Weekly Gaming Update: FF VII Dirge of Cerberus, Samurai Spirits and Onimusha

News From Lik Sang

Attention PS2 owners, this week we've got what you want, what you really really want [did I just type a line from the Spice Girls?! My little sister would probably love me for that... while I hate her for knowing about the existence of that damn band]. The big names on the menu include Final Fantasy, Samurai Spirits and Onimusha! First though, as a fan of wacky 'way out there' Japanese titles, I couldn't pass up the chance to mention Cooking Mama, due March 23rd for the NDS. As you can see from the screenshots further down, it's a cooking sim!

Similar to the Revolution tech demo, suddenly your NDS stylus slices, it dices, it makes julienne fries! In addition to knowing how to prepare a number of meals fit for human digestion (although sometimes our views and the Japanese can differ there!), you must get the presentation right too. Anyone who's played the cooking mini games in Eye Toy Play, or given Yoshinoya a spin will know how much crazy fun this can be. As for everyone else, you can find out by pre-ordering a copy today, then learning how to dish up scientifically studied whale left overs this March ;)

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus - PS2

Square Enix's mammoth compilation of Final Fantasy VII continues this week with FF VII: Dirge of Cerberus on PS2. Timeline wise this is also the end, set after AC (Advent Children - The PSP movie), BC (Before Crisis - A mobile phone game), and CC (Crisis Core - An upcoming PSP title). Three years after the events of FF VII, events kick off here in the midst of the Revival Festival when Deep Group soldiers lay siege on the town of Kalm. This army of Shin-ra comes in search of Vincent Valentine, who far from a secret character, this time has the lead role. Packing some serious firepower, Dirge of Cerberus is a third person shooter with many RPG elements, and beyond a wide range of guns to choose from, Vincent can also transform into his Limit Breaks such as Galian Beast, Chaos and possibly more!

Not wanting to be compared to Devil May Cry, designer Tetsuya Nomura explains how it's more influenced by Half Life. Tetsuya was the character designer for the original FF VII, and many of these staff members also played their part in the 1997 epic, including Writer / Director / Producer, Yoshinori Kitase. So here we have a shooter with the brightest stars of Japan behind it, a storyline that expands on the most famous RPG of all time, and includes characters like Cloud Strife, Yuffie Kisaragi, Lucrecia Crescent, Hojo, Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind, Cait Sith, Azul, Reeve Tuesti, Shelke, Shalua Rui, Rosso, Nero, Vice and more. It keeps getting better though with three online modes, starting with Team vs. team, then a free-for-all deathmatch, and finally a mission mode to gang up on a boss. Culminating in one hell of an action packed adventure, this dramatic ending finale to Final Fantasy VII arrives this very Thursday, and at the same time fans of the first game can still pick up both the original soundtrack, plus the fantastic piano collection right here.

Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuten - PS2

SNK Playmore's Samurai Spirits (known as "Samurai Showdown" outside of its home land) has been going strong since 1993, and set in the early 1800's, pays great attention to realism, using authentic Japanese weapons and even background music. Along with its focus on quick powerful attacks, Samurai Spirits is a unique and spectacular 2D beat 'em up. When Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuten came out in arcades last year, players couldn't wait for the PS2 port, but this week that day has come.

Really outdoing themselves, SNK have packed an unbelievable 53 characters into the game! That's everyone from the all previous titles, including any hidden characters, plus 5 new comers to the arcade edition last year, and then on top of all that, 11 more fighters exclusive to this PS2 release! Also new to the home release, you can change character colors, select from an arranged soundtrack, or choose and edit styles from every single previous Samurai Spirits game. If you can't find or make one you like there, there's also three new styles, Beast, Evil and Fiesta. Then in addition to all the usual game modes, there's an extra Survival Mode to test your might. So grab your twin swords and get ready for the biggest Samurai Spirits ever! It's coming out before the end of the week.

Shin Onimusha Dawn of Dreams - PS2

Right behind Resident Evil, Megaman and Street Fighter is Capcom's 4th biggest franchise, Onimusha, and the next hit release has just arrived yesterday. If you haven't picked one up before, now's your chance as Capcom designed this sequel with the goal of it being totally accessible for newbies to the saga. The series is a third person action combat affair with a healthy side of puzzles and a rich story. Many characters and settings also come straight out of real Japanese history, giving the adventures a depth and spirit unmatched by other action titles. There's also some role playing elements present, such as level ups and charging power ready to unleash special magic attacks from certain weapons. Veterans needn’t worry however, as Capcom have worked hard to balance the number of storyline connections to past titles in order to make it something new comers won't get confused by.

That's just the tip of the ice burg with improvements however, next being real time 3D graphics being used instead of pre-rendered, and thus giving you the ability to control the camera. Dawn of Dreams is also more open, free and gameplay oriented, as opposed to the full on storytelling approach. For the first time you'll be wielding dual swords too, playing as an original character, Hideyasu Yuki. There's four other playable characters to choose too, including Jubei with her short katanas, Ohatsu and her guns, Tenkai with spears and staves, and Roberto with his strong fists and gauntlet. Each has around 15 weapons to find, a greatly increased number over past titles. You can also now team up with a character and switch between them in real time, and unlock an actual full 2 player co-op mode! Capcom are taking Onimusha to fantastic new heights, and best of all there's no more waiting, the game is already in stock right now. Preorders are on their way, new purchases are welcome.