Vitamag Special #2

Welcome

Hello Vita fans...

the e to our second special edition of

...and welcom magazine!

monly asked One of the things we are most com is which tion rma info Vita of about as a source of our last cess games to buy, and following the suc this take ld wou we t special magazine we though r the side con we t wha off w next opportunity to sho console's "must haves."

Paul Murphy PMurphy1978

Founder

ary editors and our art editor In that vein of thought, our four liter see ective listings - and what you will combined together to give our coll . vote t tha of lt resu the is ) far! so est here in this 56 page issue (our larg g win follo the ead es in order, and inst This time we haven't listed the gam any le sing to not as lly tica ed alphabe twenty "must haves" will be present one out. ews ady had a significant number of revi When we started Vitamag we alre also to way t bes the was that this (and years) under our belt, so we felt icts out into the wild, as well as verd and ions opin r olde our get some of calibre and diversity of some of the a good way to remind people of the e of sn't mean that this list is definitiv games in the Vita's library. That doe . here n bee e hav uld sho t wha ughts on course, and we welcome your tho erent tastes!

After all, the Vita caters to many diff

ing reviews as much as we enjoyed writ We hope you enjoy reading these ious prev our of few a with lane memory them, and enjoy the journey down ing pick er could even find yourself eith contributors. With a bit of luck you out an old gem you might have ing digg or up something new to play, overlooked or forgotten about).

See you next time!

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Filled with the latest PSVita news, reviews, features and content!

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

M A G A Z I N E

Issue 16 | August 2016

@PSVitaMag

‘s

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EDITORIAL TEAM Executive Editor / Paul Murphy @pmurphy1978 Editor-in-Chief / Kyle Wakeling @teflontactics 8 6 7 Deputy Editor / Charlie Large @CharlieLarge Deputy Editor / Jenny Jones @Kitty_has_Klaws MAGAZINE DESIGN Art Editor / Jhonatan Carneiro @JhoCarneiro

REVIEWED!

WEBSITE TEAM Timmy Garrett @timmygarrett40k Reece 9Heyworth @rheyworth07

CONTRIBUTORS Tyler Olthoff @ImSoHappy77 Jasper Bekema Jon Harding-Rathbone @BorderlineJ Yuuki @Yuuki_wr

to your

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@TheVitaLounge DISCLAIMER The Vita Lounge is an independent PlayStation Vita enthusiast website and magazine. All content featured is used with permission, and is used to promote existing and upcoming titles for the PS Vita. We are not endorsed or affiliated with Sony or PlayStation, or any of the companies featured. Š 2015-2016 The Vita Lounge

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Written by

Paul Murphy

PMurphy1978 PMurphy1978

8 8 6 PSTV 958 MB Publisher

wbfun.com @WB_Games

Developer

supergiantgames.com

@SupergiantGames

Released

NA: 12/05/2015 EU: 12/05/2015

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“Critically acclaimed” is thrown around too easily these days. How often have you seen a game receive multiple accolades and plaudits, yet a few years down the line the mechanics and gameplay haven’t held up? This was my main concern whilst awaiting the Vita release for Bastion, which is actually more than four years old; that’s when I got my first experience of the game when it originally launched on the XBOX 360. Despite the game receiving a PlayStation 4 release earlier this year, I have been (im)patiently longing for this Vita release as you would expect – but I anxiously asked myself repeatedly; “would the game still be as glorious as I remember all those years ago?” Thankfully the answer is a resounding yes!

For those of you that haven’t heard of the game before, in Bastion you play as “the Kid” who awakens to find that the world has been afflicted by “the calamity” and disintegrated your home into multiple floating islands. It falls to you to recover the missing core shards and rebuild the “Bastion” to its former glory, whilst discovering many of the worlds characters and enemies along the way.

Presented from an isometric viewpoint, there are few that will deny that the game is stunning – with a beautiful hand-drawn style forming around you as you explore your surroundings. Vibrant, detailed and colourful, the landscape shifts from locale to locale and each different part of the world you encounter looks and feels different to the one you discovered before.

All of this unfolds with some belated narration from Logan Cunningham, who explains what happens in the adventure as you do it. With over 3,000 lines of dialogue, his calming, dulcet tones sit alongside the game’s stunning acoustics. Even four years after it was originally released, this remains one of the most accomplished and beautifully crafted indie experiences that I have played.

The basics of Bastion are very simple to grasp, and soon after awakening from your slumber you will very quickly discover your first weapons – initially a melee and a ranged – and will begin your assault on the beasts that have invaded your lands. Some of these enemies won’t last very long at all, but many will require some evasive work by rolling away. You’ll also acquire a shield which, with some perfect timing, can result in a devastating counter attack at your foes. If these combinations are not enough, you’ll also discover your first “secret skill”, a special attack which although limited in uses can often prove handy in many situations.

How you play will come down to which weapons you enjoy using the most, and the game has a wide variety available for you to select from the arsenal, once discovered of course, and each tool has thevitalounge.net

its own special attack as well. Not all of these are available to start with, they’ll be discovered as you progress through your experience. Every weapon can also be upgraded too, with two different options available at each level. Want more power or a faster attack? More range or increased target capability? It is entirely down to you, and thankfully you can change it if you want afterwards with a visit to the forge. By the time you come to the end of your first play through and have decided on the fate of the land, you will firmly have settled on your favourite combination and probably have maxed these out.

Completing the adventure probably won’t take you very long, but thankfully Bastion has more than enough to keep you coming back for more. For starters you’ll be able to start it all again in New Game Plus – and retain your experience, level, currency and weapons – or play in a new way with Score Mode, which, as you’d expect, will see you try to attain the highest scores possible in each level. Pro-tip – you’ll want to build your multiplier. That’s not all, within the adventure you’ll also have “vigils” which are set challengers and these will keep you occupied as you progress. The game also has multiple “proving grounds” and these act as specific weapon challenges.

Successfully completing these challenges awards you upgrade materials for your weapons or even special moves. Your skills and abilities will be severely tested as you try to get first prize.

alter the way that your enemies play, with more health, less damage taken, no health drops and much more. There are also four trips to “who knows where” which are basically wave-based enemy encounters.

Surviving to the end of these will net you a huge amount of experience and currency shards, as well as trophies. Which will all be needed on the way to that platinum.

that they have worked on. It’s also worth noting that the original game was coded in C# – which is not Vita-friendly, so it has been a massive undertaking to get it almost perfect on the Vita.

And almost perfect it is. If you want a charming, engrossing and colourful game to keep you occupied for a while, you really cannot go wrong with Bastion. It has It’s hard to find anything not to like in passed my expectations and is every bit Bastion, and whilst almost all of the credit as charming as I remember it being four years ago, which has to be some sort of must go to Supergiant Games for their accomplishment – feeling as fresh today vision, ambition and execution, this Vita as it did then and as deserving of that version was managed by the team at adulation as it ever has been. You won’t be BlitWorks. If you love indie games on the disappointed.

Vita, you’ve probably played something that they have worked on – most notably FEZ, Spelunky and Don’t Starve to name a few, but this is easily my favourite game

If you need your games to have a significant challenge, Bastion has you covered there too. Within your main play through you’ll be able to activate a maximum of ten idols (when discovered) from the shrine, which will significantly

VERDICT Vibrant, colourful and beautiful all round, Bastion is easily one of the most accomplished indie games that I have ever played. With an enchanting story, great weapons and lots to keeping you playing for some time, it is one of my favourite games ever, let alone on the Vita.

@PSVitaMag

4.5 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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A unique mystery-style visual novel built upon school life, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc puts you in the shoes of Makoto Naegi; an uninteresting young man who has (through the luck of the draw, quite literally) earned himself a place in an elite school called Hope’s Peak Academy.

and allows you to gather the evidence you need for the trial. Investigation involves using your cursor and a keen eye to find things that are out of place or suspicious among the classrooms and statements of your fellow students. These found clues (combined with testimony from other schoolmates) are what make up the brunt of your trial fodder. Without clues and testimony from the environment, you wouldn’t be able to build the full picture of what’s going on and figure out what to do next.

This academy promises all graduates life-long success, but upon arriving at the school everyone passes out instead.

Waking up, Makoto and the other students who’ve been invited quickly realize that they’re trapped inside – lifelong success quickly turning into lifelong imprisonment.

Where other games are about leveling up, saving the world or simply getting something you’re searching for, Danganronpa takes the route where your only real goal is to survive.

Trials are broken into sections; including the portion in which you shoot down “evidence” using “truth bullets”, a hangman section to uncover hidden words, a rhythm section to do battle with quick-talking adversaries and a comic-book-paneled “Closing Argument” section where you’re meant to lay out the “crime”. These sections sometimes repeat or change order depending on the trial, though they’re mostly all included once they’ve been introduced through progression in the game.

Waking up and getting acquainted with the other students, a strange black and white bear-bot headmaster named Monokuma shows up and lets them in on their fate; they will all be trapped inside Hope’s Peak until a student kills another and gets away with it – and even then, only they’ll be able to leave. Various incentives are given to motivate the students to kill and before long you’ve started your first investigation into a death on the premises – the real meat of the game (other than the story itself) coming into play.

Moving on to who you’re trapped in there with, the other students are as varied as they come; no personality or character trait is left out at Hope’s Peak and every niche seems to be filled by a student – which makes for both quick friendships and quick rivalries. The majority of the student body is filled with people who are outstanding at what they do, each student having a title that starts with the word “ultimate”; the only one who doesn’t really seem to fit this pattern is Makoto, though due to his winning the lottery for a place in the school he’s often referred to as the “ultimate lucky student”.

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

5 5 27 PSTV 1.3 GB Publisher

nisamerica.com

@NISAmerica

Developer

spike-chunsoft.co.jp

@spikechunsoft

Released

NA: 02/11/2014 EU: 02/14/2014

Investigating is the first step after a murder 6

The Vita Lounge Magazine

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The students you’re trapped with play a role other than just suspicious characters though, as you’re able to interact and learn about them to gain advantages you can use in the trials. Each character has a “report card” which you fill in as you learn about them through interaction during free time (a block of time dedicated to exploration and interaction). Upon reaching a certain point with the character you’re interacting with, you’ll be given a skill to use in the trial phase, which you equip right before you enter. These skills take skill points (which are also awarded through interaction) and as such only a few can be stacked at a time depending on how many skill points they take up each. This is another clear area where the Persona influence and familiarity is felt; this system resembling Persona’s social links in many ways.

The headmaster (and seemingly mastermind) of the school situation is also quite a character – especially considering he’s a ying-yang-esque

@PSVitaMag

psychotic bear. Monokuma (literally black and white bear in an English/Japanese melding of words) is a half-white, halfblack bear with tendencies to be either good or evil depending on which side of his body he’s showing you most of. He’s the one who seems to run Hope’s Peak Academy and definitely has something to do with why you’re locked in the school with no way out. He’s also the enforcer of school rules – so don’t get on his bad side or he won’t hesitate to show you he’s in charge. However, unlike the social aspects reminding me of Persona, this little guy does not – he’s the polar opposite of Teddie/Kuma in Persona and it’s quite obvious from the beginning. That said, he’s also a hell of a character, a great addition to the story and an integral part of the whole experience; he’s great for completely different reasons than Teddie is, and that’s okay with me.

The controls for the game are fairly simple, giving you a few options to work with depending on the situation. Moving

around the school is done in first person, with both motion of the player and the camera view controlled using the analog sticks. Interaction with objects/people is done using the “X” button, while the triangle button is used for a quick check of what can be interacted with. When talking to a student, you will also encounter reaction words, which can be activated using triangle. These reaction words are there for you to use to get more information from the student, and activating them will often make Makoto ask them to expand on the idea.

When in trial mode, “truth bullets” (little phrases which disprove/prove statements given by others, based on clues and evidence) are shot at suspect statements using the triangle button, while “white noise” (phrases meant to get in the way) must be dealt with using “X”.

You move the sights of the “gun” using the analog stick, slow down time (called concentrating) using the right trigger and select important statements for use as

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temporary truth bullets using the left trigger.

The graphics of the game are fairly simple and for the most part look quite good. There are some areas in which “jaggies” (jagged pixel lines due to a lack of antialiasing or low resolution) are present, however most of the game is very clean looking and crisp. The style of the game is 2.5D, putting flat images on a 3D environment (if you don’t believe me, change your view a bit – the characters are paper thin from different angles). This style actually works quite well and allows for more easy selection of objects which would otherwise be obscured by bodies, a good choice from an aesthetic standpoint.

Audio is very pleasant, with some very catchy additions to the soundtrack. In particular some of the trial songs are quite up-beat and catchy, something I don’t mind listening to over and over again. As for the character voices, I chose the Japanese voices for my play-through and they were quite good. Aoi’s cute little “de mo” (the Japanese equivalent of “but…”) made me smile a little every time she spoke – a quality that I find

quite endearing for a video game. Falling in line behind Aoi, the rest of the cast’s voices were also quite good and fit their characters well – though I’m not sure if that holds true for the English option.

That said, choosing Japanese I didn’t find one issue or thing I disliked about the sound effects, voices or music.

There are some issues with the game, though they’re much less prominent than the great things about it. The jaggies, the lame hangman mini-game and the “white noise” aspect when people are talking during a trial are pretty good examples of things they’ve done wrong here.

Though these aren’t big nagging issues, they are things that detract from the style and flow of the game – and as such I thought I should warn you.

That said, the game itself is fantastic.

It pulls you in much like Persona would, rooting its story and characters deep in your head. This is the game you’ll struggle to put down to eat, play every spare minute in the break room at work and lose at least a day of your life to in total (my

VERDICT This is the game you'll struggle to put down to eat, play every spare minute in the lunch room at work and lose at least a day of your life to in total. Danganronpa is an addictive look into one of everyone's nightmares - being trapped in their school with murderers - and it does so with the finesse of a magician. You may think you know what you're seeing or what's going on - but you're wrong... and that's part of what makes this game amazing.

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play-through was just shy of 24 hours). It’s not a short game or meant to be played in bite-sized chunks, so make sure when you sit down with Danganronpa you’ve either got some time or a strong desire to get yelled at for not doing your work, paying attention at school, or whatever it is you’re trying to slip some play-time into.

This game is both addictive and amazing, a combination that’s more likely to hook you and not let go than one that allows you to put it down.

4.5 thevitalounge.net

Does this sound familiar yet? Well it should – that’s the same basic formula (minus the location) from the first game right? Don’t fret my little Dangan fan, this one isn’t simply a repeat of the first incident ;).

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics Note; This is a spoiler free review of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

3 9 34 PSTV 1.6 GB Publisher

nisamerica.com

@NISAmerica

Developer

spike-chunsoft.co.jp

@spikechunsoft

Released

NA: 09/02/2014 EU: 09/03/2014

@PSVitaMag

I will not spoil any of the plot points beyond the initial setting and the way things work, and I’m most certainly not going to reveal any of the murderers or victims. Being that this is the second game in a series however, this review may contain hints of spoilers from the first game; Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, which should DEFINITELY be played before starting Danganronpa 2 or reading this review anyways.

I’m going to be perfectly honest with you all; going into Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair I really didn’t know what to expect. The first game was amazing and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time – but could the second repeat that? I wasn’t so sure at the time, but I’m here to tell you now that it has.

It all begins like this; your name is Hajime Hinata and it’s your first day at Hope’s Peak Academy. You arrive at the front gate, ready to start school – only to end up at a door that leads somewhere truly strange.

Now; your memory of how you got there has been erased (along with why you were chosen to go to Hope’s Peak in the first place), you’re trapped on an island with no way off or to contact the outside world, and there’s a robotic plushie telling you what to do.

Goodbye Despair is a game which can be even more misleading than the first – and is seriously adept at lulling you into a false sense of confidence. You may think you know what happened, or who did what where; but in the end you’ll see just how wrong you probably were. This game isn’t as straight forward as the first game was with its clues, and happens to contain more twists than a bag full of silly straws.

For starters, your goal is to gather hope fragments by interacting with the other students during your free time. These hope fragments will upgrade their report cards (found in the menu) with information which is given through conversation – as well as dirty details like age, height and bust size.

While this is considered the main goal of the game, a certain someone (*cough – Monokuma – cough*) shows up and gives the island’s residents another; kill someone and get away with it, and you get to escape back into the world. From there, the game turns from being mostly about interaction to being suspicious of everyone and looking for clues everywhere – as due to this new “goal” (for some of the residents), the killing begins.

Once someone is killed and their body is discovered by two or more people, an alert goes out to the other residents of the island who then gather at the scene for discussion of the events and to start the The Vita Lounge Magazine

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investigation. Once the investigation begins, it’s up to you to find all the clues you need in order to figure out who the killer is. These clues are found through a point-and-click like system which is similar to those used in adventure games like The Walking Dead or Machinarium (or pretty much any hidden item game). Once you’ve found a clue, it is then added to your roster of truth bullets (statements and facts that can be used to defend yourself and identify the killer during the trial) which you will be able to use during the trial.

Once you have collected all the clues you need, Monokuma will call you to a meeting area and you will have the class trial. During these trials you’ll have two gauges you need to worry about; trust and health. The trust bar deals with your influence over the group and will help you tip the situation in your favour more easily; the health bar takes hits when you mess up, but will recover slightly if you do something right. If either of these hit zero you’re going to have to restart from the last checkpoint (after an embarrassing “you fail” type scene), so try not to mess up.

The trial is set up like this; first comes at least one nonstop debate truth bullet minigame, where people will give statements and you’ll have to prove/disprove their statements with truth bullets in order to continue. These mini-games are the most common and are often dispersed between other mini-games to break them up and focus more on the flow of the story.

As you progress further into a trial, you’ll likely activate either a hangman’s gambit, rebuttal showdown, spot select or a logic dive.

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

A hangman’s gambit is sort of like the game hangman you used to play as a kid on paper, but a bit easier as you’re given a limited choice of letters. These letters float onscreen in pairs and must be grabbed and combined with “x” to create a stable letter which does not move, then shot with triangle to enter the answer column. Unlike hangman though, the letters must be added in the order they go into the words – starting at the beginning.

Two dissimilar letters colliding counts against you just like a wrong guess would, so be careful and quick on this one.

pointing arrows. If you follow the arrow of the correct statement you’ll be able to continue, and if you choose the wrong answer/path you’ll fall off the world. Get enough answers right and stay on the glass panels and you’ll be done this one in no time.

At the end of the trial, there’s usually two special mini-games; the Closing Argument and Panic Talk Action.

The Closing Argument is laid out like manga with a few panels missing (coloured in red with question marks).

Rebuttal showdown is a mini-game where Reading from right to left (like manga, you have to cut through your opponent’s this isn’t a comic book :P) you put the words (using the left analog is the easiest, given scenes into their correct panels to fill in the details and show the sequence but there are many options) until you reach something you can refute, and then of events. Upon completion, it’ll play you a little cut-scene which explains it all in use a special cut sequence to rebuke order. their statement. Watch out though, as you have to consistently cut through Panic Talk Action (aka; Bullet Time Battle, the garbage statements (the white only ones) to keep the debate going; only if you renamed from the first Danganronpa) is a rhythm mini-game where you must have the upper hand at the end of each segment will you be able to continue on to match button presses to indicators which scroll along the bottom of the screen. The the next. tempo (and the visibility of the indicators) may change, so be careful you’re matching Spot select is a mini-game in which you your presses correctly! must select a suspicious spot in the image, pointing out something useful Once the murderer has been caught and to the trial’s outcome. It’s the simplest you’ve picked them out of the group, of the mini-games and also the most Monokuma will tally the votes and dole infrequently used. out the punishment – which is almost Logic dive is a mini-game in which you use always a cruel but ironic form of death. something that looks like a snowboard to From there, it all starts over again as you’re ushered back to your every day ride a strange glass-paneled enclosure. locations to await yet another incident or The game will give you logic questions, twist in fate. which are then mapped to routes with

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Progressing through the game means lots of interacting, exploring, investigating and trials – but they’re woven together in a way that I was never bored or too anxious. Goodbye Despair really lives up to its name, both in the fact that it’s so enjoyable to play and the theme of the game. I won’t ruin any more of the game’s key points for you as they’re all plot related, so you’ll just have to trust me that this one will blow your socks off with its amazing storyline.

Aside from the main story, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair also contains a few side-games and activities that you might enjoy kicking a little time into. There’s the Tamagotchi-like pet-care simulation game in your menu screen (that also acts as a pedometer), and a five-stage battle game called Magical Girl Miracle☆Monomi which unlocks after the prologue. Both games are good for a few laughs and a few trophies, but the main game will be your real time sink.

There’s also a few mini-games/features that are rewards for beating the game once, such as Island Mode – an alternate universe mode where the students don’t

go through the killing game and instead follow the original goal, and Danganronpa IF – a short story depicting an alternate storyline for Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. These two additions were less appealing to me (other than the notion of trophies drawing me to Island Mode), but I’m sure they’ve got their fans as well and are just as well put together as the main game.

With regards to graphics, this game doesn’t really do anything too over the top – but for what it does, it does it to perfection. Character models are clear, scenery is colourful and crisp and the frame rate is as stable as that thing you board horses in.

The sound quality in Goodbye Despair is top notch, to say the least. The game offers voice overs in both English and Japanese right in the game (no additional download), and though I played in Japanese I was able to speak with other reviewers who played in English and they were just as pleased with the voice acting as I was.

VERDICT Danganronpa 2 is everything a good sequel should be; true to its roots (but clearly different), better than the original, and packed with features. If you liked Trigger Happy Havoc, then there's no doubt in my mind you'll like Goodbye Despair that much more - and you should get it quick before someone spoils it on you. @PSVitaMag

As for the music, though the same tracks were used repeatedly depending on the situation, I still found myself enjoying them as the game came to an end. Like Persona, this one manages to do a lot with a little in this department – and the little piano riff (you’ll know it when you hear it) will forever stand out in my mind.

Here’s the part where we come to the conclusion and I tell you the bad and the good parts of the game in order to justify my score, right; but what if I can’t think of a single issue with the game? Everything I feared they might pull with the sequel they avoided (I’d elaborate, but spoilers!), and the journey they laid out was not at all what I expected (just when you think you know what’s going on – left turn!).

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is every bit the game that Trigger Happy Havoc was, only more refined and paired with a fresh story and features in a longer (but more enjoyable) package. I honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better sequel, and have no idea how Spike Chunsoft is going to top this in Danganronpa 3.

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very enjoyable, and more than interesting enough to generate that “just a little more” feeling.

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

1 7 48 PSTV

In retrospect, I really shouldn’t have been; but before we get into my thoughts on the game as a whole, let’s take a look at what it has to offer.

1.5 GB Publisher

bandainamcogames.com

@BandaiNamcoUS

Developer

media-vision.co.jp

Released

NA: 02/02/2016 EU: 02/05/2016

12

As a kid, I guess you could say I was a Digimon fan – I collected the cards, and watched the TV show for a season or two – but I wasn’t much for any of the video games I was introduced to. Fast forward a decade and a half, and here I am faced with reviewing a promising looking Digimon game for Vita. Sufficed to say, I was a little bit curious how the series had evolved in its time without me – but I was also a little apprehensive.

The Vita Lounge Magazine

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth starts with an introduction to EDEN; an online virtual space in which avatars can meet and have fun. As the player, you’ll go to EDEN in order to meet up with some online friends – but through an odd series of events that follow, end up acquiring a hacking tool called “Digimon Capture” as a by-product. A quite self explanatory program (that you can’t seem to get rid of), it allows you to capture digital monsters – which appear in the digital world of EDEN. This is your first real step down the rabbit hole, and from there it only gets weirder; your first Digimon, a ton of battles, a life as a “Cyber Sleuth,” and a bunch of mysterious circumstances following soon thereafter.

The core story isn’t quite at the Persona level of player immersion – but it’s still

As for where the events of the game take place, they’ll span both the real and digital worlds (from the perspective of your character). You’ll visit (in-game) Japanese locations such as the Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Oeda subsections of Tokyo – as well as digital world locations like Kowloon, EDEN branded common areas, and hidden hacker hideouts. There are lots of places to explore, though they won’t all be available from the start and are mostly only useful during cases or plot points. As much as I’d love it to be, this really isn’t the kind of game that gives you much to do outside the important bits.

Moving on to the actual gameplay, we see a mix of four different aspects; the main story, cases at the detective agency, battles, and Digi-Lab activities.

The main story plays out over the course of twenty chapters; small pieces revealed here and there until things ramp up towards the end. This is the only part of the game which offers cutscenes, but aside from that glaring distinction it contains all the other elements present in the other parts of gameplay (battles, visual novel style talking bits, cases, etc). This is the part of the game that the rest of the game revolves around, and as such it’s the most well built and enjoyable of the core aspects.

As for the cases, they’re small missions that are sent in by the people (and Digimon) from the worlds you have access to – their completion offering a reward of both cash thevitalounge.net

and specific items. Some cases trigger story events or are needed to move on, however not all cases must be completed to finish the game (or any single chapter).

Cases present as dungeon-exploration quests, battles against troublesome foes, and/or fact-finding missions – coming across very basic in their scope; that said, if you get lost you can almost always talk to Mirei in the Digi-Lab (or Kyoko in the Detective Agency) for more information.

The meat of any RPG, battles present themselves in many forms – and can be initiated in many ways. In dungeons there are random battles, though there are also ways to instantly stop or trigger battles at any time (using certain hacking skills). Battles can also occur during story events, when interacting directly with non-partner Digimon, in digital lines (when using the connect jump feature), at the Offline Colosseum on the 4th floor of Nakano Broadway, and in the Online Colosseum area of the Digi-Lab – offering you a ton of chances to gain experience

@PSVitaMag

and test your skills.

When actually in a battle, up to three of your Digimon fight against up to three other Digimon (bar team-ups with other hackers). The speed stat of your Digimon will determine the fighting order, and it’ll be shown to you (the trainer) on the right side of the screen. Each Digimon in the battle gets the chance to attack, use a skill (they cost points), guard, change position (ie; move in/out of active battle), or exchange their turn for an item usage.

When attacking or using a skill, the damage of each attack is determined by the amount of points it draws, the expanded rock-paper-scissors system of weaknesses and strengths, and any buffs you link it with.

assortment of tutorials to help you learn, but I think most should find it quite easy to pick up and play or brute force with trial and error.

Looking to the last bit of gameplay – the Digi-Lab – we find the expansion system. The Digi-Lab holds everything a Digimon trainer would need to expand the capabilities of their Digimon; offering a DigiFarm for them to grow on, a DigiBank to manually alter Digimon and their powers, a Coliseum to battle them (locally or online), a Digimon recovery station, a farm-centric shop, and access to previously traversed digilines (travel nodes) in order to train manually.

The DigFarm allows you to train your Digimon through different levels of work (some of which alter the camaraderie Basically, the battle system is nothing stat), use your Digimon to make items, and new by any means, and is pretty much send your Digimon out to find new cases a Digimon-oriented version of the most popular method – so anyone familiar with for you to solve as a Cyber Sleuth. All three of these actions benefit your progression, RPGs should fall in line pretty easily. If and there are only up to five clusters of you’re having trouble the game offers an

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and scan Digimon (for your index or for DigiConversion) – further progressing towards a solid team whatever you do. It’s my advice that you use the digilines a little here and there to grind and fill out your team; they’re a good source of experience, The DigiBank allows you to store, evolve, devolve, load, or copy Digimon – giving you partners, and items – and should be a host of options for directly manipulating explored fully. the power of your Digimon partners.

Speaking of exploring fully, a game review Evolving a Digimon will increase its is never complete without a chat about abilities and potential directly, though the audio/visual presentation – but your Digimon’s level will be reset as thankfully this Vita title isn’t a problem a result. Devolving will up potential child that beckons too harsh of words. drastically (and often up the amount The visuals in Cyber Sleuth are quite of Digimon you can evolve to), however reduces immediate abilities drastically as eye-catching, if a little rough around the edges at times. It doesn’t always run at well. Loading Digimon will allow you to thirty frames per second, and there are a choose a single Digimon and have them few jaggies to be seen here and there if consume up to five others as experience points – though the value of the Digimon you look for them, but overall it’s a very solid exemplar – with bright colours, fluid as experience varies greatly. Lastly, you can copy Digimon – which entails first scanning them to 100% (or more) by facing them repeatedly in battle, and then using the DigiConvert function to make yourself a copy.

Digimon you can order around (an entire cluster doing a single job) – so you’ll have to use your orders wisely if you want to progress smoothly.

The Online Colosseum allows you to battle via wifi; doing so either ad-hoc, or online.

It has certain requirements for play in order to make it fair, such as an artificial level assignment and a cap on your party’s base strength (via a point system), but in adding these requirements it allows you to test your skills instead of your grinding ability. This isn’t your little brother’s battle mode, that’s for sure.

VERDICT Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is a blast from the past that has both retained the nostalgia factor, and evolved for modern audiences - offering a roleplaying game that caters to clinging fans and those looking for a new experience alike. You'd be hard pressed to find a better game of this sort on Vita without invoking a certain Persona we'll save you the trouble of selling you on, so unless you're adverse to the genre or universe I'd wholeheartedly recommend you pick it up.

The Vita Lounge Magazine

Looking to the sound, it’s notable that Cyber Sleuth contains original Japanese audio only – so if you’re expecting (or hoping for) English voices then I’m here to burst your bubble. That said, the voices are very clear and well done – and being that I prefer original audio it was perfect for me.

Almost.

There’s currently a bug early in the game that seems to cause voices to not play (present in Chapter 6), and while this is obviously not an intended design option it’s worth mentioning for anyone wanting to know exactly what they’re getting into.

Rounding out the audio exam, I’d like to note that the music and sound effects were top notch. Aside from getting a little annoyed at some of the repetitive noises during extended play sessions, I’ve got no significant cause for complaint – something I’m thankful for as much as you are (I’m sure).

Looking to my final word however, I can’t help but to complain… about how Digimon World: Next Order hasn’t been announced for localization yet. I know you may think that to be a dumb joke, but aside from a few minor issues I really can’t find much else to rip apart. A strong contender in all presented aspects, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is a Vita title that everyone should have in their library; and with over eighty hours and counting put in as of this writing, I’m sure it’ll be quite a staple in mine.

The recovery station and the shop are pretty self explanatory, but digilines are the final item of note – allowing you to traverse previously explored digital networks. While in the digilines you can collect items, battle Digimon,

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motion, and very little compromise. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing on Vita or PlayStation TV, this one will look good whatever your choice.

4.5 thevitalounge.net

the next tier for you to compete in, and eventually, more courses. Obviously as you go through, it becomes more challenging in terms of AI and course design.

Written by

Paul Murphy

PMurphy1978 PMurphy1978

5 9 22 PSTV 1.2 GB Publisher

playstation.com @PlayStationEU

Developer

claphanz.co.jp

@Clap_Hanz

Released

NA: 02/15/2012 EU: 02/22/2012

@PSVitaMag

Also known as...

You could be forgiven for not taking this very Japanese, cutesy and twee golf game seriously. But once you get used to the presentation aspect and play a few rounds you will very quickly see that beneath the presentation and quirky humour that there is a very decent representation of golf here, and perhaps surprisingly for some, one of the Vita’s leading and must have titles. That is if you like golf, of course!

Of course, this is not the first title in the series, there have been many games on various iterations of the PlayStation consoles since the original one in 1997 on the first PlayStation, and this one is once again developed by long term series stalwart Clap HanzFor those that are interested, this is actually Everybody’s Golf 6. And the only one I have played. I don’t even like golf, but I love this game.

You start the game as an amateur with only a handful of courses available to you, and even less characters. As you win tournaments you are awarded stars and points. The points are for you to spend in the club shop, which as you progress will start having better clubs, balls, new characters and other things available to you, whilst the stars are needed to unlock your face off with a golfing character, one on one.

Successful completion of this will unlock

The course themselves are very well presented,and you will really need to plan thoroughly if you plan to succed on the higher difficulty settings. Wind speed and direction, distance and even potential obstacles, like buildings and motel signs, and regular golfing enemies, bunkers and water hazards. Especially since the most obvious progression through the hole may not be the best one. Many times I have been stuck behind the buildings or been behind a verge so high, no pitching wedge in the world will clear it.

Playing the game is very simple, once you are on the course all you really need is the X button. Tweak your starting aim (or if you want to move the tee, pinching both front and rear touch panels) then regardless of the five different power bar schemes that you are using (all purchased eventually from the shop) the basic operation is the same, press X to start the bar filling, again to lock the power and on the way back tring to hit the sweet spot to execute the perfect shot. You can also make it a “power shot” by pressing the Square button prior to taking the shot, but you only have a limited number of these per course.

The game automatically selects the recommended club for you, and in many cases this can be manually over-ridden, it makes sense to go for the most suitable for the the type of shot and distance. These clubs can be set out before you start off, so depending on your preference, you can The Vita Lounge Magazine

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go for special sets that aid air distance, spin, and many more and have matching ball sets to go with it. Usually though, these specialist sets do have draw-backs, sacrificing power for example.

The characters themeselves are also better in different areas, and as you unlock more you will find some true powerhouses that can really ping the ball, but perhaps not as accurate, and some which are just all rounders. You will find what matches your play as you progress, but repeated use will grant loyalty to you, which will unlock more power shots, and the ability to use technical shots, like homing shots. Which are quite rare to see.

complete the holes in the fewest number of shots, but you will be ranked against everyone else that has played that course on that day. There are no tournaments held on Mondays. You are limited to the characters and equipment that you currently have unlocked on your profile, which would also serve as an incentive to speed up your unlocking! Some tournaments are ranked and some are not, so you need to take part regularly to boost your ranking.

You can also select or create a multiplayer lobby, from which you can control you in game avatar and communicate with other players, and also enter tournaments that are listed, or create your own.

The game should be in your Vita collection, even if you do not like golf – something which is a testament to just how good it is.

The courses and tiers of the rank will take you a very long time to perfect and it will keep you playing well ahead as you strive to unlock all of the goodies available in the shop.

There is a Daily International Tournament, and this serves as the one of the games multiplayer aspects. From Tuesday to Sunday, changing daily, you face off on a different course and the aim is to

VERDICT If you are a fan of the art style - or you think you'll get used to it - then you will find a very immersive and rewarding golfing experience here.

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4 thevitalounge.net

are geared towards making you feel like a part of the story, and in that respect I think they’ve succeeded.

Written by Tyler Olthoff

@imsohappy77 imsohappy77

3 7 32 PSTV 1.6 GB Publisher

playstation.com @PlayStationEU

Developer

worldwidestudios.net

@SonyJapanStudio

Released

NA: 10/28/2014 EU: 10/29/2014

@PSVitaMag

At its core, Freedom Wars is a third person action game developed

by Japan Studios – revolving around an apocalyptic world set far in the future. The game has you fighting giant monsters called Abductors, humans called Sinners and robots called Accessories in an attempt to work off years of servitude you owe your homeland.

The story behind Freedom Wars is actually quite interesting, but at times can seem to get in the way with a lot of talking. Taking place in the year 202014, most of the world’s resources are scarce and everyone that is born is considered a drain on those limited resources. Being as you’re a drain on the resources of this Panopticon, you’re assigned one million years of servitude; the only way to deplete your sentence being either completing operations or donating some of your resources.

In the world of Freedom Wars you’re also fairly limited to what you are allowed to do – so if you want to gain more freedom you’ll need to complete operations to gain Entitlement Points and then use those to unlock new rights. Some of the things you can get in trouble for (aka; don’t have the rights to do by default) made me laugh, but also really pulled me into the whole experience – especially considering how well the AI characters can make you feel like a worthless drain on society. It’s obvious that the narrative and character interaction

Moving onto the game’s actual mission formula, it’s actually much like other hunting games. Like Soul Sacrifice or Monster Hunter you follow the ‘pick a mission and then head out onto the chosen map’ formula, however more like Soul Sacrifice you are locked to one area within that map as you fight the enemies. Giving it part of the Freedom Wars twist, you’re able to choose from a variety of mission styles to take part in; you have citizen reclamation missions which involve you and your team rescuing citizens from abductors or containment pods, liquidation missions which have you eliminating the enemy abductors as quickly and professionally as ppossible, and seize control missions where the objective is to control the most points when the time runs out. When completing a mission you are given a rating out of six stars, each star awarding a resource; if you get all six stars you get all the resources and the best resource. Time off your sentence is determined by the difficulty of the task at hand and how well you complete it, so make sure to complete hard missions to the 6th star if you’re looking to get ahead quick.

Next up is combat, where Freedom Wars uses a unique system in which every sinner has the ability to use a weapon called a ‘Thorn.’ The thorn is a rope-like weapon that can hook to enemies; using it to either drag them down, or launch you towards them – though they can also be used to do other things if you charge them up. There are three types of thorns that can all do The Vita Lounge Magazine

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the same basic grapple effects, but when charged do different things; the binding thorn is used to bind sinners and abductors, the healing thorn can heal your teammates and will drop a healing area, and the shielding thorn can boost your entire team’s defense or deploy a wall that blocks projectiles. This is where your play style can be effected, as choosing between a healing, attacking or defending style will alter the game’s play style drastically.

augmentations, but your sinner can have only 5 equipped and 10 points used.

Certain augmentations can use up to five points while others don’t use any points – some of these include more health, increased defense, and even defense against just abductors or sinners.

ability to manage enemies and gain more resources – bolstering your ability to upgrade further.

One of the ways you can upgrade your weapons is to add what they call modules, with effects ranging from increased elemental damage, to increased rate of fire, larger clips, or increased damage When fully equipped and ready to go, I with headshots. The only problem with found myself readily jumping onto the this system is that sometimes you get Abductors arms and sawing them off… negative effects which can ruin the it really made me feel like a bad-ass. The weapons strength – for instance, I had cool thing is that while you’re sawing a really strong gun that had ‘Power Up One of the best things about the combat off parts the abductor will try and shake (L)’ (the ‘L’ means it’s a large effect) and you off, and if you jump off in time you however, is that you can mix and match when I modified it I ended up losing that the different thorns with your teammates can actually re-shoot your thorn at the and really get a strategy going. I preferred abductor while airborne and go right back module. It was a very upsetting move, using the binding thorn and doing a lot of to cutting parts off like nothing happened. because that gun then became a much weaker weapon as a result. The only the cutting of limbs on the abductors, but This kind of fluidity of play is what kept safeguard for this issue is that you can there were many other roles and ways to me coming back over and over again. use other resources to lock in some tackle the problem.

In addition to controlling your own Sinner, abilities or help influence what will be you can use the touch screen to send out added to your weapon.

Not only does Freedom Wars have you choosing different types of thorns to use, orders to your Accessory and companions After you choose what you want to add, – telling them to cover you, fire at will, but there are tons of guns and melee you then get a timer of how long it will pick up citizens, or even heal you. There weapons to equip as well. Each Sinner is take to make what you’re requesting. This are plenty of other commands available, able to carry two main weapons (which is real world time as well, which can be but your accessory can only have eight you can mix and match however you frustrating as some things can take up assigned to them total. This command please), while your Accessories can only system can be very useful when you need to 30 minutes to complete – however, if have one main weapon. Your load-out is very customizable; after you choose your your allies to do things for you, and/or to you’ve rescued some citizens you can use them to decrease the time (but only one obtain some semblance of order when two main weapons you can also change citizen per facility). things aren’t going your way. your combat items, and augmentations.

Combat items range from health packs, The gameplay in Freedom Wars feels I mentioned the Facility Management to ammo packs, grenades, and many really good; the only problem I’d say is that other useful items to help you take down page earlier, and think it’s important the camera can sometimes mess you up. to touch on that further as it’s where your enemies – augmentations are a They give you multiple control schemes you can craft new items, weapons, and bit different, and must be made inside augmentations. All of these management too if you want to use more guns then your facility management page. Before I options cost resources in order to perform, you can use the one designed around go into the that though, augmentations shooting. I found myself sticking with the though the results of upgrading, crafting permanently boost your Sinner’s original control scheme, but would change or augmenting will no doubt further your basic stats. There are ton of different

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thevitalounge.net

it up when playing multiplayer.

Being as most hunting games include some sort of multiplayer, Freedom Wars is no different – other than the fact that player vs player has been thrown into the mix of course! In PvP mode you can take on another team of four contoled players, each bringing their Accessories along – this makes for an 8 vs 8 match and a hell of a game. Aside from PvP, there’s also the usual coop mode in which you can play the missions from the single player campaign with your friends or randoms.

area you shouldn’t have to much of a problem. Aside from lag, the game could use an “invite player” feature, but that’s more ease of use than anything else.

Graphically speaking Freedom Wars is a very pretty game; with well drawn anime style characters and surprisingly more color than one would expect, it really grabs the player. The environment is put together quite nicely, and by using your thorn to gain a unique perspective you can see things that most games would probably not bother to include or take into consideration. The bottom line here is that if you’re worried about the graphics you As for who you’re fighting for, that’s shouldn’t be, as they’ve taken the time to simple – at the start of the game you choose from one of 50 Panopticons (world make this game shine. cities), and this choice becomes your Some games are over looked for their home base. Though it doesn’t have any real influence on single player, it does give soundtrack, and I feel Freedom Wars you a team to play for in multiplayer while could get the same treatment – despite all it does well. The music while you’re you’re scaling the rankings. fighting is well put together and feels just right for the game, the guns sound (and The only real problem I’ve seen in the therefore feel) real, and the abductors multiplayer is lag, but luckily that was only when playing with people from Asian sound very mean and mechanical – which can be very intimidating when you have territories; if you stay within your own

VERDICT Freedom Wars may be another hunting game on the Vita, but it's by far one of the best. It screams AAA production with standout graphics, solid audio, unique gameplay mechanics and a fresh story line - bringing them to you in a one of a kind package that only Japan could come up with, but with an execution typical of the Western big shots. If you're going to buy one Vita game this year, this wouldn't be a bad choice at all.

@PSVitaMag

a couple to take on at once. The audio in Freedom Wars never failed to live up to what was shown on screen, though it might not have been stand-out enough to be memorable.

Freedom Wars may be another hunting game on the Vita, but it’s by far one of the best. With great gameplay a unique story, and a solid multiplayer aspect, it’s a must have on the system – the few small flaws it bares quickly covered up by just how much fun you’ll have playing it. Not only that, but the game has a ton of replay value (especially with multiplayer) and the want of upgrading all those weapons will have you struggling to leave it alone for long.

In the end, I’d have to say that Freedom Wars is worth every penny you’ll spend on it – and being that it’s even cheaper than most full-fledged Vita titles you’ve got very few reasons not to add this one to your collection, so what are you waiting for?

4.9 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Written by Jasper Bekema Arctual

Conquer your fear of heights!

4 19 40 PSTV 1.4 GB Publisher

playstation.com @PlayStationEU

Developer

playstation.com @PlayStationEU

Released

NA: 06/12/2012 EU: 06/15/2012

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

Gravity Rush is one of those titles that has a very original concept behind it. This action-platformer with a swirl of RPG to it is one of the titles that separates the PlayStation Vita from other consoles, as there is no such game to be found anywhere else.

The game is built around a simple premise; you can fly around by shifting gravity.

Shifting gravity allows you to fly around Hekseville. One thing that might be confusing to some people is that the world design is not only horizontal, but also vertical. The districts have different levels and moving from the top of such district to the bottom can be a little bit confusing, but flying around you discover many hidden areas in the underbelly of the districts that you would have never found if you were only to scratch the surface of the game.

Flying around is fun, and if you occasionally land on a building wall you can keep walking on it as if the wall were perpendicular to the earth’s centre.

Gravity Rush features an enamouring blonde protagonist called Kat. She wakes up without a memory of who she is or what she has done after falling from the sky and soon discovers she has the power to shift gravity because of her special cat Dusty.

Gravity Rush’s story is absolutely bonkers.

The game is a semi-open world game set in Hekseville, a city consisting of separated districts, such as an entertainment district (which sports a giant Ferris wheel) and a sprawling downtown area featuring gray, square skyscrapers. Hekseville is threatened by gravity storms, which have swallowed several parts of the city into mysterious, hallucination-inducing areas called ‘rift planes’. The gravity storms seem to have some sort of relation with the strange enemies (black-reddish blobs with an orb on their bodies that you have to shatter in order to kill them) called Nevi.

Just like many other story elements, the origins of these gravity storms or Nevi are never explained. They’re just there.

Halfway through the story, it takes such preposterous turns I feel I am allowed to say it is a ‘clusterfuck’.

Secondly, there are a number of different villains whom you never really get to know and the final chapters seem very hasty (most of the game’s important story is told in the last few chapters), though they feature great and fun boss battles.

Nevertheless, Kat is a charming, somewhat shy, character and despite its shortcomings, her tale is enjoyable. As you master her powers and you complete story missions (which limit you to a certain area and are not open-world), such as rescuing parts of the city or fending off Nevi attacks, your reputation increases (allowing you to further increase your skills) and the citizens of Hekseville start to like you more and more. I definitely enjoyed the ride, as the story was not comparable to any other game I have played before and the way it bounces through every nook and cranny thevitalounge.net

of Hekseville is excellent. The story is presented in an original comic-book style (it’s fun to tilt the pages using the touchscreen).

Gravity Rush has a stunning, cell-shaded art style influenced by anime (the game was made by one of Sony’s two Japanbased studios). Character models look fairly basic, but the textures on the buildings are absolutely gorgeous.

Hekseville is somewhat reminiscent of the older parts of European cities such as Paris or Amsterdam. The classical music score that accompanies the game is great.

Every district has its own track, and I love every single one of them. The music in old town is majestic, the music in the entertainment district is upbeat and jazzy, and the music in the industrial district is slightly mysterious and I would go as far as calling it unsettling, while still sounding great and fitting the visuals.

story, and there are challenge missions.

I didn’t like the challenge missions very much, but they are not badly designed and mastering them can be great fun. They are often time trials in which you have to race around town using your wonky gravity powers, but the narrow corridors of Hekseville aren’t really suited for the somewhat loose controls of Gravity Rush.

There are only a handful of NPCs to talk to and there aren’t really any side-story missions (if you don’t count the DLC, which adds two story missions and some challenge missions).

Flying around without strings attached is transcendent and the main reason why this is my favourite Vita game despite its flaws. The controls are good and looking at all the buildings and characters scurrying around is very addictive and rest assured, you can spent half of your game time in Gravity Rush with just flying around and admiring the architecture.

There is also another thing that will Despite classifying as an open world motivate you to fly through the city in game, there is surprisingly little to do between the story missions; gems. There in Gravity Rush. You can play the story missions, where you progress through the are three types of gems: green gems (adding life), blue gems (restoring a part of your gravity meter, which runs out the longer you shift gravity) and last, but definitely not least, purple gems (the only ones found outside of the story missions). Purple gems are spread around the city, mainly in the lower regions and on rooftops. They are kind of experience points; you can use them to level up your skills, and this motivates you to scour around town looking for shiny purple gems. If I spot a bunch of gems, I completely forget my mission objective and hurry to collect them instantly.

It works and it is a fresh approach to experience and encourages you even more to explore and discover hidden areas in the city.

VERDICT Gravity Rush is a fresh and unique game, containing a beautiful gravity-defying style of platforming and a neatly designed world. The story, while leaving many things unclear, is captivating. Gravity Rush is an imperfect game, but a great one at that and the few major problems it has could easily be remedied in a sequel. @PSVitaMag

A large portion of Gravity Rush consists of combat; the Nevi are defeated by shattering the orbs on their body.

Standing on the ground, you can kick them and dodge their attacks. However, since Gravity Rush is focused around flying, the main portion of the fighting takes place in the air. Early on in the game, air combat is fairly straightforward, but as you progress, it requires more precision, which might sometimes be frustrating if you miss another enemy by a millimetre.

You can use your standard gravity kick or special attacks, which have to recharge after use. The challenge and fun in the combat does not lie in picking the right moves, but in timing your attacks well and mastering your flight. I’ve never felt destroying Nevi to become repetitive, as battles get progressively harder and the boss battles become more fun, and take advantage of the different things you can do by manipulating gravity (such as picking up objects and hurling them at your opponents, or picking up water tanks to put out a fire). I’ve never felt the game to become too hard in its main storyline.

If you want a challenge, then you should definitely play the challenge missions, as getting many points in them is hard but rewarding.

Gravity Rush is a gem with many shortcomings that still do not hinder this from being a solid game. The art style and music are excellent, the story jumps all over the place but still manages to keep you playing and the core gameplay is very enjoyable. For an open-world game, it is a bit short on content and the world sometimes feels empty, but its concept is fresh and I believe this game is definitely worth picking up at full price if you can live with the myriad of ‘little tiny’ issues the game has.

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Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

5 8 47 PSTV 327 MB Publisher

drinkboxstudios.com

@DrinkBoxStudios

Developer

drinkboxstudios.com

@DrinkBoxStudios

Released

NA: 04/09/2013 EU: 04/10/2013

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

Guacamelee; a game about a Mexican wrestler named Juan kicking ass in tights and a luchadore mask.

What more could you ever ask for right? I’m not being sarcastic here, and this is no joke – you’re going to want this game.

You start out as Juan Aguacate, a regular Mexican guy in a regular Mexican world, who sets out to save the world when El Presidente’s Daughter is kidnapped by an evil wrestler named Carlos Calaca. Juan takes it upon himself to go after the girl and her captor, and in the process is killed by the undead being Calaca has become.

Arriving in the land of the dead, he is presented with a magical luchadore mask, which brings him back to life. His new life brings new abilities, and through the use these powers he vows to save the princess once again, before Calaca sacrifices her to become the ultimate evil power.

Guacamelee is a platformer at its core, most of the traversing involving using jumps and special moves to boost your height in order to reach higher and further ledges. The flip side of this is the combat element, offering both melee and special attacks. Melee attacks can be dealt repeatedly without cost while special attacks come at a cost, using a block of stamina. Enemies range from simple green skeletons, with slow

melee attacks and limited health – to giant skeleton demons, with magic fists that can pound you into oblivion and extra health to top it off. There are also special bosses, like the witch X-Tabay, the giant demon Alebrije and the fire elemental Flame Face which feature much more health than anything you find in the normal world. Bosses actually increase in difficulty, which I liked – you can tell the difference between a fight early on with Alebrije (as big as he is) and a later fight like Flame Face or Jaguar Javier.

The game is designed so that you need to develop more than just your stats and special attacks to win, as I found myself with all the purchased items around twothirds of the way through the game and still had an issue fighting the later bosses.

Finding that, I had to develop a plan-ofattack based on their unique skills and strengths – a welcome game play element that takes makes this game more about skill with the controller than special attack skills.

Though it mainly plays as an action/ platformer, it features role-playing game elements as well; with treasure chests placed in some hard to get to spots. These chests contain either upgrade pieces (of which three enables the next “level”) or coins, which can be used to purchase upgrades from the store. The store is actually an altar of sorts, featuring a bit of humor and a set of ten different upgrades; some of which have multiple levels. Also, there’s the health bar and stamina bar – which get bigger as you upgrade different aspects of your character’s abilities. The game works well in this regard, though I would’ve definitely liked more abilities thevitalounge.net

Controls are done quite well, the only issue for me being the speed at which some of the combos must be performed The special attacks come in different in the ‘Poncho’ training sessions. I have ‘flavours’, each represented by a colour. pretty quick reflexes, and the final combo For example; the first special attack you of the training is giving me a ton of get is the Rooster Uppercut which is a red-type attack. Throughout the world you trouble (as well as some of the combowill find red blocks that much be smashed related trophies). That aside, the button setup is superb and the ability to use with this uppercut to access new areas. either the d-pad or the analog stick for The same follows for each of the other movement/fighting is quite appreciated. special attacks and as such you must The touch screen is used minimally, only collect them all in order to fully access utilizing a swipe to switch in and out of all areas – something that will require “pollo power” – or chicken mode for the backtracking, as later collected attacks layman. The square and circle buttons are will have matching blocks even in some used for attacks, with square for melee early areas. Also of note is the fact that some enemies are protected by different and circle for the special attacks. These flavours of shield, with the corresponding in conjunction with a direction will alter the type of attacks, allowing for many colour of the attack needed to break it different types of possible attacks. Once as the hue of said shield. A red-shielded an enemy has been stunned, you can also enemy needs to be hit by the Rooster use triangle to throw them; aiming them Uppercut before it can be damaged, for with the movement control of your choice. example.

The “x” button is used for jumping, the left trigger/right stick for dodging, and later in The story isn’t complex, and plays out the game the right trigger for dimension mostly through text bubbles in small swaps. You’ll need to learn these buttons cutscenes. These short breaks are filled well in order to pull of the bigger combos. with innuendo and humor though, and are a welcome short break from game play as they don’t deviate much from the Graphically, Guacamelee has roots in retro important parts, or drone on too long. The gaming, but with a modern twist. Flashy colours, fluent 60 frames-per-second Great Uay Chivo, lord of all man-goats in animation, and large, unique locales make perhaps the best tutorial character I’ve seen in a game of this type, and shows up Guacamelee a stand out in its genre. The every time you need to learn a new move game features old school animations for move upgrades, a cute little “Hey, you got with some great humor, causing me to laugh quite a few times. The witch X’tabay an awesome power” indicator that gets is also good for a few chuckles, and there you excited about your new abilities. The contrast between the dead and living is light comic relief found all over the game in signs and conversation between dimensions is also a unique graphical feature, one that only added to the beauty characters. of the art style. Even the dead dimension isn’t a dark and scary place in this game.

Whoever wrote the script at Drinkbox needs a high-five for his sense of humor. through upgrades.

VERDICT Guacamelee is a must have for anyone who enjoys platformers or beat 'em up style arcade games.

The narrative is funny, the combat is smooth, and the game looks beautiful. Go buy it!

@PSVitaMag

The audio in this title is actually quite superb; and that’s saying something coming from me. I tend not to enjoy soundtracks unless they’re proper scores or filled with licensed bands and artists, but Guacamelee’s Mexican themed music actually had me turning up the volume on a platformer for once. The change of music for different areas and events perfectly suits the mood and style of the game, helping to pull you into the mindset of the luchadore.

It’s also worth noting that Guacamelee is cross-buy, and cross-save enabled (with cross-trophy support). For your single purchase you get both Playstation Vita and Playstation 3 copies digitally. I tested the cross save functionality and it works perfectly, using an ‘upload to cloud’ and ‘download from cloud’ twobutton approach it keeps things simple and allows easy moving back and forth.

I would also like to note that while the PS3 version played pretty much the same other than minor button tweaks on the triggers, the Vita version looked better (even though I have a flawless, vibrant TV).

Drinkbox studios have really done well with this one; Gucamelee is a polished masterpiece with very few flaws.

It appeals to action, role-playing, and platformer lovers, and succeeds in every element it attempts. My only substantial complaint is that it isn’t longer.

4.3 The Vita Lounge Magazine

23

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

2 8 42 PSTV 3.0 GB NA 3.3 GB EU Publisher

playstation.com @PlayStationEU

Developer

guerrilla-games.com

@Guerrilla

Released

NA: 09/10/2013 EU: 09/04/2013

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You’re caught in the middle of a war fought by two opposing sides – neither of which you’re particularly fond of.

Your name is Arran Danner and you’re a mercenary; the only thing you fight for is your paycheck and your life. Are you man enough to survive to spend that cash? You’d better be; this is one hell of a job. As your mission commander Benoit puts it – “This is no walk in the park, Danner”.

Killzone Mercenary is one of the most anticipated titles to hit the PlayStation Vita since its launch. The hype and build up that accompanied the slow but steady leak of information has been intense; from preview builds which have shown us a little slice of the campaign, to the two (some might say three) waves of the multiplayer beta. We’ve already seen a bit from the levels “Lightning Strike” and “Justice for All” in the previews, as well as the maps “Zenith”, “Inlet” and “Shoreline” in the closed beta and open beta stages – however these peeks behind the curtain comprise a small part of the experience. The real wow, that’s cool moment of the game is when you see it as a whole. The six multiplayer levels and nine single-player levels are just the beginning, there’s much more to this game than what you can see at first glance.

Yes, there are only nine levels – but there’s much more to them than simply completing them on veteran and moving on. All nine levels have four ways to play; Primary, Precision, Covert and Demolition. Each of the different play types gives a different feel to the way you tackle the level. The levels themselves don’t change, but it’s a much different experience to sneak through in stealth with a list of tasks than to barge

in with guns blazing and just plow your way to the end. By adding these extra challenges they’ve upped the replayability quite a bit, especially with the platinum trophy requiring you complete all modes (and the extra modes only unlocking for each level after a completing them once). It was a simple addition, but offers so much in the way of challenges – let’s have a look at how each mode is set up.

Primary is the most basic type of play; finish the level and you complete it, simple as that.

You can play levels on recruit, trooper, or veteran – a common set of difficulties to any Killzone game. Completing the level will earn you 1000, 1500 or 5000 Vektan dollars depending on the difficulty chosen. You can then spend your hard-earned cash at the Blackjack terminal (read; armory) in order to acquire guns, ammo, armor, grenades or the ever-powerful van-guard. We’ll come back to that in a bit…

Precision missions (like the other two unlockable modes) are an extension of the primary method of play. In Precision, you’re issued a load-out requirement (usually one or two weapons that you must use) as well as a time limit and a few other small goals. Check them all off to pass, or don’t to fail – not that complicated in theory and yet quite a bit harder to complete in the moment. Payment jumps here to accommodate these extra objectives, with 1500, 3000 and 7000 Vektan dollars being the payment scheme through the ranks.

Covert keeps the same enhanced payment scheme but changes up the requirements. It still requires a specific load-out (usually two weapons this time), as well as adding a tactical set of objectives. Covert mode also requires thevitalounge.net

mini-map through a little “bar” at the back of their directional arrow, distinguishing them from plain enemies who have a single-piece arrow. Get these officers alone without alerting them to your presence and you can initiate a 3-step melee interrogation to beat the information out of them (three swipe prompts on the The last mode is aptly titled Demolition; touchscreen). When you’re done with them, applying a set of requirements geared they are disposed of properly. A mercenary towards hitting your enemy like a ton of has no empathy for the obstacles between bricks. Usually this mode requires a van-guard or explosive in your load-out, as him and his paycheck. well as a certain level of precision Speaking of his paycheck, have you heard destruction and kills. This is one of the harder modes to play in as it requires more about Blackjack? He’s the man when it comes to getting you the equipment you money and concentration invested than need to get the job done. He’s scattered the others (van-guards aren’t cheap and some of the objectives in the harder modes drop boxes all over both Vekta and require surgical precision to achieve). This Helghan, playing both sides of the fence – is likely to be the last mode you complete. just like you. He’s happy to sell you anything you need… for a price. He’s got an array of primary and secondary firearms as Across all of these modes, you will still well as grenades, armor and van-guards. have one common side-goal; intel. Each Primary weapons consist of automatic level has six pieces of intel which can be taken across each of the four modes. They rifles, sniper rifles and machine guns – don’t have to be gotten four times for each while secondary weapons are handguns, level, a welcome cop out since I’m not a fan shotguns, grenade launchers and RPGs. Grenade types range from gas to proximity, of the “here, collect 300 of these” trophy. covering all the steps in-between. Armor is Six pieces across nine levels makes fifty-four pieces of intel total; full collection all about stats; trade mobility for silence, or will net you a nice silver trophy and some protection for both… you get six options, choose wisely here. cash along the way – that’s something I can definitely deal with.

The last part of the equation at Blackjack’s armory is the van-guard. Van-guards are a Intel is gained in two ways, one of which set of eight different technologies designed involves the hacking of terminals left hidden around the area (or in the middle of to give you an edge in your missions. They vary greatly in function and usage; ranging a bunch of guys, as is often the case). from a “ghost generator” that makes you Terminals are hacked by matching the encryption pattern you’ve been shown with practically invisible until you use a weapon – to a signal jammer or a controllable a set of six “key” patterns which you drone. There are many options here and overlay on the grid through touch. Each block of encryption requires two pieces of each has its own unique strengths, but they are very expensive. The cheapest these key patterns to remove it and encryption levels range from two blocks on van-guard runs 7500 Vektan dollars (the one level, to seven blocks multiplied over jammer), while the most expensive is over twice that (sky fury, a long range attack three levels. As such, some are much drone). That likely makes these options the harder than others and require both most expensive pieces of your arsenal, and reflexes and problem solving skills to a choice you must consider carefully when complete within the allotted time. just starting out. The most seasoned As I said before, there are two ways to gain players might even choose to forego them on their initial play-through; as they only intel; terminals aren’t the only way. The other method of extraction is a much more really become necessary when dealing with the non-primary modes or multiplayer. physical one – you can beat it out of the enemy officers. Officers are denoted on the stealth to be used throughout a fair-size portion of each level – something easier said than done for all you run-and-gun types. This mission type (along with the last type of play) is definitely one the hardest modes to complete successfully.

@PSVitaMag

There is however, a way to get them without paying. Sometimes during a mission (or in multiplayer), Blackjack will send you one free of charge and a rocket will jam into the ground – creating a yellow dot on your mini map. Hacking these capsules will give you a free van-guard. It’s good for business, don’t you know?

Ah, multiplayer – the word tends to sound more like the name of a beautiful woman than a mode in the game when I say it, so be thankful I’m typing. Multiplayer in Killzone is heavenly for me; I’ve been lucky to have very few connection problems outside being in a party (which never seems to net us the same teams, or even a working match sometimes). Game play in multiplayer is like butter; smooth and comforting. Whether it’s taking out the enemy Helghast by popping their melons with your sniper rifle, or countering some ISA jerk’s melee and then shooting him in his stupid face – Killzone Mercenary delivers on every level. The maps are the perfect size for eight players to be confined to and still have enough room to hide or suck up every last moment of action, as long as you’re not getting a bad respawn (which I fully expect to be remedied as quick as possible). Each of the six multiplayer areas are modeled after parts of single player levels, giving a slightly cohesive feel to the game – and for the record, they’re just as pretty as their single-player counterparts.

Modes in multiplayer are threefold; Mercenary Warfare, Guerrilla Warfare and Warzone. Mercenary Warfare is your typical ten minute free-for-all, with you going head to head with all seven other players. Guerrilla Warfare and Warzone are both team type game modes, with you and three other players taking on another group of four – with Guerrilla Warfare it’s straight kills-for-points, while Warzone takes a completely different approach.

Warzone is a mode built around modes; five of them to be exact. Each mode lasts five minutes and has you going on a scavenger hunt of sorts. The first of the five modes is called Bounty Hunter and deals with valor cards; a suited card representing your skill status as a player.

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buttons – the swipe command when issuing a melee-type maneuver and the zoom on the sniper scope. All the other basic commands are mapped directly to buttons as well as being mirrored on the touchscreen/pad gestures. It seems like they’ve made an attempt to give you the best of both worlds while maximizing the usage of the somewhat limited amount of buttons the Vita has (four less than the DualShock 3). Congratulations, Guerrilla Cambridge – you’ve succeeded in creating the first decently controlled first person shooter on a handheld. Good job.

mission types only serve to add to the experience – not take away from it.

Multiplayer maxes out at eight players, but never feels like you’re not in the action or are getting unfairly pummeled (unless you’re truly outmatched). The single player campaign is actually quite interesting, though more for the action and “seeing both sides” than an amazing story line – but then again Killzone has always been more about the action than the plot. Even so, there’s a few twists in there… you’ll see what I’m talking about. The cohesion of single player and multiplayer is the icing on the cake for me, though – as your Graphics are #&@%ing beautiful to say money and armory items will carry across the least, though I admit it’s hard to tell from single player to multiplayer almost sometimes – Vekta and Helghan have seamlessly. My only quibble with this some er… plain architecture. A quick look system is that they didn’t account for the All multiplayer games end with a table of at the beams of sunlight bursting through five load-out options being available in your stats and scores, along with a screen a nearby window as you first gain control campaign – which would’ve been nice for of Danner in “Justice for All” will tell you a quick swap at Blackjack. Oh and don’t allotting you any bonuses you’re due for that the Killzone 3 engine is no slouch on worry guys – it seems to be a bit harder performance. You’re then able to change Vita though – beneath the almost sterile- to accumulate money in single player, up your load-out in a 60 second wait looking interiors of the intact structures so you’re not going to purchase every between rounds. This is actually a noted lie a ton of beauty waiting to be found. I weapon in a day. improvement from the two minute wait present in the beta and allows you to get don’t have to tell you, let me show you. more games in quicker, without the need As long as the shot contains a mini-map, If you haven’t gleaned it from how many it’s not from a cutscene (which seem to words you’ve just read; I’m in love with to get distracted while waiting. mostly be rendered in-engine anyways). this game. Though it still has a few minor faults, Killzone Mercenary is simply a ton The controls for Killzone Mercenary are Sound quality is top notch, as to be of fun to play. Besides that, we’ve already gold in my opinion; they’ve really done something wonderful here and found the expected from the franchise. Voice-overs seen how much support it’s being given and sound effects are crisp and clear, – with a day one patch and all these beta perfect balance between ease and need. with weapon noises keeping true to their testing phases, the developers obviously The controls are fairly typical of a first various functions and duties. The devil’s want to get this right and fix any issues person shooter, with some exceptions in the details here, and even footsteps that arise. In my opinion, this is the best and options based on the uniqueness sound wonderful – running over the first-person shooter on any handheld of the Vita. I want to state right off that console. If you’re asking me if you should this is NOT Call of Duty, and as such does ground and through a puddle creates an audible splish-splash for example. buy this game, my response is why not have the same feel when playing – haven’t you already? the game is just a step slower in pacing and has a more realistic feel to the Killzone Mercenary engages the player movement and aiming. The only 100% in quite a few ways while staying true Oh, and for the record; a play-through of mandatory Vita exceptions to the “typical to the franchise’s roots as a hardcore the single player campaign in Primary FPS controls” rules are the ones involving first-person shooter. New elements like mode (on veteran) took me around six to the touchscreen that aren’t mapped to hacking, van-guards and the additional seven hours – so it’s not short either.

Collect them from your enemies’ dead bodies (they float there once the enemy expires) to gain a point each and up your team’s score in the first round. The second and fourth rounds are about hacking vanguard capsules for five points each; you get ten seconds to solve two encryption blocks while hopefully not getting shot in the process (there’s that team bit coming into play). The third round is all about interrogation, using the same method as getting intel from officers – but on the enemy players instead. As with hacking, interrogation requires a bit of skill and is therefore also worth five points each.

The fifth and final round is a straight up session of Body Count (basically, Guerrilla Warfare) until the clock runs out.

VERDICT If you're looking for a first-person shooter on a handheld, this is the one to get - hands down.

Delivering near console quality graphics with a slightly "Vita" take on controls, this one stands far above the rest as the new king of portable shooters.

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5 thevitalounge.net

back for many visits to ensure you collect everything available.

Written by

Paul Murphy

PMurphy1978 PMurphy1978

4 19 62 PSTV 1.1 GB NA 1.6 GB EU

Will this game give people a reason to buy a Vita?

Publisher

playstation.com @PlayStationEU

Developer tarsier.se

@TarsierStudios

Released

NA: 09/18/2012 EU: 09/19/2012

@PSVitaMag

Ah, Little Big Planet. A creation centre where almost anything is possible, dressed up as a platformer. This, the fourth entry in the series comes at a time when the Vita really needs help lifting off.

It’s a very unique game. I have not had the pleasure of playing the PlayStation 3 versions, which were crafted by Media Molecule, but have looked into what can be done and many other reviews on them, but upon getting my Vita I did get the PSP version to prepare me for this adventure with Sackboy.

This version has been created by Tarsier Studios and Double 11, but you can tell from the second that Stephen Fry starts telling you what is what that you have something special in your hands. Literally.

It’s two very differing sides of a coin. You have on the one hand the story mode. Five worlds of manic platform jumping and puzzle solving, that whilst not especially taxing in themselves, will have you going

Set in Carnivalia, you are told of the story of the Puppeteer, who has kind of lost the plot and created some bad puppets that want to generally mess the place up. Across the worlds, you find yourself guided by an increasingly strange set of companions into an increasingly stranger set of environments which look, quite simply, stunning on the Vita’s screen, and uses pretty much the entire set of input methods that the Vita can do. It’s also not completely over done, and as such never really feels gimmicky. Along the way you unlock a series of fun mini games to play as a distraction for you, and you can also experience all of this in up to four player co-op.

Now, whether this is just initial server problems or not, this is one of the only bad points that the game has, in my experience so far of playing with LBP Vita, the online co-op has tremendous lag, especially with four. Hopefully this is something that is being looked at, as it’s a shame. On some of the levels you will find yourself having all sorts of fun, and to get ALL the collectables in some levels, you will need at least one other partner. But on sections require precision jumping or timing, can be quite annoying.

Scripted or not, Stephen Fry is bang on form, his familiar warm tones soothe you into the action as the narrative drives you on through the world, and some of the story telling is rather amusing, including a comical encounter with your first new puppet friend.

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Customisation of your character plays a large part of Little Big Planet of course, and collection of the prize bubbles through the levels gives you many different costume pieces as you would expect to give your sack boy or girl a unique look. I’ve kind of got an Indiana Jones Emo kind of thing going on right now. You can also buy themed costume

packs in the store, and although it will take a while to port it all over, all of the costumes across the Little Big Planet series (except the PSP title) are all subjected to the cross buy scheme, which means they will work across all the titles, which will give a bit more value for money for them.

But of course, the other side of the coin with Little Big Planet series has always been the creation aspect, and the version available here is said to be the best yet.

There are 67 different tutorials here to help you get to grips with what is available to you, and as I write this, a week after it has been out, the scope of some of the levels already released are simply amazing. I’m struggling to get to grips with what is here, because it is rather complex, but those of you with a better ability for creativity and perseverence will find that literally your imagination will be the only barrier. Some examples are a Fruit Ninja clone, a balancing on a plane game where you have to stop cows from un-levelling the plane, a side scroller in which your aim is to avoid Jaws, a level

VERDICT The single player experience won't last too long, but collecting everything will take a while - and that's before you have dabbled in the almost unlimited user created options online. A truly must have title.

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inspired by a faithful reproduction of Super Mario Bros and an RPG, with health points, swords and shotguns, and creation mode can also take advantage of the memoriser, which is basically a save game state for the levels too!

The community will be what gives this game lasting appeal, and with literally an unlimited supply of games and levels coming from an unlimited amount of imagination possiblities, this is simply a must have title for any Vita owner.

The game isn’t perfect, if you don’t have a penchant for platformers, or you want a bit more from a story mode, then you may feel disappointed, and despite the many customisation options available you can always wish or more. But the number of levels is essentially infinite and will far surpass anything originally in the box, it time, and will be worth even more if you can actually take advantage of the creative mode yourself.

If you like fun, then enter the imagisphere.

It is worth buying a Vita for. just about.

4.5 thevitalounge.net

point of the level. OlliOlli2 however, amps up the options and lets you string even more tricks together – introducing manuals, reverts, advanced tricks and more to the roster in an effort to keep those combo going. This means that if you play your cards right, not only will your levels be filled with combos, most of the time it’s possible (and recommended) that you string a single combo together throughout the entire level.

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

6 8 12 PSTV 304 MB Publisher roll7.co.uk

@Roll_7

Developer roll7.co.uk

@Roll_7

Released

NA: 03/03/2015 EU: 03/04/2015

@PSVitaMag

I remember very clearly that day just over a year ago when I finally got to hop on board and push on with OlliOlli – and man was I impressed. Over the past thirteen months I’ve been sinking many an hour into the pursuit of that perfect run, that epic trick sequence, or that number one position on the daily grind or a spot (I held one of each a few times, however brief they lasted). After a week with OlliOlli2 however, I doubt I’ll ever venture to turn on the first game for a bit of fun again.

That’s because while OlliOlli was an amazingly addictive and well-rounded first step into the genre, OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood is the equivalent of a quantum leap forward. But before I get into what makes this one so much better, let’s talk about what the game actually entails.

OlliOlli is obviously part skateboarding game, but it’s also presented as a sidescrolling runner. Unlike past skateboarding games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Skate, Roll 7’s OlliOlli takes a 2D-plane approach to the genre – laying out the course in front of you to be unavoidably navigated using rhythm-game-like lightning reflexes, jump moves, flip tricks, spins and stomped landings before reaching the end

Aside from combos and score based tasks, Welcome to Olliwood and its predecessor also assign each career level three other challenges based on things such as item collection, trick completion, reaching a special area, or something of the like – sometimes slipping in additional conditions to up the challenge. Completing all five tasks (stars) in any one amateur level will unlock the pro level in the area which corresponds to it (ie; beating 2-1 on amateur will unlock area 2-1 on pro), and simply making it to the end of each level without bailing will unlock the corresponding spot in the spot menu.

Spots are another form of each level’s contents which focus solely on biggest single combo score, giving you a small area with which to execute the best combo you can without stopping or bailing. For each level (both amateur and pro) there is a spot to be unlocked, meaning that in total you can unlock 100 locations to skate – 50 levels and 50 spots – just like the first game.

There’s also a new tutorial/move introduction mode called “Skatepark” which provides you with simple, flowing locations to learn the moves (whether new or otherwise) as well as practice them. There The Vita Lounge Magazine

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are thirteen different tutorials in this mode, ranging from “Pushing” to “Spins” and everything in between. Mastering these skills is what will get you the high scores on the leaderboards, so I’d suggest you pay attention to the tutorials and practice like a madman.

daily grind challenge, and simply how hard the game can become later on.

Over the past week (and not including launch days), I’ve held a record as high as #5 on the ultimate (combined) spot score leaderboard – and yet I still haven’t unlocked the last few pro levels in the career mode because the challenges are so tough. This is one of those games where even the best of us won’t necessarily unlock it all, so be prepared to fall, fall, and fall again on your journey – ’cause this isn’t supposed to be easy… and it isn’t.

Helping you along your journey through all these career levels, spots to own, skatepark tutorials and (of course) trophies is the profiles menu, which not only shows how much of the game’s total content has been completed but also holds onto some quite useful statistics as Which brings us to a mode that many well. of us (including myself) may never see; RAD mode. RAD mode is a super-hard Checking your profile’s “Completion” mode for the ultimate OlliOlli player and page will give you a quick glance at an overall progress percentage, the number will only unlock once you’ve completed of skatepark tutorials completed, levels every challenge in the professional mode completed (gotten to the end of, not all of career. It’s actually an option in the stars), challenges completed (that’s the level overview menu (you might notice stars), spots skated, RAD mode levels the greyed out “Off” and square indicator completed, and Roll 7 developers found – on the right), and when enabled will as well as the total available to finish the require you to hit every landing, manual, task completely. takeoff (of ramps) and grind perfectly or you’ll fail. This mode is both the ultimate Likewise, the “Statistics” page gives you a punishment and the ultimate challenge run down of a bunch of different in-game to the seasoned OlliOlli veteran (and I do counts – including perfect variation counts mean seasoned), so I wouldn’t go into the of landings, manuals, grinds, launches, game thinking you’ll be showing off your reverts, and revert manuals. The one RAD skills anytime soon. non-perfect item that it counts is grind switches, which don’t actually qualify for Moving to controls, like the first game this a quality variable (ie; sloppy, ok, cool, sick one does way with the typical skateboard and perfect) like the other tricks do. game trick formula and goes its own direction – taking cues from them but As for the title’s replayability, it’s held delivering a play style all its own. Flip in things like the spot leaderboards tricks and ollies/nollies are executed with (both individual and ultimate, including the left analog stick, using a combination a “friends” option), level high-scores, the of swivels and flicks to execute them

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(the harder ones adding in trigger holds and reverse swivels). Tricks can also be modified with the right or left trigger as well to induce spins, which speed up as you rotate and up your multiplier with each half twist – giving you a better chance at a higher score.

As a side note, I found the flip tricks much easier to execute on the Vita’s sticks rather than the DualShock 4 (yes, this one works on PlayStation TV too), which just goes to show you that this one’s still best on Vita – just like the first.

Looking to grinds, they’re executed with a pick (holding the left analog to one side or top/bottom) or a pick and a trigger hold, timed perfectly (or close to it) with the landing on the rail. Perfect grinds can be further modified into grind-switches, using a pick and “X” to swap mid-grind and again up the multiplier and trick score.

As for manuals and reverts, they’re variations on landings – with “X” stomping your move in a landing (ending a trick), left/right on the analog with “X” landing you in a manual, and the right trigger with “X” landing you in a revert. Reverts are unique in that they have the additional option of moving into a manual if you press left/right quick enough after the trick executes, giving you a two-times additional multiplier for one fairly swift set of actions.

The tricks and maneuvers in this game are simple enough to execute on their own (save for maybe a few of the advanced flip tricks), but when stacked together in

thevitalounge.net

you an overview at a glance, and using these colour hints will ensure you don’t attempt the wrong action on or around the wrong surface.

There are definitely things (such as a head-to-head S-K-A-T-E-style challenge mode) that I would love to see in an “Olli3Olli3” if one was ever made, and a few issues that could use some TLC – like The soundtrack in Welcome to Olliwood the coaster cars having a slightly extended collision area… but those things are so was – in my opinion – more fitting and minor at this point that I almost don’t interesting than those in the first game.

While I often played OlliOlli with the sound care.

The graphics in OlliOlli2 are certainly off or my own music, I found myself keeping the sound cranked in this sequel The bottom line is, if you liked OlliOlli not meant to be realistic, however in and more often than not bobbing along comparison to the graphics in OlliOlli – – you’ll love this… and if you didn’t like to the music as I skated. While we’re still OlliOlli, this is still an extraordinarily again we’ve seen a huge leap forward. missing the mainstays of my skateboard superior game you should really give a The background has gone up in detail game generation (that punk rock and and become more appealing to the eye, chance. In the past year I’ve helped many with perspective-shifting landscapes and dubstep-esque rap stuff from Tony a game connoisseur get addicted to the cityscapes accompanying each of the 100 Hawk and Skate – among others), there’s first title – both skateboarding fans and something about the music that just locations available. The skater has also otherwise – and I’m sure this next year become more detailed and fluid in motion, works. will be spent doing quite the same with as has the world – with the trickable OlliOlli2.

Coming in on where I should be issuing objects becoming much more plentiful my closing thoughts, I think I’ve given and varied in shape and size.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve slipped down my hand away already – my absolute the leaderboards while writing this and adoration for this game seeping through Fret not however, as they’ve added a need to get back to my double heelflips, into every facet of this review. Is OlliOlli2 simple colour scheme to non-obvious nose manuals and darkslides. See you on objects which leaves rails to have a blue the flipside, Loungers! perfect? No. stripe, ground to either be neutral in colour or have a yellow stripe, and hazards to contain green or red colour.

This works quite well to give a frantic setting of landings, ramps, rails, obstacles and more stairs than it takes to reach the top of your local “tallest tower” you get something special and tricky in the same right. That’s where that “one more try” mentality comes in, and why I’m sure I’ll be playing this one ’til the next one hits – just like I did with the last.

VERDICT OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood is truly everything that a sequel to OlliOlli should be; it takes the already amazing formula of the first game and injects adrenaline right into its coded heart, causing that euphoric feeling you got tricking every obstacle to become a level-long high of foot-to-board madness - and I'm addicted. Bravo Roll 7, you've one-upped yourself in an epic way with this one. @PSVitaMag

4.6 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Written by Jasper Bekema Arctual

3 6 40 PSTV 3.2 GB Publisher

atlus.com @AtlusUSA

Developer

atlus.com @AtlusUSA

Released

NA: 11/20/2012 EU: 02/20/2013

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This game isn’t just golden. It’s solid 24 carat gold.

Persona 4 Golden is one of my favourite games of all time. It has a deep, compelling story and also features layered and intricate gameplay. It is one of the few games which manages to blend story-telling and gameplay extremely well, but it’s not for everyone.

You’re teenager with grey(!?) hair, who moves from the big city to the small town of Inaba. Nothing interesting ever happens and being the new kid, you’re the talk of the town. But not for long. A series of peculiar and gruesome murders takes place; and by accident, fate bestows the burden of investigating these murders on you. After testing a rumor floating around at school that people are visible on TV at midnight, you discover you can enter a secret world by falling through a TV screen.. It is a strange and eerie world, where mysterious and vile creatures called ‘Shadows’ reside and which seems connected to the strange murders. You investigate the place with your school friends, and discover that you have the ability to summon a ‘Persona’ from the depths of your soul, which can protect you from the Shadows. These

Personas can gain levels through battling, and can be fused to form more powerful Personas. The protagonist has the unique ability to carry multiple Personas and swap these during battle. The plot which follows after the first two hours is profoundly intriguing, creating a gripping atmosphere in some periods and a greatly relaxed one in the others, often misleading the player about the identity of the murderer and the events.

The game progresses day-by-day, using a calendar system. You go to school, and then you have time to go into the television, hang out with friends and increase social qualities. Effectively managing your time is key; if you ignore any of these three gameplay aspects, it will make the game much harder for you in the long run. This life simulation aspect is very relaxing and allows you to rest from the sometimes intense sessions of working your way through the battles. The atmosphere and universe are very believable, even though it has fantastical and unreal elements at its core.

Persona 4 Golden is at heart a turn-based RPG; all your progression is aimed towards making you stronger in battle. As you set out to rescue those lost in the TV world, you progress through multi-floored dungeons with a randomized, maze-like design. In these differently themed dungeons (there is a dungeon based on a bathhouse, a secret laboratory, and my personal favourite; an 8-bit video game) the player encounters Shadows and treasure chests containing goodies to aid you during your quests (such as weapons and healing items). It is important to note that Shadow thevitalounge.net

connected. In most (if not all) video games, story and gameplay are very separated; the story is told through cut scenes or dialogue, and has no influence on the gameplay whatsoever. In P4G, this is different. The narrative is very characteroriented, and the largest part of the games immense storyline is told through interaction between characters. With certain people you can form special bonds, called Social Links. By spending more time with them you not only learn more about them, but also increase your potential in battle. How does this work? Every Persona has a certain type (for example, Sun). Every Social Link also has a type. If you increase your Social Link’s level, Personas with the same type will get an experience boost (the higher the level, the higher the boost) when they are fused out of other Personas. Personas from party An ingenious feature of the combat system is the fluidity of the easier battles members may get additional skills and these party members may also get extras (boss battles can take very long); after landing a critical or super-effective hit, you when you spend more time with them.

Not only is the plot well integrated into receive a ‘One more!’ prompt and the same party member is allowed to perform the gameplay, the narrative is also extremely well-written, growing strong another attack. You are also able to deal feelings of attachment to the characters, massive damage to all enemies in one turn when they have all been hit critically; plot, and universe of the game. The game mainly focuses on the endeavours and a so-called ‘All-out attack’. These two psychological issues of teenagers, and this features make the battles so much way, the game opens a portal to many quicker and enjoyable, in particular mature themes and back stories not because sessions in the dungeons can explored often in video games such as last very long, and be quite repetitive. If depression or a struggle over sexual you absolutely detest dungeon-crawling preference. The dialogue, however, is not and repetitive battling, you may not like heavy handed and the game does not this part of the game. take itself too seriously; at times, it’s rather silly and lavishly decorated with However, what makes Persona 4 Golden such a unique game, and such a good RPG, bear puns. The voice acting is great and very realistic, and really helps once your are not the battles in particular, but the eyes get tired of reading after a couple way the story and the gameplay are confrontations aren’t entirely randomized.

Shadows appear as black blobs in the dungeon, and will pursue the player upon notice. Hitting the Shadow will take the player to a separate battle view mode, much like other turn-based RPGs. The combat system is superb. It has nice depth to it, but is also surprisingly simple to grasp and there is not a single mechanic that feels unnecessary.

Personas and Shadows have attacks of different types, and as you’d expect, they also have weaknesses and strengths to certain types of attacks. After some battles, a draw of cards will take place, with cards granting you benefits such as extra money or an additional Persona (collecting them is very much akin to ‘catching them all’ in the Pokémon series).

@PSVitaMag

hours of playing. Once you have maxed out the Social Link, you really feel that you know the characters’ personalities – as an added bonus their Persona will transform into a more powerful one, too!

As you may have deduced, levelling is key in this game. You can level Personas, your own character (the level of your character determines the maximum level of the Persona gained from fusion), Social Links, and also Social Skills. There are five “Social Skills” in the game (Understanding, Expression, Diligence, Knowledge and Courage) which can be levelled up by performing certain activities in your free time (such as eating an enormous dish at the local Chinese food restaurant) and taking jobs (such as folding cranes). They can prove very useful because they are necessary to start some Social Links and choosing certain important dialogue options, or just to earn more money. This game is heaven for fans of levelling stats, and combined with the fun gameplay and a story that surprises you, this game really hooks you.

Those fearing the game involves typical, over-the-top dialogue and animation present in other video games and animated series from Japan, rest assured, it does not. Persona 4 Golden looks like anime, but the game is not over-the-top at all. It includes the occasional ‘fan service’ moments (for example, a scene in which a few characters act drunk and behave completely out of character), which stick out like a sore thumb but are luckily not frequent.

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The game’s presentation is very good.

The menus and dialogue boxes look slick and benefit from a colour scheme very pleasant to the eyes (using mainly soft yellow and brown colours). Inaba is divided into several different sections, such as a central shopping district and your high school. Within the borders of these districts, the player can move around freely in a cell-shaded, three-dimensional world. Travelling between the sections of Inaba goes quickly by selecting the place you want to visit in a menu. Load times are almost instant.

is of many different styles, but most of the time a piano is incorporated in some way. The tracks repeat themselves quite often over the 70 hours of initial playtime, but it is not bothersome as they fit the mood the game creates very well.

It is noticeable that this game was originally created for the PS2 – images aren’t extremely sharp, and animations seem a bit old-fashioned, but the game still looks appealing. The dungeons are decorated in a certain theme; which usually fits the personal struggles of the victim locked inside of it, and look quite nice. Shadow and Persona designs are uniform, and are often psychedeliclooking animals or shapes a psychotic person may think of. Important events in the storyline are sometimes presented in beautifully animated cut scenes, but sadly, there aren’t too many of them. The music

VERDICT Arguably the finest game that the Vita has to offer. A perfect port, stunning story and engaging gameplay this game will keep you occupied for the best part of 100 hours. or more. A must have.

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In conclusion, Persona 4 Golden is an amazing and unique game. The narrative is great, the story is gripping and emotional and the gameplay intelligently designed, and on top of that, P4G is also very addictive. It does everything it tries to do very well (no element is unnecessary or unfinished) and has a fairly polished feel about it. The game is not suited for people who do not like reading, or repetitive turn-based battling. It’s also not for those who can’t afford to spend the time on a 70-hour long game, but I firmly believe it even appeals to those who would usually not dare to dip a foot into the JRPG genre.

Persona 4 Golden is a must play for everyone.

5 thevitalounge.net

you’ve lost. There are three great enemies (and countless smaller obstacles) standing in your way, but there are a few souls that care to help along the way as well. This is a strange world, and strange things lie within – both good, and bad.

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

6 12 6 PSTV 225 MB Publisher

drinkboxstudios.com

@DrinkBoxStudios

Developer

drinkboxstudios.com

@DrinkBoxStudios

I’ll admit it; despite the greatness that was Guacamelee, I was more than a bit concerned with the direction Drinkbox was taking with Severed. A touch-based dungeon crawler simply did not sound like something I would want to play – at all. A few minutes with the game however, and I was swiping to quite a different tune… intrigued by the things that lay between the one-armed Sasha and her goal. A few hours further down the line and I was completely enthralled, barely able to put my Vita down.

Drinkbox Studios has the secret sauce recipe for games, I’m sure of it. So let me try and sell you on Severed, because as much as I want to lay it all out nice ‘n’ pretty for you, in the end I think this is a game you need to play to truly understand. Hopefully I can get you far enough “in the know” to take the leap though, as it’d be a real shame if you missed out.

Let’s see, shall we?

Released

NA: 04/26/2016 EU: 04/26/2016

@PSVitaMag

First, let me set the stage for the story.

Your name is Sasha, and you’ve had both your right arm cut off, and your family taken from you by an evil dragon. You’ve been given a living sword by death himself, and are sent on a journey to recover that which

Your journey will lead you through three unique areas (aside from an outlying area called The Wilds and what appears to be your house) and pit you against a compliment of unique monsters – including three major bosses. You’ll gain four unique abilities, upgrade a skill tree on three different root systems, and piece together two types of vital organ for a chance at a boost in your reserves. Your fingers will hurt from excessive swiping. Your sense of direction may fail you due to taking too many staircases. That all goes to show you that this is not your mom’s touch game, this is Severed. You shouldn’t expect to find this easy, and that’s part of the beauty.

Beneath all that beauty however, the gameplay is where the meat of Severed is. The majority of the gameplay is split between mazes, puzzles, and action bits; the game borrows from the Metroidvania and dungeon crawler genres – in that it contains both an upgrade system that allows you to continue and explore new areas, and that it plays out as a first person “find your way through this maze of stuff” type format. That said, classifying this one is hard as it’s got the unique kind of twist that we’ve come to expect from Drinkbox… and that’s more than okay with me.

The non-battle portions of the game will have you navigating mazes and solving puzzles – thrusting you into a multi-layered, The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Actual fights play out with the touch screen and the movement buttons (if you so choose that option to switch between enemies). The attacks themselves are carried out with swipes on the touch screen, while the upgrades you gain during the game will allow you to blind, steal a buff from, or “power up” for extra hard hits via touch “buttons” on the right of the screen. That said, even with a semisimplistic gameplay style this is NOT an Did I mention that’s just the basics? easy game, and even with all the upgrades Delving deeper you’ll also find secrets, and and your skill tree maxed out you’ll have trouble with some of the fights if your triggerable passages. Secrets are hidden timing and technique aren’t perfect. access areas and functions that allow you to get somewhere (or get something) The key here is skill, whether learned or natural. You’re going to have to bring it if you’d not otherwise be able to get to. you want that platinum, and you’re going Triggerable passages are extensions to be bringing it quite a bit near the end of of secrets that use abilities gained throughout the game to unlock (like blind). the game.

There are also “treasure maps” found in Moving on from basic attacks, you’ve got books scattered throughout the areas, the skill tree – which extends past your ways to “warp” into different realities, hidden levers, and more. This game’s not weapon and health to include upgrades to your mana, your additional abilities, light on ideas and tricks up its sleeves, that’s for sure. linked set of locations with various tunnels between them. There’s more than one way to get to any single destination, but there are also other things to consider. Aside from stairs, gates, and layers there are gates that only work in the sun or moonlight (there’s a mechanic for swapping between them), living doors (which require a living key), and trap doors.

As for the actual controls, the dungeon crawling bit of the game is all about movement and triggers; you’ve got multiple door switches, crank wheels, and of course the mazes to navigate.

Character movement controlled by either the left analog, d-pad, or PlayStation symbols for movement (basically copying the d-pad). This is combined with touch for anything that needs to be manually operated, as well as the map and certain other in-game features and shortcuts.

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and more. Upgrades are forged with parts amputated from enemies (or found in breakables), though if you get a specific upgrade you can make things much easier by gaining the ability to craft parts from giblets – which are more common than parts, and also found in breakables.

Also included in the upgrade repertoire are heart and brain pieces, which upgrade your health and mana reserves respectively. Individual pieces will simply restore your health and/or mana completely, however completing a heart or a brain will upgrade your reserves by a small amount. This is easier said than done however, as most pieces are hidden and/or hard to get to. It’s an uphill struggle for small gains, but they’re worth it. Taking on late game enemies without some upgrades to back you up is suicide.

Getting beyond the mere mechanics of things, the look and feel of Severed is mainly fueled by the graphical response and quality views that you get in the game. It’s not all chopping and killing, as there are many chances for you to simply stop and enjoy the beauty of the world. There are many little dead ends and viewpoints you’ll find that offer something helpful like a fruit (for health) or a couple of breakables – but many also (or alternatively) offer a gorgeous view. It’s one of those bits of unnecessary polish that make that game that much more immersive and interesting – and usually points to a destination you’ll be visiting soon enough. That Drinkbox secret sauce

thevitalounge.net

play-through took me eight hours on the clock (which should actually be plus any reset time from dying, and the ending of the game which it doesn’t record), and the platinum took a total of eleven as I got stuck, a second play-through of the game where I simply aimed for the ending showed it could be done in under four hours total (including endgame and any death resets).

makes a definite appearance here, and the level of detail and quality work that has gone into the title really shines. I thought I was impressed by Guacamelee, but they’ve one-upped themselves this time.

The sound is also very beautiful in a way, giving an atmospheric feel that matches each of the areas and situations you’ll encounter. Little things like the cawing of birds, the rustling of moving bodies, and the wind serve to further enhance the experience of being “alone” in these creepy purgatory-like areas. The air swipes as you attack the enemies on screen work well to draw you into the adrenaline rush too.

So if we come down to it, if there’s one thing I took from Guacamelee it’s that Drinkbox Studios has found the formula for the gaming equivalent of “special sauce.”

The good news is that they’ve poured it on with Severed, and what a tasty treat it is.

Like the lip-smackingly good special sauce on your favourite burger however, once you’ve finished your portion you notice that you’ve enjoyed it so much that you simply engulfed it – and now want more.

In the end, there’s very little that I can say about Severed that isn’t a glowing praise. They’ve pulled off a unique mix of dungeon crawler, touch battle, and puzzle game that had me floored right ’til 100% completion (which my #1 spot on the PSNProfiles platinum list will attest), and then had me go back for yet another run through soon after. The one thing that I will say however, is that I wish there was simply more to play. While my first

Severed is a bloody masterpiece in this very same realm of tastiness, so all that’s left to say is… can we have some DLC, please? *twitch*

VERDICT Severed is a game that's a perfect fit for the Vita, and with Drinkbox's special sauce mixed into the wound it's one bloodbath you won't want to miss. I hope you're quick or dedicated though, 'cause this isn't your mom's touch game - and those who aren't up to the challenge will be cut down in their tracks.

@PSVitaMag

4.5 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Written by Charlie Large @CharlieLarge Chaz3010

2 16 23 PSTV 1.6 GB Publisher

pqube.co.uk/games

@PQubeGames

Developer

5pb.jp/games

@5pbgames

Released

NA: 08/25/2015 EU: 06/05/2015

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The Visual Novel genre seems to have found its home on the PlayStation Vita in recent years, with titles such as Danganronpa, XBlaze and Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward enjoying success on the handheld.

For the uninitiated, Visual Novels are interactive stories that tend to sacrifice gameplay in favour of anime-style art and brilliant narratives. Some of the titles mentioned above do add puzzles or other gameplay elements, but you will find that Steins;Gate avoids these to deliver one of the best stories I have seen in a video game.

A tale of teenagers and time travel, you are the self-proclaimed mad-scientist Okabe Rintarō – the founder of the Future Gadget Laboratory. The Headquarters for this operation is in a spare room above a TV repair shop in Akihabara. Okabe has enlisted his friends, the ditzy Mayuri Shiina (Mayushii) and ‘Super Hacka’ Itaru “Daru” Hashida, as Lab Members to aide him as he attempts to make ‘Future Gadgets’ – which often turn out to be pretty lacklustre.

The story begins when, after a conference at Radi-Kan, Okabe finds famous teen scientist Kurisu Makise face-down in a pool of blood. Shocked at what he has seen, Okabe flees the building and sends an e-mail to Daru telling him of the events that have unfolded. This e-mail causes a major change in the world, with Daru receiving the mail seven days before Okabe sent it.

The latest of Okabe’s Future Gadgets, the PhoneWave (name subject to change), is the cause of this time-travelling e-mail.

A microwave with a phone attached, the PhoneWave was built to allow the Lab Members to set the microwave remotely, so that when they return to the lab their food would be ready and waiting. This machine unintentionally happens to allow users to send e-mails to the past, thus being able to change the future.

This is the start of what becomes a gripping story of these teenagers racing to be the first people to successfully build a machine capable of time-travel. Each of the characters that you meet along the way are brilliant additions to the story, and at times, outshine the insecure, oft-arrogant, Okabe.

Steins;Gate does start off a little slow, but as you make your way through the game’s chapters and realise there is a lot more to the story than the time travel theme that features heavily you will find yourself become addicted to finding out what is to become of the game’s multi-layered characters.

In true visual novel style, the story in Steins;Gate is text-based – so prepare to read through thousands of lines as you make your way to the game’s thrilling climax. Accompanying the text is a brilliant soundtrack that changes depending on which character you are conversing with and fits the mood of the game perfectly.

The characters are brought to life via an amazing Japanese language voiceover – with each role played to perfection by the respective voice actors. thevitalounge.net

Making these choices is pretty simple, your died on my Vita. phone can be accessed almost all the time during the story. You will see a display in Steins;Gate is arguably one of the best the top left of the screen that acts as the games in the Visual Novel genre, and front screen of Okabe’s mobile phone and definitely up there as one of the best this will alert you to any incoming calls games on the PlayStation Vita. Days after or new e-mails that you receive. A quick completing the game I still have bits of press of the triangle button will display the the story running through my head, from phone on the screen, and here you can read little catchphrases like Mayushii’s chirpy, your e-mails and choose how you would song-like ‘tutturū’ that she says when like to reply to them. When you receive an greeting people to Okabe’s megalomaniac e-mail that you can reply to, you will notice monologues that often end up with him that two to three keywords in a mail are talking into his phone like he is on some highlighted blue. These words serve as secret mission. The lack of gameplay and Steins;Gate, like other games in the the choices you can make in the game and the amount of reading that is involved will genre, has multiple endings for you to selecting one of them will alter the response mean that some people will not be fans of work towards. The ending that you get you send, ultimately altering future events. this game, but Steins;Gate definitely has is dependent on the choices that you make as you progress through each of left me wanting more and I feel that any It is testament to the brilliance of the game’s chapters. These choices are person that enjoys a good story will find presented to you are known as ‘Phone this game extremely enjoyable.

Steins;Gate when a game with minimal Triggers’, where your decision on how to interaction and a lack of ‘gameplay’ had me respond to an e-mail, whether to answer hooked to my Vita for over a week. Your For a game about time-travel, it sure has or reject a phone call or whether to send first playthrough of Steins;Gate will last taken a while for Steins;Gate to reach a D-Mail (the time travelling e-mails are in the region of 20-25 hours, and if you Western shores. All is now forgiven named these, with the D standing for want to go for all the endings you can look though, as the thrilling twists, fantastic DeLorean in a nod to Back to the Future). at about 40 hours in total. I found myself characters and the eccentric humour make looking forward to getting home every night the wait worthwhile. Steins;Gate now has All of your choices will affect the future, me wishing that I could time leap back to with the Butterfly Effect being one of the so I could get back into the wonderful wit the day I started the game, just so that I many scientific theories that are prevalent and humour that features in the strong narrative – often playing until the battery can experience it over and over again! in the game.

The lengths that developer 5pb have gone to to make Steins;Gate accessible to all those that play it is quite commendable.

With all of the science behind the story and the constant nods to popular culture (both Eastern and Western), a glossary has been included to help with some of the words that you may be not so familiar with. I thought this was a great addition to the game, and found myself learning quite a bit whilst playing through the story.

VERDICT Steins;Gate is one of the best games I have played on the PlayStation Vita. A tale of time-travelling teens, you will find that there is a lot more depth to this game than meets the eye. The lack of 'gameplay' will put some people off, but if you are a fan of Visual Novels or love a good story, then Steins;Gate is a game you need to play! El Psy Kongroo! @PSVitaMag

5 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Written by

Jon Harding-Rathbone @BorderlineJ assassin2k

This year’s other major exclusive is here, and it’s a big one.

5 12 13 PSTV 947MB NA 1.3 GB EU Publisher

playstation.com @PlayStationEU

Developer

mediamolecule.com

@mediamolecule

Released

NA: 11/22/2013 EU: 11/22/2013

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If a few months ago you were to ask any Vita gamer what game they are most looking forward to in 2013, you’d probably have heard one of two games being mentioned. The first, Killzone Mercenary was released back in September and as Kyle and all of the The Vita Lounge staff can attest; it didn’t disappoint. The second, Tearaway has had the unfortunate fate of being delayed and is releasing right next to the Playstation 4. This is perhaps the biggest shame of all, as the hype-train for the next generation may overshadow what is the most unique experience gamers will have in years.

With the weight of perhaps every Vita gamer’s eyes on Media Molecule as they have tirelessly drip-fed morsels of information to us for months now, here comes their first new IP since they wowed the industry with the creativity and vision that was LittleBigPlanet. Media Molecule are of course known for bringing creativity and imagination to the forefront of our minds, so creating a platformer with a set story was always going to be a risk; with the multiplayer experience that was LittleBigPlanet creativity was easy to see in their level creation tools, and how this would work within a platformer I was initially unsure.

Rest assured, Tearaway delivers on the creativity front. I can confidently say that the way I have experienced and lived in Tearaway’s world since I got my review copy has been outstandingly positive and eye-moistenly enjoyable. My thoughts and feelings have been up and down (in a good way), and Tearaway has reminded me of so many things. Media Molecule have managed to make me think of the platforming days on the Nintendo 64; of Rare and Shigeru Miyamoto, of the era where the platformer was king, and even my former years as a five year old, peeling PVA glue off my fingertips.

When you first boot up Tearaway, you immediately notice no title screen. You are thrust straight into the world, with the storybook telling of legend. You see, the same story has been told time and time again, and it’s time for something new. A few quick choices later (skin tone, finger size and whether you are referred to as a man or woman) you are thrown straight into Tearaway as either Iota or Atoi, the messenger for your journey. Whichever you choose, you are guaranteed to build a bond with either, as although they don’t speak, they really don’t need to.

As you begin your travels you find confetti is scattered throughout the world, which serves as your currency for unlocking new features for your messenger as well as new filters and types of shot for the camera you pick up near the beginning of the game. As you play, you are frequently reminded that you are “a You”. While this might seem something small, the fact that your face appears in the sun and that you are constantly referred to helps create an thevitalounge.net

Once opened these give you a bonus of extra confetti. Blue presents are in shorter supply, but are given to you by completing “Extra things to do”. Each blue present can only be rewarded if you complete tasks given to you by specific characters.

Tearaway’s story is actually fairly gentle; there are a few cut scenes here and there One such character asked me to place a which pave the way and help connect the tie on his chest, whereas another told me levels, but instead it’s up to you to wander to “Unleash the power of the You” to get to him. Some of the requests are a little around talking to the characters and discovering what’s next. Tearaway’s world basic, but others had me scratching my head. All were enjoyable. is in fact entirely linear, but some areas are completely open to explore which Other requests from characters involve makes things feel a lot less restrictive the in-game paper craft creation tool, than they could have felt. Each area which, while fairly basic, is simple enough blends seamlessly into the next with no and easy to use. Whether it be creating loading at all, and each level begins with a crown for a squirrel, a pumpkin to a bookmark, so you can repeat previous show another character what they look areas to gather anything you’ve missed. like or some evil eyes for a Wendigo (a huge enemy that hurls rocks at you), Throughout the world collectibles can be the creation tool always works the found which are generally hidden off the beaten track. Aside from the confetti I’ve same. You have many different colours of paper to work with and you draw on mentioned, Scraps, the game’s enemies them with a pencil before cutting out the often appear in an attempt to stop you. shapes in order to design each item. Your They first appear through the hole in the imagination is the only limit here, as you sun; they’re from the world of the You’s, can cut shapes out and create layers upon and they are infecting Tearaway’s world.

While they’re fairly easy to dispatch, they layers of features into each design if you wish – the more elaborate the design, the do allow you to mix things up a bit and using the touchscreen and rear touch pad more exciting it is to see it appear in real to dispose of them is a joy. Although they time in Tearaway’s world. start in a basic form, they come in several flavours and as you progress new Scraps The final collectible you will uncover is stand on stilts and fire at you, and later on easily the most rewarding; the paper they can fly. Curiously enough the Scraps craft plans. Once you have been given are all created from newspaper; could this your camera you will notice (or have to be Media Molecule trying to get us to read search for) characters and objects that are completely drained of colour. If you take between the lines? a photo of these white objects you unlock Red presents are hidden in each level, and their paper craft plan so you can make some are particularly hard to track down. them in real life. Now, I’ve been thinking unshakable bond between you and the messenger. Neither can do this quest alone, and you are frequently reminded of this.

@PSVitaMag

for days and I really cannot think of a game that’s ever crossed over in this way to reality. It means that once you have collected all 48 you can recreate your own scenes from Tearaway in your own home.

You can see a few of mine in the picture below.

Tearaway.me is the social hub for Tearaway and it’s destined to be a fantastic one. When you log in with your PSN ID your game save syncs with the Tearaway servers and all of the paper craft plans you have unlocked are available to download in colour or blank. Having chosen blank in order to save my printer’s ink something truly magical happened; within two minutes of colouring in the plans I started to put my own stamp on things. This is where I felt like a five year old again! It’s truly worth downloading and making these plans not only for the sense of achievement, but for the creativity and enjoyment that’s often lost in adulthood. (I’m just waiting for my husband, bemused at my activity today, to bring me a glass of milk and some cookies before reading me a bed-time story).

Tearaway.me also tracks all your in game photos. Every time you take a photo in Tearaway you can upload it to the website, as well as sharing it on twitter or Facebook. You can also take a picture for your Tearaway.me trophy. Media Molecule will be picking favourites from the community photo’s so those looking to take arty film noire shots, or action packed feature shots may find themselves featured on the main page. Tearaway.me will also have a news feed and be able to link to other social media sites like Tumblr,

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though as the website isn’t fully live yet I was unable to see this in action.

Even if you don’t decide to engage in the paper craft Tearaway is still a sheer pleasure to play. The world looks absolutely stunning in motion, and the fact that everything is made out of paper is striking. Some levels burst with colour, whereas others are considerably more muted, giving each level a distinct feel and the game as a whole a true sense of progression. The odd framerate blip I experienced during the preview build has been ironed out, and the one bug I did encounter has already been patched, meaning there’s a day one update (don’t panic, it’s 13mb). Controls are noticeably tighter than in the LittleBigPlanet series, with almost no “floaty” feeling at all.

Whichever messenger you choose, they are responsive and act exactly as you would expect.

Being a game of discovery I’m going to move on as I don’t want to produce any spoilers, but suffice to say Tearaway keeps things fresh from start to end by pacing everything fantastically. Gentle sections, technical sections and frantic sections all appear throughout the game, and while it could be said that Tearaway is pretty easy, it’s not really the point.

Tearaway should appeal to the entire gamer demographic as everyone will find something to enjoy. I even shed a tear as the curtains closed; the end of Tearaway is the best I have seen in years.

overstays it’s welcome and never gets boring, and perhaps it’s a testament to how amazing the game is, but I was left wanting more. Despite this it will take a seriously eagle eyed person to 100% complete to obtain all the trophies; some presents and collectibles are indeed well hidden.

Even so, despite the 6-8 hour story Tearaway is not a game to be missed.

Collectibles massively extend the experience and Media Molecule has succeeded in creating a fantastic new IP. I’d love to see a bigger, badder sequel as soon as possible, and you owe it to Tearaway’s musical score is equally yourself as a gamer to buy Tearaway; fantastic, to the point where I ended up it’s an unashamedly creative game that humming some of the tunes while I was doing my grocery shopping. It feels classic stamps on the face of the gritty, realistic and often generic titles we’ve seen the Media Molecule while creating a unique musical score that perfectly fits the tone. industry churn out over the past few years. It’s a game of true brilliance, It’s a difficult type of music to describe, that will astound more or less every but some areas it almost feels tribal, single person who experiences it. It’s whereas in others it’s purely magical, to my favourite game this year, and I just the point where you feel you’re in a fairy Aside from the papery world, Tearaway’s hope the launch of the PS4 doesn’t hurt other draw is in it’s use of all of the Vita’s tale world. The messenger never says sales. Buy it, love it and more importantly anything beyond the odd “hup” when inputs. Those of you fearing a Little jumping, but the facial expressions make embrace it! I expect to see many a living Deviants level of shoehorning need not up the rest of the story. Other characters room and bedroom in the next few worry, as everything in Tearaway feels entirely natural, necessary and important. make all manner of sounds, from grunting months to have Tearaway’s characters and environment brought to life in true Different inputs are introduced gradually to bubble blowing noises. paper craft style. throughout the game and as you are the If there’s anything bad I can say about ever omnipotent “You”, Media Molecule The most creative and innovative game Tearaway other than the low level of has created the impression that you I’ve played in over a decade, Tearaway is a must help the messenger in these ways. difficulty (though the experience is game every Vita owner should have, and is Whether it be peeling shiny thumb printed more important than this) it’s that as I pretty close to complete perfection. paper back to uncover jump pads, poking suspected from the preview, Tearaway isn’t a particularly long game. Seasoned your finger into the world to dispose gamers will be able to complete it in a of scraps or bang drums for extended jumping with the rear touch pad or tilting day but finding all of the Scraps, confetti, presents and paper craft plans will take the Vita to move platforms within reach, much longer. I took my time on my first it’s all remarkably well done to the point play through, and by the time I’d finished where you don’t think about it, you just I was still only at 85% completion so I’d act accordingly. missed a lot, despite being careful to try and find everything. Tearaway never

VERDICT The most creative and innovative game I've played in over a decade, Tearaway is a game every Vita owner should have, and is pretty close to complete perfection.

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4.8 thevitalounge.net

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

5 9 21 PSTV 2.3 GB Publisher

nisamerica.com

@NISAmerica

Developer

spike-chunsoft.co.jp

@spikechunsoft

Released

NA: 09/01/2015 EU: 09/08/2015

@PSVitaMag

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is one of the best games I’ve ever played, and once I got into it all I could do was beg for more. The sequel Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair released to consume my life, and I beat it just as quick as the first – but even when I was done, all I could do was hope for a third.

With Danganronpa 3 barely touched on, I thought my wait for more would be almost eternal; but from the heavens something different emerged in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. A visual novel at its core, Ultra Despair Girls adds thirdperson shooter and beat ’em up action to the mix… and surprisingly creates something beautiful in the process. Let’s dig in and have a look, shall we?

The first thing we should look at is the premise; now I promise to keep spoilers and such to a minimum, and I promise not to reveal anything you wouldn’t learn immediately (or in the other two games).

That said, the game itself spoils plot points – and references – both Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair, so be sure to play them both before diving in.

Ultra Despair Girls starts with a normal day for the teenage Komaru Naegi; get up, get dressed, bang on the door for your captors to let you out… those kind of things. This is

because ever since the tragedy, Komaru has been a prisoner – fed her meals through a slot like a convict. That isn’t to say she’s in a typical prison though, and it’s certainly fair to say that her cell is less an eight-by-eight cement cube and more of an inescapable apartment with cushy furniture. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve been here before – only with a different building.

This monotony however has been going on for a year and a half, and would have continued if not for the unexpected entry of a bloodthirsty Monokuma. A frightened Komaru does her best to get away, and thankfully someone shows up to help – giving her a hacking gun and demonstrating its use. It’s here that the game truly begins, and it’s here that you truly begin to fall victim to despair.

You follow your rescuer’s advice, going to a location across the street where someone who can help is supposed to be hidden – but things go wrong and you’ve got to flee. When all is said and done, you’re captured; a mysterious teenager known only as “Servant” explaining your situation.

You’re introduced to the Warriors of Hope next, and you learn about your role in their twisted hunting game. You’re to be the prey, and they’re to be your predator – but the good news is that you get a head start.

Ejected from the scene, you soon meet up with Toko Fukawa and team up due to some mutual interests. At this point however, your only choice is to run; to find a way to get off this island and save yourself… but that’s not going to be as easy done as said, ’cause this city you’re in is full of left turns.

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That’s all I’ll say with regards to the plot, other than the fact that it’s pretty brilliant once again. This is definitely a Danganronpa game, and even though it’s got some never before seen elements like third-person shooter gameplay, it holds true to the things that truly make the series great.

use. The different bullets include Break, Burn, Paralyze, Knockback, Link, Move, Detect and Dance. Break looks to do just that; break the enemy, while Burn is a direct fire attack; Paralyze is an electric attack (which can travel through water), Knockback sends your enemy flying, and Link allows you to take them over for a short period of time. Move, Detect, and Dance aren’t really attacks or usable for direct damage – but Move can activate electronics, Detect can uncover what’s hidden from view, and Dance can immobilize the enemy (and more if you hit a Siren Monokuma). You’d do best to learn how to use these truth bullets efficiently, as they can be scarce sometimes – and you can’t always depend on Genocide Jack.

Now let’s look at the actual gameplay itself. Aside from the visual novel elements, which play out just as any of the other Danganronpa games (and a million others) do, there are quite a few elements that come together to make this one a whole. There’s the direct action bits – the first person shooter/beat ’em up combination that surrounds battling off Monokumas and taking on bosses, and then there’s the puzzle elements that Speaking of Genocide Jack, when you play still require those action bits but in a less as her you use scissors as your weapon and attack like you would in a brawler. “shoot until they’re dead” capacity.

Square is your main attack button; a single press allowing you a quick slash, The direct action part of the game is actually a lot like Resident Evil Revelations while holding square will execute an advanced attack. Circle is evade, and 2 mixed with Senran Kagura; you have a character with a hacking gun that can use the left trigger modified with triangle or different ammunition to take out enemies, “x” will execute a special attack if you’ve filled your “Fever” meter with hits to the and then you have another character point where it has lit up a set of scissors. which plays like a Senran Kagura The only thing you have to worry about character – using scissors to cut up the when using Genocide Jack is that your enemy in hand-to-hand combat. Just use is timed – you can only bring out the like in Revelations 2 you swap between personality with the use of a taser, which them with triangle, and (also just like requires batteries… and batteries run out. it) each character has their own unique weaknesses and strengths which must be That said, otherwise she’s invulnerable; so if you’re in a pinch and have the batteries, played off to win. use them.

When you’re using Komaru, you have Moving on to the puzzle bits, you really the hacking gun as your weapon. It can only need to use Komaru to get them use eight different truth bullets, and done. Puzzle elements come in two each has their own special action and

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forms; one a series of completely different challenges given to you by the Monokuma kids, and the other dealing with smart use of truth bullets and an arcade machine which is more like a security camera than a game.

The challenges given to you are thinking man’s games, usually involving using your mind and your available resources to discover something you’d need to get a passcode – which would then get you through a locked door.

The arcade machine challenges however give you an overview of a “playing field” full of Monokumas situated next door, and you must figure out how to complete the given requirements (usually take them all out with one hit) when you enter the room. They also tend to give you restrictions on truth bullet use, though if you’re really in a pinch you can just storm through and kill everything to get by.

It’s not as clean or the proper way to do things, but sometimes you’ve got to do things the messy way.

For the record, this Danganronpa game contains no trials, no direct clue-finding (Detect’s a bit different), no daily life “get to know people” bits, and no school-life minigames or post-game… but it still feels quite true to form.

Aside from the gameplay itself, there are ways to upgrade and enhance your truth bullets and Genocide Jack’s attack skills.

More truth bullets can be gained through playing the game (they’re given to you as you go as presents by Monokuma kids), however you can modify the truth bullets

thevitalounge.net

you have with special bullets. These special bullets are purchasable in the game’s Monokuma Kid shops, which pop up as you play along, and react differently depending on combinations. There are quite a few to collect though, and using them right can pack quite a wallop – so if you rely on the hacking gun a lot you might want to experiment with them.

with all five kids’ images appearing in each of the main five chapters. These are a little harder to find than sparkling item drops however, and are instead sparkly areas which you must use “detect” on to identify. I found just under half of the kids in total and I was looking pretty diligently as I went, so it’s safe to say they’re quite well hidden.

As for my final word, it’s this; Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a game which steps outside its tradition for something a little different, but in doing so doesn’t lose any of the heart that made it so interesting.

While it’s certainly not as involved as the two mainline games, coming in a bit shorter and with what seems to be less emphasis on the visual novel bits (though Other nice inclusions include Ultra Despair it’s still very present), it’s very much just as memorable and enjoyable to play Hagakure – a novelized spin-off, a new through. In my mind, it’s a must have for game plus mode where you keep your any Danganronpa fan – and an excellent upgrades and coins, and an extras menu addition to the series. where you can purchase media and see game records.

As for Genocide Jack, that same Monokuma Kid shop can be used to upgrade her scissor abilities, including making it easier to fill her special gauge, giving her longer battery life, or simply making her quicker or stronger at attacking. Personally, I chose to upgrade Genocide Jack over worrying about special Graphically, Ultra Despair Girls runs pretty bullets – and found that the bullets were top notch; there were no noticeable much less important in the long run. frame-rate issues on my end, and all the art was nice and crisp to the eye. That There are also items that you can come said, the game isn’t trying to look realistic across, which appear as a sparkling point or overly complex – so it’s definitely no and must be picked up with “x” to acquire. console show-piece, though it does look The best of these items are skills, which quite good. As for the music, it’s another allow you to change Komaru’s base set of thumbs up, with both familiar and parameters – adding life points, changing fitting tunes gracing your eardrums as the speed of aiming, getting you more you play. The music always fits the mood, Monocoins, and more. is never intrusive, and doesn’t get old – exactly what you want in a game that Some other things that pop up for lasts as long and is as story-heavy as this collection along the way include books one. (and book fragments) and hit list cards which detail people the kids want to kill The voices are another story however, as – so watch out for those sparkling items. my one complaint about the audio has to There are also MonoMono toy vending do with the voice actor cast as Komaru machines situated around the city, and if – she seems to vary her voice (or her you use the “Move” truth bullet on them confidence in the voice) throughout the you can get a random drop (which can game. At the very start it almost annoyed be either ammunition for your hacking me, but the voice used towards the end gun, batteries for Genocide Jack’s taser, or was much less grating – and I’d like to hearts to restore Komaru’s life points). note that I played the start over, so it wasn’t perception. This complaint is small In addition to those types of collectables however, and I rarely found myself putting already noted, there are also hidden any thought to it even after experiencing Warriors of Hope images to be found – it a second time.

VERDICT I wholeheartedly recommend Ultra Despair Girls to anyone who has played the first two games in the series - it may not be exactly what you're used to, but it fits so well into the universe the games have created that the differences won't negatively effect your enjoyment at all... and may even enhance it.

@PSVitaMag

4.8 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Written by Charlie Large @CharlieLarge Chaz3010

7 14 26 PSTV 700 MB Publisher

futurlab.co.uk

@FuturLab

Developer

futurlab.co.uk

@FuturLab

Released

NA: 09/02/2014 EU: 09/03/2014

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After the resounding success that was Velocity, both as a PlayStation Mini and the upscaled PlayStation Vita re-release named Velocity Ultra, Futurlab’s sequel to the space shooter was always going to have some big boots to fill.

Velocity 2X (pronounced ‘two ecks’ in case you were wondering) manages to fill those boots and then some! Adding sidescrolling platform sections to the top-down, teleporting shooting action, Velocity 2X takes everything that earned the original game its awards and improves upon it whilst adding a whole host of new features.

The aim of Velocity 2X is to clear each level as quickly as possible whilst ensuring that you rescue any survivors and collect as much explosive Rekenium as possible.

Think this sounds simple enough? Think again! Each level of Velocity 2X is designed to perfection – with hidden areas, multiple docking bays for you to exit your ship, a vast array of enemies and multiple paths to explore. To earn maximum points from each level you must kill all enemies, smash all the glass that houses some of the survivors and Rekenium in the level and do all of this whilst racing against the clock.

To achieve the coveted ‘Perfect’ run of each level, you must ace all of the above objectives and do so without dying. This is definitely not a mission for the easily defeated. I often lost hours trying to achieve

the top score in some of Velocity 2X’s levels, cursing and beating myself up because I would die right before I reached the end of a stage or because I did so leaving a sole survivor behind. Unlike other games that seem to punish you on purpose, Velocity 2X’s challenges did just that, challenge me.

I kept pushing myself until I could almost memorise each level and achieve a ‘Perfect’ run, with this requiring complete focus and what felt like rhythmic reflexes from my fingers and thumbs to reach the end.

Velocity 2X will ease you into the game, but to avoid getting complacent Futurlab will introduce a new item or weapon to spice things up a bit at various intervals throughout the game’s fifty levels. Bombs, projectile telepods that you can throw when on foot to reach hard to get to areas and telepods that you can place at your leisure throughout a level whenever you come across a fork in the path ahead and want to explore both routes.

Everything about this game shines, you can clearly feel the love and attention to detail that those at Futurlab have devoted to creating this title. The gameplay is fantastic, the mixture of shooting and platforming interlinks perfectly. Although the puzzleplatforming is new to the Velocity series, it feels right at home in this title, even giving platform greats like Guacamelee and Rayman Origins a run for their money!

As soon as you fire up the game and the developers’ logo flashes across the screen your ears are treated to the opening notes of Joris de Man’s soundtrack. Velocity 2X’s audio is fantastic, the music twists and turns as you make your way through each thevitalounge.net

level and fits perfectly with the Sci-Fi theme of the game. The many sounds of your ship and the numerous enemies that you will encounter throughout the levels are just as easy on the ear, everything is crisp and clean and sound just as you would imagine them to if Quarp-jets and telepods were real.

The audio is matched (if not bettered)

by Velocity 2X’s visuals. The game is stunning, with bright colours, multiple explosions, beautiful artwork and lens flare effects that look fantastic on the PlayStation Vita’s glorious display.

Even as I attempted to clear each level as quickly as I could, I was still able to admire the beauty of this game. The game’s scenery, the enemy race known as the Vokh, Lt.Kai Tana and her trusty ship are perfectly animated. Velocity 2X is definitely up there with titles such as Killzone Mercenary and Tearaway as one of the best looking games on the console, with its own, unique artstyle apparent in every aspect of the game, from the menus even down to the fun, interactive credits that you can run-and-gun through.

All of the above is made even sweeter by the game’s perfect control scheme. Using the left analogue stick to move you can navigate your way around the many levels and use Square to teledash/teleport from your current location to where you want to be by holding down the button, aiming and releasing. When in your ship, you will be using the Right trigger to boost, X to shoot your Pulse Cannon and the right analogue stick to fire bombs in one of four directions. On foot, the right analogue stick is used to shoot your palm cannon in any direction you feel, with the game allowing you to run and gun in full 360°.

With all these different things to learn, it is great that Futurlab drip-feed these new features so that we can get to grips with one before another is introduced.

We all knew that Velocity 2X would be a good game after the excellent Velocity Ultra. When Futurlab posted Velocity 2X’s release date on the PlayStation Blog at the start of August along with the almost cocksure claim that their title will be a game-of-the-year winner, many (including myself) took this with a pinch of salt.

After spending the last month playing this Velocity 2X certainly does offer value for money, even more so now that it has been game day-in day-out, I can safely say that they have every right to make that claim. announced that the game will be part of September’s PlayStation Plus Instant Velocity 2X certainly does feel like a true Game Collection. With bonus missions contender to that title and it is definitely that can be unlocked by finding them in one of the best games I have played on secret areas of the game and a wealth of my favourite handheld to date. information detailing the game’s world found in the ‘Flight Computer’ menu, there is plenty on offer to keep you busy for a long time.

VERDICT Velocity 2X offers the perfect mix of side-scrolling puzzle-platforming and top-down shooting action.

With perfect controls, beautiful visuals and an amazing soundtrack, this game is one that you should definitely not miss! Beating each level on perfect is tough (both in difficulty and on your reflexes), but in the end you will feel like thumb kinda hero! @PSVitaMag

There are many games that I pick up and play and then never go back to, Futurlab have managed to create a game that has taken over both my PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. The game’s Cross Save functionality works perfectly and every time I go to play a game on either console, regardless of whether I set out with intentions to play another title, I always find that it is Velocity 2X that is loading within seconds of my console turning on.

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Written by Charlie Large @CharlieLarge Chaz3010

8 6 10 PSTV 904 MB Publisher

bithellgames.com

@mikeBithell

Developer

bithellgames.com

@mikeBithell

Released

NA: 01/06/2016 EU: 01/06/2016

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After the simplistic brilliance that was Mike Bithell’s debut, Thomas Was Alone, I kept my eye on Mike Bithell’s follow-up project – the modern-day, Robin Hood inspired, Volume.

I did give Volume a quick play on the PlayStation 4 but didn’t really get too invested in the game because in the back of my mind I knew I wanted to play through the title on my Vita. Thankfully, my judgement paid off – Volume on PlayStation Vita is brilliant, I have not been able to put the game down since it launched in the UK last Wednesday.

The backstory to the game is both clever and keeping with the times. You play as Robert Locksley, a petty thief who finds a device known as ‘the Volume’. This bit of kit was initially intended to be used as part of a secret military coup, but now it is in Robert’s hands he has the ability to simulate high-profile heists.

Robert decides to stream these heists online in the form of Let’s Plays, allowing for his audience to pick up tips so that they can steal from the rich and give to the poor – in a post-modern day Robin Hood tale.

There are 100 core heist simulations for you to tackle that form Volume‘s story mode, each lasting around 2-5 minutes.

The goal of each level is simple; collect all the gems to activate the exit, and make it there without being caught. The great thing about Volume‘s take on the stealth genre is that it offers a pure stealth experience.

Whereas some other recent stealth games offer a lot of freedom for you to escape your pursuers, Volume keeps you penned into a set area – meaning you will have to use whatever equipment you have to hand and the surrounding environment in order to survive.

You can see the influence that Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid has had on Mike Bithell, especially Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions from the original PlayStation days.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – and it certainly shows here. From the vision-cones that show where an enemy is facing, to the almost top-down perspective of the game it is clear that Metal Gear Solid heavily influenced Volume‘s (and Mike Bithell’s) direction.

This is no bad thing, as what you get as an end result is one of, if not, the best stealth experiences in recent years.

Volume is a game that challenges you but does not frustrate you. As you make your way through the game’s levels, you will be introduced to new enemies, new gadgets and new environmental objects for you to interact with. These features are split across the levels in such a way that new mechanics are introduced into the gameplay before a previous one becomes tiresome. This kept me engaged with the game and has had my Vita glued to my hands for the past few days as I ran through each level so that I could see what the next stage was going to throw at me.

As you race through these levels – and race you will as you try to make a mark on the game’s leaderboards – you will be subjected to the audio dialogue between Locksley thevitalounge.net

(voiced by Charlie McDonnell) and his AI companion Alan. Although the casting of real-life YouTuber Charlie McDonnell as Locksley was a great idea in principal due to the stream-inspired theme of the game, I felt that the voice performance came across a tad flat – leaving a lot to be desired. This is not the end of the world though, as Alan is voiced by the brilliant Danny Wallace – teaming up with Bithell again after his BAFTA winning performance as the narrator in Thomas Was Alone.

Going against this pair is Guy Gisbourne, reimagined in Volume as the CEO of a company that has taken over England.

Gisbourne is voiced by Andy Serkis, and both him and Danny Wallace put in stellar performances – although I would have loved to have heard more from the two of them throughout the game.

Complimenting the voice actors is the game’s soundtrack, which features an intense, orchestral-style score, was created by the same guy that did the soundtrack for Thomas Was Alone, David Housden.

The visuals are fantastic, with a polygonal look prominent in both the areas and the characters that fill them. Unlike other stealth titles that thrive on darkness, Volume is bright, with the different simulations you visit shaded with a range of bright oranges, blues and purples amongst other colours lighting up the levels that you sneak around.

Manoeuvring about the simulations is simple, using the left analogue stick to move and the right to move the camera slightly in any given direction. You can interact with items (such as keys and gadgets) that litter the levels and pick up text documents with a press of X. These text documents are worth a read, some of them are hilarious and help to fill out Volume‘s story. You can also hug walls to escape line of sight with a press of the Left trigger and utilise your gadgets with the Right trigger. These gadgets are what thieves dream of, with 9 in total to use throughout the game. These are crucial to your progression and each one offers a unique way to distract and evade the enemy pawns that guard each level.

VERDICT After an agonising delay for PlayStation Vita owners, Volume has finally landed on our favourite handheld and it plays like a dream. With great gameplay and a perfect port, Volume on the Vita is a must-own title for any Metal Gear fans and another top-notch title from Mike Bithell.

@PSVitaMag

Aside from the game’s core levels, there is also a level editor available for you to create your own simulations – which you can then upload for the whole world to try. This level editor offers a great range of customisation for you to create a masterpiece (or a feeble attempt like mine below), with hundreds of levels available to play through already – with highlights listed in a ‘Staff Picks’ section.

After all is said and done, Volume on the PlayStation Vita is a fantastic game. Just Add Water have done a fantastic job in porting the title over to the handheld, and it feels at home on the Vita. With bitesized pieces of stealth that are ideal for a pick-up and play gaming session, Volume has finally arrived and is 2016’s first must-play PlayStation Vita title.

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Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

6 5 37 PSTV 2.3 GB Publisher telltale.com

@telltalegames

Developer telltale.com

@telltalegames

Released

NA: 08/20/2013 EU: 09/04/2013

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

Video games; they come in many forms and styles – from the classic simplicity of Pong right up to the overwhelming complexity (and life-like flow) of upcoming games like Beyond: Two Souls.

They have evolved from simply completing an objective to an entertainment experience that in some cases rival the biggest movie blockbusters released to date. They have gone from an emotionless bleep and blip as you ricochet a horribly low resolution “ball” (more like a square) back and forth, to characters and settings that dig themselves so deep into your mind with their layered personalities and top notch acting that you become irrevocably attached. The Walking Dead from Telltale games is definitely the latter – and does so with a narrative so gripping it might even rival Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep the spoilers to an absolute minimum.

The Walking Dead puts you in the shoes of a very realistic (read: flawed) character named Lee, who isn’t quite the protagonist you’d expect; a convicted murderer, he was on his way to jail as this zombie apocalypse spread around him. By stroke of luck (good

or bad, we’re not quite sure given what follows), he escapes from his upcoming incarceration only to become an unwitting participant in a real-life zombie run… the kind without a finish line. Throughout the game you’ll face many choices, most of which directly affect the route of the story and the way those you meet will treat you.

Pick sides and the one you’ve wronged might not be so quick to help you in a time of need, but maybe the one you’ve sided with will. It’s a balancing game that shows us not all choices are black and white, but rather shades of grey – and that the butterfly effect is a powerful thing.

Discussing this game with a friend (Tyler, or MrPsVitaReviews to his Twitter/Youtube followers) has shown that not only do choices have immediate consequences, but they can even have a ripple effect that lasts all the way from your first meeting with a stranger, right up to the final moments of the season. The people change, the scenery changes and the lines change; there’s much more than a linear story here and that’s what helps to make this game stand out.

As such, it does have replayability despite being a story-driven adventure of sorts – though some of the major events may be the same, the path to get there could be quite different provided you make even slightly different choices. That said, like the “choose your own adventure” stories you used to read as a kid, the game DOES have a limited set of options so don’t think you’ll find a drastically new story on your second play-though.

The Walking Dead for PlayStation Vita also includes the recently released “400 Days” DLC, which ties into the theme of the thevitalounge.net

original through a series of short stories designed around some unique characters.

There are five main sequences to “400 Days”, each following its own set of characters (or rather a primary character and those around him). Once completed, these are followed by a “tie-up” chapter to bring them all together. This is the video game equivalent of a set of short stories that interweave at the end – akin to the movie “Pulp Fiction” or the relatively more recent “Sin City”. Each story is between ten and twenty minutes of play (depending on your reflexes and/or haste), and makes for a good “cool down” play after the emotional roller-coaster that is the main game. The characters used here may be likable, but they definitely don’t have the emotional pull that the main story ones have. For me this was mainly due to the shortness of your time with them, as they don’t really have a chance to grow on you. 400 Days is a fun distraction, but the atmosphere and intensity from the core story-line just aren’t present and as such it suffers from some shallow areas and characters.

In the graphics department, you have a bunch of beautifully rendered components, the pastel-like textures popping on the Vita’s OLED screen. The lip-sync of the characters and the overall look of the game is superb – though it does suffer from a few small issues. With the charging cable plugged in, transitions between gameplay/cinematics and choices you’re given are slow (almost “go get a beer” slow).

This issue is minimized when playing without the charger, though a slight pause can still be seen at each transition.

Controls are (for the most part) mapped to virtual indicators on the touchscreen, meaning that other than movement there’s not a lot you can do with the physical buttons. Prompts for choices, quick-time events and other indicators are all dealt with on-screen here; while this works quite well, a few times I found myself wondering why they couldn’t Subtitles left me wanting, however; as have mapped the camera movement to they often strayed from the spoken words the other analog stick while they were at or just cut off and skipped to the next it. It would’ve made for a slightly more line without finishing. There were letters seamless experience as the camera capitalized when they needn’t be and movement using the touch screen was a others in small case when they should be bit hit-and-miss – but that said, I never capitalized. It didn’t really detract from the once “died” from the control scheme so it story too much, but it was quite annoying really worked out quite well overall. and could hurt your experience a little if you’re playing without sound (thankfully I As it stands, The Walking Dead: Season wasn’t).

One is easily the best story driven experience on the PlayStation Vita – the graphics, sound, story and method of play are all very well executed (aside from some minor hiccups that I fully expect Telltale to remedy with a patch), and as such it carries the brunt of the score. The “400 Days” DLC, which is included in this package, is a great addition to the theme they’ve built with the first season. Though it’s quite shallow due to the time you spend with the various characters, it ties together nicely and does so while being quite enjoyable as “something different” while still being true to the universe. As a standalone piece, it’s easily a 3.8/5.0 – though I would’ve liked to have seen them focus a bit more on the characters (either by cutting down the number, or making it longer overall). and some very ominous overtones when needed. The only issue I had with the audio was a repeating voice over somewhere in the fourth episode – though it didn’t last for more than a few seconds and cut right back to where it was supposed to be.

As a complete package, The Walking Dead: Season One and the “400 Days” DLC that comes with it (for Vita) gets my two thumbs up – and a must-buy score.

The sound is spot on, delivering great voice acting, true-to-life sound effects

VERDICT The Walking Dead delivers a blockbuster-quality narrative with an excellent execution. Easily the best story-driven game on Vita, this is a must buy.

@PSVitaMag

4.3 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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like old friends would. In conversation, it’s revealed that the last Duren had heard, Adol was venturing into the forest of Celceta; an area from which nobody has ever returned from once entering. The question therefore arises; how did our red-headed protagonist pull off the impossible and what caused him to lose his memories? These are the questions the two friends ponder as a tremor starts outside of the pub; their curiosity leading them outside and towards the origin – the local mine.

Written by Yuuki

@Yuuki_wr

2 9 40 PSTV 784 MB Publisher

xseedgames.com

@XSEEDGames

Developer falcom.com

@nihonfalcom

Released

NA: 11/26/2013 EU: 02/21/2014

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

While Ys: Memories of Celceta is the latest entry in the game and features an all new story, it’s still something you could call a remake. There were two entries which took the name of Ys: 4 in the past, however both were outsourced to external companies and (to a degree) conflicted with the overall timeline of the series. Because of this, Falcom created their own fourth title in the series with Memories of Celceta – and we’ve taken a close look to see what they’ve come up with.

There are a few things almost all Ys games have in common, the big two being some epic music and the main character. Adol Christin is a young man with a zest for adventure and an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place, depending on how you look at it). In the beginning of the game, he wakes up with amnesia; his memories lost and his energy sapped. He stumbles into town and is beat down by a random stranger, collapsing to the ground. The local pub owner takes you in and while you’re inside a friend from Adol’s past comes to his rescue.

This friend reintroduces himself as Duren, and before long they’re getting along just

This is where your journey begins, as in the mine you’re introduced to monsters, swords, fights and partying up. You touch your first blue orb, which restores a memory of your past and informs you of your skills with a weapon. You team up with your first partner, fighting a battle in which you can switch party members at any time. You take out your first monsters and save your first villagers. In this dark mine you take your first step in regaining your memories – and your first step towards exploring the world.

On your travels you will most likely come across a bunch of the blue memory orbs you encountered prior to the battle tutorial in the mine, a static effect on screen indicating they’re nearby (unless you’ve gotten far enough to reveal a bunch, which happens at certain “checkpoints” throughout the game). Only Adol can initiate contact with the memory orbs, and as such the indicator will only be white for him.

There are also other actions you will need to perform on your travels which use the same indicator system, including locked thevitalounge.net

the enemy, so don’t be ashamed if one of Strange monuments litter the map in the later bosses kills you a few times – it’s key locations, allowing you to save, heal and teleport between monuments of the all part of learning curve. same style when you encounter them. As soon as you see one, it would be advisable This game features a very fast and fluid to save and make sure that you are ready Skill attacks are learned through battling, combat system which rivals many other though, seeing as how they tend to either games of its type, giving you one of the their power and your range of skills best action experiences you can have on a mark that you’re entering a new area or increasing as you progress and use Vita. Combat is reason enough to buy this are about to enter a boss fight. them. Each character you add to your game, but let’s move on to some of the party has a total of ten skills, with Adol other great aspects of this remake-cum- Along with your regular tasks, there’s a having twelve – and each skill has three set of non-story quests for you to earn reboot. levels which require various amounts of some extra items or money through use to unlock. You can check your skill helping local non-player characters with Your main task next to collecting your progression through the skills section their in-game issues. The quest system memories is to map out the whole of the menu as well as other varying is run through buildings that deal with traversable area of the forest – and attributes of the skills to best cover all the community in each town, the bulletin beyond. The forest is full of enemies your bases – seeing as how you can only board being where they’re listed. After that can (and will) kill you if you are enable four at a time. I’d also advise not reading the list of quests for the first time insane enough to attack them. This is using all high-end skills, as they require you can then accept quests from some of emphasized by the fact that even in the more stamina points to use and will the non-player characters. Once accepted, first area outside the town you wake run your meter down quicker. There’s you are given a time limit (which varies) up in (Casnan) you will see a big, apedefinitely a strategy for setting up your and a task to complete. Completing tasks character and this is where most of it lies. like monster with whom fighting would will get you rewards such as gold or useful be a bad choice before getting some items to aid you on your journey.

This isn’t all there is to the battle system experience. This makes mapping some though, as there are several bonuses that areas harder and gives a bit of a challenge In the towns you can also buy items, are rewarded to you for certain kill types. no matter when you happen to pass armor and weapons; though not through a region – yet another layer of These bonuses are based around aerial everything can simply be bought. A lot depth to keep you interested. combos, skill finishes, and excellent kills of weapons and other items in the game – each having its own unique rewards for must be found (or crafted) and the battle In the forest you will also be introduced pulling them off. system becomes a bit more extensive to the day and night system, which has an effect on the strength of the monsters as you explore the ability to re-enforce In boss fights is where the game begins to shine; the combat aspect gets a whole that spawn. In these areas, there are also and alter the properties of weapons camp sites; areas in which you can recover and armor. Materials for crafting and new level of difficulty as simple button enhancing weaponry and armor come health, have a dream and skip over the mashing won’t get you very far. You’ll from harvesting raw materials throughout need skill, proper experience (a single level night (to stay safe from the stronger enemies). The day and night system only the world, or synthesis through certain can make all the difference sometimes) shops or merchants. runs in certain areas though, so watch and a good weapon to cut your way through the bosses – a welcome amount your HUD for changes. of difficulty considering a lot of ARPGs are too easily exploitable. You have to study chests, ropes to cut, walls to break and more. Each requires its own character to activate and the result is usually used to further yourself in the game.

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Fans of the series should have realized by now that you don’t necessarily play Ys for the story, though this one is actually done quite well. It keeps your attention and interest; driving you to play more to learn what happens next. Though it’s not as fleshed out as the stories in some other RPGs, it fits the game play style well and keeps a flow that leaves you glued to the screen. Also notable is the fact that you can respond as Adol in certain situations, choosing what you say and altering the conversation. Otherwise however, he’s silent – and the story unfolds as it may around him.

movement. The triangle is the blocking move, which guards your character from damage. Both the triangle and “x” actions can be used as an attack is thrown at you, giving way to a flash move which can earn you points and give you an advantage for a short period of time. The circle is a character switching button, allowing you

Do yourself a favor and go buy Ys: Memories of Celceta right now.

VERDICT While Ys: Memories of Celceta isnt too heavily story based (like Persona 4: Golden), it does what it should do as a action/RPG with such quality that any fan of the genre should give it a shot. It's without a doubt the best ARPG on the Vita yet; and did I mention that the music kicks ass?

The Vita Lounge Magazine

Graphics in the game are good, but nothing fantastic; an anti-aliasing filter would have been more than welcome.

That said, the graphics are done quite well for an RPG and blend properly into the overall setting – especially for their first real foray into 3D elements in a Ys title.

One more thing about the graphics I want to mention are the character models, which seemed a notch above the rest of the game in quality and were much better than in previous iterations.

The music in Ys is amazing, but don’t take my word for it. The battle system is very fluid, and innovative; something rarely found in a modern action RPG title. The story pulls you in and the mystery and game-play elements keep you hooked; it’s no wonder I’m already anticipating the next entry in the series. Until then this one’s good enough for a few replays, and I’ll likely be doing just that some time in the future.

The control system works quite well and mostly uses the physical buttons, though some commands are doubled on the touch screen for ease of access.

Simple attacks are executed with the square button, the strength of the attack depending on your level and chosen weapon. The left trigger activates a special attack if the circular gauge is filled will yellow liquid and the right trigger plus one of symbol buttons trigger one of the bound skill attacks (of which you can enable four). The “x” is a dashing move which is for avoiding attacks or quick

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to switch between active party members at will.

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