See what Bandai Namco brought to the Big Apple with them this year!
Once again Bandai Namco decided to show off their upcoming software lineup in New York City this summer and I was lucky enough to get an up close and personal look at what they were showing. It was very similar to their E3 presentation/software shown but there were differences as well so without any delay lets get right into it!
Like I mentioned before most of the games that Bandai Namco showed off at E3 this year were in NYC as well. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 were shown as well as one of the games that everyone wanted to see, Dark Souls 3.
The demo video for Dark Souls 3 at E3 showed how tough it looked. Getting my hands on a playable version proved my thoughts about just how tough the game really is. Enemies can come from just about anywhere in the game world and take just as much skill to defeat them. The controls are easy enough to learn but will take quite some time and practice to master. You’ll also be able to take your own path in the level but you might not have the strength to take down an enemy you come across and that goes back to my point of enemies coming from just about anywhere. Dark Souls 3 is a game that fans in the series have been waiting years for but might have nightmares with once they get their hands on it.
One of the games that left me wanting more was Tales of Zestiria, as I didn’t really know what to expect going into this RPG. Graphically, the game looks great and does something Bandai Namco games don’t do too often. The game has English dubbed voice acting and I have no problem with that, it doesn’t take anything away from the game. The over world action moves at a brisk pace as does the action in general which is great for RPGs because pacing issues are problems that RPGs run into!
The game has pretty straightforward controls as you can attack in real time and achieve combos in battle. The combo system in battle is simple enough to pick up right from the start. From the looks of it, Tales wants the player to succeed and have a good time playing the game. You can find locations/hints on the map on where to go next, you can find monoliths to achieve new skills and attacks in battle. Tales of Zestiria reminds me a lot of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker with the amount of folk lore one finds in the game, and that was just in the playable demo!
Anime games and fighting games are Bandai Namco’s forte and this showcase was no different. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 was already shown off but another game that plays a lot like it was shown off as well. That game is Santseiya: Solders Soul-Knights of the Zodiac and this game has the same hand-drawn feel that Naruto does. While you’re playing, you get the feeling that you’re watching an episode of the anime series. The controls are crisp but like most fighting games; it’s a button masher. You will be finding yourself spamming special attacks over and over during fights.
Most of the fighting games from Bandai Namco have their own look and feel to them and that can be said for Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden and Project X Zone 2 both for Nintendo 3DS. DBZ looks like a 3D game hand-drawn and has fan-service details like character poses like Captain Ginyu. DBZ Extreme Butoden covers characters from all over the DBZ universe. The game will have wireless multiplayer as well as thousands of characters in the game. The game has quite a few game modes to play such as Z Story/Adventure/Extreme World Tournament/Battle/VS/Quest/ and Extra Mode. The game is releasing October 20th so fans of Dragon Ball Z will definitely want to get their hands on this!
Project X Zone 2 brings in even more characters and series than the original and mashes them together. This time around these characters will have to fight even more enemy monsters and robots! There will be more team ups and more attack combos than before! The game has the same RPG elements as the first game in the series, move around the map and set up an attack on enemies! The gameplay looked very similar to the first installment in the series and fans of character team ups you don’t get to see everyday should grab this!
The last two games I would like to mention now are Sword Art Online: Lost Song and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. SAO: Lost Song allows you to play as 19 characters from the SAO universe. This game also gives the feeling that you’re watching an episode of the anime while playing! It will have 4 player online co-op and 8 player VS online, which will play similar to flying battles( playable demo stage) The flying controls take a lot to get used to but once you figure that out, the transition between flying and attacking is seamless. SAO: Lost Song feels more like the anime than Re-Hollow, one of the games shown at E3 and I feel is more of a fan-service for the SAO fans!
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth brings fan favorite Digimon back into the forefront and some of these digital monsters haven’t been seen in quite some time. Long story short, the real world and cyber space are blending together and it’s your job to figure out why. Along the way, you’ll have to fight rogue Digimon with your rag-tag team of digital monsters. The attack animations for some Digimon show that the effort is there for this game since they have the same animation in the animated series. You’ll be able to digivolve your Digimon to help the cause as well as other helpful locations in the Digilab. The Digilab allows you to raise/care/digivolve and help your digiteam so they’re ready for the fight!
I would like to thank Bandai Namco for inviting me to their Summer Software showcase and it looks like they have some great games releasing soon so make sure you keep an eye out for those!
