XboxSold.com BLOG

On-rails light gun action is what you’re getting with this PlayStation Move game called The Shoot. It’s called The Shoot because you’ll find yourself traveling through mock movie sets. Think of an updated Virtua Cop that takes you through generic film lots and you’ll be on the right track. We saw a science fiction-based “set,” and we were told that others are coming. In the end we’ll see a “Wild West” set and a haunted house/horror one among others.

I played this game last night over drinks. It’s a fine game to play when your drunk, actually. It uses one Move controller. You point it at the screen to aim, and the underside T trigger button fires. The game is best known for the crazy motions you’ll have to perform to do special moves. Jabbing down at the ground throws a shockwave. Jabbing the controller up does a rampage-ish attack. Leaning your entire body from side to side dodges projectiles. The most entertaining move requires you to twirl your entire body around in a circle to trigger a sort of slow-motion mode that makes it easier to shoot enemies. I was in the company of friends, piers, and hot women, so I was really hesitant to do the spin. It turns out that I’m not alone.

Senior producer James Hawkins admits that some that play are hesitant to do the motions, though he also feels its likely due to the setting.  He thinks that letting loose would help people appreciate the game more: “With all of the moves, you’re getting a bit more than the standard rail shooter, where you would shoot five times, reload, shoot five times.”

The game is still early. I played the entire two stage demo, but Hawkins told me that I’ve only seen about 1/5 of one stage, and that there are 5 stages in all. I was told about secret stages and more special moves, but those will be revealed at a later time.

The Shoot will be released right around the Move’s launch.

I know that we finally got to see a bit of what Microsoft had up their sleeves for mobile gaming at the recent Mobile Congress. I’d guess that anyone even remotely interested sat up and took notice of the changes Windows 7 Mobile would bring to your pocket. Today I got a better look at how gaming is going to work on the platform.

Everything from the slick W7M interface to the Xbox Live integration impressed in this meeting with Charlie Kindel, program manager for the Windows Phone Application Platform & Developer Experience, and Michael Klucher, lead program manager at XNA Game Studio. What’s most exciting is how Microsoft has enabled game developers to easily bring quality connected experiences to W7M. It’s apparent that Microsoft cares about having quality games on Windows 7 Mobile, and they’re going out of their way to make this happen.

On a Windows 7 Mobile phone there’s an Xbox Live tile. By touching that, you’ll be able to see all the games you’ve purchased on the service on your phone. I’m glad that Microsoft is going with what they’re calling a managed collection of games. They’re working with several game developers to create a managed portfolio of high quality games that will be featured within the Windows 7 Mobile interface.

There’s a games hub that does quite a bit more than simply launching your games collection. A section has news about games, including editorial content on offered and owned games. There’s Xbox Live integration that gives you access to everything form to your avatar to Gamerscore and Achievements. All the social networking aspects are also built in. Notices and game invites seem to be easily manageable.  I saw an example based on a checkers game. There were multiple sessions in varying states. By clicking on any of them, the player could continue the next move and then send their status back to their opponent. The player would receive notifications on new turns and challenges within the interface.

The games I saw were prototypes, but they did a pretty good job of showing where Microsoft is headed with mobile gaming. XNA Game Studio 4.0’s power was shown off a bit in a couple of these games. The goal with these examples was to demonstrate what is possible with the platform. A game named Harvest, created by Luma Arcade, was developed in only three weeks. This was a full 3D fighting adventure with impressive visuals and destructible terrain, all controlled by touch. Within the game, I saw an example of an Achievement notification. A horizontal bar dropped over the game from the top, coming with the same Achievement sound effect you’d expect to hear on your Xbox 360. Of course, your Achievements on your phone will add to your overall Gamerscore that you’ve already started on your Xbox 360. 

Gravity Bear and Mythos Labs put together a game called Battle Punks. This example showed off some of the casual gaming options for the platform, including Facebook integration. Simple character customization came complete with Achievements. This game had two 3D characters battling by screen tapping.

Portability was demonstrated in a very simple platformer. I was able to see the same game experience running on the Xbox 360, PC and a Windows 7 Mobile phone. The Xbox 360 and PC version were identical. On the phone, the look was similar, but the game was presented upright, in a portrait mode. This changed the landscape a bit, though you could easily see that it is a related experience. The control also changed, using the phone input options.

It’s nice to see how much of a focus Microsoft has placed on gaming for Windows 7. Later this year we’ll get our first taste of finished W7M games from publishers like EA, PopCap, Konami and others. We’ll be looking forward to seeing some of these titles in the near future.

When I was watching Sony’s presentation for their motion sense enabled Move Party game this afternoon, I was kind of hung up on the person playing the game. She reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t put my finger on who it was. It was almost to the point where I wasn’t paying attention to the game.  I still haven’t figured out who she reminded me of, but for now, Amber Lamps makes a good stand-in. Can you see it? Maybe it’s the leggings.

As for the demonstration, this looks like a mix of EyeToy game play with a wand-style controller. You’ll see the controller take on other forms with some pretty slick overlays in the video. What you’re getting here is some casual, family style gaming. Swatting bugs, drawing triangles, shaving heads. What do you expect from something called Move Party? I appreciate that they’re showing off early Move tech, but I hope there’s something a bit cooler up Sony’s sleeve.

Maybe an Epic Beard Man fighting game?

Nick and I are here at Sony’s press event, and when we walked in and took our front row seats, we found that we were flanked by Sony’s yet-to-be-named motion controllers. We don’t know what’s going on yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as you know.

If you want the absolute latest, follow @dalenorth and @nickchester on Twitter.

We’ve heard a bit from an unnamed source, actually. Before even seeing it, we hear that the device has a globe that changes colors to indicate players. There’s a trigger button called the T button. There’s a ring of buttons around a center button. We are hearing that the buttons are a little weird, though we’re not quite sure what that means.

More to come in the next hour or so. Stay tuned.

Update: There’s a game called Move Party on stage. Looks silly. It’s officially called PlayStation Move.

I put together a little preview of upcoming PSP role-playing game Hexyz Force the other day. Perhaps you were thinking that you’d like to see a bit more of the game. If so, I have some new screenshots and art for you to look at.

The new shots give you a peek at how the game is actually two separate story lines following two separate characters. They combine into one wholesome JRPG by the folks at Sting, which you’ll remember from games like Knights of the Nightmare and Yggdra Union. I liked what I saw, but I need to spend a bit more time with the game to give it a solid call. Look for more on it soon. For now, check out our gallery with plenty of new screens.

Hexyz Force is scheduled to release in stores on May 25th and via PlayStation Network (no load times!) on May 27th. Both versions have an MSRP of $29.99.

…then you have no gaming soul. Or, you hate JRPGs, dungeon crawlers, the Nintendo DS or Atlus. Or, you hate me.

No, really. Atlus has released the first full trailer for their upcoming DS game, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. It’s the game I always wanted but never knew I would be getting on the DS.  I mean, it’s rated M for Mature, and has “partial nudity” and “sexual themes.” There’s a dick-faced phallus-like demon. I had a hard time fighting him.

It know it sounds weird, but it all works out well, as you can see in our review. This new trailer does a really good job of giving you an idea about the storyline and setting. You also get a taste of the game’s epic musical score. And, as I said in the headline, it gets you pumped up for its upcoming release. Hell, it gets me pumped up, and I’ve already played it.

Just released in Japan about a month ago, Dragon Quest VI DS, the remake of the Super Famicom RPG, is finally already coming here. It’s almost an overload for DQ fans, as Dragon Quest IX is also supposed to be coming this year.

I’m glad that we’ll be able to wrap up the IV-VI block soon, too. I mean, this latest one has slime curling, just like in the Olympics. You can’t just leave me hanging on slime curling, Square Enix.

Amazon.com is ready for your Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie pre-orders as of today. It’s $34.99 as of now. The site does not have an official release date yet, but I’m feeling pretty good about it being soon seeing as how they are already taking orders.

Damn, my gaming schedule is already packed. How am i going to fit this one in?

[Thanks, Supa_S]

Atlus was nice enough to stop by Destructoid HQ to give us a first look at their progress on a the portable version of a game they already know I love: Persona 3. Persona 3 Portable came out in Japan not too long ago, and it seems like the localization process started not too long after. From what I could tell from the build Atlus brought, it seems like they’re right on track for the July 6th release. Good to see.

I got to see some of of the changes in the console version as well as check out some of the key story scenes featuring the female protagonist. That’s right: if you haven’t heard, you’ll be able to replay Persona 3 as a girl this time.

Read on to check out some of the changes you can expect in Persona 3 Portable.

First off, let’s talk about the technical changes. The PSP game will support installation to Memory Stick to dramatically reduce load times. The game is already fast, but this will make it even faster.

The new navigation cuts out walking in favor of a highlight spot that you use to select interaction points. Using either the analog nub or the d-pad, you just point to a person or object to interact. Hitting the R button toggles a hot spot indicator. While I kind of enjoyed the on-foot exploration, I like how this method is a bit faster. If you’ve played this game a couple of times, you’ll also likely enjoy getting to the point a bit faster. On top of that, this method of navigation seems to make more sense for the portable screen size and the lack of a second analog control stick assigned to camera control.

As far as the game itself, there are plenty of changes, but I think you’ll agree after reading this that they’re almost all for the better.

Here are the big things: The dialogue is different as a girl, naturally. Along with this comes brand new Social Link opportunities, this time with the boys. You also have full control over your party now. There’s now part-time jobs you can take, just like in Persona 4. For all the aesthetic changes you might think you’re going to miss, there’s significant game play improvements. I’d take more save spots over a 2 minute anime clip any day.

The cutscenes are no longer animated. Before you get too upset, think about it. It makes sense. With two choices for main characters, there would need to be double the cutscenes, with the female set requiring a full reworking. Another issue is size, as double the cutscenes would require double the storage space. Know that elements, like art and stills, have been taken from the cutscenes and are used in story segments, so you may not miss the full movies as much. Watching one early scene that takes place before the first key battle, I had to be reminded about how different it was in the original. The original had much more going on, but I honestly didn’t miss it or even realize it until I was reminded.

One thing Persona 3 players had concern with is the fatigue model. It has been redone in P3P, working closer to that of Persona 4. You’ll get tired less often, which means less retreating. Save spots are also far more plentiful, so you don’t find yourself flinging your PSP against a wall after losing 5 floors of progress to an untimely death.

The menu looks a bit different now. There are slight tweaks, and if you’re playing as a girl, everything’s pink.

As far as the sound goes, there’s new music. The score is a sort of upgrade, consisting of both new tunes and some remixes of old ones. I was also told that there is a lot of new recorded voice for the game, so look forward to that.

The only other change I can think of that’s of note is that “The Answer” chapter from Persona 3: FES is not included in P3P. Game play enhancements and tweaks that came with FES are included, though.

Assuming you’ve played either Persona 3, know that I was able to check out the section of the game right after the intro, getting into the part right before the protagonist receives their power. At this stage of localization, the text was in English, but the voices were still in Japanese. They’ve still got a couple of months to go on this.

Even around this stage, early on, I was able to see the differences in how relations shift with a female as the main character. Just before the very first charge into battle, Junpei sounds a bit different than he did with a male protagonist assigned. For example, he sounds cautious of a female taking lead in this first battle, remarking that she’s “just a girl.”

Even early on, Junpei seems to show some interest in the main character. He’s warming up to her, it seems. In the end, just about all of the game’s major male characters will be “available.” Heck, there’s even a change in the Velvet Room for the girl side of the game. Get this: you can even have a relationship with Ken, the youngest main character in the game. I’m not judging you if you want to go that route.

I was able to see Yukari’s budding relationship with the female protagonist as well. Yukari shares more as a friend, and relates in a totally different way than before with a male protagonist. The dynamic is totally different now. For example, in an early scene where the main character is being visited in the hospital, Yukari says, “Us second year girls have to stick up for each other after all.”

As far as game play goes, I got to poke around in a few battles in different stages in the game. In the first battle, I got to hear the new battle music. It’s no “Mass Destruction,” but I still love it. Shuffle Time also changed, and seems a bit more like Persona 4’s version. Later, I got to use Atlus’ debug save file to battle in Tatarus, with all characters at max level, 999 hit points. Everything was one-hit kills. Good times. Controls were snappy and the loading was fast. Best of all, the game translates very well to the PSP’s screen. In fact, the PSP’s screen flatters the game a bit. At the time, the female protagonist’s equipped armor was called Battle Panties.

I forgot how much I love this game.

Sure, it’s smaller, but this is Persona 3 at its best and most enhanced form. It takes every improvement from Persona 3: FES and Persona 4, adds a female protagonist, many new story elements and social links, and sticks it in your pocket. What else do you even need?

Persona 3 Portable will be released on July 6th for $39.99.

I really dug Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, but I want to be clear on what type of gamer I think will also enjoy Atlus’ latest DS title and Shin Megami Tensei game.

If you are a gamer that has roots in the earliest Shin Megami Tensei series games, I’m sure you’ve already pre-ordered this, knowing exactly what to expect. Likewise, the savvy gamer that jokingly calls this game SMT: Etrian Odyssey surely knows what they’re buying. This is a big, console-sized dungeon crawler in a little tiny package, and it gets back to the series’ roots. If you’re looking for that, this is your game.

On the other hand, if you came into Atlus games later, and find that most of your enjoyment of the Persona series was the social links and the cute girls, and you found yourself running through dungeons to get to the next story bit, you might want to try Strange Journey before you buy. Or read our review.

Strange Journey (DS)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Released: March 23, 2010

The bottom side of planet Earth rips open and badness begins spilling out. Naturally, Earth’s citizens freak out with weird demons running topside. Somehow Earthlings picked the inconvenient name “Schwarzwelt” for this hole in the South Pole, and now the world’s governments have come together to create an international task force to investigate this mysterious portal. You play as a member of that task force, and upon investigating you end up in a bad situation right off the bat, stuck in another dimension alongside all the rest of the expedition team. And wouldn’t you know it: there’s a ton of demons inside this hole, and you’re not getting out any time soon.

Atlus brings the science fiction in a big way to Strange Journey, going way past the older games’ cyberpunk feel and right into stuff like parallel dimensions, teleportation, and a cast that’s always wearing spacey suits. But don’t worry: if you love the Atlus demons and mythology, as they’re all still here. In fact, the blend of science fiction and the demon world makes for a very interesting foundation to build a story on. I’ve crawled many a dungeon in my day, but this game manages to feel fresh and exciting in comparison.

Your team’s downed exploration craft, the Red Sprite, plays as a sort of home base for the entire game. In this craft you’ll find a laboratory (store), sick bay (healing) and Command Room (story and saving), and you’ll retreat there when you’re not exploring dungeons. Having all of these conventional RPG spots combined in one mobile craft makes for a very convenient vehicle [pun!], especially seeing has how this craft is capable of traveling to other dimensions. The Red Sprite is also where you’ll receive your commands from. A rather talky ship AI bot will dole out missions between dungeons, and you can always head back to get more guidance.

That’s mostly what you’ll be doing: exploring varied dimensions in an attempt to find your way out of this Schwarzwelt and regroup/not die. But instead of the demonic looking world you’d normally expect, each dimension’s setting acts as a sort of social commentary on the world today. For instance, one dungeon looks like a demonic version of a shopping mall, and the message there seems to point to human consumption and greed, with the endless rows of food and “BUY! BUY! BUY!” signs everywhere. Another dungeon is a bit more horny, and looks like a massive red light district. Eventually you begin to see that the demon inhabitants of the Schwarzwelt disapprove of what humans have done with Earth, and the whole game ends up making you a bit more environmentally aware.

Strange Journey is a first-person dungeon crawler, much like Atlus’ Etrian Odyssey. In fact, it shares the same graphics engine. The top DS screen will display your first-person views during exploration and in battles. The bottom is mostly used as a map for each dungeon floor, with an auto-mapping feature that will help you get lost a bit less. It also serves as a menu screen while you’re managing your demons and stats. There’s very little touchscreen support built in; the most useful function for the touchscreen is the ability to scroll dungeon floor maps freely. Otherwise, you’re using the d-pad and buttons to navigate this world and the game menus.

You’ll be thankful for that dedicated map screen, as the Schwarzwelt is a huge maze of mazes, complete with all the SMT trappings you’d expect, like trap doors in floors, false walls, hidden paths, and teleportation. And just when you begin to feel comfortable knowing that your every step and turn is mapped out for you, the Schwarzwelt pulls a fast one and puts in you in an un-mappable zone or a flipped dimensional path, where you’re walking virtual hallways, wondering where you’ll come out. Strange Journey’s dungeons are dungeons for fans of the genre, though seasoned players will find that save points and healing terminals are a bit more frequent than they’d normally expect. In other words, these mazes will leave your mind appropriately scrambled, but you’ll rarely find yourself discouraged from too much lost progress, as you likely saved not too long ago.

Another aspect of the games that keeps these dungeons more interesting than in your typical crawler is the ability to find raw materials called Forma. Your standard crawl becomes a sort of treasure hunt looking for these strange items. Once acquired, you can take them back to the Red Sprite’s lab to be developed into something you can use. You’ll eventually gain powers that let you find other items to make you even more powerful. Your weapons, armor, items and more will be created from this Forma.

The auto-mapping, item finding and many other cool features are all related to your Demonica Suit. The futuristic suit that protects you from the otherwordly elements also has every role-playing bell and whistle you could imagine built in. Everything from demon contact to item management is facilitated by this suit. Your first person view on the game is actually presented through the Demonica’s visor and HUD. When you first encounter an enemy, it shows up on your HUD as static, which prevents you from using any kind of strategy. You’ll just have to blindly attack, but as you do so, your Demonica Suit gathers information. After enough battles, you’ll finally see the demons you’re encountering, working up to the point where you have every stat on this demon, including their strengths, weaknesses, and powers. Aside from battle, you’ll be able to manage and fuse your acquired demons right from your Demonica’s HUD. The guys back at the Red Sprite lab can also develop new powers for your suit using the previously mentioned Forma, like the ability to regenerate hit points, or the ability to fend off demons. With this suit, there’s no running back to a town to get things done; you’re free to stop at any time and do anything you’d need.

Strange Journey wouldn’t be a Shin Megami Tensei game without the demon battle aspects. All the demons you know are here as well as many more you’ve never seen before — hundreds of new ones that you’ll have to narrow down to the 12 you can carry with you. No worries, there’s still a demon compendium you can keep to summon any you’ve acquired later. Just as in other series games, you’ll encounter demon enemies that can be recruited as allies through some smooth talking and bribing. In this game you’re able to fight alongside 3 demons of your choosing, using Atlus’ beloved Press Turn battle system to take on enemy demons. As always, you’ll be able to fuse two or more demons into something new and (hopefully) stronger. A new twist on fusion is the Demon Source. You’ll acquire these Source pieces from demons you’ve fought alongside with, as a sort of thanks from them. You can use this Source as a sort of ingredient in fusion, passing along some of the granter’s powers and spells to your new creation.

A new password system lets you skip fusion and take the easy way out. Players of this game can share codes assigned to each demon, letting others effectively borrow their demon creation. Stats and skills travel with this unique password, too. Seeing as how I’ve been the localized version of Strange Journey months before its release, I had no one to trade codes with. Luckily Atlus was kind enough to generate some for me. You’ll use an alphanumeric pad to enter a two line password into your compendium, and from there you can summon it. I was thankful for stylus support, as the passwords are long and funky. For those wondering, I did try some passwords from the Japanese version of the game, and none of them seemed to work.

Another new demon feature carries into battle. If you and your summoned demons are of the same mindset and you manage to exploit an enemy’s weakness, those demons will follow up with an automatic cooperative attack.  This adds to your demon choosing strategy and expands on the Press Turn weakness exploiting game play. If you set your roster right, you’ll get in free hits, allowing you to take down even bosses faster. I always appreciate when RPG bosses are not exempt. On a related note, bosses also are susceptible to status ailments in Strange Journey, as they rightly should be. I took down what would normally be a fairly difficult boss by casting mute on him, leaving him powerless.

Overall, between the tried-and-true weakness exploiting and these new demon ability upgrades, Strange Journey’s battle system really pops. It’s not as upbeat as a later Persona game, but it definitely has its charms, and much of that lies in the massive pool of demons you can draw from. This one, more than any other SMT game I’ve played, found me working to tool very specific demons for my needs at the time. Being able to tinker and create the best party for each dungeon worked out to be pretty fun. The mazes and gradually increased difficulty will challenge you, but I never felt like I was stretched thin, and I never found myself frustrated from lost progress. It’s not an easy game, but there seemed to be a nice balance that made me feel like these dungeons would be pretty approachable to anyone interested.

You might not expect much from the presentation of a 3D first-person view DS role-playing game, but I think Strange Journey turned out pretty well. The textures of the walls of the dungeons vary greatly in quality, but overall I think they did a pretty good job. You’ll find that the game starts to have a pretty dark color pallete and features underground locales, but it does open up, and you do get to step outside a bit and see more color. One thing you cannot get away from is the overwhelming presence of the color blue in the game. I suppose it fits with the South Pole setting, but even the menus and dialogue boxes are blue. The demons themselves look great, both in battle and out. In battle, they have strong, clear presentations and even basic (and sometimes funny) animations. In your demon compendium and in the menus, the art for each is detailed and fantastic. A key part of Strange Journey’s presentation is the music, composed by Atlus musician Shoji Meguro. Low brass and string dirges are tinged with deep-voiced chanting and humming, setting the underworld tone perfectly. All of the score manages to be dark and unsettling, but still maintains that Meguro groove somehow. A real high point is the rousing battle theme, which you’ll hear hundreds of times, but will likely never tire of.

As far as Nintendo DS role-playing games go, this is new favorite, hands down. But then again, I’m a huge fan of both dungeon crawling and Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei series games. For me, Strange Journey was a match made in heaven, with its unique blend of science fiction and demonic themes. Even beyond that, it’s the “more” I’ve been craving since Nocturne, and despite being on a portable, feels like a huge console game. But, as I said before, this is not a light-hearted romp that has you dating high-school girls and working part-time jobs. You’ve got to know what you’re getting into. If you do, Strange Journey is highly recommended.

Score: 9 — Superb (9s are a hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won’t cause massive damage to what is a supreme title.)