SCE Studios

I have had a bit of a hyperfixation with art books for games and hobbies since...forever. From the many beautiful Warhammer/ 40K/ Horus Heresy books, through little bonus concept art books accompanying certain editions of video games, to the full gorgeousness of the Dark Souls Collected Visions. So when I say this is absolutely up there with the ridiculous tomes from FromSoftware, and might even be my personal favourite due to the detail, organisation and insight into the creative process on display.

The artwork is mind-blowing, obviously, but the way the bitesize information relating it to the creative process of the game, and the delineate segments seriously elevate this art book. It's incredible to see the disparate designs and how they were refined and brought together under one cohesive creative vision and living, breathing realms.

If you like art books, making ofs, and God of War, I can't recommend this enough. I've played the game so many times at this point, but taking in this gloriousness is making me need to returns to the realms.… (meer)

There's so much detail, so much work put on this video game masterpiece, it analyzes the thought process behind every choice of object/scenery/outfit/character they had to create in order to make it look as realistic and accurate to the Norse mythology as they had planned initially. Definitely is it worth it, I recommend this artbook to every art lover even if they haven't played the game, and those who love they game and are eager to learn more about it. I was all over this book for the past two days, now my brain is full of Norse gods and mythological monsters...… (meer)

The action of Kingdom Hearts continues in this sequel which continues to successfully blend the various elements of the Disney universes with original material to create a dynamic and complex world that caters to the desire to explore open-worlds that is such an integral part of the role-playing genre. Like it’s predecessor, the gameplay marries this fascination with exploration and discovery with the ability to interact one-on-one with the world with its unique blend of action and role-playing elements. However, this game takes a decidedly darker turn with the storyline than its predecessor dared to. The ‘enemies’ of the first game are put into a broader context, combining each person’s potential to become a ‘Heartless’ by explaining that this split also results in a secondary byproduct, the ‘Nobody’. Unlike the unthinking Heartless, the half of the spirit that becomes a Nobody retains a sense of humanity that strives to regain its full humanity. Thus, the disruption and chaos that the Nobodies are causing is merely a result of their struggle to become complete again, or at the very least to gain a sense of autonomy and legitimacy that they feel is missing from this liminal state of being. The only downfall of this game is that the structure of gameplay feels much more restrained and linear than its predecessor, which may be a result of the added narrative complexity. There is also an increase of cutscenes to expand upon the storyline and give direction to the gameplay, however, sometimes it feels like the game simply guides you from one task to the next instead of granting the freedom to problem solve that was so prominent in the first game. Despite this concern, the game continues the legacy of the series in providing an interesting and complex world that is suitable for players of all skill levels and ages to explore through gameplay. Recommended for purchase.… (meer)