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Ben’s Week In Review: December 29

I hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday. 2014 is coming…what are you most excited about?

Final Fantasy X-3? Sure, so long as Square Enix gives it up

When I saw that one of the writers for FFX and FFX-2 liked the idea of another sequel , I was instantly stoked. Chalk it up to the old, deeply entrenched love of this franchise, which sometimes forgets that Final Fantasy is just a shadow of its former self. That love also forgets that Square Enix is no Squaresoft. Therefore, I had to think twice before I started jumping around the room with glee; when I ruminated for a bit, I realized that if there was to be a Final Fantasy X-3 , there's no way I'd want Square Enix to do it. They'd do what they did with the FFXIII trilogy; they'd take advantage of Yuna's guns and make an action game like Devil May Cry .

So, then I started wondering: "Who would be a good fit?" Maybe Level-5 should take it. They could maintain the franchise's former core, style and atmosphere while still delivering a beautiful, widely appealing title. Gust might be able to do it; they've created some great Atelier games, and they'd know how to handle the content in FFX-3. It might be a little too big-budget for them, though… Any other ideas?

Devil's Third is the ultimate wild card

I've always liked Tomonobu Itagaki. He's a perfect example of the kind of guy I'd probably hate in person, but as an important, charismatic personality for the gaming industry, I'm all for him. When I heard about his new studio, Valhalla Games, and the new project, Devil's Third , I was definitely intrigued. I expected an over-the-top, high-octane, adrenaline-filled action game with a singular style. The problem is that all we've seen in three years is a brief debut teaser, and I have difficulty envisioning the final product. Itagaki says the game is 80% complete and it'll launch in 2014 , but why I should be all amped up? I don't know anything about it.

Think about it: This game is supposedly 80% complete and yet, we've seen and heard next to nothing . How is that even possible? Why bother to keep it on the down low? This is a new IP; it has to be promoted as heavily as possible, especially if it's coming from Itagaki and Co. The other issue is that because the game isn't coming to the next-gen consoles (as far as we know), it needs to be all the more impressive. Remember, gamers will be comparing whatever footage we get to PS4/Xbox One games, as unfair as that sounds. It's reality. So, let us see this thing ASAP!

Personal gaming update

My girlfriend and I beat Knack , which remains a very disappointing game on a number of levels, but at least it was fun with another person. We just put it on Easy and breezed through it, and it was plenty entertaining for us. I also continue to plug away at Gran Turismo 6 but it annoys me a little that we can't have as much fun as before. The Performance Point (PP) ratings make the game much more realistic, but it also means that the highest rated cars are borderline useless. You can't use those crazy Red Bull cars unless you're racing basically the same cars; the PP ratings are so high, you really can't enter those cars in most events. Also, most events are shaping up the same way: Start last (or next-to-last) and play catch-up.

That gets a little repetitive after a while. But anyway, I will try to get back to the other games I've abandoned since GT6 came out. I may consider picking up the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition just because I loved the game and I always like to have the best versions of my favorite titles. Oh, and don't forget that inFamous: Second Son isn't that far off now!

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Temjin001
Temjin001
10 years ago

Can't say I'd be excited for a FFX-3
I have no idea what to think of Devil's Third either. It seems it's some sort of third person multiplayer game. Not sure how appealing that is to me.
I'd really love for Itagaki to be back with Team Ninja.

PGU: so I got a lot of games during Christmas. My father in law out of nowhere wanted a PS3 to do Rocksmith. He got the TLoU and Batman Origins bundle for $200 on sale somewhere. I was the happy and most gracious recipient of them two games =)
TLoU seems really great but my play time has been real limited. It's just too graphic and violent for me to play during the day around my family.
Other than that I've been doing Xenogears. I'm doing Babel Tower stuff. The story has been strong.
I've also been doing AC3 stuff. Liberating Forts. It's fun. But the whole game does feel cobbled together in an always disjointed sort of way. I like it overall of course, but I feel most of the complaints against AC3 were valid. But it's great to know AC4 restores the series to greatness.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/28/2013 11:36:17 PM

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
10 years ago

AC4 is the best one by far. It takes a different direction (sort of) but it's gameplay and amount of things to do… Epic! There is a ton to do and a ton of ways to do it. Highly entertaining.

I hope you find time to play TLoU. It's definitely a game, because of its strong story elements, is better played when you can play for longer times to see things develop.


Last edited by bigrailer19 on 12/28/2013 11:38:59 PM

Temjin001
Temjin001
10 years ago

thanks Bigrailer.
Does the game economy work well in AC4?
In AC3 I'm trying to figure out what to do with all of my money. I've liberated every location, thus having every recruit. I nearly have all of the forts captured. Now I'm about to start Mission 9 or 10 of the main story. I've purchased all the things I could hope to already, like weapons, guns and stuff. What's the point of doing all the trading when money isn't hard to come by now?

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
10 years ago

AC3 wasn't very good in that aspect lol. I literally made it through the whole game while spending next to nothing. AC4 is a lot better as upgrading your ship, your hideout, outfits, and other necessities is a priority to complete missions whether side or part of the main memory. There's also clever ways to make money, and although it seems easy to come by it still needs to be spent wisely especially in regards to your ship. It's better implemented to say the least. Spending money vs making money is well balanced.

Lord carlos
Lord carlos
10 years ago

Play TLOU on your own in the dark with surround sound (headphones if ya got em) up high.

Jawknee
Jawknee
10 years ago

Maybe it will help if you turn the blood off in the Last of Us. I haven't tried it myself so I can't say how much of an effect it will have on how graphic the violence is.

Temjin001
Temjin001
10 years ago

thanks guys.
i bet all the money in AC3 is also used for buying ship upgrades. i'll check the next time i'm on. if this is the case, i wish the game would just tell you, hey money in this game is basically there only to serve the completely secondary naval aspect of our game.
oh well, i play to enjoy playing so i suppose it isn't a big deal. it just seems like weak design composition.

i just want to buy armor upgrades and stuff like the old games…

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
10 years ago

PGU: Haven't started Knack yet probably will during the next slow down. But I've seen a lot of it being played and it looks as you say "entertaining" and that will be good enough for me. Although I wish I would have used my free game on something else but it was a game I wouldn't have bought otherwise so…

I can't put down AC4, it's so good. I've never considered an AC title to be among my favorite,not by any close margin. However AC4 is at least in my top 15 haha. Without putting a number on it, it's just fun. They finally created a game that I think most people envisioned when the first was announced. I'm only 50% through the game too, that's what really amazes me. Because I've been playing the crap out of it.

I also still play BF4, which the campaign is surprisingly entertaining after the horrible BF3 campaign. I also still play KZ and I'm picking up Need for Speed tonight. So I've got plenty to keep me entertained for quite awhile considering.

Temjin001
Temjin001
10 years ago

do recruited assassin's level up where the experience points get divided by the number of guys assigned to the mission? or does it do it the lame way like AC3 where it doesn't matter if it's 1, 2, or 3 guys on a mission it's the same amount of experience doled out everytime?


Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/29/2013 12:51:41 AM

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
10 years ago

So in AC4 you send out ships or convoys rather than assasins. You trade goods and gain money by doing so. The really cool thing about this is one there is a mini game where you have to do ship battles to make a route safe for the ship you are sending out. It's turn based in a sense where a ships speeds, power and armor play a big part and essentially you can battle up to 3 ships against 3 or fewer you choose. Second once you send a ship on a route if your friends have the game they can assist your ship by either decreasing it's time it will take to return, or repairing your ship and likewise you can do the same and in return gain items.

The recruiting of crew members only benefits your ship in battle during travels on the main map as the more you have the better things play out like firing more cannons.

You add ships to your convoy by destroying then boarding them as you travel and come across them. This is where upgrading your ship comes into play as there are some powerful ships that are excellent when added to your convoy but take a lot of work to takedown, but can dismantle you in a matter of seconds.

Temjin001
Temjin001
10 years ago

thanks man

___________
___________
10 years ago

how can a game be promoted when it does not have a publisher?
thats why devils third still has not been shown, ever since THQ bit the dust they have been looking for a new band.
cant wait to see what its like though its been FAR too long since we had our last sword & gun game.
use to flood the market but theve disappeared for some reason.
really wish A2M would do a WET sequel, that was the only new gun/sword game released last gen and it actually was not half bad.
id be nice to see a sequel building on the foundations WET laid, and maybe with a higher tier publisher to push them that bit further.

really hate this time of year, finished everything thats out.
hate it how publishers do that, we have a mad rush through oct nov, than dec, jan, and feb are totally deserted, than march back to the rat race.
why cant we evenly distribute games properly that way were not sitting bored stiff for 3 months, than running like headless chooks the next?
next gen systems really needed to launch with something infinitely replayable, which is why they desperately need a RPG.
one thing i hope next gen games start to change, side missions.
almost every game these days has so much content figuratively, but realisticly, 99% of it is boring crap!
ACIV perfect example the main missions are so much fun, but the rest, especially the collectables are just so boring and infuriating to find.
for instance the mayan statues, you go into the main menu and it lists all the areas there hidden, but the location name in the list does not show on the map, for some reason the names on the maps are different, so you basically have to go to each and every bloody point till you eventually stumble onto the right spot.
running around in circles like a headless chook, yea thats totally FUN!
dead rising 3s no better, the side missions are basically fetch quests, go get me x of this and x of that.
really hope we start to see side quests evolve into much more than just boring old fetch quests!

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
10 years ago

Devil's Third seems like it could be a really cool idea, but the fact that it's inspired almost complete radio silence is a mite disturbing. I'd imagine it has something to do with it not having a publisher (at last check), which doesn't bode well for the game but we'll see soon enough, I'm sure.

Personal Update.
Been playing GTAV over the Christmas break… It is phenomenal how vast it is, while everything is utterly crammed with detail and the gameplay is polished to a level that puts GTA IV to shame. BUT the story isn't clicking for me. I get it, I like the characters well enough but it just feels as though it should be more than just three guys "makin' paper". Sure, it does incorporate more than that, but I felt that the series rightly did away with having that as the main narrative arc in IV, so it's a bit of a bummer to see it make a return here.
Other than that, still reading A Song of Ice and Fire. Up to A Storm of Swords and just past Joffrey's wedding. I love how it gets more complex the longer it goes on, though there are points where it feels as though Martin is overreaching his bounds in terms of the scope and scale of the saga.

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
10 years ago

I think SE is probably the only publisher capable of making a big-budget JRPG.
You can count the likes of NIS, Gust or Atlus out.
They're not big enough, which is sad though.
Back in the golden days of JRPG, it was pretty much Squaresoft/Square Enix all the time.
They had FF, Chrono Trigger, KH, Star Ocean, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Mana series, SaGa series etc.
I seriously can't think of any other developers who can pull it off.
But well, there is some hope in Level 5…..

As for Devil's Third, I'm not buying what Itagaki said, exactly 2 years ago he said he would show something cool at TGS 2011.
Guess what?
He and his team just silently sneaked by the show and went into hiding ever since, TILL NOW!
Now it's 80% done and not a single gameplay footage yet, HELL NOT EVEN A SCREENSHOT!


Last edited by Snaaaake on 12/29/2013 4:57:06 AM

Wrote
Wrote
10 years ago

I've never had so much stuff to play ever! Before Christmas I was about one or 2 sessions away from beating fc3, now I have a 3ds with Pokemon X and Fire Emblem: Awakening, which I'm trying to juggle both, to top it off I finally jumped into the PS+ pool and have been dabbling with the shorter arcade ones before I finally start the big ones like Ico and SotC, Xcom, and last cuz it'll take forever Borderlands 2.. Yeah and then BioShock Infinite and DmC next month, and I plan to play TLoU again.

How do you guys deal with too many games? I've usually only ever had one or 2 games to play. PS+ just makes getting to new releases hard, luckily idc about anything until South Park in March.

JackC8
JackC8
10 years ago

I'm still playing GT6. I think I have to drive 3,000 more miles and I get the plat. It's getting kind of boring at this point, I can either drive cars that are 100 PP (or more) slower than the AI, which makes it kind of competitive, but I've got all these great cars that would be a lot more fun to drive (and I've paid all kinds of money for them so I'd kind of like to use them) but they make an absolute mockery of the AI and then I'm just spending the last two-thirds of the race driving around by myself.

Also started yet another playthrough of Skyrim on PC. Using the HD 2K texture mod this time, which I guess has 4 times the texture detail of Bethesda's HD texture pack. Happy to find out it runs perfectly on my PC, at a solid 60 fps. Looks absolutely outstanding 🙂 I've got about 40-50 other mod's running too. It's very nice the way you can use mod's to customize the game to your own personal tastes and fix things that really didn't work right in the vanilla game.

Ordered another batch of games too: the Jak and Daxter Collection, Sly Cooper Collection, and Sly Cooper Thieves in Time. And I've still got Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction that I barely started on. Totally stocked up for the long cold winter ahead lol. I've got Lightning Returns pre-ordered but I might just cancel it and wait to buy it until I've finished all this other stuff.

Vivi_Gamer
Vivi_Gamer
10 years ago

I do not want a Final Fantasy X-3 at all. X-2 was a real misstep, yes its nice its all in the new HD collection with the exclusive Japanese content, but the game was just bad. The story was just one huge diversion to reach to the happy ending which was not necessary. Final Fantasy X's ending was tragic, but that is what made it stand out, its the Final Fantasy that did have a tragic ending to my knowledge.

What could the achieve with a Final Fantasy X-3, I haven't listened to the audiostory with the HD Collection yet, but I just cannot see where they would go with it. Spira is at peace and Tidus & Yuna have got their happy ending – Even if it does seem forced… The last thing I want is tale about the kids… crossing generations is never a good sign for any series… Or a Death Star 2 Idea in bringing back Sin – Just no… X is done, lets leave it at that.

If they must persist, I would want the continuation of the story in a film like Advent Children. Final Fantasy X-3 being on the Playstation 4 just doesn't seem right… It's far too late for that.

If anything I want S-E to stop focusing on sequels and go back to what made the series so fresh. Producing a new numeral with each game which offers a new world to explore, characters to follow and maintain the FF trademarks. Ever since S-E has been giving their titles sequels they've really began to get worse, all the sequels have offered is baggage, just look at how convoluted XIII-2 and now with Lightning Returns as this Time god… It just seems all so silly. I really hope Final Fantasy XV-2 doesnt arise and that we get a Final Fantasy XVI by 2017 and get a real sense if S-E can recover this series.

Underdog15
Underdog15
10 years ago

I really think you give x-2 a lot of undeserved flack. It isn't as great as X is overall, but it did a lot of things extremely well.

It scored well, too.


Last edited by Underdog15 on 12/29/2013 9:35:50 AM

CrusaderForever
CrusaderForever
10 years ago

I have heard great things about FFX but mixed for FFX2. So not sure what or which game they would emulate. My guess is that FFXIII3 is going to be an epic fail in sales. So I don't see them going that route.

PGU:
My son and I have been having a blast. We took down LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and got the Platinum! Our first PS4 Platinum. We also loved and finished Knack. We started our 2nd play through. We finished and were really impressed with Skylanders Swap Force. Best of the series. Finally we are almost done with Super Mario 3D World. Truly a great Mario game and the cat suit FTW! For me it's all about AC4 and it's easily my GOTY!! Also playing Terraria on the Vita love it. I also have my eye on Ys Memories Celceta as everything about it looks stellar! Happy New Year everyone!!

Jawknee
Jawknee
10 years ago

I love the music in Mario 3D World. Such a great game. Probably one of the very best couch co op games in the last 10 years.

CrusaderForever
CrusaderForever
10 years ago

Yes the music is great as well as the production values. Looking forward to Zelda U!

xenris
xenris
10 years ago

I liked FFX but didn't care for the sequel that much tbh, I don't think X-3 would be something spectacular especially with the terrible state square enix is in.

I think Itagaki wants no hype for devils third. A lot of time hype can destroy games even if they are quite good the hype can lead to disappointment. However a great game will usually do well even if they have hype, but I have seen a lot of good games get ignored or scored low because of hype. Maybe thats why he hasn't shown anything? Or maybe he is lying.

PGU:

I got Knack for Christmas and put it in hard mode and I have been enjoying it quite a bit so far. I wish they had have gone the extra mile and made the game more diverse with more challenging platforming elements but still in hard mode you die in about one or two hits.

There are actually some arena fights that took me a while to beat and gave me a slight Dark Souls feeling.

I think that this is how the game is meant to be played to be honest, in hard mode everything makes more sense.

The story has been pretty interesting so far although the voice acting is a little off.

I also really like the graphics style, reminds me of Ape escape.

Overall I would give it a 7 out of 10, its a decent platformer, and quite challenging when played on hard mode.

I think the low reviews come from people playing it in even normal mode. You can just mash one button without any thought.

Hard mode really changes things it makes the fights more exciting and the enemy behaviour makes more sense.

My other gaming update is I got a bunch of games on Steam because of the christmas sale and don't know how I will play them all >.<

Jawknee
Jawknee
10 years ago

X-2 did have a great battle system but ultimately the game felt very unnecessary and it sits on the shelf next to FF13. The two FF games I never finished. So quite honestly, I couldn't care less about a third entry. I'd much rather they sell the entire name to Level 5 and make an all new game.

PGU: I started a new game in the Last of Us. Also been playing The Wonderful 101 as well as the very awesome Zelda A Link Between Worlds. Such a great game and I always love getting a new Zelda game around Christmas time.


Last edited by Jawknee on 12/29/2013 11:45:17 AM

PlatformGamerNZ
PlatformGamerNZ
10 years ago

i'm sorry to disappoint u all but i really liked and enjoyed knack but i did just get my vita so i'm fully into that atm i'll go bk to knack and killzone and bf4 later when i have time in a few weeks time.

happy gaming =)

CrusaderForever
CrusaderForever
10 years ago

It's ok I loved it as well and hope there is a sequel.

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
10 years ago

Don't be sorry most people enjoyed it except for the reviewers.

xenris
xenris
10 years ago

I have been really liking it too. It has a certain charm that games seem to be lacking these days.

I played it in hard mode and it was actually quite difficult at times. I would imagine someone who wasn't a Dark Souls player like myself having quite the challenge with it.

All that being said, I wish it was more open, and had more environmental puzzles, and things to do other than fighting. There is a bit of platforming but its very basic and was never challenging for me.

I hope there is a sequel and it builds upon this game because I am really enjoying this one.

Jawknee
Jawknee
10 years ago

A friend of mine who is usually super picky just messages me to say he loves it too. Odd, reviewers seem out of touch these days.

VampDeLeon
VampDeLeon
10 years ago

FFX-3: Tidus Returns.. so long as they go with that happy ending of X-2.

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