Immortal Dusk

For some time now, I have been playing my favorite games on the iPhone. One of my favorite companies that I download games from is Gamevil Inc. To me, Gamevil is specialized in making rpg games like the Zenonia series. RPG meaning for Role-Playing Games. But instead of making a review on Zenonia, I decided to make a review on another RPG game made by Gamevil. That game is Immortal Dusk.

When you start the game, it'll give you a story about every 20 years, Mankind must sacrifice one of their own to regenerate the Solar. 20 years have passed and now it's time for a person to be sacrifice: which is a scientist. The scientist does not want to sacrifice herself, so she makes a project with other scientists to stop sacrificial tradition. When the project was done, there were people trying to stop the scientist from using the project. The scientist finds a little boy (who was brutally beaten by a bunch of bats) and somehow shoved the project in his body. 20 years later, the boy is now a man having no memory of what happened 20 years ago,and he becomes a knight. But later on in the game, he'll learn more about himself.

But enough about the story, let's talk about the gameplay. For a game that is on version 1.0.0, it's not pretty bad. Though, there are some things that need to be fixed. For one thing, The character can only go in cardinal directions: up, down, left, right. But the D-Pad has an all round direction, meaning the D-Pad not only has cardinal directions but also diagonal directions. This tricks the player into thinking he can move diagonally as well. Next you have the iPhone in general. Every time you fight a monster, your phone vibrates to every little hit you make. This makes new people quit the game in the first five minutes due to the excess amounts of iPhone vibration used for combat.

When you pay attention to the story, you can tell there are grammatical errors in the translation, making the story hard to follow. The skills in the game are there but have no description of what they do. What's the point in having skills in the game if there is no description? The game should also have a tutorial at the start of the game but that doesn't matter that much since the controls are right there. Item prices are way to high, especially if you are getting low earnings.

I've lately been reading reviews of other peoples reviews on the game. Some people were actually saying that when they open the app, there's sound but a white screen to mess things up. And the monsters spawn way too fast. It seems like that this game is going to need updates to fix this. But that's okay. There are some things that are cool about the game. The battle system is really great, with well-working EXP system. In network mode, you can actually rank your activities with other people around the world. The music is somewhat okay, but it needs a smoother loop. As you'll notice, the music cuts off for a split second and turns right back on. But to me, that's what I call a repeated song, not a loop. Immortal Dusk is a rather fast-paced addictive game. I'm pretty sure, many people would say that too. But still, the controls and many other things need to be fixed.

Minecraft: Xbox360 Edition

In 2010, Minecraft was known as little rumors on forums. 2011 made Minecraft very popular, having Minecraft become #1 PC Game. And now in 2012, Mojang and 4J Studios now presents us with Minecraft: Xbox360 Edition. With this, you can now play Minecraft on your Xbox whenever you want to. So if your a PSN user and want to play Minecraft, then you should have bought the Xbox instead. For those who don't know what Minecraft is, let me give you a brief summary.

WHAT IS MINECRAFT ABOUT?


Minecraft is a first person indies game. In this game, you can build anything you want from castles, to towns, and to sculptures. This is where you can let your "ChildHood" imagination come true. When you first play the game, you start off by waking up in a island in the middle of the ocean, you have to use resources to give you shelter, weapons, tools, and armor before night time. When night comes, there'll be skeletons, zombies, and creepers in your way. So the two options you have is stay home, or fight the evil ones yourself. In Minecraft, you'll find many resources you need to make your desires come true. Whether it's becoming rich, or building something you'll surely like Minecraft.

THE DIFFERENCE

Now it may seem that the Minecraft on the Xbox is different than the PC. Why is that? Because right now, the Minecraft 360 version is currently in it's BETA 1.6.6 version. So maybe next month we'll be able to get many updates in the game like we do in the PC edition. Sadly, Minecraft 360 or XBLA, does not have Creative Mode which gives you unlimited resources, so you don't have to find them in a dungeon, the nether, or in a forest. Also, Mniecraft 360 does not have as many items as the current 1.2.5 version of Minecraft PC.

Another difference in the Minecraft XBLA is the crafting interface. Instead of using the cursor to help you build things, you get a recipe of what items you need to craft a new one. This makes the gameplay very easy since in PC version there is no items to find out or discover. Minecraft XBLA includes a tutorial as well, so if you're a  person that just started liking Minecraft, they'll give you a tutorial on what to do. Also, when you look at items you first discovered, the game will tell you what you're looking at, and what can you do with the item. This makes it less complicated in Minecraft XBLA than it will be in Minecraft PC. In Multiplayer, you don't have to install or download additional software just to make a server or join one. Just make a world to host a server, or join a friend's world to participate in the server.

THE FINAL THOUGHTS


Still, Minecraft is very fun to play. No matter if players are on PC or Xbox360, it will entertain them forever. Of course Minecraft for PC might be way ahead of the XBLA version, but new people will come to this game and I'm very sure they'll like it.

Minecraft: Xbox360 Edition gets a 8.5/10. Daniel Jones out!

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team is a side series Pokemon game, meaning it is not part of the main video game series. In this game, you actually become a Pokemon and help or rescue other Pokemon to make the world a better place.

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Game Info:

Release: November 17, 2005
Genre: Dungeon Crawler
OS: GameBoy Advance (GBA)
Version Counterpart: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer(s): ChunSoft
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GAMEPLAY

Unlike its version counterpart: Blue Rescue Team, Red Rescue Team is for GBA so there's no touch screen. This game is a semi-turned based game with every step, attack, and item usage as a turn. The battle system is a dungeon-crawler style, so it makes perfect sense. Your rescue partners that you work aside with are autonomous meaning they fight on their own. If you are lucky enough, the wild Pokemon you defeated will join you in your travels to save other Pokemon in need of help. The one thing that screws up the gameplay is the speed button frame rate lag. Whenever you press the B-button, you'll move faster at the Pokemon Square, but inside the dungeon, the sprites frame rate lag.

This game makes it very easy for making strategies in battle. When you come back from your rescue, you can go to the Pokemon square to deposit money, buy and sell items, store and withdraw items, and buy friendship areas. Friendship areas are mostly important, because if you want a certain Pokemon to join your team, you can go to wigglytuff and buy the area for that certain Pokemon.

STORY

The story is very mysterious... Before you begin to play the game, the game will ask you questions. Depending on how you answer the questions, you will be assign to a Pokemon (e.g. If you are a calm type, You will be assigned to a Psyduck). But if you don't want to be the Pokemon the game assigns you to, you can just restart the game and answer the questions from a different perspective. Then they make you have the option to pick a Rescue Team partner. This partner will be with you every step of the way in this game, so you won't be able to get rid of him until you beat the game. While you progress through the game, you'll learn more about yourself like going through certain dreams, or through certain adventures. Once you finally beat the game, your character will learn that his/her life will never be the same without being a Pokemon. So the universe decides to let your character stay and will be a Pokemon forever. I know that I'm spoiling the ending, but come on. The game is 6 years old.

MUSIC

Music is standard. It has that okay adventurous feeling that just makes you wanna hum to it. But I really have nothing else to say about the music.

THE RESULTS

+ Great Gameplay
+ Okay Music
+ Nice Story
- Counterpart Version For DS
- Frame Rate Lag When Speeding In Dungeons

Final Score - 9/10

Pokemon Black and White Review

For 14 years, Nintendo has made us proud and impressed with the famous RPG game: Pokemon. This game allows you to catch, train, and of course battle mysterious creatures that live on Earth called Pokemon. Ever since the first games Pokemon Red/Blue were released in 1996, the Pokemon franchise has became very popular including merchandise like shirts, toys, cards, and etc. Now, Game Freak has published two new games called Pokemon Black and White versions.

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Game Information:

*Game Name: Pokemon Black/White

*Genre: RPG, Puzzle

*Developers: Game Freak, Creatures Inc.

*Creators: Satoshi Tajiri

*Original Release: February 27, 1996

*Website: http://www.pokemon.com/

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GAMEPLAY

Pokemon Black and White are similar but very different at the same time, making the gameplay a little...
different. The two games take you to a new region called Unova. This region has 150 & more new Pokemon. The best part was that there were no familiar Pokemon like in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. Besides from the "no familiar Pokemon", there is one question that is always asked in every sequel game: what are the new features that are going to be shown in this game? Ever since the last generation, Diamond/Pearl, Pokemon Black and White took the whole Pokemon Video Game Series to a whole new level! The first thing you'll notice is the intro cutscene before you get your first Pokemon. It is epic! That is the first sign of a change in the Pokemon Video Game Series. Next you have the new Pokemon. There are some ok-looking Pokemon, but some Pokemon just look downright stupid. Like seriously, who would make a Pokemon out of an ice cream? And last but not least, the battle system! The battle system is mostly realized in the game because you'll battle every day. With new Pokemon to catch, and new towns to travel, Pokemon Black and White versions are very impressive. 

GRAPHICS 

The 3D graphics are very outstanding as well! Except the only thing that ruins the beautiful display is the character's sprite. For example: When you're walking across the Sky Arrow Bridge, you'll notice that everything is 3D except for the character's sprite and the other people on the bridge. It's like moving a card board across the bridge, which is not so great. The same thing, goes with the battle system. The ground the Pokemon stand on is all 3D, but the creature's sprite is 2D. Aside from those problems, the game's texture is great!

STORY

Out of all the stories in the other Pokemon games, I have to say this one is the most outstanding. When you actually read the story instead of passing through the words, you'll stop and think: "OMG! Who is this weird looking hair dude!" The rivals you have in this game have an amazing role in this game. The rivals you'll meet also have a life too! Crazy right? If you actually pay attention to what they are saying, you can feel they have emotion and you can also tell that they're growing into very young adults (despite they are only 15 years old). Then you have the evil organization Team Plasma. Unlike the other organizations in the previous generations that want to take over the world and abuse Pokemon, this group actually want to liberate Pokemon, but in their own way. When I first heard about that, I was completely surprised. Most bad guys you see, like Team Rocket, want to take over the world and abuse Pokemon for their own purpose. This makes the story very interesting.

THE RESULTS
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(+ = Like) (- = Dislike)
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+ Fast GamePlay
+ Beautiful Texture
+ Amazing Story
- Character looks like cardboard
- Weird Looking Pokemon

Final Score - 8.5/10

Minecraft Review (8/10)

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Daniel Jones: It has been a year since Minecraft has came out for the PC, and since I'm a huge fan of Minecraft, I'll do a review of it which is below these comments. Enjoy!
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Game Information
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• Game Name: Minecraft 
• Genre: Sandbox-Building, RPG, 1st-Person
• Designers: Markus "Notch" Persson & Jens Bergensten
• Platforms: Java 3D Platform, Java Applet, Android, iOS, Xbox360
• Alpha Release: May 17,2009
• Beta Release: December 20,2010
• Final Version: November 18,2011

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Minecraft was released on May 17,2009 from a man named Markus "Notch" Persson. The game was later published by his new company called Mojang in December 20,2010. Ever Since, Minecraft has became and is still, very popular on the internet. But enough with the facts, let's get on to the real review.

Minecraft is a sandbox first-person RPG game that focuses mostly on creativity and building. This allows the player to build with 3D squares. This game is very fun and helps your imagination go wild, no matter what age you are! You can be 100 years old for all I matter, Minecraft makes everything fun!

Gameplay 9/10

Minecraft has two modes in single-player and multiplayer: Survival and Creative mode. Survival Mode bases on surviving the wild, making your character have hunger bars and health. Creative Mode on the other hand, gives you unlimited resources and unlimited health. Survival makes you feel like you have achieve something greater when you have finally got all the resources you need to make something special like a statue. Creative mode makes you feel like you don't give a f**k since it's all unlimited and you can build it whenever you want. But still both modes are fun. But if you really want a real challenge, you can go to single-player and try out Hardcore Mode. If you die in the game, you'll have to delete the world. Yea, the game really doesn't care if you had gold or diamond in it. The only thing that put gameplay 9/10 is the instructions. I know there are instructions online, but instruction in-game will be much more better, especially if you are a beginner and begun to like Minecraft.

Music 10/10

The music in this game is very soothing and adventurous. Most of the soundtracks in the game are very gentle and sometimes you can just sleep to it. If you collect music discs, each and every music disc is very different and unique. You're going to need a jukebox as well, and don't go to far away from your jukebox or you'll won't hear it.

Graphics 5/10

This might be my lowest score for the graphics. The reason for this is because of the graphics itself. The game is too pixelated and has many squares. The character itself has a square/rectangle like body too! It's like playing in a LEGO world.

Overall Score 8/10

Minecraft is great game. It makes your imagination and creativity go wild! This is what makes the game so craziily addictive! Gameplay is excellent, but needs in-game instructions. Music is very calm and gentle. Graphics are somewhat ok, and I'm glad to be a Minecraft fan! I am Daniel Jones, and see you guys in the next review! :) Stay Tuned!

Sonic Generations Review (9/10)

Sonic Generations Logo

For 20 years, Sonic has fascinated us with his racing and platforming games, from Sonic 1 all the way to Sonic Colors. And now he is back in a new game that involves two of him! And no I'm not talking about Metal Sonic, i'm talking about the fat classic Sonic! Hehe...

The story this time is about Sonic's 20 birthday, but his friends get kidnapped by a dark creature called Time Eater. This creature destroys the fabric of time and space, making Sonic past levels all in a white limbo. But with the help of two Sonics' speed ability, they fix time and space, returning color and life to the stages. Now this may seem kinda confusing especially if classic sonic doesn't have Sonic Boost, but hey at least he has the spin-dash. Sonic Generations has so much to offer in this game like skill customization and game challenges.

Story - 9/10

For all of those Sonic fans out there that will always put Sonic games at 10/10, I have one thing that ruins the story to be 10/10 is classic's silent treatment. We all know back in the day in Sonic 1, Sonic could never talk, but come on! Nobody never knows what's going on in that little hedgehog's head and I'm pretty sure no one will. Don't you just wished that classic Sonic will at least say one word on the ending cutscene? But I guess thumbs up will do.

Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic in Rooftop Run

Gameplay - 8.5/10

It's very fun to go highspeed with Modern Sonic and all, but what really messes up the gameplay sometimes is the controls and Sonic speed. Sonic goes way too fast, and sometimes the controls can be a bit.... off. Sometimes you won't expect things to come hurling at you, you're gonna get hit sometime in the game. Then you have the switching between the two Sonics. Now and then, you'll often forget the controls and do the wrong thing (example: Thinking classic sonic can do Sonic Boost). But aside of those problems, the gameplay is great especially if you just started liking Sonic. With the skill customization, you can even homing attack as classic sonic or slow down time with Time Break! Isn't that cool!

Classic Sonic Dashes Through Green Hill!

Music - 10/10

Music? Just Bravo! Re-creating music from the previous games was a great idea, sometimes you feel like you're back in time. The stage levels in the game also have two versions: The retro classic & The Modern. When you're in the Genesis Era, stages like Green Hill Zone have their music re-created into a classic but different feeling to the song. Green Hill Zone still has that 16-bit tune but the percussion is all different. For Modern Sonic, Green Hill Zone has that rock genre at the beginning but then the song have extra instruments like horns and bass. Also you now have the ability to change the music on any stage, so if you don't like the stage music you can just change it to whatever you want! That's why it deserves a 10/10!

Overall Score - 9/10

Sonic Generations is a great game overall! The graphics are very nice, story is somewhat ok, gameplay is great, and music is just wonderful! 20 years was definitley worth the wait! This game gets a 9 out of 10! I'm Daniel Jones and I'll see you guys in the next review!