REVIEW: Mind Zero PS Vita

Mind Zero
RPG, Dungeon Crawler
PS Vita

In the wake of Persona 4 Golden there are a few games that try to use the same winning formula, Mind Zero takes the real world where a few teenagers have found themselves in the middle of a battle between the police and entities known as MINDs and their plot to open a portal from their world to ours. The teens gain the ability to call upon spirits to help them in battle to help curb the tide of negative emotions that allow the MINDs to enter our world.

The game does a great job with the voice talent and the combat. The game uses turned-based combat and the teens can use spirits to help them in combat. Through the use unique combat cards that you can swap in and out gives the player several options during battles. One feature that I enjoyed was the ability to save the game during dungeons, I would play the game in short bursts so this feature was huge for me.



The weak point of Mind Zero is the plot. The story is mundane at best and it plods along as if it is walking in a bog. Slow and drawn out is a good way to describe the story. However, once you get past the cutscenes in the beginning things do pick up and the game is off to the races.



VERDICT

Mind Zero is said to be a Persona clone and in my opinion it is, but it is one of the best out there if you are looking for a new dungeon crawler this is a strong contender.

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REVIEW: Destiny

Destiny
Single Player, First person RPG
Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS 4, PS3, PC


Destiny is an online multiplayer, first-person, open-world shooter set in a science fiction setting in Earth's future.

I have had the opportunity to play for several days now and have hit the opening ceiling, level 20. While I will continue to play the game, this is my review based on the first half of the game. Roughly 20 hours into it.

GAMEPLAY

Anyone who has played the Halo franchise will quickly feel like they are at home. The controls are very similar. The game has several missions that are played linearly but as you progress through them the game allows you to try different planets and jump around; however, you will need to complete all of the missions at some point in order to finish the game.

By opening up your ghost you are able to find side missions on every planet that range from kill x amount of enemies to collect items from killed enemies. There is also the occasional scan an area that you must navigate the entire map to stand in one place for a few seconds and then the mission is complete. They are all rather easy and provide a decent amount of experience points helping you level up. The best way to ensure good experience points is to do bounties, which range from kill 100 enemies without dying in the campaign to benchmarks in the crucible (the PvP arena).

Two other modes are Raids, Strikes. These put you up against bosses after fighting your way to them in 3 person fireteams. I have only done a few of them and they are most helpful once you hit the 20th level and want to continue leveling up your toon as they have a better chance of dropping "light gear."

The Crucible is the final play mode currently. For anyone who wants to pit themselves against other players there are a few modes to play where you can also win gear that will help you in the main campaign. I strongly recommend using an auto rifle as the single shot gun had me at a disadvantage for those that play this type of game a lot.

The problems that I have with the game are that it is a very short campaign. After roughly 18 hours I had completed the game and was only a few XP points away from hitting level 20. Once I hit level 20, I grew bored. The reason that I grew bored was because the game is very repetitive and monotonous. Once you have done it, you have to do it again and again. The loot that drops is far and few between. While the drops improved as I reached level 20 they still took forever to get and weren't all that helpful as they weren't much better than what I was already equipped with and didn't boost my stats enough to make the mission worth it. Destiny does use Loot 2.0 where the loot you see is yours and yours alone, which makes it so that you aren't fighting over drops. But it is only for your toons and you can only share between the characters you have created. It is disappointing as you come across things that could be useful to your online friends, it would be nice to be able to give it to your friends to help them on their journey, maybe in a patch.

another complaint is that the enemies are just new skins on Halo enemies. Their guns are very similar as well as their "classes." The differences are in looks only and it is disappointing. The loading times are annoying. It loads to get to the destination screen and once you have picked a location you will wait for it to load again, perfect for restroom breaks or grabbing a snack. Trust me, you have time.

Finally, I played as a warlock and one of the powers is to glide, while a cool power it does make it difficult to get to higher locations on the map. A hunter is able to double and later triple jump making it easy for them to reach hidden chests and places, where I was stuck making several attempts to reach a ledge. While my buddy and I would laugh about the whole ordeal, it was frustrating to say the least.

Very early in the game (on launch day) I took part in an in game event as a giant Sputnik like satellite fell to Earth and my friend and I tackled the event alone. I figured on launch day hundreds of people would rush the scene and take part in the event but alas, my buddy and I did it by ourselves. Not sure if the game ramps up the difficulty as more players join in but it wasn't all the difficult to do with just two people. Since then, I haven't seen an event. While the game, Defiance wasn't all that great, one thing they did do well was in-game events and it is a model that Bungie should model themselves after.



GRAPHICS

If there is one thing Destiny does well is how beautiful the game looks. Sitting for a few minutes to watch time pass in the game will reveal a stunning horizon. The guns are modeled well and the enemies are rendered well.

AUDIO

Bungie recycled a lot of the audio from Halo and fans will notice it quickly. The voice acting, while it features the very talented Peter Dinklage as your ghost companion, is not very exciting and in my opinion appears to have phoned in his lines and then cashed his check.

Some of the upcoming events before the planned DLC in December:

VERDICT

While Destiny has a lot of things going for it and has many events planned soon (see below) it is very monotonous and repetitive. The fact that the campaign is short, only 18 hours or so strikes me as very short sighted. The lack of directions on what to do after reaching level 20 is disappointing and while it could be fixed with a little tweaking, the loot drops are far and few between make for a lot of unnecessary grinding.  With that said, Bungie does seem very committed to game and we should see some positive changes very soon. I am not all that impressed with the game but look forward to seeing how the game develops over time and improves. It has a lot going for it and I am hoping for improvements to make this game last as a rotating title in my playlist.

6.5/10

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REVIEW: Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition PS4

Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition
Action Role player, Dungeon Crawler, Online Multiplayer, Single player
PS3, PS4, 360, XB1, PC, Mac

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition has finally hit shelves for the consoles. I played Diablo III when it first came to computers and enjoyed it even with its lackluster launch. When it came to the Xbox 360, I gave it another go and loved it on the system and now it is available for the new current gen platforms with the first expansion Reaper of Souls.

The game is centered around the demons of the world and the angels and other guardians that safeguard the walls against them. In Diablo 3 the demons are once again on the rise and attempting to take over the world. You are the chosen one to return the demons to their realm and set things back on track.

As the player there are several classes to choose from:

The Barbarian, the staple melee character.

The Witch Doctor, the successor to the previous Diablo's Necromancer.

The Wizard, the hard-hitting damage dealer from afar. The successor to the Sorcerer.

The Monk, a quicker melee character.

The Demon Hunter, a ranged power house.

New for the Reaper of Souls expansion, The Crusader, a mid-range class that relies on shields, flails and spells.

Regardless of you class choice characters are able to use almost all of the weapons that drop from your enemies.

GAMEPLAY

It seems as if Diablo III was designed for the console as the game works really well. The combat system works exceptionally well and attempting to go for slaughtering large groups of enemies is satisfying. While the equipment management can be daunting at times, it only takes a little bit of time to get the basics down and start really making a dent in the enemy hordes.

Aside from combat and loot management, there are plenty of other skills to learn. Teaching your blacksmith new skills and patterns, leveling up your gem crafter to help augment your loot, and with the expansion you can also level up the artisan, who will change an items augmentation allowing you to pick and choose what qualities your kit contains.

What makes Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition so great is that it has been released 2 years after the initial release and all the patches and hit or miss tweaking to the game have already been done so it is as polished as much as it can be and it is impressive.

I have been playing the game almost non-stop whether it is going at it solo or with friends. The addition of Adventure Mode has you traveling to different acts within the game to gather bounties. Some of the bounties range from killing a certain number of enemies to going after certain bosses. Completion of the list of bounties allow for a large collection of loot that can be worth it.

Another added mode is Rifts, in order to open up the rifts you are required to have 5 rift keys, which are obtained through bounties. The monsters in Rift Mode are varied and have a higher chance of dropping legendary loot.

There is also a Hardcore Mode that you can select after leveling a character to level 10. In Hardcore Mode the player is unable to resurrect so if the created player dies, that is it.



GRAPHICS

The game runs at 1080p on PS4 and Xbox One with a staggering 60 FPS (frames per second), which is absolutely gorgeous on any TV you are playing on. The colors are rich and the atmosphere palpable.

AUDIO

The voice acting is impressive, many of the characters have deep resonating voices that are absolutely perfect for the game. The mood is also set with the music in the game.

VERDICT

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition is nearly perfect. It takes everything that was perfect with the game and adds to it. The ability to jump in and out of friends games is great and now that level 70 is no longer the zenith of your career the game has a long lasting appeal. Even if you don't get addicted to it like I have, it is still the perfect game to hold onto and play intermittently as it is very engaging.

Overall 9.5/10

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