Wii Zangeki no Reginleiv - New Import, In Stock

NCS Product Synopsis Update: February 11, 2010 «©NCSX» The giants are on the march against the sons of man in Midgard and there will be blood. Lots of it. Although the humans are resourceful and somewhat intelligent, they're no match for the brute power of the giants and their overlords. To lend humanity a helping hand, Odin sends two gods to Midgard - siblings named Freyr and Freyja who are skilled with sword and bow. Slim of stature and powerful in their own right, the two gods lead the humans and their allies on action-packed campaigns against the giants.    Zangeki no Reginleiv is a 3D run and slash game which uses both Nunchuk and Wii Remote to perform the necessary attacks against the giants. The game is broken up into missions where the aim is invariably killing and the wholesale destruction of giants and any creatures that pose a threat. Players may choose between Freyr or Freyja (they're selectable before almost every mission) and accompany a group of human warriors against enemy forces. In the first mission, Freyr and a bunch of soldiers protect a village from an invasion of giants. When the mission starts, Freyr runs behind the soldiers and the enemies may be seen in the distance pounding and stomping on hapless villagers. Once the battle is joined, Freyr and friends slash, thrust, and literally sever the giants into hunks of meat. Reginleiv is an all-out gore-fest so the squeamish would be well-advised to steer clear but the bloodthirsty will find the sight of spraying blood and hacked off limbs sweet solace. Product Specifications Product SKU: RVL-P-RZNJ JAN Code: 4902370518139 Japanese Product Name: 斬撃のREGINLEIV Publisher: Nintendo Compatibility: Nintendo Wii (Japan-Only) Format: DVD-ROM (Single-Layer) Language: Japanese Website: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/rznj/index.html   NCS Game Notes » A non-interactive series of tutorials at the outset of the game teaches places how to swing at enemies, shoot, jump, and ramble across the meadows in search of prey. A dash move, backflip, and a shielding gesture are also shown. » At the outset, the intro gives players a short overview of the game world as the camera travels along a village and flies over the tree canopy before focusing on an explosion in the middle of the forest. As the camera pulls downwards, a stag may be seen grazing when a lad with a bow and arrow is about to shoot but a bellowing compatriot scares the stag away. A ruckus is in progress somewhere in the forest and the lad and a group of soldiers go into the village to watch as a horned giant with blue skin slowly tramples towards them. It's carrying a big cudgel, wears an angry face, and apparently means business. The lad who was about to kill a stag resolves to take the giant down.  » Lifting his sword to the air, the lad leads troops into the charge against the giant and they start running to meet the giant head-on. Overhead, two eagles swoop in and watch the herd of soldiers who are stampeding towards the giant like a herd of buffalo. They dive and land behind the soldiers and transform into the two sibling heroes of the game - a silver-armored lad named Freyr and a similarly armored girl named Freyja. » At about this time, the batteries in our Wii Remote died. Great timing. We watched the orange "START" button on screen for about 5 minutes while someone wrestled two AAs out of warehouse storage. » After clicking "START," you'll find yourself in control of Freyr (we chose him at the outset but Freyja is also selectable) who's running behind a throng of human soldiers. In the distance, a group of giants may be seen terrorizing the villagers. Screams, grunts, and other sounds of assault pierce the air. Run up to one of the giants and start swishing the Wii Remote from left to right like a sword and Freyr will start doing damage. If you slash two well-placed blows on a giant, his body gets severed in half accompanied by a big splash of blood which ejects from the two halves. To perform an evasive dash move, whisk the Nunchuk to the left, to the right, or pump it forward to dash in those directions. Flick the Nunchuk backwards to perform a backflip. At the outset of the battle, the humans launch rocklike projectiles into the giants which stagger them a bit. The soldiers also attack the giants with conventional arms and after about 20 kills, the giant invasion is halted. » The controls take a bit getting used to. The movement of Freyr feels a little "off" and isn't the smoothest gaming mechanic we've tried. The slashing also takes a bit of practice when running across the battlefield surrounded by enemy targets. An alternative control option is the use of a Classic Controller Pro but we found that to be inferior when compared to the versatile combination of the Nunchuk and Remote. » When attacking, you'll have to watch for the green reticule to appear on screen before the sword can be used on a target. Attacks are also not always available since the ability to attack is governed by the sword icon located on the lower-right corner of the screen. After five sword strokes, you'll have to wait for the sword icon to recharge before slashing may commence.   » The first battle against the giants is not challenging since the giants are (for a lack of a better word) stupid. They won't do much damage to the human soldiers or to the protagonist and they'll just sort of lumber around with their cudgels. Giants are supposed to be wanton destroyers but they're almost congenial in the first encounter. » The game is broken up into missions that appear on a map. After completing one mission, you can elect to replay it again by going back and trying your hand at performing better or to relive a particularly exciting episode. » The second mission features more giants who have surrounded the village and attack in multiple groups. Freyr will have to run around the entire expanse of the village to tackle giants as they move in on the town. Again, the giants aren't challenging and don't do much damage. The visual of a gang of giants on the move and on the attack is an impressive sight. Too bad they're a bunch of pansies. » The third mission moves to the outskirts of the village where a megalithic giant carrying a huge hammer leads a group of giants into the village. The monster seems invincible at first and he'll do damage if his hammer connects but at around 10 sword strokes onto its body, his left arm will fly off into the distance. Continue the attack and more chunks will fall off of its body until the beast is entirely splintered into body parts that litter the fields. Note that the giant will regenerate body parts if he's not attacked for a few seconds. After defeating the big'un, a group of giants will cross the lake near the village but simply run over to meet them head-on and Freyr will take care of all of them with a few sword strokes. Another contingent of giants heads into the village from the opposite direction led by a second megalithic giant but similar to the first one, roughly 25 sword strokes will decimate him into a bloody torso that spurts copious amounts of gore. » Mission 4 kicks off with a cinematic sequence where Freyj and Freyja are kneeling in front of a group of Norse deities who all appear out of nowhere and flash into being. Odin (the old dude with one eye) leads the discussion and instructs Freyr and Freyja to continue their campaign against the giants. Afterwards, the humans are under assault by giants once again and Freyr and Freyja fly in before transforming into their human forms. The boss giant in mission 4 carries what appears to be a massive tree trunk that's been fashioned into a cudgel. If one of his attacks lands on Freyr, he'll be sent flying like a piece of chaetal and lose 1/4 of his HP so the strategy would be to run and gun. Another option would be to stand behind the giant and stab it in the back like a coward. Like the rest of his compatriots, the giant isn't very bright so he'll take the damage and eventually get killed thanks to its lack of street smarts. » The fifth mission starts with another trip to Asgard by Freyr and Freyja before they help the humans with yet another campaign against the giants. The humans are joined by Beastmen who unite against a common enemy. The first wave of giants in the stage are easily dispatched by the Beastmen and Freyr while the humans supply a bit of offensive support. Occasionally, one of the Beastmen will howl like a wolf for your entertainment. Freyr and friends can stand around for a long time but to trigger the next assault, run ahead until giants spot him and mount an assault. After defeating them, run ahead some more to trigger some more giant attacks. » In the sixth mission, Freyr, humans, and Beastmen travel to a Beastman village to beat back a giant attack but they're too late to save it. There's a long run to reach the burning village which sits across a chasm. Freyr and warriors have to run around the entire way to reach the giants. A pair of powerful giants serve as the main attraction in the sixth mission and they'll gang up and strike simultaneously for a little bit of added challenge. » After the sixth mission, players can opt to play Mission 7 or Mission 8 which open up as possibilities. Mission 8 is where the difficulty starts to ramp up thanks to a powerful giant boss who appears in the third wave of giants. In addition to pounding the ground with his club, he'll also stomp his feet in an attempt to crush the opposition. When the third wave of attackers appear, watch how they scramble down the hill like a bunch of thugs intent on massive damage. Freyja is also the only protagonist that can be used in mission 8 and her sword hand isn't as powerful as her brother's which adds to the difficulty. » At the end of every mission, you'll have the option of saving your progress to memory. » When traveling with humans and beastmen on missions, they'll talk amongst themselves and chatter for a bit of added background noise. They'll also all roar in unison when they spot giants in the distance. » After a mega-giant's body is destroyed and chopped into pieces, the hunks of flesh that litter the battlefield look like bigger versions of the meat chops seen in the Monster Hunter games.  » Freyr can slice a normal giant in half with 2 sword strokes while Freyja needs to slash 4 times to split a giant in two. Both gods carry a sword and a bow but Freyja also carries a sceptre which fires blobs of blue tinged projectiles that shatter like glass upon impact. Switch between weapons by pressing the "+" button on the Remote. Later in the game, additional weapons are made available including broadswords that reach further and hammers that pack a wallop. » Trees sway realistically when the breeze hits them and they'll rock gently to and fro in unison. » When the big crabs are attacked, they'll bleed purple blood. They also move like the ants in Sandlot's Earth Defense Force so it's good to know that old "creature movement" code is being rehashed in a new game. » Zangeki no Reginleiv is epic. Sure, the enemy AI isn't the greatest but the scope of the adventure and the feeling of awe that the game's visuals impart is... epic. The giants move realistically and when a giant is getting slashed, he'll sometimes spin around from the impact of the blows. If Nintendo decides to localize the game for North America, they'll probably have to tone down the amount of blood that spurts from broken body parts and eliminate the dismemberment visual entirely. We're guessing Nintendo won't want fragile American kids to see bodies being split in half while jets of blood spray from both halves.     d({>,<])b    This document and photos are ©NCSX 2010. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.