30 Things of Stuff I Like: #6 - Zone of the Enders (series)

Zone of the Enders is a video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima and Konami. The original Zone of the Enders was developed for the launch of the PlayStation 2, which has so far spawned a sequel, a Game Boy Advance side-story, an original video animation, and a twenty-six episode anime television series.

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Setting

The Zone of the Enders series is set in the late 22nd century. Mankind has colonized Mars, and space colonies are also set up in orbit around Jupiter. Fueling this expansion are two scientific advances: the development of the Laborious Extra-Orbital Vehicle, or LEV, a mecha used for labor and military use, and the discovery of Metatron, a high-energy ore found on Callisto.

However, those in power on Earth begin to take a dim view of the colonists of Mars and Jupiter, calling them "Enders", and imposing harsh and exploitive laws and taxes against them. Eventually, different groups on Mars begin to rise up in opposition to Earth, the most well known of these called BAHRAM. A new weapon given to these rebels is the Orbital Frame, essentially a Real Robot which makes extensive use of Metatron-based technology. These Orbital Frames come to shape the destiny of Earth and its colonies, for both good and evil.

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Plot

Throughout the Zone of the Enders series, a number of themes and dramatic devices show up prominently. The story usually revolves around two specific Orbital Frames: Jehuty and Anubis, created as the two "keys" of a superweapon called Aumaan. In the first game, BAHRAM forces attack Jupiter's colony Antilia to secure the two Frames, killing several civilians in the process. One of the few survivors, Leo Stenbuck, finds Jehuty and uses it to stop the BAHRAM soldiers. Leo is then hired by the Space Force to deliver Jehuty back to their ship. On his way to the Space Force, Leo rescues several civilians; and often talks with Jehuty's artificial intelligence, A.D.A., regarding the value of life. When succeeding, Leo is once again requested to work for the Space Force to protect the colony from another terrorist attack. Although Leo succeeds in saving the colony, he is saddened by the revelation that A.D.A. is programmed to self-destruct Jehuty in BAHRAM's fortress Aumann. Shortly before the release of the sequel, Konami released a sidestory that explores Leo training in the Space Force and hiding Jehuty.

The sequel, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, is set two years after the first game. The story introduces the player to an ex-BAHRAM operative named Dingo Egret, who stumbles upon the hidden Jehuty. BAHRAM soon finds Dingo; Nohman, the leader of BAHRAM, wishes to have Dingo back on his side. Dingo's reluctance to go back to BAHRAM results in Nohman shooting him. However, Nohman's underling, Ken Marinaris, saves Dingo's life by connecting his body to Jehuty and requests his help to defeat him. Dingo agrees to defeat Nohman after learning from Leo that Jehuty will self-destruct in Aumann. Dingo joins with Leo and the Space Force to defeat the BAHRAM forces. In Aumann, Dingo defeats Nohman and Anubis and then uses the remains of the two Frames to stop Aumann.

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Games

Zone of the Enders (2001)

Main article: Zone of the Enders (video game)

The first game in the series, details the story of a boy named Leo Stenbuck, a colonist from Jupiter who accidentally finds himself piloting the Orbital Frame Jehuty.

Admittedly, I liked this game back when it first came out, but all of the redundant missions and side-missions keep me from revisiting it when it was re-released as part of the HD Collection. That being said though, the boss battles are just as good here as they are in the sequel.

Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars (2001)

Main article: Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars

This is a side-story released for the Game Boy Advance, about a conspiracy involving the construction of Orbital Frames for Earth. The protagonist, a young man named Cage Midwell, finds himself getting involved with a resistance organization known as BIS.

This is the only entry in the series where I haven't played. 

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (2003)

Main article: Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

A new pilot, Dingo Egret, finds Jehuty on the Moon of Callisto two years after the events of the first game and travels to the superweapon Aumaan in order to defeat Colonel Nohman of the BAHRAM army, who pilots Jehuty's sister craft, Anubis.

Arguably the best game in the series that took everything good about the original and dialed it up to eleven while eliminating everything that made the original a drag to play at times. This game holds up the test of time with all of it's re-releases, whether you're playing the PS2 original, the HD re-release as part of the HD Collection, or even it's most recent re-release on PS4.

Zone of the Enders HD Collection (2012)

At E3 2011, Konami announced a re-release of Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It includes updated interfaces for the HD resolutions, redrawn art, Trophy/Achievement support, improved audio and rumble support. It includes a demo for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, mirroring the first game's inclusion of the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty demo. A PlayStation Vita version was announced but was later cancelled. At an event in May 2012, the HD Collection was given a release date in Japan for October 25. At the same event, Kojima confirmed that work on the next installment in the Zone of the Enders series had begun.

Future?

Since 2008, Zone of the Enders 3 has been in concept development by Hideo Kojima, but was kept away from game development until all the big titles were completed. On May 25, 2012, Kojima confirmed that work on the next installment in the Zone of the Enders series had begun. However, the project was cancelled after Kojima Productions acknowledged issues within the HD Collection.

At Tokyo Game Show 2017, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS was announced, featuring enhanced graphics, 4K resolution support, VR headset support, new sound design and “next-gen surround sound”. The title released September 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows. 

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Anime

Zone of the Enders: 2167 Idolo

Zone of the Enders: 2167 Idolo (released 21 February 2001) is a prequel for the entire series, telling the story of Radium Lavans, the pilot of the first Orbital Frame.

I'm surprised that this movie in its entirety has been up on YouTube for at least 6+ years now without being taken down in both English and Japanese languages. I'm sure that video will get taken down once more eyeballs are on it since I linked it to this post.

Zone of the Enders: Dolores, i (Full Series Playlist)

Zone of the Enders: Dolores, i (released April to September 2001) is a followup to Idolo, following the exploits of James Links, an alcoholic trucker, who, while trying to reunite with his estranged family, discovers an Orbital Frame hidden in one of his shipping containers. The frame, calling itself Dolores, seems to consider James her prince.

I actually owned the ENTIRE box set of this (bundled with Idolo) at one point of my fandom while I was in college. One of the last disks was damaged so I never got to see the finale. I ended up selling it when I needed some cash at the time. If you're a fan of the Gundam franchise, then you would easily find something to like about 26 episode series. Dolores is a bit child-like at times in terms of her AI behavior but grows as the mystery surrounding her creation is revealed throughout the series. FYI the film is a direct follow-up to the events in Idolo. 

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Why do I love this series so much?

Hideo Kojima proved to me that he wasn't an one trick pony in regard of his success with the Metal Gear series. He created a giant mecha adventure that was just as amazing to watch it's narrative and secrets unfold as it was fun to play. I know Kojima and Konami have parted ways since Metal Gear Solid V, but I wouldn't mind Konami allowing him to develop another sequel in the series under the Kojima Productions umbrella. I know that he has his full with Death Stranding right around the corner this fall, but I wouldn't mind some new Zone of the Enders in my life either.

I have a yearly tradition to replay 2nd Runner in its entirety from start to finish and it never gets old.The gameplay sticks with me after all of these years - from the PlayStation 2 original, the HD release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and finally the PlayStation 4 re-release. I still regard it as my favorite giant mecha game of all-time in terms of it's fluid gameplay alone. The anime-style narrative is just the icing on the cake with all of it's unforgettable characters.

Besides, I can never get enough of hearing Kiss Me Sunlights or Beyond the Bounds.

REVIEW -- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is an action-adventure game, the sequel to the 2010 game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and part of the Castlevania franchise. The game was developed by MercurySteam and published by Konami. It was released late February 2014 in both North America and Europe and on March 2014 in Australia. A Japanese release was released on September 4, 2014. A downloadable chapter has also been released in March from the same year.

The story is set in both medieval and modern worlds and follows a weakened Dracula who is on a quest to defeat his former enemy, Satan. Gameplay takes after the original Lords of Shadow but this time through an open world. The player controls Dracula who uses multiple powers and weapons to achieve his goals.

The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

The game starts out with a recap of Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate, detailing Gabriel Belmont's (Robert Carlyle) transformation into Dracula and his encounters with his son, Trevor (Richard Madden), whom he kills and subsequently resurrects, and grandson, Simon. The game starts proper with knights attacking Dracula's castle. He swiftly dispatches all of them before being confronted by the revived Trevor, now known as Alucard.

A thousand years have passed and Dracula awakens in a cathedral in modern times, weak from starvation and with no memory of the circumstances that led him there. He is warned by his former enemy, Zobek (Patrick Stewart), of the return of Satan, who until then was deterred from doing so by Dracula himself. Zobek offers him his old weapon, the Vampire Killer, the only relic capable of ending his cursed existence, in exchange for him vanquishing the people trying to bring Satan (Jason Isaacs) back, his acolytes. The key to him regaining his power lies in his castle, which the cursed blood that kept it alive for centuries attempts to deter Dracula of his quest. Throughout his journey, Dracula is aided by various allies, including Zobek's bodyguard and specters of his deceased wife Marie (Natascha McElhone) and a younger Trevor. He also encounters the Brotherhood of Light and its current leader, Victor Belmont (Anthony Howell).

Having destroyed two of the acolytes and tracked down the third, Dracula prepares to ambush him but is stopped by the bodyguard, flashbacking to his last encounter with Alucard. It is revealed that centuries ago, Alucard had come to Dracula with a plan to destroy both Zobek and Satan, using his sword, the Crissaegrim, on him to induce a deep sleep and thus setting the current events into motion. The truth now known, the bodyguard reveals himself to be Alucard. Zobek discovers their treachery and angrily confronts them both. Dracula kills him just as the third acolyte summons Satan, who proceeds to summon a flying monster to destroy the human world. Dracula and Alucard are able to kill the beast, only for Satan to possess the latter, forcing father and son to battle. Dracula gains the upper hand and prepares to stake Alucard with the Vampire Killer, despite Satan's insistence that he would not and forcing him to vacate the body. Having anticipated this, Dracula kills Satan once and for all while saving his son. Dracula then destroys the Mirror of Fate and walks back inside his cathedral with Alucard as the sun rises on the city.

The Verdict:

Those of you who know me personally should know that the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was definitely one of my personal favorite gaming experiences from 2010 and I thoroughly enjoyed the follow-up Castlevania: Lords Shadow - Mirror of Fate. You can revisit and experience BOTH of those games (along with the Reverie and Resurrection DLC) as part of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow's Ultimate Edition for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC if you would like a refresher on this universe before jumping into this game.

Lords of Shadow 2 expects you to be familiar with this universe right off the bat and does very little to instruct you on Dracula's abilities. The introduction tutorials only serve as helpful reminders on your abilities from the previous title that will be expanded upon in this game.

Narrative:

Lords of Shadow 2 builds onto the solid foundation that the original Lords of Shadow established and continued in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate. I felt a little sorry for players who skipped over the original Lords of Shadow's DLC ("Reverie" and "Resurrection") and Mirror of Fate (remember I reviewed that game as well...) as they might be a little lost jumping into this game immediately following the events of the original game. Konami/Mercurystream could have given players a brief Cliff Notes-style recap on the events between games. I'm sure that small gesture would have been appreciated.

Too bad we don't get any filler on the other Belmont family tree other than Gabriel (now Dracula), Trevor/Alucard, and Victor. I wanted to know what happened to Simon Belmont after the events of Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

Superb voice acting cast doesn't disappoint in the least.

Gameplay:

I suggest installing the game to your console's hard drive right off the bat. The load times (especially on Xbox 360) are INSANELY long upon booting up the game and between retries after dying.

Combat:

The Void Sword and Chaos Claws replace Light and Dark magic from the original Lords of Shadow, while the Blood Whip functions just like the Combat Cross.

The use of projectiles are a welcome addition in combat and it adds a new layer of depth that was needed in the original Lords of Shadow's combat.

I HIGHLY recommend that veterans of the original Lords of Shadow to start the game on Hard right off the bat. Otherwise, the game won't be much of a challenge. That being said, players are able to disable/turn off Quick Time Events (QTEs). I remember laughing at my older brother when I let him try out the original Lords of Shadow only to see him throw his controller in frustration at the QTEs in the original game. I'm sure players like him will be relieved to know that this feature can be turned off right off the bat here. Players can also move the camera in this sequel as that was my biggest gripe with the original Lords of Shadow. I'm glad that issue was remedied here.

Lords of Shadow 2 improved on my gripe with the original game - not enough bosses. LoS2 is littered with climatic encounters that makes about almost every enemy type a dramatic affair to have players on the edge of their seats. Too bad the last boss was a bit of a letdown, but the ending gives hope that Mercurysteam might not be finished with Dracula's journey just yet. If it ends here then I'm fine with this trilogy. It was the welcome breath of fresh air that the Castlevania series needed in this console generation.

(Whistles) The game literally FORCES you to finish the game as the endgame enemies on the map won't allow you to get much backtracking done until you face them head on. That being said, the game's enemy AI is already aggressive and ruthless enough with their ozikeme (attacks on players while rising from the ground) techniques and WILL take advantage of your moments of weakness. The enemy AI will force players to play smart and be on their toes at all times. I highly recommend learning how to quick recover from knockdowns and the three methods of defense (blocking/just guard, dodging on the ground, and air dodging).

Stealth Sections:

These portions of the game are the source of the negativity geared towards this game, along with the sections where Dracula has to transform into a swarm of rats to maneuver around obstacles and potential hazards. Sounds like those critics were fans of Twilight's version of vampires instead of the "real" deal here.

I personally found them to be rather hit or miss. They are a matter of trial and error that will have you replaying that section a few times until you have an eureka moment when you figure out what you have to do and where you have to go. I found almost all of these sections to be more annoying than enjoyable. Let's be serious here, why would you introduce Metal Gear Solid-esque gameplay elements into a game that is commonly known for it's action-oriented gameplay? C'mon, Hideo Kojima, you have to get Metal Gear Solid off your brain eventually...

As for that Argeus stealth section that EVERYONE loathes, I suggest watching a video of it on YouTube. Keep in mind that you can use the Mist ability to hide from Argeus when he is alerted to your location. Stay away from the leaves at all costs. That was one HUGE oversight in terms of game design that the game didn't even inform players that you could use the Mist ability in this section.

Misc:

The game is praised by critics for having an "open world" but I have a problem with that statement. It's not as much of an "open world" than any other Castlevania game to date that you may have played in this franchise's history. Sure, you can always venture off and do something else other than the main story, but given the difficulty setting and what abilities you have, you can't do much exploration and venturing on your own period without the abilities you acquire towards the halfway point and towards near the end of the game. To be fair, the game is an "open world" in comparison to the original Lords of Shadow's linear episodic gameplay. You're still guiding Gabriel to main mission objectives throughout the city and castle environments without the episodes themselves slowing you down nor hindering your means of exploration.

I desperately crave and miss the ability to leave notes on the World Map for secrets like in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD. That would have made backtracking and hunting for secrets less of a hassle without a guide.

The Map Rooms helps somewhat but backtracking is a complete chore than it was in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

Keep in mind that you are free to explore the city at your leisure in post-game to acquire collectibles, complete challenges, and acquire upgrades before moving onto New Game+ or higher difficulties (Prince of Darkness).

The Upgrades/Skill Tree is a much better replacement than the Skill Tree from the original Lords of Shadow. Here, you can afford the flashy and more powerful attacks early, yet have the means to upgrade them even further. This also gives players the means to experiment with what works for them in combat as you have to use particular attacks frequently to truly "master" your weapons, so players will be encouraged to experiment and find what works for them in combat in terms of preference.

Rent It? Buy It? Or Don't Bother?

If you enjoyed the original Lords of Shadow, there's more to enjoy here, so there's no harm in buying it. Some gamers may be turned off by the stealth sections (those are far and few), but at the end of the day, the game comes down to patience - much like the original Lords of Shadow to conquer than reckless abandon. While it's not as long, nor as monumental as it's predecessor, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is another great chapter in this trilogy.

If Mercurysteam and Konami want to end it here, I'm fine with that but I wouldn't mind more from this reimagining of the Castlevania lore.