Import Review: ICO/Shadow of the Colossus Limited Box (PS3)

A special collection of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus is going to be released in the States on September 27^th, but it already came out here in Japan on the 22^nd. As such, we've already had a full day to enjoy the awesomeness of this collection. As if that wasn't enough, Japan gets an exclusive special edition collector's box, which we, of course, also managed to get our hands on. Since the box set is rather expensive to import, we would like to share some pictures and impressions of both the games and the packaging with you. Hopefully the vicarious experience will satisfy your curiosity about the collector's edition, and motivate you more to pick up these amazing, artistic games when they come out in your area.

 First, let's talk about the collector's edition packaging, shall we? It comes in a nice, hard box cover, as the games are on separate discs, unlike the US version which has both on one blu-ray. The box also holds a special book, filled with interviews, design sketches, and artwork from both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. (Quick side note: Shadow of the Colossus is actually called Wander and the Colossus in Japan, a play on Wanderer.) The box itself is covered in various pieces of artwork, with the names of both games on top in an almost see-through laminate that catches the light in appealing ways.

The best thing about the games being on separate discs is that they have separate instruction manuals. This might sound crazy, but they are the most beautiful manuals we have ever seen. The Ico one is filled with sketches, and is laid out like a story book. The play instructions are also given in a storybook fashion, with directions on which button to press at what time actually being woven into the narrative structure. 

The Shadow of the Colossus manual is even more impressive, as it has fold-out pages. As you flip through it, you see a beautiful piece of art, then you fold out a piece of paper, look at the instructions on how to play the game, then re-fold it and turn the page, and the artwork has changed. It's hard to really explain in just words, so hopefully the pictures will help you understand it a bit more. The fact that this manual is like nothing else we've ever seen, however, should be understandable without pictures. 

Moving on to the included book, it's chock full of information. It starts with pages and pages of Fumita Ueda's original sketches for the colossi and other design elements, storyboards for Ico and Shadow, and other character drawings and tests. At the end of those, as a special treat, a lithograph of two original art pieces Ueda did for Shadow of the Colossus and Ico are included, which you can see below. The paper the lithos are on, and the art in person, is so beautiful, it's indescribable. 

Next is a multiple page, in-depth interview with Fumita Ueda, the creator, himself. He discusses what path brought him to this point in his life, where he intends to go from here, and other various things about his life and his art. They then include pictures of his bookshelf, and he discusses his various influences. If you wanted to, you, too, could live life exactly as this incredible creator! They even include a timeline of what movies/books/pieces of art were most influencing him at which point of time during the production of Ico and Shadow. 

After the interview, there are pages and pages about how Ueda and his team work, including a time-flowchart of what a normal work-day (12p to 9p, lucky ducks) looks like for them. They show what tools and technology they use to make the games, and provide a timeline of what the development schedule for both Ico and Shadow looked like. There are also interviews with some of the main staff on Ueda's team, but they are shorter than the interview with the man himself. The last thing in the artbook is a few pages of screenshots from Fumita Ueda's upcoming game, The Last Guardian.

As far as the games themselves go, well, they're gorgeous. Don't get us wrong, they aren't as pretty as The Last Guardian, nor any other game actually developed for current-gen systems. However, considering that Ico was originally supposed to be a PSOne title which got re-tooled at the last minute to be a PS2 title, and that Shadow of the Colossus is also up there in age, they are impressive. They didn't re-do the game from the ground up, but they made the existing graphics look as beautiful as they possibly could, and they did an amazing job. Besides enjoying an HD bump and the inclusion of optional 3D graphics (which we unfortunately couldn't test, not having a 3D capable TV), the ICO Team went back and bumped up the textures and polygon count in the games. The difference is immediately noticeable; the graphics look crisp and clear, the colors pop, and the characters have visible, recognizable emotions flit across their face as they experience the events in the story. Perhaps more impressive than the graphics, however, is the inclusion of an HD 7.1 audio sound track. If you thought Ico's world was immersive before, imagine it in surround sound. Certain scenes, usually ones with large stone mechanisms moving, were so intense my speakers almost rumbled themselves off my bookcases. The colossi moving is also incredibly impressive; it almost seemed like one of them was about to materialize into reality and step on my house.

Shadow of the Colossus is much the same as you remember it, as far as gameplay goes. However, Ico is noticeably different. For the collection, they used the European/Japanese version of Ico. Why, you ask? The American version was actually released 9 months earlier than EU/JPN versions, and as such those versions had better textures, more polish, and extra features. Those extra features are carried on into the PS3 release. For example, when you beat the game, all of Yorda's and the Queen's strange language is translated, so you can understand what they are saying on subsequent play-throughs. More exciting, however, is the inclusion of the 2-player mode; upon completing the game for the first time, you can choose to re-play the game with a friend taking on the role of Yorda.

As far as the games themselves go, we don't feel the need to really review them. They are classics, and the best argument there has ever been for the 'games as art' debate. If you played them before, when they were originally released on the PS2, then you already know this. Be assured that seeing Ico and Shadow in glorious HD graphics will warm your heart, and re-affirm the love you had for these games when you first played them. If you did not play them when they first released, or if you only managed to play Shadow (Ico was ridiculously hard to find on the PS2), then you need to buy these. Even if atmospheric action-adventure puzzle games aren't what you usually play, play these. They are the best examples of what video games are capable of achieving as an art medium, and you will be better for having played them. We personally hope that all of you will support these games by buying them on September 27^th, and at $40 for the two of them, you can hardly find a better deal for your time. You won't regret it. We know we don't. We sincerely hope you enjoyed this look at the Japan-exclusive collector's edition box of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Submitted by: Sherrie Blackwell and Aaron McKeever

Import Review: The Last Story (Wii)

'The Last Story' is the latest RPG from MistWalker Studios, which also brought us 'Lost Odyssey' for the 360. Its founder is the 'father of Final Fantasy', Hironobu Sakaguchi, so it's hardly lacking in pedigree. It's exclusively for the Wii console, and as of writing this, exclusive to Japan. Operation Rainfall, a massive online campaign to bring 'The Last Story', 'Pandora's Tower' and 'Xenoblade' to the States, is trying to change that, but whether or not they will have any success remains to be seen.

The game immediately throws you into the thick of things, starting you off with a stage that serves as both the basic introduction of the story and a tutorial. You play as Elza, a young man who is part of a mercenary squad, battling through an island infested with lizard-men and re-animated skeletons in hopes of finding artifacts and riches in the crypts there. During the course of this tutorial level, you and your group fall into a skeleton ambush attack. Your female companion is killed in the battle that follows, and in his rage and grief, with images of his brutally slaughtered mother filling his head, Elza raises his head and screams. What he didn't count on, however, was an answer. A presence, a spirit of some kind, residing in the crystal walls of the cave they find themselves trapped in, tells Elza that she's been waiting for a heart like his, filled with loneliness and grief, and that she will give him the power to protect what's important to him. Elza then receives that power, represented by some sort of glowing arm tattoo, and immediately uses it to resurrect his friend and kill the remaining skeletons single-handedly. Thus ends your tutorial, and your adventure begins.

The world is interesting, as mercenaries are looked down upon as some sort of second-class citizens, which provides an interesting dynamic. Random villagers you meet later on will openly heckle you, or recoil in disgust, when they find out what you are. As the world seems to be prejudiced against you, that makes the relationship between Elza and the other members in your mercenary group that much more important. When you are at inns or other bases, you can have various conversations with the other mercenaries, with even the occasional opportunity to choose between two different answers, which effect how they respond to you later on. Not that deeply, however, as the conversations are still rather linear and straight-forward, and are no where near the level of 'Dragon Age: Origins' or even the 'Mass Effect' conversation wheel in terms of depth and consequences.

The character design is quite nice, but it is a little typical Japanese RPG looking, and definitely shows the 'Final Fantasy' influence from Sakaguchi being at the helm. What's neat about the characters, though, is that you can change the colors of each individual piece of clothing on whoever is currently in your party, making it that much more personal to your individual tastes. The monster design is good as well, but the bosses are what really stand out.  There wasn't a single boss that didn't make me say 'whoa....that's pretty cool....' as soon as it revealed itself.

The most interesting aspect of this game to me, though, is the combat system. It's not your traditional RPG turn-based combat battle game at all. You only control Elza, while the other three members of your party are computer controlled, at least during the single-player campaign. Their AI is surprisingly well-behaved, and actually (gasp!) helpful at times, which is a nice change from what one usually sees. It's especially impressive since 'The Last Story' is not a turn-based RPG, but an action one. You, as Elza, and the rest of your party are free to roam around the area, attacking swarms of enemies that are also quite active in their movements. Slabs of rock laying around the map can be jumped over, and even used as cover from enemy attacks. Little arrows of light (think Final Fantasy XII's combat system for the closest example) point out from your party members to show which enemy they are currently focused on, and vice versa; the arrows also show which enemies are focused on attacking your characters, especially useful when they decide to all gang up on your mage. The arrows are very helpful in the chaos that can sometimes ensue during battle, but they somehow manage to remain unobtrusive, so don't concern yourself about that.

You control Elza's movement with the Nunchuck's control stick, and his basic sword attacks are carried out automatically when you are close enough to an enemy. Special and ranged attacks are not automatic, but have to be brought up by pressing their corresponding buttons, with ranged being controllable either with the Wiimote's motion control, or with the Nunchuck's control stick. You can also choose to play the game with a classic controller, if the Wiimote isn't your thing. Special attacks and movements are unlocked as you level up, such as the slash ability, where you can crouch behind a fallen slab of rock or other cover, and run out and slash your sword across the mid-section of any unfortunate enemy that happens to wander by.

You also have the ability to occasionally order your other party members to perform special actions to help you out during combat. My personal favorite was when I ordered the mage in my party to blow up a near-by stone bridge covered with archers, after which I laid down suppressing arrow fire to keep him protected while he charged up his spell. The bridge blew up quite well, and showered the enemies I was fighting with broken rock, killing them too. Elza also has his weird little magic tattoo ability, which when activated makes him do more attack damage, and allows him to revive dead players, like some sort of walking Phoenix Down. Sound cool? You have no idea. The game is incredibly fun, and what's even better is that it can be played co-op over the internet (it can not be played co-op offline on a single console, which is a shame). Even though the AI is wonderful, from how the characters interact and work together in battle, I imagine playing online with friends would be even better.

It will be a downright shame if this game doesn't make its way to the States at some point. While I admit I initially picked the game up just to try it out and write about it, I found myself continuing to play it, even with my busy schedule, just because I enjoyed it so much.The story, while perhaps a little cookie-cutter Japanese RPG, is interesting, the characters are funny and engaging, and the combat is unique and just plain fun. There is a shortage of good third party games on the Wii as it is, and an even larger shortage of good RPGs on the system. As the Wii U is also supposed to support original Wii games, Nintendo still has time to make a lot of fans happy with this amazing game. Just last week, it was announced that 'The Last Story' will be released in Europe sometime in 2012, but there is still no word on any love for North America. I wish Operation Rainfall every success with their efforts, and hope that they are eventually rewarded with an English version of 'The Last Story' that everyone in the US can enjoy.

Submitted by: Sherrie Blackwell

Review: Catherine (PS3/360)

Like Catherine and Katherine, our love for this game can't be restricted to just one person, so we had two reviewers give their takes on this amazing game! The first review was done before the game was released in America, using a Japanese copy, while the second one was reviewed after its US release. That being said, let the review commence!

                                                                                                                                                

Atlus, renowned publisher of edgy, interesting RPGs such as the Persona series, has finally released a new game to their adoring public. Interestingly enough, Catherine, for the PlayStation 3, is not an RPG. While still edgy and interesting, Catherine is an adult, violent, slightly disturbing, completely addicting puzzle game.

Following the story of a young man named Vincent, the game plunges you into his life, quickly setting up the basic information you need to know. Young men across the country have mysteriously been found dead in their beds a few days after telling their friends they've been seeing weird, scary dreams. Now, you, as Vincent, are having them too. Throw into all this that you are being stalked by a sexy blonde girl with the same name as your girlfriend of five years, and Vincent starts really having problems.

The game is half puzzle, half relationship sim, with a little bit of horror and suspense thrown in. The relationship sim part comes from your daily interactions with your friends, Katherine (your girlfriend of 5 years who is pressuring you to get married) and Catherine (the aforementioned sexy blonde girl). How you play the game, and what conversation choices you make, determines whether you end up with one girl or the other, or alone. The puzzle part comes at night, as Vincent goes to bed. Every night, you are thrust into a nightmare where you have to climb a pile of blocks that are constantly falling in order to get to the top and escape as fast as you can.

The gameplay is simple, as all you do is literally pull and push blocks around. As the game progresses, you run into different types of blocks, some which can't be moved, or explode when you stand on them, that increase the difficulty. You also learn different tricks and patterns to pull blocks into in order to climb up the tower faster, but you don't get any new abilities or powers to help you as you progress. Despite this seemingly simple and austere gameplay, it is amazingly addictive, and surprisingly nerve-wracking. Finding yourself frantically pulling blocks, trying to figure out how to climb up higher, while the blocks almost immediately under you just fell into a bottomless pit, is prime sweaty-palm inducing stuff. For added stress, each boss level usually finds you being chased by a monster straight out of your nightmares, literally, as you climb... just in case you weren't stressed out enough whenever you got stumped.

A perfect complement to the frantic gameplay is the story. Starting out almost serene, it slowly builds in pace, tension, and suspense until you get to the end of the game. Eventually, all your answers about the mysterious deaths and where your stalker come from are answered, but how the game ends is up to the choices you make. There's about 8 different endings you can get, some better than others. The story is supported the whole way through by beautiful graphics in-game, and amazing anime cut-scenes for the cinemas, which will make even a casual Persona fan froth at the mouth imagining what Persona 5 will look like on the PS3.

This game was originally not supposed to ever come out in the US, but it has sold so well in Japan that Atlus has decided to release it in the States this July. Hopefully it will stay just the same as the Japanese version, as there is no where to really improve on this amazingly fun and interesting game. Pick it up as soon as you get the chance, and get lost in the world of Catherine.

Submitted By: Sherrie Blackwell (Employee)

                                                                                                                                            

When faced with a game as unique as this one, it's hard to describe its genre to others. When you say the words "it's a dating sim/puzzle game", they give you the weirdest look you will have ever seen, but in the case of Catherine, well...... that's what the game is. Catherine is developed and published by ATLUS, renowned makers of quirky RPGs like the Persona series. In fact, Catherine originally started out as a test for the PS3/360 hardware for Persona 5, but it truly blossomed into its own with its unique visuals and its intense and intriguing story.

As stated earlier, this game was originally conceived as a test for Persona 5, meaning that the same brilliant minds behind the Persona series were working on this game, and all of the stylistic visuals and dark story interactions are up to par with that series. The game puts you in the shoes of Vincent Brooks, a 32 year old man who can't seem to make up his mind about what he wants to do with his life, especially his love life. His girlfriend of 5 years, Katherine, is constantly pressuring him to get married, but he just can't seem to take the plunge. Then late one night he has a fateful meeting with another woman, Catherine, who just so happens to have the same name as his girlfriend, and madness ensues. From there the plot twists and turns more than an M. Knight Shyamalan movie! Along the way, you can make decisions on what to say to other characters that effects a "morality meter" that can determine the overall outcome of the game, as well as which 'Catherine' you end up with. That being said, there are 8 different endings to the game, so your decisions really effect how happy you'll be when the credits screen rolls.

The gameplay is... well, it's a dating sim/puzzle game, so suffice to say it has a very unique play style. Similar to the Persona games, you spend your days interacting with other characters, helping them with their problems and having various discussions with Catherine/Katherine. At night, you have nightmares in which you must climb a tower. However, just climbing a tower would be boring without the threat of death close behind, so you are quickly informed that if you die in the dream, you die in real life! This is bad news for Vincent, so in order to navigate your way up these towers you must move blocks around to create a path to the top, all the while dodging the enemies and obstacles in your way trying to hinder your progress. It is a very challenging process, and on the hardest difficulty there is a huge sense of accomplishment when you've completed a puzzle, because hardest must mean insane difficulty to ATLUS. Finally, once you've beaten the game, you can compete in multiplayer head-to-head matches, as well as a mode called "Babel", which is a challenge mode of sorts with 4 increasingly difficult levels. Just in case the normal game wasn't enough of a challenge for you, that is.

All in all, Catherine is an incredibly interesting and "Qbert-ian" journey that is well worth multiple play-throughs to see what comes of Vincent, or, more accurately, what you choose to have happen to him. If the quality and beauty of Catherine's graphics and storytelling are any indication, then Persona 5 should be a real treat as well.

Submitted by: Tom Ferko (Employee)