Xenosaga's creators don't want to make video games. They hinted at this in the original, where some cut scenes ran longer than entire games. Now, Xenosaga II has simplified the series' RPG aspects so players can quickly and easily navigate from one cut scene to the next. Xenosaga III will probably abandon gameplay altogether in favor of being a 20-hour CGI film.
Jenseits von Gut und Bose (that's Beyond Good and Evil, but don't ask why it's in German) almost gets away with it too, thanks to its interesting, character-driven story. Where the original dazzled us with epic twists, the sequel concentrates more on slowly developing its eclectic cast of characters—through cinematics, that is. In-game character development inexplicably has been nearly eliminated, all the characters sharing the same abilities. Combat's been simplified also, letting you attack enemies' weak sections for swifter kills. The game boils down to walk, walk, quickly exploit enemy's Achilles heel, walk, watch lengthy cut scene. Not such a horrible thing, as long as you're not in the mood to play a video game.
MVP Baseball 2005 (E) (4 stars)
EA Sports
PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
It's that time of year when we see the bases loaded. On first, we have MLB 2006, Major League Baseball 2K5 is on second, and MVP Baseball 2005—being the best—is closest to making it to home. But each series seems to be running out of original ideas. MVP's newest features are a second franchise mode and the inclusion of the minor leagues. What's next? A third franchise mode and Little League play?
Pokemon Dash (E) (2.5 stars)
Nintendo
Nintendo DS
By repeatedly scratching the back of the world's favorite yellow muskrat with the stylus, you can make him run across varied terrain, from checkpoint to checkpoint, ahead of a cuddly pack. The unique control scheme is initially a lot of fun until you start getting lost. There's no excuse for a substandard map when they've got a whole other screen to keep it on.
Nanobreaker (M) (2 stars)
Konami
PlayStation 2
Poor nanobots. The diminutive villains of NanoBreaker can possess people, turning them into monsters, but the resulting abominations are stupid and unchallenging. Fortunately, the game's camera is prepared to help them out by hiding them where they can shoot our hero from off-screen. This hideous, generic hack 'n' slash title alternates between frustration and near-fatal boredom.
Matthew Scott Hunter has been known to mumble, "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start" in his sleep. E-mail him at
[email protected].