Game Review: Need For Speed Most Wanted (2012)

Game: Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Criterion Games
Release Date: 2nd November 2012

It's always a bold move to reboot a much loved title, and even more of a bold move to do so when the new version is actively worse. In 2005 Need for Speed: Most Wanted built upon the police chase mechanic in the Need for Speed franchise, providing a game where players could carefully climb the Most Wanted rap sheet; tracking their infractions, the wanted status of their cars and having genuinely fun and challenging police chases as part of a street racing video game. 2012's game of the same name sees players climb the Most Wanted list for almost doing nothing, has no penalty for being arrested and little sense of progression or car ownership throughout the game.

Let's start with the basics; around Fairview, the game's city are hidden 123 "jack points" where players can get into a car and drive away, with 6 races available per car to gain upgrades and SP. The more SP a player has, the higher they climb on the Most Wanted list. Getting into pursuits also gains SP, as does doing just about anything in game, so climbing the list is almost a given as long as you're playing the game. Doing well in races is the only way to upgrade cars and once you've got enough SP, you're allowed to challenge the racer in the next position up on the list. Beat them in a race, and you've only to take down their car in order to own it and take their spot on the list.

This cycle continues until you beat the game; race and upgrade a bit, get in a few police chases and climb the most wanted list; there's no real story and the multiplayer focus is evident. Fairview is an open world much like Paradise City in Burnout (another Criterion game), though there's very little of note to explore, and many races are made harder by sudden 90 degree turns or ill thought out routes. There's a nice time progression system and the actual driving element of the game feels pretty good.

Garages are dotted around the map at which cars can be fixed and resprayed instantly, mainly helping out in police chases. There aren't any hiding spots like the ones featured in Most Wanted '05, so players are left to run down their wanted level in more of a GTA V fashion, unless they can find a garage to respray their car. Pursuits in general are pretty easy to escape from, with huge gaps being left in roadblocks for the most part. I missed the crashbreaker feature from Most Wanted '05 when there weren't gaps though since trying to find one at full speed isn't ideal.

Getting busted has little to no consequence in a pursuit, aside from losing the SP you'd have gained for escaping. In Most Wanted '05 you'd get a marker on your car, and 3 meant it'd be taken from you for good. Cars in the earlier game also retained a heat level unless repainted for a more realistic police force that wouldn't instantly forget your transgressions provided the pursuit was over. Takedowns seem to play a far larger part in the game also, likely thanks to Criterion; in pursuits and racing in general the slow-mo takedowns from Burnout give the game somewhat of a different feel to a classic Need for Speed game.

Before each race there's a cinematic which is usually completely unrelated to anything currently taking place. Perhaps they were intended as tests for the graphics engine or some sort of cinematic statement but I found myself skipping most of them. It's also worth noting that some races and car jack points are locked unless some of the 5 DLC packs for the game have been purchased. This appears to be the start of Need for Speed Payback style monetization, with a "Time Saver" pack released alongside the game to helpfully mark all of the jack points and unlock all multiplayer cars.

Graphically the game looks great; on par with, if not better than 2011's Need for Speed: The Run. It's just a shame that the progression is much less enjoyable. At many points in races the AI would rubberband in my favour at the finish line, essentially handing me undeserved victories. I'm aware that this game had a multiplayer focus and capabilities but putting little to no effort into single player mode isn't the way to improve multiplayer modes.

Overall while I did find myself driving a bigger range of cars overall in the game, being handed them for free with no sense of investment in them meant that I generally didn't care about upgrades or races outside of gaining SP, which was criminally easy to do anyway. Managing to make my way for #11 on the most wanted list to #7 in just under 3 hours of gameplay says to me that single player mode was an afterthought for the beginning of online focused, DLC heavy multiplayer Need For Speed experiences, and those just aren't my thing.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Game Review: Yakuza 6

Game: Yakuza 6
Console: Sony Playstation 4
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 17th April 2018

It's been a while since I've reviewed a game on this blog; playing too many games in a short space of time can really burn out the desire to play anything. So this year I've dedicated my gaming time to experiencing longer and more immersive games, mainly from the Yakuza series. If Sega are to be believed, Yakuza 6 is the final console instalment of the series, and the last Yakuza game to feature Kazuma Kiryu as its protagonist. He is, after all 48 years old by the time that the game takes place in 2017.

The game's plot revolves around firstly uncovering the mystery surrounding a hit and run involving Haruka Sawamura, Kiryu's 21 year old adoptive daughter. Through attempting to find the father of her baby, a far bigger secret's existence is uncovered and the second half of the game sees Kiryu and some small town yakuza defying the wishes of everyone around them to reveal perhaps the greatest political secret Japan has ever kept.

Unlike Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, 6 runs on a completely new game engine; the Dragon engine. Upgraded graphics are the first thing to note, as the game looks gorgeous and fighting is smoother than ever, with larger spaces in which to do battle. Another impressive feature is the removal of load times for interiors, meaning fights can spread into shops, restaurants and anywhere Kiryu can run to. The upgrade system has also received an overhaul and now features five categories of EXP which can be used to buy new moves, attributes and skills.

The tonal balance of the game is just as two-sided as any other Yakuza title; a fairly serious and shocking quest for the truth in the main storyline is balanced with ridiculous side quests, engaging distractions and mini-games and so much to do that it's easy to sink another 10-20 hours into postgame, just for the sake of completion. On a side note, some of Yakuka's best substories happen in this game, which is really saying something.

Interestingly Yakuza 6 features cameos from particularly famous Japanese actors including Beat Takeshi (Battle Royale, Takeshi's Castle) and Hiroyuki Miyosako (Kamikaze Girls), borrowing both their likeness and voices to add star power and a higher budget feel than ever before. The character writing in the game feels more than ever as if every story relevant character has clear motivations, goals and reasons behind their actions as the game leaves no thread unresolved by the very end.

If you're into the Yakuza series, I'd definitely recommend giving this game a go; prior completion of Kiwami might give a good insight into some of the recurring characters though. If you've never played a Yakuza game, you'd likely be better off to start with Yakuza 0, simply as there's no prior story with that instalment. However you look at it though, the game design, writing, visuals, music and concept all come together to prove once again that video games can and will continue to be art.

Rating: 98/100
Grade: A

Game Review: Yakuza Kiwami

Game: Yakuza Kiwami
Console: Sony Playstation 4
Developer: Sega
Release Date: August 2017

After declaring Yakuza 0 the highest rated video game I've ever reviewed on this blog, it seemed only right to check out Yakuza Kiwami, an HD remake of the original Yakuza for PS2. The events of Yakuza 0 lead up to and somewhat set up the beginning of Yakuza Kiwami, and having played the prequel first helps with investment into a few of the character's struggles. To share too many plot details would be to spoil the once again near perfect pacing and tonal balance of game, but just as with Yakuza 0, there's many moment of tension, conflicted emotions and of course hilarious sub-stories.

After 10 years of imprisonment, Kiryu returns to 2005 Kamurocho to find that things have moved on from the 90s and that once again his help is needed to control Yakuza in-fighting, as he searches for answers to the mystery behind a missing 10 billion yen. Since Yakuza 0 and Kiwami share a game engine, gameplay is functionally very similar between the two games, and the fighting engine hasn't changed all that much, though the level-up system is now based on exp. rather than money.

The PS2 version of Yakuza had some pretty poor graphics, fixed camera angles in parts, loading screens before all fights, and a pretty low effort translation. Yakuza Kiwami fixes all of these issues, and more resulting in the definitive version of the game. This isn't just an HD remaster, this is a true remake and improvement which means that there's almost no merit to going back and playing Yakuza on the PS2 anymore. The graphics are excellent, there's a sense of Kiryu getting back used to fighting as you upgrade his abilities, and the storyline is once again amazing.

Overall Yakuza Kiwami is well worth picking up if you played and enjoyed Yakuza 0, or if you enjoyed the PS2 original. The mass of additional content in the PS4 version, including the Majima everywhere missions and several other features really enhance the game and give it a lot more replayability. While the plot isn't quite as standalone or epic as Yakuza 0, the writers were basically constricted to the plot of the original and there's still a ton of epic and cinematic moment which occur in the game.

Rating: 89/100
Grade: A

Game Review: Last Day Of June

Game: Last Day of June
Console: Sony Playstation 4
Developer: Ovosonico
Release Date: 31st August 2017

Last Day of June was first brought to my attention when it was announced that Steven Wilson's music would be featuring in the game. As one of my favourite musicians, it was interesting to see a game based around the visual style from one of his music videos, and containing his music. Aside from this though, I had little idea of the actual content of the game before I was able to dive in. From the outset it's fairly obvious that Last Day of June is a story-driven puzzle game based on exploration, changing timelines and using logic to change events.

Thanks to the melancholic mood of Steven Wilson's music, the game feels as if it'll be sad from the start and not long into gameplay, Carl, the main character is involved in a car crash which kills his partner, June and puts him in a wheelchair. Through June's old paintings, he is able to explore a ghostly world of memories and unlock the ability to live the day once again as his neighbours who all have their own ways of causing the tragic accident.

The main gameplay in the game is split between exploring memories as Carl and seeing his frustration at not being able to change the course of events so that the crash never happens, and changing the actions of Carl's neighbours which lead to the crash. For example playing as a young boy who initially causes the crash by attempting to retrieve his football from the road where Carl is driving, players can instead amuse him with a kite, which leads to their neighbour who is moving out spilling boxes all over the road, since the rope she needs is being used for the kite. This knock-on effect continues as players attempt to solve the situation.

There's a final section with a twist which makes for a fairly emotional ending, but at its heart it's a short game which is definitely able to be completed in a single sitting. The issue with this is that there's not a whole lot of replay value since it's a puzzle game which when solved has the same solution every time. As a logical challenge it can be fun, but it felt similar to other puzzle games which use changing time and events as a concept.

Graphically the game is as its most impressive with a distinct visual style and feel. It works well with Steven Wilson's music to create a world which is enclosed but relatable. The lack of voice acting in the game means that all emotions are conveyed through hums, grunts and other noises. This is both a pro and a con since adding any words seems unnecessary but it can be a little hard to grasp who each character is at the start of the game.

Overall Last Day Of June is an experience that's worth playing once, especially if you're a fan of Steven Wilson's music or Jess Cope's visual style. While there's little replayability to the game, it might be nice to come back to after a while and play through to collect all of the extra memory cards hidden in the game, augmenting the story and character relationships.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Game Review: Yakuza 0

Game: Yakuza 0
Console: Sony Playstation 4
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 24th January 2017

Having only played a little of the first game in the Yakuza series, I didn't really know what to expect from a PS4 prequel, released over 2 years ago in Japan, where the series is far more accessible and popular. In no way did I expect Yakuza 0 to be completely engaging and accessible to franchise newcomers, have such a perfect tonal balance or the kind of storyline pacing which puts it in contention for my Game of the Year, in the very year Shenmue III is set to be released.

So let's back up; at the most basic level, Yakuza 0 is a story driven, beat-'em up influenced game where 99% of issues are solved with combat. Luckily, with 3 main fighting styles for each of the game's two protagonist's, weapons, fighting style upgrades and tons of money to be earned for beating down opponents in various ways, there's enough variety to keep the core combat engaging throughout the game's 17 chapters, as the plot drives events and player interest forwards.

As with most Yakuza titles, the game takes place on the streets of Kamurocho, a fictional take on Kabukicho, a Tokyo red light district, bustling with activity, people and most importantly Yakuza. There's a serious graphical upgrade on all previous versions of the district, and the sense of detail is awesome, especially for such a small setting when compared to most modern games. The sense of familiarity players gain by the end of the game with the streets only serves to deepen their emotional connection with the story.

I don't plan on spoiling anything in this review, since the storyline is such a big part of the game's appeal, but rest assured, though there's a lot of reading and watching to be done in the game, it's a gritty and epic cinematic tale that could easily have been too serious. That is, if players didn't have the option to indulge in karaoke, bowling, running a hostess club, investing in real estate, disco dancing, watching "erotic" videos, playing classic SEGA arcade titles, visiting a telephone club, gambling, racing remote control cars, fishing and completing ridiculous but simultaneously hilarious substories. Yeah, there's a lot of distractions from the main story, but here's where the perfect tone balance is struck, since players choose when and how they wish to break up the seriousness of the main game.

An interesting element of the game is the dual protagonists; the game switches between them every 2 chapters for the most part, and waits a long and tantalising time to have their storylines intersect. There are plenty of plot twists, and personally I saw hardly any of them coming. The real estate and hostess club portions of the game work similarly to one another, and form an optional and generally enjoyable addition to the story, though the mechanics of KIryu's real estate section are far weaker than those of running Majima's hostess club.

Completion points are earned in game for reaching pre-determined milestones. Some of these will occur naturally during gameplay and others are borderline impossible without putting a lot of time into the game. Unless you're dying to get 100% completion, this isn't really an issue, and CP can be exchanged for items, power ups and business skills. For me, it worked well as a list of things to do in the game; allowing me to be sure that I'd seen and done everything to my own standards, if not to that of gaining a completion point.

Each protagonist is able to develop friendships with people around their district and once maxed out, these each have some sort of bonus. An example of this is reaching the maximum friendship level with Emiri at the Bowling Alley. Once this has been done, bowling three strikes in a row (also known as bowling a turkey) will reward Kiryu with a literal turkey. Well, a chicken. Who can become a real estate manager; a perfect example of Yakuza 0's off the wall humour. 

One of the most obvious improvements on past games is the amount of characterisation given to many recurring characters. Japanese only, subbed dialogue allows players to pick up on the mood in a less awkward and disjointed way than badly dubbed English dialogue. The Yakuza lieutenants who serve as antagonists in different portions of the game have their smug and untouchable demeanour almost shouted at players from their highly detailed expressions. 

Yakuza 0 uses many different styles of cutscene, with completely voiced and rendered scenes, text based scenes and graphic novel style panels. This doesn't tend to get in the way, but can feel a little tonally inconsistent. To fully voice such a text heavy game would surely have been far too expensive though. With such a detailed recreation of Japanese streets, you can almost feel the ambience at times, though the game is pretty light on truly great musical accompaniment. With forgettable electronic music during fights and muzak behind sub stories, only the main story is treated any sort of engaging soundtrack.

Overall though, I'm pretty sure this will be my favourite game of 2017. The story was so engaging, the substories and minigames providing a hilarious and contrasting tone, all set in beautifully recreated parts of Tokyo and Osaka. I cannot recommend this game enough; if you're looking for something to get stuck into, this is definitely the one.

Rating: 98/100
Grade: A