Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (XBLA/Xbox One, 2013/2015)

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Developed by Starbreeze Studios
Published by 505 Games
Released for XBLA (8/2013) & Xbox One (9/2015)
Also on Android/iOS/PC/PS3/PS4

Brothers: A Tale of Two Suns was developed by Starbreeze Studios, best known for their work on The Darkness and Chronicles of Riddick games. The game follows the journey of two brothers as they search for a cure to their fathers sickness. Brothers is unique in that you control both siblings simultaneously. Each brother is assigned to their own analog stick and the corresponding triggers allow them to interact with various objects and people.

Brothers is a beautiful game to look at in many aspects. The fantasy world feels unique and well-realized. Every so often you'll come across benches, where you can take a seat and soak in some of the lush backdrops. Visually, Starbreeze really did a fantastic job here and everything from the characters to the levels look great. The lighting and shadows are also well done, especially for a title released in 2013. There are also some nice little details such as your characters leaving footprints in the snow as they walk.

There's a bit of dialogue in Brothers, but the characters speak in gibberish you'll have to take in the story by watching and you'll be able to get a sense of what the characters are talking about by the tones used while speaking. Along your journey you'll encounter several puzzles you'll have to solve in order to advance. None of these are too difficult but they make smart use of both brothers. The game is short and will be over before you know it, but it's nice in that it doesn't overstay its welcome. The control scheme is interesting and will feel like it's racking your brain moving around both brothers some times, but the game does a good job of not demanding too much from the player in this regard. For the most part you'll have time to control each brother individually in order to get where you need to go.

During my playthrough of Brothers, I did encounter one of a few commonly reported glitches that made it so I couldn't complete the second chapter. Fortunately after restarting the chapter and going through it again I was able to progress further. It's worth noting that this was on the Xbox One version of the game and I don't recall encountering this glitch on the 360 version of the game.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is totally worth your time, especially when taken into consideration that the game only asks for 3-5 hours of your time. The game doesn't have the highest replay value, but I'd still easily recommend anybody who enjoys more relaxing video games to give it a play. Brothers provides a distinct and unique experience without the frustration of failure so many games have.

Brothers was originally released for XBLA in August 2013. The following month after it was released on PC and PlayStation 3. Then over the following years it would receive ports to a few other platforms, including the Xbox One in September 2015. While the game was available as a digital-download only for the 360, Brothers received a physical-disc release in addition to being available digitally on the Xbox One.

Final Verdict: Brothers is a short but enjoyable adventure/puzzle game where you control two brothers simultaneously using an analog stick for each. Recommended for a nice laid-back single player experience.

Purchase Links:
Buy Brothers (Xbox One Digital) - Microsoft Store
Buy Brothers (Xbox 360 Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Search Brothers (Xbox One Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Brothers for Xbox 360 - GameFAQs
Brothers for Xbox One - GameFAQs
Starbreeze Studios - Official Site
505 Games - Official Site
Brothers Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Brothers - True Achievements

ABZU (Xbox One, 2017)

ABZU
Developed by Giant Squid
Published by 505 Games
Released for Xbox One (1/2017)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch

ABZU is an underwater exploration game developed by Giant Squid and released for multiple platforms in 2017. ABZU is a rather brief experience, but the beautiful visuals and intriguing story make it worth a play through.

The story in ABZU is told to the player through visuals and the game contains no spoken dialogue. While the story is a bit vague and leaves quite a bit to be interpreted by the player, I still remained interested to see what would happen next as I played. Swimming through each area in ABZU is a joy thanks to the game's beautiful visuals helping to make the ocean waters feel crowded and alive. The game makes great use of colors and the graphics are rendered in a cel-shaded fashion that fits the game appropriately. The music accompanies the visuals well and helps add to the ambience.

The controls are simple and work well once you get the hang of them. You can invert the camera if you need to so everybody should be able to find something they're comfortable with. There are a few parts where your character gets out of the water and moves around on land. These sections tend to control a bit clunky, though the game doesn't really ask you to do anything too hard so it's not that big of a deal. Along your journey there are several types of collectibles scattered about. There are fish pools, hidden shells and meditation statues for you to find. When you find a fish pool and activate it, you'll unleash a new variety of animal into the environment. You can sit on top of meditation statues and observe the fish, complete with the ability to switch between multiple cameras each assigned to a different fish type. You can also choose to meditate from the main menu if you just feel like watching some fish swim around. If a player manages to collect all of the hidden shells you can unlock an alternate suit for your character.

The entire game can be completed in anywhere between 3-6 hours, depending on how much time you spend exploring. While a bit on the short side, ABZU is definitely still worth experiencing, especially if you're in the mood for a relaxing game as it can be an almost zen-like experience at times. Also if you enjoy unlocking achievements ABZU's are all quite easy to obtain. In addition to being released digitally there was also a physical release for ABZU.

Final Verdict: ABZU is a short but enjoyable swimming exploration title. If you enjoy a relaxing gaming experience this is for you!

Related Links:
Buy ABZU - Microsoft Store
ABZU - GameFAQs
Giant Squid Studios - Official Site
505 Games - Official Site

Strategy Guides/Walkthroughs:
ABZU Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
ABZU - True Achievements
ABZU Video Walkthrough by Maka - YouTube

Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal (Xbox, 2002)

Kakuto Chojin
Developed by DreamFactory
Published by Microsoft Game Studios
Released for Xbox (11/2002)

My first reaction upon seeing Kakuto Chojin was that it was just another generic fighting game from a Western developer. I was surprised to discover that the Japan-based developer, DreamFactory, was founded by Seiichi Ishii, who was a designer for Virtua Fighter and one of the creators of Tekken. DreamFactory would go on to create the Tobal games on the original PlayStation and the arcade fighter Ehrgeiz, so they definitely do have some experience under their belt when it comes to fighting games. Kakuto Chojin was released exclusively for the Xbox console and has never received backward-compatibility support for either the 360 or the One, so it can only be played on Microsoft's original console.

Kakuto Chojin allows you to select from 12 different fighters, each represented by a different fighting style and from various countries. By this point in the timeline of fighting games, none of these characters really stand out and they all feel a bit cliche so while they do look nice, they're just not that memorable in the end. There's a decent range of fighting styles which include karate, jeet kune do (complete with Bruce Lee knock-off), capoeira, tae kwan do, a pit fighter, ninjitsu, hakkyoku-ken, pro wrestling, muay-thai and two fighters who use kung fu. Several of these have very odd countries of origin in regards to their fighting styles, for instance the capoeira chick is from Japan rather than Brazil like one would expect. When you complete the game with a fighter you unlock an alternate move set that can be selected at the character select screen. If you beat the game with all 12 characters you'll be able to select the boss character, making for a grand total of 13 characters to choose from.

Graphically Kakuto Chojin has some nice visuals for a game released in 2002. While the arenas are enclosed squares in design, they at least look nice and there is a unique stage for each character. There are some good details, like the rainy rooftop which features reflective surfaces. There are also a few stages that offer a chance to ring-out your opponents which does help add a little variety. While the stages and characters are both well-rendered, the characters have a strange shine to them which I suppose was intended to be perspiration but it ends up looking a bit cheesy. The game features some nifty particle effects on certain stages with rain or snow. The shading and lighting is also very well done for the time. There's even some battle damage depicted on the fighters as they take a beating, making for a very nice overall presentation.

The controls are a bit different when compared to your standard fighting game. You have low, medium and high attack buttons which works okay. There is a dedicated button for special moves, which when used will turn your health meter yellow. You are unable to use this move again until your meter fills back up and is completely red, which I assume was done in an effort to prevent you from spamming your special move. The triggers are used for blocking and running, which needlessly over-complicate things, especially considering you can dash by tapping forward twice. I've never been a fan of fighting games that have block assigned to a button and it feels just as awkward here as it does in any other game that does this. By holding block and pressing up you have the ability to jump, though you'll rarely need to use this to win.

In addition to the story mode, the Kakuto Chojin single player modes also include survival and practice mode. There are also a few multiplayer modes that allow up to four players to compete in battle royal, capture the crown or standard versus games. I've heard the game is quite enjoyable with up to four players but I never had four pads for my Xbox so I couldn't tell you personally, though it does sound like a good time with the right friends. There's not much else to say about the fighting in Kakuto Chojin other than you punch, kick, throw and occasionally use a special move to deplete the health bar of your opponent. Everything works fine, though the game just really doesn't do much to set itself apart from other fighting games of the time.

The main menu also has an option to access some game demos. There are interactive demos featured for NFL Fever 2003, Shenmue II and Quantum Redshift. There are also non-interactive movies for Xbox Live, Blinx the Time Sweeper, Fable, Tao Feng, Kung Fu Chaos and MechAssault.

Kakuto Chojin was met with some controversy, particularly in America, due to the Somalian character named Asad. The fighter is a Muslim which is apparent by his stage's theme, which contained phrases from Quran being chanted in the background. Bear in mind this game was released in 2002, not long after 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers, so Americans were still very sensitive to anything referencing Islam. Due to this the game was recalled by Microsoft in the United States and was only available for a very limited time in Japan and was never released at all in Europe.

In closing, Kakuto Chojin is a nice-looking game and the fighting is serviceable, though it's definitely not up to par with the heavy-hitters at the time. When it comes to 3D fighters of this era, the Soul Calibur, Tekken and Virtua Fighter franchises are still several steps ahead of this one. That's not to say it's a bad game, so if you're a fighting junkie just looking for something new for your old Xbox it's worth a look. The game never really picked up in value and is still quite easy to find despite being recalled from stores. The full title of the game on the cover is Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal but I honestly just didn't feel like typing that throughout the whole review.

Final Verdict: Kakuto Chojin definitely doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a decent 3D fighter that remained exclusive to the original Xbox.

Purchase Links:
Buy Kakuto Chojin - eBay

Related Links:
Kakuto Chojin - GameFAQs
Kakuto Chojin - Wikipedia
Kakuto Chojin - Hardcore Gaming 101

Japanese Cover Artwork

Mini Ninjas (Xbox 360, 2009)

Mini Ninjas
Developed by Io Interactive
Published by Eidos Interactive
Released for Xbox 360 (9/2009)
Also on DS/iOS/Mac/PC/PS3/Wii

Mini Ninjas is a kid-friendly stealth/action/platformer title from Io Interactive, a crew best known for the Hitman series of games. The game sports some cartoony graphics that have held up well since the game was released. This is a single-player only game, featuring a campaign that should keep you busy for around 10 hours.You'll assemble a small crew and will have the ability to switch your character at will in your journey to take down the evil samurai warlord.

The graphics in Mini Ninjas have a cartoon vibe to them, but they're not cel-shaded like most games that go for this look, giving it a nice distinct look. The environments are detailed and the characters are all designed well, though you will see the same enemies very frequently. Everything looks a bit cute but not so adorable that it hurts to look at. The boss battles are well done and each feels different from the last. The sound design works well and you'll always know when an enemy is nearby, although I'm sure some will be annoyed by the gibberish talk that spews forth from the enemies. The music fits the theme of the game well, though I'm sure you'll struggle to remember any of it once you've turned the game off.

Mini Ninjas features a beefy campaign that spans twenty-two levels, with several boss fights spread throughout. Levels tend to be quite large, allowing for some exploration, and the developers did a nice job making the levels seem even bigger than they really are. There's a decent variety here too, ranging from green forest areas, grassy plains and snow capped mountains. You're on a quest to take down the samurai warlord and restore balance to the land. Apparently they've been transforming animals into their minions to assemble an army. When you take down an enemy, an animal will appear in their place, helping to minimize the violence and keep an "E" for everyone rating. This is actually a pretty cool effect and definitely reminded me of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game.

As you work your way through the campaign you'll rescue additional ninjas and once you've found them all you'll be able to switch between five separate characters on the fly. Each character works better against certain enemies and to maximize efficiency you'll want to switch them up quite frequently. Once you get the archer who can fire an unlimited amount of arrows the game gets a bit easy, so if you wish to keep the challenge up you may want to minimize using that character. Other than the over-powered archer the characters are balanced pretty well and are fun to use.

Mini Ninjas boasts some unique features, one of them being the ability to possess animals. Larger animals like bears and hogs can be used to attack enemies. Also while in animal form collectibles will be marked in your proximity by purple clouds of smoke. You'll also find a fishing rod which you can use at certain water spots to catch some fish and stock sushi in your inventory. Some of the special abilities are more useful than others, with some like the sunlight power being very underutilized. The sunlight power is used to vanquish the ghosts, which if I recall correctly I only saw on two different levels throughout the entire game. Sunlight spell not included, most of the other spells are fun to mess with and you'll find many of them as you progress through the campaign.

While stealth is an aspect of the game and sneaking up on enemies will result in a one-hit kill, the majority of your enemy encounters will involve direct fighting. I had a tough time sneaking up and killing more than an enemy or two before being detected and having to fight everybody else. Later in the game you will get a camouflage spell that will help you sneak up on enemies, but it's still just as difficult to get successive stealth kills. Luckily the fighting in Mini Ninjas isn't too bad, since you'll be doing a lot of it. You have a standard and heavy attack, and when enemies block (which they frequently do) you'll have to use a heavy attack to stagger them and get some easy shots in. Depending on which ninja you're using you'll attack with a different weapon, including katana swords, spears and hammers. Within your inventory you'll be able to hold additional items to use in battle, such as bombs, caltrops and shurikens. Fighting is basic and works well for the most part, with the biggest problem being the "hatted samurai" that show up later in the game and have teleporting abilities. These guys caused me many problems until I figured out that I needed to use the bow & arrow to easily attack them. Other than these guys I didn't have much of an issue with the combat, just try to make sure you don't let the enemies gang up on you.

There is a fair share of platforming in Mini Ninjas and for the most part there's nothing too frustrating. I did run into a few spots where the camera would turn as I walked, causing me to walk right off the edge, but these sections are few and far between and didn't ruin the overall experience. Being a ninja, you have a wall jump that you'll have to utilize every now and then. Your character swims extremely slow, but luckily you can use your hat as a boat in order to traverse the water much quicker.

As with most modern games, there is a progression system in Mini Ninjas. Defeated enemies will drop little balls which will grant the player XP when picked up. As you level up you'll gain bonus perks such as more health and spirit. The spirit meter is depleted when doing special/magic attacks and sprinting. There are also quite few collectibles to seek out if you're the completionist type. There are 100 "Jizo statues" scattered throughout the campaign in addition to caged animals that can be freed (195 of these in total!). Some of the statues are hidden well and if you're not on the lookout for them can be easy to miss. The collectibles help provide a little replay value if you're the type who likes to get everything.

Mini Ninjas is a solid game and a bit more polished than your average "all-ages" game. I'm not sure how popular ninjas are with today's youth, but I know if I would've had this game in my youth I would've loved it. Even as a 30+ year-old I enjoyed having a run through the rather long campaign. If you find it cheap and have a love for anything ninja related, give Mini Ninjas a shot and you just might enjoy yourself. I was a bit surprised how enjoyable a family-friendly ninja game could be!

Final Verdict: Mini Ninjas is a fun, family-friendly action-platformer with a single-player campaign of decent length. Recommended for those who love some ninja action!

Purchase Links:
Buy Mini Ninjas (Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Mini Ninjas (Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Mini Ninjas - Official Site
Io Interactive - Official Site
Mini Ninjas - Xbox Store
Mini Ninjas - GameFAQs
Mini Ninjas Achievement Guide - XboxAchievements.com

Leucistic Wyvern (XBLIG, 2010)

Leucistic Wyvern
Developed by Mukagosoftware Development
Released for XBLIG (10/2010)

Leucistic Wyvern is a poor-man's version of the Sega Saturn classic Panzer Dragoon. I had to look up the definition of "leucistic," which as far as I can tell isn't a proper word but it is close to leucism. Leucism is a condition found in animals that will cause their skin/fur to be pale due to a lack of pigmentation. What that has to do with our wyvern here I'm not sure as it doesn't really appear to be pigmentally challenged.

After spending some time with Leucistic Wyvern, I'm pretty determined to declare Mukagosoftware Development (the developers) the kings of kusoge on XBLIG. Wyvern is by all means a bad game, looking like a budget title that would have released for the PlayStation 2 or Dreamcast back in the early 2000's. The textures are pretty ugly, the rendered objects are made of up low-count blocky polygons and there's pop-in all over the place. In a strange way all of this works to the favor of Leucistic Wyvern to make it a unique experience. It's one of those games that's so bad it's good. The controls are reasonably responsive and your wyvern shoots giant purple balls making it quite easy to shoot down your targets. There are even bosses to shoot down at the end of the stages and after every few stages you'll get a bonus stage where you can rack up extra points by flying through rings (careful though, you can smash into the sides of the rings and die here too!).  The game features a high score table and even a credits system. In the trial version I played, I was given three credits and once you've used those up it's back to the beginning. I found Leucistic Wyvern to be a fun but poorly designed title, almost like a lost PS2 title that got dug back up and released.

Final Verdict: Leucistic Wyvern is the kusoge version of Panzer Dragoon but it seems almost self-aware of this and is actually somewhat fun to play.

Related Links:
Leucistic Wyvern - GameFAQs
Mukagosoftware Development - Official Site