Atari has partnered with the Federation Equestre Internationale FEI (International Equestrian Federation) to release My Horse and Me, a “realistic and immersive” horseback riding and equestrian simulation, this fall for the Wii.
The game is being developed by W!Games, which is also making a version for the PC. The game marks the studio’s freshman effort, an arguably unconventional way to hit the ground running. Mistic ( Totally Spies 2: Undercover) is handling the game’s DS duties.
According to Atari, the game will feature “extensive customization,” a first and third-person mode, and “the most accurate horse models and animations yet realized in a video game,” an area of game design I can honestly say is probably largely unexplored.
My Horse and Me will also include a variety of modes and minigames, as well as a globetrotting (har, a pun!) tournament including both indoor and outdoor locations “from rustic stables and classical riding schools to world-class tournament locations.”
Pokemon Battle Revolution would have been a solid Wii launch title. This makes sense, since it did hit shelves then in Japan, but the late U.S. release had players expecting a bit more. They didn’t get it.
The previous console iterations, such as the GameCube’s Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD, had loads of extra features, from expansive single-player modes with varied, complex gameplay to minigames and other utilities for the handheld title. With Battle Revolution, the developers scaled back to even less than the original Pokemon Stadium for the N64, leaving only a very simple one-player mode and a few multiplayer battles.
For those looking to check out the game that don’t own a DS or the new games, forget it. PBR does feature A
Having played the original Final Fantasy on the NES, I feel a special nostalgia for this game. So when I had the chance to relive my memories, I jumped at it with a special zeal or fervor. Not many games can boast of launching a highly respected and successful line of games known for their exquisite plots, characters and gameplay. As I plugged my UMD into my PSP, I couldn’t help but wonder: Was it really all that I had remembered?
Four heroes appear out of the mist, each with a crystal and a single destiny to bring the world back to order. Really, the story is barely worth mentioning as there is little character development and even less plot devices to thrust the tale along. What really matters is the constitution of your party and how well you balanced out your powers as a group. And while you could feasibly play as four Warriors for the challenge, it just makes sense to include an adequate amount of healing, magic and brute strength to cull through the enemies the game throws at you.
It is hard not to judge Final Fantasy by today’s standards especially in the gameplay arena. This title is the definition of turn-based combat, with only minor thought-processes needed to calculate out how to best defeat your enemies. The game feels constrained with little room to explore and play. Compound that by the lack of challenge and you have a limited and linear game that doesn’t carry many wow factors. Even the elevation of my thief to a ninja barely registered on the interest scale for me.
Where the game does shine is in its beautifully rendered graphics that rival some current RPG titles on the PSP. Even where the graphics are lacking it has a certain retro feel that suits the material rather than detracts from it. In fact, the newly updated cut-scenes seem more out of place in the content than the almost minimalistic area mapping resident in the game. It holds to the memory of the game without compromising the integrity, and that is enough for me.
Overall time hasn’t been kind to Final Fantasy, especially being held up to contemporary titles. The game works better as a time capsule, a harbinger from a different world that deserves to be studied and remembered, and played by those who want to know where we have come from, to see where we are going. It is worth playing as a time-waster, it is worth playing for the perfectly balanced updating of the past, but those seeking some mystical glimpse of the beginning of things may walk away less than satisfied.
E3 2007, the much anticipated, never duplicated, and largely restructured event from years’ past is now in the books, leaving many attendees looking back as they evaluate the proverbial good, bad, and ugly. For me at least, there was a lot to like about the show, which moved from the chaotic stomping grounds of Los Angeles to the more serene Santa Monica, this year taking up residence in a handful of hotels rather than the LA Convention Center. In many ways this proved to be a positive move for the event, as developers and marketing reps were able to spread their wings and speak to much smaller groups of people for longer periods of time, making Q&A sessions more viable and altogether resulting in a much more relaxing experience.
That’s the good part.
The flip side to this is that while on the map these hotels, six in all, look to the casual observer to be well within walking distance, in practice many are anything but, meaning that scheduling suffered, and many such as myself who had planned appointments based on previous years’ experience found that there simply was not enough time to account for the walk. And while shuttles and taxi cabs presented another option for journalists, many times the wait and traffic, especially in the evenings, presented another hurdle altogether.
So, as said, there were things to like about this year, but as I overheard while waiting in line for the Activision press conference, one person said it best by referring to the event as A
Few developers have the audacity to go against the grain, but Atlus is one of the few that manages to get away with it consistently. In fact, their Shin Megami Tensei (Megaten) line of RPGs basically thrives on its distance from the happy go-getter fantasy worlds or angst-riddled, steampunk universes that comprise the overwhelming majority of today’s Japanese RPGs. And while some standard JRPG fundamentals worm their way into Persona 3, the game is certainly unique, both from other JRPGs and even from its Megaten brethren.
Anyone who has played one of the long-running Megaten titles knows, generally, what to expect, and Persona 3 does not disappoint. A large and diverse cast of weird demons? Check. Some irreverent and usually twisted historical, religious, or sociological allusions? Check. Combat strategy centered on exploitation of enemies’ elemental weaknesses? A lot of weird items to collect and quests to accomplish? An overly sardonic tone? Tons of abilities that work in tandem? Check, check, check, and check. Persona 3 has all of this; players familiar with Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga, Devil Summoner, or the previous Persona titles will feel right at home here. After all, what other series would force characters to literally shoot themselves in the head with an Evoker (which looks exactly like a revolver) every time they want to use a skill or spell?
Newcomers, though, need not feel overwhelmed; Persona 3 features a few allusions from the Megaten and Persona series, but it is very much its own game. Likewise, Megaten followers will not feel as though they’ve already been down this particular road. In short, the game takes place over a school year. The protagonist and his allies all belong to a secret club in their high school devoted to repelling the shadows that infest the world during the A
