Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - First look

We are now into mid-February and new software is coming thick and fast. Over the course of the last few weeks, we've seen Final Fantasy XIII-2, Soul Calibur V, the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, Catherine and The Darkness II launch in Europe. Friday saw RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning launch and I downloaded it via Steam late on Friday evening.

Usually I would have picked up one of the console versions but I'm having a few problems with my TV so I plumped for the PC version instead. My little gaming laptop is hardly a powerhouse, but after trying out the demo I was pleasantly surprised to find my humble box of tricks ran the game surprisingly well.

I've only put around four hours into the experience but even after only a small amount of time, I'm well and truly hooked.

Occupying a space somewhere between the Fable and Elder Scrolls series, developers 38 Studios (the company started by former baseball player Curt Schilling) and Big Huge Games have produced a title which, although not original, does a lot of things incredibly well.

Combat is snappy, with the player fluidly dishing out ranged, melee and magic attacks, while item crafting is flexible and easy to understand.

But the real joy comes from exploring this vast world and the game positively encourages you to go tramping off the beaten path in search of good old-fashioned treasure and unexpected adventure.

The sprawling world map suggests an epic adventure ahead so my paltry four hour effort would appear to be little more than a drop in the ocean. But with its wide range of quests, fabulous soundtrack and intriguing world to explore, I'll be putting a lot more time into Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning over the weeks and months to come.

*The screenshots here were taken by myself and while the settings aren't cranked up, they show that Amalur still looks great on slightly lower settings.

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Wii

This title from the makers of PS3 classic Valkyria Chronicles isn't your typical role-playing game.

Where most Japanese RPGs focus on a po-faced, spiky-haired protagonist suffering from amnesia, this 2010 release takes great delight in dispensing with this tried and tested formula, resulting in a refreshing take on the genre.

Part turn-based strategy game, part social interaction/dating sim, Sakura Wars is full of chirpy anime characters, giant robots, animated cut scenes and a nonsensical plot which twists and turns through an alternative 1920's New York.

Taking control of Shinjiro Taiga, the son of a Japanese general, you are sent to the Big Apple to assist the New York Combat Revue in their battle against an evil force.

The first three hours or so are spent ploughing through a multitude of conversation topics, with only one battle tutorial to break up a slideshow of anime stills and crude 3D free-roaming sections. Persevere, though, and Sakura Wars blossoms into an engaging and highly entertaining game.

The story runs over a series of chapters, which are delivered in a similar style to a TV series. Each chapter throws up the usual assortment of dialogue trees, but Sakura Wars shakes the formula up by giving the player a limited time to make their conversation choice.

This quick-fire approach means you sometimes have to skim over the choices, leading to a variety of outcomes.

Where the system doesn't work so well is when you are tasked with manually twisting the left analogue stick and the D-Pad on the Wiimote within a tight time frame to achieve objectives. The controls here are less than responsive and lead to moments of frustration.

However, despite some control wobbles, underneath the sugary-sweet anime coating lies a robust and enjoyable strategic battle system.

Here, much like Valkyria Chronicles, the player has a limited range of movement before they can choose to attack. It's a deep and absorbing chess-like experience, with each move running the risk of leaving a squad member exposed.

The battles don't occur every five minutes, either. Instead these epic fights end the chapter, meaning if you don't warm to the story or the friendship building, you could find yourself extremely bored.

While each character has their own range of special moves, links can be created between two units, which increases your firepower. These start off relatively weak, but can be beefed up by interacting with your squad mates between skirmishes.

Forging relationships with the rest of your squad echoes Atlus's Persona games, but it never feels quite as complete. It certainly doesn't detract from the experience, but it just fails to match these PS2 classics.

Sakura Wars' visuals are a mixed bag, with the clean-cut character portraits and epic battles taking most of the plaudits. The blurry backgrounds and rough-looking free-roaming sections unfortunately don't fare quite so well, especially as the game doesn't run in progressive scan mode.

The biggest surprise of all, however, is the fact the game has been released in Europe at all. For years, games such as Sakura Wars were destined only for the Japanese market, so it's refreshing to see NIS America take a chance on such a niche title in the West.

You should be able to find Sakura Wars at a low price these days, so if you see it, snap it up.

One you might have missed: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon - Wii

Rising Star Games released this atmospheric action adventure in March 2010 and while it has its flaws, it's a charming adventure that is definitely worth a closer look.
Created by the team at Tri-Crescendo - the developer behind 360 and PS3 RPG Eternal Sonata - the story features Seto, a young boy who lives with his grandfather in a world that has been ravaged by disaster. When Seto's grandfather dies, the lonely lad packs up his belongings and sets out to try and find other survivors of the cataclysm.
The first couple of hours are a joy thanks to the game's wonderful atmosphere and beautiful visuals. Control, too, is excellent with Seto moved by the nunchuck, while the Wiimote doubles as his torch. Illuminating dark and dusty corners of this nocturnal world reveals objects which Seto can interact with. However, after those initial opening hours, cracks begin to show in Fragile's glossy casing.
Combat is basic and clumsy, with stabs of the A button swinging Seto's weapon of choice. It's hard to judge distances between you and an enemy, while the camera angle often gets in the way.
The inventory system is equally antiquated, with Seto initially having only a minuscule item carrying capacity. Objects can be switched in and out at the game's save points but going back and forth between them is a chore due to respawning enemies.

Seto can wield a variety of weapons, but as each can break, he is often left facing a room full of enemies with nothing to defend himself with. Fortunately, the wonderfully eccentric Collector makes regular appearances at the game's save points selling weapons, health buffs and other useful trinkets.
Seto's world may be crumbling, but it's still a beautiful place to explore. An abandoned shopping mall, a dilapidated train station, a rusting theme park, a run-down hotel - each location is a visual treat.
Of course, the player can run through these areas to get to the next point in the story, but it pays to wander off the beaten track in search of treasures.
Unlike most games, the loot that can be found isn't shiny coins. Instead, objects such as torn photographs and mementos are waiting to be found.
Each item is linked with its owner's memories and every object has its own background story. These narrated snippets can be quite moving and give the player an insight into the victims of Seto's ravaged world. They add a tremendous amount to the feel of the game and are well worth hunting down.
The audio, too, is well matched to the action, with lovely melodies and eerie effects adding another layer to the game. Voice work is pretty good, and the option to switch between English and Japanese is a welcome addition.
It may not be perfect, but Fragile Dreams is still a beautiful and haunting experience. Its slow pace and clunky combat may put some off, but thanks to its inspired art design and original touches, it's an adventure you should definitely consider taking.

To The Moon - PC

It's not often I pre-order a game. However, after clapping eyes on Freebird Games' forthcoming title, To The Moon, I parted with my cash immediately.

The story is woven around two doctors, who travel through the mind of a dying man in the hope of fulfilling his final wish - to go to the moon.

Presented in a glorious 16-bit style, the game initially looks similar to an old Super Nintendo-era RPG. However, with no battles or level grinding, the game will play out in an altogether different fashion to those great mid-Nineties adventures.

It's a refreshing twist for an RPG, but if you've experienced any of Freebird's previous games, you'll know they are no stranger to doing things differently.

The company's three previous titles have provided short but compelling tales, with brilliant storytelling fused with magical sounds to create unforgettable experiences.

The games: The Mirror Lied, Quintessence - The Blighted Venom and Do You Remember My Lullaby are free to download from their website and they are all definitely worth a closer look and give you a taster of what you can expect from To The Moon.

If you like what you see, then throw a couple of quid in Freebird's direction in advance of their new title's release. To the Moon costs £6.63 to pre-order via the Desura website and will become available to play on October 15.

Oh, and this trailer is quite brilliant, too.

Contact - DS

I first became aware of Contact in the pages of EDGE magazine back in 2006. The bright visuals jumped out the page at me, and I immediately started scouring the internet for more information about the game. Unable to hold on for the UK release, I eventually ordered it from the US and fell in love with its quirky gameplay styles and cute visuals.
The player takes control over protagonist Terry, a young boy who, along with the enigmatic Professor, finds himself embroiled in an inter-galactic quest for precious power cells.
The quirky visual style smacks you between the eyes in the game's opening moments, with Terry exploring a a lush and detailed universe via the DS’s touch screen, while the Professor – and his loveable pet – inhabit a stranded starship, which is presented in a simple isometric view on the top screen.
What makes the game interesting is the fact the Professor talks directly to the player, not Terry. So in a sense, you are simply controlling Terry’s actions, while the Professor gives you, the player, advice on what to do next.
Unlike most DS RPGs, Contact dispenses with random turn-based battles, instead adopting a more MMO feel to combat. When prompted, Terry continues to attack until he is successful or flees from danger. To help Terry defeat foes, he finds several suits on his journey, which grant him special attacks. Some take a bit of exploration to find and are well worth hunting down - even though they don’t really add a great deal of tactical nous to proceedings.
While Contact is a traditional Japanese RPG wrapped up in delightful visuals, game director Akira Ueda has woven in some original ideas to spice things up. Decals are adhesive stickers which can be peeled using the stylus to unleash special attacks. These limited powers are useful in tight situations, but restoring their effectivness is sometimes more hassle than it's worth.
Another neat touch is the Chef’s Suit, which allows Terry to rustle up stat boosting food. There’s a limit to how much food Terry can eat, though, so you have to think carefully about when Terry chows down his grub.
There’s a lot of grinding involved and you’ll die quickly unless you’re extremely careful. However, there’s something compelling about the adventure which keeps the player ploughing onwards.
It was never a huge hit and might be quite hard to track down these days. But if you stumble across Contact, you should definitely pick it up. One of my favourite games on the DS.

King's Bounty: The Legend - PC

Set in a whimsical fantasy realm, inhabited by elves, dwarves and orcs, it’s easy to initially dismiss King’s Bounty: The Legend as just another bog-standard RPG. But it doesn’t take long to discover it’s anything but.

Wrapped up in World of Warcraft-inspired graphics, King’s Bounty is a wonderful turn-based strategy game, packed with RPG elements and lots of neat touches.

Choosing to play as a Warrior, Paladin or Mage, you set off on your trusty steed to explore the lush and lively world of Darion, as official treasure hunter of the King. It’s not exactly the strongest of game plots, but you’ll come to realise it really doesn’t matter.

Unlike the majority of strategy games on the market, no one in King’s Bounty is out to invade your country or steal your resources. Instead, the game lets you go about your business at your own pace.

You can travel freely over the countryside, but as soon as you come into contact with an enemy, the game switches to a hex-based grid. Both sides line up at opposite sides of the battlefield and knock lumps out of each other in a turn-based manner.

Aside from the tutorial, the game's main character never appears on the battlefield. Instead, you have to enlist an army to aid you on your travels. And it’s this aspect which proves to be the ace up King’s Bounty’s sleeve.

While there are RPG standards included, such as Knights, Bowmen and Clerics, you can also add giant dragonflies, skeletons, ents, werewolves, vampires, bears, unicorns, zombies and seed-shooting plants to your ranks...and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s an incredibly diverse range of allies to recruit, all with their own strengths and weaknesses.

You can only have control over five classes at any one time, so players can experiment with different set-ups to their heart’s content.

Although there are only five of your characters on screen, each figure represents multiple units. By advancing your leadership skills by undertaking quests and finding banners scattered about the map, you can recruit more units and eventually command a sizeable army.

The gameworld is littered with quests and shiny trinkets, which are usually guarded by an enemy or two. By clicking on an enemy, you can see how they match up against your squad. An even match usually results in a tense and keenly fought affair, while anything higher and you are advised to steer well clear.

You are also able to tweak your squad’s abilities by assigning points to a three-tiered skill tree. By choosing to put points into Might, Mind and Magic, you can fine tune your squad to suit your own personal tastes.

Graphically, the game’s nod to World of Warcraft is an inspired touch and its aesthtically appealing visuals will hopefully draw people in to experience this wonderful game.

It takes an hour or so to get its hooks into you, but once it does, King’s Bounty becomes a daily obsession.

You’ll quickly forget all the overblown fantasy fluff on display, and hours will slip by as you explore the sizeable world, searching every nook and cranny for quests and treasures, and the urge to find new locations and recruits becomes highly addictive.

It’s not all perfect, though. The camera control, while adequate, isn’t perfect, and if you run out of troops, a lot of backtracking must be undertaken in order to swell your ranks. The script’s rough translation can be a hinderance, and occasionally it make no sense, but at least it leads to uninentional laughs.

It’s a game crammed full of memorable moments and because aspects of the game are randomly generated, everyone will have their own stories to tell.

The game is currently enjoying healthy reviews across the board, with 81/100 rating on Metacritic and a 8.7/10 rating on Test Freaks. It may be regarded as something of a niche title, but it's a game everyone should check out.

Yuusha 30 - PSP

Do you love RPGs, but don't have the time to wade through 70+ hour epic adventures? Does the thought of spending hours grinding to level up your characters fill you with dread? Do long-winded boss encounters make you want to cry? Does micro-managing your inventory seem to take forever? If the answer to any of these is yes, then Yuusha 30 might be the answer to your prayers.

Although I've only played the demo - the game isn't out until May in Japan - This Marvelous Entertainment title on PSP is one of the most fun and refreshing games I've played in ages - Basically, it's an RPG which has been reduced to bite-sized 30 second segments.

You are tasked with defeating a demon lord, who is safely ensconced in his castle on the other side of the map. As soon as you start the game, a 30 second timer begins to tick down. If the timer reaches zero, the game will end.

As you cross the map, you can visit towns and villages. When visiting a town, the clock is suspended and here you can buy new weapons, items and heal your wounds.

When out on the world map, battles are random, but don't despair, as these brief encounters are fast-paced fun. There are no long drawn-out turn based battles in Yuusha 30, instead pushing the d-pad to the right takes care of business, and most fights are over in under two seconds.

If a monster is too tough, simply take on a few more enemies and you'll level up in double quick time. Defeating monsters also rewards you with gold, which can be spent in the villages.

Now 30 seconds simply isn't long enough for you to level up and reach the demon lord, so to help you, some towns have statues which replenish your timer. The first time you use a statue it costs 100 gold, but every time after that, the cost goes up in increments of 100, so you have to weigh up the options of fighting for gold to earn more time, or just heading straight to the demon lord in the hope you will be able to beat him.

If you successfully defeat the evil demon, you are given a final result, which charts how long the quest took and what level you were. In many ways Yuusha 30 is more of a time trial than an RPG, and is all the better for it.

Graphics are deliberately blocky and utterly charming, while the bright and breezy music is just wonderful.

The demo only has two levels to play through, but they are incredibly addictive and I can't stop tyring to better my times. Marvelous have already said there will be more modes available, but details are still a bit sketchy. If anyone out there can shed a bit more light on these other modes, please let me know.

Obviously the game is in Japanese, and I very much doubt it will ever be released in the West. However, Yuusha 30 might appear on the Japanese PSN, but no matter what, it's a game I'll be keeping a close eye on in the months to come.

Check out this video for some breathless Yuusha 30 action:



Images courtesy of Marvelous Entertainment

Shiren The Wanderer - DS

This year has been great for games. Burnout Paradise, Grand Theft Auto IV, Patapon, Audiosurf, No More Heroes, Lost Winds and Odin Sphere have all provided me with countless hours of quality entertainment, but one title remains head and shoulders above all others - Shiren the Wanderer on the humble DS.

Yes, a game which is essentially a port of a 13 year old Super Nintendo game, has been glued in my DS for the last four months, providing soaring highs (but mostly crushing lows), as our brave samurai and his pet weasel Koppa, make their way to the mythical Lair of the Golden Condor.

Why is Shiren so special, well, let me begin with a little bit of background. Shiren is a Roguelike, a game with its roots deep in the early days of computer adventures. Rogue appeared back in the Eighties and has since spawned other classics such as Nethack and Angband.

These RPGs feature randomly generated dungeons and use letters, numbers and symbols to represent the on-screen action. They might look primitive by today's high standards, however, many enjoy this type of game and can look beyond their crude and basic presentation and enjoy the rich and rewarding gameplay.

Unlike today's RPGs, death in a Roguelike is permanent. There's no loading a previous save, there's no going back and when you die, you will lose all the items in your inventory. Harsh? Yes. Frustrating? Extremely. Entertaining? Most definitely.

The challenge comes from attempting to get as deep into the dungeon as you can before dying. It's not an impossible task, though. Many adventurers enter a Roguelike and succeed in their quest.

Enter Shiren. This hardy samurai has previously appeared on the Super Nintendo, Game Boy and N64, but none of the titles ever made it to the west...until now.

Shiren slipped into the UK with little fanfare back in March this year. It took me several fruitless journeys before I found the little fella, tucked away as he was, behind a copy of Bratz (Oh, the shame) on the store shelf. Still, he found a good home in the end.

Shiren follows a similar mechanic to the Roguelikes of old - when you die, you get sent back to the starting village, are forced to start again from level 1 and all items and equipment you were carrying are lost forever. It's an incredibly tough little game, and many gamers will be put off after the first hour, but perseverance does pay off.

There are a few inclusions which make your gruelling journey a little easier. The first are the invaluable warehouses, which are dotted throughout towns and villages. Any items stored in one of these handy places is saved for your next run through.

This is incredibly useful as a well-stocked warehouse enables you to travel a little further each time. The second, and perhaps most important feature, is that characters you meet along the way will remember you on your next play through. This leads to new quests and new party members to accompany you on your journey. Because of these inclusions, you feel you are making progress every time you play.

Every new area in Shiren should be approached with trepidation. One false move and it could be curtains. Some monsters you meet along the way simply require brute force to deal with, while others require a bit more cunning. As for those enemies - well, what a weird and wonderful bunch they are - from the Riceball Changer, who changes a random item in your inventory into a riceball (and it's usually something you need) to the pain and suffering of the creature-summoning Menbell, each foe has to be tackled in its own way.

What you must remember when playing Shiren is that the game takes great delight in punishing you in a multitude of different - and amusing - ways.

You'll be robbed, blinded, killed by a variety of deadly traps, stunned, turned into a riceball, you'll fall to your death from a bridge, be beaten up by your own brother, items will rust, food will rot, you'll starve to death, you'll fall into monster houses, be ganged up on, thrown about, blown up by bombs, attacked by artillery, items will be cursed and you'll be floored by magic. Sound like fun?

You will experience hate towards Shiren. You'll switch off your DS in disgust, swearing that you will never play it again, but something pulls you back in. Slowly but surely hate turns to love. The grimaces you experienced when being pecked to death by a Master Hen, turn to grins of joy as you realise the absurdity of your latest death. Never forget that dying in Shiren is all part of the fun.

Once you have completed your quest - and you will, trust me - a wealth of bonus dungeons becomes available, each offering its own unique challenge. There are puzzle quests to undertake, too, with each individual head-scratcher a joy to solve.

Distinctly SNES-like in their appearance, the graphics are clearly nothing special, but they do have a certain charm and those who delighted in the days of glorious looking sprites will be content. The music and sound effects are most enjoyable, though, from trickling streams and howling winds, through to the musical menace of the caves, each new area throws up something atmospheric and new.

My only gripe with Shiren is the state of the UK box art, which is truly awful and pales beside the glorious Japanese artwork.Still, forget about the artwork, and instead embrace the sheer joy of Shiren. You should be able to pick it up fairly cheap now, so go on, take the plunge. You'll be glad you did.