I must say, when I got Nier through the post, I hadn’t really heard a great deal about it. All I knew was that it had been developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix, which wasn’t a great deal of information. I had heard things from people saying it was a one button affair and that it didn’t look anything special, but it didn’t put me off, after all, I have to formulate my own opinion don’t I?
After putting the game in the tray I was greeted by an audio only monologue from a woman that seemed to be talking to a character called Weiss. I say talking. I mean shouting abuse and profanity at him in a comical yet erm… enthusiastic way. This was before I had even started the game. Hell, I hadn’t even pressed start and new game, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the story was going to be as colourful. That said, I got the show on the road to find out if this game was worth shelling out for.
Way back in 1997 a game was released that would forever be heralded as one of the best games of all time. It had an epic storyline, one that is still gripping people to this day. The game was Final Fantasy VII. Now, I know that the seventh game in the series wasn’t the starting point for the franchise, but it was easily the most recognised throughout the world, especially in the Western market. Previous titles had really only appealed to the Japanese market and Final Fantasy VII was the turning point. Since that time, people have always anticipated the next Final Fantasy game, hoping for another character that would capture them like Cloud Strife did all those years ago.
Namco Bandai are well known for the Tekken and Soul Calibur games, along with some all time classics such as Pac Man, Galaga and Dig Dug, however these aren’t their only accomplishments. As with any good Japanese developer, they have their own stake in the RPG genre. The ‘Tales’ series of games are Japanese-RPG’s that ooze style and class. They have always taken their biggest influences from anime and manga and also use popular artists to design the characters and produce the animated cut-scenes within the game. Tale of Vesperia is no different; it’s the 10th mother-ship title in the series, incorporating everything that has been done well in the previous titles, making it even better and wrapping it in a design that is beyond stunning.
As you may know from our podcasts, Japanese RPGs have always been an obsession of mine so when I heard that the next Star Ocean was coming to the Xbox 360 as an exclusive, the title was immediately placed on pre-order. Having played a couple of the previous titles I was hoping that this prequel would live up to the name. For the next 65 hours I was to battle enemies across the ‘star ocean’ and save the earth from certain destruction. With this being the third title that Square Enix has brought to the Xbox 360 and being a 360 exclusive, this game has a lot to live up to with the various technical failings of Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant. The biggest question would be: ‘Is this game worthy to enter your collection? Or is it destined to stay at the store?’
Through The Mind of Simon Weatherall 