Wednesday, April 18, 2007

King of Fighters NESTS Saga

In a three part arc of the King of Fighters games, the NESTS Saga chronicled the machinations of a secretive mercenary cabal known appropriately as NESTS. Following the events of King of Fighters '97, Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami have gone missing after they defeated Orochi. As KOF '99 starts, invitations fly out to the world's greatest fighters summoning them to a new underground battle royale. SNK revisits the NESTS Saga by collecting all three games on one DVD as follows:

» King of Fighters '99 Evo (Dreamcast conversion and Neo Geo original)
» King of Fighters 2000 (Playstation 2 conversion and Neo Geo original)
» King of Fighters 2001 (Playstation 2 conversion and Neo Geo original)

KOF '99 introduced Strikers to the fighting action and KOF 2000 and 2001 built on that system where special characters could be called into battle for a momentary burst of muscle power. Along with the games, the PS2 compilation features a character color-edit function, selectable BGM (normal and arrange), and a Multi-Matching Online BB fighting mode where players link up through the internet to bout it out. «more»

Persona 3 Fes Complete Edition

Fuka Yamagishi opens up the new storyline in Persona 3 Fes where she phones Yukari Takeba on her pink phone. At the conclusion of the call, Fuka walks further into the room where the camera peels back to take in the Special Extracurricular Activities Club at Gekko High School. Seated at the top is Student Council President Mitsuru Kirijou and she's ringed by Junpei Iori, Ken Amada, and Koromaru. As they chat, they're joined by Aegis - a blonde android who battles Shadows with adept skill. Aegis is the focal point in the new chapter of Persona 3 and players take control of her throughout the adventure.

Persona 3 Fes is both an old and a new game. It contains the entire original Persona 3 adventure along with an append segment which follows the events after the conclusion of Persona 3. In the title selection screen, the original adventure may be played by selecting "Episode Yourself" while the new segment is indicated by "Episode Aegis." Persona 3 Fes features a new cinematic introduction, new Personas to use, new uniforms, and a hard mode for gamers who enjoy a good challenge. Please note the version of Persona 3 Fes that we received today is the Complete Edition. The Append Disc is scheduled to arrive tomorrow or Friday. «more»

Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary [ASN]

Way back in 1987, Final Fantasy was supposed to be a one time game. Final. Fantasy. As in, it's the last one, buddy. However, destiny had other plans for Hirobonubu Sakaguchi and his seminal creation. Twenty years and twelve canonical games later, the franchise is still going strong and reaping the rewards of a property that pays big dividends.

Booting up the game this morning, we enjoyed the cinematic introduction which features a blue-armored warrior fighting a massive red dragon. Upon starting an adventure, players may select the language - Japanese or English. The game also features improved graphics, the bonus dungeons from the Gameboy/Wonderswan versions of the game, and an entirely new dungeon dubbed "The Labyrinth of Time" which enforces a time limit within which you can explore its dank depths. Another bonus is an unlockable Yoshitaka Amano Art Gallery which contains beautiful color work from the artist who has provided the illustrations for the series. A bestiary and a BGM music player (unlockable) rounds out the feature set in the game.

Since we've played through the game a few times through the years, we're not going to play this one again this week but we'll give it a go in the near future so we can check out the updated sights and sounds. Early impressions are favorable - the graphics are delightfully crisp and bright on the PSP screen and the music is rich and resonant. One downside is the lack of analog control - only the d-pad is usable for movement. «more»