Old Review Archive – Infinite Undiscovery Review

Warning minor spoiler that doesn’t really have any impact on the plot whatsoever.

I feel like I’m starting to repeat myself with half of these reviews, half the games i’ve been reviewing so far have been rpg’s which gets repetitive after a while as i end up repeating myself over and over again when i talk about the quality of the art design and music. I will be reviewing more rpg’s in the future (when i get around to finishing them) but until then, this is the last rpg i can really think of that i haven’t covered yet (besides the Star Ocean games which i have to get around to at some point). Why haven’t i covered it? Partly because it wasn’t on my backlog but also because i just didn’t feel like i could make a good quality review out of it at the time as it wasn’t on my mind. It’s easy to forget about Infinite Undiscovery, the game with the worst name since Sticky Balls.

The reason why this game is so forgettable is simply because it’s not the most recognized of tri-Ace titles and it messes up on one of the most important parts of a tri-Ace game, the combat. So prepare to read my Star Ocean Till The End Of Time Review all over again except a little less harsh this time round.

So lets begin with the storyline. You play as Capell, a flute player who just happens to have gotten himself locked up for god knows what reason. He soon ends up getting involved in a resistance group known as the liberation force after being rescued by a girl names Aya and as usual, Capell gets thrown into huge adventure which mostly revolves around a reccuring plot device. Thankfully the story is not as bad as it sounds as the plot is implemented well enough to keep the player motivated as the main cast of characters are likeable and play a strong role in keeping the plot fresh. So overall, the story is great and like many tri-Ace games, shows a great sense of philosophy in it’s lore concepts which i particularly found to be the most overlooked elements of the game and one of the things i praise the most about it.

Have you heard of Capell the flute player? Well i haven’t, is that some kind of pornstar name?

On the other hand, some of the characters are either flat out bland or annoying and some don’t even have a purpose in the plot. Many of these are secondary characters who are basically, supposedly important npc’s who can fight but aren’t members of the party. Think Larsa from Final Fantasy XII when i say this. You will usually see them running off doing their own thing but for the most part, you will rarely ever see them and if you do, they likely won’t even be fighting. I believe i only saw the secondary characters in combat twice, and it was on two of the chain bosses.

The worst part about this game is simple. Yeah sure the secondary cast are basically useless but what about the primary cast? Surely they could be of some use. Sadly, though the primary cast can be members of the party, they cannot be controlled. The only character that can be controlled is Capell. This infuriated me since i wanted to play with the characters i like, not just Capell. Why can’t i play as Balbagan and swing his massive axe at multiple enemies, dealing tonnes of damage to them. In theory, Balbagan would be the strongest party member due to his high strength and versitile moveset, the problem is that the ai is bollocks in Infinite Undiscovery so much so that there is even a button in which it’s sole function is to actually tell the ai to heal you instead of them just standing their picking their nose and even if you do, they will sometimes not recognize it and this means you have to press it over and over until they do!

All Muscle, no common sense. Pretty much sums up the ai of this game.

The fact that you can’t even control the other characters doesn’t help to this and makes the game feel messy a lot of the time. Oh and to add to that, the battle menu is the same as the regular menu and they are both in real time! So you have to scroll through the entire main menu just to use an item.

Always remember to “look after the injured” and “GRINN VALESTI”!!!

Another issue is that because you can only control one character in the entire game (Capell), the game soon gets repetitive and most of the moves he learns are just stronger versions of his previous moves (and there are not that many). Seriously, i’ve seen more variation in Devil May Cry 2’s combat than i have in Infinite Undiscovery’s combat and that’s saying something. Even worse, the game decides to bring back the same nightmare inducing controls as Star Ocean Till The End Of Time forcing you to mash either A or B to use regular attacks/special attacks. Thankfully the Xbox 360 controller functions better than the PS2 controller and it a lot easier on the thumbs due to it’s spherical surface (and yes this is an Xbox 360 exclusive). Plus the controls feel more responsive and can actually tell the difference between tapping and mashing, so this isn’t really a major frustration.

I can only facepalm at the mistakes the developers made in this game. I see what they were going for, an action rpg with no battle transitions on console? Sounds cool right. Trouble is that because the combat is filled with so many unnecessary features, it makes the gameplay feel severely clunky. One of the features that they added to compensate for the lack of character control was the connect system. The connect system allows the player to interact with other characters and allows them to select their actions in battle. In other words, it allows the player to indirectly control the other characters. The problem is that connecting with another character disables the much more vital heal button so you will never use it. It also disables the flute button which can only be used out of combat but i use that term loosely as i have used the flute during battle as it provides some useful buffs in post game content. To use the flute, you need to have your sword sheathed (did i forget to mention that the right trigger is used to pull out the sword?) and press X. In other words, if you want to use the flute in battle and you are connected to a character, you have to press the left bumper, then A, then the right trigger, then X. This is the definition of clunky game play.

———————————Minor spoiler—————————————-

Well Excuuuuuuse me princess… oh shi- i broke one of my own rules now i’m going to hell….

PLEASE SPARE ME OH GOD!!!

————————————-Minor Spoiler is over—————————-
Sorry i just had to do that…

Like Star Ocean Till The End Of Time, if you can get over it’s issues, the combat can still be enjoyable, if a bit repetitive but it is broken nonetheless, just to a slightly lesser extent. Despite my rantings, i did find Infinite Undiscovery to be more enjoyable than Star Ocean Till The End Of Time because at least the item creation is somewhat enjoyable and isn’t way too convoluted like it was in Star Ocean Till The End Of Time, for this reason, the game play won’t be getting half as bad of a score because the micromanagement saves it. Sure there is still a chance of failure but it’s not half as frequent as it is in Star Ocean Till The End Of Time and at least you have a clear idea of what it is you’re actually creating.

There is also a way to level up your item creation level which allows you to create items easier unlike in Star Ocean Till The End Of Time where the characters are so incompetent to learn that you have to hire more experienced inventors to create items for you which is annoying as hell. Essentially and i am jumping forward a bit here, item creation in Infinite Undiscovery is similar to that of Star Ocean 4 which was released afterwards and if you enjoyed the simplicity of item creation in that game, you will probably like this one just as much so long as you remember to save before creating important items as there is a chance of failure unlike in Star Ocean 4 so be aware of that.

The presentation of this game is rather subjective. The textures are very colorful though i found them to be a bit too dark in some places, though this is just a minor issue that some people might point out. Aside from this, the art design is fine and the dark textures never really bothered me as i found it quite tasteful. Just expect a lot of really deep colors in this game.

Anybody got a light?

Music wise, this game’s soundtrack is interesting to say the least, it really brings out the would-be serious tone of the game and for some reason, the soundtrack keeps the player involved more than anything. It really builds up a sense of tension that somehow manages to make the game feel more serious than it actually is which i can’t complain about considering the fact that for the most part, the game is light hearted, sometimes too light hearted. In fact it sometimes becomes so light hearted that the game can sometimes become quite obnoxious.�

If you see these kids, call the police immediately and ask them to send a swat team. It’s gonna be a bloody mess.

The music helps shed a more dark tone on the story which is fitting considering the fact that the story arc is actually more serious than it is portrayed to be. I can’t blame tri-Ace for doing this to be honest as you need some lightheartedness in a game or you’d get bored quickly with all the seriousness. There is a point in the game where the storyline gets so serious to the point that the light hearted tone of the game collapses almost instantaneously. I Forgot to mention, the music is yet again composed by Motoi Sakuraba and it is definitely one of his better works. Personally i consider Infinite Undiscovery to have one of my favourite soundtracks up there with Valkyrie Profile 2 as the music illustrates the tone of the game well as well as simply being great to listen to and of course memorable. If anything, the music easily compensates for the games flawed battle system.

So all in all, Infinite Undiscovery is a game that a lot of people misjudge and cannot appreciate for understandable reasons but it’s easy to see what this game was trying to achieve and it’s not the execution that ruined it, it was the inclusion of too many unnecessary features that added nothing to the game and only ending up making it clunkier, had Infinite Undiscovery shared the same battle system as the Star Ocean series, it would be up there with the rest. Sadly it is not but it’s still worth a try as it can be enjoyable if you are willing to overlook it’s issues. Seriously it’s not hard to find this game cheap, if you have a 360, go and grab it now for a fiver. I recommend it for anyone who’s looking for an action rpg that they want to breeze through as the game is quite short.

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Story/Plot: Great
Presentation: Great
Gameplay: Flawed
Music: Exceptional
Lifespan: Very Short
Would you replay? Maybe
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Overall: Satisfactory (and believe me, i want to give it better)

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Old Review Archive – Zone Of The Enders The Second Runner Review

I’m going to ignore the existence of the first game and skip to the second because it’s almost universally accepted as garbage and after playing it I’m not going to say otherwise, not that there’s much to add. The Second Runner is a better game than the first but it is still plagued with countless issues and the game insists at making sure you’re aware of them. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing had the game kept things simple and didn’t have such annoying sections which amount to nothing more than frustration. Heck Zone Of The Enders: The Second Runner could have been a good game if it wanted to but it seemingly doesn’t want to.

As soon as you launch the game you get the longest opening cutscene in a videogame ever which even contains spoilers. Watching the long ass intro movie makes you think you’re in for a very long game, my god is that gonna get a complaint later.

Lets get straight to the point. The gameplay itself works fine, there isn’t anything particularly wrong with it, in fact it can be quite enjoyable. Everything is fast and fluid, easy to grasp and is all in all satisfying to play… most of the time. The core mechanics for an excellent game are in here, the combat is perfect for the most part, they did the best they could to give the player enough options to make for a satisfying gameplay experience. You get two differrent kinds of attacks, burst and fast attacks. Burst attacks can only be used with a burst charge by holding L2 and can break through enemy shields and deal a tremendous amount of damage. Normal attacks are straightforward and can damage enemies quickly, i found myself using the latter a hell of a lot more, particularly at close range. Your mech comes with a blade that can cut enemies up close though due to the fast speed of enemies, i found myself sticking with normal attacks up close. Burst attacks though cool looking at close range are kinda ineffective as they take too long to charge up and leave you open, they can still be usable on certain enemies like Narita’s who like to guard a lot but for the most part you’ll be using normal attacks.

Environment plays a huge part in this game, you can knock enemies into walls, dealing extra damage or grab objects in the viscinity so you can use them as weapons to bash enemies with, either that or you can hurl them. You can even grab enemies and use them as shields or even hurl them into other enemies which is a lot of fun. X and triangle don’t play a major part in the game as they merely adjust vertical height however they can be used at the end of a combo to knock an enemy up or down, it helps when you’re in an area where there are walls to knock enemies into (and there’s no shortage of walls believe me) because if all else fails you can knock them down with X at the end of the attack.

There are also other weapons you can set to the O button which have a variety of effects and i won’t go into them all as it’s best to find out for yourself but they do a better job at spicing up the gameplay than they did in the first game, that’s for sure. Overall, the core gameplay is really good. I have no qualms with it. I think they nailed the robo combat really well. The actual problem comes not from the gameplay but from the actual levels themselves.

The level design is a mixed bag. Some levels are better than others. Some of the best levels were the parts where you were hacking and slashing enemies and blowing things up using your cool subweapons, levels which let your creativity flourish were easily the best parts of the game. The problem is that those levels are very few and far between. Some of the levels are actually quite irritating and i’m not just talking about the boss fights, some of which can be quite tough but enjoyable, others being really badly designed and frustrating. In case you don’t know, Zone Of The Enders: The Second Runner’s EU version is harder and if you bought the HD collection, you’ll quickly realize that they pulled Devil May Cry 3 with the difficulty in the sense that normal is actually the North American hard mode. So the bosses will prove to be challenging and will keep you on your toes. A lot of the time i was killed simply because i didn’t know what to do and when i did i was killed by an attack which i didn’t expect.

Those were good bosses. The bosses i hate… one boss in particular which you have to fight 4 times, each time harder than the last. The fourth and final fight is quite possibly one of the worst boss fights in gaming history and it is where you finally realize that the lock on system is utter garbage and it really shouldn’t be, heck it’s actually quite good normally as it works really well for the most part but there is one battle in particular which i died over and over again due to the game’s fault and not mine. It is because the lock on system is automatic and the boss has the tendancy to flee, removing the target lock and replacing it with another target, the boss will then charge at you, with your target locked on to another, it is impossible to dodge/block this. You literally have to get really lucky and hope that the boss appears just in time for you to lock on.

Even worse is the battle afterwards which manages to show off the games stupid AI in all it’s glory. To win you have to grab the boss but to do that you have to cross swords. Trouble is, the AI will just let you wail on them like a punchbag, lets put it this way, you don’t want the boss to die, you really don’t. So get ready for another few minutes of frustration. after another section which some people consider to be even more annoying (i don’t see how that is possible but ok) you get what is easily the worst point of the game. The action literally grinds to a halt as you have to slowly navigate your way through a minefield. Occasionally your ally will tell you to stop and tell you to turn left and right, if you move too fast, you’ll likely miss this signal and go straight into a landmine getting blown up.

The final boss was also very disappointing as they literally strip you of everything and it’s all rinse and repeat doing the same bullshit over and over and the game still somehow manages to make it annoying as hell. It’s like trying to fight a boxing match in a wheelchair, seriously. I don’t think any other game has made me go from feeling like a powerful god to a frail ant so quickly as this boss and it’s not because the battle itself is challenging, it’s because the battle is completely and utterly one sided and it was designed intentionally for it to be this way. Would it kill to ask for a boss fight that managed to test my overall skill rather than a boss which tests my patience? Because that is what the final boss is, it’s quite literally a test of patience and it isn’t the only one either. Who has time for patience in a game like this? It’s supposed to be fast paced and dynamic.

All in all, Zone Of The Enders: The Second Runner does a lot of things right but way too many things wrong. The gameplay, being the game’s main standpoint is bogged down heavily by horrible design choices and can sometimes be utterly painful to play and the trouble is that though there are good parts in the game, there just isn’t enough of it. Overall, I’m going to give a high rating to the gameplay itself because it plays really well but the design choices bring the worst out of it which it really doesn’t need to show but it does.

As for the rest, there isn’t all that much to say. Both Zone Of The Enders games are ridiculously short, totalling to about the same legnth as Starfox Assault, i kid you not. Now that game sufferred for similar reasons, but the ground portions of the game, though they were flawed, they could still be enjoyable to play if only for the fact that they gave you the ability to drive the Landmaster and Arwing in all range mode. In fact, as with most Kojima titles, almost half of the game’s play time is spent watching cutscenes. You could even say that there are more cutscenes than there are gameplay at times. Seriously, if you skip every single cutscene in this game, it will take you about 5 hours to finish. The cutscenes manage to pan out what would otherwise be an embarrasingly short game.

Thankfully the story isn’t a complete mess like the first game though it is obviously rushed and doesn’t really pull you in. The gameplay is obviously the biggest focus as it should be so i really cannot complain about the story all that much other than i wish things would be explained a bit more clearly. A lot of information is given out in very short bursts and it’s very difficult to tell where the storyline is going as you’re eventually thrusted into another gameplay segment and you completely forget about the irrelivant storyline being fed to you, it’s time to tear up some raptors. Familiar faces return, thankfully the main character from the first game actually grew a pair and isn’t actually the main protagonist anymore. There is a new protagonist who is somewhat likeable though nothing special. The story just exists to give some purpose to the gameplay.

Music wise, i wouldn’t say all of it was noticable though there are some great tracks here and there. As expected from a sci-fi mech title you’ll be hearing techno/rave music for the most part. Though the music doesn’t play a big part of the game it does it’s job well enough, i can’t really give it any medals though i can’t really knock it either. The only thing that can be annoying is one part of the game (which just happends to the the best part of the game) where everybody is talking and you just want them to shut the fuck up.

The voice acting is another thing that isn’t going to win any awards aside from perhaps the most hilariously bad death scream award (you know what i’m talking about if you’ve played this). Most of the voice acting is very bog standard, just imagine everyone with Mass Effect’s male Shepard’s voice, yeah that’s pretty much it really.

The visuals are probably the best part of the game overall. They are vastly improved over the original. Though there is a lot of gray early on being a sci fi game, the locations are improved from the original though i wouldn’t say they’re groundbreaking visuals and there is still room for improvement. I suppose considering the nature of the game, i can accept them since they can’t really put too many intricate details in a game like this but the true stregnth in the visuals is in the games choreography. There’s nothing quite like Zone Of The Enders (well there are a few similar titles out there such as Dynasty Warriors Gundam… i think it’s called), everything is fast paces and fluid and i’d go as far to say it’s more fun to watch than it is to actually play. The combat on screen looks amazing and is easily what gives the game charm. The visual appeal is this game’s saving grace and compared to the original (which was a joke in comparison) it is excellent.

The frame designs are mostly the same except maybe for Jehuty who looks years better, the animated cutscenes are also really good too, i think Jehuty looks good in both of them. Some of the character designs are a bit strange, two characters in particular look like they’ve been frozen in stasis for 2000 years and just got out. Perhaps in the future, pensioners increase their lifespan by sleeping in cyro pods rather than conventional beds but whatever…

There is some end game content which i haven’t yet explored so all hope is not lost for this game. There is Versus mode which seems like a cool idea though sadly there’s no split screen option and it can be difficult to tell where you are. What is cool is you get to play as all of the boss fights (except 1). There are also Extra Missions which i haven’t explroed and aparrently a secret mini-game called Zoradius, kinda like Starfox Assault comes with Xevious.

So all in all, Zone Of The Enders: The Second Runner is a mixed bag but i’d say it’s a decent game at best. The gameplay for what is there is mostly good though it’s main issue is it’s lack of it. The game is too short and as a result, the really bad parts stick out like a sore thumb. If you’re looking to pick this game up, you wouldn’t make a mistake in doing so but expect some rough portions along the way. Pick it up when it’s cheap, that’s what i say. Thankfully you can get the hd collection for £5.00, the first game included though that doesn’t add to it’s value at all i’d say £5.00 is worth it… barely so i do reccommend it as the worst case scenario is that you miss out on a few pints or a takeaway.

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Story/Plot: Decent

Visuals: Good

Gameplay: Good

Music: Good

Lifespan: Too Short

Worth replaying? Yes

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Overall: So-So

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Old Review Archive – Shadow Hearts Covenant Review

I’ve wanted to play this game for a while now and i finally actually managed to get it at a good price. When I first played the game, I had freezing issues during the cutscenes and stopped playing simply because I didn’t want to miss out on the story. I went back to the game a while later and the problem didn’t persist so I was able to enjoy the rest of the story without having any issues. I never really managed to find out the cause of these freezing issues, it could have been my disk which had a pretty nasty mark on it but then again I’ve seen others with the same problem so i really cannot go into details about it, just something you might want to be aware of purchasing this game as you will most definitely want to if you’re a fan of RPG’s.

Now like i said, Shadow Hearts Covenant is a game I’ve wanted to play for a long time but could never pick it up for a reasonable price. Pretty much everything the game advertised appealed to me…with the exception of the real world setting which surprisingly didn’t bother me. The story starts off in world war 1 where a group of soldiers infiltrate a chapel, led by Karin, a lieutenant in the German army. Why they visit the chapel is never really explained.

But of course, shit goes down almost immediately when a demon attacks the chapel which they are coincidentally infiltrating for god knows what reason… I mean why would the enemy forces be hiding in a chapel? In any case it turns out everything is ok because that demon just happends to be the star of the show, you know who he is people. Afterwards, the game starts to drop the whole WW1 getup almost immediately in favor of dark gothic horror like the first game, only this time it is a lot more restrained. Dark gothic horror is not exactly what you will find in Shadow Hearts Covenant, unlike it’s predesessor, Covenant is more of a straightforward storyline with some heavy dark undertones, it doesn’t go out of it’s way to be creepy or anything yet it always manages to surprise the player with it’s explicitness focusing on dark themes not seen in most games of it’s kind. On the other hand, the atmosphere of Covenant feels a lot less grim compared with it’s predecessor, which is quite ironic considering it’s timeline.

Whether or not you enjoyed the first game, it really doesn’t matter much. Covenant is a vastly superior game in every way as people have told and I’m here to explain why. The first Shadow Hearts focused on Yuri who had to stop an evil British guy named Roger Bacon… but after several twists and turns… well, play the first game and you’ll know the story. Covenant plays off on the the ending of the first game… the bad one. There are a lot of events which tie into the story and a lot of familiar faces. As such it does help to play the first game as it gives you a bit of background on the events of Covenant… and because it’s a pretty good game in it’s own right.

The strongest point of Shadow Hearts Covenant is it’s story and characters. The story does start off quite slow but builds up quickly after the first third of the game. The characters are quirky to say the least, You start with Karin who is surprisingly sentimental for a redhead but she’s more of a support character for the main lead, Yuri who is the ever loving demon killing badass from the first game.

In the first game, Yuri started off as a loveable, yet smarmy git with a terrible burden kept secret throughout the majority of the game. However, certain events near the end of the game have made him rather sullen which can come across as a little melodramatic at times though it plays a major part in the game’s story. On the plus side now that he is free from his burdens, Yuri is a lot more mellow this time round and still maintains his cool headed persona from the first game making him just as much of a badass as he was previously though his character is still unrefined leaving more room for development throughout the game but this is after all a sequal so of course this is to be expected. I was a little disappointed by the fusion animation though and it seemed to make little sense as he already conquered his fears of his inner demons in the first game but it’s probably to represent his anguish after the events near the end of the first game.

Yuri puts the old man’s scotch to good use…

The story has quite a few unusual twists and turns and is surprisingly fast paced in the latter two thirds of the game so the story does get quite intense at times and might I add that the cgi’s are incredible and really drive the story well. The majority of the playable cast, besides Yuri and Karin are somewhat quirky as I said before. They don’t play a major part in the story but they do occasionally provide a few lulz moments to keep the game jovial. There is quite a bit of humor throughout the game and the characters allow it to flourish if nothing else. All in all the characters work well enough though the real spotlight goes not to the playable cast but actually to the villains of the game.

“Uh, boss… I kinda dropped your Iphone down a well and it broke. I..i’ll get you a new one I promise”!

The villains of Shadow Hearts Covenant have their own arc in the plot and you will learn about their ideals and relations to one another as you would with the main cast, one in particular I felt was a very well developed character in itself. I felt as if I could relate to many of the villains as humans rather than evil god who wants to destroy everything for the lulz. That being said, the characters aren’t all black and white, the villains each have their own ideals and reasoning for their actions, though some can seem a little selfish and generic, others have a more justified motive. Pretty much every character has their own ideals and they clash quite frequently, playing off each other for their own ends.

Look at all the red balls! Isn’t it wonderful!?

All in all, i felt that the game’s setting, characters and pacing made for a memorable storyline which was quite enjoyable. I wouldn’t go out of my way to say that the story was shakespearean but it was enjoyable nontheless. I felt that it took a step up from the first game despite feeling a lot lighter in the atmosphere department in comparison to the first game.

Yeah mine cart ride! WHEEEE! 😀

Visually, the game has been refined considerably from the first game, this goes hand in hand with the voice acting as there are now fully dubbed cutscenes which the first game was missing, giving the game a well needed makeover in order for it to stand alongside other games in the genre. That’s not to say that the original game was severely dated for it’s time, even though it kinda was due to it’s lack of voice acting and crummy visuals compared with the more high budget titles released in that timeframe. Shadow Hearts Covenant finally puts itself in the same league as other big name titles of it’s time both visually and vocally. The CG sequences are also pretty well done.

Despite this though, I wouldn’t condiser the visuals to be particularly memorable, even if they are a vast improvement over the original and manage to stand alongside certain big name titles in it’s visual quality. It’s visual style is quite bog standard but I didn’t expect too much from a game set in the real world, it would just look weird if they tried to make it look flamboyant like the Shin Megami Tensei games. There are some nice enough locations though like I said, nothing too memorable.

The atmosphere has degraded dramatically from the previous game in both visuals and music. I honestly believe that they were going for something differrent with this game, much like Valkyrie Profile 2 so I cannot really complain about it, even if it is something I would have liked to have seen a bit more of. As such, be sure to expect a differrent tone when you play this game. The music is very much the same as the visuals, it does it’s job but it doesn’t really stand out. The battle music on the other hand is pretty good and offers something a little differrent from your usual fare. It blends a nice combination of unearthly vocals with dynamic beats which provide a strong eerie feeling which befits the games setting perfectly.

The Battle System has improved greatly from the original and offers a little more depth. I was a little disappointed with Yuri’s fusions though as i felt many of them to be quite useless and easily outmatched by the truly more convinient crests making Yuri feel quite weak in battle compared to the previous game. I felt that this was due to the game limiting your progression to acquire fusions through normal means, instead you had to find soul drops and do side missions which were easily missable. I felt like I didn’t max out my Yuri to his full potential thus leaving him as a handicapped character compared to the rest whom were fortified with more powerful crests which I found myself using more often than any of his fusions. It’s a shame really, i’m sure they do get better if you put the effort into getting them all maxed but I didn’t. The only thing my Yuri was good for was attacking and using items. He does get a pretty beastly story related fusion though partway through the game which does grant him a little more usefulness though I was still a little bit disappointed by this.

In the first game, Yuri acted as your direct damage dealer/healer whereas the other characters had more versitile movesets which had unique effects to keep them from being sterile. When it came to straightforward damage dealing/healing, Yuri was the man for the job, everybody else supported with special abilities with unique effects. In Covenant, not only do the characters all have unique movesets, but they also have crest magic, essentially eliminating Yuri in almost every single way in most circumstances (though his final fusion packs a punch aparrently). It didn’t help that the best fusions you could get without obtaining certain items were pitifully weak in the later portions of the game and near-unusable, their once useful buffs are also replaced by crests. Crests completely ruin the balance of Shadow Hearts Covenant but they also keep things fresh and allow you to customize your setup a little. they’re basically like materia from FF7 or eggs from the Grandia games and they give you all kinds of cool magic which makes the combat a lot more fun, even if the characters are a tad imabalced as a result.

Like the previous game I reviewed, Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky, Shadow Hearts Covenant has attack areas which are also similar to the Grandia games. Battles usually have several enemies on screen at a time so aoe attacks are vital as it can take a while to ko up to eight enemies with just regular attacks. This can lead the combat to become a bit slow early on as you don’t have many aoe’s but later on there are more of them available. There are also bonus rewards for perfect ring’s, no damage victories and all that which gave me the incentive to end battles in one turn and it made battles feel fresh each time as enemies are randomly positioned. I won’t lie that it does get a little repetitive at times but what turned based RPG isn’t?

Aside from all that is also a new combo command which allows you to stack bonus damage on an enemy by risking a turn for a character in order to join in the combo. Of course the more people who combo will increase the damage bonus and if you get all 4 people in a combo, you can finish the enemy with a powerful combo spell which wastes enemies easily. However to succeed in a combo, you have to complete four judgement rings a row with some QTE’s separating them. Judgement rings are basically a timing mechainic which rewards you with bonus damage for hitting the edges of the area. Unlike in the first game, the judgement ring can be adjusted or even automated, though it’s usually just best to stick with it because as annoying as it can be, it can usually help in 1 shotting certain enemies, shortening battles considerably. I won’t lie though, the judgement did keep me on my toes but after playing games like Legend Of Dragoon, I kinda got tired of timing mechanics.

Though I finished the game, I seem to have missed out on a lot of side content. Seriously, this game hides it well, it’s definitely a game worthy of a second playthrough for completionists as there is also a new game + which carries over certain things, you don’t keep levels/equipment but you do keep crests and stuff. I can truly understand why so many people praise this game as much as they do, the storyline was a fun ride for sure and the combat was quite enjoyable too. I do have mixed feelings about the judgement ring though, i hate timing puzzles in games and this is no exception, still it didn’t bother me as much as i expected, even though i have missed a couple of times which led me to facepalm and occasionally rage at the screen.

The things that captivated me the most was like i said, the storyline, the setting and the characters. The combat was enjoyable and the music wasn’t terrible at all, neither were the visuals. There really isn’t any particular flaws in this game and it doesn’t have the annoying malice system of it’s predecessor. This is a clean game with very few issues, a game I can recommend to all RPG fans, new or old. Whether you’re looking for something new in the genre or just want your first taste of a JRPG, I believe Shadow Hearts Covenant will satisfy your desires

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Story/plot: Excellent

Visuals: Satisfactory

Music: Good

Gameplay: Great

Lifespan: Decent Legnth

Worth replaying? Maybe

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Overall: Excellent

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Old Review Archive – Valkyrie Profile Covenant Of The Plume Review

Do you find SRPG’S boring? Do you get tired of watching silly automatic battle sequences every time you engage an enemy? This is the game for you. Valkyrie Profile Covenant Of The Plume mixes the strategic game play of Final Fantasy Tactics with the action of Valkyrie Profile so well that it never gets boring, battles are always intense and fun and you never get tired of them. This is coming from someone who dislikes SRPG’s and finds them boring due to the fact that the game play takes too long. Covenant Of The Plume speeds things up a bit with it’s formations and link attacks.

The game play in Valkyrie Profile COTP is unique as unlike most games, if you send in a single unit/character against an enemy, you’re going to get slaughtered, you have to strategically position your units so that they can support one another and ambush your enemies with a pincer attack but beware they will do the same to you, and quite often no doubt so be on your guard and be aware of the enemies formations, one false move can mean death and death is never good. One of the biggest additions is the sin system. Every scenario has an objective and a sin quota. Your goal is to complete the objective whilst acquiring as much sin as possible which is easier said than done. Fail to obtain enough sin and you will be punished in the next scenario by a realmstalker. They’re really tough. If you manage to fulfill the sin quota, you will be rewarded with bonus items for the trouble, the more sin you acquire with each scenario, the better the rewards.

In Valkyrie Profile Covenant Of The Plume, playing piggy in the middle is a dangerous game

To acquire sin you have to overkill an enemy unit. After an enemy’s hp goes to zero, every hit afterwards will go towards sin acquisition, you can get a maximum of 100 sin per unit, do not waste the opportunity to overkill an enemy, the rewards are too good to pass up, especially if you’re following the A path. Sin acquisition can seem quite taxing at first, especially if the objective requires you to protect a particular character but it is this challenge that makes this game an enjoyable experience. To get the most sin in a scenario, you must overkill every single enemy on the battlefield by 100 sin and whilst you could go straight for the enemy leader, missing out on the sin bonus could make later battles much more difficult as not only will you have to fight a realmstalker but you will also miss out on the valuable sin bonuses which give you a huge advantage in later battles.

On the contrary, if you’re looking for a challenge you may opt to disregard sin acquisition and deliberately fail to achieve the sin quota in order to collect the chains which drop from the realmstalkers. Doing so may take multiple playthroughs of a game though as you will miss out on a lot of important loot that you will need if you hope to stand a chance against the realmstalkers. You will need to do multiple playthroughs to obtain them all however and since the realmstalkers are really strong, it is recommended to save them for at least a second playthrough should you wish to fight them as you can carry over all of your equipment gained from the first playthrough. In any case, acquiring the chains is completely optional and they are merely bragging rights rewards as they serve no purpose other than to prove that you’ve beaten them.

Valkyrie Profile Covenant Of The Plume is not the successor to my favorite rpg of all time, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, it is more of a SRPG spin off of the series which primarily follows the first game in the series Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth however there are a few returning elements from the sequal such as the voice cast and items. The combat in Covenant Of The Plume hails from the first game as there is no ap gauge so you have to be careful as characters have a limited number of attacks depending on your weapon, some weapons have special attacks known as soul crushes, the glorified limit break style attacks which return from Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria which can be used by filling the heat gauge (which gets filled by performing combo’s). Performing combo’s in Covenant Of The Plume is pretty easy compared to other installments in the series and anyone can get into it and enjoy it without it being too difficult making it accessible for anyone.

The story follows Wylfred, the first male lead protagonist who appears to be the most unhappiest character in videogame history, he makes Cloud Strife look like the happiest man on earth, his friend, Ancel is the complete opposite and is optimistic and always in high spirits, the only thing they have in common is that they both have swords and they both kick tonnes of ass. Wylfred is sent into battle along with 2 other mercenaries to protect the keep and get paid a hefty fee. Unfortunately, Wylfred gets killed in action but is soon resurrected by a crimson plume. When he awakens, to Ancel’s amazement, they both return to the keep and earn their pay before getting mocked by the older, more experienced mercenaries. Ancel shrugs it off and they both head into battle again (there’s no shortage of battles in this game believe me). During the battle, Wylfred gets a call from Hel (no not a phone call, and hel is a person) who tells him to use the plume’s power on Ancel to make him stronger so they can defeat the enemies. Ancel kicks their asses before his life is claimed by the plume. Wylfred then sets out to avenge his father’s death and slay the Valkyrie from the first Valkyrie Profile, Lenneth.

Great… another fetish trope >.>

The story carries on from there and the best part is YOU choose the path you want to take. Do you want to be a vigilante and fight for justice? Do you want to be a completely neutral mercenary who battles for money and has no concern about anything else? Or do you want to be a sadistic killer who charges into battle to satisfy your bloodlust? It’s all up to you. Depending on which path you take, the characters who join you will be differrent. Valkyrie Profile Covenant Of The Plume has a very unique cast of characters for a JRPG. Unlike the generic angsty teenagers (come on, do we really need more Wylfred’s?) of most JRPG’s. Covenant Of The Plume offers a more mature cast of characters, ages ranging from 12 to 60, yes you heard me, 60 (well i think there might be older actually)! Best of all, the oldest character in the game fights with his bare hands, now thats age for you, as far as Auguste is concerned, age just makes you more of a badass. Theres also the cynical scotsman, Gwendal who always manages to be entertaining with his amazingly fitting voice (considering this is a norse mythology themed game). Theres also Roienbourg. He might have alzheimer’s but he can still kick a ton of ass.

WAR!

The storyline of Covenant Of The Plume is dark and gritty, centered on war, mercenaries, military houses and political quarrels as opposed to supernatural forces, time travel, collecting einherjar etc. The gods take a back seat in this game and let the mortals play out the story themselves (or do they?). Nevertheless, the story gets the player easily attached, especially if they have played the first 2 Valkyrie Profile games. There are some very emotional scenes in this game, akin to the first game, especially the A ending which i obviously won’t spoil. You also do not need to play the first two games in the series to understand the story, this is a prequel to the series and is considered a spin off.

Medieval trash talk at it’s best

Oh yes that’s right, this game has multiple endings and lots of replay value. Unlike the first Valkyrie Profile where you had 2 garbage endings and one satisfying endings, Covenant Of The Plume only has one garbage ending (2 if you count the one when you use the plume too much) and two satisfying endings. Obtaining the endings, while not as hard as the original Valkyrie Profile, is still quite a pain, you shouldn’t need a strategy guide but just look at it this way, if you want to get the A ending, completely ignore the next paragraph but read it anyways so you know what you’re supposed to ignore.

Or you could just…

Another feature of this game is the plume, during battle, you are able to sacrifice one of your units to make them insanely powerful for a single battle (basically making your character unstoppable and the battle a cake walk). However, once the battle is over, they are dead PERMANENTLY and that is the least of your problems if you want to get the best ending, using the plume twice or more gives you the C ending which is garbage, using it only once gives you the B ending and to get the A ending you cannot use it even once.

Dying makes you the ultimate badass in Valkyrie Profile: Covenant Of The Plume

I beat the game first time on the C path, stopped playing out of rage due to the horrible ending. I later returned, started a new game (not a new game +, which is by the way, a feature in the game) and took the A path. As painfully hard as it was, i managed to get through it without the plume. It was as fun as it was challenging but one mission in particular where you had to protect this mage from an ambush of monsters was frustrating as hell.

WAR!!!

The Graphics are sub-par, it doesn’t push the DS to it’s limits but it has some great cgi cut scenes. The graphics themselves could have been better though the facials are surprisingly detailed, ironically this is a vast improvement over Silmeria which was near perfect in every aspect of it’s presentation and it’s art design ruined only by the characters’ facials (you can even see the characters Adams apple’s). This game on the other hand lacks the presentation of Silmeria but at least has the decency to improve on a few things.

Diplomacy is for the weak, at least according to this guy

Once you beat the game you unlock the Seraphic Gate, the infamous fourth wall breaking bonus dungeon with difficult bosses and humorously awkward dialogue. The Seraphic Gate has been present in just about every Tri Ace game in some form or other and often contains cameo’s. Covenant Of The Plume has by far the best Seraphic Gate of them all. Why you ask? Because it turns one of the most serious games into a lulz fest. Having Wylfred as your lead makes this all the more fun as he is just way to serious, it’s about time he was made fun of though to be honest he doesn’t get all that much attention compared to the other characters but he still has his moment in the spotlight after a certain awkward scene.

The only real let downs of Covenant Of The Plume are that it isn’t really a true successor to Valkyrie Profile 2 (Make Valkyrie Profile 3: Hrist already!!! heck even Hrist makes a comment on this in the Seraphic Gate “where is my leading role!?”). Also due to the limitations of the Nintendo DS, the music doesn’t do the previous games justice, most of it is actually remixed from the original Valkyrie Profile (kinda sucks that they didn’t remix any of the songs from Silmeria which arguably has the best soundtrack of the 3 but you take what you can get). In any case Valkyrie Profile Covenant Of The Plume is still a satisfactory game nonetheless and is really fun to play, if different. I just wish there was more exploration, sadly SRPG’s lack this which is why they don’t appeal to me much.

THIS IS NO TIME TO BE MAKING INNUENDO’S!!!

Story/Plot: Excellent
Presentation: Decent
Music: Satisfactory
Gameplay: Exceptional
Lifespan: Decent Length

Would you replay? Yes

Overall Score: Excellent

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