Onechanbara Z Kagura has day 1 purchase written all over it!

Posted: 2012-01-17 10:05:47.797

 Onechanbara Z Kagura has "Day 1 purchase" written all over it!

 For the record there "is" a game I'm excited about coming out in Japan besides Mayonako arena. However,this one is left field guys. No, I'm not talking about "Lollipop chainsaw". This is all about Onechanbara Z Kagura!

 I know what you all are guessing at. That somehow all those bouncy boobs and beautiful apple shaped perfect asses have swayed my judgement. It's okay, I'm with you on that one. (Though that is not entirely correct)

 The more genuine curiosity in this game is for the fact that a lot of improvements have been made over previous Onechanbara games. Granted, this is still a "budget title" but the production values are on a higher stage this time around.

 Why Onechabara Z Kagura has the potential to kick around more undead heads than Lollipop Chainsaw!

 #1. It's cool that Juliet has a chainsaw but in Onechanbara Z Kagura (henceforth referred to as Hawt Vampy Vixens) each main character has three (count them, 3!) diverse weapons that can be switched between on the fly! What does this mean? Well, more potential for fun combos of course. Hawt Vampy Vixens showed off a lot of insane aerial juggles accompanied with the usual on-ground crowd control. As someone who likes games such as Devil May Cry and Dynasty Warriors this aspect has me intrigued to say the very least.

 2. Juliet is certainly gorgeous but she's all by her lonesome. Hawt Vampy Vixens by comparison let's you play with "two" (Count them,2!) lead female protagonists! If say Kagura's scantily clad cow-girl motif isn't doing it for you Saaya's more conservative and mysterious "goth attire" is a nice alternative and is less embarrassing. Not to mention each girl has their own unique fighting styles. Sure, it's going to be "hack n slash" any way you slice the cake yet it's still nice I can choose to do so either with a chainsaw, bladed chain, or two wicked kitanas!

 3. Shadows Of The Damned looked spectacular to me. I'm a huge fan of certain grind house horror films thus Dusk Till Dawn rates as one of my favorite vampire movies of all time. (Selma Hayek,mmm!) SOTD seemed to combine Quentin Tarantino with demon slaying. How can any hot-blooded male argue with that? Alas, "SOTD" was also a little short and didn't have many incentives to go back. Being that Grass-hopper is working on "Lollipop Chainsaw" too I am a tad worried the same "arrow to the knee" will pop up. Onechanbara as a stark contrast was lower on quality but was rather lengthy and offered nice perks to re-play missions. For example in Onechanbara for the 360 every heroine could be "leveled up" multiple times. If you achieved "hidden requirements" you also got additional clothing to dress up your zombie slaying avatar in. Being this is the case, I'm rather confident Onechanbara Z Kagura (Hawt Vampy Vixens) will be more robust in the longevity and re-play department!

4. The graphics in "Hawt Vampy Vixens" are greatly improved over previous Onechanbara games. Granted, I'm not an "eye candy whore" to begin with but I at least take notice when a game goes from looking like a stop motion sex-doll animated movie to a rather good looking and more fluid action game. Aka, Onechanbara Z Kagura looks less like a dated PS2 title and more like a current generation outing.

5. Whether you get Lollipop Chainsaw or Hawt Vampy Vixens the story is going to be gonzo and cheesy either way.  Thing is I have a connection to Kagura on account it's in the same world as Bikini Samurai Slayers. Aya and Saki are slated to be in "Hawt Vampy Vixens" too, so for me there's more nostalgic value tied to D3's recent guilty pleasure. The trailer also showcased a neat "comic book page" styled format that is a major improvement over how Onechanbara games laid out their plot-lines in the past.

6. Onechanbara Z Kagura seems to imply the heroines fight other creatures besides for generic zombies. The vampire sisters have likewise showcased some "wicked sweet finisher moves" used on bigger adversaries. Not to knock Lollipop Chainsaw but the "school setting" seems as if it can get tired after awhile and though there are "different kinds of zombies" in Juliet's dramedy they're just that...."zombies"! (You should know zombies are taking all the jobs from other monsters. Someone has to stop this madness!)

7. Hawt Vampy Vixens has actual "couch co-op" and possible online co-op. I can't exactly have that with Lollipop chainsaw.

8. Saaya's chainsaw in named "Jayson"! Even with a "y" thrown in there it's probably a tribute to Jason Vorhees and that's simply awesome!

 In Conclusion

 I realize if D3 publishes this in America,Canada, and Europe as "westerner fetish porn" the Japanese are going to judge me with smug superiority when I buy this game. After all, they always claim to make these types of titles after being "inspired by western influences" so they can save face. (Yeah ,still doesn't explain all the hentai created BEFORE Japanese culture took off big elsewhere. Look in the mirror before you point and smirk Japan!)

 Be that as it may, Onechanbara Z Kagura has it where it counts. Aka it simply looks "fun" and not only that, it's made major strides of improvement over its' previous iterations! The creators of OZK deserve major props for stepping up their commitment to quality. Job well done "team sexy vamp"!

 D3 if you're reading this you should know you have a "buyer" if you bring this game to North American shores. Just don't expect me to shell out "$60.00" just because your game has T & A. Yes, this game is "improved" over past Onechanbara games but it's still "budget" from what I've seen. I'm not blind to that fact. (Having a rock-hard Johnson doesn't impair my reasoning,heh!)

 However, if you throw in a few extra modes or fine tune some rough spots with love and care perhaps I will pay that inflated sum! (Though $40.00 or 49.99 would probably be a wiser price point)

"Angi" gets finished and Ben gets tired!

Posted: 2012-01-15 23:38:17.697

 Whelp, thy will is done! I finally finished Angi. Even did an extra flourish with the background motif. If I get positive feedback I may do similar things with other characters.

 Personally I like Angi's cop theme better. Deidre already has a "roller-skating maid" thing going so it helped to diversify the two girls from each other.

 I'm kinda "eh" about Angi's hands. They have an almost "masculine quality" to them in my opinion. Regardless, I think even "attractive females" aren't perfect so I'm content to leave her as is!

 

Bonus Stage: Venetica amazon review

Posted: 2012-01-14 00:05:47.907

Just my future "amazon review" of Venetica. For those of you who were convinced to embark on this epic quest you'll find this "wall of text" to be helpful! Btw, Take this.... it's dangerous to go alone!

 

Venetica: More in depth review

If there is one game that falls under  the classification of “unjustified scorn” Venetica is probably it. Atari obviously believed Venetica would do well beyond Europe and by all accounts it should have. After some scathing reviews I was afraid to buy the game. Accusations of piss poor graphics and bugs aplenty deterred me from Venetica as if it were a plague ridden leper.

When the game was practically “nothing” I took a risk. I invited Scarlet into my home and said “Okay lady, you’re on trial. How do you plead?” It was then Scarlet presented the key to my heart. She tearfully recounted how she was slandered unfairly.  “If you merely give my game a chance you will not regret it.” Needless to say I’m a sucker for big doe-like eyes and pouty lips!

As rpg enthusiasts we’ve put up with a lot over the years haven‘t we? I was a person that bought Fable 2 and Fallout 3 at launch and both those titles were buggy as a tick infested sleeping bag. This isn’t to say they were “bad games”. They just needed more polish! So if you’re sensible like me you may beg to ask “Well gee, why does something like Fallout 3 carry a 90 something on meta-critic despite it’s myriad flaws whereas Venetica gets crucified and left out for the crows to eat?‘ The answer is simple. We have nostalgic beer goggles for certain brand names whereas something “new” that pops up out of the blue makes us more apprehensive. It’s not fair but it’s human nature.

In my many hours playing Venetica I’ve completed many quests. I killed a cultist who turned into a serpentine she-devil with multiple tentacles. I helped a smith from my small home-town set up shop in Venice. I fought a giant lobster “thing” in the sewers. I used my blood tithe ability to sap the life out of a high flying gargoyle within an abandoned house to acquire a crest for a city watchmen who in turn gave me a key so I could open the inner city gate for a wizened female necromancer. Heck, I even fetched some carrier pigeons for a less than reputable inn keeper. Throughout it all I kept waiting for something to break. For that one “mission” to suddenly become undoable. Call me lucky or call me blessed but none of the “rumored bugs” popped up. Sure, one time I got stuck on a ladder and another time the game froze when I talked to a trader but all I had to do to remedy that is “restart my progress” from the last auto save. (Apparently there’s also an urban gaming legend  “auto saves” don’t work in Venetica but so far they’ve served me well!)

Perhaps the biggest problem with Venetica is it can be somewhat picky. For example for my blood tithe ability to work on the gargoyle I had to practically stand right under the creature. When I tried using the same power further off to the side it wouldn’t react. While talking to a young fighter who inherited his father’s forge it seemed as if options were missing from the dialogue wheel shortly after I said I wanted to help the smith I knew get “authentic papers” to prove his worth. Later when I had 3,000 ducats the other dialogue choices appeared again and  I was able to pay the lad off whom was more than happy to give the forge over to my black-smith comrade. Lastly there was my hunt for the “Gripper Queen” (giant lobster thing I mentioned earlier) and though the set markers on my map seemed “wrong” they were actually right. Aka I had to go beneath the bridge and swim around a bit to find the mote into the catacombs as opposed to walking topside.  Venetica certainly tries it’s damnedest to fool you into thinking it is “broken” but 9 times out of 10 the game is still chugging along smoothly with nary a hiccup!

Oh , there are obvious problems though. Certain spoken lines of narration are repeated between conversation flows. The lip synching is barely serviceable. I suppose if you’re hung up on “uncanny valley graphics” you might also complain Venetica looks a bit like a medieval 3 dimensional interpretation of any number of Saturday morning cartoons we endured as children. (Remember Dragon‘s Lair, Gummi Bears, Pirates of Dark Water, The Hobbit animated movie, Conan the adventurer, and Dungeons and Dragons?) Be that as it may, if you’re simply wanting a game that is fun with an engrossing story-line these trivial matters will do very little to deter your enjoyment!

For me Venetica is like a Fable game with a more interesting main character. In addition, instead of having to worry about “kingly rulings” or “land-lord property management tripe” I was allowed the privilege to run around akin to a true adventurer with nothing to pull me out of the intrigue. Sure, you can join one of many guilds. You can become a trader too but fortunately you’re not forced into playing boring mini games and arranging furniture in miscellaneous hovels merely to make ends meet. I also prefer how Scarlet “talks” to people. You still get to decide if she’s kind, cruel, or simply sarcastic yet your choices aren’t diluted into random acts of farting, singing, gift giving, and juggling flaming kittens!

Starting off the check list of topics Venetica has an interesting plot and mythos. No other rpg has allowed me to be the daughter of Death in a quasi-realistic historical setting. (Fret not. This is divulged very early on. Another-words, I‘m not spoiling anything.) Soon I was allowed to enter the spirit world, sap “twilight essence” from slain monsters with my mystic moon blade to store up a plentiful supply of resurrections, and see through the eyes of nearby ravens. As if that wasn’t completely awesome already, a varied plethora of necromantic spells and fighting arts began to be unearthed as I traveled from one exotic to the next in search of wise eccentric teachers! Scarlet’s tale of revenge, love, and self discovery almost comes off as a European take on old Kung-Fu martial arts films. The “path” is equally important to the destination. Indeed, the more you put into Venetica the more it rewards you in turn.

Combat in Venetica is real time. Blades flash with crescent blurs of reflected light and spells explode forth and crackle around those unfortunate enough to be in the way. Scarlet also rolls around her foes in an attempt to escape their frenzied assaults.  Due to its’ action adventure roots Venetica is much more enjoyable with a controller plugged into one of your pc ports in my opinion. I gave it a go with the keyboard but it didn’t feel right to me at all.

My only complaint about battles is mobs of enemies are sometimes more difficult than an actual boss. There’s a long portion of the game that can be spent without armor and though acrobatics and blocking do help, it still sucks to take ridiculous amounts of damage from the lowest of scum!

 Weapons are their own enigmas begging to be mastered. Each one has advantages, disadvantages, and their own skill trees. For example a war-hammer is a “high risk” and “high reward” mauler. If you hit you’ll more than likely crush an adversary into jelly but if you miss it leaves you wide open for lethal counter attacks. The war-hammer can also be used to break down boarded up obstructions. To further elaborate my point, some creatures can only be killed with the moon-blade. If you try smiting them with something else they merely get back up again as if you tickled them into a laughing fit with a feather. Keep in perspective you can swing a spear yet lack the knowledge to block with it. Furthermore, if your newly purchased “block skill” isn’t assigned to an arrow key on the D-pad  it’s bloody well useless to you. For many gamers this may seem frustrating at first but once you “get it” these routines become instinctual akin to breathing.    

Well, there you go. I painted the picture and you’re left to decide whether or not it’s pleasant to immerse yourself in. Suffice it to say, if you’ve ever been enamored with character driven action adventure rpg hybrids akin to Fable, Zelda, Soul Reaver, Legacy Of Kain, or Nier “Venetica” is a great purchase!

Scarlet, I henceforth judge thee “wonderful” and sentence you to an island paradise inhabited by all the other unsung champions of gaming goodness. Tell Agent Francis York Morgan (And Zach) I said hello!

For you if

Again, if you’re not rigidly obsessed with uncanny valley graphics and can forgive a few audio mishaps and minor glitches Venetica is a “perfect pick up” so long as you enjoy action adventure rpgs with moral choices, guilds to join, and multiple endings! The story itself is more original than detractors give it credit for and “the side characters” certainly grow on you and become endearing!

Not for you if

Rpgs fans are a diversified lot. To certain individuals under this broad classification Venetica may come off as a little too ’stream-lined” and “button-mashy”  to be able to hold up against more expansive and complex offerings of this genre. If you prefer meticulous customization, huge sprawling fiefdoms with hundreds of random events outside the main quest, and creating your own character Venetica probably wasn’t designed with you in mind. Put bluntly, You’re not living your own life in Venetica. Like it or hate it, Scarlet’s shoes are tied firmly to your feet. You can determine her behavior to some extent but the things which happened to her are set in stone as her past and there’s no way to escape this. If Oblivion is about “the world” being the star attraction Venetica is more concerned with the “characters” who inhabit it. One type of rpg is a survivalist reality show safari and the other type is an interactive dramatic play where the audience gets to vote on what the actors will do next during ballot box intermissions . Both approaches can be fulfilling and both approaches have their faults!

Pros

+Strong and fascinating female protagonist

+ Conspiracies (I love conspiracies)

+ Gorgeously rendered environs that include Venice and Africa.

+Romance for the female gamers

+ Naughty costumes to collect for the male gamers (Though I’ll stick with the armor types myself. Survival of the smartest, aye?)

+Down to earth and endearing NPCs.

+Possibly the best lock picking mini game ever devised!

+Many opportunities for branching choices and unique responses.

+3 different endings

+Fighting each boss in the human world and the spirit world keeps the battles epic and engrossing.

+Being a sexy necromancer babe fulfills multiple fetishes at once!

+ Weapon types have their own merits and flaws

+ Many of Scarlet’s “powers” are truly unique and a blast to use on her foes!

+Compatible with an Xbox 360 controller hooked up to the pc

+Seeing from a bird’s eye view is a neat gimmick that is helpful to boot.

Cons

-There are at least a few randomly occurring glitches such as getting stuck on a ladder or having the game freeze during conversations. (Being able to save at anytime helps ease off the frustration considerably though)

-Game is often obscure about telling you exactly what you have to do in order to progress.

-There are flaws aplenty in the recorded  audio conversations and with the lip synching

-Hordes of lesser enemies are more challenging than the actual bosses

-Finicky hit-box detection rears its’ ugly head during certain objectives (Flying gargoyle I’m looking at you!)

-Having to map a “block ability” to the D-pad

-I cannot be an informative authority on the "bugs" for the console versions. This write-up is pc exclusive.

Bias Opinion

Europe has blessed me with excellent yet under-appreciated rpgs lately. First there was Divinity II: Dragon Knight saga coupled with Sacred Gold and now there’s Venetica! It’s fast dawning on me always trusting review sites and metacritic is short sighted. To find those “rare gems” we have to dig and follow our own gut. Remember, we’re voting with our dollar. There are those moments it pays off big to be a “risk taker”. Plodding along as a weak willed sheep following the herd might as well be a bullet in the head of innovation.

 Tip for the day: When Nox seems to disappear after running away from the “old temple” he’s actually retreated to his home. Ignore the faulty map icon and return to his abode. There you will fight two lectors (electric demons) and be able to continue the quest!