Get ready for your wallet to be upset with you. The Limited Edition SOULCALIBUR V OST is out, and it will cost you a pretty penny. But just look at that thing. It’s gorgeous! Can you really say no to that box?

Aside from the 56 track OST (3 discs), you’ll also get 20 pages of liner notes, a behind the scenes DVD detailing the creative process of the game’s score, and a set of character cards. It’s quite the package.

The soundtrack itself is a diverse mix of composers and performers spanning five different countries. It includes music written by Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana), Andrew Aversa (Monkey Island 2: Special Edition), Cris Velasco (God of War trilogy), Inon Zur (Dragon Age series), and more with performances by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

You can find a handful of sample clips on EminenceOnline.com as well as a photo gallery showcasing that sweet, sweet packaging. I highly recommend checking out “Blood Thirst Concerto” (embedded below). (more…)

Were you as surprised as we were by how great the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo was? Perhaps while you were slashing away at wolves and throwing fireballs at bears, your attention was grabbed by the game’s music. If so, you’ll be happy to know the release of the official soundtrack is imminent.

On February 7th (the same release day as the game itself), you can grab the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Original Soundtrack in physical or digital format. The “dark fantasy score” is composed by Grant Kirkhope (GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Viva Pinata) and performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Head over to Amazon to listen to sample clips. There’s also a full interview below with Kirkhope on the game’s music and sound. If you don’t have a full seven minutes free to watch it, at least check out the last twenty seconds. It’s practically guaranteed to make you crack a smile. (more…)

Just over two years ago, The King of Fighters XII released with a great fighting system, a hopelessly broken online experience, and an almost complete lack of single player modes. Today, the latest entry in the series releases with the intent to right the missteps of its predecessor.

The expanded roster of The King of Fighters XIII doesn’t have much new for the series, but it brings back a lot of the fighters missing from XII including Team Women Fighters members Mai, King, and my personal favorite, Yuri. With over 30 fighters available, the amount of choices are once again approaching the levels of its decade-old asset ripping, last generation entries.

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Have you been scared off by the complex nature of the fighting game genre, but intrigued by its resurgence in recent years? Atlus is planning on replacing that fear with knowledge by dishing out a new series of tutorial videos leading up to the release of The King of Fighters XIII.

This first video featuring Dream Cancel community member, Metaphysics, starts with the basics. And I mean the very basics. While the first half is more of an introductory course on fighting games in general, things get a little more interesting when character archetypes and play styles enter the discussion. (more…)

Last year, Sonic Colors showed me that 3D Sonic games could be fun again. Of course, this was the very same year that Sonic 4 dashed my hopes of a quality 2D Sonic experience. So when it was announced that the next game in the series would feature both styles of play, I was skeptical of SEGA’s ability to handle the classic stages.

It turns out they actually learned from their mistakes… well, most of them anyway. Sonic Generations, while not perfect, manages to be a rather successful blend of old and new Sonic gameplay that’s fun in spite of its shortcomings.

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Sometimes a game comes along that seems like it’s hitting all the right marks. You like the concept, the aesthetics and the music. All the still images and preview videos get you really amped up for the game’s release. But alas, once you’ve played it, it just doesn’t click with you.

I am sad to say that was my experience with Rock of Ages. A game that, on the surface, had enough elements that seemed interesting and unique to me that I thought for sure I would like the game. I was wrong.

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Did you buy a used copy of the Limited Edition of Ys SEVEN only to find out it was missing the cloth map, artbook, or soundtrack CD? Rather than searching eBay, now you can order any of these bonus items right from the source for $5 a pop (including shipping).

XSEED just announced the grand opening of their online store. Aside from individual bonus items, you can also purchase copies of various XSEED games including Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, several Ys games (both in limited and standard editions), Little King’s Story, Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, and more.

Curiously, there’s no sign of either Retro Game Challenge or the recently released Solatorobo: Red the Hunter at this time, but given that the store just went live that could change. While shipping is already included in the prices, there is a $20 minimum per order. Of course, most of the games are $20 anyway, but if you were just looking to get one of those fancy schmancy cloth maps, you’ll have to throw something else onto the order.

Source: XSEED

You know that moment in gaming where you’re no longer making conscious decisions and instead find yourself relying on pure, razor fast instinct? This is how I felt for almost the entirety of the time I spent with SkyDrift. Much like the fantastic Split/Second, SkyDrift‘s brand of racing puts you on the verge of death constantly, and everytime you manage to narrowly escape certain doom at the hands of the track’s terrain or your opponent’s weapons it feels like a miracle.

It’s amazing how much the concept of flight changes how a racing game plays. The added verticality of racing in an airplane instead of a car allows for a sense of freedom that really makes every race play out differently. This is also helped by some really superb track design. There aren’t a ton of tracks, but the ones that are there are filled to the brim with branching pathways, a ton of variety, and plenty of extra dangerous obstacles that reward players willing to take risks.

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Hot off the heels of their Back to the Future game, Telltale is back with another license close to the heart of my youth: Jurassic Park. It takes risks, leaving behind the traditional point and click interface of their past games for something a little different.

The first of the two demos I played was exclusively an action scene. Several of the game’s protagonists were stuck on a roller coaster and I had to prevent them from being eaten by a pack of dinosaurs. The solution? Successfully complete a lot of quick time events including button presses and quick flips of the analogue stick. You could sum up the entire action demo simply by saying “Space Ace”.

But there was a weird layer of detachment added to this scene. The character whose actions were affected by my inputs constantly changed. This made me feel less involved with what was happening on screen since no singular character represented the player. Occasionally I’d fail and watch a death scene before snapping back to the last checkpoint. I watched my cart go on the wrong track into a pack of dinosaurs, a young girl falling out of the car to her death and more, all while my death counter rose.

If this was all the game was, I’d be pretty sad. Thankfully the second demo I played was far more interesting, though still different than Telltale’s previous games.

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Final Fantasy XIII was a highly divisive game when it released last year. I found myself enjoying its finer points, but also finding fault in some of its design leading me to write a rather mixed review. With a sequel on the way, the opportunity for a more consistent experience has been opened.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place three years after the first. Lightning has disappeared and Serah (her previously unplayable little sister) is out to find her with the help of a new character named Noel. The demo wasn’t heavy on exposition, but there was enough talk of “points in time” and “anomalies between dimensions” to pique my interest.

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