Month: May 2016

Fire Emblem Fates Birthright Review: Simpler warfare but just as satisfying

Posted on by astyahla

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Strategy 

No. of players: 1-2 Local wireless or online 

ESRB: T
Having previously played through “Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest,” I went into the second route knowing I would end up fighting those who I once called comrades. I thought I had steeled myself for the inevitable confrontation with the Nohr royal family, but it was still a gut punch fighting them.

Like its companion game, “Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright” tells the story of the war between Hoshido and Nohr. Unlike “Conquest,” the player-customized avatar sides with his or her blood siblings in Hoshido’s royal family instead of his or her adopted siblings in Nohr. As a result, players will get to know characters who were enemies in “Conquest” and get a new set of classes. For example, pegasus-mounted sky knights replace weyvern riders and ninjas replace outlaws. Like the cast of “Conquest,” the units here are very likable, if more aggressive. The story even gives the avatar different character development, showing them to be more confident in their ideals.

For the most part, gameplay is identical to “Conquest.” Battles still play out by the same rules, but you will have access to different weapons. For example, healers use rods which have more range than staves, but do not restore as much health. Axes are traded out for clubs which are weaker, but more accurate.

In addition, “Birthright” is much easier than “Conquest.” This is mainly due to having access to a world map. This allows you to engage in optional battles for extra experience and money. This also make it easier to build up support ranks to unlock conversations between two units and eventually get them married. This will result in the couples having children who can then be recruited with skills and alternate classes inherited from their parents.

Unfortunately, “Birthright” does not have as much mission variety as “Conquest.” Almost every map requires you to either defeat every enemy or defeat a boss with very little deviance from the norm. By comparison, “Conquest” ask you to escape maps within a turn limit, seize a particular square or hold the line for a certain number of turns. After playing “Conquest” this is a little disappointing.

The maps are also easier compared to “Conquest’s.”But this does not mean you can be sloppy,  as the enemy AI is still very intelligent. They will gang up on lone units, go straight for defenseless units and attack from where you cannot counter them. Mistakes are still very costly, especially on Classic Mode, where all deaths are final. Those who find this too intense can opt for Casual Mode, in which fallen units retreat but come back the following chapter, or Phoenix Mode, in which fallen units get back up the following turn. You can reduce the difficulty at any time, but may never increase it.

Overall, “Birthright” is simpler than “Conquest” but no less enjoyable. While the simpler mission objectives are a little disappointing, it is the price to pay for an easier game. For the complete experience, be sure to play through both “Birthright” and “Conquest,” as well as the DLC-only third path, “Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation.”

Score: 9.5/10

Star Fox Zero Review: Controls are a barrier to entry but pay off big

Posted on by astyahla

Platform: Wii U

Genre: Shooter

No. of Players: 1-2 local multiplayer

ESRB: E10+

It has been ten years since the release of “Star Fox Command” for the Nintendo DS. Aside from the 3DS remake of “Star Fox 64” the “Star Fox” series has been dormant until the newest installment for Wii U. For “Star Fox Zero” the developers worked to recapture what make the Nintendo 64 game a classic and modernize it for a fresh start. The game does a good job, but there are some issues that can get in the way of the experience.

As soon as the game starts for the first time, the player is thrown straight into a tutorial for the series familiar space fighter, the Arwing. Basically the movement is handled by the analogue sticks, with the left stick used for basic movement and the right stick for functions such as boosting, breaking, make sharp turns and do a barrel roll. Advanced maneuvres such as loops and u-turns are done with both sticks or the face buttons. The most important point about the controls is aiming, which is done by moving the Gamepad. While the TV screen shows a third-person view from behind the ship, the Gamepad screen shows a first-person view from the cockpit. While both screens show a targeting reticule, the Gamepad shows the more accurate view in terms of where your shots will go. The game expects you to shift your focus between the two screens based upon the situation. Because of this, the controls feel awkward when first starting out. It does not help that all-range levels, which give you free movement as opposed to directing you on a set path, tend to lock the camera onto a specific target, forcing you to look at the Gamepad to see what is in front of you.

Even if you wanted to use a more traditional control scheme, you are out of luck as there is no way to completely turn off the motion controls. The best you can do is stop the reticule from moving unless you are actively shooting. This poses a significant barrier to entry and will turn off some players. But those who stick with the game will find that the new controls are about as accurate as a mouse on a PC game and will end up making more shots than they would normally.

Once you get past the odd controls, the game gives you a lot of content with 12 main missions and eight bonus missions and plenty of challenges to complete for medals. Some of these require coming back once you unlock additional abilities, giving the game a lot of replay value. For example, the first mission requires you to stop a battleship by taking out its laser cannons. Doing so results in the commander being able to escape and only getting a Mission Complete for the level. Once you unlock the walker form for the Arwing, you can take out one cannon to open the door to the hanger, land and use the walker form to blow up the battleships core, taking the commander with it and getting a Mission Accomplished. In addition, there are alternate paths that lead to bonus missions which always require a second play through. While the alternate paths are not as drastic as the ones in “64,” they do lead to challenging missions which really push the player’s skill.

In addition to the normal Arwing missions, there are levels that require use of the walker form to explore indoor areas. You also have access to the Landmaster tank which also use the right stick to turn around during all-range stages that makes it harder to maneuver than the Arwing, but still handles well. The Landmaster can also turn into a flight capable form known as the Gravmaster which temporarily gives you more freedom. The third vehicle, the new helicopter-like Gyrowing, only shows up for part of a mission before being used for a full mission. Those missions are far more methodical, as you need both sticks to fly it and deploy a small robot to hack into computers. While interesting, the Gyrowing missions feel out-of-place compared to the rest of the far faster-paced levels “Zero” has to offer.

The game is quite challenging and the strange controls only compound that fact. Fortunately, the game offers a cooperative multiplayer mode in which one player mans the guns and the Gyrowing’s robot using the Gamepad, while a second player uses a Pro controller or a Remote and Nunchuck to fly the ship. This helps ease players into the game and encourages further playthroughs. Unfortunately, you need to complete each level solo before being able to play the levels with a friend.

“Star Fox Zero” is far from perfect but it manages to stand on its own as a decent game. The comparisons to “Star Fox 64” turn out to be superficial, giving the game its own identity. While the controls may scare off people, those who stay with the game will find a very satisfying experience.

Score 7.5/10

Nintendo’s plans for the rest of 2016 to early 2017 are worrisome

Posted on by astyahla

Last week, Nintendo announced that their next console, codenamed NX, will launch in March 2017. While that in and of itself is good news, what was revealed around that statement shows that the company is in a dire situation.

This announcement came as part of Nintendo’s annual financial reports. Once of the biggest take aways is that their profits are down 61 percent. Part of this is to blame on the lack of major, system-selling titles released toward the end of the year. For comparison, 2014 saw the release of major titles such as “Mario Kart 8,” “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U” and “Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.”  By comparison, 2015 had some hits for the company, such as the surprise success that was “Splatoon” and “Super Mario Maker,” Nintendo’s holiday line up that year was lacking, with “Xenoblade Chronicles X” being the main triple A title at the time.

Even without considering the rough year, it is clear that Nintendo’s current home console, the Wii U is on its last legs. Despite having a head start of a year over the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One, the Wii U has only sold 12 million units world wide since 2012. By comparison, Microsoft has sold 20.7 million Xbox One units, while Sony has sold 39.8 million Playstation 4 units. Back in 2014, Nintendo made a huge push to turn the Wii U around. With the game lineup, it looked like it could make a comeback. Today, however, those hopes were for naught.

Now, the big question is, “Why did the Wii U fail?” For starters, the Wii U had very poor third-party support. At first, a lot of third-parties such as EA, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Sega and Activision were on board, even if a lot of those games were ports of existing games. Most noticeably, Ubisoft brought two games in the “Assassin’s Creed” series to Wii U after skipping out on the Wii, and “Rayman Legends” was originally planned to be a Wii U exclusive. However, a lot of these companies either jumped ship or made inferior versions of games from other platforms when it became clear that their games were not selling. Now, the only major third party game on the horizon for the Wii U is “Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Other than that, the main sources of third-party games are indie titles. Excellent indie titles to be sure, but they are not as likely to gain people’s attention.

Also, there was a lot of confusion early on as to what the Wii U was. I remember talking to a lot of people who thought the Wii U was just the Gamepad and it was an accessory for the  Wii. Even after that confusion was cleared up, there did not seem to be any indication that third-parties knew what to do with the Gamepad. If Nintendo had just stuck to a normal controller, more people may have paid attention and supported the console.

Further evidence that Nintendo is giving up on the Wii U is that “The Legend of Zelda Wii U” has been delayed yet again. The game was originally announced at E3 2014 and was planned to be released in 2015. Early on in 2015, Nintendo revealed that the game was delayed into 2016 in order to ensure that the game was up to fan expectations. It looked like this would stick when the 2016 release was reiterated during the November 2015 Nintendo Direct. Not only has Zelda Wii U been delayed to March 2017, but the game is now going to have a simultaneous release on the Wii U and the NX. A similar situation happened with “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.” This game was originally going to be released on the Gamecube during the 2005 holiday season, only to get delayed and resurface as a simultaneous release for the Gamecube and the newly launched Wii the following year.

To make matters worse, Nintendo has confirmed that Zelda will be the only game they would have playable at E3 2016 in June, but they also have no plans to show the NX at the show. While it is nice to know the general release date, the fact that we still know next to nothing about the game or the system is worrisome. While Nintendo is known for taking their time, all of this silence is getting on my nerves.

In the meantime, there is a noticeably sparse release schedule for both of Nintendo’s current systems. To be sure there are still some games to be released for the Wii U. This June will have three noteworthy games for the system. First Comcept will finally release “Mighty No. 9” for all major systems including Wii U, along with PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, assuming they do not push back the date any further. However the 3DS and Vita versions will be released at a later date. Also Nintendo will release two games on June 24, “Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE” and “Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.” In addition “Paper Mario: Color Splash” will be released later this year. Finally, the Wii U will get a major indie title in the form of “Yooka-Laylee” in October.

The 3DS on the other hand is still going strong. The next major release for the system is “Kirby: Planet Robobot” on June 10. Also, “Ace Attorney 6” will be released in Japan on June 9. A worldwide release has also been confirmed. Neither of these compare to what is sure to be Nintendo’s biggest selling title this year. “Pokemon Sun and Moon” will release this Holiday season.

Finally, Nintendo also announced their next two Mobile titles. They will be new installments in the “Fire Emblem” and “Animal Crossing” series. Unlike “Miitomo,” they have been confirmed to be actual games. The “Animal Crossing” app has been confirmed to connect to other games in the series, but it is unclear if this means “New Leaf,” “Happy Home Designer” or a new game that has yet to be announced. Both apps will be released this Fall.

If anything, the failure of the Wii U shows that Nintendo is down but not out. They will focus on regaining their footing this year and come out swinging with the NX in March 2017.