Eureka Seven Vol 2
If you have followed the series either by Cartoon Network for Bandai's releases you'll probably want to know that The New Vision takes place with events before the show. This title is a sequel of sorts to the first game, New Wave though it hardly pushes the boundaries or improves upon things. The flaws from the first game are here in spades and ultimate it's a game that will bore you to tears.
On the surface Eureka 7: The New Vision looks mighty cool. I mean you have giant mecha action, a futuristic setting, and hoverboard sequences which should all go together like chocolate, marshmallow, and peanut butter. Sadly neither is exhilarating and a clunky interface does little to make you want to experience more than ten minutes of the game.
For a title with towering, robotic killing machines there sure is a lot of nothing in between battles. You walk around town talking to NPCs, watch boring cut-scenes, and take part in races that are exercises in frustration and futility. Actually, I suppose you could compare the racing elements to a twisted form of SSX. Since you're basically on a flying snowboard you'll be zooming this way and that but unlike SSX there isn't anything fun in between start and finish. Being locked into an environment with few obstacles and a broken AI opponent isn't my idea of a good time. You literally have to perform flawlessly if you want to have any chance of winning because this is one of those games where the other racers always catch up and/or take the lead.
Once you win a race you'll be rewarded with a big-ass robot to fight with. This opens the game up for an Armored Core-like experience but again The New Vision falls short of expectations. A camera that's centered closely behind your robot makes seeing what's going on very difficult and the lock-on system isn't as functional as one would hope. There are ranged and melee attacks which are nice but considering fighting basically boils down to mashing the buttons it's kind of pointless. There is also some combat to be had outside of the mecha but this is equally droll.
Novices to the mecha genre may find the light action featured here to be suited for their needs. The gameplay is straightforward enough for kids but even then it's poorly implemented and buggy. With no multiplayer the game becomes even duller, especially because the races and combat scream "I want to beat my friend".
No matter how you look at it Eureka 7 Vol. 2: The New Vision is a weak attempt to lure fans to purchase it. The gameplay is tired and the presentation lacks all ingenuity. I have played many anime themed games and this was probably one of the most boring experiences that I have ever had. In the end if you're looking to get into Eureka 7 don't bother with the games; just watch the show.
When it comes to translating an anime license into a video there are one of two roads to take. You can make the game look like the show or you can create a new look that "slightly" resembles the source material. The New Vision when with the latter and everything has been rendered into 3D with little flourish. The character and environmental designs are decent enough but the textures are very limited so don't expect much going in. A fair amount of clipping and jagged edges can be found. Also during some of the intense moments (what few there were) I encountered some framerate issues which bogged down what little action there was.
Like the visuals an anime game thrives with quality audio presentation and familiar trappings. Unfortunately there's nothing "thriving" in this title and most of the voice actors sound like their ready to fall asleep. Someone must have held a gun to their heads to make them take part in this game because you can simply tell that they didn't put as much into their performances as in the show. The music is equally disappointing though the sound effects are generally ok, yet repetitive.
I hate being blunt, but Eureka 7 Vol. 2: The New Vision is simply not a good game. There is little to fall in love with and ultimately you're going to be bored out of your mind. The racing elements are lackluster, battles are clunky and boil down to button mashing, and walking around town is just, well, boring. The graphics and sound do not help matters with some very early last-generation qualities. Even if you're a fan of the show you're probably better off skipping this one.