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(review by Katy E.)
...This month I was lucky enough to spend a game-packed week with the team at Rising Star, in their Luton HQ. It was really fun helping out, but through the experience I witnessed the ongoing struggle smaller publishers have to get their brilliant new games out there into the mainstream market...
With big names such as Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Konami, Namco, EA, Ubisoft, Sega, Capcom etc. developing and publishing their own games, it makes smaller publishers such as Rising Star work that much harder to get their games the glory they deserve. And they really do deserve it – Rising Star are one of the few companies that actually listen to their buyers and what they want, following up on suggested Japanese games for publishing and replying to posts personally on the forums and emails. As opposed to larger companies such as Capcom who have asked us to quite literally “beg” for Capcom to release Ace Attorney Vs. Professor Layton in Europe, rather than listen to the interest and excitement surrounding the game’s announcement.
So what are these 7 reasons to support RSG? Well, they are Rising Star’s top games of course. Let's work in reverse order...
Note: These ranking are all in my opinion and only from the games which I have played (so I may have missed a great RSG game which I have not yet played).7. Title: Rune Factory 2 Publisher: Rising Star Games Developer: Neverland Co.
Platform: DS Release Date: Japan - 2008
Europe - 2010
Rune Factory 2 is the follow up to the great first game, also on the DS, Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon. Although IGN (my source of reliable game reviewing) has awarded both the Rune Factory 1 and 2 a well deserved score of 8.4, I have decided to write about Rune Factory 2 for no other reason than as this is the game I have played most recently.
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| All images from IGN.com |
Games in the series include:
> Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon [NDS], JP 2006, EU 2009
> Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon [NDS], JP 2008, EU 2010
> Rune Factory Frontier [Wii], JP 2008, EU 2010
> Rune Factory 3 [NDS], JP 2009
> Rune Factory Oceans [PS3], JP 2011
The series is a spin-off of the Harvest Moon series, which was made as part of the franchise's re-invention for its 10th anniversary. It should be noted that Rune Factory 2 is the last game to be officially affiliated with the Harvest Moon series, and that the rest of the games are an independent franchise. Rune Factory is essentially the elder, sword-wielding, brother of the Harvest Moon series, combining Harvest Moon’s classic farming gameplay with RPG elements. And this is no bad thing at all, Harvest Moon is a great franchise alone, but the twist that Rune Factory provides revives the Harvest Moon franchise, providing players with the same addictive gameplay established in the Harvest Moon series but new stories, characters, mechanics and settings.
Like Harvest Moon, the aims of the game include; befriending neighbours, cultivating your crops, getting married and raising a family. However, unlike Harvest Moon, Rune Factory offers you the chance to get stuck into some action, providing players 4 huge dungeons to battle through while defeating and befriending monsters. These monsters, once tamed, will be able to help you out on your farm – handy! Rune Factory 2 is also unique in that it allows players to play through the game as two generations, first as the father and later as the son or daughter. Something else I enjoyed about the gameplay, which has been since put into motion in the Harvest Moon series is the quests which you can complete for the inhabitants of the town, not only do they allow you to upgrade your skills, but they also help to develop stronger relationships with other characters. Filled with animated cut-scenes and a sprinkle of voice acting, Rune Factory is definitely not just a ‘cut and paste’ job of Harvest Moon – it’s quite literally a world apart.The storyline is about a man with amnesia who wanders into the town of Alvarna. There he meets a young girl called Mana, who works at the local shop and suggests he take over the nearby abandoned farm, giving him a few basic tools to get him started. The man (who I named Kyle) delves into work on the farm, creating new relationships, hoping to discover his true identity, whilst getting married to a girl of his choice and having a child with her. However, one day he regains his memory and suddenly realises why he ended up in Alvarna in the first place. He leaves his family in the middle of the night, resuming on the quest he had previously embarked on. The game resumes years later, when his child continues to look after the land, beginning their own adventure to find their father and the secret to why he left.
Rune Factory 2 is a great addition to Rising Star’s collection and a fun experience. The characters are beautifully designed, the background music fits perfectly with the gameplay and the aesthetics of the game are a real treat when you are walking through the town. I would really encourage any RPG fans, or players of the Harvest Moon series to give this one a try. Both Rune Factory 3 and Rune Factory Oceans are as yet unreleased in Europe, however we can speculate that since Rising Star Games have published the 3 previous games in the series, that we are likely to see both games arriving to our shores sometime in the near future.6. Title: Harvest Moon DS: Sunshine Islands Publisher: Rising Star Games
Developer: Marvelous Platform: DS Release Date: Japan - 2008
Europe - 2010
The Harvest Moon franchise is one of RSG’s biggest and addictive series. Although each game follows a similar pattern: grow crops, look after livestock, upgrade house, make friends, marry, have children etc. each game provides a different storyline, new characters and more content. For example, in this post I am focusing on Harvest Moon DS: Sunshine Islands, one of the more recent titles to hit the European markets. The first Harvest Moon game was released in 1996 in Japan on the Super Nintendo (Super Famicom) and has been a great success ever since.
The storyline behind the Sunshine Islands is that many years before the game takes place, an earthquake struck the Sunshine Islands, which caused them to sink to the bottom of the ocean. For some reason as the new farmer on the block, it is your task to find the magical Sun Stones and restore the Sunshine Islands to their former glory. Along the way, the player is expected to follow the normal Harvest Moon structure of creating the best farm possible, packed with a variety of new animals, pets and crops, as well as settling down to have a family.
The reason I love the Harvest Moon franchise is that it simply gets bigger and better with every instalment, so I have high hopes for the next game in the series. I am also looking forward to the prospect of a Harvest Moon game on the new 3DS console, which although nothing has been announced so far, I’m sure will materialise and even more certain will look and play fantastically.
Developer: Cing & Town Factory Platform: Wii Release Date: Japan - 2009
Europe - 2009
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| Corobo, the King of Alpoko All images from IGN.com |
For years the Wii has been criticized for not having enough ‘innovative’ or truly unique games in its library, and every game release has just added to the clutter of party games, under-developed RPGs and useless peripherals. What Rising Star seem to have established a knack for, is discovering and publishing those unique and innovative games which really show how strong the Wii can be. Little King’s Story is one of those games. From the same mind as the creator of the Harvest Moon series, Yashuhira Wada, Little King’s Story combines elements of a life-sim, strategy game and RPG to create the great adventure that it stands as today. Many players have likened the action gameplay to that of Pikmin, however Little King’s Story also resembles creation and ‘God’ games like Lionhead Studios’ Black and White.
The story revolves around a young boy called Corobo, who finds a mysterious crown which gives him the ability to charm people and make them follow his every command. He becomes king of the town Alpoko and begins his quest to upgrade his kingdom by hunting and fighting and building up a larger population. There are also side quests to be completed, in the form of citizen complaints – doing these will keep the people of Alpoko happy and increase the kingdom’s finances. However, there is more to Little King’s Story than the realms of Alpoko, as Corobo can explore in order to conquer more rival territories, collect treasure and defeat dangerous enemies. 
As you play as the King you are not expected to do all the work yourself, you can command your people to do all the digging, building and fighting for you. Each civilian possesses a set amount of ‘life’, which increases the more you play the game and the stronger and bigger your kingdom grows. Your people will fight to the death for you, which is a good thing as there are boss battles and rivals to defeat, as well as keeping your people happy!
The best thing about Little King’s Story however is not the gameplay, although I do love the Pikmin style of controls and combat, but rather the game’s style, soft visuals, beautiful designs, captivating characters and humorous text. It’s a brilliantly engaging game and really deserves a sequel, as one of the only Wii games which I do believe will stand the test of time.
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture Release Date: Japan - 2010
Europe - 2010
No More Heroes 2, or to quote the full name, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is the sequel to my favourite developer, Suda 51 (Goichi)’s critically acclaimed No More Heroes series. As I mentioned earlier, there is sizeable gap of innovative games for the Wii, a gap which Rising Star Games are slowly patching up by releasing absolute cracking games such as No More Heroes. This is a series I simply can’t get enough of – the humour, the style, the energetic battles, the thumping soundtrack, the bizarre characters and most importantly, the Travis. Travis Touchdown is the series’ anti-hero, a blood-thirsty, anime geek assassin who just oozes cool. For me, Travis is up there with Link and Mario as one of the greatest characters in Nintendo history.
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| The fighting is just as slick as the old game |
But before I get too far into continuously praising the game, let me explain what it’s all about. The story of No More Heroes 2 is told through a series of shady cut-scenes, which pop up around every rank battle. It has been 3 years since Travis ranked number one assassin in the UAA (United Assassins Association) and then walked away. Now, back in the realms of Santa Destroy, Travis is back to fight Skelter Helter, who wants revenge on Travis for killing his older brother (Helter Skelter) in the first game. After defeating Skelter, Travis meets Sylvia Christel who tells him he is now rank 51st in the UAA. Although Travis claims not to be interested in the UAA anymore, later that night a group of criminals kill Travis’ best friend (and owner of the video store in the first game) Bishop. Now Travis seeks revenge and asks Sylvia to set him up a fight. Sylvia tells Travis that the no.1 ranked assassin, Jasper Batt Jr. was the one who ordered the killing, and so Travis’ bloody revenge begins.
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| During the battle with Skelter Helter |
No More Heroes incorporates wrestling moves and beam katana swiping combat to hack and slash its way to victory, and makes good use of the Wii control system. In fact, No More Heroes is one of the only games which I actually enjoy using the motion sensor Wii-remote, and although players can be lazy and simply button-mash ‘A’ without moving a muscle, this does not use Travis to his full potential and makes boss battles much harder. By waving the remote about like you’re demented, you are able to use a variety of upper and lower cuts with your beam katana, while using ‘B’ and ‘A’ to execute wrestling finishing moves. Not only is this a great work out (in higher ranked battles I’d end up breathless after a deserved victory) but also very fun and really involves you in the gameplay – you ARE Travis, you are right in the thick of the action. The battles vary - one minute you'll be getting close and personal with one-on-one beam katana action and next minute you'll jump into your huge trusty robot and take down another robot full of cheerleaders.. Although the gameplay and combat is very similar to the first game, No More Heroes 2 simply irons out the problems encountered in the debut game.
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| Who wouldn't love a game where you fight as a giant beam katana-wielding robot? |
Any players of the first game will know of the character Shinobu, and will probably be glad to hear that No More Heroes 2 provides players with the opportunity to play as her in some of the rank battles as a substitute for Travis. This is quite a interesting element, and gives you a chance to experience Shinobu's different fighting styles. In another stage you are also able to play as Travis' brother, Henry, who on the other hand is quite similar to Travis, however this is still a fun change.
One of the greatest things about the No More Heroes series is that it combines emotion, humour and just plain weird, drawing you in with the death of Bishop and then flinging you back out into the odd reality of Santa Destroy with mini-games such as exercising your overweight cat. Although the game can be serious at times, the crude sense of humour which it employs balances No More Heroes perfectly and gives the game so much more depth.
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| We do like a bit of coconut collecting in No More Heroes.. |
Some mini-games and training stages teleport you back to the retro-gaming days, with cute, 'old-skool' graphics and 8-bit tunes, adding to the variety of the No More Heroes package. You really do enjoy every minute of the game and every single aspect – from slicing your way through hordes of baseball bat-wielding Pizza Bat goons to choosing what outfit Travis should wear today. Oh, and to save you take a dump in the toilet – obviously!
And so this concludes part one of '7 Excellent Reason to Support Rising Star Games' - the next post will include the top 3 must-have Rising Star Games, one of which is my favourite game of all-time. I hope I have encouraged you to go out and try some of these excellent games in the future, and remeber - there's much more to come!
Visit Rising Star Game's site to find out more!
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