A Year in the Life of Horny, Magical Teenagers
HIGH The Mystery Gang mocking their own corny "Persona!" cries while plastered.
LOW Cut-and-paste dungeons.
WTF Marie's "poetry."
Author: Matthew Kaplan
Saving the PlayStation Vita
Despite a strong, well received launch lineup and positive reviews regarding the hardware, the domestic Vita launch disappointed with a first-week estimate of only 300,000 units. Sony is definitely facing an uphill battle stateside, but all is not lost. The hardware is good, the games are there, and major marketing dollars are being put behind the Vita. So how can Sony capitalize upon the Vita's strengths while dragging itself out of its presumed grave? Here are a few ideas.
Sumioni: Demon Arts Review
Ink-credibly Bad
HIGH The sumi-e art style is pretty nifty.
LOW Nothing else is.
WTF Ancient Japan is lousy with giant, demonic, self-aware wagon wheels?
Atlus’s Vita game round-up
Given the present dearth of strategy and role-playing games on the young Vita, exposure to some classic Atlus games couldn't come at a better time. I recently had a chance to play nine of these games for the first time on Vita and I came away from the experience realizing that, even if most of these games are ports of earlier releases, no one picks up on and supports unique properties the way Atlus does. This is the company that published oddball titles like Hammerin' Hero and Eggs of Steel, after all.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss Review
Killer App
HIGH Soaking in those sumptuous visuals.
LOW Finger-swiping QTEs.
WTF Why do I have to clean 100% of the dirt off this artifact with my tired finger when I can already make out the "hidden" image?
Sony PlayStation Vita hardware impressions
GameCritics is proud to offer one of two impression pieces covering the PS Vita. The first is the one you are reading and it's by Matt Kaplan (commonly known as one of the biggest PlayStation Portable fans on the planet). Matt has been putting his Vita through its paces and evaluating every element and gives his thoughts on the shiny new black hardware.
Resistance 3 Review
Simply Irresistible
HIGH The wonderfully memorable campaign.
LOW A few cramped multiplayer maps.
WTF The appearance of the standard automatic rifle so late in the game.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Third Opinion
Deceptively Good Despite its Flaws
HIGH That stunning horse-riding sequence.
LOW Too many questions without answers, and a plot in search of a soul.
WTF Drake barely survives the desert, but is apparently hydrated enough to run and jump around like a monkey.
God of War III: A disappointing finale
In between dissertation writing sessions, I recently managed to eek out enough time to play through God of War III. I purchased my Ultimate Edition copy the day it came out, and I just couldn't hold off any longer. I consider the first two God of War games to be the best action games of their kind and I was dying to see how the series wrapped up.
Be warned, spoilers abound.
Mini Metamorphasis
By and large, the consensus regarding Sony's slowly expanding line of "Minis" software for the PlayStation Portable is that the games—mostly ports from the iPhone and other platforms—are sorely lacking in quality. Given the initial launch titles, it's not hard to see why: An overpriced Tetris port, mediocre fair like Brainpipe and Vempire, and downright terrible shovelware like Gameloft's Hero of Sparta were among the heavy hitters back in early October.
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