Video game series tend to never stray from their initial genre. Call of Duty will always be a shooter, Street Fighter always a fighter. Yet, Persona has done the unthinkable. In a complete change of heart, this famous franchise has gone from JRPG powerhouse to furious fighter. Was this change for the better, or was Atlus better off keeping its classic series to itself? Read on after the jump to find out

[PLAYABILITY]

While Persona 4: Arena is not for the faint of heart, fans of both Persona and ArcSystem Works will feel amazingly welcome. The game does seem to have a slight learning curve though. To remedy this, ArcSys added a wonderful lesson mode which will have even the worst button mashers ready to take on the toughest challengers. Controls are maybe a little too solid however, with precise motions required for every move. This adds to the already demonic hardship this game brings to the table. Heck, one of the difficulty settings is called Hell. Persona 4:Arena oozes with a vibe of “easy to learn, hard to master.” This is exemplified by the basic tutorial being separate from the individual character ones. Essentially if you’ve played Guilty Gear or BlazBlue, you’ll know what to expect, minus the impossibly high barrier of entry. The netcode was fairly solid so it was safe to go online and not worry about dreadful lag. This is especially true now that Atlus released a patch for the Xbox 360 version. Before that, playing online was like shooting yourself in the head.

[PLAYABILITY BREAKDOWN]

[+Tight Controls][+Amazing Tutorial][+Best Netcode of Current Fighters][*Strict Timing on All Moves]

[PRODUCTION]

Spin-offs usually attempt to distance themselves from the original series, either by changing the focus or the gameplay. While Persona 4: Arena wasn’t afraid to break the mold, it also has enough fan-service to make it like an inside-joke for Persona loyalists. I was particularly surprised with the day 1 DLC. While I expected the glasses to be in the game, there was some glee in seeing the color packs that make the characters look like familiar faces from Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, Guilty Gear and even the Blazblue games. While the rest of the series isn’t required for you to get the gist of the story, which was surprising since it takes place 2 months after the ending of Persona 4. The story has its high and low points. At its best, the writing feels like playing an RPG, rather than a fighter though this leads to large amounts of text that range from thought provoking to drool inducing. While it’s easy to do this in an RPG without hesitation, in a fighter it seems shoehorned in at times. Since the story is written from different perspectives, some of the dialogue and all of the cut-scenes get repeated numerous times. In order to see the full story, get ready to see the same acts time and again. If only they could keep the magic of seeing it the first time, but there is a slight remedy to this. There are three tiers of story characters, unlocked as you beat a story mode for the previous tier. It wasn’t until going back for the rest of the story that I managed to get annoyed with the repetition. The story ends in a cliff hanger no matter who you choose, so take that for what you will. Some of the music is reused from Persona 4, making this feel like the same game at certain points. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack of the previous game, reusing it so extensively seemed lazy. It’s surprising considering how much work they put into the rest of the game.

[PRODUCTION BREAKDOWN]

[+In-depth Story][+Tons of Fan-Service][*Cliff-Hanger Ending][*Reused Music][-Long Dialogue Scenes][-Repeated Dialogue and Cut-Scenes]

[VALUE]

It’s hard to gauge just how much you’ll enjoy Persona 4: Arena. On one hand it was definitely made with the fans in mind. They were there first so they got served first. There’s quite a bit to learn, so it will take you a while to get the most out of the game. Story mode is a hit or miss, but overall it’s obvious that a ton of work went into it. If story is your thing you won’t feel ripped off, though my wallet clenched up after the ending. It just screamed: “we’re coming for your money!”. Arcade mode is usually randomized, but in Persona 4: Arena it’s just another story mode that’s straight to the point. Score Attack is more of the same but is set on the highest difficulty with no way to change it.  As far as the fighting goes, the characters are all balanced to the point that none of them seem broken enough to make any unplayable. They all have their own unique trait, which is usually shown by a gauge or type of status affect they can inflict on the opponent. Online is bare bones but with silky smooth connection speeds it’s hard not to fall in love. There has been almost no lag when playing, no matter where the other players region. I don’t know what kind of satanic ritual Atlus did to make the connections sync so well, but I’m sure it involved sacrificing most of their interns. With that much already invested into the game, it seems as though they’ll continue to support the game after the day 1 DLC. My main concern is they’ll either charge an insane amount for one character or make us pay another $60 for a few more. It’ll be a waiting game to see what happens.

[VALUE BREAKDOWN]

[+Variety of Content][+Unique Characters][+Low Lag Online Mode][*Day 1 DLC][-Ending is an Obvious Cash Grab]

[REVIEWER IMPRESSION]

Every once in a while a fighter comes along that totally engrosses me. All day all I want to do is play it. All night all i want to do is dream of fantastic combos to try later. A ravish amount of modes and likeable characters is what I stay for. Persona 4 Arena delivers, but manages to give off two distinct vibes in the process. Every time I booted up the game I saw more and more of the love poured into it. On the other hand they seemed to cut corners in quite a few places, like the music and some of the story. It almost feels like a crossover with how much these vibes seem to clash. I’ll admit I had fun gushing at the fan-service, but it’s not overdone. I doubt you’ll feel like you’re not in on the joke just because you haven’t touched the other games. This game has the potential  to become one of the bigger fighter games out there as long as the community doesn’t abandon it.

[FINAL BREAKDOWN]

[+Tight Controls][+Amazing Tutorial][+Best Netcode of Current Fighters][+In-depth Story][+Tons of Fan-Service][+Variety of Content][+Unique Characters][+Low Lag Online Mode][*Strict Timing on All Moves][*Cliff-Hanger Ending][*Reused Music][*Day 1 DLC][-Long Dialogue Scenes][-Repeated Dialogue and Cut-Scenes][-Ending is an Obvious Cash Grab]

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Some say that playing Street Fighter is an art form in itself. While watching someone flawlessly pull off a combo can be awe-inspiring, the art at Combo Attack wasn’t too shabby either. From small Day of the Dead inspired dioramas to a 17 Foot tall graffiti wall this art show had an impressive showing.  You can see my impressions of the show as well as my own gallery of pictures after the jump.

I’ll confess that I’ve loved Street Fighter for as long as I could remember, so Combo Attack was right up my alley. I wasn’t the only one who felt this way either. Other people were waiting hours in front of the pristine white building, with the first person in line waiting since 10 a.m that morning. All this just to see some drawings of video game characters. The pieces themselves range in style and substance. No surprise considering they were commissioned from 50 different artists. The beauty of each piece was reflected in it’s price. Some were near affordable, but many knocked out the $100 barrier like it had a glass jaw, with the most expensive costing $1800. These art pieces are destined for only the most die hard fans, but I couldn’t resist buying a few myself. It was a terrible day to be my wallet and I still couldn’t afford that beautiful piece you see above. It’s no surprise that this one-of-a-kind sold the night it was shown.

So the big question: Is it worth going to? Well, yes and no. The opening night is as good as the exhibit will be, unless you really hate crowds. The venue was spacious, but you had to traverse through a narrow room to get there. This lead to many people shoulder to shoulder in a small place before bursting out into the main room. Though since the big crowd is gone you can take time to enjoy the gallery instead of rushing through it. Many of the artists weren’t at the show either, so it’s not like you missed getting anything signed. People who can’t make it during the galley’s limited run can see most of it at Iam8bit‘s store. You can even purchase whatever you fancy, too. My one complaint about the venue was how hard it was to find. It’s only distinguishing feature was a small logo against an all white building. That being said, I’m going out of my way to be sure to go back again before Combo Attack gets K.Oed out of the venue.

I can’t begin to explain how great it is that video games are getting art shows now. I firmly believe that since video games are such a visual medium, we will begin to see plenty of art shows like this for years to come. This one didn’t need to have a collection of games on hand to draw crowds of people, just great art and an amazing opening night. There was a sense of wonder in the air as everyone saw this amazing tribute to their favorite fighting game. The strangest part was when a mosh pit formed around the car piñata. Truly,they had their mind on the fight. If you’re in the area, Combo Attack: 25 Years of Street Fighter will be at the Iam8bit gallery until August 19th.

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Dr. Sub Zero has gone from a fighting game player to commentator, to hosting his own show live streaming show on Youtube with some of the top fighters in the world. I had the chance to bump into him during a 20 man 3rd Strike Generals tournament. These tournaments don’t happen very often so I was sure to ask many of your burning questions.

Video after the jump, but I caution you that the language gets a bit saucy. So be careful where you listen.

Chilling with the Doctor was quite fun. You can find him on twitter @AskDrSubZero while and see his videos on his Youtube channel.

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I’ve always been iffy on runner games. Sure they’re an arcade-like experience, but there seems to be so many that they meld together into one huge mess of repetition. So I started Bust-N-Rush a little jaded but ended up going through the “just one more level” phase time and again.

Score attack games usually never have an amazing story. Bust-N-Rush starts with the main character Kovo sitting in a lawn under the planet’s crust when a spaceship destroys his best friend, a lawn ornament flamingo named Paco. This plot is about as important as it sounds and it fades to the background not a second after you select the mode you want to play. The action is nonstop, and controlling Kovo feels like being a massive unstoppable boulder hurtling toward a defenseless child that dropped his ice cream in terror.

It would help if your character was nicer to look at. The environments are rich and different, but Kovo looks like a bland rock against vibrant colors. Even the destructible objects have a colored hue based on whether or not you can smash them. Other than that, the game is gorgeous for a runner.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Busting and rushing is fairly fun when you finally manage to get into the groove of it. It’s got that easy to learn, hard to master style of play that will have you coming back for more. There are also small challenges you can pick up that had me play a few more levels then I had planned. The pick up and play style doesn’t help my time management either.  Bust-N-Rush is out soon for PC, Mac,  and iPad where you can smash to your hearts content.

UPDATE: It seems Techtonic is holding a beta and prize giveaway for Bust-N-Rush

Get your beta here:  http://beta.techtonicgames.com/

And your contest here: https://apps.facebook.com/tggiveaway/?fb_source=search&ref=ts

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I wandered through EVO until I saw a rainbow in the middle of the ballroom. I followed it only to find My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic being played furiously. Can the players friendship stand up against competitive fighting? Video after the jump.

Never would I have thought that a My Little Pony fighter would look and play as solid as Fighting is Magic. I’ve been converted, people.

The post [EVO] MLP: Fighting is Magic Preview appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

Side scrollers have seen a reresurgence with the advent of mobile gaming. What used to be considered too “old” for gaming is now back with a vengeance. Fighter games have also seen a renaissance thanks to Street Fighter 4. So it’s no surprise that Super Combo Man seeks to combine both genres into a solid experience. Video after the jump.

Super Combo Man is looking to be a great side scroller given out in bite-sized portions.  Having a game be episodic can be both good and bad for the consumer, depending on the cost. Hopefully we’ll hear more about it soon.

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Games going for the old-school graphics seem like a dime a dozen in this era where cashing in on nostalgia is usually a ploy to make something cheap.If someone told me that they made STF look old so they could fit more stuff on the screen, I’d believe them. This frantic game was a blast to play and I got to sit down with Nathan Vella about it. Video after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I had a blast playing this game. Even though that is me dying every five seconds. Here’s hoping the studio puts more people on it soon.

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It was amazing to see how humble Mike was. I left this video unedited so you could see for yourself. If you’re reading this you’ve probably already have Skullgirls but if not it’s available on PSN and XBL for about $15. And Mike if you’re glancing at this, go get some sleep.

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As I stumbled through the massive crowd at EVO a game caught my eye. It looked like a side-scrolling version of Madworld, complete with blood popping out against black and white. I also got to talk to co-creator Ben Rutz about it. Though we only covered the beat-em-up portion of the game, I was able to grab some screens for the strategy portion of the game. You can see those after the jump

Click here to view the embedded video.

The gameplay was solid and I loved the how it looked. There were some glitches like my character getting caught on the walls but with a bit of polish, I wouldn’t mind downloading it. My only hope is that the strategy side holds up as well.

It looks as though it’ll be an area based RTS. Units would need to stay on certain squares in order to activate them, such as the money and temple squares. We’ll report on this as more information becomes available

The post [EVO] ‘Aztez’ Interview appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

There is a story filled with mystery and intrigue. Of a brave man who did what he needed to get the job done. Who fought for the truth. But let’s not talk about how I met Ryan Jones, Project Manager for Big Finish Games. Let’s talk about his newly-funded Project Fedora and the return of Tex Murphy.

For those of you who don’t know Tex Murphy is the main character of a sci-fi noir adventure series. Tex was easy to identify with and not just because he was rendered in FMV. He’s an everyday man who is down on his luck. For five games Tex solved cases, with humorous interjection along the way. The last game was left on a cliffhanger that has had fans desperate for closure. Fortunately, a Kickstarter was made for Tex and now he’s slated to make a comeback in 2013.

In case the Kickstarter page didn’t have enough information for you, here’s my full interview with Ryan.

What made you decide to start working on Tex Murphy again?

We have actually made many attempts over the past years to get a new game started, and we got close several times, but we couldn’t get a deal closed. We even thought about going the casual game route but it didn’t feel right. We have always had a very loyal fan base and they were always very supportive of the idea of us doing a new game and when the Kickstarter funding concept worked for Double Fine, they encouraged us to give it a try.

Will anyone be reprising their roles?

Most of the main Chandler avenue characters will be back including Chelsee, Rook, Louie. Clint and Ardo

What is in store for Tex this time?

It will fill in all the details of what happened when Tex and Chelsea left the restaurant and were “shot” by Dalton, the man who offered them a ride. We will get a good look into the background of Tex Murphy and why he is who he is.

How much of Tex’s past games will you incorporate into this one?

The storyline for this saga will be a continuation of the end of Overseer and we will find out that the cliffhanger sequence was not a random act but part of a larger devious conspiracy.

Since this is a continuation, how will you explain the story to new players?

The story will pick up years later and Tex will have no memory of many events that took place earlier so both the experienced Tex players and new players will be filling in holes to what led to the cliffhanger and beyond. There will also be different paths so players can choose to follow the story in the way that interests them the most.

Do you think you may have given too much away from the flash movies and radio plays made after Overseer?

Because of the length of time between this new game and Overseer we will move the story out a number of years later. It will continue some of the threads from Radio Theater but will be set further in the future. We do plan on answering many of the questions Tex fans have about what happened after the fateful “Cliffhanger” event

So will this play like the first two games or will it be more like the gameplay that started with Under a Killing Moon?

It will actually be closer to “THE PANDORA DIRECTIVE” in that it will have multiple paths to different endings and two modes of play that allows a players to select the level of difficulty.

How long do you expect development to take?

It should  take about 12-14 months once we start in July

How big of a budget will this game have?

We have a budget of around $750,000.00

I’m fairly excited that the point-and-click adventure is making a comeback. We need more games that challenge us not just in our reflexes or memorization, but also in our ability to think outside of the box. I’ll certainly be checking out this game, and I hope you readers keep an eye on it too.

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Suda51 creates some strange games. From a serial killer with 7 personalities to a trip through hell with your talking gun, not a single one of Suda51′s games can ever be defined as tame. Thus, many of his games can seem too far-fetched for most gamers to get in to. His latest game, Lollipop Chainsaw doesn’t kill this pattern either. Rather, it spreads it like the best zombie of outbreaks.  So does it feel like a cult-classic zombie flick or does it stumble over it’s own shuffling feet?

Lollipop Chainsaw is a beat-em-up that would feel at home at an arcade. Not for it’s difficulty, but for how it plays overall. While it’s easy to go from level to level without too much effort, your score will be dismal. Those looking for a quick game can still enjoy it, but if you want the high score you’ll have to kill as many zombies at once as possible. Positioning and timing become terribly important if you want to make a dent in the leaderboards. This is less of a concern on the easier difficulties, where enemies spawn far less. Either way, dispatching zombies won’t be a problem with the amazingly responsive controls. This makes this game one of the most accessible of Suda51′s creations.

Beat-em-ups can get repetitive after you find that one combo that works. Lollipop Chainsaw tries to avoid this a few different ways. Small mini-games are scattered throughout every level. Though these are meant to be fun, they seem to draw the already long levels out longer. Most of the levels took me about 30-60 minutes to beat on normal. There’s plenty of checkpoints, but I was never informed when I reached one. Boss battles always impressed, but it’s up to you how many times you want to fight your way to them. The camera became its own boss whenever I tried to lock-on to an enemy, causing numerous graphical glitches.

Like many other beat-em-ups, Lollipop Chainsaw has a giant array of moves to use. Though they are simple button combinations, I still found myself being lost on how to do a few of them. This may have been from the amount of moves, but I feel as though it was from the lack of variation between them. Many were only a slight change from the last, so I would try to do one and end up doing another quite often. All of the attacks were amazingly flashy so no matter how I killed a zombie it felt satisfying. The zombies weren’t as weak as you’d think. Less like cannon fodder and more like henchmen with worse health insurance.

[+Tight Controls][+Flexible Difficulty][+Lots of Checkpoints][*Long Levels][*Large Repertoire of Moves to Remember][-No Visual Cue for Checkpoints][-Terrible Lock-On Camera]

When you think of what a zombie game would look like, you probably think of gore and far too much blood. Though there is plenty of gore within Lollipop Chainsaw, it’s offset by rainbows, sparkles and showers of coins. This can be a little strange when the first time you decapitate a zombie instead of seeing a geyser of blood you see a perfect little rainbow. Environments are also amazingly diverse. You start in somewhere plain like a parking lot and end up going everywhere from a psychedelic farm to an overtly 80s arcade, complete with Pac-Man knock-offs.

While you’re taking the time to enjoy the sights, the music that plays can range from Five Finger Death Punch to Toni Basil. The in-house music is no slouch either, since it was written by Akira Yamaoka (composer for Silent Hill) and Jimmy Urine. The main song you’ll come to hear is “Lollipop” by the Chordettes since it’s the shop music. Everyone I’ve talked to has said that they can’t get that song out of their fucking head because of how much the game plays it.

While an amazing amount of attention was given to the music, it’s the writing that is both the best and worst part of the game. Japanese humor never translates well to the mass-American market so Grasshopper Manufacture brought James Gunn to help write and boy did it pay off. The banter back and forth between the heroine Juliet and her body-less boyfriend Nick are some of the funniest lines I’ve heard in years. The chemistry heard during their conversations makes them almost believable as a real couple with a few twists. Most boyfriends wouldn’t speak so adamantly about how they miss having a dick. These two shine so much that they leave other characters in the dust. Even the bosses have terrible dialogue in comparison.

Each boss is quite the experience, as each one is modeled after a style of music that has “died”. Like the first boss is a punk rocker zombie whose words become actual attacks. Hearing a boss call me a fucking cunt was one thing, but it was another to see those words flying at me right after. Every boss is a puzzle, with multiple forms to contend with. Truly they were all made to be the highlight of the game.

Overall, the whole package doesn’t clash. There are slight exceptions like when you’ve made a large kill and currency covers the screen. This adds to the satisfaction of the kill. The dialogue never fights for attention with the music either. This is a great game for some short bursts of excitement, but it can get easily repetitive especially after you’ve beaten the game.

[+Well-Written Dialogue][+Diverse Soundtrack][+Varied Locations][+Memorable Boss Fights][*"Lollipop" by The Chordettes Will Get Stuck in Your Head][Makes Full Use of M rating]

Getting through Lollipop Chainsaw won’t take you too long. I think it took me about 8-12 hours altogether. The story can best be described as short and sweet, but while you’re playing there are plenty of things to unlock. The standard fare of concept art and upgrades are here alongside something I never expected: costumes. It’s sad that the normal thing nowadays is to pay for costumes, though I’m sure those will come down the line. The costumes range from the perverse to the homage with other zombie hunting franchises represented like High School of the Dead and Evil Dead. You can also unlock different music in the game to put in your own “best of” playlist so when you decide to retry a level there’s no repeating soundtrack.

Besides leaderboards this game is an entirely offline affair. It doesn’t seem like there will be much DLC besides some different costumes. Multiplayer is also non-existent so improving your high score is the name of the game. One thing I found disappointing is that the bosses don’t drop rewards once you beat them, so like a virtual virginity, you can never have the same awe and wonder as the first time. All that aside if you’re okay with rising up a scoreboard you’ll find plenty of replayability. The game grades you based on time, score, currency earned, and even style. Otherwise you may want to gloss over this one til the all powerful price drop.

 [+Plenty of Unlockables][*No Multiplayer][-Short Main Story][-No Incentive to Beat Bosses Again]

Strange games are always worth a try in my book. Lollipop Chainsaw pleasantly surprised me with its witty writing and tight gameplay. I’ll happily look over the lack of multiplayer for that. It’s been a long time since I could sit down with a game and not get spammed by my friends to go online with them. Sometimes you just want to sit down and save the world. In that regard, Lollipop Chainsaw satisfied in a big way and more.

[+Tight Controls][+Flexible Difficulty][+Lots of Checkpoints][+Well-Written Dialogue][+Diverse Soundtrack][+Varied Locations][+Memorable Boss Fights][+Plenty of Unlockables][*Long Levels][*Large Repertoire of Moves to Remember][*"Lollipop" by The Chordettes Will Get Stuck in Your Head][Makes Full Use of M rating][-No Visual Cue for Checkpoints][-Terrible Lock-On Camera][-Short Main Story][-No Incentive to Beat Bosses Again]

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