe this is a ship.

11 - Baleog seems the most useful, being able to kill enemies and all. I find some bombs with him and have to locate the place to plant them.

13 - I take an elevator downstairs and plant the bombs, kaboom!
14 - I guide all three Vikings into a gravity lift and shoot the switch, up we go! Ouch, Baleog gets shot twice in the back by a laser, I need to use Olaf to block the shots.

16 - Wow, a lot longer level than I thought, but since you basically have to go through it three times, it seems longer than it is. Password TLPT.

17 - I use Erik's hard noggin to knock out a wall.

18 - I send all three Vikings through a teleporter, these guys are definitely out of their element here. Hey, a door with a red keyhole, I wonder what color key I'll need to open it.
19 - Another alien tells me that someone brought us here to display like animals in a zoo. Creepy, but kind of makes sense.

21 - The next puzzle has me using Erik to jump on Olaf's shield to reach higher heights.

22 - Along with a yellow key I pick up a device that kills every bad guy in the area. The only problem is that I used it way too early... the next area has three laser toting nasties. Whoops. Olaf's shield plus Baleog's bow and arrow should be enough though.

23 - Another level finished, another password: GRND.
25 - Erik's long jump finally comes in handy as I leap over some spinning spikes!

26 - Oh crap, Olaf just got killed! He got thrown from a gravity lift into some nasty electrical current! What if I need him? Oh man, Baleog just died too. And Erik... tough spot.

27 - The game over screen features a Viking ship on fire, pretty sweet actually. I continue and our heroes are sent back to earth via lightning bolts.
30 - I'm replaying the level and back where I was before.

32 - Phew, I made it this time. I had to grab some special anti-gravity boots (or magnetized) and I was able to get past the gravity lifts then with Erik. Turning them off was a snap and then I took our trio into some kind of portal. Hey, is that the Spore logo?

33 - Woah, Mode 7 graphics! Next password is LLM0. Our friends are now in some sort of prehistoric land...
34 - I guess Vikings can't swim... Erik is dead and I can't proceed. I suicide Olaf and Baleog. The enemies here are stronger, take two hits to go down instead of one!

38 - The game is requiring a lot more preparation to fight enemies, basically setting up Olaf to block projectiles, getting Erik out of the way, and shooting them down with Baleog.

40 - After every level the Vikings talk a bit about what just happened, nice little bit of writing to flesh out some shallow characters there. New password is FL0T.

42 - Geez, now instead of dealing with deadly water I have to deal with deadly lava. There's a particularly nasty portion right now where I have to blindly fall and dodge platforms of lava. Evil! Luckily I only have to do it once with Erik.
43 - Next challenge is a rolling blue monster, Olaf to the rescue!

47 - I'm starting to realize that The Lost Vikings is much more of a puzzle game than a platformer. It's definitely requiring more and more strategy as the game progresses.

48 - Next level's password is TRSS.

51 - The next level is pretty big, full of trees and lots of water. This is a predicament considering Erik is the only one that can jump... but I use this to my advantage and have him explore the whole level, including finding the exits. Too bad I need to get all the Vikings there to win.
53 - I find the blue key in the upper right corner and use that on the bridge. I haven't even used Olaf or Baleog yet.

54 - Erik gets killed by a rogue snail shooting spit. You got to be kidding me!

56 - Long, tough level, but we make it. The Vikings even make a joke saying they need one of those waterfalls that float in mid-air back at home! The next password is PRHS.

60 - Well, in the last minute I discover the secret of the purple cave level: you have to shoot spikes with Baleog's arrow onto the deadly lava so you can guide Olaf and Baleog over it! Nice! But that's it for The Lost Vikings' first hour.
Story: 4
Not much of an actual story present in The Lost Vikings, but I do like its quirkiness. Too much of a story for a game like this would be a bad thing so Blizzard made the right decision to introduce the three characters with a few lines and then move on. Besides our three heroes, about the only other thing going on is Tomator, the leader of the Croutonian empire. He's captured our trio to represent the human race in his inter-galactic zoo, a noble cause if you ask me.
Graphics and Sound: 6
The Lost Vikings uses relatively simple sprites but the animations are well drawn and add to the game's uniqueness. I found it kind of odd though that both Olaf and Baleog wear green, it would seem to make more sense to maybe draw one in blue so they're more distinctive and easier to pick out on the fly. I think Blizzard made some excellent color palette choices too, and some scenes like the Game Over scene are really beautiful.
Gameplay: 7
It took me about 45 minutes to realize that The Lost Vikings is much more of a puzzle game than anything else, and I think this game really requires that mentality. Often I would find myself thinking that I can just take Erik and jump over all the enemies and pits and reach the exit quickly, but the goal is to also navigate Olaf and Baleog there too, typically a much more difficult task. The game throws a wide variety of challenges at you within the first hour and expects you to adapt and learn quickly. I think the game suffers from some odd quirks though like if you jump (or fall from) too high you take damage, this makes sense usually, but the fall distance is not very forgiving. Also, most of the enemies I encountered would quickly defeat me if I didn't have Olaf around to block their path or projectiles. This is a puzzle game that takes a lot of preparation and experimentation, kind of similar to Lemmings but with more direct control.
Fun Factor: 6
The Lost Vikings was pretty fun, until you started dying. I'm pretty sure you need all three Vikings to beat a level, so if one dies, for any reason, you're screwed. Since the game does take a lot of experimenting, I died quite a bit and restarting a level can take about a minute, not to mention the time it will take to get back to where you were before. I think the game has a lot of great ideas but they're executed in a way that can be frustrating at times. Completing a level though makes you feel like you really accomplished something, especially the later ones I played where the stages seemed HUGE!
Minutes to Action: 6
Overall: 6
The Lost Vikings is kind of a hybrid puzzle game, similar to Portal in where you don't realize you're playing a puzzle game until you stop and think about it. That is definitely a good thing and both of these games are examples that developers should look at. The Lost Vikings' first hour is not necessarily tough, but it punishes you harshly for small mistakes made or chances taken. Your Vikings dying is an unfortunate reminder that you are playing a puzzle game in a platformer environment; you still have to deal with lava and deadly water and nasty electricity when trying to work out which Viking to control. I believe the first hour would have been better if Blizzard would have focused more on the puzzles early on and less on the platforming aspects. All around though, a decent first hour and a promising experience ahead. Blizzard's pre-Warcraft era is really quite interesting.

Art by David Dupuis - used with permission.

Game 20: SimCity Societies

SimCity Societies is the newest entry in the long and respected SimCity series. However, as you may or may not have heard, Societies is a radical departure from the traditional SimCity game. Gone is most of the micro-management you dealt with as being mayor and gone is zoning to lay the groundwork for your city. Now you are more of the city's grand architect and visionary. You decide what kind of city you want to run, whether it's a prosperous metropolis, a spiritual mecca, or an oppressed dystopia, it is all up to you. To dictate your direction, you lay down each building individually, from houses to ice cream stands to city hall, everything is under your control.

Now not everyone likes the new direction SimCity is heading, and of course this game is definitely not for everyone. Before I played the game, the entire premise reminded me more of City Life than SimCity 4, not necessarily a bad thing, just totally different than the games I grew up to know and love. I think as fans of the series we have to acknowledge that we will probably never play a new "classic" SimCity game, which is fine with me. The series peaked with SimCity 2000 and I still play that from time to time. But let's see if SimCity Societies renews the franchise or leaves me with a sour taste, let the first hour begin.

It should be noted again that my computer is not that great and doesn't even meet the minimum system requirements laid out by Electronic Arts (it requires at least an Athlon 2100 and I have an 1800, everything else meets or exceeds). I am still able to run the game okay with all the settings at medium or below though.

(minutes are in bold)
00 - I decide to start with the tutorial, the hour starts as I click the button. Loading screen comes up, says the tutorial might be worth playing more than once. Must be fun... Game shows up, in this tutorial I'll be making a Fun City!

01 - First things first, power. The game instructs me to build three Wind Farms. Wind? That's not powerful at all.

02 - Next I have to build houses, I filter out the available houses and only look at Fun City Houses. This is the first thing that's much different than the original SimCity franchise: instead of laying down Residential-zoned land, you pick out what houses/apartments you want and lay them down directly. This almost reminds me more of Sim Town than SimCity.
03 - I plant four cottages. Fun cottages. Now I'm told to add Decorations, which can add Creativity to my city which will sprout growth or something.

04 - I plant four murals, and now I have 24 total Creativity in my city, with 20 available. Each house sucks one creativity point away. I guess it's kind of like a balancing act.

05 - Time to build some places to work. I filter only Creative buildings and get... a Tulip Nursery. How inspiring!

06 - Next up are two Creepy Barns, which I guess is a place to work? What kind of morbid town is this?

07 - Time to build the all important roads, the life blood of any SimCity city. Laying roads is just like in the other SimCity games, but the camera is so close, laying long roads is a difficult task. I can't zoom out any further either.
08 - A couple of roads pop in, now for an Ice Cream Parlor! Sims start flocking to it immediately! I click on one of them... Mario Lowery is his name. Apologies to any Mario Lowery's out there who were avoiding ever having their name show up on Google.

10 - The news ticker says that they welcome their insect overlords, what is this Slashdot? Awesome.

11 - Next up is a movie theater. After I plant it I'm told to click on the theater and do its special action, which is to host a premier. Kind of cool.
12 - The game is starting to let me do my own stuff... but nothing too wild.

14 - My wind generators are already hitting their power max, where's my super polluting coal plants? I add a few more and now I need to reach 50 Creativity. I build a variety of things like Merry Go Rounds and Jumping Fountains... and more lame murals which have a +8 Creativity bonus.

17 - I have a worker capacity of 8 right now, and I need to reach 15, more homes it is!

19 - More workplaces now too, but the game only lets me build Tulip Nurseries and Barns. Lame.

20 - I check out my City Info page, Budget is poor, no Crime, and hardly any Pollution. I guess that's good...
21 - I add a few more ice cream shops and a couple florists, and now I have to build my ultimate venue: The Clown School! Okay, can't do that just yet, need at least 61 Creativity points to make this creepy hangout.

22 - The game instructs me to check out the Achievements screen, there's 10 trophies to earn.

23 - Without ever building a Clown School the game tells me Congratulations! I won the tutorial.

25 - I'm not so easily defeated though... I decide to build the Clown School and inflict Mimeageddon on the town! A horde of mimes run out and destroy, I mean, hilarify the city.
26 - Okay, that's enough of this town, I want to build something truly Orwellian. But first I click the Meteor Shower button... umm... I don't see any meteors. I don't even see any damage done. Oh snaps now I see some. Awesome. Took out my movie theater in dramatic fashion.

29 - Now to trigger the Killer Storm! There's some wind sounds and lightning strikes but this isn't that exciting. I head back to the main menu.

31 - When configuring a new city, you can choose a variety of options, one of them is Unlimited Simoleons (Sim money). That's pretty nice, don't have to cheat or anything just to mess around. I click the Start City button and the loading screen comes up.
32 - Okay, no more creativity. I'm thinking oppression is a better angle. The game calls this Authority. Good thing I've read Nineteen Eighty-Four (first two-thirds are awesome) and Brave New World (meh).

33 - I start with a Coal Power Plant. 20 times more productive than some stupid wind farms, and only five times as much.

34 - I have more options on the transit menu, including dirt country roads and a bus stop.
35 - Authority living units include Row Houses, Sleeping Tubes, and Slate Housing Block. All complete with Telescreens.

37 - I need some Authority points to fill up my new Row Houses so I build a Police Box, Public Clock, and a Large Statue.

40 - My people need nice places to work, I add a Bureaucracy Office and Department of Public Works. Nothing too insidious. For kicks I add a Dive Bar and Corner Deli.
43 - The game is not running that smoothly. Even though I have almost all the settings way down, I guess my computer just isn't good enough. Anyways, I add a Sleeping Tube building and then a Military School. Seems like an obvious decision!

45 - I begin an Efficiency Drive at my Bureaucracy Office. Time to whip these guys into shape.

46 - Next I add a Bank and Town Hall, not enough workers so another Sleeping Tube too. It's fun just to see all the Authoritarian options there are for places to work.

49 - I get a message that there's a lot of crime in my city. I could either build a Police Station or a Neighborhood Watch. How about both.
52 - Woah, fire! I can't tell where though. I also don't have a fire department. I have no idea what to do.

53 - Finally I manage to build a fire station, but then the fire went out on it's own. I think it was arson.

54 - I start placing more police boxes, I have to lay down the law and take out these criminals before they sprout up.

56 - I head down to the street level to check things out up close. People are looking desperate and sad. This makes a leader like me happy.
57 - I build a Dungeon simply for the reason that it sounds awesome. I quickly initiate the Prisoner Acquisition action. Dungeons are pointless if they're not full, right?

58 - Right next door I place the new Propaganda Ministry. Send out the Ministry of Truth!

59 - People are less happy. Well, why should they enjoy life, they're here to work.

60 - As my hour ends, I watch my policemen and thought police beat down the disobedient citizens. Then I smile.

Now for some scores out of 10.
Story: 7
Well, there's no story to SimCity games, so I decided to create my own when starting my own city. I was an authoritarian dictator in Small Town U.S.A. and the game encouraged me to play that. It was really great fun to check out all the insidious buildings I could lay down to execute my Master Plan. Plus zooming into street level to watch my brutal police officers take down thought crime criminals was very enjoyable. I won't weigh this category heavy, just thought I'd like to point out I have an imagination.
Graphics and Sound: 8
Okay, my computer sucks. The game actually froze my computer no less than three times in just one hour, something that hasn't happened in a while so who knows where the fault lies anymore. Anyways, this game looks nice, the art direction is really amazing, I could tell that just from the small taste of the game I got. As oppression closed around my town, I could zoom in close and see just how depressed my people looked. Oddly enough, the game didn't seem to run any worse than Sim City 4, which was a hog too on my computer and that game is almost five years old. My biggest complaint about the graphics is that I could not zoom out very far. My view area was extremely limited. I guess they want you to zoom in and visit your Sims but sometimes it's nice to just pan out. Sound was fine, didn't really notice anything special except I could hear my Sims brawling on the street and getting arrested, which was cool.
Gameplay: 5
Gameplay wise... the game starts to falter. I don't really want to knock Societies for trying something new, but I don't really think it pulls off what it is trying to do. It seems that this game is designed for city buil