More game impressions from Stephanie, Japandaman Dailies’ Art Editor on site at the Tokyo Game Show, Day Two!
Skyrim (PS3/Xbox360)
Played at the XBox booth, I could choose my race, but the booth girl didn’t let me use the customization so I got to play as a plain boring khajit. During the loading screens, objects, enemies and characters appear as interactive models you can rotate. I started in a cave environment in 1st person view, but it went a little buggy and I was seeing the inside of my helmet still. Zooming out to 3rd person however showed how lovely and how much of an improvement the animation is! And the game itself was gorgeous, down to the little wildflowers in the forest.
As I was travelling to the marker on my map, I came across a fox that ran off, but a hunter and her dog chase after it. Upon entering town I made small talk and restrained the urge to kill needlessly haha. Moving on I killed some wolves feeding on a rabbit, combat was quite good and I managed to tackle a wolf and execute it in a neat little animation! After looting for pelts, I came across the outskirts of a large castle and village. I broke into a winery and was given warnings by the owner to get out or else. So, not wanting confrontation, I chickened out!
Leaving the area, I helped a group fell a troll/ogre enemy which was really fun, but after they asked me if I wanted to join, I had to end my session. Overall it is a great improvement on the previous Elder Scrolls games and even on the latest Fallouts!
Biohazard Revelations (3DS)
Firstly, one of the coolest booths at the show! Enter though a bloodied tanker door into a dark and spooky corridor, with monster sounds leaking through the walls! Then into a richly decorated dining hall to play the game around a ‘candelabra lit’ table… Anyway… this demo had an english version which was great for me! It started with Jill waking up in a room on a tanker, that reminded me of the researchers room from RE:1 (funnily enough there was also a ‘zombie’ in the closet of this room too!) She radios her partner Parker, and comments how she seems like she’s in a mansion, haha. After draining the bathtub in the adjoining room to gain a screwdriver, I had to re-enter the room to be attacked by the new enemy (I’m not sure if the new virus type was called genesis?) The controls for combat felt really good, I had no trouble aiming and it took about 5 shots to kill it. Jill auto-loads when you run out of ammo and if you get damaged just tapping ‘A’ will use your herb. Jill began using the screwdriver to open the door by means of an electronic lock. Using the touch screen I unscrewed the panel of the lock and completed a slide puzzle to open the door. Going on, (gosh the game looked great!!!) I fought a few more surprise enemies (they jumped me even though i could see it coming haha) and one enemy that was similar in appearance to RE:5’s Duvalia enemy. I also picked up grenades and a shotgun. Using the secondary weapon was easy, just aim and ‘X’ I picked up an interesting weapon, the ‘scanner’ which helped Jill find hidden items, that was quite fun. I eventually ran into Parker who joined me to find the bridge. The demo ended with our escape boat blowing up, and a mysterious red head attacking Jill. All in all, easily one of the best games at Capcom’s booth in my opinion.
Graphics, animation and gameplay all +++
Soul Calibur V (PS3/Xbox360)
Played on Xbox, so I sucked haha. At first I was unimpressed, as not a SC devotee I couldn’t really feel the differences between this entry and the last. I played Hilde vs newcomer Natsu. My butt was kicked and I felt like all that was different was they were a little shinier. However, when I played newcomer Zwei against newcomer Pyyrah, I felt like there was more improvement on the models, animations, speed and connections in battle. It could be I was overcome by shininess, but I enjoyed my second playthrough more and felt better matched. The music sounded great and on the stage select you could choose what theme music you wanted played. A few new levels to try too which were quite nice, but not very varied from the last game. We still have much more to see from the game, and I’m sure it’ll only get better! I cant wait to see a character creator and additions to the roster. Maybe my first impression was influenced by the fact I’m a sore loser, haha.
Uncharted (PS Vita)
Waiting devotedly in line for over an hour to play the Vita, and Uncharted nonetheless, I was rewarded with an awesome experience that makes my need to have this handheld stronger than ever!! Uncharted was unfortunately in japanese, so I had a bit of trouble at first, however once I got the hang of things it seemed a breeze. The graphics were gorgeous and the Vita’s screen was big and clear, all the better to show it off! Collision was great, running into little crates on the floor made them bounce around dynamically, and Drake swayed with each turn and twist giving the character animations weight and realism. My first act was to create a charcoal and paper rubbing of some wall scratchings (don’t ask me why, it was in japanese!) by use of the touch screen. Tapping the wall, a peice of paper appeared and I used my finger to rub in the impression of the scratchings. Once that was in my inventory it was time to move on.
Climbing and jumping as usual in an Uncharted game was given ease, by being able to tap the touch screen on the ledge you wanted to jump to! Also balancing over a thin wooden beam was handled by the gyro in the PSV as well as swinging from another ledge, swaying the handheld side to side. After climbing the walls of a burning building, all the dynamic changes you expect in
a Drake’s game, I reached another area wherein a picked up some items and a machete! Coming to a tarp blocking my path, I selected the machete via the touch screen and traced/swiped where i wanted Drake to chop the cloth. It sliced and fluttered down dynamically 🙂 For a while I was lost, and caught on fire, haha. But I finally managed to exit the premisis, where my time with the Vita ended. Worth it.
Blades of Time (PS3/Xbox360)
This game at the Konami booth was not reset when I went to play, revealing embarrassingly that someone had manage to jump the main character, a busty female blonde not wearing clothing appropriate for the blizzard she was in, outside the boundaries of the game world. After fixing the game I was thrown into the midst of an icy field where I was forced to face Ogre type enemies. The game world looked pretty, but hectic as there was not much variation in colour and with a very over the top blizzard effect blowing through the world it was a little hard to focus on. Our busty blonde is quite adept with her swords though. During battle it was
quite fun, and you were given the ability to reverse time to a point and distract enemies with a past shadow of yourself whilst you beat them from behind with your present self! Especially useful against shield enemies. She could also use a rifle for hard to get types. The game also consisted of grappling to other heights via glowing flower thingies. An okay game, I’d not heard of it before TGS, but it could become quite fun. If I knew what were going on.
Heroes of Legend
Cute little RPG with nice graphics. I don’t know much about the game but it looks great and
plays well. Good for those who like the typical old style rpgs!
Assassins Creed Revelations (PS3/Xbox360)
I was bummed-out when it turned out to only be the multiplayer version. The map was small and it was very similar, if not the same as Brotherhood.s online mode. (I’ve only played Brotherhood’s online briefly) but playing with the other attendants was fun, especially when you heard the player’s surprise haha. A few gameplay trailers prove the game’s looking great though (mmm and I just love Ezio, even if he’s going grey now haha) I’m looking forward to when we get more info!
Professor Layton Vs. Ace Attorney trailer (3DS)
Phoenix and Layton both look great in CG. The group witness examinations look heaps of fun. The witnessess are very Layton in their art style and the new prosecutor is more in Phoenix art style. Seeing Maya fully animated was fantastic as well. The full cg environments and court battles give the game a dynamic not seen in the AA series or the Layton Series (I guess until the next CG, 3DS Layton game’s released) fangirl squealed when I saw PW and PL dual ‘objection’ point at the screen, haha. I hope this gets an english release. Looks top quality!
DMC trailer (PS3/Xbox360)
It’s already up on the web I think, I wanted to dislike it, because its not our Dante as we know him, but it looks great, and Ninja Theory do make pretty good games. My problem is I kept thinking the new Dante looks like Taylor Lautner. :-/
