Tokyo Lockdown

I'm quite a big fan of the Shin Megami Tensei series. So when the most recent one, Devil Survivor, was revealed to be on the DS, which was a first for the series, and that it was also going to be a strategy game, another first, I was intrigued and concerned. I've nothing against the DS, so that wasn't an issue. It was more to do about the strategy side of it. Most of the ones I've played, which I admit is a small amount of the ones available, have been pretty good. But there are always some awful ones. I've played a few myself.

All concerns were alleviated when I actually got around to playing it though. Movement is like any other grid based strategy game, which isn't anything out of the ordinary. Being an RPG at the same time though, there are a variety of skills you can assign, that range from increasing movement range, to simply ignoring walls and stairs and just teleporting right next to an enemy. Actual combat though, is more like traditional SMT. Since the series moved to PS2, you were rewarded for abusing an enemy's weakness. Use a fire based attack on something made out of ice for example and you'll be rewarded with a bonus attack to deliver. The enemy gets the same chances though, so you have to think about who attacks what based on their strengths and weaknesses lest you walk right into a battle that wipes you out, which can and most likely will happen. Much better than some RPGs where you can simply select 'Attack' over and over to win the game.

Despite that though, it's not what has me hooked. A lot of RPGs, Japanese ones in particular, are very linear. Devil Survivor seems to be one of the rarities that allow you some degree of choice in how events play out. Based on your decisions throughout the game, certain characters may live or die. There's also a large range of responses you can make in cutscenes, which helps make you feel like you're relevant, rather than along for the ride. I have noticed that I'm acting nicer towards some characters than others though, in an attempt to keep them on my side and, hopefully, alive until the end. I've always been keen on stories where there's a large amount of risk involved for the characters. Again, not something that's too common in Japanese RPGs.

I've yet to finish it, but it already feels like the sort of RPG that I'm going to play through more than once, which is unfortunately not a regular occurrence.

Vocaloid!

For the past couple of weeks, I've been playing quite a lot of Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA on PSP. It can be a bit complicated explaining quite what that is though. It's not every day that you play a rhythm game by Sega featuring a virtual idol who is the face of synthetic singing software by Yamaha. Although she's also featured on a Super GT racing team's BMW Z4, maybe a videogame isn't that odd.

The game itself is standard rhythm game fare, essentially consisting of pressing a sequence of buttons in time to a display, scoring points depending on how accurate you are. If you do well, you unlock extra songs, costumes and items for Miku's room. In Miku's room, Miku will simply wander about and interact with furniture and decorations that you put up for her. It's very simplistic.

Which seems to kind of be the point for Project DIVA. It's mostly feels like a game for existing Vocaloid fans where they can see Miku actually move about to songs, rather than fan made videos featuring a sequence of static images. There's even a feature to simply watch the music videos rather than play the rhythm game section.

Because of it's origins as music designing software, the game features a variety of composers and in some cases, animators for the dance routines. It's nothing spectacular, but it is fun, and the music is pretty damn catchy at times. I'm just glad I was already a fan!

Gatherin'

I don't often go to London. In fact, on this occasion I got lost a couple of times. But getting lost wasn't going to stop me, I had a mission to accomplish! I think I've mentioned it before, but Capcom have recently set up a Gathering Hall for Monster Hunter in London. I was pretty determined to experience it at least once.

For those who are unaware, Monster Hunter is best experienced as a multiplayer game. That's part of the reason it's been so successful in Japan, especially as most players are closer together and gaming is more common. Problem is, that's not the case here. So, Capcom have rented out part of a gallery in London for a couple of months to give players a convenient place to meet and play together. Only, not so convenient when you live closer to the Scottish border than London.

Regardless, I made my way there. As I was walking up Charing Cross Road, I was starting to wonder if I would notice it, I'd hate to walk right past it. I needn't have worried at all though, as seeing the front of a building with a Rathalos painted across it, along with "Gathering Hall" on the front, it was somewhat hard to miss. Some other people seemed intrigued as well, I saw a lot of people paying attention to the front as they walked by.

Anyway, I headed in, introduced myself, got myself a free t-shirt almost instantly (which is very nice by the way) and was then taken upstairs to where most players were. I only saw the lobby and the first floor, but I think there was maybe another floor above that. The decoration on the front also continued inside. The lobby had several weapons painted across the walls, whereas upstairs had various pieces of artwork and characters, along with the soundtrack playing in the background.

I quickly found a seat, received some free drinks, and started playing with a couple of others who were well above my level. At the time, I was Hunter Rank 2. The people I joined were both Rank 9, which is the current maximum I think. "What do you want to hunt?" they asked, so I explained that I'd been struggling a lot with Tigrex recently, only just defeating it before the 30 minute deadline was up. Two minutes later, they'd defeated one for me.

The rest of the session continued in this way, with them asking what I wanted to hunt and then they would continue to slaughter it incredibly quickly, with me offering some assistance, which was mediocre at best compared to them. They were very accommodating, and I probably didn't express my thanks as much as I should have. Later on in the session, one of the Capcom employees came in and said how they thought the Monster Hunter soundtrack kind of sucked, so they put some Daft Punk on instead. I'm pretty sure that fighting Lao Shan Lung, easily the biggest dragon in the game, to the sound of 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' will probably be one of my favourite experiences with this game for some time.

Unfortunately, my time was limited. As I don't visit London often, there were some other places I wanted to see, so I did have to leave before I really wanted to. Eight hours on a train for two hours playing Monster Hunter is probably a good sign of dedication though, or stupidity. Probably somewhere between the two.

I'm certainly going to try and visit again before the place closes down. I really hope it's not a one off.

Vanguard Princess

There are never enough times when I'm impressed by a game I've never heard of before. Usually I'll just see a screenshot somewhere, be ever so slightly intrigued, find out what it is and then how I can play it. Which is exactly what happened with Vanguard Princess. Of course, it helped that it's a 2D fighter, I'm always more receptive to those than say, the latest generic shooting game with angry bald guys in the future.

Thankfully, it's one of the many games in the freeware doujin category, so finding a copy was relatively easy. Unfortunately little is known about the developer (or indeed, developers), as there's some really impressive sprites and music in this. The main thing known is that the lead behind the project is an ex-Capcom employee, which you could argue is a good start!

I'm yet to try every character in it, but so far, most have either been reminiscent of existing characters in fighting games as is the norm, or something new entirely, slightly similar to Street Fighter 3 in some senses. For example, the character I've currently settled on using, Kaede, has a variety of wall jumps, uses slashing attacks and spends a lot of time being pretty, very similar to Vega from Street Fighter. Whereas Luna, a scantily clad buxom mecha pilot is like no character I've used before, as all her attacks seem very contextual and occasionally get delayed. It's early days yet, but there's quite a lot of potential with these characters.

One big difference however is the idea of having an assist character. These usually follow you around in the background until you've built up enough charge on a separate meter to your super bar, at which point you're able to command them to do a variety of attacks or counters. There are only four, but my experience with them so far has been a good one, especially as an escape to a long combo. Most of them however are young girls, most of which look like rejects from magical girl shows.

Mentioning the looks of characters reminds me however. It's clear that the character designer knew what sort of market would play this. Which is an obvious observation to make really, but the characters are clearly aimed at anime and fighting game fans. The entire roster is all female, and usually in fighting games the women often wear clothing that's at least a little revealing. But as for Vanguard Princess, the most conservative bit of clothing in it is probably a skirt that goes to knee level.

That's probably beside the point however. It's really good fun to play, and a new 2D fighter these days is a rarity. Despite being a doujin game, the animation is probably better than a lot of commercial efforts. It looks great in motion, the music is catchy, and it's got some depth in it. It's going to be a good game to stay indoors with over these sunny days!