Index
While D3 seemed to have a big booth, they weren’t showing many games at PAX this year. With Naruto games doing well in the US, it’s easy to see why they wouldn’t need to showcase many games however.
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
Listening to feedback from tournament players from the first game, Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 attempts to bring balance back to the Naruto fighting universe. Like the previous title, Revolution 2 has original content not found in the TV series for the US market. Much of the action is still there, from the transitions to other stages by knocking your opponent, to using motions to attack. Gone seems to be Wii Remote flailing, which could be coined the new button mashing for the current generation. When I randomly waggled the controller, my character did some basic attacks, but no where near what I managed to get out of the first game. Not that this is a concern for tournament players, but those looking to get their flailing significant others into the action may need to buckle down and teach them movements.
Though I didn’t play it myself, I was told the 4 player brawls are back and tag team play is also in. With 35 characters, some of those characters new to the Naruto universe, you and your dueling buddies will have many options on which fighter to attack with.
The build I was shown looked much cleaner than Revolution and the faces animated when it was appropriate which was refreshing to see. In action the game also seemed to flow better than its predecessor.
Not only is this looking to be a great Wii fighter with 15 stages, a better story mode than before, and fun action, it’s making me want to take a peek even more into the actual anime. I didn’t see much wrong with the game as its current form, though some of the gesturing for moves didn’t feel as easy to perform as I was lead to believe. Still there’s time for improvement and seeing that I enjoyed the last one, I think the differences are for the better thus far.
Having not played the first game, I wasn’t sure what to expect besides an RPG game for the DS. Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 is built from the ground up with a completely new story. The animation was also redone in order to give it a bit more polish. Voices in the game are also back and have been re-recorded for the occasion.
It seems this game is aimed to give the player more control over the characters by building their own ninja squads with more choices. Your squad will be different depending on who’s in the group, which sounds obvious but can be applied for tactical reasons. Positioning is important as well depending on whether you’re attacking or defending. There are also 30 characters to choose from, some of which will be unlocked using Wi-Fi Connection regionally. For those that hate the RPG grind, you’ll be happy to note there are a number of ways to level up.
Unlike the first Path of Ninja, I can say that the extra features to this game don’t feel tacked on in order to justify being on the DS. Being able to fight others online is a huge plus and the touch screen moves give it charm since you don’t always have to perform them. This could be a great RPG, though it might be lost in the holiday shuffle.
Unfortunately I didn’t get any hands-on time with this title since I was short on time and the person ahead of me decided to play the game for 30 minutes straight. That should tell you right there how addicting the Puzzle Quest franchise is.
The latest offering by D3, Galatrix seems to slightly change up the Bejeweled formula. Now instead of a square board, it’s hexagonal with hex pieces on the board to swap. Players will also have greater influences with the direction of the tiles instead of it being left up to randomization. Oh and as the title mentions, the whole affair happens in space as you’re trying to defeat other spacecraft. Coincidentally that means you have a shield to protect your life, but that also means the enemy does as well.
Much like Warlords, you’ll need to buy new abilities to become stronger and crush foes. You’ll also need to charge these power-ups by collecting the required colors. Bombs are still on the board to hit the opponent and watching the individual play, it seemed to favor the AI getting and using the bombs more so than them. This was something I mentioned to the booth demonstrator and they said they are considering tweaking the AI a bit in light of feedback that the previous game could be randomly harsh at times.
Wonderful, another game to eat my soul while I lay in bed or am waiting for appointments. Needless to say I’m looking forward to the release of Galatrix sometime in 2009.
Overall
I didn’t expect much from D3 Publisher honestly. They’ve been somewhat quiet lately, but now it seems they’re ready to start pushing their games more. With a handful of titles, I think they’re trying to cherry pick which to bring to the US market which in my eyes is a wonderful thing.
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