63 - Dungeon Defenders (PSN)

Genre: Tower defense
Rating: E10+
Developer: Reverb
Publisher: Trendy Entertainment
Platform: PS3 (Also: 360, PC)
Release Date: 2011

I only really became aware of the tower defense genre when flash games started to proliferate online. Back then it didn't really spark my interest though so I shied away from it all. Only recently have I gotten a taste of it at all via Orcs Must Die! which was a pretty fun game. This is my second bite of the genre and I see that perhaps it really isn't for me at all.

In Dungeon Defenders you can take up one of four classes (although you can switch at any time) and level them up as well as your traps. You set these traps and barriers to keep hordes of enemies from destroying your crystal. It's the easiest goal ever except for the fact that the rest of the game is so tactical and difficult. It dives headfirst into lots of RPG-type stuff as well by making you grind and level up your characters and their skills to proceed.

Within the first two levels you will be tasked with taking down a humongous enemy with 10 times the health of anything else you were forced to fight the rest of the level. It was when this point came that I realized this game is serious business. It also is probably best to play with a team of four. As I was soloing, I found the game to be outrageously difficult. It's hard to try and defend four seperate points all at once. Since you can't have your eyes everywhere you can simply set up your best barriers and hope for the best while you slooowly run from entryway to entryway. If I had more players in a team with me it probably would be a ton more manageable.

As is, the game just doesn't appear to be for me. It's supremely tough and doesn't appear to let up. Playing alone is far from the best idea... although it's true that you can grind on the first level until you're strong enough to take down harder monsters all by yourself. If nothing else, the game is super deep for a digitally distributed title which I'm sure some folks will quite appreciate.

Would I play again?: Nope.

Yakuza of the End Might Get English Release

Just saw this post over at SegaBits and wanted to share my opinion on the matter. Basically, there was a trademark filed in Europe for "Yakuza: Dead Souls" which almost certainly has something to do with Yakuza of the End.

I'm a huge fan of the Yakuza series as well as zombies so I've been gunning for this game since it was first announced. However, I didn't really expect anything from it because the last time there was a "different" Yakuza game it stayed stuck in Japan (Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!). Zombies are certainly a hot commodity these days though so maybe Sega figures they can safely cash in on this one - Kenzan was about samurais which, I guess, are not as profitable.

So it's only a trademark and trademarks don't always mean something but they also put up a logo with it. I'm hoping this means it does get English release. Even if it is only European release I'd be more than happy to import it.

60 - El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PS3)

Genre: Action adventure
Rating: T for Teen
Developer: Ignition Entertainment
Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Platform: PS3 (Also: 360)
Release Date: 2011

El Shaddai is a game I hoped I would really enjoy. The screenshots looked stunning and it just seemed to be a game forging its own path. As it turns out, the game certainly is different from everything else coming out these days. However, that doesn't make it good.

Basically I really don't like the game because the main "game" portion is devoted to fighting enemies. There isn't a very large variety between then and the fighting mechanics themselves are extremely dull. Apparently you can switch weapons to gain a tactical advantage over enemies but the game never tells you what works best against what. The game barely tells you ANYTHING. While I'm sure some will be pleased the game doesn't hold their hand I wasn't. I'm playing on "easy" so I expect things to be, well, easy!

Even when I think I figured out the best tactic it ends up not working at the next encounter. Either I'm continuously doing something wrong or there are slight variances between the 5 or so enemy types. The game is kinda cool in that if you mash buttons right when you die then you don't lose. However, sometimes it's hard to tell if you're "dying" or not so you don't know to start pressing them.

As for the story I couldn't even tell you what's going on beyond the very basest plot that was established at the start. Characters babble on and say important-sounding things but they mean nothing to me. It's such a shame the game is so incomprehensible and dull. If you're interested in the game though be sure to play the demo as it gives you a sample of the gameplay stylings.

Would I play again? Yes (to finish it).

36 - Yakuza 4 (PS3)

Genre: Action adventure
Rating: M
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Platform: PS3
Release date: 2011

I love Yakuza. When it was going to come out in the US for PS2 I was pretty damn hyped. It looked like a really neat beat 'em up with deep storyline all based in Japan. At the time, I was a big fan of everything Japanese (well, more so) so this was gonna be totally awesome. Initially, I got it in less than legitimate ways. However, that was pretty useless because the game seemed impossible for anyone to rip properly. There were always massive slowdown issues and glitches galore.

From that, I never actually ended up playing Yakuza 1 or 2. I remembered my initial awe with the idea of the game later on and pre-ordered Yakuza 3. Playing that game was one of the best gaming experiences I had all 2010. The story was taught and perfectly executed along with addicting gameplay.

Yakuza 4 is also a pretty good game. Somehow, it doesn't feel as good as 3 did. On various forums, it seems most people feel the opposite about the two games. Oh well. Something interesting is that the hostess bar minigame stuff was brought back after being removed from the english version of 3. Playing it made me realize why Sega took it out before. Even though the entire game is very Japanese this minigame is crazily Japanese. Dressing up your hostess with outfits, accessories, makeup and hairstyles is probably something most gamers would find appealing (especially when there aren't tons of slutty outfits). It's not like you can just dress her to your liking either, as the goal is to get her to be perfect for the patrons who visit. Still, I'm glad to see Sega put it back in for people to try out.

After playing Yakuza 4 I feel like playing through all the games. I need to play 1 and 2 since I missed out on them, but they all deserve a playthrough one after the other. Somehow I think I'll lose steam before accomplishing that, but at least playing the first two titles is doable at sometime in the future.

Would I play again? Maybe.

Feel free to check out my more in depth review of Yakuza 4 here.