Kingdoms of Amalur has me kinda interested now after the demo...what are people's thoughts?

Written by Nick Spencer, Art by Wes Craig with Walter Simonson

After a stunning conclusion last issue, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3 takes a step back to give us a closer look at the man behind the android, Dr. Dunn.  From the scientist's troubled past to NoMan's reluctant return to the underworld, Nick Spencer manages to tie together the Agents' main mission and Dr. Dunn's past history with good pacing and concise writing.

As the team goes underground to rescue Lightening and recover the Thunderbelt and Cloak, Spencer delivers action in parallel with Dr. Dunn's backstory in a way that allows issue #3 to dwell on the deeper questions surrounding the scientists life without sacrificing the plot's advancement.  But this is in part due to Wes Craig and Walter Simonson's exceptional work.

Two double splash pages bookend the issue.  The first introduces Raven to the "war under the world," while the second depicts just how destructive genius can be when corrupted.  The smudged blackness of the underworld's shadows work against the light, crisp, and methodical rendering of scenes from Dr. Dunn's past.  And the contrast this creates beautifully illustrates the conflicted tragedy that lives on in NoMan.

Despite this however, some panels are better than others with unified vision of the first half of the issue giving way to more inconsistent work later on.  Indeed, the last page is weakest of all, even as the narrative builds to a crescendo at the end with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3's dramatic reveal.  Still, those who have been keeping up with this series won't be disappointed, and those who aren't should catch up before it ends.

Score: 7.5/10

The Final Fantasy franchise has gone through a J-popification in recent installments.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  After all, Final Fantasy XIII sold like gangbusters, even if the game itself was quite costly to produce.

But ever since the Playstation 2, and platforms capable of offering voice acting became the norm, Final Fantasy has slowly been losing itself.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Final Fantasy XIII was uniquely Japanese and its voice acting was also uniquely terrible.  I also don’t think it’s simply a fluke that Final Fantasy X-2 sported a central female protagonist turned pop star, Yuna, and that the only series sequel since, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is set to out-Popify its spiritual, if indirect, predecessor.

Somehow all of the above are interconnected and co-conspiring to break this once beloved franchise by bringing it ever further downward in a dark spiral of increasingly laughable irrelevancy.

And it all starts with the voices.  The demo for Final Fantasy XIII-2 begins in some generic, though beautifully rendered ruins where main characters Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss are set to take on a “paradox” in the form of some beastly gigantic arm that’s attached to a not yet completely materialized entity called “Atlas.”

Following this battle, which plays exactly like the first Final Fantasy XIII, are a series of QTEs that lead to various outside of battle animations, which, as far as I could tell, are not necessary to complete though executing them correctly did reward me with extra loot post-fight.

After this I had a chance to wander around the ruins and talk to various NPCs which went a long way toward helping me warm up to the game.  Even the absurdly not-quite-dressed Chocobo saleswoman was endearing, with dialogue and a voice over that made me feel like I was in a quirky Japanese RPG rather than some garish pop music video.  With treasure spheres opened and all interesting conversations behind me I headed into the ruins to fight some monsters and find the now fully-formed Atlas.

While my feelings on the paradigm system are too complex to delve into here, I’ll admit that the use of pet monsters, like Cait Siths, is a welcome addition.  Not only do these guys act as third party members, they can also be cycled into combat as part of specific custom paradigms, so switching them on the fly isn’t an issue.  They also have specials that can be unleashed after a gauge build up by entering in the requisite buttom combo when it appears.

In all, this will probably be Final Fantasy XIII-2’s saving grace.  As long as the game’s difficulty warrants a deep exploration of all the different monster combinations, and loot filled side quests make mastering them worthwhile, it could prevent the rest of the title’s more questionable aesthetic decisions from ruining its basic gameplay.

Because even though the visuals in XIII-2 hold up (everything is still gorgeous for the most part, though without that little bit of polish that made FFXIII look utterly breathtaking), the musical score is muddled, swinging back and forth between incoherent pop lyrics and synth infused piano melodies.

The game’s score, a collaboration between composers Masashi Hamauzu (Final Fantasy XIII), Naoshi Mizuta (Final Fantasy XI), Mitsuto Suzuki (The 3rd Birthday), may yet have potential to give the sequel its own sound, distinct from its direct predecessor.  But after the demo I’m skeptical that these composers (and I love Hamauzu’s work on the Saga series as well as all of his piano contributions to the Final Fantasy franchise) will be able to deliver a coordinated and cohesive score for this title.

But for that to even be possible, Final Fantasy XII-2 will have to maintain a tight, well-formed narrative to provide a unifying direction to both the music and art.  I’m glad that Square Enix is adding some complexity to XIII-2 with the consequences of time travel and the paradoxical anomalies that will often result from changing the past and altering the future.  But just as it wasn’t Final Fantasy XIII’s story that was a problem, but rather the sloppy and ill-conceived way in which it was delivered, XIII-2 will need to do more than just sound good on paper to be successful.  And until the finished product arrives in the United States we won’t know for sure which will be the case.

Written by Nathan Edmondson, Art by Mitch Gerads

Pop culture is inundated with stories about international espionage and secret agents.  It’s not enough to simply think up new missions or secret organizations.  But unfortunately that’s all The Activity does, detailing the planning and execution of one “clean-up” operation after another with nothing special or imaginative taking place in-between.

Is there anything particularly interesting about the “Terrorist Den” that the team infiltrates in The Activity #2?  Not even remotely.  And if the pseudo-military speak was a bit too much for you in issue #1, this week’s installment only adds to it.  With an over-the-top use of ridiculous code names and puns, writer Nathan Edmondson’s banter would be humorously entertaining if not for the apparent seriousness with which his characters deliver it.  If there’s a joke being made, Edmondson’s protagonists aren’t in on it, and neither is the reader.

Neither Weatherman, Bookstore, Switchfoot , Speakeasy, or the newly minted “Fiddler” have revealed any distinguishing personality traits as of yet besides the what their code names imply.  For an elite part of the ISA, a CIA-like shadow organization tasked with the vague duty of “solving problems,” The Activity has yet to introduce any hint of what problems these will be or why they’ll be any more interesting than those solved in the current and previous issues.  If not for Mitch Gerads artwork, which is always competent and often extremely beautiful, The Activity #2 would be well below average.  But even with it, this issue barely passes for mediocre.

Score: 5.0/10

Rich George, I love all the great Nintendo coverage you and your team provide here at IGN.  But perhaps that only makes it all the more sad to see your latest editorial, "Xenoblade Pirates, Don't Be Stupid."

First, let me say that I'm always interested to read IGN's editorials.  They rarely disappoint.  And this one was no different, to a point.  You're general argument is that those who pirate a game like Xenoblade are, in the end, only hurting themselves, and what's worse, everyone else who would like to seem games of that caliber and style brought stateside for all to enjoy.  Fair enough.  It's extremely important that those who enjoy various media do what they can to support it.  This goes for anything from music, to movies, to video games.  For instance, I love BBC programming, and from The Hour, to Luther, to Sherlock, audiences this side of the Atlantic have been able to enjoy these television masterpieces thanks to its airing on BBC America.  If I want their to be more where that came from, so to speak, I better walk the walk and pony up the cost of admission.

I could download these programs and get them for free, or even more importantly, earlier then they would otherwise be available.  But such a course of action would only lead to a net negative later on down the road.

Another more familiar example is Game of Thrones.  If fans of the show and of the fantasy genre more generally want to see more of the that kind of quality material, then they need to give HBO its due.  Every HBO subscriber and DVD sale makes it that more likely that the network will pursue more programing like GoT in the future, but even more importantly, it shows the rest of the industry that a fantasy based TV show drawn from niche genre books with dense plot of complex characters can be profitable.

Xenoblade is the same way.  Every sale shows not only Nintendo and the game's developer, Monolith Soft, but everyone else in the video game industry that a JRPG in the classical tradition done right can still make a big splash, still attract a loyal following, and still both a critical and financial success.  On this much we agree.

Thus, it is not your main conclusion, but rather the tone of your piece that furrows my brow.  For though you rightfully reprimand the game's piraters you let Nintendo off with less than a slap on the wrist.  While it is not the place of video game journalists and editors to go around flagrantly bashing the companies and creators they report on and write about, there is something in the record here that needs to be set straight and made more explicit than your editorial does.  Nintendo failed, just as assuredly as the fans who pirated Xenoblade did.

You assert nearly as much when you write that, "Nintendo must own some of the blame for the massive Xenoblade piracy. By staying silent and avoiding comment on whether the Monolith Soft RPG was coming to the world's biggest video game market, Nintendo of America convinced many gamers they would never see a title that promised dozens of hours of play."

Indeed, you got at the heart of things with your brilliant "Alone in the Dark" post which you mention, but don't quite borrow enough from.  Nintendo didn't simply stay silent or avoid commenting on whether Xenoblade would make it to the Americas, they made it clear in no uncertain terms that, "Nintendo Will Not Release Missing Wii Games in North America."

Instead of calling on fans and players to do the right thing (which they should), Nintendo should be begging for them to take the company back.  Like love left to languish, if Nintendo wants to rekindle its relationship with disaffected games and faltering loyalists it needs to make a good faith effort to rehabilitate things.  And that needs to be the priority.  Yes, gamers need to reciprocate, but they can't in good faith be asked to do that until Nintendo comes forward first.  Rich you are right, the whole thing does "leaves such a bad taste in all our mouths, but it's necessary."  But not without first making it absolutely clear just who started this row, and who is first and foremost responsible for winning back its gamers support: Nintendo.

With another round of solid releases this week, it’s definitely going to be tough deciding what to pick up from the comic shop today.  But here are, in no particular order, the four titles I’ll be getting without reservation:

Superman #2

What can I say, it’s Superman after all.  I know a lot of people weren’t fans of issue #1, but it definitely stuck a chord with me, especially the ending that helped establish Clark and Lois’ relationship going forward.  I also love the mix of business and new media journalism.  I think it’s an interesting area to explore and opens up a lot of interesting plot options.  Not to mention it’s an important topic.  The internet is changing the world and no one’s immune, not even the Daily Planet.

Daredevil  #5

Mark Waid can do no wrong (at least not yet).  I’ve loved every issue so far and can not thank the team behind Daredevil enough for giving me a new appreciation of the well known lawyer vigilante.  The art is amazing and watching Daredevil bounce effortlessly across the page from panel to panel is reason enough to enjoy the comic.  However, I’m also a sucker for courtroom drama, and I hope Waid is really able to make good moral drama out of self-representation consulting project Murdock and Nelson have undertaken.

Aquaman #2

After Geoff John’s triumphant #1, this comic should be on the top of everyone’s pull list.  And with the menace from below now coming to the surface, #2 has plenty to work with.  Plus I just think the new Aquaman looks awesome.  There hasn’t been an ocean dweller this bad-ass since Moby-Dick.

Red Wing #4

 Ah yes, the conclusion of Jonathan Hickman’s ridiculously insane Sci-fi mind wrecker can’t be ignored.  To be frank, issue #1 intrigued me, #2 fascinated me, and #3 completely confused the heck out of me.  So going into the resolution I hope Hickman is able to pull everything together in a somewhat plausible way.  And no matter how the run ends, Nick Pitarra’s art is worth the price of admission alone.

Finally depending on how I feel when I get there, these three titles are on deck:

Butcher Baker Righteous Maker #7

Flash #2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ongoing #3

So then, what’s everyone else looking forward to this week?  Let me know if there’s any must-haves that I haven’t mentioned here and should check out.