Following the lives of two young and very adventurous ladies, set in a world that’s buried beneath the sands of the Dusk Sea. The tale of tragedy and depression that one would expect from such a scenario is in itself all but buried, and this is down to its amazing characters and the journey that the player embarks upon.

Starting off at a fairly slow pace and presenting its first two characters under the impression that players are familiar with the lore, there’s no real background information given on the game’s main characters or any useful dialogue being spoken on who they are, other than their mission at hand in reference to the game’s main story.

"Starting off at a fairly slow pace and presenting it's first two characters under the impression that players are familiar with the lore. "

While this sounds like a bad idea at first, one that over-estimates its reputation and awareness, it actually works in delivering an interesting prologue towards the rest of the game. After this brief introduction ends and the game fools you in to believing that these are the only two characters that players will be embodying, an interesting turn of events take place as the player is given control of an additional character.

Just like the two characters prior, the player is given little information on who she is other than her main goal within the game’s story. The game sets itself up nicely here and it delivers a stunning introductory cut-scene, before giving the player a choice of which character’s story they would prefer to experience.

The first choice on-hand follows Shallistera, a young Alchemist Princess journeying across the Dusk Sea in search of help so that she may save her village and restore water to her people. The second choice being offered to the player and arguably one that’s less interesting is the story of Shallotte.

"The game sets itself up nicely here and it delivers a stunning introductory cut-scene, before giving the player a choice of which character's story they would prefer to experience."

Sweeping the streets of Stellard and taking up mundane tasks in order to get by, Shallotte is a self taught Alchemist who has big dreams of being rich and famous, so that she can support herself and her mother, as well as proving to the people of Stellard that there’s more to who she is other than being the town’s street sweeper.

Something which stood out to me after deciding on my choice of character and entering the game was its unique difficulty setting. The game does well in catering its difficulty setting in two key ways. The first is game balancing and this ties in to enemy health points, experience gains, and character bonuses.

The second of which is general tolerance the JRPG genre itself. By simplifying how the game actually plays and delivers its hints and tutorial systems within its easiest difficulty setting. This eliminates any doubts that players may have about the game being to intense for their liking. The same can be applied in reverse order for those looking to gain the full experience of the game by playing on its most difficult setting.

As the two main characters of the game make use of alchemy for their basis of combat tactics and skill progression, item crafting plays an important role within the majority of the game’s mechanics. Star fruit, gunpowder, supplements, shelbani flour, and so on all serve as materials and items that can be combined in a variety of different ways, that each produce different side-effects and benefits towards the character’s attacks, health, and strength.

"The first is game balancing and this ties in to enemy health points, experience gains, and character bonuses."

Where materials and items can be acquired by traversing the game’s small environments and by defeating enemies, players will also come across NPCs in villages and towns selling alternative items that will not be found elsewhere in the game. Only in JRPGs will you find people selling milk, herbs, water, and trash in the same shop. No seriously, people are selling actual trash from the bin. While I would love to say “One man’s trash is an Alchemist’s….” No I really can’t do it, it’s just trash.

While there’s certainly a lot more to cover, something of which the game could do a better job in explaining. As the player is most likely going to come across more materials than knowledge on what to actually do with them, even on the lowest of difficulty players may still feel overwhelmed. It’s simple enough to just ignore these crafting elements but in some cases it’s something of a requirement, should the player actually wish to progress their character’s stats and actually push forward through the game.

Mission structure in the game works on a basis of traveling to a given location displayed on a map, exploring the divided sandboxes within the area, and complete the task that’s been assigned to the character. As these missions largely involve searching for a particular item or person, defeating the enemies that inhabit these areas, and crafting new items and skills from what the player has discovered.

" Only in JRPGs will you find people selling milk, herbs, water, and trash in the same shop."

Even with the game’s importance on storytelling the missions themselves don’t do much in reflecting its theme and tone. At times it just felt like scavenge and craft even though there’s a lot more to it, and as good as the characters are at portraying the overall importance of these missions and how it references to the larger goals at hand, in all honesty, gameplay feels and plays like fetch quests.

Given Shallistera’s missions in the game which consist of running errands in exchange for help towards her primary goal, there’s a slight sense of irony overlooking the entire game. That’s not to say it’s not enjoyable but as to how well this can sustain the player’s interest in the hopes that the game will diversify itself is another question entirely.

Where missions do diversify themselves come in the form of side missions, these revolve around the character’s feelings and personality towards the game’s NPCs and narrative. These are divided in to body, mind, skill, and person. Thankfully these can be of worthwhile and they do well to tie-in to the main game. It’s just a shame the primary missions don’t do much in the way of standing out or being all that different from one another.

"Where missions do diversify themselves come in the form of side missions, these revolve around the character's feelings and personality towards the games NPCs and narrative. "

Players looking to make the most of the game’s alchemy mechanics, through the use of crafting items and becoming familiar with the game’s combat system will be the ones who hold no quarrels with the game’s repetitive mission structure when engaging in its narrative. Thankfully the game’s combat system is quite enjoyable regardless, as are the enemies that the player will encounter.

Working on a system of turn-based combat, players engage in battle as a party and interact using four key mechanics. Attack, defend, special skill, and run. Each being self-explanatory to their actions, damage count and player health is based on the characters own progression and side effects which come from carrying different crafts of alchemy and items.

Should players do well in battle by inflicting enough damage on to their opponents, a special group attack will be available that allows all members of the player’s party to attack as a unit. While the combat system could be improved in explaining itself in terms of how the system exactly functions, and how certain battle conditions are met, battles can prove to be enjoyable and satisfying. Assuming the player wins the given battle of course.

" Thankfully the game's combat system is quite enjoyable regardless, as are the enemies that the player will encounter."

Much like the rest of the game Atelier Shallie plays host to a visual style that captures both its charm and bubbly nature. Although the game’s world is small in scope, the division among such areas feels truly unnecessary, its illustrative style of colorful anime characters succeed in giving life to its world and making it feel like there’s something worth exploring, something there that’s more than meets the eye.

Due to the replayability of the game being given from its overlapping narrative that is told from the perspective of two different and interesting protagonists, there’s certainly a great deal of content here for players looking for an entertaining and long-lasting journey. One that serves in delivering both solid gameplay mechanics and a quantifiable amount of choices for players wanting to make the most of what the game has to offer.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation3.

One Piece is one of the most beloved and successful mangas of all time, and is arguably the best manga that is still being drawn – sorry, Bleach fans. Since the first ever One Piece game release in 200 for the WonderSwan, the series as spawned an epic list of over 40 games based on its plot and characters.

Most of these games have remaied in Japan, with only some seeing a worldwide release, but still. They are generating at an incredible rate.

Earlier Namco Bandai released a new trailer for the latest entry in the One Piece video game series, One Piece: Unlimited World RED. The trailer is entirely in Japanese, but the visuals are incredibly crisp, and the villains and heroes look just like their manga counterparts. As things stand it looks as though the game will only release in Japan. We are unsure as to whether or not there are plans to expand to other regions.

There’s not much to say other than the graphics still looks sub-par and the English voice acting is still a tad cheesy. However, Dynasty Warriors always manages to charm the fans with it’s somewhat repetitive gameplay but yet fun at the same time.

Let us know if you’re looking forward to playing Dynasty Warriors 8 on July 19th, in the comments section down below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for news, updates and our review of the game.

Dead or Alive 5 is the perfect game for newcomers to the series, yet it’s not unfamiliar to those who have been with the series a long time. All the typical DOA mechanics and shenanigans that you know and love are still here, but they’ve been broken down to their core in a lot of ways and explained thoroughly for the newcomers.

The tutorials are a perfect example for this. They’re very informative and detailed, and they teach you everything from basic moves like punching and kicking to some of the most complicated moves you can pull off, progressing gradually and at a deliberate speed. It’s even enjoyable if you’re a DOA fan. It’s just too much fun.

The fighting in the game hasn’t changed much from what we know already. The strikes, holds and throws collectively form a rock, paper, scissors system, where strike beats throw, throw beats hold, and hold beats strike. It’s a fun system that forms checks and balances, and it creates lots of opportunities to formulate strategies, yet not so much so that arcade fighter fans cannot have fun.

Then there’s the campaign mode. The story in the campaign mode, which is supposed to be what the purpose of the campaign is, is downright ridiculous. Sure, it provides a few laughs sometimes, but it’s poorly written and tacky. The corny voice acting doesn’t help. However, it isn’t really about the story. Playing DOA for story is like playing Assassin’s Creed for the horse-riding. It’s stupid. The story, in Dead or Alive, needs to serve the purpose of bringing you from one fight to another, and here, it does that perfectly.

The fights can often get a little crazy- the maps are often dynamic and they’ll cause you to rethink your movements and your attacks, lest you want to get trampled by a train or electrocuted by a… wall. The action on the screen can often get pretty intense, and the game usually handles that well, but the frame rate dips often times, which can be a real hindrance and irritant. It’s not a deal breaker, but it sure comes in the way of your enjoyment sometimes.

It’s good to know, then, that the visuals are top notch otherwise. The art style is great and ambitious, and so are the character models (you know). The arenas and maps have been created wonderfully, and even on a technical side, the visuals are pretty impressive.

There are some other modes in the game, as expected, including arcade, time trial and online. These pretty much explain themselves, and I guess you don’t need me telling you that they’re all well done and extremely fun. Especially the online mode. It isn’t the best you would see in a game, heck, even in a fighting game, but there’s something satisfying about beating your friends and/or strangers to death with fighting mechanics that are as good as they are in DOA 5.

Ultimately, Dead or Alive 5 is a great game. Team Ninja isn’t completely over its obsession with accentuated breasts and making them bounce like rubber balls against a concrete wall, but that really isn’t an issue, is it? Either way, the gameplay here is solid, and if you are a Dead or Alive and/or fighting fan, you should definitely pick this game up.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

A new DLC is out for Ninja Gaiden 3 that will add a higher difficulty level to the disappointing game. The “Ultimate Ninja” difficulty DLC will be free till May 24.

Ninja Trails, which are based on this new difficulty level, are also available. They can be bought individually, or together in a pack that costs $9.99 or 800 MS Points on PSN and Xbox Live respectively.

A multiplayer update has also been added to the game via a free new update.

Have a look at all that’s available in the new update via the trailer above.

Tecmo Koei has released some footage of their upcoming Dynasty Warriors game on the PS Vita, to be released as a launch title when it launches in the west in late February.

The video looks good, although I hope the voice acting and lip syncing are not final as of now. Still, I cannot honestly wait for some more Dynasty Warriors action.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Dead or Alive 5 was recently announced to be released at the Tokyo Game Show 2011 (TGS).  The game will be available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  Head of Team Ninja Yosuke Hayashi debuted the game’s first trailer at TGS calling the game a ”fighting entertainment’ game.  Look for Dead or Alive 5 hitting shelves sometime in 2012.

Tecmo Koei have announced Ninja Gaiden 3 behind closed doors at the on going Tokyo Games Show. VideoGamer got this image of Ryua Hayabusa which shows blood on his face indicating that game might be more violent compared to the previous installments in the franchise. No other information is available on the game, but we hope to see some trailer during TGS. The game I think is going to get released on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Stay tuned for more news and updates on GamingBolt.

A demo for Tecmo Koei’s upcoming Third Person Shooter, Quantum Theory, was recently released for the PlayStation Network for all PS3 players to try out. For those who are wondering whe the Gears of War-esque shooter’s demo will be avilable on Xbox LIVE, we’ve got bad news.

The publisher has recently announced that the demo for Quantum Theory won’t be out on Xbox LIVE till the end of this month. That will be pretty useless, since the full game releases around the same time.

Quantum Theory is a game that uses the Unreal Engine, and uses mechanics very similar to Gears of War, and thus, it is often called a rip-off of the latter. We’ll see for ourselves what it is when it is released on September the 28th.