Release Date: March 05, 2013 Developer: Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Studios - Montreal Publisher: Square-Enix
Genre: Action Plataform: PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 / Microsoft Windows
Lara Croft is iconic for a number of people around the world since she first appeared 17 years ago. Often times we would hear a woman with a strong personality be compared with the famous Lara Croft. And at some point, woman started to actually try to achieve that. Lara is the whole package: intelligent, strong, sexy, rich and powerful; so why women would not want to be like her? And for men she was more than strong, she was also a sex symbol that was cultivated for generations, from the digital world until Angelina Jolie donned the famous persona. (That, by the way, the blood river scene in the game was suppose to be a reference to Angelina Jolie in Beowulf? LOL.)
But this time in the new Tomb Raider, this is not the Lara Croft that we have come to know. Ok, she is still sexy, very good looking and can still do some gravity-defying acrobatics; but now Lara is young, inexperienced, vulnerable, naive and in some moments even too dramatic. All that she wants is to go back home and leave behind all the nightmare that she starts to face, but of course, this is not an option.
A SURVIVOR IS BORN
I would be lying if I don't admit that my first impressions of the game was totally incoherent with the rest of my game experience. If you were expecting to play a little bit before the whole "ship accident" happens, you are totally wrong - I was wrong too! - The game starts exactly with the same cinematic that we have seen countless times since Tomb Raider was first announced long ago. You don't have time to connect yourself and gain affection with the other characters of the ship Endurance. The game just starts: BOOOM! And you are trapped in the middle of a creepy cavern. Why would you want to risk your life to save someone that wasn't even introduced to you - as a player - in the game? That was my first bad impression. And unfortunately, this impression was followed by the next moments in the beginning of the game.
Since the cavern moment was the first part of the game, they try to make it so spectacular that they actually don't think about how the "new" Lara Croft would be able to face all the obstacles she faces inside the cave. We know that the whole game idea is to focus in how the little girl grows up and turns into a strong woman, but if Lara still needs to grow, how believable is it that, even in the first minutes of the game, Lara would be able to do all that she does? I just think that if they wanted to make her evolve, then allow a little more time for that. All this should be presented and learned with time, when she finally see herself as a Survivor. And not as the old heroin right from the start. (...) Besides that? The rest of the game is incredible and my opinion totally changed right after the first 20 minutes of gameplay.
The whole game runs around the idea of putting Lara Croft into situations that will test her limits. She is a Survivor and to keep alive she needs to defend herself by killing people, learning how to hunt animals, as well as exploring, climbing and hiding in different environments. The game also offers a cool "Survivor Instinct" option in which, when used, it makes the game screen black and white, highlighting only objective direction, items, enemies and animals. It's almost like the Eagle Vision in Assassin's Creed, working pretty well.
STORY AND ENVIRONMENTS
In search for the lost Japanese civilization of Yamatai, Lara convince the Endurance Crew to enter the Dragon's Triangle, an area renowned for causing ships to disappear. And, of course, the Endurance is added to this list by facing a huge storm and crashing in the island. When Lara wakes up in the beach, she is attacked right after, starting the whole cavern first game sequence. After the first minutes of the game you start to understand that the habitants of the island are in search of a woman sacrifice to resurrect the Sun Queen, Himiko. And guess what? Samantha - Lara's friend - is the one chosen.
The plot may seem to be a little bit weak or cliché, but actually it works pretty well. With some twists of magic and legends, and with some mature and gore content, all the island and each single environment compliments the game in an amazing way.
The environments' representation are amazing and it varies a lot during the game. There are forests, beaches, tombs, snow areas and everything that you could expect. The lighting matches according to those environments, creating even more an appropriate atmosphere. When it is raining you can see the lightning illuminating the environment, while the rain actually affects the game camera, making us believe that we are part of that world.
SOME ELEMENTS OF THE CLASSIC GAMES
So, here we are with this new Lara and the question arises: Does she faces puzzles and explore tombs like before? Does she like it? Well, if she likes I'm not so sure, considering that in a moment of the game she actually says that she hates tombs. But that does not means that she will not explore some of those. In this Tomb Raider the player has the option to find and explore different tombs - in a total of 7 of them - Upon completing it you are rewarded with some item and XP points, as well as a Treasure Map for an area on the island, helping the player to identify certain items.
Most all of the puzzles are presented in those optional tombs. Out of that, the player will probably face 3 or 4 different puzzle situations, which makes me feel as though they could have added more and increased the difficulty a little bit. I can count on one hand the number of times that I actually had difficulty with one puzzle in the game.
The relic viewer mode is also here. The player can find and collect relics around the game and, by doing that, you can visualize it by close, zoom in, rotating and even trying to find some extra clue. Those clues do not affect the gameplay itself, but give extra information to the main plot. By collecting relics you are rewarded with XP.
And finally, Lara Croft is still a very fast and light character, that can jump very far, hang in platforms, climb and shoot.
NEW ELEMENTS FOR A NEW GENERATION
What would be good new features for the game? Surprisingly - for me at least - the upgrades are one of the nicest part of the game. By collecting relics, killing enemies with headshot, finding treasures in tombs or even reaching new environments, the player will be rewarded with XP. Accessing one of the camps, the player can exchange those XP for a number of new abilities to Lara, increasing from Hunting Skills to Fighting Skills.
Another upgrade system is related with the weapons and gears. By collecting Salvage - destroying boxes or getting from enemy bodies - you can use it to upgrade your weapons. Sometimes you need more than Salvage to get the weapon to another level. In this case, the player will need to find more parts of the respective weapon, usually by collecting the treasures that you can find in each optional tomb. In the end, both upgrade system works very well and it's not annoying or hard to understand. Actually the game makes me want to collect everything, just to be able to upgrade my equipments and skills and this is something new for me.
The hunting is one of the newest element in this game, but also the most stupid. The idea of it is pretty nice, but the execution went very bad. Right in the beginning of the game you are "forced" to hunt a deer, to learn how to do it and how to collect something from their body. But the problem is that after this first time, you can play the whole game without ever having to hunt again. It turns something totally unnecessary and with no purpose, considering that Lara Croft does not have a hunger bar or anything like that.
LEVEL DESIGN AND GAMEPLAY
I had loads of fun by playing Tomb Raider. Maybe because it features various elements that are present in two of my favourite game series: Uncharted and Assassin's Creed.
Uncharted by following the recipe of integrating many cinematic sequences while you have a total in-game control, loads of enemies appearing all the time, incredible combat situations, explosions, different types of gameplay - like the one in the parachute or in the waterfall - and a charismatic character. And Assassin's Creed by considering a whole area that you can "free" explore, quick travelling between camps and even with some screen glitches.
The gameplay and controls work in a very smooth way. Everything is very intuitive and clear. It's fun to use Lara's Bow, trying to kill the enemies while keeping yourself in a stealth approach. That was actually one of my favourites part of the game: the use of the Bow.
While the gameplay gives us a very good experience, the Level Design tends to try to convince us of a fake freedom. As I said before, some elements remind me of Assassin's Creed, when you see that you are surrounded by this big map, full of choices and directions to go. But all this freedom is broken by following the right path in the game. The player ends up needing to follow ahead to the next point, moving on with the right direction, not actually giving choices to the player. They tried to sell us a free experience, but in my opinion is just a linear Uncharted Level Design, with clear objectives and directions. Well, not that I am complaining. At least I didn't get lost.
IN THE WAITING FOR THE NEXT ONES
Finally, Tomb Raider did a good job in returning to this generation, promising something new and fun to play. With a large and beautiful environment, super exciting gameplay moments and cinematics, it seems that they finally got the right choices for the game and we are assuming that next ones will come soon. It will be interesting to imagine what new ideas and features can come. And, if they accomplish at least half of what this Tomb Raider offered to us, I'm pretty sure it will be another success.
My Personal Score: 4.5/5
[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]
Release Date: July 26, 2011 Developer: Atlus Persona Team Publisher: Atlus Genre: Adventure / Puzzle Plataform: PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360
Ok! Let's clarify a few things before anything else. If you are looking for a hentai game, with naked characters and sex, then get out of here and do not continue this review. Catherine is not a porn game. The most you will "get" is the cover image of the box art.
Have you ever cheated before?
Hmm! If I've betrayed before? Wait, what is to betray someone? If I only had one night of sex with someone else, but without love, it is considered betray? Vincent, a man of 32 years old, which is already in a stable relationship for 5 years with his girlfriend Katherine, goes through the same confusion in the game. The whole game is presented as a television program - Golden Playhouse - through a mix of scenes in anime, parallel to the incredible 3D cinematic.
Early on in the game, Vincent is in a discussion with his girlfriend Katherine. She says that both of them are on the same level of the relationship a few years ago and that she would like to go one step further in this process, citing the idea of a marriage. The moment the boy is taken by surprise by this suggestion of his girlfriend, a flow of confusing thoughts arise in his mind, questioning whether he is ready for all this responsibility, or whether to keep the field he is already familiar with in their relationship.
Frustrated with all the pressure, Vincent meets his best friends in a bar - which by the way is where much of the game takes place - and begins to drink to distract his head from these problems. A lot of drinks later, he don't know how he came to his home, and when he wakes up from a strange nightmare in the next day and looks to the other side of his bed... BOOM!!! Someone is there with him.
Vincent betrays his girlfriend Katherine with a young girl, blonde, blue eyes, perfect body - in other words, the stereotype of the ideal girl - and when he realizes, he makes it a daily habit and don't know how to control this situation. And to top it off, the new girl is called Catherine.
Not knowing what to do, Vincent continues his decisions throughout the game, couldn't decide whether to sever the relationship with Katherine and following an "adventure" with the new Catherine, or whether it should assume its responsibilities and accept the new stage of life as a responsible adult.
What is most interesting in the game is the way each character behaves and how we are really faced with real situations of human relationships. It's awesome how the game treats Vincent in his confusion in the process of maturing as a person. And the huge difference between the personality of Catherine / Katherine is also a key point in this game, which you as a player, can choose what choices to take, and which way to go, assuming your own consequences.
A Puzzle Nightmare
The game progresses in a space of nine days, in which you control Vincent in two different realities. While awake, you have control of the character within the Stray Sheep Bar, in which you must communicate with other people who are there, share information, better understand what are these supernatural cases that is happening in the city and, beyond to talk to your friends, read and reply to messages on your cell phone, which will completely change the history of the game, depending on the choices you make.
In moments that you back to your home and sleep, are the most active part of gameplay. The Main Gameplay takes place in Vincent's Nightmares. Unexplained deaths are occuring among men of different ages. What they say is that if you die during your nightmare, you will not wake up anymore. Freddy Krueger sends hi??
These Nightmares are organized into puzzle stages. Everyone who are in these nightmares are represented as sheep. Vincent - in a sheep form - must climb up huge staircases against time, to reach the top, before the whole place collapse. To accomplish this, he needs to pull, push and climb blocks the faster as he can, while avoiding various different kinds of traps. In the end of each group of stages, Vincent needs to confront a boss, who represents his deepest concerns of the previous day.
At the end of each level, Vincent has to enter in a confessional and answer questions related to relationships. Is really cool because when you do your answer, one table with percentage values emerges, showing what the vast majority of other players answered. And so the game does a search based on human behavior upon the response of each player.
The whole game revolves around betrayal, statistical data, consequences and on social punishments of that. The coolest thing is that from beginning to end, all your answers will be evaluated and influenced in the flow of history. Even in what Vincent will think about his relationship with Katherine and attitudes of upcoming.
Love is Over Catherine scored big points for creativity and a depth story. Although often a subject always present in the lives of almost everyone, the way the game creates this scenario and its characters, makes the game be a rare piece from the majority.
The game has an amazing art direction, with very charismatic 3D models, full of bright colors. Is it clear that the emphasis is to the anime scenes, which are really impressive. But the production art of the game managed well to put the two things together during the game.
By contrast, although the game's soundtrack is composed by beautiful classical music, dubbing and synchronization of the game fail in a few moments during the dialogues between the characters in in-game scenes, especially early in the game. Is not something that actually makes you uncomfortable, but is remarkably in the beginning.
If you enjoy a good puzzle game and is addicted to anime and Japanese culture, Catherine has been done for you. Or if you just want to play to better understand what might be the consequences of a betrayal, feel free. Maybe that way you think twice before...
My Personal Score: 3,5/5
[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]
Release Date: November 1, 2011 Developer: Naughty Dog Publisher: SCEA Genre: Action Plataform: PlayStation 3
When we play Uncharted 1 for the very first time, we feel the sensation that we never saw a game with such a amazing graphics and scenarios full of so realistic nature. Then comes Uncharted 2, which can offer to you graphics even better and with a so distinct narrative that we never saw in a game before, as they can present to you the story in the same time that you are playing and controlling your game character. And finally, when we are thinking in how Naughty Dog could give to us a new Uncharted with a lot of surprising things like the old ones, we will never expected that would be this all. However we could find that the game would be great, we would not expect how much he really was amazing. And that's why I'm always saying that Naughty Dog is one of the most incredible game companies that I know until now, and of course, like me, must have another thousands of people dreaming to work there someday.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception have the same initial plot focused on something that is always in the games of the series. Nathan Drake is in search of lost treasure in a mysterious land in the middle of nothing desert and for that, he have the presence of his inseparable friend Victor Sullivan. But even coming with the same cliche as always, this time we notice that the main objective of his search in the story is not exactly just the treasure, but actually the answers for some unsolved questions that Nate are carrying for so long. The story is much more! Is about Nathan's life, his feelings, what he believes and how proud he can be, at the point of risk his and his friends lifes.
In some way we have two opposite opinions here. This screenplay is one of the most vague of all, or one of the most strong? I’m saying that because differently from the other previous two games, you never feel that you are really searching for the treasure. Of course you are going to find tips of how to find the correct place that the treasure are, you are dealing with enemies that want the same as you, and you are risking your life for that. But during all the story, I don’t feel that the main characters really want to find the precious treasure, like in the old games. And that’s why I’m here questioning myself if it is something good or not. Since in all the others games of the series we are always seeing the same plot. It looks like that Amy Hennig - game director and script writer of Naughty Dog - finally made a story that absorbs players into something more intimate and exciting.
The Little Thief
Soon after the first scene of the game - which by the way is set in a Pub in London - in the end of the first chapter, we are led to the first steps of Nathan as a little thief and treasure hunter. We can control the Nathan of 20 years ago through the colourful streets of Colombia, and better understand how his childhood was influenced for everything and how he met Sullivan and started his friendship in a uncommon way.
It's interesting to learn how was Nathan's life, and all the difficulties that he passed. And it's amazing to see how the story take all the old characters of the old games and put then together in a natural way.
One new character is presented too, and she is the villain of Drake's Deception. Her name is Marlowe and she's in Nate's childhood too. Marlowe was the first woman villain in Uncharted series, and she can be both a manipulative woman, also a person who cares about Nate in some strange ways. She want to find the same treasure that Nate are searching for 20 years ago.
Visual richness in all aspects
Every time Naughty Dog focuses on a different main ambiance. The first two games we were surprised with a great realistic nature, water and ice scenarios, respectively. This time, graphically, we can see that they made a big upgrade with more realistic scenarios, and presenting for the first time one huge desert full of sand effects. With all references that the team searched for, they were capable to create realistic real time sand physics, presenting exactly how the sand reacts when someone walks on it. It's amazing and indescribable when Nate walks around the desert, trying to stand firm and survive while walking with no direction.
The Level Design team had a lot of research based in all scenarios to make them the most realistic possible. Every detail has been thoroughly studied, able to create a very realistic atmosphere for every place. They visited cities such as Cartagena, in Colombia, Pubs in London and even castles in Syria, to create the most realistic possible the new scenarios of the game. And the result that they had have been really impressive. The wealth of detail is such that reminds me some times the game Assassin's Creed, but with brighter and more vibrant colours.
But as if that's not enough, Drake's Deception can impress us even more with all the light effects and render, that we had never seen in PS3 game so far. It's impossible to don't agree that we feel like we are seeing a playable hollywood action movie in real time.
Barbie, the new generation
If have something that Nathan doesn't cease to do in Drake's Deception is to change his clothes. I was taking note every time that he appears using new clothes or just swapping between the old ones or adding a new accessory. Naughty Dog was not stopped when it came to creating new looks for our hero.
Throughout the game, Nate ranged between visual as a elegant black smoke, his jeans and green T-shirt for use in forests, long sleeve white shirt, then adding a Blue Palestinian scarf for levels in the desert and, finally, returning to the traditional green T-shirt.
A new cherry in the old cake recipe
Overall the game follows a very similar gameplay to the already known in the series. All progress through the game is presented by a gameplay that tricks you with a false freedom that doesn't exist. As different as your fighting may be, the end result will always be the same, looking like you're following a rhythm of quick-time events. But what benefits these pace of play, is that the narrative can convince you that you have control of your choices and in the end what matters most are the scenes that you saw through its results.
This time the game also focuses on melee combat. It is clear that the moments of great tension and firing are included in the game as always. But now you also have the option of attacking your enemies with many different types of scams, and even steal their weapons and grenades during your defence against the enemy attack, and your own counterattack.
Another thing that makes the gameplay more fun and variable is how the level design is very important for the gameplay. This time you have more option to take advantage of scenarios to use them in your favour, dodging the blows of the enemy, climbing platforms and even taking advantage of object scenarios to attack your rivals, for example, using chairs and bottles.
Of course we see some glitches during the gameplay. One of the most notable and frequent is during the horse fighting level. Sometimes we can see that is impossible to Nate jump in the back of the horse from where he is, and then, even so, he just appear on it like everything was totally normal. By the way, this level is amazing!
In general the gameplay changes between action and puzzles, with great well-built cutscenes, making you feel like you never spend so long on just one activity during the game. They knew how to mix all chapters in a way that you don't want to stop to play the game until you solve everything. Even though the game follows a linear sequence, and without many difficulties.
Without wasting more time, I might add that the soundtrack is also something that deserves our congratulations. All the action scenes were perfectly represented by the music, as well as the most sensitive and quiet scenes of the game. What about voice acting, Drake's Deception also remains with the impeccable quality of the previous games, but maybe a little disappointed in the language voiceovers in Portuguese-BR, because of some inconsistencies with our true language.
Naughty Dog Lovers
The Uncharted series has always been a good option for the worshipers of games, the curious, and especially for Game Designers. The extras with several making-of in the game are still available. Not to mention the variety of options for dubbing and subtitles in several languages, including our Portuguese of Brazil.
It's clear that the game - as all of them! - has some failures. But I believe that the qualities that the same gives to the players and all the affection and love that we can see in the production of it, makes any slight failures be acceptable to the point of putting Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception in the list of one of the best games ever developed.
My Personal Score: 5/5
[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]
Release Date: October 09, 2007 Developer: SCEJ Publisher: SCEJ Genre: RPG Plataform: PlayStation 3
Folklore story is set in modern times, in the remote village of Doolin. A seaside village which lies on the West Coast of Ireland. Over time, Doolin became a village isolated from the rest of the World. Their routes to the village began to be ruined and even the fishermen who go close to there avoid the village. But there isn´t the difficulty of access to the local that causes everyone to be far away. Rumors indicate and, according to the Folklore of the village, like it or not, there you can end at any time communicating with death.
Welcome to Doolin
In Folklore you spend much of your time unraveling the mysteries that have happened and still happen in Doolin, and then gain access to any of the portals to the Netherworld. Usually you explore the village by day, going out for clues and "Mementos" of people who have died, and then at night when you have collected all the necessary data, you can offer these found objects, so they can open up access to the Kingdoms of the other World.
In short, the game starts to change his focus a bit while you're in the village of Doolin. It would be a mix of Adventure with RPG. What I think made the game even more interesting, because many of the discoveries you will have about what happened 17 years ago in Doolin, are made through conversations with some of the residents who still live in the village, and through objects you find, notes, pictures etc. Despite residents avoid talking much about everything that happened, there are moments in the game that they end up being "forced" to reveal some things, and so parts of this whole "puzzle" in that village are beginning to be understood. The script becomes increasingly complex and intriguing.
In the beginning of the game, two strangers are mysterious called by someone, who told them to meet her in the Village of Doolin, where they say that the living can meet the dead. One of them is Ellen. A young girl student, who goes to Doolin believing that her mother, allegedly killed 17 years ago, could be there waiting for her. The other is Keats, a reporter of one occult magazine who gets a call on his agency, with a distress call about a possible murder involving fairies. So he decided to go to Doolin to investigate this crime and write a new story for your supernatural magazine.
They soon realize that the answers to what they seek are lost within each Kingdom of the Underworld, where spirits and creatures are waiting for them. Beings who act in their own ways.
Starting a New Chapter
Once the game starts you have the option of selecting between one of two characters. Each one has different perspectives on everything, which will directly influence in the game story. In addition to different goals, each following its principles and objectives.
The game is divided into chapters. In each chapter finished, you have the option to play with the another character, so go for switching between them and joining the story by two viewpoints: Ellen and Keats. However, you can also play with only one of them until a certain part of the game that keeps you from moving forward if you don´t complete all other outstanding chapters with the another character.
The game script unfolds slowly and becomes more interesting when you go seeing all sides of the events. For example, while Ellen may be going after something in the village of Doolin, Keats may be in the same time elsewhere in the village, and end up seeing something that you would never know if just playing with Ellen. Se what would be vague to you in the history, could be better explained when you were playing later the same chapter with Keats - or vice versa - that fit like a glove in the "hole" that is left in the game's storyline.
While it is interesting that you observe all different angles, on the other hand this double play by history can become a bit tiring at times, because the characters end up needing to go through the same Kingdoms, after discovering the memories of some people who have gone forever. But as each one has a different idea about death, what they end up seeing these Kingdoms also become a little different. But that I'll explain a little bit later here on this review.
Messengers of the Dead
In the game you embody the role of Messenger of the Netherworld. The Messengers are those people who has the lead role of take certain messages that the spirits of another World want to come to certain people in the Real World.
Ellen ends early in the game becoming the new Messenger of the Dead, and thus having the "permission" to travel between the Kingdoms of the other World. But while there is a new Messenger, also arises a new Guardian. And it turns out that Keats gains this role of Guardian, may also have access to another World.
For that they can open a portal to another dimension where the Kingdoms are, they need to get objects - known as Mementos - or memories of people who have gone, and then immediately offer in something like a ritual. So they listen to the voices of spirits that tell them somewhere to go. Arriving at this point, the portal to that Realm where the spirit is stunned, be open to the Messenger of the Dead and his Guardian.
Main Characters
Ellen is a 22 years old student who lost her parents when she was a child. Growing up she went through various institutions, orphanages etc. She has no memories of her childhood and can only vaguely remember a few things that her mother told her as a child. Since then she has always carried an emptiness and fear in your heart, and because of that she never trust the people enough. But one day Ellen received a letter that was signed with the name of her mother. Rising a little hope in her heart, Ellen decided to go to Doolin with the intent to understand all this.
Keats, a boy of 27 years of age, is a reporter for the third most popular magazine of supernatural phenomena. The Magazine Unknown Realms. Unlike others he doesn´t believe in supernatural, so in their stories he always tries to reveal the scientific side of the claims considered paranormal. At the end of one of his business day of work, Keats receives a phone call at his agency, in which a desperate woman asks for help, saying that fairies are trying to kill her in Doolin. Wanting a new material for his magazine and curious about what is happening, he decided to go to the Village of Doolin where there are reports that people can meet the dead.
Secondary Characters
Dr. Lester: Doctor of the Village of Doolin. He's isolated from all others when he feels guilty for the death of some people 17 years ago. Some think he may have committed child abuse, while others defend him by saying he is a man with a Gold Heart.
Suzette: Daughter of Regine and Renaldo, is the only one of the family that is still alive. Suzette is the first person who finds Keats and Ellen in the Village. She doesn´t seem to rely too much on others. She also avoids talking about her past, that somehow is mysterious even to her.
Harriet: She worked as an actress when she was young, until she suffered an accident that required to use a wheelchair now. When she was unable to walk, she began studies of hidden things. She researched on beliefs and although not fully believe in them, she still thinks that all these aren´t just stories.
O'Connel: He's in the village recently looking for a girl which disappear a week ago. As she was studying things about Folklore, he believes she may have gone to the Village of Doolin.
Belgae: An invisible Man, Halflive - which can travel between Real World and Netherworld - It is he who teaches Keats to get access to the Netherworld for the first time, acting like Keats's mentor for his journey. He have much knowledge about institutions and their way of speaking is very intellectual.
Fairy Lord: The King of the Faery Realm, who is trying to convince Ellen to stand on his side, making her a messenger in order to make way among all the other Kingdoms until the Netherworld Core, and thus "correct" what he thinks is wrong in the Netherworld.
Livane: Livane is hated by the King of the Fairies, for he says that she started a rebellion in the Netherworld, when she went to Netherworld Core and disabled a vital function of the Realm. Thus, provoking a war between her and the Faery Realm.
Scarecrow: A scarecrow Halflive - half alive, half dead - it is him who tells Ellen for the first time about the Netherworld, a place where you can meet the dead. He has a funny way of talking, and have a strange feeling that there are some things about the Worlds which prevents him from fully trust at all.
The World of the Dead
The Village of Doolin hides portals that provide access to various Realms of the World of the Dead, also known as The Netherworld. Realms created by the perception of humans of how life would be like after death.
They are spirits who live in these Kingdoms, creatures, fairies and monsters who are called "Folks". Folks have all these forms of attack and to defend itself, that shouldn´t be underestimated. Each Folk has powerful souls who are known as their ID's, and that can be captured and collected by travelers from the Netherworld, they being the Messengers and Guardians. So, right then can use the ID's captured by their own need.
The combat portion of the game is set in the Netherworld, while the operation was left to the Village of Doolin.
In Netherworld there are 7 distinct realms, with different characteristics and different Folks inhabiting them. In total you can find over 100 different Folks, needing to make the perfect combat strategy to defend itself, defeat and capture them.
For years and years of our lives, the man has accumulated a number of concepts about how life would be like after death. At the time that these concepts are so strong and constant, they end up materializing in the form of a new Realm in the Netherworld. Sometimes being a place as beautiful as Faery Realm, or so aggresive in a state of war, as Warcadia.
Folks
The Folks are inhabitants of the Netherworld. They are spirits of the dead who take a new shape in this new world of life after death. The way they died in the Real World interferes directly in these creatures they became. If a person commits suicide or was brutally murdered, she ends up materializing in a disturbing way in Netheworld, in which case, would be the Folks.
Interpreting the Death
Each person interprets life after death in a different way. Ellen and Keats didn´t difer from others in this respect. During the game you realize that the knowledge that each has upon as would be the Netherworld, directly affect the way they see the World and what they will find there.
What Keats find in every Realm where he passes, not to say that Ellen will find exactly the same. The Folks that are present there are different for each character, based on how they interpret the world. That is, in the same Realm, Ellen capture the ID's of some Folks, that Keats can't capture in the same Realm, and vice versa. Thus further increasing the vast "library" of Folks who have in the game, and also be very tiring preventing the passage of the character by the same temple that you just go with the previous character. Because you just need to use different strategies, which provides that new Folk to destroy others who are ahead, and finally, the Folklore that makes the "disorder" in that Realm.
As Ellen uses more tactics and strategies with the ID's captured, Keats often use more brute force attack, thus varying forms of combat.
The 7 Realms of Netherworld
There are seven different Realms in Netherworld, which are just like humans think that is life after death. Below I'll show you what they are and talk a little about some of the creatures who is living there.
Faery Realm
Built in a fantastic scenery and mystical, Faery Realm is the direct manifestation of the traditional view of men on the Paradise after death. Thus expressing the fear that people have of death, making the Realm a comfort. Cait Sidhe is one of the folks inhabitants of Faery Realm. He appears in the human world in the form of a Black Cat. He can speak the language of humans, but does so only on rare occasions. In Netherworld, the way he defends himself is using a kind of loose powder it, to confound his enemies.
Warcadia
The Realm of Warcadia is exactly our current world, experienced by the Dead. It is the idea of the afterlife and then in front, with the same aspects of the ignorant human being. A universe where the war is still prevalent. The two fields of Warcadia are trapped in an eternal fight, but not even folks remember why. Brummbear is one of the folks living in Warcadia. He is a officer man who loves commanding the moment of attack. He is usually watching the battle from afar, but even so it is no longer one of the strongest, if you need to get into the fight as well.
Undersea City
The city under the sea was once inhabited by various Gods created by the human race itself. Today, many of them began to lose his life, caused by the fact of lack of human belief in them. In Undersea City there is a swamp where some of the dead enter it, their memories will be forgotten forever, both for those who are still alive, as if to himself. Malabaricus is an inhabitant folk of the Undersea City. When he feels threatened, he released several smaller fish that are stored inside your mouth, and uses them as an attack to defend themselves.
Endless Corridor
The Endless Corridor is the kind of place where people who have lost faith about life after death, will stop. It is a world of puzzles. A labyrinth without input or output. He represents the modern day people who don't understand death. Endless Corridor is also said by the fairies, which is the Kingdom of Livan. Habetrot is an inhabitant folk of Endless Corridor. The key to this whole puzzle is upon him. He controls the rhythm in time he wants. To defend himself, he unleashes a wave that hypnotizes enemies.
Hellrealm
Death being where your sins are judged in the Hellrealm there is a court and a judge. Fachan is an inhabitant folk of the Hellrealm. He hates humans and don't want to let them remain there. Fachan acts with more force, but is not very smart.
Doolin
As I am avoiding any kind of spoiller, I'd rather not mention details about this part. Agapanthus is a very curious folk who seeks wisdom. When intruders appear, he tries to meet them, but then destroy them, following a process that he does.
Netherworld Core
The Realm of Netherworld Core was born at exactly the time that humans first understand death. The King of the Fairies aims to reach this Kingdom to fix something he says Livane chipped. A vital function. Coropuna is an inhabitant folk of the Realm Netherworld Core. He has incredible strength in his legs, but it generates a lot of effort into his head, that's why he has that rock on his head, which serves to dissipate the effort.
Rules of Combat
In Folklore your main goal in battle is not to kill your enemies. Indeed, what more should be done is to capture their souls. However, in some cases, to evolve the "level" of his folks caught, you need to kill some of them, without capturing their ID's.
Each type of Folk is identified with a different ID, which would be their souls. Capturing their ID's, you gain the ability to use them in the coming battles in the best way possible.
Overall, combat is divided into several steps, which they are: the battle, the absorption of ID, the selection of the access button that Folk will be available in your control, and the invocation of the Folk in the battle.
Fighting techniques
During battles, you will have the option to fight or just flee the enemy folks. If you decide to fight - which would be more consistent, since this just benefits - you will attack using the Folks you've already captured. Early in the game, in the first Realm has a cutscene that shows the characters getting their first two ID's of Folks. One that serves to attack, and one for defense.
Attack: You invoke your folks caught in order to combat the other. There are several types of attacks. From what you have to be close to the enemy, even those you can attack from afar and even hit several enemies at once. The Folks have different elements. You using the right combination, the effect upon the enemy Folk generated can be much larger. As well, you might happen to use some folk who don't have any effect upon your enemy. You acknowledge that everything is going well if your enemy when you attack him, his soul flashing in blue, with every blow received. In the pages of the book that you get in every Realm of the game, you can see tips on how to combat the enemy folks. And especially, and most importantly, the main Folklore what's in each of the Realms of the game.
Defense: When an enemy attacks you, you can use the skills of some of the defense Folks you have already captured, such as folk first defense of the game, which when invoked, appears in front of you and defend you from attacks of other enemies folks. But you can also do something else to try to defend themselves. Pressing the R2 button control, you make a kind of "dash" in the case it would be a quick leap that gives character to the sides. So you can try to divert the attacks of enemies, becoming a very useful technique, especially when you're surrounded by several of them.
Fleeing from enemies: You don't need to fight all Folks you meet along the way. If you want you also have the option to flee the area, to escape enemies. But keep in mind that if you avoid the fighting, you don't end up absorbing the soul of any of these folks enemies, preventing the evolution of ID's already captured. Because, on the run from various folks, you may end up failing to capture some of that may be essential in some moments of the game. Not only just in combat but also to open paths by Realms. Since there are "Memory Stones" which sometimes contains important point or block the path of the game. These "Memory Stones" are only destroyed in accordance with the color of the element that your captured folk has.
ID Absorption
If you hit enemies with the folks valid attacks, their soul will begin to jump out of their bodies in blue color. Insisting in the attacks, will have a moment that their soul will be red and that is when we take the ID of them by pressing the R1 button on the SIXAXIS.
During the game, you notice some variations of how to absorb the ID of the enemies. And these variations occur according to movements made directly by the SIXAXIS. As it happens the moment of absorption of the soul, you can press the R3 button control and view tips on how to do that such absorption.
While the absorption takes place, appears a menu bar at the bottom of the screen, showing how you've managed to complete the capture of Folk. If you finish all grafts that bar, the soul is captured successfully. There are 6 ways to absorb, that they are: Shot Timing, Beat, Balance, and Mix Stop & Go.
Shot: Absorbs enemy's ID just pulling up the control in the moment his soul is already red.
Timing: Absorb the ID of the enemy, pulling the control up, every time, at the right moment in which the soul turns red, to fill the bar absorption.
Beat: Absorbs the ID of the enemy, swinging control to the left and right, beating the folk on the ground, until he was weak.
Balance: Absorbs the ID of the enemy, directing his soul to the center of the screen. While the ID goes to the right, move it to the left slightly, to make it positioned in the center, and do the same if it went the other way.
Stop & Go: Absorbs enemy's ID, shaking the controller rapidly up and down. When the ID becomes cloudy, do not move your control, only returning to shake it when she comes back color.
Mix: Absorbs the ID of the enemy, with a combination of all previous actions, and ultimately, with the shot.
Folklores
In each Realm of Netherworld there is a different Folklore. The stronger spirit of the Realm. Winning each of them, you bring back some order to that Realm and you can discover memories of people who have gone before. Even capturing the soul of a Folklore, you can't use your ID later. He does not appear in your list of Folk.
In general, Folklore still managed to bring soon to the library of PlayStation, a RPG with traces of adventure and exploration, in a way that no player had expected. This is one of those classics that you love or hate. And, of course, for me it is on the shelf of the games I love.
* For this review, besides my own interpretation of the game, I used to research coming from sites like Gamespot, IGN, Folklore U.S. and the game manual.
My Personal Score: 4/5
[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]
Heavy Rain – The Origami Killer Also published in Planeta Gamer
Release Date: February 23, 2010 Developer: Quantic Dreams Publisher: SCEA Genre: Adventure / QTE Plataform: PlayStation 3
Perhaps the strongest feeling that humans have until today is LOVE. But regardless of its definition, we find ourselves questioning what actually emerges, is created and born of something as powerful as this. What is the love? Or even more, what would you do for love? Heavy Rain question exactly that: "How far you will go to save someone you love?". And the answer is: "Everything I did, I did for Love".
Heavy Rain, the second exclusive game to PlayStation 3 in 2010, developed by Quantic Dream Studio, treats exactly of a new concept in games, which happens through the player choices. If there is a way to summarize everything is saying that every choice you make in-game will result in consequences that you should check in the rest of the game story, in which are made guided by the load of emotion that you suck from each character.
In Heavy Rain you see yourself in control of four different stories. Four characters, different lives and feelings that somehow end up together in a central plot: The Origami Killer. Imagine knowing the life of each of the four characters in the game. Knowing their ideals, their ways of operating, their ways of interpreting things and, above all, the love that these have for their life and the life of another loved one. Now take this daily routine and remove what may be the most important thing in your life within it. Drag, and sink with him to an unknown place. What is left? In some cases, for some people, nothing else. A "nothing" enough to face everything and recover back what you love most.
We control four characters in the game, each one with its strengths and weaknesses. David Cage managed to shine a great deal of emotion for each character, which ultimately makes them unique. The old concept of perfect hero and anti-hero, which is present in many games, ends up falling to the ground in Heavy Rain. And this ability to make video game characters as human as us - the players themselves - makes the story seem even more real and sensible.
Ethan Mars, perhaps the star of this whole story, is a father, architect, married and has two children. His life could be seen as a trouble-free life, until an incident happens and Ethan witness the death of one of their children. Things begin to change dramatically, the feeling of guilt prevails over the man, which makes life seems increasingly meaningless. And when it seems to can't get worse, the second son of him is kidnapped by Origami Killer and that is where the game story really starts to take off.
Madison Paige is a photojournalist who recently also attracted to the cases of the Origami Killer to get more information for your story. But beyond that, is romantically involved by the father of kidnapped last victim, Ethan Mars. Madison suffers from insomnia, which causes it to her spend your nights in motels to try to get in control.
Norman Jayden is an FBI agent who ends up being scheduled to investigate the case of the Origami Killer. Early on we can see that his "problem" is the main dependence on a drug - known as Triptocaine - which will eventually be a physical and psychological conflict throughout the game story.
Scott Shelby is a private detective who investigates crimes commited by Origami Killer. Like all the other characters, Shelby also has a physical problem, which in his case is asthma. Even dressing as a tough detective, we also can observe a sense of his attention and affection with their customers - the parents of the murdered victims - in what passes for much of the game a high degree of safety for the character.
Overall, Heavy Rain tells the story of a series of murders that are happening in the same region of a particular city. All crimes are against children, and have the same characteristics, proving to be a killer set that follows a logical and calculated, following the pattern in every act of killing the child by drowning and leaving an origami in the victim's hand and orchids in their chests.
The four characters stories come together at the time that the son of Ethan Mars disappears, indicating that was one more work of the Origami Killer. Ethan initially seeks help from police, which involves the FBI agent Norman Jayden in this investigation as well. While Scott Shelby, private detective, search for other clues to the ancient families of the victims. Finally, Madison Paige, a journalist, just trying to find data for your article and also emotionally involved with the cause of Ethan.
Following a cinematographic line, the game is told with intense dialogues, actions and consequences. Thus, in the vast majority, Heavy Rain ends up being know almost like an interactive movie. Or in other words, a huge cutscene that players interacts through QTE - Quick Time Events - while deciding the fate of each character.
From begining, the game follows a slowly flow, or even boring. But all this is clearly justified in the game, since the time that the idea is to relate the characters to the insides of the players, creating a bond of much greater attention and sensitivity. For so, in the next scenes, we notice we can further feel more pain or happiness of each one of them. And when the player realizes, he is following a very strong and constant string of adrenaline and scenes that really bind you from start to finish. What, on the other hand, may end up offending some, since the game - like in the vast majority of PS3 exclusives games of these days - it has an average of about 9 to 12 hours of gameplay, which are divided into a total of 60 different chapters - which will vary in quantity, according to the choices that players made during the game, greatly increasing the replay factor.
If dealing with the gameplay of Heavy Rain, it varies from movement of the character, which is done pressing the R2 button; Read the thoughts of the character through the L2 button; Interact with objects in the scene and, finally and more frequent, the innovation is in the QTE system which vary since summations from buttons pressed, and even in accelerated repetition of buttons and individual sequences of the same.
As for the graphics, we are confronted with a very detailed universe. From art direction to the lighting of each scene of the game is extremely well done, creating the impression of a totally noir story and suspense from beginning to end. The facial character expressions surprises again, leaving the game Heavenly Sword to shame - until then, in my opinion, had one of the best graphics in this requirement - joining in with the scenarios, objects, very detailed clothes etc. However we must point out that while the game has spectacular graphics, he can sin sadly in a few props in scene. At the point of being noticeable the error from Quantic Dreams to not look away in small secondary objects. But nothing that upsets the final visual of the game, since there are few cases where this occurs.
Although I personally look at Heavy Rain as a spectacular work as a whole, the major highlights for me are two aspects in particular: the Game Script and the Sound. It's amazing how the game manages to hold you from start to finish. You can't leave the control until you understand why everything happened this way in the story. Why so much pain, evil and especially if your choices were the best possible in that situation. The script has a dose of mystery and suspense that unfolds bit by bit, giving you the "real answer for everything" only at the end. And when that happens you really realize that Heavy Rain has one great story.
Each key point is explained so well that you can convince even the greatest nonsense you wouldn't expect. But the story can be so convincing, so naturally, because it was married perfectly with the soundtrack and sound that Heavy Rain has. Each dubbing was done impeccably. I lose the accounts of the amount of time that I've thrilled when I heard the beautiful laughter of the childrens. Or even when the own Ethan moaned and punished himself by his own pain, bringing a mix of lamentation and cries of pain. And in the background, as if that wasn't enough, we come across a soundtrack very intense and melancholic. Each scene was very well selected for each sound. And each dialogue was very well played by each actor.
In short, Heavy Rain transports you to a universe in which your choices that will determine the continued flow of events. Your criterion for evaluating of the situations that will say what is right and wrong, or what, in your viewpoint, should be correct. And according to your emotions luggage, you will know the strength of each character and each situation.
Heavy Rain is not an ordinary game. It's far beyond that. It's like the real life of some people inside of a television screen. And who will tell the fate of each of these people is you, the player. Always keeping in mind that you become responsible for every little choice you make, whether for good or evil. But after all... how far would you go to save someone you love?
My Personal Score: 4/5
[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]
The Celtic Culture in Folklore Also published in EGM Brasil #71
With each new edition of EGM Brasil, we realize is more difficult to choose a different theme and still interesting to fit in the Origens section. Usually we choose a theme, "find" its origin and then we show in each games they are more present. This time the choosen theme was the Celtic Culture: your legends, rituals and folklore.
And how we will not have so much space to compare with a lot of games which could be present in this subject, nothing is more fair to reveal the one which has more spotlight in the Celtic Culture legends. We are talking about the game Folklore.
Original Publication in EGM Brasil Magazine
The Sidhes
At first, the word Sidhe - pronounced Shee - meant the hills or mounds of earth, who people believed that was home of mystics people, like fairies or elves of other traditions. Later, the Sidhe were recognized as the very name of these people. It was believed that they were descendants of the Tuatha De Danann - Ancient divine heroes of Irish mythology. In popular practice the Sidhes were often revered with offerings as a kind of ritual, to prevent them cheated on something. And in return they could give to mortals protection, healing and even teaching some of his skills.
The Sidhe are often described as very beautiful people, although some can also be scary. There were several species of them, like "Sluagh Shide", which were represented in Irish folklore as spirits that moved through the air like flocks of birds that might be the dead cursed and still restlessly. At this point we can observe the first relationship with the game Folklore. In every Kingdom of the game, we can find creatures - which are known as Folks - that directly represent what would be the Sidhe of Celtic Culture. Two examples are Cait Sidhe and Cu Sith - enchanted cat and dog, respectively.
Another reference appears in the game is the "Cliff of Sidhe". Present in the Village of Doolin, where is the story of the game, the hill gets its name from the village and is where almost all the game's mysteries start to reveal. Another famous legend of Celtic folklore, which is also presented in a moment of the game, is the "Legend of Faery Prayers". The Legend have said that if a mortal prays for a fairy for nine consecutive days, in the ninth day, one of his desires would be accomplished.
In Warcraft you can find a reference to Celtic Culture. The Banshees are one of the existing species of Sidhe. They are seen as fierce guardians of their homes and fight courageously in the game.
Samhain Samhain - pronounced Sou-ein - celebrated on 31 October in the Northern Hemisphere and on the 1st of May in the Southern Hemisphere, is known by many names, but perhaps the most famous is Halloween. In short, Samhain was a ritual related to all the important things that happened during the changing seasons. It was the end of the Summer and beggining of the winter. Celtic tradition held that on the night of Samhain, the veil that separates the Material World from the Spiritual World found itself thinner, and the contact with the dead became easier. In that single night, the gates of the Sidhe, with connection between the two Worlds are open and not human or fairy require passwords to enter and exit.
This is how the two main characters in Folklore able to access the Underworld at the outset of his journey. Ellen and Keats reach the Village of Doolin exactly in the day of Samhain. And without knowing the right Celtic myths, Ellen ends up going through to the Netherworld in search of answers. She did not realize all that was starting to cause between these two worlds since then.
The Christian version of Samhain is the All Saints Day - 1st November - which was introduced by Pope Boniface IV in the seventh century, to replace the pagan festival. For years and years of our lives, the man has accumulated a number of concepts about what life was like after death. At the time that these concepts are so strong and constant, it is believed that they eventually materialized in the form of a New Kingdom in the Underworld. This is the concept that revolves around the game Folklore. Mixing a little reference to the Bardo Thodol - Tibetan Book of the Dead - with the game Folklore and Celtic Culture, we understand why every Kingdom of Folklore is a different place than before. At the moment men believed that the other side of life were a Paradise, the Kingdom of the Fairies was born. While others thought that even after dead, the war between the society prevailed, was borned then the Kingdom of Warcadia. And for those who long ago lost faith on the existence of somewhere after death, there is the Kingdom of the Endless Corridor. That is, each group of people who focus on one thought of how it would be the World of the Dead, it generates a new Astral Kingdom, or in other words, a New Kingdom of Netherworld habitable. And it is for those Kingdoms that our characters need to go in the game.
"For all the hillside was haunted
By the faery folk come again
And down in the heart-light enchanted
Were opal-coloured men".
[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]
