Tech Blog

[#1]

Good pixel art is absolutely one of my favourite things, but it's being seen less and less in games these days, with even handhelds such as the Nintendo DS going all in on 3D graphics. So I was pleased over the past couple of weeks to see two really high profile games full of pixel art come out: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Reviews within!

Both are downloadable titles rather than retail, so if you're interested in picking them up, you'll have to get either a PSN pre-paid card or a Microsoft Points card; Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is currently only available for PS3 but will be coming out for Xbox 360 on August 25th, and (unfortunately) Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is only available for Xbox 360 (though if it sells well, apparently, they may bring it out for PS3.)

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Ubisoft, PS3, $9.99)

Actually a tie-in for what is probably this summer's hottest movie, the video game is actually artistically very successful because it takes not only its direction from the original comic book series by Bryan Lee O'Malley but also from the artwork of Paul Robertson (behind sort of NSFW animations like Pirate Baby Cabana Battle.) It looks absolutely fantastic. Every part of the game is full of detail, from the backgrounds to even the most generic of the enemies, and just looking at it and trying to spot all the references is a joy (particularly for those of us in Toronto; you can see Sneaky Dees, Sonic Boom Records and more just in the first level.)

Hate to say it though, that after being blown away by how fun it was while at E3 the finished product feels a bit less successful. They seem to have changed the balance somewhat from that point negatively, adjusting the "weight" of characters and weapons so the ease in which you could previously "juggle" a bouncing weapon is a lot harder unless it's something naturally bouncy like a car tire or a basketball. More realistic, but a bit less fun--though in retrospect in the demo characters levelled up far faster than they do in the finished product, which also makes the game feel slower and less immediate.

Probably most disappointing is how awkward multiplayer is. There's no online co-op, for one (meaning being online with a bunch of friends last night who were all playing the game was for naught) and in local multiplayer you can't just "drop in" if another person is playing, and if you run out of lives, you can't continue unless you "steal" lives from another player.

Perhaps it's silly of me, but I expected the game to be less "hardcore" even with its aesthetic. The game is tough, it's impossible to tell what shop upgrades do until after you buy them, and it's easy--unless you've been able to buy a number of good stat-upgrading items--find yourself totally outclassed.

But! That's not to say the game is without merit. The strange thing is that rather than a cute, fun game for people who enjoy Scott Pilgrim, it's actually a hardcore beat-em-up for people who love the genre. If you're willing to put in the effort, it's very rewarding, but prepare to be challenged. 3.5/5

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (Konami, Xbox 360, 1200 Microsoft Points)

Harmony of Despair is an immediately confusing and unwelcoming game. You select one of six characters who you might not know from Adam--a selection including Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow's Soma Cruz, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin's Jonathan Morris and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia's Shanoa--and enter a massive level where, if you die, you are immediately sent back to the beginning.

It seems interesting, but maybe not "fun." But the important thing is to not give up. The game is not--as you might have hoped--a traditional Castlevania at all. Rather, it's a "time attack" mode as a stand alone game. Even if you die in a level, you will have collected a variety of weapons and armour--or depending on character, souls or spells or glyphs (or more!)--and can use these to try again with more power. Unfortunately, the game doesn't really explain this in detail, so it's actually really difficult to understand how you're suppose to upgrade a character like Jonathan Morris (am I supposed to use his subweapons to upgrade them, or just collect more? I can't tell!) and playing in single player quickly feels like a slog.

However, the game should not in any way be considered a single player game. In fact, I'd completely discourage picking this up if you plan on playing it that way. Harmony of Despair comes alive when played with others (even random players) and the design--entirely based around replaying levels, finding bigger and better upgrades--shines as you find different paths through levels as a group and work together to take on the bosses.

In this mode too, the graphics which might seem like a gimmick otherwise are particularly great. Using graphics from the Nintendo DS titles from which the characters come, you can "zoom out" to see the entire level and everything that's happening, and zoom in twice more. You can always be aware of your surroundings and what other players are doing, and it makes the game as strangely beautiful as it is functional, as much as the idea of "Nintendo DS quality graphics" might put people off.

I like Harmony of Despair a lot, but for many, the price (1200 points, about $15) for the amount of content (just six levels) is going to be a major negative. If you can see yourself, however, playing this game over and over again online (think of it like a 2D Phantasy Star Online, perhaps, if you remember that title) then it'll be worth every penny. 3.5/5