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Review: Psychic Force 2012 |
I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to humiliate this game. I’m not going to verbally rape it. I’m going to be fair. Really. In fact, this game has many good things going for it, and despite it’s short-comings, it could have been so much more. Oh, and I saw a DVD the other day of Psychic Force, so I guess this is based on anime of sorts. I’ve never seen it, but a noteworthy feature on the DVD said that included nudity.
Stick around dear reader, uncle Punchinello is gonna tell you a story.
* drops his cane on his foot as he sits down on a rocking chair *
It seems that there are people in the world with psychic abilities whose origins lie in mystery. Even more distressing, is that their power’s origin lies even deeper in mystery. Welcome to the world of Psychic Force 2012. If the setting provides a canvas, then the characters are the paint. Each character has his/her own story, and is elaborate enough, especially when compared to most other fighting games. Every character’s story is intertwined with another, so to get the whole scoop, you must play with all of them. Adds longevity, a good thing if you ask me. But what’s really a nice touch here, is the Japanese voice-acting for each character. I’m glad to see not everything has to be dubbed into English, it adds to the game’s authenticity. The art and character designs are 2nd class, but not 3rd, if you get my meaning. Some of them border the line of being cool, but just miss it somehow. Things like these give the game a very anime like feel. In fact, the game could be based off one for all I know.
See those screenshots? You’re staring at a first generation game. The characters are detailed enough, but it’s just so drab I felt sorry for the game. Most levels are just what they are… a tunnel, city skyline, a back alley. Nothing fancy, all the usual brawling areas you’d see in a typical fighter. The sound does one better though. The soundtrack actually got me into a trance, particularly one song, “Dirty Little Honey Bee” I believe it was called. It’s not stellar, but it’s got some soul :B
And that right there pretty much sums up the gameplay as well. The idea, the soul if you will, is there, but isn’t much else. The concept is as follows : You are in cube (well, more like a square since it’s played in a 2d fashion, even though it’s 3d graphics), and can go anywhere in this “cube”, shooting projectiles, or beating the opponent with your bare fists. I find it appealing for the sole reason that it re-enacts some of those aerial battles often seen in animes. But the fault lies in execution. For one, there’s something I refer to as the “3d fighting syndrome”. This constitutes of the following : one button combos and getting stuck to the wall. I’ve always seen it as lazy and boring, but one button combos are definitely not interesting to me. Since Psychic Force 2012 only uses buttons for physical attacks, projectiles and blocking, pressing attack three times results in combo’ing him. But I played some more and realized that it just works well in this game, since physical attacks can be used to pin someone against the wall and punish him. It’s actually useful to have it combo so easily rather than varying between kick/punch buttons. It stays simpler this way. An interesting addition to the game is the psychic projectiles that shoot across the battlefield. A meter indicates how much energy you have left, but recharges slowly. It depletes fast enough for it not to be abusable though. All good ideas, but there is simply no depth to the combat. The only real move that mixes things up is a dash. Eh. I didn’t say it was an amazing addition. So it’s a simple combat system that works well enough, but too simple and bland for most people’s palette. I have a small gripe here, and it’s that the recovery time for being smacked against a wall is a tad too long, so if you enjoy seeing the CPU bang you against a wall (oh my), then this game is the find of a life time.
*cough*
I hear you asking : “So is it a good game or not?” Yes, it’s a decent game. Just don’t expect an aerial version of Tekken. It’s basic, it’s simple, but it does it well. It has most importantly some personality. And like it was said in the tr�s cool Pulp Fiction, personality goes a long way…
ADDENDUM : There is indeed a Psychic Force 2012 Anime and its available on DVD. Wether the game spawned it or its spawned from the game, I don’t know.
You can check it out here : Anime on DVD
