When the famous problem-solver Professor Layton and his plucky assistant Luke head to the town of St Mystère to investigate the secret of the Golden Apple, they have no idea just how many mysteries await them. Fortunately, their problem-solving skills fit right into a town where every inhabitant is obsessed with setting puzzles and brainteasers, but even the trickiest riddle is just an appetiser compared to the deepest secrets of St Mystère.

The first in the Professor Layton series of puzzle games, Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the perfect game for casual DS players who are ready to move beyond Brain Training. A collection of riddles, puzzles and brain teasers, the game is easy to pick up and play, and what it lacks in replay value, it more than makes up for in addictiveness.

St Mystère

Set in the context of a framing story, the object of Professor Layton and the Curious Village is to go from place to place within St Mystère, talking to inhabitants and solving the puzzles they pose. These puzzles take the form of classic brainteasers, encompassing everything from moving blocks to try to free a ball from a maze to rearranging matchsticks and solving riddles. Many of the puzzles are straightforward for anyone with half a brain, but even the most experienced puzzle solver is likely to trip up once or twice. Fortunately, if you are well and truly stuck, it is possible to dip into your limited supply of Hint coins to unlock up to three hints per puzzle- and certainly, by the time you have the third one, it will be entirely obvious what to do.

In fact, a challenge greater than solving the puzzles is simply trying to find them all, for whilst some are essential for moving the story forward, many puzzles are optional. Talking to every character you meet is essential, as is investigating everything you can see- a random press of the stylus could reveal a hint coin or even a hidden puzzle. Luckily, any puzzles you might be in danger of missing forever are gathered up and sent to Granny Riddleton’s shack, a place where you can visit and solve them at their leisure.

To spur you on further, the game also has a number of extras in the menu. As you solve certain puzzles, you’ll unlock painting scraps which can be reassembled into a complete picture and furniture which can be used to customise Luke and Layton’s rooms at the inn (take care that you give the right furnishings to the right person). Completing the game also unlocks some challenging extra puzzles that will keep you coming back for that little bit more. True, these extras can only delay the inevitable moment when the game holds nothing more for you, but they do help to keep it interesting for longer.

Story

As a mystery tale, it is no wonder that Professor Layton and the Curious Village spends most of the game setting up various plot points, before steadily revealing them all in the closing chapters. Perhaps surprisingly, you can’t reveal or investigate these main mysteries independently- instead, you are entirely confined to following the story as the game dictates. It’s something of a shame that you can’t have a guess at the main mysteries yourself, but ultimately the point of the game is to get you solving the smaller puzzles whilst it takes care of the larger ones.

Audiovisual

Visually, Professor Layton sticks with a clean and simplistic look, eschewing the usual attractive anime styles for a more old-fashioned appearance that fits well with the series without being particularly aesthetically pleasing. Background music is similarly simple yet fitting, whilst the English voice acting is apt if stereotypical (imagine a typical English gentleman and his plucky Cockney sidekick). Overall the presentation isn’t anything special, but it fits the game well.

Final Thoughts

A fun and diverting puzzle game, Professor Layton may lack in replay value, but first time around it should prove absorbing for casual players and the more dedicated gamer alike. I probably won’t be returning to it anytime soon, but it was certainly enjoyable enough to have me looking forward to the imminent European release of the second instalment in the series.

On a normal day, three teenagers go to visit their teacher at Shinjuku Medical Centre- completely unaware of the events that will befall them. A cataclysmic event known as ‘The Conception’ transforms Tokyo into a Vortex World filled with demons and illuminated by the cold light of Kagutsuchi. Only a handful of humans survive to see this new and horrific world, including one of the three teenagers, who is granted the demonic powers he will need to survive and find his friends.

The Vortex World

SMT Nocturne sees you take on the role of the nameless hero (I chose to call him Ryuki Takeshi, and will refer to him as such from hereon in) who is given demonic powers and cast adrift to survive in a radically transformed version of Tokyo. From this point onwards, the game can be considered a somewhat dark and twisted version of Pokemon- you fight demons, recruit them to your side, and employ them in battles as you traverse this new world to find your friends.

Of course, this is no easy task, and as you wander expanses of the Vortex World, you will have to develop a liking for long, maze-like dungeons, many involving puzzle elements. You’ll be dropping through holes in the floor, getting teleported back and forth and generally finding yourself fed up with more than a few areas as you try to navigate them. Add in darkened areas and floors that can damage you (although both effects can be countered), and you will come to understand that even before you factor in battles, this game involves no small amount of commitment. Don’t get me wrong- for hardcore RPGs it’s par for the course and all good fun, but it’s definitely a game that requires no small level of patience and commitment.

The life of a demi-fiend

Battle is the flesh and blood of SMT: Nocturne, which uses an earlier implementation of the Press Turn system that also appeared in the Digital Devil Saga series. The basic idea is exactly the same: you get one turn icon per party member, with most actions consuming one icon, misses and voided attacks consuming two and criticals or passes consuming a mere half icon. The difference here is that characters take turns in order of their agility, rather than formation order- a subtle alteration that can have quite a big effect on tactics.

Of course, you aren’t going to want to fight alone (well, most people won’t, anyway), so the first order of business for any new player is to build up their party of loyal servant demons. At the beginning, a Fairy will join you, but for those looking for something more substantial, the good news is that any and every demon in the game is up for grabs. Normal demons can usually be recruited with a mix of bribes and canny negotiating skills, whilst everything up to and including bosses can be fused using the facilities of the Cathedral of Shadows. At the Cathedral, two monsters can be combined to create a new, third being, with many rules governing the process- for example, at full Kagutsuchi, a sacrifice can be offered to power up the resulting demon even more, whilst special demon types known as Elements and Mitama can be used to increase a demon’s rank or stats respectively. The possibilities are almost endless, and they must be used to their fullest to outfit a killer team.

Having a crack team of bloodthirsty demons does come with its drawbacks, however. Only Ryuki is able to replace demonic party members, use items and equip custom skills (more on this in a moment), making him the linchpin around which the whole operation must function. Given that it’s also game over if Ryuki dies, you can imagine that there’s more than one situation where you’re relying on Ryuki as healer, demon summoner and main attacker whilst everyone else has to just twiddle their thumbs. Luckily, this unequal balance was addressed in the DDS games, and by playing this one, you can see exactly why things needed to be changed.

When it comes to skills, demons have a pre-set pattern of learning particular skills as they level up, as well as a random chance of asking to change an existing skill- a risky gamble if you accept, since a useful skill could become something completely pointless. If you want to introduce new skills to your demons, you’ll have to experiment with fusion, although again there is an element of chance to this.

On the other hand, you can control exactly which skills Ryuki learns, but don’t expect that to make matters easier. Our hero learns skills by ingesting Magatama; not only does each one impart a unique stat bonus, but as he levels up, he can learn its innate skills, effectively giving him the entire range of magical, physical and support skills to choose from. Great, I hear you say, except of course that there’s a catch- you can only retain eight skills at any one time. If you choose to keep one ability at the expense of another, the discarded skill is lost forever- regardless of how much you might want, need or desire it later in the game.

Back in the field, the world you find yourself in is now controlled by the phases of Kagutsuchi- the mysterious light that appeared in the sky when the Vortex World was created. Kagutsuchi has eight phases from ‘New’ to ‘Full’, and it goes back and forth between them as you wander the world. The phase of Kagutsuchi is important to various puzzles in the game, whilst it also affects demon negotiations and fusion, especially at ‘Full’ status.

On top of all the puzzle solving you’ll have to do just to get around Nocturne’s many and vast dungeons, the game also comes with an infamous optional puzzle that involves manipulating blocks- an interesting diversion at first, but one that becomes increasingly frustrating as you struggle through its twenty consecutive levels. After dedicating the better part of a day to solving level 1-19 without help and then being forced to resort to looking up the answer to level 20 before I had to go out, it is no wonder that this is a particularly painful aspect of the game that still continues to haunt me.

An even more intense but far more rewarding optional aspect to the game is the Labyrinth of Amala, a complex five level dungeon that is progressively unlocked by fighting Fiend bosses and obtaining their Candelabra. Filled with puzzles and tough monsters, the Labyrinth is a great place for levelling up and offers plenty of rewards, including the chance to recruit Devil May Cry’s Dante as a party member. Completing the Labyrinth also alters the ending of the game, forcing you to fight a ‘final final’ boss after the regular final boss, and showing you a unique scene that isn’t really worth all the effort put into obtaining it. Still, completionists won’t be able to stop themselves from exploring the full extent of the Labyrinth.

If all that still isn’t enough for you, however, then you’ll be pleased to learn that there’s more to do. If fighting the game’s many bosses just once wasn’t enough, you can also revisit the ‘memory’ of battling them, complete with the challenge of trying to defeat them within a certain number of Press Turns. Luckily, this feature can be completely ignored, but it’s there for the more dedicated player.

Story

As one would expect from the Shin Megami Tensei series, Nocturne offers a dark, apocalyptic tale filled with demons and references to mythology- it certainly isn’t as complex as the worlds of Persona and Digital Devil Saga, but it’s solid enough to make for a decent game. Even discounting the special ending gained by completing the Labyrinth of Amala, the game has multiple conclusions depending on which ‘Reason’ (effectively a philosophy for the new world) your character supports, although they aren’t the kind of endings that drive you to complete the game multiple times just to see them.

Audiovisual

With its functional cel-shaded graphics, Nocturne creates the right look for a dark, monster-filled world, but unfortunately it is beginning to show its age somewhat. The human characters in particular look rather generic and simplistic, although there are some attractive monster designs to make up for it. The background music has the appropriate rock/cyberpunk edge to it and makes for solid listening overall.

Final Thoughts

Although tortuous at times, and certainly a bit rough around the edges compared to the later SMT games, Nocturne’s solid core gameplay ensures that it still a worthy and enjoyable title in its own right. It’s not one for the casual gamer, but the hardcore RPG fan will certainly want to play it and exhaust all the possibilities this game has to offer.

Ever since Nyanko-sensei came into his life, Natsume Takashi has slowly learned that being able to see spirits doesn’t mean he has to distance himself from other people. But even as he juggles the responsibilities of human friendships and the Book of Friends, new challenges will arise that test his powers and make him consider his place in between everyday life and the world of the supernatural.

In its first season, Natsume Yuujinchou quickly grew on me and established itself as one of the better supernatural series out there- and with a fresh batch of manga stories to draw from, it seemed only sensible to expect the second season to keep on delivering quality material. Fortunately, not only did this season live up to expectations, it went a long way towards strengthening Natsume Yuujinchou’s already worthy reputation.

Continuing in the vein of the first season, Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou brings us more episodic tales of the supernatural, offering its usual mix of the amusing and the thoughtful to bring each story to life. From a delightful tale in which a black version of Nyanko-sensei mysteriously shows up to hideous monster intent on devouring its victim, each episode is always a treat to watch, and certainly the highlight of any viewing schedule.

In the first season of Natsume Yuujinchou, we saw our hero grow beyond his enforced isolation, and Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou continues the process. Once again, we see our hero slowly opening up to the people in his life, maintaining old friendships, establishing new ones, and even slowly breaking down the barriers he erected between himself and his foster parents. Not that Natsume is the only character on display, of course, for as well as bringing back the always solid supporting cast, this second season throws a few new faces into the mix, most notably Taki Tooru, an onmyouji and new ally who can see spirits who pass through her magic circles. Also of interest are some further insights into the character of Natsume’s capricious grandmother Reiko, whilst the delightful Nyanko-sensei remains a consistent scene-stealer.

Visually, Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou brings us more of the same subdued pastel visuals; it will never be the flashiest series out there, but it still looks attractive. Nyanko-sensei seems to be fatter than ever, but other than that the series is on a par with the first season. Similarly, background music continues to serve its purpose without particularly standing out.

Final Thoughts

After a strong first season, Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou brings us a slightly tweaked and improved formula that delivers even more goodness than ever before. Watching it is a thoroughly satisfying and enjoyable experience- more of the same, please.

Tier: Gold

Yumi is nearing the end of her second year at Lillian, and there is much to be done before her beloved onee-sama Sachiko can graduate and leave her to take over the role of Rosa Chinensis. Of course, the most pressing matter is finding a petite soeur, and whilst Yoshino is pressured by Rei and Eriko to pick one, Yumi must finally make a decision. Is Touko the one she wants to give her rosary to, or is there someone better out there to join the Red Rose ‘family’?

A series infamous for its HARD YURI undertones, MariMite nonetheless managed to bring us two enjoyable seasons, before blowing it somewhat on a ridiculously over the top OVA filled with bizarre sports festivals and all kinds of love rivalry. In the space of five episodes, the OVA had destroyed most of my goodwill towards the series- could a brand new TV series bring it back?

Fortunately, with all the festivals out of the way, the series proved to be back on track, bringing us a more acceptable level of HARD YURI angst. The main focus of the season, of course, was Yumi’s attempts to find the right soeur for her (dominant or submissive? Sachiko replacement or something new?), and even though most of us must have known how it would turn out eventually, the journey was still entertaining. And fortunately, there are also a number of side stories to keep us entertained, most notably Yoshino’s own attempts to find a petite soeur.

Although there is one notable new addition to the cast this season, for the most part the focus is on the core characters we’ve come to know and love. Whilst both Yumi and Yoshino are forced to grow up a little this time around, Touko is finally becoming more likable- yes, she’s still a stroppy, contrary little princess, but every so often a more human and vulnerable side to her personality starts to show through.

As always, MariMite isn’t working with the highest budget when it comes to animation, although it still manages to look decent enough (certainly flashy effects aren’t needed for this sort of series)- and in fact overall it seems a bit more polished than the surprisingly poor-looking OVA. Similarly, the background music is the same old elevator fare we’ve come to expect.

Final Thoughts

Obviously, those brand new to the franchise aren’t going to start with this season, and those who’ve made it this far will watch it regardless, but if you’re poised on the threshold after the disappointing OVA, rest assured that MariMite is back on form for its fourth season, delivering all the angst and HARD YURI undertones we’ve come to expect from the series. Watch and enjoy it for what it is.

Tier: Bronze+

The town of Sakurashin is one of the few places where humans and youkai can coexist in relative harmony, but unfortunately, its location on the cusp of the two worlds also makes it a magnet for trouble. That’s where Akina, Hime, Ao and Kotoha come in- four teenagers with special powers who are also charged with keeping the peace. Together with their allies, these four pit themselves against all the forces who seek to disrupt the town, but even their combined talents aren’t proof against the revelation that their greatest enemy wears an all too familiar face.

Since I don’t seem to have learned my lesson about watching anime for purely superficial reasons (hey, it does pay off sometimes), I was drawn to Yozakura Quartet simply because I had seen a calendar displaying its distinctive artwork. Unfortunately, if unsurprisingly, the series itself proved to be a classic case of style over substance.

Sticking with the standard ‘teens with super powers fight demons’ storyline, Yozakura Quartet has little to offer in the way of originality; the characters are insipid, the storylines are forgettable, and by the end you can’t really pinpoint what you got out of the series. Even the main plot, which had the potential to prove at least vaguely worthy, turns out to be repetitive and irritating as our heroes angst over having to fight a demon that has possessed their former best friend. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that powerful God Mode beings are always watching from the sidelines- even though the rules prevent them from interfering, it does remove any sense of jeopardy from the series.

Similarly, although mildly likable, the characters are hardly anything to write home about. We have Akina, the bland male lead with destined powers; Hime, the stoic mayor with hidden vulnerabilities; Ao, the immature cat girl and Kotoha, the laid-back half-demon who can create things with her words (a rather ridiculous power considering that with a little imagination, she could basically do anything with it). Add to that an equally uninspiring supporting cast, and you have the full grouping of standard anime personalities, none of which ever threaten to break out of their moulds.

Visually, Yozakura Quartet has the distinctive, angular designs that first drew me to the series, ensuring attractive designs even if the animation budget itself isn’t particularly well endowed. The background music attempts to be cool and edgy, but it isn’t particularly worthy of note.

Final Thoughts

A classic case of style over substance, Yozakura Quartet may have some nice character designs, but in all other regards it falls sadly short of expectations. Unless you like wasting your hours with bland, disappointing material, give this one a miss.

Tier: Wood

Nagisa and Tomoya are finally together, but there are still many more obstacles for them to face. Whilst Nagisa continues to battle with her illness, Tomoya must grow up fast as he takes responsibility for supporting himself and his partner. Will they be able to overcome everything and live happily ever after, or is this one tale that must inevitably end in tragedy?

Since I spent the entirety of Clannad waiting for Tomoya and Nagisa to get together, I was optimistic that After Story would be more my cup of tea. Unfortunately, even though it was a solid enough series overall, it still had its ups and downs.

After some customary faffing around with baseball and the like, After Story seemed happy to get on with the process of furthering the story of Tomoya and Nagisa’s relationship- all to the good, you might think, except that it’s hard to really get ‘comfortable’ with the story. You know that Tomoya and Nagisa are supposed to have a deep and caring relationship, but it’s hard to see evidence of anything more than a superficial connection. Maybe it’s just a failing on my part, but I just couldn’t see it- especially as they both still looked about fifteen despite having graduated from high school.

Of course, even my hardened and cynical heart couldn’t help but be moved by the events of episode 17; thanks to spoilers, I had long known of these events, but somehow the emotion that was lacking from the earlier episodes was all packed into here, making for a genuinely touching and poignant moment.

With this turning point, the series jumps ahead several years, and, understandable as it is, we have to deal with Tomoya’s angst arc before he finally gets his act together. Although they never hit the heights of that fateful episode, the closing chapters of After Story are at least an improvement of the faltering start, despite a somewhat dubious ending.

Given that this series is basically “Tomoya and Nagisa: What Happened Next”, it should come as little surprise that the supporting characters now have more minor roles- naturally, for the sake of all the fanboys, everyone makes at least a token appearance, but overall the series is much more focused.

Visually, the series brings us more of the usual KyoAni eye candy- by now, we would be disappointed with anything less. Background music is of similar quality to the first series, mostly ‘visual novel’ easy listening with a couple of standout tracks and a somewhat catchy OP.

Final Thoughts

Although it has its own flaws to bring to the playing field, overall After Story proves to be an improvement over the first series, bringing us a more focused and driven narrative. Those who didn’t support the Tomoya X Nagisa path will no doubt be disappointed at the reduced role played by their favourite girl, but overall this is a second season that surpasses its predecessor.

Tier: Silver-

Although not familiar with any Nitroplus games firsthand, ever since I first ‘met’ Ignis I have loved their character designs, and so both curiosity and visual appeal drove me to see what Chaos;Head had to offer beyond its bizarrely punctuated title. And at first, it seemed like just the thing for me- a series where delusion and reality blended so seamlessly for our main character that you couldn’t be sure what was really happening and what was just his imagination. It was fascinating and compelling- and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.

Unfortunately, instead of drawing me in further as the series progressed, Chaos;Head had quite the opposite effect. With a multitude of characters and an explosion of technobabble, the story changes from an intriguing mystery into a solid but not outstanding sci-fi/fantasy series- decent enough in its own right, but hardly delivering on its early promise.

As with so many 12-13 episode series, Chaos;Head has a few too many characters for its own good, with our hero predictably being surrounded by numerous beautiful girls. Fortunately, most of the characters are generally likeable- it’s just that we don’t have time to properly get to know them. What character development there is usually takes the form of ‘shocking’ plot-related revelations that mostly don’t come as a surprise at all.

Visually, Chaos;Head has far less to worry about- the basic character designs are aesthetically pleasing, whilst other details such as the “D-Swords” wielded by various characters are all very well done. Background music is generally solid, with a number of worthy tracks and an oddly catchy ending theme.

Final Thoughts

Although it didn’t live up to its early potential, Chaos;Head is still a decent enough series- if you like science-fiction with a hint of mystery and plenty of eye candy, it is definitely worth looking into.

Tier: Silver-

As a Dark Knight and the leader of the fabled Red Wings, Cecil has dedicated his entire life to serving the King of Baron- but when the king begins pursuing a policy of aggression against other nations, he begins to reconsider. Greater forces are at work in the world, and Cecil must reflect on both his loyalties and his true allies if he is to save the world itself from peril.

Back in the old days, I had tried to get on with Final Fantasy in its previous incarnations; first I had a go at the US SNES version and its laughably sanitised translation, and in due course I tried the PSOne remake, but I was never able to stick at it for long. With the release of a completely overhauled DS remake however, I was given another chance with the game- and this time I was going to see it through until the end.

The World of FF4: remade

In true Final Fantasy tradition, FF4 is a game about magical crystals and destined heroes saving the world from darkness; exactly what you would expect from the era. Originally released for SNES, FF4 was the first instalment in the series where characters actually had names and personalities (remakes aside), and although most Americans knew it as ‘FF2’ for years, it was nonetheless generally regarded with fondness. Fortunately, the remake preserves all that, but it also adds enough to draw in players both old and new to the game.

The core gameplay of FF4 is exactly as you would expect- as Cecil, you and your party run around different towns and dungeons fighting monsters and bosses via an ATB battle system. Moving the game to a dual screen layout has allowed for some changes; for example, on the field, the touch screen displays a map of the area, and as with Star Ocean 3, you can gain bonus items for completing 100% of each map. In battle, the party line-up, ATB and attack descriptions have all been moved to the lower screen; overall it ensures that the game never looks cluttered on the small screen, but there’s no real implementation of the touch screen technology (you can move around via the touch screen map, but generally it’s easier to use the D-pad).

The DS may be considered a lightweight and mainstream handheld, but one thing’s for sure- the difficulty of this game hasn’t been toned down. Spamming attack throughout the game is guaranteed not to work here, with even some normal enemies proving difficult enough to warrant developing specific strategies to deal with them. Loopholes have also been closed with regards to certain bosses, so that while there are still a few undead that can defeated by judicious use of Elixirs, most of the time you are actually going to have to think about what you’re doing. It can be challenging, but mainly in a refreshing way; battles are rarely pathetically easy or impossibly difficult, ensuring that the game never gets dull.

As well as retooling a few of the party’s unique abilities for this release, FF4 now adds an extra layer of customisability with its ‘Augments’ system. Augments are special items that bestow characters with new abilities- collect them all and you can mix and match, giving Cecil Yang’s Focus or adding Fusoya’s Bless to Rydia’s arsenal. Collecting the best Augments does require some strategic planning, but when you combine it with the ability to customise a character’s battle menu with their most used commands (imagining going straight to Cura from the top menu instead of scrolling through the White Magic menu), then you can create your own made-to-order fighting force.

Playable Characters

“You spoony bard!”

Despite the large number of playable characters in the game, FF4 is very particular about when you get to use them- basically the story determines which characters you have in your party at any time, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Your final line up for the closing chapters of the game is Cecil, Kain, Rosa, Rydia and Edge.

• Cecil (Dark Knight/Paladin): The main character, Cecil starts the game as a Dark Knight with the ability to enhance his attacks by sacrificing his own HP, but after a life-changing event, he becomes a holy Paladin. As with most main characters, Cecil is a strong swordsman who makes an excellent front-line attacker, whilst his noble Paladin nature means that he can take damage for other characters (he’ll do that automatically if they are in critical condition) and use a limited range of white magic.
• Kain (Dragoon): Cecil’s best friend (that is, when he isn’t under the influence of the enemy), Kain is the classic Dragoon- a lance user who does the most damage with his Jump attack. Launch him into the air and he’ll remain impervious to attacks until he comes crashing back down to earth, doing major damage in the process. Many recommend him for the front-line, but with only two slots in front I tend to keep him in back so that Edge can have the other front slot.
• Rosa (White Mage): Cecil’s girlfriend and the main obstacle in the way of HARD GAY bliss with Kain, Rosa is the typical healer- physically weak, but able to heal with powerful magic. She also has Holy magic in her arsenal, whilst her Pray ability now restores bother HP and MP- useful when you’ve drained her reserves through constant spell-casting.
• Rydia (Summoner): As well as having access to powerful summons (including a brand new one that you can customise and have fight in her place), Rydia is a dab hand with black magic, making her unsurpassed in the field of negative status effects and elemental damage. As a child, she also has white magic abilities, but she loses these later in the game.
• Tellah (Sage): An old man who manages to forget most of his magical abilities, regain them and then leave the party for good, Tellah makes for decent magical support, but his MP runs out too quickly. Useful while you have him, but not a character you miss when he’s gone.
• Edward (Bard): The spoony bard of the game’s most memorable line, Edward is a weakling whose special abilities include hiding from danger, but when he’s not protecting his own skin, his song skills can come in handy.
• Palom (Black Mage): Twin brother of Porom, Palom may not be able to keep his mouth shut, but fortunately he offers up some useful black magic support to Cecil during his quest to become a Paladin.
• Porom (White Mage): Palom’s twin sister, Porom is a master of white magic and can also Twincast magic with her brother. Like Palom, she is a useful support character but isn’t outstanding in the overall character line up.
• Yang (Monk): A master of fist-fighting techniques, Yang makes for a perfect front row attacker who can Focus to power up his attack, or damage an entire enemy party with his Kick. A worthy addition to any line up.
• Cid (Mechanic): In this incarnation, Cid is a large-lipped engineer with a bushy red beard who may be excellent with airships, but is generally average in battle. His one special feature is the fact that he can analyse enemy stats at no expense- basically a free Libra that you can abuse whilst he’s in your party.
• Edge (Ninja): A latecomer to the party, Edge is a ninja prince with an eye for the ladies. Typically swift and weak, he has a range of average physical and magical attacks, and makes for decent front line support.
• Fusoya (Lunarian): Another latecomer who only stays briefly, Fusoya is basically another sage, albeit with the special ability to Bless the party and thus slowly restore their MP. A useful character to fill out the numbers, but since his low defence leads to him often falling in battle, you won’t miss him once he leaves.

Extras

“Fat Chocobo!? Blasphemer! He is known here as the Godsbird.”

Although the core of the original game remains intact, there are some new features worth mentioning. For example, back in the original, a character called Namingway would periodically show up and offer to change your characters’ names. Now that the game has cut scenes with voice acting, changing names isn’t allowed, so instead Namingway travels the world, changing his name and purpose as he goes.

Also undergoing a change in function is Fat Chocobo; now that the restrictions on your inventory have been lifted, there is no need for him to be able to store items, so instead he performs a number of different tasks. As well as letting you look at the bestiary, rewatch events and listen to game music, Fat Chocobo lets you train and customise Rydia’s new custom summon, Whyt.

In the main game, Whyt can now be summoned like an Aeon to fight for Rydia, but in order to get him into a fit state for that, you’ll have to pay a visit to Fat Chocobo. The first order of business is to take Whyt’s featureless form and customise it with a simple Paint-style drawing function; this, like the Whyt training, is the only feature of the game where the stylus and touchscreen capabilities are actually needed.

Rather than training him directly, increasing Whyt’s stats is done by playing mini-games relating to the different playable characters. You can solve maths puzzles with Rydia, press the stylus down for set numbers of seconds with Rosa (the most boring of the mini-games), defeat goblins with Cecil, jump and avoid birds with Kain or attack and dodge enemies with Edge. The mini-games are mildly diverting, but since I never used Whyt in the game, I wasn’t too bothered about them.

Also added to the game are the by now obligatory New Game Plus option (although you can only play through three times before having to start a completely new game), and of course a couple of super-hard optional bosses to pit yourself against.

Story

Although Final Fantasy IV is a product of the era of destined warriors and magical crystals, it does a good job of rising above such simplicity with plenty of character development, a serving of drama and a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour. FFIX fans in particular will find much to like about the world of FFIV.

Audiovisual

Visually, FFIV has been given a complete overhaul, abandoning the simplistic SNES sprites for a pseudo-3D look that is so appealing and cute that I wouldn’t be averse to seeing it used in a lot more remakes- and that’s coming from a big fan of sprites. The music is composed by Nobuo Uematsu, of course, with the usual range of familiar themes undergoing some improvement so that they don’t sound too tinny and outdated in their new home.

Final Thoughts

Final Fantasy IV has always been a solid entry into the series, but the polish given to this latest remake ensures that is both addictive and enjoyable even in this era of flashy graphics and complex battle systems. There’s no doubt that playing this is gaming time well spent- now let’s have remakes for FFV and VI as well.

Rita’s name has been cleared and her country saved, but she isn’t quite ready to settle down just yet. Instead, the intrepid princess decides to accompany her friends on a quest to track down the man who killed Tina’s parents- but along the way they will run into conspiracies, a love triangle and any number of trials that will test their friendship to the limit.

With the first season of Sisters of Wellber proving to be entirely average, I was expecting the second to offer more of the same bland inoffensiveness. Unfortunately, what I hadn’t counted on was that the series was now so practised at being dull that the second batch of thirteen episodes would be even more underwhelming than the first.

Whilst it was never anything to write home about, I at least felt able to pay attention to the plot of the first season, but this time around it seemed more lacklustre than ever. The bulk of the season meandered around with a pointless revenge story, but since that obviously wasn’t considered mind-numbing enough on its own, we were treated to yet more ‘fascinating’ plot elements. After inserting a painfully irritating love triangle involving Galahad, Rita and Tina (come on, we all know Rita and Tina are meant to be together!), the series tried to enliven itself with the kind of twist that you wish would end with the main characters shouting at each other on the Jeremy Kyle show. Unfortunately, the series opts for a more conventional finale, leaving you to wonder why you even bothered in the first place.

As before, the characters prove to be little to write home about; the main characters are just as uninteresting as they were before, whilst the antagonists (in particular the ‘final boss’) are little more than laughable. The most interesting bit of character development in the whole series is an episode detailing the origins of talking tank Cyrano de Bergerac, and even this is hardly worth taking the time to watch.

Visually, the animation quality is much the same as last season- decent enough, but nothing special. Background music is as forgettable as ever.

Final Thoughts

Average as it was, the original Sisters of Wellber was still just about watchable, which is more than can be said for this utterly bland second season. Even at the best times it struggled to keep my attention- even if you made it all the way through the first season, there is no reason to subject yourself to this.

Tier: Wood

With terrorist attacks continuing to plague Italy, the cyborg girls of Section 2 are needed more than ever- and through a mixture of conditioning and adolescent, they are more than willing to fight alongside their handlers. But even the enhanced abilities of a cyborg may not be enough to combat the likes of naturally gifted killer Pinocchio- especially as some of the older girls must confront their own mortality as their life spans run short.

As someone who ranks both the Gunslinger Girl manga and the first season of the anime amongst my all-time favourites, a continuation of the animated version seemed like an early Christmas present. Unfortunately, when it transpired that Studio Madhouse was handing over the reins to Artland, the warning bells began to go off- and unfortunately even my lowered expectations weren’t prepared for the awful reality.

Where the original series added colour, music and atmosphere to the material without compromising on the quality in any way, Il Teatrino was little more than an exercise in how to ruin good ingredients. Somehow forgetting everything they did for Mushishi, Artland threw away the depth and poignancy of the series, replacing it with something bland and shallow. In the manga, I cared for all the characters, but here I was barely motivated enough to watch them- it wasn’t just that I knew what was coming, it was all just handled so shoddily.

As if to add insult to injury, the series couldn’t manage to offer up a bit of eye candy to compensate for its many flaws in content. Instead, Il Teatrino is visually inferior to the first series, offering simplified character designs that are of average quality at best and an insult to the original anime at worst. Similarly, the wonderfully atmospheric background music of the first season has been replaced with generic anime themes that will impress no one.

Final Thoughts

Before this series came along, I would have sworn that it was impossible to ruin something as good as Gunslinger Girl, but Artland have proven themselves more than able for the task. A disappointing addition to an otherwise strong franchise, this is one anime that should probably be put to one side- it may not be the worst series out there, but its very existence sullies the good name of Gunslinger Girl.

Tier: Wood+