Category Archives: Now Playing

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Now Playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

Now Playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies

Now Playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

  • Developed and published by Capcom

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies finally hit the Nintendo eShop a few weeks ago. With neither the second Ace Attorney Investigations spin-off nor the film adaptation hitting the US, it is the first Ace Attorney title to be released stateside in three years, and the first proper sequel in nearly six. Needless to say, I was eager to get my hands on Dual Destinies.

Those who have played Capcom’s cult hit (outside of Japan, at least) know that it’s difficult to describe. Simply saying it’s a game where you defend clients doesn’t capture the absurdity of  the courtroom that once called a parrot as a key witness.  Perhaps the most succinct pitch would be that Ace Attorney is a game where you play as a defense attorney in a world perpetually on the verge of spiraling into madness. Appropriately, Ace Attorney borrows the seemingly inappropriate aesthetic of Capcom’s fighting games for its courtroom drama–characters are all harsh angles with broad shoulders, and shout their objections with speed lines flying. The end result is predictably ridiculous, and often endearing, made more so by updated character models–all of which are animated beautifully and expressively.

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Now Playing: The Wolf Among Us

The Wolf Among Us title

Now Playing: TellTale Games’s The Wolf Among Us

  • Developed and published by TellTale Games

This week, I was finally able to play the first episode of The Wolf Among Us, TellTale Games’s long-delayed adaptation of Bill Willingham’s comic book series, Fables. More than that, it’s the first episodic adventure game from the studio after The Walking Dead–another comic adaptation–won pretty much every award there was to win. The Walking Dead’s legacy is apparent in even this first chapter; I traversed and explored the world using a classic point-and-click adventure game interface, a large amount of meaningful input occurs in conversations with other characters in which I must choose option within a time limit. However, I was surprised to discover the subtle ways in which The Wolf Among Us diverted from The Walking Dead’s established formula–both in its storytelling and how I am able to engage with it.

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Now Playing: Project X Zone

 

Now Playing: Project X Zone

Now Playing: Project X Zone

 

  • Developed by Monolith Soft & Banpresto
  • Published by Namco Bandai

To play Project X Zone is to be in a state of constant awe–in awe of its existence, and in awe that it ever saw the light of day outside of Japan. The game pits characters from over two decades of games from three different Japanese developers: Capcom, Namco Bandai (the game’s publisher) and SEGA. It’s a crossover that shouldn’t exist outside of the realm of fan fiction, and the sheer number of Japanese icons included should make it impossible to translate. But it does, and it’s here.