I'd always been curious about the series, and despite not having played the first title, with no news of a localisation, I recently got hold of the Japanese release of number 2. Having done so, I was asked to share a few impressions, so here goes.
The game begins with a flashy CG intro. It is very 'anime', and aside from the usual silly hair and huge weapons, there are hints of wub-wub, and also females of questionable age and unlikely proportions wobbling their bodies about and posing inappropriately in clothing that barely clothes. Let's move on. Once you've gone through some menus there's another, more story-focused cinematic, which gives you a better impression of the world, as a ruined, barren place prowled by monsters, where our protagonists seem to live on some giant, train-like vessel. Now we're talking.
Your character creation options seem to focus more on the minor details rather than general getup, and as such it was hard to make a character that didn't look like some kind of butler. Here he is being rudely interrupted during the throes of a private moment.
One of the earliest characters I met was 'Julius', the clearly intended badass of the group, who also seemed massively over-dressed and very serious. The first female character I met though, Nana, addressed this balance by managing to be bubbly and chirpy despite her being semi naked. Sigh.
In-game, my expectations were to expect a light touch Monster-Hunter-a-like, and whilst there are definitely similarities, it certainly seems to put a lot more emphasis on getting straight to the action, and keeping it fast-paced and responsive. There are no long-winded intros to gathering, combining and so on, and straight into a combat tutorial you are moving about quickly, and can jump, dash, dodge and so on with relative ease.
Weapon usage is quick too - it certainly doesn't feel like the kind of commitment that you make when you do start going on the offensive in MH, and from early enemies at least it felt like I could be staying out of harm's way pretty easily, provided I didn't get too gung-ho.
Once you're back on the train-boat-thing there seems to be a fair range of things to do; different areas to talk to different NPCs, further tutorials to view, shops to buy from, and a range of missions to enroll on too. Story certainly seems to be much more important than in MH also.
Is it import-friendly? Not especially. There's plenty of kanji, and whilst that's not to say you won't be able to bluff your way through a fair portion of it, basic katakana can still help you through a number of the menus, and there's often pictoral markers on who you need to go talk to next and so on. I'm sure those who have cut their teeth with the first will certainly have a better grasp of the game than I did too.
I'd certainly give it more of a shot were it to be localised, however I think I've already reached my limit of what I'm really willing to explore with it. It looks very nice (not tried on the VitaTV yet, however I'm told it's on a par with most PS3 releases), and I know I have barely scratched the surface with this first look, however it really feels like something best played with others, or at least a comprehension of the finer points of the system.
Get on it, Namco.
The game begins with a flashy CG intro. It is very 'anime', and aside from the usual silly hair and huge weapons, there are hints of wub-wub, and also females of questionable age and unlikely proportions wobbling their bodies about and posing inappropriately in clothing that barely clothes. Let's move on. Once you've gone through some menus there's another, more story-focused cinematic, which gives you a better impression of the world, as a ruined, barren place prowled by monsters, where our protagonists seem to live on some giant, train-like vessel. Now we're talking.
Your character creation options seem to focus more on the minor details rather than general getup, and as such it was hard to make a character that didn't look like some kind of butler. Here he is being rudely interrupted during the throes of a private moment.
One of the earliest characters I met was 'Julius', the clearly intended badass of the group, who also seemed massively over-dressed and very serious. The first female character I met though, Nana, addressed this balance by managing to be bubbly and chirpy despite her being semi naked. Sigh.
In-game, my expectations were to expect a light touch Monster-Hunter-a-like, and whilst there are definitely similarities, it certainly seems to put a lot more emphasis on getting straight to the action, and keeping it fast-paced and responsive. There are no long-winded intros to gathering, combining and so on, and straight into a combat tutorial you are moving about quickly, and can jump, dash, dodge and so on with relative ease.
Weapon usage is quick too - it certainly doesn't feel like the kind of commitment that you make when you do start going on the offensive in MH, and from early enemies at least it felt like I could be staying out of harm's way pretty easily, provided I didn't get too gung-ho.
Once you're back on the train-boat-thing there seems to be a fair range of things to do; different areas to talk to different NPCs, further tutorials to view, shops to buy from, and a range of missions to enroll on too. Story certainly seems to be much more important than in MH also.
Is it import-friendly? Not especially. There's plenty of kanji, and whilst that's not to say you won't be able to bluff your way through a fair portion of it, basic katakana can still help you through a number of the menus, and there's often pictoral markers on who you need to go talk to next and so on. I'm sure those who have cut their teeth with the first will certainly have a better grasp of the game than I did too.
I'd certainly give it more of a shot were it to be localised, however I think I've already reached my limit of what I'm really willing to explore with it. It looks very nice (not tried on the VitaTV yet, however I'm told it's on a par with most PS3 releases), and I know I have barely scratched the surface with this first look, however it really feels like something best played with others, or at least a comprehension of the finer points of the system.
Get on it, Namco.
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