Brave Story New Traveler (PSP)

Brave Story New Traveler is easily one of the most beautiful games to come out for the Sony Playstation Portable, featuring gorgeous 3D visuals and a quirky art style that straddles the line between anime and those cute little hallmark figurines. But don’t let the visuals fool you into thinking that it’s a complex and ultra modern take on the fantasy RPG genre. The game is a throwback to the simple yet engrossing turn based RPGs that were so popular during the 16 bit and 32 bit era,

The story behind Brave Story New Traveler is not something that you haven’t encountered before: you are given control of a boy named Tatsuya, whose best friend Miki has mysteriously contracted an unknown illness. A voice asks Tatsuya if he wants to save his friend, and upon agreeing, our little hero is magically transported to a medieval fantasy land and tasked with gathering 5 different gems for the Traveler’s Sword.

If you’ve played old school 2D RPGs like the Final Fantasies or Chrono Trigger, Brave Story New Traveler will be familiar and would require no tutorial – you run around over a large map screen in order to get to various towns full of NPCs to talk to and dungeons and overworld areas full of random enemies to fight, which could be anything from spiky snails to walking trees that throw fruit at you.

The game starts out a little bit slow and leveling can be a little bit grindy especially considering that this is a handheld RPG, but if you manage to stick for a couple of hours or so of game time, the game – both the story and the mechanics – will start to open up and you’ll find an RPG that is fun to play in short bursts while you wait for enough time to complete the main quests.

Bleach: Soul Carnival 2 (PSP)

Bleach: Soul Carnival 2 is an enjoyable – if somewhat relatively short – sidescrolling action RPG for the PSP, based on Tite Kubo’s Bleach franchise. The game looks visually appealing and goes for a “cute” look by using chibi versions of the characters. Despite the simplistic visuals, there’s depth in the gameplay and you’ll be amazed at the kind of fights that you’ll take part in as a bobble head-like version of Ichigo hacks, slashes, busts out getsuga tenshous, and even transforms into hollow mode while mowing down armies of hollows and the occasional Arrancar.

Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)

Ragnarok Tactics is a spin-off game from the popular South Korean MMORPG franchise, Ragnarok Online. As the name implies, Ragnarok Tactics is no longer a point-and-click online RPG but a tactical role playing game with a heavier emphasis on story (which is told through dialogue between static character portraits and the occasional animated cutscene.) Visually, Ragnarok Tactics looks more polished than the original MMO while retaining the original’s chibi anime art style. Think of it as a much-needed visual upgrade on Ragnarok Online.

The game plays very much like any Japanese tactical RPG (FF Tactics, Jeanne D’ Arc, etc) but retains elements from Ragnarok Online, including the job/class system, the moves and even the sitting/resting mechanic, which allows characters to replenish health while sitting.

Ragnarok Tactics looks and feels like a really good translation of the original MMO in your first few minutes of play. However, the novelty starts to wear off after an hour or so as you realize that the pacing of the fights is way too slow even when compared to other tactical RPGs. I mean, I love Tactics games and was obsessed with Ragnarok Online in its heyday, but Ragnarok Tactics tested my patience to its limits. I wouldn’t be surprised if people find it difficult to maintain interest past the first fight if they aren’t fans of the genre or the franchise. If you want a really good Tactical RPG, there are a ton of better games on the PSP, and if you just want a portable Ragnarok Online spin-off game, you’re much better off with Ragnarok DS on the Nintendo DS.

Initial D: Street Stage (PSP)

The Initial D series of driving games is very popular in Japan but is only a bit of a cult hit in the west (probably because most installments in the series are Japanese-exclusive and not as accessible as the average racing game. Initial D: Street Stage is no exception.

Instead of multiple cars racing on the same track, Street Stage is a series of one-on-one races between the player and a rival. This game will throw newcomers for a loop at first because it looks and feels deceptively easy: the first few tracks aren’t full of tight turns, the cars handle extremely well and the game doesn’t slow you down much when you hit the rails/edges.

But make no mistake about it: this game will punish mistakes. Slow down for a millisecond or fail to turn at the right angle and you’ll immediately see your rival shoot past and take the lead. You’re also racing against time here. If you fail to hit the checkpoint before the timer hits 0, it’s game over. You’re going to lose a lot in this game (particularly on the first few tries), but if you manage to get past the steep learning curve, you’re going to find Initial D: Street Stage a very rewarding and addicting driving game.

Dragonball Z: Shin Budokai 2 (PSP)

Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball Z franchise no longer require an introduction, so we’ll go straight to the introduction of Dragonball Z: Shin Budokai 2 (Dragonball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road in some regions) for the Playstation Portable.

As the title implies, Shin Budokai 2 is actually the second in a series of “Budokai”-style DBZ games on the PSP, but there’s no sense in reviewing the first one, because there’s nothing in it that isn’t included in Shin Budokai 2, which also included a ton of new content and several minor tweaks to the gameplay.

If you’ve played the Budokai games on the PS2, you’ll find Shin Budokai to be familiar ground. It’s basically a more streamlined version – combat is faster and controls are simpler. It’s easy to describe Shin Budokai as “Budokai-lite,” but it would be an unfair description because the PSP fighters brought a number of improvements to the table.

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Kansen (PSP)

While technically a full-blown sequel to Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Saisen, Kansen is basically the same game with an updated roster and a few minor tweaks under the hood. This means two things: first is that there is no longer any need to get Saisen if you don’t have it yet because there’s nothing in it that isn’t in Kansen and second, there’s no longer any need to go over the basics in this review. You can check out my old review of Saisen for the specifics on the game. This time we’re going to focus on the changes that Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Kansen brings to the table.

Graphics-wise, there’s nothing different. It’s still the same engine and you won’t notice anything different other than the new menu and characters. The same goes for the audio side of things (again, refer to the Saisen review for details).

Content-wise, there are tons of welcome changes. The roster was already decent for a fighting game in the previous game, but now they’ve added several more without removing any of the previous playable characters.

The new additions include some odd choices, like Okita Souji, who only appeared in the series during a flashback. There are also some characters added from the Reflection OVA, such as Kenshi’s estranged son Kenji and the teenaged version of Yahiko. As expected, you have to unlock most of the characters first. If you have a savefile from Saisen, you’ll automatically unlock some of the old hidden characters as well as get a certain amount for upgrading the weapons.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact (PSP)

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact is a 3rd person crowd-brawling game for the PSP, following Kizuna Drive and Akatsuki Rising. The main difference between Ultimate Ninja Impact and its predecessors, besides tweaks under the hood and roster updates, is the use of cel-shading in order to provide anime-like visuals.

For the uninitiated, 3rd person crowd-brawling games give you a character, an expansive stage to run around in, and waves upon waves of enemies that you have to wipe out. Sometimes you also get a boss fight at the end. If you’ve ever played any of Tecmo Koei’s –Warriors series of games, then you know what crowd brawler game is like. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact is basically like that – Dynasty Warriors with Naruto Shippuden themes.

The bad things first, because they’re few and far in between: the game is lengthy and takes you from the rescue Gaara arc all the way to the Ninja summit, but once you’ve finished the story mode, the extra missions won’t be that appealing.

There is a tendency for the combat itself to be repetitive, but this is more a flaw of the genre than the game. I mean, crowd brawlers by design will have you fighting tons of cannon fodder over and over again; complaining about it is like complaining that water is too wet. Lastly, the extra modes, as mentioned, isn’t that different from the story mode so there’s very little incentive to take them on once you’ve had your fill of the main game. It would have been better if they included a 1 on 1 vs mode against the CPU.

Now we get to the good parts:

Soul Eater Battle Resonance (PS2, PSP)

Atsushi Okubo’s Soul Eater manga and anime franchise is very popular. Not on the same level as the current big WSJ trinity (One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach), but one of the many franchises that shared the distant second or third spot. One of the possible reasons cited for this is that the story’s unique blend of comedy, fan-service, action, and goofy art style takes some getting used to and requires patience before it starts to pick up. The same can be said of Soul Eater Battle Resonance, which was released for the PS2 and its little brother, the PSP.

A little backgrounder first: Soul Eater is set at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school and training facility for humans with the ability to transform into weapons and humans who are training to wield said weapons, called meisters or technicians. The franchise focuses on a group of students, faculty members, and the head of the academy itself, the actual Grim Reaper, Death.

Soul Eater Battle Resonance does a good job of adapting the content and aesthetics of the early parts of the manga. The characters and their weapons look exactly like their manga counterparts, the attacks on the game are based on their attacks in the story, and the stages are straight out of the locations in the story. There’s nothing to complain about with the visuals. Graphics are sharp and mimic cel shading, the animation is fluid, and the use of framebuffer effects lead to bright, beautiful, and devastating-looking special attacks. The PS2, for its part, runs at a smooth buttery 60 frames per second (the PSP version runs at 30 fps, like many PSP games. It still looks fluid, though, thanks to the small screen.)

Saint Seiya Omega: Ultimate Cosmo (PSP)

I’m going to admit right off the bat that I’m not familiar with the Saint Seiya franchise. I read a little bit of the Lost Canvas manga and I’m familiar with the premise, but I’m not well-versed on the specifics. I had a copy of Saint Seiya: The Hades for the PS2, so that will be my only point of comparison when assessing the PSP fighting game Saint Seiya Omega: Ultimate Cosmo. I apologize in advance if I miss out or am mistaken on something that an anime episode or manga chapter should have clarified.

Anyway, I only have the Japanese release of Saint Seiya Omega: Ultimate Cosmo so I had to do a little bit of exploring and trial and error before I was able to navigate the game. There are minimal English words (the “VS” and “CPU” words will be extremely helpful here) so this won’t be a pick up and play title unless you can read Japanese. Fortunately, this is a fighting game so you won’t need to bother with the story. Once you learn how to navigate the menu, you’ll be able to play your money’s worth out of the game.

Visually, Saint Seiya Omega: Ultimate Cosmo is one of the many games on the PSP that managed to look gorgeous even if compared with current gen console games, owing to the fact that it uses cel-shading, which age well compared to standard textured polygons. The characters look sharp and the backgrounds are crisp and colorful. You will be forgiven if you mistook the game as 2D sprite-based. Sound is also decent and crisp, although the sound of grunts and thuds can be repetitive at times.

Dragonball Z Tenkaichi Tag Team (PSP)

Dragonball Z Tenkaichi Tag Team is basically Budokai Tenkaichi 3 in portable form, with one major change: as the title implies, it now features true tag team action wherein 4 players can fight in the arena at the same time. BT3 only has 1 vs. 1, with the ability to switch to different characters.

Graphics-wise, they chose to forego cel-shading and just went with the traditional textured polygons, which sadly made the game look rough and less anime-like, especially when compared to the other series of Dragonball games on the PSP, the Shin Budokai series. It still looks good so it’s not a dealbreaker. It just feels like a step down visually.

Gameplay remains largely the same. You fly around a large stage and have the option to use ki blasts, gigantic beams, or melee the heck out of your opponents. All of the combat features that you would expect from a Dragonball game are there – in-game transformations, beam struggles, teleports, meteo attacks, etc. You won’t miss anything if you’re approaching this game straight from Budokai Tenkaichi 3. However, there’s one minor change that kind of breaks combat a bit: your opponent can now move while you’re in the middle of launching a super attack.

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 (PSP)

At first glance, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 looks like it’s a significant upgrade to its predecessors, Ultimate Ninja Heroes and Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2. The graphics and presentation look sleeker, it’s got an updated roster, and it finally has 4-way free for alls. Unfortunately, all of the improvements are superficial at best, and once you actually get around to playing the game, you’ll get the feeling that Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 is a step backwards for the franchise.

The character models in UNH 3 is indeed smoother and there’s less jaggies noticeable, but the character animation is jerky, like it was made with less frames. Most PSP games run at 30fps, but UNH 3 looks jerky even when compared to other PSP games (worse still is the fact that its predecessors ran at 60fps). We’re assuming that similar to the latter Bleach Heat the Soul games, the FPS was cut down in order to accommodate more complex visual effects. Except that’s not the case here.

UNH 3 seems to have skimped down on the use of transparencies and FBO effects, resulting in some effects – particularly Kakashi Hatake’s Mangekyo Sharingan super – looking a little bit rough around the edges.

But gameplay is still king, right?

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Saisen (PSP)

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Saisen is a 2D cel-shaded fighting game for the PSP based on Nobuhiro Watsuki’s popular manga and anime franchise. It’s Japanese only, and the menus are all in Japanese so you either need to have a FAQ or translation at the ready, or you need to spend a little time exploring just to find out what the menu items are.

Thankfully, like any fighting game there really is no need to find out the story. Once you get into the matches, you’ll have access to the meat and bones of the game. If you’re really interested in the story, the anime and manga are already out there. Besides, you’re probably not going to seek out this game unless you’re already familiar with the source material.

Bleach Heat the Soul 7 (PSP)

Bleach: Heat the Soul 7, as the name indicates, is the 7th (and possibly the last) installment in the ‘Heat the Soul’ line of Bleach fighting games on the PSP. There’s no need to do an introduction of the earlier installments of the series as the games have mostly stayed the same except for additional content (in order to keep them up to date with the manga/anime) and a few tweaks to the combat mechanics. All-in-all, it’s still a 3D cel-shaded fighting game featuring your favorite characters from Bleach (also, Sado.)

Changes, in a Nutshell

If you’re already familiar with the series and just want a quick rundown of what you can expect with HTS 7 compared to its predecessor, there are minor tweaks to the combat that, sadly, tend to slow down the pacing of the matches a bit. But it’s still enjoyable so don’t fret. It still runs in 30 frames per second - if you want smooth as butter 60 fps, you have to go back to Heat the Soul 4 and older, back when the games still lacked in-game transformations. Speaking of transformations, Ulquiorra now has one, so does Harribel and Ichigo can now turn into full Hollow. Additionally, there are now 4-way free for all (as opposed to 2 vs 2 tag) matches and special matches against giants, namely Allon and Yammy’s ressurecion.

Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus (PSP)

Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus is a 3rd person arena shooter that takes several dozen gundams from the franchise’s long, storied history, and pits them against each other in deathmatches (anywhere from 1 vs. 1 to 2 vs. 2) in large expansive battlegrounds set on various locations ranging from urban city landscapes to outer space.

The Game and the Story

This is more of a commemorative game for the Gundam franchise’s 40th anniversary, so you won’t find much in the way of story. It just takes two to 4 mobile suits/armors from each series and gives you a chance to pit them against each other. The lack of a story isn’t much of a problem, as this is all about action-packed fights between some of the best-looking mechas in the history of ever.

The controls are fairly easy. You just use the analogue or digital pad to move, the face buttons for various long range and melee attacks, and the shoulder buttons can be used for super moves and assists. Some characters have screen filling attacks or transformed modes (e.g. the Unicorn Gundam’s awakened state) that provide damage or speed bonuses.