As usual, I spent my hard earned wages on video games that came out this friday, those games being Infinite Undiscovery, and the long awaited (by me at least) sequal to Viva Pinata - Trouble in Paradise.

Now, as much as I would love to tell you that I have played Infinite Undiscover, I actually found myself playing Viva Pinata until the early morning, and never really got to touch the recent Square-Enix release.

As always, I endeavour to give you an honest opinion of the game, and that is that this game is just as fantastic as its predecessor.  All the original Pinatas are there for us to coo over and admire, and now there are tons of other Pinatas for you to love and care for.  My personal favourite of the new breed of Pinatas is the Jeli.  It is a huge Yeti that can be found in the Snow area of the game.

Which brings me onto another subject.  There are two areas where you can capture Pinatas for your garden, the Pentarctic and the Dessert Desert.  Here you can find multiple new breeds (and old) of Pinatas that you can capture using traps and baits.  Much like Pokeballs in pokemon, these traps are not always successful, but it is a nice little quirk to the game.

There are also more Ruffians and Sour pinatas ready to wreck your garden.  In fact, there are so many new things in the game that they could have just released the game with all the new things and I would have been satissfied.  There are new plants, items, pinatas, ruffians and sour pinatas, that the game keeps its game playing ability for HOURS!!!

However, as with every game there are so flaws.  For example, it is ridiculously difficult to get the new rare Chocolodocus…in fact, the only reason I know how to get it is because I was sad enough to buy the walkthrough guide to the game…but that is beside the point.

Also, and I am unsure if this is a fault with my game, or if it is a general fault with all of them, but for the 30 hours that I have been playing the game (in total…not in one sitting) the weather has done nothing but rain, that is, the in-game weather…although weather in the UK has been similar from the past…year.  See, its not so much an issue as it means I dont have to water all the plants, however, my Pinata keep getting depressed by the terrible weather…and nothing tugs at your heart strings than watching a Redhot cry with tears falling from its eyes.

I know I am sad, but I really love this game.  It looks like a childs game, but I can assure you that this game appeals to people of all ages.  All my friends (aged between 22-30) play this game and love it so if you are looking for something new, dont be put off by the games girly appearance, it is a brilliant play, and the fun lasts for many hours!

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After purchasing Dragonball Z: Burst Limit on the Xbox 360 on the day of its release, I actually played this anime game for over 5 hours at a time. The reason why is very simple, this game is just amazing. Its not your everyday run of the mill fighting game.

The most amazing aspect of this game is the fact that they have taken actual footage from the Dragonball Z series, and turned it into a cell-shaded work of art, and unlike most anime games, most of the voices are from the original series, with the addition of Vegeta being voiced by Christopher Sabat and not Brian Drummond. This is not exactly a problem as Sabat did voice over 200 episodes, whilst Drummond did about 50.

The gameplay is also really easy to get used to, and you can even equip cutscenes that can help you during the battle. For example, in the Saiyan saga, you can equip Piccolo’s Sepcial Beam Cannon, which he will perform once you have reached all the requirements.

This game is ridiculously pretty, and extremely well made, though I do have one grumble, and that is the lack of the Buu Saga. Im not entirely sure how you can call it Dragonball Z when it lacks all the saga’s from that series. I mean, it even includes the stupid Brolli saga, but neglects to include the Buu saga whihc would have introduced to us all the fusion characters.

The reason this is also an issue is because it means that the next game they bring out cant be a Dragonball Z game, only a Dragonball game, or a GT game…and if they included the Buu Saga in this, then that wold be incorrect as these series’ are about 15 years apart. For none fans, this may not be an issue, but it is a huge contingency error, and they would in fact do better to miss the Buu Saga out all together…though it is one of the best.

So if you like the Dragonball Z anime series, you should love this game, as it brigns you everything a fan could want

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Atari and FUNimation Announce Next Chapter in DBZ Video Game Series

Attention all Dragonball Z fans: Atari and FUNimation have announced the latest chapter in DBZ next generation video games. Dubbed Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, the new game is being developed for both XBox 360 and Playstation 3.

Burst Limit is the latest in a long line of DBZ video games that includes Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PS2), Harukanaru Densentsu (DS)and Super Dragonball Z (PS2).

But Burst Limit has something its predecessors doesn’t - amazing 3D graphics that can only be experienced by next generation play systems.

"Atari is excited and ready to offer fans the next iteration of the Dragon Ball Z video game series on the next-gen consoles," said Donny Clay, Producer, Atari, Inc., in a recent press release. "With explosive cinematic graphics and online gameplay, fans of the series and of the fighting genre will surely enjoy Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit."

The new game will feature online battle capabilities, graphically enhanced playable characters and a realistic battle environment.

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I recently purchased a game for my XBox 360 called Lost Odyssey.  For those of you who are not up-to-date with the latest video games from Japan, Lost Odyssey is a RPG style game created by Mistwalker and the people who so lovingly brought us the Final Fantasy series.

Now at first I was dubious about Lost Odyssey, after all, Mistwalker did create Blue Dragon, a game that is not only ridiculously long, but the story is not as compelling as an RPG requires in order to keep the gamers attention.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love RPG’s, and at first I really enjoyed Blue Dragon.  I loved the Akira Toriyama style of characters, as I am a huge fan of the Dragonball/Z/GT series, and the fact that we FINALLY had a real RPG on the 360, but that can only take you so far, and after 20 hours of gaming, I gave up due to the poor plot and character development…it left a bad taste in my mouth.

However, I decided to give Mistwalker another chance, more so because of the difference in style between the two games.  And I am so glad that I did!  Lost Odyssey brings you everything that you could possibly hope for from an RPG.  IT has beautiful scenery, characters and cut-scenes.  The plot development, though obvious in places, is there.  The story is not long winded and tedious.

Now, the box says that the game is photo-realistic.  Let me tell you, it isn’t, and the day games are photo realistic is the day they are banned.  However, there have been times IN GAME where the camera has suddenly focussed on a character and I have thought, that looks near as damn it to real.  Now, bare in mind this is IN GAME graphics, the cut scenes are even more impressive.

Also, one of the other things that truly impresses me about Lost Odyssey is the character development.  The immortals have lost their memories and are trying to find them.  When they find them, a text scene ensues which you can either read or skip, but you see the characters reaction to their own memories, and at times, I too have ‘felt’ their pain..weird.

One of the best things, and it is such a small thing, but a really nice touch, is that when characters start to cry, you see the tears actually build up in their eyes before they fall down their cheeks…I have never seen this style implemented in ANY game before and found that this small thing actually made such a difference to the game.  As if by including the build up of tears, actually made the characters express more emotion.

Obviously, as with any game there are flaws, but not enough to stop me from playing.  The voice acting is brilliant, the character design and development is on a level that I have never witnessed before, and the plot, so far, has been engrossing and completely enjoyable.

So, if you find you have any spare cash, and you are one for RPG’s, I would strongly advise you to go out and purchase Lost Odyssey…and maybe a strategy guide, because it is one purchase you will not regret.

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