melchaios

Jesus christ, the amount of whining in the user reviews is astounding, people are really spoiled now a days. It's been a while since the last time i left a review, but seeing all the really low scores really grind my gears, so here it is: this game, is a perfectly functional and good remake, period. I get that some people set their expectations too high and wanted something along the lines of Resi 2 remake, and sure enough, this doesn't achieve those heights, but not being exceptional DOES NOT equal being bad, not finishing in the podium in the olympics doesn't mean you're a bad athlete. Anyway, as a souls veteran who loved the original DeS and who has platinumed every single souls game to date, I can tell you that this game is good and it's everything I expected: The same game but prettier and with some Quality of life improvements, and viewed as that, Bluepoint did a terrific job at it, there's nothing groundbreaking here but it accomplishes what it set out to do. GAMEPLAY: it's untouched for the most part, the same good ol' DeS that you remember. With a great overhaul to inventory management since now you can send items to storage if you don't have the space, which was one of the major gripes with the original. Another plus is that you now have 8 way run while locked. Besides that the only small changes I noticed: 1. the fast roll seems slower and with less i-frames 2. certain weapon animations are a tiny bit different (barely noticeable). People complaint that the game is boring and lacking compared to newer From soft titles, but that's now fault of the remake, it's just that the mechanics of DeS are more dated since it was the prototype for the souls games; then again it's a delicate balance between remaining faithful to the original or having innovation, bluepoint chose being faithful which is pretty respectable. GRAPHICS: Absolutely beautiful, your jaw drops at the details and definition, plus the fps. It takes the experience to a new level. There's been controversy over some redesigns, and while some of the changes are debatable (fat ministers), it really doesn't stick out like a sore thumb or anything, hell, once you're playing you really don't notice at all. I was for instance, thinking I prefered the original Dragon god that looked more like a dinosaur instead of an alienoid creature, but once I got to him not only did the experience remain true, but I actually came to appreciate the new desing on it's own terms. And there are many original desingns that had to be recreated where they nailed it, plus facial expresions (patches is **** glorious, every bit as punchable as I imagined him in real life), Selen Vinland is much better in my opinion, depraved ones are also great. As for people saying that the "tone is lost" "it doesn't have the same feeling", I don't really know what game they played...... the tone remains, it's all dark fantasy, with gritty, decadent landscapes, but with much, muuuuch more detail and definition. MUSIC: Another point that extreme purists like to make a big fuss about. The music is fine guys, the complaints come from plain nostalgia. Original music is minimalistic because of budget, proof is that Miyazaki himself in subsequent works like DS, BB and Sekiro, has used full Orchestras to do pieces with high production value. If DeS had had more budget, it would've gotten music similar to this. My favourite piece is the Maiden AStrea tune, and I'm glad to say I enjoyed the arrangement they made. SURPRISES¡?¡?¡?: Barely any, like I said, if you expect to be blown away by a title that seems like a whole new game a-la Resi 2 remake, with tons of new content, the sixth archstone, more endings, all the improvents from newer from soft titles, then you're gonna be dissapointed. this is just an overhauled version of the original, it has a couple of new items here and there, and a new set of armor hidden behing a very complex gathering quest, plus a "reverse world" that flips the map around, that's it, no more, no less. Bottomline is....... as a long term fan who regards original Demons as a 10, this is an 8 for me, I can see other fans giving maybe a 7. If you're not a fan of the original or the series, I can see picky gamers going down all the way to 6 o 5, taking into account the price tag. But 3s and 0s? come on guys.... "I can play the same game on my ps3, why pay full price for an old game?", yeah right, Imma go to my attic, dust off my 15 yr old console, hope it still works buy an 11year old game and let my brand new PS5 stay idle, great plan..... if that's your thing go at it, if like me you want to relive the experience through fresh eyes, buy this one, for me it's worth it. Edit: after finishing the game and spending many hours in it pvp included, i can say that its mor than i saw firat hand, this is a 9. New armor sets, new spells, mirror mode, chance to de agro npcs that you angered, ñess lag with pvp not centered around backstabs, its a very good job

This is one of the worst ports I've seen, barely playable. Among the issues: bad framerate, hilarious pop in textures, glitched sound, one glitched sidequest, terrible graphics, too many loading screens. Definitely not worth buying if you can get it on PS4. The game itself is pretty good, the nemesis and enemy breeding system is quite a nice breath of fresh air. However it's nothing extraordinary in my opinion, Assassin's creed 2 and brotherhood did the job much better, they had better locations and parkour elements (in here you only have 2 landscapes: wasteland, jungle). Story is good, finishers are awesome, and overall it's pretty fun to play. From a gameplay point of view it deserves something between 7.5 and 8. The PS3 port however deserves a 5 at best, and I'm a forgiving gamer, if you're too quircky about technical issues then this is not for you, you're gonna have a bad time.

Nice improvement over the first one, with a formal story mode, more enemy variety, new equipment, and additional combat mechanics (including combo openers and pasive skills). Not everything was for the better though, since developers have now made everything possible to secure your money with microtransactions. Thing is, contrary to the previous installment in which you could finish the game with no investment whatsoever (you could easily gring previous levels for money to buy better equipment), this time around the difficulty spikes have gone to extreme degrees, with your equipment becoming outdated at an alarming speed; not only that, but repeating previous fights doesn't provide enough coin to buy reasonable improvements. Meaning it's quite easy to get stuck at certain fights, since it's very difficult to win when you require thousands of hits to kill an enemy, while the opponent can put you down with one strike. At least the parry window is more generous, making your defensive capabilities more effective. In the end we gain some, lose some, hence the final score. It's still goo entertainment and completely free

So, this is essentially "PUNCH OUT!!" but with gladiators instead of boxers. Not gonna lie, the game is pretty entertaining, it may not be a landmark game or something that stands tall above the crowd, but for it's purpouse (meaning casual gaming to ease the most boring parts of your day) it's amazingly functional. When I made the comparison with PUNCH OUT!! is because it's nearly a copy paste experience. You enter tournaments, each one divided in 1 on 1 battles, with both characters static and facing each other. Gameplay wise, it's very similar, as your defensive manouvers you can parry, shield block or evade attacks, and when the opponent shows an opening you can strike with your sword multiple times by sweeping the screen. And again, just like in PUNCH OUT!!, your opponents have a series of stereotyped combo flurries that you have to counteract (either by parry, block, evade), after you prevent the last strike of the combo, your opponent is left wide open for a combo of your own. So you see, it's all about memorization and muscle reflexes, carefully learning the small movements that give away your opponents next combo, as well as learning which strikes can't be blocked or parried. You also have a filling meter with 3 levels, that you raise to deal special ublockable blows (yes, PUNCH OUT!! all over again). Hell even your character is notably smaller than the rest of the gladiators, probably an obvious reference to Little Mac. There are though some things that separate this title from the classic game I've mentioned before: your shield has a blocking value, meaning that you can't abuse it, otherwise the enemy will break your guard eventually; you have healing, and buffing potions that you can drink mid battle; you have RPG elements, having 3 basic stats to level up (HP, attack, block), and several pieces of equipment to improve such stats. Graphics are pretty decent and the game itself is very fluid. The only reservations I have for it are the lack of enemy variety (overall 4 enemy tipes with different skins: hulking brutes, regular sword/shield, dual wielding and spear wielding), and the fact that every now and then the game feels unresponsive: sometimes it gives the feel that it lags, othertimes the game reads your input wrong and the character does something you didn't order, and this tendency is more aparent in the most crucial moments. Some of the items are also pretty much out of your reach unless you use microtransactions, since they are bought with very rare golden coins, which you only get one at a time each time you level up. Some of the stronger equipment is an obvious choice to give this VIP treatment, however, you can only roll your eyes when you realize that healing and buffing potions also have this restriction, making them a consumable that's sooooo precious that you will never use. At the end of the day Blood and Glory is a nice little gem to make you company on the long waiting lines, in the bus stops, and why not, during your work breaks. Even when on my house, every now and then I play the damn thing when I feel like beating the out of something. If you like me have android making you unable to test the superb "infinity blade", then this is as good as it gets, casual and effective entertainment for FREE

Amazing game, certainly the best metroidvania I've seen in a while. Cellar Door Games have made a very entertaining popurri of the best RPG concepts in the industry. Rogue legacy is essentially a 2D patformer in the tradition of Symphony of the Night, you control a warrior that must investigate a really contrived castle full of enemies. You have many classes to choose from: knight, barbarian, mage, rogue, ninja, lich, etc. Core game mechanics are very simmilar among them: you have 1 button to sword attack, another one to jump, and another one to use a spell; however, each class gets a special action assigned to a fourth button, and it may not sound like much, but believe me, it makes a huge difference in how you use each character. Each one also has specific stats, specializing each job for certain tactics. Eventually new layers come into play like runes, advanced classes and blacksmithing. The leveling scheme is pretty original, since you don't level a single character but more like your "bloodline". sequence goes like this: you take your warrior into the castle, advancing and looting as much gold as you can; your char will eventually die, it's inevitable, and he will be gone forever, but you retain the gold; 3 new "succesors" are displayed, allowing you to choose who will carry the mantle; using the gold you earned you start upgrading your "family", buying healt/damage upgrades, new classes, the blacksmith, runes, etc, etc, making your next adventure more manageable than the previous; you take your new warrior into the castle again, the whole castle is randomized and your remaining money is taken, effectivelly returning you to point 0; new warrior will eventually die, repeating the previous process. Overall an amazing game, It actually reminds me of the Souls series a lot, specially in it's unforgiving nature, in it's aproach to death (death is part of the experience after all), and in it's approach to currency as a way of leveling up (and loosing it all with each new try). This is nostalgia done right!!! a true homage to the SNES era in a new franchise, with bold and interesting mechanics; instead of predating old franchises into mediocre games to get a quick buck (I'm looking at you Double Dragon). Highly recommended!!

I gotta say, I'm pretty dissapointed with this game, though it's pretty entertaining (looting, killing and partying always is after all), I can't shake the feeling that the game just doesn't live up to it's reputation. I'm one of the poor **** that never got to play the previous Diablo´s (could never afford a gaming PC), but I can sure remember crystal clear how envious I was at my friends who had the game. Diablo II seemed out of this world, graphically and gameplay wise, and for the few moments I managed to get my claws into it, it felt like I was playing something special (kind of like when I played Demon's souls for the first time). It was dark, compelling and had charisma to give away. Diablo III on the other hand, just feels OK, and like many other players have said before me, it's feels more like WOW than Diablo. I'll be honest, for what it's worth Diablo III is very polished and entertaining, recently I also reviewed "Path of Exile", an RPG with similar elements to the Diablo franchise and very, very rough on the edges. Diablo III is of course a better product over all than PoE, then why am I givin it a 6, when I gave PoE an 8?, simple, because it was free, and because it didn't have a reputation to mantain. Blizzard is on the big leagues now, and as such, should be judged with the highest standards. Let's begin with graphics, it just doesn't look right. The previous installments went for a more "realistic and gritty" touch, it was a staple that only a Diablo game could get away with, it was a signature. Now it's all cartoonish, with some enemies and NPCs that could very well be cast into a Looney toons show, Blizzard tasted absolute power with the WOW franchise, and hence made this game to follow that trend. It could very well be called "World of Warcraft: Demon surge" and you would get totally fooled by it Gameplay it's functional, crisp, and very responsive, the evasion manouvre made available in the console versions is a plus, overall what you would expect from a triple AAA title. They made a pretty decent job at porting the button layout to a controller, and leveling your character into a more effective killing machine is a joy. That said, the same could be said about any other RPG or MMORPG out there, in the end the experience although functional feels dull and short sighted. After finishing the game, the best thing I can say about Diablo III is that I had fun with it, but you can be sure it's not a game I will remember fondly when I take a look back in a couple of years, certainly will not make a dent into my top 20 or even top 30 RPGs. In the end if you want to play a Diablo game, just stick to Diablo II, I may have had half the budget, but it also had twice the heart and soul

In terms of getting the best value for money, this is probably as good as it gets, since path of exile offers a game compelling enough to rival triple A titles of the same genre, and completely free. Upgrades obtained through donations and microtransactions are purely aesthetical and have no advantage over regular gear, so..... that means it's really "free". Tackling the gameplay aspect, it plays really well, it offers deep character development via the huuuuge passive skill tree (a la Final Fantasy X) and a wide array of active skill gems, wich level up as you pass by wrecking havoc. This is one of the defining features of how skills are handleled to you in this game, in other games "skill gems" offer passive bonuses, while active skills are gained through character leveling via skill tree; Path of exile goes the other way around, giving the skill tree purely passive bonuses, while active skills must be earned through gems obtained quests or random drops, and socketed into specific gear in order for it to be active. It's a bold strategy, and one that may not convince a lot of players, but it's functional overall, and even more importand: it's addictive and engaging (the only quality action RPGs need to succeed). Character classes are interesting, they have a particular charisma, being gritty and enchanting at the same time, with fancy names like Maraunder (instead of the generic title of barbarian), Shadow, etc. 6 initial clases that are aligned to 1 or 2 of the main stats: Strenght, Dexterity and Intelligence. All classes have access to all passive skills in the skill tree, with the only difference being the point at which they start. That means that role playing is not completely restricted, with options for melee characters to have magic and viceversa. It's up to you to decide if this feature is a strong point because of the freedom it provides, or a weak spot in how it turns things a little bit generic. Graphically, the game is the bomb. It hits all the aesthetic and enviromental points that made Diablo II the dark gothic RPG it was, and in that sense, Path of Exile looks more Diablo than Diablo III will ever look like. Enemy design is good, although they tend to recicle previous models, and levels are really big and intrincate. The only gripe I have with the game is the lag....... it's really bad at some points. I didn't take into account this factor into the score, since I'm not sure if the problem is their server or my connection, but you can be certain I'm not alone in this one. The game has a bad tendency to "ultra" lag, making an unexpected pause for a few minutes, after which you find yourself killed by a miriad of enemies that weren't there before. But the most annoying tendency is the fact that the game just disconects every once in a while; log in again and you'll find yourself in the last town you visited, with your current progress in a dungeon ranging from partially to completely lost. In the best case scenario, the map will stay the same (enemies killed, chests looted, map discovered) and you'll just have to walk to where you left off; in the worst case scenario, the map will be randomized and EVERYTHING...... map discovery, enemy position and loot will be respawned like if you'd never set foot on the place, which is complete BS. If it happens to you in a multilevel dungeon prepare to ragequit, you've been warned!! This last aspect might deduct points for some of you, but in my view this game is a work of love, an art piece made for the sake of art, not gain. It deserves to be celebrated even in it's excentricities and faults, and in that regard it's one of the rarest gems, even if it's not the most polished one.

An amazing beat em up like I haven't seen in a while, couch co-op with 3 other friends is something I've been craving for sometime now. The art direction is something worth noting, it's beautiful in every aspect and the animations are superb....breathtaking really. Even with the women objectivization controversy, it's hard not to appreciate the care that has been put into every frame and art design. Skill trees are balanced and it's fun to experiment with other classes, though mages may be a little bit on the spamming side since their AoE attacks are kind of distracting. There is only a couple of reasons I'm not giving it a 10, and that is the oversimplification of the gameplay process, since everyhing you do with square button. attack=square, run=hold square and walk, defend=hold square while standing, launch=up and square, slide= down and square.... you get the idea. Only a small amount of actions require other inputs, and that makes it feel a little bit boring after a while, since you start feeling like a little kid mashing the square button. It also makes it difficult to try to play with advanced tactics, for instance: if you want to deliver a 4 hit combo, slide, launch the oponent and defend after, it translates into 4 squr, down squr, up squr and hold squr; so, it kind of difficults efective coordination. Another negative aspect is the lack of diverse character classes, since you're restricted to 3 warrior tanks, 2 offensive spellcasters and 1 rogue which is more of an archer type; it would've been nice to get more rogue jobs (a proper thief, like Ranie but playable) and a cleric/acolyte class. Overall they're a small nuissance, but one that manages to take perfection away from this game. In any case, this is a must have if you're either nostalgic, fond of adventures, eager for local multiplayer or a fan of medieval fantasies.

First of all, I understand this game was made by a small studio, and that it's not really a triple A game or anything of the sort; I admire them for improving so much in their first effort and delivering a functional game........ that said, after playing the soul's series, Dragon's dogma, Elder scrolls, a little bit of The Witcher, etc, etc, it just can't compete. You have 4 setups: magical, archery, stealth and melee. Archery and stealth are decent, magical really shines with the card system and the ability to personalize your spells, but melee, oh boy, it's a train wreck. Controls are imprecise, action is dull, hit detection doesn't feel very good, lock on is really bad, and in the end it all feels really clunky. Had this been released at the beggining of the generation, it may have had a place in the action/RPG foodchain as the first "prototype" of the genre (on this generation at least); but as it stands now, it just feels outdated, I could not bring myself to advance even halfway through the game. Other nuissances worth mentioning: voice acting is really bad, graphics aren't very good, animations are stiff and even weird sometimes, among others. It''s all forgivable, but the thing that ruined the game for me was the close quarters combat, since it's my favourite gameplay style in these games. I know I may be biased, since a guy who likes magic may get tons of fun from the spellcasting aspect, but if you're anything like me and always go for a Knight/fighter/barbarian, don't bother with this game.............. only recommended if you're in withdrawal syndrome until Dark souls II comes along

Amazing dark fantasy RPG, combat doesn't have the finesse of Demons/Dark souls, but the availability of skills allows you to design all kinds of crazy combos and interesting tactics. Contrary to Elder scrolls and the souls series, gameplay is restricted to the job you choose (mage, fighter, etc) but you can change such job anytime you want, and some of the abilities from the job leveling system (augment) remain available even if you change vocation. It's a very addictive system in which you keep leveling different vocations to gain the best augments for your particular playstyle. Similar to other current RPGs, you also get unbelievable battles against huge monsters, and in this department, I gotta say Dragon's Dogma pulled it off perfectly. These fights feel visceral, grand scale, and brutal, with the special mechanic being the fact that you can actually climb the beasts and hack at weak spots similar to Shadow of the collossuss. My only gripe is the restricted Fast traveling system, hell, you don't even get a mount; but it's a minor issue, and I have to say it really gives it this special flavour of being on a long journey. A must have for Medieval RPG fans, and easily gets a spot in the Dark Epic Fantasy nirvana along with Demon's souls, Dark souls, and the elder scrolls series.

An amazing game that truly shows what a true survival horror is all about, and it offers something that no previous survival has offered to date, an utterly useless protagonist. Even in the best examples of the genre, the tension gets watered down by an unusually strong protagonist with nerves of steel and armed to the teeth.......... it's hard to get scared when you're controlling the equivalent to bruce willis, even in silent hill where you're suposed to control an average joe, he suddenly gets the ability to wield any concievable firearm out of the blue. Amnesia finally does things right, he puts you in the shoes of a normal, frightened, vulnerable and harmless man, caught in supernatural circumstances that he can't fully understand. He shivers, pants, and tries to give comfort to himself every now and then, while crouching helpless in a corner....... just what any of us would do in such case scenario. The only complain I have for the game is the enemy variety, both brutes and grunts move and act the same, it would've been interesting to see additional enemies with diferent reactions to how you move and interact with the enviroment; a perfect example of this is the invisible thing at the beggining of the game. In any case this is a one of a kind experience, a true return of survival horrors and something that shouldn't be missed.

Amazing fighter, same as MK9 the combo system is pretty acomplished and challenging, as it leaves a lot of room for improvisation and style. Gameplay is a little more robust compared to MK9, the clash mechanic is genious, combos can be canceled to downward strikes and level transitions, arenas are interactive and the context is really over the top. Same as MK9 it offers a lot of sidemissions and unlockables to keep you busy, the only The only thing I really frown upon is the need for an online pass, still that shouldn't be detrimental to your experience as it's still great fun

I was not expecting this, the last few years have made me exceptionally picky about shooters; you get tons of them and they hardly ever have anything worthwile to diferenciate them from the bunch. Played the first Max Payne and loved it, but after nearly ten years and dozens of shooters along the way I was hoping for another corridor shooter with no soul.......... boy was I wrong. Max is as charming as I remember him, he's now middle aged and little more than a sewer rat, but he has this Bruce Willish air to him and hearing his gritty narration and wisecracks is a highlight in the game. Graphics are top notch, enemy AI is pretty decent, Rockstar shows again that no one does bullet time as well as they do, and the atmosphere is also incredible. Solid 8 for this one.

It would be satisfying enough if it were just the ping pong simulator, I mean, that thing is crazy good, I can't believe how well they meshed the wrist movements with the actual effects you put into the ball. Gladiator is also a favourite, and works well as a training exercise. The rest of the disciplines are just fillers, but overall it's a very complete package and an amazing title for the move. I would suggest you to buy it, but if you already bought the move chances are you already have it...... enjoy anyway

It may be a 6 but it's a good kind of 6, I'm having a blast with this game. If you buy it, think of it as a fitness program, not so much ****. As an interactive excercise it hits all the right spots: you sweat, you burn calories, the game encourages you to push forward, it gives you mild entertainment with the character customization/level progression/RPG elements, and after ending your session you feel good about yourself. Viewed purely as a game, it has a lot of faults: glitchy, calibration is a continous anoyance, half the moves they teach you don't work properly, head tracking (a huuuuuge factor in a boxing simulator) is horrible, enemy design is banal and uber generic (just like real life punks I guess), and the enviroment conditions for it to work properly are too quirky........ let's just say, I can only play it at night since the game keeps telling me it's too bright during day, no matter how many windows I shut. In the end I can only say it's the best fighting simulator I've ever seen, in both console or arcade, it really requires you to put an effort, keep your guard up and actually launch proper punches..... If you have a Move system, give it a try at least.

Probably just a little bit below 8. Don't get me wrong, the game is pretty good, it just didn't deliver as much as I hoped for (I'm probably a little biased as I was super hyped for it). The best aspects by far are the level design (already praised by many reviewers) and the stealth, which gave me a flashback to the old metal gear days. Once hits the fan and guards start to go after you, combat doesn't feel as crisp as i expected, is sort of clunky and chaotic, and it becomes evident that your powers are designed for stealth, not overt conflict. This I can forgive since you're an assassin, and....... well I guess you're not supposed to be proficient in both stealth and brawl, but whatever. Things I didn't like: the graphics, since they feel very dated (same issue as with Deus EX:HR); lack of skill development (your powers' scaling feels bland and straight forward, a scheeme similar to Skyrim's skill trees would've been much better). Overall it's a good package, and though it's a little bit short it surely ranks as one the best stealth games I've played of late.

The PS3 version of this game should be reviewed on 2 different aspects: The game itself: deserves nothing less of an 8. It's a huuuuuge game and does a very good job at keeping that adventure itch going on. Gameplay wise it good but it's nothing amazing, other games have done it better and it kind of lacks depth. The skill trees however are incredible, and all other RPGs should take notes about how to do a leveling scheme properly; it compensates the lack of depth with an abundance of skills, making you a highly specialized killing machine in the end without compromising your sense of freedom (kudos on this one). Magic implementation is another highpoint, the way you can mix spells in your hands is incredibly fluid and gives you a lot of satisfaction. The lowpoints: design is repetitive to hell, and once you've seen your first drough dungeon you've seen them all. It teases an abundance of hundreds of dungeons but in the end you only have 4 skins: drough dungeon, dwarves dungeon, caves, sanctuaries........... and of course a lot of castles and outdoors combat. Third person view is awful too, it's uncomfortable and you'll be forced to stay in first person through most of the game. The tecnical issues: minus 2 points (and I'm being generous). Issues have already been expressed in detail by other users. Patches have improved these issues, but it still isn't enough specially if you plan to make a +100 hour investment in the game. It was never such a letdown for me since I stopped playing at +90 hours out of boredom, and I tolerate tecnical issues pretty well. But bare in mind that if you're sensitive to such troubles, the score may sink further even to a 2-3. Overall a good game is a good game, and you should at least give it a shot

No matter what words spawn from my mouth, they won't make this game any justice. By now everything has already been said about it, I can only express how much of a masterpiece it is, and how it has redefined the medieval RPG action/adventure genre. It's the game I always yearned for, and it will remain one of the best games not only of this generation but of all time. Probably the thing I love about it the most is how it kind of mixes adventure-hack slash with survival horror, haven't felt so anxious during a game since the early silent hill/resident evil. And the whole thing just kind of spells Lovecraft al over the place, i love it.

Ok, let me start by saying traditional turn based RPGs are some of the games I'm most intolerant to, as I find them boring and can't go beyond 1/3 of the game before passing. I'm more of an action/adventure kind of guy, and coming from this background I can testify that this game is great. Don't know if it's the characters' charm, the well structured combat system or that pokemon "you gotta catch em' all" feeling that kept pushing me forward (even in the most tedious parts), but I've spent around a 100 hours playing and I'm seriously considering a second playthrough. Though I never played the original PS2 version, I've looked into all they changes they made for the VITA instalment and I'm shocked!! the additions merge so well with the original content that I can't believe the original version lacked them..... yes, it's that polished... and yes, it makes the original version seem incomplete in comparison. If you're like me and have serious reservations about this game because of your gaming background, do yourself a favor and at least rent it. Even if you don't completely dig the gameplay, if you're a fan of anime, chances are you're still gonna like the game anyways.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Not a full 10 score, but pretty close. Overall a nice step up from demon's souls, the open world is great, I also like the adition of covenants to mix things up in pvp, design is top notch as always, and of course ambientation, production values, depth,etc, etc. But what shines above all is the gameplay, the souls games have probably the best combat mechanics I have ever seen, they are intuitive, brutal, vast and full of depth; each weapon has it's own animations, and they all feel different. It's not a perfect game, it has rough edges here and there, graphics feel dated, framerate goes to hell on some locations, and sometimes controls are not as responsive. In terms of tools available for combat, some spells and miracles are overpowered, and prone to abuse; this makes some pvp matchups frustrating as the opponents use cheap tactics over and over again. Weapon refinement (wich was spot on in demons souls) is uneven and feels a little lacking; there is no longer a str/dex weapon upgrade path, so str/dex builds are doomed to stick with weapons you find in the environment that naturally scale with such stats, don't get me wrong, they are good, but sometimes I would like to have let's say a str scaling spear instead of another ultra weapon. All in all, this game may not be for everyone, but if it clicks with you then like me you will find one of the best games ever created......

the worst soul calibur to date. Just worth it if you are desperate for a dose of online combat. Single player is a trainwreck, the is a general storymode that follows the protagonists pyrra and patroklos, both of wich are annoying and **** you can't choose any other character. You like arcade mode in wich you can see all the posible endings of the characters? look somewhere else. Your favorite char was sazalamel, yun seung, seong mina, talim or setsuka? then go back to SC IV, both their playstyles and skins are gone in this one. You liked tower of lost souls and the other sidegames of previos instalments? gone too. Unlockable characters are baaad, 3 mimics, algol (who has nothing to do with the current plot) and upgraded versions of patroklos and pyrra. Design has dropped a few steps too, siegfried has the most boring and generic clothe designs, cervantes looks like a gay pirate, voldo looks taken straight from mardi gras, and astharot's second outfit is a stupid mecanical terminator like skin. The only redeeming qualities: the new characters, ZWEI, Viola and Ezio make fantastic additions and for once the guest character doesn't feel out of place with the whole game. Customization seems a little more robust at first glance. And online gameplay is more stable, and fights are as good as they've always been, it's a soul calibur afterall. Overall this is a lacklustre package, and certainly one not worth the wait

Who would've thought being a message boy could be so fun? I didn't expect much from this game, but I have to say it held his own pretty well. The combat is intense and visceral, it may be clunky at first, but once you aquire more skills and moves it gets the depth you were waiting for. Never since the day of the final fight/double dragon era has a beat em up game given me such fun. The game starts incredibly slow, and in the first hours you just ache for something interesting to happen, story feels boring and cheesy, combat is lacking, and you can only wonder why do such banal sidemissions exist? (teaching a dog tricks? making banana juice? do shopping?). But before you know it, yakuza gets it's claws on you, you develop an addiction to finish sidequests, just for the sake of seing what will happen next; characters become charming and likable; story becomes interesting (although it remains cheesy); and the combat becomes the most rewarding skull bashing parade I've seen in years (with some minor annoyances). It has many rough edges, and many will hate it, but I can almost say that if you can get past the first few hours you won't be able to leave it before finishing it.

I don't get why this game has such high scores, it's average at best. I'll get it to you straight, if you're a veteran gamer and looking for a good challenge, this is not for you. The only feature you may want this game for, is the fact that getting the platinum trophy is pretty easy, but be warned!!! two of the trophys may glitch on you. The gameplay is pretty bland, completely challengeless, and gets boring after a while. Although I have to admit painting a gray, colorless city and giving it life is kind of rewarding, but the way you're asked to acomplish this is meaningless. paint building A green, building B purple, bulding C and D brown; get red colour to press the red switch; ooohhh, you're feeling creative!!! ok, paint the rest of the buldings whatever colour you ****'s like being in a construction worker simulator. Every now and then a new game mechanic gets into the mix, but it never feels fresh enough to be engaging. Worst part is, the idea actually has potential, had the developer given you the chance to paint in a more artistic and selfexpressive way, the game would've been more interesting, or ground breaking at least. But the way it remains now just doesn't cut full prize for a game, after the first two missions finishing the game is more homework-like than fun-like. Kids may have a better use for it, and in that matter I have to say that de time countdown seems like an unnatural feature and more than one kid will sob at how their effort went down the drain because they didn't finish the mission in 15 min. Rental at best if you feel like smoking dope and watching all the cooooooloursss!!!