Whistler’s Play Expo Round Up

And so with the weekend over and the dust settled I finally got back from Play Expo in Manchester; of which there were plenty of games on show such as From Software’s Dark Souls 2, Gamefreak’s latest Pokemon’s X and Y, as well as the long awaited Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and, ofcourse, the game everyone on 3DSBlessed has been writing about ; Sonic: Lost World.

Please bear in mind these are not full reviews as it’s hard to give a full opinion on these games with 15 minutes of gameplay, plus the fact that most of them are still in development.

Sonic: Lost World

 

Whistler rated the 3DS version of Sonic Lost World over the Wii U incarnation...

Whistler rated the 3DS version of Sonic Lost World over the Wii U incarnation.

 

I know I know, Sonic Lost World has been written about to death on here and it’s even out yet, but I also got to try out it’s Wii U counter part. For the most part I am definetly impressed with this latest edition to the Sonic franchise, taking the good parts of Sonic Generations’ side scrolling platforming elements along with fast paced tunnel speed runs, and have balanced these out together well. Hopefully this will be a recurring theme throughout the rest of the game.

I actually had a try of the Wii U version first which besides obvious visual and graphic improvements is actually the weaker of the two in my opinion. Controls for the Wii U version are a little clunky at times and feel very unnatural, plus the speed running sections feel like they are in need of tweaking (cause you gotta go fast right?)

The 3DS version is definitely looking promising with and looks to be the better to grab out of the two as it stands.

 

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

 

The latest 3DS Zelda title was among those games Whistler got to try at Play Expo...

The latest 3DS Zelda title was among those games Whistler got to try at Play Expo…

 

What can I say, it’s been a while since we had a top down adventure with our good ol’ pal Link, and it’s looking promising. Visuals are smooth and crisp while holding some of that old SNES magic previous titles had (seeing as we’re following a Link from way back in the decline of Hyrule time line from the very first Zelda game).
Gameplay is pretty much the same as most of the top down titles though, thankfully, dropping the overuse of the touch screen gimmicks. That said one paticular mechanic, the one being the main focus in this title; is the wall painting magic. This addition offers players a new way to solve most of the puzzles as well as being the method to traversing the game’s other world. However, if honest, it looks very rushed. The animation and style of Link when in ‘painting form’ look very crude. While that may be the intention it just looks silly and personally reminds me of the early days of 3D gaming on the N64 and Sega Saturn in a negative way.

Besides that the gameplay is fun, soundtrack and sound effects sound right, and it’s a Zelda title, when has a Zelda title let us down right?

 

Pokémon X & Y

 

Its a general consensus that Pokémon X/Y has amazing graphics...

Its a general consensus that Pokémon X/Y has amazing graphics…

 

I plan to write a much more thorough review over on PlusXp (so please be sure to check it out) but here’s a little something for those who don’t want to find out spoilers etc. I can say as a old school veteran of the Red/Blue/Yellow series up to the end of the 2nd Gen that I am pleased to be a fan of the Pokemon franchise again!
X/Y has been well worth the wait, graphics are amazingly good for a 3DS title, visuals are smooth, crisp, colourful and gel brilliantly with smooth animations (just don’t, for the love of God, turn on the 3D settings…).

Gameplay has a much faster pace and along with well done battle animations that for the most part are unique to each Pokémon.

Along with fighting Pokémon there is, unlike previous games, a relative absence of mini games. This is definitely a good thing (less junk clogging up the game’s pace). There are still a couple which allow you to build up bonds with your compadres, plus a training section allowing you to train their base stats effectively allowing you to either improve their strengths or hide their weakness’.

There’s also a much more written out story this time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still paper thin for a JPRG, but a its a step in the right direction considering Pokémon’s main target audience. Where much of the dialogue and character’s feel a little too childish, it’s not enough to make you want to stop playing luckily.

All in all, if you enjoy Pokémon in its current guise, or are a fan of the older series and want an excuse to catch little critters again then I guarantee you that X and Y are definitely for you.

 


Official PlayExpo Website : http://www.playexpo.net/

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