Agetec

Check Behind Everything Eight Times

HIGH Fantastic premise.

LOW Horribly disingenuous design.

WTF It's either impossible, or over in ten minutes—there's no in-between.

Game Description: Sony Computer Entertainment's popular cel-shaded RPG series comes to the PlayStation Portable system with a return of the original adventures of Prince Pinon of the first and second PlayStation installments of the series, enhanced with new elements and updated details. Playing as Pietro, prince of the Popolocrois Kingdom, you head off on your first adventure in order to find a way to awaken your mom. Battles are now grided strategy, with you moving your party members in turn with enemies. In addition to standard attacks, magic attacks and character combination attacks, the game lets you summon beasts to help out. Dungeons also feature prominently in the game, requiring that you work through traps when not in battle.

Telling a story that has been told a thousand times before in various permutations, PoPoLoCrois stars a young boy named Pietro on a quest for blah, blah, blah, whatever. There's no real depth of character or emotion to start the story off, and from the amount of plot that I was privy to, I would categorize things as being one step above a rough sketch, dramatically.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Fantasy Violence

This time around, FromSoft gave their high-tech third-person robot battling a much-needed shakeup in the transition from PS2 to PSP. The bulk of the game is intact with its insane amount of weaponry and parts to tinker with, the mech construction and fine-tuning still the same art form that it ever was.

Is it just me, or has the traditional Japanese role-playing game (RPG) worn out its welcome? Certain advances have been made by a few bold titles, and of course the introduction of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) was a force unto itself, but I'm talking about the old, tried-and-no-longer-true formula of teenage hero, group of friends, random battles, talking to townsfolk, and all the stuff that was so interesting and addicting during the 16-bit era.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Fantasy Violence

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Fantasy Violence

Game Description: The world of Wild ARMS is returning seven years after its first release on PS one. Wild ARMS: Alter Code F is not only a remake of the foremost title in the series, but a completely renewed and evolved experience with expanded story, system and cutting-edge graphics. On Filgaia, a planet where severe conditions and savage beasts threaten the very existence of all life, the Ancient Guardians call upon three brave warriors to save their benign world from the returning metal demons the prophesized destroyers of Filgaia.