17 November 2008 at 9:47 AM (GMT+10)

Animal Crossing: City Folk (also known as Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City in Europe and Australia) has only just come out in the US and will be available in Japan, Europe and Australia in coming days. So far, the reviews I’ve read about the game have suggested that Nintendo hasn’t really done anything new and have only remixed certain aspects of the DS version of the game, Animal Crossing: Wild World.

While I am disappointed that City Folk/Let’s Go to the City isn’t anything special over its last installment, the issue I want to talk about is a little different. You see, while Animal Crossing features a wide variety of Animals who end up living in your town, there seems to be a lack of ethnicity for the humans in Animal Crossing…

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Posted by Lynk Former in Articles, Wii | Permalink | Comments: 9

15 November 2008 at 3:58 PM (GMT+10)

In 1935EC, the continent of Europa is thrown into its second continental war this century. The Atlantic Alliance and Eastern Empire wage a costly war for control of a rare ore called Ragnite, a fuel source which has grown in demand ever since the recent industrial revolution. In the middle of this great war is Gallia, a small nation that has remained neutral in all wars between the Alliance and Empire. Valkyria Chronicles tells of the story of a small group of people from Militia group Squad 7 and their pivotal role in the Second Europan War as the Empire invades Gallia in order to secure its rich supply of Ragnite.

Also known as
Senjou no Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles (Battlefield Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles)

Genre
Action, tactical role-playing game

Developer
Sega WOW

Publisher
Sega

Game Features

• CANVAS visual engine providing unique sketch and watercolour effect visuals.
• BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones) system. Once a unit has been chosen from the overhead Command view, the player can then control the character in third person view, giving them the ability to move, position and aim the characters weapon in an action game perspective.
• Features both the English and Japanese voice work which you can switch between at any time using the options menu at the title screen.
• Music composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto who also composed Final Fantasy XII, Radiant Silvergun and Vagrant Story. Orchestral work by Eminence Symphony Orchestra who worked on SoulCalibur IV and Odin Sphere.
• Engaging storyline chronicled in an animated storybook-like format.
• A tonne of extras from replayable cutscenes, to unlockable side-stories and skirmish missions, as well as an entire book full of written information about the characters and the world they inhabit.
• More to come in the form of downloadable content.

The Good and the Bad

• Beautiful visual engine with equally well done animation and brilliant English and Japanese voice acting.
• Very well thought out tutorials and explanations of game functions means you’re never lost during a mission, but at the same time it doesn’t feel like you’re being led by the hand.
• Has a unique gameplay experience by combining well known traditional gameplay methods together.

• When listening to the Japanese voices, sometimes the English subtitles don’t actually reflect exactly what is being said because it’s the direct script of the English voice work.
• The game can become much harder for you in the long run if you don’t finish levels with a high enough grade to grab enough experience to level up your squad.
• Some grinding may be required. If you’re lacking experience points you will have to replay Skirmish missions over and over again to get more experience to outfit your squad.

Review Score

Detailed Review

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Posted by Lynk Former in PlayStation 3, Reviews | Permalink | Comments: 8

4 November 2008 at 10:05 AM (GMT+10)

I’ll be getting Valkyria Chronicles on Thursday so I haven’t had that much to do lately. However, I haven’t been wasting time twiddling my thumbs as I wait, nope, there are important things that were done in the last week or so.

I’ve been working on the site design for StarWarsMMO.net which has just launched… right now! This site is part of the LucasArts Fan Network, the same folks who run LucasForums.com. It’s dedicated to The Old Republic MMO which is being developed by LucasArts and BioWare.

To celebrate this event I have created a new page on Twilight Lynk…

Lynk designs is mostly for me to show off my skills, however there are some interesting things in there to check out…

Posted by Lynk Former in Site updates | Permalink | Comments: 5

30 October 2008 at 5:46 PM (GMT+10)

I’m really sick and tired of this…

The introduction of an R18+ rating for computer games has been delayed indefinitely after South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson withdrew his support for a discussion paper and public consultation process.

…

Mr Atkinson has opposed the introduction of an R18+ rating for games for many years, telling parliament earlier this year that he knew it denied Australian adults choice but was necessary to help restrict children’s access to “potentially harmful material”.

…

Four games have been refused classification so far this year, with horror game Silent Hill: Homecoming the latest to be banned last month.

Over 90 per cent of Australian adults, including both game players and non-players, believe Australia should have an R18+ rating for games according to a report released this week by Bond University and the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia.

…

The issue is again on the agenda for discussion at the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting next month.

Read the full article here: The Age Blogs - Screen Play: Censoring the censorship debate

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Posted by Lynk Former in Discussions, Rants | Permalink | Comments: 12

23 October 2008 at 4:41 PM (GMT+10)

Ever since I came up with the concept for the web site, I’ve always had the intention of writing my own reviews of all (well… as many as I can) of the videogames out there. However, when you come right down to it, I’m no professional journalist and at this point in time, very few people would actually listen to what I would have to say over any number of more mainstream reviewers out there… that’s okay though, considering that with every game review those in the mainstream media lose credibility.

…After all, how many of us laughed our asses off when we saw Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 score 10 out of 10s at various web sites? For a time it seemed like everything was going to be scored 10 out of 10 across the board. The worst part is that those games don’t even deserve a perfect score. I agree that both of those games are very good in their own ways, but there was still a lot wrong with them to be scaled in such a way. I feel as though every review score posted lowers the collective IQ of the reviewer and their audience.

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Posted by Lynk Former in Discussions, Rants | Permalink | Comments: 47

18 October 2008 at 8:49 AM (GMT+10)

It’s been pretty obvious for a few days now, that this site has gone through some major changes. Even so, I’d like to post an update about it and also talk about what you guys want out of this site.

Welcome to the new look Twilight Lynk.

The original design for this place was pretty much a rip-off of my old web site, The Anime Crisis Center, and to be perfectly honest, wasn’t very good at all. I’ve managed to get most of the work done with this new look, but there are still a few small issues to be worked out, such as the forum images which need to be replaced. Either way, this is the way things are going to be for Twilight Lynk from now on.

If you have any questions or suggestions or whatever, let me know. Your input is extremely valuable since this site is here for you guys to use. Tell me what you like and what you don’t like and also what you want out of this web site. Be brutally honest, I need as much feedback as possible to make this place as good as it can be.

Thanks, and enjoy!

Posted by Lynk Former in Discussions, Site updates | Permalink | Comments: 13

30 September 2008 at 11:31 PM (GMT+10)

I know a blog post titled “PS3 has no games” is obviously going to make some people rage at suggesting so and others nod in agreement… and to be fair, I did put it up there to get people to turn their heads in this direction. However, I’m not here to bash the PS3, rather to highlight what great games it does have which people are either genuinely unaware of or are trying to ignore for the sake of saying… “PS3 has no games.”

The difference with this article from the few others I have written in the past is that it won’t try to give you all the answers, rather it is intended to get a discussion started so that you can share from your own experience, what PS3 games we should be aware of.

Before I begin though, I’d like people to focus more on PS3 exclusives rather than the multiplatform titles… to be perfectly honest, I feel that most of the current multiplatform games perform better on the Xbox 360 than they do on the PS3.

Okay, let’s start: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Lynk Former in Articles, Discussions, PlayStation 3 | Permalink | Comments: 20

4 August 2008 at 6:41 PM (GMT+10)

Source: Q&A (ABC1) R Rated video Games

Just watch and see how stupid the country I live in, Australia, can get.

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Posted by Lynk Former in Discussions, Rants | Permalink | Comments: 24

17 June 2008 at 6:57 PM (GMT+10)

This is something that I’ve thought about for quite awhile and would like to share with everyone. While I’m not a musician, composer or have any professional qualifications in sound design, I feel I do have relevant views on these subjects since I am part of the audience.

The evolution of the videogame soundtrack differs greatly from what can be heard at the movies… at least that’s how it used to be. The electronic beeps, boops, buzzes and obvious synthetic effects are becoming a thing of the past as most videogames become more complex and tend to become a lot more cinematic. Of course, the obvious difference between a cinematic movie and a cinematic videogame is that a movie is viewed in a linear form, from start to finish with no ability to change the events of the movie which in turn isn’t able to effect any changes in the soundtrack. Continuing on with stating the obvious, the interactive nature of a videogame opens up many opportunities to create soundtracks which adapt and change depending on how we as the player interact with the game environment. Adaptive soundtracks have evolved to a certain point with videogames, but there is room for growth that I’m sure most people haven’t really thought of.

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Posted by Lynk Former in Articles | Permalink | Comments: 5

14 June 2008 at 6:34 PM (GMT+10)

I’m still quite tired from setting up the site so I’ll start off with a small article…

Many gamers would have you believe that Nintendo is responsible for the flood of casual gamers and non-gamers who have been introduced to the videogame industry. While I agree that Nintendo is succeeding greatly as they focus their effort appealing to new and untapped audiences, I disagree that they are the ones that encouraged growth in this direction in the first place. Nintendo is taking advantage of the foundation another company had already lain. The true leaders of this gaming revolution are in fact, none other than Sony with its PlayStation 2.

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Posted by Lynk Former in Articles, PlayStation 2, Wii | Permalink | Comments: 8