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A few of days ago, a team of independent game developers contacted me via email to announce their free 3D game called Picture For Truth. You play as a foreign journalist who is out to save his friend who was “silenced” from reporting and publishing articles about China’s human rights violation. This is what I call a serious game tackling real life sensitive issues.

Upon running the game, the first thing that caught me by surprise is the 3D environment. I was expecting the usual 3D graphics from today’s games but it was interesting to see it in cel-shaded style. The artwork is pretty good and has an original feel in it. It’s just a bit of a disappointment to see the game in just black and white. Some colors combined with the cool artwork would definitely spice things up.

Your primary role as a journalist here is to walk around, interact with the characters, take some photos and publish the articles for the world to see. The game is pretty short so I wouldn’t go too much into elaborating them. You just have to try it out yourself. It has some pretty interesting concepts which sparked my interest as a future game developer (hopefully haha). First and foremost, I definitely want to try and implement a photo snapshot mechanism, where the camera is able to detect certain things in the environment (Fatal Frame anyone?).

As I go through the game, I noticed some minor flaws within. Due to its black and white environment, it is hard to distinguish the areas that are considered contaminated (it looks pretty clean to me). Taking photos containing key areas (e.g prisoner) will earn you points, which will unlock some small upgrades. At times, some of the photos you take will show a key area (marked with a circle), yet all you see is a blank wall. There is also a bug present in the game, where it hangs the controls once you select the memory stick upgrade.

The aim of Picture for Truth is to expose to the general public bout the issues of human rights in China. If you kept up with the news, you will understand how heat up the issue is, especially with the Beijing Olympics coming close. The game does a good job tackling key matters which some of us might not have noticed is happening. As you might ask, all the areas and characters present are fictional.

It’s good to see a game that is fun to play yet brings about real world issues that needs to be addressed.

You can download the game free from their official website.

Everyone of any importance is in this image. And I mean everyone.

Everything Nomura touches seems to turn into gold and The World Ends With You is no exception. Excellent character design (although Neku looks a hell lot like Sora), intuitive gameplay, plenty of mini-games and side quests to keep yourself busy and an unpredictable plot. If I were to explain the plot, you will find it extremely confusing since the plot appears to be contradicting itself at every turn. It’s so full of twist that even a pretzel looks straight in comparison. Finish the game, think about it and get back to me. You will know I’m right.

You would think he’s yawning. I know otherwise

Here’s an example: The game lasts for 7 days. Your partner, Shiki, stays with you for the entire 7 days duration of the game, from start to finish. But she will only be with you for less than half the game. Confusing? This is just the tip of the iceberg, and is the only example I can think of right now without spoiling any other parts of the game. Everything will make perfect sense once you’ve played the game.

While the main plot is quite linear and there’s really no way for you to get lost, there are actually a few alternatives on how you want to take the side story on. There are plenty of side stories where you can choose to help others out and help them make decisions on what they should do. These usually have less restrictions and have more open ended results based on the choices you made.

You’re controlling BOTH screens at once. Kool, eh?

The gameplay itself is fresh and something new. Like Phantom Hourglass and Ninja Gaiden, The World Ends With You relies very heavily on stylus. But the twist here is, you can actually make use of the D-Pad and buttons to take control of the battle that’s happening on the upper screen simultaneously. Talk about multitasking - it’s no easy feat for sure and most of the time you’re forced to concentrate on either one while blindly spamming buttons or sliding your stylus around like mad.

Another unique feature of this game is you can adjust the difficulty level on the fly. Some items can only be dropped from noises (enemies in TWEWY are called noise) with specific difficulty level. You can also set handicap on yourself by lowering your level and stats in order to get better drops.

Everything in the game revolves around pins. Your attacks and abilities mostly comes from the pin you are wearing. Different pin have different ways to activate, such as the Pyrokinses pin (the first attack pin you receive) which allows you to create fire along the path drawn by your stylus.

Other pins requires you to drag obstacles, tap on enemies, slashing enemies and a variety of other ways to activate the pins using just your stylus. It might sound confusing at first, but it’s very intuitive and you will be able to pick it up in no time. Fortunately, you will be given practice battles if the game requires you to learn more complicated moves or combos, so you can take your time to test and play around before you face an actual battle.

This would be the perfect image if Shiki were in it…

The light sounding BGM’s doesn’t really stand out during the game and blends in perfectly with the mood and situation that you might not even realize it’s there. It’s really not a bad thing since it just results in a better flow of the game. That’s not to say the BGM is poor and forgettable, since it’s really quite good. It’s just that the game itself seems to have the music volume down lower than the voice and special effects audio in order to allow players to absorb all the small details you would normally miss due to noise (pun intended).

The in-game graphics is nothing to shout about since all the characters are rendered with sprites and look extremely pixelated when brought up close to the front of the screen. But Shibuya itself and during character interactions where “pop-out” art is being used, they look great. I used the word “pop-out” because the characters seems to be static, cut-out images that needs to be swapped out every time they someone’s expression changed. Not to mention the use of speech bubbles that overlaps each other feels a lot like reading a comic or manga.

Before playing the game, I’ve read countless good reviews about TWEWY about it being “refreshing”. While I didn’t doubt that the game wouldn’t be anything short than awesome, I’ve played a bit of the Japanese version before and didn’t find it all that refreshing. Sure, the game play is something new, but still it wasn’t that different from the likes of Phantom Hourglass or Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword. It wasn’t until I’ve finished the game the first time that I thought, “Ah, that was a very refreshing game…” I mean, where else can you cross-dress the main character into skirts and high heels for some of the BEST STATS in the game?

That said, you must definitely check out The World Ends With You! Btw, The World Begins With You

Click here for my InvisibleSHIELD (PSP Slim) Review

After a long period of idling I finally applied the InvisibleSHIELD which I bought 2 months ago on my NDS. The trauma I faced from the PSP Slim version was the reason for the long delay. I couldn’t bring myself to face another round of hectic stress.

Surprisingly, applying the shield on NDS wasn’t stressful at all thanks to its shape. Most of the pieces are huge, thus making them easy to put on and less chance to mess things up.

Similarly like the PSP version, the shield covers almost all the areas of the NDS. The only parts that are not covered are the battery led (the entire section) as well as the L R buttons. I remember reading from somewhere that shield does covers them but alas, they are nowhere to be found. Probably the guy took the left over film, cut out two rectangle shapes and slap them in. I might do that after I find something to clean my buttons. They are kinda dirty …

My apologies for not taking photos of the shield before application. It slipped off my mind completely.

Overview of the NDS with InvisibleSHIELD

Earphone Jack

Bottom View of the NDS

In general, the shield includes top, bottom areas, GBA panel and all the sides (mic, power tab, volume control). Due to the DS’s rounded nature, the corners are not entirely covered. Apart from the outer areas, there are also shield films for the inner parts as well. There are 4 pieces; 2 for the speaker areas, one for the D-pad and one for the YXAB buttons.

I can’t exactly remember if they include shields for the screens, but I wouldn’t recommend using them. It makes your screen look fuzzy, which I find annoying (I applied onto my PSP and immediately removed it the next day). You are better off using screen protectors from Hori.

Here’s a couple more shots of the NDS

Overall the NDS version of InvisibleSHIELD has fulfilled my primary objectives; to protect the upper and bottom areas from scratches. It’s similar to having a crystal casing on the DS albeit lighter. Comparing this (shield) with the crystal casing + rubber pad combo I had, the weight difference is frightening.

I give this product a 8 out of 10.

You can purchase InvisibleSHIELD online through their website at USD $19.90. If you want a cheaper alternative, check out Protection Filter DS Lite from Hori.

This is probably my first time reviewing a game that I have completely finished. Usually I would only go through about 40% of the game before jumping onto my review. Not that I prefer it that way but the lack of time prevents me from finishing a game within a short period of time, unless of course the game’s length is short itself.

Taking that into consideration, I can honestly say Crisis Core is very lengthy game. The main storyline itself would take about 10 hours to complete. Throw in the side missions and the total hours would easily exceed the value of 60. This is to date the longest game I have ever played on the PSP, taking over my personal record which Jeanne D’Arc previously held.

Heading back to the roots, Crisis Core depicts the storyline of Zack Fair, a SOLDIER working for Shinra Corp who dreams to be a hero one day. Actually I would say the main point of this game is to see how Sephiroth went from honest-to-goodness hero to the famous villain whom we all love and hate. Zack is more like a ‘point-of-view’ that sees all the changes that are happening from within Shinra itself. A first class view no doubt.

As a direct reflection of Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core starts off with Zack infiltrating on top of a train, similarly like his future yellow spiky haired successor. After a short intro CG cutscene that is nothing less than awesome, you will be thrown right into a battle. From here onwards I finally understood the gameplay mechanics behind Crisis Core. Pretty much to say I was confused upon going through some of the gameplay videos before this.

From my personal point of view, Crisis Core’s style falls between Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, more on the later than the former. You have the freedom to move, attack, dodge, defend, use items or cast magic at any time yet only one command can issued at a time. It felt a bit sluggish at first but after that it’s all good.

As much as similar elements are implanted inside Crisis Core, Square-Enix threw in something totally new and that is called the DMW (Digital Mind Wave). The DMW is a “slot machine”-a-like that keeps spinning during battle. Once you hit a jackpot (e.g. 3 Sephiroths), you will perform a limit break base on who you have gotten. Apart from that, DMW can also trigger summons, from Bahamut Fury that looks like Freedom Gundam to “Zantetsuken” Odin to “Needle Killing” Cactuar. The summon animations will definitely leave a wow impression.

I find it hard to love yet hate DMW at the same time. Early in the game, it’s easy to get a ‘hit’ on the DMW but as you progress further, the chances become less and less. Honestly speaking I’m not sure if its just my luck or it is indeed harder to ‘hit’ as your level gets higher. However judging by how my girlfriend played the game, I would say it’s just my freaking luck. Regardless, any DMW hit is always welcome.

The storyline in Crisis Core is like what I would expect from a Final Fantasy game, albeit a bit short. As I have mentioned, it will probably take an average player about 10 hours or so to reach the end. The side missions are something which most people would avoid at first until a new game+. Frankly speaking, the missions are a loop of one another. You are thrown into a map, locate the main monster or enemy you are suppose to find, kill it and mission accomplish. The lack of mission variety is what made most people gave up mid way but that is the only way to collect rare materias or equipments and to fight the hidden boss Minerva.

Hidden Boss Minerva

Graphics, sound and music are top notch. Zack’s animation is fluid with plenty of detail and the music remixed from Final Fantasy 7 will definitely keep your adrenaline up.

All in all, Crisis Core is a great game and a must have for any PSP owners. The lack of space in the UMD is probably the reason for the recycled missions, but Square-Enix could have altered the objectives a bit to make them more interesting. Running through the same thing for 100+ times isn’t exactly what I call … fun.

- Yet to own the game? Get your copy of Crisis Core from Play-Asia -

I haven’t been playing Gundam games for a long time until recently. The last one I touched was Gundam Battle Assault 2 on the original PlayStation, so I guess that’s about 10 years back? Well anyway the latest one I played was Gundam Vs Gundam on the arcades. Gameplay wise it’s pretty much the same as the previous series (the ones released on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable).

You are probably thinking “Wait … didn’t you just mention the last Gundam game you played was 10 years ago?”. After my 1st session on Gundam vs Gundam, I went and have a try out with Rengou vs ZAFT Portable on the PSP and found out that they are very much identical. The only differences are the Gundams available and some other minor stuff.

* Note : I have only played Gundam vs Gundam and Rengou vs ZAFT, so my post is mainly referring to those two. It might be different for the older versions.

For those who are unfamiliar with the series, Mobile Suit Gundam is a 3rd person game where you have the control of a single Gundam. The aim is to destroy as many Gundams or mobile suits as possible to reduce their cost bar meter until its completely depleted. Each unit has different cost values depending on their level; the stronger it is, the higher the cost. It also means that if the higher cost unit get destroyed, the cost bar will decrease more … a lot more.

Gundam vs Gundam is more like a dream match where you have a huge selection of mobile suits (over 30) from various universe, ranging from the original RX-78 to Nu to Freedom. It’s a nostalgic feeling to see those old Gundams , complete with their whacky-drawn pilots and voice actings.

Controls are broken into 4 simple buttons; one button for weapon fire, one button to use close combat weapons, one button to jump / thrust and finally the last one to toggle between targets. Combination between 2 / 3 buttons or holding the fire button can sometimes invoke a new attack depending on the unit. Like for an example, charging the fire button will make Freedom perform his famous ‘Auto-aim-bot’ attack, although it’s not as fantastic as the anime of course.

In addition to the basic controls, there are also Support Units and G-Crossover. By pressing the 3 buttons (Fire, Weapon, Booster), the support units will appear for a brief period to assist the player. Like for Aegis Gundam, triggering the support unit will make Buster Gundam appear with his cannon blast attack.

G-Crossover activated!

G-Crossover (a.k.a Super Weapon) is something which will make your adrenaline rush up, regardless of who triggers it. Once activated, you will see area marks on the map, indicating the places where the super weapon will hit. The first thing that goes into your mind is “Get the f*ck out of there!”. Why? Because it hits every damn thing in it’s path, friend or foe. I always find myself cursing “sh*t!” when the opposite team activates it.

Super Smash Gundam?

Having played the game for about 5 to 6 times, I find that Gundam vs Gundam is pretty good. Although I expected much recycling from the previous installments, the graphics and sound still holds up well. The gameplay is easy to pick up and having a friend to join the battle will definitely bump up the fun factor. The only complain I have is that the Gundams feels sluggish, which can be a real pain why you are trying to avoid gazillion beams and rockets firing at you. It would have been awesome if the action was more like Zone of Enders.

[images from ITmedia]