The Scoop: ClaDun X2 is Nippon Ichi Software’s follow up to last year’s salute to dungeon crawling RPGs from the 16-bit era, ClaDun: This is an RPG.  That game was pretty solid and although ClaDun X2 may feel like “ClaDun 1.5″ at times, it does hold its own.

The Set Up: Like the first game, your character is trapped on the island of “Arcanus Cella”.  The only way off it is by battling through a series of dungeons which are unlocked in sequential order.  The experience is designed for gaming on the go with each dungeon consisting of three or four levels that mostly take between two and five minutes to complete.  For the days when you have a longer bus ride into work, you can explore the larger dungeons called “Ran-geons” or “Tri-geons” that will stack 25 or so random levels.  They can be difficult but they do yield greater items and equipment.

Believe it or not, there is a way out of this.

The other inhabitants you meet on Arcanus Cella are not interested in leaving and they spend most of the game trying to convince you to stay.  In one cut scene, two of the female inhabitants lifted their shirts as they were convinced the sight of their sweater meat would have me forget about leaving.  Needless to say, Nippon Ichi’s humour is in full force here and if this was Gilligan’s Island I definitely would have.

Serves them right for lookin'!

Instead of enlisting the “boob twins” for help I had to build my own party from scratch.  There are some preset options you can use to quickly get one together, but for those you love to customise, this game is your wet dream.  Their look, animations, speech, and how they interact with other characters can be customised.  I made my main character look like Travis Touchdown from the No More Heroes games.  It took me almost two hours, but it was worth it.

If challenge had a taste, you'd be quite delicious.

Once you have built your party, each one will be the leader of its own “Magic Circle”.  Magic Circles are set ways to organize your party in the dungeons.  Party members within a Magic Circle assist the leader by taking damage and giving boosts depending on which items are carried.  Only the party leader is playable but every member gets experience points once a level is complete.  You unlock better Magic Circles with boosts and slots for additional members as your characters rank up.

What’s Hot: ClaDun X2 holds to the mantra of what makes old school gaming great by being easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master.  You control your character much like you would in an old Zelda game with an over-the-head perspective and the gameplay does vary depending on what type weapon you are using.  Sometimes I would be getting spanked in a dungeon with my main character’s sword abilities, but trying again with a sub character and a bow would have me breeze through to the end.  Add another layer of Magic Circles and their different effects on your party, and you have many hours of experimentation to explore.

There is a ton of the good kind of level grinding where you unlock a bunch of items and abilities as you rank up.  The characters max out at level 99, and then there is some equipment you can find that will jump them to 999.  The amount of weapons, equipment, magic spells and items in this game is staggering.  There is plenty to be found in the dungeons, but also a bunch of unique ones at Arcanus Cella’s store that you will be saving up your gold coins for.

Kratos wannabe

The game’s music is completely customizable as well.  The soundtrack can be switched back and forth between orchestrated music and the same tunes in 8-bit midi.  New midi tracks can be created and played at any level you wish.  You can also save screenshots which is a pretty cool feature.  Every picture in this review was made by yours truly.

Endbosses, like this one, are challenging but fun.

What’s Not: For most fans of the original, ClaDun X2 will feel very comfortable, but to a fault.  The developers went out of their way to add a ton of customization to the look and sound of the game, but didn’t bring anything new to its gameplay or feel.  Also, the original’s multiplayer co-op mode is dropped which is pretty bizarre considering how popular of a feature it was.

That's what you get from exploring some random dude's house.

I was excited to see after a little ranking up that a gateway to a “wireless dungeon” opened up.  I was hoping it would be Little Big Planet kind of online hub where I could see what others have created and show my Travis Touchdown off.  But the connection is for other PSPs within wireless range only.  I know it is not fair to knock a game for not adding a bonus feature, but with the level of customization involved in this game it almost like a World War II FPSer coming out today without any multiplayer levels.

Although gameplay wise ClaDun X2 is easy to pick up there are some elements, like the Magic Circles, that are deep and require a lot of an explanation on how they work.  There are characters you can visit on Arcanus Cella that do just that but with wordy text and no visual aids.  Having a bit of a walkthrough through to show how the Magic Circles work would have been more effective.

Final Verdict: ClaDun X2 is a better single player experience than its predecessor, but its premise and gameplay is very similar.  It lacks the enchantments you would expect from a sequel and drops a popular multiplayer mode.  They are two big exclusions, especially when the game is asking you to shell out $20 for it.

If you haven’t played a ClaDun game before or sunk a ton of hours into the original without touching the multiplayer, then X2 will be a wise investment.  It has all of the same solid gameplay as the original but with a deep amount of customization added in.  Just steer clear of the boob twins.  They can be hypnotic even in 16 bit.

The Scoop: Ninjamurai is a stylish 2D action platformer with beautiful hand painted animations and a killer soundtrack.  It is a complex game that can be challenging but rarely is frustrating.  Above all, the most impressive element of this game is where you can buy it.  Fledgling developer Open Emotion’s salute to Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden from the 16 bit era can only be found in the PS Mini store; and a niche little title like this it couldn’t be more at home.

Thanks for the advice.

The Setup: You play as Takezou whose Sensei is killed in an attack on his village by the evil militia known as Black Armour.  Your journey starts shortly afterwards and Takezou is set to deal the Black Armour leader a heavy dose of corporal punishment.  (Do Ninja’s believe in an eye for an eye?  Maybe the samurai do… who knows?)  Of course, this leader isn’t readily available for a chat and you have to get work your way through is fortress to reach him.

Takezou owns a mix of ninja and samurai abilities (Ninja-murai.  Get it now?) and switching between both play a large part in the game’s complexity.  Takezou’s ninja skills allows him to run by enemies undetected, but can only be used for a limited time.  Switching over to samurai allows you to use your sword but you can be seen by enemies.  With only a limited amount of health, hacking and slashing you way to the finish line will not be possible.  Ultimately, you will need to find the right balance of using both to make it through the game.

What’s Hot: As mentioned before, the game is beautiful.  It uses hand painted animations with water colors which lends a cool vibe to the overall presentation.  It is stunning to see on the PSP screen, but if you are planning on playing this with PS3 you maybe a little disappointed.  Although the art style still has its appeal, the game losses some of its characteristics when blown up on a 50” LCD screen.

I get it; you're angry.

Ninjamurai’s punishing old-school style of platforming gameplay won’t be for everyone.  You have a limited amount of lives to get through a level and you will need to do some memorizing of their layouts to get through them.  Thankfully, they are small and meant to be played in short bursts so you won’t have to keep too much in the noggin for long.  It is a perfect set up for gaming on the go.

What’s Not: The level design is a mixed bag of awesome and frustration.  While the buildings and background look great, a lot of their elements are repeated.  For the most part you are jumping over large death pits from platform to platform as you zig-zag your way down to the finish line.  The problem is a lot of the times you are unsure of what is a death trap and what is a way down.  I think the game would have been better suited to have you work your way up instead; but I am only a simple reviewer; so what do I know?

Is this the way down or a fall to death?

Final Verdict: The game is short, and can be finished in a few hours; but if you do like unlocking costumes and grabbing achievements there is plenty of reason to keep coming back.  Ninjamurai is deal for the asking price of $1.99 and one that I highly recommend to those that love a good platformer.

Publisher:

The Scoop: Looking to offer an alternative to the sim-heavy Smackdown VS. Raw series, THQ has decided to take a second stab at a more accessible wrestling game after the lukewarm-received Legends of Wrestlemania. This time, instead of handing over the reigns to long-time WWE developer Yuke’s, THQ has brought in their San Diego Studios team to tackle the challenge.  Oh, and THQ San Diego’s head producer is some guy named Sal Divita.  You know, the guy who worked on such Midway games as NFL Blitz, NBA Hangtime and Mortal Kombat. This isn’t the first time that the San Diego Studio has worked on a wrestling game, though.  Most of the team worked on Midway’s TNA Impact that was released in 2009.  That game didn’t get the kindest of reviews, so the San Diego team is looking to redeem themselves with their latest wrestling endeavor: WWE All-Stars.

The Setup: WWE All-Stars pits 30 WWE superstars, past and present, against each other in the dream matches that WWE fans have always wanted to see.  Who would win in a dream match between Hulk Hogan and John Cena?  Is The Big Show a better big man than Andre The Giant?  Can “Stone Cold” Steve Austin take down the “Celtic Warrior” Sheamus?  Also, for the first time in nearly 16 years, players can take control of “Macho Man” Randy Savage in a WWE video game.  All of these superstars and dream matches are in your complete control.

What’s Hot: WWE All-Stars looks to get gamers, both old and young, to pick up the controller and duke it out as their favorite WWE superstars.  That’s why, as opposed to the Smackdown VS. Raw series, WWE All-Stars sports a simple control scheme that anyone can learn within minutes.  The left thumbstick controls your character, while the face buttons are split up into two strike commands and two grapple commands.  You have normal strikes and grapples along with strong strikes and grapples.  While a strong grapple does a little more damage than a normal grapple, it also takes longer to set up.  This can leave you wide open for your opponent to counterattack and turn the tide of the match in their favor.  Signature moves are pulled off by pressing both of the strike buttons or both of the grapple buttons simultaneously, while finishers are triggered by pressing both the left bumper and right bumper together when your finisher meter is full.

There are three meters that you have to keep your eye on during each match:  The first is your health bar.  Your health bar appears underneath your wrestler’s name during the progress of a match.  It starts off green, then as you take damage turns to yellow, then orange, then red.  Once your final red bar depletes, the meter will start flashing.  This means that if you get hit with a finisher, you’ll be knocked out.  The second bar to watch is your signature move bar.  This bar will increase with each strike and grapple that you connect with during the match.  The bar is cut into thirds, giving you the ability to store three signature moves at maximum.  One thing to keep in mind is that your ability to run is also tied to the signature move bar.  If it’s empty, you won’t be able to run and pull off running strikes or grapples.  The third bar is your finisher bar.  Quite simply, this bar tells you how close you are to being able to perform a finisher.

In most of the matches, the goal is simple:  Beating your opponent senseless and either scoring a knockout or pinfall.  There are no submissions or count-outs in these matches; pinfalls and knockouts can happen anywhere inside or outside of the ring.  Weapons are hidden underneath the ring apron, but you run the risk of being disqualified if you use them in any match that isn’t an Extreme Rules match.

Speaking of specialty matches, WWE All-Stars contains a handful of match types to fight your battles in:  One-on-one, Tornado Tag Team, Triple Threat, Fatal Four Way, Elimination Rules (up to four players, including tag team matches), Handicap, Steel Cage and the aforementioned Extreme Rules match types are your choices.  Steel Cage matches are especially fun, as there are no pinfalls or submissions.  The only way to win the match is to escape from the cage.  This works by climbing up to the top of the cage and stopping a meter in a designated zone five times in order to successfully escape.  The more damage that you’ve dealt your opponent, the larger the escape zone will be on the meter.  Of course, you have to be aware of your opponent at all times.  You can be interrupted during an escape attempt and thrown back into the ring if you’re not quick enough.

Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software
Developer: System Prisma
Platform(s): Sony PlayStation Portable
Genre: Dungeon RPG
Rating: E 10+
Players: 1, 2-4 (Ad Hoc)
Purchase from: Amazon, PlayStation Store

The Scoop: 8-Bit graphics and music meets modern dungeon crawling for the casual crowd in NIS’s downloadable title for the Sony PlayStation Portable.

The Setup: Cladun: This is an RPG is the story of Arcanus Cella, a faraway land that few find and even fewer want to leave. The main story follows childhood friends Pudding and Souma, who find themselves in Arcanus Cella. While Pudding is all about diving into the world and finding adventure, Souma is less enthused. But he ends up following after Pudding in an attempt to convince her to return to their normal lives. As the game progresses, more people will end up in the world of Arcanus Cella out of sheer randomness and join up with Pudding and Souma, including characters that you can create. Nearly every single one of them is a playable character.

Cladun is a dungeon crawler RPG in which you will take your character, equip it with the best gear and weapons you can find or buy, and set out into dungeons attacking monsters, gathering treasures, and defeating the boss at the end of each dungeon. There also seems to be no overall goal as the player can decide when they want to leave the world at any time, thus ending the game. But for the “best ending,” it’s up to the player to progress through each dungeon and watch the events of the world unfold.

What’s Hot: Cladun is easy to pick up and play; as it is designed for short moments of free time, making Cladun an unexpectedly expansive game. The dungeons are well designed and the controls are easy to master. Each dungeon consists of the usual traps, treasures, environmental hazards, and monsters. The uniqueness to Cladun is that each floor can be completed in about a minute; you could complete a whole dungeon in less than five minutes, depending on how many floors the dungeon may consist of, unlike other dungeons that can take anywhere up to a half hour to an hour.

Unlike most dungeon crawler RPGs in which you enter a dungeon and go through all the floors to the end boss, in Cladun you will take each floor as its own separate stage. Once you finish that floor, you’re teleported back to the main village and now have access to the floor below. With this setup, you can progress through this game in small increments if you only have a few minutes of free time on your hands

As playing through a single character can seem kind of lonely, Cladun introduces a party system not seen in most dungeon crawler RPGs. Instead of having the characters with you in a dungeon, the game includes what’s called a “Magic Circle.” Into the circle you can put other characters into designated slots that can boost your attack, health, or other stats while giving them experience once you finish a floor. Characters in the Magic Circle will also act as shields for your main character should you get attacked by a monster. However if you take too much damage, they will “faint” and soon you may find yourself the one being attacked directly.

A small example of the Magic Circle.

What’s Not: Cladun advertises that it contains randomly generated dungeons, but the dungeons I had played through weren’t always randomized when I went back to them. Once I unlocked the ability to create my own character, I went back to some of the first zones to level him up. But upon doing so, I realized that the level layout, traps, and monsters were identical every time I replayed the maps. It was disappointing to not have a new challenge every time I went back, especially once my brain kicked into auto-pilot and I found myself just easily running through the levels.

And while the easy minute to two minute stages make the game feel nice and quick, they can also somewhat of a downer to some. With other dungeon crawler RPGs such as Etrian Odyssey or even Pokémon Mystery Dungeon in which you explore a dungeon from the first floor, to as many floors as it takes in one sitting feels like a cop out. Again, the challenge of the levels seems non-existent when at the end of a floor you can go back to town to stock up the newest equipment or artifact modifiers and automatically restore yourself to full health.

The other downside of Cladun is the general style of the game. It seems that ever since Nintendo and Capcom went on the whole retro craze with New Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man 9, retro seems to be the new ‘in thing’. Although retro games can be appealing for a title that made its claim to fame in that era, new series that try to catch that zeal just don’t seem to hold up as well. I would have rather liked to see the game in more of a modern graphical setting such as the Disgaea series. You do have the option to turn the music from retro 8-bit to “real” orchestrated tracks, but even setting the music to the “real” mode just seems out of place when the rest of the game is done in 8-bit.

Heal traps, does a body good.

Final Verdict: To damage a game just solely based on a graphical style is like saying, “I don’t like books because they use an ugly font.” But graphics aside, Cladun is a hit or miss title for dungeon crawler RPG fans. There is some unique innovation in there, such as the Magic Circle party system. However the main draw is the easy one or two minute floors; as it can be a plus to those people who don’t have a lot of time to play RPGs, but it can deter fans who like more challenging dungeon crawler RPGs.

Publisher:

The Scoop: NIS brings back a favorite of many gamers with this re-release of the acclaimed 2004 tactics game, Phantom Brave, now on the PSP with more characters to crush one’s foes into oblivion!

The Setup: In Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle, you take on the role of a young teen by the name of Marona, a happy, optimistic girl who works as a Chroma, or bounty hunter/adventurer-for-hire. She posses the rare gift of the Chartreuse Gale, a power which lets Marona to speak with spirits and enlist their aid in battle. Her companion on her home of Phantom Isle is Ash, a phantom who worked as a Chroma with Marona’s parents. The three of them were on assignment when they were killed, and while Marona’s father tried to use his power to return Ash to life, it only succeed in returning Ash as a phantom, a spirit between life and death. In return, Ash has devoted himself to protecting Marona in her parent’s place. Life as a Chroma is difficult for Marona, and doubly so due to her power. Most people believe that because she can speak with things no one else can she must be possessed. Even people who hire her will many times not pay her for the work simply because they are frightened of her; however, Marona never allows the world to get her down, and soon begins winning allies and friends to her side, this just as the evil that killed her parents and Ash starts to resurface and threatens to wipe out Ivoire.

The battle system in Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle is quite unique. When the battle starts, the only character the player has is Marona. Marona must then summon in phantoms, like Ash, to fight for her. This is done by confining the phantom to an object on the battlefield, such as a rock or tree, or even a sword. When a phantom is confined to an object, the object that it is attached to will affect the stats of the phantom. So while a small bush might give an excellent magic bonus for one of the player’s mage phantoms, putting a warrior there might not be the best idea. Phantoms also have a limited number of turns in the battle once they are confined. Once those turns are up, the phantom vanishes and cannot be summoned again in that battle. Though when they vanish, they have a chance to take whatever they were confined to with them, which is the main way to gain new and powerful items for your fighters. Defeating some of the normal foes and quite a few of the bosses will then allow Marona to summon them as phantoms.

It's Fightin Time!

When not in battle, Marona and Ash spend their time on Phantom Isle, which functions as the game’s hub. While there, Marona can create new phantoms, buy items from merchant phantoms, or have healing phantoms patch up the party from the last battle. The Dungeon Monk phantom allows the creation of random dungeons, the stats of which can be changed by the player. This allows Marona to level up her phantoms, or search for certain times or phantoms to be used in the fusion system. The fusion system is used to create more powerful items and characters to use in battle. Players can fuse and item to an item, item to a character, or even two characters together to make something totally new. It allows for endless combinations and the creation of some crazy characters and battle tactics.

Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle is the third release of the game Phantom Brave. Originally released in 2004 for the Playstation 2, it was re-released in 2009 on the Wii. The original release had quite a few bonus characters from the hit NIS series Disgaea: Laharl, Etna, Fionne, Vyers aka Mid -Boss, Myao, and Baal. All of them were unlocked by beating different bonus stages in which they needed to be defeated. In the Wii release, an entire new mode was added, called ‘Another Marona’. Intended for those who had beaten the game, it is the story of a Marona from another dimension who comes to this one seeking Ash and the original Marona’s help. With this new release for the PSP, all the features for the PS2 and Wii versions are included, as well as more unlockable characters, such as Unloser Ranger, Lord Zetta, Castille, Asagi, and the fan-favorite exploding penguin, the Hero Prinny.

I'm on a boat!

What’s Hot:A well written story backs up excellent gameplay in this title. It is chock full of the quirky, irreverent, and at times slightly risque humor that fans have come to expect from anything coming out of NIS. The gameplay system is challenging and very in-depth, allows for great character customization, and a wide variety of tactical approaches in battle.

What’s Not:Some may find the fusion system a little too in-depth for them, as it does take some time to learn what effects what, and what is the best item or character to fuse to raise such and such stat. The addition of a few new characters may not make it enough of a new game for owners of the Wii version to pay for it on PSP.

Final Verdict: Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle is a fun, funny, and challenging tactics game for the PSP. I highly recommended this for any newcomers to the game, or those who may have purchased the PS2 version and never did get around to picking up the Wii release. Fans will enjoy diving in and helping keep the at times overly optimistic Marona and her protector Ash out of trouble.

Publisher:

Developer: NIS America

Platform: Playstation Portable (PSP)

Genre: Action Side-Scroller

Rating: T – Teen

ESRB Descriptors: Language, Mild Fantasy Violence, and Suggestive Themes

Purchase from: Amazon.com

Official Webiste: http://nisamerica.com/games/prinny2/

The Scoop: NIS serves up more of its delightfully madcap humor and challenging gameplay in this sequel to its 2009 side-scroller Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?.

The Setup: In this sequel to NIS’s Disgaea spin-off, you are once more placed in the shoes (pegged legs?) of the Netherworld’s low-man-on-the-totem-pole, the Prinny (or rather, Prinnies). In Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!, the young succubus, Master Etna, is still in charge of the Netherworld. A demon who collects rare items breaks into the castle and steals her panties, and she charges the Prinny Squad with retrieving them. Failure to do so will result in a new line of Prinny-skin undergarments made from any survivors of the Prinny Squad. However, the thief who stole the aforementioned lingerie has a rule – he only steals Rare items, and never steals from the same person twice. So, in order to lure him out, the Prinny Squad decides to obtain some Rare Items from other denizens of the Netherworld. Unfortunately for the Prinnies, most of these demons will not part very willingly with what they have.

And so begins another round of double-entendre and innuendo-laced humor and Prinny-bashing. At the start of Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!, you are given a ten hour time limit to retrieve the burgled unmentionables and one thousand Prinnies at your disposal. Now, the biggest problem with Prinnies is that they explode if tossed. Or kicked. Or punched. Basically, any sort of impact will cause the Prinnies to detonate. In order to make her troops a bit less ineffectual, Etna bestows them with a scarf that allows the Prinny wearing it to take a bit more damage before they flamboyantly expire. So, the “Hero Prinny” that you play isn’t necessarily the same character throughout the whole game, though the voice remains the same. Now, ten hours and a thousand Prinnies might sound like more than enough to get any job done, unless you’ve played the first game, or know someone who has. The earmark of these two games is their difficulty. Even the most tenacious platform-loving gamer will find this game demanding if not downright frustratingly difficult.

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! does have a few upgrades, as it were, in comparison with its predecessor. For one, the difficulty level can be adjusted between three variations – Baby Mode, Standard Mode and Hell’s Finest. Baby Mode is the “Easiest”, with three hits before expiration and extra blocks over some gaps or in places where a landing spot in only one block. The hit counters in the upper left of the screen also look like diapers. In Standard Mode, the two hits that can be withstood are represented by Prinny scarves. And in Hell’s Finest, there are NO hit counters. One shot and your Prinny is cooked. The art style used is a mix of 2D sprites and 3D environments, which has become the standard in many of NIS’s games. The sprite animations are fluid and detailed and expressive to a hilarious degree.

All in all, Prinny 2 is fun, especially to fans of 2D platforming games. However, this is no mere run’n‘slash game where speed and blindly assaulting the enemy win the day. Oh, no. You need to be aware of your surroundings, as there are some enemies that fly just at the edge of sight above you, waiting to assault with thrown weapons or bombs. And there is one level where an enemy machine fires at you FROM THE BACKGROUND. Thankfully, warning signs pop up to show where the shots will land, giving you a few precious moments to get to a clear spot. Prinny’s arsenal of moves hasn’t changed too much from the first game – he can rapid slash with his daggers from the ground, or jump and slash for ranged damage, flinging scything blades of energy at distanced foes. There is also a Hip Pound, used to activate checkpoint and action switches and to stun enemies. When stunned, the Prinny can choose to pick up and fling his victims, or merely hack them into oblivion. This strategy is especially effective in boss fights, as the bosses are not immune to this attack. Also, there is the Prinny Spin, which in normal form just serves as a charge up to Dash. If you spin too long, though, Prinny will get dizzy and be stuck in place until his head clears, leaving open to attack.

“Now hold on a moment,” you might be saying, “is that it?” Why no, it’s not! Aside from the difficulty settings, Prinny 2 has another modification – a Combo bar. This bar is filled by landing consecutive hits on enemies, though it depletes between attacks, and by eating sweets all around the level. Apparently, Prinnies are powered by violence and cheesecake. At any rate, once the bar is filled, a bolt of purple lightning hits the Prinny, who cries “Break!” as he enters – you guessed it – Break mode. In this mode, all the moves are powered up, so slashes deal more damage and the aerial slashes have increased range. The Hip Pound stuns for longer and hits harder as well, and the Prinny Spin can be used to mow down and stun enemies aside from its usual Dash charge. However, Break mode adds another attack to Prinny’s repertoire – the Prinnykaze. Entering the command in the air causes the Prinny to lunge downward and shoot along the ground, decimating anything in his path. This depletes the Combo bar completely, returning the Prinny to normal. There is also a split-second of vulnerability as the move ends, so if you are ANYWHERE near an enemy – kiss a hit counter good-bye.

Most of the boss fights are fairly straightforward – stun the boss, slash him like it’s going out of style, get away when he wakes up, rinse, repeat. As dull and easy as that may sound, it does require some work, as these Bosses aren’t about to take things lying down. Quick wits and quicker reflexes are needed to put bosses down in a timely manner. Oh, one thing that seems to have slipped by in the confusion – each level (prior to the boss) has an eight-minute time limit. Exceeding this limit before reaching the boss results in the loss of a Prinny. Don’t fret though, because if a Prinny dies, the counter resets to eight minutes, as well as for boss fights. However, losing large number of Prinnies and taking too long to finish a level will lower your end of level ranking.

Now, that I’ve laid out the basics and what I enjoyed about this game, here’s where I mention what I didn’t like. I think my biggest complaint for this game would be the controls. In most platformers, when a character is mid-air from jumping or falling, you can control the direction they are falling (or jumping in). Not so here. If you want Prinny to jump forward, you need to be moving when you hit the jump. Otherwise, he just goes straight up, then straight back down. This can make navigating small platforms or moving platforms particularly frustrating to navigate, especially if you are focused on trying to clear you landing spot of enemies or are being chased by projectiles. Whether NIS intended this as part of the game or it is merely a design flaw is hard to say, but it does put a crimp on things. As for the aforementioned projectiles (which are sometimes enemies that just leap from the ground!), the uncanny knack they have for homing in on your character, even after leaving the screen, can be just as annoying. And with the stiff jumping, they are nearly impossible to dodge if you are caught in the open.

What’s Hot: A beautiful looking mesh of 2D sprites and 3D worlds, Prinny 2 is a solid platformer with plenty of action and enough humor to keep things interesting as the hero(es) battle on to complete their quest. Attacks are easy to learn and combo, boss fights are just the right mix of challenge and ease and there are always more than enough enemies to keep Prinny’s blades sharp.

What’s Not: A somewhat boggy jump control makes platform navigation tricky at best, frustrating at worst. Also, this game is not for the easily annoyed or impatient – projectiles and enemies can be tricky to avoid, which is only added to by the dodgy jump mechanics.

Final Verdict: When you get down to it, Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! is not for the faint of heart. It is a wonderfully fun and somewhat addictive game. If you are a die-hard platform gamer with some spare time and some patience (and an appreciation for innuendo and slightly risqué humor), you will love this game. And even if you aren’t a die-hard, give it a spin. Perhaps the tenacity of these daring little powder kegs will win you over and urge you to help them complete their quest.

Publisher:

The Scoop: Shooting themselves in the head with a gun to summon an alter-ego, a group of good-looking high school students must summon these  “Personas” in an effort to battle the Shadows that take over the world during the Dark Hour.  It’s time to the world, Japanese style.

The Setup: Originally released on the PS2 back in 2007, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 put a new spin on the RPG genre by adding a high-school life simulation aspect to the game.  Even though the game was only released on the perennial PS2, Persona 3 quickly became a massive hit with the remaining PS2 audience.  A year later, Atlus released the hit follow up, Persona 3 FES, which included added content as well as some new and refined features, which made the game even better.  And when we thought the game was as good as it can get, Atlus releases a “Portable” version for the PSP, with a new female perspective that adds even more to the lengthy story as well as the replay value.

Just like the previous Persona 3 games, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable revolves around a high school club called the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), whose members have the ability to summon a Persona (by shooting themselves in the head) as well as staying awake during the Dark Hour.  Occurring between midnight and 12:01 AM, this hidden period known as the Dark Hour puts normal people to sleep inside protective coffins, and creatures known as Shadows appear in hopes of finding unprotected prey.

During the Dark Hour, your character takes the SEES to the ever-changing dungeon known as Tartarus, which is actually the high-school, to battle the shadows.  This is where the dungeon-crawling, turn-based, RPG action takes place.  The SEES explores the many floors of Tartarus, fighting shadows and gaining new treasures – even new Persona.

When you’re not summoning Personas and battling the Shadows of Tartarus during the Dark Hour, you’re playing the role of an average high school student, taking classes, joining other clubs, socializing.  Not only does this high school simulation help push the story along, but it also plays a direct impact on the RPG elements of the game.

This is a big game folks, and it really is a lot of fun.

What’s Hot: The whole aspect of using Personas in this game is amazing.  Personas is how the game incorporates magic in battle.  One Persona might have access to fire abilities and another Persona has access to healing and wind abilities.  While other members of the SEES have access to only one Persona, your character has access to multiple Personas.  As you battle your way through Tartarus new Personas will be available via a card shuffle game that appears at random times after battle .  Not only that, but as the game progresses you will have the option to create new Personas by fusing multiple Personas together.  The resulting Persona can gain new abilities, inherit old abilities, or both.  The Personas give Persona 3 Portable has a very Pokemon-esque feeling to it. Gotta Catch’em all! (Sorry, couldn’t resist. )

To help create more powerful Personas is the wonderful high-school simulation that takes place during the day. As you meet you friends and join different clubs, a social link will form, each tied to a different type of Persona.  As the status of your social links grow so does the experience bonus tied to an Arcana – a category given to each Persona.  The higher your social link is to a type of Arcana, the better experience bonus you’ll receive when you create that specific Arcana through fusion.  So what you do and who you interact with during and after school plays an important part in how your Personas will grow and which Personas you’ll have access to.

And while the combat is turn based, it’s actually pretty addicting and never gets boring, especially since you can now directly control all of your teammates.  In the previous Persona 3 games, you could only issue basic orders such as “heal” or “conserve HP”, but now you can actually choose what they do and which Persona abilities to use.  At first you might put everyone on auto-pilot, which is fine, but as the enemies become stronger and your Personas learn more abilities, you’ll definitely want to have more control over the actions you’re teammates are performing.

Sure, Atlus could have just ported the original iteration of Persona 3 as is (because the game is just that damn good), but to give fans of the series another reasons to come back and to add to the replay value, they’ve added a female protagonist story line.  So not only do gamers get to play the story as-is with the original protagonist, Atlus has basically doubled the play time as we get to see the story told through a females perspective, with a new spin on the social aspect!

What’s Not: The original Persona 3 for the PS2 was filled with beautiful anime cutscenes, which unfortunately, did not make the cut (pun intended).  The character portraits and voiceovers aren’t bad and get the job done, but they definitely don’t compare to the original cutscenes.

Another featured that was omitted from the PSP version is the third person free roaming exploration.  Instead of controlling your character around the school and dorm you now move a circle to people and objects that you wish (or are able) to interact with.  Personally, I think this makes navigating a heck of a lot easier, but I can see how some gamers would think this could present a bit of a disconnect to the game.

Final Verdict: The combination of the combat and social aspects of Persona 3 series is magnificent, and I’m completely happy that we get a portable version of this solid RPG.  Sure, Atlus may have trimmed a few features from this portable version, but in the end, we still get the same great PS2 RPG and a whole new perspective with the female protagonist.  Along with Lunar: Silver Star Harmony and Ys Seven, Persona 3 Portable is another amazing RPG released on the PSP this year.  PSP gamers will definitely have their hands full with choosing between high-quality RPG’s this year, and that’s a great situation to be in.

Head on over to Amazon.com and and pick up your copy of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Portable 3 for the PSP.

Publisher: Aksys Games

Developer: Neverland

Platform(s): Playstation Portable

Genre: Strategy/Tactical RPG

ESRB Rating: T- Teen

Players: One

Official site: http://www.aksysgames.com/games

Get it now @: amazon.com, gamestop.com

The Scoop: Arksey Games brings Blazing Souls Accelate to the PSP, a game previously released as Blazing Souls on the PS2 and only available in Japan.  The strategy RPG does stumble at times, but there is fun to be had if you are willing to put in some grueling hours of level-grinding madness.

The Set Up: Zelos is the game’s main protagonist and – to put it bluntly – is a self-absorbed jerk.  While continuously putting down everyone within earshot he is for some reason compelled to bring together a band of mercenaries to… well, you never really find out.  The story is a bizarre one and I was never quite sure if it was trying to be ironic.  Zelos and his sword-looking shotgun bares a lot of resemblance to Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII who was also famous for being self-absorbed and carrying a “Gun Sword”.  Love it or hate it, the story is unique.

Squall & Zelos. Who's zoomin' who?

Once you do get Zelos and his crew onto the battlefield the game goes into pre-battle mode and you will have to do a little puzzle-platforming to advance from the area.  Zelos will now have a limited amount of moves to prepare a clear pathway for his team to reach the exit during battle.  Although the controls for this can be a little sloppy, it does a good job of breaking up the level grinding and is a heck of a lot better than random encounters.

When Zelos runs out of pre-battle moves the battle system is triggered and your opponents appear.  If you were not able to make a path to the exit you will have to clear all of the area’s enemies to return to pre-battle mode.

What’s Hot: The battle system is menu-based but the developers keep it simple and the experience is a smooth one.  At the beginning of every character’s turn you will have an opportunity to move them into position and then unleash a combo of attacks.  Getting the right combo will “Overkill” the opponent and you will be awarded with a greater amount of experience points.  You can even strategically pick which member of your party you want to level up by letting one wear the opponent down and have another step in to get the “Overkill”.

"Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud..."

There is a remarkable amount of items, weapons, galleries and skills to unlock and upgrade.  The menus do, at first, appear to be as cluttered as a hoarder’s living room, but the feeling only lasts until you get to know which areas are important to you.

What’s Not: Admittedly, if it were not for the internet I would have to give this game a lower score.  Like most SRPGs the world map is littered with locations for you to discover, but in the beginning you have no idea where any of them are.  To find them you need to earn Work Points (WP) and spend those WP to search the world map using clues given by townsfolk.  To make it even tougher, WP are really hard to come by.  You can convert the game’s currency into WP or gain some by advancing the story but this takes a long time.

The experience of finding new locations is like playing darts without numbers on the board.  I would have been thoroughly frustrated with this if I did not find a world map online with all of the locations revealed.  I know this is unacceptable, especially for a portable game, but I didn’t mind sticking to level grinding when I was on the go and waiting to find the next location when I had an opportunity to be by a computer.

An excellent question Guildmaster. Now how about throwin' me a frickin' bone here?

Final Verdict: Having to keep close to the internet for some direction and the odd choice of having a jerk as the main protagonist keeps Blazing Souls Accelate from being a great experience.  But if you are willing to put the hours into the level grinding you will come away with a rewarding one.  The smooth battle system makes up for the game’s shortcomings and keeps it fun instead of a chore.  Do get this game but only if you’re a RPG fan with access to a stable internet connection.

Publisher:

Developer: Sting

Platform: Playstation Portable (PSP), Nintendo DS

Genre: Action/Strategy RPG

Rating: T – Teen

ESRB Content Descriptors:  Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes

Official Website: http://www.atlus.com/knightspsp/

Purchase from: Amazon, GameStop

The Scoop: ATLUS and Sting deliver a Strategy-RPG with some interesting new twists. Coupled with an engaging story of tragedy and righteous vengeance, beautifully illustrated characters and stages, Knights in the Nightmare is a treat to experience.

The Setup: “Somewhere between heaven and the underworld-in the center of a quiet lake-stood an ancient castle known as Aventheim.  Without warning, denizens of the netherworld emerged and slaughtered the kingdom; nary a soul was left alive.

“Within an abandoned, long-forgotten church deep in the woods, the Wisp is set free.  Bereft of memory, it is drawn toward the monster-infested castle and re-awakens the souls of the vanquished knights, leading them back towards the fallen stronghold to confront the very forces of evil that took their lives.”

And so begins Knights in the Nightmare, an engaging Strategy-RPG with elements from the “bullet-hell” genre of scrolling shooters. You are the Wisp, the soul of the fallen king. Awakened in a church with no memory, you must battle monsters as you search for the one who awakened you, a mysterious Armored Maiden.

In this game you are not a character, per se. You play as the Wisp, which is essentially a glowing dot that you move around on screen like a cursor via the analog stick or D-Pad. Your means of attack are the souls of fallen Knights that you encounter on your journey. Some Knights are only present for a single encounter, but others can be given Key Items, objects that held special meaning for them in life. Giving such an object to the correct Knight recruits them into your army. There are seven classes in the game, and each has their own attack ranges and weapon types. Each map opens with at least two Knights on the field, sometimes more, along with Objects that can be broken or opened to obtain items. There are sometimes non-combatant NPCs as well. Like the Knights, they can be given a Key Item, however unlike the Knights, they do not join your cause. What they DO is give you an item, so it pays to keep an eye on the inventory.

Before each fight, you are given a chance to peruse the battlefield. Enemy statuses can be viewed, showing movement range and weaknesses, available Knights can be seen with their attack range and stats, and objects are also shown on the map, as some can obstruct attacks or are hazardous. Finally, up to four items can be chosen before battle each turn. Each item has a specific ability and use, so be very careful what you choose to bring with you each turn.

Speaking of items, a few factors need to be considered when outfitting Knights.  First, what classes are the available Knights? This will determine what weapons can be used. Second, what are the elemental-types of the enemies? Picking weapons of opposing elements will do greater damage. Third, do you have the Key Items for the Knights on the field (those that aren’t listed as Guest)?  And lastly, what Act Phase corresponds to that weapon?

Here’s a little more about the Knights. First, there are seven classes in the game, and each has their own attack ranges and weapon types. The classes are Duelist, Warrior, Hermit, Archer, Priestess, Wizard and Lance Knight. The Duelist wields a sword and can attack to their left and their back. In Chaos Phase, they also move one space with a leaping attack. The Warrior uses axes and attacks to their back or left as well. Hermits are what most people think of as thieves or rogues, and use daggers, attacking to the front and to the right. It’s pretty obvious what the Archer uses (at least, one would hope so). They have decent range, attacking the front and right. They’re also strong against giants.

If you wind up lucky enough to have a Priestess at your disposal, she’ll be able to wield maces, attacking front and right, as well as setting Grams. Grams are basically magic booby traps, triggered when a monster steps on the square you set it in. Much like the Priestess, a Wizard can set Grams and attacks front and right. However, they wield rods and have a very wide attack range. Finally, Lance Knights, like their name suggests, wield lances. They are mounted cavalry and can attack in any direction. Now that you know a little about the Knights, you need to know about the things that affect them.

For instance, there are two Act Phases – Law and Chaos. These Phases affect a Knight’s attack pattern, and are different in each. A Lance Knight in the Law Phase with a corresponding Law weapon will do a long reaching thrust attack, while a Chaos weapon in the Chaos Phase will cause the Knight to charge forward as he attacks. One more note when it comes to attacking – it is entirely possible to attack an enemy without using an item. That kind of attack will not damage the enemy; however, it DOES release MP crystals. MP is needed to use a weapon’s Skill Attack, which will damage an enemy or enemies.

All of this may sound rather much like common fare for the most part. But what about the afore-mentioned “bullet-hell” aspect? The term “bullet-hell” refers to a genre of scrolling shooters where the number of enemy projectiles on screen is massive – anyone who has ever played Ikaruga, Raiden Fighters or even Geometry Wars will have an idea of this shooter aspect. The enemies of Knights in the Nightmare all used different attacks that send projectiles around the screen. Some move in predictable patterns, others actually track the Wisp, often necessitating a change in speed (which is just a handy button press away). The more enemies on screen, the more projectiles there are to dodge. All is not lost, though, because these projectiles are not tiny bullets moving at the speed of sound. They are all brightly colored, resembling neon signs in most respects. I almost expected to start seeing “Eat at Joe’s” come shooting across the screen. The high visibility makes dodging much less stressful, even when the projectile count is moderate.

Another interesting twist on this game is a slot-machine style aspect called the Encounter Reels. At the end of a turn, before the next starts, you are taken to the Reels. Each reel (oftentimes three or four) will spin, pictures of monsters scrolling by. At the bottom  of the screen is a board with colored spaces, some of which are marked KILL. Those marks represent the monsters defeated in the first turn. As the Encounter Reels spin, different slots on the board will light with a color matching one of the reels. The object here is much like Tic-Tac-Toe  – to get a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of KILL marks. By lining new marks up with current ones, fewer monsters need to be killed to complete the encounter. The colors don’t matter, though some colors will not show up in specific rows, so time your stops wisely.

I enjoyed this game immensely. I had some worries at first, like when I saw “bullet-hell”, knowing full well what that entailed. But I have been genuinely and pleasantly surprised at how easy this game is to just pick up and play. The tutorial section is available from the start (and is also integrated in the game; you can skip it if you’ve already done it), and the screens look overwhelmingly busy. Despite that, you really aren’t watching everything at once. There are a lot of sound cues, for example when a Knight is selected to charge their attack you hear, “The Warrior, Activated!” and then a charging sound, that crescendos at full power, for instance. Selecting an item does the same – “The Axe, attached,” and so forth.  So what your eyes don’t follow, your ears can.

One issue I have with the game is once you are in a fight, you are committed to it. There is no mid-battle save option or a way to back out of the fight. The saves are all between scenes, but since a scene usually consists of cut scene, info, battle, cut scene, this isn’t an issue. There are also times where you will find that the Knights you have available may not be able to hit the enemies you need to kill to progress. I ran into a problem where I had a Duelist get stuck where she couldn’t attack anything. In Chaos aspect, Duelists use a leap attack, the moves them forward and up, if the terrain ascends. However, since the can only attack to the front or the left, going back DOWN is not an option. Of course, upon retrying the level, I took some time to think up a better strategy, and was victorious.

All in all, a fun game that will appeal to strategy and RPG fans alike (and maybe to those who enjoy trying to dodge hordes of enemy bullets, too).

What’s Hot: Solid Strategy-RPG elements, an engaging story, surprisingly easy control scheme, and tutorials that are concise and helpful. The battles are self-paced, allowing for on-the-fly strategizing, and the ability to swap weapons between turns makes recruiting new Knights and keeping enemies at bay a cinch.

What’s Not: Can seem hectic to people unaccustomed to games that require some multi-tasking. You have to be able to watch AND listen and the “bullet-hell” aspect can be daunting to those new to the scene. You need to be on the ball when attacking, to keep the Wisp from getting hit a lot of the time.

Final Verdict: With an engaging story, a new twist on an old favorite style of gaming and three separate storylines to follow, Knights in the Nightmare is a marvelous offering. Anyone yearning for a fresh take on Strategy RPGs, or RPGs in general should definitely pick this one up.

Knights in the Nightmare Teaser Trailer

[Trailer video courtesy of ATLUS.]

Purchase Knights in the Nightmare from: Amazon, GameStop

Publisher: NIS America

Developer: Nippon Ichi Software

Platform(s): Playstation Portable

Genre: “Rougelike” Dungeon Crawling RPG

Rating: T – Teen

Players: One

Official site: http://nisamerica.com/games/zhp/

The Scoop:  In 2003, Nippon Ichi Software broke new ground on the PS2 with, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.  The game reinvented tactical role-playing with a solid battle system, a ton of content and quirky humor.  Now their latest PSP title Zettai Hero Project: Unlosing Ranger Vs. Darkdeath Evilman, takes on “roguelike” RPGs.  First developed in late 1970’s on computer systems using ASCII graphics, “roguelikes” became known for their random dungeons and turn based battle systems.  ZHP is a mixture of this with “Disgaealike” humor and graphics, but the end result stumbles over the fine line between challenging and frustrating.

 The Setup:  The tongue-in-cheek story starts off with evildoer “Darkdeath Evilman” kidnapping Earth’s prophesized savior “Super Baby”.  Only the “Ultimate Victory Unlosing Ranger” can save him but unfortunately he is struck and killed by an automobile on his way to confront the villain.  As the accident’s sole witness, you receive the “Unlosing Ranger’s” cape and have been handed the task of defeating “Darkdeath”.  He promptly hands you a swift beating but before he can finish you off you are rescued and teleported to “Bizarro Earth” – a land where time stands still and has plenty of dungeons for the untrained hero to hone his craft. 

Your 2D character is always present in the middle of the screen in a ¾ isometric view and the PSP’s left and right bumpers rotate the camera in the 3D environments.  Movement is done with the d-pad and each step counts as an action in the turned based battle system.  Enemies move in unison with you and a highlighted area on the ground represents their line of sight.  This allows you to plan a ranged or sneak attack, or avoid them all together.

I can see you Kirk.  Can you see me?

Sounds easy enough, right?  Well it’s not.  In the dungeons you will have to follow the Tao of Kenny Rogers and know when to hold ‘em, fold ‘em, walk away or run.  Every action including walking burns stamina.  Avoiding enemies will create a lot of extra steps and will drain your energy meter causing your character to starve. Attacking everything in sight is not an option either as both weapons and equipment wear out quickly and without replacements you will have only your ineffective fists to get by.  Finding a balance of when to do both is paramount to making it through the more difficult dungeons.

What’s hot:  ZHP lacks a deep story without side quests or mini games but it makes up it for with a heaping portion of character customization.  Although his basic look will stay the same, there is an endless amount of bizarre equipment to add onto your character, like “Fluffy Tail” which will turn the lower part of the torso into a horse.  When the “dark clinic” becomes available in “Bizarro Earth” items brought back from the dungeons can be transformed into cybernetic chips to implant your body.  Each chip will have a different effect on your character’s stats depending on what was used to make it and where on the body it is placed.

 Where else can you get turtle legs?

Some excellent voice acting saves the overlong cut scenes.  Even with the entire script subtitled on screen, I listened to every bit of dialogue to hear to how the voice talent would deliver it.

What’s Not:  Like William Shatner or David Hasselhoff in a below average comedy, the game awkwardly attempts to recreate the unintentionally funny.  ZHP relies a lot on 4^th wall breaking and self-deprecating humor to drive its hackneyed story, but Nippon Ichi is too careful not offend anybody.  Good opportunities to be clever are missed as they take the Leno-ish safe approach with broad strokes to poke fun at Japanese to English translation errors or clichéd plot holes.

ZHP  has a two-tiered leveling system that calls for an obscene amount of grinding.  At the end of each dungeon crawl your newly gained stats are lowered back to zero and added to your base stats.  This means your character will start the next crawl at level zero and only be slightly better.  It is a weak effort to prolong gameplay and it might be forgivable if the battle system was deeper than mostly walking up to enemies and pressing the square button.

The dungeons are randomly created and so are the items populated in them.  With limited pouch space you must rely on the food, weapons, equipment and health packs you are able to find during a dungeon crawl.  Too often the game will unfairly place too much of one and not enough of the other and your character will expire.

 Those floating squares are the in game map.

Speaking of which, death is a regular function of the game and it punishes you good for allowing it to happen.  Your character will be booted out of the dungeon and forced to lose all of his carried items and money.  Cheating death with multiple saves will not work because ZHP only allows one save file for every new game.  It’s a terrific move by Nippon Ichi to keep the integrity of the game’s challenge intact but goes too far by punishing the player for exiting the game.  ZHP counts any mid-dungeon exit as a death and auto saves over your file.  Need to take a break and listen to an MP3?  Okay, but it’ll cost ya.

 Final Virdict:  Some players might enjoy ZHP’s rich character customization, but are in for the long haul if they want to see all of the content.  Be prepared for a ton of dull level grinding, an unbalanced amount of items to find and to have your PSP taken over for some marathon sessions.  If you are looking for a RPG on the PSP, your money will be better spent on other current titles like Valkyria Chronicles II or Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.