DarkSpore PC Review

I came across this game while looking for a co-op RPG for me and a friend to play that wasn't a fantasy or middle ages type genre. We were mainly looking for scifi so this kind of filled the slot.
How did it fare? Well I will get to that.

Over all it was enjoyable to play though it was the demo version. I think it could be quite a bit more fun with a buddy hacking away with me but not much different over all. It felt like most other dungeon crawler Hack-N-Slash RPG games I have played in the past. Nothing besides the fact that my character was a monster and the environment reminded me that it was a scifi setting. The only thing that stood out a little bit to me was that it wasn't just one hero I brought into combat, it was a team of 3 that were hot swap-able at any time during play with a cool down of a couple seconds. Besides that it was the typical fare of special powers that were usable from an action bar after being gained from leveling up. Kill your way through the map to the end point, picking up DNA(experience) and loot along the way from dead enemies, chests and the randomly placed and seemingly useless destructible structures. Enemy types were quite varied, though besides the actual models, nothing drastically set them apart from run of the mill monsters.

So besides being quite meh in most other areas, the game controlled fantastically well! The smooth flow of combat and control tightness was really the only thing that kept me playing as long as I did in the demo. Though I will probably return to see which monsters I unlock next, I got enough of a feel for the game to write about it. Obviously the love of loot collecting was there but it wasn't a super special affair.

The story is really non-existent. You are a super scientist woken from millenia of cryo sleep to find that your genetic experiment that wiped out most of the universe has finally evolved into usefulness. These useful creations (your heroes) must be tracked down and unlocked in order to purge the galaxy of the mutated menace side effects of your experiments. That's about it, in the load screens the game tacks on some back story and history to each location but seeing as there aren't any NPCs that you converse with, it is mostly forgettable.

The main cool feature of the game is the crazy amount of customization you can do with the loot you pick up and equip on your characters. Each piece as usual goes on a specific slot, but the look and feel of that item on your monster and be custom sized, colored, and placed. I can see endless amounts of fun and combinations involved with this as long as the equipment is varied.

All in all it is a fun game and fairly entertaining, it would be more so with friends. Having found this on steam for $15 I've decided that I am going to wait for the price of the game to drop. Can't honestly say that I would be willing to spend more than $10 on this game.

7.5/10

Dragon's Dogma: Review

Dragon's Dogma is an Action RPG that takes place in a land full of monstrous creatures, magic, and many adventures. The game offers up several renditions of many types of monsters and bad guys, which lend to an every changing enjoyable experience in the game. Dragon's Dogma serves up lots of loot, beautiful scenery, story filled side quests, generic hunting side quests, and a good, yet somewhat confusing, story.

In Dragon's Dogma you play as the Arisen, a character who has had their heart stolen by The Dragon. You soon get to make a secondary character, called your Main Pawn, who you mold into any support role you see fit.  You can also hire two support pawns to round out your party.  This allows you to have a customized party to fit whatever style of playing you want to do.

The game offers a nice job class system that can be utilized to customize your specific style of game play even further.  You and your pawn can take on three normal vocations, Fighter, Strider, and Mage, and three advanced vocations, Warrior, Ranger, and Sorcerer. There are also three hybrid vocations, Mystic Knight, Assassin, and Magick Archer, which only your main character can use.  The normal and advanced vocations are nice, but the hybrid vocations really allow you to become a powerhouse by mixing up the weapons and armors you can use with your character. All of the classes are properly evened out for the most part to allow great gameplay no matter what you want to be.

I started out with a fighter, made my pawn a strider, and hired a mage and another pawn to round out whatever type of team I needed at the time.  I have to say I didn't care for being a mage myself, because it seemed slow to level. However, upon starting NG+ with a mage I like it more.  My complaint is that the mage takes a longer time to do any attack especially skill attacks. The mage does auto target enemies which really helps out though.  Bow users must always aim, and sometimes make adjustments for distance or movement. Straight malee users will have an extremely hard time with some enemies, because a lot require you to have ranged attacks of some sort.  So far my personal favorite vocation is the assassin, which mixes a fighter and strider, and allows you to use either a sword or daggers and bow or sheild. You get all of the good stuff at once.

There's loot, which we all know makes a game ever more addictive. The armor and weapons in the game can be upgraded up to 4 higher levels to make it even better. Upgrading from level 0 to level 1, 2, or 3 costs gold, and materials you've found or purchased.  Upgrading to level 4, or Dragon Forged, requires you to fight one of the 5 types of dragons in the game. The story's big boss, "The Dragon," will Dragon Forge all of your armor and weapons. However, the other 4 types of dragons randomly Dragon Forge your level 1 or higher gear. As for materials, you can usually use or craft better items out of whatever you find. There are plenty of curatives found in the world if you scavenge for them so you don't have to run to a shop before to buy them before you set out every time. You can even upgrade low level curatives to be more powerful.

The story is great, but does have some crazy aspects. Some parts are just twisted.  After You've beaten the game some major changes take place, and you are able to grind with harder monsters or move on and finish a post story part of the game.  After the post story has been completed you start NG+, which is the whole adventure over again. However, NG+ adds some new quest board quests, which give some major gold.

A few other great features include a built in screen shot system that allows you to upload to the official pawn community, a decently extensive character / pawn editor, an in game currency purchase for a anytime character editor (White Knight Chronicles I'm looking at you and your $5 re-customizing pass), a post game dungeon full of extreme challenges, and infinite NG+ Playthroughs.

That's about all I can really say without going into major spoiler territory. If you enjoy Western RPGs, Action RPGs, or all RPGs, like me, then you will probably love this game. I'm well on my way to 200 hours, and have no plans of putting it down any time soon.

Rating: 9.7/10

Demon's Souls Review

   Demon's Souls is a very challenging, yet rewarding game. Before you master the first level, you will already have around 30 deaths on your save. If you do not cheat, by the end of the game your death count will surely be around 500.

   I really like RPG's, because of the amazing story. For some reason, this game did not satisfy my needs when it comes to story. I didnt get it at all, it was either too complicated, or too simple, forcing me to think about it. Obviously the more I think about it, the more my brain makes it complicated so it goes above human understanding. You are simply thrown right into action as the game starts, since you are in something that seems to be a castle dungeon, and you get attacked by a boss right away. Obviously, you die and are taken to a place called the Nexus where all of the NPC's are waiting just to rip you off. Right after the tutorial (yes, being killed by a boss is part of the tutorial) you go to the first of the five worlds, to regain your body by killing a demon. Getting to the demon, though, is no easy task! You must first prove your worth by opening the demon's gate, which is opened by penetrating two towers and cutting the chains. I assure you, you will get around 20 deaths opening the gate in the first level. Once you defeat the first demon, you will be taken back to the Nexus, where the black maiden tells you to see the monumental, who you would expect to be a huge statue, but no its a little girl sitting with other dead "monumentals". The monumental tells you the story and why you must defeat all the demon's, and then the story simply stops being told after that point. Now you have access to all five worlds to complete at your will. But this game is not for the weak, I rage quit in the second stage of the first world after getting 50 deaths and wasting 7 hours at a single checkpoint. I did go back to the game eventually though, and finished it.

   The gameplay of the game is where it's at, the gameplay is simply awesome. Demon's Souls is an action RPG game, with very unique online. Let me take a moment to explain the online. This game's online does not have lobbies, or even voice chat. if you are connected to the internet, you are forced to play the game online, you cant say no. Players help eachother out by placing signs on the ground, either telling you something is a trap, warning you about a boss and telling you his weakness, or even simply trolling you by telling you there is a hidden path but in reality you are simply going to fall. Players can also place a sign to be summoned, and help other players with the game. If you successfully help someone, you get to keep all the souls (currency) and are reverted back to human form. Being in human form grants you more health, and you are able to summon others to help you. That is not always a good thing though, since you can be attacked by black phantoms, who are bloodthirsty players just waiting to rob you of your precious souls and humanity.

   Souls are the game's everything. They are both money, and XP. You can either chose to buy nice armor and a good sword, or level yourself up, tough choice. Oh, did I mention every time you die, you lose all your souls? yeah, that happens. It feels awful when you are carrying 100,000 hard earned souls and out of nowhere you die and cant get back to your body to reclaim them.

   Personally, I would only recommend this game to the HARDCORE PS3 gamers, those who are willing to go through a lot of mental suffering and broken controllers just to get the awesome feeling of satisfaction when you defeat a boss for the first time. It is a great game, but half of the people that play it will rage quit on the second level like I did. Don't get me wrong, I did eventually go back to the game two years after my rage quit and finished it, and it was really rewarding. I wish I could go back in time and experience Demon's Souls again for the first time. There is still Dark Souls, but that game is not as good as Demon's Souls, and it is a LOT harder! I've been stuck on the same level for 2 months now... I think im just gonna rage quit that and go back to playing Demon's Souls

Rating: 8/10