In short

Final fantasy XIII-2 offers a few new tricks that the developer incorporated into the gameplay to keep the battles flowing. While the new additions are certainly not ground-breaking or extensive, these additions were a welcomed edition to the trademark turn-based fighting system. The series is known for the ‘fantasy’ storylines, and XIII-2 delivers beautifully here. The game is typical to its origin – quirky, elaborate, dramatic and the dialogue doesn’t always make perfect ‘Western’ sense – and I absolutely love it.

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Distributor: Megarom Interactive
For fans of: Final Fantasy series, turn-based J-RPG’s
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Also available on: Playstation 3
If we had to give it a numerical score: 9.0 out of 10

Overview

Since the series is largely about driving the rich, fantasy storyline, I will not spoil it for you by giving you every last detail. There are loads of surprises for the series’ followers, and newcomers can catch up on the story by reading up and extensive tutorials (all available in the menus).

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a direct sequel to FFXIII and while Lightning is a big part of the story, her younger sister Serah takes centre stage. New characters will be met and old characters are again welcomed back. Final Fantasy’s most beloved creature –the Mog makes a return to the series by leading the way at times, or helping you find things and generally guiding you.  The Chocobo (Ostrich looking bird) returns to help you speed through areas without being attacked by foes.

Gameplay and Features

As briefly touched on – the series is renowned for its turn-based battle system, something fans of the series have always loved. It’s not about button mashing, more about strategically defending and attacking in turn. You will take hits and so you will need to work out your defence, and then you attack in turn, with an abundance of options to evolve on to suit the various enemies. The Japanese game style of RPG is very distinct so it came as a bit of a surprise to see elements typical of a Western game incorporated in the battle system for XIII-2. Cinematic Action attacks have been included, so during the battle you will need to sequentially hit different buttons to engage the action which normally deal more damage than your average attack. The rest is as it was but with tweaks here and there, making the battle-system one my favourite in the series.

You have ‘Paradigm Shifts’ which can be customised as usual to suit your attacking and defending. These shifts are either focused attacks or defences and can be generated automatically or you can customise them yourself. Another new addition to the battle-system is the ability to add monsters as allies to your team, and incorporate them into you Paradigm Shift. Once you capture the monster at a certain level of the game, the monster joins your ranks by being chosen. I personally did not think much of this, as outside the battle, the monsters are not pro-active and pretty much useless. That said, these monsters do come in handy in the bigger battles, particularly in defensive paradigm shifts. You could set your normal character and ally to defend and some monsters can be set to attack while you are defending. Unfortunately they will also need healing and a ‘Phoenix Down’ to revive them, so they do take up precious reserves.

As is common with RPG’s, you will need level up your character in an enormous amount of departments, customising the character to lean towards brut, ravager, magic, or a combination. The RPG element will please the most ardent of RPG fans, and thankfully newcomers can learn the ropes with extensive tutorials.

One of the major improvements over the predecessor was the dropping of the fairly tedious linear missions. Final Fantasy XIII-2 will certainly please long-time followers, as while there is still a path to follow in order to drive the main story; the world is again an open one that rewards those who explore as there are countless fragments scattered around the worlds which open up time-gates for you to travel through. There are platforming bits as well as some puzzle solving making this the most diverse Final Fantasy yet. You need to travel across time through the ‘Historia Crux’, visiting areas hundreds of years apart, either solving side quests or driving the main storyline. Once unlocked, it is possible to jump back and forth in time or areas.  The story is beautifully fleshed out across time, wonderfully tangled with Paradox’s which must be overcome to drive the main story.

Sound and Graphics

In the sound and graphics department is where the Japanese-style games are most distinct, and the Final Fantasy series never falters. The series’ design is true to the ‘fantasy’ genre the title suggests. The scoring, the sound and visual effects are well-suited to the game’s world and epic, ‘fantasy’ stories.

The scoring and sound effects are like something straight out of an arcade of old and that’s because the arcades of old were filled with Japanese games. The sound effects are quirky, somewhat humorous, they are distinct and a far cry from the realistic flavour found in typical Western titles. In my opinion this is part of the charm, you will never forget that this is in fact… a game.

The design of the sound of Final Fantasy XIII-2 was excellently put together, a continuous flow of digital sounds and melodramatic sounds effects. The dialogue, again typically Japanese, is like something straight out of a good anime film, again true to the ‘fantasy’ genre and again, melodramatic.

The presentation is typical to the series, and while it works a dream, it has never been to my liking – I find Japanese games in general to have an old-school sort of looking presentation. That said the menus are a breeze to work through as are the deep in-game menus.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is made up of bright, vivid colours filled with flashes of visual effects. The visuals, like most of the design, are rich and vibrant, heavily detailed which makes for an absolute treat in this department. The game’s world is well detailed, despite consisting of various eras and across fairly large areas.

The characters look like typical anime characters, perfect and somewhat outrageous looking. The dress decor is like nothing you would see in a Western counter-part, again perfectly suited to the genre and wonderfully memorable.

Overall the sound and graphics design and quality is of the highest calibre. There absolutely no visual flaws thanks to the highest standards in this department. Final Fantasy XIII-2 is splendid feast to the senses, and so escapism at its very best.

Final thoughts

The latest games in the long-standing series might not evoke the interest it once did – some of the chapters in the series might even have lost their way. As far as Final Fantasy XIII-2 goes; it is one of my favourite in the series thanks to the incorporation of many of the aspects that charmed me to the series, as well as some nice new additions.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 corrects the issues most of us had with the previous title while sticking with the elements that make up a great Final Fantasy game. In true Japanese game-crafting style, Final Fantasy XIII-2 delivers a near faultless and rewarding RPG experience that should certainly make feel you that you got your money’s worth.

Zombiegamer rating:

Read about our ratings here.

Here’s some awards with a bit of a different style- and so we decided to share the 1st Annual New York Videogame Critics Circle Awards, which was recently distributed at New York’s Cantor Film Center.

The Critics Circle presented 11 Awards for the best games of the year:
Manhattan Award for Most NY Centric Game
Crysis 2

Battery Park Award for Best Handheld Game
Super Mario Land 3D

Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game
Bastion

A Train Award for Best Mobile Game
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP

Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game
Portal 2

Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game
Bastion

Statue of Liberty Award for Best Open World Game
Saints Row: The Third

Great White Way Award for Best Overall Acting in a Game
Portal 2

Algonquin Roundtable Award for Best Book
All Your Base Are Belong to Us, How 50 Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture by Harold Goldberg

Mad Men Award for Best Videogame Commercial
Long Live Play – Michael

Big Apple Award for Best Game
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Here’s the US Open trailer for Grand Slam Tennis 2 from EA Sports. EA Sports are previewing their authentic licenses for the ‘grand slam’ tournaments in the series of trailers released thus far…

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on the PlayStation Vita ships with all modes from the console version plus new features designed specifically for the PlayStation Vita.

Online matches will make use of the touch screen control, you will be able to share costumes with your friends using the PlayStation Vita NEAR feature and the Vita version will feature new iconic characters from the Marvel and Capcom universes. Eight new stages and new modes will also exclusively be available to the handheld version.

Playstation Vita Exclusive Features

• Includes the complete console experience plus more!
• Touch screen control mode – new control scheme based on the touch screen provides an easy and exciting experience for anyone to enjoy.
• NEAR costume sharing – features an exclusive
• Gold Herald color option for all characters which are obtained through trades with friends.
• Heroes & Heralds mode available at launch – this free update is a separate mode that adds new and customizable features to online and offline gameplay. Players choose between two factions –Heroes or Heralds – and utilize combat enhancing Ability cards in a series of battles to help save the world or take it over.
• Spectator Mode and Replay function – players can watch or share exciting matches over wi-fi.
• “Ultimate Controller” – gamers can use the PS Vita as a controller to play the PS3 version of the game through this exclusive configuration.
• Replay analyzer – download and analyze replay data, exclusively on the PlayStation Vita.
• 3G leaderboard access – for PlayStation Vita 3G owners, view the online leaderboards on-the-go.
• DLC sharing with PS3 – DLC purchased from the console version can be used on the PlayStation Vita version at no charge

The game releases next week – February 7 in the US and February 10 in Europe – so we thought we’d remind you what to expect by way of three gore-tastic executions trailers.

Why?  Because you never know if you will need it sometime in the future we assume.  Like maybe for Mass Effect 4.  Or just simply for some DLC.  Who knows?  BioWare’s Mike Gamble most likely, but all he’s saying is: “Obviously I can’t say anything, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea…”

He also went on to say that some people may not be overly happy with Shepard’s send-off:

“We want the outcomes to be satisfying to the player. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all going to be happy or positive, but they have to be satisfying. Players have to understand that the choices they’ve been making in this game and in previous have had an impact, and that they’re an architect in what happens.”

[Source]

March 9 we can see what it’s all about when the game released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Some fresh footage from the Autumn (Northern Hemisphere) expected shooter.

A developer diary showing how the game is being brought to the Xbox 360 with “absolutely no compromise”.

Since Dragon’s Dogma is a new IP which Capcom say will “redefine the action genre,” we thought it’s  best to publish the latest facsheet which reveals a bunch of interesting stuff you might not yet know.

Dragon’s Dogma is set in a huge open world which Capcom say will allow you to interact with. The developers describe the game’s world as a “rich, living and breathing” world.

It seems Capcom’s focus on developing Dragon’s Dogma as an interactive game, which is in fashion of late, they have introduced AI partners to assist you in the game known as Pawns.

Three AI Pawns will accompany you and fight independently. These Pawns develop traits which they learn over time from the player and their actions.

Then on Xbox LIVE and on the PlayStation Network, you will be able to journey to the Rift where you can reportedly share their own Pawns with friends and be rewarded with treasure, knowledge of the world and strategies for taking down enemies. You will also be able to borrow friends’ Pawns with the specific skills or experience required to tackle a particular quest. I

If you are not taking your game online, then you can choose from thousands of ready-made Pawns which ships with the game.

Here’s the Key Features

• Resident Evil 6 demo – Dragon’s Dogma will ship with a redeemable token allowing purchasers early access to the Resident Evil 6 demo.
• Highly Stylised Action Combat – The creators of this game were responsible for the action hits – Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry 4.
• Fight With Ability – The soul of combat comes down to how the game is played, where you strike the enemy, and how you react to their attacks.
• Pawn Them All – The pawn system offers flexible combat assistance with a main pawn companion that you can train throughout the game and two secondary pawns that can vary wildly to fit your combat style.
• Help Your Friends, Help Yourself: To enhance your battle experience, share your main pawn with friends and others via Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network. Your pawn’s experience as a member of someone else’s game will be passed on to you in loot, knowledge of the open world and strategies for taking down enemies. Or, you can choose one of the thousands of AI pawns included with the game.
• Accessible Depth – Bringing an unprecedented level of depth to the action genre, every decision has an effect on gameplay in an intuitive way that does not require micromanagement. The weight of your weapon, the material of your armor – even the length of your legs – plays a role in how you fight your battles, but does not interrupt the flow of the action.
• Epic Adventure – Dragon’s Dogma is built from the ground up as an action experience for consoles with a continuous, epic storyline that stands alone in style, scope and substance.
• Open World – Utilizing Capcom’s proprietary MT Framework engine and the groundbreaking graphical styles and lighting effects used in Resident Evil 5 and Lost Planet 2, Dragon’s Dogma expands the environment to create a vast, richly detailed world, ripe for exploration.
• Night and Day – The open world features a dynamic 24-hour day/night cycle that will offer different enemies and surprises depending on when you venture into the world.
• A Rich Population – In addition to interacting with hundreds of fully voiced NPCs, you’ll be able to fight a large variety of creatures, from goblins to griffins and dragons. Each enemy requires a different strategy and provides a unique experience.

Bethesda Softworks have penned a deal with Aspyr Media, Inc. to bring RAGE: Campaign Edition to Mac fans worldwide.

This new post-apocalyptic shooter is a brand new IP from id Software can now be digitally downloaded in English, French or German from Apple’s Mac App Store, Aspyr’s own digital store GameAgent.com, and through other supporting Mac digital retailers.

Zombiegamer reviewed the Xbox 360 version of RAGE and scored it at a decent 7.5/10. While it was not without its faults, we thought it made a good debut for the franchise and hope for more in the future.