Industry Giant 2 Review (PS4)

So you think you can run a conglomerate?  You say you want to affect change and provide for the masses?  Well, here's your chance.  This is Industry Giant 2.

Industry Giant 2 is a business simulator and a fairly complicated one at that.  In it, you play as an all-seeing, all-knowing, invisible tycoon in your bid to create a monopoly in everything...or just one thing.  If you want to focus on grocery stores, that's possible.  If you just want to focus on toys, like Toys 'R' Us, you can do that.  While you can't create a bunch of one-stop shops like Walmart, put your fingers in any many pies as you want.  You get to decided the type of greedy bastard you want to be.

Gameplay-wise, the game is like a city simulator, but not really.  There are various cities around the map, but you don't build them up.  You can plop down parks, colleges, roads, and other things, but you don't have full control over when and where the people build.  Instead, you "influence" them to grow by giving them the products they want.  But how does one do this?  It's here where things get complicated.

As a tycoon, your job is to control every aspect of the products you're selling.  I mean EVERY aspect.  Gathering the raw resources, manufacturing the products in factories, and getting them to stores for the customers to buy, making sure you have enough products to buy, it's all on you.  You have build storehouses, transportation, and stores, making sure everything is in sync the whole time.  You have to determine how hard your workers work and how much to pay them, what and how much product the factories make, what products the warehouses store, where the transports take the products.  It's all...pretty tiring to be honest.

A number of factors go into meeting your goals.  Placing buildings is a very finicky process.  Generally, you want to aim for maximum effect.  You want your stores where there are a lot of customers.  You want your farms where they will produce the most, but as far as possible from cities.  You also want to make sure you products are within range of the storehouses and that your storehouses are in range of your stores.

At the start, place stores in areas with lots of customers to profit quicker.

It's not just enough to produce goods and build stores.  You also need to figure out the best way to get those goods from city to city.  You can chose to use trucks, trains, and boats to transport things from storehouse to storehouse.  Good sense comes into play when choosing your transports.  Trucks may be good for transporting good to small markets that are near your producers, but they don't make much sense when trying to supply a large market on the opposite side of the map.  When in doubt, trains are the way to go.

Everything would be fine if the game wasn't so clunky.  I mean EVERYTHING is clunky.  Producing goods is clunky, especially when said goods need multiple resources to create.  Every part of the good has to be in the storehouse or you're not making anything.  If you're not sure what you need, you can always check the Lexicon and search for whatever you're trying to produce.

Make sure everything you need is in a storehouse if you want to make products.

You'll see the makeup of every product as it becomes available.

Transportation is even clunkier.  You select a transport station near a warehouse, select the good you want to transport, select another transports station near another warehouse that's also near a store, then finally send your vehicle on its way to the next station, which is hopefully near another storehouse.  To select a station, you simply press X.  Then selecting goods requires you to press L1 to get to the goods menu and Square to select the goods.  Finally, to select the station to transport to, you have to press L3 (or pressing the left stick down for the uninitiated).  This sounds simple, but it took me TWO HOURS to figure out what to do and how to do it.  So yeah, don't pass on those tutorials.

Figuring out transportation can be a bitch if you forgo tutorials.

Well, on to the little stuff.  The graphics look good for what they are.  The buildings look good, on par with games like SimCity 3000, maybe even a little better.  You'll see the cities slowly growing, building its own roads and structures.  The resources are clearly indicated on the map, so you'll immediately know what building you need to harvest them.  You'll see your trucks, boats, and trains cruising along as fast as they can from transport station to transport station.  In short, the graphics are adequate.

With these comical-looking markers, you'll always know what harvest building you'll need.

The cities look quite good.

If the graphics have a flaw, it's that they are too small.  This is especially the case with the text.  It's barely readable.  There's no option to resize it.  You're just stuck to deal with it the best you can, which is bullshit.  You shouldn't need a magnifying glass to read the darned text.

If you want to read anything, bring your magnifying glass.

The sound is serviceable.  When you get close to a store, you'll hear a cash register.  Approach a chicken farm and you'll hear chickens clucking.  Things sound generic, but it's not something that can be vastly improved.  The same is true of the music.  Nothing will have you rocking your head, but you won't be reaching for your earplugs, either.  It works for the most part.  Each song has a unique flavor, but there aren't many tracks, so you'd better get used the them because they'll repeat often.

A major flaw I came across was a loading error where I couldn't load a game I'd been working on for a while.  It only happened once and I was able to load the game later, but it was quite odd.  There was some minor freezing here and there, but the game performs well enough otherwise.

On the whole, Industry Giant 2 is a clunky, complicated beast.  It has quite the learning curve, so you'd better be ready for some growing pains.  You'll learn that it's not easy being a greedy bastard.  Besides the small text size, though, nothing was too off-putting.  Things will be quite clunky in the beginning.  As long as you aren't expecting the game to be like SimCity or Cities Skylines, you should be able to get some enjoyment out of it.  Give It A Try.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout Review (PS4)

A cute, little girl.  Cute, little monsters.  A cute, little world.  It time to return to the world of Atelier.  This is Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout.

The Atelier series has been one of my favorites since Atelier Totori.  These games seem to be coming out more frequently since then, but I still look forward to each entry.  The cuteness of the world is appealing to me and at the center of it all is a cute, innocent female protagonist.  This particular tale stars a girl call Ryza and her merry band of friends as they search for adventure and discover danger.

Ryza is a little different than other Atelier protagonists in one obvious way; she's stacked.  Seriously, her character model would be fine for Dead Or Alive, but it's a little too much for the main protagonist of an Atelier game, where the heroines usually seem to be 15 or under.  I'm not sure how old Ryza is, but the point is she's simply too sexy to be an Atelier protagonist.  Also, she's not as stylish as most other protags, choosing drab but functional clothes over the gaudy garments of past alchemists.

Our protagonist is hotter than she has any right being.

She still an Atelier protag deep down inside.

The gameplay is quite different from past Atelier games, especially when it comes to combat.  You are encouraged to increase your tactics level.  Each time you do this, your characters will perform longer combo attacks, doing more damage to enemies.  You have very little control over your AI allies, but you can freely switch characters at any time.  On the whole, the combat is refined and I enjoyed battles more than previous games.

Combat has a lot of moving parts, but is pretty smooth overall.

On the map, monsters may or may not attack you.  Some will charge you if you get close.  Some will stand there looking confused, especially if you're much stronger than them.  Some won't attack, but may issue a warning in the form of a hiss.  Others will be going about their daily lives, laughing and frolicking through the tulips.  No matter what, if you touch an enemy, you'll enter combat.  Make sure you "touch" them with your staff to get a preemptive strike, which usually gives you two free rounds to attack and one free tactical level.  Unlike most games, you don't have to sneak up on them for this to work.  Just hit them with your staff before they touch you and you'll have the advantage.

Sometimes monsters will ignore you and go about their daily business.  It's cute.

You'll also go on quests, both for NPCs and party members.  Completing a request for a party member may allow them to learn a new move, so you'll want to do those.  You also have storyline request, which you MUST fulfill to progress the story.

Party quest will make you characters stronger, so make sure to do them.

Alchemy is a little different.  Supposedly, you can create your own recipes, but that's BS.  You CAN find recipes within others, but you can't just pull a recipe from your ass with whatever ingredients you can put together.  It's not bad, but perhaps I was expecting too much.

Recipes can be found within other recipe or by reading books.

As usual, you'll have to forage, scavenge, and buy the best materials you can find to make the best items.  You'll even rob farms of their crops, beat on trees with an ax and hammer, and dig through garbage to get what you need.  Using different tools on a gathering point will usually yield different resources.  For example, using an ax on a tree will usually get you eiche, but using a hammer usually will get you dried lumber.  So you're encouraged to try everything.

There are differences outside of combat and alchemy, too.  The most jarring thing is that you can't just talk to anyone.  You can only talk to people with a Pacman symbol over their heads.  You can also talk to people with a box of stuff over their head, indicating their status as a shopkeepers.  Of course, you can talk to people with quest markers.  It's not a big deal, but as someone who's played many RPGs where you can talk to everyone, it was an adjustment.

Tell me that doesn't look like Pacman.

At first, I thought this was a castle over the shopkeeper's head.

Request badges come in red urgent task and green for less urgent tasks.

On to the little stuff.  Graphically, the game is the best Atelier game yet.  Characters and especially environments seem to have more "pop" than in previous games.  I've already gone into detail, about Ryza's appearance, but another character is even...bigger than her.  All the females have more "appeal" than in previous entries in the series.  Most of the monsters are still cute and little, but some actually look intimidating.

Look at the size of this woman's..."appeal".

It's so...cute!

Environments are beautiful, especially at night.

The music is a little less cute and more epic than usual.  Just a little.  There's still plenty of cute flute music in here.  As for sounds, the biggest difference I've noticed is that that monsters on the map make noises.  The eerie, childlike laugh of the fairy-types stands out the most.  Sadly, there are no English voices.

On another note, there seems to be an unusual amount of swearing in this game.  I've played a lot of Atelier games and I've missed just as many, but I don't remember the characters talking like this before.  It's not overkill, but it was pretty weird to see.

Did Atelier characters always talk like this.

Of course there's DLC.  No game is complete without it these days.  Honestly, some of it is interesting if nothing else.  It's there if you want it.

With Atelier Ryza, we have a good game.  Graphically, the game has more pop.  Musically, the game has a slightly heavier tone, but still has some cuteness.  The game has a slightly more mature feel without losing too many of the things that make an Atelier game.  Ryza herself is a little much physically and there is an uptick in swearing, so some innocence has been lost.  Obviously, there's stuff I didn't touch on for the sake of length, but for the most part, everything has been improved.  Can't wait to try the sequel.  Play it.

Last Surprise & Tokyo Emergency

The Persona series is filled with great music.  Persona 3's Snow Queen and Persona 4's Your Affection are among the glorious tracks you'll hear in past games.  Persona 5 Royal continues the trend of Persona games cranking out the great tracks.

Pop Persona 5 Royal into your PS4 and you can expect to hear tracks such as A Woman, Take Over, Blooming Villain, Butterfly Kiss, and...you get the point.  There's too much good music to list.  Two tracks that stand out in particular are Last Surprise and Tokyo Emergency.

So, what makes these tracks so good?  I mean they are good, but not the best tracks.  They are, however, the only tracks that make me think of characters, so I like to view them as character themes.  Up first is Last Surprise.

Last Surprise is the song that plays when you fight Shadows.  It features full vocals and has sort of a Disco vibe to it.  For reasons unknown to even me, I consider it to be the theme of Ann, the eye-candy of the Phantom Thieves.

The game goes out of it's way to say, "She's the hot one.  Drool, fools!"

Tokyo Emergency is the song that plays in school after you discover a Palace.  It's quite heavy on the guitar.  The organ gives it kind of a sporty sound, which reminds me of Makoto, the badass female of the Phantom Thieves.

Is it me or does she always look angry?

And those are just two of the great tracks from Persona 5 Royal.  Make sure you grab your copy so you can enjoy these tracks and more.

If I Were Making Dead Or Alive 7...

It appears as if Dead Or Alive 6 is dead.  The only players left are the hardcore crowd and true fans, like myself.  While I'm still hoping for a DOA 6 Ultimate or Last Round (which I will buy if it comes out), it's time to move on for the trainwreck that is DOA 6.  That means it's time to dust off my Hypernerd Workbench and put together a Dead Or Alive 7 wishlist.  So, if I were making DOA 7, I would...

1.  Make Better Costumes

Dead Or Alive 5 had lots of outfits for all your needs.  You had outfits that could make your character look cool, sexy, functional, or whatever.  DOA 6's costumes collection was a collective meh, especially the DLC ones.  Also, Zack has had bad outfits throughout the series.  Give that man some outfits that don't look...suspect.

I don't want this costume to return ever again.

Of course I'm not saying take away the sexy stuff, because that's one of the things that makes DOA what it is.  I love me some swimsuits (I don't think they should just be limited to Xtreme) and school uniforms.  I'm just saying to be a little more original and/or cool, especially when it comes to what the guys are wearing.

Swimsuits should not just be for the Xtreme series.

The creepy fetish outfits don't really have to go, but probably should have a limit.

More costumes like this, Team Ninja.

2.  Make Better Customization Options

DOA 6 had shitty customization.  There are several solutions to this, most of which have been mentioned ad nauseum.  One way I think customization could be improved is make it so that players can add take away parts of outfits.  I'm not talking about anything predictable, like trotting a character out in their underwear.  No, more like making small changes that can make the same outfit look drastically different.  For example, take Rig's default outfit, a hooded vest and work pants.  It looks cool and all, but I can't help but feel the ability to raise or lower the hood before the fight would make it that much better.  How about the ability to open or close jackets, as well as the ability to removing them from costumes that have them?  Simple things like that can reinvent the wheel without breaking it.  And I'll never say no to a color-selection palette.  All that is before we get to any actual accessories.

One thing I would NOT do is the one-size-fits-all garbage that games like Tekken and Soul Calibur do.  The pieces often look too big and awkward in those games.  This is also why I wouldn't do away with character-specific outfits and accessories.  They just look better.  DOA is a series that's always looked good.  Let's keep it that way.

As good as this outfit is, I've always wanted to lower the hood.

Kokoro's exercise outfit looks fine...

...but I'd like the option to add a jacket like this and unzip it as well.

I would love to change the length and color of socks like this.

3.  Make Better Character Choices

DOA 6 had a nice starting cast, but the characters they added via DLC left a little something to be desired.  I'm never going to be against Mai Shiranui in a DOA game no matter how many times they bring her back, and Tamaki is nice, but Kula Diamond...they could have done better.  Even from the King of Fighters roster, there were so many better choices than Kula.  I thought they should have mixed it up and added another guy, like Kyo or Terry.  If they were dead set on adding another girl, KOF has better option there as well, with King, Shermie, Leona, and the list goes on and on.  That's just characters from King of Fighters.  The could have added Virtua Fighter characters who didn't appear in DOA 5, such as Eileen and Lion.  Street Fighter characters like Cammy and Sakura would make my day.  And I'm praying they make a play for one or two Tekken characters, perhaps Asuka, Lili, and/or any of the Mishimas.  And I would have a nerdgasm if Ryofu from Ikkitousen made the cut.  Simply put, guest characters should make your players say, "Holy crap! Look who they added!"  Not, "Ehh…they could have chosen a better character."

NiCO and Diego were solid additions that I liked more than I thought I would.

Kula has grown on me over the years, but she has no business being in DOA.

4.  Stop Bullshit DLC Practices

Those season passes are total bullshit.  There is NO reason for a season pass to cost more than a brand new game that isn't heavily discounted.  For a game that's already less popular than the competition, that is suicide (hence the game is dead).  $90 season passes will only piss off the fans (speaking as a fan) and chase away anyone who might have been willing to give the game a try.  These passes should be $50 tops and even that's pushing it.

Does this make sense to you?

On the other hand, DOA 5 had $2000 of DLC.  Season passes can help reduce the costs if you want it all, but I prefer the pick-and-choose method when it comes to DLC, to avoid paying for shitty content.

5.  Have A Better Sense Of Direction

Even before the game came out it seemed DOA 6 was doing its best to kill itself.   First, they said they were going to avoid the skimpy outfits for the sake of being taken more seriously at tournaments.  This, of course, didn't sit well with the fans who weren't super hardcore because that's one of the things that sets the series apart.  Then they decided to throw in some skimpy outfits anyway, which pissed off outsiders (who weren't going to buy the game anyway).  The end result is that everyone got confused, it still wasn't taken seriously, and recorded low play numbers even at its peak.  Now, a mere one and a half years later, the game is dead.  Go all the way or don't go at all.  Trust your player base.  And above all, don't listen to bums who never have or will buy your game no matter what you do.

I would also get rid of that god-awful costume parts unlocking system.  Either bring back the old way of unlocking a costume each time you beat a game mode or have all the parts earned go towards whatever character the player is using.  The randomizing of parts would only be acceptable in the instance that you unlock all of a character's outfits and continue using that character.  The way it is now is BS.  You shouldn't have to grind for 26 years to get the outfits you want.  It wouldn't even take that long if you weren't earning points towards outfits and characters you don't want 95% of the time.

As for that hair debacle...let's not even start on the stupidity of that.  Who thought that was a good idea?  That person should be without a job if he or she still has one.

And that how I would START creating Dead Or Alive 7.  As mentioned before, I am a huge fan of DOA, so it sucks to see the game in this shape.  It is my second favorite fighting game series behind Street Fighter.  I want to see it live again, because the games have a lot going for them once you get past all the BS.  If DOA wants to live again, it needs to embrace everything it is and IMPROVE it, not run it into the ground.

So, what would you do if you were making DOA 7?  Add more males?  Remove sexy outfits entirely?  Make the DLC better or worse?  Add one or more new game modes?  Something else?  Comment and have your voice heard.

Beautiful Lie

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is a game with a lot of good music.  I have quite a few of the game's songs on my playlist.  This includes the song you'll probably hear most throughout your playthrough, Beautiful Lie.

I always associate Beautiful Lie with Kaede Akamatsu.

Beautiful Lie is a piano-heavy track that plays when you're just walking around, enjoying the School Life portions of the game.  Just hearing it fills my head with thoughts of semi-protagonist, Kaede Akamatsu.  I can see her wearing a hardhat, working hard on a construction site.  What?  Just me?  Anyway, take a listen.

And that's Beautiful Lie, a song I consider to be Kaede's theme.  It's probably the best roaming theme in the series.  Check out Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony to listen to it and other good music.

The Music Of Ayane

Anyone who's read my post will know it's no secret that I am a fan of the Dead Or Alive series.  The series is filled with good characters and hot chicks.  At the top of the pile, Ayane stands tall and proud over all of them.  Jahn-Lee, Lei Fang, NiCO, they're all mere insects compared to Ayane.

So, what's so good about Ayane?  She has a fresh look, a unique fighting style, and some of the best character themes in the series.  From game to game, I look forward to seeing what song Ayane will fight to next.  It's time to look back at Ayane's great themes.  I'll be sticking with the themes of the Dead Or Alive series themes, so her themes in other games (like Warriors Orochi 3) won't be here.  Anyway, let's get on with it.

1.  Original DOA Theme

This theme sounds like you're fighting a snobby schoolgirl while trying to sound epic at the same time.  It starts off very Japanese-sounding, with the flute and shimasen.  It ends with that trademark "Ayane" sound.

2.  Tehu Tehu

A guitar heavy theme that draws heavily from her DOA 1 theme.  It starts off with off with a guitar and a flute.  Then, the flute gets low and sounds so eerie.  From that point, it's what you'd expect of an Ayane theme.

3.  Prismatic Butterfly

A dark but beautiful theme for a dark and beautiful character.  It start off with a low flute, which sets the tone for the rest of the song.  It's exactly how I think it would sound if a smoking hot ninja were out to get you.

4.  Shade

Kind of a peaceful theme that still has the undeniable sound of Ayane.  It sounds like something she'd listen to while doing yoga or going on a run through the woods.  She's not doing anything urgent.  A little too peaceful for a fighting game but still a theme worthy of Ayane.

In the end, Ayane has a strong lineup of themes.  They all perfectly capture the sound of Ayane.  Hopefully, she (and the other characters) get more good themes in the future.  So, which character's themes do you like?  Comment and have your voice heard.

Tekken's Top 10 Themes

Good fighting games have it all.  Good gameplay, good graphics, good controls and good characters.  The thing that can bring it all together, however, is good music.

The Tekken series is no exception to this.  The series has featured a number of great tracks over the years.  Of course, there are a select few that rise above the rest.  It won't be easy, but it's time to separate the elite cream from the cream.  These are my top 10 Tekken themes.

10.  School theme (Tekken Tag Tournament)

The initial bells let you know that school is out and ass-kicking class is in session.  Seems like a good rave song.  Decent for fighting in front of a bunch of high school kids.

9.  Hacked (Tekken 6)

This song makes me think of summer for some reason.  A nice song for an intense bike ride or a jog in the park on a hot day.

8.  Authentic Sky (Tekken 4)

A droning song featuring a piano.  Better than described here.  It really works on the level it's featured on, which has the fighters brawling on a rooftop on an overcast day.

7.  Zirkus (Tekken Tag Tournament 2)

Not sure why, but this song makes me think of winter.  In other words, it really doesn't fit with the level it's played on.  I certainly don't think of a "Zirkus" when I hear it.  Good for a cold bike ride to the store.

6. Congested Rage (Tekken 6)

One of the most memorable moments of Tekken 6's Campaign Mode was Paul punching through a wall and growling.  This song is timed perfectly with the scene, making for a moment that's both epic and hilarious.  It also works well when fighting spoiled blonde girls, beating on professional wrestlers and MMA fighters, and others.

5.  Lei Wulong arranged theme (Tekken 3)

Sounds like it should be in a Jackie Chan movie.  You can just see him bouncing off walls, jumping off roofs, and kicking ass while this is playing.  Goes well with Tekken's version of the martial arts legend.

4.  Be In The Mirror (Tekken 2)

You can just hear the evil in this track.  The violin, the piano, and those especially those trumpets are fitting for such an imposing opponent.  It also helps you relax and keep from breaking the controller when Devil starts shooting lasers (which can't be blocked).

3.  Ka-En-No-Mai (Tekken 5)

This track is so Japanese.  I'm not sure who's playing that instrument (a shamisen, I think), but they need to get more work in future soundtracks.

2. Lonesome City Jazz Party 1st Round (Tekken 7)

The "jazz" part reminds me of Nina Williams on a stealth mission.  Then, a rave breaks out and she starts dancing.  The jazz hits again and it's back to sneaking around.  Yeah, I know it's stupid.  It doesn't really work for the level it's on, but it's a good song based on its own merits.

1.  Unforgiven (Tekken 5)

Perhaps the most badass song in the series, it's only enhanced by the stage you're fighting in.  You're in a warehouse (or some shady place) with a van swinging from the ceiling and a crowd cheering and jeering (perfectly in rhythm with the song, mind you).  It just sounds like you're in a fighting environment.

And with that, the difficult task of picking Tekken's top 10 songs is complete.  It wasn't easy.  There were plenty of good songs that got left off.  Jack 2's arranged theme, Ling Xiaoyu's Tekken 3 arranged theme, and many others all could have made the cut, but there has to be a cutoff.  Right?  Agree?  Disagree?  What are your favorite Tekken songs?  Comment and have your voice heard.