Video game review: Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii)

It is agreed upon by many RPG enthusiasts, that the original "Tales of Symphonia" is the greatest game ever made. Few who have ever played it have left it off of their top ten lists. Not receiving the same fanfare as the likes of Final Fantasy, Tales of Symphonia wears the title of, "Cult Classic." In the face of that accolade, "Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World" was released for the Nintendo Wii, and few have even heard of it. Even the clerk at the store had to look it up when I tried to pre-order the game. The few of us who did hear, couldn't wait to get our hands on it.

It takes at least thirty minutes on any game before you can make a solid first impression. I was an hour into this game when the word, "disappointment" came to mind. The "hero" is a whiny, wimpy, unenjoyable character. The fighting seems slow and unintuitive. The cut-scenes have awkward pauses built in. The story is bland, contrived, and oh soclich. A disappointment nevertheless, but when compared to the great characters, cut-scenes, fighting, and story of the original, this is an epic let-down.

Thankfully, first impressions are not the be-all end-all for video-games. Every piece of the game gets gradually better. Theunlikablemain character gets very cool in spurts, and eventually evens out to someone you can accept. (For those who have played the first, he's still only about one tenth as awesome as Lloyd.) The fighting improves as characters advance. The story gets moderately interesting. Interestingly enough, the awkward pauses in cut-scenes get better. There are still many flaws, but compared to the game's beginning, this is a massive improvement.

As a stand alone game, RPG fans would likely see "Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World" as a half-way decent buy. It's got enjoyable customization aspects for characters. Even better customization aspects for the party, as players can enlist dozens of different monsters to fight for them. These monsters can be customized to some degree through standard leveling-up, feeding them, equipping them, and evolving them.

More likely, those who play this game will be those who played the original. These players will enjoy many of the elements listed above. They will also enjoy seeing some familiar places, and many familiar faces. However, they will also realize that the game has an unfinished feel to it.

"Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World" could have been an amazing game. Instead, it is simply a pretty good game. For that I am both grateful and, well, disappointed. With any luck, in a couple of years, I will be reviewing the third installment of this story, and giving it nothing but praises.

Online video game reviews: Band of Bugs

Band of Bugs Game Review

The game play is straight-forward and easy to get into. The tutorial at the beginning is an excellent hands-on introduction to the game goals and mechanics. The text instructions can be wordy and somewhat confusing, but they can easily be skipped by pressing enter. There is also one step in the tutorial that is confusing without knowing how to change the camera angle, which is not introduced until later.

The graphics are 3D with excellent detail. The ability to rotate the camera exists along with a zoom in and out capability. However, even with these two features; parts of the game space get blocked by the landscape and figuring out how to manipulate the camera to best show where to move a character is a learning experience. In addition, the status of the bug gets in the way at times when attempting to determine a next move. The health of the bug is not obvious in the status image and may take a couple of glances to figure out what each bar represents. Finally, the video clips for reoccurring events such as a dying bug or different spells did become slow and monotonous after awhile.

The sound is unique with the bugs talking in their own language. It is creative and fun in the beginning, but slowly gets annoying the longer the game is played. The music itself is distracting at times, but in general, is upbeat and entertaining.

The game is creative with amusing characters and landscapes. The level editor is also a bonus feature with plenty of variety to build your own world. It is reminiscent of SimCity's landscape editor, but with more detailed elements.

The bug facts displayed during loading are innovative, however; there is not enough time to completely read them. Many aspects of the game are similar to other games such as using different strategies in balancing players with different abilities (Final Fantasy for instance), using bugs as the characters (Bug's Life the game), and taking turns during battles (Heroes of Might and Magic).

I will not purchase the game because of the slower pace, however; I can see a younger audience enjoying this game immensely. I rank it 3 out of 5.

What type of Video games are most popular?

aisha h asked:


Alright, I'm in a video game graphics designing coarse and we have to find out what games will sell best for our final project. I don't know what types of games are the most popular though. I know the Final Fantasy RPG's are one of the most popular, but also there are people out there who like puzzle games and stuff. How would I be able to make a popular game?

Best Prices On Mario Brothers