Amazon.com The Last Remnant for the Xbox 360 is the first role-playing game in a new series from Square Enix. This game delivers breathtaking visuals only possible on next-generation platforms, a mysterious storyline full of powerful artifacts, and a massive battlefield where you'll be surrounded by countless foes and friends alike.
Join Rush and David as they battle the Conqueror's Army and search for Irina. View larger.
Castanea, the Conqueror, and Roeas lead the enemy's search for the Remnants View larger.
Orders in battle are given in a command-select style. View larger.
Morale plays a role in a unions ability to inflict damage. View larger.
The Story Unfolds In ancient times mysterious artifacts, referred to as Remnants, were discovered all over the world. People used these objects for their awesome powers -- a choice that eventually caused a rift in the world's balance. A thousands years later, the story of The Last Remnant begins.
Rush Sykes and his sister Irina are children of scientists researching the esoteric Remnants. One day, Irina is kidnapped right before Rush'seyes. Determined to rescue his sister, Rush joins forces with David Nassau, the marquis of a small city-state called Athlum. Together they are determined to pursue the criminals and save Irina from her strange captors.
Meanwhile, the world is thrust into confusion as ruling powers bicker over dividing the Remnants' powers. Soon a mysterious man appears calling himself the Conqueror. His presences escalates tensions as everyone eagerly attempts to answer the question: Into whose hands will the power of the Remnants fall? Before he knows it, Rush becomes wrapped up in this international power struggle and realizes that he is somehow connected to the enigmatic Conqueror.
Allies and Enemies Before her kidnapping, Rush Sykes lived a peaceful life with his 14-year-old sister, Irina Sykes. Irina is a cheerful, resilient girl who stays upbeat even during the toughest of times. Some mysterious power seems to rest within here, but she herself has no understanding of what it is or what it can do. David Nassau, the 19-year-old who rules over the state of Athlum, spends his days working towards better his homeland. Although he decides to join Rush on his quest to rescue Irina, his motives are his own. Emma Honeywell, the matriarch of the Honeywells clan, Plagus, Blocter, and Torgal round out the allies.
The man known only as the Conqueror and his minions are eager to seize the Remnants throughout the lands. His origin is shrouded in mystery, but it appears that something strange and elusive connects this villain to Rush. Enamored with the Conqueror, Roeas has declared her eternal allegiance to him and acts as the ambassador of the Conqueror's Army. Although beautiful in form and voice, Roeas is sadistic and menacing on the battlefield. Originating from a large-bodied species with pronounced fighting abilities, Castanea is Roeas right-hand-man. He rarely speaks or expresses himself, so it is difficult to decipher his thoughts -- although Roeas seems to understand him easily. In addition, the strongest fighters in the Conqueror's army are referred to as The Seven. The Seven lead their own troops and report to Roeas and Castanea.
Combat Systems: Morale, Battle Unions, and Deadlock Battles are fought between multiple friendly and enemy unions -- groups of up to five characters who fight together. Players give commands to unions as a whole, who then carry out the actions. Orders in battle are given in a command-select style that is familiar to most role playing gamers. However, The Last Remnant commands are not delivered with standard terms, such as "Item" or "Magic." Instead, players control unions with specialized commands, such as "Slam 'em with status ailments!" or "Do area attacks from afar!" Available commands change depending on the current battle situation or the distance and positions of friendly and hostile unions.
The Last Remnant adds a Morale component to the gameplay. Players can check current morale via the gauge across the top of the screen. The higher the morale, the more damage is dealt and less damage is taken by friendly unions, and vice-versa. When friendly and enemy unions go toe-to-toe and engage in melee combat, they enter a state called Deadlock. Once in Deadlock, the two unions must fight each other until one union has been completely destroyed.
Enemy monsters roam the land where they can be avoided or engaged at will. When battle is initiated, the scene changes to a specialized battle map where friend and foe can fight it out. Horizontal lined icons labeled A, B, C, etc. represent the on-field battle unions. Players choose which hostile union they wish to attack on this screen. The Last Remnant offers a wide variety of commands that focus on dealing damage or executing defensive maneuvers. Knowing which commands are most suitable for each situation is the key to winning battles.
The Last Remnant delivers breathtaking visuals, a mysterious storyline full of powerful artifacts, and a massive battlefield.
REVIEW
The real review Ok people i have read alot of these reviews but let me tell you how this game really is. Let me first start off by saying if you don't have a hard drive dont get it. I repeat if you don't have a hard drive or enough space to download it to your hard don't get it because this game is the most choppiest game ever in this era of games but if you can download it to your hard get this game you will not be upset trust me. This game is insanely hard it might not seem that way at first but some creatures you run are not a joke. But overall this games depends on if you can install it on your hard drive or not.
Traverse a seamless, expansive world in Infinite Undiscovery. Mistaken for a renowned hero, Capell is thrust into a conflict to sever the chains that bind the moon to his world. Rise against the wicked Order of Chains in fierce real-time combat with a party formed from 18 characters. But beware, not all battles are won by force. The most obvious solution is rarely the right move. Shatter the chains and release the Order's grip on the world.
REVIEW
My husband loves this game I bought this game for my husband. He loves it. The graphics are incredible.
In 1930s Europa, tensions rise to an all-time high between the continent's two distinct military powers - the Empire and the Federation. In the struggle for ultimate supremacy, the Second Europa War (E.W.II) erupts, and Gallia, the small independent nation situated between the two super powers, now faces attack. The Empire's Imperial Army is first to strike Gallia, forcing the young lieutenant Welkin Gunther to pull back his small platoon. As the invading forces charge toward the capital city, Welkin discovers that not only are they outmatched in scale and weaponry, but the enemy army also has Valkyria, an unusually powerful race, in their ranks. As the war rages, the capital city is about to fall to the enemy, but Welkin's unique battle strategies bring hope to his homeland?There may be a chance for Gallia after all. This is Welkin's story.
REVIEW
a must buy game Not much to add that hasn't been said already. This is a beautiful game with a very good design and greatcharacter development. Lots of fun! Every PS3 owner should get this game.
Amazon.comA tale of souls from a futuristic civilization illuminated by the Light of the Crystal, the newest addition to the Final Fantasy series is worthy of the title "next generation." Developed by Square Enix, the eagerly anticipated Final Fantasy XIII features the latest in cutting-edge technology and provides tangible, intuitive controls while delivering seamless transitions between real-time gameplay and stunning in-game cinematics.
Amazon.comFable 2 is the anticipated sequel to the popular original that sold more than 3 million copies. Created by famed game designer Peter Molyneux, Fable 2 for Xbox 360 features an epic story that picks up 500 years after the first game. It offers an open world environment giving players a massive amount of freedom to explore and play as they please, with every decision made contributing to the game itself.
Fable 2
Players: Offline: 1-2 Online: 2
Gameplay Modes: Single player, offline cooperative multiplayer, online cooperative multiplayer.
The new combat system lets you master different fighting styles. View larger.
You are free to roam the world of Albion any way you like. View larger.
Every Choice Has Its Consequences Fable 2 provides players with a truly immersive experience where a virtually limitless number of choices can be made, all of which have their own consequences, making each game unique. When you start the game, you choose either to play the role of a boy or girl, and depending on your choices, the hero will grow up to be tall or short, good or evil. Players can get married and have children; female player characters will become pregnant, which will then be reflected by their physical appearance.
Early in the game, players are presented with a stray dog for a best friend, who will need to be fed and loved, and will accompany the player throughout his or her life. Depending on the player, the dog will change appearance and assist him or her in various ways, such as alerting of impending dangers and attacking enemies.
Players inhabit the world of Albion and are free to roam the land to as they please. Players can use different expressions to communicate with others, such as taunting and laughing, and even belching or farting.
As the players grow, so does Albion, reflecting the choices that were made earlier in the game. Every house, hut, castle, and dungeon can be purchased if the player wishes. Players can buy up all the land in a town and can become mayor, king, and even emperor of the entire land.
Fable 2 presents a dynamic and free-roaming world that doesn't demand a player to take any one set path. At the same time, players seeking a plot line will find an epic story and quest that they can follow if they wish, along with many side adventures.
Fight Using Different Weapons and Magic Fable 2 introduces a new combat system that allows for mastery of hand weapons, such as swords, long range weapons such as cross-bows and guns, and, of course, magic. Players improve at each discipline with time, and can combine different combat styles when they fight. Other advanced design features include tactical positional advantages that can bring new strategic elements into combat.
Bring Other Players into Your World Fable 2 has a multiplayer mode that allows you to bring other players into your own world. Consistent with the rest of the game, the actions of these other players can be permanent and affect your world. You can explore and fight together with these other players, share treasures, and even fight each other.
Note: Fable 2 will not ship with Online Co-op mode. An update with this functionality is rumored to be released shortly after the launch of the game.
Xbox LIVE Arcade Mini-Games Gamers can play minigames through Xbox LIVE Arcade and earn currency that can be used in Fable 2 to purchase weapons, armor, and other items for the hero.
Fable 2 is rated M for having mature content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
Depending on your choices, the protagonist can turn out wildly different -- male, female, good, evil, and more.
REVIEW
Disappointing. Did not live up to expectations after Fable 1. I absolutely loved Fable 1 and eagerly awaited Fable 2 and am disappointed. I was hoping they would make it even deeper more open ended than Fable 1 and improve upon the features that made Fable such a great game. But sadly they didn't.
First off, the story is weak and full of holes. I can appreciate a light-hearted RPG but the story was just poorly written and didn't tie together. Lucien (the villain) was a boring, weak, uninteresting villain. Jack of Blades was far better. The ending is sure to disappoint.
Secondly, it really isn't open-ended. The choices you make have very little impact on the game and it really doesn't matter if you're good or evil, boy or girl. The main storyline was short and easy, and the sidequests weren't very deep. For instance, the assassin's guild quests: I was hoping doing their quests would lead to more interesting quests (similar to the "Dark Brotherhood" from Oblivion) but it was merely "rinse and repeat"-kill unimportant NPC and collect reward, over and over. Same with the Bounty Hounter quests and Slave Rescue.
Most irritating feature for me, the new combat system! In Fable 1 there were far more spells and skills you could use to develop a truly unique, fun character. Fable 2, they did away with a lot of the spells and made the remaining spells very similar to oneanother; no more chain lightning, warrior rage, and protect spells etc... But the most annoying feature of the magic is that you can only use 1 spell per level and you have to *charge up* through all levels (1-5) in order to cast a powerful level 5 spell. I really wanted to play my character as a magic user but it became so inconvenient and boring that I ended up just shooting and slashing my way through enemies and using magic as secondary.
Finally, player immortality has got to go. When you die you should go back to where you last saved it, that's the RPG formula. In Fable 2, you're immortal, you only receive scars when knocked unconscious.
I liked the dog.
Don't get me wrong, Fable 2 is very fun and kept me busy for about a week. But after waiting 4 years since Fable 1 and having high expectations Fable 2 assuredly falls short. Rent it, don't buy it.
Infinate Discovery RPG This is a pretty good Game and Has some new inovative Ideas for the Gameplay. Though the cut scenes are a bit long and sometimes the voice acting cuts out for no reason the game's story line is what helps drive you to continue in this game. The great thing about this game is the ability to make Two and some times Three partys which will act on there own and will succeed based on the groups you made. The connection system is extremly cool as well it alows you to do things such as talk to animals to mind controling enemys its great. The game it self is relativly short Take you about 15-20hrsgame play depending on your Skill level. The great thing about IU is the replay value is high and has 3 diffrent dificulty settings. Easy, Hard, and Infinate mode. A big aspect to the replay is a Tower that has Insane loot and bosses harder and more health then the final boss in the game. I wont spoil anything but lets just say it brings a challenge to a relativly simple RPG. I give this game a 8.5 Out of 10
Amazon.comShin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is a consolerole-playing game (RPG) for Sony's PlayStation 2. Chronologically the sixth installment in the Persona series, Persona 4 is a suspenseful countryside murder mystery with multiple twists and turns in the plot that will have you guessing all the way to the end.
Chronologically the sixth installment in the Persona series, Persona 4 is a suspenseful murder mystery. View larger.
The silent male protagonist wields a two-handed sword weapon. View larger.
Using Mayonaka TV, you can phase into the television set and enter a shadowy world. View larger.
game play and style are similar to Persona 3, but there are plenty of new twists and additions. View larger.
Myth and Occult Mixed with Contemporary Japan Megami Tensei was originally based on the novel series Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani. A major franchise in the RPG genre, MegaTen games take place in the contemporary or near-future Japan, mixing occult and cyberpunk elements. The games feature mythological references from multiple mythologies, and the player is often asked to make moral or philosophical choices that affect the game's storyline and ending.
The silent male protagonist who represents the player in Persona 4 attends Yasogami High School with Chie, Yosuke, and Yukiko. His entire personality and name is decided and portrayed by the player's in-game actions and decisions. He wields two-handed sword type weapons, but unlike Persona 3, he doesn't use alternative weapons.
Mysterious Murders Abound Persona 4takes place in a rural town named Inaba where mysterious murders occur whenever there is fog after heavy rain. The town has a television channel that airs only at midnight called Mayonaka TV, during which it is said that one can see their "other half" while staring at the screen. After hearing about a recent unsolved murder, some characters realize that they had witnessed the murder victim while watching Mayonaka TV.
The protagonist discovers that during midnight when the channel is on, his body can phase into his television set, using the set as a gateway to another worldinfested with shadows. Mayonaka TV and the town murders seem so connected that it's possible that the victims may in fact victims of Mayonaka TV itself. The characters decide to solve the mysterious murders by exploring the hidden world of Mayonaka TV.
Brand-New Yet Familiar game play Persona 4's game play and style are similar to the popular Persona 3. Players familiar with Persona 3 will quickly recognize the social links and dungeon crawling game play, as well as the engine itself. The battles also have some similarities, such asthe One More system, All-out attack, and the AI controlled support characters.
However, unlike Persona 3, characters can be set to take commands from the player, new glasses allow characters to see through the heavy mist inside Mayonaka TV, and tarot cards can be shattered to summon the characters' respective Persona. Other changes include an increase in player stats from three to five, and the removal of health status, allowing players to explore dungeons continuously.
Let the Action Begin Battle-wise, Persona 4 lets you directly control the actions of other party members and continually exploit an enemy's weakness. Post-battle card shuffles have added Arcana Chance, which bring you good or bad status depending on the Arcana. Battles now occur after school instead of at midnight, like in Persona 3, giving the player less time in which to do social activities. This turns out to be significant because Social Links now have a greater effect on battle.
At higher levels, the player's allies progress from occasionally protecting the protagonist from a deathblow, through occasionally offering follow-up attacks, to eventually allow the persona of the corresponding ally to evolve into another persona. And persona can retain or even lose weaknesses and can be immune to certain kind of magic attacks. All allies who have their corresponding Social Link levels maxed out now have a chance to survive an otherwise fatal attack, leaving them with one remaining HP.
REVIEW
Expected No More And No Less This game will mostly appeal to those who enjoy the MegaTen series. As a sequel, it's game-play is almost just like it's predecessors, which is a good thing for those who don't like major changes when it comes to sequels.
You start off as a high school student ( in the manga his name is Souji Seta ) who just transferred from the big city to a small town called Inaba, due to his parents partaking in oversea jobs, thus forcing him to move in with his uncle and younger cousin, Kojima and Nanako.
Later on, a heavy fog sets in the area of Inaba and during one of your classes, your school is dismissed due to an emergency, which ends up being mysterious murder of an announcer woman. Her body was discovered nearby, mutilated and hanging on a TV antenna on the roof of someone's house (Must suck to be the owner of the house). The police investigators are at a lost as they can't seem to figure out how she died or if someone had murdered her, this is because her death was most likely done by a supernatural cause, but the police won't believe that.. They never do. But they gradually run into more murder/homicide cases and all of them show up when it's "foggy" out. Are these cases somehow related with the mysterious fog? ...Maybe. The cases are also somehow related to Television, as a rumor about watching the TV with the screen blank at mid-night on a rainy day, a person will show up on screen ( This is called " the Midnight Channel" ), but you'll get more info on that when you actually play the game. This also has some sort of connection to the murders.
You'll eventually get to the good stuff when you suddenly start to awake to your Persona ( A living entity inside you, or your other self which is a being that basically gives you all your powers in the game. Sadly you don't get to have an Evoker this time, this means no more shooting yourself in the head with a toy gun. Instead, you''ll be breaking Tarot cards that appear out of no where.. ) and at one point you'll have the ability to strangely go into your TV ( Or any TV, but you'll only be using one through out the entire game ). On the other side of the TV is an entirely different world infested with monster-like creatures called Shadows ( Brings back memories of Tartarus from PE3 ) and it's basically up to you and your friends to explore the TV world and find any ways to solve the murder cases and prevent anymore people from dying mysteriously.
Anyways, for game-play:
Battles: You encounter battles the same way as always, as you wander around the TV world there are various forms of shadows lurking about. Either you get to the shadow blob things first by giving them a good whack to the head with whatever weapon you have, or they get you ( this effects being ambushed or having the upper hand with a preemptive attack.) Battles are fought basically the same as in PE3.For those who aren't familiar with previous Persona titles, it's basically turn-based, you have your attack, guard, and special skills. You still have your Rush and all that good stuff, nothing different, also ( I don't remember if you can do this or not in PE3 since I never tried until now) you can chose your party to act on their own (via computer) or you can chose to manually control them, but you'll have to switch battle tactics in order to do that, the default party tactics are always on computer and it's a big help to switch them to manual since they aren't exactly your smartest fighters. It's highly suggested that you take your time and try to NOT avoid battles, since if you're not at a good enough level by the time your get ahead in the game and face a boss, you'll be sorry. )': If you balance out your leveling the game should flow smoothly, but being lazy will end up leaving you frustrated. The battles may get a little repetitive, but all RPGs are like that. Once you get the hang of things (Like getting the enemy's weaknesses down and etc, which will make battles come out easy as pie ) it'll eventually grow on you.
One little nice adjustment in battles is that when you hit an enemy with it's weakness and knock it down ( like a fire element attack if it's weak against fire), and you hit it AGAIN with it's weakness, it'll stun the enemy or make them dizzy, so basically the first weakness strike will knock them down and the second will make them dizzy. Unlike in the previous game, if you hit them with their weakness it'll knock them down, but if you hit them again it'll wake them up out of their stunned/knock-down state...which made no sense whatsoever.
Character Interactivity: Okay here, you actually have to interact with your friends and family ( being a angsty loner won't get you anywhere!).
Most interactivity will launch character sequences and you get to see your character's relationship with other people develop over time ( the more, the better, especially since it effects how strong your Persona is). You have these things called social links, which is basically a link or special bond to certain people you interact with. When you converse or hang out with your friends, saying the right things or making the right choices will make them like your more, thus getting enough points for that, you can level-up these social links which will make your Personas stronger.
The social links are exactly the same as the ones in PE3, the only real difference is that every time you level-up a social link, it doesn't give you this big dramatic sequence where your Persona talks to you in your head and tells you that your bond with x Arcana has strengthened and blah blah blah.. Instead this level-up image with the corresponding Tarot card pops up and says LEVEL UP along with a bar that shows you how much you've leveled that social link until it's maxed out. Also, leveling your social links with party-members will get them to learn new passive abilities like helping you out during battle by snapping you out of rage, or taking a fatal blown for you if your character's about to take a lethal hit. Another new addition is that when you max out social links with your party members, their Persona gets reborn into another Persona. Kind of like a big upgrade.
Music and Sound: .. It's actually pretty good! I already have a lot of the tracks stuck in my head as most of them are pretty catchy. Most voices are bearable, ifnot good. I'm personally fond of the main character's voice and his friend, Yosuke, great voice actors. ( Voiced by Yuri L. AND Johnny B., those guys voiced a TON of games together... Tales of The Abyss (Luke and Guy) and .Hack//G.U ( Haseo and Kuhn) anyone? Johnny's also voiced Nero from DMC4 and Ichigo from Bleach lol.)
Graphics: The graphics have improved compared to the previous game, plus there seems to be a lot more character animation while you're in 3D and it's fun to watch. You still have your awesome 2D anime cut scenes, and those always look good.
Set-Backs?: The only thing major here is that when you go into the TV to "Save" people, you have to save them before a fog comes ( The weather channel on TV will be a big help, so be sure to check every now and then ) else you'll get a Game Over and will have to start over from the week prior. Of course, they give you PLENTY of time, and it's easy to tell when the fog comes because they only come after 2-3 or days of rain.
Other Parts Of Gameplay: You also have other stats in the game you can raise, which are very essential in gaining new acquaintances and earning your social links. This time your set of stats are Knowledge, Diligence, Understanding, Courage, and Expression. You can raise any of these through all sorts methods, such as getting the right answers in class, studying, or participating in part-time jobs (which can also earn you money ). Of course, a lot of cases in the game, you'll need to use your brain. There are times where you'll have to think like a detective and break everything down into the facts ( I personally thought it was fun, especially when you get it right! ). Also, the questions you get asked in class are mostly trivial, some or most, you may have absolutely no idea what the answers are as the questions are very difficult but some are easy ( I'm in highschool so..lol) , but all of the questions are REAL, not a bunch of bologna they threw together just to make you mad. You might have to result to using the internet to find your answers, of course, you'll learn something new afterwards ( I learned..A lot of things. Like, in Japan, a robber would most likely break into your house at 8 in the morning or that the Egyptians used eyeliner as a type of repelant.. )
Other than that,the game is overall, entertaining ( a lot of the scenes in the game are amusing ) of course everyone has their different tastes in games. I'd suggest this game to any MegaTen fan or RPG gamer. Those who are more for action RPGs might not like this game since this game takes a lot of patience and strategy. Plus they talk A LOT ( lots of reading, but it's not wise to skim through them. )
Amazon.com Set in a modern day survival-horror universe, the co-operative gameplay of Left 4 Dead (L4D) casts four "Survivors" in an epic struggle against hordes of swarming zombies and terrifying "Boss Infected" mutants. Developed by Turtle Rock Studios and Valve, creators of the Counter-Strike and Half-Life games, the latest AI technology allows for multiplayer games of one to eight players.A new and highly virulent strain of the rabies virus emerges and spreads through the human population with frightening speed. The pandemic's victims become grotesquely disfigured widely violent psychopaths, attacking the uninfected on sight. As one of the "lucky" few apparently immune to the sickness, you, unfortunately, are also trapped in a city crawling with thousands of the bloodthirsty Infected. Alone, you're dead. But together with a handful of fellow survivors, you might just fight your way to safety.Players can play as a Survivor or as one of four types of Boss Infected, each of whom possess a unique mutant ability, such as a 50-foot tongue lasso or a giant belly full of explosive methane gas. The gameplay of L4D is set across four massive campaigns. The zombie population of each mission is choreographed by an AI Director that monitors the human players' actions and creates a unique and dramatic experience for them on the fly.
REVIEW
Nightmares This game doesn't have that much to it and doesn't have many weapons, I'm not a gamer really and I beat it in 9 hours. That being said, it gave me nightmares the A.I. is insane nothing is in the same place twice, even the good stuff, and I was nervous playing the game trying to avoid death even though it wasn't that easy to die. I never got a change to play online but the actual game's A.I. seemed real enough to be just as good.
