Title: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness

Platform: Nintendo DS

Developer: Chunsoft

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: N/A

Genre: Dungeon RPG

This game marks the second time developers Chunsoft and publisher Nintendo have paired up together to make a game. With that said, I kinda hoped for a better outcome being that they have worked side by side before. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work in their favor at all. If you played Red Rescue Team & Blue Rescue Team a few  years back, then you probably remember some of the flaws and issues the game had. And…even if you didn’t play it or don’t remember the problems you will be given another chance to experience them in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness. Why did these issues carry over to the newest installment of the series? I have no idea! To summarize it shortly, the game is very slow feeling and definitely lacks in the challenging department. They really fell short on what could have been a truly awesome Pokemon adventure for fans to enjoy. We all know Pokémon has always been about collecting obsessively to progress yourself, and that the game is a long-term commitment. You can’t just play every now & then and expect to be at the end of the game any time soon. The progression in past games has always been fairly slow, but it was at least steady. The problem I have with the Mystery Dungeon games is that they abandon all of the good qualities of other Pokemon games. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness focuses more on achievements more than anything else. That doesn’t sound so bad eh? Not really, but the fact that you have to be prepared to get sent to the beginning of the game and start over with nothing except for whatever happens to be in storage…sucks. It’s basically like playing an RPG game with no save points. You either make it all the way or start over, and that becomes very very frustrating. To mix the two downfalls together…one of the achievements is to survive two hours without being sent back to the start. Yeah, that sounds like an accomplish that will be fun to achieve…

The game is constantly testing you. Every time you enter a dungeon the whole goal is to see how far you can get without meeting your fate. With that said, this game will only appeal to those of you who are fans of this style of gameplay. If you enjoy trying over and over, and perfecting your gameplay to see how far you can actually get then this game should be quite a treat for you. However, if you are not a fan of this you will be in for hours and hours of boredom, frustration, and nearly break your DS when you lose for the 40th time.

Not all is lost with this game though. The plot is actually pretty good. It manages to grab you and push you to progress further and further. So if you decide to give this game a chance you can look forward to that. The story can help counter the frustration a bit, and the Mystery Dungeon series can become strangely addictive. If you really want a dungeon crawler style game I would rather play Shiren the Wanderer anyday, but if you just can’t pass up Pokemon games, feel like collecting 100’s of cute lil’ characters and power-level them like no other…then you can’t lose with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness. My advice? Rent it before you buy it! You never know how you will feel about this one. It really depends on the individual gamer to make that decision.

DeVOTeD 2 GaminG Review:

Do you remember the Killer Instinct series? You may or may not because the last one that was released for Killer Instinct Gold for Nintendo 64 waaaaaaaaaaay back in 1996! Regardless of whether you were gaming over 10 years ago…or if you even played this series we do have something to look forward too. The great thing Killer Instinct has always been the extremely over the top combos that set it apart from any other fighting game. I’m not talking just a 6 hit combo here either. It’s more of a brutal 20 to 30 hit combo that is really fun to pull off and watch. Well it seems that Rare will be bringing the series back to life on the Xbox 360! They are supposedly in the works of making Killer Instinct 3D: Death, Destruction, and Doom as you are reading this. This will be the first time the game has abandoned its 2D roots so it should make for a pretty cool update. The new killer instinct is still in the early stages of development, but you can expect a very familiar cast of characters making it into the game. To me that is awesome news because they have always had some really cool characters to choose from. Riptor anyone? Maybe TJ Combo? However, I am hoping to see the character selections increase drastically and add some new ones to choose from. I love retro roots in games, but I don’t mind seeing new additions either. I guess time will tell with this new title. All I can say right now is I think this will be one hot game on the Xbox 360!

Well, we have seen a lot of comic book hit or miss moves and games in the past so what’s the verdict on Hellboy: The Science of Evil? Not very good actually based on what I have heard and read. First of all, the game is incredibly easy no matter what system you play it on. In case you don’t know…the game is for PS3, Xbox 360, and PSP. I’m not opposed to playing an easy game…sometimes it doesn’t matter because they are a lot of fun. This is not really the case with Hellboy: The Science of Evil. The game really feels empty due to lacking environments. It appears to be more of a hollow shell than anything else, and that is not going to cut it for a game nowadays. The game will be released on 06/24/2008 so if you are a Hellboy fan you can hope I am completely wrong and give it a chance. But, after watching videos, reading about it, and looking at the screenshots…it just doesn’t look like it has that much to offer. From what I gathered…the combat system is just as bad as the environment design too, which is digging the hole for this game even further into the ground. This all appears to be another licensed game going down the drain. I forgot to mention the fairly crappy voice talent that they hired too didn’t I? Geez this isn’t looking good at all! Let’s review here for a second. Hellboy: The Science of Evil comes out June 24th, 2008, the environment feels unfinished and empty, the combat mechanics are clunky, and the voice talent is less than average. Yep, this is definitely a bargain bin game waiting to happen. I give it 2 out of 5 stars….and the only reason it didn’t get a one is because it is not COMPLETELY broken. Just close.

DeVOTeD 2 GaminG Rating

It looks like Dragon Ball Z is back for some more action in the gaming world! This time the series is making its debut on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with the newest installment Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, which was released today (June 10th, 2008) in the United States. If you are a fan of the Dragon Ball Z series or if you just enjoy the somewhat over the top fighting styles then you won’t be disappointed. The gameplay mechanics are better than any other previous game in my opinion. The mechanics behind the gameplay go pretty deep, and that is what I like to see in any good fighting game. I would have liked to see more variety in the characters and fighting stages, but it’s still a pretty fun game. The playable characters are Goku, Kid Gohan, Teen Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Trunks, Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, Saibamen, Frieza, Captain Ginyu, Recoome, Cell, Android #16, Android #17, Android #18, Bardock, and Brolya. One of the features that always makes me happy with a game is that Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit will also feature online multiplayer action!

However, this game is not completely flawless. If you aren’t a real big fan of the actual series then you may be a bit disappointed in the story. Why?…well because they don’t really do any building up of the events that are going on and what is happening. So without the knowledge of the story lines from the sagas you are basically just…fighting. This is really the only downfall to this game because it really limits its appeal to only those who are already fans. Without the opportunity to get to know the characters you simply won’t get attached to them. The game itself is made very well so it could have launched the fanbase to new heights, but instead it is only going to benefit the current fanbase only. I’m not saying that non-DBZ fans will not enjoy the game…because the mechanics behind the game are all there. I’m just saying that after you play this game you won’t find yourself wanting to watch DBZ or really care anything about the series itself. I guess this is a game though…so we should only concentrate on the game!

The moves are easy to pull off and start out with basic ones, and then move on to more advanced moves for better combo’s & tactics. Moving on to the advanced mechanics is where you will master the game and dominate your friends or random people online in combat. Strategy plays a pretty large part in Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit as with any fighting game nowadays. Speaking of strategy…you will want to use your Ki Gauge very wisely in this game. Not only can you use it for blasting out special attacks that not only look cool…they hurt like hell, but you can also use it to unleash special blocks that will counter the other players special attack. The benefit of blocking a special attack should be obvious! However, if you save up and let your Ki Gauge become completely full you have another decision on your hands. You can either transform into another form such as Super Saiyan or you can enter Aura Spark mode. Transforming can be fun, but if you go into Aura Spark mode you get increased attacks for a short duration along with ending by teleporting and using a “Blow-Away” attack that does a significant amount of damage.

Back to fighting mechanics now. The game has a pretty cool counter-attack system that relies heavily on precise timing which can give a pro player a great advantage in battle. If you jump in with a veteran gamer and start smashing every button you can…you are very likely to get your butt handed to you very quickly. Also, for those who love to hold the block button down throughout the whole battle will get acquainted with the fatigue system the hard way. Every time you block you add a bit of fatigue to the gauge. When the gauge fills completely up you will be stunned and won’t be able to move at all for a short while…but long enough for someone to tear into you for blocking all their other blows. The fatigue system isn’t as tight as I would like it to be, but it’s a great start so I hope to see it again in future DBZ fighting games as well as fighting games in general.

My final thoughts on Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit? Well…it’s a great fighting game with solid mechanics to back it up. It’s easy to pull off awesome moves, counter-attacks, transformations, and combos. And if you master the game you will be having tons of fun in the online multiplayer modes as long as both players have a good connection. If you or the person you are playing against has a crappy internet connection your gaming experience will suffer a considerable amount. The lack of variety in both characters and stages was fairly disappointing as well, and as stated earlier the missing storyline is a bit of a downer as well. This game will be completely awesome to those who are DBZ fans, and will likely appease those who aren’t for a little bit at least. I just hope the next Dragon Ball Z game keeps the mechanics of this game, and improves on the few downfalls. It gets a 4 out of 5 from me.

DeVOTeD 2 GaminG Rating

So, I got my Sony PSP God of War bundle the day it came out, and as you can see in the picture…it’s pretty badass. Not only does the PSP look awesome in the smooth bloody red color with Kratos lurking on the back, but it also came with the much anticipated God of War: Chain of Olympus UMD as well as Superbad the movie. Needless to say I have yet to watch Superbad, but I have been playing God of War like no other. I have already beat the game once so now I am going through it on the hardest difficulty. The game is AWESOME. Seriously. Whether or not you are a God of War series’ fan you will enjoy this game. The graphics are great considering the PSP is supposed to be nothing more than a portable Playstation 2. With that said, this game really pushes the PSP to its limits. The load times were surprising fast too! I expected to see the loading screen a LOT because before this I had never owned/played the PSP, but the load times were great and I was never waiting too long to get right back into action. The gameplay of God of War: Chains of Olympus is completely flawless. The mechanics used in battle flow like a river with how smooth they are. You can easily beat the crap out of 10 enemies on screen, toss one in the air, beat the crap out of him until he is half dead, then before he hits the ground snag him with your weapon and sling him around to his death. Then of course upon landing you proceed to kill the rest of them like nothing happened. It is truly one of the best games I have played in a long time. Normally, if a game doesn’t offer multiplayer modes I don’t even bother renting it…let alone buy it. So that should say quite a bit for this game. Not only did I want to give this game a try, but it was the game that made me buy the PSP in the first place. I am very happy I did! I recommend this game to any gamer out there who likes action/adventure style video games. God of War: Chains of Olympus is the total package. Great graphics, gameplay, badass mythology storyline, re-playable, and if you don’t already have a PSP you can buy it all in one nice little package. I give it 5 out of 5 stars!