DS Reviews
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Get the strategy guide, also available from Amazon.com
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Title:
Dragon
Quest V System: DS Genre: RPG/Traditional Synopsis What begins as an innocent voyage of a boy traveling alongside his father soon develops into an eye-opening adventure that transcends generations. You are a hero in the making, and you determine your own path, choose your own wife and befriend a wagonload of quirky monsters along the way. Game Details: A basic turn-based command type Recruit a unique cast of monsters to help you in your quest Choose between three heroines to become your wife Participate in several mini-games like Bruise the Ooze, T ‘n’ T, the Slurpodrome and the tombola, also collect and customize knick-knacks gathered during your journey Indulge in the colorful DRAGON QUEST world created by Yuji Horii, combined with the charming characters and monsters designs designed by “Dragon Ball” artist Akira Toriyama to create a truly unique visual experience Opening theme by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and a brand-new score performed by series composer Koichi Sugiyama RPGCraze Review: Talk about putting a new spin on an old classic. In the ages of old the Dragon Quest series (Dragon Warrior series in the US) was well known for its labor-intensive menu options; such as the “talk“ menu option enough said, and the story of a battle between good (the hero) versus evil (the demon king). Yet, throughout the many years of playing RPG‘s I have never known a purer RPG for console-based games to be in the truest sense of the word, an Role-Playing Game than the original Dragon Quest games. RPG‘s were naturally done with a group of players and an action book and were for the most part command-based as the game master presented the situation(s). Though the original Dragon Quest V was the basic good versus evil storyline, I couldn’t help but feel as though the remake version represented the struggles between the theories of religion and evolution, and the only way to win was to beat evolution. Since when was this series ever about the questioning of human ideals? Are we being told that the theory of evolution is the root-of-all-evil and we must fight against it before its too late? I don’t know about that, but before this becomes another debate between science and religion I would like to say that though there are some changes to Dragon Quest V’s storyline the overall story is still an ingenious and captivating one spanning the largest amount of time I have ever seen in an RPG. Though the games battle engine has stayed virtual untouched a new addition to Dragon Quest V is the monster recruitment which I guarantee will provide hours of entertainment trying to recruit them all. With newer graphics and a renewed sense of vision the Dragon Quest series has come along ways since it’s 1986 release in Japan, but one thing is for sure one could only hope that the creators of the Dragon Quest can continue to breathe new life to this truly unbelievable series. |
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Get the strategy guide, also available from Amazon.com
Get the musical score, also available from Amazon.com
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Title: Final
Fantasy IV System: DS Genre: Traditional RPG Synopsis: Follow the dark knight Cecil-Lord Captain of Baron’s elite force, the Red Wings-as he embarks on a fateful journey riddled with trials, betrayals, friendship, loss and self-discovery. Plagued with uncertainty over his monarch’s motives, can Cecil turn away from the path of darkness and destruction? Game Details: Dramatic and thrilling story of an mythical game world brought to life Use the active wait gauge that allows players to see which character is next to better strategize their characters New totally redone with all new 3D Characters done to resemble the original character designs done by Yoshitaka Amano with new cutscenes and a totally new 3D environments and voice-overs New Ability Augment System changes characters role in battle by assigning special abilities to characters Listen to a beautifully remixed score by world-renowned composer Nobuo Uematsu Train and customize by playing a variety of mini-games and challenge another player to head-to-head battle via local wireless connection RPGCraze Review: Yes, I know, another remake of a very classic game popularly known as Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II in the US) arguably one of the greatest RPG’s ever. But because this is the game that forever changed my views on how I see gaming when I was a child and led me down the path that is RPG I felt that it my duty, if not my responsibility to report its latest incarnation. Final Fantasy IV may not of been as pure of a RPG as the Dragon Quest series were, but the games story is by far the one most captivating and talked about in the RPG world. I mean what’s there to write about, it’s Final Fantasy IV for crying out load. The game itself is pretty simple and straight-forward and the battles are all turn-based command style. Final Fantasy IV is what I consider a beginner entry RPG due its captivating storyline, pure simplicity, and lack of any extra filling content such as side quests, mini-games, and bonus dungeons. Generally Final Fantasy IV is a classic 2D game, but for the DS only new 3D Model were added to ensure its close resembles to the original Yoshitaka Amano illustrative artistic direction. The new Ability Augment System I felt was a plus, because it allows your newer characters to reuse past abilities from characters that are recycled or overall replaced throughout the story. Which I always felt was wrong to have the recycled characters go and leave their hard earned capabilities behind, and even now since those characters have characters have been totally revamped with newer and better abilities. Even though I feel that touching up and reselling a game over and over again just to sell a game is plain wrong, but to see this newly envisioned masterpiece in my collection. I don’t know why but I feel almost nostalgic like seeing old friends come alive once again. |
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