TV Channel Fail

Ok so I wasn't going to make a post today but then I found something I saved on my computer that made me lol

A few months ago I came home from school, sat down here at my desk and turned my TV on. What did I see? Well....

Apparently Windows 2000 had a fatal error lol

It's not that funny but it's kind of messed up that a TV CHANNEL would get the blue screen of death, and it's even stranger that they run off of windows 2000 o_O

Today the channel is back up and running with a lot clearer picture, I'm guessing they finally upgraded XD

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PSP Remakes

Ok so I'm sure everyone has heard that PSP games are being remade for the PS3, including Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, but what other games are going to be remade? Well right now Monster Hunter and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker are the only ones announced, but there will be more to come.

So anyway my question is, which games would you like to see remade and why? If you'd like please comment and tell us what games you would like remade, why you want it remade, and what extras you would like to see added in.

As for me, there's only a few games I REALLY want remade (other than the 2 already announced).

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core -

Now FF7 is one of the most well known RPGs out there and it is one of the few FF games to get more than one game, in fact FF7 actually got 3 games, 2 anime OVAs, a few books, and a movie (including an extended bluray version that was just released a few years ago).

Crisis Core tells the story of Cloud's friend Zack and it takes place right before FF7. I'm going to avoid spoilers here but what I can say about the game is, it was too short. I really loved the story, Zack is one of my favorite Final Fantasy characters, and I really liked the gameplay. Really it was a very very nice and fun game to play! Even so the game was made with the idea of keeping the game easy for gamers on the go. The story only took around 10-15 hours to beat, there were a lot of few min long missions to play through, and the combat was pretty simple. Sure you could spend HOURS on the game, but the main game just wasn't that long.

Really this would be a perfect game for a remake but if it were to be remade I'd like to see MORE features. The original game doesn't allow back tracking and the extra missions were short and sometimes boring. With a PS3 version they could easily allow you to go back and explore the world, and they could also make the missions a bit more... Well, non handheldish? Really there should just be more too them, not simple "kill this monster" missions, and thats one feature they could easily improve on if it were to be ported.
So yeah, it's a really really good game (if you like RPGs and action games with a lot of story, if not stay away from it), but they could improve on it soooo much for a PS3 port.

Megaman Powered Up/Maverick Hunter X -

I really shouldn't have to explain these games since we're here at the official capcom blogs, but to sum them up... Megaman Powered Up is a remake of Megaman 1 and Maverick Hunter X is a remake of X1. Both change the story up by a bit, but for the most part they stay the same. Powered Up let you play as the Robot Masters you beat by using your buster (including the two new Robot Masters) and it even let you play as Protoman and Roll. Maverick Hunter X includes a Vile mode, and an anime OVA to explain what happened before X1.

Both games are 2.5D (however Powered Up featured a super deformed art style and Maverick Hunter X took the Megaman X8 route), both had cutscenes, and both had talking before the boss fights. So yeah both games were updated quite a lot, but they also took different styles when it came to the art and overall set up of the games.

Really I love both of these games but I really don't see a reason to release them alone, a Megaman bundle would be a lot better and would most likely sell a lot more. I mean the games are great but this day in age I don't think people would want to spend 30-50 bucks (depending on what the price of these remakes will be) for an 8 level platform game (not including the intro stage and final boss stages). I would really like to see them remade, but I'd most likely only buy them IF they were together. Other than that there's really no features I'd like to see added. Well then again, a Zero mode would have been pretty cool in Hunter X...

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines -

Actually I didn't care THAT much for this game, but I did feel that it was a pretty good game for a hand held. I'm a fan of the AC games but due to the PSPs limits, this one just felt really small.

I'm not actually saying that this should get a normal remake, but I do feel that it WOULD be a nice extra if they were to remake it and release it as a part of Assassin's Creed: Revolations. There's a lot of people out there who never played Bloodlines because they dont own a PSP, and to make things worse, Bloodlines actually held a big part of the story. If Revolations is going to finally tell us EVERYTHING, this really should be an extra game that comes with it. They could also cut out the loading screens and make the world a lot more open. Having a loading screen for every town block just isn't fun...

Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy -

A Final Fantasy fighting game that is very well known. I'm sure a LOT of you have been hearing about this game a lot over the past few months so I'm not going to really explain it too much. To sum it up you've got a lot of FF characters (from FF1-13), you get to customize them and level them up, then you get to go fight in a fully 3D arena Dragon Ball Z style (flying through the air, using super attacks, etc).
There is a story mode and all, but it'd be WAY TOO HARD to even bother explaining it here lol, a lot happens. Really it's not a HUGE deep story, but it is pretty good and you'll most likely want to finish it.
This game will most likely get a remake (heck it might have already been announced and I just don't know it yet), and is one of the best PSP games out there. Sure it isn't a normal style fighting game but it is pretty fun, and it's a great game for Final Fantasy and RPG fans. The only way they could really improve on this game is to either add more characters, add more levels, add more music, make it so 2-4 people can fight at the same time (currently it's only 1v1), and by adding online play.

The 3rd Birthday -

The 3rd Birthday is the 3rd game in the Parasite Eve line of games, however it is nothing like the originals. While PE1 was an rpg and PE2 was more of a horror survival, 3rd Birthday goes down the route of a 3rd person shooter. In the game you play as Aya Brea who's mind is being sent back in time to control people in the past to hopefully change the future. The story can be VERY confusing the first time you play through the story, and some actually HATE the story, however it all depends on the person.

Even though the game has kind of a strange story, the gameplay is actually really good for a PSP shooter. The controls are easy, there are a lot of different guns to get/upgrade, and the levels are pretty fun as well. Really the only down side to the game is the fact that it's made for more than one playthrough.
If you truly want to unlock EVERYTHING the game will require you to play through 50 times, you'd have to beat the game on each setting, get every achievement (not just on one setting either, every setting has its own achievements), and you'd have to beat the game with each of the unlockable costumes as you do so inorder to unlock the costume in the veiw mode. Yep the game is a very short one, but it takes a lot of playthroughs to actually "beat" it.

Some people did have a problem with this game because square decided to show off that Aya is in fact female (her cloths ripps and falls appart as she takes damage and there's a hidden shower scene), but if you can get past it (which it's not really that big of a deal) the game is great. The graphics were really nice, the CGI cutscenes were really nice, and the game was well made. The game devs did state that the game is a LOT better when being played on a TV so that right there is a good reason for this game to be released on the PS3.

Because the game IS short, I really dont see it being released for more than 40 bucks (which was the price of the PSP game), but they could easily expand the game. Challenge levels that have nothing to do with the story WOULD be nice, and it would also be pretty nice if they were to try and clear up the story/add more to it, but it's not really needed.

Either way The 3rd Birthday would be a really good console game.

Well I guess that's about it! I would like to see a few other games (like a rerelease of Star Ocean 1 and 2 as a pack), but I already covered the main ones. So now that that's said, what would you guys like to see?
Also before I forget, I most likely will NOT be making a blog post tomorrow because I want to finish up Dead or Alive Dimensions so I can write a mini review for it. Right now I've almost unlocked everything and I've spent a good ammount of time online, but I would still like to finish up a few more things before I go ahead and make my post.

Well until next time people!

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3DS - Sonic Generations and Best Buy's new Download Service

Well here's some bits of news that I figured I'd pass along.

I'm sure almost everyone has heard about Sega's new Sonic Generation game right? Well it turns out it's going to be released on the 3DS and PC as well! Yep that's right, the HD exclusive is going to make it to other systems after all! Apparently (Sega parent company) Sega Sammy put Sonic Generations 3DS and PC on the game list along with the 360/ps3 version at their annual financial results presentation. Although Sega has not flat out said "GENERATIONS 3DS AND PC," putting it on the list makes it pretty clear that it's true (however if there was some type of mistake I will make sure to let you guys know since companies are known to make slip ups like this at times).

A few weeks ago rumors poped up that a 3DS version for Sonic Generations could be in the works, but it is now official and with that it will mark Sonic's first 3DS appearance. Sega already has released Super Monkey Ball on the 3DS but up until now their 3DS game list has been very limited. Back during E3 2010 Sega did bring up "Sonic 3D" but at the time no real information was ever given, other than the fact that Sonic would be on the 3DS at one point. Well really it's kind of hard to tell if Generations is that "Sonic 3D" or if Sonic 3D is a game on it's own. Either way you can expect to hear more news at this years E3.
For anyone who hasn't seen the trailer for Sonic Generations check this out.


The game will feature both Classic and Modern Sonic with levels from the Classic Era, Dreamcast Era, and Modern Era. Currently that's all the information we have but full videos of the first level can be found on youtube.

Now what about Bestbuy's new Download service? Well according to news Nintendo released to the press today (via the press site) Best Buy will be offering a DLC service using Nintendo's StreetPass and SpotPass features. The service will go into effect June 7th at 1000 select Best Buys nation wide and will allow 3DS owners to download content such as extras for games and even movie trailers.

Right now this offer hasn't been annoucned for any other stores but if you remember what happened with the DS and it's download stations, I'm pretty sure you can expect to see the same thing poping up in other stores sooner or later. (My bets are on gamestop getting this set up as well.)

Really Nintendo hasn't said much else about the SpotPass feature or what you'll all be able to download using it, but some game companies have already announced plans to release daily DLC (such as costumes for Dead or Alive) so it may be worth checking out. Just keep your 3DS on sleep mode and who knows what'll pop up.

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Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles 1 was released on the PS3 a few years ago by SEGA. The game follows the story of a young man named Welkin who returns to his home Bruhl, after being away at college, to help his sister move out of town. On the way home Welkin happens to look over at the river and notices some fish, this is when he shows his love for biology, and begins to draw them on his note pad. This little event right here is what gets him caught up in a great adventure.

While on her patrol route, town watch member Alicia notices Welkin down by the river writing things down in a notebook. Suspecting he's a spy from the empire she decides to arrest him. Welkin doesn't really say too much and goes with her, but when his sister Isara comes running to greet him Alicia notices who he is. Welkin Gunther, the son of a great war hero from the first Europan War.

Alicia quickly lets Welkin go and finally listens to what he was actually doing down at the river, everything was finally going ok for Welkin but that was when it happened. Empire soliders began to attack.
This is the first time you enter combat.

The game follows a pretty standard pattern where you'll watch full cutscenes (which are just normal cutscenes), mini cutscenes (cutscenes where you can only see the characters heads like you would in a RPG), have some kind of mini event/mission, watch more cutscenes/mini cutscenes, then have the final mission for the chapter. The game is set up like a book so you'll be selecting each of these events on pages of the book, by the end you'll have a full story book to rewatch/play over and over again. There are exra missions, a level up system, and quite a lot of other parts to this game, but I'll get to that a bit latter.
Anyway the battle system is a bit different than any other RTS/TBS out there. When you start a battle you'll see an overview of the map and there will be icons to show you where each unit is. Your units are ALWAYS visible on the map, but enemy units can only be seen if they are in your units line of sight. At the top of the map you'll notice emblems known as "command points," these are what you will be using to move your units.
Unlike a normal TBS you will be able to move your unit as many times as you want as long as you have the points to do so. Each unit requires 1 CP to move them, while bigger units (such as tanks) will take more than 1 (normally 2). Command Points are really something you have to think about in this game, sometimes it's best to use a lot of points to move a single unit somewhere, and other times it's best to move all/most of your units once per turn. Anyway the game gives you a LOT of freedom with this feature so you just do what you see fit. Once you use your CP up you must then end your turn and the enemy will then make it's moves the same way (however you can end your turn early and save leftover CP for the next turn).

Now how does the actual battle work? Well it's not 100% turn based like a normal TBS. Once you select your unit you'll be taken into a fully 3D view. In this view you will see your character from 3rd person and you'll have unlimited freedom on where you can move. While normal TBS games make you move along a grid, Valkyria keeps EVERYTHING open for you so it's completely up to you just how your characters will move and where they'll be.

When your moving your units you'll notice a yellow bar at the bottom of the screen, this is your AP which tells you just how much you can actually move. Every time you take a step the bar will go down little by little until you're finally unable to move. Now like I said, you CAN just use another CP to move that unit again if they get stuck in a bad spot, but everytime you use a CP on the same unit in the same turn your AP bar will be cut in half. Normally you'll still be able to get pretty far on the 2nd and 3rd use, but once you've used 4 CP + on a unit, it'll bairly be able to move.

Ok so what about the combat? Well it's in real time as well. As you're running around the map you WILL be shot at, which is why you need to make use of things such as tall grass to hide in, or simply take cover. The damage is based on where you're hit (head shots will deal massive damage), but whenever you use cover your defense will be boosted greatly and let you easily survive a head shot. This is why you should ALWAYS take cover when you can, even if it's just to attack whoever is in front of you.

Now once you're ready to actually attack a unit, you can go into aim mode. In aim mode EVERYTHING STOPS which means you will not be shot at. As seen in the picture above in aim mode you'll be able to freely aim at whatever you want, but the aiming is based on stats, you cant simply just aim at the head and expect to win. See the circle? Well that shows you just where your shots might hit. As you go through the game and level up your stats/get better guns that circle will get smaller and smaller, but it's also weapon based. Rifles, like the one in the picture, start out with a pretty small circle and are good for long range hits, SMGs have a HUGE circle which makes them good for close range, snipers use their sight to zoom in and they have a very small circle, tanks circles are based on which gun you're using on the tank, and any special type of weapon such as a lance (rocket) will have more of a wide range of possible circles depending on just what they're using (normally it's a size inbetween rifle and SMG).

Well once you're in aim mode, and understand how aiming actually works, another thing you'll notice is the counter at the top of the screen. This little counter will show you how many shots your gun will fire, and how many shots it'll take to kill that unit if you hit them in that part of the body. This is a VERY important feature, but sometimes you wont always be able to use it. A lot of the time bosses will take ??? hits so it'll just be a guessing game.

Besides shooting with your gun you can also switch to grenades, healing items, etc. Grenades and healing items are limited each turn, but by using a unit that is an engineere you'll be able to "refuel" anyone who needs it. Grenades are also very useful when it comes to blowing up whatever the enemy is using as a shield, so keep that in mind and things will be a lot easier (or you could just run it over with a tank, that works just as good).

While on the map there's a limited numbers of units you can have out at a single time, but by using your base camp/camps you have captured, you can freely switch them in and out. You'll also be able to spend CP on "orders" to give your units different boosts/support (such healing orders, attack boost orders, or even air strike orders) which will really help you out in the end. There's also sometimes area effects in each map as well, so aiming/movement will not always be easy when you're out there.

The missions do get pretty hard pretty fast and things might become confusing with all the features that are brought in, but you CAN save during missions so you could always reload a save if you were to mess up. Also keep in mind that units WILL die for good if they are killed in battle, you do have a few turns to get someone to them inorder to save them, but if you are not able to get to their body as soon as possible they will be gone for good.

Like I said before, theres a lot of other features to this game, it's not just all cutscenes and missions. Outside of missions you'll be able to go to other pages of the book or to the street. Now while you're on the street everything is still in a menu, so don't thing you can actually go walking around out there, the game is fully menu based outside of missions. Anyway on the street you'll be able to buy news reports on current events, extra story pages (some pages may take place at earlier points in the story), and you'll be able to go to places like the training grounds, barracks, and R&D labs.

At the training grounds you'll be able to use EXP won in each mission to level up your classes (yes levels are done by class and not character which means you don't have to worry if you have to use a character you never used before). Although there is a small stat increase for each level this is mainly to gain new orders/abilities for each class (which I'll explain abilities very soon). Leveling up is pretty important but sometimes you'll want to save that exp for the graveyard area, which is a place where an older man will teach you new orders in exchange for EXP.

In the R&D lab you'll be able to upgrade your weapons (each weapon has a few paths it can go down with different stats for each type), armor, grenades, and even your tank. Now while the weapon system is just a simple branching tree like system, the tank actually uses a system just like Megaman Battle Network! While you can simply upgrade normal parts of the tank by going down an upgrade tree, you can also buy extra parts which can be added to the tank to boost different stats and give it different abilities. Each part you buy will have a different size/shape block, and it's up to you to figure out how you want to fit it in. If you've ever used the navi cust in Battle Network, you'll feel right at home.

The Barracks might be one of the most important parts of the game, or at least the character system in general. In the Barracks you'll be able to equipt characters with different weapons (including weapons you take from enemies) and you'll be able to pick which units are in your squad. Each unit has different skills, abilities, and stats. While skills are normally things that'll help your character (such as a character who lived in the country would have a skill where they get stronger around dirt) some skills can actually hurt you (such as characters who have phobias). Characters will also have best friends who they'll work best around (such as by providing back up for eachother, or even giving eachother stat increases), but once again you really need to look at characters skills before you decided to put friends together. There's some characters out there who just love to talk to friends, and that might cause you problems.

The whole skill system can be a bit confusing at first, but once you figure out your squad and know how to use each unit you'll have no problem at all.

By now you may be wondering, just why is the game called Valkyria Chronicles? Well it's a very big part of the story. After Welkin and Alicia fight off the empire they end up joining the militia and end up going to war to protect their country. Welkin is a great commander and is able to use his roots in biology to his squad's advantage. As the story goes on the main characters end up going against a human with super powers, it turns out they are actually one of the legendary Valkyria.

The Valkyria and the race of people known as Darcsens are actually big parts of the story. The Valkyria were a legendary race of people with super powers but they were said to have been all killed off during a massive event caused by the Darcsens which also scared the world forever. The game slowly starts to explain just what really happened back then, but for a long time you'll know little more than what I just told you.

After what the Darscens were said to cause they became the hated race. Some of the game's basics actually come from real life and you could easily compare the Darscens to what happened to the Jews, and the Empire is easily compared to Germany. Some of the characters on the Empire's side are based on German commanders, but the game does avoid offending anyone when it comes to these matters.

Welkin's adopted sister Isara is actually a Darscen herself and the game shows some of the trouble she has to deal with. While the game does show just how bad these people have it, it also shows just how stupid and racist people can be.

As for the rest of the game's story, well there's some comedy included but it's got quite a bit of drama and even romance. It's a really nice game with a really REALLY good story. The game's rated T and a lot of the "junk" other war games include (such as heavy cursing) is completely left out. Really I'd say this is a game just about anyone could enjoy, even kids under the age of 13.

After Valkyria Chronicles was released an anime came out which was simply a retelling of the original story. Some people didn't care for the anime version, but even so they decided to keep the anime style for Valyria Chronicles 2.

Valkyria Chronicles 2 was released in the PSP just a few years after Valkyria Chronicles was released on the PS3. The game takes place 2 years after VC1 and takes place during a civil war. The story follows a 17 year old named Avan who joins a military academy inorder to find out what happened to his brother who was said to have died on a special mission.

Although it's a school, acadmey students are required to fight rebel forces due to the fact that the Army cannot get invovled. The game has all brand new characters but a few from the past do show up from time to time, you can also use codes (which can be entered in at a menu) to unlock characters from VC1.
While the battle system is mostly the same as in VC1, a few things have changed. Now maps are smaller and can only hold 5 units, but missions have more than one map that you'll have to go through. By using the camp system you'll be able to transfer from map to map while trying to complete different goals. Each camp is connected to other maps so this means that you'll have to often defend both sides to keep it from being captured. Seems easy since you can have 5 units on each map right? Well that's wrong. Although you can have 5 units on each map, you're only allowed to have 6 units out total, this means you really have to think about what units you want on each map and just how to use them, and to make things even harder, you cant save during battle. If you mess up, you've got to restart.

Morale is another feature that was added into the main battle system which is very important as well. Everytime you do something good, such as capture a camp or take out a unit, your morale goes up, but if you do something bad, such as die or have a camp captured, it'll go down. Let morale hit 0 and you lose.
The weapon and class system has also been improved by A LOT. Now everytime a character gets a kill/does something out on the field they'll get items that can be used to either upgrade their class or build new weapons/tank parts. The game has the basic classes from the first game but each one can be upgraded in a tree like system. The left side of the class tree is simply the normal class but upgraded versions of it, while the paths that branch off of are something completely new. Since there's actually over 30 classes in the game, I wont really be able to go into detail about them but it does get pretty advanced. Another "base" class was also added into the game which are units who use swords/shields, but other than that the other classes are not completely new. Just new versions of old classes with different weapons and stats. Each character is in a set class group, but Avan can switch to any class so you can use him however you want.

Tanks have also been changed up quite a bit and you can now pick just what type of vehicle it is. You can have light armor cars that move fast, light tanks, or you can use a tank like the one from VC1. There's a lot of parts you can attach to the tank (including parts that allow you to build bridges, crush rocks, etc) so you can really just decide what KIND of tank it'll be. You are not limited at all.

Outside of battle has changed A LOT. Instead of using normal menus the game decided to go with a Visual Novel set up where you can go to different locations and see different events. Each day different events will happen which are just ways to see the student life, but some events are classmate related and others are story related as well. By going to the classroom you'll be able to either pick story missions, or free missions. This game has A LOT OF MISSIONS! While VC1 had around 30 or so, this game has HUNDREDS! You can buy missions in the shop, but if you want to wait till you have better units you can always do one of the free/story missions.

Free missions do not advance the storyline but it does move you onto the next day and it opens up daily events. Each day events will open up so if you want to see the full story it might be a good idea to replay missions you have already beaten just so you can unlock all the events for that month. Once you beat a story mission  the story moves on and the month changes. Events are season based so you can easily miss out on events by going ahead too fast.

The game also has classmate missions which lets Avan get closer to his classmates, and it also unlocks different skills for whatever classmate it is for. To unlock classmate missions you must use that character in battle. After 5 CP has been used on a classmate a classmate event will be opened up the next day. Once you watch the cutscene you must then use 10 CP points on the classmate to unlock the 2nd event, and then 15 CP to unlock the 3rd. Once you've seen the 3rd event the classmate mission will be unlocked. During the 2nd month of the game you'll unlock a normal mission where you have to get 1 unit to a target. This mission is VERY VERY easy and is a very good mission to use to unlock the classmate missions.

Although it's a PSP game, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is a LOT bigger than the original game. Many people still say the original is the best Valkyria game so far, 2 still has a lot to do and can easily give you 100 + hours of gameplay. The game also includes local co-op and vs missions, which is something the 1st game really should have included. In missions like these you'll be able to use different commands (such as a command that lets you provide back up for your partner when they're making their turn), and it really tests your team work.
There's also a lot more news updates in the game, and even an encyclopedia to help you remember facts about the world around you.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 has already been made/released in Japan, but it still hasn't been released in the USA. The game takes place during VC1 and follows the story of a group of soliders who are pretty much theifs and rejects of the army. To sum it up, they're the group the army sends in to die.

The game improves on features once again, and adds even MORE classes in as well as the ability to make any character any class which is something only Avan could do in VC2. New weapons and abilities have also been added (such as rockets that can lock onto more than 1 target), and so has a brand new system which lets characters use special abilities.

With this new system you can spend Special Points (which are very limited) to activate special skills that each character has, this even includes activating a Valkyria's Valkyria powers. Each character has their very own special power so you really have to think about who's power to use and just how to use it. You can't just act without thinking.

The game still keeps the anime style, but it has changed from the Visual Novel style. The game's map is now on a map of the country with push pins marking different parts. Each marker will either be an event, mission, or an area that you can go to, such as your base. At different parts in the map there will be branching paths where you can actually pick which way you want to go. How you play the game will change the story and you'll come to an ending based on your actions. This is the first time Valkyria Chronicles ever had more than one ending.

Well that about does it, Valkyria Chronicles is a great game and is worth checking out if you're a fan of war games, good stories, anime, visual novels, TBS games, RTS games, or RPGs. The game is really a mix of all of them and it works very well.

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Dead or Alive: Dimensions - Review

Note: This is a review was written before our current template was created. This review may be updated at a future point in time. Until then, this review will be kept in its current form, and be left for revision at a later date.

 



Overview:

Dead or Alive Dimensions follows the standard set up of a 3D fighter. The game mostly takes place in 2D, but you are free to move around the 3D area, you can knock people through objects, slam them against walls, knock them off cliffs, and make use of the 3D area to help you dodge. If you have ever played a Virtua Fighter game, or games like Sonic The Fighters, you would feel right at home with this.
DoA Dimensions has the largest cast out of any other DoA games with 25 characters. In past games there were quite a few boss characters that were simply there for the story, but Dimensions decided to finally let fans play as them.

The combat system is pretty easy and simple to learn, but the game does have quite a lot of combos. Each character has their normal punch and kick attacks, but they also have grabs and counters. By pressing the slider/dpad in different directions, you'll be able to punch, kick, or pull off different types of grabs and counters. This is a very important part to of the game, and you must learn how to change up your moves.
Really by using common since you SHOULD be able to judge just where you want your hits to land (upper, middle, or lower body), and counters and grabs can be one the same way. If an attack is heading for the middle of your body you can hold back and hit counter to counter it, lower body would be holding back/down and hitting counter (officially called hold), and for upper body it would be holding back and up. Sometimes it can be hard to judge just where an attack is going to land, but it's pretty easy to tell if someone keeps hitting the same area over and over again. This is why you should try to trick them by changing up your moves.

The controls in the game are actually really good, and you can either use the slider (which is what I use) or you can use the dpad. Really the game uses the same control set up that it has used since day one, and it shouldn't be hard for fans to get used to the 3DS. However if you have used a fight stick your whole life, you may have some trouble getting used to this new system.

The bottom screen can also be used as controls, but I really feel that it's pointless. On the touch screen you CAN press the buttons there, or you can also touch one of the combos on the list to make your character do it. Now some of you may be thinking that touching combos to pull them off without you learning how to do them is cheating. Well think about it this way. If you were to play online against someone who is ONLY using the touch screen, do you really think they'll have the time to find the moves they actually want to do? Chances are you could take them out before they even get to scroll half way down the list.

So yeah, the touch screen is there if you really need it, but you really wont have time to go looking for moves. Battles go by fast and it's just not worth the time and trouble. Learn how to use the buttons and you'll be set for life.

Chronicle Mode:

Chronicle Mode is the story mode of Dimensions and it tries to cover the story from the past 4 games. Although it does do a good job summing it up, it really just doesn't cover everything and there may be some confusing parts.

Chronicle Mode only lasts for about 3-5 hours, and it will have you play through the major parts of the story mode. In past DoA games you actually got to pick who you played as, but Chronicle Mode makes you play as different characters at different times. Most of the characters are simply in Chronicle Mode as bosses, and you will only be playing as the ninjas of the game (however the 5th chapter does allow you to play as one other character, but I wont spoil it).

Cutscenes in Chronicle Mode can be cool at times, but also a bit strange... Sometimes the movies are full movies taken right from the original games, and other times they are the 3D characters standing still with voice acting (kind of like how RPGs would have still mugshots). Some of the cutscenes are actually really nice, but I just really wish that they would have done full cutscenes for the whole story. Another thing I would like to warn you about is the fact that there are a few violent cutscenes. At one part of the game Ryu (the main character in Ninja Gaiden) actually cuts a few people into pieces. Although the scene is very fast and tries to censor, you can see body parts falling off... (Game still keeps a T rating).

I actually liked Chronicle Mode and throught it did a great job and summing up the story. If you're one of them people who love stories, you'll most likely still want more by the time you're done, and if you hate stories dont worry, you can skip cutscenes and get right to the fights. The story mode alone actually made me want to go play the other games since I would like to understand it more, but I was pretty happy with what they did give us.

Chronicle Mode also served as a sort of training mode; so it really is the best place to start out if you're a new commer to the series.

Arcade:

Arcade mode isn't quite like normal arcade modes. There is NO story in arcade mode, and there are actually 6 sets of fighters to go through. Each set is unlocked by beating the set before it, and it does NOT matter which character you actually pick. Although I like the set, set up in arcade mode, it did kind of make me mad that you could NOT change the settings. Arcade mode stays pretty easy the whole time, and is really only worth it if you want to unlock the special Metroid: Other M stage that you get for beating them all.

Survival Mode:

This is something that quite a few fighters pull off, expecially Super Smash Bros. In Survival Mode you pick a character and then go up against a set of fighters to see how long you can survive. Survival Mode starts out pretty easy with a set of 10, but soon you'll be fighting sets of 20, 30, 50, and finally a set of 100.
In each set the 9th fighter in each of the 10s are a LOT stronger, and they are one of the main challenges in this mode (example would be when you have 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71, 81, and 91 fighters to fight). Really Survival Mode is just there for an extra challenge, and you'll only unlock figurines, and sound test voices (or costumes if you haven't gotten them already). Even though I didn't have to beat it, I decided I'd 100% this game before this review so I made sure to finish all the sets.

Before I go on I would like to bring up one bad point in this mode, which is also something that could effect other modes (including online). Ryu actually has a pretty cheap/broken attack that can be spammed to win these fights. By holding back and hitting the L button you'll be able to charge up a fire ball and throw it. Computer players (and a lot of people online) have a VERY hard time getting around this so they'll most likely get hit. Besides the fact that the attack does a LOT of damage, it also will send the other person flying and they'll most likely hit a wall. What could be even worse than hitting the wall to take extra damage? Well the arena you fight in during Survival Mode is electric so they'll take even MORE damage than normal! Yep just spam that attack and all you're problems are solved!

Sure you can play Survival Mode how it was made to be, but there is still this unballanced part to it and it bugs me...

Tag Challenge Mode:

Tag Challenge Mode is just what it says. You get to team up with 1 other player (who is always a computer) and you get to fight 20 strong fighters. Sometimes you'll be fighting a single character who is a LOT stronger and has a LOT more hp, but other times you'll be fighting against other tag teams.

The way this works is, you pretty much attack and do as much damage as possible until you start getting low on HP. Once your HP gets so low you will be switched out, the computer will come in to fight, and you'll start to heal in the background. Once you think it's time to go back out you can hit a button and jump back into the fight (which puts your partner up to heal). Really this is how you'll have to win just about EVERY match. You'll have to switch in and out to make sure your characters can heal/stay alive, and hopefully take down the strong fighter.

Early on challenges are actually easy and they give you free lives to come back with if you do die (however there's like a 5 second wait time before you can respawn, and if your partner dies before you can respawn it's game over), but later on challenges give you none what so ever. So yeah, this mode is pretty challenging, but I did find that the Ryu spam works here as well... Even so, I decided to play through the mode using my main, Kasumi.

As I said above, you do unlock costumes in this game for beating different modes as different characters, and really this is the best mode to do that in. By playing the first challenge with each character, you'll be able to take out the fighter very fast AND by doing so you'll be unlocking costumes. It only took me about 10 mins to get every costume by using this trick.

If you beat challenge mode you will unlock a secret character that doesn't show up on your list. Once you finish the mode go hold L+X over random and hit A. Instead of being a random character, you will be the game's secret character, a character who has never appeared in DoA before.

Free Play:

Free Play is your normal VS mode. Pick a character, set the rules, pick a stage, then fight. I really cant explain much about this mode because it's just fighting in a mode that appears in EVERY fighting game ever made.

Training Mode:

Once again, Training Mode is one of them things that just seems to appear in every game out there. You get to pick a character and fight against a training dummy so you can practice your moves and combos. You can set just how the training dummy will attack/move, but I found that the settings were a bit limited.

Training Dummies are set by changing 3 groups of actions. COM Action, COM Reaction, and counters. Pretty much you can set the computer to do set actions (such as puch or kick over and over), you can set how they'll guard, and you can set how they counter. It is pretty limiting, but you can also set a COM level if you want to have a normal fight.

Really the training mode isn't that bad, but I guess I'm just used to other fighters where you can set things like your health, how the COM recovers from a hit, etc.

In training mode you CAN unlock figurines and your damage is kept in your Fight Record, but it's mostly just for practice.

Local Play:

This is really something I shouldn't have to explain as well. If you have friends who also own the game you can use Local Play to fight with them. There is NO download play, so your friends will actually have to own a 3DS and the game if you want to play together.

Internet Play:

Internet Play is the online version of local play. Like most Nintendo games you can either pick from Region or World play, and you'll be put up against random players. There's also a friend battle mode but I haven't got around to messing with it yet (however you can expect it to work just like any other online Nintendo game).

Online there is a ranking system, but currently it is pretty glitchy. The game counts how many battles you have won out of your total battle, it counts how many points you have total (you gain them from winning and lose them for losing), and based on the points it gives you a grade.

Currently I've won 91/157 battles, and I have around 2000 points with a grade E- raking (you start at F, go up to F+, then E-, and so on). So why is my grade still so low? Well this is where the BIG problem with online comes in.

Say you have 3000 + points (like I did) and you're going up against someone. Your plans are to win, get more points and hopefully rank up soon right? Well what would you say if you won then LOST 500 points instead of gaining points? Well it happens. Normally you gain 100 points for winning, and lose 100 points for losing, but a LOT of the time things like this will happen.

Ok so now I'm down to 2500 points right? Cant get too much worse! Well actually, it can. What would you think if you went into your next battle and lost internet connection (even though you have a 100% connection) as soon as the round started? The person you're fighting will gain 0 points but you'll lose 500 + points simply becasue you were the one who disconnected.

The ranking system is glitched, there's random lag at times, and you'll sometimes disconnect just because the game felt like doing it. There are quite a lot of problems...

Even though there are these problems, when the game does work it's fun. I've played 157 battles, won quite a lot of them, but also lost quite a few as well. The game's pretty ballanced (although I have been beaten by spammers), and it's a nice game to kill time with. My only real complaint, besides the ranking system, is the fact that the Wi-Fi switch on the 3DS is also the "QUIT BECAUSE I DONT WANT TO LOSE TO THIS GUY" switch.

A lot of people out there will simply hit that switch right before you get to the "Winner" screen which will cause you to gain no points. If this were never a part of the game, I would have most likely had over 4000 points by now...

Throwdown:

Throwdown is the StreetPass part to the game. If you walk by someone who has StreetPass on you will send your data and they will send you theirs to fight. The game can store up to 8 Throwdowns at a time, but you can also only fight each Throwdown once, so there really is NO reason to save them.

Throwdowns do show up on your online record, and some Throwdowns even come from online as DLC of sorts. I haven't got to mess around with it too much since apparently no one in my area has the game (I even walked through stores and drove through towns looking for people), but I did fight against a DLC Throwdown. From what I can tell, they're a lot stronger computers (which I'm guessing their level is based on the other persons record, but it could be random).

Showcase:

In the Showcase Mode you can view the figurines you have collected in the game. Figurines are given to you at random after you finish different game modes, or even sometimes play online, and there are 999 of them to collect. In the Showcase you can move the cam angle around, to view the figurines that you have collected (you can also change the background).

Really I'm not a fan of this mode since the figurines are just the characters in different poses, but it is something extra you can mess around with. I just wish it were more like Super Smash Bros, where they give you information to go along with the figurines. It would have been a nice touch.

3D Photo Album:

Pictures you take in the Showcase Mode end up here. Really it's no different than what you see in Super Smash Bros Brawl, and it's just for you to look at pictures in 3D. Really there's no other point to it than that lol

Fight Record:

Here is where you can see all your stats in the game. You'll find your Overall Stats (which covers your online ranking, how many matches you've played, your win %, rounds won, winning streaks, and so on). You can also view your Mode Records (how fast it took you to be arcade rounds, how many figurines you've collected, damage you've given in Training mode, and how much you've completed of the tag challenges).
There are also stats that show how many times you've used different types of attacks, how many time's you've taunted, your longest combos, and other little extra stats like that. It also shows you your fastest wins with a character (my fastest win is 00' 00" 00 as Kasumi because someone DCed right before the match started).

Really this is just a place to check out how you've been doing if you really care that much about it. Some of it is pointless, but it's also kind of cool to see.

Options:

The Option Mode in the game is actually pretty limited. You can listen to Audio Voices (unlocked if a character beats a mode in Survival Mode), change the Launguage, control settings, you can change your Nickname, change the Street and SpotPass settings, and you can delete your save data to start over.
Yeah there really isn't too much I can say about the options mode.

DLC:

Currently DoA is getting REAL DLC every single day for the next month. Everyday you turn on your 3DS you'll find that one of your characters will have a 100% brand new costume to pick from! Right now there are only plans for one set of DLC, but every DLC costume is marked as "DLC Costume 1," it's a pretty big hint that there will be more to come in the future.

If you don't have the game yet but dont want to miss out on the DLC, well dont worry. After the first round is over a second round will be starting for the same DLC, however that will be the final round. If you miss the DLC a second time, it's missed forever.

The 3D Effect:

The 3D Effect is the last thing I want to talk about, but it might have been the first thing you wanted to know. Well, sorry about that!

Anyway the 3D Effect is mostly sunken in, but sometimes things DO pop out at you (such as fits coming out at you during the Winners pose). The 3D does look nice, and it does help increase the quality of the graphics (things seem a bit plain looking without the 3D), but there is a down side to it. When the 3D is off the game runs at 60 FPS, but it runs at 30 FPS when it's on. So really it's up to you to decide if you want to use it. When I'm playing offline I tend to have the 3D on, but online I keep it off to keep the game running a lot smoother.

On the home screen (when selecting modes) you can also see different arenas on the top screen. Sure you can just look at them in 3D, but the game also makes use of the 3DS' gyro so you can actually move the screen around to look around the area. It's pretty limited, but it is pretty cool (it's just that since you're moving it around, the 3D effect just wont work).

Ending:

So what do I think about DoA Dimensions? Well I really liked it, but if you should get it is really up to you. If you like the past DoA games, or even the Virtua Fighter games, I'd say get it. If you like fighting games in general this could also be a good buy for you since it IS a fighting game, and it could also be a nice change. Really you cannot compare this game to Street Fighter, or BlazBlue CS2 since all 3 games are a style of their own, but in my eyes that's a good thing.

I'd tell everyone to go out and get this game, but there are people out there who just don't like fighting games. If you're one of them people you COULD TRY this game out, or maybe go try out one of the older ones, but really this game just isn't for you. If you're someone who would like to get into a fighting game but you're worried about learning all them combos, dont worry about it! DoA is a pretty easy game to pick up, and you'll be able to fight with the pros in no time. Just use common since, and you'll be ok.
I give the game a 4/5 since it does have quite a few problems, but I feel that the good out did the bad for the most part. Either way I marked this down as one of my favorite fighters.

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