User:HawkeyeSolo/sandbox

= Yakuza 2 =

Yakuza 2 (Japanese: 龍が如く2, Hepburn: Ryū ga Gotoku 2, "Like a Dragon 2") is an action-adventure game by Sega, the sequel to Yakuza. It was released on December 7, 2006, for the PlayStation 2 in Japan and in September 2008 in North America and Europe. A PlayStation 4 remake of the game, Yakuza Kiwami 2, was released in 2017 and a Windows version of that remake was released on Steam May 9, 2019.

=Remember Me=

Remember Me is an action-adventure video game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Capcom. It was released worldwide in June 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Plot
The game's plot focuses on Nilin, a memory hunter working for an underground resistance called the Errorists. When the game starts, she has been stripped of nearly all her memories by megacorporation Memorize. With the help of a mysterious man named Edge, she goes on a quest to bring down Memorize and recover her lost memories. Throughout the story, she is permitted to use her Memory Remix power to ultimately refurbish people's recollections.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Good voice acting.
 * 2) Interesting premise about a corporation known as the Memorize Corporation using the "Sensen", which is a brain implant that allows people to alter their memories, deleting them, sharing them via the wireless pervasive 'Net, trading them, or even buying new ones that are distributed by Memorize, which acts as a central hub to store these memories. This has allowed the corporation to turn Neo-Paris into their own private surveillance state of sorts, with the interconnectivity giving them a vast degree of control over the population.
 * 3) You can find things like Mnesist Memories, which are used to communicate objectives and provide background on the major events that have unfolded in Neo-Paris.
 * 4) Interesting mechanic where you have what's called the Hunt Glove to alter people's memories.
 * 5) The soundtrack expresses the world of Neo-Paris accurately by firstly writing smooth, symphonic pieces, than remixing them to sound glitchy, yet not rough, and the result is awesome.
 * 6) You can customize your combos.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Graphically, the game looks slightly dated as it looks like it came out in late 2010 or early 2011 instead of mid-2013.
 * 2) It's only 7 hours long.
 * 3) While most of the characters aren't bad, Nilin and the Cartier-Wells have problems.
 * 4) *Nilin is kind of an idiot. She mindlessly obeys Edge for the entire game. At first it makes sense because he's her only ally and — having lost her memory — she has no context for anything going on around her. Then there's a mysteriously devastating flood that just so happens to have occurred immediately after she gives him access to the dams, which he told her to get. Nilin doesn't put two and two together until long, long after the fact.
 * 5) **She's also a Karma Houdini. Her actions in the game have directly or by proxy caused several hundred deaths in addition to her original crime of manipulating Frank into committing suicide. While she is obviously uneasy about her involvement, actual punishment doesn't seem to be in sight.
 * 6) *The Cartier-Wells are also a Karma Houdinis. They have parts of their memories scrambled into more or less traumatic events, but come through the game intact — though it seems probable that Memorize will go under. Their own relationship and their relationship to Nilin seem improved from the start of the game, with the new realizations from their remixed memories.
 * 7) Missed Opportunities:
 * 8) *Olga Sedova. A badass bounty hunter chick who would've killed Nilin in the first 30 minutes of the game had she not been remixed into becoming an ally. After that she shows up only twice just to give Nilin a ride to her destination. The consequences of the remix could've created an interesting conflict later on by having Olga discover the truth about her changed memories and lead to a boss fight. Also, the ramifications of Olga becoming an ally to Nilin aren't explored: Olga becomes a terrorist, attacks a hospital, and likely abandons or unwittingly kills the husband she's convinced is already dead.
 * 9) *The game doesn't really explore the effects of memory alteration technology on society in much detail. We see the odd unresponsive junkie hanging around, but because Nilin never interacts with a civilian (just villains and fellow errorists) we don't see in detail how normal people are abusing the ability to erase bad memories or share good ones (are they acting recklessly and erasing to avoid the repercussions? Losing motivation to achieve or experience when they can just get good experiences from others?).
 * 10) ** Likewise, remixing memories is very questionable and poses all sorts of moral dilemmas (since it basically violates the target's free will) yet this is not fully explored (Nilin does, but no one else, and she doesn't bring it up again after). Remixes are just used to advance the plot and have only positive effects for Nilin, and we don't see the traumatic effects of forced personality changes on the victims or natural disconnects that the changed memories would have with later ones.
 * 11) ** There aren't even that many remixes — the game is content to just four total remixes, one of which is a flashback of Nilin's past, and one involves a repeat of an event we already see in a previous remix! A stronger focus on these might have explored Nilin's memory hunter status. For that matter, stealing memories is as easy as having Nilin get close enough to suck a little static out of their heads; we never get any flashbacks or whatever to see the memories for ourselves. (The "Remembranes" where we see a ghost of the person re-enacting walking down a hallway just isn't the same.)
 * 12) Executive Meddling: Creative director Jean-Max Morris stated in an interview that he had people telling him that they couldn't have a female protagonist because most gamers didn't want female protagonists. He was also told that he couldn't involve anything resembling a romance in the game, because making a guy like the player kiss another man would "feel awkward", because apparently having the female player character kiss a man makes the player controlling her gay and that would be uncomfortable. This is absolutely ridiculous as people didn't mind controlling characters like Samus from Metroid, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, or a female Shepperd in Mass Effect. In fact, there are plenty of male gamers that (when given the option) create  and customize their own female characters. Not to mention that in Mass Effect, no one complained about the idea of having Shepperd (male or female) form a gay relationship with one of the characters.

=Gal* Gun: Double Peace= Gal*Gun: Double Peace (ぎゃる☆がん だぶるぴーす, Gyaru Gan Daburu Pīsu) is a rail shooter bishōjo video game developed by Inti Creates. The game was released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in August 2015, in Europe in July 2016, and in North America in August 2016. It is the sequel to the 2011 game, Gal*Gun, and is similar to its predecessor.

Plot
The game takes place in a fictional academy in Japan, named Sakurachi Academy. A student cupid angel, Ekoro, has to strike a student with a love arrow during her exam, which will help the student find the love of her life. The target is protagonist Houdai Kudoki, an unpopular male student at the academy. However, Ekoro notices that Kurona, a demon angel who is also doing a practical exam, has the same intended target of Houdai. In an effort to strike the target first, Ekoro accidentally increases the dose of the arrow by thirty-two times the original intended amount. This makes every girl at the school grow madly in love with Houdai, frantically running after him in an effort to claim him as their partner. At the same time, the aforementioned demon angel is striking girls with her staff, which makes the girls love Houdai in a more physical fashion, which includes injuring him in a fashion similar to bondage. However, due to unintended side effect caused by increased dose of the shot, Houdai will face a life alone if he doesn't find his "True Love" girlfriend before the sunset.

The sisters Shinobu and Maya, who are the students at the academy and childhood friends of Houdai are also relevant to the plot. They aren't affected by Houdai's curse due to a hidden profession as demon hunters, the sisters spend the game hunting Kurona, whilst also rekindling a bond with Houdai, whom they have not spoken to in three years.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Great voice acting.
 * 2) Lots of replay value.
 * 3) Really good graphics.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The game isn't all that difficult even on the hardest difficulty.

= Heavenly Sword = Heavenly Sword is a 2007 action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Great graphics for its time.
 * 2) In addition to Nariko, a secondary character, Kai, is controlled for some portions of the game. Many of Kai's stages take the form of sniping missions, using her crossbow to pick off enemies, in some cases to protect characters. While Kai cannot perform hand-to-hand combat, in stages that call for her to explore the level she is able to hop over objects and to free herself from an enemy's grasp by temporarily stunning them.
 * 3) The game makes use of the Sixaxis by having it be used with projectiles. Such projectiles include guiding Kai's arrows after she has launched them, and for Nariko, guiding a cannon or rocket launcher, or picking up and throwing objects.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The game is pretty short, only 7 hours long.
 * 2) Kai's shooting segments aren't good since Kai isn't very accurate when shooting in third-person. It's not much better with Aftertouch since the motion controls are sloppy.

Reception
Heavenly Sword sold over one million copies by May 2008. Tameem Antoniades stated in March 2010 that sales were approximately one-and-a-half million but that the developer did not break even. The game was praised for its graphics and combat system, while criticism stemmed from the short length of the game and lack of online capabilities. It received "generally favorable reviews" according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.

= Katamari = Katamari is a Japanese video game franchise created by Keita Takahashi and developed and published by Namco (and subsequently Bandai Namco Entertainment). The series puts players in control of a young character called The Prince (also referred to as Dashing Prince or the Prince of All Cosmos) as he assists his father, the King of All Cosmos, in the re-creation of stars and planets by using a ball called a katamari to roll up objects. The first title in the series was Katamari Damacy for the PlayStation 2, which became a cult classic and led to several sequels and spin-offs.

List of games

 * Katamari Damacy
 * We Love Katamari
 * Me & My Katamari
 * Katamari Damacy Mobile
 * Beautiful Katamari
 * Rolling With Katamari
 * I Love Katamari
 * Korogashi Puzzle Katamari Damacy
 * Katamari Forever
 * Katamari Amore
 * Touch My Katamari
 * Tap My Katamari
 * Amazing Katamari Damacy

Overall

 * 1) The game has a very unique premise, which has the player roll what's called a katamari to pick up things in order to make it bigger. You start off picking up small things like thumbtacks and dice, but as you get bigger you can pick up bigger things like
 * 2) Amazing graphics with a quirky artistic take on in-game objects. Though simple in design, tons of details can be put into the objects' texture maps, while the basic shape of the object is less detailed.
 * 3) There are three different modes. There's the typical mission given by the King of All Cosmos is the "Make a Star" mode, where the player needs to grow the katamari to a specific size within a given time frame. Other missions have more specific collecting rules, such as collecting as many items (swans, crabs, pairs) as possible within a given time, or collecting the largest item possible (such as a cow or bear).
 * 4) *Score Attack mode, in which players try to make the largest katamari possible in the time allotted.
 * 5) * Eternal mode, which is where the player can explore the level with no time limit.
 * 6) In each level there are royal presents that contain an object that the Prince can wear. Most gifts are non-functional, but one includes a camera that can be used to take in-game screenshots.
 * 7) Along with royal presents, are Cousins, which, once rolled up in main gameplay, can be used as a character in the various multiplayer modes. However, cousins can only be found and rolled up after the game is beaten.
 * 8) The humor is also good in all thanks to The King who is by far an entertaining character due to his speech and flamboyant personality.
 * 9) Lots of replay value with the player being allowed to go back to previous levels and try to get a better score.
 * 10) The soundtrack for each of the games are great with them using different genres of music (such as Jazz, Synth-pop, and Hip-Hop) and can create a cheerful, exciting, and even relaxing feel when playing the game.

Katamari Damacy

 * 1) Got a re-release called Katamari Damacy Reroll. It's an HD remaster and has support for gyro controls. It had a few changes while still keeping the charm of the original
 * 2) *Certain levels have time limits changed which makes some levels easier than the original. Also, it's more possible to get 100% on the constellation levels.
 * 3) * The infamous 4th Step item has been moved to an easier spot.
 * 4) * The Prince is much more expressive this time around.

Katamari Forever

 * 1) Adds new gameplay features like the "Prince Hop", which allows the Prince to hop into the air by flicking the controller up or pressing a shoulder button; and the "King Shock", which sucks nearby objects onto the katamari like a magnet.

Overall

 * 1) All of the games are really short with the longest game (Katamari Forever) being 11 hours.
 * 2) The Cousins don't have any special abilities or changes in playstyle meaning that they all play no different than the Prince.

Katamari Damacy

 * 1) Difficulty Spike: The first few levels of Katamari Damacy are simple enough to familiarize yourself with the controls and the basic concept of what you're supposed to be doing. But then you hit Make a Star 4, and unless you've learned how to prioritize what you pick up and what you can pick up and when, that level will hand your ass to you repeatedly, and it doesn't let up from there.
 * 2) There isn't any variety compared to later entries since all you do is collect things which gets repetitive after awhile.
 * 3) During the Make the North Star level, you have to make your Katamari 10 meters without the starting diameter. The problem is that it can be confusing how you have to make the Katamari exactly like 10 meters.
 * 4) The original game had an item called the 4th Step item which is infamous because it wasn't put in an easier spot.
 * 5) Mutso Hoshino's English voice is really bland.

Katamari Forever

 * 1) Most of the levels are recycles of previous games.
 * 2) There are levels where you have to roll a katamari to a specific size, which requires a lot of trial and error especially if you're going for the best score.

Reception
Katamari Damacy was well received in Japan and North America. The game was dubbed a sleeper hit and won several awards. The success of the game led to the creation of the Katamari franchise, and inspired the development of other video games. Some critics have called it one of the greatest games of all time. A high-definition remaster of the game, Katamari Damacy Reroll, was released on Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch in December 2018, and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2020.

We Love Katamari was met with positive reception upon release. Metacritic gave it 86 out of 100.

=Syphon Filter=

Syphon Filter is a third-person shooter action video game series developed by Bend Studio (formerly Eidetic) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. In the series, Syphon Filter is the name given to the mysterious biological weapon.

Reception
Syphon Filter

Videos
