CrossoverMan
Smash Ace
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2013
- Messages
- 588
OK, so here's my review of the massive crossover event between three of the biggest and most well known video game companies in the world, Sega, Namco and Capcom. Feel free to share any thoughts on the game and what you think should be done if there's ever a sequel.
OK, so when I first heard about Project X Zone, I honestly **** my pants a little. Sega, Capcom and Namco were three companies that helped shape my childhood, and I would consider myself a fanboy of all three companies. The game features a huge collection of iconic characters from all three companies, both recognisable and not so recognisable. While Namco X Capcom had one or two pair characters, this game is based all around that concept.
There are 20 pair units who you control, and you can make them do a variety of awesome looking combo attacks together, such as making Ken do a Shoryu Reppa on the opponent while Ryu pelts them with Hadoukens. There are also 20 solo units who can do equally cool looking assist attacks that can make combos last up to 100 hits or more. When you add in the fact that you can send in another pair unit to fight alongside the one you're using and call in the assist character means that you can have up to five characters on screen at once fighting for you. And that's just awesome!
The super moves also never disappoint. All of them are bone-chillingly badass and really make you go ouch. It's not quite so fun however when you're on the wrong end of a boss character's super move.
Despite this, the game has often been described as 'Tactical RPGs for dummies' due to it's rather simple gameplay. I have to disagree. Playing Project X Zone requires a good knowledge of RPGs and fighting games, as this game is like a combination of the two genres. It may occasionally get a little confusing if you don't know anything about RPGs or fighting games.
But what about the characters? Well, the selection of characters chosen for Project X Zone is odd, but not quite as odd as the game's predecessor, Namco X Capcom. You should be able to at least identify most of the characters in the game. Even if you don't, there's a Wikipedia-like database in the game that explains every character's origins and skills, so you shouldn't get that confused. The database is surprisingly deep, and sometimes I just find myself spending nearly half an hour scrolling through all the characters (I spend more time looking at Kaguya though
). Like how Smash Bros helped me familiarise myself with all the obscure Nintendo characters, Project X Zone helped me identify with all the obscure Namco, Sega and Capcom characters.
The crossover value of this game is pretty damn good. Nearly all of the characters have special conversations with each other, and all of them provide tons of fanservice to long time fans of the franchises, and they're all hilarious. Even the background and enemy characters are given loads of personality, even though most of them don't talk.
However, I have found one major flaw with this otherwise great crossover: The story. While I usually dig the whole 'omniverse is at stake' and 'everything's breaking apart' thing, this game just doesn't do it for me. The major gripe that I have is the fact that you never see any action going on other than the battle sequences. No action filled cutscenes, no real drama, nothing. I mean sure, (SPOILERS) Arthur makes out that he's about to sacrifice himself, but do you really think they're gonna kill off freaking Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins? The story gets boring, repetitive and confusing very quickly. The characters go to some other dimension, get confused, meet a bad guy, meet some friends, beat the bad guy, rinse and repeat. Every. Single. Time. I thought most of these characters are meant to be geniuses, but they just act stupid in this game.
And that reminds me. The final boss himself isn't terrible as a design, but his appearance isn't really built up at all, especially since he appears in the ****ing intro! I really hate the sudden difficulty spike you get at the end in the final battle. Throughout most of the game, the game isn't too hard, but when you face Meden Traore and every boss in the game, you'd literally rather shove you're head up a cow's arse. The ending is also incredibly cliché and lasts way too long.
I mean, maybe if you saw a little action and drama going on rather than see still portraits and Japanese voice acting, I would like this game's plot a bit better. There was apparently meant to be a scene where you saw X, Zero, Ken, Ryu and some other characters all getting shot out of the Arc de'Triumphe and fighting bad guys in midair while flying through loads of wreckage before reaching the tower. That would have been freaking awesome to see, or at least described. But it's just hand waved and never mentioned again. What a let down.
Overall, this game isn't bad. Far from it. The mere fact that characters from Capcom, Namco and Sega can all be seen in the same place talking to each other is awesome enough. But due to the fact that this game is completely plot oriented, there's little to no replay value. Maybe if there was a casual online battle mode or something, then I would have been perfectly fine with this game. But as I've stated before, the plot is lazy and unsatisfactory. The main characters, Kogoro and Mii are given next to no character development and are just boring. Justified since they're like the worst characters in the game power-wise as well, but they do have some cool attacks I guess.
7/10
Great crossover, great characters, bad plot.
OK, so when I first heard about Project X Zone, I honestly **** my pants a little. Sega, Capcom and Namco were three companies that helped shape my childhood, and I would consider myself a fanboy of all three companies. The game features a huge collection of iconic characters from all three companies, both recognisable and not so recognisable. While Namco X Capcom had one or two pair characters, this game is based all around that concept.
There are 20 pair units who you control, and you can make them do a variety of awesome looking combo attacks together, such as making Ken do a Shoryu Reppa on the opponent while Ryu pelts them with Hadoukens. There are also 20 solo units who can do equally cool looking assist attacks that can make combos last up to 100 hits or more. When you add in the fact that you can send in another pair unit to fight alongside the one you're using and call in the assist character means that you can have up to five characters on screen at once fighting for you. And that's just awesome!
The super moves also never disappoint. All of them are bone-chillingly badass and really make you go ouch. It's not quite so fun however when you're on the wrong end of a boss character's super move.
Despite this, the game has often been described as 'Tactical RPGs for dummies' due to it's rather simple gameplay. I have to disagree. Playing Project X Zone requires a good knowledge of RPGs and fighting games, as this game is like a combination of the two genres. It may occasionally get a little confusing if you don't know anything about RPGs or fighting games.
But what about the characters? Well, the selection of characters chosen for Project X Zone is odd, but not quite as odd as the game's predecessor, Namco X Capcom. You should be able to at least identify most of the characters in the game. Even if you don't, there's a Wikipedia-like database in the game that explains every character's origins and skills, so you shouldn't get that confused. The database is surprisingly deep, and sometimes I just find myself spending nearly half an hour scrolling through all the characters (I spend more time looking at Kaguya though
). Like how Smash Bros helped me familiarise myself with all the obscure Nintendo characters, Project X Zone helped me identify with all the obscure Namco, Sega and Capcom characters.The crossover value of this game is pretty damn good. Nearly all of the characters have special conversations with each other, and all of them provide tons of fanservice to long time fans of the franchises, and they're all hilarious. Even the background and enemy characters are given loads of personality, even though most of them don't talk.
However, I have found one major flaw with this otherwise great crossover: The story. While I usually dig the whole 'omniverse is at stake' and 'everything's breaking apart' thing, this game just doesn't do it for me. The major gripe that I have is the fact that you never see any action going on other than the battle sequences. No action filled cutscenes, no real drama, nothing. I mean sure, (SPOILERS) Arthur makes out that he's about to sacrifice himself, but do you really think they're gonna kill off freaking Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins? The story gets boring, repetitive and confusing very quickly. The characters go to some other dimension, get confused, meet a bad guy, meet some friends, beat the bad guy, rinse and repeat. Every. Single. Time. I thought most of these characters are meant to be geniuses, but they just act stupid in this game.
And that reminds me. The final boss himself isn't terrible as a design, but his appearance isn't really built up at all, especially since he appears in the ****ing intro! I really hate the sudden difficulty spike you get at the end in the final battle. Throughout most of the game, the game isn't too hard, but when you face Meden Traore and every boss in the game, you'd literally rather shove you're head up a cow's arse. The ending is also incredibly cliché and lasts way too long.
I mean, maybe if you saw a little action and drama going on rather than see still portraits and Japanese voice acting, I would like this game's plot a bit better. There was apparently meant to be a scene where you saw X, Zero, Ken, Ryu and some other characters all getting shot out of the Arc de'Triumphe and fighting bad guys in midair while flying through loads of wreckage before reaching the tower. That would have been freaking awesome to see, or at least described. But it's just hand waved and never mentioned again. What a let down.
Overall, this game isn't bad. Far from it. The mere fact that characters from Capcom, Namco and Sega can all be seen in the same place talking to each other is awesome enough. But due to the fact that this game is completely plot oriented, there's little to no replay value. Maybe if there was a casual online battle mode or something, then I would have been perfectly fine with this game. But as I've stated before, the plot is lazy and unsatisfactory. The main characters, Kogoro and Mii are given next to no character development and are just boring. Justified since they're like the worst characters in the game power-wise as well, but they do have some cool attacks I guess.
7/10
Great crossover, great characters, bad plot.
