Description:

The legendary RPG series Breath of Fire comes to PSP with tales of long forgotten worlds, intrepid heroes and ancient, mystical powers. A destiny awaits you…A small boy on the run, a dragon reborn in flames. The last of an extinct race, with mighty powers. A small boy, outcast from society. Ryu is both, a dormant dragon, awakened by miners, turned into an innocent child. Ryu may not remember his fiery past, but is destined to regain his powers, fulfilling his epic destiny. Appearing for the first time on a handheld console, Breath of Fire III is the third instalment of this classic RPG series. Graphically enhanced to take advantage of the PSP’s screen resolution, Breath of Fire III follows the fate of Ryu as he embarks on an epic quest to discover his ancestry and understand the dragon power that has awoken inside of him. The PSP version also includes a bonus Fishing mode at 18 different locations in the game world. Thanks to the Game Sharing function Breath of Fire III owners can also send this Fishing game to their friends to enjoy even if they do not have a copy of the game.

Review by: Capcom, Capcom.com

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384.69 MB

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C7DSI8AI

Description:

Astonishia Story, the latest PSP role-playing game from Ubisoft, is a simplistic and generic blend of clichés and conventions. Despite its utter lack of distinction, the game is still a somewhat satisfying experience because it’s built on time-tested mechanics that make it extremely easy to pick up and play. The rudimentary design of Astonishia Story isn’t surprising, given that it’s a no-frills remake of a 1994 PC game. However, that doesn’t excuse the very apparent lack of story, character, and depth in Astonishia Story.

Despite the title, Astonishia Story doesn’t tell much of a story at all. It all starts with a young knight named Lloyd, who is charged with escorting a royal staff from one town to another. Along the way, Lloyd and his fellow knights are ambushed, and the staff is stolen. Lloyd manages to survive the struggle and immediately heads off in search of the staff. In his search, Lloyd discovers that there’s trouble afoot in the world, and that an evil elven queen is using divine power to achieve everlasting youth. Unfortunately, she’s doing so at the expense of everyone in her kingdom and the world beyond. It may sound interesting, but the story just moves you from one town to another, and from one boss fight to the next. There are attempts at humor, but they’re usually too self-referential and out-of-place to be funny, like, for example, characters who admonish you for pirating software and attempting to purchase warez from illegitimate vendors.

Even if you don’t pay any attention to the story you’ll know exactly where you need to go, because there’s usually only one other option at any given time. If you can’t find the next event trigger in the town you happen to be in, you can just take a walk to the only other town in the area and you’re guaranteed to find what you’re looking for. This is nice because it keeps the game moving at all times, but it also makes the game feel very limited in scope since you’re always just moving from point A to point B with no room for deviation.

The battle system in Astonishia Story mixes random encounters with a simplified version of the turn-based strategy combat found in games like Fire Emblem and Shining Force. When you’re outside of a town you’ll see creatures walking around on the field. If you make contact you’ll be drawn into a fight with anywhere from three to six enemies. The fights take place on a large battlefield that is divided into squares. Each character takes a turn based on initiative, and in that turn he or she can move a certain number of squares before performing an action. The actions include using items, magic, skills, and running from battle. There are around eight different characters that will join your party at one point or another, but you’ll never have more than seven in any battle. Each character has specific skills and traits, and you have no control over the development of the characters in your party. That doesn’t leave much room for flexibility, but you’ll usually have a fairly balanced party of the usual suspects, including wizards, fighters, archers, and so on. The biggest fault of an otherwise solid, if simplistic, battle system is the fact that it can take five or 10 minutes or more to complete each battle. This can be frustrating when you’re just trying to get from one town to another and you get stuck fighting half a dozen battles along the way.

When you aren’t battling enemies in the fields and forests, you’ll have to take part in a bit of dungeon-crawling. The dungeon battles are more difficult than the field battles; among other things, in a dungeon, you can’t see your enemies before you’re drawn into battle. The dungeons aren’t very involved, though, and they usually don’t have more than three small floors to explore. There are fewer than a handful of dungeons in the entire game, so while they do provide a bit more of a challenge than the usual overworld meanderings, the experience is short-lived. There are also quite a few boss fights in the game, but with the exception of the final boss they’re all laughably easy. In fact, many of the bosses actually seem weaker than the average enemies you’ll find in dungeons or on the field.

While the bare-bones game design feels antiquated, the fairly dated 2D visuals are much easier to excuse. The colorful environments and sprites are nicely detailed, but Astonishia Story still has the look of a Game Boy Advance game that has been converted to widescreen. Still, the graphics are functional and pleasant enough to look at. The sound is just as dated, and even sounds a bit distorted at times. The music is nothing that will get stuck in your head, but it’s acceptably inoffensive as it loops in the background.

On your first play-through, you should be able to finish Astonishia Story in about 15 hours. You can take more time if you want to level up your characters, but there’s really no need to do so. So while 15 hours is a decent chunk of time for a portable game, it feels stilted for a role-playing game. But the biggest problem isn’t so much the time it takes to finish the game, it’s the fact that the game just doesn’t do anything or go anywhere in that time.

Astonishia Story is the equivalent of a cheap novel you might pick up in an airport gift shop. It’s a light, easy way to burn some time, but isn’t substantial enough to sustain interest for very long. It certainly isn’t a game you’ll want to go too far out of your way to play, but if you’re starved for a role-playing game on the PSP, Astonishia Story will provide some temporary satisfaction.

Review By: Greg Mueller, Gamespot.com

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67 MB

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CJ0NW4SD

]]> http://silentdeath1226.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/astonishia-story/feed/ 0 silentdeath1226 Astonishia Sroty http://silentdeath1226.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/star-ocean-second-evolution/ http://silentdeath1226.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/star-ocean-second-evolution/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:00:39 +0000 silentdeath1226 http://silentdeath1226.wordpress.com/?p=13 ]]>

Description:

Star Ocean: Second Evolution is an enhanced remake of developer Tri-Ace’s Star Ocean: The Second Story, a popular PlayStation role-playing game. It shares much with First Departure, a recent remake of the original Star Ocean, highlighted by incredibly striking anime sequences courtesy of Production I.G., full voicing, and even an updated, smoother translation. The two games look and feel nearly identical, but while First Departure suffered from gruesome backtracking, Second Evolution frees itself from the constant barrage of pointless globe-trotting by focusing on engaging gameplay and a cohesive plot.

The game casts you as either Claude, a reluctant Federation ensign following in the footsteps of his powerful father, or Rena, a young girl who is desperately trying to locate her parents. Their fates intertwine as Claude accidentally sends himself through an interstellar gateway and awakens near Rena’s village, where the locals are far too eager to adopt him as their prophesied hero. The story branches between the two characters for a more interesting twist, and while you’ll observe only slight changes in the overall plot depending on your choice, the difference is enough to encourage a second play-through to flesh out both characters and to access all anime segments. There are numerous superfluous conversations between characters (“private action scenes”), but aside from giving your ally friendship levels a slight boost, these scenes won’t do much for you. Nevertheless, the story and characters are all well done, and make this grand adventure one worth taking

You spend most of your time traversing a 3D world map that’s just as bland as First Departure’s and also suffers from occasional pop-up, which you’ll spy whenever huge landmasses suddenly appear at your feet. It’s a nuisance, but the convenient minimap and its excellent zoom feature help you navigate with ease. The incredibly mundane and exhausting backtracking from First Departure is utterly absent in Second Evolution, and the game is better for it; this equates to very little time wasted on the field defeating underleveled foes en route to a town you’ve already visited, which is refreshing. The standard quests still culminate in fetching items or talking to a famed non-player character the next town over, but more interesting side quests have also been implemented for optional characters and keep the adventure lively.

Battles are randomly generated real-time affairs that occur on a barren 3D battlefield. They’re usually fast-paced and place you in control of the party leader while the adequate AI effectively manages your teammates, supporting your attacks with dependable melee allies and attentive spellcasters. You can adjust party tactics if an ally is giving you trouble, or assume direct control of the offender even in the midst of battle, a helpful feature that grants you immediate tactical control over any party member. Battles typically involve using overpowered spells and newly added three-hit combos to succeed, but the game avoids becoming just another button masher by offering progressively more challenging enemies, which encourages more strategic play. Unfortunately, tougher enemies and lengthier battles make casting somewhat annoying because your party members are frozen for the duration of any spells; the simple option to either shorten or skip these animations is sorely missing. The targeting system maintains a free-roaming option that gives you full view of your surroundings, but for the most part, autotargeting–when your reticle latches onto the nearest opponent–operates quite smoothly unless you happen to get surrounded by enemies, in which case the reticle bounces between them in confusion.

Extensive crafting and skill systems provide fun alternatives to straightforward monster hunting and questing. You can create items, write articles, cook delicious food, or even take up sculpting for quick cash. Crafting is an interesting activity, and serious item collectors will find plenty of depth here. Fortunately, it is unnecessary for completing the game, as you’ll find it very easy to acquire excellent gear just by looting random chests. The skill system is even more exhaustive, enabling you to customize nearly every aspect of your favorite characters by awarding you skill points for leveling. These points can be spent on a full spectrum of abilities that can directly modify character stats, raise your skill points earned per level, increase or decrease your enemy encounter rate, and unlock a plethora of convenient specialties to make your travels easier. Mastering numerous skills and specialties with several characters will eventually unlock super specialties, which are unique skills that the entire party uses to pitch in to increase the success of a certain feat, such as book publishing.

Anime house Production I.G. has once again applied its creative talent to produce jaw-dropping anime sequences for a Star Ocean remake. A very impressive new opening and a new Japanese musical theme illustrate the game’s most popular events and make for a special treat for fans. There are roughly 10 of these beautiful clips; however, some are a little short, and you’ll have to thoroughly investigate every location to view them all. Despite these gorgeous sequences, the game often relies on the original’s crude CG cutscenes for important segments, which somewhat cheapens key moments. The prerendered environments are highly detailed and feature numerous intricate touches, like sparkling streams, lush greenery, and even birds flying overhead. Character sprites now look sharper and complement the great anime segments, and while some character quips are overexaggerated, the voice acting is still a drastic improvement on Second Story’s.

You can finish the main quest line in about 30 hours, but activating private action scenes, exploring the game’s intimidating secret dungeon, crafting, and completing character quest lines can easily triple this amount. You can also unlock a difficulty option for additional play-throughs if you’re interested in acquiring new party members and seeing events from the other main character’s point of view. With strong replayability and a stunning presentation, Star Ocean: Second Evolution is a competent remake that offers a great opportunity for experiencing this PlayStation classic.

- Review By: Shiva Stella, Gamespot.com.

Download:

1.34 GB

Http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4MBVCME0

For those who do NOT have a Megaupload Premium account. Here is a 2 link download.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BTV01DI4

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YZQK8FJM

Description:

Star Ocean: First Departure is an enhanced remake of Star Ocean, the original Super Famicom classic and progenitor of Tri-Ace’s most renowned franchise. The game has received several graphical improvements for its Western debut, highlighted by impressive anime cutscenes courtesy of the popular anime-house, Production I.G. It retains the hallmarks of the series, including a fast-paced, real-time battle system and a highly robust crafting element. But it soon deteriorates into empty button-mashing combat and a ton of tedious backtracking vaguely related to a narrow, mediocre plot. Pretty cutscenes and crafting simply cannot mask its overall shallowness.

The game opens on the primitive planet Roak, where a disease is turning people to stone. Roddick, a simple country guard, is searching for a cure but so far has come up short. Soon, however, he is joined by two Earthlings who transport him into the past with the hope of obtaining a vaccine. The overall plot is quite bland, with almost no side quests, but it is accentuated by brief character dialogues called “private action scenes” intended to add depth and intrigue. Unfortunately, this leads to roaming cities in search of new scenes, which may occasionally help you unlock party members, but are rarely informative or useful.

The bulk of the gameplay occurs on an almost barren 3D world map, where you use an improved onscreen minimap with a convenient zoom feature to locate castles and villages. Battles are random and utilize a very quick, real-time battle system in which you control the party leader while the competent AI manages your teammates. The system allows for precise strategic control by enabling you to set party tactics either across the board or individually, and as is customary with the series, you’re free to switch between party members even midfight for more direct intervention. You can now roam the battlefield to dodge attacks or switch targets, which is a great improvement that more closely links the game to the rest of the series.

Though the battle system has finally joined the 21st century, it quickly grows wearisome because of the game’s barebones three-hit combos, lack of enemy variety, and limited skill slots that restrict your melee leader to two special attacks. Little to no strategy is involved even for boss fights, and while some enemies exhibit elemental weaknesses, they rarely impact skill or spell usage. This results in a lot of monotonous button mashing. You may also find it difficult to outmaneuver or block attacks, which is especially irritating when you’re being pummeled from all sides and the targeting reticle is locked bouncing between foes.

When you’re tired of battling enemies, you may enjoy exploring the comprehensive skill system and crafting options, which provide nearly all of the game’s depth. Skill points, which are acquired by leveling, can be spent on skills to learn special abilities once you’ve mastered them in the right combination. For example, in order to master art, you need to distribute skill points into both aesthetics and sketching. There are numerous abilities for you to unlock, including item appraisal, crafting, and cooking. These should please item collectors, but unlocking them is largely an unnecessary, time-consuming venture given the ease with which you require money and items. You’ll probably find it more useful to spend skill points to directly modify character stats for greater character customization or to enhance combat by unlocking special battle abilities that ignore enemy defense, decrease casting time, and the like. A final set of skills exists for additional tweaking, called specialties and super specialties, which activate unique skills that adjust experience or skill points earned in battle.

Star Ocean’s most disappointing aspect is that it feels devoid of everything except random battles and an optional crafting system. There aren’t that many villages to explore and even fewer quests. There are few full dungeons to complete as well, and those that you are given are easy to navigate. In fact, there’s not much for you to do other than shop and enjoy pretty cutscenes. Tri-Ace compensates for this lack of “stuff” by requiring frequent backtracking, which usually culminates in another cutscene that orders you straight back to where you came from–on the other side of the world. There is a port system that will normally take you to a sister port on another continent, but the majority of travel is done on foot between landlocked villages. This frequent backtracking is accompanied by pointless random battles against foes you defeated 20 levels ago and combines with slightly overpowered casters to make the game so easy that you can often set the PSP aside to let your party members do all the work for you.

Every element of the presentation has been significantly updated, beginning with the inclusion of Production I.G.’s beautiful, vibrantly colored anime cutscenes that are so striking it’s confusing as to why they’re so rarely utilized. Full dialogue voicing complements these sequences and is rarely annoying except during battles, when characters tend to scream out their attacks as they spam them. Character sprites are now more colorful, and the sharp, prerendered environments that are the game’s most obvious visual improvement are highly detailed. However, you may now find it difficult to locate the proper entrances and exists because they tend to blend in with the walls. Battle environments are 3D, but they are just as bland as the world map, although spell effects and special abilities are quite flashy, enlivening any fight. Music is very reminiscent of the Super Nintendo era and usually consists of charming melodies that provide a good exploration backdrop.

You should finish the main quest line within 20 hours, which is normally a healthy range for portable RPGs, but in this case, you’ll spend the majority of your play time watching cutscenes, backtracking, or demolishing vastly underpowered foes by mashing the action button. The intensity does increase after you reach the epilogue, where a second quest and a bonus dungeon open up. However, it’s a short segment and a shame that the gameplay is such a breeze until the end. Unlocking new characters or crafting extends the game a bit, but the crafting is rather useless considering that everything is cheap and it’s so easy to make money.

Star Ocean: First Departure offers good fanfare with stunning anime sequences and a fresh look. However, it’s also padded with backtracking, crafting, and cutscene dialogue that hide its sparse dungeons, as well as its quests. There are simply too many better RPGs on the market that offer pretty visuals and depth to broaden Star Ocean’s appeal.

- Review By: Shiva Stella, Gamespot.com.

Download

889.42 MB

Http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F339U1HE

Description:

Crimson Gem Saga is a simple role-playing game containing a much more arduous journey than its cheery presentation suggests. Annoying dungeon design and numerous other quirks undercut its functional competence, while a lack of originality and intrigue round out an overwhelmingly bland adventure. The game offers little more than mediocrity and a pleasant visual appeal.

The plot is largely dull and unimpressive, following a predictable path that fails to enhance the adventure. You’re cast as Killian, an inexperienced knight desperately seeking work with the local militia. After stumbling upon a manipulative treasure-hunter, however, you’re tricked into collecting the infamous Wicked Stones, which are priceless gems with sinister powers. This generic storyline is worsened by flat characters and scripted relationships that feel pulled from any random anime, which is hardly captivating.

Cozy, nearly therapeutic field exploration showcases the game’s stark simplicity, which should interest those who tire of mastering complicated features and muddling through vast forest mazes. A convenient map overlay quickly guides you to your destination, while random battles have been replaced by an ambush system that awards you a bonus attack for catching enemies off guard, providing the majority of the game’s tactical value.

Unfortunately, this simplistic approach extends to the bare-bones turn-based combat system that highlights the game’s banality. You’re limited to the usual options–attack, defend, item–and you can efficiently rely on basic attacks for defeating most enemies, which requires little forethought. However, if you score a critical hit you have the opportunity to deliver extra damage with your next character’s attack if you press the onscreen prompt in time. Skills slightly enliven the experience, granting you basic spells such as fire and poison, and also allow for powerful combination abilities that characters perform with partners. However, the majority of your enemies are fairly weak, so these powerful abilities feel like unnecessary time-wasters unless you’re fighting bosses. Battles also progress somewhat slowly, with slight delays between skill selection and execution as well as no option to skip attack animations, all of which adds up to a competent but mundane combat system.

Dungeon exploration, unlike that in the world above, is especially tedious and unnecessarily complicated, and you’re frequently tricked into going in circles. Dungeon designs make heavy use of repeated tilesets without showing connecting areas, making it much too easy to get lost. The lack of dungeon maps intensifies the problem as you encounter more devious puzzles, so don’t be surprised if you’re stuck scribbling primitive maps in a notebook. A subdued color palette disguises doorways, because some points of interest have no discernable marks to adequately differentiate themselves from the background; this is frustrating because you’re forced to keep a very sharp eye on your environment’s fine detailing as well as the enemies you’re attempting to dodge. Enemies respawn every time you reenter an area, which is aggravating when you inevitably get turned around. It’s also difficult to spot objects that are puzzle elements you should interact with, because they look the same as items that are purely aesthetic.

Mindless grinding–engaging in repetitive battles–seems overly emphasized and drains a lot of fun from the gameplay. You’ll encounter significant jumps in difficulty as you enter new areas, even if you’re faithfully trudging through battles, which pressures you to both level before entering an area and purchase more expensive gear. This is because your weaponry seems to determine your combat prowess more than any tactics or stats, which is irritating because the equipment becomes a prerequisite to a relatively successful dungeon trip. Upgrading therefore requires boring grinding to collect the necessary cash to cover steep equipment costs.

The environments are aesthetically pleasing, with plenty of lush jungles and pretty forests to explore. The color scheme is subdued to produce a more striking visual effect, while character sprites–from your party to adorable monsters–are intricately detailed and bright. The action is supported by soothing music subtle enough to enhance key moments before slipping quietly into the background, which is perfect for lengthy travels. Relaxing ambient noises, like the fluttering of tiny birds across an open meadow, add to the mellow atmosphere and pair well with the charming background tunes. Character voicing is periodically ridiculous due to a few exaggerated outbursts, but is usually decent and reserved for key events, making it more than tolerable.

Even if you choose to ignore optional side quests, playing through the main story should take you around 40 hours. Regrettably, much of that time is wasted on grinding, running in circles, or completing dull fetch quests. There’s also some backtracking, but not so much that it gets annoying. Of greater concern is the game’s failure to stand out from the crowd or immerse you into the gameplay. Crimson Gem Saga is initially satisfying as a lighthearted role-playing game, but it’s soon bogged down by tedious grinding and arduous dungeon trips. A no-frills combat system, unimpressive features, and a lack of originality further compound the monotony. You’re better off with an RPG that isn’t a standardized template for the genre, even if it’s not as cute.

- Review By: Shiva Stella, GameSpot.

Download

837.94 MB

Http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q20JQM1Q

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