Epic Mickey -- Initial Impression.

Wow, three Wii games in a row. And all within a two week release window. Too bad the system couldn't see more quality titles throughout the entire year. Next up for me is Epic Mickey. The game was developed by Junction Point Studios as led by Warren Spector and published by Disney Interactive Studios. Epic Mickey is a 3D platform adventure game with a basic morality system in place. The basic concept has Mickey Mouse being sucked into a world for forgotten Disney characters. A world Mickey Mouse has accidentally turned into a wasteland through a bit of mischief. Mickey will have the ability to wield paint or thinner through a magic brush and it's in how you choose to use the powers that the morality system comes into place. Do you use the thinner to literally erase your enemies or do you use the paint to convert them to your cause? Do you repair the world or further destroy it to get what you need or want? That's the kind of concept that's become the hallmark of Spector's design philosophy. He's all about the freedom in the how you go about whatever in your games. I've only played one previous Warren Spector title and that was Deus Ex. A game sold on the very same promise of freedom in the how you go about things. I didn't very much care for Deus Ex ten years ago. It'll be interesting to see if the change in genre, the Disney aspect, and a decade's worth of time and experience make a difference in how Spector does this time around for me. From what I've played so far it seems clear that Spector has an immense love and appreciation for all things Disney. He's clearly come up with a great concept. A concept based around Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks' original creation. The Oswald films were owned by distributed by Universal Pictures. When the series had become a hit Universal put pressure on Disney to produce them at a lower cost. Universal had managed to steal away most of the Disney staff working on the Oswald cartoons and made it clear that they really no longer needed Disney. Disney left with a few loyal employees and set about creating another cartoon character. A character that was little more than a modified version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. That character was of course Mickey Mouse, and as they say, the rest is history. Disney would go on to form an empire off of Mickey Mouse and Oswald would fade into obscurity. I'd have to say that Epic Mickey has one of the coolest concepts for a game I've ever seen. From what I've played so far I think it's safe to say that he story and the Disney aspects of the game are in good hands with Warren Spector. What isn't so sure at this point is if the gameplay will live up to the other aspects of the title...

Donkey Kong Country Returns -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Donkey Kong Country Returns with a hundred percent completion rate. It means I've completed every level, and I've found every last hidden item and secret. I however will not be doing the time trials nor the mirror mode. Donkey Kong Country Returns is about as successful as a revival can be. Much like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns was well worth the decade and a half wait for the series return. If you liked the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, you should like Donkey Kong Country Returns. The game offers crisp and clean cartoonish graphics with fluid animation. Among the best ever seen on the Wii. It features rock solid 2D gameplay. The series' collection aspect returns in full force. The K-O-N-G letters and the hidden puzzle pieces really provide some serious challenge. The K-O-N-G letters in grabbing them in one go, and the puzzle pieces in merely finding them as they can be truly well hidden. I wouldn't know how to rate the game for those who just want to play through it as it really is designed for a completionist. That's the heart of the series and the game. Musically the game is pretty successful. Especially in the arrangements of David Wise's original themes. The new tracks sound pretty good, though not as impressive as the originals. The controls work surprisingly well, even with the waggle. I used the nunchuck and remote configuration and didn't really have any major issues. My accidental deaths from mistaken waggle commands were rather slight. Much less than the average for other Wii titles with this much waggle going on. I would call Donkey Kong Country Returns the hardest game Nintendo has published since the NES era. Most of the time it's great but I do have to say that Retro employs a lot of rather unfair and cheap reactionary tactics. So you'll essentially progress through a stage a bit, die from something thrown at you out of nowhere. You'll play through it again to that point knowing what's coming and be able to deal with it and you'll progress a little further until they do it again. It's a lot of death, adapt, death, adapt. I enjoyed the challenge, but in all fairness, or the lack thereof in this case, you might not find yourself as tolerant. I'm giving Donkey Kong Country Returns a 9.

Donkey Kong Country Returns -- Initial Impression.

I'll be sticking to the Wii for my next game with Donkey Kong Country Returns. The game was developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo. Donkey Kong Country Returns is a new entry in the series created by Rare for the Super Nintendo. The original Donkey Kong Country titles were among the best selling Super Nintendo games and featured much ballyhooed for the time advanced computer modeling based graphics. They also featured some great platforming gameplay focused on collection and offered some of the best music the Super Nintendo ever put out courtesy of David Wise's awesome score. The reveal trailer at E3 2010 for Donkey Kong Country Returns was a huge surprise for most fans of the series, myself included, as they fully never expected to see the series again given Rare's split with Nintendo. Fortunately Retro Studios was there to get the barrel rolling after completing their Metroid Prime trilogy for Nintendo. They've proven they can update a classic Nintendo series but will they be able to do it again with the big gorilla? From what I've played so far, which amounts to completing the first two worlds, it seems the series is in good hands. Donkey Kong Country Returns seems to have everything that made the originals great. Now with waggle. Donkey Kong's ground pound and roll are now waggle based. A new move, blowing, is also waggle based. Waggle plus the stick to either the left or right for a roll. Waggle with the stick to center for the ground pound. And waggle with the stick in the down position to blow. So far the waggle controls seem to work very well. I haven't really had any deaths because of them. They also don't seem to take a great effort to initiate like some other games. A very slight but fast movement is all it takes. The collection based gameplay has remained intact. You'll be collecting the letters to spell Kong in each level, as well as various puzzle pieces. Bananas still litter the stages and collecting one hundred gives you an extra man. Initially the game's challenge seems tough. It's clearly a throwback to the days when games were tougher. I'm initially rather impressed with Donkey Kong Country Returns. Let's see if it maintains that level of quality for the duration.

Sonic Colors -- Final Opinion.

I've seen the credits roll on Sonic Colors. So, is Sonic Colors the greatest thing Sonic since the Genesis days? The short answer would be no. Sonic Colors is a pretty good game. It's not a perfect game. I have to admit the game does a rather decent job of trying to bridge the 2D and 3D Sonic camps. There is a great mix of both styles. The 3D sections perform better than they ever have with no camera issues and very few deaths caused by holding the stick in the wrong direction. The 2D sections predominantly provide platforming gameplay and are where the powers granted from the wisps come into play. The wisp powers work well and provide decent variety. They're absolutely necessary to completing the game one-hundred percent. There aren't any cheap deaths from bottomless pits anymore. The pits exist, but the game now warns you well in advance that they're near with an exclamation point on screen. So if you die by one, it's really your own fault as the game provided ample warning. The lock-on homing attack has likewise been improved from previous games. It just works better this time around. For the most part you're going to connect with what you're supposed to every time. The graphics in the game really are great. The game is filled with color and activity and there are little details everywhere. The story is non intrusive and is played just for laughs. I like this new Saturday morning cartoon approach. Sonic seemingly has been taking himself too seriously since Sonic Adventure. The voice acting is great. I really liked the performances of the new actors behind Sonic and Tails and Robotnik's voice has always been good. The music fits within the Sonic universe but comes off feeling new. The soundtrack seems to have broad influences this time as the tracks are all over the place. SEGA's Wave Master has done their usual exceptional job with the music for a Sonic game. I have to say that a couple of times the controls felt unresponsive but it's tough tell if it's the game or issues inherent to the Wii itself. Overall Sonic Colors is a big step in the right direction for the 3D side of Sonic games. I'd like to see them continue down this 2D-3D hybrid path while furthering their purely 2D efforts. I'm giving Sonic Colors for the Wii an 8.

Sonic Colors -- Initial Impression.

Next up for me will be Sonic Colors on the Wii. Sonic Colors was developed by Sonic Team and published by SEGA. Sonic Colors is supposed to represent SEGA's having heard all of the criticism of the 3D Sonic titles. It's supposed to bridge the gap between the crowd that prefers the 3D games with the crowd that wants a 2D Sonic. An impossible task if you ask me. From the time I've spent with the game thus far I can say that Sonic Colors feels like no other Sonic game I've ever played. It constantly seems to switch back and forth between 2D and 3D often within the same levels. The 3D segments feel like a heavily refined version of the daytime levels of Sonic Unleashed. And by refined, I really mean fixed. The 2D levels feature more intricate platforming than the series has ever seen. The biggest change comes with the inclusion of the wisps. The wisps are aliens that give Sonic limited time power-up abilities. Such as allowing him to float, drill through certain terrain, or shoot through the air like a laser and the like. Graphically the game looks great and has an art style that is rather unique for a Sonic title. The music sort of sounds like Sonic music but is different enough to be off. Sonic and Tails feature new and much improved voice actors. Even the story has a new feel to it. It's very much like a Saturday morning cartoon. I've found myself laughing out loud a couple of times already. This is hardly the serious Sonic of the 3D era. There isn't a single aspect of Sonic Colors that doesn't feel like it was left as it was. Everything feels tweaked. Only time will tell if the tweaking was successful. I'm interested to see where Sonic Colors is going.

Ys: The Oath In Felghana -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Ys: The Oath in Felghana with a time of eighteen hours and thirty-four minutes. It's impressive that the game lived up to my own very high expectations for the title. I loved it. Falcom has done just an amazing job in updating Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. They've taken what was my least favorite and made it one of the best entries in the series while somehow remaining true to the spirit of the original. Everything about Oath in Felghana works for me. The game is just great to look at. The controls are perfect, which in and of itself is impressive as the PSP's design often works against itself in that regard. The music is as good as video game music gets. The story is filled with character and charm. The quest is sizable and fun. The game also presents a good challenge as the bosses aren't messing around. The fifteen boss battles are the star of the show. What's probably most impressive to me is that Falcom has managed yet again to pull of that amazing grand sense of pure adventure. The stuff that should appeal to the six year old kid in all of us, provided you're still in touch with that part of yourself. Ys provides the escapism that's at the very core of why I play video games in the first place. The Ys series to me represents pure old-fashioned class and Oath in Felghana fits right in. I'm giving Ys: The Oath in Felghana a 9.5. Now one can only hope that Falcom ports Ys Origins to the PSP and that XSEED releases it in North America. And for the truly committed, they can hope that Falcom decides to bring Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, and Ys V: Lost Kefin: Kingdom of Sand up to par with the rest of the series and those somehow see a North American release. Oh yeah, and there's always Ys IIX...

Ys: The Oath in Felghana -- Initial Impression.

This one has been a long time coming. Ys: The Oath in Felghana was developed and published for Japanese computers by Nihon Falcom Corporation in 2005. The game is a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys which was originally released in 1989. The original appeared just about on every platform of its day, including the NEC PC-8801, MSX2, Famicom, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, Genesis, and TurboGrafx CD. Falcom was dissatisfied with the ports of their games to other systems and decided to handle the ports themselves. Falcom released Ys: The Oath in Felghana for the PlayStation Portable in Japan in April of 2010. And now XSEED Games have published the North American version in November of 2010. Ys III: Wanderers of Ys has always been beloved by some but mostly maligned by others for its drastic departure from the format of the previous two games. Wanderers from Ys was a side-scrolling action RPG where you were locked to a single plane and it introduced sword swinging and enabled Adol to jump. The Ys games previously allowed you to move in four directions and didn't allow for control of Adol's sword or offer the ability to jump. Falcom built Ys: Oath in Felghana off of the Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim engine which really is the best of both worlds. You now have eight-way movement with the ability to jump and control over Adol's sword. In creating Oath in Felghana they've greatly expanded the scenarios and mechanics of Wanderers from Ys and have included new bosses and more. From the time I've spent with the game thus far, which amounts to clearing the first dungeon and the first two boss encounters, I can say that everything that makes this series so great is in place. The story is rich with character and detail. Sure the story is going to be filled with cliche, but you have to remember this story dates back to 1989. The graphics are wonderful for being both a PlayStation Portable game and a port of a five year old computer game. Everything is crisp and clean and richly detailed. The music is astounding. Wanderers from Ys has long been considered to have one of the greatest soundtracks in gaming history. Oath in Felghana literally contains Mieko Ishikawa's brilliant original score. You can select to listen to the NEC PC88 original, or the Sharp X68,000 version of the score, as well as the standard version of the score from 2005 which contains Yukihiro Jindo's amazing arrangements. The PlayStation Portable version has voice work for pretty much every character in the game as well as character portraits. Key scenes are voiced while most of the game is text. The game also contains that satisfying and fast Ys combat. And if the first two bosses are any indication, the game is going to have some great boss battles in the classic pattern recognition style. I have no doubt that I'm in for another great game with Ys: The Oath in Felghana. The kind of game you don't want to end. The kind of game you savor.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 -- All-In-One.

Most disc based games get an initial impression and a final opinion. Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed II is getting just the all-in-one entry. I first played the game three days ago. Ended up playing through three levels and was lazy and didn't create an initial opinion entry. Picked it up the next day and played two more levels and the credits rolled. I set about rounding up the missing achievements and fully leveled up the Force powers and the like. Today I played through the hardest difficulty setting. The game is all but done. I just have the achievements that are tied to the challenges left to do. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 was developed and published by LucasArts. The game is the sequel to the 2008 original that was much maligned by critics but went on to sell upwards of seven million copies to date. The sequel seems to be even more maligned by critics this time around. Chief complaints are the game length and a rushed or unfinished feeling. There is no debating the game is short. Five or six hours. The game consists of a handful of rather long levels. You start on Kamino, head to Cato Neimoidia, then to Dagobah for what amounts to a scene with Yoda, then off to one of the capital ships of the Rebel Alliance, and finally you return to Kamino. Not exactly a whirlwind tour of the Star Wars galaxy. As for the other complaint of the game feeling rushed. I'm not sure rushed is the correct word. Incomplete would be more appropriate, as what is there is rather polished. As far as game play is concerned Force Unleashed II is an improvement over the original. Things just function much better this time around. Especially grasping and throwing items with the Force. Things go just where you want them to go this time around. The game also is far more balanced. It's especially clear on the hardest difficulty level. While still frustrating at times, it's nowhere near the hair-pulling experience it was in the original. Graphically the game looks gorgeous. There is next to no vertical-synch tearing this time around whereas it was obscenely prominent in the original. I was impressed with the facial animation and its ability to convey some subtleties. Musically the game borrows extensively from John Williams' Star Wars themes and is of course great. The original tracks do a pretty good job of feeling like they belong. I liked the voice acting. The guys doing Vader and Yoda do pretty respectable jobs with the characters. The other actors doing original characters also do a very good job. I enjoyed my time with Force Unleashed II, however ultimately brief. I can't shake the feeling that there should be more to the game though. I'm giving Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II a7.5. If you really liked the original, you should really like what's there in Force Unleashed II. The question will become do you feel that there was enough there...

Fable III -- Final Opinion.

I have completed the main game of Fable III with all but two achievements. Those achievements are from trading weapons and clothing with other players online. I'll be working on those two, but essentially the game is done. Fable III is an overall success in spite of itself. The game is fun, and funny. The Fable games have always had a great sense of grand ambition tethered to a company in Lionhead Games that just can't ever seem to get it all the way done. The Fable series is full of great ideas poorly realized and Fable III is no exception. You sort of get the sense that they had a million ideas and set about trying to do them all and then it comes down to the wire and they just dump what they have onto a disc and call it a game. It's a testament to the core concepts at work in Fable that the game remains fun in spite of all the technical crap going on. Fable III seems to have more bugs than the previous two games. Everyone I know playing the game has encountered the bug where Jasper no longer speaks to you. Which is a shame, as John Cleese is fabulous as the character and his dry British wit is delivered with perfect comic timing. The gameplay in Fable has always been on the easy side, but with the new overall streamlining approach to every aspect of the game the combat has become even simpler. To the point where it's starting to become a detriment. It's too easy. There is no challenge. I'm not really a big fan of the one-on-one interaction within the game. It's just time consuming. I prefer the previous game's showing off for a crowd approach. I did enjoy the concept of the second half of the game wherein you'll become the king or queen and have to make decisions and try to keep your promises. Most of those promises are represented by financial costs to the kingdom. The problem is it's too easy to make money and by the time I got there I had so much money that it broke the second half of the game. I never faced the moral dilemma the game so wants you to experience. Graphically Fable III looks about the same as Fable II with some improved lighting effects that really work well. I really like the colorful approach to Fable's world. It would be great to see more western RPGs take this approach. Musically Fable III is as strong as ever. The whimsical fantasy scoring is reminiscent of Danny Elfman. The voice work is superb, and very British. The aforementioned Cleese and Stephen Fry as Reaver highlight a great cast of voice actors. The best part of the Fable series, the British charm and humor are in full effect for Fable III. For Fable IV, I'd love to see Lionhead focus on the technical side as much as they seem to focus on the story and character and acting of the series. If they could just get the tech on par with the other aspects of the series and maybe focus on a few things to the point of being polished instead of going halfway with every idea under the sun then they'd likely come up with a truly amazing game. As I stated previously, I enjoyed the game in spite of itself. I am docking a full point based purely on the technical side of things. Games shouldn't be this glitchy in 2010. Another point and a half for having too little focus. I'm giving Fable III a 7.5.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light -- All-in-One.

This entry is considerably late. It's a few months late as Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was a game released as part of Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade 2010. I bought the game then and messed around with it for a bit. They announced right before the release that the co-op would be patched in a month later. A month later turned into two months later. Well, they patched it last week and Magus and I finally got around to playing the game but I haven't made the entry for it because I've been busy with Fable III. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square-Enix. The game is a drastic departure from the main Tomb Raider series, hence the new naming scheme that drops the Tomb Raider aspect. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is an isometric platforming game that loses absolutely nothing in the transfer between genres. Everything you've come to expect from Tomb Raider is there. The combat has shifted to that of an arcade eight-way twin stick shooter. Outside of that you have the series staples of action, intricate platforming, and devious puzzles. The graphics are really impressive for a download. The game was created using the Tomb Raider: Underworld engine which allowed for great lighting and other effects normally associated with a higher budget production. Keeley Hawes does her usual exceptional job voicing the character of Lara. The music is pulled from the previous three Tomb Raider games, Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld so it sounds great if unoriginal. The game has some great puzzles, especially in co-op. Having to work together to figure it out and then actually pull it off proves to be really fun. The controls are great, once you adjust to them, and there is definately an adjustment period. I really enjoyed the game considerably. I hope it does well enough to continue on alongside the standard Tomb Raider series. I'm giving Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light an 8.5.