Jason Venter

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Stories By Jason Venter

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    Entertainment By Jason Venter

    Deja Review: Tales of Symphonia Chronicles

    This is a Deja Review: A quick, unscored look at the new features and relative agelessness of a remade, revived or re-released game. Two classic RPGs have finally arrived on the PlayStation 3 as Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, allowing many players to experience two of the previous decade's most satisfying adventures, Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, for the first time. Originally released on the GameCube, Tales of Symphonia tells the story of a young daydreamer named Lloyd Irving. He becomes a hero over the course of a globe-trotting quest with his friends. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, released on Wii in 2008, explores events that took place in the years after its predecessor's conclusion. The lead protagonist is a young lad named Emil who despises village hero Lloyd for seemingly justifiable reasons, though he's too timid to act on his hatred. Before long, a run-in with some unusual strangers forces him to embark on an adventure of his own. The two games are similar, sharing key mechanics like active battles and a lack of random encounters (enemies are visible and can be avoided). Dawn of the New World, however, allows players to ask monsters to join the team once they have been thoroughly trounced, a unique twist for the series. Neither game was particularly innovative upon release, but that works out for the best. Fantasy tropes are supported by enjoyable Japanese role-playing game elements, borrowed by previous Tales games and from genre staples like Star Ocean, Dragon Quest and Shin Megami Tensei. There's plenty of content without needlessly complicated systems that might prevent newcomers from joining in on the fun.

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    Reviews By Jason Venter

    New Super Luigi U review: Not easy being green

    Mario has stolen the show often enough that it can be difficult to remember he even has a brother. As Nintendo celebrates the "Year of Luigi," though, Mario's gangly sibling is finally enjoying some well-deserved time in the spotlight. First there was Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS, and now the less famous of the two Marios has found a starring role in New Super Luigi U, a retelling of the excellent Wii U launch title, New Super Mario Bros. U. New Super Luigi U works like a traditional expansion pack, offering content that builds upon a solid foundation and grows it in a new direction. Rather than simply offering new stages that feel like cutting room rejects, Nintendo has returned with a refined bundle of more than 80 new levels that essentially pick up where the last adventure ended.%Gallery-191095%

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    Reviews By Jason Venter

    Anomaly: Warzone Earth review: Reverse defense

    In the year 2018, what initially appears to be a comet crashes into Baghdad with seismic force. Just like that, Earth has been invaded. Anomaly: Warzone Earth tells the story of the brave members of the fourteenth platoon, the military group that responds to the disaster first and (with any luck) the group that will still be around to fire the final shot. Anomaly: Warzone Earth is a tower defense game in reverse. As events unfold, aliens have set up encampments and Earth's soldiers are the new invaders. Towers and turrets dot the landscape. Extraterrestrial vessels hover over scorched soil and the remnants of apartments and office buildings. The loss of human lives is palpable. Now soldiers must take back each captured zone by bringing the fight to the aliens. %Gallery-141838%

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    Reviews By Jason Venter

    Deja Review: Tales of the Abyss (3DS)

    We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. When Tales of the Abyss arrived on the PlayStation 2 near the end of 2006, it was the second Tales title to hit North American stores in the same year. The RPG genre was flying high and compelling new JRPGs seemed to arrive on a monthly basis. Even in that environment, the game managed to stand apart from the crowd.Though it featured a somewhat formulaic story that bowed to genre tropes (even going so far as to include a mostly amnesiac lead protagonist), Tales of the Abyss wowed consumers and critics alike with interesting characters, detailed and beautiful environments, an efficient combat system and an epic adventure. The game's greatest strength was its ability to take so many familiar genre elements and tie them together to create an experience that almost felt too big for the PlayStation 2 hardware. More than five years later, that experience has returned in handheld form with all of the magic still in place.%Gallery-130926%

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