Lv 2 ~ Dance Central

Goodness, it's not even February and I'm already slacking off on my project. No more of that, I say! Anyhoo, as I mentioned in my last post, I've been working on Dance Central. Without further ado, here's my review!

 As its name implies, Dance Central is a music-rhythm game that focuses on dancing. Derp. Thanks to the Xbox 360's Kinect peripheral, Harmonix was able to take the concept of a dance game to much further heights than the popular Dance Dance Revolution, Pump It Up, and In The Groove series. The game requires no controller to play -- and it tracks your body movements with surprising accuracy. There's a little window that displays your silhouette, so you can use this as a makeshift mirror to ensure that you're moving your body properly and are completely visible by the Kinect.

 The game features a "Break It Down" mode, which teaches you the dance moves step-by-step, allowing even those with two left feet to have a good time with this game. The song features over 30 popular songs with a wide array of genres, both in music (rap, dance pop, house, etc.) and dance styles (vogue, jerkin', dancehall). Dance Central also features a cast of interesting (and sometimes annoying) characters, each with unlockable alternate costumes, and a crap-ton of achievements to help increase your Xbox 360 GamerScore.They're certainly not easy to come by, though, particularly because this game is physically demanding -- I've been working on this game for three weeks, now, and I'm only at 80% completion. (N.B. ~ I did manage to obtain all achievements after little more than 2 months.)

 As with most modern music-rhythm games, new songs and dances are made available thanks to DLC, and with how popular this game is, I'm sure there will be many more to come.

 Back when I first got my Kinect, I played Konami's DanceMasters, first, because I was ecstatic that it contained ParaPara dances. That game has nothing on Dance Central. Navigating the menus are so simplistic and natural, the graphics are vivid, the music is catchy, and the song selection, although I didn't like it at first (because I was unfamiliar with most of the songs), provides a huge variety in dance routines. Harmonix did an excellent job of cutting out the simplistic moves from otherwise complicated dances, allowing you to gradually familiarize yourself with moves as you progress from easy, to medium, and finally, to hard difficulty.

 Some moves in certain dances seem to be unusually picky about accuracy, and the timing is sometimes off with what the on-screen dancer is compared to what you should be doing. Thankfully, though, sections of the dancer's body will glow red if you're not hitting that body movement correctly... but it certainly doesn't really help you adjust your body to figure out how to fix it. Being able to do moves in slow-motion in "Break It Down" mode has made this game much more enjoyable for me, although it's still frustrating when I know I'm doing a move correctly but the Kinect disagrees.

 If you have a 360, and are willing to fork out the cash for a Kinect, you MUST get this game. Not only is it great for beginners and challenging for those who happen to be gifted at dancing, but it's also a blast to play with friends, and it's an incredibly fun way to get a work out. I'm sure that Harmonix could have done a bit more with the game (Dance Central 2, anyone?), but in my opinion, it's already at near-perfection. Get this game. Do it. Thank me later when you're having so much fun.

• Audio: 5
• Gameplay: 5
• Originality: 4 
• Story: 1
  
• Visuals: 4
• Overall: 4
• Difficulty: Adjustable (Very Hard if you're aiming for 100% completion)
• Completion Time: +40 Hours

+ Vibrant, club-themed graphics with well-designed 3D character models

+ Incredibly diverse songlist and dance routines

+ Amazing for playing at get-togethers and parties

- A "mission mode" would've been nice

- Co-op mode is non existent

As Ulala once notably said... "Staaaaaaaaaaay tuned!"

Groovin' with Dance Central

 For my 2nd game of 2011, I have been working on Dance Central for the 360 Kinect. As the first Kinect peripheral title I've delved into, I'm incredibly impressed and I'm really enjoying this game.

 A few entries back, I made a post comparing Dance Central to DanceMasters, which is Konami's version of a Kinect-based dancing game, and I'm still actively working toward completing this game and getting all of the achievements (requiring surprising amount of work, actually!), so I'm not going to post my complete review and impressions of the game until sometime this weekend.

 I did want to go ahead and see if there were any suggestions for what my next game should be, so if you have any ideas, check out my game library and comment with any ideas you have! Thanks, guys!

Castlevania HD: Chapter 8

I managed to get the last achievement, so this game has been officially completed by me. Whoo!

On another note, Konami released the DLC Chapter 8 level today, "The One Who Is Many", based on the underground area of Symphony of the Night... so of course, it features Legion as the boss of this level.

 According to the Castlevania HD wiki, three more levels are in the works and all are supposedly going to be released during the month of January, ultimately bringing the total number of levels up to 11. Also, the prices for these levels are cheaper than the 400-point Chapter 7 -- Chapter 8 is just 320, and the following are scheduled to be 320, 240, and 240, respectively. There's still no word on when Simon Belmont is going to be released, but also according to the wiki, Hammer is no longer an officially-confirmed upcoming character, although Getsu Fuma has been confirmed.

Lv 1 ~ Castlevania HD

Yes, it's true, I've been playing Castlevania: Harmony of Despair on Xbox LIVE Arcade for a few months, now, but I still haven't managed to collect all of the achievements for the game. So, given the fact that I'm such a huge Castlevania fanboi, I've decided to give this multiplayer fan-service game the honor of being my first game to complete in 2011.

 In a nutshell, CV HD is delicious fan-service for anyone who has ever been a fan of the Castlevania series. The plot is minimal, and basically involves a book (called the "grimoire") that contains the history of Castlevania that somehow comes to life (a la Neverending Story), thus reviving Dracula, his castle, and the past vampire hunters contained within canon Castlevania history. The game starts you out with five characters: Soma, Alucard, Jonathan, Shanoa and Charlotte, and offers more (and new levels) through DLC, including Julius, Yoko, Richter, Maria, and Simon. Of course, the only characters I'm remotely interested in are the cute female ones, 'cause I'm an uberfag.

 As with past Castlevania titles, the game involves 2D side-scrolling RPG action, although the EXP/Leveling Up system isn't featured. Each of the levels contains elements, music, and enemies from past Castlevania titles, and there's hundreds of items and abilities to collect for each character. Since there isn't leveling up, each character has a personal method of strength-progression, typically involving increasing the strength of abilities through use or by collecting spells and sub-weapons, depending on your character of choice. This gives the game limitless replay value, despite the game only having six levels (without DLC) and two difficulty modes.

 The real shining aspect of CV HD is the fact that it's the first multiplayer Castlevania title. Unfortunately, it's only multiplayer online and not locally (at least, on the XBLA version...), but it still makes the game incredibly fun to play with friends.

 Alright, so I'm obviously biased. I absolutely adore the Castlevania series, so I've been completely addicted to playing this game, whether solo or with friends. There's tons of items to collect, and despite there not being a leveling system, I find myself desperately grinding away to make my favorite characters as strong as possible (Charlotte,  Maria and Yoko, in case you're wondering!). I'm impressed with the fact that Konami managed to put out a patch in December to balance the characters a bit, although Soma and Richter are way overpowered in comparison to the rest.

 Having that said, there are a few cons to this game that I have to point out, unfortunately.


 The first downfall is how ridiculously expensive the DLC for this game is. The game itself is 1200 Microsoft Points, which equates to $15. The Chapter 7 DLC is 400 points, and each of the (currently) four DLC characters are 240 points each. If you want all of the DLC, you have to fork out 1360 points, which is more than the game itself. Add the fact that there's another DLC pack on the way, bringing the total cost of all of the DLC to 2160. Goodness.

 Speaking of DLC, another con is the fact that DLC characters don't display properly unless you've also purchased those characters. If you haven't forked out the points for Julius, Yoko, Richter, and Maria (and soon, Simon and Getsu Fuma), you'll see other players who are using them displayed as minimally-animated "Axe Knight" sprites. You can't see their weapons animating properly, nor the majority of their abilities, and it's rather frustrating, to me. In my opinion, seeing other people play as DLC characters would make me want to purchase them, as opposed to seeing an Axe Knight running around, who I constantly try to attack because I think it's an enemy.

 I also think that not including the classic EXP-gain and "leveling-up" system from past Castlevania titles is a bad idea. I understand that they wanted to make the game less level-based to be more accessible to casual players, but a substantial amount of character growth is still necessary for each character; I've personally put nearly 50 hours into completely mastering all of Charlotte's spells, for example. Having a max level to hit would add even more replay value to the game, especially since characters all share the same item pool. Once you've found good items, you can equip them on any of your other characters. Being nearly completely item-based is a bit of a bummer.

 There is minimal lag, endless replay value, and tons of Castlevania nostalgia to be had, so I highly recommend this title, even if you're unfamiliar with the Castlevania series. It would actually serve as a great introduction to the series, because seeing each of these characters within Harmony of Despair might encourage players to see them in the other games they make appearances in. Since there are a few things from past Castlevania titles that I would have liked to see in this game, I can't give it a perfect score, but this game has certainly been one of the best XBLA titles I've played, to date.

• Audio: 5
• Gameplay: 5
• Originality: 4 
• Story: 2
  
• Visuals: 3
• Overall: 4
• Difficulty: Very Hard
• Completion Time: +60 Hours (if you plan on "maxing" characters and collecting items)

+ Nostalgic graphics with plenty of fancy enhancements

+ Robust soundtrack featuring original and remixed versions of famous Castlevania music

+ Diverse characters with plenty of customization options 

+ It's a MULTIPLAYER CASTLEVANIA!!!!

+ Virtually endless re-playability

- Storyline is virtually non-existent

- Classic experienced-based leveling system replaced with "character progression"

- Local co-op is only available on the Playstation Network version

- Very, very expensive if you want all of the game's content and characters

I managed to obtain all of the game's achievements, too. Huzzah!

Until next time... game on!

Dance Central vs. DanceMasters

 It's the first week of the new year, and it's time for me to get started on this game-a-week thing. The only problem is... it's already Wednesday and I still haven't decided what game to play and beat. I'll probably end up not finishing this week and have to beat two games next week, but eh... as long as I stay on schedule, it's all good, right?

 I was given a Kinect along with Dance Central from a friend over New Year's, and I picked up DanceMasters with some of the holiday money I had accumulated. After about a week of toying around with the Kinect, I'm actually rather impressed. The accuracy is surprisingly high, and although I had to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom in order to play, it seems to function pretty well even without a ton of space. From what I've experienced, the main issues lie within the specific way game developers are dealing with in-game navigation.

 Dance Central, Harmonix's entry into the Kinect market, is very solid. The game actually eases players into the dances, allowing you to learn each part of each dance step-by-step, and it clearly tells you what areas of your body you aren't moving right if you're not getting it down. What impresses me the most, though, is how easy menu navigation is. It seems spot-on and incredibly precise, especially when compared to Konami's Kinect dance game, DanceMasters.

 Unlike Dance Central, DanceMasters wasn't localized for a US release -- the game features the same track list that was used when released in Japan and other countries (the game is referred to as DanceEvolution everywhere else, I believe), so none of the music is popular or recognizable outside of those who are familiar with other BEMANI titles and Dance Dance Revolution, with exception to the two Super Eurobeat tracks on the game, which will be known by anyone into Initial D or the ParaPara dance scene. Because I'm such a BEMANI and ParaPara nerd, I picked up this title, but I definitely don't recommend it if you're not a fan of those, as well, and here's why.

 DanceMasters makes no attempt to teach players how to dance the routines. Of course, the game also doesn't take into account full body motions during each dance, and just requires players to match silhouettes and "ripples" on-screen, but still. The routines don't change between each difficulty -- there's just less silhouettes and "ripples" to be judged upon. I've only managed to score well on the ParaPara dances that I already knew before playing this title, and I don't know if I have the patience to play through every song a million times just to learn the dances. The "Break It Down!" aspect of Dance Central makes it a much better choice. I suggest DanceMasters if, and only if you are a huge fan of the Konami series of BEMANI music-rhythm games.

 If the aforementioned reason isn't good enough of an explanation, here's another. The menu navigation system in DanceMasters is enough to make you pull your hair out. It's finicky and inaccurate, and I spend more time trying to choose the song I want to play than I do actually dancing. Comparing these two titles is a great example of how to, and how NOT to develop menu navigation with the Kinect.

 Overall, I like the music selection in DanceMasters more (because I'm a BEMANItard), but Dance Central is obviously the better game. They're both fun, and both have their pros and cons. Either way... I won't be able to "beat" either game within a week, simply because my body doesn't have the capability to move that strenuously for so long. I'll decide on something to beat, this week... but I certainly hope this tiny tangent has been able to satisfy, at least a teensy bit.

Until next time, game on!