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This year’s Tokyo Game Show was a hit.
The annual video game expo and convention is held in Chiba, Japan for developers to show off their latest hardware and software developments.
Many impressive new games and ideas were showcased this year. This was one of the most interesting shows in recent memory.
First thing’s first: My favorite game of the show was easily “Ni No Kuni” for the Playstation 3 — rather, I should say it’s the game that most caught my attention. I’m honestly not entirely sure what this game is about yet, but I do know it is an RPG that is being developed by Level-5 Inc.
I do not own a PS3 but I will definitely still be buying this game. I’ll find a way to play it.
It was recently confirmed that is being released in North America, which surprised me due to the game’s supremely Japanese look, but stranger games have been brought stateside.
The reason it stuck out so much is the art style; it’s a beautiful example of watercolor animation, but words can’t do it justice, so hit Google to see it for yourself.
Level-5 has consistently been a fantastic game developer. You might know them from “Dragon Quest 9,” “Dragon Quest 8,” the “Professor Layton” series or “Dark Cloud,” from the PlayStation 2, all of which are quality titles.
I’m sure most Nintendo fans were more than happy with this year’s show.
Even the dying Wii and DS got some love. For Wii, this year’s highlight was definitely “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword,” the newest addition to the beloved franchise is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Nintendo announced it is offering a free, downloadable multiplayer Zelda game for DS and 3DS owners to celebrate the anniversary.
Now that sounds like great fan service to me.
The 3DS had many great games to show off, like new additions to the Resident Evil, Super Mario, Pokémon and Mario Kart franchises, just to name a few.
Strangely enough, two Monster Hunter titles were announced for the 3DS, which is intruiging because most would consider Monster Hunter the PSP’s swan song. It will be interesting to see how it sells on a Nintendo handheld.
Microsoft even managed to show some promising games for the Xbox 360. I was sort of dreading to see what they would have to show, since all Microsoft’s E3 show consisted of was basically software for their motion-capture peripheral, Kinect, but that wasn’t the case this time around.
“Saint’s Row 3” seemed like a very interesting title. The first two “Saint’s Row” games were just clones of Grand Theft Auto and although they got pretty good reviews, they never stood out much.
The game looks to change things up going as over-the-top as possible. Its release date is set for Nov. 15, a date gamers ought to mark on their calendars.
Hands down, my favorite portion of Tokyo Game Show was the PS Vita, Sony’s new handheld. Some might shrug off the idea of a new Sony portable console at first, since the DS easily outsold the original PSP, but this new system could give Nintendo a run for their money.
The PS Vita is a graphic powerhouse — it actually has more RAM than the PS3, which doesn’t necessary mean better graphics but it will offer some serious speed. This thing even offers cross-system gaming, meaning you can play PS3 games on it.
Guess I can buy “Ni No Kuni” now.
Games announced for the PS Vita include additions to the Call Of Duty, Bioshock, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet, Mortal Kombat, Final Fantasy, ModNation Racers, Metal Gear, Rayman, Street Fighter X Tekken, Silent Hill and Marvel vs Capcom franchises.
Tokyo Game Show was incredible while it lasted, which makes it that much more sad to see it go. The expo truly offered a game for everyone this year. Some say the quality of the show has declined recently, but this year’s event should sway their opinion.
Bangor Daily News