Volume 2 Issue 6 December 2006 Sony ... - Hardcore Gamer

And now
for something
completely
different.
Preview by Wanderer
It’s 2013, and life on Earth
is not going terribly well. Even
discounting the wars, famine, and
global unrest, now there are demons
invading the planet. As humanity faces
its extinction, a woman named Alicia is
resurrected, and there you have your Bullet
Witch. Wielding both formidable magical
powers and a fully automatic “witch’s broom,”
she’s out to kick the demons off the planet.
Publisher: Atari
Developer: AQ Interactive
Release Date: Q1 2007
Bullet Witch is long on action and style, and short on
strategy. It resembles nothing quite so much as a next-gen
Gungrave, featuring a constant string of over-the-top, gory
gunghts set against an apocalyptic backdrop.
Title: Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia
Publisher: NIS America
Developer: Gust
Release Date: February 2007
Genre(s): RPG
Category: Music! Dating! Violence!
Genre(s): Action
Category: Gothic Lolita Gone Postal
# of Players: 1
There are no power-ups, no discarded weapons to seize, and no
health items, as these things would screw with your ow. Alicia will
simply recover from wounds on her own, you can get more weapons at the
end of a level, and frankly, Bullet Witch is the kind of game where you don’t
really need power-ups. This owes in large part to Alicia’s repetoire of magical
spells, which include lightning strikes, murders of crows, and meteor showers.
You just blew up a tank with a stray gesture. You are already powered up, sir.
Bullet Witch is set in and around a city based on New York, as Alicia mounts a last-ditch
assault on the demons. Each of the game’s ve levels are enormous; the power of the 360 is
used here to provide an epic backdrop as you ght through city streets. You’ll also be able to
download more stages in the Xbox Live Marketplace, as well as extra costumes for Alicia.
Right now, Bullet Witch looks like the kind of game that starts slowly, but will eventually give
you enough enemies and combat options to provide a satisfying shooter experience. We’ll nd
out for ourselves come next year.
Preview by Lynxara
Ar tonelico is, in practice,
as delightfully weird a game as the
premise suggested. The gameplay
is very reminiscent of the two Atelier
Iris games, complete with a complicated
item synthesis system, equipment
customization, and a similar turn-based
combat engine. Ar tonelico throws
in a new complication in the form of
Reyvateils and all their special gameplay
mechanics. The result is a considerably
deeper and more satisfying experience
thus far than either of the Iris titles that
have been localized.
As in most Gust titles, the plot by itself
isn’t inspired. Lyner Barsett is a knight
errant from the upper world of Platina,
who crashes into the lower world called
the Wings of Horus while on a quest
for an ancient artifact called the Hymn
Crystal Purger. If Lyner doesn’t get the
Hymn Crystal back to Platina in time, it’ll
be destroyed by a new and deadly type
of Virus monster called the ELMA-DS. Of
course, Lyner doesn’t have to get back
home before you’ve had time to take him
through a colorful adventure full of bad
guys to beat on, friends to recruit, and
problems to solve.
It’s the Reyvateil that make playing Ar
tonelico interesting. Reyvateil have the
power of Song Magic but are otherwise
fragile young women who can’t attack
normally in combat. Instead, they can deal
damage, heal allies, or create a host of
other useful effects by singing. The longer
they sing before releasing a spell, the more
powerful it is and the better your rewards
are at the end of a battle. You must
have Lyner Dive into the inner psyche,
or “Cosmosphere,” of your Reivateil and
interact with her subconscious mind.
This’ll help her develop new abilities that
help you both in combat and in exploring
dungeon maps more completely.
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