It was rumored for a week, but now its official. Final Fantasy XIII-2 exists and its coming out in Japan by the end of the year (stateside next year). This means a return for Lightning as it seems like she's more of a knight. Nothing else besides that was revealed during the clip other than part of the XIII ending (spoilers, but good thing they didn't reveal the real spoilery part of it). This is the second direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game and plus X-2 was good, but not amazing. We'll see if XIII-2 fixed the problems XIII had as both PS3/360 versions are planned for release.
Final Fantasy Versus XIII, on the other hand, is still amazing and this new trailer reveals a lot of more than Squenix has in the past. If you thought the CG cutscenes were amazing in XIII, think again because Versus is already blowing it away with the visuals. Plus, believe in Nomura (the man behind the Kingdom Hearts franchise) to deliver the goods again even though it has been development for a while. Even the trailer style is straight up Kingdom Hearts with the random quotes. There's even gameplay in this clip which seems Kingdom Hearts-y but in the next generation. If you want Kingdom Hearts 3, you'll have to wait longer as this fills the void for that and maybe provide the template for KH3 to happen since the gameplay is somewhat similar. Versus XIII should be out next year for the PS3 as still no 360 version is announced (likely at this year's E3).
Even though I never owned the original DJ Hero, I loved the game a lot playing it at my cousin's house to the point I am pretty good it on hard difficulty five starring mixes left and right. Among the oversaturated Hero lineup two years ago, DJ Hero was the underappreciated one of the bunch since it was different and people were starting to give up on the genre as a whole as it started to become an one hit wonder. However, those who played it appreciated it for what it is and it was actually a pretty good game laying the groundwork for what has become a legitimate franchise. The developers Freestyle Games have learned from what they missed out on and were able to make a more complete sequel with DJ Hero 2. Basically, DJ Hero 2 is a significant improvement over the original from more modes, gameplay additions, and better collection of mixes that spread among numerous genres of music.
DJ Hero 2's main career mode is called Empire as it is pretty much like the first game with some slight differences. Most of the selections will be a setlist of certain mixes (usually three or four) where you scratch and crossfade away to as many stars to unlock more sets and venues increasing your worldwide rep as an upcoming DJ. On your way towards achieving that worldwide success, you run into other DJs and even famous ones as you battle them in certain mixes, which is the game's biggest addition being more multiplayer focused. The main DJ battle mode is about performing well getting more checkpoints than your opponent by doing well in the various sections of a mix. In the specific checkpoint battles, you can even end the battle quickly by the knocking out your opponent getting a certain number of checkpoints first. These battles can be intense at times as even if you can 100% a certain section, you can still lose the checkpoint because your opponent nailed more perfect notes and did better at the fresstyle sections, another big addition in DJ Hero 2, which I will mention later. Sometimes, it can just depend on luck if your opponent messes up at times, but these battles are fun and challenging providing a completely different gameplay experience than just any normal mix. There are also a few songs that have to be unlocked in the Empire mode, but the majority of the songs are playable out of the gate on Quickplay. Other unlockable goodies from playing Empire are more outfits for the DJs and power decks, which I'll also mention later on.
Other than the main Empire mode, there is the standard Quickplay mode where you can play any mix you want to making setlists as well if you want to play numerous songs after another. There are nice additions to setlist management as you can save setlists so you don't have to create the same one over and over again. Another notable addition is being able to like mixes Facebook style, which goes along with the social aspects of the game. Also in the Empire mode, but available on their own after played there are megamixes. These megamixes are certain sets by the more known DJs like David Guetta, Deadmau5, and Tiesto as these aren't just your normal sets. The mixes in these sets flow continuously as if you're at some nightclub dancing away hearing the transition from one song to another, which makes these megamixes sound great. I hope we see more of this concept in future DJ Hero games because these are the closest into the real club experience. One of the more important social features in DJ Hero 2 is the Hero Feed. Also somewhat borrowing from Facebook, this feed tracks your progress in the game, lets you know when a friend has beaten your score in a mix, and any news of DLC that is released. The nice part of this feed with the friends beating your scores is that you can instantly try to beat their score and claim your top status back, which goes along with the competitive aspect of the game when you see your friends' ranking while playing a mix. I love the social element of the game which gives the game's solo modes more replay value especially if you have friends at your skill level competing for high scores.
The core gameplay concept of DJ Hero 2 is fundamentally the same as it uses the same controller from the first game as you press the three buttons, scratching (in specific directions on Expert difficulty), crossfading, spiking, dialing, euphoria for a bigger multiplier, rewinding, and so on without failing at all. The new gameplay additions though make the game feel like you're doing more than what you did originally. Held notes and scratches are examples are that especially in the Tiesto mixes, rewinding has improved significantly as you can rewind complete sections if timed right, but the big addition is the freestyle sections. There are sections in a mix where you can crossfade like crazy, but there is a certain element in doing them right as you can't mash the fader left and right as it won't be an effective freestyle. Freestyle scratching is a different story as you can scratch in any direction you want to even though you do that on hard and lower difficulties. The red part of the turntable is changed as you can't mash Flava Flav samples anymore as the samples are more related to the mixes now, which is a good thing at the end of the day. Then there's the power decks that allow more scoring opportunities like more points while scratching, hyperspeed (which I prefer to go with), and a bigger multiplier than can go to x10, which kind of ruins the leaderboards a bit, but not much if you aren't into going for the top score. Borrowing from the Guitar Hero games, there is also Party Play, which can drop in and drop out at any time playing mixes. Also improving the party aspect is the addition of vocals, but it seems tacked on as it is similar to the Guitar Hero system and signing certain parts of songs that go back and forth from one song to another seems weird at times. Plus, vocals are not in all of the game's 80 mixes, but at least half of them have it. It is still nice though that it exists in DJ Hero 2 for the sake of parties.
The online aspect of DJ Hero 2 has also significantly improved because it has become more a competitive game with all the battle modes available to play. Normal DJ battles in the battle-only mixes and checkpoint battles are playable, along with other multiplayer only modes such as star battle, compete for the most stars in a mix, streak battles to compete for the longest streak, and accumulator, which is similar to streak, but your streaks keep adding after storing them by pressing the euphoria button. There is a leveling system for the online modes that goes up to 50 as you level up for winning mixes, battles that can have up to five mixes, beating people that have a higher level than you, and so on. The only rewards you're getting from online is more medals and tags to choose from a la Street Fighter IV and Call of Duty for performing this many perfect notes, scratches, etc. The online experience can be a mixed bag though depending which difficulty you're playing on as you can be playing on Hard while your opponent plays on Easy or Medium as it can be unfair at times especially in streak and accumulator battles where there are more notes on higher difficulties. Online strategies can be weird though depending with your playstyle going the safe route on lower difficulties hoping your opponent screws up on harder difficulties, which dampers the balance a lot. Imagine messing up on Easy on a streak battle and you have no chance of coming back against someone is 100% a mix on Hard or Expert. When you and your opponent are playing on the same difficulty though, the online experience becomes better and even as it depends on skill than luck. Despite some issues especially with people ragequitting knowing that they will lose rather than try to finish the battle out, DJ Hero 2 has one of the better online competitive experiences in the rhythm genre.
Graphically, DJ Hero 2 looks pretty good even though like all rhythm games, you're focusing on the chart of notes popping up rather than the environment you're DJing in. The venues look great and there are a variety of them from the small club to some big stadium. Even the famous DJs look really close to their real-life counterparts and not as cartoony to the point Freestyle games nail their signature poses such as David Guetta fist pumping and Tiesto stretching his arms out while the camera is spinning around 360 degrees. You still don't see the DJs not actually DJing at some points like the first game if you want to get nitpicky, but it is pretty minor. The presentation has also improved over the original as it is easier to navigate in the game's menus finding what you want to do.
While the first game's soundtrack was pretty good, DJ Hero 2 turned it up to 11 with more mixes and more genres of music to mess around from. Personally, I liked the fact Freestyle Games added more house music since there was a lack of it in the original. With the house music they added, they were able to get the hits from Deadmau5, Kaskade, that "Show Me Love" song, and more. There is still a lot of hip-hop and pop in the game especially the mainstream representation as you still get classics like "California Love," you can get an awesome mix of that and recent hit "Nothing on You" by B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars. A lot of mixes in the game that I thought would suck definitely impressed me and feel underrated compared to most of the more played mixes like ones revolving recent songs like Enimem's "Not Afraid" with Lil Wayne's "Lollipop." A variety of artists from over the decades and various genres are in this game from Janet Jackson, Salt N' Pepa, Pitbull, Lady Gaga, Missy Elliot, Sean Paul, Metallica, Kanye West, and I can go on. There are definitely songs that you will definitely be interested in playing, but of course there will be some misses depending with your music tastes.
DJ Hero 2 is definitely a great sequel to the original that was able to lay the groundwork and core concepts as Freestyle Games were able to make a more complete game full of features. From the Empire mode, online, and the social aspects, there are plenty of things of DJ Hero 2 especially with friends either offline to party with or online competing for high scores and testing each other's skills in the various battle modes. Even though the online experience can be a mixed bag depending on which difficulty you play and the amount of ragequitters still months after the game's release, it is still cool to have a good online competitive element to a rhythm game. The soundtrack is also amazing with more than 80 mixes plus downloadable content (depends how long the DLC schedule will be) even though there will be hits and misses depending with your preference of music. While it still feels like an underappreicated franchise because of the sales (bundle prices are affordable these days which is why I bought it recently) and the publisher, DJ Hero 2 one of the better rhythm games to come out in recent times. Hopefully, DJ Hero 3 is coming and I'm interested to see what Freestyle Games is able to do to attempt to top this one.
Score = 9/10
Pros:
Gameplay improvements add more to the core DJing experience
Numerous modes to play both offfline with Empire and online with the competitive battles
The new DJ battles are a great addition making the game feel more competitive
The social elements are also spot on from the Hero Feed being able to see how you stack up against your friends at an instant
The soundtrack is amazing spreading across numerous genres (more house "clubby" stuff personally is great news)
Cons:
Vocals feel tacked on, but hey, its still nice that its available
Online experience can be a mixed bag pending on which difficulty you play - it doesn't feel balanced at times
I have been playing DJ Hero 2 for the past several days (yeah I bought it) and even though I don't plan to review it, I'll say that it is a pretty good sequel and finally I get to own it to play through Expert difficulty. I did beat Empire mode in two days because I'm crazy. Anyway, now that I played through all the mixes, I might as well share my ten favorite ones in no particular order (factoring in DLC I bought too). I think I did a similar list with the first week of the game's release, but now that I played it... some mixes really surprised me how good they are.
Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At?" vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll"
Usher feat. Will.I.Am - "OMG" (DLC)
Robin S. - "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Radio Edit) vs. Calvin Harris - "I'm Not Alone"
Pitbull - "Calle Ocho" (I Know You Want Me) vs. Nightcrawlers - "Push the Feelin On" (MK Mix 95)
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Major Lazer feat. Vybz Kartel - "Pon de Floor" vs. Harold Faltermayer - "Axel F"
Iyaz - "Replay" vs. Rihanna - "Rude Boy"
The Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip - "Galvanize" (Hardest song in the game!!!)
My end of year blogging grind concludes with the long list of my top 100 songs of 2010. It will be a familiar format like how I did it last year. Also, the majority of the songs will have their video attached, so enjoy.
This song was just too sick when it came out at the beginning of the year and still is today.
4) Rihanna - "Only Girl (In the World)"
Let's face it, this song is what Rihanna needed for her latest album Loud to be successful. Plus, I just go nuts every time it gets played, so just imagine me at the clubs going off. Oh, the video is just perfect for this song too.
3) Wiz Khalifa - "Black & Yellow"
This is like the catchiest song I heard in a long time. I was late to the "Black & Yellow" train, but now I know why everyone loves the chorus because "Uh huh, u know what it is." Of course, this song has spawned many remixes especially LA's favorite "Purp & Yellow" in honor of the Lakers.
2) Kanye West - "Runaway" feat. Pusha T
From the moment he premiered it at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye's "Runaway" is just one of those songs that are pure genius. So let's have a toast for the u know what.
The Playstation Store had to go nuts on this week's update since Christmas is just around the corner (well this weekend!) as they put out a lot of games to download, a PS1 classic I remembered loving with Front Mission 3, the Neo Geo station (that's a whole another story), lots of DLC, and of course, there big demos. It is appropriate we do a Demo Showcase post with these three big games that are out next month.
We start off with a sequel to one of the better original games of this console generation with Dead Space 2. Honestly, I didn't play the original at all and this demo was first time with this rising franchise. Playing through it late at night, I can see why this game is pretty crazy and the sequel will take things to the next level. The way Visceral Games does the HUD in these games is still pretty cool for today's times as more and more games are trying to have as limited a HUD as possible. What I classify Dead Space though is a survival shooter, as Issac Clarke, you are trying to survive the Necromorph threat with some weapons at your disposal, but with limited ammo at times. We'll see with the sequel if they made the game more shooter-y, but so far they have retained the survival aspect as any enemy can just swoop on in and kill you if you're not careful. Plus, this is a very atmospheric game with dark backgrounds, so you're expected to get a little spooked when enemies pop up. The initial scare does kick in, but it depends how much you can take scares in a game like this. I didn't get a chance to play the multiplayer beta, which is another big feature for Dead Space 2, but it seems like another of those games that is willing to take a chance having some sort of a multiplayer component to an otherwise single-player heavy game. Dead Space 2 is out next month and already shaping off to be the first big gaming hit of 2011.
Mass Effect 2 finally comes out for PS3 next month and good thing EA decided to release a pretty lengthy demo to give PS3 newcomers a chance what they're missing out on the Xbox 360 versions. They already gave you a scenario that you didn't decide on for this demo as there are two main sections to play through, which are the introduction to Jacob and Miranda as well as the part you're recruiting Mordin. This was also my first time with the game as I didn't play it on 360 in hopes of maybe getting it for myself to continue the story and get ready for Mass Effect 3. The BioWare choices model is still in place as well as making easy Paragon/Renegade decisions especially on the spot when an icon appears on the corner. The camera angles were still fixed in the dialogue-heavy cutscenes as some were just weird at times, so I'm assuming they're fixed for the final PS3 version. I can't make exact comparisons between the two console versions graphically, but the PS3 version so far looks fine to me. As far as gameplay is concerned, it still felt like Mass Effect with the shooting, which seems to be improved, and biotic powers along with the wheel to access different weapons and powers (I rolled with my class that I rocked from the first game, which was the Vanguard class). We'll see in the final game if people were right of Mass 2 being more shooter-heavy and as much RPG elements as they wanted. After playing through the demo, I'm more likely on getting Mass Effect 2 on PS3 next month as I enjoyed the first game a lot on 360 and I never had the opportunity to continue the story of Shepard till now.
Now for a little more cutesy as a demo for LittleBigPlanet 2 came out yesterday too. This demo is pretty much a story mode introduction as many people had their opportunity to mess around with the new create tools making any game they want to with the beta. Three story levels are available to play here as they demonstrate Sackboy's new toys with grappling hooks and Robo-buns. I haven't noticed any significant changes to the platforming as it felt the same to me for now, but now there are crazier levels to go through in this new entry. Despite the demo being story mode only, this game is pretty big and loaded with content like the first game with all the user-created levels. Honestly I didn't get that much into the first LBP, but I still have high hopes for LBP2. Maybe its not for me, but we'll see if I get it next month.
With the games part done, now we continue on with my top 10 albums of the year...
10) Bruno Mars - Doo Wops & Hooligans
No one had a bigger year in music like Bruno Mars from his breakout cameo in B.o.B's "Nothing on You" to his debut album featuring hit songs that everyone loves to bust out their own cover version on YouTube as if they are trying to impress some girl. You can not have the radio on and not hear "Just the Way You Are" or even "Grenade" once on a normal day. Doo Wops & Hooligans is a short and sweet album filled with hits that you have been hearing for the past six months. The thing is that Bruno Mars has that "it factor" as an artist and a writer to come up with catchy stuff that everyone loves as I think he will be around for a while in the mainstream music scene.
9) Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Gorillaz had a crazy year with their recent album, Plastic Beach, and their tour in support of their new material. New and more Gorillaz is always a good thing with the music they put out being a mixture of hip-hop and rock as their own style.
8) Swedish House Mafia - Until One
Now, time for the house music portion of my top 10 and if you know me, you know I love my house/clubby music. Swedish House Mafia's Until One is pretty much a best of house in the past year mixed by them. From "Miami to Ibiza," Axwell's "Leave The World Behind," "Show Me Love" (another nightclub smash), and "One" featuring Pharrell, you got one of the best club mixes out this year and make sure to blast this loud at a party from beginning to end. Great, now I feel like going to Vegas again to go nuts.
7) Deadmau5 - 4x4=12
The house phase continues with Deadmau5's 4x4=12. The mysterious DJ had its breakout year with his hit song (not in this one though) "Ghosts N' Stuff" propelling to the masses to an appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards. I caught on this year like most of the people and surprisingly he dropped out a new album just last month. There are some dubstep stuff at the end which I also enjoy from otherwise a house-heavy album as expected. "Some Chords" and "Sofi Needs a Ladder" are great party starters as well. Now it makes wonder, will Deadmau5 ever do an American tour for this album? If so, I'm so down to experience it for myself.
6) Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
One of the bigger pure hip-hop albums around in a while that is probably not getting as much buzz as it deserves is Big Boi's latest. Well, we are still awaiting an Outkast reunion in the future, but this is the closest thing for now as Big Boi has been holding it down especially with such hits like "Shutterbugg." If you want just straight out hip-hop that does not need any overblown stuff like auto-tune, you can't wrong with Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty.
5) Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer
It is also been a great year for Cee-Lo Green with The Lady Killer. I seriously hope he gets the Grammy wins he deserves because this album is pretty good and it is straight up soul goodness. He has been one of those under-appreciated artists in the game too as every know and then he puts out bangers from his older Cee-Lo stuff to the success of the Gnarls Barkley album. With "F*** You" (or "Forget You"), written surprisingly by Bruno Mars, he is back on the mainstream scene especially with that catchy phrase. It is one of those songs that sounds like pure genius as who else could of thought of something like that. However, the album is not all about that breakout single, his other singles, "Bright Lights, Bigger City" and "Its Ok" are amazing songs and personal favorites of mine too. This is one of those can't miss yet under-appreciated albums out this year.
4) Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
If I had to name my best new artist of the year, it had to be Janelle Monae because her ArchAndroid album is just amazing. This is one of those artists you want to see them succeed because they put out straight up good music rather than succumb to the mainstream pop world where you have your annoying stuff there. "Tightrope" is still one of those bangers that you wanna dance too and the video for "Cold War" is totally something else bringing out our emotional side. Janelle put out a complete album from beginning to end and it establishes herself as one of the better new artists today. She definitely has a future with her sound and hopefully she is allowed to do so.
3) Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager
Even though it is not as amazingly good as his debut album's Kid Cudi's sophomore effort is still one of my favorite albums of the year. If treated on its own, The Legend of Mr. Rager is pretty genius as Cudi goes deeper into talking his demons and basically his darker self with where he was at. "Erase Me" is your poppy single in hopes of getting people's attention for the album, but the rest of it is its own beast and you're getting some deep stuff. I thought he would get the sophomore slump with this album, but he proved me wrong putting out another superb classic especially for those that feel like getting high.
2) Daft Punk - Tron Legacy OST
I already have gloated about how amazing Daft Punk's soundtrack for Tron Legacy for the past several weeks, so I don't need to ramble about how amazing it is again since I even mentioned it when I talked about the movie itself. However, I'll say that the soundtrack is a a completely different experience during the movie than just hearing it at home or on your iPod. Some tracks like "Rinzler" and "The Game Has Changed" are just filled with intensity and hearing them in the movie in the right scenes are just crazy. As I already mentioned in the past, Daft Punk has completely changed my view on movie soundtracks now as they set a new standard on how they should be epic.
1) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
High expectations were definitely set for Kanye West to blow everyone away again after some felt disappointed with 808s and Heartbreak and he managed to do so with MBDTF to the point he exceeded those expectations. This is a masterpiece from beginning to end as you can tell Kanye worked his u know off to make such a classic like this. It definitely deserves its critical praise it has been getting for the past month because it shows how much a genius he is artistically and of course we could not say about his ego. From "Power" to "Runaway," he has outdid himself again putting out one of the greatest albums in the past decade. The "Runaway" film is also a great showpiece for the album and how everything just clicks for what Kanye is going for. Even though some songs feel overblown like the numerous cameos in "All of the Lights" and the Chris Rock bit in "Blame Game," Yeezy can back up his talk being one of the greatest artists in music past, present, or future.
