Category Archives: 2018

Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE could have gone deeper

I’ve just finished playing through Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE, the latest title from the wonderful Inti Creates, and it’s an interesting one for sure.

Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE is an open-structure 2D side-scrolling platform game that unfolds in a fantasy universe that is a spinoff to Love Live Sunshine. While the characters that appear in the Yohane the Parhelion universe are based on their Love Live Sunshine counterparts, they’re regarded as distinct and separate characters in their own right. One possible interpretation of the whole thing is that it’s a chuunibyou delusion on the part of the eponymous Yohane, aka Love Live Sunshine character Yoshiko Tsushima.

To be honest, it doesn’t really matter all that much, because plot is not this game’s strong suit. In fact, there are a lot of elements to this game where I feel like it could have gone into quite a bit more depth, but I nonetheless enjoyed my time with the game and would recommend it to fans of this sort of thing. So let’s take a closer look, shall we?

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Sonic the Hedgehog: Everything Old is New Again

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If one thing has become apparent over the course of exploring the complete Sonic the Hedgehog series, it’s that no-one seems to be able to agree on how to handle it “best”.

We have Sonic Team’s attempts to move the franchise forward with various gameplay styles, new narrative components and a somewhat coherent, consistent narrative that ties in with other forms of media. We have Sonic Lost World’s much-maligned but utterly joyful jaunt into Super Mario-esque territory. And we have probably the most disappointingly “mainstream” opinion: that “Sonic hasn’t been good since the Mega Drive”.

Among other things, the perhaps vain hope of shutting this latter group up is the reason Sonic Mania exists.

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Sonic the Hedgehog: Take 2

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Remember back when we explored Sonic 2006 and I suggested that game was an attempt to provide a “big-budget movie” type of Sonic experience? It’s hard not to see Sonic Forces as Sonic Team having another crack at that.

All the major components of “big-budget movie adaptation of popular series” are here: recognisable but somewhat different setting; established characters in unconventional situations; brand-new, original characters designed for newcomers in the audience to attach themselves to; and significantly higher stakes than seen elsewhere in the series as a whole.

If you’re a “once and done” kind of player, you can also probably add “done and dusted in two hours” to that list, too, but rest assured, if you’re the sort of person who likes collectibles, secret levels and objectives, there’s significantly more than that here. Let’s take a closer look.

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Sonic the Hedgehog: A New Twist

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Sonic Generations rather ably demonstrated how the Sonic series’ gameplay had evolved over the years… but where could it go from there?

Certain members of Sonic Team were already contemplating this by the time Sonic Colours had completed development and work on Generations was underway. The concept grew from experimental attempts to make use of the Nintendo 3DS’ unique features, and the subsequent announcement of the Wii U console and the interesting possibilities it offered prompted Sega to focus the new game’s development on Nintendo platforms.

The result was Sonic Lost World; an unusual, highly creative and vastly underappreciated installment in the series, and one that would prove to be an ideal fit for Nintendo platforms. (As always, today we’ll be focusing on the home console version for Wii U rather than Dimps’ handheld incarnation.)

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Sonic the Hedgehog: Old Meets New

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In 2011, Sonic turned 20. 1991 was a big year for the blue blur: he had his first ever public appearance in Sega’s arcade title Rad Mobile, then later in the year thrilled console gamers on both 8- and 16-bit Sega platforms with his first full adventures.

Naturally, such a significant anniversary needed to be celebrated — particularly since poor old Sonic had put up with plenty of resistance from press, public and even his own fans over the years. But how to go about it in a way that would please as many people as possible — or at least attempt to?

By acknowledging both his past and present, of course. Enter Sonic Generations.

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Sonic the Hedgehog: Erinaceidae of Colour

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After 2008’s entertaining but divisive Sonic Unleashed, it would be another two years before we’d see the next mainline Sonic the Hedgehog game.

There were two versions of Sonic Colours developed, both of which remembered to put the “U” in for the European version: a Wii-exclusive version that combined 2D and 3D gameplay in the way we’d come to know from “modern Sonic“, and a side-scrolling Nintendo DS version developed by Dimps that was closer in execution to the original Mega Drive games.

Today we’ll be focusing on the Wii version, though anyone who has played a Dimps-developed Sonic game will know the DS version will also be well worth your time. I’ll leave that for you to explore yourself for now, however… we’ve got one hell of a vacation to go on!

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New Game Plus: Five S – Project Zero #12

This is it! This is what it all comes down to… what I’ve been training for.

Will that tortuous Nightmare mode playthrough of Project Zero, along with finally clearing out that pesky ghost list, prepare me for a long-overdue S-rank clear of any of the missions in the game’s Battle mode? Will my epic battle against that dead guy in that one closet have all been worthwhile?

Find out on today’s episode of New Game Plus, only on MoeGamer. And, err, YouTube.

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New Game Plus: Nightmare Finale – Project Zero #11

This is it! It’s nearly over! Yes, today we clear Nightmare mode on Project Zero for the first time.

The last night in the game was actually a whole lot shorter than I remembered it being, but at least there’s only one wandering ghost to pick up on our ongoing quest to clean up the ghost list.

Hit the jump to see how the buildup and the dramatic conclusion to Miku’s story went this time around…

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New Game Plus: Where’s My Head – Project Zero #10

I think we’re over the worst in our Project Zero Nightmare mode playthrough!

Today’s episode concerns the third “night” of the game, and unfolds surprisingly smoothly. There are only two “vanishing” ghosts to find in this chapter… but there are some tough fights ahead, so we’re certainly not in any sort of safe space just yet.

Hit the jump to see how things went…

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New Game Plus: Eat Paralysey Camera Death – Project Zero #9

No more fleeing children!

That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods in our Nightmare mode playthrough of the first Project Zero on PlayStation 2, however. There are still plenty of hostile ghosts just waiting to cover us in ectoplasm and have their wicked incorporeal way with us. Perhaps not necessarily in that order.

Hit the jump to see how Miku’s continuing adventures proceeded today…

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