Quoth The Ravings

Quoth The Ravings blog is moving!

2010-10-21T10:53:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

I've grown tired of Blogger, and have decided to move this site to http://quoththeravings.posterous.com.

Thanks,
Rob

Valkyria Chronicles II - Review

2010-10-12T22:16:00.001-04:00

(Originally published by Crispy Gamer.)

Giving an underrated game a sequel on different system would normally be a death sentence but Sega has handled the transition from console to portable superbly with Valkyria Chronicles II, proving that bringing the series to a mobile platform was a great choice. The World War-style third-person shooter/SRPG battles work well on the PSP because of the simple fact that the system can be put to sleep and taken with you - a big plus for a game that can range between 30 and 100+ hours.

The first Valkyria Chronicles game graced the PS3 with beautiful animated watercolor cutscenes, an interesting war storyline, and one hell of a battle system. Its sequel continues the tradition of the first game with some tweaks, both good and bad.

The story starts off light but eventually intermingles more serious politics and war plots with the zany classroom interactions of your battalion of students. Two years after the first game’s defeat of the Imperial Army, the Gallian Revolutionary Army begins a civil war and ethnic cleansing campaign against the dark-haired Darcsen race. Their demands are for the nation’s leader, who revealed herself to be of Darcsen decent and not of the hailed-as-gods Valkyrur race, to step down, though she refuses and violence ensues. At the same time, 17-year-old Avan joins the Lanseal Military Academy in order to uncover the classified reason for his enlisted brother’s death, and ends up leading the horrendous misfit of a class called Squad G. Be warned, however, though this plot sounds mature this is actually a Japanese classroom-based RPG, and that fact alone may be a deal-breaker for many.

Story points and character development are revealed between battles, as you point around a campus map to activate scenes that play out as static character illustrations and dialog boxes. The art sometimes moves around the screen to imply a character’s actions; for example, Avan’s illustration box moves next to another character’s if he’s supposed to be shoving the person, adding bits of personality to these barely animated scenes. What will annoy you, however, is that each time a character’s dialog comes up they spew a canned voiced one-liner that often has nothing to do with what they’re saying. You’ll want to mute your PSP if you watch several scenes in a row, especially when Avan does his goofy laugh over and over again and then exclaims, “I’ll do it!” even if it’s not appropriate. Thankfully, the plot-based dialog scenes are fully voiced and the actors did a great job of making it sound natural. Occasionally you’ll see a fully animated cutscene, and these are absolutely gorgeous.

What most shines in Valkyria Chronicles II is the battle system. Like its predecessor, you begin by choosing which characters to deploy within your allocated number of slots and control each unit by moving them around in third person until their endurance runs out. The player and the enemy teams are given Command Points (CP) which indicate how many moves they can make within each turn. Each foot soldier can move and take one attack action per CP, while tanks use two, and though enemy units in range will automatically attack as you run by, your aiming takes place in a turn-based mode that pauses their fire.

While building on an already great battle system, Valkyria Chronicles II includes some well-implemented additions. Your squad leader and main protagonist of the game, Avan, can be any class he chooses, changing from battle to battle if you so desire. All units can upgrade their class, provided they personally have attained certain items in battle, through a tiered system that increases the character’s class stats and varying the character’s weapons. These items are given as post-battle rewards to the two units who performed the most admirably. Class upgrades include a “veteran” and “elite” version of the class as well as new sub-classes; shocktroopers can become gunners with a wide spread of heavy fire, while scouts can become snipers and lancers can become mortarers. A new class has been added to this sequel as well. The technician class uses a heavy-hitting melee weapon and a powerful shield. They move slowly and have little endurance, but pack a punch and can take a lot of punishment. They’ve also taken the ability to disarm mines, which were the job of the engineer in the previous game. Engineers are now mainly used for vehicle repairs and as a high-level medic.

Another addition is the ability to level your classes up to 25 instead of the previous game’s 15. Of course, as you gain experience you will also need to upgrade your weapons. Instead of stocking a gun for each character who needs it, once a weapon is purchased all units within a class can equip it at the same time. Better yet, prices drop at the Research & Development (R&D) department as you progress through the game,making it easier to become more powerful.

Missions are the meat of the game, and they range from capturing enemy bases to eliminating a specific unit, to defending your camp for a predetermined amount of turns - and there are many, many missions. Aside from the required ones there are “free missions” which don’t advance the story, missions that can be purchased with in-game money, and DLC missions. This is a game you can choose to rush through with minimal character interaction and side missions or spend months on during your first playthrough doing everything.

Most missions will involve your tank or the newly added Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), which you have the option of switching between. The APC has the advantage of being able to travel farther and transport soldiers, though if destroyed anyone still inside will be killed. Some missions will have you escort an APC to a destination. For night levels, the battle may be made easier by a purchasable lamp accessory for the tank. Other tank upgrades include boosts to your Gatling gun, mortar, or anti-tank canon, a flamethrower, stickers that give stat boosts, vehicle paint that affects the enemy (like night camo to lower the enemy’s accuracy), and even a bridge arm, which lets you repair a broken bridge and create a shortcut.

A new multi-map system has also been implemented, and it works pretty well. Its inclusion means having multiple areas for your troops to deploy, oftentimes being split up from each other. Bases now take more thought to capture because of new “gateway camps” - camps at the end of an area that lead to the next map. You’ll have to make your way to the enemy’s gateway camp and capture it before moving on to the next area, where your mission’s goal usually lies. This is even more useful when playing ad-hoc co-op, as you can have 2-3 of your friends deploy in other areas and flank the enemy.

Valkyria Chronicles II is a great game with movement that feels natural on the PSP, though sneaking up on someone can be tricky the analog stick allows no way to walk more softly. But despite the classroom antics, repetitive voice clips, and too few animated cutscenes and fully voiced dialog, the game’s battle system makes it a must-buy for both players who are new to the series and fans. The game stands on its own, with a mostly self-contained story and light references to events from the first game that are often explained. With satisfying strategic battles, a multitude of characters each with their own personalities, and constant challenges, Valkyria Chronicles II will give you plenty of enjoyable gameplay for your buck, and keep your eyes glued to the screen as you win the war.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. Its Game References

2010-10-02T22:08:00.006-04:00

(Originally published by Crispy Gamer.)

Shortly into the first chapter of the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World comic we are introduced to The Sex Bob-ombs band, the first of many video game references Scott Pilgrim’s illustrated world throws at us. You may remember bob-ombs from the Super Mario series: living round black bombs with a turning key in their backs. The Mario references continue in his desert dream, in which the cactus has a face - a trademark enemy in the Super Mario series, as well. The beauty of these comics is that the references work well and Bryan Lee O’Malley’s plot brings in a basic video game storyline with a leading character who is a gamer.

Like many games, the plot of the comics is a classic save-the-princess type of deal, complete with boss fights and special moves, which again hearkens back to the days of Mario. In that famous series, Princess Peach is kidnapped by Bowser and before Mario can be with her he has to defeat what usually amounts to 8 evil bosses. Here we have Ramona Flowers, who though is not physically held hostage, is emotionally hostage to her past dating experiences of break-ups, bad boyfriends, and her own wrongdoings. She tells Scott that he must first defeat her 7 evil exes before they can be together, solidifying Ramona’s role as “the princess” of this story.

Another video game plot similarity is the RPG amnesia schtick. In many RPGs (i.e. several Final Fantasy games, Xenogears, and more) we are given a hero who either has no memory of his past or has no knowledge of the world he/she’s in. Scott is no different; though he appears to be a normal person, he also starts out knowing nothing - not because of amnesia or being transported to another world/time period, but because he is actually that clueless, oblivious, and self-involved. Continuing in typical RPG fashion, Scott happens to be a great fighter (the best) and aims to better himself to get the girl.

Scott Pilgrim’s battles with the evil exes are chock full of gaming mentions as well. When fighting Matthew Patel (evil ex #1) he does Street Fighter’s signature Shoryuken with Kim Pine (Sex Bob-omb bassist and friend of Scott’s) acting as the hit counter as she yells out each number, and the X-Strike Double-Tech from Chrono Trigger is used later in the series. When defeated, the exes drop coins like in most games that include a monetary system. In those games, the hero collects money from fallen foes, be they human, monster, or animal. One ex, Todd Ingram, actually leaves a 1-UP behind shaped like Scott’s head – a clear reference to games like Mega Man that use the character’s likeness as an extra life item drop.

It’s not all sex, violence, and money, though – there’s rock ‘n roll, too. Being a member of the Sex Bob-ombs, Scott admits to learning the baseline from Final Fantasy 2, wears a Rock Band t-shirt, and plays with bands like The Clash at the Demonhead, Kid Chameleon, and Sonic and Knuckles, which are all also video game titles.

But the reason the references work so well is because they are dispersed throughout six volumes of several hundred pages each, sprinkled generously throughout the daily lives of young men and women who are faced with real life considerations like working in order to earn rent money, going to concerts and parties, obsessing over someone, hating the friend of a friend, and general self-loathing. The story of love and angst is enhanced by the unusually heavy (and often blatant) game references, showing that in this ordinary world of angst and failed romance the extraordinary is less of a big deal. Because the characters act like Shoryukens and things like Ramona’s infinite purse (from which she pulls out a hammer that has +2 against girls) are unusual but believable occurrences, those occurrences feel like they fit in with that world. And with situation-relevant game references that pop up, the world begins to act like a video game. For example, before Scott is about to see his super-famous ex-girlfriend, Envy Adams, a save point appears, and when Scott and Ramona are referred to as an item Scott imagines things like a Fire Flower and a mushroom.

As the comic’s volumes move on, gaming becomes more and more prevalent in Scott’s life. He constantly plays Genesis and NES, and by volume 6 is hooked on what is clearly a PSPGo. He even goes so far as to daydream of being in Link’s clothing, confused within what resembles the Lost Woods. But the best testament of the video game-ness in Scott’s life is when he defeats Ramona’s twin ex-boyfriends and the comic states: “Achievement Unlocked” for defeating the twins at the same time (which was included in the XBLA/PSN Scott Pilgrim game as an actual achievement/trophy). Other references populate the story more and more, like Scott’s shirts, which range from a Dragon Quest slime to a Mother 2 logo, or Gidgeon’s headband, which looks like an inverted Tri-Force. And let’s not forget Gidgeon’s cryogenic chambers that hold his six other ex-girlfriends, strongly resembling not only the seven maidens encased in crystal in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but also the seven Princesses of Heart in Kingdom Hearts.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is for anyone who thinks of their health in HP and endurance bars and silently levels up whenever they experience a real life achievement. And though it uses versions and spoofs of existing games to further its story, the series remains smart, funny, sensitive at its sincerest, and very badass at its best.

Bioshock: Infinite 10-Minute Gameplay Demo

2010-09-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

I'm very excited for this game. I'm glad they decided to go in a new direction and refresh most of what has come to be accepted as the Bioshock world. The plasmids look more creative with an added logic to them - with telekinesis it makes perfect sense to be able to take someone's gun, turn it around on them, and pull the trigger. What we've seen in this gameplay demo looks fantastic, and has given me a renewed interest in the series. I don't know much about the woman in the video, but it looks like co-op could be a possibility, and combining plasmids to create deadlier situations would be so much fun with another player.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep - Review

2010-09-25T22:03:00.003-04:00

(Originally published by Crispy Gamer.)

I've waited a very long time for a Kingdom Hearts game that compares to the original: Birth By Sleep comes close. From the start, no matter which character you choose to play as, you are faced with the ethics of light verses darkness - physical embodiments of purity of heart, hatred, rage, jealousy, etc. These are moral themes we’ve encountered before, having Sora tasked with literally locking the heart of each world so that darkness would not get in. The light/dark philosophy comes down to this: should we push darkness out of our hearts and live a life of pure light, or should we learn to embrace and control the darkness within ourselves and use its vast power to improve our abilities? Through Terra we see what havoc the darkness can wreak when not controlled, and through Xehanort we see what power can come from it when harnessed, but female Keyblade Master Aqua and the Sora/Roxas-like Ventus show what the light can achieve when untainted by darkness.

Birth By Sleep simplifies the increasingly convoluted story elements that each Kingdom Hearts game has added, setting the story ten years before the events of Sora’s first adventure and before the player needs to keep track of who’s whose Nobody and what villain is or has a Heartless version of themselves. There are fewer characters to juggle than in Kingdom Hearts II, making the ones that do have screen time shine that much more.

After a mysterious prologue involving Ventus and the infamous Xehanort on Destiny Islands, we meet the trio in the game’s present day. You are told to run through the training center with Ventus, and this quick tutorial leads you to a sparring ring where you can switch between each character and try them out before deciding whose path you’d like to follow. And that’s it. Fifteen minutes or less of a tutorial and you’re ready to move on to the main game, instead of the playable two-hour introduction tutorials of the two console games in the series.

The three main characters, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, are Keyblade wielders in training in the Land of Departure. Terra and Aqua take the test to become Keyblade Masters, unfortunately only Aqua is chosen; Terra lets some of the darkness within him slip out during a one-on-one battle with Aqua and Ventus is too young to compete in this test. Not long after they receive word of dark entities called the Unversed attacking other worlds, and on top of that, Master Xehanort goes missing.

Fighting is classic Kingdom Hearts action-RPG style. You’ll mash the attack button for combos and use special keyblade attacks and magic that is equipped to a D-Pad-controlled menu. New to the battle system are D-Links and finishes. Finishes are exactly what they sound like - devastating ends to combos that can be activated when a meter atop your command menu fills up, increasing as you fight. D-Links (dimension links) allow your character to connect to someone they’ve met and draw on their abilities for battle. Who you can D-Link with changes from character to character; Ventus may form a link with someone like Cinderella, but Terra will form links with villains like Maleficent, and can then use spells that cater to her personality, like Thundara. If Terra links to Ventus he can use lots of jumping slashes and keyblade-specific moves, though linked abilities temporarily take the place of your equipped ones. Your D-Link with each character can level up twice, as well, each time gaining an automatic ability like haste or auto-remedy, for example.

My first playthrough was with Ventus. It seemed logical, as he was the object of the prologue. However, after completing his story and beginning again as Terra, I was provided more answers about the game’s world. It would have been a far better starting story. For much of my 15-hour playthrough with Ventus I was wondering what the things I was fighting were, so Ventus’ story may be better left for the second playthrough. He controls and looks like a Roxas clone, and is agile, quick, and balanced between strength and magic. Terra’s attacks are slower but stronger, and Aqua is weak but has a powerful magic boost.

What’s interesting about having three storylines is that we get to see each character grow as they learn life lessons from characters on other worlds. Terra parallels a more grounded Riku and Ventus parallels Sora. Aqua has more of a Kairi sensibility, but with the maturity of age and discipline. You can see traces of the main characters of the series but at the same time they retain their own personalities. But with three characters to choose from, Birth By Sleep essentially becomes three games. Each character moves and attacks differently, gains abilities in a different order, and meets different people. My playthroughs ranged from 8 to 15 hours, time which will vary depending on how much level grinding, ability grinding, and mini-game playing you do, and what difficulty you choose. There are some battles that are nearly impossible on Proud mode (only the second hardest difficulty). In fact, after literally 40 or more tries I still cannot beat the final boss in Terra’s storyline. I’m all for a challenging fight, but this one was absolutely ridiculous to the point in which I was willing to turn to YouTube for Terra’s ending.

You’ll have new interactions with Disney characters along the way and each character will explore portions of the Disney worlds that the other characters may not have seen. Mickey, Cinderella, Prince Phillip, Sleeping Beauty, Pete, Chip ‘n Dale, Jaq, Hercules, Stitch, and more are all there, though Zack is the only Final Fantasy character present in this iteration of the series. This is possibly due to the fact that no worlds have been destroyed yet, so the Final Fantasy characters would not have been scattered to the Disney worlds at this point in the timeline.

I only wish the game gave us a more powerful demonstration of the keyblade’s unique abilities. When Sora first gained his keyblade, he used it to lock entire worlds so the darkness wouldn’t get in. In the second game he unlocked passageways between the worlds. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus open chests and sometimes locked doors, but they mainly only use it as a weapon that can fight dark entities until the end of the game. You’ll often forget you’re not using a regular sword. Birth By Sleep is also a bit light on the emotional component throughout a majority of the story. The Sora/Kairi longing was well done in Kingdom Hearts, and by the end of the second game it had a good amount of impact - their relationship was important to the player. Unfortunately, because of the nature of playing three characters that are split up from the beginning, we never truly feel the amazing friendship the characters are trying so hard to protect, not only because you hardly see them together but also because you hardly know the actual characters involved until you’ve played most or all of the storylines.

Birth By Sleep is a game every PSP owner and Kingdom Hearts fan should play. It will keep you engaged for hours at a time and includes three perspectives of the events of the game without the plot becoming stale. You’ll see the beginnings of Xehanort’s attempt to open a path to the world of Kingdom Hearts, hear his philosophies, and see what causes the split into the Heartless “Ansem” and the Nobody “Xemnas” we see in the other games of the series. It’s largely a Xehanort origin story and in no way a tale of the keyblade’s beginning, but it satisfies with interesting characters and new interactions with Disney worlds that were losing their charm by Kingdom Hearts II. There’s also an arena world where you can do single-player trials (i.e. Hercules’ stadium in past games) or compete in ad hoc multiplayer, and a board game mini-game that levels up your abilities. Play it, love it, and play it two more times to finish Terra, Aqua, and Ventus’ stories and unlock the secret ending. You’ll have a great time.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Impressions

2010-09-20T07:40:00.000-04:00

The PSP-only Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is actually three games in one, each weighing in between 10 and 15 hours depending on how much you level/ability grind. There is a short Prologue that shows us a curious relationship between Ventus, who looks remarkably like Kingdom Hearts II’s Roxas, and the infamous Xehanort on the familiar-looking setting of Destiny Islands. We flash to the present, where the young Ventus, the strong Terra, and the mage Aqua are honing their keyblade skills on the Land of Departure. You control Ventus (call him “Ven”, mainly because he tells everyone he meets that that’s what everyone calls him) as you chase Terra and Aqua through an obstacle course on the way to the sparring grounds. This is Square-Enix and Disney’s improved tutorial system that takes 15 minutes instead of the two-hour intro/tutorial grounds of past games that were spliced with plot cinematics before the game’s logo even appeared on the screen. It was a big relief to find that I could jump right into the game, and after completing a character’s storyline you can skip this entire sequence for the next playthrough.

After the sparring match, I chose to start my game with Ven. It seemed logical, as he was a major part of the Prologue and he was the one you controlled most during the tutorial. I was curious to see how his backstory played out, though after completing his story and beginning again as Terra, I found Terra’s story provided many more answers about the game’s world and would have been a far better starting story.

Ven controls like Sora or Roxas did. He is agile, quick, and balanced between strength and magic. His story begins when Terra takes off after taking the test to become Keyblade Master. Ven is visited in his room by a masked boy who looks straight out of Xenogears, who nudges him to follow Terra, saying Terra will not return as the person Ven knows. Ven becomes concerned for his friend, and chases after him in a story that will talk strongly of themes of friendship, light, darkness, and sinister plans to unlock the world of Kingdom Hearts. This path has a similar tone to Sora’s adventures, as it is mostly light-hearted protecting of Disney characters with thoughts of his two best friends pushing him through. His story unfortunately does not include much information about the game’s random enemies, the Unversed, until the very end, and as little about Xehanort’s true plan until the same point. This information is given early on in Terra’s story, though. For much of my 15-hour playthrough with Ven I was wondering what the things I was fighting were (since they were not Heartless), and in this respect Ven’s story is better left for the second playthrough.

You’ll have new interactions with Disney characters along the way and explore portions of Disney worlds that have not been seen in other Kingdom Hearts games. The beauty of the three storylines is that each one feels like a separate game within the story. You get different cut scenes, explore different parts of each world, and visit each world in a different order depending on who you choose to play as.

So far I’m enjoying Birth By Sleep, but even having completed one of three stories, I still feel like there’s a lot more for me to discover, even within the main plot.

Metroid: Other M Review

2010-09-15T12:00:00.003-04:00

(Also published by Crispy Gamer)

If you’ve never played Super Metroid from the SNES days, I recommend watching the ending on YouTube, as the intro cinematic for Metroid: Other M on Wii is a current generation remake of that fight and its spectacularness is only made greater by knowing the source material.

A direct sequel to the SNES iteration, the game takes place in the shadow of the events on planet Zebes an indistinct amount of time after Samus has recovered from her wounds from that game. Team Ninja and Nintendo have done a fantastic job of bringing Samus back into the 2D plane, having the player switch between traditional Metroid gameplay with the remote turned sideways and Metroid Prime’s first-person controls (without the nunchuck), marrying the best of both worlds with only a few imperfections. Unfortunately, this does not help to disguise the fact that the game largely presents the same environments and weaponry as before.

I’m not sure why Samus was not provided with new, original weapons and abilities. Metroid: Other M takes the Legend of Zelda route of rehashing previous abilities and locations with only slight differences, except unlike the Zelda series, it doesn’t feel like a new environment. The “Bottle Ship” Samus is investigating has rooms that intentionally emulate Planet Zebes, and yet ends up looking more like Metroid Prime 3 with an added 2D platforming element and less complex puzzles, though the variety of switching between 2D side-scrolling and first-person mode spiced up the gameplay enough for me to enjoy it more than the Prime series despite not being able to move in first-person mode (the only way to fire missiles) can be a pain.

This story-heavy game takes place after Super Metroid and before Metroid: Fusion. Samus is flying through space when she hears a distress call and decides to investigate, only to find a Galactic Federation team is already on the scene, including Adam Malkovich (his first chronological appearance in the series, as he is only otherwise seen in Fusion), a commanding officer she had trained under before becoming a bounty hunter, who she respects but had a rocky relationship with. However, through the melodramatic anime-inspired heavy-hearted cut scenes, Samus decides to follow orders for no other reason than out of respect for the guy who trained her. This limits your weaponry because you must wait for your weapons to be authorized for use even though you already possess the abilities, without any real reason as to why you would not be authorized to use them from the start. I can understand not authorizing the use of the Power Bomb, a weapon that can easily destroy a wide area, but what possible reason could Adam have for not authorizing the use of the Varia Suit, which shields Samus from extraordinary heat? Or even the Grapple Beam?

Despite the nonsensical limit on Samus’ abilities and an overdramatic backstory told through narration and flashbacks, these minor weak points ultimately serve the game by giving the player a larger context of Samus’ past and letting the map guide you in a predetermined order.

But it seems the big reveal of Samus’ past is that she is an emo, self-conscious woman who just happens to be able to defeat fierce alien life forms, and the game utilizes a running narration in her soft-spoken voice to tell the story. The voice acting is passable, typical of a shooter/action game, however, the dialogue becomes repetitive; characters begin reiterating plot points we had already discovered not long before, with Samus further insulting the player by repeating it during her narration.

Within the cut scenes, Samus is sometimes forced into first-person mode, marked by a green filter over the screen when you’re not pointing at the it. This means there is something you’re supposed to look for and lock on to in order to continue the cut scene, though more often than not it’s easy to overlook the detail even if your cursor has passed right over it, leaving you searching in frustration for many long minutes.

The cinematic aspect of the game may take some adjusting for longtime series fans, but it actually works quite well. It tells a story of how Samus became the woman she is, though discounts some of her perceived silent strength in the process, as it is odd watching her take orders from others, especially knowing she already possesses all her weapon upgrades.

Other M feels made to welcome newcomers with an easiness the previous games did not have, while keeping series fans engaged with familiarity of weapons and environment. Instead of replenishing health and missiles by killing enemies, you can recharge your missiles by pointing the remote up and holding A. If your health is critical, as it may be during the many mini-boss and boss fights, this will also fully charge one power node of health (more with upgrades), but keeps you from moving during the process, actually leaving you more vulnerable to being killed. Instead, it’s more effective to use the dodge ability, in which you hit the D-Pad as you are about to be attacked to preemptively move out of harm’s way and, if holding the attack button, instantly charge your shot.

The action game experience extends to special final blows Samus can pull off, like leaping onto an enemy’s back and shooting a charged plasma beam at point blank range, or attacking full blast at a downed enemy. Unfortunately, the first-person controls take away from the action as you must stand still, lock on, and fire at a target moving closer and closer, in what’s often a few seconds or less. Some enemies can only be defeated effectively using missiles, and having to stand still and aim as they attack makes it unnecessarily difficult to fight them. This is a symptom of the controls being created for use with only the remote and no nunchuck, a design flaw that would be smart to correct in the next game, should the series continue in this direction. A better idea would have been to use the nunchuck for movement, use A to shoot instead of 1, B to jump instead of 2, and have Z or C as the first-person mode trigger so aiming does not interfere with gameplay while running around in third-person. I understand why the decision was made to have the controller held sideways - Metroid: Other M is supposed to draw back to the Super Metroid days of SNES controllers and feel like a direct sequel down to the handling of Samus while modernizing gameplay with partial Metroid: Prime controls, but this run, switch, stop, shoot method can become frustrating during some boss fights.

For example, in a mini-boss fight between the 4 and 6-hour mark, Samus came across a trilobite-like creature that burst into the room in a 2-second cut scene. It knocked her down in-game because I didn’t realize I could dodge immediately after the scene -- there was no transition between the creature’s intro and gameplay. After firing away in third-person mode and having each shot deflected off of its shell, I dodged each time it charged at me, waiting for an opening. It then stopped laying flat and stood up on two feet revealing a red spot on its belly. The regular plasma gun was barely harming it, even when charged, so I rotated the sideways Wii remote toward the screen, pointing at its belly, locking on with B, and fired a missile with A, all the while freaking out as it stumbled closer and closer, Samus unable to move while aiming. Luckily, the missile caused the creature to stumble backward and recoil before it could get any closer, and it flattened out again and dashed around the room dropping mini versions of itself who also set their sights on Samus. Now I’m timing my presses of the D-Pad so as to dodge just in time while holding 1 to gain an immediate full charge and firing off blasts at the softer mini trilobites while continuing to quickly dodge the hard-shelled larger one. After it made its rounds it stood up again, this time much closer to Samus because I had not moved her a sufficient distance away. When switching to first-person mode to aim at its belly I wasn’t quick enough and it came right up to my face and attacked Samus, knocking me out of first-person mode. I’d missed my window, and the dodge-shoot-dodge sequence repeated itself until I was able to land the right amount of missile attacks on its belly, killing the damn thing. It was a very close call, having been knocked down in the beginning of the fight, attacked by minis, and wounded by the mini-boss itself. Samus’ health was flickering between 0 and 1, flashing red and making me well-aware of the danger she was in. I had to make a choice toward the end of the fight whether to attempt to stand still and recharge her health or continue dodging and missile launching, hoping for the best; I chose the latter, and in that instance it was the right choice.

Despite the slight hindrances of the control scheme, Metroid: Other M is well put-together and enjoyable to play for any Metroid fan, though much of it will remind you of other games in the series. It is in fact a great game once you get used to the controls, but I ultimately felt like I had already experienced much of the game when I had played Metroid Prime 3: Corruption about a year ago. Samus’ backstory humanizes her, and will disillusion many players’ perception of her as a badass female bounty hunter. But the graphics are fantastic - Samus’ suit looks the best it ever has - even on an HD TV, and much of the battles feel epic, even smaller ones. This is a game anyone who loved Super Metroid or the Metroid Prime series should play, and a game anyone curious about the series should try.

Team ICO Collection Listed By Walmart

2010-09-13T08:18:00.000-04:00

As seen here, Walmart is currently taking reserves for the unannounced ICO / Shadow of the Colossus bundle for the PS3. They list the game for $39.82 with an April 1, 2011 release date - possibly a placeholder spring release date, though it's too early to tell.

This title is expected to have the HD-upgraded treatment ala The God Of War Collection and the upcoming Sly Cooper Collection. Fans of the games have been waiting for this collection since Sony had first announced they were interested in doing HD rereleases of PS2 games, as ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are hailed as being great works of art within the gaming world, both visually and emotionally.

Castle Crashers Still Great On PS3

2010-09-04T15:56:00.001-04:00

When my XBOX 360 bricked two years ago I thought I'd never get the opportunity to play the full version of Castle Crashers. Once it was fixed, I wanted to finish Fallout 3 (the system had to be repaired 30 hours into the game) and with so many new and old games to play I never got around to the delightful flash game-like side-scroller slash-em-up, especially after my 360 died again last Winter out of warranty - almost exactly one year after it was fixed.

I refused to pay half the price of the system for the repair, and was not about to lay out my scarce extra money for a new system that may break again. Instead, I set my sights on the PS3 release date of Castle Crashers, which for a long time was shrouded in mystery.

I was overjoyed when it finally came out this past Tuesday, though I quickly realized I could only play a level or two at a time after just coming off of another great side-scroller beat-em-up, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

From another room, my fiancee immediately knew what game I was playing before I’d mentioned it, recognizing the fantastic soundtrack as her favorite to background listen to during my long stints of gaming in our small apartment. These tracks are charming renaissance modernizations, with some electronica influence as well, and always keep the player pumped and ready to attack.

You begin with a choice of four knights, each with a different type of magic at hand, and are partying with your fellow knights and wenches when a dying comrade falls into the room with an arrow through his chest. Sword in hand, you immediately join the fight to defend your land against an invading kingdom and rescue the four princesses that have been kidnapped. You’ll face mercenaries, various ranks of knights, and ridiculously large bosses, even fight atop an enemy carriage while a monster chases you. There is a good variety of enemies, environments, and helpful animal orbs ensuring the game never gets stale as you button-mash your way to the damsels’ hearts.

The added Volleyball mini-game is a chuckle-worthy addition to the full game and the arena mode, though it is more often than not frustrating because no one can judge the depth of field of their jumps when trying to slash at the volleyball. The game is played like traditional volleyball, but with less rules. A team wins when they have both 10 or more points as well as a 2 point lead. The ball is hit by attacking it, and magic can also be used on the ball, the ball sometimes taking on characteristics of the magic. I didn’t see any trace of the “All You Can Quaff” button-mashing eat-off mode that was in the XBOX 360 version, so I assume volleyball has replaced it.

Unfortunately, the online mode is not entirely satisfactory, which I remember being the case with the 360 version, as well. Several days after the game’s release I was hardly able to find players in the Quick Match setting, and of the co-op, arena, and volleyball modes only found two volleyball games after a total of ten attempts to connect. I also have no idea how to invite friends through the game itself. You may have to do this through the XMB only by sending an invite message. Of the two games I played, I experienced lag on the second, which caused all the players to quit after the match.

Castle Crashers was great on the 360 and it’s still great on the PS3, just keep in mind the PS3 only allows you to sign in with one username at a time, and you will therefore never be able to use characters saved on separate accounts during a local multiplayer game. This game caters better to single player and online friends than random matches with strangers.

And now to save the next princess...

Mega Man Universe Gameplay Teaser

2010-09-02T13:35:00.002-04:00

Wait... I'm so confused. Is this a 2.5D remake of Mega Man 2 with other Capcom influences or something...? What? Reminds me of that PSP Mega Man remake with the big head, Mega Man Powered Up. Weird. I need more information! How could you play as Ryu? Hadukens instead of the mega buster?

The New Labyrinth Zone! (Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Trailer)

2010-09-02T13:33:00.002-04:00

This is what Sonic should be. I could never get the hang of the 3D games, and especially didn't like having a 3D plane on which to miss all the rings because of not being able to anticipate what direction they would come from while moving at a high speed. With a 2D platformer the player can focus on the speed and the jumps, which is what Sonic was originally made popular for.

Fantastic Fan-Made Sonic & Knuckles 2.5D

2010-08-25T15:37:00.000-04:00

Pixel Junk: Shooter 2 GamesCom Demo Gameplay

2010-08-25T10:27:00.001-04:00

Video Games | PixelJunk Shooter 2 | GC 10: Demo Gameplay (Cam)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Metroid: Other M Chameleon Battle Gameplay

2010-08-25T10:25:00.002-04:00

Video Games | Metroid: Other M | Chameleon Battle Gameplay

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Valkyria Chronicles II Preview: Inside The Gallian Front

2010-08-17T22:36:00.002-04:00

With lengthy battles and no checkpoints, I’ve always felt the PS3-exclusive Valkyria Chronicles would be better suited for a handheld system. The ability to put the game to sleep without having to stick a battle out or quit in the middle (the cause of many tensions when on a schedule) is a necessary feature for a game that puts the player in battles that often take a minimum of one hour to complete — not including retries. To my elation, the sequel will be released for the PSP, set for August 31st, and the demo was just put up on the PSN store. The developers claim it has the same gameplay as the first in the series with improvements, despite being put on a less powerful system, and from what the demo exhibits they’re right.

Until recently, The Valkyria Chronicles is a name I’d heard plenty of times but knew little to nothing about. However, after completing the several-years-old PS3-exclusive I can confirm that it is a series to be reckoned with, boasting elements of strategy RPGs, third person shooters, and beautiful watercolor anime art rolled into a solid story.

The original Valkyria Chronicles is the story of the small nation of Gallia, who remained neutral in a brutal war between the Imperial Army and the Federation Alliance until the Imperial Army invaded Gallia for a quick claim to their rich soil full of ragnite, a precious power source that was decreasing in availability. This “chronicle” is told chapter by chapter in a book called “On the Gallian Front”, about the small nation’s clever and epic defeat of the Imperial giant, while discovering living decedents of a powerful race of Valkyria thought to be both mythological and extinct.

Two years after Gallia’s victory, however, the nation has broken into civil war. In Valkyria Chronicles II, a group of dissatisfied aristocrats and like-minded soldiers and citizens calling themselves the Gallian Revolutionary Army fences off against the nation’s army, still exhausted from its fight against the Imperial Army in the first game, in order to ethnically cleanse the Gallian nation of the Darcsen race. Because of a series of laws against forming a national militia to fight its own people, the government is forced to deploy military academy cadets to try to stop the Revolutionary Army. There are seeds of tensions brewing in the first game, but the sequel throws the player into the game after the war has already begun.

While Valkyria Chronicles II utilizes the same battle engine as the first, there is a noticeable difference in polygon count on the character models, as everyone looks skinnier and lumpier than the characters of the PS3 game — though you’ll quickly get used to it. Another minor gripe is that at first the gun shots from each attack felt more superficial, perhaps due to the lack of vibration, though I quickly got used to this, as well, and neither were a problem for more than ten minutes. The map still zooms in and out of a bird’s-eye-view of the field as in the first game, though the zoomed out map is less detailed and not 2.5D, so the height of an object can be hard to judge from that view. Non-battle character animations and cutscenes have also been reduced in graphics; instead of the in-game engine rendering the characters, they are animated in an anime art style, which works just as well.

As for battle itself, like the PS3 iteration units are chosen before being deployed, and are then moved by selecting their icon from the map. Each ground unit’s turn uses one command point, or CP (tanks use two), and when all your CP is depleted your turn ends, though if you end your turn early unused CP carries over to your next turn. When a unit is chosen, you control them in third-person mode until their endurance is used up, nearby enemies automatically attacking as you run by. When you choose to shoot, throw a grenade, or heal, you are put into a turn-based mode where you can take your time and aim and any enemy shot at is given the chance to shoot back.

Your goal in battle is typically to either capture all enemy camps by clearing the camps of soldiers and taking their flags or by killing the enemy’s leader, though some battles have more specific goals like moving safely to a key point on the map.

What’s new here is the inclusion of a morale meter. Though not explained in the demo, its increase every time an enemy was defeated suggests it may increase your team’s stats, and perhaps decrease them as morale goes down, adding an extra challenge to battle. Some things were made easier in return, like being able to have any unit retreat for CP without it counting as a once-per-round Order, and putting any unit within one of your bases on standby for no cost. “Standby” or “retreat” takes a unit out of the battle, allowing a different unit to take his or her place. This is especially useful if a unit falls too far behind or is severely wounded and surrounded.

One major addition in the sequel is the inclusion of multiple maps per battle. The battle in the demo allows you to explore this feature, in which a “gateway camp” must be taken before being able to move to the next map. This is where “standby” is important, and why it’s good it doesn’t cost any CP. Once you’ve taken the gateway camp you must put some units on standby to free up your roster so you can deploy them to the connected gateway camp on the next map. The purpose is most likely more technical than strategic; in the PS3 title it would all be one continuous map with multiple camps, though the PSP probably cannot render as much without adding load times.

Valkyria Chronicles II plays relatively the same on PSP as the first in the series did on PS3. If you don’t own a PS3 or don’t want to take the time to play the original title, you could try to find the Japanese anime series and manga that were loosely based on the game. Then you’ll be ready to take on the PSP sequel head on without missing any information or references. I am very much looking forward to this game, and I urge you to support it, too, as the Valkyria series is fun RPG to play with all the challenges and contemplation a strategy game requires.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game: The Old-School Beat ‘Em Up You’ve Waited For

2010-08-17T22:30:00.003-04:00

From the cusp of the 8-bit revival revolution, Ubisoft has managed to up the stakes to a classy HD 16 or so-bits. If Turtles in Time, Double Dragon, River City Ransom, and Streets of Rage conceived some sort of old school super baby on Super Mario World’s world map, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game would be born.

With all the hype lately, it’s hard to believe that several months ago I had never even heard of Scott Pilgrim, but the tale told through video game references is actually very good and lives up to all the press it’s been getting.

The very stripped down plot of the game revolves around a boy who wants to be with a girl, but discovers he must first not just fight but defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Clever and concise, I was pleasantly surprised to see the game was not only based on the art from the comics but was also an old school beat-em-up with a look and feel that matches the series and ignores the movie. This is strictly a game based on a comic, not a game based on a movie, and with the last book in the series recently published, the game keeps spoilers to an absolute minimum. The only real plot spoiler comes from the ending, though there was obviously a lot more to it that simply wasn’t told because it didn’t fit in with the abruptness of the old school format.

The game was clearly made by people who grew up gaming and still love it, with old school references and mechanics that call back to the pixel days of yesteryear but with a polish many past games never had the privilege of receiving. The story is told briefly through mostly static scenes and text before you even get to the Start Menu. Chip tunes by Anamanaguchi are the game’s sole soundtrack, and they’re fantastic tracks. In fact, on launch day players were already demanding the game’s soundtrack be sold.

Scott Pilgrim has three difficulty levels, and upon trying the “medium” equivalent and losing I switched to the more comfortable “average joe” - the lowest difficulty. I still found the game challenging, though this may be because the game seems to have been built with local multiplayer in mind, as there are enough enemies to warrant backup. After choosing which of the four main characters you’d like to play as (Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Kim Pine, or Stephen Stills) you begin on a charming Super Mario World-style map as you unlock each evil ex’s neighborhood. Each level is a different Toronto setting, ranging from back streets to the shopping district, movie sets, a concert venue, and even a robot factory, and all look identical to their comic book counterparts. You can even enter stores and use Canadian money you’ve beaten out of people to buy food, music, or books to restore health and up your stats, or enter “Subspace” - an area built for money-making that looks the way a dirty NES cartridge played (letters, numbers, and giant pixels at the edges of the screen). These are both taken directly from the comics, which is why the series’ as a game works so well.

The aforementioned shops are essential, as the purchases are all tied to increasing your character’s stats. You do level up with experience, but this only helps you attain new moves without increasing speed, defense, strength, or other stats — all things you’ll need as Ramona’s ex-boyfriends and their minions become more and more evil. Should a level become too difficult, there’s always the option of grinding for Canadian money and revisiting an old area in order to purchase more stat upgrades like a burrito or a book about cooking vegetables. Even at the max level of 16 I had trouble lasting to the ends of the last couple of levels, but going back to the Shopping District to read up on body building helped me pack a harder punch, and learning to cook vegetables built up Scott’s defense. I was then ready to roll.

The autosave feature is well integrated in Scott Pilgrim (coins dropping into a piggy bank icon cutely indicates “saving”). At any point in any level you can go back to the world map and in doing so your stats and level for that character will be saved. You can then continue with that character or choose another. Each character retains the stats you’ve built up for them, and character data can be reset from the Options menu if you ever feel like starting from scratch.

Some players will detest the lack of online co-op, but to dismiss the game or harbor hatred because of this ignores the obvious intention of the creators to create an awesome side-scroller beat-em-up while capturing the spirit of the time period its style was based on, and that style focused on playing with friends in the room with you. It’s simply another piece of the nostalgia puzzle Ubisoft has put together. As for the inability for other players to drop into a current game, all I can say is that the autosave feature makes it easy to exit a level, grab a friend, and jump right back in.

After pummeling, jump-kicking, throwing turnips, tossing guitars, and exerting a fiery blaze at your enemies, there’s still more to do. By inputting down, up, right, down, up right, down, up, right, right, right from the Start Menu you will unlock zombie Survival Mode. This mode ranks the character of your choosing in an online leaderboard based on how many zombies you KO and how long you last. I had 74 KOs in approximately 5 minutes on my first try on “easy” with a level 16 Scott. As of Thursday morning, the top ranking player had over 850 KOs within about a half an hour. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, even if you’ve already completed the game.

Other fun codes exist as well, like changing dropped coins into rabbits and chicks ala Sonic The Hedgehog (Up, Up, Down, Down, Up, Up, Up, Up), or enabling blood (X, Circle, X, Square, X, Circle, Circle for the PSN version). These codes are derived from their past generation counterparts, the first code being an actual Sonic cheat and the second being a Playstation equivalent to a Mortal Kombat cheat (as of this review the XBLA version has not been released, so these codes are based on the PSN version). This has sparked full discussion boards of players trying to use cheats from games referenced in the series to see if they activate any cheats.

If you’re not sold on Scott Pilgrim’s seven-level single player mode being worth the $9.99, consider the craziness that having Scott, Stills, Kim, and Ramona kicking ass all at once could become - especially in Survival Mode. Should a character get KO’d, a friend can revive them Gears of War-style, and if a player loses all their lives they can activate the character’s ghost and steal a life from a friend whether they want the player to or not. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game is an incredibly fun single player game, and playing with friends makes it all the more kickass, especially if they’ll lend you in-game money to buy sushi.

Unlock Zombie Survival Mode in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game

2010-08-12T08:39:00.002-04:00

To unlock Zombie Survival Mode in this summer's hottest side scroller beat-em-up, hit down, up, right, down, up right, down, up, right, right, right from the start menu.

You'll be prompted to choose a character and difficulty, though the difficulty is largely dependent on how you've built up your character's stats and their level. I wouldn't recommend going into it without working on your stats first.

You'll be placed in an online leaderboard based on your KOs and survival time. I had 74 KOs in approximately 5 minutes on my first try on Easy with a level 16 Scott. At the time of this post, the top ranking had over 850 KOs within about a half an hour. There's a lot of fun to be had here, even if you've already completed the game.

Oregon Trail Fake Movie Trailer

2010-08-04T16:43:00.000-04:00

PSP's Half-Minute Hero To Get A Sequel

2010-08-04T16:40:00.000-04:00

According to a Famitsu report, last year's briefest, 8-bitiest PSP game, Half-Minute Hero, will be getting a sequel. The new iteration of the game is said to continue to place heavy emphasis on fast adventuring and plowing quickly through battle, though time will freeze while traversing the overworld map.

The original game featured four modes. In Hero 30, you are given 30 seconds to save the Princess from the Evil Lord, where random battles consist of the hero and enemy running at each other until one of them dies. Time can be extended by offering money to the time goddess, though it costs more each visit. Princess 30 puts you in charge of the Princess who must leave the castle to find an item that will save her dying father, however due to danger the queen will only keep the door open for 30 seconds. Evil Lord 30 puts you into a real-time strategy game in which the Evil Lord must gather troops and take down the opposing force - you guessed it, in 30 seconds. Lastly, Knight 30 flips the stage. The knight must hold off oncoming attacks while a sage takes 30 seconds to cast a spell ridding the area of monsters.
The sequel will include four new modes as well as a four-player co-op mode, a quest creation tool, and a neverending battle mode in which the player will go up against the game's bosses in succession.

Currently translated as "Hero 30 Second", the game is expected to be released in Japan on November 4.

[Originally posted on Crispy Gamer]

DeathSpank Review

2010-07-28T19:31:00.002-04:00

“This is a true story.” Those are the words that open the downloadable DeathSpank for PSN and XBLA, a Diablo-style adventure slasher built around looting, mashing, and ridiculous dialogue.
DeathSpank, the Athena-like narrator will tell you in the God of War-like intro, is a man some call a curse and some call a hero. This is a tale the narrator would like to tell before she is too old to do so. DeathSpank, called the “Dispenser of Justice”, a “Vanquisher of Evil”, and a “Hero to the Downtrodden”, was told by a fortuneteller that he would come to possess an ancient and powerful artifact known as, well, The Artifact. This is an object of unknown origin for an unknown use that is being sought after by an unknown evil for an unknown purpose. Terrible things are clearly afoot, but no one seems to know what they are.
[Full Review at Crispy Gamer]

First Shot: Dragon Quest IX

2010-07-19T21:35:00.000-04:00

Somewhere in the world Celstrians have fallen from their invisible castle in the sky. Now mortal, it is up to you to and your recruits to protect the humans in place of your now missing guardian angel race and discover why their sky city was destroyed.

Being new to the 24-year-old Dragon Quest series, I had no trouble jumping into Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies...

[Read Rob's full impressions at Crispy Gamer]

Plants Vs. Zombies Coming To XBLA w/Multiplayer

2010-07-19T20:00:00.001-04:00

The always incredible PopCap Games has announced that their hit, Plants Vs. Zombies, will sprout on XBLA this fall (probably September). This console iteration will contain more content than any other version of the game, with seven game modes, including two never-before-seen co-op and versus modes, 12 unique achievements, online progress tracking, a higher resolution, and 21 mini-games....

[Rob's full story at Crispy Gamer]

God of War Indie Movie Trailer

2010-07-16T10:52:00.000-04:00

God of War Indie Movie Trailer

Rob's SRPG Month

2010-07-12T17:00:00.001-04:00

Gallian Militia's Rosie blasts away at a lowly Imperial scout in Valkyria Chronicles.

After finally finishing Red Dead Redemption I started Valkyria Chronicles for a change of pace. About halfway through the game I received a gift card and decided to pick up Jeanne d'Arc (since the card didn't cover the cost of Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker), not realizing I was now playing two strategy RPGs at once, each with lengthy stories.

There are major differences between the games, so playing both at once is not a chore. Valkyria Chronicles is an fantasy alternative World War I-like setting told through cutscenes and dialogue boxes. Aside from outfitting your characters through menus, the only actual gameplay is the battles themselves. This works, however, because the cutscenes are so short and the battles can run up to an hour (at least by the halfway mark). You choose to watch stories within each chapter of the chronicle, a book that houses the game's story. By choosing the next image in the book a story-driven cutscene is played - cutscenes which always lead to at least one battle per chapter. These fights play out as militia vs. army, as you deploy a maximum number of your soldiers (whom have different ranks and abilities) in a turn-based RPG/third person shooter mix. You choose a character, run around the field freely until their stamina runs out, and then aim and attack at your own pace. What's new to a system like this is that as a soldier runs, nearby opposition will attack without cost to their bullet count or anything like that, and most soldiers will counter attack as well.

Halfway through the game I've finally discovered what a Valkyria actually is, and the game has been taken into a new direction (though I probably would have expected it should I have read the back of the box). The game was fun before, with long, epic battles, but it's picking up even moreso now. I highly recommend it to RPG fans.

A magical armlet attaches to Joan of Arc, allowing the French to better stand against the English.

Jeanne d'Arc is also a fantasy alternative history game, though with a stronger basis in actual history. The plot takes the story of Joan of Arc of France - a young peasant girl who claimed the voice of God told her to reclaim French land from the English, and she went on to lead several important victories in the Hundred Years' War. The game itself adds a fantasy spin on this historic tale. The English monarchy had summoned a demon of which several knights had sealed away years before using magical armlets. This demon possesses a child Henry VI and together Henry and his uncle (the summoner) use demon soldiers to attack France. Jeanne comes across a fallen soldier outside her village of Domrémy, and from a pouch he was carrying a magical armlet attaches to Jeanne giving her expert sword fighting knowledge. The armlet also allows her to transform and gain epic armor when powered up. She begins to hear a voice when the armlet attaches to her, and she claims this is the voice of God telling her to take back her land.

Jeanne parties up with others along the way, fighting off the English officers and their demon soldiers. The story is well told using sprites and fully voiced anime cutscenes. I was compelled to play from the moment I chose "new game".

The battles play out almost exactly like Final Fantasy: Tactics. You select a unit, move them within the range they can travel, and attack, use skills, or use items from there. The difference is that you equip skills, not learn them, and you can choose to use any soldier in any order as long as it's your team's turn.

***

Two retro war games, two interesting stories. I have a long month ahead of me.

Last Story (Wii) Gameplay

2010-07-08T13:08:00.000-04:00

Last Story gameplay trailer on Kotaku

What I'm Still Playing: Dissidia: Final Fantasy

2010-07-06T23:52:00.000-04:00

Every time I look at Dissidia: Final Fantasy's graphics/art design I feel proud to own a PSP. The game marries Final Fantasy X-level graphics with the main characters from each Final Fantasy game from I through X, and seeing each character so well put-together makes me want to play or replay each of their original titles. In this way, Dissidia has succeeded in being the ultimate marketing tool: it is a game that can run a person up to 100 hours (should they try to level up each character) while advertising ten Final Fantasy games across multiple systems (eleven, if what I hear about a hidden character is correct) and also selling the PSP on its graphical capabilities. In fact, I went so far as to buy Final Fantasy III and IV on DS because playing Dissidia on PSP made me want play through the Onion Knight and Cecil's storylines.

Dissidia is a lengthy game. I've stretched 25 or so hours over many months by playing in bursts, but I could easily continue to play for three times as long. Each "light" character from the first ten of the series has a five-level single player story complete with cut scenes. That's 50 levels just to start. Then there're the four or five levels that unlock for you to complete the story, Arcade Mode, which is a series of random matches without rest or items, and Quick Battle/Mutiplayer, which give you experience toward leveling up. Now, imagine trying to max out the levels on ten good guys and ten bad guys? And then going up against opponents online? You can easily play this game for the rest of your PSP's lifespan.

I have 14 or 15 levels to go: Bartz' and Zidane's stories plus the final story levels (in which you choose who to play through as). Due to Final Fantasy V's job system, Bartz was given the Mimic job class in Dissidia, so he has special moves from many of the other titles' main characters. That's who I'm playing through as now. I'm saving Zidane for last, then I may play through the last few levels as Squall.

And again, the graphics really take hold of you, especially when using special moves with fancy bursts of light and energy. I really hope there will be a Final Fantasy VI remake using Dissidia's graphics engine -- Terra looks absolutely perfect -- though Square will probably continue their plan to put it out on the 3DS instead. It's too bad, they really have something here. Though Dissidia's marketing power is so great it may just make me buy a 3DS for Final Fantasy V and VI should they come out on the platform.

* Ah, Cloud - always the romantic. *

I hope they make a sequel. Lightning would be perfect in Dissidia's action style.

What I'm Gaming: Red Dead Redemption

2010-06-07T01:41:00.004-04:00

After seeing my PSN friends list overrun with people playing Red Dead Redemption and having heard a bunch of my friends boasting about the game I finally picked it up.

They were right: Red Dead is good, really good. Rockstar Games has pegged the atmosphere and included all the elements of the old west you'd hope for. You can collect bounties, dead or alive, you can lasso outlaws and gangsters and drag them by horse. You can save or tie-up damsels and place them on train tracks, and you can even hunt and sell the skins and meat for money. You can be an honorable man or you can be a terrible outlaw with a high bounty on your head.

Though the story is done well enough, the most interesting part of the game is the random events you can pass by and choose to take part in. I was galloping down a road when several men came running past me. One of them yelled for me to help, saying his friend was about to be wrongfully hanged. I followed them to a tree and was told to shoot the rope to set his friend free while the gang hanging him attacked us. I panicked and missed the rope, and by the time I realized I'd missed he was already dead. The man's friend dropped to his knees and began weeping for his friend. I felt like a monster.

In another instance I was strolling through town when a man and a prostitute struggled through the doorway of the saloon in an argument. Before I knew it he had started violently stabbing her with his knife. I shot him dead, but I was too late. When it happened again with another two people I was ready and saved the prostitute, who thanked me and rewarded me with money. I also grabbed some cash off of the dead man by looting his body.

I saved a man who was getting horse carriage-jacked by gangsters. I won a duel after some jackass called after me saying, "You, the one with the chicken head." Won a hand of Texas Hold 'Em. I helped a man purchase a spot of land in order to drill for water.

You gain or lose honor depending on your actions, which affects the people who speak to you, whether the law looks the other way in some situations, and how much money you make or how much you pay in shops. You gain fame for everything you do, making you more and more reknown throughout the world.

Horses are trusting companions in the game. Once you claim a horse and hitch it to a post to save it (think garages in GTA), you can whistle for it no matter where you are on the map and it will come meet you. The better you treat your horse the more stamina it will gain -- which can be replenished by giving it an apple or horse pills. You can also horsebreak or purchase new horses that have cool looks or faster speeds.

The gameplay is very similar to GTA IV's, though it has been so well-adapted to the wild west scenario that it feels different enough to be fresh. You can still place waypoints on your map, take cover, aim in third person, and drive -- but you're making your way to towns, taking cover behind rocks, slowing down time with your Dead Eye ability, and driving horse carriages.

The Dead Eye ability is a great inclusion in the game, as it allows you to slow time to a crawl while you aim in a shootout or set up shots in a duel. The result is a sort of quick draw where you get all your shots in before your enemy.

I'm thoroughly addicted, though I'm only 3.5 hours in. Between the gameplay, stunning graphics, and realistic body movements, I'm pining to play whenever my PS3 isn't on. I'll try some online matches soon, maybe join a posse. I'm due to get my lasso in the next mission. Then I'll start collecting bounties alive instead of killing them all.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep To Hit PSP Sept. 7

2010-05-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Source & info: Playstation Blog

What I'm NOT Gaming: Demon's Souls

2010-05-17T17:19:00.002-04:00

Demon's Souls is not fun. The beginning of this game has no redeeming qualities. I'll admit, I only played less than an hour but within that time the game spoke volumes.

An adventure game in a medieval setting would usually be exactly my type of game, yet somehow Demon's Souls fell flat.

There is minimal music - I was carefully walking through a dungeon and all I could hear was the sound of my own footsteps, an audio technique that would be great if used occasionally to build tension, but by the next area and the area after I still hadn't heard any background music. Running around in the dark to no music just made the game feel boring. How could a game about knights fighting demons feel boring?

Fight, Die, Repeat - The structure of the game is such that players can leave notes on the server for anyone connected to the internet to find and rate, you can see the spirit version of live players running around and fighting enemies they can only see in their game, and players can also find another player's bloodstain and see what the character (in spirit form) did to get themselves killed. This is helpful, sure, but it doesn't prevent you from facing tough enemies or falling off a ledge to your death. Most bloodstains I viewed were due to people accidentally falling to their death. This is made worse by the fact that no matter how far into a dungeon you get your only checkpoint is the beginning of the level, meaning you have to go through the entire place again and if you're similarly unlucky you'll have to start over another time. To add insult to injury, you lose all the souls you've collected and can only reclaim them by taking them off of your cold, dead body (which you must first journey back to).

I didn't get far enough in the game to find out what you use souls for (upgrades, I presume), but losing anything you've collected is a knuckle-slap in the kneecaps.

In my brief time with Demon's Souls I can say that there was nothing I enjoyed about it. I had no fun at all. If a game is devoid of fun from the very beginning what's the point of continuing? Even the trophies aren't easy to get. I saw no reason to continue playing, so I stopped.

Arc Rise Fantasia Video Preview (Wii)

2010-05-14T11:25:00.000-04:00

I'm fairly interested in this game. I've never played an RPG on Wii before. No Japanese language track, though. =(

Video Games | Arc Rise Fantasia | Preview

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

What I Stopped Gaming: Final Fantasy III (DS)

2010-05-11T11:46:00.001-04:00

Final Fantasy III for DS is a great remake of an NES game, unfortunately the game itself takes a lot more patience than I have at the moment. Items like potions and phoenix downs are scarce and magic can only be used a handful of times before having to rest an an inn or visit a wellspring to replenish the casting count. For a game with such an erratic difficulty this becomes very trying. For much of the first third of the game (which is where I stopped) you are forced to keep your magic point reserves in high quantities as you need to travel in mini form, where magic is the only effective form of attack and you can easily be one-shotted if you haven't done any level grinding. Thankfully, you are able to change any character's job at any time, but there is a temporary stat debuff when you switch, and you only gain more magic points as your job level increases (not your character level) - and if you switch from a non-casting class to a casting class you will remain at 0 magic points until you rest again.

The result is that I'm afraid to use magic because I'm not sure when I'll really need it, leaving my white mage and black mage mostly useless for most of the game. Yes, I could use red mages (a warrior and mage combined) but they are not capable of using high level magic as early on as the straight mages are. They also do not gain as many magic points as often when they level.

But the main annoyance is the lack of phoenix downs, because in playing this game you get wiped out and you get wiped out often. I'd be willing to push through all of these frustrations if the story were compelling, but unfortunately it's simply the classic tale of a band of youngster orphans summoned to fight the darkness. It makes sense given the period the original game was created but just doesn't hold up to today's storytelling. This combined with the minimal information and personality of the main characters makes for a weak RPG story.

What's surprising is the NES version of this game was released after Final Fantasy II, which was slightly easier to survive in and had much deeper characters, so this game really has no excuse.

I haven't decided if I'm going to go back to finish it at some point.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Trailer!

2010-05-10T09:44:00.002-04:00

What I'm Gaming: God of War III

2010-05-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

Epic fights, epic scale.

The only way to describe God of War III is "epic." The fights are epic, the scale is epic, the godly powers and special moves are epic, and the story is a tale of epic vengeance on an epic crime.

That's all I really have to say at this point. I'm about 3.5 hours in - just got passed Helios - and from the amazing intro gameplay to the fantastic fight against Hades my mind has been blown. I can't wait to sit down and dedicate some real time to the game.

I will nitpick and say this: it really, really, really annoys me in sequels when something happens to make you lose or forget all the abilities from the first game - especially when the game starts you out with all of those abilities. Why tease you? God of War III does this, but not until you've learned all the moves. Then you lose those moves and start getting hit more because you're trying to do those moves but instead Kratos just stands there. But the game makes up for that fast, as you learn new abilities more often than in the previous iterations.

I have to say, the plot makes me side with the gods and not Kratos. His thirst for vengeance is so passionate and blind he doesn't care that with each god he takes down he's destroying the piece of the world they regulated. Yes, it is amazing to watch the world react to a god's death. Yes, it makes me nervous for the state of the world when the game is over.

This is the first time I've played an unlikeable character and enjoyed it.

What I'm Gaming: Words With Friends

2010-05-05T14:47:00.000-04:00

I've been playing a lot of Words With Friends for iPhone lately and really enjoying it. It's good to have a super casual game to play between epic, lengthy, story/action-intensive games like the Final Fantasy series, God of War III, etc.

The game is basically a Scrabble game at the pace of a text message, meaning you play your word and then your opponent can choose to play, pass, or resign at any point in the day or week. Then it's your turn again. A game can take weeks, days, or hours depending on how much time you put in at once. It's speedy but can hang or spaz sometimes, usually without causing any major problems.

You can play by inviting a friend who has an iPhone or by swapping one iPhone between two players, handing it back and forth. You can also play a random stranger that the game itself will set you up with.

If anyone reading this would like to play me my username is QuothTheRavings. Just send me an in-game chat saying you read this post so I know you're not a random match.

Happy Scrabbling, everyone!

2010-05-03T16:10:00.000-04:00

Currently gaming: God of War 3, Final Fantasy 3 (DS remake), Dissidia: Final Fantasy, LittleBigPlanet, The Conduit, Wario Land: Shake It!, and thinking of exploring more in Fallout 3. Think I'm overdoing it? I really wanna leave work and play.

On Banning The Sale of Violent Games To Minors

2010-04-28T11:37:00.001-04:00

Recent news boasts that the U.S. Supreme Court will make a decision on whether or not the sale of violent video games to minors should be banned with the seller fined $1,000 per sale. But there is an inherit problem with this.

For one, as PC World mentions, video game sales are among the best regulated in the entertainment industry. Every game has a rating, and every console, handheld, or computer able to play games has a built-in parental control system that can block games above a certain rating, keep the system inactive during specific hours, and more. It's extremely easy to stop your kid from playing a game if a parent wants to.

Hence the problem: it's not the sellers that allow young or immature kids to play mature rated games, it's parents. Every electronic device these days has a setting to limit its capabilities, and it's the parents' responsibility to be knowledgeable about this. One site that may help is What They Play, which explains and simplifies the plot and content of games, making it easier for parents to screen games before allowing their kids to play them. Unfortunately, most parents either don't take the time to look into all that or don't pay enough attention to what their kids play to begin with. When I was 13 and Resident Evil 2 was released, my mom cringed and told me it looked scary, violent and disgusting. Of course she was right, but it weaved a great narrative with puzzle-solving and survival instinct as well. This was before sites like What They Play were mainstream, or even known about (if any were in existence at the time). The game was rated mature, but my mom, knowing my personality, allowed me to get the game from FuncoLand despite her aversion to it. She told me if she doesn't think it's appropriate she'll return the game. She watched me play, and though she thought it was disgusting, she deemed me mature enough to continue playing. Of course, that doesn't mean it would be appropriate for a kid of the same age who is prone to violent behavior. Hell, for a long time the opening to The X-Files TV series gave me nightmares but Resident Evil never did, and so the maturity of a gamer of any age largely depends on the person's personality and ability to consciously realize that what they're playing/seeing is fantasy and should remain that way. I just happened to be afraid of aliens. It somehow seemed more plausible than zombies. In my own personal case, the title sequence of the X-Files was more inappropriate for me at 14 than the entire game of Resident Evil 2 at 13.

Though there are independent game stores that break release dates and sell games to kids younger than the game is rated for, I'm pretty sure the biggest game retailers in the U.S. are GameStop, Best Buy, and Amazon. I'm 25 years old and GameStop still cards me when I try to trade in a game or buy a mature one, simply out of company procedure even if they don't think it's necessary. I can't speak for Best Buy, but they're a big enough chain that they have to play by the rules as well. As for Amazon, you have to have a credit/debit card to purchase anything, something not available to minors anyway.

This isn't an issue that pertains to only gaming, either. Movies enforce ratings and most theaters will not sell R rated movie tickets to minors without an adult present. DVDs also have ratings which are often less enforced than game ratings are. And as far as I know, there are no regulations on book sales due to age. I believe that would be a decision the manager of the store would make if the issue came up.

Video games are not responsible for a rise in violence. Most people who play video games would rather be playing the video game than performing the real life equivalent. Much worse violence existed in the time before video games. Game developers are not the pioneers of violence, so stop treating them like they are and take the fight to the parents of minors.

Damn You, Sharp Packaging!!

2010-04-23T20:01:00.000-04:00

Seriously, who designed packaging like this? It ALWAYS cuts me and takes forever to open. I nearly damaged the controller.

Uncharted 2 Title Update 1.07 Available Now

2010-04-22T14:14:00.002-04:00

"Ahead of tomorrow’s release of Uncharted 2’s latest Siege Expansion, Naughty Dog has updated Uncharted 2 today with a worldwide Title Update version 1.07.

The update will include the following changes:

* Players can now select a Hero skin through their online profile for Co-op Arena matches only

* Additional spawn system changes to enhance spawn point update effectiveness

* Gameplay changes to prevent “airwalk” exploit by players

* Updates to map geometry collision detection to improve prevention of players attempting to leave normal multiplayer map boundaries"

Penny Arcade - Again With The Art Stuff

2010-04-22T08:57:00.000-04:00

"There are many, many replies to Roger Ebert's reeking ejaculate, from measured Judo-inspired reversals of momentum to primal shrieks which communicate rage in a harrowing, proto-linguistic state. Thatgamecompany's Kellee Santiago chose to respond to him, which gave the whole thing a kind of symmetry, seeing as it was her TED speech that drove that wretched, ancient warlock into his original spasm.
That was very polite of her, behaving as though she were one side of a conversation. For what it's worth. Which isn't much, honestly, because this weren't never a dialogue. He is not talking to you, he is just talking..." [More]

What I'm Gaming, 04.19.10

2010-04-20T02:20:00.005-04:00

The Legend of Zelda: The Spirit Tracks (DS)
I loved Windwaker on GameCube, so when The Phantom Hourglass came out on DS as a direct sequel I was very excited. That is, until I was maliciously forced to return to one dungeon over and over again, replaying the parts I had last completed just to get to the next part. This level mechanic could only be described as broken, as it sucked all the enjoyment out of the game and forced you to avoid enemies you could not stand up to in a fight despite having improved your weaponry before each return trip. Everyone knew this system was terrible, and when The Spirit Tracks was announced the developers stated they had fixed the problem that dungeon had by using the same revisit-the-same-place-over-and-over system but with stairs to unexplored levels instead of traveling through the completed ones!

It sounded fine, and I love the Zelda series so I had faith in this one. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing creative about this iteration. There are the standard elemental temples Link must visit - which is fine - but there's nothing aside from that, really, and you have to travel by train tracks. The train system takes any and all exploration out of the game leaving you only with a chance to find and capture rabbits in the wild. I hated the train system. Your train is not nearly fast enough. There are warp gates, but you have to drive at the slow pace to get to them. You can upgrade your train, but collecting items to trade for the parts requires you to go out and find them, so unless you set out to upgrade your train you most likely won't before the end of the game.

The lack of creativity shows as the game progresses. The weapons you find are the standard Zelda game weapons, in a very similar order of previous games. Other Zelda games have thrown in variations here and there - a double hookshot, a grappling hook, empty bottles, the Lens of Truth, etc., and though we do get a sand-based item later on (similar to a Link to the Past item) the only other surprise is a whip that functions exactly like the grappling hook. Very anti-climactic. This would be acceptable if the dungeon puzzles utilized the weapons in clever ways - a way other Zelda games excel - and in some places it does. However, aside from some interesting uses of sand and using the boomerang for lighting torches in specific orders, you spend most of your dungeon time controlling armored knights instead of Link. This adds complexity to the dungeons, but eventually becomes another repeated gameplay device.

Princess Zelda's body is stolen and only her spirit remains with Link, allowing her to possess the dark knights that appeared in The Phantom Hourglass. Different types of knights have different abilities (warping, rolling, flame sword) used for various puzzles, and it's fun at first, unfortunately you end up spending more time as the possessed knight than you do doing cool things as Link himself. However, each temple has an epic-looking boss that takes up both screens in height which Link must slay - another thing that seems awesome at first, until you realize every boss' behavior is similar in the same type of room and takes the same amount of hits to take down.

I missed catching poes, bottling fairies and spring water, collecting heart pieces, sailing the open seas and galloping along on Epona. I missed the Zora and Gannondorf, and - come on - the frakking Triforce. The Spirit Tracks feels so stripped down and simplified.

One last gripe, and this one goes more toward DS games in general: Who thought it was a good idea to build a blow-into-the-mic mechanic into a portable game? The Spirit Tracks became impossible to play on the train because of the need to blow into the mic to use the whirlwind weapon or play a song on Link's pan flute. That's not something I want to do, let alone in public. Also, the subtle breeze from the train car's air conditioning kept screwing with the blowing system so even when I sucked it up and decided to blow into the damn pan flute like an idiot the air conditioning screwed up my duet with the spirit guardians! Bah! One more temple and I'm finished, and I'm glad I'll be. I'm done.

LocoRoco 2 (PSP)
I needed something simple, short, and to the point to hold me over. The game's very cutesy, which does amuse me despite my maleness, but the music is maddening. It's like little girls performing a French/Japanese fusion pop chant. The premise is some evil things are messing with the good, nature-loving things, and you - a yellow blob - must roll and bounce your way to driving the evil things away (while collecting things, of course).

If you collect red flowers you grow fatter, allowing you to gain more momentum but blocking you out of c spaces. However, you can split into multiple blobs to fit through and then reform into a large blob again, should the situation require it. The control scheme consists of tilting the screen using L or R, and jumping by pressing both together. Very simple, but very effective. The flat, cartoon graphics and the bright colors make LocoRoco 2 enjoyable to look at, and the game is surprisingly addictive because of its physical twists and turns. Fun for the collector gamer and the completionist. It's the kind of game you have to see in action to appreciate
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LocoRoco 2 is a fun game to play if you only have ten or so minutes at a time, or just want something you don't have to think much about. I'm enjoying it.

Final Fantasy XIII: This Time, The Cons

2010-04-07T01:12:00.004-04:00

Finally, after a month of weaving together a life of gaming, spending time with my fiancée, keeping up with TV, going out, and hunting for a better job, I've reached the final chapter of Final Fantasy XIII. Being at this point, I can better evaluate the game not only in itself but compared to the other iterations in the series.

I would most closely equivocate Final Fantasy XIII to Final Fantasy X, the only other FF game that puts you on a linear path while pushing a mixed bag of voice acting. I'm wondering how many people are fans of both and how many are only fans of FFX, because to my recollection, FFX was better received overall. Is it because the battle system did not stray very far from its predecessors? Was the voice acting that much better? Was it the ability to physically control a summon? Or was the world and story just better fleshed out? It's probably all of these.

The benefit of controlling all of your party's characters (ala FFX) is to give you a taste of all possible abilities, spells, and attacks while nurturing a personal connection with each character. FFXIII does away with this to a large degree in that by the time your characters develop their few unique moves the player has already settled on the character they prefer to control and will likely stick to that one character. Therefore, specialized moves like "Highwind", "Last Resort", "Quake", "Dispelga", and character specific Eidolon summons never get used unless the player-controlled character uses these abilities him/herself. The automated AI party members will not use these special moves, which is why I stick to Lightning and her "Army of One" special ravager ability (also because I'm very clumsy as a defending sentinel character, and don't want to play as a buff/healer-heavy character).

The voice acting was a little more mature in FFX - the lost-in-translation Japanese sighs and gasps at the tiniest of movements were not as noticeable. As Jessica Chobot of IGN put it, "There is more gasping sound effects in FFXIII than an 80s porn. I don't know how much I can take before throwing it out the window." This is due to Hope and Vanille's dialog, which is mostly either constant annoyance or flood of overemotional whining. Snow's character also suffers in personality as he is an obvious clone of Zell from FFVIII and is constantly repeating phrases about how he's a hero. FFVII's characters excelled because they were all tough, strong characters who revealed their softer, wounded sides only when appropriate. FFX's voice acting also introduced an extra element: a second language called Al Bhed. Characters switched between Al Bhed and the game's local language (English in my case) and the player could do side quests to eventually translate the Al Bhed subtitles, adding an extra layer to the game's dialog. The mood fit better with the story as well. Most of the characters (except for Tidus and Rikku) were forlorn, tired, and brave for the sake of bravery. FFXIII's characters, though faced with a terrible dilemma, still feel a bit shallow about the whole thing as if they're just rolling with wherever the world takes them without reflecting any deeper than the idea that doing x = y and not doing x = z. I am a firm believer that dialog which may sound great in speech bubbles translates terribly out loud, and FFXIII is a prime example of this. I curse the day JRPGs utilized full voice acting.

Character development was better in FFX as well. FFXIII gives players a good amount of information about the personalities and some background of the protagonists, but we really only know what they were doing up to a week before the game begins, with a few other tidbits here and there. FFX's characters are delved much deeper, bringing insight not only into their pasts but into their views on life, duty, friendship, and the world - but in a way that felt individual to those characters. FFXIII's characters feel more like generic anime characters with shallow ideas of friendship and all that but no ideas that could be considered specific to their character. And unfortunately, the villains in the game are not very fleshed out at all, especially compared to the humanity Sephiroth brought to JRPGs, the misconceptions of Sorceress Edea, and the way Kefka continually proved with each appearance that he was crazier than the last time you met him and willing to go farther and farther to acquire more power.

So with all these gripes why am I still enjoying FFXIII? Unfortunately, I can't give a clear explanation, though I will say this: With all its flaws the game remains good by differentiating itself from its predecessors, and the linearity of the game works incredibly well with the constantly progressing on-the-run storyline. The ATB-only Paradigm control-one-character system is a great way to include battles and stat progression while eliminating the feeling of constant grinding, and the high level character-specific attacks are very satisfying. Past JRPGs often made battling enemies feel like a chore that impedes the story, but FFXIII's system is fast-paced lets you focus on the story.

The game had me sold at two points, very spaced out from one another: My first fight with an Alpha Behemoth (the first challenging enemy that required paradigm shifts to strategize) and the arrival on Gran Pulse. The latter was so rich with atmosphere that it blew my mind a bit.

I liked starting the game in the middle of the characters' stories, not having to piece together some unfortunate main character's memory of why they're so awesome. I liked that everything was an event. And I liked that FFXIII is a game built for someone like me, who has grown up through many FF title releases but am an adult now, with an adult job and have limited time to play. Save points are everywhere, there's a retry option if you lose a fight, and there's a text database in case you don't play for a while and want to refresh your memory (there's even a chapter summary while the save file loads). Everything in the game is built so your gaming experience constantly moves quickly and gives you plenty of stopping points, including a pause feature on cut scenes. And yes, some of this quickness may leave the player with a feeling that they could have learned much more about the world they were playing in, but the overall experience was a solid one. Hopefully the ending confirms that notion.

Give it a try, and if you don't like it there's always Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vesperia, and The Valkyria Chronicles.

What I'm Gaming, 03.26.10

2010-03-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

Lightning of Final Fantasy XIII is the opposite of Madison Page of Heavy Rain, which is why I like her so much. Lightning may shake her booty when she walks but a cape covers it and she runs with purpose. She doesn't stick her chest out when she stands around having a conversation - she leans broodingly against a pillar. And she's never the damsel in distress. Lightning is one of the few non-sexualized character designs I've seen within the video game industry and yet she still comes off as attractive and badass, and judging by other players' reactions to her Lightning has proven that video game women do not need to be Lara Croft or Beyonetta or a giggly school girl to get attention. She's Cloud, Squall, and Yuna rolled into a kickass package.

Due in part by Lightning, at 32 hours into the game I am captivated and loving it.

The story starts very slowly and takes several hours to really get started. The player is pretty much dropped into the world learning about the place only through the dialogue between the characters and the events that are taking place. This is a welcome departure from the main-character-has-amnesia plot point so many JRPGs use as a tool to teach the player about the world. Instead we're dropped into their world, quickly learning that the l'Cie are considered evil and the fal'Cie are Greek god-like beings, each upkeeping seperate portions of society.

The game begins at the end of a very important 12-day period of which events are told through flashbacks. You quickly end up on the run, switching between five of the six main characters from the very beginning as their backstories are told. The game is broken into 13 chapters, some much longer than others, with a trophy/achievement awarded at the end of each one. The first few hours are really just to ease players into the world without having to spoon-feed every piece of information about the game (though a "Datalog" is included in the menu should you need more information on a topic). This can be interesting but it can also become very confusing until a little later on. These hours also serve as a sort of training ground, allowing the player to practice the new battle system. Each character has a "role", which is the equivalent of previous games' job class system, learning specific abilities per role.

In battle, you control only one of the three characters in your party while the rest of your team operates as they deem fit based on the parameters of their class. This may seem slow at first, but once you unlock more and more abilities and gain access to the Paradigm system battles become much more intense and interesting. Think of the Paradigm system as an improved version of the Gambit system from FFXII, except more automated. You can create multiple role combinations within this system, as in having one character as the attacker, another as the magic user, another as the healer, etc. in any combination of the six roles. Then in battle you can switch to any of these previously set up combinations on the fly, adapting to your enemies' weaknesses or your party's buffing/healing needs. As you switch Paradigms your party members will use appropriate abilities within their new roles to take down enemies. This actually works very well later in the game when strong enemies with high HP become common because the AI of your party members is pretty good in most cases. If you scan an enemy or if someone in your party attacks or attempts to debuff the enemy they'll see what works and what doesn't and adapt accordingly.

What I love about battles is that they're fast-paced and ATB (Active Battle System) only, making it feel more like you're part of the action. Ultimately the battles move faster and grinding (which is not usually even necessary) feels more like fun gameplay than an RPG chore. The ATB system is akin to one of my favorite Final Fantasy battle system's, FFX-2's. Everyone's action bar fills at the same time with no turn-taking, with different moves depleting different amounts of the bar, allowing characters to take action based on when they're ready and not on when another character is finished. This makes coordinating attacks easier and gains you greater amounts of damage faster, as you can have all three characters attacking at the same time.

At the end of each battle you gain Crystal Points (CP). Character stats progress through a system called the Crystalarium, a Sphere Grid-like stat/ability board that lets you spend CP earned in battle to purchase HP, Strength, and Magic upgrades and new abilities. Abilities are learned within a role and roles can be leveled up to create party bonuses (i.e. when a Sentinel role is in the party the whole party takes slightly less damage). There are no other stats, but resistances and frequency of evasion, for example, can be effected through an accessory's abilities.

I would like to point out that there are towns and exploration. People may have disregarded them because you only pass through towns during events and the exploration is limited - though no more, I'd argue, than in FFX. You can still speak to people, though they are few and far between, and shopping is done via the online-enabled save points, not through shopkeepers, and it all fits in with the context of the plot. But as far as linearity goes, FFX was very linear and yet it was still a great game. I can't understand why there is so much backlash on FFXIII when this game handles linearity in much the same way. If you were okay with the level design of FFX, then you'll probably be fine with this game. However I will say that once you hit Chapter 11 the game opens up to a large space you can explore, with beasts roaming the land and the sky, all of them visible in the distance. It's gorgeous and feels alive, and made me feel like that area is what Spira should have looked like in FFX. I'm in love with the place and have spent maybe 3 hours exploring it before moving on with the story. This is also where side missions become available, which play out like FFXII's hunts.

Well, it seems I've gotten carried away and probably spoke too much about the game, especially since I've yet to finish it. But I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Some of the characters are excrutiatingly annoying in the beginning, but as their characters develop they become easier to bear. Lightning remains the coolest of the crew, with Sazh in a close second tied with his pet Chocobo Chick. Snow is cool, too, but his mannerisms are a bit too much like Zell from FFVIII and I can't help but see them as the same character (though I always loved Zell).

There's so much more to say about Final Fantasy XIII but I don't want to spoil the story - which is a typical anime plotline, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

Give the game a try. If you're not instantly grabbed, give it a few hours and it'll grow on you. Don't worry about the battle system being different, or not having towns to explore - after 12 games (including FFX-2, not including FFXI) the series has earned the right to a change, and I'm enjoying this one.

Heavy Rain Review: Both Win and Fail

2010-03-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

The week before Final Fantasy XIII was released I pushed through Heavy Rain, making sure I didn't sacrifice any of my free time on not playing, and I mostly loved the experience due to its immersive controls and dialogue heavy plot.

MINOR STORY AND GAMEPLAY SPOILERS AHEAD.

As I'd previously mentioned when discussing the demo version of the game, Heavy Rain's controls have you mimicking the actions in the game with corresponding button pushes or analog stick movements with the end goal of finding a kidnapped boy before he is killed and identifying the person responsible. This is in no way comparable to what some of the better Wii games have done with motion control, but it works well on the PS3.

The game not only exercises your hand-eye coordination but it plays with your mind as well. Details you wouldn't normally think were important in a game turn into plot points and if you're caught off-guard and don't remember the correct details it can change events in the game or the timeframe with which certain events occur. Of course, this kind of game that learns and adapts is not a new idea but Heavy Rain has turned heads because of the way it presents and executes these cause-and-effect actions. Some players may complain about the large amount of very usual actions that have to be done (setting the dinner table, microwaving food, cooking eggs, etc.) but these actions exist to make future actions and events more meaningful or to make character responses more realistic. And the wondrous thing is that the player actually begins to care about these everyday actions even if it's not something they care about in real life. There was one point in which a character has a woman visiting his apartment and she decides to take a shower while he cooks some eggs. The player then gains control over cooking the eggs using the analog sticks, and the SIXAXIS motion sensor, and even though you are free to leave the kitchen and perhaps peek in on her shower, I and many other players I saw on message boards were more concerned with timing the eggs just right (which I received a trophy for). Of course, if you did decide to abandon your cooking detail you will be greeted with a fitting response. The most frantic and fun sequences in my opinion, though, are the fight scenes which are made up of fast, complex, adaptive quick-time events. You hit buttons, move the analog sticks, shake the controller, hold button combinations, all according to what control the game is corresponding with what action in that fight and if you miss a move or several the fight rolls on and you gain more opportunities to fight off your assailant.

The most fascinating part of the game, however, is that any of your four main characters CAN die permanently and the game will continue without their influence. The storyline will change and certain events will or will not happen as a consequence, and every major decision you make (and there are plenty) will effect the pace, story, and outcome of the game. With multiple endings based on what character accomplishes or doesn't accomplish their goals, which characters are killed or survive, and what decisions are made to get to any of those points, the game has tons of replay value.

But it's not all perfect.

Once you learn who the kidnapper/murderer is the replay value becomes simply for the variation in story scenes and gameplay as the kidnapper is the same person every time. There are some questionable plot points/elements that could be considered plot holes, which is a big sin for a game based around its story, but these points can mostly be overlooked as the story itself works well as a whole. Still, finding out who the killer is could have been more climactic. I wasn't entirely satisfied. There are one or more questions about the main characters that are never answered, though I expect they'll be addressed in backstory DLC episodes.

Another problem is that the game is highly sexist. We know nothing more about Ethan's wife than she takes care of the kids, cooks dinner, and will easily accuse him of a crime without discussing it with him first. But the worst was the way main character Madison Paige was written. She is a journalist and proven badass who can hold her own in a fight and rides a motorcycle, but she is constantly put into positions of sexual subordination, whether it be her having to dance on a pedestal to get an important source's attention, strip for him (and strip very close to naked - we're talking full topless and at least panties - should the player decide not to attack the man instead), and even thinks to herself something along the lines of, "Sometimes I think there isn't anything I wouldn't do for a story." She plays nurse, as well, tending to the wounds of one of the male characters. She's also the only woman in a sex scene, a scene that has the player using the controller to emulate taking her shirt off, unclasping her bra, and getting naked with her (it stays very softcore, though still feels very intimate). Hell, the first time we're introduced to Madison we have to have her strip naked and take a shower. The game shows us her 720p breasts and nipples without censorship (her lower portion is strategically blocked) before getting dressed fighting off multiple masked assailants who have broken into her apartment and seem to want to rape her. This of course turns out to be a lucid dream, establishing the idea that the only strong female character's single worst fear is strong men.

Those gripes aside, I was constantly pulled into Heavy Rain, immersed to the point in which I had to pause the game, walk around to clear my head, and seek advice before making certain major decisions because I was so concerned about the repercussions. Or course, the ability to reload any chapter of the game as it is autosaved means you could always just do a section over if you're unhappy with the results, but I was trying to be a honest with my in-game decisions as possible. As a result, I kept everyone safe and happy and received what was probably the weakest ending. I have a feeling the tragic endings are the more powerful, better written ones.

I'm highly expectant of a Heavy Rain rerelease for use with the Playstation Move motion controller, and if it does happen I'd have no hesitation trying my hand at that version. The game is something everyone should at least give a try, gamer or not.

What I'm Gaming, 02.25.10 Edition

2010-02-25T16:28:00.002-05:00

I wasn't a very big fan of the first Bioshock game - possibly because I played it very soon after playing Fallout 3, which incorporates very similar elements - and only played it through to 1) say that I did and 2) get more achievements. Knowing I was 'eh' on it and hearing everyone tell me, "If you didn't like the first one you probably won't like the second one" a friend lent it to me anyway. He merely said, "Just play it. You'll like it."

He was right. And in many ways I wish this were the first game in the Bioshock series. The story is much more prevalent, the gameplay is more gamer-friendly, and much of the pieces of the first game I disliked have been corrected for this one, like the hacking system (which no longer takes you out of the game and atmosphere into a boring puzzle). The intro alone was awesome - it had me widening my eyes with "whoa", and I'm not typically an eye-widener. Your character actually has a purpose from the start and a sense of being different, unlike the character from the first game who's figuring everything out along the way. The multiplayer lobby is great, too, because it integrates setup options into an apartment. You change your outfit at a closet, change your equipment at the same machines you use in the single player game, and you check leaderboards at a newspaper kiosk. Very smart design. I especially like the "Capture the Little Sister" mode. It reminds me of the capture the treasure multiplayer mode in Uncharted 2

One complaint is the loading. Even with a 5GB PS3 installation the game takes a long time to load your initial saved game, and equally long in loading a new level. I will say, though, once a level is loaded it's fairly fluent. I'm about halfway through the game at the moment.

The reason I say I wish this were the first Bioshock installment is because the gameplay is nearly identical aside from tweaks and upgrades in controls. You still mostly fight Splicers and Big Daddies, you even use similar weapons and most of the same plasmid powers. In a lot of ways it feels like a spin-off, or a long side story. It doesn't feel like a sequel because you don't really feel the effects of what the character in the first game had done. The city of Rapture was a crumbled chaos of violent drug users in the first game, and it's the same in this one - but with a better plot. And best of all: no "Welcome to the Circus of Vallllll-ueeeeeees!" every five seconds.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Release Date!

2010-02-24T12:38:00.000-05:00

At the Nintendo Media Summit 2010 today, Nintendo announced that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will come out May 23rd. That's the day of the LOST series finale.

Gears of War 2 Fail; RROD

2010-02-17T20:12:00.002-05:00

So I've been playing Gears of War 2 for the past few days and have had no problems. I'm now what I assume is halfway through (Act 3, Chapter 3; Gathering Storm: Rude Awakening) and the game has frozen twice in the same spot (when the first flamethrower Locusts appear). Dom was knocked out and the screen turned black, controls unresponsive, so I restarted the system. Then upon trying to load the game from the dashboard there was a low beep and the screen dimmed halfway as if about to load the game but froze there. Then I restarted again. I ejected the disc by hand and closed the tray. Then I waited a few minutes, opened the tray through the dashboard and the whole screen turned into solid orange stripes. Restarted again. Waited five minutes. Loaded the game with no problem, loaded my save, went to the spot from the first time it froze and this time it froze before the enemies appeared.

No sign of red rings. I'd sent this system in around this time last year because it red ringed in the middle of a Fallout 3 playthrough after freezing a couple of times.

I'm nervous. And problems like this do not help my lukewarm feelings toward Microsoft's gaming division.

Anyone experience this? Anyone know how to fix it? I guess I'll try again later or tomorrow.

UPDATE: My 360 just illuminated the room with three red lights, the red rings of death that are often both whispered and shouted of. This is almost exactly one year since my last red ring of death, which also occurred while at the midway point of a game. FML. This is why I don't play my Xbox.

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Leaked Footage

2010-02-17T10:16:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of WiiNintendo.

flOw Available for Free Today Only

2010-02-13T15:16:00.001-05:00

For today only, the PS3 version of flOw is available for free on the Playstation Store in North America.

The game is similar to the beginning of Spore, in that you control a single-celled organism and help it feed so it can evolve. It's by the makers of Flower.

Heavy Rain Impressions

2010-02-12T14:02:00.001-05:00

After running through the Heavy Rain demo on PS3 all I can say is wow. That game is going to be fantastic.

Warning: Minor demo spoilers ahead.

Heavy Rain is an interactive story in which the player controls four different characters over a series of chapters, their lives somehow intertwined throughout the course of events in the game. From what I've seen, read, and played of the game, the story is a drama/mystery thriller that thrives on its realism. It seems the goal of the game is to take down someone known as The Origami Killer, a murderer of children who always leaves origami at the scene of the crime.

The demo takes you through two short chapters, each starring a different character - an asthmatic private detective and an FBI agent who's got the shakes. You start as the P.I. as the game teaches you controls which seem odd at first but work well once you get the hang of them.

The P.I. pulls his car up to an alleyway. It's pouring. Your first task is to put the car into park by pressing down on the right analog stick. Then to open the car door by pressing up then rotating toward the right on the right analog stick. Controls like these are the sole way of interacting with objects in the game and it gives more of a physical connection to your actions. Walking takes getting used to, as you have to hold R2 to walk and simply steer with the left analog stick. If you use the left analog without walking it acts as look controls, turning the character's head.

Your goal in this chapter is to speak to someone who may have clues that can help track down the Origami Killer, but not without a fight.

The FBI agent's chapter has you ducking under police lines (down on the analog stick) and utilizing a high-tech pair of sunglasses that can scan for evidence. In this chapter you have to analyze evidence at the Origami Killer's crime scene, where a young boy lays dead.

At any point you can hold L2 to select a topic your character is wondering about and listen to him think to himself. You can interact with plenty of objects, for example you can lean on a dresser while another person speaks or even drink a cup of coffee. These things may not sound interesting when described, but within the game it adds an extra layer of depth to the realism of the environment and characters. The graphical details are fantastic, down to the wrinkles and pores on a character's face. There's an important sense of facial movement as well, key in depicting the emotions of the people within the game.

The unique controls, however, give the game the pacing and control of exploration of your surroundings that some of the best point-and-click games offered. Fighting, however, is a done as a quick-time event, as you have to tap triangle, X, R1, aim the right analog stick, etc. as the buttons appear on the screen in order to counter your attacker.

As interesting as the controls are I'm most excited for the story, which seems packed with drama, thoughtfulness, and emotion. I have a feeling it will be a powerful game.

Heavy Rain will be released on Feb. 23.

2010-01-31T13:07:00.000-05:00

Awesome.

Games Tried & Borrowed

2010-01-31T12:14:00.001-05:00

My fiance and I were at our friends' place yesterday to watch the latest episode of Caprica (good show, by the way) and while we were there we got a glimpse of Ghostbusters running on XBOX 360 and Scribblenaughts for the DS.

I've been curious about Ghostbusters for a while now but never got around to playing it what with new games coming out multiple times a month and older games being lent to me often. The part I played in the original demo was the library level, which I found dark, clunky and a bit annoying. Our friend showed us the Times Square Stay Puft Marshmallow fight, which I have to say looked like much more fun. He played on Professional and was lassoing ghost fools all over the street, toasting marshmallow demons and cracking possessed gargoyle statues with witty Ghostbuster banter in between ("Are you kidding me? A haunted laundromat? Come on!").

It looked awesome and I'm excited again to give it a try at some point. This version is of course vastly different from the cartoony Wii/DS/PSP counterparts, so I can only really speak on the 360/PS3 game (though I can see how the Wii pointer would be very fun).

Scribblenaughts did not go over quite as well, though it entertained us plenty. We were all trying it for the first time and upon trying it I can see why critics took such a disliking to it. Though it boasts about having a large vocabulary of physical objects you can write into existence in order to help you collect Starites (essentially sparkly stars), the interaction with these objects are largely nonsensical or don't work at all. For example, one level had the main character, a boy named Maxwell, approach a lumberjack. The game tells you "Help him do his job." There's you, a lumberjack, and a tree. The logical way to win would be to create an axe or chainsaw and cut down the tree. That works fine. But if you're going for creativity there are other ways to do it. For the record, setting the tree on fire helps no one. Blowing it up with a bomb pisses off the lumberjack and kills Maxwell. All logical. However, if you get into a bulldozer there is no way to interact with the tree to push it down. My fiance tried this, and, frustrated, decided to summon lightning. Unfortunately you can only create physical objects that can be touched and held and can exist on their own, so it did not recognize "lightning" and asked if she meant "lemming." Blown away by the absurdity of being able to call forth a lemming (because in what case could a lemming ever be helpful in accomplishing a task?) she chose it, and as it appeared on top of her useless bulldozer she decided to grab it and try to throw it at the lumberjack. This didn't work. The lemming would not be thrown. You can, however, "interact" with objects, and in this case it meant tickling and chasing the lemming - a disturbing image. In the end she created a chainsaw, which the lumberjack promptly snatched and cut down the tree with. The greedy bastard.

On other levels I opted to use a laser gun wherever possible, i.e. to shoot bees or flies. Note: Typing "laser cat" creates a regular black cat for some reason. Wings, jetpacks, and helicopters work well. And it turns out firemen aren't smart enough to climb a ladder to save a cat from a roof. You have to climb the ladder yourself and pick the cat up while the fireman you summoned stands there like an overpaid asshole. Not like real firemen whatsoever. There was a garbage fire across the street from my apartment a few weeks ago and the firemen put that out less than five minutes after I'd made the call. Scribblenaughts is insulting to the intelligence of real people. Though you'll have quite a laugh over the nonsensicalness of it all.

Lastly, I've been playing God of War II, part of the God of War Collection (PS3) I'd borrowed from a friend. It's a great game, but often shows its PS2 roots in movements, and environmental interactions. I also can't figure out why deadly gears are in ancient Greece, but I suppose those are required prerequisites for any action/adventure game that involves jumping, exploring and beating up people simply because they're there and they're angry. Most recently I've climbed Atlas after tearing the wings off of Icarus' back. All very epic. I'm probably 2/3 done with the game - I'm at the Palace of the Fates - but I may take a break to play the newly delivered No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, where nonsensicalness makes perfects sense within context. That's the kind of sense I like.

Disc Swapping: The Bane of the HD Generation - Why?

2010-01-27T11:31:00.012-05:00

I've been trying to figure out why multiple discs/disc swapping in video games is suddenly seen as a horrible curse this gaming generation, especially when Metal Gear Solid 4 on one Blu-Ray disc had a 5-minute installation before each new "chapter" of the game. Is this not essentially virtual disc swapping? Though I'm sure there were plenty of complaints about that, too.

Penny Arcade said it best for me:

"The discussion surrounding the fact of Mass Effect 2's multiple discs is completely fascinating to me.

When Final Fantasy VIII was delivered on four discs, we rejoiced because presumably that meant there was more game to play. Of course those were CDs back then, which Dreamcast's proprietary GD-ROM was superior to, though not quite as plump as the DVD-ROM which the PlayStation 2 brought to bear. But when it was the only disc-based media spinning in home consoles, more discs were considered an unadulterated good.

It also gave you a nice, spoiler-free methodology for determining where people were chronologically situated in games of epic length. If you were talking to someone about Final Fantasy VII, for example, and they informed you that they hadn't yet completed the first disc, you know that this person is about to order the Anguish combo with a side of Desolation.

These days, swapping a disc twice in twenty to forty hours of gameplay is apparently on par with having to perform your own tonsillectomy, using only the tiny scissors which come folded into a Swiss Army knife and a swig of bottom shelf vodka. IGN warns that we "shouldn't get too comfy" while playing Mass Effect 2, which kicks off a chain of replies almost a thousand messages long..."
[more]

People need to get over it. Just because your controller is wireless does not mean you never have to get close to your console. Sometimes a 30 second walk to the TV to change a disc is good for your legs and your eyes, especially during an 8-hour RPG binge.

The funny part is this is only a problem with PS3 and XBOX 360 players. I bet Wii players would have no problem swapping a disc because they're used to being up and about while they play, anyway. Even putting a Netflix disc into a PS3 got lashed at. Are we as gamers getting lazy? What do you think?

GTA: Chinatown Wars Gameplay (iPhone/iPod Touch)

2010-01-26T10:01:00.002-05:00

Screens from Upcoming Resident Evil 5 DLC

2010-01-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

The upcoming Resident Evil 5 DLC will come in two episodes and two costume packs, one of each to be released on February 17th and another set on March 3rd.

Assassin's Creed 2: The Battle of Forli DLC Available Jan. 28th!

2010-01-22T11:33:00.000-05:00

FF1 & FF2 Coming to iPhone & iTouch!

2010-01-21T16:15:00.000-05:00

The Square Enix Downloadable Games Facebook group has announced that Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II will soon be coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch. I'm very excited.

Official Teaser Site

Final Fantasy I:

Final Fantasy II:

Weekly Personal Update

2010-01-21T13:14:00.002-05:00

It's official: My year-long XBOX Live Gold subscription has expired and I'm not renewing. I simply don't have the extra money, and I hardly utilized the Gold subscription, anyway. I lost to strangers in Halo 3, I lost to strangers in Gears of War, and I lost to strangers in Modern Warfare. Then I played a bunch of single-player, which I enjoy much more (mainly because I loose less often and less easily) and didn't miss the online multiplayer. I'm a mostly single-player guy, unless I have friends over, and now that myself and my friends are working more and more hours that's less and less often. Besides, the friends of mine who are actually interested in the same games as me are all on PSN. PSN and Wii's free online multiplayer makes more sense for me because I only play online every so often. I would rather pay the $50 toward a new game than a year of multiplayer I'll probably only utilize for a total of a few months of that time frame.

I'm also the recent owner of an iPhone and a DS, so I've been trying to decide on which platform to get GTA: Chinatown Wars and Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery. I'm leaning toward the DS for GTA, because even though it's $20 as opposed to the iPhone's $10, I'd prefer the physical buttons and the stylus for it. I don't want my fingers blocking the screen while I'm in the middle of crazy action. As for AC2:D, I'm still undecided. The iPhone version will be released cheaper and with a virtual slider instead of a D-Pad, but from all accounts the DS version was great. I'll just have to wait and see the reviews and maybe hope for a demo. Money must be used carefully these days.

Speaking of throwing money around, I've had No More Heroes 2 reserved on Amazon. With standard shipping it should arrive a week or so after the release date of Jan. 27. I'm excited about that. It looks like they took everything fun about the first game and eliminated the annoying, repetitive parts.

Cel-shaded anime violence at its best. I chose NMH2 over Mass Effect 2 for two reasons: ME2 is more expensive, and the NMH franchise needs fan support more than ME does. There will already be at least one more ME game, whereas the Wii needs to keep its claim to timed exclusivity on NMH games as long as possible. There aren't enough non-family friendly games on the Wii and I'd like to do my part to help make it a better respected gamer console. I'll pick Mad World up at some point in the future, too. And I'm very excited to get Silent Hill: Shattered Memories at some point.

Current games I'm playing are New Super Mario Bros. (DS), which is very charming, and Dissidia: Final Fantasy. I'm enjoying both very much. Dissidia is broken into 10 chapters - each representing a Final Fantasy game from I through X, plus at least one unlockable chapter. There's probably a minimum of 40 hours to the game. I especially like that the graphics are very Kingdom Hearts-like and the special moves titles are labeled in the style of the game they appeared in (i.e. blue window for FFVII, grey window for FFIX). I've finished the first chapter, which is the Warrior of Light's story. The end of the chapter felt like the epilogue of a full game. I'm interested to know where the rest of the game goes. The cutscenes are done well and the fighting is fun. You actually have to level up through quick battles.

Pop-Punk Song References Legend of Zelda

2010-01-21T10:27:00.000-05:00

"In early '99, I beat the Ocarina of Time
I'm called 'the legend' in this town"

-Motion City Soundtrack / "@!#?@!"

Netflix Coming to Wii this Spring

2010-01-13T10:03:00.000-05:00

Netflix's streaming content will finally make its way to the Wii this spring, utilizing a disc-based system like the PS3's version. Though the Wii cannot output HD content, this is a great step in pushing more internet content, TV shows and movies onto the Wii - a system without the capability to play even DVDs.

Preorder your Wii Netflix disc now.

Transformers: War for Cybertron XBOX 360 Teaser Trailer

2010-01-13T08:11:00.002-05:00

Transformers: War for Cybertron Xbox 360 Trailer - Reveal Trailer

I Am Officially Awesome

2010-01-10T18:16:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the recent purchase of an iPhone and the incredible gift of a DS Lite from a friend, I now own or co-own with my fiance every current video game console/portable. Man can become as gods.

Of course I have nowhere near enough money for games for them all.

I can't wait to play Zelda: The Spirit Tracks and Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery.

Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery Briefly Comes to iPhone

2010-01-08T17:03:00.000-05:00

Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery was spotted as a downloadable iPhone app yesterday but was quickly taken down as it may have been "buggy, incomplete, and priced wrong" according to Ubisoft. The game, originally for DS, was announced for the iPhone in September but never received an official release date.

For the full article, check out TouchArcade.com's coverage.

Left4Dead NES de-make

2010-01-05T16:11:00.001-05:00

Eric David Ruth has created what he deems a "de-make" of Valve's Left4Dead as it would have appeared on the original NES, had it been made in the 80's. It can be downloaded at his website: http://www.ericruthgames.com/

Castle Crashers for $7 on XBLA, One Day Only

2009-12-30T13:05:00.001-05:00

"Microsoft delivers a late Christmas present to Xbox 360 owners, discounting Castle Crashers by more than 50% for one day only..."

[More, via Kotaku]

Ghostbusters Now $19.99 at GameStop

2009-12-28T11:20:00.000-05:00

Ghostbusters has had a price drop at GameStop to $19.99 new and $17.99 used. This price seems to be set for the PS3, XBOX 360, and PC iterations of the game. The Wii & PSP versions are currently $29.99 new.

Stripped-Down Final Fantasy XIII Is More Movie Than Game [WIRED]

2009-12-26T16:14:00.001-05:00

"With precious few exceptions, the first 17 hours go like this: battle, movie, repeat. There are almost no towns, nonplayable characters to chat up, extra side missions, hidden sequences, fancy equipment to save up for and buy, or reasons to run around and grind enemies for extra level-ups. Heck, there’s no need to even wonder what to do next..."

Read the full review from [Wired].

Dead Space 2 Screens

2009-12-22T22:38:00.000-05:00

Dead Space 2 screens have been released, showing off new armor and new creepy enemies. The images are linked via That VideoGame Blog.

Mega Man 10 Debut Trailer

2009-12-18T16:56:00.002-05:00

HELL YEAH!!

Further Reactions to inFamous

2009-12-15T08:12:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it: I was wrong. I was harsh on inFamous and quick to judge.

At 29% completion I'm up to the second borough of the city, Warren, and by now I've discovered many new powers, fought a boss fight, and discovered new enemies. All these things have added to the game's experience and made inFamous more fun.

What really had me sold, however, were two things: Cole's increasing reactions to the events around him and his introspective thoughts on his own physical and emotional development, and the fact that I now have fans. Yes, that's right: I have done so much good for Empire City that pedestrians now cheer me on in the street, put up posters of my face, and even call my name for help if someone is wounded or for help against reapers who are mugging people. The city has gradually come to life, and the portions of the city I've helped have become cleaner and less run-down in the process. Contrast this against the districts I've just discovered and have not even restored electricity to yet and the difference is staggering.

I'm liking inFamous a lot more now that I'm seeing the effects of my actions. And again: I really like the superpowers.

Reactions to the First Fifth of inFamous

2009-12-14T11:17:00.002-05:00

According to my PS3 save file data I'm 17% through inFamous, the open world superhero game by Sony and Sucker Punch.

The game came out in May and I've been meaning to play it ever since I got my PS3 this autumn, especially because Greg Miller of IGN kept promoting the game and I've often agreed with his opinions of games (i.e. I love Patapon 2). After playing a series of newer games I've finally gotten my hands on a friend's copy of inFamous.

I'd played the demo and enjoyed it, avoiding write-ups and reviews so as to not spoil the game for myself. The game is much more open world than the story-driven plot I'd anticipated, though that's not a bad thing. Unfortunately, coming from Assassin's Creed 2, which has the same style of open world exploration with mission indicators scattered around the city, inFamous pales in comparison. The city is dark, boring and repetitive, and though the lackluster grime of the city is intentional (it had recently be blown up and contaminated), there's nothing actually interesting about it. It's like playing GTA if a three block radius was copied and pasted to create a city, throwing in a few landmarks here and there. The city itself doesn't have any charm of its own.

Though the superpowers are really, really fun.

I enjoy shooting bolts of electricity, doing quick induction grinding across power lines and train tracks to speed my way through the city, fling cars and enemies away, and dive bombing the ground to blow up anything near me.

The karma system is what gameplay is based around, in that anything Cole does gives him good or evil points, which affect which electricity-based superpower abilities he can unlock. The problem with this is that in order for it to be plausible the game gives Cole's personality a blank slate. We don't know what kind of person he was before the game takes place, and his personality is fairly generic and bland throughout, so that if you're good he comes off modest and if you're evil he comes off indifferent. The karma system starts to take away from ability building, though, because if you go on instinct and do some good things and some evil things you will unlock neither the "good" powers or the "evil" powers. Instead you'll be stuck powering up the general plot-given powers, and there is no benefit to being "neutral" like in some Star Wars and Bioware games. In order to truly become powerful you have to stick to being really good or really evil. For example, in many cases I've regretted not allowing myself to follow the urge to do something evil because I'm set on following the good path, unlocking the hero-level abilities and getting a trophy for being so damn good. This also means I can't dive bomb a row of cars and civilians without it lowering my good karma. Then again, it gives the player a reason to replay the game, and to replay it differently.

But like I said, I'm 17% through -- unfortunately, I feel like the game is just getting started. But I wonder what wholesale warehouse the reapers use to order the hundreds and hundreds of identical red coats they wear? And why can Cole get shot if he's so electrically charged? Shouldn't bullets deflect away from him?

I'll see where the story goes. 'Til then I'm gonna keep flipping cars and throwing reapers off roofs.

WTF, Braid?

2009-12-10T08:45:00.007-05:00

Over the past two days since my Assassin's Creed 2 binge ended I decided to detox with something quieter, less violent, and less time-consuming.

I loaded up Braid on my PS3, a game that previously came out on XBOX Live Arcade a year ago. I'd played the demo then but didn't have the money to invest in a short downloadable game at the time, as I was trying to catch up with all the 360 and Wii games I'd missed that I wanted to play, being a late adopter of both systems. But I've since caught up with many of the games I'd meant to play and am currently working on building my new-ish PS3's library. I'd really liked the 360 demo and decided to finally play the full game, which I got from the Playstation Store.

What if you could learn from your mistakes but reverse the consequences?

Braid's plot is difficult to explain because it is presented out of order and in a convoluted narrative wrapped in philosophy and metaphor, though on the surface the story is about a man, Tim, who is trying to track down a princess he's not even certain exists. Each level of this beautifully illustrated 2D platformer gives a text narrative of a piece of the story, which alludes to an ability Tim will use in the world he is entering. These abilities pertain to time manipulation (Tim's name is probably a derivative of the word "time") like rewinding time, rewinding only the world around you, and having your shadow aid you (your shadow pulls a lever while you run through the timed wall it opened). Due to the time rewind mechanic, you can never lose. If you die or get trapped you can simply rewind until you're safe.

Five of the six worlds contain 12 puzzle pieces, which can become more and more tricky and mind-boggling to collect, though they are never near impossible, you just have to sit down and think. In this sense the game has some old school gaming sensibilities, in that you have to really plan out your path and actions before moving in some cases. The game will not hold your hand.

Braid took me about 2.5 to 3 hours to complete all 6 worlds and collect all the puzzle pieces in 5 of those worlds (a total of 11 trophies/achievements). The final trophy/achievement is given for completing a speed run of the full game. These are all silver trophies, and you'll really feel like you've earned them when you unlock them, unlike other games that reward you simply for doing anything. The collected pieces can then be put back together by manually rotating and moving the pieces around on a board, revealing a symbolic scene within the game's narrative.

What makes Braid great is that it is a very smart game that can be played either for the fun of a challenging platformer or for the interpretation of the story, which turns out to be something completely different than it seems. Many of the levels are very clever and will leave you smiling at the accomplishment of figuring out how to progress to the next ledge or grab the next puzzle piece.

Lastly, the title of this post: WTF, Braid? Here I'm referring to the pure ridiculously thought-provoking difficulty of some of the later challenges as well as the bizarre ending, which will only satisfy if you're willing to think back on the pieces of the plot you came across before the Epilogue and piece them together the same way you did for the physical puzzle pieces. And even then you'll have to think about it a bit further.

No More Heroes 2 Gameplay Trailer

2009-12-08T13:51:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for Travis' cat, Jeanne. =)

More No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle News & Previews

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii) Review - IGN

2009-12-05T22:24:00.000-05:00

Hilter Reacts To No More Heroes Going to PS3/360

2009-12-04T15:29:00.002-05:00

I know it's wrong to make Hitler jokes, and I'm sorry, but this had me cracking up.

Zero Punctuation Hilariously Reviews Modern Warfare 2

2009-12-04T15:27:00.001-05:00

Upcoming Posts

2009-12-04T11:04:00.004-05:00

There are several things I've been meaning to write about, so I've decided to list them here temporarily so as to not forget to do that.

- A demo round-up, including Bayonetta, Trine, Jack & Daxter: The Lost Frontier, LittleBigPlanet Portable, and some WiiWare demos
- What makes Assassin's Creed 2 so good, addictive, mature - then I promise I won't write about that game again for a while. I'm getting obsessed.
- Braid PS3 Impressions/Review
- Why I hate Seth Shciesel's NYTimes game reviews
- Recent DS games / Upcoming DS games
- Post Zero Punctuation videos
- My upcoming gaming schedule
- Why I refuse to play Modern Warfare 2, and why I might anyway if someone lends it to me
- Uncharted 2 Vs. Assassin's Creed 2: Which one wins for me?
- Why I'm against 3D gaming
- Patapon 2 and why games without pause buttons infuriate me

What else would you like to read about? Anything at all, just let me know in a comment.

My Holiday Gaming Wishlist

2009-12-03T11:40:00.004-05:00

Note: Not all games I want are on here, as I plan to borrow several from friends.

PS3
LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition
God Of War Collection
Dragon Age
Demon's Souls
Prince of Persia
PS3 Dual Shock 3 Controller w/vibration
EDIT: I forgot to add Brutal Legend

PSP
Final Fantasy Dissidia
LittleBigPlanet Portable
GTA: The Chinatown Wars
Half-Minute Hero
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

Wii
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles
MadWorld
Dead Space: Extraction
Muramasa: The Demon Blade

XBOX 360
GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City
Halo 3: ODST
Halo Wars
The Last Remnant
Infinite Undiscovery
Magna Carta 2
XBOX 360 Controller

PSN, Wii, or XBOX Live Gift Cards

Red Dead Redemption Video Game, My Name Is John Marsten Trailer HD

2009-12-02T08:27:00.002-05:00

Red Dead Redemption Video Game, My Name Is John Marsten Trailer HD | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

Assassin's Creed & Blood Diseases

2009-11-30T13:08:00.005-05:00

You've probably figured out I won't be posting a formal review of Assassin's Creed 2. If I were going to I would have in the past two weeks since I've begun playing the game, but I got caught up in it. There are so many reviews out there already that you've probably seen them already, and if you haven't then you probably own the game and have formulated your own thoughts and opinions. With that said, the game is very good, very addicting, and there's a lot to do if you want to diverge from the main quest.

Instead I'd like to bring up something that always bothers me in semi-realistic games based upon violence: If Altair or Ezio were real people, would they have contracted a blood disease?

Altair, Ezio, and their assassin brethren are constantly stabbing, slashing, and gouging their enemies, taking little time to clean off their blades or to wash before the next hit. As people who are constantly in battle, surely they themselves are prone to the occasional cut or stab wound no matter how masterful they appear. Upon fighting people during the Crusades or the Renaissance when disease was a huge worry and often difficult to prevent, would the blood of their enemies reach their bloodstream through open cuts? Or would most diseases die upon leaving the victim's body? Many of the assassins' targets were nobles who consorted with multiple women and courtesans, and many of those nobles were probably also the product of incestuous relations between noble bloodlines. And the guards were often of a low bloodline, oftentimes peasants trying to make a decent living, so they may not have the means to wash and buy medicine regularly. All these things spawn disease, so is it simply paranoid of me to fear Ezio's health whenever he splatter's a guard's blood or a noble's jugular while he himself is wounded?

These are the things I think about.

Calvin & Hobbes, Kingdom Hearts Style

2009-11-30T10:59:00.001-05:00

(Via *ormsqueak @ deviantart)

Simply fantastic.

I meant to update but I played Assassin's Creed 2 instead...

2009-11-18T07:45:00.006-05:00

I had several posts planned, including a demo round-up and my thoughts on playing the first Modern Warfare game for the first time this week (two years after its release), but instead all I did last night was play Assassin's Creed 2 while my fiancée's jaw dropped at the blatant increase in "mature" words, which colorfully range from the F-word to "vagina" in both English and Italian.

To further explain how this iteration of the series has taken its subject matter to a more mature height - minor spoilers follow - the story begins with your mother in labor, giving birth to you, Ezio. Then not long after, as you play as an adult, you take part in a PG-13 sex scene (you little rapscallion, you). Then your mother tells you you need other interests aside from "vagina."

Colorful game, eh? Both me and my fiancée's jaw dropped with that last word, and we were also pretty shocked to have a sex scene so early in the game. It takes place even before the in-game title screen appears. Though I suppose being in Renaissance Italy these sort of things are run-of-the-mill everyday practices.

As far as the game itself goes I'm enjoying it, though my fiancée wasn't enjoying watching it as much as she'd hoped. The story starts at a slower, more narrative pace than the first game. In Assassin's Creed, Altair was already an assassin and the opening of the game had him fully equipped and defending his stronghold. The beginning of Assassin's Creed 2 is more about Ezio's rise to assassin-hood, and about an hour in Ezio was still just a street urchin with Spiderman-like climbing skills - though there are already more side missions than in the first game.

I'll post a more in-depth reaction soon. It's too early in the game to say anything definitive about it.

Netflix on PS3 Works Just Fine

2009-11-06T14:29:00.004-05:00

Well, mostly. It seems to take a little longer to load than its XBOX Live counterpart, the menus are dead silent and clunkly - not at all what you get out of the smooth animation and swooshes on XBOX Live - and the video quality is DVD at its highest buffer and blurry at the low end.

My Time Warner connection at home has always been a little wonky. On XBOX Live my Netflix streams only get two bars of reception max. The PS3 version does not have a reception icon, so you never know for certain how your bandwidth is doing. My only indication was the picture moving in and out of focus every few minutes as my bandwidth readjusted itself.

On the plus side you can browse several lists like "New Releases" and "Recently Watched" aside from your queue, rate the movies, play from the movie summary page, or add the movie to your queue.

Fast forwarding and rewinding work by moving through screen thumbnails instead of moving the live video. Just as on XBOX Live, taking these actions results in a several second wait as the stream rebuffers.

All in all it works. It could use a bit of dazzling up, but that could potentially happen in the future when the service is integrated into the PS3's XMB... right? At the very least give us menu sound effects.

EDIT: Almost forgot - There's no way to quit out of a movie and go back into the Netflix queue, at least no obvious way. Quitting playback quits Netflix entirely and you have to load the software again to get back into your queue. I can see that getting annoying while trying out a movie, deciding you don't like it, and trying to put on another movie instead.

PS3 Netflix Streaming Disc Shipping Friday

2009-11-05T13:16:00.000-05:00

Chrono Trigger Referenced on Heroes TV Show

2009-11-03T10:40:00.003-05:00

I was very surprised and practically startled when Hiro unexpectedly made a Crono/Marle reference (Chrono Trigger) - in Japanese, no less - regarding himself and his love, Charlie, during last night's episode of Heroes.

No Levels In FF13

2009-11-02T11:07:00.007-05:00

When I first heard that Final Fantasy XIII would be doing away with the traditional level up system (article at Official XBOX Magazine) all my years of anticipation for the game came crashing into a mound of disappointment. Leveling up has been a staple of the franchise - and of most great JRPGs - forever, as well as a point of bragging rights and sense of achievement. Leveling also gives you a clear goal set where you can set out to reach Level XX by some obscure deadline you set for yourself. The leveling up system in games is more than a motivator, it pushes you to continue playing that one game, perpetuating the "just one more level" creed we begun as children in games that are more open and don't have breaks between areas the way adventure games used to have 1-1 and 1-2.

The drive to level up also leads players to obscure areas of the map that fall outside of the main plot as they attempt to explore and fight tougher enemies for more experience points. But perhaps I'll still feel the need to explore because of the drive to discover new items with new abilities.

According to the Official XBOX Magazine's website, character levels and experience points will be replaced with Crystal Points (CP), which will be used on a circular chart to unlock abilities. This is similar to (AP) in Final Fantasy IX and X, or (LP) in Final Fantasy XII. The question will be how these abilities effect game progression. Will you have to manually upgrade your health points, magic points, evasion, agility, strength, etc. as well as your special moves? I think it's also safe to assume abilities will be learned through items as in Final Fantasy IX or through equipped summons as in Final Fantasy VI and VIII. Although, the name "Crystal Points" denotes the points are earned through the usage of crystals, so I think it's a safe bet that equipped crystals learn abilities and also equip summons.

If the system works out that way then the game should be fine, but I will sorely miss leveling up simply out of nostalgia. At the very least maybe no leveling system will mean the series will be somewhat challenging again. And that's something I've missed for a while.

Lots To Do

2009-10-30T16:45:00.001-04:00

During the process of growing up we, inevitably, have to grow up. Once you hit this lame realization you'll also realize that the responsibilities we have to take on will ultimately take time away from our hobbies.

I bring you the Working Gamer Conundrum.
Once we're thrust out into the cold, dark World of Ruin (see Earth) - or in many cases leap into it of our own accord (see Can't Move Away From Home Fast Enough) - we're forced to get jobs in order to pay for the games we want to buy and to continuously pay for a place to house these games. Unfortunately, in many cases working takes so much time and energy away from gaming that your games pile up and you never finish them.

You work to play, but you hardly play after work.

This situation works for most other hobbies as well.

Games I own but have yet to complete:
Jak 3
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy II
Patapon 2
Burnout: Paradise (though can you really complete a racing game?)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Daxter
Parappa the Rapper
World of Goo
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (again, can you complete a sports game? I haven't finished a league, though, in any case)

And, as per my buying games addiction, I have Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction on its way.

And to top THAT off, I have the full intention of buying Assassin's Creed 2 in a couple of weeks. I'm very excited for that.

Of course, then there is the multitude of upcoming games, recent games, and games I missed that I want. I could easily spend a thousand dollars just collecting the games I intend to play when I have more time. Though this may just be a symptom of owning too many consoles.

I won't even show you my book list. It's even longer.

The problem is yes, work takes up a lot of time, and so does maintaining an engagement/living together relationship, keeping up with TV shows (which have mostly been pretty terrible lately), watching movies, working on two novels simultaneously, job hunting, cartooning, attempting to teach yourself Dreamweaver/Flash, and actually leaving the house to meet up with the few friends who can also get around their hectic schedule at the same time you can.

I'm not old, but I miss being younger. I miss the days of spending six hours straight playing an RPG (see Final Fantasy VII). Long stretched of gaming becomes a foreign thing when you take up a full time job - so much so that these days I'm relieved to buy a 10-hour game, and in that sense Uncharted 2 was the perfect game for me right now. Well-written, beautiful, fun, and over just quickly for my priorities not to take over.

I'll be trying to write more, so let me know if there's something you'd like to hear thoughts on. Though I can't afford the money or time to keep up with every game, I'll write about what I do play, new or old. And leave a comment - I hear it keeps away rabid, foaming at the mouth children on Halloween. ::Shudder::

Zombies Ate My Neighbors comes to Virtual Console

2009-10-26T10:30:00.004-04:00

Zombies Ate My Neighbors comes to Wii's Virtual Console today for 800 Wii Points! I've been waiting for this game since the launch of the Virtual Console. I remember playing this two players with my brother on our Genesis when we were younger. I also remember it being fairly difficult. I don't think we ever finished it. Maybe this time I will.

I am very excited.

Here's the product info as seen on WiiNintendo.net:
Zombies Ate My Neighbors™
Publisher: LucasArts
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Cartoon Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: You will play the game as one of two brave kids: Zeke or Julie. Both kids use the same control scheme and have the same characteristics. If you’re playing in two-player mode, each player must pick a kid. You can’t have two Zekes or two Julies. Each player starts with three lives. When your life bar runs out, you lose a life. There are hidden 1-Up bonuses in the game. You may also earn bonus lives if you have 10 victims left when you finish a level. Get ready to conquer 48 levels of giant ants, mad scientists and big babies. Find seven bonus levels (look for the question marks), earn points and stockpile your water pistols and other weapons.

God Of War Collection HD Trailer

2009-10-16T21:10:00.000-04:00

GTA4 Available As XBL Download

2009-10-13T09:21:00.003-04:00

Grand Theft Auto IV has officially become available as a full game download on the XBOX Live Marketplace. The game is listed at $29.99 (in dollars, not Microsoft points) for a 7gb file.

Find it here.

PSP Comics Store Launches In Dec.

2009-10-12T19:39:00.003-04:00

Playstation Comics (@psncomics) has been answering questions and inquiries on Twitter about the upcoming digital comics for the PSP. Today they not only stated that the service should be running by December of this year but also said that though Marvel is currently a major provider of content for the service they are open to bringing DC comics to the PSP as well.

Playstation Comics also stated that purchasing comics through the PSP service will cost significantly less than their printed counterparts.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Delayed?

2009-10-12T16:45:00.005-04:00

According to Kotaku, Konami's re-imagining of the PSOne classic, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, has been delayed.

Originally dated for November 3 for Wii, PS2, and PSP, Kotaku has reported:

"GameStop says every version hits December 8, originally scheduling it for a November 3 release. GameFly says the Wii version arrives November 26, but puts a more ominous December 31 on the PS2 and PSP versions. Walmart.com's release dates for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories are closer to GameFly's, with the PlayStation versions arriving Christmas Day."

This is very disappointing to me as a hardcore fan of the first three games, though I never expected to own this game until the holidays or post-holidays, anyway (I've had my eye on Assassin's Creed 2 for November). I guess the delay won't effect me after all.

GTA: Episodes from Liberty City Xbox 360 Trailer - There's Always A Girl

2009-10-08T12:24:00.003-04:00

Video Games | GTA: Episodes from Liberty City | There's Always A Girl Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Awesome. Can't wait.

Camera Angles

2009-10-07T16:12:00.005-04:00

I miss the days of fixed camera angles. It felt so much more artistic, so thoughtful. Also, you never had to get frustrated with a bad camera system in the days before you could control its panning.

Microsoft Releases 1/5 of Fable 2 For Free on Xbox Live Marketplace!

2009-10-01T09:55:00.006-04:00

In what I suppose is part of a scheme to distract gamers from today's PSPGo launch and its limited amount of downloadable PSP games that were previously UMD only, Microsoft has released "Episode 1" of 5 Fable 2 episodes for free. The 2gb download will let you play through the beginning childhood portion of the game as well as part of adolescence, however achievements cannot be unlocked until you purchase Episode 2 for 800 MS Points (which is not even available yet). Coupled with the fact that the two DLC areas are also free right now, it almost feels as if Microsoft is bragging that it's giving away parts of games for free while the PSPGo costs almost as much as a PS3. But that's just my own speculation.

What I question, however, is whether each episode will cost 800 MS Points and when they will be released. That's $40 for the game and the add-on areas when the retail disc itself is going for $30 or less (then you could just download the DLC for free anyway).

Though I really enjoyed the portion of Episode 1 I've played (this is my first time playing), I'm not even sure I have enough space for the whole game on my 20gb hard drive -- especially because I don't know how big the full game will be. I like to keep space to install disc games I'm currently playing, and this would most likely interfere with that process.

Unfortunately, with Uncharted 2 coming out in less than two weeks I'm not sure I should spend the money on Fable 2 right now. Perhaps in that case downloading one episode at a time for $10 each makes sense because I can pace myself around Uncharted 2, though I hate interrupting a game I'm playing. But if all five episodes are not released soon it might not even matter.

The free episode can be found on the XBOX Live Marketplace.

EDIT: Episode 2 can be purchased through an in-game pop-up menu box, unfortunately it's 4.5gb large. That means Episodes 1 & 2 total approx. 6gb, and there are still three more episodes to add to that. I'll probably just pick up the disc.

Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Beta Demo Available in PSN Store

2009-09-30T12:16:00.004-04:00

As of yesterday, the Uncharted 2 multiplayer demo is downloadable from the Playstation Store. The demo is very large (approx. 1.5 gb) and very inclusive. The modes included are Deathmatch, Co-Op Objective, solo Objective, and a team deathmatch. Players are able to choose game character skins, make money by winning matches, and purchase weapon bonuses as well as character skins.

I've only played one Co-Op Objective match so far. Here, me (the new female main character) and two other players (Drake and Sullivan) were in the middle of a damaged city. Drake opened a map and pointed out where the treasure we were after is, and from there we had to go through the streets taking down enemies along the way. Several "Checkpoints" were passed, and between fights there were sub-objectives that had all three of us gather in a specific spot and press Triangle to do a special co-op move that would help us progress to the next area (for example, creating the automated action of rearranging rubble to climb over a bus). Ammo was plentiful, and we faced a mini boss was at the end of the level.

Oh, and you can now use riot shields enemies have dropped. That was fun.

I look forward to playing the several included maps with the various modes. Unfortunately, your multiplayer stats, bonuses, and awards will not carry over into the retail game.

Uncharted 2 (PS3) comes out on October 13.

MGS: Peace Walker demo from IGN is Japanese

2009-09-25T15:49:00.004-04:00

When writing about the Metal Gear PSP demo IGN had posted from the Tokyo Game Show I neglected to realize it was the Japanese demo. Meaning multiple Metal Gear opening cut scenes in Japanese only, with Japanese menus. I figured out most of the controls on my own, but couldn't figure out how to crawl, and so I got stuck in the first very small area that begins the demo. Sigh. Then I found out you can't crawl, and were supposed to throw a grenade at a metal gate to advance.

Metal Gear PSP demo Available Early

2009-09-24T19:29:00.004-04:00

IGN has linked the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP demo that was available at the Tokyo Game Show. This demo is not yet available on the PlayStation Store.

Installation instructions are available in the linked article. Enjoy.

IGN: TGS 2009: Get The MGS Peace Walker Demo Right Here

The Last Guardian interview

2009-09-24T14:56:00.003-04:00

This interview with Team ICO's Director & Game Designer Fumito Ueda explains the finer details of The Last Guardian, the third game by the company following ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. I absolutely can't wait for this game, and the only reason I'd left it off of My Most Anticipated list in the previous post was because I knew very little about it.