Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 Impressions

If you threw your favorite Tales characters into a giant pot and brought them to a boil, you'd get something like this sequel for the Sony PSP.

TOKYO--Tales series enthusiasts, brace yourselves: Another Radiant Mythology game is coming to the PSP, and it will be overflowing with all of the fan service that the first one provided. We talked with Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 producer Hideo Baba on the Tokyo Game Show floor this weekend and asked him some questions while getting in some hands-on time with this PSP role-playing game.

The most important facet of the original Tales of the World was its cast. It was the video game equivalent of fan fiction, tossing a crowd of well-known characters along with a few original creations into a stew of random quests and a standard Tales combat system. Baba told us that the sequel's structure will remain essentially the same. If his statement applies to the mission structure, it means that you will take various unrelated quests from a local guild, and be able to recruit up to three other characters into your party at any given time. Baba did confirm that the friendship system from the first game will remain mostly the same, so to recruit people, you will want to remain on his their good side. We were more curious about the full cast, but Baba didn't wish to share details, and told us that this information hadn't yet been passed on to the Japanese press either. We also asked if Tales of Vesperia, the most recent game in the series, would be represented, but Baba would only confirm that Tales of the World 2 would include more than double the number of characters as the first.

However, it's unclear why Baba was so tight-lipped regarding the character list. By accident, we were flipping through some Tokyo Game Show promotional material, and a two-page ad for the game showed a complete list of playable and non-playable characters that will inhabit the Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 story. They include Zelos and Presea from Tales of Symphonia, Bruiser and Rutee from Tales of Destiny, Chat and Reid from Tales of Eternia, and Suzu and Arche from Tales of Phantasia. Other characters are ripped from Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Rebirth, Tales of Legendia, and other games that, as you can guess, all have titles that begin with the same two words. It's a huge and familiar cast, numbering more than three dozen, so if you're a franchise fan, you'll be quite pleased with the selection. However, the biggest news in the ad is that Yuri will represent Tales of Vesperia, and due to the way that the page is laid out, it seems that he will be a playable character. This is good news indeed for those who enjoyed the most recent entry.

As for the story itself, no surprises sprung from the pages of the ad, and Baba didn't have much to say on the subject. He did tell us that the story will be completely different from the first game and will take place in a totally different world. Like in the original, you will create a character from scratch and choose a profession, though we don't yet know what the job choices will be. You can also choose from other options, such as clothing and voice-over styles. From there, your goal is to find out exactly who you are, which leaves things rather vague. But for now, that's all we know.

As for gameplay, combat should be familiar to anyone who has ever played a Tales game. You take control of a single party member, and battles take place in real time within the combat arena. Pressing the attack button will automatically target an enemy, at which point your character will run toward it and perform the move. You can also perform spells known as artes, and though you can have only a limited number of them mapped to the PSP's buttons at a particular time, you have a good variety from which to choose, so you have a certain amount of flexibility in customizing party members to your own style. The three characters you don't control will attack, heal, and use items as the artificial intelligence sees fit, or you can customize their behavior in various ways.

The one play mechanic that we were curious about was a third gauge at the bottom of the screen. We wondered aloud to Baba about what that meter indicated, but like with other facets of the game, he didn't want to get into specifics and indicated only that it related to additional party skills. Nevertheless, we assume that it's the overlimit gauge of the first game, and screenshots confirm this assumption. Perhaps it's just as well that Baba has been so cryptic; RPGs are at their best when we let them surprise us as we play. Regardless, the one thing that we will spring on RPG fans is the release date--when one is announced, that is. Keep your eyes on this space for future updates!

By Kevin VanOrd, GameSpot

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Review

You hear the big chord and the brass fanfare, and you know what's coming. It's easy to get excited when you hear the rousing Star Wars theme, though the franchise has hardly been known for exceeding expectations in recent years. If you're interested in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for its story and theme, you won't be disappointed: It supplies a weighty plot with a few stunning surprises. If you're more interested in the action, you'll find that the game is a mixture of fun and frustration that you'll get some enjoyment from, but ultimately fails to live up to its potential.

You're cast as Galen Marek, aka Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice. The Clone Wars have ended, and Vader orders you to hunt and destroy the last of the remaining Jedi. Exploring the universe from this dark perspective is remarkably compelling. The story is brief (expect to finish the campaign in about seven hours), but it contains multiple twists, features some friendly and not-so-friendly faces, and is both explosive and remarkably intimate. You'll interact with Vader, of course, but Starkiller spends most of his time with an android called PROXY and his female pilot, Juno Eclipse. Sharing the details of the trio's adventures would spoil too much, so suffice it to say that you'll grow remarkably fond of Starkiller and his companions, and their moral conflicts carry a lot of weight.

Unfortunately, the game's limited visual capabilities somewhat soften the story's dramatic impact. The cutscenes are rendered within the game engine, and are undercut by stiff animations and abrupt, jarring transitions in and out of gameplay, as well as some odd-looking character models and occasional glitches, such as blinking geometry. Audio also takes a hit, which is odd, considering that much of the voice-over work is lifted directly from the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of the game. Poor compression is the culprit here, and it makes the dialogue sound as if you're listening to it on an old record player.

That's not to say that Force Unleashed looks and sounds bad, considering the aging hardware pumping these elements out. The moderately sized environments are fairly detailed, and the saber action and powerful-looking Force abilities produce flurries of particles and other special effects. However, there are some brief moments of slowdown not seen in the Wii version, which uses the same graphics engine (and looks essentially the same). John Williams' music and some original tracks, as well as the familiar swooshes of sabers, sound like you'd expect, and they only occasionally suffer from the poor compression to which the voice-over was subjected.

The star of the visual parade is the robust physics engine that powers your most impressive moves. Using Force grip, you can grab and fling any number of objects, including your enemies; with Force push, you can shove items and foes out of your path. These skills and their variants deliver the game's best moments. Whether you're flinging Felucians into each other or offing swarms of rebels with a burst of energy, there are a number of "did you see that?" moments that will have you grabbing your friends to show them your saber-slinging prowess. Nevertheless, it's disappointing that these moves can't be strung together more easily. The controls can be unresponsive and sometimes lack the fluidity of the other versions. At times, you might be mashing on the square button and wondering why you aren't swinging your saber, or tapping X but not making the corresponding jump. Additionally, it's odd that the triangle button does double duty, activating both Force push (if you tap it) and Force grip (if you hold it). The other versions use separate buttons to perform these powers, which is a more logical choice and feels more intuitive.

Although the environments aren't totally cluttered with useful objects, this actually works to the game's advantage, considering that the targeting problems prevalent in the other console versions are diminished as a result. There are still some moments when you'll grab a different object than you intended, but given that there are fewer objects to grab, these moments will provide only the occasional frustration. The annoying camera of the Wii version has been leashed and tamed a bit on the PlayStation 2 thanks to the right analog stick, which gives you the full camera control that you would expect. However, many of the levels are claustrophobic, which makes it difficult to move the camera into helpful positions, especially when you are fending off multiple enemies.

Nevertheless, the game moves along at a relatively quick pace, so between droid encounters and boss battles, you'll always be in the thick of the action. You won't find much challenge here; there are plenty of health drops scattered around, including respawning ones during boss battles. Should you die, you'll restart at the most recent checkpoint with all of the damage you've already done to your enemies still intact. This is probably for the best because it keeps the pace moving. Some variety comes by way of Force Unleashed's God of War-style quick-time events, which result in some terrific, flashy-looking moves, whether you're smashing on an opposing Jedi or defeating a rancor in a series of thrilling acrobatics. And it's a welcome sort of variety, given that you'll be visiting the same exact levels several times over.

Unlockable costumes and other extras won't give you much reason to return, but some extra levels lengthen the playtime over the mostly similar Wii version. So if you're in the mood to slash up Jawas, this is your chance, though The Force Unleashed may not be as raucously entertaining as you may have expected. Nevertheless, if you've got six or seven hours to kill, this is a fair way to spend them, particularly if you're a Star Wars devotee looking to fill in the gaps between Episodes III and IV.

By Kevin VanOrd, GameSpot

MX vs. ATV Untamed Hands-On

MX vs. ATV Untamed Hands-On. Recently we brought you an exclusive first look at the next-generation versions of MX vs. ATV Untamed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game seems to be tracking well for Rainbow Studio's first next-generation MX title, with a raft of new features, tweaks, and in some cases, total rewrites in the form of AI and physics.
Untamed is an incredibly ambitious project, not only transitioning to more powerful console hardware from Microsoft and Sony, but also being developed for two handhelds and two other home consoles--the Wii and PlayStation 2--at the same time. Rather than offer a simple dumbed-down port of the top tier version, the four remaining games have been outsourced to other development teams. In the case of the Wii and PS2 versions, THQ studio Incinerator Studios has been given the nod to create the title. The studio is probably best known for their Cars game based on the Disney movie, and while they've made vehicular-based games before, MX vs. ATV swaps out cute for grunt.
Instead of being the same game as the Xbox 360 or PS3 version with a reworked control system, the Wii and PS2 versions offer a completely different gameplay experience. For a start, the heavy vehicles such as monster trucks and offroad buggies have been stripped out in favour of focusing on the core MX and ATV dynamic. In both versions of the game you'll be limited to 250cc, 550cc MX bikes, and a choice of four ATV quads. Given the generally harder nature of steering trucks, it makes a lot of sense to focus on smaller agile vehicles as you flail your arms. The Wii version uses the A button on the Wiimote to accelerate, and the analogue thumb stick on the nunchuck to steer your rider. After playing the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, the Wii game seems to be much less twitchy and as a result more forgiving when landing tricks. The Z button on the front of the nunchuck is used to engage the trick mode, and once activated simple hand gestures perform tricks like the Superman and Lazyboy.
The mini-game selection has also been changed, swapping out the 360 and PS3's section racing, graffiti, snake, tag, and hockey for more gesture friendly games like hill-climbing, gap jumping events, and our favourite, the downhill ski jump. The ski jump requires you to build up speed, drop onto the ramp, and perform your most insane trick combo in the air. The tough part is landing it, but if you can stick it clean, there's a second hill you can use for another crack at increasing your score.
The PS2 version of Untamed is a bit of an oddity, combining the interface and gameplay of the Wii title with the analogue control system of the Xbox 360 and PS3 games. Graphics are typical for a PS2 title, and the control pad actually makes pulling off the big combos slightly easier. We found we had more fine control than with the Wiimote since stunts only required a button press and the left thumb stick movement.
Both versions feature staples of the MX series, with clutching, power-slides, and pre-loading allowing you to get big air off the edge of jumps. Inside you'll find six series to play: supercross, nationals, opencross, supermoto, freestyle, and rally. Unfortunately there are none of those badass little 50cc minimoto races that seem perfect for the Wii audience. These are limited to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version.
Both games will include online multiplayer, with the PS2 offering six player online competitive racing, and Wii sneaking two more in per game for a total of 8. Both versions of the game are set to ship this holiday season.

By Dan Chiappini, GameSpot AU