PS3 FFXIII Trailer - GamesCom 2009

The Japanese release date for FFXIII is drawing near, and with that comes more trailers. This trailer features beautiful cinematic sequences, as expected of Square-Enix, and new snippets of gameplay. We are also, for the first time, shown Lightning's Odin summon.

The US won't see this game until 2010.

A more in depth analysis of the trailer is presented over at 1up.

Tengoku no Tou - Tower of Heaven

Typically*, in games, when one is being commanded, or given friendly advice, by the voice of a vengeful god that is kind of trying to kill them, one listens. Tower of Heaven breaks the mold and asks you to defy a deity by attempting to climb a mysterious tower that supposedly reaches god himself - and god apparently has a fancy prize for those that have been bestowed with sufficient platforming prowess.

For me, this game was a fairly quick play, and its difficulty was balanced appropriately; I didn't really experience frustration as I played through. There are a number of unexpected elements, however if you have sufficient experience playing platform games, then you will be able to figure out the little puzzles quickly enough. The platform elements are fun and the controls are tight, but the digital lo-fi synth videogame style music shines through as one of the best things about the game. The composer's deviantart site is here.

Tower of Heaven has an 8-bit Gameboy feel that generates a great sense of nostalgia. Here is a video of an early demo version of the game:

The audio isn't quite synced appropriately, but it displays what is awesome about this game - its 8bit style along with a whimsically murderous god that gives you arbitrary rules.

Overall, anybody looking for a quick challenge should pick up this game. It's not necessarily for people that are new to platform games, but for me, it was a fun way to spend a bit of time.

It can be downloaded here for free.

*Not so typical, I know.

Touhou Project: Undefined Fantastic Object

Comiket is coming to an end, and the dojin game I have been looking forward to the most is definitely Touhou 12: Undefined Fantastic Object (UFO). I am a huge fan of vertical danmaku style shooters and I've played many including: Giga Wing, Mars Matrix, and Uwabami Breakers. My favorite thus far, however, is Touhou 8: Imperishable Night. The intricate patterning to the bullets along with the precise control necessary to navegate your shrine maiden through the neigh-impossible-to-dodge spread of bullets is unparalelled, except perhaps by other Touhou titles. The difficulty in these games is quite high, and overall these are not titles for those that give up easily. However, if you are able to persist and push your hand eye coordination to the max, then the satisfaction from completing games like these is impossibly high.

Here's a clip from UFO:

Whenever I get my hands on it, I'll write up my impressions of the experience. For now, I'll just watch this video over and over again. Download the demo here. A list of mirrors is here.