Baron Aloha
A Shining Example
I picked this game up last week since it is going to be pretty rare and I've been playing it ever since. I just beat it today (it took about 10 hours) and the game is actually pretty fun.
Imagine a mixture of Bionic Commando, Phantasy Star Online, Virtua Fighter, The Matrix, and Megaman Battle Network. That's Virtua Quest in a nutshell.
The good:
The fighting is better than I thought it would be. Throughout the game you find "Virtua Souls" (sort of like the chips in Battle Network) that you can equip to alter your fighting techniques. A typical combo might be to use Jacky's Somersault Kick to knock your opponents into the air, then latch on to your opponents with your wire (its basically just like Bionic Commando's arm; you can also use it to swing from stuff) to pull yourself up to them, unleash an air combo, and then when you land finish them off with Akira's shoulder thrust move. The combo system is pretty open ended so you can mix and match moves however you want.
The story ties in with the VF franchise better than I thought it would as well. It takes place in the future several years after the World Fighting Tournaments from the Virtua Fighter games. In the VF games a corporation collected data from the participants in the tournament and used it to enhance their Dural soldiers (which is why Dural has moves from everyone). The game centers around collecting this data (the Virtua Souls) to stop the corporation from committing a terrorist attack.
The voice acting is good as well. The game has a cute look but none of the main characters have ultra-cute (ie annoying) voices. Thank God. Plus, some of the same people who did the voices in VF4 do the voices for the characters in this. Also, the guy who voiced Krauser in RE4 does the voice of the first boss (at least I think its him...I recognized his voice immediately).
The music is pretty good. A lot of it is straight out of VF4.
The graphics are very clean and pleasing to the eye.
The bad:
I am disappointed that some of the Virtua Fighter characters are missing from the game (Brad, Goh, and Taka are nowhere to be found). Also some of the moves that you get from the Virtua Fighters are pretty similar.
The bosses are pretty easy once you learn "the trick". Basically all that you have to do is stay in close proximity and wait for them to whiff a move and then counter with jump kicks. If you hit them with the jump kicks finish the combo with a strike move. If they block your jump kicks you get a free throw. This works on almost every boss in the game.
I wish there was more variety in the levels. They include a sort of a modern US city, a jungle, a contruction site, a japanese castle, a military base (reminds me of the docks in Shen Mue), ancient ruins (like the ruins in Sonic Adventure), a Hong Kong styled city (like something you'd see in Shen Mue 2), and a network server (neon lights everywhere at what not). The cities, contruction site, and military base all look totally different but they are all kinda bland. They may as well be the same level.
The ugly:
The price tag. Its a good game but it isn't worth $40. I don't mind paying that because I collect games and I wanted to make sure that I snagged a copy in good condition before its gone but for everyone else $20-$25 is about right.
I'd give it a 7 out of 10.
Imagine a mixture of Bionic Commando, Phantasy Star Online, Virtua Fighter, The Matrix, and Megaman Battle Network. That's Virtua Quest in a nutshell.
The good:
The fighting is better than I thought it would be. Throughout the game you find "Virtua Souls" (sort of like the chips in Battle Network) that you can equip to alter your fighting techniques. A typical combo might be to use Jacky's Somersault Kick to knock your opponents into the air, then latch on to your opponents with your wire (its basically just like Bionic Commando's arm; you can also use it to swing from stuff) to pull yourself up to them, unleash an air combo, and then when you land finish them off with Akira's shoulder thrust move. The combo system is pretty open ended so you can mix and match moves however you want.
The story ties in with the VF franchise better than I thought it would as well. It takes place in the future several years after the World Fighting Tournaments from the Virtua Fighter games. In the VF games a corporation collected data from the participants in the tournament and used it to enhance their Dural soldiers (which is why Dural has moves from everyone). The game centers around collecting this data (the Virtua Souls) to stop the corporation from committing a terrorist attack.
The voice acting is good as well. The game has a cute look but none of the main characters have ultra-cute (ie annoying) voices. Thank God. Plus, some of the same people who did the voices in VF4 do the voices for the characters in this. Also, the guy who voiced Krauser in RE4 does the voice of the first boss (at least I think its him...I recognized his voice immediately).
The music is pretty good. A lot of it is straight out of VF4.
The graphics are very clean and pleasing to the eye.
The bad:
I am disappointed that some of the Virtua Fighter characters are missing from the game (Brad, Goh, and Taka are nowhere to be found). Also some of the moves that you get from the Virtua Fighters are pretty similar.
The bosses are pretty easy once you learn "the trick". Basically all that you have to do is stay in close proximity and wait for them to whiff a move and then counter with jump kicks. If you hit them with the jump kicks finish the combo with a strike move. If they block your jump kicks you get a free throw. This works on almost every boss in the game.
I wish there was more variety in the levels. They include a sort of a modern US city, a jungle, a contruction site, a japanese castle, a military base (reminds me of the docks in Shen Mue), ancient ruins (like the ruins in Sonic Adventure), a Hong Kong styled city (like something you'd see in Shen Mue 2), and a network server (neon lights everywhere at what not). The cities, contruction site, and military base all look totally different but they are all kinda bland. They may as well be the same level.
The ugly:
The price tag. Its a good game but it isn't worth $40. I don't mind paying that because I collect games and I wanted to make sure that I snagged a copy in good condition before its gone but for everyone else $20-$25 is about right.
I'd give it a 7 out of 10.
