PlayStation4 (PS4) Dead or Alive 5 Last Round Game Review Complete

Genre: Fighting, 3D Fighting

Developer: Team Ninja

Publisher: Koei Corp

ESRB Rating: Mature

Release Date: February 17, 2015

What do you think when the name Dead or Alive comes up? Most of the gamers of course already very understand what can be anticipated from this fighting game franchise. The interference of Keoi Tecmo and Team Ninja does make Dead or Alive present as a unique product, especially from the design of female characters that deserve to be called the best in the gaming industry. Combining the fun gameplay mechanics of combat, the pampering design of female characters, and the always tempting sensuality, Dead or Alive seems to know exactly how to grab the attention of gamers. Now they are trying to upgrade it to a higher level, through the HD Remaster process for the latest generation platform. Say welcome to Dead or Alive 5: Last Round!

Gameplay mechanically, Last Round does not inject any new things that are significant enough to be discussed. Since it was introduced for the first time, Team Ninja focuses on only two things that are the main selling points - the latest "Soft Engine" engine implementation that is said to be able to visualize human skin more realistically and of course the presence of two new characters, one of which indeed exclusively designed only for Last Round. Most of the screenshots and trailers released over the past few months seem to lead to one similar conclusion, that Team Ninja keeps the Dead or Alive 5: Last Round "female character" as the main spearhead.

So, what is actually offered by Dead or Alive 5: Last Round this? Why do we call it a game that offers a more perfect quality of sensuality? This review will discuss it more deeply for you.

The Experience Is Not Much Different 

Given the side of the gameplay, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round actually does not carry significant changes to be discussed. In addition to several series that offer some new characters, he remains Dead or Alive that you are familiar with. Therefore, the reviews we have time to throw for the previous generation version is actually still relevant to describe what kind of experience you can anticipate from this one game.

"One thing that can be concluded with certainty from Dead or Alive 5 is the success of Team Ninja to present it as a competitive fighting game, but on the other hand, it is still fun. The simplicity of key inputs that can be required will make you more focused on applying the right strategy and timing to attack and persist, instead of thinking about recalling complex attack inputs. Through three main buttons - attacking, defending and slamming, you can create so many deadly combos, juggling, and utilizing existing Danger Zones and Cliffhanger. With Power Blows, you are given the opportunity to create a more dynamic atmosphere of the game.

Of all the elements that he offers, Dead or Alive 5 does appear as a fighting game that is almost perfect. Design a sensual female character and pamper the eyes into extra value that will make you feel at home playing this game for a long time. Beautiful animations, cinematic and dramatic attack movements, there is almost no shortage to be extracted from this fifth Dead or Alive series. The only disturbing thing might be on the unclear side of the plot. So many characters, so many interactions, and so many battles that are produced, but end up with countless stories. The existing dialogues are also not characterized. Team Ninja failed to perform optimally in this one aspect.

Apart from this little flaw, Dead or Alive 5 is a fighting game that must be played by you who are fond of the genre of simple fighting, let alone you men. A fighting game that combines the pleasure and spirit of competition through the battle mechanism and visual design is certainly not something that is easily found today. Dead or Alive 5 does a great job. "

Welcoming the Soft Engine!

Regardless of the basic mechanical changes of the battle that are no different than the original version, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round certainly offers some novelty as the main selling point, to make it look as an interesting series to glance back. One of them is the latest generation debut engine from Team Ninja - Soft Engine. In accordance with the name that he stretcher, Team Ninja claims that "Soft" here trying to represent the quality of human skin is more realistic, making it feel smooth and soft. Not only that, they will also improve the quality of character texture as the core of a HD Remaster process. The result? Quite awesome.

Soft Engine in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round that we tasted it did not feel phenomenal, unlike the engine changes made 4A Games for Metro 2033 Redux, for example. But you can see clearly that this engine does make all the female characters Dead or Alive 5: Last Round looks much more indulgent eyes. The impression that the skin that envelopes every three-dimensional model is more subtle indeed feels quite subtle, especially with the detail of the face that now looks more sharp. But the biggest thumbs up should be directed at eye design that makes the Soft Engine illusion even stronger, making all of these female characters look like beautiful dolls, or arguably, the typical perfect lady you've probably only imagined. Team Ninja knows very well how to implement this engine perfectly.

Not only face, body (or in particular - breast) every female character is now also wrapped with the same technology. You can see the skin texture is more pale and impressed more smooth. No kidding for this one affair, Team Ninja even pinning an additional Breast Physics for gamers who are focused on "plot" this one. Not only offering options for breast movement at Off, Normal, and DOA levels, now an extra option - Last Round is also offered. Movement offered feels more realistic, a little bouncy, but not too much like the setting of "DOA" itself. But for those of you who are not too concerned about this one aspect, this option will pass without contributing significant experience.

Soft Engine does make the sensuality of every female character up to a higher level, making this fighting game increasingly spoil the eye. The problem is, as you can predict from all our conversations above, it all seems to focus on the existing female character. While on the other hand, the visual quality of male characters that existed seemed to have not improved anything. They are still present with dark skin, a texture that feels more rugged, inversely proportional to what is offered Team Ninja to Kasumi et al. As one of the gamers who are focused on the character of women, this does not bother us. Only, when these two genders fight in the same arena, you can see clearly the difference we are talking about. The only male character who might look more "cared for" is Bayman. As for male characters who focus more on costumes like Ryu or Hayate, the texture of their clothes is now much sharper.

The sharper faces and body details are just a few of the visual rendering the Soft Engine has to offer. The process for changing this high definition texture is also done to produce better sweat and water effects. As we know, to bring a better sensual atmosphere, every character's outfit can indeed get wet when faced with water. Details of wet clothes is of course seen more clearly in the Last Round. Not only wet, every drop of sweat that appears on the face or body of characters when the middle of the fight also looks more clear and detailed. Lighting and shadow also look more realistic here.

Is this significant for gameplay? Of course not. It can be concluded that Soft Engine was built to maximize the effects of Dead or Alive 5 cosmetics itself, resulting in the latest generation platform effect that is worth it. Especially on Playstation 4, the version we tested, with the Share button easier, you can share screenshots of your favorite characters into the world. Spectator Mode that will play Replay battles that you save can be positioned just like Photo Mode is being a trend in the latest outbound games, such as The Last of Us Remastered or Shadow of Mordor. By accessing this one mode. You can set the camera, zoom, dismiss the moment of the fight there, to "enjoy" Soft Engine is with more leverage.

Coupled with a series of costumes on offer, from crossover themes with other Tecmo Koei games, to just a sexy bikini, all support Soft Engine effects.

Honoka - The New Cutey

Soft Engine is the main feature that defines Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, but the Ninja Team itself is trying to offer extra content by offering two new characters for this series. An old character who finally returns again in this battle arena - Raidou and the new female character - Honoka.

We certainly do not want to enjoy Dead or Alive 5: Last Round to see the action of an Undead cyborg with great attack power like Raidou. We ourselves believe that he has never been the focus and the main reason why you are glancing at this one game. Honoka is a more realistic reason. As you can predict, you can always give up the responsibility of creating a woman character that is easy to fall in love with Team Ninja, and they will never perform disappointingly. Honoka comes with an extraordinary design, a combination of a sensual teenage girl, especially with a posture that focuses on a particular part, and strength that can not be underestimated.

Honoka is described as a genius in martial arts. His knowledge of many techniques ultimately led him to create his own movement which he called "Honoka-Fu". This unique technique is more focused on short-range attack is fast, and flexible enough to combine the combination of the hands with timings that will complicate the enemy. As far as the eye can see, Honoka is a new, "safe" character. It comes with a super-cute facial and personality design, and on the other hand offers a less complex attack technique to master in the near future. It's not hard to fall in love with this character, regardless of any underlying motivation.Honoka is described as a genius in martial arts. His knowledge of many techniques ultimately led him to create his own movement which he called "Honoka-Fu". This unique technique is more focused on short-range attack is fast, and flexible enough to combine the combination of the hands with timings that will complicate the enemy. As far as the eye can see, Honoka is a new, "safe" character. It comes with a super-cute facial and personality design, and on the other hand offers a less complex attack technique to master in the near future. It's not hard to fall in love with this character, regardless of any underlying motivation.

Looks Not Ready!

Dear one thousand dear, despite the high anticipation, Team Ninja does not seem quite ready to guarantee Dead or Alive 5 release: Last Round is trouble-free. Those of you who followed the information of some of the outside gaming sites over the last few days of course know what we are talking about. The Ninja team admits that in mainland Europe, DOA 5: Last Round Xbox One version has a bug that can even permanently delete your save data. Indeed we did not find it in the version we tasted, but that does not mean this game comes with no problems at all.

One that is quite annoying is a game that does not run stable when trying to connect to online mode. No, we're not talking about how bad the connection or lagging is, but rather the implementation of a function that actually hurts the playing experience.

Opening space for other gamers to "invade" your game and challenge your fight is an interesting feature, but this game actually slows down when connected to the virtual world. The menu response becomes longer for execution and sudden loading time increases for no apparent reason to move from one screen to another. When you want to get out of the online mode as well, for example, games can suddenly show only the animation loading, as if stuck. We have several times to get out of this game via PS Menu and access it again to solve this problem.

Unpreparedness is also seen not only from Team Ninja's side, but Sony itself, at least in region 3 as we feel. Trying to buy extra sensual costumes for Honoka in order for us to show you, access to the PS Store just shows you a blank page with no content. And obviously, in the main page Dead or Alive 5: Last Round itself, plainly posted ads that write discounts for new costumes available. Then, where to go, if we are interested to spend more money digitally? Trying to access the digital guide to learn the mechanics of gameplay deeper after being destroyed without a sense of humanity in the online game is also the same, tipped ends. The written guide is not ready and is being worked on. For a final product, things like this can not be tolerated.

Conclusion

So, what can be inferred from Dead or Alive 5: Last Round this? That he will be a series that is quite tempting for you who have never tasted this one fighting game series, and coincidentally already have the latest generation platform in hand. Improved details born from the implementation of Soft Engine makes it more indulgent eyes, especially with the design of female characters and the variety of costumes are so sensual. Honoka's presence that featured in super sweet personality and design of Team Ninja's topnotch, with extra ease to master the existing move set also become its own selling point. As far as the eye can see, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round throws a cosmetic selling value that commensurate with its status as a new generation game, and nothing more.

There are no significant changes in the gameplay side. Instead of getting refined, you just have to deal with technical problems that can not be tolerated, of course. From slower or even stalled menu movements when you open online access to invasion from other gamers, it's strange that you can not "spend" more money on this game because of the empty DLC items column in the PS Store. Site guide that is still not ready in the middle of release also be a separate note.

So, are you glancing at Dead or Alive 5: Last Round? The answer yes, if you have never tasted or have this game before. It will satisfy your curiosity how the concept of sensuality and super-fun fighting gameplay is integrated in the same space. But if you've ever tasted this game on the platform before? There is no reason to buy the same game twice for an experience that is not much different.

Advantages

• Easy-to-master gameplay
• Soft Engine
• Honoka
• New costume design is more sensual

Deficiency

• Online connections that sometimes backfire
• PS Store Unpreparedness
• Guide is still under development
• Need more unlockable content that can be opened without having to spend money

If you are talking about a great dream with God, never say 'impossible'.

Salam Gamer MANIAK

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PlayStation4 (PS4) Daylight Game Review Complete

Release Date: Out Now

Genre: Horror

Publisher: ATLUS U.S.A., INC.

Developer: Zombie Studios

Game  Review

You awake, trapped in an abandoned hospital. Your only source of light is your phone. You hit a dead-end and must turn around, but behind you lurks an eerie presence and strange noises

Experience Daylight, a procedurally generated psychological thriller for your PlayStation4. Unreal Engine 4 enhances the visuals of your escape to freedom like never before, heightening every bone-chilling detail of your surroundings. Get lost in a maze that changes with every playthrough, allowing for limitless replayability and the tension of unpredictability every time you start the game. Navigate to safety while avoiding what lurks in darkness. What will be waiting for you down the next corridor?

Daylight is the procedurally generated horror game from Zombie Studios, the indie outfit best known for free-to-play first-person shooter Blacklight Retribution. It has the distinction of being the first game released using the new – and largely impressive – Unreal Engine 4, making this an attractive proposition for visual aficionados eager to see what the new technology can do. It’s just a shame that the software’s been tied to such a desperately disappointing game.

This is a rushed release that has very few redeeming qualities other than those mentioned above. Despite the promised graphical grunt of Epic Games’ tantalising toolbox, this dismal outing does a very poor job of demonstrating its advantages. Granted, the textures do look decent, but the environments are desperately boring. The game only has three or four levels to start with, and they all feel familiar; whether it’s a hospital, sewer, prison, or forest, they’re all decorated by a bland grey colour palette, meaning that you’ll be hard pushed to distinguish one corridor from the other.

And that leads us to the procedurally generated aspect. It’s undoubtedly a great concept that’s proven that it can be done well in the past, but it just doesn’t feel right here. As opposed to the carefully crafted layouts of more tailored releases, you’re instead tossed into nightmarish mazes, which are both a nightmare to navigate and also terribly dull. You’ll encounter the odd enemy or obstruction from time to time, but nothing to necessarily hold your interest.

Speaking of the enemies, the “combat” in this game is a breeze. There’s only one type of antagonist – at least, as far as we could tell – and it’s stopped by light. That means that you merely need to pop a flare and shine it at your pursuer in order to stop them in their devilish tracks. The enemies do increase in frequency as you progress, but it’s never challenging in the slightest. Indeed, the only death that this writer experienced came when a foe spawned inside our body – a nightmarish scenario for sure, but one that resulted in an unfair instant fail.

True, that may have been a bug – but this game is riddled with them. The first five or so minutes run at less than ten frames-per-second, while the entire affair chugs below 30 frames-per-second, with regular drops punctuating the experience from start to finish. This means that the controls never really feel as tight as they should, with the aiming handling loosely and simple actions such as climbing acting slow and stilted.

Not even the audio is up to par, which is a pretty pivotal part of a horror experience. One neat idea is that Twitch viewers can trigger sound effects by commenting on your session as you stream, but while this is clever, it’s little more than a gimmick, and adds very little to the experience. Moreover, the sound effects themselves are very poor, with enemies creating noises more akin to dubstep than the undead. Jump scares, meanwhile, are limited to rattling cabinets and clanging pipes, but they have almost zero impact, meaning that you’ll get through the game without even breaking a sweat. Even the soundtrack and voice performances feel out of place, cheapening the production of the campaign.

And then there’s the story, which has been penned by Jessica Chobot of IGN fame. Unfortunately, this falls flat on its face, as its tale – which we assume is supposed to tell the story of a mother and daughter’s relationship – never really comes close to reaching its full potential, and is subsequently disappointingly unclear. Even with collectibles available to flesh out the fiction, it’s never more than passable, and while there’s the promise of a plot twist to keep you going, this amounts to little more than a toe-curling conclusion which caused this writer to legitimately laugh out loud as the credits came into view.

However, it’s the fact that these issues are underlined by wonky design that’s the real disappointment. For example, the interface – which is restricted to your smartphone, and represents the most basic source of light in the game – is awkward, and the information on it seems largely redundant. Furthermore, the abovementioned forest level feels far too reminiscent of PC indie game Slender, to the point where it almost verges on plagiarism. To avoid comparisons, the solution may have been to cut it, but that would have made a short game even shorter.

Grieving the right person is better than being happy with the wrong person. Be wise in choosing friends.

Salam Gamer MANIAK

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PlayStation 4 (PS4) Dark Souls III Game Review Complete

Release Date: Out Now

Genre: Role Playing Game (RPG)

Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America

Developer: FromSoftware

Game Overview

As fires fade and only embers remain, journey once more into a world filled with more daunting and colossal enemies and environments. Developer FromSoftware and director Hidetaka Miyazaki continue their critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series with Dark Souls III. Fans and newcomers alike will get lost in the games hallmark rewarding gameplay and immersive graphics. Embrace the darkness.

Features:

• Atmospheric Visual – Dynamic lighting and particle effects immerse players into a dark fantasy world of ruin
• Interconnected World – Expertly crafted world encourages players to explore vast and breathtaking landscapes
• Skills – Diversifies combat action allowing players to craft their own unique play style
• Unique Online System – Evolution of trademark online multiplayer functionality that seamlessly integrates online interactions into single player story

Game  Review

As a veteran of the Souls series (as well as Bloodborne), I am certainly very excited to look forward to the third iteration of RPG action on the dark fantasy theme from From Software. Once I tried it, I went back into a game that had a high level of difficulty but also gave a satisfactory reward.

If you want to be skeptical, actually the formula brought From Software in Dark Souls III is not entirely different from Dark Souls II. But, precisely because of the well-processed basic gameplay, I do not think there is a significant change to be able to attract the interest of this series of players who are hearted masochist steel.

Blur - Dark Souls III is still a game with stories that can not be explained with certainty. Everyone has their own version of the story.

In Dark Souls III you are a dead person called Unkindled. When you are raised from the grave, you are assigned to restore (more precisely) the throne of the five Lord of Cinder.

Just like the previous Souls series (or Bloodborne), the story in Dark Souls III is told by using the environment and the goods as a medium of telling. Little stories and various details of the world you can know through the description of goods and the depiction of the environment that you meet. But that does not mean those two things will explain fully what happened.

Hidetaka Miyazaki as director of the game seemed to want the Souls series players to guess for themselves what really happened in this game by giving the story with as fake as possible. This I think is quite positive and actually evokes interesting discussions from players who have played Dark Souls III.

The story in Dark Souls III is full of obscurity like the previous series, but I do not think it will be a hundred percent you ignore. This is because you will be much more exposed with gameplay that can make someone release the controller and swear in front of the screen.

Heavy and Full of Calculations - Dark Souls series old players should not need to adapt much to what is offered in Dark Souls III. For the uninitiated, Dark Souls III is an action RPG with a "heavy" movement and requires the right timing.

Every time you make moves like slashing or dodging, you will use some of the stamina meter you have. If your stamina is depleted, then you must move to a safe place or stay for a moment to recover it.

Thus, the movement you will do is quite limited and you are required to be able to perform any action as efficiently as possible. However, being efficient will not be enough because you are also required to have a good spatial awareness. Not infrequently there will be enemies or chasms at your destination to avoid.

Back again to the keyword "heavy", everything you do here will be slow and it's not without reason. Souls series always try to make you feel very weak when doing something.

Therefore, you are required to be able to calculate when to carry out the actions as precisely as possible. The game feels to be a survival action game that requires a high level of game with a small fault tolerance.

Difficult? Of course, but that does not mean it can not be mastered. In order to reach the required level of skill, you will meet death often. Yes, very often.

Because Life is Too Short - Death is a core element in the Souls series that not only makes you learn, but also that will keep you going ... or it can make you stress. Calm down, I think the first possibility will often happen in Dark Souls III.

But that does not mean there is no penalty when you die. The Souls series has a Soul Drop mechanism in which when you die, the Soul you've collected (the currency for level up and buying stuff) will fall where you die.

If you die again before successfully retrieving it, the fallen Soul will disappear with the amount of Soul you are carrying. This mechanism makes you have to determine the best strategy for the progress you have done does not end up in vain.

Old and New Mechanisms - The weapons you can use in Dark Souls III are quite a lot and have various characters. Starting from swords of various sizes, spears, to a variety of exotic weapons will be ready to help you defeat any existing opponent.

Following what's in the Bloodborne, now your armor can not be strengthened so you focus more on upgrading your weapons. The weight of the equipment you wear will also affect the running speed and dodge, so make sure you choose the equipment that matches your style of play.

Especially for magic, Dark Souls III again has an MP system (or this one called FP). FP here is also not only used for magic attacks just because there is a new battle mechanism in Dark Souls III called Weapon Skill.

With Weapon Skill, you will be given some new moves that will add variety of attacks that you can muster. The use of FP also makes the attack with Weapon Skill felt limited, so you feel like you have the ultimate stance to deploy in a pinched moment.

Thanks to the variety of existing gameplay, Dark Souls III feels to be quite personal in the development of his character. Customization in Dark Souls III is definitely not as deep as the RPG in general, but I think the stuff that's provided is pretty complex for an RPG action.

A Dangerous and Dangerous World -  Dark Souls III has a setting in a dark medieval fantasy world called Lothric that looks dirty but full of detail. Colors in Lothric may feel very monochrome with gray, but it does not make the world unattractive to explore.

Following the tradition-level design that exists in every Souls series, Dark Souls III has a very wide level and is also evocative to be explored. The absence of a map or a minimap may make navigation in Dark Souls III difficult, but I do not think anyone would be lost in the dark world.

You will find various secrets in various corners of the place. The secret can be stuff, an enemy, or maybe a trap. Level design that interconnects one area with another also gives the impression widely. Not infrequently you will also find a variety of shortcuts to be able to move quickly.

Enemies that are presented have a move set and AI which I think is quite amazing. A little rash of course, you can immediately be exhausted by enemy countless weak.

In addition, the pattern of attacks that are launched is quite diverse so you should always be vigilant in the fight with anyone. Oh, do not forget also the animation that looks flexible and horrible.

Of course, the vigilance I mentioned must be maintained when dealing with the boss. From Software seems to always try to make every fight with all the boss is very imprinted in the mind.

The bosses have a very savage form, stance, and movement. Guaranteed you will have difficulty when facing them all, but that does not mean you can not win it.

In my opinion, this is the ultimate experience to be provided From Software through Dark Souls III. Once you succeed in defeating the boss with a high level of difficulty and terrible form, you seem to have achieved a great success.

This is actually not a new thing in the world of video games, but From Software it seems to succeed in bringing the right formula so you always feel challenged. Nevertheless, I must admit if Dark Souls III sometimes feels the middle mengerjai the players.

Jolly Cooperation! - If Dark Souls III still sounds difficult to play, then there is a multiplayer element that will make the game much easier. You'll find messages written down the street as long as you play. Uniquely, the messages are written by other players.

Usually the message contains instructions on what you will meet in front of you. Not infrequently also you will find a trap message to jump into the abyss or about curhatan players Dark Souls III which I think is quite hilarious.

You can also call other players through Summon Sign which is guaranteed to help to defeat the boss that you find too difficult. Besides being helped, you can also help others in the same way as well.

It is worth noting also that you can be invaded by other players who try to kill you and you can do the opposite. The multiplayer elements presented make the lonely world of Dark Souls III become more lively because you know there are other people who are struggling also in different places.

Un Monotonous Monochrome Presentation - 
As I mentioned earlier, Dark Souls III is filled with gray in the environment, but that does not mean there are no other colors as well. Thanks to the highly detailed design environment, the visuals in Dark Souls III look very beautiful even though it looks dark.

The game engine previously used to work on Bloodborne seems to be re-used fairly well by From Software in Dark Souls III. This can be seen from the number of objects that can be seen until various other visual effects that make the game becomes more stunning to see.

Review Dark Souls III | Screenshot 5 For a more perfect experience, I suggest to play Dark Souls III using powerful PC gaming. Different from the previous series that is less fun for PC users, Dark Souls III has a much wider visual option and has good performance on PC.

Music is also one of the things that bring the atmosphere in Dark Souls III to be very epic. Although it is not in all parts of the level accompanied by music, but with the music is very majestic in the boss battle, the experience you will feel to be much more memorable.

Conclusion - Dark Souls III is a new iteration of the Souls series that I find very satisfying. With well-maintained gameplay, eye-catching level design, as well as a battle against the mind-bogging boss, Dark Souls III is probably the best Souls series you can play at the moment.

Dark Souls III may indeed look to have a high degree of difficulty, but I do not think you need to be too scared because this game is not an impossible game to complete.

You will never achieve a true success unless you love what you do.

Salam Gamer MANIAK

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PlayStation4 (PS4) Dark Souls II Scholar of the First Sin Game Review Complete

Release Date: Out Now

Genre: Role Playing Game (RPG) / Action

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

Developer: FromSoftware

Game  Detail

Prepare to Die again in the complete Dark Souls 2 experience with Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. Hallmark challenge & reward await you with augmentations, additions and enhancements fueled by the passion and talent of famed Japanese studio FromSoftware.

This new edition takes advantage of the next generation capabilities of the PlayStation 4, giving fans of the series and newcomers alike updated visuals, rebalanced gameplay, a higher maximum number of players for online play, new and deadlier enemies, a brand new NPC to discover, expanded lore and new in-game events.  Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin game also has the Crown of the Sunken King, Crown of the Old Iron King, and Crown of the Ivory King DLC already included as well.  This is the ultimate version of Dark Souls II.

Game  Review

There was a short run, a tap of R2, and a massive swing of a greatsword, and Aldia, the hideous abomination known as the Scholar of the First Sin, went down in a fiery gust of wind. The fight took five tries. I was still surrounded by phantoms--wild, fearless NPCs who chipped at the Scholar even as they burned alive standing too close. I was draped in the armor of a dead enemy, the Smelter Demon, one of the myriad moments when Dark Souls II threatened to break my spirit in half. I stood in an empty arena while the disembodied spectre of Aldia gave his last lecture on the nature of good and evil. And it was right at that moment that Dark Souls II and I finally, truly saw each other.

In the game, Aldia says in his first appearance that there're only two paths: “Inherit the order of this world, or destroy it.” It's the Souls ethos in a nutshell. There's nothing in that simple statement or any of his later dialogue to suggest that winning or saving this world or its people is a goal or anything to aspire to. It suggests simply that the world of Dark Souls II has a way of digital life that involves sacrifice, hard decisions about the distribution of power, and the fact that seeking more has an iron price. There's no cowardice implied in abandoning hope. It acknowledges power and glory coming at great cost, with no shortcuts or easy roads. And it acknowledges that it's inevitable that most will fail.

This was what From Software had in mind for its players. But it's not what I had in mind standing in that arena.

What I had in mind was Whiplash.- You know Whiplash: that drumming movie with Cave Johnson as Terence Fletcher, the world's most evil jazz conductor. Specifically, in the last scene, when, after months of abuse, of blood spilled over drum kits, of mistakes and broken bones, and one final, cruel joke, Neiman, the prodigy, goes back to his set and proceeds to improvise one of the greatest musical performances ever set to film. Right before the final notes, he and Fletcher share a silent look. “Now you understand.”

After three games of hitting a wall at the 30-hour mark, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin eventually stopped screaming at me and started teaching, in the way that every good teacher should: it took away comfort. Every moment that felt safe and familiar from the last outing was infused with danger, with a new enemy, a new reaction to obstacles, a cue to always be ready to face what's around the corner--a constant awareness that doesn't go away the closer you get to the endgame. A dragon awaits you instead of a knight. Where an enemy with the high ground might have shot arrows before, your path is peppered with firebombs. Red phantoms and The Pursuer are now common aggravations, placed just about anywhere you once thought was safe, and occasionally where you were already overwhelmed, just for the extra kick to the teeth.

Revisiting older stages at a higher level, and with better gear, very often finds enemies far more hostile and still able to punish arrogance. Remember that merchant you know is in a specific room, that bonfire you just have to kill one more knight to access, that one Chloranthy Ring +2 that would go nicely with that stat-raising shield of yours, that zipline that would shortcut you into a saferoom? They're probably not there anymore. Few of the hardwired safety nets players know of exist, and even experts have no idea just how devious the game can be in doling out hard lessons in pain and frustration by not approaching every situation with the same care as you did the first time.

And so, once again, every Dark Souls II player is on equal ground. Every Scholar of the First Sin player is powerless, with returning enthusiasts only able to say that they've seen these massive places once before and that they know how to do battle in them, not that they know what to expect. Their new-game-plus advantages go out the window, a hefty but worthwhile technical price of admission for the complete rearrangement of the game's layout and flow. This goes double for the now-fully integrated Crowns add-ons, with the keys to access no longer magically appearing in inventory, instantly accessible after their respective Primal Flames but hidden in the game's most diabolical locations, which is far more befitting three Herculean tasks now woven into their story the way they're meant to be: as a means to make King Vendrick dispel the Curse of the Undead once and for all.

That word's an important one: befitting. During this runthrough, part of the problem I faced after the 30-hour wall was the idea of never feeling the urge to continue because, ultimately, what I was fighting for was so nebulous, the world I was trying to save so oppressive, that it made the task ahead seem all the more futile. Scholar of the First Sin sweetens the pot ever so subtly. The murky, choppy ruin that was its graphical showing in the last-gen had been transformed into 60-fps awe hour after hour, a feeling that the series hadn't been able to inspire previously on consoles, settling at most for impressively desolate. It's an invisible boon, in that precision is even closer within your grasp now that you don't feel the console struggling to catch up to every heavy move you make. Every new environment, even when laid waste by thick clouds of poison, or drowning in lava feels like a place worth surviving in, is a place of intricate details waiting to be noticed. The texture of a shield gleaning in pale sunlight, the reflection of neon plants and sorceress' spells reflecting off the water--these are the details that you find yourself immediately drawn to while you catch a brief moment of respite. Granted, PC players have enjoyed that privilege since the first release, which has improved with each new unofficial mod. For them, this will be an example of added nuance rather than a breathtaking overhaul, but it is an improvement, regardless.

The world of Dark Souls II has a way of digital life that involves sacrifice, hard decisions about the distribution of power, and the fact that seeking more has an iron price.

Every new item, even a dead boss's soul, armor, or weapon, isn't just a tool with a vague description but now has new bits of story to impart, a bigger piece of this world to engage with, to realize that the story of your Hollowing is unique, just like everyone else's. Aldia, as an NPC, starts literally and metaphorically blowing up on the scene the second Dark Souls II starts getting rather linear, and it's perfect timing: Aldia is there to question your next steps and make the last segment feel like a march to something potentially beyond your understanding, a contrast to the Emerald Herald, whose blind, unyielding hope feels less like simple encouragement but whose directions feel like the strongest chance to do some good. The stream of information, the steady escalation of stakes and intensity, continues, with the knowledge that the inevitable fights with this thing, the mad king, and his wife are coming and that their deaths will only have meaning if you choose it. As opposed to a willfully obtuse collection of setpieces, the Scholar Edition knits in all the disparate parts that came after release, creating a much more organic experience, which is the best feeling to have when separate content is being included with a standalone game. It feels like a whole experience that won't usher you from start to finish like most games, but certainly has a complete, gratifying feel to it.

This is all brilliant and bold flesh held together by the tempered adamantium skeleton that is the Souls' series unforgiving combat system, which is still unchanged. It is a game of neverending considerations of risk and reward, questions about what to do with power when given, and will it prepare you for everything, despite the fact that, until the bitter end, nothing, not even the enhancements, will ever mean that you are prepared to do anything but die in Dark Souls. The changes in Scholar of the First Sin show the why. The how remains brutal and intimidating from beginning to end.

Three things assuage the fear: one is the knowledge that you are not alone. Through messages, carefully laid hints, and the ability to summon a bigger army to your aid, to gather all the souls possible, versus enemies or other humans, everyone works to slay this beast in his or her own way, and while one often expects the worst of gaming communities, the help and messages of luck vastly outnumber incidents of stupidity. Scholar's addition of an additional enemy on each side makes a world of difference. Every call to protect your covenant, every cooperative boss slaughtering, and every straight-up brawl is less like a tag team match and more like an all-out war. The game experiences its sole jitters here, on occasions of multiple spells crisscrossing the playing field, but the hiccups never last more than a second.

The second is the fact that moments come, with time, effort, and drive, when Dark Souls II's hostility gives way to mercy, moments where one's careful considerations are rewarded. Perhaps the greatest new example is the Dragon Aerie and Shrine, where dragon eggs and their mothers are virtually everywhere. Breaking more than three eggs means that every dragon wakes up ready to tear you to shreds, and, in an evil gambit, three eggs block your path inside a cave. But carefully breaking only two of them, just enough to pass, means that every dragon stays peacefully asleep. Later in the Shrine, gold-plated guards new to Scholar of the First Sin now line every major passage. They are completely peaceful as long as you never angered the dragons, which leaves you with only the giant knights to deal with.

The third thing that broke me through that wall, after so many deaths and so many hours of hell, was simply realizing the problem was myself. Every gamer has been trained to take from a game that supreme mastery of the world is a given. Enemies want to die. Stories want to be told. Pushing a button meant that everything in my character's line of sight was in danger. Even after the credits roll and the throne is yours (or not), you are never the master of Dark Souls. You survive. You sometimes persevere. But Drangleic will always have it in for you, and rushing into a new area thinking that you’re its master is a sure way to find yourself taken down multiple rungs. In being beaten by Dark Souls, I found patience. I found patterns. I found how I wanted to take on the world, and the leveling system was more than happy to oblige my decisions. I found the world itself telling me more of its fascinating secrets the braver I became. As the game became linear, with the three crowns obtained, the souls of dead giants in hand, and the Emerald Herald urging me to slay Nashandra, I found that Dark Souls II had taught me to never over- or underestimate a game world.

And it's a hard-won love that Dark Souls II has you earn, a love that took a second, enhanced port to truly find. It is a demanding and seemingly interminable game that puts up its most beautiful and its most evil machinations right at the outset. Its greatest spectacles are the ones that will kill you the fastest. It will taunt. It will demoralize. And yet, it has never done a better job than now of beckoning you on than in Scholar of the First Sin. It will never offer you true power, but those who seek it with enough conviction will at least find satisfaction. That's a feeling that few games offer and few even should. And yet, the exultation of hard-earned victory here, of saying “What's next” with all the fear, fascination, and excitement of any good, bloody fight, has more joys than most, and even though the game is won, I find myself itching to go back.

Failure is not when a person falls, but when someone refuses to rise.

Salam Gamer MANIAK

http://Cheatstationer.blogspot.com  
  

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PlayStation4 (PS4) Dark Cloud Game Review Complete

Release Date: Out Now

Genre: Action / Role Playing Game (RPG) / Simulation

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America

Developer: Level-5

Experience PS2 games on your PlayStation 4 system

War of the Monsters has been converted from its original PlayStation 2 version to include 1080p up-rendering and Trophies. Additional enhanced features include Share Play, Remote Play, Activity Feeds and Second Screen support for game manuals with PS Vita system or PlayStation App. Purchase & download PS2 games from PlayStation Store.

Game  Overview

Two great continents, one an advanced civilization driven by progress and technology; the other, where nature is the center of all existence and everyone lives harmoniously side by side.  Two cultures that have never had contact with each other…until now.

• An ancient evil has been unleashed.
• Journey on a quest through time to unravel the mysterious tale of the Dark Cloud.
• Innovative new gameplay, GEORAMA.
• Build it—build a customized world. Play it—interact with the world in real-time. Live it—build the worlds and unveil clues and pieces of the storyline.
• Six playable team members each with their own unique abilities, weapons, skills and strengths.
• Detailed weapon system allows you to change and increase your weapons strength and damage.

There's nothing wrong with giving the proverbial nod to other game developers and incorporating successful elements of their video games into your own project. But if imitation is the highest form of flattery, Dark Cloud is the embodiment of Sony gushing over the competition. Its artistic elements and battle system owe a great deal to Nintendo's Zelda series, the heavy weapons management is reminiscent of Vagrant Story, and its world-building georama gameplay has been unquestionably inspired by the SNES game Actraiser. But no game has blended all these compelling and unrelated ideas together into one highly addictive and surprisingly cohesive experience until now.

You play as Toan, an elfin teen who bears a striking resemblance to Link of Zelda fame, with his pointed ears and green cap. One night while a festival is underway in his village, an enormous pink pig called Dark Genie destroys Toan's village under the command of the conniving Colonel Flag. With his community in ruins, Toan is asked by the guardian of natural spirits to rebuild the village and any other communities that may be attacked by the hulking piece of pork in the future. This unlikely story quickly takes a backseat to the scores of subplots that are featured in the game. Toan eventually allies himself with five other characters, reunites a couple who have been separated for hundreds of years, restores a warrior's internal faith, and much more. Dark Cloud's primary quest is flaccid, but it sets up the georama elements, and its wealth of subplots act as an effective distraction.

The first order of business when playing Dark Cloud is to enter one of the randomly generated dungeons and destroy monsters, plunder treasure chests, and collect items. There are just a handful of dungeons in the game, and each one contains 18 stages that look nearly identical to each other--the only differences being room configuration, object placement, and enemy selection. The most important items to seek in the dungeons are the atla spheres, which contain georama pieces. Georama pieces may represent entire houses or the objects that go inside or around them like fences, lamps, chimneys, and people. Once a building has been dropped into place using the georama's tile system, you can begin inserting any of the building's components you have collected. When all the pieces of a building or landmass have been installed, events occur that will move the plot forward, award you with a new ally, or provide you with an item that is essential to making headway in the game. The georama system is fairly simplistic, but its end result can be quite satisfying. Waltzing through a detailed 3D community that you built from the ground up and interacting with its denizens can be a great deal of fun regardless of how it was accomplished.

Dark Cloud's combat system is 100 percent Zelda. You lock on to enemies with the circle button and attack using the equipped weapon with the X button. If you hold down the X button and release it, your character performs a special move like a jumping slash attack or a powered-up projectile attack. Once locked on, you may strafe around the enemy, dart in to attack, or retreat with the analog stick. Up to three other bombs, spells, and remedies can be selected from a three-window interface with the directional pad, and they can then be triggered with the square button. Cycling through targets is accomplished with the L1 button, and guarding is mapped to R1. The combat system, while not revolutionary, is tight enough to allow you to appreciate the range and quickness of each of the six playable characters.

Each playable character has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. Toan is the dominant, well-balanced character, and he carries the rest of the party through the adventure with his sword. The rotund Goro has a high attack rating with his carnival hammer but is slow of foot. Chao, a cat transformed into a human by a magical potion, uses a slingshot to keep enemies at bay but takes a great deal of damage when struck. Ruby, the purple-haired genie, uses powerful projectile magic but is vulnerable while casting spells. Ungaga has a wide attack range thanks to his spear, but the sweeping motions required to use it often leave him out of position to defend. Shida joins the party at the end of the game and offers help for the endgame sequences. Outside of the occasional boss fight, using the extra characters is little more than a formality. Swapping characters is continually required to perform mundane tasks like jumping over a gap, blowing harmful vapors away, or unlocking a door. Restricted-zone levels also pop up occasionally that force you to complete the entire level of a dungeon using just one character.

There are dozens of weapons in the game, and each one has a selection of slots that may be filled with a variety of attribute-altering items. There are items that give you enhanced abilities against specific types of enemies; items that change your character's ratings for attack, endurance, speed, and magic; and discs that beef up your weapon's fire, wind, ice, thunder, and holy capabilities. Each weapon has a specific number of attacks that it can inflict before it breaks and vanishes. Inevitably, you will lose a weapon you have spent hours of time leveling up and will not want to go back and start from the last save point. The only remedy to this situation is to save every 10 minutes, carry plenty of weapon repair powder, and watch the meter like a hawk. The attack meter leeches a great deal of excitement out of the game because it forces the pla
yer to refrain from getting mixed up in any sort of uncontrollable melee.

As you attack with each weapon, its level-up meter gradually increases, and when the meter reaches the top, the weapon may then be upgraded. Upgrading a weapon while items are attached allows it to absorb their capabilities. Once a weapon has reached level five, you may intentionally break it and trap 60 percent of its power in a synthsphere. The synthsphere can then be attached to other weapons to drastically enhance their abilities. The weapon management in Dark Cloud is deep and demanding. Keeping constant watch over your attack meter for fear of losing a cherished weapon can become a chore, but the attachment system is open enough that you can almost always alter your weapon to target the specific enemy types at hand.

Dark Cloud's graphics can be both stunning and disappointing. All six characters look great, and it's obvious that a great deal of time was taken in crafting their personalities through animation--the rotund Goro waddles while Chao prances on her toes just like a cat. The buildings you place are incredibly detailed and include polygonal dishes on the tables and heaps of modeled objects pouring out of the closets. The real-time spell and weapon effects are impressive, and they're visually scaled to match their impact on the enemy. Graphical tricks like real-time shadows, depth blur, and particle effects are prevalent in most settings, but overall, Dark Cloud's environments are a potluck. Brownboo Village, where the Ewok-like moon people reside, is both spectral and majestic with its rounded buildings sitting atop curved perches and shimmering particles floating in the air. Conversely, the port town of Queens is so bland and barren that it serves as little more than a plateau to place the restored buildings on. By the third stage of each dungeon, things become undeniably monotonous due to constantly reused textures and objects. More dungeons and fewer levels per dungeon would improve Dark Cloud's visual appeal immeasurably. Other graphical problems include flickering textures and a camera that regularly gets stuck behind objects while your character is locked on to an enemy. The monsters also tend to lack imagination unless you think a fish with a spear or a zombified elf is pushing the envelope. Dark Cloud would have been visually arresting if it had been available at launch, but now that the second generation of PlayStation 2 games are hitting the market, it falls a bit flat in this regard.

Dark Cloud's aural qualities are its weakest link. For a game that can take more than 30 hours to complete, the inclusion of just a few songs is inexcusable. One can only hear so many mandolins and flute trills before becoming disturbed. Some of the more dreamy compositions work well initially but lose their charm after being heard 10 times per hour. Dialogue for the characters would help Dark Cloud's sound substantially, but the story is told in text bubbles instead. It's somewhat understandable considering there's more than 100 NPCs in the game, but this is the sort of feature that DVD-based console games are supposed to facilitate.

As one of the longer single-player experiences currently available for the PlayStation 2, Dark Cloud successfully blends adventure, RPG, simulation, and strategy elements into one incredibly addictive game. Despite its gameplay quirks and repetitive dungeons, this game will handsomely reward those who invest the time to learn the nuances of its weapons system. While it's not the Zelda for the PlayStation 2 everyone was hoping for, Dark Cloud puts its own significant stamp on the adventure-RPG genre.

Two great continents, one an advanced civilization driven by progress and technology; the other, where nature is the center of all existence and everyone lives harmoniously side by side.  Two cultures that have never had contact with each other…until now.

An ancient evil has been unleashed.

Journey on a quest through time to unravel the mysterious tale of the Dark Cloud.

Innovative new gameplay, GEORAMA.

Build it—build a customized world. Play it—interact with the world in real-time. Live it—build the worlds and unveil clues and pieces of the storyline.

Six playable team members each with their own unique abilities, weapons, skills and strengths.

Detailed weapon system allows you to change and increase your weapons strength and damage.

Pleasure in a job makes perfection on the results achieved

Salam Gamer MANIAK

http://Cheatstationer.blogspot.com  
  

Read more »