Dancing All... Morning? - Persona 4: Dancing All Night

Hello beautiful people of the Internet! And not so beautiful ones... hehe. Put on your dancing shoes because it's time to- Wait a second Ren! What the hell is this!? Huh? Uhm... It's our blog Sin... you know, the one where we review games on a Friday... No no no no no Ren not that! I mean why the hell are we doing P4D AGAIN!? We already covered it once! Yes Sin, but just one thing... What are the two games we've been playing this week called again? ...P4D and Tales of Zestiria... Games we briefly covered in that previews post... Yayyy that's right, good girl you can have a treat later. Wait WHAT!? Okay so it's finally time to take a more in depth look at the PSVita rhythm game Persona 4: Dancing All Night! (Ren you are SUCH an asshole.)

P4D is yet another spinoff title from the increasingly popular Persona franchise by Atlus. Set after the events of Persona 4 it sees the Investigation team get dragged into a new case where a 'cursed' video that plays on a certain website at midnight is taking people to the 'other side'. It's a very Persona-esque plot, filled with themes of bonds and relationships. While the plot at it's heart is a good concept, it has a disproportionately long build up into a series of 4 sections taking place in the 'other side' (The Midnight Stage) which all feel extremely repetitive as they take the same structure with all of the kidnapped victims. There's a story that runs alongside the Midnight Stage segments that is a breath of fresh air to the story, showing the perspective of the outside investigation. That's all well and good but at the end of the day, there's always a kind of deja-vu about the story, as similar things are said and obvious points are raised throughout a very simple and linear storyline.

Featuring brand new and totally not extremely steriotypical and predictable new characters!

P4D is a very short game, reading all the dialogue and completing the songs first time will take no more than ten hours, and with a total song list of 29 songs (excluding paid DLC), a number of which are just remixes of the same song, leaving a track list that is disappointingly small compared to most rhythm titles, and is only barely if at all made up for by the quality of the music. Rest assured though, the music is quality, and the notes fit perfectly with the tunes as you would expect from a good rhythm game.

The storyline may not be anything special, but the fact there is a story is more of a bonus than anything, as it's not a common feature of the rhythm genre. We should be focusing on the actual rhythm game parts, which is a lot better than we initially thought through our breif encounter with the game way back when. Though the areas to hit the notes are still ways apart on the screen, they rotate round in a logical order so you can always look to see where the next note is coming from, it makes the game a lot easier to follow than before. If you're a real sadist like Sin (Hey.) though, you can get various challenge items that will increase your score, such as one that makes notes appear from random directions, and one that slows them down so much it's literally painful painful to play. The challenge items aren't anything new for a rhythm game but they still turn out pretty unique which is a plus.

The level of cute added by Nanako's dances is a really neat addition to the game
Oh what, so you're a pedophile as well as a pervert?
Uhm... I'm neither???

Something we didn't realize last time is that aside from the regular press button notes that fly out from the center of the screen, there are also ring notes (or 'scratches') which you hit by moving one of the analogue sticks as it hits the outer ring. The rings are deceptively hard to hit, while they may be very lenient on timings, moving from the buttons to the stick in a short enough space of time to keep a combo going is surprisingly tough when notes are closer together. But hey, you know even the game's developers thought they were too tough, since missing the ring notes won't break your combo, or deduct from the horrendous way the game determines whether you've beaten a song.

In case you missed our last coverage of this title, the game uses a scale representing the moods of the 'audience' you're performing to. Ranging from red, to yellow to white to green to rainbow, anything below the latter two levels will be a failed song. While generally something like that isn't an issue the way you have to climb back up levels is very unforgiving (at least on later difficulties) and for every note missed you'll find yourself needing to hit 25 or even 50 to get back up there. Don't get us wrong, these songs have a deceptively high number of notes, but when you miss a string of notes right at the end of a flawless song to not only lose that full combo, but fail the song too, it feels more than a little harsh.

When you clear a song, the dancer's persona comes out and plays an instrument into a really awesome finale
I get shivers every time
I'm pretty sure that's just you trembling with joy from actually clearing a song for once.
... C-Climbing that scale is hard Sin...

Speaking from experience there Ren?
... Yeah... God damned hard songs freaking (unintelligible gibberish)
Ahaha... Anyway. This game is all about being yourself, and not what people want you to be. It's kinda ironic really. This is basically just a simple rhythm game with the Persona logo strapped on for a bit of extra luck. It is simple in both story and gameplay and is exactly what it is: just a rhythm game.
Ultimately there's a bit of a disappointment here. Sure, the game is still good... But it's really not everything we wanted it to be.

Say Sin, why don't you try being the you everyone wants you to be? It would be cool to see you being nice for a change.
Wha- speak for yourself you jerk!
Oh relax, you're the bitchy one, that's what everyone wants anyway...
Reeeeennnnnnnnnnnnn!!!
Ahahah... ha.... Uhm... Until next time friends! We love you a- AAAAAHHHH!

Ren Score: 7/10
Sin Score: 4/10

Trucking Majestic - American Truck Simulator

Hello beautiful people of the Internet! And not so beautiful ones... hehe. Buckle up folks because it's time to hit the road! Ren! Don't throw our readers out already, we just started! Wh- Oh forget it... (heh...) Anyway! Let's head onto PC to check out the latest 'Simulator' game from SCS Software, American Truck Simulator!

Simulator games like this aren't for everyone. For the most part the only reason they exist is so people can experience what it's like to do a boring old job that they don't or can't do for whatever reason. There are two types of people in the world, people like Sin, who think they're pointless and wonder how playing them can be fun for anyone. And there's people like Ren, who for some strange reason enjoys experiencing boring everyday life through the medium we use to escape such things. American Truck Simulator is the newest release and a further improvement on the popular Euro Truck Simulator 2 game. If you could call any transition from Europe to America an 'improvement.' Hey. Down girl. All Sin's bias aside, let's take an in depth look at what's special about the American Dream sim.

Can't stop to play the tables in Vegas. Some great simulator this turned out to be.
Winners don't gamble Sin.
They don't exactly truck either Ren.

The quote-unquote, plot- Sin! Jeez... the plot of the game sees you starting your own trucking company in your chosen city in either California or Nevada (The only states currently in the game, yeah, should be called two-state truck simulator it'd be less misleading), do some odd jobs to earn money until you can eventually buy your own truck with hundreds of customization options. Jobs start with shorter routes until you gain experience to take on longer ones. Completing routes gives you EXP for level ups and you can use these to earn qualifications to enhance the jobs you can do and the money you earn, for example the ability to carry explosives or being entrusted with fragile cargo, jobs such as this are of course worth more money for completion. That's basically all there is to it, the goal is just to complete deliveries and get money for your business.

Feel the excitement boys and girls! This is a lot of what you'll see in this game. Miles and miles of nothing!
Empty... just like your heart.

The game has a lot of options for control methods. Using a keyboard and mouse is... generally fine, but if you want the real immersion you should be getting from Truck Sim you need to get a wheel and pedal to connect up. Those cost a lot of money though, so if feeling like a real mother trucker isn't important to you, work with keyboard controls like we did. The game controls very nicely with the keyboard... Sometimes too nicely even. I'm not sure if it's the same for all control styles but for god-knows-how-heavy trucks these things can turn unnaturally tightly. For a game that is supposed to be 'realistic' shall we say, there's a lot of things very unnatural about it.

Let's start with the first thing, which is specifically only for the keyboard control method (it's not something to rat on the game for, it's to be expected, but still remains annoying), it's impossible to keep a steady speed, which can cause troubles in a game were you get fined for speeding. You only have to contend with W to accelerate, and S to brake. This leaves you in either a state of constant acceleration, which will bring you over the speed limit pretty darn quickly, or slow deceleration, which just means yeah you're still going, but hey now you're gradually going slower. Now hey, I don't know if SCS Software know something about Cali and Nevada that we don't, but if you wait long enough at a junction because there's all this traffic coming you can start to pull out and everyone will stop to let you out... or you could keep waiting, and after a little while... All the traffic just suddenly stops! Even on the busiest roads. I get that this is like some kind of anti-frustration feature but you could have made it less obvious!

I assure you, at no point did I forget that Americans drive on the wrong side of the road.
Silly Ren! Everyone knows Americans drive on the 'RIGHT' side of the road, come on.

Yep roads follow some strange rules in this game. It feels as though you're traveling large distances in the US really quickly because of the way the map is scaled down in order to fit inside the game. Basically to my disappointment a lot of actual American roads are scaled down immensely, much more so than in Euro Truck Simulator might I add. The map scaling is much worse here, and it means there's a lot less of those long scenic drives that players of Euro Truck knew and loved.There are other problems kind of related to the scaling that arise too, most notably of which is the fact that speed limit signs are impossible to see if present at all, this often creates sudden changes of speed limit that sometimes results in an instant fine as soon as you cross the threshold because there happened to be a cop car that could just about see your left mirror moving too much from a mile away. Yeah some fines happen when the cops catch you doing something wrong, like driving in the dark without lights on. Notice how he said some. A lot of the others just sort of happen.

There's a strange kind of allure to this game in that it's strangely relaxing to ride the wide open roads with pretty much nothing either side of you. The American scenery isn't the prettiest thing to look at by far, but even I'll admit it's relaxing to drive along leisurely without having to worry about 'real' consequences for screwing up. Not to mention, the ability to add your own songs to play or listen to actual radio stations as you drive is a superb touch.

Shit.

Believe it or not there's also a multiplayer mode. Things are a bit different there, it's a lot faster as speed limits are much less strict, oh and all the non human traffic is gone too, did I mention that? I can see why they did it but hell now the maps are just even more empty! Players on Multiplayer aren't the nicest of people either. Some will honk as you pass to say 'hi!' and that's cool... But others will just try and ram you into walls like dicks. But other than the traffic being gone, multiplayer is basically the same as single player.

So what we have here is a very relaxing game that takes the stress out of driving and then some. There's not much to do other than driving and decorating your trucks, so if you're looking for a game full of action and excitement you've probably already guessed a Simulator game probably isn't the one for you. While this one may not be as polished world-wise as its predecessor, it's still a very strong Simulator game and is worth picking up for anyone wanting 'to start their new dream job:' being a mother trucker.'

You know, your driving is beyond horrible.
W-Well why do you think I like this game! Can you imagine me taking the helm of a REAL screaming metal deathtrap?
Oh god no. I don't want to die...
Heh... I think I've made my point. Until next time folks!
We love you all!

Ren Score: 8/10
Sin Score: 4/10

The Best Life Sentence - Freedom Wars

(To an outsider, this is a chaotic and difficult to understand box art, to a fan, it is a near perfect summary of 75% of the game)

Hello Sinners of the Internet! And not so- Wait a second... Get ready everybody, because you're going down! It's time to look at a brilliant Action-RPG from 2014 for the PSVita. Aimless chit-chat is a waste of resources! let's get on with it!

Set in a distant dystopian future Freedom Wars is a unique game that sees your fully customization character slammed with a 1,000,000 year sentence for the heinous crime of developing amnesia during a combat mission. In a world where everyone lives in giant complexes (Panopticons) built in the world's major cities, fighting over the few remaining resources as best they can, something like amnesia is a major drain on resources. By completing missions assigned to you by the higher ups, you gain pardons and shave years off your sentence. The game could easily have taken this theme and held it through the whole time, but there's a very solid underlying story surrounding conspiracies and cover-ups that develops later on. After snooping into restricted areas you find a girl that's been captured, and find the resolve to find out the mystery of why she's there. And it gets chaotic as hell.

A surprising amount of customization options, featuring Sin's foundation makeup palette.
Whoa. Gross. I wouldn't even wear clothes in those colours.
But... You only wear red clothes anyway...?

The game's plot is strongly sound, and the whole environment of the Panopticon and the places where fights take place all feel very right and immersive. Dilapidated cities and deserts burying large structures. The atmosphere of a world ripped to the bare bones for all its resources is all right there, and it's great. Atmosphere aside the 'feel' of the game has problems too. See, as you'd expect from a game working with this kind of theme, there's a large number of different missions to clear in order to reduce your sentence. Except pretty much all the missions are basically the same. And oh god do they feel like a grind. In order to fight for resources the Panopticons send in Sinners like you, along with the 'Accessories' that watch over them, to fight against enemy Abductors. Abductors are basically huge towering robots that can take a number of different forms from bipeds to spider-esque tanks, designed to capture and kidnap citizens from rival Panopticons. You'll be fighting them in almost every mission, right from the start of the game. The main problem with this though is that they're basically all raidbosses, albeit with attacks that probably won't oneshot you all the time. After 15 minutes of hacking away at the abductor to finally kill it and move onto the next mission, there's a pretty epic feel of achievement seeing that thing come crashing down at least. Well, until you realize that the next mission is almost exactly the same. Hope you like grinding because that's basically 80% of the game right there.

So the missions all kinda feel the same... At least they always still feel pretty damn epic.

There are other kinds of missions that act as a breath of fresh air at least. Breaking into the restricted areas for example usually take the form of stealth missions. Standard stuff, navigating paths around patrolling guards. Other missions, such as ones where you have to take out enemy Sinners are also much more enjoyable if you want to feel like you're actually doing damage for once. It offers the feel of a more multiplayer online game... Which is great if you like that kind of stuff, Freedom Wars actually lends itself to multiplayer very well. 

Combat controls are logical and responsive, if not somewhat basic. With melee weapons you can do light and heavy attacks, and there's a wide variety guns to fire depending on your situation. We personally preferred light melee weapons, as they are the only weapons that let you directly sever Abductor components which can then be collected to help upgrade your gear. But upgrades often require hard to acquire parts, so it can be a bit of a grind to get a powerful weapon you really want, and believe me, you'll need it. Additionally, going into battle you have a special kind of weapon called a Thorn. It's basically a grappling hook, and it really brings out the best in the game's combat system, allowing you to cling to and maneuver from walls, as well as latch onto enemy Abductors in order to get close for attacks, or drag them to the ground and temporarily immobilize them. Though it adds an astounding level of extra depth to the combat, it has limited use and can be a bit finicky to use, with the collision being so accurate you'll struggle to land it on particularly thin limbs so you can sever them off. Oh and did I mention that all severing is done by spamming the O button? If you'e like us your thumbs are gonna hurt, because those limbs don't come off easy, that's for sure.

The whole 'We're always watching' trope is starting to get pretty old.
It's kind of necessary though... Isn't it?
Yeah... It was disappointing that the Panopticon magazine was just five pages of a 24-Hour Surveillance banner though...

Okay, okay hold on a second. What? I just wanted to go back to the main reason we fell in love with this game, the way it really brings to life the dystopian future of the world that's been created. Oh yes well of course... First thing we did was walk around our cell a little to see what we could interact with... Then we got slapped with a 10 year extension on our sentence! Taking more than 5 steps in your cell is a violation of the People's Charter and a waste of valuable resources! Holy crap! In fact, if you're feeling a bit tired and your Accessory suggests you take a rest, Don't do it! Well, not unless you want another 20 years because you haven't purchased the right to recline yet. Seriously, you have to buy the right to recline... and the right to talk to people, to run for more than five seconds, the list goes on. That's the real thing that gets you thinking. That so much as the most trivial of things is such a waste of resources it's worth years of your life. Just let that sink in a second... despite repetitive combat at times, Freedom Wars has captured a beautiful dystopian society, and took great care in thinking of everything to make it feel as real and unfair as any dystopia should in a game.

... Well...
We uh... Knew the customization offered a lot but...
... (Sigh)

Okay Sinners! That's enough, we're done here, your break time is over! Get back to your pitiful cells you call a bedroom! Whoa... Sin... You're really into the whole Sinner abuse thing aren't you? You sadist. Oh shush, I'm just giving the readers what they deserve for wasting valuable res- Ow! You calling our blog a waste? O-Oh! n-no I wasn't doing that! Uhm... until next time Sinners! We love you all!
Ren Score: 9/10
Sin Score: 8/10