Posts Tagged ‘Namco Bandai’

It isn’t only the huge franchises that made an impact this year, some returning (less established) favourites also managed to more than impress. Be they downloadable games or full releases that simply lacked the attention that I personally felt they deserved. These are the games that seemed to get less love, either in ‘game of the year’ lists I read on other sites or from general sales figures. This is my small attempt to redress the balance.

Rayman: Origins – Beautiful. It is impossible to fault Rayman: Origins for what it does. From there it simply comes down to whether what it is trying to do appeals to you. Superb 2D platforming with some of the finest animation I have seen and a charming light hearted wit. Sure it may look childish to some, and paying full price for a 2D title may not be how most people chose to spend their money, but I promise it is worth every penny.

A perfect platformer, with jaw dropping hand-drawn art.

InFamous 2 – Platform exclusives tend to get a significantly more backing than other releases, but Sony has a strange habit of only back some of its titles; Killzone 3 got the push, InFamous 2 did not. I don’t pretend to know the thinking behind this move, but InFamous 2 was one of the few sequels this year to real build and improve on the previous title and deserved more attention than it got in the years “best of” considerations. With fantastic parkour traversal and combat, it is a title I cant help but feel was overlooked by action fans in search of more guns.

From Dust – This was an unexpected one. Coming out of nowhere this downloadable god simulation game created an experience that cried back Populous. Dust’s goal is to lead the nomadic tribes people of the world to the Promised Land. To do this, paths must be constructed from the elements of water, earth and lave, to allow the tribes people to make their way to safety. Gorgeous and addictive, it makes me realise why (if there are gods) they made the Earth for their entertainment.

Dark Souls – Demon’s Souls was already one of my favourite games this generation. With its licence tied up with numerous publishers in each territory Dark Souls is the sequel that otherwise could not be. It keeps nearly everything that made Demon’s Souls unique, the bizarre multiplayer, punishing difficulty, even the look of the world remained intact. But learned lessons made a game that was more accessible with a structure that allowed for a greater connection to the game’s engrossing world. Not for everyone, but I am sure not everyone who would love it has played it. My game of the year.

A picture that, for me, encapsulates the lonely awe of Dark Souls.

Hard Corps: Uprising – Contra ring any bells? If so then the bells it rings are probably riddled with bullet holes of nostalgia and filled with chimes of satisfying frustration. Assuming the annoyance of thousand deaths are not still too raw, then Hard Corps: Uprising is the perfect addition to your collection. A spiritual successor to Konami’s classic series this downloadable, beautifully hand animated title has all the gameplay of the original combined with a persistent perk system that rewards prolonged play by elevating some of the game’s impossible difficulty.

Here we are, July 2011 and finally I am writing the last of my 2010 posts. It is in many ways poor timing as I currently find myself thinking far more about my past than my future. Here feeling slightly isolated and jobless in Birmingham, Japan seems very appealing, so my hope is that that maybe by wrapping up these posts and aiming to the future will help me come to terms with my situation and push on.

Somewhat fittingly I felt kind of trapped when I first played Enslaved. I was just out of a long relationship, but still did not feel free. For all of my protestations that I was fine, part of me still felt tied to my past. So I would drink a little harder, go out a little longer, and generally run further from my memories.

There are reasons these close bonds with my ex-partner. Fuelled by a desire to make her happy, I was constantly thwarted by her melancholy. Over time I came to except the struggle of this, but eventually I found my attempts to please were pulling down my own mood. So I was faced with a decision, stay and fight a losing battle or leave her, and worry about my own mood. Unfortunately is was a choice that would hurt her, and so went against my goals of the previous years.

Clearly a woman in need, something I (apparently) struggle to refuse.

Then a long came Enslaved, a game loosely based on the classic 16^th century Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’. Enslaved tells of a woman, Trip, and her long journey home after being captured by slavers. Trip is far from helpless, very capable with technology, but finding herself in a destroyed New York as the game begins there is a quick realisation that she will need help on her journey.

Enslaved reclaimed world has a narrative all its own. Many years after whatever caused devastation of this post-apocalyptic America everything has been reclaimed by nature. Trip’s companion is in many ways a reaction to this environment, a nameless nomad who’s brute of a man like power and agile ape like moves have garnered him the nickname of Monkey with those he trades with. These qualities are vital, because as I take control of Monkey every ounce of his power and speed are needed to navigate the decimated world, and battle the slaver robots that populated it.

Huge robots are just one of the troubles Monkey has to deal with.

Much of what makes Enslaved work so well how it manages to bring elements of the classic text in its Sci-Fi setting. Monkey’s emergence from a stone egg in the original text is superbly mirrored in his escape from a status pod as the game opens. Other items are similarly reproduced but one element really embodies own my emotional ties to the game; the slave band.

In the original text it was a golden crown that enslaved Monkey (an cast out animal god) binding him to the hero’s will. In much the same way the slave band allows Trip to control her Monkey, but it is a strange kind of slavery. She is not violent or malicious, and indeed the very idea of servitude in upsets her. It is a necessity in her mind to ensure his help to get her home, but an uncomfortable one that she wishes she didn’t have to resort to.

There is something in this relationship that mirrored my life. Not that I was a slave but I never wanted to make her unhappy. I was never ordered to obey, but displeasure and disappointment was clear. And as surely as Monkey’s slave band inflicted pain up on him when he failed to follow instructions, I suffered mental pains when I saw my action distressed her.

The love and bond between them grows, switching from technological to emotional. Something I think I may envy.

But where my issues slowly drove a wedge between my partner and I, Enslaved sees it bring them closer together. The explicit dependence from Trip is matched by Monkey’s unrealised desire for companionship. Without realising it the bond slowly transcends the technology that traps him. Indeed in one scene that beautifully demonstrates the games graphical prowess, when Trip attempts to free Monkey and he stops her with a subtlety and tenderness of expression rarely seen in games thanks to developer Ninja Theory’s amazing facial capture technology. It is scene that demonstrates perfectly how he needs the bond, but is unwilling to confess his emotional need, preferring to keep the slave band.

I sat playing Enslaved, jealous of just how perfectly the bond between Monkey and Trip developed. There was a beauty to me in just how a love grew between the two characters, when neither had been looking for it. Sat in my room I contrasted this with my own life. Of how I had started at love, until the dependence grew eroding it with the pressure becoming too much for me. Leaving me still wondering if I did it all backwards, and envying Monkey.

The latest Famitsu published images of the upcoming line of Uniqlo gaming shirts. Featuring classic games from Tecmo, Hudson, Namco Bandai, Sega, SCEJ and Capcom I will admit to being more than a little excited at the prospect of kitting myself out in these this April when they are released.

Resident Evil and Street Fighter provided some of the more subtle offerings. Neither displayed prominent character or logos, siding more with words and symbols. Unfortunately my photos taken surreptitiously in a Lawson didn’t come out to well so I had to fall back on images snapped up from the web which didn’t include my two favorites. The RE5 khaki long sleeved t-shirt with a small BSAA insignia on the front (with Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance written in full on the back) and the Street Fighter shirt with only the iconic down, down forwards, forward, punch symbols emblazed across the chest. Day one purchases for me.

Also available are shirts in which iconic characters and logos take more prominent place. The Pacman shirt pictured on the right here is one of the more stylish examples of this. A simple logo on the chest (and four ghosts on the arse) offers a mere suggestion of your favored pass time instead of physically assaulting onlookers eyes with it (like the garish Ridge Racer and Ape Escape shirts).

Uniqlo’s tagline for these shirts is ‘Find one that says exactly how you feel.’ Well evidently I feel ‘exactly’ like a geek, as I am very excited about these and have at least five shirts I am ready to run out and buy already. Roll on April.

Images taken from – UTxGame

Charitably you could call me fair skinned, or less charitably ginger. So as a child on vacation I was either smearing sun-block over my blubber or hiding in arcades playing ‘Star Wars.’ Its crisp graphics still burn brightly as one of my earliest memories.

Sadly arcades are dieing, victim to what the home experience now offers. Graphics, online play, peripherals – each one a donut to diabetic arcades. In Japan arcades are kept on a balanced diet to prolong their life. One on one fighter fans flock to new releases. Collectable card games, themed from horse racing to D&D, supply distraction for smoking salary-men. The pinnacle of this, Gundam pods, sensory deprivation tanks that supplies the opposite of meditation. 8 people a time, still you have to queue. A solution, a unique and involving experience, breathing new life into arcades, but could it do the same for arcades outside Japan?

Originally posted – July 4th 2008