Your story begins as a student who’s transferred to a boarding school in modern day Japan. You are quick to discover, that this is no ordinary place. Each night at midnight – the “dark hour” – the normal citizens around you turn into coffins as evil “Shadow” beings roam the area. Only those who possess the power to battle the Shadows are left unchanged. As one of these lucky individuals, you are promptly inducted into the SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad) – the only after school activity that spends it’s time battling evil. Kind of Buffy meets JRPG.

Dark Hour

The first half of the game begins with the onset of “dark hour”, when you, along with other members of SEES, trek to Tartarus: Gekkokaun High, to battle the Shadows: black, flying, globules of evil. You can fight the shadows with arrows and swords, but also by using your Persona, which transforms you into immense creatures with extraordinary attacks, including lasers and fire and the ability to combine with other Personas to create even more powerful fighting abilities.

Gameplay

The game doesn’t just happen at night, however, but rather continues during the day as a simulation-type game. You can go to class, socialize, join school clubs and basically, live like a typical high school teen. As in life, daytime in this game is all about balance, and you’ll need to make sure you make the right decisions to boost your characters stats, including charisma, smarts and bravery – all of which impact the way you are perceived by those around you in the game. Socializing is important, too, as creating strong bonds and relationships will increase the power of your Persona.

Along with stellar game play and battles, one of the coolest new things about Persona 3 is that you can choose to be a male or female character – something not offered in previous versions of the game. The new female character offers a completely different style of dialogue and interaction with other game characters, offering less tension with Yukari (the main male character), and issues with Junpei take on a different feel altogether. Another great new feature on the PSP is that you now have control over all the members of your team, allowing you to make changes mid-battle.

While the PSP version of Persona 3 lacks a tiny bit of the sharpness of most anime games on the PS2, PS3 or other games systems, the story and game play make the PSP version more than worth the download!

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, Rated E10+

From the popular Ratchet & Clank series, and developed specifically for the PSP, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters delivers one of the best games thus far. High Impact Games (an offshoot of Insomniac, the original Ratchet & Clank creators) does a fantastic job of taking a game designed for systems with complex controllers and makes it not only playable, but a kick-butt game for the PSP. You can control the characters, flip seamlessly between weapons and maneuver Ratchet just as you always have, making Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters a must download.

We begin the game with Ratchet & Clank on vacation, where they meet a little girl named Luna. Soon after meeting her, Luna is kidnapped by robots and Clank discovers an ancient artifact from the Technomites; a forgotten race of genius inventors. Although doubtful that the Technomites actually exist, Ratchet launches into a search for the missing girl. As is par for the course, as they begin their search, our heroes encounter Captain Qwark (an idiotic “hero” from past games whose self-centered cluelessness never fails to cause more problems for Ratchet), who’s on a quest to find his birth parents.

The kidnappee (Luna), turns into a kidnapper, snatching Ratchet on the planet Kalidon. While imprisoned, Ratchet’s DNA is taken from him by the evil Emperor Otto Destruct; the leader of the Technomites. Bitter from never being given credit for the technological advancements provided by the Technomites, Emperor Destruct is intent on creating an army of ultimate warrior, Lombax clones.

Meanwhile, Clank has been left in a junk yard on another planet, where he turns into a super-sized Clank and sets off to save Ratchet. Once he’s saved Ratchet and captured Luna, she reveals what she knows about Destruct’s plans for his clone army, but manages to plant a virus in Clank, causing him to malfunction and allowing Technomite soldiers to invade his body. Ratchet shrinks himself down and follows the evil army inside his robot buddy, utilizing Clank’s internal security systems to eradicate the invaders.

Once Clank is safe again, the team travels to Quodrona to stop Destruct from implementing his malevolent plans. After annihilating a bunch of clones, Ratchet discovers that Luna had fed them a false tale and that Destruct’s true mission is to steal the intelligence of every being in the galaxy.

Having ditched Qwark earlier in the story, he pops up at the worst possible time for Ratchet & Clank. Having been convinced by evil Emperor Otto that he is his long-lost father, Qwark helps him battle against Ratchet and Clank. After a long, difficult fight, our heroes prevail, in the process learning that Qwarks real parents were killed by defective equipment created by the Technomites.
Having been awarded the Game Informer “Handheld of the Month” for April 2007, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters for the PSP receives high ratings from IGN and rave reviews from users across the board. Whether you’re a die-hard Ratchet and Clank fan or a newbie to the series, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters for the PSP offers impressive battles and excellent game play. Weapons, which are purchased from Slim Cognito (as in previous series), are upgradable throughout the course of the game and offer seemingly endless ways to destroy your rivals.

Available for the first time on the PSP, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy knocks it out of the park. Improvements to just about every aspect of the game; design, musical score, graphics and the ever-present humor, make this PSP a must download.

If you’ve seen Star Wars, you’re familiar with the story line, and the game play is similar to just about any other PSP action game. You can punch, chop or blast your way through enemies, including Stormtroopers, Bounty Hunters, Sand People and, of course, the evil Darth Vader. What makes LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy different, is that you can control more than one character at a time; usually two, and sometimes as many as six. By simply pressing the appropriate controller button, you can swap characters and play as anyone in your group. Since certain characters (Luke, Obi Wan, etc.) and types of characters (droids, Ewoks) are the only ones who can complete some tasks or gain access to specific areas to move forward, this functionality is key to and makes for fun, seamless game play.

Vehicles are now “off the rails” and allow you to use vehicles for attacks on the Death Star, race around Endor on speeder bikes and even navigate the Millennium Falcon through the deadly asteroid field and in the battle on Hoth. Each vehicle includes great maneuverability and weaponry that’s true to the movies.

Another cool, new feature is the ability for any character to build and demolish structures and items required to move forward in the game. This feature helps make the game move along more easily, since characters without the power of the Force can be used more often and in more ways than ever before.

One of the most fun – and most hilarious – additions is the “create your own character” option. You can put Darth Vader’s head on Luke’s body, and so forth, offering another level of silliness that fits right in with the humor of the Star Wars franchise.

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is rated E for Everyone, but truly crosses the boundaries of age and skill level and offers great fun to be had by all.

It’s not just about Jak’s anymore…Daxter, the little orange Ottsel final has his own game and Jak & Daxter fans couldn’t be happier. While maintaining a bit of the action from it’s parent series, Daxter is a genius platform game, with a fantastic main character who’s movement and features make for great game play.

Gameplay

As Daxter moves forward in the game, his movements become more complex, with some puzzle-solving required from time-to-time. One items key to his success is obtained by Daxter towards the beginning of the game; a canister of bug spray. He uses it as a booster to propel himself to heights he wouldn’t normally be able to reach and to float over canyons too wide to jump. Eventually he gets to use it as a flamethrower – the required attachment adding some additional force to the canister’s initial functionality.

Features

One feature that makes Daxter fantastic in the PSP format, is that it’s nailed the checkpoint saving system. The checkpoints are fairly close together, allowing you to manually save the game as often as you want and then pick up the game from any checkpoint prior. While the game starts out fairly simply, for the more experienced gamers, it might seem like a bit too much of a cake walk, but don’t give up, as things get more challenging about half way through, with more complex objectives and puzzles.

From a look and feel perspective, Daxter has virtually mirrored his console platform cousins. Both audio and video imitate the originals very well, with absolutely amazing animation and sound effects, as well as an outstanding soundtrack.

Story line

While the storyline is a bit lacking as compared to what you might be used to in the console Jak & Daxter series, Daxter offers up fun and humor while he accomplishes tasks he takes on as a result of his bragging (in a local bar) about being such an talented exterminator. Smashing the bugs is so much fun though, that the lackluster story is easily forgiven. You can up the level of fun with the multiplayer Bug Combat. Naughty Dog borrows from the battle concepts you might find in a Pokemon game when battling opponents bugs, allowing you to breed a band of bug-beasts and then battle using one of three combat types. These mini-games are a blast, allowing you to upgrade throughout the game.

In a nutshell, Daxter is an extraordinary PSP game that’s well worth the play.

In the fantasy world Sistar the demons to wage war against the people. Both parties taking advantage of the power of the dragon, in the hope of bringing about the final victory. After they have each other but almost exterminated, is gaining the upper hand of reason. You decide the kingdom into six parts to share. Three each for men and three for the demons. This peace has stock, they create a hybrid, half human and half demon. Her name is Tehra and she has inhuman strength and magic. It should never go into battle, only if someone breaks the contract. But after a long time its existence is forgotten, and the demons start the war again, what Tehra forces to intervene.

Tehra Dark WarriorSo is it then that we go with the scantily clad Tehra and her oversized sword in the fight. This is the gameplay itself is strictly linear, even if there is ever areas with junctions, we are always required and in what order we have to clean them. Here we are mostly against a dozen opponents, who have the annoying property are constantly trying to push into a corner, what our movement, of course, extremely limited. They are also smart enough never simultaneously carry out their same old attacks, so that we remain constantly on the move at best.

Tehra Dark WarriorDas combat system is quick to learn. It is a key to beating and one for jumping, and both can be combined into a simple combo. In addition Tehra has in the course of the game for several magic attacks, so they can work from a distance. Aufgelevelt will all leave by colored balls which struck down opponents. The health Tehras we make with hearts that we take from the standing around treasure chests. Similarly, their health is usually restored when entering new areas. This is annoying to the combat system as blocking, because we have to anticipate the attacks of our enemies really. We go back a block only if the blow, it is indeed too late. Since the attacks of the opponents, depending on the type but can be predicted quite well, this is indeed possible.

Tehra Dark WarriorTrotzdem is the degree of difficulty not to be despised, because quite soon in the game are the enemy hordes mixed well and we are local and rangers from the same time, the move up often in an infinite number while we try to follow their conditions met at the door unlock the next area. Usually it is for a certain number of crystal makers to dismantle or to kill certain enemies, which can then drop the coveted key. In between, there’s also several boss fights against large dragon, which bring some variety into the game. With the obtained rewards, we can either our fighting strength aufleveln or buy new magic abilities. It will be very carefully considered in which we invest, we go from here to one side, we make the already not an easy game unnecessarily difficult.

Tehra Dark WarriorAn the graph clearly shows the origin of the Games, the iPhone. The areas are designed quite simply, have a lot of rough edges and shine with the absence of any details. The sound design is fine, however, give it a lot of epic orchestral deposits which give the fray something of depth. About the monotonous gameplay does not deceive but creates them as well. Since our Tehra even provided with not very many polygons in smoke, was their female charms almost entirely in the void.

As one of the PSP launch title Ridge Racer shows us the same views on what a splendid Fri graphics the PSP is capable of without ever having to come to a standstill. Although we are from the gameplay offered her virtually no new dafr one can complain about the size of which hardly. Thus, there are a large number of challenges that we have to insist to get in character to the new cars and tracks. Ridge Racer Ridge RacerDenn is exactly on the PSP remained what Ridge Racer has always been an easy arcade racer without appealing to clients high standards but with a lot Spielspa Gepck. Still, it's about the cars Hauptschlich mglichst able to slide the curves allow. This works just like always, it gengt in the curve are too short to let the gas escape to the car, then keep him so long in this position until we come back from the curve. A new addition is the Nitro-Boost, we charge him to slide whrend we use when we need him. A total of three bottles we Nitro fhren with us, we'll be able auffllen successively. Racerberhaupt Ridge is not new, however, the used game mechanics, which drives the fans in the face and Freudentrnen zurcklsst the inexperienced players before unglubig amazed. Because with a real racing game Ridge Racer has little in common, it LSST from gameplay compare her most closely with Outrun. So we start not with a starter right field, instead, the eleven opponents are already on the line and waiting to be asked by us. Accordingly, we drive a real race against the CPU driver, they only serve as movable obstacles, but in reality only at the time. Connoisseurs of the series will recognize many lines at once. Because virtually all from Ridge Racer parts you have uses and ensuring SU FR grte the route selection of RR tracks. The same applies to the cars that seem a very well known. Ridge RacerFr the background music we have several lists of songs to choose from that have been sorted by topic. Anyone who wants can anhren ausschlielich the remixes of the known RR-songs or critical for any new songs. In addition, lists exist in various colors, which should represent the different styles of music. Selbstverstndlich mglich it is also the music off completely. FR The Spa provides us with friends Ridge Racer PSP fr the Possibility to connect with up to eight players via Wi-Fi and unsubscribe a game. This kind of race is also a much more favorable to challenge than the computer drivers in single-player game. Here we have the same cars, tracks and Spielodi for selection as well as offline, so there is no lack of variety.

The principal work of an Italian poet from the 14th Century as a video game? Too bad we’ll never know what would Dante say to this adaptation of his “Divina Commedia” (Divine Comedy). But nowadays, where every
(Un-) possible substance that is reasonably appropriate and popular enough, can be turned into a video game that may be a disappointing washout, one must be grateful that a manufacturer such as EA takes such a sophisticated classic as its muse. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed has indeed shown how one can, through a great game with great attention to historical detail in art and culture, immerse the player in a bygone era. Will the developers of Visceral Games (Dead Space) similarly succeed with Dante’s Inferno?

A slave makes the difference

Dante’s Inferno – Review – Test
In the first part of the Divine Comedy, Dante travels, accompanied by the Roman poet Virgil, through the nine circles of hell. The first is the Limbus, which contains the souls who are excluded from heaven; those who commit lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, deceit and betrayal. Dante’s literary work is not just the hook and the setting of the game. The developers have in fact worked extensively with the original work and use a lot of quotes from Dante. Dante meets regularly in the various sections with his companion Virgil, and some of the best lines from the Divine Comedy are used. A number of other characters that appear in the Divine Comedy, are also featured in the game. Queen Cleopatra, for example, is fittingly the Boss of the lust-circle. The developers have slightly modified the history for the game: Dante is a former Crusader, headed back to his homeland where he finds his beloved Beatrice murdered. In order to find her soul, kidnapped by Lucifer, and repent for once cheating on his wife with a slave, he sets off on his quest.

Hellish carnage

Those who have already read reviews about this game will probably already know: If you like God of War, you’ll like Dante’s Inferno. With a nimble thumb, you’re just like Kratos cutting through the enemy hordes. You’ve got normal and strong attacks available, plus jumps, which can be combined to make wicked cool combination moves. Dante’s weapon is an oversized scythe, which he snatches from the first end boss. Moreover, he can block, dodge and attack the hellish creatures from a distance and through the course of the game learn magic attacks. The run of the mill enemies help you familiarize yourself with the controls and the options for attack. Despite this useful practice, it can still get pretty tedious slashing through dozens of bad guys, although you do eventually come up against bigger and stronger creatures. Without blocking and dodging, you’re a goner. By the end of the game, the your range has extended so far, that the game consists of continuous button smashing while fighting hard to not get bored. It’s a game of Dante fighting especially large and tough horned monsters with giant birds, throwing fireballs, and giant earthworms shooting out of the earth.

Dante’s Inferno – Review – Test
A special treat is the huge mounted creatures. Once you have inflicted enough blows with your scythe, can press the right trigger to start a Quick Time Event. If you can choose the option the subsequent sequence-screen buttons in time, Dante swings on the back of the monster and the player controls it for a while. It’s pretty sweet. Unlike you, you’re enemies have huge fists and feet, so watch out. Overall, the number of enemies is overwhelming, and the array of monsters is awe-inspiring. But the developers really outdid themselves on the eerie and almost unsurpassable End Level Boss. To defeat this giant, Dante must use a certain tactic or exploit his environment. There is usually a quick-time event to master, too. One of many highlights is the struggle against King Minos: Dante impales his tongue at the end in a spectacular sequence with a pointed gear and then turns it … violent, but wow….

Mysterious and abrupt change

To progress through the game, you’ll sweep hundreds of enemies off the screen, but it is not always martial arts which are in demand. Dante’s actually a pretty small protagonist for this game. There’s some puzzles, basic block-pushing ones and the like. Don’t worry; your brain will not put excessive use. There are also a few jump-passages that provide variety. Dante climbs and swings from ropes or chains over gaps and needs to be careful not to be burnt crispy by fire fountains. The right timing is the biggest thing in this game. While there are some tricky points in the game, it’s pretty easy and straightforward. There is a small flaw with the backtrack, however: when backtracking, sometimes Dante’s health will not refill at a checkpoint, which poses a big problem if you have an army of enemies on your tail. Checkpoints will restore your health though. You can change the difficulty level on the menu if needed.

Seal the Redemption?

Dante’s Inferno – Review – Test
Dante can exercise judgement on the enemies he fights, deciding whether to punish or redeem them. Pressing the button for punishment will result in unholiness; with redemption, holiness points. The points you collect have an impact not only on the end of the game, but also unlocks various new capabilities, which you can buy with collected souls. Devastating new combo attacks become available with levels of unholiness, while on the other hand holiness increases Dante’s health or magic bar. It all depends on your preferences in improving your protagonists, whether you are more of a punisher or savior. During the game, there are the so-called relics of the expenses from the original console game, Judas’ coins being one of them.

Director: bare madness

The bombastic staging of HD consoles made the mobile version very authentic. The much vaunted soundtrack worked in perfect harmony with the very respectable graphics to create an emotional atmosphere that beguiles your senses. The only downside is that this amazing atmosphere causes occasional breaks and the smooth transition between rendering sequences and in-game material is interrupted. This happens more frequently as you increase the specs.