REVIEW: Kara no Shoujo (2008)

Visual Novels are often the very hardest games in the world to critically analyse. The reason for this is as bright as day: They have pretty much no gameplay. They're mainly meant to be played for story (or in the case of anything by 07th Expansion, meant for atmosphere). But what if a game had such a brilliantly written story, that choosing choices becomes something almost impossible, due to your gut feeling telling you "this is wrong" but your head telling you "this is right".

That's how I felt playing Innocent Grey's masterpiece, Kara no Shoujo (The Girl in the Shell)

Kara no Shoujo is the story of a fear-gripped, post-war Tokyo, Japan in the year 1956. Feeling tired from the usual thugs and gangs that have been popping up around the place, Reiji Tokisaka is a pretty bored man. One day, his former cop buddy, Uozumi comes over to his office and tells Reiji about a case that "might interest him". All around Tokyo, there have grizzly murders occurring involving girls from ages 15-19, who have all had one of their limbs amputated. Each girl also has a black, crushed egg implanted into their uterus. It's also implied that the girl was involved in some sort of sexual activity, but not any form of Rape. As Reiji Tokisaka, it's your job to figure out the mystery behind the Black Egg of Neanis murders, by picking choices that affect the story in multiple ways. Something I will always admire about Kara no Shoujo is that it is a game that is not afraid to take a risk whenever it needs to. This is one of the most evocative and engaging game stories I have played in some time, and I must say, I am happy that the people over at MangaGamer gave this game the translation it deserves. Kara no Shoujo is not afraid to tell you that it's full of obscene and questionable content, but it's a piece of art in of itself. The game contains themes of lesbianism, teacher-student romantic relationships, gore and a lot of sexual themes, but it's not used in any sort of fan service or pornographical way. It's by far the greatest and most down-to-earth game story around, due to it;s characters. These aren't characters with set personalities: you shape the world, and therefore, the characters along with the story. What one character may find sexy in one story, they may find disgusting in another. It's all about the route you take and the choices you make. It's almost like a journey into one's own heart, and into one's morality. It's one of the most daring, graceful and out of this world plots I have ever experience from any story in any medium ever.

As with any Visual Novel, gameplay in Kara no Shoujo is (almost) as simple as it gets. You are offered a list of choices, each one of them impacts the story in one way or another. The game does throw a curveball at you every now and again though. Every once in a while, you'll have to do some investigation at a crime scene by examining the scene itself or examining a dead body. Another thing the game likes to throw at you is the Phoenix Wright-esque cross-examination sections. These require you rto pay close atention to character profiles and evidence gathered at crimes scenes as Reiji tries to figure out the mystery. Also, as a tip, play the game through first without a walkthrough and then beat it with one. Trust me on that one. As a whole, the gameplay is excellent for a visual novel, and average for a typical game, so it does what it's supposed to I guess.

Visually, the game is better looking than pretty much every visual novel ever made minus the Days series by 0verflow. This game's major theme is art, and I can certainly see why the development team chose that as the theme of the game. It's an absolutely stunning piece of technology that shows us how detailed and realistic the anime art style can be at times. I love the presentation of this game to death, speaking of which...

The soundtrack. The goddamn soundtrack. Oh my God, I just can't even explain how beautiful and amazing this game's soundtrack is. It is, without a doubt, the best sounding Visual Novel soundtrack I've ever heard. It's perfect right from the get go, witha captivating yet hopeless title theme which really sets the mood right for the game. It's a perfectly complimenting soundtrack and I just adore it.

I will not deny this now: Kara no Shoujo is certainly not for everyone, due to some highly questionable content. But it's that highly questionable content that makes the game full of emotional moments and some amazing writing. If you can withstand everything this game throws at you, I honestly think that you will love Kara no Shoujo, not as a game or a visual novel, but as a metaphor for the cruelty of the human race, a race that lives in an oh so tragic world...

Story: 10

Gameplay: 10

Graphics: 10

Sound: 10

Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR KARA NO SHOUJO: 10/10

A Masterpiece.

REVIEW - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)

Games....games have changed. In the last 14 years, it's become less about being unique and having an amazing gameplay concept and more about seeing which game can draw in the most money by being as generic as possible ( See Every Call of Duty game released after 2010). It's an endless cycle, and sure as sure can be, gaming is slowly becoming more mainstream in the wrong kind of way in my opinion. However, This past generation has produced three amazingly good and unique games. The already reviewed and stunning Tales of Xillia, today's game and a game I'll review next time. What am I reviewing today you may ask?

Konami's final chapter (chronologically) of Solid Snake's life, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

It is the year 2014, five years after the Big Shell went under in New York City during Sons of Liberty. Due to his status as a clone, Solid Snake - at the Age of 42 - has begun rapid age acceleration. Since the events of MGS2, things, specifically the way the world works, are different. In the opening scene, Solid Snake gives us a monologue describing the situation: 

"War has changed. It's no longer about nations, ideologies or ethnicity. It's an endless series of proxy battles, fought by mercenaries and machines. War, and its consumption of life, has become a well-oiled machine. War has changed. ID tagged soldiers carry ID tagged weapons, use ID tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their abilities. Genetic control. Information control. Emotion control. Battlefield control. Everything is monitored, and kept under control. War has changed. The age of deterrence has become the age of control. All in the name of averting catastrophe from weapons of mass destruction. And he who controls the battlefield, controls history. War has changed. When the battlefield is under total control, war... becomes routine." - Old Snake

This is all the doing of the Patriots, the organization bent on ruling the world by "creating context" and censoring the world. Someone who wants to get rid of the System the Patriots run is none other than General Pain-in-the-ass Liquid Ocelot, who wants to take over the world by destroying their AI's. Snake is sent out on a mission by the United Nations to stop Liquid at all costs, and as secondary objectives from Otacon and Raiden (who has now become a Ninja) he must destroy the System with a virus and take care of a former friends daughter. The story...is truly something else. I've commented before on how game narratives can be about true struggle, but nothing quite on the level as this. You're an old tired war dog, who's final mission is the task of saving the world. The game's final act actually portray's this in a brutal and tortuous way, but it's also fulfilling too. It brings everything full circle with every character in the Metal Gear Universe, even people who were minor before this game have some significance now like Mei Ling. It's an amazing story and a fine conclusion o one of the most confusing yet astounding game stories since the industry began.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is similar to Snake Eater in terms of it's gameplay, although of course there are differences. While stealth is still a viable option and the game encourages you to use stealth, the gameplay is actually a bit more action based than anything. This is due to the gun launderer, Drebin. Due to the way that the economy works, Guns are I.D tagged to a soldier via nanomachines. When Snake picks up an I.D Tagged weapon, he sells it to Drebin who unlocks the gun for Snake to use. Drebin also sells a bunch of after market guns and ammo too, and since points are extremely easy to accumulate, you're going to spend the majority of your time shooting enemies in the face for the lols. It's this more action-oriented style of play that kinda makes MGS 4 Lose a bit of it's nostalgic charm, but at around Act 3 Stealth starts to become more needed although the action still drowns it out. The camouflage system has been updated thanks to the OctoCamo system. The suit automatically detects environment patterns and shapes and changes it's design to match that of the surface it's touching. With that said, Stealth is again dumbed down a bit in order to encourage more action oriented gameplay. One thing I do love about this game however is it's customizability. You can customize most guns wdown to everything minus the colour and gun performance. You can attach a Shotgun to the bottom of your M4, with a Laser Sight, Suppressor and an ACOG sight to boot. There is so much depth to this system that you'll be economizing for ages trying to save up for that one part you need to increase your accuracy with a weapon or trying to see which attachments you prefer on your gun. You also can download songs, Camo and guns off of the MGS 4 Extras menu for free, which is Konami's way of saying thanks for playing. I love it when developers do that in their games. Overall, I think it's extremely fun, but the stealth is a bit too muted for a Metal Gear game.

I think it's hard to say that this game looks anything butt stunning. Until this game came out, people were doubting he power of the PlayStation 3. Sure, Uncharted looked nice and all but there was nothing really impressive until this beast came along. it's a similar story to Metal Gear Solid 2: it's the attention to detail that matters the most here. You'll be walking around and one minute you walk on top of a counter and then a glass bottle smashes and alerts a nearby guard. Meanwhile, the glass bottles contents are leaking out everywhere, staining the carpets and walls. The environments look simply beautiful, from the dreary and drab Middle East, to the lush South American Jungle to the harsh snowfields of Shadow Moses Island (which makes a glorious HD Comeback), Metal Gear Solid 4 is simply a technical triumph.

One of the ingenious ways that the soundtrack works is the implementation of the Apple iPod, a Gadget that allows you to play music you've acquired via download or on the battlefield. Containing classic tracks from previous games and one of the all time, if not THE all time best Final Boss theme song, there is no other word that can describe this games soundtrack quite like the word masterful. I give full credit to the composer and Sound Director and the terrific job they did here.

As the finale to the greatest over-arching gaming plot in history....how does MGS 4 fare? Well, simply put it has to be one of the greatest games ever made. A plot worthy of the silver screen with identifiable and relatable characters, intense although at times misguided gameplay, AMAZING graphics and sound....MGS 4 has it all. While not perfect, it's damn close to being perfect.

Story: 10

Gameplay: 8

Graphics: 10

Sound: 9.2

Personal Enjoyment: 9.5

FINAL SCORE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS: 9.34/10

REVIEW - Sonic Unleashed (HD, 2008)

Platformer's are probably the easiest types of games to develop, the only hard thing to come up wih really is a unique world with intricate levels. They're fun and easy to pick up and play. So what happens when you take one of the most famous platforming IP's on the planet - which recently suffered from two very poor releases - and add a fuck tonne of speed and God of War to the mix?

The flawed but fun Sonic Unleashed, for Xbox 360 and PS3 (different versions available on Wii and PS2)

Sonic Unleashed takes place in an unknown time after the events of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006). Dr. Eggman is up to his usual schemes and tricks, and Sonic decides to conduct a Solo raid on one of his air fleets, since Sonic is Sonic and raids Eggman's shit all the damn time because Eggman is evil. Sonic decides to become Super and follows Eggman to a very umm...phallic looking ship. Here, Eggman ricks Sonic into believing that he's changed his ways, and uses a machine to extract power out of the Chaos Emeralds. This has a effect on Sonic, as it turns him into a Werewolf-esque creature known as Sonic the Werehog. Eggman uses the Emeralds power to fire a cannon at the planet below, breaking it up into several pieces. Eggman shoots Sonic - and the Emeralds - out the window to the planet below. Sonic wakes in Apotos with a creature who has amnesia. Later in town, due to his love for Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream, Sonic names the guy "Chip". Your objective during the game is to restore the planet to it's former self and stop whatever plan Dr. Eggman is hatching. Sonic Unleashed is a good plot for a Sonic game, but that's not saying a lot. It's pretty formulaic but it's unique for the series.

Gameplay is split into two sections: Daytime levels as Sonic the Hedgehog and nighttime levels as Sonic the Werehog.  During the day, Sonic is what you know him to be: a blue jet straight out of hell itself. The formula was completely overhauled from the previous game, changing from the exploration heavy Sonic Adventure style to a much more linear, compact and speed focused game. What we get is the fastest Sonic game to date, with an absolute unmatched sense of speed that no other game - even racing games - dare to match. With that being said however, Sonic Unleashed does feel like a Racing game a lot of the time, due to the linearity of the levels and the fact that when you boost, you are invincible. The level design can be amazing at some points (See Savannah Citadel and Windmill Isle) and complete shit the next (See: Empire City and Cool Edge). It's very inconsistent but it's still really Goddamn fun.

At night, the game becomes something entirely different. The Werehog levels place you in control of Sonic the Werehog, who's gameplay style is far more based around Platforming and Combat. The Werehog - as you level him up - can be a real blast at times, with flashy combo's and exhilarating attacks. This comes at the cost of real good level design though. The Werehog's levels can last from 10-40 minutes depending on player skill. Hell, one level which uses both Hedgehog and Werehog Sonic can last OVER AN HOUR. For a series that prides itself on speed, that's not a very good thing. The werehog is a fun idea, but executed poorly. I wish the levels were more professionally designed!

Graphically, Sonic Unleashed is hands down the best looking game in the Sonic franchise.The new Hedgehog Engine looks wonderful. Character Models are stunning, and the environments are beautifully detailed and very colourful, each with it's own atmosphere and personality (well, with the locations being based on real places that can be expected.). However, the framerate is an issue. Sonic Unleashed technically runs at 60 Frames Per Second, but since there's so much going on on screen, the game never runs at 60 at all. Sometimes the Framerate drops to 10 FPS and that is an issue that can actually cause damage if your playing the Xbox 360 version, due to it's lower processing power.

 Sound wise, Sonic Unleashed is just fantastic. Voice acting is top notch, with a terrific performance from Jason Griffith as Sonic. The music is one of the all time best soundtracks in gaming, with Jungle Joyride - Night being my personal favourite. With oriental, bombastic, calming and fast paced tracks, Sonic Unleashed contains something for everyone.

Overall, while extremely flawed, Sonic Unleashed is one of the best and most refreshing platformers released in years. Sure, fans give it a tonne of slack and it got very poor reviews, but honestly, the game is good in it's own right. I personally am not a Sonic fan anymore, but Unleashed is the one game I keep coming back to the most for fun. It's got a tonne of problems like framerate issues, a semi-boring plot and inconsistent levels, but give it a try. You may enjoy it.

Story: 5
Gameplay: 6.5
Graphics: 8
Sound: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 8.5

FINAL SCORE FOR SONIC UNLEASHED: 7.6/10