The Cave

The Cave was an idea that creator Ron Gilbert incubated for 25 years. It dates back to his days at LucasArt (then Lucasfilm Games), where he made Maniac Mansion and other adventure games, like The Secret of Monkey Island. So what can one man learn about the genre in over two decades?

All that knowledge and experience is summed up in The Cave, which released first on Jan. 22 and is available for a wide variety of platforms: PlayStation 3 (the version we reviewed), Xbox 360, Steam (PC, Mac, Linux), and the Wii U eShop. It’s a platform-adventure game where you (or you and one or two other people) choose three of seven playable characters, each either adhering to existing tropes or breaking them completely. The Adventurer, a classic representation of the genre, is an ambitious blonde woman, and the armor-suited Knight is timid and cowardly. But the Monk is predictably quiet and disciplined, and the young Twins are ghoulish and creepy as if plucked from a horror movie. You can mix and match any three, but the ones you choose shape the key moments of your adventure. I picked the Adventurer, Knight, and Monk and found treasure, dragons, and zen meditation in my quest.

The titular cave is more than a stage for your adventure. It’s alive, and it speaks to the player, commenting on the heroes’ situation and occasionally dropping helpful hints. Its voice is never boring or intrusive, and it considers the player with intelligence. You won’t hear it pointing out the obvious or butting in when it’s not wanted. You’ll love it even more for its dark humor and playfulness, but the dialogue from the other characters is just as sharp-witted and entertaining. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a spot in the story that doesn’t ooze cleverness and charm.

Developer Double Fine Productions applied the same creativity to the environments and atmosphere of The Cave as well. The underground world — painted in a gorgeous, richly colored, smoky palette — is part earthy and mysterious (admire glowing mushrooms, swarms of bats, clear crystal pools of water, mossy roots, and openings in the rocky tunnels that reveal the depths beyond) and part tourist trap. As you pass by souvenir shops and vending machines, traveling from cavern to lava pit to island, you feel like you’re watching characters in a play whose drama unfolds on one continuously transforming set. In a way, you are — the cave is a trial, and you’re here to see whether they pass.

The Cave is more than a series of tests although the best sections are those tailor-fit for each character. It’s a streamlined adventure game — the kind that should please genre fans and appeal to a more casual audience. That kind of “light” medium, which remains consistent in its superb quality, is a holy grail of adventure games. A single playthrough is short (about 6-7 hours long), but the renewed sense of discovery you experience from selecting a different trio adds worth. Broken down into separate but interconnected areas, the cave is manageable and forward-moving in every aspect of its design. Points of interaction, like items and environmental objects, that you could never see or had to click three times on in other, tedious adventure games are marked here in big white letters you can’t miss. You learn how to use each character’s unique power as you go along — you’re not handed a set of instructions or forced to wade through a tutorial of any kind. You experiment, just like in the best adventure games.

Characters can only hold one item at a time, and you can switch between your party members with a tap of the D-pad. This comes in handy since you do a lot of back-and-forth within a given area, but it’s never too much to ground to cover, and you shouldn't feel lost. The Cave’s visual direction is excellent, and the layout is made to be easily navigable. It’s not taxing on your memory.
Its puzzles are intuitive enough to keep you moving around and trying new ideas, but many do require a bit of thinking. They’re not so strenuous, though, that you can’t work through them in a reasonable amount of time. Needing to cheat would almost be unfair to the game — virtually every element works and reacts how it should, and those “subtle” environmental cues that adventure games love throwing in are apparent as long as you bother to look and listen.

The characters know when to follow and when to stay, and they hang on to the items you give them. You don’t need to worry about leaving them behind or favoring one character over another. The game maintains a good balance of how often you play with all three.

Co-op takes place on a single screen, with the transparent indicator on the bottom left showing which player is controlling whom at any given time. You can “steal” characters from another player or seize the camera to focus on a specific hero, so in ways the multiplayer is a little trying unless your friends appreciate the meaning of the word “cooperative.” The parts where one character must travel from one length of the cave to another do seem slower, so one player might be sitting there watching as another climbs ropes and ladders to reach an objective. All three characters must often work together to solve puzzles, so that can mean splitting them off in different directions.

The Cave controls well, but the characters are a little grabbier (of ledges, ropes, etc.) than you might like. The only glitch I encountered was a potentially nasty one, where a character confused picking up an item with viewing a wall glyph (each reveals a new picture that tells a fraction of a bigger story for the character it pertains to) or interacting with another highlighted object. You can circumvent the problem by using the Monk’s telekinesis (which obviously doesn’t help everyone) or by jumping and then quickly following with the “use/pick up” button. This might warrant some fixing from Double Fine since I ran into a few situations where I had trouble progressing because of this problem.

The ending is somewhat anticlimactic, especially considering how much the personified cave emphasizes the lessons and trials these characters endure. But it doesn’t matter much. The Caveis still a gameplay-driven download title that’s fun and full of humor and smart design. It could be the adventure game you’ve been wanting all this time — even if it took 25 years to get here.

League of Legends

Ask any WarCraft fan to compile a list of their favorite mods, and Defense of the Ancients will almost certainly appear on that list. Centering on the popular hero class characters of WarCraft, Defense of the Ancients grew rapidly into a popular office distraction that no RTS-fan could resist. Not surprisingly, it falls upon the shoulders of development studios to capitalize on the success of Defense of the Ancients, with a standalone game that came to be known as League of Legends.

The battles can take place online, but there is also a solo mode that utilizes AI-controlled characters, focusing on the player’s ability to manipulate the flow of battle between them. League of Legends is relatively friendly for a title of its genre, but the challenge should keep even veteran RTS fans on their toes; in some situations, flocks of baddies can chew through you in no time. Utilizing your heroes’ respective abilities in each situation will be the key to your success. As the summoner, it is your task to manage these hero characters. This also reinforces the persistent qualities of character development, as your progress and success allows you to continuously upgrade, lending a rather addictive potential to the game.

Fortunately, League of Legends does a pretty good job of guiding newcomers to the battleground. The heroes themselves (or champions, as the game prefers to call them) are diverse and visually interesting. Their strengths and weaknesses become readily apparent right from the start of the game, so you can decide which attributes best suit your style of play. Some of them appear to be based on archetypal figures, while others are a bit more… well, let’s say “memorable”. There’s really nothing like seeing a tiny fellow wreaking havoc on the battlefield.

The underlying premise of each battle should be familiar to RTS players: outwit your opponent in the old “tug-of-war” style of conflict. This means the standard rules of risk vs. reward will apply. If you capture a control point, should you fortify your position, or pursue retreating forces? Naturally, anyone who plays too conservatively or too aggressively may find themselves in a heap of trouble before the game is over. Generally speaking, strategy fans should feel right at home. The controls are largely conventional, and the interface is very accessible, making League of Legends an exceptional offering for hardcore players and newcomers alike.

Despite everything that occurs on screen, League of Legends is very presentable and runs fairly smoothly. The visual density is amplified by a vibrant color palette, which lends an appropriate “fantasy” feel to the experience. The flickering and blooming of dazzling effects keeps the battlefield looking like a party at all times. League of Legends also features a nice array of sound effects, although the voice-overs tend to get a bit repetitive. There isn’t really much else to gripe about here. League of Legends offers great online support with the promise of new content, such as an in-game store. It is absolutely a distinct and improved experience from Defense of the Ancients, and deserves to be played for hours on end – which you most certainly will do.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX

For a year while attending UCF, I worked at Disney World; it was one of the better jobs I held throughout college. This is why I have a special place in my heart for all things Disney, includingKingdom Hearts. It's also why I have a particularly hard time removing my rose-colored glasses for a game I've been tremendously excited to replay since its announcement.

I know most of you are excited for Kingdom Hearts 3 on PS4 and Xbox One, but to hold us over, Square Enix have given fans who may not have played some of the older games in the franchise a chance to relive them. As such, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX is a collection of Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix (a special edition of the original game that was previously only available in Japan),Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (a PlayStation 2 remake of a GameBoy Advance game), and all of the cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (playable on the Nintendo DS). All of these have been remade with prettier, high-resolution graphics.

It's hard to believe it's already been 10 years since the initial release of the original Kingdom Hearts. Well, it has been, and though we're getting upgraded visuals with Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, there's always the question as to whether the story and gameplay have withstood the test of time.

They have. For the most part.

Story has always been an issue in the Kingdom Hearts series. It's hard enough to keep up with seven games in a franchise, but it was made even more difficult when installments started releasing on exclusive platforms that you may not have owned at the time. When you consider the fact that the games didn't release in chronological order of the Kingdom Hearts plot, things become really complex. So let's start with one of the best things about Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX: It neatly bundles three individual games that, although released years apart, are ordered chronologically according to the overall Kingdom Hearts story.

Kingdom Hearts is the first game in the series, seeing three friends -- Sora, Riku, and Kairi -- separated when a group of dark beings known as the Heartless invade their world. The basic gist of it is that Sora, Donald, and Goofy embark on an epic adventure to find their friends (and King Mickey) while uncovering a greater evil plot involving the Heartless. Replaying the game 10 years later, it's impossible to overlook the campiness of the game's story. But childhood nostalgia coupled with the charm of Disney mixed with Final Fantasy more than make up for the awkward voiceovers and dialogue.

Gameplay design, while true to the original game, feels somewhat outdated now. Exploring each world can be particularly frustrating as there's very little direction guiding you where to go next. After a cutscene you're simply left to hunt for the next one, forced to fight through waves of enemies that repeatedly spawn every time you enter an area. When I was younger, I was infatuated with the worlds so didn't mind this as much, but now it seems like more of an annoyance.

Combat in Kingdom Hearts was always more than what initially meets the eye. Despite the hack n' slash format, there's actually an incredible layer of depth that revolves around hacking, dodging, and magical casting. I don't particularly remember struggling through some of the fighting sequences, but Kingdom Hearts HD ReMIX definitely pushed me to the limit at times. What I do remember, however, is how incredibly inept your party members are. The AI for Goofy and Donald (or whatever third companion you choose from that particular world) is frustrating, to say the least. They rapidly burn through MP (mana) and any potions you may give them as an extra crutch.

Of course, the "wow" factor in Kingdom Hearts was never really the combat but seeing your favorite Disney characters on the same screen as Final Fantasy characters. Now, with a glorious HD remake, they look better than ever. Character models are smoother, and while textures -- particularly during close-ups -- aren't as crisp as I would've liked, it's still a very pretty game.

Technically, this is also the Kingdom Hearts Final Mix version of the game, which was never released in America. As such, we are treated to a few extra story sequences and revamped controls -- most notably the camera, since you now have free reign of camera movement using the right stick. There were still a few times I was caught with an awkward angled view, but it's a much needed upgrade and brings the gameplay more in line with today's third-person action titles.

It may seem like the majority of this review is focused on Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. That's because Re: Chain of Memories, an HD remake of the 2008 PS2 game, which was actually a remake of the Game Boy Advance game from 2004, still mostly feels like a retread. With all of the levels based on the ones from the original Kingdom Hearts, you'll be traveling to the exact same worlds -- only this time they are even more abridged versions of the same plots you already experienced. They do, however, look much nicer than the original PS2 version thanks to the upgraded visuals of the 1.5 HD ReMIX.

What makes this experience different, though, is the combat, which is based on a card game mechanic that sees you construct a deck of cards representing different actions. Combining your spells and attacks can result in stronger abilities.

There is a downside to this though: Flipping through the cards while attempting to pay attention to the combat on screen requires a bit of multitasking and can feel a bit overwhelming. It can require a little getting used to before you're able to appreciate the in-depth strategy and customization it brings to the combat.

The last game included in the 1.5 HD ReMIX, which is actually more of a cinematic movie, is 358/2 Days. Rather than a recreation of the DS game, Square Enix has ditched all of the gameplay and instead spliced all of the cinematic cutscenes into a two-hour and 50 minute movie. After playing through two games, I found it nice to just sit back and watch it all unfold, because it is an intriguing story that helps clear up some of the confusion.

While upgraded visuals and enhanced gameplay are certainly appreciated in the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, the best part about this collection is that you don't have to wait years to play the games. Upon finishing Kingdom Hearts Final Mix you can just dive right into Re: Chain of Memories with the plot fresh in your mind. And from there, you can watch 358/2, which runs parallel to the events of the original Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories, both of which ultimately lead up to Kingdom Hearts 2 (which you can bet Square Enix will inevitably release as part of the 2.5 HD ReMIX).

The release of these three games as a collection, in chronological order, solves one of Kingdom Hearts' biggest faults -- the complexity of its story

Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV was terrible. Imagine my surprise when I bought the Collector's Edition in 2010, only to find out that the game was an absolute mess, full of convoluted mechanics and sloppy gameplay. What Square Enix has done with this mess is something typically reserved for the film industry. Hated the first Hulk movie? That's fine, Hollywood apologizes by rebooting it only a few years later. In a similar way, A Realm Reborn was Square's apology to the dedicated fans who were eager to get their hands on another Final Fantasy MMO.

And what an apology this is.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn takes all those convoluted game mechanics and finally updates them to make them resonate with players who are accustomed to today's MMOs. It's a wonderful thing consideringFinal Fantasy XI tried so hard to be different that it alienated those that weren't patient enough to learn its hardcore mechanics.

As is pretty standard in a Final Fantasy game, and yet still somewhat rare in the MMO genre, you'll experience an extensive story all the way from level 1 to level 50. It's somewhat of a shame that not all of it is voiced over, save for the key cinematics, but it certainly does draw you in. There were times when I wanted to click through the dialogue boxes to just get back to leveling my Arcanist, but I appreciated the writing more once I got familiar with the story.

One of ARR's best features is its simple and easy to understand class-change system. After you progress far enough in your main story (which is around level 10 or so) you'll be able to pick up any or every other class in the game by simply pledging yourself to the respective guild. Switching your class is as simple as equipping the correct weapon designated for that class.

If you're the type to enjoy multi-classing, which is encouraged, A Realm Reborn makes it extremely easy with Gear Sets, which slot whatever you're currently wearing into an accessible -- and even hot key-able -- button. This makes sense especially for crafting and gathering classes, which I'll get into in a bit.

The initial combat classes are diverse enough to find enjoyment for almost everyone, and are split into the holy trinity, DPS (Thaumaturge, Arcanist, Lancer, Archer and Pugilist) Tank (Marauder and Gladiator) and Healer (Conjurer). Each of these classes has a Job specialization they can focus on (two in the case of the Arcanist) which they can access once they hit level 30 (though you'll have to reach level 15 with a secondary class). And while these specialized classes are an awesome way to progress your character, they're not necessary. If you just want to keep on leveling your Archer without ever becoming a Bard, you're free to do so.

In my playthrough, my main class was the Arcanist. At level 30, I could change my Job to the iconic Summoner class and call forth powerful beasts like Ifrit to follow me around and maximize my damage. In my spare time, however, I also managed to level up the Conjurer class, which allowed me to also take the Scholar Job as well. The fact that there is so much flexibility is downright ridiculous in a crazy good way. Not to mention, it pretty much guarantees you won't ever have to re-roll a character if you're not happy with the class.

What can happen though, especially if you decide to switch classes early on, is that you'll find that a lot of the initial low-level quests aren't available to you, since you've already completed them. But Square has smartly put more than enough safeguards in place to alleviate this.

First off, depending on the level gap between your main class and your secondary one, you'll get a chunk of bonus XP percentage when killing monsters. The Hunting Log, which is relatively different per class, will give you a list of monsters to kill every 10 levels, which upon completion also yields a pretty hefty XP reward. Then there are the ever popular FATEs, or public quests, à laGuild Wars 2. These have actually been one of the main sources of XP gain for players, as FATE parties can be found in pretty much every questing area.

Then there are the Levequests, repeatable quests that have a limit on how many you can do per day. Every 12 hours, you get an additional 3 Levequests to do. However, if you wait long enough, you can accrue a large amount of these, which will help you power-level yourself pretty quickly.

When you're not slaying beasts and completing your grand storyline, you can take up a number of crafting and gathering classes, which level up the same as combat classes. The major difference is that you're awarded XP for crafting supplies or gathering materials. These take a bit more dedication than combat classes, and leveling doesn't go as fast, which means patience is going to be key. However, these classes are a testament to A Realm Reborn's versatility, since, if you so desire, you can spend your entire time in Eorzea focusing on any of these crafting classes.

The game can seem like it's set to Easy Mode, at least until level 30-35. But once you take on bosses like Titan, or run dungeons like Brayflox's Longstop or The Sunken Temple of Qarn, the simple fights take a backseat and things start to get a bit technical. This is great, because it not only keeps you engaged in fights, instead of simply mashing your hotkeys over and over again, but it ensures that the party stays in constant contact and work strategically to ensure survival. Temple of Qarn was one of the first instances where defeating an enemy on a stone panel was necessary in order to progress through a locked door. One of the boss fights there also required us to move around variously lit platforms to get rid of the Doom spell put on us, which would kill us in a matter of seconds.

Unlike modern-day MMOs that are built on action-oriented combat like TERA and Neverwinter, A Realm Reborn takes a more traditional approach, with Tab-targeting and hotbars. I was a little worried at first, but Square pulled it off by making the combat feel fast, and almost, in a sense, alive. The rate at which you can pull off your skills has been exponentially sped up, at least compared to Final Fantasy XIV and XI. It feels great no matter what class you choose to play as.

A Realm Reborn is absolutely brimming with activities to partake in. Aside from your main story quest, you'll be able to join either of the three main factions and complete quests for them, take on any of the hundreds of side quests available, participate in FATEs, run a number of dungeons that increase in difficulty, complete Levequests, Guildhests, Grand Company requests, Hunting Logs -- it's mind-boggling. I can't applaud Square enough for ensuring that you're always left with something to do.

So what about end game? Hitting level 50 in A Realm Reborn will open up some new activities, such as harder tiered dungeons and Primals to fight, or the incredibly hard raid on Bahamut. This content is tough, and will seriously test even the best of players. There are also Relic weapons that each class can acquire through end-game quests. On the horizon there is the Crystal Tower raid, the same tower from Final Fantasy III, which is pretty awesome. There are also various level 50 FATEs, one of which spawns Odin himself in a massive fight for survival. It's epic, and it happens so infrequently that seeing it happen is a spectacle in and of itself.

Eorzea is a stunning land to explore. The vistas you come across will often make you want to take a break to maybe snap a few wallpaper-quality screenshots. The lighting effects especially give the game a very next-gen look. To say it's the prettiest MMO on the market would certainly not do it justice. If you have the specs to run it on max settings, I highly encourage it.

The soundtrack by Masayoshi Soken is probably my favorite soundtrack not composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Seriously, whether it's the somber piano theme of U'ldah at night or the upbeat rocking theme of major bosses, it all fits together and adds to the brilliant atmosphere.

The game is not completely without flaws and minor annoyances. As is usual for subscription MMOs, you can expect gold spammers to fill up your chat window in every major hub. Unfortunately, there is no easy way (yet) to block them without going into your Blacklist and manually typing the person's name. This wouldn't be that big of an issue if their names already weren't something ridiculous like Fuikjwi Meztacotl. Seriously, it's annoying.

Teleporting within each city is handy, though you can only select each location from a list, which never specifies where you need to go. Allowing a selection from a map -- or at least showing a quest icon signifying quests near each point -- would alleviate some needless teleporting or checking the map every time.

Speaking of the map, this also needs some work. Hovering over locations or buildings should give you the name of each one. Also, it would be convenient to have zones show what levels they are, as to make questing and looking for appropriately leveled monsters easier.

Lastly, with four huge backpack slots, it's pretty crazy that there is no auto-sort feature, unless you enable it when you first start playing the game. If you turn it on after there are items in your bag, you're pretty much out of luck.

All of these could be cleared up down the line if the fans are vocal enough about them, but they certainly don't hurt the overall experience.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is exactly what its name implies: a rebirth of a doomed game with polished mechanics and brilliantly addicting gameplay. I had once expressed that I'm not sure whether Square is making the right move by not getting rid of subscriptions, but they've won me over.

Tales of Xillia

Namco Bandai's Tales series of role-playing games has had a long, strange, on-again-off-again existence outside of Japan, with the series being localized in bursts only to subside in years-long lulls. Fortunately for fans, the series seems to be back in on-again mode, starting with the Tales of the Abyss 3DS rerelease and last year's Tales of Graces f for the PlayStation 3. Now, almost two years after Tales of Xillia's Japanese release, Western gamers get to play the game, the series' 15th-anniversary project. But while Xillia has high aspirations, some issues keep it from being the exemplary Tales release that its high profile might suggest.

Milla's hair also doubles as an awesome fishing lure.

Tales of Xillia is unique in the series in that it lets you select one of two protagonists at the game's beginning. Jude is a young medical student with some combat training who stumbles upon a dark secret at his school, while Milla is an almost godlike being who is being guided by the world's great spirits to destroy the foul experiments. The two first cross paths as Milla is invading the school's research facility, and a twist of fate results in Milla losing control of her immense powers and the pair going on the lam to escape military forces. Along the way, they meet a variety of enjoyable supporting cast members as is typical for the Tales series: a mercenary with ambiguous motives, a strange little girl with a boisterously chatty (and combat-capable) stuffed critter companion, the girl-next-door best friend/unrequited love, and--perhaps the most interesting of the bunch--a gray-haired, sophisticated combat butler.

One of the series' greatest strengths has always been its character interactions, and Tales of Xillia does not disappoint on this front. Cutscenes for important story events are plentiful and are depicted either through animated sequences or well-choreographed, in-engine scenes with full voice-over. Besides presenting story information, these scenes play out in a way that adds a lot of depth to the cast. Optional skits you can choose to view throughout the game use the more typical Japanese role-playing game method of mostly still character portraits augmented by fully voiced dialogue. These skits usually expound upon events encountered in the game, elements of the environment, or particular character quirks. They add a great deal of personality and appeal to the characters. Of course, these wouldn't be as effective if the characters themselves weren't enjoyable to be around. Everyone has a distinct, pleasant personality that makes you want to see more of their exchanges.

The world itself is interesting, thanks mostly to the stunning visuals. Tales has always gone for a colorful, anime-inspired look, and the graphics in Xillia play into this perfectly, featuring gorgeous, vivid landscapes and striking architecture. Character models are lovely, with things like Milla's outrageously poofy hair being rendered down to minute details. The camera isn't fixed like in other games in the series, so you can freely explore and enjoy the world's sights from almost any angle you please. There's a ton of in-world terminology being bandied about from the game's outset, but the most engaging element of Xillia's setting--and perhaps the biggest reason to save this world from ruin--is simply how visually sumptuous it is.

Sometimes you really do just want to stop and absorb the scenery.

Fast-paced, real-time combat is another of Tales' defining elements, and Xillia does not disappoint on this front. You take control of a single character, while the CPU controls the other three based on settings and commands that you specify. Party members and enemies roam freely around the battlefields, exchanging attacks, dodges, and guards with real-time controller motions. Positioning and area-of-effect spells play huge roles in fighting well, along with chaining basic attacks into considerably more damaging (but resource consuming) arte strikes. In addition, some characters can perform "shifts," where certain commands transform an arte into a completely different (and generally more powerful) ability in exchange for making you more vulnerable to enemies.

New to Xillia's combat is the ability to link to another party member. By linking to another character, you gain specific benefits, the most immediate of which is that character's support proclivities. Linking with Jude, for example, has him helping to flank enemies, healing you when your HP runs low, and helping you recover from knockdowns. Meanwhile, linking with Rowen allows him to help protect you from foes' magical attacks. A gauge in the lower left corner of the screen fills as blows are traded, and when it reaches certain points, you have the chance to execute a powerful link arte at the end of combo strings with your linked partner. When the gauge fills completely, you can go into "over limit," which allows unlimited link artes to be chained together for a brief period of time. Links between your controlled character and others can be swapped at will during fights--even during link chains, with the right timing--so learning to use them well adds a great deal of depth to fighting.

Outside of combat, character abilities can be augmented through individual characters' lillium orbs, which are geometric grids with stat gains, skills, and combat artes nestled within a series of orbs and webs that you connect from points gained from leveling up in combat. The system offers some element of customization, but since certain areas of the orb need to be unlocked to expand the grid, you tend to be biased toward enhancing the particular stats the game's designers emphasize. There is a small amount of freedom--for example, since Elize can swap between being more physical or magic-oriented during combat, you may try to focus on which one you prefer for her--but most players will find that their parties' skill sets are similar at game's end.

No static talking heads for major cutscenes; everything is done in-engine.

But while so much of Xillia is impressive, there are some questionable design decisions that make the experience less than what it should be, particularly for longtime franchise fans. The most glaring is the dual protagonist system, which sounds like a fantastic idea on paper: you pick one of two main characters at the beginning and get to see the game's major events through that character's eyes, which increases the incentive to come back after you've finished the game to revisit the story from the other character's point of view. Unfortunately, it's handled poorly: since Jude and Milla sometimes partake in completely separate activities, when they reunite, you're stuck hearing an all-too-brief summary of what important events happened to the other person. When you have drastic, story-altering events such as party member recruiting, double-crosses and shocking twists, and character deaths happening offscreen, only to be given a CliffsNotes version after the fact, the plot starts to feel confusing. It's especially bad toward the game's end, when huge things happen for both characters; not seeing the whole story makes the all-important endgame revelations incoherent. It's practically required to play through the game twice if you want to have any idea of what happened.

Much like Tales of Graces f, Xillia lacks a world map, though fast travel becomes available fairly early on in the game. Instead, areas are connected by stretches of land filled with roving beasts eager for a taste of your party. The game's structure, however, boasts none of the dungeons and accompanying puzzles, another beloved staple of the series. While the connectedness of the game's major locales makes the world feel more engaging and coherent, the lack of distinct, dangerous locales to solve mysteries in takes some bite out of the exploration element. Most of the puzzle-solving and big-monster-killing is instead relegated to sub-quests in preexisting locations, meaning that you'll see a lot of the same places over and over if you're a completionist. It's a real shame, since the beautiful graphics leave you eager to see what more could be done to make the world come to life.

A girl, a goddess, and a rampaging plushie--the ultimate team-up.

Other odd changes include new systems for shopping and cooking. The previous Tales release, Tales of Graces f, featured a fun system where you could find materials to upgrade items, transforming weak gear into powerful equipment, and it made you carefully consider your options before buying and selling old stuff. Tales of Xillia feels like a step back in this regard; all of the stores in the game feature the same stock of goods, and you instead contribute supplies and money to help "upgrade" the shops so they will carry new stuff and offer discounts. Besides not making much economic sense, it strips away a fun element of visiting RPG locales: seeing what new and unique goods each town has to offer. In addition, the traditional cooking system where you learn recipes and use ingredients for combat-enhancing boosts has been replaced with buying premade dishes, of which you can hold only one of at a time. It's a strange change that reduces the enjoyment and effectiveness of a long-established series element.

Tales of Xillia is certainly a solid game, but it feels like it could have been better. The visuals are fantastic, the combat is great, and the characters are wonderful, but the lacking story presentation and exploration elements drag down what could have been one of the best JRPGs on the PlayStation 3. Tales of Xillia 2 has already been announced for an English release, so there is hope that the sequel will fix this game's issues, but for the time being, we have the original game in all of its fun-but-flawed existence.

Dragon's Crown

Dragon's Crown may look like a typical beat-'em-up on the surface, but once you sink your teeth into its character customization, equipment system, and wealth of side quests, it reveals itself as an action role-playing game trapped in the shell of a side-scrolling brawler. The compulsive loot hunting and brisk combat that drive Dragon's Crown have also fueled beloved franchises such as Diablo and Dungeon Siege, and there are gimmicks and activities that add variety to the traditional dungeon-crawling experience. Each character class is easy to control but tough to master, and with your ability to craft unofficial subclasses, there are plenty of play styles to experiment with.

The elf is a master with a bow, and lethally quick when unarmed.

It begins with the story of the titular Dragon's Crown, the lost artifact rumored to give the possessor power over ancient dragons. When the king of Hydeland Kingdom fails to return from his search for the crown, you're employed to seek his whereabouts. This is all the setup you get, and after a few scripted story sequences, the story flattens out. The royal family of Hydeland faces typical medieval challenges, such as backstabbing and reconfiguration of power, and though it's their story that gets the ball rolling, their troubles don't rule over your free time for long.

Eventually, it's your desire to fight, develop your character, and discover rare and powerful treasure that keeps you going, with side quests providing new tasks and further information on Hydeland's troubled society. Overall, Dragon's Crown has a light story that's easy to digest, though it's not likely to capture your imagination. For that, look no further than what you see in front of you.

Vanillaware's iconic 2D artwork catches your eye from the start and lends some welcome dramatic flair to your adventure. Subtle gestures bring large, seemingly still images to life during cutscenes, with hulking warriors expanding and shrinking with every breath. Even the tiniest details are animated, fleshing out the surreal presentation. The in-game illustrations are equally rich, but feature more-fluid animations. You can see a similar style used in Vanillaware's past work, but the quality of Dragon's Crown's visuals are a step above the rest.

Make quick work of fledgling orcs from the back of beastly mounts.

Unfortunately, though there's a lot to love about the art, there's also a lot to dislike. A large number of female characters, including the sorceress and amazon, are rendered in a way that sometimes feels akin to softcore pornography. It's potentially offensive, not to mention lewd, to the point that it feels like a betrayal of the artistic skill on display. It doesn't come close to ruining what's great in Dragon's Crown, but it leaves a stain on the game.

As impressive and potentially distracting as Dragon's Crown's illustrations are, the gameplay is the real star of the show, and the combat provides the most excitement. As your party navigates icy ruins and dank caverns, your primary goal is to defeat the dozens of enemies standing in your way. Where most beat-'em-ups settle for simple combos with different animations to define each character, Dragon's Crown's warriors come with specialized basic maneuvers, on top of their already unique skill trees. Every character can string together combos from a mix of dashing, attacking, and jumping, but only the dwarf can pick up enemies and hurl them across the screen, and only the wizard can turn treasure chests into bipedal wooden sidekicks, for example. The variety of combat experiences leaves no excuses for boredom, and lots of room for creativity.

Say what you will about his height, but the dwarf can pull off a mean frog splash.

When playing solo, you have the option of fighting alongside non-player character allies. It's an interesting way to provide a simulation of the multiplayer experience, albeit devoid of communication and plagued by imperfect AI. Recruiting these allies is an unconventional but interesting process: you discover bones of fallen warriors in dungeons and resurrect your new friends at the temple in town. The levels and abilities of these fallen warriors scale with your experience, so you're never far from building a formidable squad of fighters.

The combat is entertaining enough, but Dragon's Crown doesn't rest there. There are a number of other things to do while exploring dungeons, such as searching for hidden passages, treasure, and the elusive runes. No matter the size of your party, your plucky, lock-picking sidekick Rannie is always at your service. You can direct him to open treasure chests and locked doors by using the cursor controlled by the right analog stick. That same cursor is used to activate glyphs randomly carved into dungeon walls. When you touch three that go together, they activate a powerful spell. The combinations are difficult to remember due to the number of glyphs and their primitive designs, but pursuing them is completely optional. They can be a distraction for an unfocused warrior, but understanding the various spells and using them to your team's advantage can be an invaluable skill.

Successfully casting rune spells can mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

There comes a point when you need to grind through Dragon's Crown's nine dungeons for experience, but it isn't as boring as it sounds. Each dungeon has multiple detours and a fork in the main road, with a unique boss at either end. Boss encounters become more than straight-up fights by incorporating gimmicks. One stage with a giant kraken forces you to use cannons to destroy its limbs. Another sends your party crashing through the floor above a lava pit if you don't win the fight quickly enough. These added bits of variety go a long way toward making Dragon's Crown feel exciting, when it might otherwise feel repetitive.

Amid all the fighting, you acquire a lot of treasure. All the equipment you find comes with a known rank, but it's not until you pay to have your equipment appraised that you see the remaining details. It's like playing the lottery; you can't win a powerful new weapon if you don't pay to play. But you need to be cautious, since gold isn't just necessary to appraise items. Gold is also used for continues, for resurrecting and recruiting fallen warriors into your fold, and even for garnering stat boosts. The reliance on currency makes every decision worth reconsidering and every bounty that comes in valuable. Unlike allies, gold is neither disposable nor easily replaced.

If you choose to tackle multiple dungeons in a row, a cooking mini-game in between allows you to temporarily boost your stats.

Real-life sidekicks are an option too. Dragon's Crown can be played as a co-op experience locally or online, but oddly, outside of local co-op on the PlayStation 3, it's a feature that needs to be unlocked. This doesn't occur until about five hours into the game. The benefits of such a system may be hard to identify at first, but this actually does a good job of ensuring that those who are involved have a certain level of experience under their belt. As always, it's the real-life allies you choose that define the multiplayer experience. Play with selfish players, and you might as well play with NPCs. Join team-oriented folks, and you can employ strategy and teamwork to great effect. Once you've unlocked the harder difficulty settings, you gain access to the player-versus-player coliseum, a simple versus mode that nets the winner a pot of gold for his or her efforts.

When you defeat Dragon's Crown on the normal difficulty setting, you then unlock the hard and inferno settings. Each comes with its own level cap, along with more challenging enemies and more valuable treasure. It's largely a numbers game, with enemies that are simply stronger than before, but you also discover variations on old enemies that introduce new powers and tactics. It's unfortunate that Dragon's Crown's story isn't large enough to support an extensive campaign, but there's no shortage of challenges on hand.

A poignant example of Dragon's Crown's mesmerizing, yet troubled art style.

With so many goals to pursue, Dragon's Crown is much larger than most beat-'em-ups, and more action-packed than most role-playing games. It's both beautiful and captivating in its style and execution, and overall, it's a great hybrid of two very different genres.