The 3rd Birthday - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 83


If you're familiar with the original Parasite Eve, you'll be glad to meet Aya and her sister, Eve.But unfortunately, this isn't a Role Playing Game. Of course, you can still gain level, but the focus is more on the guns. As you accumulate points, you can upgrade them to get better precision and more ammo capacity. This game is actually easy to understand and straightforward, and there is one more element to the game, that is collecting DNA strands. You can piece them together on multiple boards which can enhance your capabilities, such as gun reloading speed, health regeneration rate and near invincibility ability.


3rd Birthday is a challenging game, but if you can get past all the difficulty swings, it's a surprisingly wonderful experience. The game has a pretty graphic and the storyline is conveyed in such a way that can be followed by all gamers, despite the fact it's a Square Enix game. As a sequel to the Parasite Eve series, it's acceptable but there is something that's missing in this compared to the other 2 games. Some of the PE fans could be disappointed with the fact that it's a shooter.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 73


This game is making a strong appearance in most consoles. In general, the PSP version plays very similarly to the DS and 3DS versions. While the gaming experience is not exactly unique, it's still captivating and can keep you occupied in a plane or bus.
The LEGo Pirates is just a standard fare compared to other games in the LEG series. If you are familiar with one LEGO game before, you can play others. You'll quickly run through the advanture storyline that is shown in the four movies, while collecting glass bottle ships. red bricks, doubloons and studs. Of course, you'll get some puzzles too. Each characters come with his/her own abilities and you can seamlessly switch to different party member at any time. The gameplay design is what made the rest of LEGO games so mesmerizing and it countinues to be exciting right to this very moment.
Although you can call this game as a LEGO antic, it is still quite exciting to play, even if you've played all LEGO games before. Unfortunately, the 3DS version is more superior because it has a few extra gameplay elements to offer.

The Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 87
The Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection is a package of three Final Fantasy games (the original FF IV, FF IV: Interlude and FF IV: The After Years), with some extra contents in a great presentation. Undoubtedly, the characters are among the most memorable in the RPG world, intertwined in a great storyline. Unfortunately, FF IV is an old game, and you can't turn a once slick 1960's Mustang into a Bugatti Veyron. Be prepared for a dated graphic, which reminds you with SNES. Of course, there is nothing wrong with playing a game with an old graphic, if it can revive plenty of priceless memories. Final Fantasy series is famous for its iconic soundtrack, and in this case the FF IV still can put soundtracks for other RPG games to shame. If you want to start play a Final Fantasy IV, you should start at Friday afternoon and make sure you don't have anything to do at weekend. Be prepared to get lost and immersed in a wonderful world for days. Let's just hope that you can get back to the planet Earth by Monday morning.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 78
Just like many JRPGs, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is information heavy and quite extensive. Fortunately, the interface is also highly polished. The graphics might be great for 4 or 5 years ago, but for 2011 it can be considered as modest. While playing the game, you'll get light-hearted, catchy music, which is fun to listen to, in fact it may be a little too fun sometimes.
Overall, the fascinating narrative, amusing writing and dynamic combat mechanics, will keep PSP gamers hooked up until the very end. For average players, the game can last for about 40 hours and as two more sequels are coming shortly, this title is a wonderful opening for a long and enjoyable adventure.

Patapon 3 - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 81

Patapon is a wonderful franchise, however it's an exclusively PSP game, so if you never play a Playstation, it's likely that you'll never heard of Patapon. The game has a good presentation and understanding its nitty gritty would take some time and effort. However, there are ways to make the game simpler and more accessible than previous installments.
The graphic remain wonderful, with some creatures from the previous titles now show up as bosses. Even so you'll find many new assts. Things are colorful and everything pops up like cartoon.
The songs are still old hat but catchy as ever. Some background music and tunes prove to be a wonderful change of pace. Although, Patapon 3 has a solid gameplay, a few level grinding might wear your down eventually. But in general, the combat is exciting and you'll be continuously motivated to level up your tribe with armors and weapons. Of course, the online gameplay is awesome. The game has a solid lasting appeal, it's simply ridiculous. There are just so many things to unlock and discover.

Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 83
This game is an excellent hybrid between fighting and RPG. It has an epic amount of contents taken from the earlier Dissidia Final Fantasy, which incredibly fun to play. Just like other FF spin-offs, the game isn’t without its faults. You need to overcome a steeper learning curve, however if you are patient, the reward is simply incredible. Playing the game for the first time is like grasping a new, foreign language, which is rather difficult and intimidating initially. But in the end, it would really worth it. Completing the game takes patience and a good deal of experimenting. With the original Dissidia you may spend 100 hours to complete, so you should expect similar amount of time to complete Duodecim.

Gods Eater Burst - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 71
Of course, the game doesn’t ask you to kill or eat Gods. But in the virtual realm inside the game, humanity is being hunted down by an organism called the Aragami. It devours life for its survival and can assume different forms when needed. Only very few human remains, and under Fenrir, they intend to rebuild the world. The game is all about killing critters and gathering loot. It offers great ideas in the process, including complex bullet creation and transforming weapon model. Unfortunately, the game lacks enough variety. Additionally, Aragami may cowardly flee the combat, giving you hollow victories sometimes. Although there are better titles out there, the game does feel interesting for specific audience

Ys I & II Chronicles - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 74
Overall, the story, graphics, gameplay and all, it plays like Ys I. If you know the first game, playing the second one is easy. Perhaps, the only big addition is Adol's ability to use magic, which would be really handy in his perilous journey to defeat enemies that he will encounter. The sequel shows that you can still use the original recipe of RPG plus a few nice things, to give you something that really worth your time and money. RPG fanatics should have this game. Unfortunately, the lack of direction tend to hold Ys II back, although it won't break the game.

You may think that "if ain't broke don't fix it!".But it may not apply with Ys series, the Ys chronicles show that bringing a classic series to a brand new platform can be something good. The combination of original gameplay, fantastic retro feel and also superb soundtrack make it a must for any PSP owner.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together PSP Game Review

SCORE: 86
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together can be the greatest classic remake I've ever found. It has an excellent source material along with how the developers address all sticking points that tend to frustrate me these years. For starters, you may find it an impeccable piece of prgramming, which is a welcome change to previous English releases of the series. Its World system essentially changes the principal nature of Tactics Ogre.
It is formerly a game that entails difficult decision-making, but now it's more about exploring the outcome. It may seem like a subtle decision, but it is definitely a meaningful one. And it means for about 15 years after its debt, Tactics Ogre can still be considered slightly ahead of the normal curve. You will feel that its narration is a notch above the competition. The developers are finally able to to put the game mechanics on par with the beautiful storyline, in fact, it can be considered as new standard in developing a remake. The game is still highly faithful to its original storyline, while making it more engrossing and deeper that the previous titles. The game may not be for everyone, even so any serious fan of strategy RPG games should not miss this excellent remastered masterpiece.

Shift Extended - PSP Game Review

SCORE: 81

SHIFT is an interesting game featuring a bit of humor and crafty puzzles using a single, inventive mechanic. It isn’t without its flaws, but if the $3.99 price tag for only a few hours of play doesn’t scare you off, I’d definitely recommend checking it out. SHIFT is unique due to its inversion core mechanic. Its monochrome visuals are essentially critical to its gameplay execution. The bumpers will reverse gravity and the subject's alignment to everything around him. You can shift from white to black and the other way around, as the results platforms can become pit and things that are previously unreachable can be reached easily. I complete the whole 120 rooms in one day and the real challenge will appear in the last 30 rooms. In fact, you can finish the first 70 rooms in an hour or so. You may think that $4 is a little steep for one day of gaming time.