Tales of Eternia Reviewed

Here is a recent review I made of Tales of Eternia for the PSP. It also appears on Amazon.com, however it is much different than my review of it on the Gamespot.

Reviewed: Tales of Eternia

Tales of Eternia is perhaps one of the best entries of the "Tales Of" series on the PSP. Featuring an interesting battle system, a dazzling tale of racism and intrigue, and a ton of items, collectibles, and stories, the game is sure going to last well more than 60 hours.

Tales of Eternia centers around the realm of Eternia which is split into two worlds, the Celestia and the Inferia. From the opening cutscene a certain character (Meredy) crashes on Inferia in an effort to thwart the ensuing danger known as the grand fall. The characters will go out on a quest in an effort to enlist the power of the greater and the lesser craymels and try to unite both worlds to work together to prevent this event from occurring.

The game moderately uses the analog stick to move but most of the action takes place on the normal keypad and the buttons with the skills being mapped according to whatever layout the player chooses. Just as in every tales game you can assign the characters to be on auto, semi auto (they guard and auto run to the target), or manual in which you guard (with guard button), you select target, and you move towards the target. There are many more things done in which several skills are linked to certain key presses as well as a few other additions such as cooking (yay for the Chef), using the craymels and minigames.

Graphically the game is definitely one of the best so far on the PSP in regards to its actual attacks and such. At times the screen will be filled with so much (later in the game), that multiple spells will go off with enemies attack and dying, and characters getting hit, that the game will unfortunately slow down, however it will just keep right on chugging without skipping any frames. It is amazing in its effort of its FMV scenes as they have so much detail (the best is the upgrade of the Van Eltia with the toy trumpet soldiers playing). The landscapes, textures, environments, and particle effects work the best throughout the game. Amazing, there is also interesting amazing detail to what the characters are equipped with, it actually shows up with the effects listed on the character (for example the Excalibur is a light sword, in the actual field the character will be seen with a sword wrapped in blinking white light).

The game features an impressive list of powerful voice acting that never sounds annoying. The storylines are also moving and quite powerful in their force of what is being said. Shizel and Reid have the most impressive lines with everyone else coming by a close behind. It is impressive to hear Meredy speak in the Melnics language since there is no way to read it, lol. Several of the craymels have voices, there are sounds such as the names of spells and even a few chants that are said at times as well. It is impressive with the amazing number of detail that was included in important and unimportant scenes.

I am totally impressed with this game. For the price it cost just to buy it (since it didnt seem to come out in the North America, onyl through Ubisoft directly for a time), that it is totally worth it. It is now my favorite tales game, and with the ability to play through a second time which grants access to special features and an additional dungeon, there is plenty of incentive to get this great game.

8.5/10 for this game

Summer Plans

The games that I plan to beat this summer (beat as in make it to the point in which the ending credits play at) are as follows:

DS:

* The World Ends With You
* Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
* Pokemon Diamond (for the 2nd Time)

GBA:

* Pokemon Emerald
* Pokemon FireRed
* Golden Sun (possibly 4th playthrough)
* Golden Sun: The Lost Age (possibly 3rd playthrough)
* Tales of Phantasia

PSP:

* Xiaolin Showdown
* Justice League Heroes
* Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (more endings)
* Tales of Eternia Completed on Sunday June 01, 2008
* Monster Kingdom Jewel Summoner

Gamecube:

* Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsbound Kingdom
* Tales of Symphonia (2nd playthrough)
* Baten Kaitos (2nd playthrough)
* Baten Kaitos Origins

Wii:

* Alone in the Dark


As you can see I have quite a heavy load of titles to beat I hope that I can get most of these done with as it boggles my mind as to how I have been able to buy all of these in 2006-2007 and been able to at the same time develop such a backlog of titles. I will be keeping an update on this as the time goes on.

Completed Games (up to credits unless otherwise notes)

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii) (Fully beat both storylines)
Tales of Eternia (PSP)

Where Have All the Stars Gone?

ZOMG! Perhaps the second game that I bought on the Nintendo 64 has been my favorite game of that era. It was so fun, I was so interested and remember laughing to death when I saw the opening cutscene to Mario Party. Something else that comes to mind is that me and my brother played that game to death. We played it and would unlock everything then we restarted it and did it again then we restarted and did it again. Something about it made it that fun. Actually what made it fun was hearing Peach go "Oh No" whenever she lost (even on Hard Difficulty she is a piece of cake).

Okay yesterday was perhaps a round of three games played.

Sonic Riders Zero Gravity was finally fully beat: Both Team Sonic (Heroes) and Team Babylon (Jet, Wave, and Storm). Apparently each level in Team Babylon was unlocked and we beat the final boss and such. The game was finished once again in one sitting and in only at most 2 and half hours (both stories). It was kind of an intense story after all though it was so short. Graphically the cutscenes looked amazing and so did the actual levels, now this is what a Wii game should look like. I can always remember Tails voice "Sonic Lets Go, Sonic Thanks for Saving Me, Sonic I figured it out,". Tails voice rocks.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Darkness: Wigglytuffs Guild is so funny. The game is so funny and cute. I am at Chapter 10. I wont reveal anything yet about the game as I am still playing it and trying to beat it. I am at like 18 hours now.

Baten Kaitos Origins: Started playing it again yesterday, I had to find out how to work the battle system and I finally got it. The Relay combo is one of the coolest innovations of the series. The story this time around seems a bit more depressing. It is as cryptic as even (as the other Baten Kaitos was until the 25 hour mark did revelations finally occur). I cant wait to finish this.

Gamer's Dayz

Today was perhaps another good day indeed for gamers. Sega and Konami both had their gamer's day for the press. As you may or may not know, so far we have had Microsoft and EA do their gamers day. Now what is most important is that I have not only been following the great Wii news but also the PC and the other systems. I try to not limit myself just to what I have but to what everyone has for knowing it all is better than not knowing something. A few of my picks for games are down below.

Microsoft
Too Human (Xbox 360)-I thought it was quite a pretty graphically impressive game, videos on Gamespot do it adequate justice, definitely a must buy upon its release.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360)- It will always be a game that I am forever in love with. It is also available or is coming to the PC, another graphically impressive action game that is bound to provide tons of storytelling excitement.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (Xbox 360)- Who does not love the living pinatas, I find them to be an excellent addition for gameplay and with a game schedule to come out to the DS, more people should get to enjoy these pinatas. Don't they also have a show on TV now?

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (Xbox 360, Live)- Sadly it seems that the rumors that this interesting game was coming to the Wiiware have been debunked. Regardless, it is a title that is interesting to note on the 360. From the creators of the popular web comic of sorts. According to the site the game revolves around (taken from a post on the mainsite) "Gabe and Tycho own and operate the Startling Developments detective agency. The city of New Arcadia is trying to move into the future but it's still plagued by ancient horrors and dark magic. The study of the arcane has fallen out of fashion though as steam powered machines and other new technologies have captured the imaginations of the populace. The Startling Developments detective agency remains committed to investigating the strange and terrifying mysteries that the rest of New Arcadia refuses to acknowledge." The images do it adequate justice. So just go on to the above link and look and see how great it is. I hope it receives rave reviews and buys because I do think it would make for a great full game someday.

Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360): Perhaps the most exciting of them all is the Gears of War 2. I find that it appears that it will make a great sequel to the first Gears of War. Now I never really played it, but I have watched people beat it from start to finish. The storyline is so great and catchy that I find myself wishing to buy a 360 just for this game. I am sadly not into the killing and violence of the title but if it is enjoyable to watch from afar then it must be even better to sit and play it.

So it appears that that is what it will look like, I can not wait for it to come out.

Fable 2 (Xbox 360): Now I will admit that the game doesn't really appeal to me, but I do think that it is quite beautiful. It seems that it is great news among Xbox fans so I am sure they will enjoy it.

That is all from the Microsoft side of the table. I was really impressed by their offerings, I will continue to wish them great wishes in their endeavors and hope that people realize that they do, with their various teams, make some intriguing and amazing games.

EA
EA is next. I do not know if this offering is considered from EA or not but I guess I will put it here since most of The Sims does fall under the covering of EA.

EA had quite a few games (Mass Effect and Penny Arcade were already mentioned. I will just briefly state a few.

Battle Forge (PC): It is a mix of Real Time Strategy and Card Collecting. In the game you will command and grow your forces from the cards that you collect or buy (buy booster packs, what in the world, perhaps the worst idea). It is a nice concept that works well (though you cant see it in the videos released thus far). It is a game to definitely keep a look out on.

MySims Kingdom (Wii and DS): Arriving in the Fall, this game definitely seeks to continue the latest tradition in the journey of the Sims. The MySims is a new series for the Sims series in which players control a more youthful and cartoony bunch of Sims as they go about building things in the city/kingdom with the use of the Wiimote. Featuring a bunch of simlish and interesting sims and scenarios, I found and still find it to be an excellent and enjoyable title. I hope to pick it up.

That sums it up for EA. They also detailed more news with their Guitar Hero franchise in the additional plans for more games in this phenomenal series. Of course several other Guitar Hero alikes have come up in the past days, such as Rock Band and Rock Revolution (Konami).

Konami
The last one for today was Konami's Gamers Day. It featured much of what people had anticipated with the Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the DS, possibly one for the Wii, and more Metal Gear Solid 4 details. Konami also delivered what I pretty much expected: tons more Dance Dance Revolution. I do not know how many DDR's there are any more. After max, hottest party, ultimate, max revolution, and various other incarnations it just became unbearable. They announced Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2 for the Wii and Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 for the Xbox 360, and Dance Dance Revolution X for the PS2. And finally there were videos and images of Deca Sports. I am not interested in this title one bit and after looking at images, I must say that there are tons and tons of advertisements in the game. Nearly as bad as some in a few EA games!!! Adidas must have really chipped in. What I was really hoping for was for another new announcement of Yu-Gi-Oh GX Tag Force 3 for the PSP, but it seems no news outlet has reported that. Oh well.

This is just about all that happened lately. SEGA had a Gamers Day as well but we just received tons more info on Sonic Unleashed for the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. Of course nothing else is out from anyone but IGN, so we will have to see what is up soon.

Thanks for reading and hopefully you have a great day.

Saturday

Today is the first Saturday that I probably have been able to dedicate tons of time to playing videos games. It was quite productive in terms of the PSP, I would have to say.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii): I played for about three hours with my brother. Because I unlocked most of the unlockables in Brawl a the same week that it came out, there was nothing to unlock today. We played until one of us had 100 kills. I wrecked havoc for a while when I played as Lucas. I must say Lucas is amazing with his PK Starstorm attack, and several of his smash attacks. I saw Smash attacks because they are brutal when you sit there and charge up either the up B and the side B moves. The Up B move has a high range and will usually target anyone directly over head; it is brutal. My brother chose to play as Pit, who was quite unbeatable. Either I was off my game today or Pit is quite good with someone who knows his moves. I managed to eventually end his 50 kill killing spree by choosing, if I remember correctly, Spear Pillar. It was quite a cheap way to end his streak but the level ended up killing him. Cresselia's moves are definitely a factor to people winning on that stage. All in all, I would say that Brawl, even though everything is unlocked, is still fun to play every now and then.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Tag Force 2 (PSP): I have had this game since its release date in October. I have not been able to beat it nor even advance past the second event. Nevertheless, I have been able to progress enough to be at level 21. I need to work on raising my Win loss record as I have a 50% chance of winning and losing it seems. At one point in time I had hit 80% wins but now that has gone away. I hope to finish the main story mode by the time Tag Force 3 comes out in this Fall (it has been announced). The basic progress for today was simply finally advancing to level 2 on the Classroom Abyss minigame level, which can be summed up as thus.

"For the classroom portion of Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Tag Force 2, players will journey to the basement Abyss in an effort to see how long they can survive on limited lifepoints and battery power. They must fact fairly weak opponents (opponents with about 180 Life Points, that increases upon each level and match) with varying decks to try to get various rare items and cards."

I have only been able to reach level 2 which is unfortunate. I eventually lose because of some annoying and trival aspect. Either I will draw all Spell and Trap cards or I will only draw monsters that requires tributes, thus leaving me wide open for attack. Outside of this minigame area, I was able to attempt to reach level 21. I have 2 EXP points remaining. I was able to get 16 EXP from facing Alexis Rhoades and defeating her 2 our of 3 times. I only lost because I pressed the button too fast and thus destroyed the wrong monster card which in turn led me to be wide open for direct attack. I won the other times because of having Obelisk the Tormentor do two 4000 attack power attacks directly to her life points (crucial), and the other time have Slifer the Sky Dragon and letting her take damage from my Mask of Dispel being equipped to her partners Legendary Ocean, which takes away 500 Life points each turn. It was a hilarious defeat. I think that only the Yu-Gi-Oh fan would have understood a word of what I just said.

Well in coming days I hope to bring more games to the table and work on getting my entire collection completed and beat.

Perhaps tomorrow I will also have a feature on the Nintendo Channel that I just downloaded for the Wii. It has some pretty snazzy videos featuring soon to be released games.



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Now playing: The Cheetah Girls - Fuego
via FoxyTunes

Purpose

Generally speaking, the purpose of this blog, "Phosphorescence", is to keep track of my gaming progress. I was keeping track of it on Gamespot, but that has seemed to become more of a hub for keeping track of things other than video games. Sure it is on the website called Gamespot, but most of the things that me and the ever growing list of friends and other bloggers talk about seem to now revolve around anything from other entertainment entities, to schooling, to science, and even to political platforms and debates. Now do not get the idea that I am going to stop there, defiitely not, as that keeps a hub for most of other information regarding games, such as a Most wanted listed, and a few other statistical features that seem to be hard to implement here. Perhaps I will get around to tinkering with online code later, but for now it will just be this.

I used to have a gaming blog before but that went for weeks unattended and it became too much for me to handle on top of the other onslaught of blogs I had, Gamespot, online websites and message boards, not to mention the fact that I had school to deal with! Rest assured I will strive to keep this one as up to date as possible.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy it!!!



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Now playing: Syesha Mercado - One Rock 'n' Roll Too Many
via FoxyTunes