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Review: Tearaway (PS Vita)

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Let’s cut to the chase here: Media Molecule’s Tearaway is one of the best reasons to own a Vita. If you’ve been on the fence about whether you should buy Sony’s latest handheld or not, games like this one should make that decision much easier.

From the moment I loaded it up, I knew this was going to be something special. Its art style is one of the most charming, convincing, and consistently good ones I’ve ever seen. The world of Tearaway is made up entirely of cut out pieces of paper that are animated in a stop-motion style, where every fold, roll, crunch, and flex act exactly like paper does in real life. It’s beautiful, and apart from Media Molecule’s own LittleBigPlanet series, is one of the most unique-looking games on Sony’s consoles and handhelds.

Tearaway‘s use of color is exemplary, and is just a wonder to look at. Its small touches are key, like how loose pieces of paper are subtly pressed down when you walk over them, or the almost imperceptible, long wisps and particles that blow through the air.

Each element breathes life into this world, all accompanied by a restrained but effective soundtrack. It has the same effect as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which so masterfully conveyed a spirit of adventure and the cool ocean air throughout the player’s travels.

Another area where the game excels is in its creative use of the Vita’s various hardware functions: front touch screen, rear touch pad, cameras, microphone, tilt control, and traditional controls all get a good workout. It takes some getting used to, particularly when you have to use some of them together to get through certain areas, but it makes you realize how the Vita can be used in very interesting ways. Before playing Tearaway, I never understood why Sony included the rear touch pad, but after playing this, it now makes sense, showcasing new and fun ways to include touch interaction without having to take your hands off the controls.

Customization — a Media Molecule hallmark — is an integral part of Tearaway‘s gameplay, although it’s not as robust as the world-building systems found in LittleBigPlanet. You can create your own cut-out decorations for your character and certain others throughout your adventure, or use pre-made ones that are unlocked via in-game currency, and it all works pretty well for the most part.

I found the creation tools themselves to be a bit too vague and cumbersome, but they get the job done, and the game doesn’t penalize you if you happen to create something darn-near unrecognizable. You’ll also have a number of opportunities to take pictures of yourself, the environments, and a whole slew of other subjects during your quest. You get to do so using a virtual camera inside the game, as well as with the Vita’s front and rear-facing cameras.

The in-game camera is impressively robust, with a wide range of lenses and filter effects. Taking pictures isn’t just something you can do for fun, but is used to unlock one of the game’s major collectibles: papercraft models.

After unlocking them in the game, you can go to Tearaway.me to print them out and build them. This is a really nice touch, and adds to the title’s already very creative approach. I have yet to put together any myself, but it looks like fun, and with 60 models available with varying degrees of difficulty, these will give even the most dedicated papercraft maker a good challenge!

Speaking of collectibles, Tearaway has quite a few, and they’re all interconnected. Present boxes are one, and they’re either cleverly hidden throughout each level or require certain conditions to open. They contain paper confetti — another collectible — the pieces of which are spread throughout each level, or awarded after defeating enemies. Enemies themselves count as collectibles in that you have to successfully dispatch them all in each area in order to achieve 100%. It’s a good system, and most players will go through each level two or more times to uncover everything.

Are there any problems? Unfortunately, one of the first things you’ll notice are the unusually long load times throughout. If you’re a completionist, there are several Trophies that will require you to start levels over at least a few times, and every time you do, you have to sit through the same long loading screen. They’re interactive, but are still an annoyance and not much of a consolation.

Those same Trophies also underscore one of Tearaway‘s biggest flaws: it’s not as good a platformer as it thinks it is. Whereas games like Super Mario 3D World have impeccable controls and camera angles, Tearaway suffers from slightly undercooked controls and a camera that is a hindrance more often than it should be. I fell to my death quite often simply because I was unable to judge where I was in the middle of a jump.

These negatives don’t matter all that much during regular gameplay, since checkpoints are plentiful and you have unlimited lives, but the aforementioned Trophies require you to get through extremely long levels without dying once, and that’s when it makes you feel like your various demises are the game’s fault, not your own, and that’s a no-no in Game Design 101.

On the other hand, I had fun getting the other Trophies, and relatively speaking, this game provides an easy Platinum for Trophy hunters out there.

In closing, while not without its flaws, Tearaway is a special game. It serves as a vital piece of evidence supporting the case for traditional handhelds, and why they shouldn’t become extinct. In this game’s case, it could unarguably only be done on the Vita. Highly recommended.

Graphics: A
Audio: A-
Gameplay & Controls: B
Presentation: A
Value: A-
Overall: A

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Final Thoughts & Review: Persona 4 Golden (PS Vita)

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It’s been a long road, or rather, a long school year. I began my journey in P4G back in December of 2013. Over 4 months later, I’ve finally completed it, achieving its true, best ending.

I’ve written quite a bit about this game already (those entries can be found here), so my apologies in advance for this not being a traditional review. As I played through the game’s final months, I started to think more and more about some of P4G‘s characters and situations, and my reactions to them.

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First, your classmate Hanako. From the moment you’re introduced to her, she’s simply a collection of ugly stereotypes. The way she’s drawn is unattractive and in stark contrast to the other students, her voice is slurred and exaggerated, and one of the first things you see her do is sit on a scooter and crush it under her weight. Really? Yes, we’ve seen these gags in movies like Austin Powers and Shallow Hal, but do they belong in this game?

I was expecting there to be a Social Link for Hanako, but instead, the game makes fun of her eating habits and weight every chance it gets. It’s extremely off-putting, and feels like a missed opportunity for you and your friends to develop a real friendship with her. Too bad, because I think this could have been a memorable and touching one.

2014-04-29-094952Second, Kashiwagi-sensei, one of the teachers at Yasogami High, makes constant sexual advances towards the students, which is unnecessary, and adds nothing to the story. Kimura-sensei from the series Azumanga Daioh is another example of an adult character who shows overt interest in young students, and I can’t tell if these are aberrations or an accepted trope of the genre/culture. Either way, it’s disturbing.

Morooka-sensei is another bad example, who regularly curses out his students. This actually caught me off-guard when I first started playing, and figured there was a reason for his behavior, but from what I gathered, he has no real redeeming qualities. Why is he even yelling? Again, it would have been great to build Social Links with these characters, but their absence leaves them being little more than one-dimensional caricatures.

2014-04-29-094433Another part of P4G that I found troublesome was this scene, where the girls are basically checking out Naoto’s breasts. Although this has been done countless times in other manga and anime, what made this weird was the prominent inclusion of Nanako — a 6-year-old child — in the scene. Why is she there?

With so much of the current industry dialogue centered around the negative portrayal of women in games, seeing things like this in a modern, high-profile title is disappointing. I don’t remember anything like this in Persona 3 Portable, but I will have to do a New Game+ playthrough — specifically as the female protagonist — to compare them.

2014-05-01-134051Anyway, with all of that being said, I still think the rest of the game is very good. For a PS2-based title that’s nearly 6 years old, it looks great on the Vita’s screen, especially the 2D character portraits and highly stylized interface. The 3D art holds up pretty well, although some very low-resolution textures rear their ugly head from time to time. The animation is slightly dated, but they are smooth and expressive. The anime cutscenes are OK, but smack of a low-budget look compared to the quality of the rest of the game. They are a nice break from the many in-game dialogue scenes, though.

I loved P3P‘s soundtrack, so I had very high hopes for P4G‘s. For the most part, it is as good as its predecessor’s, but I have to give P3P the edge here, just because it had so many standout tracks, atmosphere, and different styles. It’s almost unfair to have to compare anything to “Memories of You”, one of the best vocal tracks of any game I’ve ever played.

Some of my favorite tunes from P4G include: “Your Affection”, “Heartbeat, Heartbreak”, “SMILE”, “Reach Out To The Truth”, “Reverie”, and “Alone”. I have to sometimes take a step back and realize how amazing a time we live in where videogames have music of this high quality, with great instrumentation and stirring melodies. The English vocals can be indecipherable at times, but for some reason, I think that adds to the soundtrack’s charm and appeal.

2014-05-01-140710This game, much like P3P, was a bit too long for me. I’m used to RPGs taking 60-80 hours, and this took me approximately 60. By comparison, P3P took me 75, and some of my friends said that was relatively quick. However, this was on Very Easy using Rush to get through most battles. Also, since I started over, I skipped through almost all the cutscenes in its first half, and it still took me that long!

It was surprising (in a good way) how much endgame material is included, which alone took me a couple nights of play to complete. However, the game is designed in such a way that it is impossible to do everything in a single playthrough, so you have to dedicate 100+ hours easily to get everything out of this title. It’s a tremendous value, but one serious time commitment as well.

In the end, I enjoyed most of the time I spent in Inaba. It takes the successful formula of Persona 3 and polishes everything to a brilliant shine. It has a strong cast, tons of quests, a seemingly endless amount of Personas to discover/fuse, great art, and a terrific soundtrack. Despite the issues I had with it, P4G is still one of the better games available on the Vita.

Graphics: B+
Audio: A-
Gameplay & Controls: B+
Presentation: B
Value: A
Overall: B+

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Review: Batman: Arkham Origins: Cold, Cold Heart DLC (PC)

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20140424_cch1DLC season passes are a touchy subject. I’m not really a fan of DLC in general, particularly the locked-on-disc variety, or finished content that has been held back to be sold later. While I fully understand that development costs are high, the trend that started last generation of nickel and diming consumers to squeeze out upfront profits is one that just doesn’t sit well with me. Despite all this, I recently purchased the Arkham Origins season pass for $5, and while its other offerings have been forgettable, Cold, Cold Heart redeems it as an example of good, story-driven DLC that makes the purchase worth it.

I happened to like Arkham Origins, awarding it an A- in my review, but one of the standout characters from the earlier games was Mr. Freeze. I didn’t know much about him prior to Arkham City, but he was such an interesting, tragic, and charismatic player. After experiencing his story, I definitely wanted to learn more about him. Hearing that Cold, Cold Heart would focus on Mr. Freeze was exciting news, and I wasted no time hopping back into the Batsuit.

20140424_cch3From the very beginning, I was enjoying this. While it provides the familiar world of Origins to explore (albeit smaller), you get a genuine sense that WB Games Montreal took their time to create some nice, new interiors. They also ensured that the outside world itself stayed consistent with the storyline. It looks great, with subtle changes that fans of Origins will appreciate.

There’s a new addition to the existing enemy types, as well as tweaks to and new functionality for Batman’s array of gadgets. My favorite new device by far is the Thermal Gloves. They address one of my pet peeves of this series, allowing the removal of wall grates by just holding down the A button instead of hitting it repeatedly. It’s a small change that I hope carries over to Arkham Knight because it’s quick, painless, and eliminates an unnecessary game mechanic that got very annoying for me over the course of three games.

20140424_cch2There are several sets of collectibles, similar to the ones found in Origins, and these unlock additional abilities for Batman. I liked that certain ones were relatively easy to locate and marked on your map automatically for later retrieval, but some still require thorough exploration. This helps extend the life of the DLC for completionists who want to get everything, but they mostly feel like busywork, like they did in Origins.

In terms of length, it felt pretty good to me. Not too short and not too long. The story itself has some great moments, with cameos from series regulars thrown in to help mix things up. Most importantly, it provides insight into Mr. Freeze’s backstory, underscoring why he is such a popular and compelling character.

20140424_cch4Finally, the Extreme Environment (XE) Suit is pretty cool. It’s nicely designed, suitably intimidating, and fits well into the context of the story. It looks bulky, but thankfully doesn’t affect Batman’s movement.

I enjoyed my time with Cold, Cold Heart. It’s a nice package that extends the life of Arkham Origins by several hours, focusing on one of my favorite characters of the Batman universe.

Graphics: B+
Audio: A-
Gameplay & Controls: B+
Presentation: B+
Value: B
Overall: B+

PC Notes: Reviewed using an Intel i7-920 CPU (4GHz overclock) and Gigabyte GTX-670 Windforce OC video card (GPU: +126MHz, RAM: +775MHz overclock). Resolution: 2560×1440 @ 60Hz. Graphic settings: Anti-aliasing and DX11 features turned off to maintain 60fps.

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Review: Batman: Arkham Origins (PC)

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By all accounts, this game had some big shoes to fill. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are widely regarded as bona fide classics, and are considered to be some of the best — if not the best — comic book games ever created. I played both in March, and I have to agree that they are two spectacularly fun games.

Prior to playing Origins, I didn’t know much about its history, and only recently found out that it was developed by WB Games Montreal and not Rocksteady. The reviews I perused painted it as a so-so game that didn’t live up to its predecessors.

I finished Origins last night, and completed all the side quests this morning. I have to say that I really enjoyed playing this and think it’s worthy of the Arkham series pedigree.

What the game does right is provide a solid story and vibrant writing, bringing to life the colorful inhabitants of Gotham City. Bane in particular is one of the game’s standouts, brimming with an intellectual terror that far exceeds what Christopher Nolan was able to achieve in The Dark Knight Rises. The Joker comes across as even more sadistic and evil in this installment, with Troy Baker holding his own in the massive wake of Mark Hamill’s iconic villain. Roger Craig Smith also delivers a spot-on reading of Kevin Conroy’s Batman. Origins certainly provides no lack of quality in making its characters memorable.

If you played Arkham City, a large portion of Origin’s world will feel familiar, along with new districts to explore. Traversal is fun, and there is no shortage of secrets and collectibles to find. One disappointment I had was the absence of riddles. In the previous games, I found those to be addicting to find and solve, they broke up the flow of the game (in a good way), and provided natural segues into Gotham’s history. As a result, the collectibles and unlockables here don’t feel as integrated, whereas they were done in virtuoso fashion in Arkham Asylum. It’s still fun here, but you do feel more than ever that you’re going through the same familiar motions.

Gameplay is classic Arkham, with buttery smooth combat, lots of gadgets, tons of puzzles to solve, and big environments to explore. Interiors don’t feel as tightly or ingeniously designed as they were in the previous games, though. The new gadgets are also OK at best, and some are just retooled versions of what we got in Asylum and City.

One of the bigger additions to Origins are the crime scene investigations, which are fun. They are more or less linear exercises, but they add a nice forensic detective layer to the story and sidequests instead of just scanning things in. They do a good job showcasing Batman as a person with very high intelligence vs. someone just relying on fancy gadgets and Alfred to do most of his thinking.

Due to the inherent nature of the storyline, there’s a healthy dose of boss fights throughout. They can be quick, but some of them are excruciatingly long and frustrating. They are also not as memorable as the ones from City, so it’s unfortunate that this part of the game wasn’t as good as it could have been. It’s not to say that they aren’t fun; they just aren’t as well-designed and often rely on old patterns and tactics we’re used to.

That being said, I still had a very good time playing this game. I’m not a Batman aficionado, so my take on these games are from a person whose exposure to the Caped Crusader came mainly from the films of Tim Burton and growing up with the ’60s TV show. However, now that I’ve gone through all 3 games, I want to learn more and I absolutely can’t wait for Rocksteady’s Arkham Knight.

Graphics: B+
Audio: A-
Gameplay & Controls: B+
Presentation: A-
Value: A
Overall: A-

PC Notes: Reviewed using an Intel i7-920 CPU (4GHz overclock) and Gigabyte GTX-670 Windforce OC video card (GPU: +126MHz, RAM: +775MHz overclock). Resolution: 2560×1440 @ 60Hz. Graphic settings: Anti-aliasing and DX11 features turned off to maintain 60fps.

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