The Moldy Tome

Goodbye

2011-04-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

It was a short run. And I don't think anyone really ever read any of it. But it was fun while it lasted.

You can still find me here though.

Game of the Year 2010

2010-12-23T02:49:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a year for games it's been. I should say that I've played more games this year than any other year, and most of them were pretty good too! In the end I had over two dozen games that I was seriously considering for spots on this list. Sure, there were some disappointments along the way, as well as some real bombs, but for the most part I can't complain. With all that said, let's get on with it.

Note: This year I decided to use Giantbomb's list as the primary source for this list, so if you want the best results go on over and check it out here. Complete with links to each game's Giantbomb wiki page. Pretty much just copy and pasting the list to my blog/lj for whatever reason.

10. Super Meat Boy

I had to put Super Meat Boy on my list. There wasn't any way I couldn't. This game took me by total surprise. In fact I started off hating the game on principle alone. A hard as nails platformer that prided itself on being so difficult? Yeah, doesn't sound like something I'd be into at all. Low and behold, a fantastic game shines through regardless. The game just controls so god damn well, and even though it is really difficult, it doesn't punish you. It's an amazing feeling when you finally beat a level that you've been trying at for a good 15+ minutes. And I haven't even mentioned the game's charming retro inspired style, complete with an amazing soundtrack, that I even paid for - with real money!

The only reason Super Meat Boy ranks in at the end of the list, is because sadly I haven't actually been able to finish the game. I've been stuck on a boss fight for about two months now, and at this point I've kind of given up, and am waiting for the super special retail boxed copy that's coming out in January. That hasn't stopped me from pimping the game every chance I can get, and getting ridiculously excited about any news that I hear about the game. What can I say? It's a real treat.

9. Alan Wake

So what's all this shit about Alan Wake being disappointing, huh? Granted, in the end I could have done with a little less combat, I still think the rest of the game outshines any bit of repetition in the combat segments. Here you have a game with genuinely good writing, an interesting horror story that was broken up in such an ingenious way thanks to the whole "episode" system, and an awesome licensed soundtrack.

When I think back to some of the set pieces in the game (I'm thinking of a certain battle set on a stage) I couldn't in all honesty keep this game off the list. Plus when you consider that I initially rented the game, then turned around and bought the Collector's Edition after I finished the game? Yeah, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's sad that it was release was overshadowed by such a massive release as Red Dead Redemption, because I think this game really deserved a better shot than that.

8. Enslaved

Enslaved is one of several games this year that took me by total surprise. I was severely disappointed with Ninja Theory's last game Heavenly Sword, and with the announcement of a really bizarre Devil May Cry reboot on the horizon being helmed by them, I was really set on hating Enslaved. Then I played the demo.

Wow. So, Enslaved has a pretty decent story. Though it gets a little weird at the end, I still liked the twist - haters be damned! What really sells the game is the life like mo-cap and voice performances by the actors. This was one part Heavenly Sword did well, but I think Enslaved took it to another level. I really fell in love with the game's three characters pretty easily. And even that was surprising because I expected to hate Trip too!

Finally, the game gets a lot of flack for it's hand holding nature with the platformer, and apparently "terrible" combat according to some nutjobs? I didn't have a problem with any of this, and in fact quite enjoyed it. Again, it's a shame that Enslaved seems to have bombed in sales, but I think people will go on liking it for quite some time.

7. No More Heroes 2

Travis Touchdown is one of the best characters ever. Unsurprisingly his games are pretty damn good too. From the mind of Suda 51, NMH2 is another crack induced dose of "what the fuck" brought to you from Japan. The story is ridiculous, and the characters even more so. And unlike Killer 7, the gameplay is actually good.

Course' this isn't the first time we've seen No More Heroes (hence the "2") so it's not totally new. And I enjoyed the first game too, despite never finishing it. Two things that really helped me enjoy this game more though was the inclusion of classic controller support, and an easy difficulty setting. I'm anxious to see if No More Heroes Paradise will be as enjoyable when it comes out sometime next year.

Just do me a favor, and skip the mini games next time though. Man, fuck those things.

6. Yakuza 3

It took me a few years, but I finally decided I'm a big fan of the Yakuza series. I played the first one when it came out, and thought it was alright. Then was really late to the party on the second one but thought it was great. So I finally buckled down and bought a copy of 3 when it came out. I... didn't play it until August though, but I pretty much played it non-stop that month!

Let's face it, the combat is pretty simple, and there's way too much of it if you keep running into every punk on the street. But for whatever reason I found it to be a treat almost every time, if only for the fact that I just love how much of a bad ass Kiryu is. About the time you get the special move where you take out a cigarette and smoke it, only to flick it into the enemies face then just beat their ass, I was sold.

Unlike most brawlers though, Yakuza is known for having an intense story, full of characters that you just can't help to love, or in some cases hate. There's actually a pretty sad, and totally unexpected moment near the end of 3 involving one of the best new additions to the cast.

I can't wait for next year's Yakuza 4 to hit North America. After that... well...

5. Darksiders

In January I was faced with a decision. Buy Bayonetta, or buy Darksiders. I chose wrong. Luckily I remedied the situation a week later by trading in Bayonetta for Darksiders. Darksiders wasn't even on my radar at all beforehand. It wasn't until I put it in and gave it a spin that I found it to be one of the greatest games this year.

To start, I think Joe Madureira's artstyle is gorgeous. It really helped me get into the world, and there are some amazing looking characters. War, while not having the best personality out there, certainly looks like a bad ass. The story itself is pretty cool too, and I'm kind of disappointed that Darksiders 2 isn't going to continue the story.

That's all great and everything, but it's the gameplay that really nets Darksiders a spot on this list. It's been a while since a home console version of Zelda has come out, and even longer since I really got into one of them. Darksiders is the perfect Zelda "clone". Call it a homage or a rip-off, I could care less. I'd have to say Darksiders is the perfect fix for anyone waiting on Skyward Sword.

4. Red Dead Redemption

Well this is... unexpected. I had some pretty nasty backlash on Grand Theft Auto 4, and I certainly didn't expect to like a western themed game in the same engine this much. But... wow. RDR is easily one of the best game I've played this year. I can't think of a single thing negative to say about the game.

It has a fantastic story, full of interesting characters. The writing is excellent, and there are quite a few intense moments, including the end of the game which is shocking to say in the least. The soundtrack is fucking gorgeous, with some amazing tracks by Jose Gonzales, a name gamers are surely going to remember now.

As for the game itself? Addictive as hell. It's so hard to put down the controller, and I found myself saying "Just one more mission..." for hours. It's amazing how much they've improved the targeting system. And Dead Eye mode is just bad ass.

I haven't even begone to scratch the surface on a lot of the side content in the main game. There's a bunch of stranger missions, hunting challenges, and other stuff that I'd love to go back and complete at some point.

Simply amazing.

3. NIER

Alright, before I even begin to talk about NIER. I have to say that picking the order for the top 3 games this year was incredibly difficult. Obviously I love every game on this whole list, but these three are special. And I'm pretty confident in saying I'd include all of these on an "all time" list. With that said...

Oh god. I fucking LOVE NIER. It's this year's Half Minute Hero. A game that came out of no where and totally stole my undying affection. And it's pretty impressive that I still decided to buy NIER even after all the negativity it got blasted with when it was released.

Granted, NIER has problems. It's probably why it ranks third on my list. It's just too hard to overlook some of the faults in NIER. Mainly the fact that almost all of the side quest in the games are bullshit, and there are tons of them.

None of that matters though. The fact of the matter is I played this game for every waking hour for two weeks straight. I played through the game five times (well... New Game+'d 3 times, then started fresh to get the speedrun achievement). Why? Because the story is fantastic. Easily one of the best in recent memory. The story wouldn't be nearly as impressive without the characters, all of whom are equally as impressive as the story. Kaine is without a doubt my favorite character this year.

And against the odds, NIER was actually localized with love and care by the guys over at 8-4. It really shows, as the writing comes through solid, and the voice acting is incredible. Big props to those guys.

The soundtrack is pretty amazing too, another one that I actually paid for this year, and I'd highly recommend it. Man, I could gush on and on about NIER, but I think I should stop. The game is constantly on sale for like under $20. Buy it!

2. Starcraft 2

Oh Starcraft 2. Where do I even begin? Starcraft 2 had a lot to live up to. Starcraft is one of my favorite games of all time. And then I spent over a decade waiting for another installment in the series. And how'd it turn out? I think I need to spend another couple years with Starcraft 2, but at this point I'm going to go out on a limb and say... it's better than Starcraft. In almost every way at least.

For the multiplayer... it's the same super competitive multiplayer that people have enjoyed for a decade. Except there's more. It's better. Looks better, more units, different strategies. Better ladders, match making. A fucking Starcraft 2 league that you can subscribe to and watch the pros play every "season". Starcraft 2 took shit to a whole other level. And I really can't see going back to the first game now.

And for the single player... the story isn't as strong - yet. Though I think a lot of that has to do with the format. Starcraft 2's story will be spread along three games. Wings of Liberty is no doubt laying the ground work for something truly epic. For what it's worth though, I really enjoyed the layout and progression of missions.

When I was playing Starcraft 2, I was so excited. I couldn't believe I was playing it, and even more so that it actually lived up to all the hype. I remember at one point walking around my living room thinking about how awesome it was, and how I'd have to put in on my GOTY list.

Sadly, I just haven't been able to put as much time into Starcraft 2 as I would have liked to. It was all I played back when it came out. Once I finished the single player, I jumped into multiplayer and tried it for a bit, but was pretty quickly overwhelmed. It's a very intense, competitive scene. It requires a lot of time and practice that I just couldn't do at the time. But the great thing is that it'll be around for years, and there are no signs of it slowing down. So I have time.

In the meantime. It's fun watching GSL matches.

1. Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 is one of the best games I've ever played. Peace, I'm out.

No, seriously. After Bioware's offering of Dragon Age: Origins last year, I was really excited about Mass Effect 2. Hell, I liked Mass Effect well enough already, putting it on my GOTY list the year it came out. However, I had no idea how... breathtaking Mass Effect 2 would be.

Mass Effect 2 is an improvement over the original in every way. Some might disagree, and argue that the first one is better because it's more like a role playing game. Those people suck. The combat is ridiculously satisfying, they really tightened it up and turned it into a top notch third person shooter, and scrapped the inane inventory system. Less time spent trying to figure out if you want to turn Identical Assault Rifle #32 into omni-gel, and more time popping off headshots and wooing Garrus.

Speaking of which? The characters in this game? Way better in this game. The romantic options? Again, shreds the first game apart.

Okay, enough bagging on Mass Effect 1, but seriously. It's impressive how much better this game is, and how Bioware has advanced as a developer. Oh, it also doesn't hurt that this is one of the best looking games this year. And it's comforting knowing that the Mass Effect 3 engine looks even better (if even ever so slightly).

I really enjoyed Mass Effect 2 when it came out at the beginning of the year, but a couple months ago I picked it up again in hopes of getting the last achievement I was missing (and playing the DLC). I'm proud to say I completed the entire game on Insanity, and it was a fucking blast. I'm not one to purposely make a game harder on myself, but I'd almost say the experience was that much better because of it.

I don't know what else to say. Mass Effect 2 is as close as you're going to get to a "perfect" game. And I cannot wait for the third game coming out next year! Hopefully.

Anime of the Year 2010

2010-12-20T05:43:00.000-08:00

Hello friends, It's been a while. For better or worse I've pretty much fully migrated to Twitter/Facebook to share my unwanted opinion now days. However at least once a year I have to bounce back to the blog/lj to post my annual "of the Year" list. That time is now. As per usual I'll be starting with Anime. Look forward to my games of the year list next week sometime. Anyways...

This wasn't a great year for Anime, as it is I had a hard time picking five shows that really stood out to me. This has been a year full of average shows, or things that just didn't grab me for one reason or another. However there were at least a few shows that I really enjoyed, and I will recommend them here.

Another thing to note is that I'm trying to mix up the format a bit this year. I was really disappointed with my list last year. I had a hard time trying to put words to how I felt about shows, while at the same time trying to explain them. For whatever reason, talking about Anime just doesn't flow as naturally for me as it does with games. So this time, I'll be doing some quick hits. Telling you briefly why I liked the show. And if you need to know more about the show, or are interested in it - please click the wiki link I provide. Sound good? Okay. Let's go.

5. Highschool of the Dead

HotD is kind of the black sheep of this list. It really isn't as good as the other four shows on this list, and it was kind of a toss up between this and a couple other shows. Yeah, real positive start. That's just the kind of year it was though. Anyways... HotD is a bunch of mindless fun. It has tits, and zombies. Pretty much. It's based on the original manga of the same name, and features art by Inazuma - who is a pretty good hentai artist. So go figure, he can draw pretty hot chicks. The story isn't much, it's pretty standard zombie-fare, but there are some pretty awesome action scenes, and again - it's nice to look at. I'd recommend it to anyway looking for a decent action show, and it doesn't hurt if you aren't tired of the whole zombie thing by this point.

4. K-ON!!

Hey, it's K-ON! again. Except this time it has two exclamation marks!! Seriously though, K-ON is still a ridiculously cute, and funny show that I looked forward to watching every week. I can't honestly say which season was better, but if you're an Azusa fan chances are you'll like this season more (the episodes tend to focus more on her and her two side-kicks instead of the Seniors so much). Though I will say that I can recall more memorable moments this season than the last, so take that for what you will. I'll get this out of the way too, they don't top last year's ending theme "Don't Say Lazy". However, "No, Thank You!" certainly comes close.

3. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

Holy-Shit. That's the best way I can sum up PSG. Gainax is pretty infamous at this point for bizarre ass series, but this really takes the cake. The first episode starts up with Panty and her sister Stocking fighting a giant shit demon, and it doesn't slow down from there. Chances are, the first thing you'll notice is... well, the name of the show. Secondly you'll probably notice that this show has a very unique art style and direction to it that doesn't come across as your average Anime. If anything it reminds me of some of the weirder western cartoons. The show does switch styles though, and can even changes the way it's animated drastically from episode to episode. Who would I recommend PSG to? Anyone. Just check it out, if nothing else you'll be left saying "What the fuck?".

Ah, what the hell. Allow me to gush more about PSG for a bit. Another fantastic thing about PSG is the soundtrack. Oh god, the soundtrack. It's fucking amazing. Almost every track is note-worthy, especially the ending theme "Fallen Angel". The OST is coming out soon, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I've never been this excited about an Anime soundtrack - ever. Something else that I really enjoy is the character designs. The show doesn't have a bunch of characters, but all of them are interesting. The designs are initially pretty simple, but the girls all get highly detailed "sexy" versions during transformations that really impress.

Ah, what else can I say? I guess that's enough. Some final words though. The last episode of the series hasn't aired yet, am I'm eagerly awaiting it. I doubt it would change the placement on the list much though. And finally, just... enjoy this shit while it last. The Japanese Government just passed a law banning any Anime of Manga containing sexual content that's judged as being harmful to children. This might be the last time we ever see anything like Panty & Stocking. And that's really, really sad.

2. Katanagatari

So, what can top PSG at this point? How about the greatest action Anime to come along in a long time? With an art style, and character designs even more beautiful and interesting than PSG? Sound good? Well, that's Katanagatari. An interesting an entirely pleasant experience - Katanagatari was 12, one hour long episodes, one of which aired every month of this year. And followed that month's adventures of the main characters of the show. It was a real treat watching this every month.

So why do I say it's the best action show in years? Certainly it isn't as action packed as your typical shonen-shows, and in fact in can be down right slow at times. Make no mistake, the main focus of this show is long, (but always interesting!) conversations between the characters. And then there is some fighting. But they do such a fantastic job of getting you hyped up for the action, that when it finally happens? It's fucking awesome. The biggest payoff? The last episode of the series. Within that hour you will see that Shichika is badass. It's like the ultimate "FUCK YES!" moment.

1. Durarara!!

While it might not be as crazy, and weird as PSG. Or as badass of an action show as Katanagatari. Durarara!! has it's own thing going for it. For starters, the show has all of the highlights from the above shows: it looks great, excellent characters, an awesome soundtrack, it can be pretty weird, and sure it even has some action in it. What really separates Durarara from other shows is it's writing, and story. I'll say this, it's not often that an Anime will get it's hooks in me, and demands that I watch the next episode. Just like a good serialized television series (think HBO) Durarara has a really compelling story that kept me dying to see what happened next in each episode.

At a glance, the characters aren't nearly as interesting (looking at least) as those found in PSG and Katana. However once you start watching the show, and watching the story unfold, you start to get attached to the characters... most of them anyway. And hell, just look at Celty. She's one of the coolest characters in recent memory. It's hard to explain, because you can't really say "This show is crazy!" or "That was the coolest thing ever!" about it, but it's consistently good, and that's why it's my pick of the year.

Final words: I can't think of another Anime outside of Death Note that has gripped me like this, and I can only hope we get another season, because there is a bunch of story left to cover. Another thing to note is that both opening and endings for the show are amazing. Particularly "Trust Me" which inspired me to watch the show seriously in the first place. Also, the number of characters can be a bit intimidating, but once you get rolling you'll ease into it pretty well. And finally, my only regret is that I didn't watch Baccano last year, because it totally would have made last year's list.

Some words about Mass Effect 2

2010-02-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR MASS EFFECT 2

Alright, so it's time to talk about another Bioware game again. This time I'll try and make it fast.

At the end of Mass Effect 2, you and your team go on a suicide mission to save your lost crew, and stop the Collectors. It is entirely possible for your party members, and even Shepard to die. There's a way to ensure your characters won't die, which I won't go into, because honestly it's not that important. The important thing is, that I researched this ahead of time, to make sure I didn't lose any party members.

Now, I'm wondering if I fucked up by doing this. Of course, I want MY Commander Shepard to go into Mass Effect 3 without having lost any of the main characters. However, did I cheat myself out of an emotional experience by not playing the game by ear, and paying the price for an error in judgment?

I've heard people talking about it on podcast, and it sounds like I'm really missing out on some intense moments by not seeing any of my crew members die in front of my eyes. Imagine if Garrus, one of my favorite characters, and love interest in ME2 took a bullet to the head right in front of me? I think that would invoke some pretty crazy emotions.

What if I didn't know what I needed to do to save my crew, and was wondering the whole time if someone was going to bite the bullet? Wouldn't that be extremely intense? Wouldn't that be a gaming experience unlike anything I've ever seen before?

I guess I could just answer all this by going back to an earlier save and making every wrong choice I could. But would it be the same now? Not unlike before when I knew everyone was going to survive. I'd know that people were going to die, and that none of these deaths would be "canon" in my Mass Effect universe.

What about on my new Shepard? He's going to be a Paragon this time. It doesn't seem like he'd let party members die. And would it be worth it to let party members die on these new Shepard, just so I can experience the effect it will have in Mass Effect 3? I still don't feel comfortable doing it.

Hm.

Game of The Year 2009

2009-12-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

Finally, it's time for Game of The Year. I've certainly spent a fair share of time bitching about other people's games of the year list over the past month. Time to put my list out there. As usual, my list is quite a bit different than most of the list you'll see around the net. Of course this is all personal opinion, as any list is, but these are the 10 games I enjoyed the most that came out this year. Enjoy!

10. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume

When making a game of the year list, it's sometimes hard to remember the smaller games that were released earlier in the year. Luckily, I'm a big Valkyrie Profile fan. So when it came time to make my list, this game wasn't too far from my mind. Covenant of the Plume was an interesting take on the strategy role playing game branch of RPGs that I've enjoyed since Final Fantasy Tactics. Being able to engage in Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth's amazing turn based battle system everytime I fought an enemy on the battlefield is what makes this game different than your typical SRPG.

While it might not live up to it's predecessor (my personal Game of the Decade) it's still one of the better offerings this year for a JRPG fan desperately looking for a fix. It's just a shame that the main story never has you taking on the role of Lenneth, or any Valkyrie for that matter. But Wyl is a cool enough dude, that deals with some messed up situations.

9. Torchlight

Torchlight kind of came out of no where. The developer Runic Studios, survivors from the late Flagship Studios were previously working on another Diablo clone - Mythos. I tried that game out but it didn't hook me. After a surprisingly short development cycle, the newly founded studio was finally able to put out a real contender to the throne - and it doesn't even have multiplayer!

It took me about 15 hours to finish the game with a single character. A "rogue" built Vanquisher. I enjoyed my short time with Torchlight, and had a hard time putting it down once I got started. While the game might not have the cinematic presentation, or the twisted story found in Diablo 2, everything else is there and is pretty much on par with that game I spent so many hours on over the years. I'm looking forward to what Runic Games does with the MMO portion of Torchlight that should be coming in a year or so.

Also, it should be noted that Torchlight is usually $20 on Steam. It's gone on sale several times since launching, with the last steam holiday sale having it up for just $5. That's just retarded. There's no reason not to pick up this game.

8. Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Muramasa, Vanillaware's latest example of how 2D gaming is still relevant even in 2009. This gorgeous Wii exclusive was one of my most anticipated games this year. Sadly, for whatever reason it didn't hook me quite as hard as Odin Sphere, but make no mistake this is still one amazing game.

As I've already said, the game is just simply amazing to look at. Easily one of the prettiest games I've ever seen. But the game's easy to learn, hard to master combat is what really sets this game apart from the crowd. It doesn't hurt that it has a rather interesting story, told from the perspective of two playable characters, that is rich with Japanese folklore.

Sadly, I've only had a chance to go through the game as Momohime, and have left Kisuke's story virtually untouched. However I did watch my roommate play through every part of the game, so I didn't miss anything. I'll still go back and finish it during some downtime though.

If you own a Wii and you're complaining about the lack of "core" games. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

7. Suikoden Tierkreis

Another game that came out at the beginning of the year that has been stuck in my mind is the latest installment in the Suikoden series. I'm a huge fan of the series, and it had been a while since the previous game. Unfortunately, Tierkreis is kind of a spin-off from the main franchise, but I would argue that it's on-par if not better than one of the main games - Suikoden 4.

I wrote a blog entry about some of the changes Suikoden fans can expect with this game. So check it out if you want a reminder. Still, this is a traditional JRPG for the DS that provided me with a solid 80 hours of entertainment. The story is pretty neat, and there are some awesome characters in that big pile 0f 108 to be recruited. Including Chrodechild, weird name, yes. But she is pretty hot, and easily one of the most overpowered characters in the series.

Who knows when Konami will get around to putting out Suikoden 6, so in the meantime you might as well give this one a shot. In my opinion, it's pretty damn good.

6. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Yeah, another JRPG. You know the drill. Still, Dragon Quest V isn't just any JRPG. It's Japan's all time favorite game, ever. Regardless if that's an exaggeration or not (it probably isn't) they really love this fucking game. I'd have to agree with them, as far as old school JRPGs go this one is pretty fantastic, but I still hold a special place in my heart for Dragon Quest IV.

Also, yes, I know. This is a remake. However this marks the first time that Dragon Quest V has ever been released in the US. So fuck it, it's brand new to me. And I can see where you might think a first encounter with an older game so many years after it's release might be a less than stellar experience. But the truth? DQV is full of interesting stuff that still seems fresh even after all these years.

Perhaps the coolest part of the game is that you take on the role of the nameless Hero. Nothing new there, except for the fact that you follow him throughout his whole life. From childhood to adulthood. At one point you end up getting married, and having children even. And those children even join your party! It's pretty fucking cool, and honestly I'm surprised more games haven't ripped off the idea seeing how popular this game is.

It'll be a while before we get Dragon Quest IX over here in the west. So if you're a fan of the series, or just looking for a good JRPG, here's another good pick for you. Also, notice the trend of all these great JRPGs being on the DS? Yeah...

5. Brutal Legend

Here's something new. Brutal Legend was an interesting game. Not a lot of people seemed to like it, hell I wasn't even that interested in it leading up to the game's release. But when I popped the game into my 360, I barely stopped playing it until it was finished.

I can see why some people wouldn't like the game. The character action portions aren't nearly as deep as your God of Wars. And the RTS parts are pretty sloppy at all times. Still, I found the gameplay enjoyable enough. The real reason to stick around though is everything else. This metal themed world that Tim Schafer and the Doulbe Fine team crafted is easily one of the coolest settings in a video game. The story was awesome, with plenty of hilarious and epic moments that kept me glued to the TV. And the licensed soundtrack is not only one of the best you'll find around, but is masterfully used in some of the game's key segments.

As I said, the testament of a great game is one that you really have a hard time putting down. And out of all the games on this list, Brutal Legend is easily the one I was hooked on the most. Sadly the whole experience was only spread out for about two days, but those were some good times. It's a real shame the actual gameplay can be a turnoff, but if you stick with it, it's quite rewarding.

4. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Let me start by saying I hated Uncharted 1. I thought that game was an overrated piece of crap that was only being talked about because it was a Playstation 3 exclusive. True, the cinematic experience was there, as it is in Uncharted 2, as were the characters. But the gameplay just wasn't up to snuff.

Enter Uncharted 2. A game that improves on it's predecessor. This, people, is how you do a sequel. Taking that amazing cinematic feel, and the characters that made the first game even worth mentioning, and combine it with some fantastic gameplay, and you've got some serious Game of the Year potential.

Like Brutal Legend, I had a hard time putting down Uncharted 2. The game just keeps going, never really slowing down to a point where you think "Yeah, I should stop here for now". And you know a game is special when I actually like the platforming in it.

Out of all the major outlet's Game of the Year list, this is the one I think is the "right" answer. It's not my personal favorite, but it's certainly a choice that I would greatly respect. It's just a shame that a game like Assassin's Creed 2 couldn't follow the example, and improve on the original game in such a massive way that I go from hating the franchise to loving it.

3. Blazblue: Calamity Trigger

This year was definitely a good year to be a fighting game fan. So many of the big franchises saw a new installment. For better or worse. But my personal pick out of the bunch is actually a new series, and oddly enough - it's number 3 on my list.

Blazblue, the latest game from legendary fighting game developer Arc System Works (the folks who brought you the amazing Guilty Gear series) is another shining example of why 2D gaming isn't dead. Like Muramasa, this game is gorgeous. And like Guilty Gear, the game's fighting system is super stylish, and ridiculously complex. But not so hard that a newbie like me couldn't pick it up and have fun with it.

I'm not really into the competitive fighting game scene, largely due to my lack of skill. So when it comes to fighters, there needs to be something special aside from addictive multiplayer to keep me going. While Blazblue certainly does have that addictive multiplayer in spades, it also has some of the most insane characters in a fighting game since Guilty Gear. I've fallen in love with most of the cast, and really it's hard not to when they're so damn cool. Some of my favorites being Taokaka, Rachel, Arakune, and Bang mother-fucking Shishigami.

Along with the characters there is a truly batshit insane story that almost makes no sense half the time. But I don't care, I ate that shit up. Yes I actually spent about a week completing the whole story mode, meeting every obscure requirement to unlock the whole story. That's dedication.

Street Fighter IV also came out this year, and it may very well be a better game. But god damn if Blazblue isn't awesome. And again, that's coming from someone who is terrible at fighting games.

2. Dragon Age: Origins

It was a hard decision to bump Dragon Age down to #2. After all I spent 89 hours playing through the game on my first character. And an additional 8 hours playing all the Origin stories. Honestly, the only reason Dragon Age isn't number one, is because I simply loved the next game a tiny bit more. Enough about that though, let's give Bioware's latest RPG epic it's due.

Dragon Age is an epic game, that has one of the best fantasy stories I can remember in a game. This isn't too surprising as Bioware has stated that they took inspiration from books like A Song of Ice and Fire, my favorite book series of all time. You can see the influence here as this game has a very dark setting to it. Shit gets real. But leave it to Bioware to make the whole world ending crisis enjoyable by including a cast of amazing characters. All of whom have some of the best voice acting talent in any game to date.

I took it upon myself to do every side quest I could in the game, something I can't say I did for Mass Effect. For whatever reason I just felt really compelled to to it in this game. Be it the little bit of extra story you get, or the promise of some epic loot. The best side quest of all being the ones that involve your party members. And the best one of those being Morrigan's quest, which ends up in a pretty epic battle.

Perhaps it's weird that I enjoyed the game so much, since people seem to think it's a throwback to Bioware's older series Baldur's Gate. A series I never got into. But I can kind of compare Dragon Age to another Bioware series, Neverwinter Nights, a series that I love.

In any case, Dragon Age is one of the best games of the year. If you're any sort of fan of RPGs, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. Just be warned that the game is a massive undertaking. So set aside some free time.

1. Half-Minute Hero

Going from an epic, nearly 100 hour RPG that is a prime example of western role playing games. To a game that is a parody of every Japanese RPG ever made, and a game that does it in 30 second chunks. Half-Minute Hero continues my tradition of including ridiculous JRPGs that no one else even thought for a second about including as their game of the year. And here? It makes top honors.

This game came out of no where and dominated my life for a couple weeks. I fell for this game so hard that I even competed in getting high scores by finishing levels in record time and posting the results on the game's official website. But what is it about the game that I love so much?

Everything really. It's a JRPG for one, but it pokes fun and pays homage to my favorite genre. The game's sprite based art has a nostalgic feeling to it that almost makes the game seem like a classic I loved in my childhood. It takes all those things I love about JRPGs and compresses them into little bite sized chunks. The main game Hero-30 which is easily the best part of the game has about 50 levels, all of which can take under 30 seconds to complete. And all of them present an interest puzzle, in making you figure out how to complete a journey's worth of stuff in under half a minute.

If the whole thing sounds hectic, it is. Yet somehow its extremely relaxing. I can't remember the last time I've just been so happy just playing a game. Sure, I love playing games, it's what I do. But there's just something special about HMH.

It doesn't hurt that this addictive gameplay is accompanied by a cute story, that is often times pretty funny. There's even a mission near the end of Hero 30 that is surprisingly deep and emotional.

Aside from Hero 30 there are a few other modes in the game that take the gameplay in radically different directions. There's a 30 second RTS, Shooter, and an interesting escort mode that make up the other half of the game. While these modes aren't nearly as entertaining, they're still fun and I didn't have any problem completing them to unlock the game's finale.

I don't expect people to agree with me. That's fine. I don't even expect the game to get mentioned during GoTY awards, even though it should. Props to IGN for giving it PSP Game of the Year though. Still, this game is without a doubt the game I enjoyed the most this year. And I see myself coming back to it many times in the coming years whenever I feel the need to do a speed run. I can only hope that Marvelous will do a sequel.

If you're a fan of JRPGs, please check this game out. You might not even like the frantic speed of the game, but I'm sure you can appreciate the homage it pays to the genre. Even if you're not the biggest JRPG fan this is probably worth checking out as it does away with a lot of the things people tend to dislike about the genre. specifically spending a large portion of time grinding for level-ups.

And that's my Games of The Year. Hope you enjoyed em'.

Anime of the Year 2009

2009-12-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

Time for my annual Anime of the Year list. How this works: I usually pick my favorite three anime series of the year. However this year I've watched a lot of different shows, and felt that I could bump the list up to 5 top shows. In previous years I allowed shows to be qualified as long as they were at least still airing during the year. This year I decided only to include shows that started airing this year only. Still wasn't hard to pick five, as there were quite a few good shows this year. So with the introduction out of the way - here's my top 5.

5. K-On

Oh, what a surprise. A Kyoto Animation series on my Anime of the Year list. What can I say? K-On generate quite a bit of buzz when it came out, and it seems to have died down a bit in the past few months, perhaps even seeing some back lash. But this moe-injected show was pretty cute and funny, and was really enjoyable to watch every week during it's short run. I can tell you exactly what I was thinking going into the show: "It'll be like Live A Live, but throughout an entire series". Sadly, that wasn't the case, and the few performances the girls did weren't nearly as epic. Still, as I said - very cute, and funny.

Mio is my, as well as many other people's favorite character. She's the band's sexy bass player. She's pretty shy at times, but somehow remains "cool" throughout the whole series, except for a few parts where she finds herself in embarrassing situations. Some of which are the best moments in the series. The other characters all have their own personalities and charms, but Mio is still my favorite. Something worth noting: the show's ending theme "Don't Say Lazy" is fucking amazing. It's easily one of the coolest endings to an anime that I can remember. Sadly it also acts as the girl's greatest performance in the whole series, and it's not even part of any actual episode.

If you were a fan of Lucky Star, or any other slice of life moe series check out K-On. However I understand it's not for everyone since there isn't much substance to be had.

4. Toaru Kagaku no Railgun

First off, sorry - the wiki for Railgun seems to be tied to the main series "Toaru Majutsu no Index". They take place in the same world, with the same characters. So hey - if you're interesting in Railgun, might as well check out Index. Anyways...

I liked Index, it was a pretty cool show, and if my list was bigger last year I might have included it. Sadly it got really complicated, and the show's name sake, Index, became a secondary character half way through the series. Luckily a side series based off one of the original series more interesting characters was made. Though... it wasn't quite what I was expecting.

Where Index remained a pretty "serious" series throughout most of it, dealing with big battles and a rather convoluted plot. Railgun is actually a more lighthearted series, that only gets "serious" in the last leg of the show. Like K-On, there are many funny/cute moments, but it's not nearly as moe themed as K-On. Also the show is almost an excuse for fans to salivate over the yuri "relationship" between the series main character Misaki, and her roommate Kuroko.

I was expecting the series to give some more backstory on Misaki, her clones, and Accelerator, all of these things were part of her story in Index, and really it was the most interesting part in that series. Sadly none of the is explored here. That doesn't make the show bad, just different then what I expected.

Instead I got an interesting side story, that was entertaining to watch with my roommate every week. It's sad that it was such a short run, but that seems to be a trend among recent anime series lately.

If you liked Index, I'd suggest checking out Railgun. Also, if you didn't like Index I'd suggest checking out Railgun, just because it's quite a bit different. If you've never had any involvement with the series at all, well you might still enjoy it, but you'd be missing out on a lot of Misaki's story. And none of the Touma parts would make sense. But hey, maybe you don't need any of that.

3. Valkyria Chronicles

Again, sorry. The wiki page is tied to the game seemingly. Both have the same story though, so if you're interested - check it out. Valkyria Chronicles made it onto my Game of the Year list last year despite the fact that I never finished the brutally difficult game. Which was sad, because the story of Valkyria Chronicles is actually quite good. Luckily they were kind enough to make an anime based off of the game, and finally I was able to witness the whole story. Well... with a few minor changes.

One of the best parts about the anime is that it still looks pretty amazing, like the game. The animation is great, and the art is simply beautiful. Especially Alicia's various facial animations which are just fantastic to watch. And as I mentioned before, the story is quite good. Though it's a typical war drama with a few scattered moments of cuteness when the team isn't on the battlefield.

Though I guess it's worth mentioning the changes I was talking about. Now obviously I haven't finished the game, so I can't comment on everything, but from what I read they don't stray from the story too much. However, I'm guessing for the sake of making the show more entertaining - they made Faldio a major character. I was a bit put off by this at first, but ultimately it helps strengthen the story.

There's some pretty emotional scenes in the series, but that's to be expected out of a show that revolves around a war. Still, it isn't all doom and gloom. If you're a fan of the game at all, I think it goes without saying that you should check out the anime. Even if you know the whole story, as I said there's some new things to see anyway.

2. Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini

I liked the original Darker Then Black, and am honestly having a hard time trying to figure out why I didn't include it on my Anime of the Year list back in 2007. Having just watched the whole series again recently makes it even more confusing. Still... we're here to talk about the new season of the show.

Ryūsei no Gemini, or Twins of the Meteor if you prefer is a continuation of the original series. I'm not sure how many years it takes place after the original series, as details of what happened in between the two are pretty vague. It's a bit disappointing that we don't really get any answers about what happened at the end of the first series, but the new story is still pretty interesting. Plus it's nice to see familiar faces return.

Like the first series, RnG is mainly an aciton show dealing with people with special abilities. Also like the first show there's a bunch of conspiracies taking place in between the action. My favorite part about the series is that the idea of a Contractor is pretty cool. They have all these neat powers, but they usually have to pay some sort of weird price to use their abilities. It's an interesting concept that provides a few "what the fuck?" moments.

Accompanying those powers are all the interesting characters in the series. Not only do most of them look cool, but they all have different personalities and quirks. Which is weird considering Contractors are supposed to be emotionless.

If you're looking for a good action show, with a plot that's a little more complicated than clear cut good vs. evil, give RnG and the original series a shot. And if you liked the first season, might as well check out this way.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Ah, Fullmetal Alchemist. I was a big fan of the original series. Little did I know it deviated so much from the Manga. Not that it was a bad show, but the original anime was full of a bunch of filler and had some made up ending. Luckily Bones has decided to revisit the Fullmetal Alchemist well and put out a reboot of the anime. This time following the manga's story much more closely.

The first 13 or so episodes of this new series cover story events that happened in the first anime, after that it has been all new content. It was still entertaining to rewatch the old stuff, sans filler. It's some of the events that have happened since then that really make this my favorite anime of the year.

Sure, it's a shonen anime. Think of that what you will, I happen to love the stuff. I especially like the whole antiquated technology meets magical alchemy setting of the series. And while the characters might not be as deep as the ones found in a series like Darker Than Black, there are still some really cool ones, each with their own stories and goals.

It's nice to see a continuation of the story that was suddenly ended in the first series. The story isn't super complicated or anything, but it's engaging and there's enough mysteries and surprises to keep me waiting anxiously for a new episode each week. There's also some really good Opening and Ending themes in the series. The second ending is actually used in a pretty amazing way to end one episode.

I dunno, it's hard to describe why I like this series so much without going into specific story events and spoiling them. There are just quite a few moments where I get pumped up, as I'm prone to do with these shonen shows. Fullmetal Alchemist has been around for a while, chances are if you were ever interested in it you've checked out the first series. If not, but you are looking for a good shonen show, check out Brotherhood. It's better than the original, and covers all the story you need.

Honorable Mentions:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya Season 2: Yes, Haruhi Season 2 finally happened. No, it's not on my list for Anime of the Year. Why? Endless Eight. For those unaware Endless Eight is a series of eight nearly identical episodes that take up a good portion of this new season of Haruhi. It's pretty infamous at this point, and honestly I felt it ruined this season. Still, the rest of the season, all 5 other episodes or whatever are quite good. If you were a fan of the first season, check this out. And do yourself a favor and go look at the trailer for the upcoming movies "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzimiya" It's going to be amazing.

Eden of The East: This series started off so great, and then fell on it's ass near the end. I guess they wanted to save the rest of the series for two full length movies that are coming out. They might be good, but that doesn't stop it from really putting a downer on the series. It's a pretty crazy story though, and poses an interesting question: What would you do with a shit ton of money?

Bakemonogatari: Honestly, I was going to put this on the actual list, but I had such a hard time trying to think of things I liked about the series. It does some really interesting things, but at the cost of making what would otherwise be a really amazing series feel pretty incomplete. It still has a really cool story, with some awesome characters. And when you're actually watching the characters the series looks really nice. Sadly it doesn't look like they even began to scratch the surface of the whole story though. Still, Japan seems to fucking love it. Check it out.

The Sacred Blacksmith: This is easily one of the best looking, if not the best looking anime this year. The productions values are ridiculous, and the animation is amazing. My only complaint about it would be the length. The show seems to just get going when they wrap it up. Hopefully there will be another season in the works, because there is still a lot left to be resolved. If you like fantasy anime, this is definitely one to watch.

RPGs of The Decade

2009-12-15T00:13:00.000-08:00

December has always been a month for list with me, starting back in 2006. Every year I get together with my roommate and we make a list of our favorite games of the year. I also make a little list awarding my favorite anime of the year. Those are still coming in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and create a list of my 10 favorite games to come out in the last decade. Yeah, after this a measly game of the year list might seem anti-climatic. However I've seen sites posting their decade list before their year list - so I think it's okay.

You'll notice that the list is called "RPGs of The Decade", this is because it just so happens that my 10 favorite games to come out this Decade all happen to be RPGs. After some feedback I decided to change the name of the list to reflect on this. So now it doesn't seem like I'm quite so biased since the only games that will qualify for this list are RPGs. Still, if you're reading this - then you know how I really feel. Oh well. I might take the time to come up with another list of 10 games that came out this decade that I liked that weren't RPGs. But that really depends on how bored I get, and if I get my other list out of the way first.

Speaking of other games I thought of, I thought up 44 games that I loved that came out this decade. That's not even counting other games in the same series. And speaking of that, I've decided to only include one game from each series in this list. It made for some tough choices, but I thought it was only fair. Finally, I didn't count any game that was re-released in the past decade that originally came out more than 10 years ago - sorry Final Fantasy Tactics.

Let's begin.

10. Diablo 2 (PC) 06/29/2000

Let's start off with the definitive loot whore game. Diablo 2 is a game that is hailed by many as being one of the greatest games this decade - not just by me. It was an improvement on it's predecessor in just about every way, and many games have tried to copy the magic of Diablo 2. Like many people I was addicted to Diablo 2 when it first came out, despite the fact that I didn't even have a working sound card I still played the shit out of the game. Later on I was finally able to hear the sounds of Diablo 2, and well - that only helped the experience.

The main reason Diablo 2 is on my list is because even ten years later, I can still go back to Diablo 2 and crack out on it for a few weeks. Like I said, many games have tried to recreate that said digital crack that is D2, but somehow they always fall short in some way or another. However there's still room in my heart for another loot whore game. More on that in a bit.

9. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC) 5/1/2002

Morrowind was the first game in The Elder Scrolls series that I played, and ironically my favorite, out of the two I played at least. Aside from Diablo 2, this was one of the first Western RPGs I really got into. The world of Morrowind is massive, with an incredible story that could be played out in very drastically different ways depending on how you played it. I remember spending plenty of hours with the character creator alone, and when I finally found the character(s) I wanted to use I ventured out into this crazy world. Morrowind is a massive game that can take hundreds of hours to complete if you just go out and explore the world and try to do all the side quest. One of my finest memories of Morrowind is stealing a house in Balmora and filling it with various sets of armor I had collected.

The reason I picked Morrowind over Oblivion, the other TES game I played is mainly because of a first love thing, but also because I think Morrowind is the better game. People might disagree with me, especially considering Oblivion isn't nearly as fucked up, but the story isn't nearly as good either.

8. World of Warcraft (PC) 11/23/2004

I could praise World of Warcraft for being really successful, or for being extremely influential. But really, it's the 6 months of actual hours played that puts it on my list. And honestly, that's pretty casual by some people's standards. I shouldn't need to tell you about WoW, it's the biggest game in the MMORPG genre, a genre I've been known to get extremely addicted to from time to time. It just celebrated it's 5 year anniversary, and it's still going strong with another expansion on the horizon.

I've done a little of everything in WoW, from hardcore raiding to ranked arena matches and everything in between. I even have a Figure Print made of my Tauren Shaman that sits no more than a few feet away from me. There are so many great memories I have of this game. Like being pulled into a Molten Core run in progress for my very first time raiding, or causing someone to log out of the game during PVP. Though my fondest memory would probably be the first time I finally got to play the game in open beta. It was easily one of my most anticipated games of all time. And I loved it.

7. Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) 1/29/2001

Years before World of Warcraft came out, or even before I had even gone online with Diablo 2 - my first online gaming experience was with Phantasy Star Online. I remember seeing video about the game, and everyone ranting and raving about how awesome it was. I finally caved in and hooked my Dreamcast up to the internet, got a keyboard and jumped online with what would become my first real gamging addiction.

Oddly enough I had never invested much time into the older Phantasy Star games, much to my dismay at this point since it's a little too late for me to get into them. However I was instantly attracted to the futuristic setting of PSO, the stylized anime inspired look, the catchy music, and the loot. Oh god, the loot. Sure I had played Diablo 2 already by this point, and as I've already established Diablo 2 was the better game. But, Jesus Christ if I wasn't madly addicted to PSO.

I remember meeting a bunch of friends on there, including the one guy who pretty much taught me everything about the game, and the deaf guy who told me an interesting story about how he had to touch the speakers on his TV to feel the vibrations in order to solve a puzzle in one of the Resident Evil games. Regardless if that was true or not, it was still interesting.

As a testament to how much I loved this game, I remember getting my character - a HUcast to max level - 200 hours of gameplay. One night the VMU fell out of my controller and erased all of my data. What did I do? Started over, and got back up to max level again. Sure, there might have been more complete iterations of the game, but this will always be the version I remember.

6. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii) 11/11/2007

Before Radiant Dawn I had dabbled in the first Fire Emblem game they had released here in the U.S. on GBA. I thought it was neat, but ultimately too hard for my taste, or patience at the time. My roommate had played the Gamecube predecessor of Radiant Dawn though and picked this game up back in 2007. I didn't think too much of it at the time, still looked too difficult for me to get into. Then for whatever reason I decided to pick the game up again sometime in early 2008. I was hooked.

The reason I like Radiant Dawn so much is probably another case of first love, but again, after playing all the games they released here I'd still say it's the best one. The story is awesome, with a much cooler cast of characters overall than the other games. And I thought this even before playing the original game - so I was missing half of the story. I eventually went back and played Path of Radiance though and loved this game's story and characters even more. Nephenee - the game's most overpowered character is one of my favorite video game characters.

The only bad thing about Radiant Dawn is the fact that I played this game several months too late to include it in my Game of The Year list for 2007. Thankfully, I'm finally able to give the game it's due with this list.

5. Persona 3: FES (Playstation 2) 4/22/2008

The original Persona 3 was my Game of The Year in 2007, and FES is a better version with extra content for the original game, and a whole new second story to play through. The whole Persona series is an interesting take on the JRPG genre, doing away with fantasy or sci-fi and taking place in modern day Japan. This was also the first game in the series to add a whole non-combat portion of the game where your character could build up relationships with friends outside of the dungeon crawl.

It was a tough decision trying to decide if I liked Persona 3 or Nocturne more. In the end I went with Persona 3 based on it's characters and the daytime exploration and activities that set it apart from other JRPGs. As for Persona 4 - yeah, it's the better made game, and I love that game too, but not as much as I loved Nocturne or Persona 3.

I don't really have any memorable stories to tell about my time with Persona 3, but I have played through the original story three times since the game originally came out in 2007, that's several hundred hours of gameplay mind you. I also adore the characters, the story, and especially the music. Yeah you haters can keep on hatin' Lotus Juice, but Mass Destruction is one of the coolest, and catchiest battle themes in any game. And don't even get me started on Burn My Dread, or FES's Opening Song.

4. Suikoden 3 (Playstation 2) 10/24/2002

I imagine I'm beginning to sound like a broken record with these "first taste" affairs, but I'm afraid that's what this is again. At least I don't have to justify why I like Suikoden 3 more than 2 on this list. Actually, much like Fire Emblem, I had played a Suikoden game before 3. I rented 2 for a weekend back when that came out, but didn't make too much progress into it.

Hell, I didn't even like Suikoden 3 at first. The first time I tried playing the game I hated it. I can't really remember why at this point though. Something to do with the battle system I think. Which is fucking ridiculous, because I love Suikoden's battle system now.

Suikoden 3 is the black sheep of the series though. It's quite a bit different than the rest of the games, well to an extent. In the end it's all the same, but instead of playing as a mute unnamed hero (Yes, I know they all have official names) , you get to play the game from the perspective of three different main characters. One of them will eventually take over as the leader of the army, but it's still a change of pace. Personally I enjoyed this system more than the fixed perspective of the one hero in the other games.

The other thing I like about the game is the "strategy battles" that are a staple of the series. In this game you build up your characters to be automatically controlled in battles against the enemy. I don't really know why I like this so much, but I do. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you can use a few tricks to really destroy the enemy at everyone of these strategy battles? I don't know. Oh yeah, I also like Chris a lot too, she is after all one of my favorite characters.

There's not much else I can say about it really. I've played the game through about once every year since it's come out, and it made me fall in love with what is now one of my favorite JRPG series. Now I just hope Konami will release Suikoden 6 at some point.

3. Ragnarok Online (PC) 6/01/2003

Oh boy, Ragnarok Online. I don't even know where to begin. Phantasy Star Online might've been my first addiction, and World of Warcraft might be the better game, but there is no doubt that I got hooked on Ragnarok Online harder than any game - ever. And I will probably never experience anything like those days gone by ever again.

I can't remember how it all started. All I can remember is picking up the Alpha for this game. Yes- the fucking Alpha. I got a few of my friends to join with me, as I made a Swordsman and embarked on my first true MMORPG adventure. I played the Alpha for as long as it was around, but dropped out of the game when the first Beta hit. I would eventually pick it back up when Beta 2 came around. And kept playing until about a year after launch. Ever since then I've had an on and off relationship with the game. I've long since quit playing on official servers due to the fact that it's so ungodly slow to actually progress in the game. But I still find myself playing on private servers from time to time.

Honestly, there are many problems with RO. It is a Korean MMO after all. They're a dime a dozen anymore, and none of them have really changed. The game is also pre-WoW, so a lot of things WoW revolutionized were either never there, or are still missing from the game. But that's not the important thing. What's important is that it was amazing at the time. I would play the game for hours, upon hours. Barely taking a break to eat or sleep. And it's the friends I played with, and the friends I met. It's the porn phenomenon that the game's cute style surprisngly lends itself well to. It's the addictive nature of collecting a bunch of useless, albeit cute hats.

Ragnarok Online will always hold a special place in my heart, and that's why it's on my god damn list.

2. Xenosaga: Episode I - Der Wille zur Macht (Playstation 2) 2/25/2003

Xenogears would rank pretty high on the decade before last's list. And Xenosaga is no different in this decade. Still, while KOS-MOS and crew might not make top honors, Xenosaga is still one of my favorite game series.

The hardest part was deciding between Episode 1, and Episode 3. Both of them are awesome in their own ways. For instance, Episode 3 has better Mech combat, and I like KOS-MOS' design better in that game. It also has T-elos. Ultimately though, I've played Episode 1 way more than is healthy, probably largely in due part to it's awesome combat system and higher production values. Oh - it's also the only one to have an anime made after it - if that counts for anything.

Why do I love Xenosaga so much though? It was just amazing for the time. It was one of the first JRPGs to feature that much voice acted dialogue, huge cinematic cut scenes, an awesome story that's a prequel to one of my favorite games of all time, and one of my favorite characters of all time too. Sure, a lot of people give the game shit for the cinematics, but I play these games for the story just as much as the action - so I'm all for it. Also the series tends to dip into some really ridiculous religious nonesense, but again - I'm all for that shit.

Let's just try and forget Episode 2 ever happened though - k?

1. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (Playstation / Playstation Portable) 9/29/2000 / 7/18/2006

Before we begin with this, my personal Game of The Decade. I just wanted to point out that I'm considering that remake for PSP the best version of the game. This still qualifies though, because amazingly enough the original game did come out this Decade. Honestly though, aside from the new CG cinematics, and a cleaned up script - the games are identical. Anyways...

Valkyrie Profile is easily one of my favorite games ever. It would rank in my top 5 out of everything, from any decade. And I have played this game so many fucking times, getting every character, and every ending, and every item, and every...THING. Seriously. This game also caused me to become obsessed with Norse mythology, and most of all Valkyries. Needless to say - Lenneth is another one of my favorite characters.

So why is this game so great? Why is it such a classic? Everything. For starters the battle system is simply amazing. It does away with the traditional turn based menu selecting in favor of a more action oriented system. Where you tap the character's assigned buttons in an effort to juggle the enemy and build up massive combos in order to unleash an uber special attack. That alone was enough to set the game apart from any JRPG back when it came out ten years ago.

The other thing, as you might imagine is the story. It was surprisingly deep for the time, especially for a JRPG. Most JRPGs to this day still have very linear story lines. In Valkyrie Profile you're able to go through three different story paths, and get a new selection of characters with their own stories on each path. You can "beat" the game on each path, but the ending will be radically different. In the true ending, you end up rebelling against Odin - the fucking King of the Gods!

So while I may really like Persona, Suikoden, and Xenosaga. Valkryie Profile did a lot of interesting shit with JRPGs. They continued to do this in the following Valkyrie Profile games -changing up the standard formula everytime. And all of them are good games - Silmeria was my GoTY in 2006, and Plume... well keep an eye out for this year's GoTY list to see what I think about that one. Still, the original game, or rather the remake "Lenneth" is easily my favorite game this decade.

Do the wrong thing: Dragon Age: Origins

2009-12-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

Two things before I start. One, "Do the wrong thing" is blatantly ripped off of a series of articles posted by editors and community members over at Destructoid. I liked the idea, so I decided to do one for myself (granted what I'm about to write is about as far removed from the article I linked that remotely possible) even though I don't have a Dtoid community blog - because god forbid someone actually reads my shitty writing. Two, SPOILER WARNING. Seriously, I am going to spoil Dragon Age: Origins hardcore here, if you haven't played it and plan on playing it - TURN BACK NOW. You have been warned.

Note: I'm a little foggy on how some of this went down. After all, I can't be expected to remember all 86 hours of the game I just spent an entire month on. So some of what I say might be incorrect. Bear with me.

I played through Dragon Age: Origins as a male Human noble. Thus, I felt it was appropriate to fuck everything with a pulse that would let me near it. What does that have to do with being a Human noble? I dunno, just seemed like a good idea.

Yet the first female who joins your party - Morrigan - quickly became my favorite character. I decided that if possible, this would be the character that I "get with". It wasn't hard getting into some sort of a relationship with her, despite trying to play a "good" character, Morrigan is still so god damn easy to get into her panties that you just need to kick a puppy (not literally) once and she's wet and ready. After we boned though, I kept building up my affinity with her until the point where she was in love with me. At this point she didn't want to have sex anymore. A bit boring, but not like I was missing out by not watching the awkward sex scenes over and over again.

So only a few hours into the game and I was already in like flynn with the coolest character in the game. I'm set right? Well...

Of course at this time Leliana had joined the party, and I was interested in shacking up with her. But that nut was a little harder to crack. See, Leliana is all holy and righteous, and what not. So she's not going to spread her legs for just any Grey Warden. So for a time I remained faithful to Morrigan...

...then Zevran showed up. He's like Morrigan with a dick, and pointy ears. Tell him what a handsom Elf he is and he's ready to grab the KY. Now before I picked the dialog option to go back to Zevran's tent with him, I considered Morrigan's feelings for a moment. And then decided she would probably be cool with it. I mean, she seems pretty morally bankrupt as it is. How could she deny me an experimental experience with a strapping young Elf? Well...

... we fucked. Zevran seemed to like it, but obviously this was going to be a one night stand. I tried a little Dalish sausage and had my fill. Time to go check back in with Morrigan. Uh - oh. She was NOT happy about this. However it seems like I could salvage the relationship by breaking it off with Zev. No sweat, he was just a phase. Gotta keep my eye on the prize...

...then I went to the whore house in Denerim and slept with every man, woman, and nug in the joint. However Morrigan didn't seem to mind any of it...

... then Leliana got the hots for me. However this girl was no fool. She knew that I had something going with Morrigan, and she wasn't about to commit to a relationship (or fucking) until I broke it off with Claudia Black - I mean Morrigan.

So it was at this point that I thought to myself: "Man, I really like the idea of hooking up with Morrigan, but I've pretty much stuck my dick in everything in Ferelden at this point, including Leliana's pet nug "Schmooples". I'll just strictly romance Morrigan on another playthrough." So I tell Leliana that it's over between Morrigan and I. - Bad decision #1.

We have some awkward sex, then the girl is positively smitten with me. Of course when I go talk to Morrigan she wants to know who it's going to be. I let her know that it's Leliana for me, and then that's it. That's the end of Morrigan and me. No longer could I get into a relationship with her, no more awkward sex either. We were just - friends.

At this point I had made my bed, so I might as well lie in it. It was all Leliana all the time, totally dedicated. No more bisexual Elf boys, no more "Women" at the Pearl, none of it. I was dedicated, a real gentlemen...

...That was until I learned that I could become the fucking King. Now, at this point in the game you have three options available to you. You can either let your good buddy and fellow Grey Warden, Alistar become the rightful King to the throne. You can let the current Queen remain in power by her lonesome. Or you can marry the Queen and claim the title of "King" as your own. However - this option is only available to male Human nobles. So I decided this was my one shot at doing this, I hadn't even met the Queen yet, but I was going to do it. - Bad decision #2.

After rescuing the Queen from imprisonment I spring this plan on her. that I want to be her hubby and rule along side her. She's cool with it, just so long as she holds most of the power. Wait - what? So I'm just going to be a King in name? I won't actually rule the Kingdom? I'll just be this power hungry bitch's husband? I won't even be wearing the pants in this "relationship"? Yeah, cool. Let's do it.

Of course the next time I'm at camp talking to Leliana she is done with me too. So now I had thrown away my relationship with the chick I left Morrigan for, a girl I didn't even really like in the first place, for a woman I like even less. Way to go hero.

So now I've denied myself the woman I wanted to be with, and her replacement. I've even denied Ferelden their rightful King, my good buddy Alistar. And am going to enter a no-love marriage just so I can't even rule the Kingdom. Wonderful. Well, let's ride this out until the end. What else could go wrong?

Well, how about on the evening before the final battle I'm told that either Alistar or myself have to die to slay the evil Archdemon causing this whole mess? Then I'm propositioned by Morrigan to have sex with her again, but this time just so that I can impregnate her so we can conceive a child that will be used in some bat shit insane dark ritual to spare mine and Alistar's life. Sounds like a plan!

So we kill the Archdemon. Where does that leave us?

Well, my love interest Morrigan disappear into the wilds with my bastard demon spawn child never to be seen from again. Leliana goes back to her homeland to hook up with her lesbian lover. And I get stuck with some boring ass Queen who's going to rule the Kingdom instead of me.

I done fucked up.

Some words about Assassin's Creed 2

2009-12-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

If you've been following me on twitter, or better yet happen to talk to me in the so called "real life" you know that I've been bashing my head against the wall while playing Assassin's Creed 2. To say that I hated the game would be an understatement. At least I did hate it. Now? I kind of just feel that it's a mediocre game that can be fun at times, and extremely frustrating and dull the rest of the time. So while I may not hate the game anymore, it should go without saying that I think all of the praise is undeserved.

In my opinion Jim Sterling's controversial review over at Destructoid sums it up best. For the most part I agree with everything Jim had to say about the game, with a few exceptions. The main exception being that I feel that Assassin's Creed 1 was a far worse game, hell I couldn't even play more than about 3 hours of it before I decided it was utter shit. So, yes I'd say it's alright for you to believe people when they say Assassin's Creed 2 is a better game, but that certainly isn't saying much.

I could leave it at that, but I think I'll ramble on for a bit about some of the things I did and didn't like about the game for a bit.

My two biggest complaints became less annoying as I progressed with the game, so I'll meet the game half-way and say that some of the issues I had were my fault. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Firstly, the climbing in this game isn't nearly as easy or as fun as it should be. One of the biggest parts of the Assassin's Creed series is being able to climb up and around just about every building and object in the game's world. So you'd think they'd get this part right, but no they didn't.

The biggest part with climbing up things is because the game treats climbing more like a puzzle than free form exploration. There were a few times in the game where I can recall being utterly stumped on how to climb up a tower. The game needs you to climb a specific way, and it doesn't give you any hints on how to do this.

One example: I was on the balcony of this tower with a wooden pole sticking out of the side of the tower just above the balcony. I tried climbing up on the sides of the balcony and jumping towards the pole to grab onto it - this often sent me flying off the side of the tower to my death, and being forced to restart the whole 5 minute chase segment all over again. What the game really wants you to do is climb up on the balcony in front of where the pole ends and jump up and grab the end of the pole and pull yourself upwards. Why you had to do it like this? I don't know.

There are many other times in the game where I'd get stumped for shorter amounts of time, but it still slowed downed the progression of what should have been a quick painless process. God forbid I ever wanted to do any of the race side missions and have to deal with figuring this stuff out while being timed.

A few final words about the climbing: I finally got the hang of what the game wanted me to do in most situations in the later part of the game, but I would still be stumped from time to time. That combined with Ezio randomly decided to wall jump off of things to his death didn't help matters either though. So who's to say I don't just suck at climbing shit in games? Well, I certainly didn't have any trouble with it when I was playing Uncharted 2.

My other big complaint is the combat. And while I feel there are many problems with the climbing and jumping around in AC2, my beef with the combat might just be because I suck at it, sadly. Still it seems like some of the mechanics might be wonky anyways. Hard to say.

Basically, in Assassin's Creed - as far as I can tell - the game wants you to take advantage of the "counter kill" ability. So by parrying, dodging, or disarming a foe (depending on it's type) you can one shot kill every normal enemy in the game. I could be wrong about this though, because as I have stated - I kind of suck at this.

So for the first half of the game I spent a large portion of combat just wildly swinging away at enemies until I was lucky enough to hit them. This resulted in really long battles where I would have to chug a bunch of medicine to stay alive.

Eventually I started experimenting with counter kills and the results by the end of the game were as such: I could parry counter kill 50% of the time, dodge counter kill 0% of the time, and disarm counter kill 100% of the time. Most of the enemies you need to parry, so only doing it right half of the time kind of sucks. The enemies you need to dodge are the toughest enemies in the game, so never being able to do it REALLY sucks. And the guys with pole arms? Well I fucked those guys up.

So I imagine anyone who is a pro at this will have a lot of fun with the combat in the game, because admittedly it it quite satisfying to brutally murder a dude with one attack. Sadly, I could not get a grip on this system though, so the combat was annoying most of the time. I was lucky when I could get the jump on a couple of dudes and assassinate them both at the same time with my double hidden blades, avoiding the whole tiresome combat altogether. Plus it looks sick as hell.

Well, those were my biggest problems with Assassin's Creed 2. The rest of the game was either hit or miss. There were a couple of aggravating sequences that I could rant about, but won't because this is already pretty long winded. Well... maybe I'll just bitch about one of them.

The part in the game where you have to do a bunch of bullshit side-quest type missions in order to proceed with the game. That was easily the worst part of the game. Playing Capture the Flag? Seriously? I'm a god damned Assassin, I shouldn't be forced to play some stupid mini game that pretty much revolves around the frustrating climbing mechanics of the game. Oh - there's also a race mission. I fucking hate that part of the game.

Aside from that, there were some cool moments in the game, but I don't care enough about actually liking the game to talk about those. But I will say, if you at least rent this game, you'll get some enjoyment out of it. And that's about the nicest thing I can say about it.

Does the game deserve a 4.5? Maybe. I'd probably rate it a tiny bit higher, and even higher still if I was good at the combat. Is it the Game of the Year? No. No it isn't. The sad thing though is I know at least one outlet that's going to give it the honor, and if they don't I'll be surprised.

You don't have to take my word for it though, god knows nobody really cares what I think. But I figured I'd at least contribute to knocking the game down a peg, while venting my frustrations of course.

AoTY: One Piece

2009-11-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

Hello, it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, you can blame Twitter for my lack of productivity. Gone are the days where I'd spent about an hour typing up a big rant, or review. Why bother when you can get it done in 140 characters or less? I do feel bad about it though, and as I make my way through my anual "of the Year" post, I'll attempt to be more active in the blog world.

The Anime of the Year for 2009 is One Piece. At least, it would be if One Piece didn't start 10 years ago. Still, it's easily the most enjoyable Anime I've watched this year. Don't panic, I'll do a real "Anime of The Year" list next month, filled with new shows that can actually qualify. I wanted to take a moment to gush about One Piece though.

I remember picking up the show sometime in early 2001. By that time the show had been running for a little over a year. It was one of the first fan subbed shows I downloaded. I remember waiting a painful amount of time to get each episode of Kazaa or whatever P2P service I was using back then and falling in love with the series.

It's a strange kind of love though. See, I tend to watch a chunk of One Piece every couple years. A good 40-80 episodes usually, though one time I think I was so far behind that I watched 120+ episodes in the span of like a month. Whenever the show finishes up a particularly epic arc it would usually go into filler and I would lose interest for a couple years. This last time was no different.

At this point, I'm pretty sure I can safely say that One Piece is my favorite Shonen Jump series. I watched Naruto for a long while, and I still hang onto Bleach. But there's just something about One Piece that makes it stand out. I think it's largely due to the fact that the action stays with Luffy's crew, instead of branching out to a bunch of random side characters that I don't give a shit about. Sure, not all of Luffy's crew are interesting to watch, but I don't really hate any of them.

My favorite parts of the series usually revolve around Luffy though. He's obviously the toughest of the crew, and he's such a great guy. I always get pumped when Luffy gets pissed off over the treatment of his friends or innocents causing Luffy to go balls out, regardless of whatever consequences may come.

I don't want to spend too much time talking about the whole show though, rather I just wanted to talk about the last 50 or so episodes that I just caught up on last month, and why I enjoyed them more than anything else I watched this year.

Spoiler Alert: Mild Spoilers ahead.

Last time I watched One Piece was at the end of the Thriller Bark arc, a pretty great arc that had one of the coolest moments in One Piece involving Zoro and Kuma. I already knew what I was looking forward to in this batch of episodes though: Boa Hancock. I remember seeing pictues of her the last time I was into One Piece and thinking she was easily the hottest One Piece girl. Of course this prompted me to read up on her, and thus I was excited for when the show would catch up to her.

The main arc in this batch of episodes was the Sabaody Archipelago. There were some pretty epic moments in this arc including a pretty powerful ending where Luffy gets separated from the Straw Hat crew. Sadly there weren't too many epic fights, as the Straw Hats found themselves overwhelmed by more powerful forces for perhaps the first time in the series. There were some other great moments though, including the introduction of several powerful "Rookies" with bounties over 100 million.

I would watch about 4 of these episodes in a row everytime I got something to eat, or whenever I didn't feel like playing a game. It took me about two weeks to finish about 30 episodes. Not bad, considering I spend a great deal of time playing games, or watching other stuff with my roommate. I could tell I was hooked on One Piece again though, I'd talk about it with anyone I could, even if they weren't all that interested. Already I was more dedicated to watching these episodes than any other anime that had been released this year. Granted, I had a bulk of One Piece to watch, and new anime is only released once a week - sometimes I would have a backlog of episodes for certain series though.

Anyways...

After the Archipelago arc, I knew it was about time for Hancock to make her entrance. Again, I watched a few of the episodes every once in a while. That was until Boa finally showed up in an episode. I then proceeded to watch the next 15 or so episodes in a row until I was caught up with the current broadcast. Yeah... Needless to say, I'm a big Hancock fan. Not just because she's hot, but she's an interesting character, and I love the interactions between her and Luffy. Basically, she falls madly in love with him, but Luffy being Luffy really doesn't get it. But he is thankful to her, and nice to her as well. Resulting in her acting extremely cute on several occasions.

Granted, this is all a bit different than what I usually watch One Piece for, but I still enjoyed it. And it wasn't as if some epic shit wasn't happening in the meantime. Luffy unleashes a new powerful ability that will likely let Luffy overcome previously overpowered foes. And also the biggest fight in the history of the series is about to exploded as the world's strongest pirates are going to war with the Marines. Finally, Ace returns to the series in a big way, and Luffy is trying to meet up with him as a priority - even over reuniting with his crew members. So yeah - shit got real.

And that's about all I want to say, because I tend to scrap stuff that I got into too much detail about. I just feel that it's pointless to fully explain something, if people are interested, give them a reason to go check it out. As it is, I'm not too happy with how these ramblings turned out. Hopefully I was able to get the message across though. That being: I really like One Piece, it was the coolest thing I watched this year, go watch it. Easier said than done if you've never watched the show. We're on Episode 420 something at this point. So good luck newbies.

I'll be back next month with all those list I like to do, hopefully with 50% less rambling.

Microsoft's E3 Conference

2009-06-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

So Microsoft's big E3 conference just wrapped up and there were some good news to be had. Sadly there weren't really any "megatons" as far as I'm concerned, but a few announcements came close and were none the less surprising. Here's my take on the conference:

Biggest Surprises

Crackdown 2: Maybe not too surprising. There's been plenty of speculation about another Crackdown coming, especially with that Premium theme hitting a few weeks ago. Still, it's more Crackdown, and the city is infected with zombies. Sounds bad ass to me.

Halo Reach: I'm not terribly excited about this, nor am I about ODST. Still it's a new Halo game, I don't think people were expecting that. Surprise!

Metal Gear Solid Rising: It's not MGS4 on the 360, which makes this quite a bit more surprising. It's a whole new Metal Gear game that might feature Raiden? Kojima seemed to elude to the fact that he didn't mention anything about Solid Snake. Interesting!

Favorite Announcement

Final Fantasy XIII: We've known XIII is coming to the 360 since last year's conference. However now we've finally seen the first footage of the game running on 360. It looks great, but I'm still wondering how many disc it will be. My favorite part of this announcement though is that the game is coming Spring 2010, and the fact that they're showing a 360 build WITH English dub is proof that the localization is already underway. Oh we also got to see Odin!

Biggest Disappointments

Left 4 Dead 2: Yeah, I might get a lot of shit for this, but come on - really? I have no problem with there being more Left 4 Dead, even if I think a whole sequel is a little soon and happens to take place in fucking New Orleans seemingly. But is this our big Valve announcement? Fuck. Where's my Episode 3, or Portal 2, or something new and exciting.

Project Natal: Now this is really something I could give two shits about. Microsoft's new Motion Control camera is set to bore the gaming populace with it's shitty casual games that require way too much physical effort. Yeah, it's like the Wii. That's the problem. We already have all that waggle and Wii Fit. I don't need it on the 360 too. Plus the "games" they showcased looked terrible with the exception of Milo - which probably won't work as advertised.

Everything Else

The Beatles Rockband: I'm not terribly excited about this either, I'm just not very familiar with The Beatles. But it's certainly coming, and it's got an exclusive song on the 360.

Tony Hawk Ride: DON'T CARE.

Modern Warfare 2: I feel the same way I do about MW2 as I do about Halo. I'll certainly check it out, but I'm not super excited about it like everyone else on the planet is. Microsoft has a timed exclusive on two map packs though. Ouch Sony.

Shadow Complex: Gears of War 3 this is not, but this new Metroidvania XBLA exclusive from Epic has caught my interest. Even if we don't know a whole helluva lot about it yet.

Joyride: ...

Splinter Cell: Conviction: I've never really gotten into a Splinter Cell game, but have always wanted to. Maybe this will be the one? Hopefully it won't me too much like Assassin's Creed though like it was previously.

Forza 3: Yep.

Alan Wake: It's Remedy's new game, of course I'm excited. And it's looking pretty fucking awesome. Will it ever come out though?

Facebook, Twitter, last.fm: All coming to 360 baby.... yeah.... woo...!

*Update* on Demand: Looks like you'll be able to download full 360 games sometime soon. Prepapre for a painfull transition into digital distribution.

That's all for the Microsoft Press Conference. Check back later for some more links to videos and any possible updated information as it happens. Sorry for raging about that camera though. Damn.

Pre-E3 Roundup

2009-05-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

Who's excited about E3? I sure am. That's why I'm going to provide some links to various blog post and videos of interest around the web. As per usual this is stuff I find interesting, so don't expect to see everything here. Look for updates to this post throughout the rest of the weekend until the big show starts.

Sony

PSP Go Confirmed?: Seems Qore officially let the cat out of the bag about Sony's upcoming UMD-less, Download only PSP. Some other news post: here.

PS3 Slim: Or lack there-of. Is it real? Will it be there? Who knows? Do I really care? No. But I thought it was worth mentioning.

White Knight Chronicles: Is this game ever coming out? Apparently. I don't recall hearing much about it when it came out in Japan, so that doesn't really bode well. Still, holding out for a great RPG.

Nintendo

No More Heroes 2: Christ, I came when I saw this trailer. I cannot wait for this game!

Silent Hill Shattered Memories: You will shit with fear. Admittedly I was initially skeptical about this reimagining of the original Silent Hill. However it looks like its turning out to be absolutely terrifying. And that's a good thing. Wonder if I'll have the balls to play it.

Microsoft

Lionhead: Fable 2 may be highly overrated by some outlets. However it was still an enjoyable game. Wonder if we'll see Fable 3? Or perhaps some other crazy ass Molyneux project. Begin Speculation!

Mass Effect 2: Is this still a 360 exclusive? I'm not sure. Either way - this trailer is fucking pimp. I enjoyed the first game, even though I had a serious case of backlash when it came to GoTY. This trailer though totally has me pumped for another Mass Effect.

The Rest (Beware of Length)

Bayonetta: Still getting hyped up for Bayonetta, being a big Devil may Cry fan after all. Check out this trailer, and you might be too.

Brutal Legend: I'm not a total Tim Scahfer fanboy, in fact I've only played Psychonauts. However Brutal Legend is looking good.

XSEED: XSEED's E3 Lineup is looking good so far. I can't wait for that Lunar remake, Fragile looks amazing, and Flower, Sun and Rain is another crazy(?) Suda 51 game. What's not to love?

Square Enix: Woo! Of course I'm a huge Square fanboy and they certainly have enough games to show off at E3. Most note worthy: Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, My Life as a Dark Lord, and FFVI: The After Years.

DJ Hero: I'll admit, I'm interested. Despite the questionable trailer. I think theres some gameplay shots or footage floating around somewhere. Yep, there is.

Brink: What is it? Bethesda's new game apparently. Seems to be a first person shooter coming from developer Splash Damage. Who you may know from the Enemy Territory games. Sign me up!

Kojima Productions: Perhaps the most ridiculous story leading up to E3. We've been teased with countdowns that lead to other countdowns. What the fuck is it? A new MGS? MGS4 on the 360? Something else entirely? Try to keep up with this one. 1, 2, 3

Namco Bandai: As far as this article is concerned, nothing too exciting. I'm looking forward to some new Tales games, or perhaps there could be some other megaton - like a new Xenosaga game? Yeah - right. But hey - KOS-MOS seems to be popping up quite a bit lately. Who Knows?

40K Space Marine: I'm assuming this will be at E3. I'm not a huge Warhammer fan, but I do find the idea of an Action RPG in that universe pretty interesting. It some ways it reminds me of what Starcraft Ghost could've been. Ahh...

EA: Heres EA's E3 lineup apparently. I've talked a bit about some of the games before, but a few that have catched my eye: Brutal Legend, Dante's Inferno, Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect 2. The Saboteur, Sims 3.

Activision: And heres Activision's lineup. It's hard not to be at least a little excited about Modern Warfare 2, but I'm certainly not blowing my load over it. Other games of note: DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Prototype, Wolfenstien.

King of Fighters XII: I still suck at fighting games, but KoFXII looks amazing. Plus Shane motherfuckin' Bettenhausen is involved with this game. Yeah!

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of The Plume Review

2009-05-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of The Plume, or Covenant for short, is the third game in the Valkyrie Profile series. And in a way it's a return to it's roots. The Playstation 2 game Silmeria was a radical departure from the beautiful sprite art and the addictive battle system. Thankfully that returns in Covenant with a bit of a twist. You see, Covenant is a Strategy RPG akin to Final Fantasy Tactics.

However unlike most strategy games when you engage an enemy in combat you transitions into the traditional Valkyrie Profile combat system. For those of you unaware, this is a turn based combat system where each of your party members are assigned to a face button, and when you push that button the character uses their various attacks. Combine these with other characters' attacks to combo and juggle the enemies. Needless to say it's an interesting mix, but I found it quite enjoyable.

Sadly there really isn't much strategy involved in the battles. Most of them can be solved by having your four party members move in a group, surround an enemy, and slaughter it. Still it's quite fun, and not all that challenging - which if you know me is always a plus. Those looking for a hardcore SRPG should look elsewhere though.

Enough about the gameplay though, let's talk about the story. The game's protagonist Wylfred has vowed revenge against the Valkyrie who took his Father's soul to Valhalla to become an Einherjar. This tragic event lead to the downfall of Wylfred's family, thus ruining everything Wylfred held dear. Many years later Wylfred is working for a mercenary group with his friend Ancel, when Wylfred is felled by an enemy. He hears a voice and is offered a deal with Hel the Queen of Nifilheim. She allows Wyl to live and provides him with a dangerous ability - The Destiny Plume. This Plume has the ability to sacrifice Wyl's valued allies in order to gain power that will allow him to defeat the Valkyrie. Thus Wyl sets off in search of war in order to fuel this dark power.

The story has three main branches that split off depending on how many times you make use of the Plume's power. There's a good ending, a normal ending, and a bad endings. Obviously the more you use the Plume the worse the ending you're going to get. However thanks to a new game+ option, you're allowed to replay the game with all the benefits of using the Plume on a bad ending path in order to make the good ending path easier. The story - regardless of the pain is very dark and deals with a lot of political strife and betrayal. Again, very akin to Tactics. This is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, since the story in Tactics was one of it's best parts.

To accompany the dark story, the music is very music and atmospheric. The tracks are also a throw back to the original Valkyrie Profile, which again is a good thing since that game, as well as this one, have awesome music. And as I mentioned briefly before the game is full of beautiful sprites and gorgeous portraits of each character. The music, the visuals, the story - they all help compliment an extremely enjoyable gameplay experience.

Like most tri-ace games, this one contains a bonus dungeon known as the Seraphic Gate which is full of all kinds of treats for fans of the series. The characters you can get to join your party there are awesome.

I'd say this game is best suited for Valkyrie Profile fans, but SRPG fans might find the game enjoyable too if they don't mind a relatively easy ride. At the very least, I really enjoyed this game and you can probably expect to see it on the Game of The Year list.

8 Things Suikoden fans should know about Tierkreis

2009-05-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

Falling two short from a top ten list, here are 8 changes that have been made in the new Suikoden game - Suikoden Tierkreis - fans of the series should know before getting into this one.

1. The Hero isn't a mute

With the exception of Suikoden 3, the Hero, or the Tenkai star has always been a mute for better or worse. In Tierkreis our nameless (to the best of my knowlege) Hero is actually quite talkative. Personally I feel that this helps flesh out an otherwise blank character, but unfortunately it also means you're subjected to the Hero's terrible English voice actor for the entire game. It eventually grew on me, but still it should be mentioned that his voice is really one of the worst in the game.

2. It's a whole new world

The previous five Suikoden games took place in the same world, despite taking place many years apart from each other in the case of Suikoden 4. Tierkreis takes place in a whole other dimension as far as I can tell, and as such you won't see many similarities between this game and the rest of the series. This is especially surprising when you consider that all of the previous games featured characters from each of the previous games. It's also disappointing for fans who have been keeping up with the series lore and history, but for whatever reason Konami decided to cut ties with everything they had built up this time around. Oh well.

3. The "Location Menu"

Similar to Suikoden 3, you select locations on the world map to travel to. However unlike previous games you also choose locations to travel to in towns as well. You'd think there wouldn't be much walking around then, but you'd be wrong (more on that later). You'll still be able to walk around the entire Castle/Headquarters and any dungeons though. A minor change, but worth noting.

4. Where's Viki?

Perhaps one of my favorite characters from the Suikoden series is also missing in Tierkreis, Viki. Not only is she always a funny character but she was also one of the most useful characters you could recruit into your army. She'd allow you to warp to previous locations on the fly. While this isn't as big of a deal in this game thanks to the location menu it's still noticeable. Also it seems like the game was trying to include a substitute for Viki in the form of the warp gate system, but there were only two locations you could warp to in the entire game, and it was a one way trip. What a mess.

5. No Escape Talismans

This is easily the most annoying change, and one that is really beyond my understanding. For whatever reason they decided to remove the ever useful "Escape Talisman" item that would allow you to instantly warp out of dungeons. Yes, you heard me. This means you have to manually walk out of almost every dungeon in the game. The game also has a nasty habit of dropping you off in the middle of a dungeon on a quest and still making you walk back out. It's fucking infuriating.

6. No Weapon Upgrades

In the previous five games, each character would come equipped with a single weapon that could be upgraded up to a maximum of 15 times throughout the course of the game. In Tierkreis however you can actually purchase new weapons and some characters can even use a wide variety of weapons. On the one hand this makes things more versatile, especially considering many enemies in the game are weak/resistant to certain types of weapons. On the other hand, I liked the simplicity and attachment the characters in the previous games had to their single weapons.

7. Runes? What Runes?

Perhaps the most surprising change in Tierkreis is the absence of any sort of runes in the game. Not only were runes the main form of magic in the Suikoden series, allowing the player to outfit characters with various runes allowing them to access different spells and abilities, but they were also huge plot points in the previous five games, with each game revolving around several absurdly powerful "True Runes". In their place is the "Marks of The Stars" system, which while still allowing you to customize your characters skills and abilities, doesn't have quite the same impact as the runes did.

8. A serious lack of Strategy

One of the defining features in the Suikoden series has been the various strategy battle mini games that have varied from game to game. From controlling a unit of soldiers to naval battles the strategy battles were always an interesting addition to the RPG genre, and usually quite entertaining. However for whatever reason Konami decided to exclude any such mini game in Tierkreis. In it's place you just form multiple groups that will tackle a series of random encounters and bosses during key battles in the game.

Despite these changes Suikoden Tierkreis is still an enjoyable RPG, even for a Suikoden game I think I liked it more than the fourth game in the main series. While the lack of strategy battles and escape talismans really make no sense to me, the other changes are at least an interesting new take on the series.

Ghetto Release List April/May

2009-03-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

You may have seen previous release list I've done. They've never been very thorough seeing as how I only noted games I was at least remotely interested in. This time the list is getting even slimmer since I haven't felt like doing another release list like the ones from the past. Instead this is just sort of a reminder of the games coming out that I absolutely need to buy/rent/r4. Enjoy - or don't.

April

Rhythm Heaven (DS) - 4/5
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (360) - 4/7
Dokapon Journey (DS) - 4/14
Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier (DS) - 4/28

May

Klonoa (Wii) - 5/5
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 (PS2) - 5/12
Punch-Out!! (Wii) - 5/18

Sweet, not much to pick up. Now I can save up for my trip and new desktop.

Sup?

2009-03-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

Okay... so it's been a while since my last entry. Sad, I know. And there's been a ton of shit going on too. Don't get too excited though, it's still mostly game and anime related - but that's just how I roll. Where to begin though? Well...

So I've been playing RO with Aya, and it's been surprisingly fun. Not surprising in the fact that it's fun playing something with Aya, but more so the fact that I'm actually playing RO again. I have three accounts on the Gathering RO server, two of them are full with maxed out characters - one of each class. And let me just say that I have some pretty fucking rad characters. Like my Lord Knight Count Chocula, along with my Battle High Priest Frankenberry, and Assassin Cross Boo Berries. The Count is a diabetic vampire who feeds on other diabetics, he also fought in the Cereal Crusades with his friends Frankenberry and Boo Berries. Frankenberry was scarred by the horrors of war and thus can only find comfort in the arms of a big strong black man, and Boo Berry is a fucking pothead whos constantly blitzed out of his mind. I have other awesome characters like Halibut, a Champion with a Fish Hat and a Fish in Mouth who fights with fish, and his finishing move is called The Hand of Cod. I also made a joke guild called Ballin Ass RO, who was originally lead by the Perma-Swordie Lil Wang, but has since changed hands to Carlton Banks. Yeah - we have a lot of fun with this shit.

Aside from RO I've been playing a few other games as well. Star Ocean: The Last Hope for example which is pretty terrible all things considering. I had hope for this game originally, but once I played Infinite Undiscovery, another game from Tri-ace studios I started to doubt it. Sadly that seems to be the case as the game is plagued by a myriad of problems. Chief among them being some of the most important parts of an RPG - a good story, and likeable characters - both missing from this game. The voice acting is also some of the worst I've heard to date, and that's sad considering I've played a lot of early PSX RPGs. The combat system is really the game's only saving grace and even that isn't as good as the combat from Star Ocean: Til The End of Time. It's sad because I'm starting to lose hope in a really good JRPG in this generation - Tales of Vesperia excluded. I'll probably write more about Star Ocean at length once I beat it, or give up on it - whichever comes first.

Next up is Dragon Quest V, which I'm playing for the first time. Japan seems to think this is the best Dragon Quest, and I can see why - it's pretty rad. Do I like it more than IV? That remains to be seen, I highly doubt it since IV was such an important game for me, but V certainly has it's charms. I didn't think I'd like to whole Monster Taming aspect, but it's really not so bad. Still it doesn't beat the cast of actual human characters from IV. The story is pretty interesting so far though, and the rest of the game is just good old quality Dragon Quest.

I guess I'm going to cut this shorter than I would have liked. My teeth are hurting so I took a pain pill and I'm starting to feel high now, plus I'm still tired so I should go back to bed. I wanted to talk about some more games like Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, Phantasy Star Portable, Street Fighter IV, and Mad World and Resident Evil 5 which we'll be getting this week. I also wanted to talk about some of the anime I've been watching like Regios, which for whatever reason I really like despite the fact that it's not that great. Oh and how I came to be obsessed with The Lonely Island. I guess all of that will have to wait for a later date though.

Whatcha Doin?

2009-02-04T03:28:00.000-08:00

A combination of a segment I'd like to do more regularly. That being, Whatcha Playin? and Whatcha Watchin? I dunno, I really haven't written much in the ole' blog the past few months and that's a shame.

Well to start, I'm just about done with Persona 4 - or at least my initial playthrough of the game. I'm at the "last" dungeon, and I'm debating if I should attempt to do the bonus dungeon in order to get the "True" Ending. I'm sure I'll try it at least, but I'm not sure if I'm up to snuff. I've really enjoyed the game, but for whatever reason I just haven't hit it up as hard as I did with Persona 3. I guess I just have more games to play at the moment.

Sadly this cycle isn't as complete as I would like it to be. I missed out on maxing a couple of the Social Links, and I'm pretty short on cash and rather unwilling to invest the time to complete the Persona Compendium. I'd like to at least get the top tier Personas if I can get to a high enough level. I'm sure I'll do a second cycle at some point, I'm just not so sure about doing it right away.

I'm also playing Final Fantasy IV DS finally. I don't know why I didn't play it when it first came out, wasn't in the mood I guess? But I'm totally digging it now. I really love the original game and I've played through it quite a few times. But the remakes has made things fresh and exciting again and gives me the opportunity to mess around with the new augment system, which is neat. I'm just about to go to the underworld for the first time so I think that's a good half-way point, give or take.

Finally got a working 360 again and I didn't waste much time diving into the new DLC for both Fallout 3 and Fable 2. Operation Anchorage, the Fallout 3 DLC is interesting. It's much linear than the main game putting you into a VR simulation stripped of all your equipment and items, providing you stock equipment and health/ammo refill stations along the way. Sadly I didn't complete everything there was to do since I seemingly missed four pieces of intel somehow, but that lasted a couple hours. Fun times.

I just now finished everything there is to do in Knothole Island - the Fable 2 DLC. It only took about three hours. The quest line can be completely pretty quickly and didn't really offer and challenge to my decked out character. The most time consuming part was collecting a bunch of random crap to trade at the new store on the island. It wasn't too bad though and I made out with several new complete outfits and some unique weapons. I was a bit disappointed when I first loaded the game up again because I forgot how ugly my now-female character was. Luckily the Knothole Island DLC provided two outfits which work out pretty nicely. A skimpy Barbarian Woman outfit, and a fully clad Armored Knight. I like both of them, though the Knight one is certainly the coolest outfit in the game imo.

Finally, I've just been playing a lot of WoW. Well it's slowed down a bit the past few days since I finally hit 80 on my Shaman. I'm waiting for Jerry's girlfriend to transfer to our server since she is going to help both of us afford epic flying. And god it couldn't happen fast enough, I'm tired of my ghetto ass mount. Aside from that I made a little progress on my now-32 Warrior today. That's still on Recruit-a-Friend tripple exp.

Enough with the games, now a brief moment to talk about what I've been watching.

The usual new releases of Toradora, Index, Casshren, and Clannad. One of the most recent episodes of Toradora has me really regretting not putting it on the actual Anime of The Year list. I was a bit annoyed with the show at some points, but god damn that episode was something else. It was powerful, and awesome, and I'm totally in love with the show. Index is even weirder than usual in the newest episodes. Casshren is still depressing. And Clannad.... well Clannad is fucked up. I don't know what to say about that show. The first series was pretty good, but this After Story bullshit is just fucked up, and honestly kind of boring. I dunno, I'll see how it turns out.

I haven't actually started to watch any of the new shows this season, but I did browse through most of them. There's a lot of crap to be honest, and most of them are weird in some way. I'm not sure how many of them I'll actually keep up with. But I have fallen in love with one in particular called Maria Hollic. It's weird too, but in a good, hilarious kind of way. Basically the show is about a Lesbian who goes to an all girl school in hopes of finding a lover. Just when she thinks shes found someone who just so happens to look strikingly similar to Misa from Death Note - it turns out to be a trap. Hilarity ensues. And the opening is awesome. I love it from the little I've watched so far, so I'll keep you posted.

Finally, just about caught up on One Piece and it looks like we're getting to the end of The Thriller Bark arc. I can't wait to get me some hot Boa action. Perona was cute though, too bad she went bye-bye.

Well, that about wraps up my little update. Hopefully I'll start posting more frequently again.

Persona 4: Reflecting The Self

2009-01-28T20:23:00.000-08:00

This was such a good article that I just had to link to it. Regardless if anyone else finds it interesting or not, I kind of want to keep a tab on it. Which could've just as easily been accomplished by bookmarking - but oh well!

Sad that I still haven't even beaten Persona 4 yet though, I'm near the end though - I just need to pull myself away from WoW long enough to do it. Oh yeah - long time no write. Well, later!

Another one.

Games of The Year 2008 Part 2

2008-12-22T05:05:00.000-08:00

5. Soulcalibur IV

A fighting game this far up on MY list? Shocking. Still, I've been a pretty big fan of the Soul Calibur series since it's Dreamcast days. Though for whatever reason I was really excited for this installment in the series. I was not disappointed.

It should be noted that I'm not very good at fighting games, but I still had a lot of fun with SC4. There is a great selection of characters to choose from, as well as a robust "Create A Soul" mode which allows you to make your own characters with series characters' move sets.

Aside from really fun multiplayer both online and off, there's a lot of things to unlock in SC4, and I even had fun completing the easy story mode over and over again for each character. Sadly there is a downside to SC4 and that would have to be the Tower of Lost souls. Not only do I think it's not as good as the special mode that was in SC3, but it's just too damn hard. Jerry was able to get through a good portion of it, but I could never make any progress in that thing. It's just frustrating.

Still when it comes down to it, the main reason for playing the game is the vs. mode, and it's fun as hell. So mission accomplished.

4. Tales of Vesperia

At this point on the list, the rest of the games are all pretty close to each other. With that said, Tales of Vesperia comes in at #4 on the list. I previously made some fairly negative early impressions, but later I was singing an entirely different tune.

I already touched on most of the highs, and the very few lows in my above review of the game, but I'll just say it again anyway - Tales of Vesperia is an amazing RPG, it's got a pretty good story, with awesome characters, a whole lot of style, and it's just a whole helluva lot of fun. And out of the very few RPGs on the 360, I really consider this to be the cream of the crop.

I'm in the middle of a second playthrough of the game, and sadly I just got side tracked from it by a bunch of other games. However I fully intent to get back to it as soon as I can, assuming my 360 isn't still dead by then.

3. Persona 4

Hey! It's the follow-up to last year's Game of The Year winner Persona 3. What's it doing back here in third place? Well, I think there are three possible answers to that question. One, I haven't actually finished the game yet as it only came out a week or two ago. Two, I'm not sure I like it as much as Persona 3. Three, the other two games on the list are just that good.

Sort of unfair all around, but that doesn't mean I don't love Persona 4. I'm really hooked on it right now and I'm playing it a lot to keep my mind occupied from other things. Seeing as how it's a SMT game though, it takes about a hundred hours or so to complete - so yeah didn't quite finish it in time. As far as it not being as good as Persona 3, well that sounds overly harsh. Truth is I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point. I really like everything about Persona 4, but I was really obsessed with Persona 3 - so those are some hard shoes to fill.

Anyway, Persona 4 is another awesome hardcore RPG from Atlus, and it has the same social aspects and monster catching mechanics tied into it that Persona 3 had. On the other hand there have been quite a few upgrades and changes to this installment. Chief among them being that you don't explore one big dungeon anymore - but a collection of smaller ones. Another big change is that you can directly control your party members now.

There are several various tweaks like these that make playing the game tighter and for the most part more user friendly. The game can still be balls hard though, so RPG lightweights need not apply. Still, if you're up for a challenge and a really lengthy and enjoyable experience make sure you check out Persona 4 - possibly the last great PS2 game.

2. Super Smash Brothers Brawl

Aha! We have a bit of a predicament here. Wasn't this supposed to be my number one game? It was indeed. And I certainly wrote enough about it here, here, here, and here. Let's not dwell on the fact that it clocked in at second, instead let us focus on what a great game Brawl is, and will continue to be for many years.

With the exception of the Sub Space Emissary mode, there isn't a whole lot I can fault Brawl for. At it's core it has the same fun as all hell four player fighting madness that fans have come to know and love. Throw a bunch of characters into the mix - including some really good new comers - and you've got yourself one helluva party game.

I already fell in love with the SSB series back when it launched on the N64, and with all the new stuff Brawl just makes things even better. Having such a wide selection of stages, including ones you can make yourself is awesome. Even more so since you can customize the music that will play on those stages from a selection of classic game tunes.

The inclusion of the Smash Ball, which gives every playable character a super move also adds a lot to the game. And while some Final Smashes are certainly made of finer stuff than others, they all add an element of surprise to the battlefield.

With all that said and done, I just feel like playing more Brawl now. It's been a couple months since the last time we put the disc into the Wii, but I'd say it's about time to start cracking out on some rounds again.

1. Metal Gear Solid 4

Well, if it wasn't Brawl gracing the top of the list it would have to be that other game that I wrote extensively about. You can find my Metal Gear Mania post here, here, here, here, here, and here. Yeah, I went a bit nuts with this one. So, I shouldn't have too much to say about it at this point, but just what makes Metal Gear Solid 4 my game of the year?

For one, it combines everything I love in a video game. Excellent gameplay, an amazing story, great characters, and an awesome soundtrack. True, the gameplay and the story are segmented into different parts. The first two acts of the game will primarily involve you taking action typical Metal Gear style. Than the last three acts of the game focus more on wrapping up this epic series' story. It's true that this sort of layout turned some people off, but I couldn't be happier with the way they set it up.

I didn't just play through the game once though, blogging about each act as I went mind you. I played through the game about five times before I finally decided I'd done enough of the game for the time being. True I skipped most of the story segments on those extra playthroughs, but that's to be expected when you've got a game with 90 minute cutscenes.

Even if you only play the game once, I still feel that the experience you'll get from it is more than worth the purchase. But there is certainly enough stuff to do on following playthroughs that will keep you coming back if you're into the gameplay. Though lets not speak of the less than stellar online play.

Much like Brawl, I totally feel like I could pop MGS4 back in right now and play it all over again. Watching all of the cutscenes again no less. I really feel that MGS4 is Game of The Year material, and it even justified my purchase of a Playstaion 3. And what more can be said than that?

Games of The Year 2008 Part 1

2008-12-21T02:33:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long year full of way too many games, and I've played more than I'd like to admit. When it comes down to it though, there were 10 that really stuck out to me and come highly recommended to anyone that is into the hobby. There is no doubt that my list will conflict with many people's, but that's the great thing about list. Well than, let's get this thing started.

*Bonus* 11. Chrono Trigger / Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of The Chosen

Oops, Did I say 10 games? I guess I meant 12. Again I find myself breaking my own rules, but for good reason this time! Dragon Quest 4 is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, and Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite games of all time. I think it would be pretty unfair to the 10 new games on this list to rank them in the top 10. So I put them both in as a special runner-up position just so you'd know that they are definitely work checking out. And Yes, I know I ranked the Final Fantasy Tactics remake in last year's list - but give me a break!

Chrono Trigger is regarded by many to be one of the finest RPGs of all time, and it certainly holds up today. Crono and his friends travel through various time periods trying to prevent the destruction of the world by a mysterious entity known as Lavos. The game is a prime example of how to do Turn Based Combat right, and the game's cast of wonderful characters all support various different abilities that can be combined to form more powerful combo attacks. The DS remake didn't go through a graphical overhaul or anything like that but they did provide some additional content along with the upgraded translations.

Chrono Trigger itself is still one of my favorite games of all time, but the added on content is a little questionable. If anything it kind of drags down the quality of the rest of the game. True, more Chrono Trigger should be a good thing by default - but when you're forced to run back and fourth across the same dungeon over and over and over and over again it really takes away from the pace of the original game. Still you're rewarded with several overly powerful upgrades for your characters, it gives you another place to grind levels at, and you get a brand new final boss and bonus ending. A pretty great package regardless of the setbacks.

Chapters of The Chosen on the other hand is quite a big upgrade from the original NES/Famicom days, but honestly the graphical reboot originally took place in the Playstation port that was unreleased here in the States. However the DS port gave me a chance to get in touch with my inner child and relive a game that I played so many years ago.

Dragon Quest IV puts you in the roll of several different characters spread across several chapters, and eventually you'll take control of the Hero of the story. The plot is pretty standard, legendary Hero saves the world from a rising evil. It's all good though, it's good old fashion RPG Goodness, and a big dose of nostalgia for long time fans of the genre. The graphical upgrades certainly make the game a lot more pleasant to look at, and various other additions make the gae even better. Such as the ability to control your party member's actions and a much better translation.

There is a little bit of bonus content that provides players with an Extra Dungeon, More Bosses, and another playable character - but I won't spoil any of that for you. Just know that it's good, and a welcome addition to the original game.

If you're any sort of an RPG fan you owe it to yourself to check out these games.

10. Grand Theft Auto 4

Okay, let's change things up a little bit. Instead of going into so much detail about the games I'll just try and describe what I liked about them. Starting with what might've been the most overhyped game of the year. GTA4 was released on a wave of perfect reviews and while the game has managed to make it to the number one spot on some people's list, it's amazing everyone doesn't feel that way based off of the initial reception. However it didn't take long for GTA4 to get some serious backlash from the community.

Truth be told, I loved GTA4 when I first got it. Couldn't stop playing the game. It's only the second GTA game that I've cared to play it until completion. It has a great story that kept me hooked, and the gameplay is better than ever before. It also doesn't hurt that the world is gorgeous and populated full of people - it really gives the city of "real" feel to it. So why is it number 10 on the list?

Well, as I think is probably the case with a lot of people, the game didn't quite live up to the hype when all was said and done. It was fun while it lasted, but looking back it's really hard to see what all the fuss was about. Even the multiplayer which should've kept the game alive for months was pretty poorly executed.

So while I may sound a tad bit negative about the game, the initial experience was amazing, that thrill of a new open world game, and perhaps just a touch of buying into the hype. It may not be Game of The Year, but that didn't stop me from playing it straight for a couple weeks once I got it. And that I feel is worthy of a spot on this list.

9. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of The Rift

I spent some time talking about this game a few months ago, so it really shouldn't be a surprise that it's on the list. I'm a huge fan of the original Tactics, it got me into SRPGs in the first place, and while the "Advance" series of Tactics games might lack certain parts of what was so great about FFT, they make up for it with refined game mechanics, a robust selection of classes spread across the games various playable races, and an equipment system that adds quite a bit of depth to the game.

A2's story might've been weaker than the original FFTA, but I really liked the characters a lot more. Plus the additional race of winged females known as Gria was a real treat. I spent over a hundred hours with the game and enjoyed it's laid back difficulty and surprising amount of content. And that is why it's made the list.

8. Valkyria Chronicles

Quite the opposite of Tactics A2, VC is an unrelentingly hard SRPG that can drive you crazy if you aren't careful. Also, unlike A2, VC is a totally different take on the SRPG genre. Blending Turn Based Tactics with Real Time Action, Valkyria Chronicles is certainly a unique game. It also looks absolutely beautiful, and provides a fairly emotional war story.

There are some speed bumps though, a couple of missions that seem overly cruel, and certain sections which require pure luck more than anything else. Despite this Valkyria Chronicles has proved to be a really enjoyable game if you can get past those obstacles. I'm not the biggest fan of difficult games, but it is rewarding clearing out some of these challenges.

I really like the story, it's basically another war torn world that revolves around a group of heroes trying to beat the bad guys - very akin to most Fire Emblem stories, and has the mature flavor of something like the original Tactics. Also I'm attached to several of the characters and interested to see what happens next. I really enjoy the gameplay too , I just wish it was a little less luck based at times. Being able to upgrade my units by either pumping experience into them in hopes of unlocking hidden abilities, and being able to upgrade their equipment with the right amount of money is also quite rewarding.

Overall Valkyria Chronicles is a solid experience that offers a challenge that feels rewarding. It definitely doesn't hurt that the game is a breath of fresh air into the SRPG genre.

7. Fable II

Here's another game making the top of a lot of people's Games of The Year list. So it might come as somewhat of a shock that I'm ranking it so low on mine. Don't let it fool you though, I really loved Fable 2. Hell, I really loved the first Fable, a game the received a lot of flack from people for not living up to what was promised. Sadly it seems Fable 2 suffers a little bit in that department too, but not nearly so much this time.

The major complaint people have with Fable 2 seems to be that the social interactions are pretty shallow, well that and a pretty piss poor Co-op mode. Honestly, they are kind of shallow, what with being able to get a women to fall madly in love with you just by pumping your arm a couple dozen times. But it's all in good fun.

And the rest of the game? Wonderful. The infamous "one button" combat is great, mix in an easy way to use your inventory of spells, and another button to use a ranged attack and you have got yourself a pretty sweet and simple combat system. Another thing that works surprisingly well is the Dog companion and bread crumb trail system. Both of these features are new, and highly welcomed into the series. Some people might not like being shown where to go next, but hey you can always turn that off.

The story is pretty great too, the only downside would be the ending which is a topic of much debate. Personally? I wasn't that impressed with the whole ending segment. Though I'm not going to ruin any of that. Another sort of bummer is that there doesn't seem to be as much equipment as in the first game. I'd really love to have more armor and clothing options. The Legendary Weapons are pretty good though.

The game does offer quite a few side quest for you to do, ranging from pleasing the various Demon Doors by fulfilling their ridiculous quest in exchange for loot, to hooking up with a widow that her husband's ghost has a grudge against.

All in all, while I may not consider this Game of The Year, it's certainly a good one.

6. Fallout 3

I was half expecting this to be my Game of The Year, and while that may not be the case I still really loved Fallout 3. I'm a huge fan of Oblivion, it's one of my favorite games. Not so much a fan of the old Fallout games sadly. I mean they aren't bad, but I just got into them too late. I only just played a bit of 1 and 2 earlier this year in preparation for Fallout 3. Regardless of it's roots though, Fallout 3 is still an amazing game, if not a little depressing.

The gameplay is more than just "Oblivion with Guns" thanks to the VATS system which lets you pause time to target enemies' individual body parts. It's also not simply a shooter for this very same reason combined with the fact that shots are still based on statistics more so than actual skill.

The world is vast, and full of all kinds of people and creatures that you'll either want to kill, or talk to, or do both. The main story line is kind of linear, but theres just so much to do for Side Missions and just general exploring. I clocked about a hundred hours into the game completing the main story, and all of the actual side quest - but there is still a ton of freeform stuff I haven't done yet.

The best part is that theres DLC on the way that will offer even more to do, so I'll easily be playing Fallout 3 well into next year. It's a good thing too because I've grown really attached to my character and her wide variety of Power Suits and Tools of Destruction.

Phew, well stay tuned for the next installment of the list that'll cover games 5-1.

Anime of The Year 2008

2008-12-15T01:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been absent for a long while, largely due in part to my desktop's monitor being completely shot. Thankfully I'm back with a new monitor just in time to dish up another annual round of "of The Year" list. As always I'll be starting with the 3 best anime of the year, and you can expect the much bigger list of best games in the following week. So than, let's get it started.

Introduction: I watched a lot of anime this year, like a ton. More than I've ever watched I think. For whatever reason this year I decided I would check out every new show for myself instead of waiting to hear about the new hotness. The result? Well when FAKKU decided to do a Character Battle pitting characters from 37 different shows against each other - I had seen 28 of those shows. Unfortunately I only have room for three series on the list, but there were plenty of shows that I probably should have at least wrote about throughout the year. I'll try to do better about that next year.

However earlier this year I wrote about Code Geass Season 1 which is one of my favorite anime at this point, and I would have loved to put it on this list, sadly it came out last year though so it is disqualified. Sadder still is that it probably would've topped last year's list if I had watched it in time. Than there was Season 2 of Code Geass which was unfortunately not as good as the previous season and thus has been excluded from the list. Knowing this, I really should've taken the time to watch EVERY show I've downloaded this year in it's entirety or at least as far as it has been put out so far, however that isn't the case as I just spent too much time playing games instead. Thus I might end up with another Code Geass on my hands. Regardless, even if I find a hidden gem later on down the road, the following shows come highly recommended and are without a doubt worth checking out.

Runner-up: Toradora

Here I am, already bending the rules. But with so many great series this year it's really hard to pick just three. So why not extend the list you say? Well, I guess this is an attempt at doing just that. Anyways, Toradora is anther tsundere filled romantic comedy with infamous tsundere master Rie Kugimiya taking on the roll of Taiga Aisaka, the "Palm-Top Tiger". Taiga along with the leading male character Ryuji Takasu are trying to hook up with the other's friends - Yusaku Kitamura and Minori Kushieda respectively. However it becomes increasingly apparent that Taiga and Ryuji are developing feelings for each other. The show revolves around the two constantly working together to try and pursue their love interest, and the result is usually hilarious failure.

Now I really like this show, it's just really cute and funny, the animation is great, awesome theme song, and great characters. However I do have one glaring problem with the series and it's my general dislike towards Rie Kugimiya characters. Like every Rie Kugimiya character, Taiga is a small flat chested girl with serious personality issues. And a lot of the time I find her attitude and general mistreatment of Ryuji quite annoying. Though to be fair Taiga is kind of in the middle on my "Rie Kugimiya Scale". You might recall her other popular characters Shana from Shakugan no Shana, and Louise from Zero no Tsukaima. While Shana is pretty low on the "scale" because while she is still certainly a tsundere character she doesn't go to overboard. Louise on the other hand is the exact opposite, where in later seasons of ZnT she almost makes the show unbearable to watch. Taiga is kind of in the middle, leaning more towards the Shana side, but can spike towards the Louise side at times.

I guess what I'm trying to say here, all the while beating around the bush is - Taiga is kind of the reason the show isn't in the top three for me. It's not that I hate her or anything, she can be quite adorable and funny at times, but at the same time she can be really annoying too. The main reason this show is worth mentioning though, and the fact that it's the Runner-up is because the show really is quite good the rest of the time. The situations are usually pretty hilarious, and the characters despite some personality issues on Taiga's and Ami's part are quite awesome. The relationships in the show are interesting, where Ryuji and Taiga make a cute enough couple, even though I'd rather see him with his own crush Minori, or the slutty Ami Kawashima who is introduced a few episodes in. I also wouldn't mind seeing Taiga with her crush Kitamura because she is quite adorable whenever he's around.

Speaking of Ami though, don't ask me why she doesn't bother me. She can be quite the bitch towards Taiga, and has a pretty bitchy personality overall. But there's just something about the way she treats Ryuji that I find enjoyable. Maybe it's just because it's the exact opposite of tsundere which if you couldn't tell already I'm not very big on. Anyway, I've gone on long enough about a show that isn't even in the Top Three, but it should be obvious that I have an invested interest in the show. I highly recommend it if you're into romantic comedies, and especially if you're a tsundere lover - this would be your wet dream.

3. Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens

Aw Yeah, I love Kannagi. It's another new show that I've only gotten 11 episodes into. It came out during the Fall Season along with Toradora and many other shows I've been keeping up with. Initially I wasn't sure of what to think of the show. From what I read about it, it didn't sound terribly interesting. And the Intro is pretty misleading thus far. But damn, I'm certainly glad I gave it a chance as it has turned out to be one of my favorite anime series in recent memory. You don't have to take my word for it though, if you ever find yourself lost in 2chan you'll quickly learn that Japan is ape shit about this show - and for good reason.

Enough gushing though, Kannagi is the story of a boy named Jin Mikuriya who just so happened to be carving a statue out of a sacred tree that was possessed by the spirit of a goddess. So imagine Jin's surprise when the statue comes to life in the form of Nagi - a pun cracking goddess who loves to lay around all day snacking on junk food and watching TV. Jin is forced to live with Nagi while trying to convince his friends that she's a sister he never knew he had. This doesn't always go over so well and there are plenty of hilarious interactions between her and Jin's friends. Among the supporting crew is Jin's childhood friend Tsugumi Aoba who totally wants Jin, and Nagi's sister Zange who also wants Jin. Nagi though? She doesn't seem to care either way as long as shes keeping herself occupied with something. The show doesn't seem to know where it's going either as one moment Nagi is trying to purge impurities from the world. The next shes trying to gather a fanbase in order to restore her goddess powers. And than shes locked herself in a closet because Jin accidentley recorded over one of her shows. It's so awesome and random, and I love it. Doubt it's that great? Just check this... oh wait. Sorry I was going to link you to an awesome video from the latest episode of Kannagi, but YouTube if fucking gay. Check out Episode 11 for "The Song of Hello Soybean" though and you won't be disappointed.

So, if I love this show so much - Why isn't it Number 1? Well, honestly I can't fault it for anything other than a pretty lame ending theme and terrible cock-blockery "Next Episode" previews. All I can say is that the other two shows on this list were just better to me. And that should be saying a lot at this point.

2. Kimi Kiss pure rouge

Bending the rules again here, seeing as how Kimi Kiss started in October 2007, but it ended this year and I love it so much that I just have to put it on the list. I shouldn't need to go into too much detail about this show seeing as I already have previously (IMPORTANT - SPOILER WARNING: If you follow that link, the last few paragraphs contain major spoilers. You have been warned) I'll give you a quick rundown though in case you're too lazy to click. Kimi Kiss is about childhood friends Koichi Sanada, Kazuki Aihara, and Mao Mizusawa. Mao moves into Koichi's house after being in France for many years, only to find herself mixed up in a crazy love tangle. Koichi has the hots for his classmate Yumi Hosihno, and Kazuki has an interesting encounter with a mysterious girl named Eriko Futami. However it doesn't take long for things to get confusing when Mao starts realizing her feelings for Koichi, and another girl Auska Sakino starts to pursue Kazuki.

When I was coming up with the list for this year, I never forgot about Kimi Kiss, but I did consider bumping it off the list. That was until I reread my entry from earlier this year and remember how much the series grabbed me. The series teases you throughout and I would find it hard not to be excited trying to figure out how things will turn out in the end. The story, the characters, the relationships between those characters, and the emotions - they're what makes this series so damn good. If you're looking for a show that's more on the romance side of things this is really one to check out.

1. Soul Eater

It didn't take long for me to decide that Soul Eater would be my Numer One pick of this year. I already had a good feeling about the show going into it seeing as how it's done by Bones - the guys who brought you Full Metal Alchemist, another show I really love. After watching those first few episodes though I was instantly hooked, and here we are on episode 36 and I'm still loving the show.

Soul Eater is about a group of students known as Meisters who partner up with individuals who are actually Weapons. These two partners fight against various evils in search of souls which the weapons devour to increase their power. Among these evils are powerful Witches who posses a truly power soul that is required to unlock a Weapon's true potential. The main characters are Maka Albarn and her Scythe Soul Eater, Black Star and his multi-purpose weapon Tsubaki, and Death the Kid with his Twin Guns Liz and Patti Thompson. The series starts off the same way many Shonen Jump series do, with the main characters facing some minor challenges early on, but eventually having to band together against a greater threat.

The thing that's different about Soul Eater, than say Bleach or Naruto is the fact that the action kind of takes a back seat not too long into the series. The show tends to focus more so on comedy and the dramatic parts between fights. Honestly, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a little disappointing, seeing as how I totally eat up shows like Bleach and One Piece. However the overall story, the characters, the comedy - it's all top notch stuff. The show is actually one of the funnier anime I've watched with crazy filler episodes involving an exam at school that goes terribly wrong, and the Legendary Weapon Excalibur who turns out to be a really annoying jackass. Don't get me wrong, Soul Eater certainly has it's fair share of "Oh Shi-" moments in and out of combat, but I think it's an entirely different beast than your typical Shonen show.

The series is supposed to be 52 episodes long, the same as Full Metal Alchemist was, and it's looking to be a fine series worthy of Number One on this list. If you're any sort of fan of anime be sure to check this one out. And if you're not hooked between the ridiculously awesome opening theme, the stylish look and feel of the show, and the hilarious antics, than you're probably not an anime fan.

Whatcha Playing? Too Many Games

2008-10-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

Dead Space: I haven't gotten too far into Dead Space just yet, mainly because I'm too scared to play it at night by myself. Which is sad considering the game isn't even that scary, it just has a few shock and panic moments. Other than that I'm pretty pleased with the game so far. It's kind of like a combination of Resident Evil 4 and Bioshock, so you can't go wrong with that formula. The game's atmosphere is what really sells it though. The game has amazing sound that makes each area feel intense and it really makes you feel like you're in a desolate space station. I'll hopefully have more impressions of this soon.

Disgaea 3: I finally got around to starting up Disgaea 3 not too long ago and I'm glad that I did. The game really does seem to be quite a bit better than 2, but I'm not quite sure if it can manage to beat the first game overall. I'll say one thing for certain though, is that I like a lot of the changes they've made to the game. Overall it seems easier to progress through the main story, which is a good thing since it was pretty fucking hard to do in the first two games without leveling up a bunch. The new Class Room system is neat, with you being able to assign your characters to different clubs to gain benefits like Stat Growth, and more Experience. The game's story is a pretty good one, though it's a bit more silly that usual (and that's saying something to be sure). There's a whole bunch of great story characters, including a nice selection of bonus characters.

Like every Disgaea game there are short cuts to leveling. While it might not be as easy as it was to obtain a maxed out character as it was in 2, but it still seems pretty easy in this game. There is of course a ton of bonus stuff to do and it requires some pretty beefed up characters in order to survive. I've seen Jerry do a bit of the bonus stuff and it looks like a mix of awesome and difficult. Needless to say I can't wait to start maxing out characters, but with so many other games - who knows when I'll get around to it. The only real problem I have with the game are things that are staples of the series. Mainly Geo Effects, and the Dark Assembly. Geo Effects are a double edged sword, as they can be really nice (ie: power leveling) but they can also make maps really hard and complicated. The Dark Assembly though, I hate it. Having to pass all the clubs, side quest, and characters can be really annoying. Still, Disgaea 3 is a really awesome game and I'm sure it'll rank nicely on my GoTY list.

Dokapon Kingdom: I was pretty interested in this game when I first heard about it, even if Jerry wasn't. However since we started playing it we both seem to enjoy it well enough. Basically it'sa Board Party Game mixed in with RPG elements. You start by making your character and picking one of three starter classes, than you roll a spinner and move around the board. Landing on different spots will allow you to win items, or fight random encounters, or even fight against other players. If you kill another player you can steal their items, play a prank on them, or forgive them. I've pretty much just stolen from every character I've killed so far, but it might be fun to pull one of the pranks. My only real complaint with the game so far is that players have the option to "sell their soul" to a demon guy and they get turned into a demon themselves. This results in some of the gayest bullshit I've ever seen in a game. The demon player will pretty much be able to move anywhere on the map, kill anyone he wants, and just fuck with everything in the game. He doesn't gain anything from it, he just gets revenge I guess by ruining the game for everyone else. It's pretty stupid, but other than that little set back - a pretty enjoyable party game.

Dragon Quest VIII: I actually haven't touched this one for about a week now. Just so many other games to play. But after beating Dragon Quest IV DS, I was inspired to pick this up again since I never really got into it before. The game is good, and I do plan on finishing it at some point, but I'm too swamped with actual new games to really be playing and old one right now.

Fable 2: Here's another game I haven't played enough of yet, but that's okay since it just came out. I'm a huge fan of the original Fable, and this one certainly doesn't look to disappoint. I've completed the first few quest and the game still feels like the Fable I know and love. Your new Dog companion is an interesting addition to the game, he can be quite useful in finding treasure, but sometimes his tagging a long comes off as somewhat annoying. I can't wait to play this game co-op with Deac, as this is certainly a game where two players could have a blast just fucking around.

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility: It's been a while since I've gotten into a Harvest Moon game, but I am a fan of the series. Luckily ToT seems to be one of the better installments in the series with a large island to explore, full of people, and a ton of things to keep yourself occupied. There's also a main quest line that helps progress the game along and provides a little variety to your everyday chores. I'm only nearing the end of the first Spring, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. There's always so much shit to do in the first year, what with trying to woo over your future spouse, start up your crops, and gathering materials to upgrade your house and build onto the farm. Fun Stuff to be sure.

Infinite Undiscovery: I haven't played much of this recently, and to be honest I'm still not sold on the game. With so many other quality RPGs to play, it's really hard to invest time in this one. I did make a little bit of progress though and have access to a wide number of characters. However that was only after going through one of the worst fucking dungeons in a game I've seen. Firriann said he didn't start likeing the game until the end of the first disc... so christ. I dunno. Well, here's hoping.

Warhammer Online: I haven't been playing a lot of WAR lately, mainly because I got back into WoW (more on that in a minute). Sadly I think that'll be the case with many people who switched over to Warhammer from WoW. Of course there are others who are content to stay. Anyway, I got my Sorceress to 17, a level 9 Black Orc, and a level 8 Magus all on Praag. After going back to WoW, I appreciated some of the things WAR does - like being able to queue for RVR anywhere, and the PVP in general. I'm sujre I'll play more WAR at some point, but again - so many games.

World of Warcraft: Yep, with Patch 3.02 Live I've gotten back into WoW. Still waiting on Lich King, but in the meantime I'm getting some last minute gear on my Shaman, and still trying to level my 65 Warlock. There's a lot of cool stuff in the patch for both of my characters, and I even picked up a couple of the new Glyphs. Sadly there is one glaring flaw with the patch - Ret Paladins are retardedly overpowered. Not only do they still have the ability to fully heal themselves, bubble, stun, and wear plate - but now they do an absurd amount of damage. They're slowly getting nerfed, but it needs to happen faster, and harder. Sad that I currently do have any friends or a guild playing on my server, but I'm still having a lot of fun soloing stuff.

Infinite Undiscovery: Early Impressions

2008-10-07T04:45:00.000-07:00

I'm only about three hours into the game at this point, and I should warn you. I'm feeling pretty damn negative about the game right now. Sure, I haven't made it very far yet, and a lot of my complaints might have to do with the game being so different than what I'm used to that I'm not comfortable with it yet. None the less, I figured I'd throw up a few quick impressions, or rather a list of complaints as it were.

Story: I can't really speak to this one so much since not a whole lot has happened yet. And since it's been a couple weeks since I started the game I can't quite remember the opening. I think it was some ridiculous fight that involved chains? I dunno. Also I was assaulted by a series of gibberish when I entered a town. I had no fucking idea what those people were talking about.

Characters: I don't really feel anything about the characters so far. The main guy Capell seems like an alright guy. Aya is pretty hot. Everyone else looked pretty dumb to me, don't really like the art style and the voice acting is fucking terrible.

Combat: Combat seems like it would be pretty good, but so far it comes across as pretty clunky. There are other elements I don't like about the combat too, like not being able to control your other characters, having to draw/sheath your weapon constantly, and having to "connect" to get party members to perform a certain action. I don't understand the combo system, and surprise attacks are seemingly impossible to pull off.

Connecting: This is one of the game's gimmicks. You can "connect" to another party member. This has two functions. In town you can connect to one party member and they'll follow you around town. Elsewhere you can command your team mate to perform one of two preassigned actions. Both of these are annoying to me. In town you can only bring one character around with you at a time, and sometimes you need characters with you to gain access to items and side quest. Than when you want to complete the side quest you need to do the process over again. If you accidentally disconnect with someone than you have to go all the way back to them to connect again. And when you need to connect in battle, things get really sloppy because everything is in motion and you don't have time to fuck around with trying to get Dipshit A to perform Bullshit Move B.

Everything Else: I haven't messed around with the Item Creation system so far, so I can't speak to that. I don't like the Menu, it takes place in real time and if you don't have your weapon out you have to sit down everytime you access it. I do however like the Flute music as it's an interesting concept, and I like the Personal section in the Menu. I like that you can issue party members to Heal with the Y Button.

That's about all I can say about the game at this point. Hopefully I warm up to it a little more. Another problem might be that I have entirely too many other games to play at the moment that it's keeping me from getting comfortable and adjusting to this game. I'm not sure. I'll certainly be playing it some more in any case.

Release List 2.3 October - November

2008-09-30T01:57:00.000-07:00

Wii

Sam and Max: Season 1 - 10/7
Dokapon Kingdom - 10/14
Wii Music - 10/20
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 - 10/21
Cooking Mama World Kitchen - 10/21
Spider-man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
King of Fighters Orochi Saga - 10/21
Guitar Hero World Tour - 10/26
My Sims Kingdom - 10/28
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace - 11/4
Call of Duty: World At War - 11/11
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party - 11/11
Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duel - 11/11
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - 11/11
Animal Crossing: City Folk - 11/16
Tomb Raider Underworld - 11/18
Rock Band 2 - 11/18
Sonic Unleashed - 11/18
Castlevania: Judgment - 11/18

DS

Bleach: Dark Souls - 10/7
My Japanese Coach - 10/14
Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 - 10/14
Populous - 10/14
Rune Factory 2: Fantasy Harvest Moon - 10/21
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - 10/21
Spider-man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
My Sims Kingdom - 10/28
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace - 11/4
Tom Clancy's End War - 11/4
Star Wars Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance - 11/11
Call of Duty: World At War - 11/11
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades - 11/16
Tomb Raider Underworld - 11/18
Luminous Arc 2 - 11/18
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party - 11/18
Chrono Trigger - 11/24

Xbox 360

Fracture - 10/7
Guilty Gear 2: Overturn - 10/7
Golden Axe: Beast Rider - 10/14
Dead Space - 10/14
Saints Row 2 - 10/14
Rock Band 2 Bundle - 10/19
Fable 2 - 10/21
Far Cry 2 - 10/21
Spider-man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
Guitar Hero World Tour - 10/26
Fallout 3 - 10/28
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace - 11/4
Tom Clancy's End War - 11/4
Gears of War 2 - 11/7
Mortal Komat vs. DC Universe - 11/10
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - 11/11
Call of Duty: World At War - 11/11
LIPS - 11/11
Mirror's Edge - 11/11
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts - 11/11
Left 4 Dead - 11/17
You're in The Movies - 11/17
Naruto: The Broken Bond - 11/18
Tomb Raider Underworld - 11/18
Sonic Unleashed - 11/18
The Last Remnant - 11/20
Huxley - 11/25

PS3

Fracture - 10/7
Golden Axe: Beast Rider - 10/14
Dead Space - 10/14
Saints Row 2 - 10/14
Rock Band 2 - 10/19
Far Cry 2 - 10/21
Bioshock - 10/21
Spider-man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
LittleBigPlanet - 10/21
Eternal Sonata - 10/21
Guitar Hero World Tour - 10/26
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift - 10/28
Fallout 3 - 10/28
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm - 11/4
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace - 11/4
Resistance 2 - 11/4
Tom Clancy's End War - 11/4
Mortal Komat vs. DC Universe - 11/10
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - 11/11
Call of Duty: World At War - 11/11
Mirror's Edge - 11/11
Valkyria Chronicles - 11/11
Tomb Raider Underworld - 11/18
Sonic Unleashed - 11/18
Alone in The Dark - 11/18
Tekken 6 - 11/25

PSP

Valhalla Knights 2 - 10/1
Star Ocean: First Departure - 10/21
Spider-man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
King of Fighters Orochi Saga - 10/21
Tom Clancy's End War - 11/4

PC

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway - 10/7
Dead Space - 10/14
Saints Row 2 - 10/14
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - 10/27
Fallout 3 - 10/28
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace - 11/4
Call of Duty: World At War - 11/11
Wrath of The Lich King - 11/13
Left 4 Dead - 11/17
Grand Theft Auto IV - 11/18
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir - 11/18
Tomb Raider Underworld - 11/18
Huxley - 11/25

PS2

Eternal Poison - 11/11
Persona 4 - 12/9

Tales of Vesperia

2008-09-26T04:48:00.000-07:00

I was a little harsh on Tales of Vesperia in my early impressions. However I'm delighted to say I've had a change of heart, and many of the things I took issue with before have been resolved through playing the game more. There are still a few setbacks, and some other annoying elements in the game - but Tales of Vesperia has really turned out to be an awesome installment in the series, and just the sort of JRPG this generation needs.

The Story

For the most part, Tales of Vesperia's story is pretty standard, especially among the Tales series. The protagonist Yuri sets off on an adventure to deal with a small problem, and ends up involved in a conflict that will determine the fate of the world. If I just spoiled anything for you, you haven't played enough RPGs before. That isn't to say the story is bad, no - from time to time I enjoy the simplistic story of good versus evil without things getting overly convoluted. And besides, there are still some twist and turns that add a little spice to the story.

Speaking of which, I'm a pretty big fan of the character roster in Vesperia. Yuri, the main character, is one of my favorite protagonist at this point. He's very carefree and has his own sense of justice. He's an Outlaw looking out for the small people, and he's not afraid to get his hands dirty. That's my kind of Hero. His partner in crime is his faithful pooch Repede. Yes he is a dog, and yes he does have style, but he doesn't talk. For this reason it's hard to relate to the character, but it's something new and I found him to be pretty cool.

The leading lady Estelle is another matter. She's your typical goody-goody Princess who is naive in the ways of the world. And she's pretty conflicted with just about everything. She never seems to be sure of what to do, and she changes priorities at the drop of a hat. Estelle has her charms certainly, but I found myself getting annoyed at her frequently. Another female character I feel conflicted about is Rita. If you recall I pointed out my dislike in her during my early impressions. And while it takes quite a while, Rita slowly starts to change into a more likeable character. Though she's your typical Tsundere type character, so some people might love her from the get go. Another interesting thing about Rita is she seems to have a thing for Estelle. This becomes pretty obvious as the game goes on, and it's kind of cute.

Karol, who is in my opinion a pretty terrible character to fight with, is actually a pretty interesting character. The poor kid is trying to face his fears and take responsibility for a change. He's also surprisingly knowledgeable about the world. Raven who IS the worst character in a fight is kind of a boring character. Sure he has a few secrets to hide, but for the most part he's just a lazy "old man" despite being 35 years old.

Finally Judith - my favorite character. She's awesome, everything from her character design, to her voice, the way she fights, and her personality. Judith shares a lot in common with Yuri as she is also a pretty liad back character. She has an agenda, and she is always up for a good fight. She also has a playful side, and she can be a bit of a tease from time to time.

For the most part we've got some pretty awesome characters here, but there is one rotton egg in the world of Vesperia. I complained about him before, and he only got worse. I'm referring to Zagi of course, one of the game's main villains. He's like a mirror version of Judith. Everything about him sucks, from his design, to his way of talking. Unfortunately you see a lot of him throughout the game, and even more sad is that a lot of the GameFAQs kids seem to love the guy. He's not evil, or insane, or cool - he's just dumb.

The Combat (and Skills)

Previously I ripped on ToV's combat for being slow, and a step back from what had been established in Tales of The Abyss. While I still think the game is sorely lacking the fonic fields system from ToTA, I found out that the combat in ToV isn't nearly as slow as I thought it was.

Perhaps I just wasn't used to the Tales combat since I hadn't played a Tales game for a while, or it might have had something to do with my skill setup. For whatever reason though, as I kept playing the game - the combat got better, and I was once again enjoying the action packed, combo filled combat that I'd come to expect from the Tales series.

One of the more interesting things about the combat in ToV is that your fighting style can change pretty drastically based on the character you're using. Sure, this has always been a part of the series when you go from a Melee fighter to a caster, but just about every character in ToV has some unique mechanic, or fights differently.

For example, Yuri fights like your traditional Tales melee character, though he has access to an absurd number of combos and hits. Where as Judith, another melee character, is all about aerial combat and doing combos in the air. Karol has an interesting system where he can charge up his attacks and release them for big damage. Estelle can add additional hits in a combo string, and Rita can rhythmatically tap the B button to speed up spell casting.

All of these and more are largely due to the Skill system which I touched on before. Basically character can learn various skills from all the Weapons and Sub-Weapons you obtain throughout the game, and while all the character share many of the same skills, they also each receive their own unique skills that allow for variety in combat. So while the fonic fields might be missing, ToV certainly has it's own brand of depth added to the combat.

Another thing I expressed concern with was the balance of the game. I complained that sometimes you'd be doing fine and than you'd go into a boss battle that would totally wreck you. Luckily that isn't the case, save for one boss battle in the game. For whatever reason that one boss is just really fucking hard for no reason. I never had any other problems with boss battles after that one.

Synthesizing, Side Quest, and Secret Missions

Aside from the main game, there's also a ton of extra stuff to keep you occupied and to warrant several playthroughs of the game. Synthesizing will play a large part in the main game, as you craft new equipment for your characters, but you can also go out of your way to get the best stuff in the game. Side Quest will have you revisiting areas around the world, collecting items, and completing missions for various people. And the Secret Missions are little objectives that can be found in most boss fights.

To Synthesize you need to gather a set of materials and take them to any merchant in the game. Once you've unlocked the "blue print" and have the materials you can make your item. You'll use this mostly to synth and upgrade weapons. But you can also make armor, accessories, and attachments. Attachments are a really fun addition to the series, they're basically cosmetic accessories for your characters. For example you can make Sunglasses for Yuri to wear.

To get the materials, you can go about it in a couple of ways. The more common method is to collect loot from the monsters you defeat. Sometimes this can be easy, by just farming a certain monster over and over again. Sometimes it can be a pain in the ass, when you have to hunt a Giganto monster. An overly large, mini-boss type encounter that will spawn randomly in certain dungeons and fields. Farming these Giganto monsters can take hours upon hours of reloading areas.

The other method is similar to grabbing materials from previous Tales games. Through various Search Points scattered across the world map. These search points will respawn randomly, though they seem to have a set list of items they can produce. It's still random what you'll actually end up getting though, so it takes a bit of luck.

Moving on, there are many Side Quest in Vesperia, not unlike previous Tales games. These quest can reward you with various items, abilities, or titles. Unfortunately these side quest most of the time require you to revisit a certain area at a certain times. Without a guide this can be pretty frustrating as you'd have to revisit every area and talk to everyone every time you progressed a bit in the game. Also unfortunate is that the official Strategy guide doesn't even touch most of these side quest. Lucky for me Kouli made a handy little guide on his blog that I'm using for my second run of the game.

But let's consider the fact that you don't have access to this sort of guide, like I did originally. You can actually miss out on abilities for your characters. That is pretty fucking annoying. You can also miss out on equipment and titles, which is slightly less annoying, but still not cool. Than again, I guess the point is that these are in fact side quest - and you don't need any of this stuff to finish the game.

Finally you have the Secret Missions, which in my opinion are way more trouble than they're worth. It's basically taking advantage of the 360's Achievement system, the problem is you can get items and eventually a title costume from doing all of them. The Secret Missions will always require you to do something specific against a boss. For example, one of them has you knocking the boss down while he's trying to do his special move. Some of these missions are easy, most of them are annoying as shit. I think I bothered to do about half of them on my first playthrough, and I'm not sure if I'll even be able to do them all on my second run.

Closing

Before I wrap things up, there is one last thing to note about ToV, though it shouldn't come as a surprise to any Tales veterans. Once you beat the game you can spend your accumulated Grade points to buy bonuses for your "New Game EX". Basically you can buy things like x10 EXP for your next run of the game. This is in my opinion the best sort of New Game + option out there. I think the first game to do something like that was Chrono Trigger which let you start the game over with just about everything including levels. I find this system to be a little more enjoyable as you still have to build your characters up, but you can do it much faster and with far more efficiency due to your knowledge of the game at that point.

With all that said, it's about time I wrapped things up. If it hasn't become abundantly clear at this point - I'm a huge fan of this game. It's certainly going to place high on my Games of The Year list, and it's just the sort of game I was looking for in this generation of console gaming. If you're a fan of the Tales series, I'm pretty positive you're going to enjoy this game. If you're a fan of RPGs but haven't jumped on the Tales bandwagon yet, this is a good time to start.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

2008-09-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

First let me start off by saying there will be massive spoilers in this entry. I usually try to avoid spoilers when reviewing a game, but in this case I felt it was necessary because the story was the most important part about my playing TFU. Unfortunately I can't do an LJ cut on Blogger, so if you don't want anything spoiled I suggest you skip down to the gameplay section, or ignore this entry entirely.

The Story

So the point of the story in The Force Unleashed is to gap the bridge between Episode III and IV. How well it does that is debatable at best. I didn't think the game did a terrible job of tying things together, but it did make for some annoying twist, and a couple of other loose ends.

The game starts off with you playing as Darth Vader as you invade the Wookie home planet of Kashyyk. Darth Vader than finds a young boy gifted with the Force. Vader than raises the boy as his secret apprentice Star Killer and the game begins proper. This is where things start to get ugly. Star Killer isn't nearly as bad ass as previews would lead you to believe. He's kind of a bitch and he's not really that evil. He just follows Darth Vader loyally. You meet his ship's crew which consist of your staple comic relief Droid, and love interest Juno Eclipse.

Your first few missions have you going around hunting down remaining Jedi, including Rahm Kota, who plays a more important role later on, and infamous Jedi Master Shaak Ti. After finishing off Shaak Ti, Star Killer goes to meet with Vader, and the Emperor just so happens to show up. So Darth Vader kicks Star Killers ass in an attempt to save his own ass. Later Vader explains his reasons to Star Killer and gives him a new mission of finding an army to fight against the Empire. But first we gotta take the worst turn in the game.

Apparently due to his love interest with Juno, Star Killer starts to see the Light Side of things. So an already disappointing Sith becomes another aspiring Jedi. This helps to move things along in the canon, but it doesn't make the transformation any less retarded. Anyway, Star Killer meets up with Rahm Kota who is still alive, and they decide to try and form the Rebel Alliance. So Kota points Star Killer in the direction of Leia Organa, which eventually leads to Bail Organa. With the key figures in place The Rebel Alliance is about to be formed. Until The Empire Storms in, with Vader leading the charge.

The Rebel leaders get captured and Star Killer gets left for dead. But he doesn't die just yet. Star Killer and Juno head for the very incomplete Death Star and Star Killer infiltrates it. After making his way through the Death Star, Star Killer faces his Sith Master - Darth Vader in a pretty epic fight that leaves Vader pretty fucked up. At this point you get to choose the canonical Light Side ending, or the retardedly pointless Dark Side ending.

In the true ending, Star Killer fights against the Empire after refusing to finish off Darth Vader, and instead choosing to save Kota's life. What follows is one of the dumbest fights in the game, followed by the Emperor killing Star Killer while everyone else gets away. The Rebel Alliance is officially formed, and enter Episode IV.

In the false ending, Star Killer kills Darth Vader, and than the Emperor ask Star Killer to be his new apprentice. Star Killer refuses, and than the Emperor kills everyone except for Star Killer. I'm assuming Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Juno, Proxy, and just about everyone. We than see Star Killer clad in the Sith Stalker armor and reduced to being a puppet to carry out the Emperor's bidding.

Now with all that said, the story accomplishes what it was intended to, minus the whole false ending thing. However that doesn't really make it good, I suppose it was okay, but it left me wanting. I'm not really sure how they could have done it differently though, seeing as how I'm not some sort of Expanded Universe Author, but I'm sure they could've come up with something better. Than again, maybe I'm just being too picky, or letting the other weak aspects of the game affect my judgement.

More Spoilers

In this section I basically wanted to complain about certain aspects of the game that would still be considered spoilerish, and that didn't really fit into the story summary. So there might be some gameplay stuff here, and there might be some story related items. In any case, they all share one thing in common. I didn't like them.

For starters, what happens to Juno, Proxy, Kota, and Maris Brood. I'm not really into Expanded Universe, so that could all be explained there. Or these characters could've just been created for the sole purpose of this game. I guess it's similar to the Prequel movies, in that you can't really add anything new to movies that came out a few decades ago. But you could remove the loose ends before then. In any case, they didn't and these characters go unaccounted for.

The Star Destroyer segment of the game is like something out of Too Human. It's that fucking bad. Honestly, for something that this game was supposedly based off of, how the fuck could they mess this up so badly? Not only is the entire process of pulling the thing out of the sky boring as hell, it's also made annoyingly hard thanks to the respawning TIE-Fighters that do waaay too much damage. I was about ready to give up on the game altogether until I entered a few cheats to make things slightly easier. The best tip I can offer you is to have Force Grip maxed out and stand on either side of the platform and pull TIE-Fighters out of the air. Sheesh.

The Fight with the Emperor was really fucking stupid, especially after the epic battle with Darth Vader. Of course, I guess it's in the canon that the Emperor fights like a little bitch anyway. He basically flies around the area throwing shit at you, hitting you with force lightning, and summoning guards. You just have to avoid most of this shit, and dash in to hit him a few times with the Lightsaber. Rinse and Repete. It's a really shitty way to end the game, and considering this is your "Reward" for choosing the Light Side. If you pick the nonsensical Dark Side you get to fight against Vader again. Lame.

These last two I actually like, surprising I know. Though I do have a complaint about one of them - that's more like it.

First, the battle with Proxy is dumb - UNTIL he for whatever reason turns into Darth Maul. This is retarded, but I still really enjoyed it. Duel of the Fates was playing and everything, it was epic. Sorta. The battle is way too god damn easy, granted I was playing on Easy mode, but there are way too many parts in the game that are needlessly hard for me to bother playing on a harder difficulty. So the epic battle was kind of ruined because of this. I still enjoyed it though.

And finally, The Darth Vader fight was really cool. It's gotta be the best part of the game. That's not saying too much, but trust me - it's cool. In the last stage of the battle you're both fighting in a darker area and it looks like some of the epic battles from the movies. And from the way I was wailing on Vader it really reminded me of Luke VS Vader in Return of The Jedi. Finally at the end of the battle Star Killer royally fucks up Vader's shit. It almost made him redeemable - almost.

The Gameplay

Christ this is turning out way longer than I'd like for a game I didn't even really enjoy that much. Anyway, thank you for joining us if you've skipped the massive block of spoiler text above. In the final segment of this review I will trash this mediocre game, and rant about some of it's more serious flaws. Fun stuff.

TFU is your typical run of the mill action game, with some force powers tossed in. The basic Lightsaber combat is average at best, though it becomes a little better as you unlock more and more combos. It's the force powers that would set this game apart from other games in the genre. But sadly LucasArts decided they didn't want you to use your force powers on most of the enemies in the game.

See, one of the most annoying parts about TFU to me is that you don't feel nearly as powerful as you should be. You're a Sith Apprentice, you've got all kinds of bad ass Force Powers, and a Lightsaber. But just about every Stormtrooper in the galaxy is either pretty resistant to your Lightsaber, or has some way to block out your force powers. Yes, amazingly during this stretch of time in the Star Wars universe your average solider either had knowledge of the force or some gadget to negate it. All of this goes out the window by the time Episode IV happens though, and it wasn't present in the Prequel movies either.

Yes, I understand that they did this to make the game more challenging. But it's not fun. Honestly I would've preferred to be a bad ass killing machine. Slicing stuff up with my Lightsaber in one stroke - not twelve. And using the force to devastate everything around me. Yes, you can pull a Star Destroyer out of the air, but no you can't force grab that blue Stormtrooper.

Enemy placement gets a bit ridiculous at times to. You might find yourself constantly getting stunned or knocked down unable to do anything while being beaten on by a hoard of enemies. Other times you'll fall to your death after you've been pushed out of the stage by... just about anything.

There are certain parts of the game that are just not fun, no matter how you slice it. And the difficulty can spike quite a bit for no reason. Even on the easiest setting you can find yourself in some pretty frustrating situations.

I also encountered a few bugs in the game where I got knocked into an object ans was stuck, forcing me to exit game (there is no reload checkpoint option or anything of the sort) and reload my last save. This also almost caused me to stop playing the game when it happened.

In closing, if you're a fan of the Star Wars story, rent this sometime and try to play through it. That isn't to say the story is exceptionally good either, but it should be the main reason you want to check the game out. If you're looking for a good action game? Go pick up Devil May Cry 4, or Ninja Gaiden 2 instead.

Warhammer Online: Second Impressions

2008-09-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that I really want to like this game. Really. I can see the potential of the game, and I have friends who are playing it. But time and time again, I find myself utterly disgusted with the game. That isn't to say the game is bad, but there are so many problems - large and small - which just keep me from being able to enjoy the game.

I'll start with the smaller problems. Firstly, I mentioned Public Quest before. They're great, I love em. But there has been a problem with them recently. As you progress with the game, and move onto more difficult areas. You find more and more of these public quest. In a single area, for one chapter there can be three or four different public quest for you to do. The problem with this is, there are too many PQs, and too few people to do all of them. If there were only one, or in some cases two PQs - more people would be able to focus on a single PQ instead of being spread out among many PQs. So the problem I've been experiencing recently is there aren't enough people to complete the public quest.

This is pretty troublesome considering the PQs are one aspect of growing your character in the game. In both levels and gear. And when there aren't enough people working together to complete a public quest, you start to miss out on opportunities to advance your character. Like I've said, Public Quest are a really great idea. But there's no point if nobody is doing them.

Another problem is I think I might have picked the wrong class. I'm not entirely sure yet. The Sorceress is a glass cannon. I'm not really used to playing glass cannons, and that might be part of my problem. However I seem to do fine in PVE, I just have problems in PVP. Though it's hard to say, because there are way too many things wrong with WAR's PVP at this point in time for me to really be sure why I hate it so much.

So enough beating around the bush here, the real problem with WAR lies in it's PVP. I've touched on the RVR previously. And unfortunately I'm going to have to complain about it again.

Let me start off by explaining the three RVR battles I just had. They were all in the Nordenwatch area. This is a first tier RVR scenario for levels 1-11. I'm level 11 myself. The first game we got stomped on. Their team outmatched us in just about every way. They had several level 11s, 10s, and 9s. We had a bunch of low levels. So admittedly this wasn't too surprising, especially for the Destruction side. I did about 15k damage and got 7 kills. Meanwhile Bright Wizards on the Order side were doing just as much damage, but they had 40 kills. Yeah, balance. We lost something like 500 to 150.

The next game pitted us against a group of low level Order. They had 1 11, and 1 10, and a bunch of 5s and 6s. On our side we had 1 11, 2 10s, and a handful of other levels. We won that round pretty handily. Yet that is the only way Destruction can win from the games I've played. You have to outrank the other team so severely that it's near impossible for them to win. The Proof?

The third game pitted two equal teams against each other. We had about the same number of every level. The result? We got pounded. I still did a ton of damage, only got a single digit amount of kills. The other team had Witch Hunters and Bright Wizards with 30 or so kills. What the fuck?

So to recap, Destruction side can only win when the odds are stacked against Order. Every other time the Order wins - easily. So Yeah, losing all the time and being vastly inferior to your mirror class on the other faction isn't very fun at all. In fact I'd rather just not do RVR at all if that's the way the game is going to be. And that, coupled with the problem of Public Quest - the game is literally no different than WoW - and there's very little reason for me to stick with it after Wrath of The Lich King comes out.

So what is the problem exactly? I mean, it seems pretty fucking obvious that the game is unbalanced right now. Another problem might be that the Destruction side just got shafted with all the shitty players, and The Order side is full of elite PVPers. In either case, that implies that I have to roll Order in order to enjoy the game. Wonderful.

And guess what? I did try that. I rolled one of the most overpowered classes in the game - The Warrior Priest. I've seen these guys take on a group of enemies in RVR, kill them one by one, and not die. They're like Paladins from WoW, but they can do tons of damage at the same time. I was able to get to level 3 from RVR alone, we won every single time. And I was always near the top for Most Healing done, and in the top 10 for most damage done. Fair, right?

So back to my actual main character, the one on the side I actually want to play. Aside from the whole Destruction side losing all the time. I don't seem to be contributing much to the battle myself. I always do a ton of damage, but for what? My kill count is always really low, and my deaths are many. Not that it would really change much, but maybe I'm just playing the wrong class.

One other thing, which is pretty minor when you consider how broken the RVR is, but it doesn't pop nearly enough. I don't know why Mythic didn't make the RVR cross-realm like WoW. Because it just does not pop nearly enough, especially for a game that is very PVP focused. Even on a high population server - which we are on - we get server queues during the day - the scenarios maybe pop once every 15 minutes, if we're lucky? This is on an Open RVR realm by the way, so there should be more than enough people willing to PVP.

Regardless of the reason, I'm not having nearly as much fun with this game as I thought I would. It's nice to be playing with a couple friends, and the majority of the PVE is just like WoW so I don't have many complaints there. But it would still be nice if I could properly experience the unique things about WAR. In any event, I'm sure I'll stick with the game until Wrath comes out regardless. I just wish it were more enjoyable along the way.

Whatcha Playing?

2008-09-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

Domino Master (Demo): There is no "knock over Dominos" mode, so I didn't play this game for more than two minutes.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of The Chosen: Dragon Warrior IV was one of my favorite games growing up, and it's a real shame I haven't played the game since I was eight years old. However this remake of the classic game has provided me with plenty of nostalgia and glee even though I'm only half way through chapter 2 at this point.

True to the series, DQIV is about as old school as it gets, with pretty archaic gameplay, and tons of grinding. However I'm finding it to be a rather pleasant experience at the moment, which makes me wonder why I couldn't get into the series eighth installment. Maybe it helps that the game is portable, and I can play it while I'm on the can, just grinding away. Who knows?

My only real complaint with the remake so far is the new translations. I'm sure they're better than the old ones, but for whatever reason Square Enix decided to give most of the people in the game accents. And no, there's no voice acting, so you have to read these accents. It can be rather painful at times. Despite that though, I'm really enjoying the game and will be playing it off and on for some time.

Feeding Frenzy 2 (Demo): Feeding Frenzy 1 was better.

Fracture (Demo): I was expecting Fracture to suck for whatever reason, despite knowing nothing about the game. Imagine my surprise when I found a pretty unique experience. Fracture is a Third-Person shooter with a twist. Several of your weapons can effect the terrain, by either raising or lowering the ground. It might sound like a gimmick similar to the environmental destruction found in Red Faction so many years ago. However it's surprisingly clever in that you can manipulate the land to access platforms, provide cover and blow your way through a tunnel.

Despite the fact that I could give a shit about the game's plot or any of it's generic looking characters - I found myself enjoying the short demo quite a bit. I'm not sure that I would buy the game, but it certainly seems like prime rental material. It's hard to say if the whole terrain manipulation thing will get old, but it should provide a couple hours of entertainment at least.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Demo): I didn't like the first Mercenaries, so it isn't really a surprise that I don't like the second one either. But maybe I'm being unfair, after all - all I played of it was the demo. Still, it doesn't seem like much has changed to win me over. The game is still a sandbox for mindless destruction. Which you'd think would be fun, but I'm just not feeling it.

The game also seems to throw way too many enemies at you, and while you don't actually die very easily - you don't feel very powerful either. It's easy enough to kill a few guys, but you never seem to be able to squash all of them. So like annoying little insects they constantly swarm around you and you rinse and repeat the whole process.

Tales of Vesperia: I'm just about done with my first run of the game, and man have my impressions changed since my previous entry about the game. I'm pretty much fully in love with the game at this point, and can't wait to dive into a second playthrough. I'll have a full post for Vesperia coming up shortly, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Warhammer Online: Not much has changed in WAR since my last entry. The RvR is still a mess, and it's getting harder and harder to find people to complete public quest with. Admittedly I haven't played the game much yesterday - launch day - so things could be different at this point. I'll keep you posted.

Next Month: I don't know what I'm going to do next month with so many games coming out. I'll have to give up on purchasing a good deal of them I'm afraid. I got lucky this month with Force Unleashed and Guilty Gear 2 getting less than stellar reviews, bumping them down to rentals. Plus I think the Guilty Gear got bumped back to next month anyway. Silent Hill is still coming out at the end of the month but I'm flat broke at the moment, plus I think I'm too scared to play that shit anymore - I dunno.

Next month I'll have to pick up Fable 2, Fallout 3, and Little Big Planet. I'm sure there will be something else I really want. And that's not even mentioning Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour. I'm still not sure which bundle to get, but I'll probably end up getting one as a Christmas present. I'd like to think that I don't have to worry about picking up too many more games for the rest of the year after October. But sadly that isn't the case - as November is also full of tempting purchases. Too many games.

Warhammer Online: Early Impressions

2008-09-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

The new kid on the block, WAR has been taking up a bit of my time lately. I spent a little bit of time in the Open Beta, and I've been playing a few characters in the game's pre-order bonus Live Head Start. And now, the game is out for all to consume. So what's the deal? Is this the real WoW Killer? Or is it another Age of Conan? Allow me to provide you with a beginner's insight on this new massive multiplayer game.

First of all, I haven't made a ton of progress into the game yet. I've gotten about 5 different races to level 5 at least, and my highest character right now is a level 7 Sorceress. I've played two Order characters, and have pretty much tried out just about every Destruction class a tiny bit. With that said, here's what I think of the game so far.

For starters, the game is very similar to WoW. This can either be considered good, or bad depending. For me it's a good thing. I like WoW quite a bit, and the last time I tried a new MMO it strayed too far from WoW's established formula, and I just didn't feel comfortable with the game. With that said, there are quite a few differences between the two games too.

For instance, WAR tends to lean more towards the PVP side of the fence. This really shows when you take into consideration that you can level up and gear your character out solely from PVP. This is all well and good, but the problems I've encountered with PVP - or the RvR Scenarios as they're called - so far leave me wanting.

As it stands right now, the server I'm on isn't terribly populated, like many of the servers seeing as how this has only been the Live Head Start. I suspect that will change when the game goes live for everyone. Hopefully this also fixes another problem I've been faced with, and that is there are way too many high level Order characters, and not enough high level Destruction characters. Out of the three games we managed to play tonight, there were 4-6 level 10 orders, vs. 0 level 10 Destructions. While it's true that when you enter an RvR scenario, your stats get bumped up to that of a level 8 character if you're lower than 8, but that still leaves us at a pretty unfair disadvantage.

Lastly, it could just be because we haven't had the best of luck in RvR, but the Order classes seem to be a lot more powerful than many of their Destruction counterparts. One example would be that my friend, a level 7 Goblin Shaman, was outhealed by a level 1 Warrior Priest, by like a lot. That doesn't really seem right considering he was healing a whole helluva lot.

Aside from the RvR setbacks, the rest of the game has been pretty smooth. The majority of the PVE experience is identical to that of WoW's, and you can easily solo many of these quest smoothly regardless of class. If that weren't enough, you've got WAR's exclusive Public Quest system which allows a large number of players to work together to complete one big quest. The beauty of this system is that you don't have to group up with anyone, everyone in the Public Quest zone can take part in the quest as a group, or by themselves, and it contributes to the overall progression of the Quest. This allows just about every player in the game to experience an epic feeling quest, and pick up some pretty sweet loot, without all the raid drama.

That's about all I've been able to experience so far, there are still many aspects of the game I have yet to see. Such as the crafting system, the living Guilds, higher end PVE and PVP content, and many other little things like the Tome of Knowledge, and exploring the world. So far I'd say I'm pretty satisfied though, and if the actual launch of the game, and Mythic can work out some of the kinks, I can only see it getting better. Who can say how much time I'll end up investing into the game? Will it just tide me over for another two months until WoTLK comes out? Hard to say. But I'm certainly feeling this game a lot more than any other MMO I've played since WoW came out, so things are looking bright for Warhammer.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of The Rift

2008-09-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I've made several post about the game now, and it's finally time to give the game a proper review of sorts. After clocking 102 Hours on the game, and still missing some things - It goes without saying that this game will definitely provide some bang for your buck. That is if you can deal with some repetition, and a fairly weak plot.

To start, FFTA2 shares a lot in common with the first Tactics Advance. It's set in the same version of Ivalice, thus it includes the variety of races that were introduced in that game, as well as some from Final Fantasy XII. It also shares the same lighthearted story and cutesy characters. Original Tactics, this is not. In fact the story is one of my only qualms with the game. It's not even as good as the previous game, even though I like the characters more in this one.

However the game exceeds where it counts, and that's providing a rich strategy RPG experience. Thanks to the game's seven races, and a multitude of job classes to choose from - there's a lot of variety to be had here. Each of the races have access to a set number of jobs, some unique to that race, and some shared among other races. You learn the abilities for these classes through equipment, which is acquired through a bazaar system identical to the one from XII. That is to say, you collect a bunch of loot from your encounters and trade them in for equipment.

The main story line of the game is surprisingly short with only 24 required missions, but the game more than makes up for it with the side quest. Seeing as how there are very few random encounters in this game, the majority of your experience will come from completing these quest. There has to be somewhere around 300 quest in total, and if this is starting to sound like Crisis Core - you'd be right. This is where the repetitiveness comes into play, however unlike Crisis Core I never really got burnt out on these missions. They aren't all that varied, but to me it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch from leveling up in the previous Tactics games through random encounters.

While the game's story might not keep you hooked, it's likely the quest to fully outfit your ideal team will. I can't count how many times I spent hours just getting new gear for my team, and doing quest to learn the new skills from that equipment. And as you can probably tell from my previous entry - I took some pride in the team I built up.

The only other thing I can think to bring up may be considered a pro, or a con depending on who you ask. The game is pretty laid back, I never had any difficulty completing any of the battles in the game at all. It might have something to do with the fact that I did every available quest I could, and was fully prepared for anything the game had to throw at me, but I found it to be a relaxing playthrough. This might be a turn off to some people though, so be warned.

All in all, I really enjoyed A2. I'm pretty sure it has a spot locked in for my Games of The Year list at this point. Even if it doesn't make the cut, I still think this is worth the price of admission for fans of the genre, or even people who might be interested in getting into the genre.

FFTA2 Character Sheets

2008-09-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished up Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of The Rift, and while I do intend to write up my final thoughts on the game at some point, I wanted to try something new first. Basically I'm just going to list the status and equipment of my six main characters and a little explanation of why I set them up that way.

Notes: This is my main party right after beating the game. I still have some stuff to do like Brightmoon Tor, and a few quest. I'm alos missing some equipment still, which I'll hopefully get whenever I do get around to BT. Also it should be noted that I'd equip all my characters with Ninja Tabi and Ribbons if I had enough for everyone.

Luso - Hume
Level: 73
Job: Paladin
Skills:
-Chivalry
-Flair
-Strike Back
-Geomancy
Equipment:
-Sequencer
-Genji Helm
-Genji Shield
-Peytral
-Orb of Minwu

Notes: Luso is a power house, and this is a good thing since you have to use him a lot throughout the game. He's not quite Ramza, but it's a start. I picked Paladin class strictly for the equipment - Sequencer and Peytral are the best weapon and armor in the game. He doesn't use Chivalry at all, but relies on the power of Flair - using skills like Hoarfrost Blade - combined with the enhanced damage of Geomancy to do a huge amount of damage to the enemy. The only problem is Luso's naturally slow speed, and the lack of Ninja Tabi.

Cordia - Viera
Level: 69
Job: Sniper
Skills:
-Sharpshooting
-Assassination
-Return Fire
-Blood Price
Equipment:
-Seventh Heaven
-Cachusha
-Galamia Frock
- High Seraph's Plume

Notes: Cordia is probably my best unit. The reason? Free Ultima Blows. Giving her the Assassination tree to use Ultima Blow, and having Blood Price which allows her to spend HP instead of MP ensures that Cordia can use Ultima Blow - every turn. Not to mention the fact that it's ranged. As a backup, the Sniper naturally has access to Doubleshot - which also does a fair bit of damage - especially on monster's weak to Seventh Heaven's holy property. The High Seraph's Plume is there as a backup healing method.

Alakina - Gria
Level: 69
Job: Ravager
Skills:
-Feralism
-Devastation
-Strike Back
-Unscarred
Equipment:
-Tournesol
-Genji Armor
-Ribbon
-Ninja Tabi

Notes: Alakina's forte is using Sneak Attack for massive damage when she is behind her enemies. It's a good thing Gria's have access to Sneak Attack since they can make the most of it by being able to fly around the map, and more importantly - over enemies. Alakina's effectiveness is severly reduced if she can't get behind the enemy - but not all is lost. She can still rely on Full Assault - which thanks to the Ribbon - won't put her to sleep. She also has her Devastation skills like Whirlwind for ranged attacks, and her "Breaks" which will nerf the enemies stats. Obviously, Alakina is at her best when at full HP - as all her attributes are buffed at full health thanks to Unscarred.

Orinella - Gria
Level: 68
Job: Hunter
Skills:
-Trapping
-Feralism
-Strike Back
-Unscarred
Equipment:
-Seventh Heaven
-Cachusha
-Judicer's Coat
-Sprint Shoes

Notes: Orinella shares a lot more in common with Alakina than just being the same race. She also has access to the whole Sneak Attack game, though for her she has some range to work with. She also has Unscarred so full health works best. The difference though, and what ultimately makes Orinella a bit better than her sister is her Trapping abilities. Sidewinder will do massive damage to monsters, and believe me - there are a lot of monsters in this game. Double that if they're weak to Holy. She also has access to Ultima Blow which she can use once she reaches 32 MP. The only bad part about Orinella is that she's damn near useless against foes that absorb Holy damage - but those are few and far between.

Eveline - Viera
Level: 66
Job: Summoner
Skills:
-Summoning Magick
-Elemental Magick
-Evade Magick
-Blood Price
Equipment:
-Nirvana
-Brint Frock
-Barette
-Angel Ring

Notes: Eveline is my mandatory Healer. She has access to the Unicorn summon - which while not the greatest healing spell in the game - works just fine, and effects units in a large radius. She also has access to the uber Phoenix spell which also restores HP, but also revives allies to full health. Thanks to Blood Price, Eveline can cast all of these spells on a whim. Elemental Magick is there as backup, as I found the offensive summons weren't always useful due to allies being caught in the blast. Elemental Magick is surprisingly good in that it does decent damage, and causes status effects. Eveline's only downfall though is that she really needs a Ninja Tabi. For the time being, Angel Ring is nice insurance.

Adelle - Hume
Level: 66
Job: Heritor
Skills:
-Instinct
-Pugilism
-Strike Back
-Dual Wield
Equipment:
-The Fallen ANgel
-Hyakushiki-masamune
-Ribbon
-Ever Robe
-Ninja Tabi

Notes: Adelle is probably the weakest link in my group. That isn't to say she's bad, but she just doesn't have any sort of devastating moves. She works best up close when she can hit enemies twice for some decent damage. Her ranged game basically involves using Aurablast for AoE damage, and some of her Instinct abilities to cause status effects. One great thing about her is her Elpe ability - which allows her to sacrifice herself to revive and restore full HP to all allies. This is a great backup plan for if things go south for Eveline. Aside from that - she's pretty well geared at least.

XBLA Wednesdays 09/03/08

2008-09-03T05:40:00.001-07:00

It's a shame I didn't think to do an entry like this any time last month when amazing games were being released every week on XBLA. Than again, that would've actually required some effort.

Shred Nebula: Do you want to know the secret of the Shred? Well, I'm not sure what the big secret is, but apparently it involves too much shit going on at once. In Shred Nebula you race through a series of pathways shooting down baddies and collecting power-ups. Sounds like your typical shooter. The problem lies in the fact that you have to navigate around corners while sloppily shooting at oncoming enemies. You're all over the controller too, holding LT to move, LB to go backwards, RB to bring up shields, X to shoot, and A for special weapons. Trying to press all these at once is awkward to say in the least.

The goal of each level seems to be survive a series of twist and turns, while killing everything that moves, and collecting anything that doesn't. Once you reach the end of the stage, if you've collected enough shit you can warp to the next level. That's about all there is to it. I'm sure you'll run into more complex levels, with more guys, and more power-ups. But that seems to be about all you'll be doing.

The game just feels sloppy, and things are pretty cluttered. The demo only lets you play the tutorial, and a short stage afterwards - so I can't speak for the entire game. However I don't really see the core problems changing anytime soon. While I wouldn't recommend downloading this, I would like to direct you to the trailers of the game which can also be found on X-Box Live - they're amazing.

Gin Rummy: I'm sure fans of Gin Rummy will enjoy this one. Me? I don't know how to play Gin Rummy, so I played the game for all of 30 seconds. Done

Pirates V Ninjas Dodgeball : This game is fucking terrible, do not waste your time or bandwidth downloading it. It's your typical Game Cock garbage. How much fun did you think a Dodgeball game could be anyway? You run around a field with the camera pulled way back, and you collect one of two balls to throw at the other team. The balls are pretty much homing balls, so they'll hit you most of the time regardless of dodging. Whoever can pickup the ball over and over again in quick succession will win. That's all there is to it.

Also, it's great that they decided to cash in on this "new" internet meme. Pirates vs. Ninjas? Who would've thought!

In other news...

Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid sure likes to talk a lot. The man is at least tolerable to listen to unlike Denis Dyack, but he can't see to stop pushing his opinions on everyone else. He doesn't think you should use a guide to play Braid with and he can't seem to stop reminding us of that little fact. He also likes to trash talk successful games like World of Warcraft and Bioshock.

I enjoyed Braid, John. But it wasn't that great.

Tales of Vesperia: Early Impressions

2008-08-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

I picked up Tales of Vesperia the other day and I'm already 9 hours into it. So far I have mixed feelings about the game. It isn't bad or anything, I'm just not so sure if it's as good as previous Tales games. That isn't to say the game is without it's charms. No, in fact it has a lot good going for it - the grapics for example - I think the game looks amazing. Not quite the level of Eternal Sonata, but still really pretty. Another perk would be that the game has some pretty cool character designs.

I can't speak much about the story yet, since the game seems pretty slow to start things up, but it seems like typical Tales fare at this point. One of the new features, skills - allows your characters to learn abilities from different weapons and you can equip this abilities on your characters by allocating skill points. This system is similar to the Star Ocean series, so I'm pretty comfortable with it.

Aside from that, things stay pretty true to the Tales formula. Except, the game seems to have gone backwards instead of forwards. While Tales of Symphonia is my favorite Tales game, Tales of the Abyss redefined the series in a number of ways. Most notable were the cores that you could equip on your characters to manipulate their stat growth. And the combat system was easily the best in the series. Not only did it flow smoothly, with just the right level of difficulty - but the inclusion of the elemental areas really added a lot of depth to the combat. All of these factors are missing in Vesperia - and honestly, I have to wonder why.

While we're on the subject of combat - the combat in Vesperia feels too slow. You'll also find yourself getting interrupted constantly by enemy attacks. It's really quite annoying and often times frustrating. Another annoying thing is that the Boss fights are extremely unbalanced. You will go from owning enemies in a given area, to completely wiping on the bosses. It makes no sense.

Another thing that has been annoying me is that titles are in the game - as per usual - but I don't know what they do. The game doesn't give any indication to wether or not they affect stat growth, and if so - how the affect it. I assume there must be a reason behind the titles other than just displaying them in your status screen. So I dunno, that's really bugging me.

Gameplay issues aside, I have a few problems with some of the characters. First off is Rita, who is in all fairness, pretty hot. The problem is she's a fucking bitch. She never appears to come off as nice in any situation other than when she's taking care of blastia. Which is some sort of magical item in the game that gives people powers. As far as I can tell they're just machines of some sort. So she falls into that category of person that favors objects over human beings - and that shit always annoys me. She even complains about shit in battle while no other characters do that. If she gets attacked while casting she bitches, if you use too much TP she bitches. I want to like her, but it's hard.

Flynn is another character who comes off as annoying. He's some super tight ass upstanding soldier who holds justice above all else. We haven't seen much of him yet, but he comes off as a fucking douche. And finally theres Zagi - seemingly one of the main antagonist in the game - he looks like a fucking faggot and acts like some goth 14 year old who's obsessed with killing and death. Yeah - lame fucking villain.

Another thing that's annoying me is I don't have a guide for this game. Yes, I like using guides when I play games. I like the feeling of completion and efficiency. I'm sorely lacking that at the moment since there are no guides out online or off. Funny that I wrote a guide for Symphonia though.

Too Human

2008-08-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

I started writing a rather lengthy rant about Too Human, one that was more rational and collected than my previous outburst. However I realized I was repeating a lot of what I've already said, and the thing was just too damn long for a game I don't really give a shit about. So instead, I'm going to do a review similar to the Kotaku format and least the pros and cons of the game. That way I'll be able to properly address all the bullshit in the game in a more organized and much shorter manner. Let us begin.

Pros

Hall of Heroes and Helheim - These are the first and last levels of the game respectively. These, in my opinion, are the only levels in the game where you are capable of having a fun times playing the game. That isn't to say they're great by any stretch of the imagination, nor are they without flaw (see: Bosses) However I found myself actually enjoying the combat in these areas. The enemies are fun to kill, they don't pull off bullshit moves, they don't take forever to kill, and honestly the whole game should've just been like this. It wouldn't make it a great game, but it'd certainly be a start.

The Setting - The idea of a Sci-Fi Norse Mythology settings is appealing to me to say in the least. I can't fault Too Human for that. Would that the game actually featured an appealing art style, characters that I cared about, and a half-way decent story and I might've given Too Human a little more credit. Silicon Knights can be creative if nothing else (ex: Insanity Effects)

That's all I can think of, I've sat here for five minutes thinking about every part of the game, and I honestly can't think of another positive thing to say about this game. I'm sorry, it's bad.

Cons

The Ice Forest - This is the second level in the game, it also happens to be one of the worst levels I have ever played in a game. It's laughable that Denis Dyack attempted to defend this level on the epic 1UPYours Poolside podcast where Garnett slammed it for being the worst level in the game. Funny, Denis couldn't come up with an answer for what is the worst level in the game. The Ice Forest is full of some of the most annoying encounters in the game. You will be met with waves of enemies that are nearly impossible to kill without dying several times. You will encounter difficult enemies, packed in with more difficult enemies, packed in with annoying enemies. Generally in a game like this, say Phantasy Star Online/Universe/Portable for example - you will encounter a tough enemy by itself, or paired up with another one of the same enemy. Not combinations of many enemies making for a maddening encounter. The lay of the level is terrible too, nothing but similar looking fields peppered with "man-cannons" for reasons unknown. If you can make it past this level, than you've suffered the worst Too Human has to offer - but really, why bother?

The Combat - This "innovative" stick combat is nothing more than a replacement for button mashing. You hold the right stick in one direction until the enemy dies instead of mashing A. It's nothing new, or exciting. It's just frustrating. There's even less depth to Too Human's combat than many of the other games in it's genre - thanks largely in due to the nearly useless skill tree system. You will have at your disposal a whopping number of four abilities you can use during combat. And guess what? They're pretty much the same skills for every class. You have a battle cry buff, a spider drone that'll blow up, shoot stuff, or slow enemies, an AoE Ruiner ability, and Sentient Weapons which fight for you. It should also be noted that some of these abilities take a while to cool down, so you'll rarely see them in combat. Another thing worth noting about the combat is that it's really buggy at times, and the animation looks terrible. Your character will jerk around from enemy to enemy, than clumsily swing his weapon at the enemy in a really awkward fashion. That's not the worst of it though, the moment you attempt to perform "air combat" you'll notice how unresponsive the controls are, and you'll get stuck in the air while over a hoard of enemies. This is the core of the game we're talking about here folks.

The Loot - Another vital part of the game is all the loot you'll get along your travels. Problem is the loot system sucks. For starters, the inventory system is terrible. You can hold a max number of items, not too surprising. The catch though? If you're inventory gets full, you'll waste items you try and collect. Sound familiar? Yeah it was one of the most glaring problems people had with Mass Effect which released late 2007. Luckily Bioware fixed Mass Effect's inventory system in the PC release of the game. Too late for Silicon Knights to fix Too Human though. You'll spend a good portion of your time wading through crap that you'll never equip, only bothering with equipment that'll last you a maximum of two or three levels. Yeah, that Elite item you just got? Totally going to be replaced by some random blue in about 30 minutes. Finally, the loot doesn't look appealing either. The most important part of a loot game is to get cool shit. None of this shit is cool, it's very bland and never changes much from the gear you start with. And since the stats on equipment don't matter for very long, there's really no reason to get attached to anything.

The Bosses - The game has five bosses in total. One for Levels 1-3, and two on the last level. They're all really fucking stupid. I haven't touched on this yet, but most of the enemies in the game are either resistant to melee or ranged attacks. Most every single enemy in the game will shrug off any ranged attack save for the easiest of peons... and the bosses. So one whole class is fucked right there - The Commando class which specializes in firearms. Sucks for him, so why not pick one of the other four characters? That's still the smart thing to do, but once you encounter a boss you'll quickly realize that your primary method of killing shit doesn't work anymore, at all. The first boss requires you to walk backwards around a large open arena full of fire traps, aiming at the bosses' weak points with your shitty ranged weapon for about 20 minutes. If you get close to him, he'll pick you up and grind you against his... uh grinders. Oh and those fire traps? They play no part in the game whatsoever. The second boss requires you to shoot a series of five platforms.... four times. So that's 20 platforms that you can ONLY attack by shooting. Meanwhile he blowing you away with his amazing gun. Fun, and fair! The Third Boss requires you to drain 6 or so weak points with ranged attacks, and the fourth boss has the same deal. Notice the pattern? You will die on these bosses, several times before you chip away all their health. The only exception to this rule is the final boss encounter. The big epic battle that will floor you for all of the three minutes it takes you to melee the shit out of the bitch. Most disappointing final boss battle EVER.

The Death - Dying in a game usually presents you with a penalty of sorts. Too Human is no exception. However Too Human's death penalty is unlike anything I've ever been forced to experience 87 times before. When you die in Too Human, a Valkyrie will descend from the sky, and drag your worthless corpse to Valhalla - or back to the last check point. The problem is - this scene takes 25 seconds, Twenty Five fucking Seconds. And you know what else? You CAN'T skip it, ever. So that means I spent 36 minutes of my total 11 hours of playing this game, watching the fucking death animation that I'm sure Denis Dyack is so god damn proud of. 36 minutes? Are you fucking serious? I guarantee if you took this shit out the game would be presentable for fans of the genre to play around with once. As it stands, it just made me hate video games. Oh, and your armor breaks.

Characters, Art, Graphics, Story, Ending, Etc - Everything else about the game is equally shit. The game looks ugly, it's too bad you guys were too dumb to figure out how to use the Unreal engine, because at least than your game would be a pretty brown and gray like every other next gen game on the market. The art style, character designs, enemies, and environments are all equally appalling to look at. It's a real shame, because as I mentioned earlier - the setting is pretty cool. The characters themselves are very boring, or just plain retarded. Thor is supposed to be some super bad ass tough guy, and Loki is supposed to be diabolically evil - but they both come across as cheesy and uninteresting. The story is far from epic, and is in all honesty pretty cliche at this point in time. And the ending? What ending? Halo 2 says Hi.

The Hype - Assuming they fixed the death animation, the placement of enemies in the Ice Forest, and made melee combat a viable option for Boss Fights - if we could turn back the clock, and cut Denis Dyack's tongue out - Too Human would be a decent game. I think fans of the genre would be able to enjoy it, especially with their friends, and most people would be able to overlook it's other short comings. Thanks to Denis Dyack though, that's impossible at this point. The man just doesn't know how to keep his fat fucking mouth shut. He has gone on and on at lengths about how revolutionary this game is, how it'll change the industry, and redefine gaming. He has started flame wars with members of the video game community, and tried to justify it as a social experiment. He has claimed that people that give Too Human a bad rating "just don't get it". The game is out, the verdict is in, the game is average at best - Yet the man keeps on talking! Shut Up Denis, Shut the fuck up. It's over, you lost. NeoGAF owned you, people weren't amazed with your game, you haven't changed gaming, and the industry will go on without you. Throw in the god damn towel and get to work on your next project which will hopefully redeem the sullied Silicon Knights name. Above all else, it's the hype that has killed this game. When it comes down to it - Denis should've just kept quiet.

Braids and Grimoires

2008-08-09T05:30:00.001-07:00

These are the games I am playing.

First off is Braid, the new X-box Live Arcade time based puzzle platformer. I found this game to be charming since I first checked out the demo the day it was released. However I didn't buy it up right away because I was scared off by the prospect of having to complete a series of difficult jumps and other staple platformer objectives. However after researching some more I found out that the game isn't really a platformer at all per say - in fact platforming only plays a small role in the game, and the main difficulty can be found in trying to solve the game's various puzzles.

Your goal in the game is seemingly to find the mysterious Princess whom the main character seems to have a relationship with. In order to accomplish your goal you have to make your way through 7 worlds that are each broken up into little puzzles. Inside of these puzzles you have to find jigsaw puzzle pieces, similar to stars in Mario 64. Most of the puzzles in the game involve you using your ability to rewind time. Also, in each world theres a new mechanic thrown in to keep things fresh.

For example, theres one world where whenever you rewind time there will be a shadow form of your character that will act out everything you just did before you rewound time. These little elements make each world a little more complicated than the next, and some of these puzzles are really fucking hard.

I'm not sure how many puzzle pieces I have in total right now, but it seems like there's already at least 5185 people who have all 60 pieces. I'll probably go back and try to solve the rest of the puzzles I haven't completed yet, but chances are I won't be getting all the pieces until an FAQ of sorts is released. Sadly, I'm not much better at puzzle games than I am at platformers.

The other game I've been playing is Final Fantasy Tactics A2 Grimoire of The Rift. I was hesitant to get started on it, even though I enjoyed Tactics Advance. As far as I can tell A2 is better than the original Advance, but still falls short of being a better game than the original Tactics. I've been pretty addicted to the game though, so if you're a fan of the series at all I'd highly recommend it.

Most of the things that I liked about Tactics Advance have made their way into this iteration. These include the variety of races and job classes, the art style, the "sweet spot" in terms of difficulty, and the overall depth of the game. That isn't to say everything in the Advanced series is great. I still find the childish story and characters lacking when compared to the original game's more mature theme. The music could also be better, and I'm not sure if I prefer learning skills from items or buying them with job points.

One of the things that has been improved over the previous game is the Judge system. It was pretty fucking annoying in the first game not being able to do certain actions. While these rules still apply to every battle in A2 - they don't seem to be near as bad, and best of all - it doesn't really matter if you uphold the law or not. You get a bonus for not breaking the law, but it isn't required for you to do so. And besides - the bonuses are pretty lacking as you progress farther into the game.

There are a ton of side missions, similar to Crisis Core. However, for whatever reason they don't really strike me as being too grindy. Seeing as how random encounters are gone, these missions are pretty much the only way you're going to level up. So instead of doing random encounters over and over again, you just do more side missions. You get nice rewards for completing these missions, as well as experience, money, and ability points to boot.

Not much else to say about that. I'm really enjoying both games, in fact I'm going to go play some more A2 right now.

Hot Summer Action on XBLA

2008-07-28T13:00:00.001-07:00

* July 30: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
* August 6: Braid
* August 13: Bionic Commando Rearmed
* August 20: Galaga Legions
* August 27: Castle Crashers

Taken straight from Joystiq. Good times to be sure. I'm not so sure about Braid, but I'm interested in every other game on that list. Especially Gala Legions and Castle Crashers.

Geometry Wars 2 looks to be more of the same with some extra modes and enemies thrown in to keep things fresh.

Braid is some kind of a wacky puzzle game where you have the ability to rewind time and this plays an integral role in solving the puzzles.

Bionic Commando Rearmed is a remake of the classic NES game with added multiplayer features. Admittedly wasn't that excited about it at first, but it could be fun considering Capcom's other XBLA offerings thus far.

Galaga Legions is basically Galaga on crack. And much like the recent remake of Space Invaders - this game looks pretty fucking amazing in action. I'm not terribly great at shooters, but I do find them entertaining from time to time.

Castle Crashers is easily my favorite game on the list, it's the follow-up to Alien Hominid yet totally different. It's got that same cutesy cartoony style, but the game itself is actually much like an old fashion beat-em up. The difference between Crashers and your typical beat-em up is that the game combines some RPG elements into the mix - as your character not only has a mana bar of sorts, but also grows and learns new skills and abilities. Of course the whole thing can be up to Four Player Co-Op so when you wrap everything together its positively dreamy. Sorry, I had a gay moment there.

I'll more than likely end up purchasing most of these games, and yet somehow I have to balance in all the full retail games I want to pick up in August as well. Christ.

Release List 2.2 August-October

2008-07-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

I've been doing these release list for years now, this will be the first one I'm posting here - so I think an explanation is in order. Basically, I search through EB Games website and compose a handy list of games coming out in the next few months. The thing is, all of the games I list are either games I'm interested in - or that I feel deserve a spot on the list. In other words, I'm trying to churn through the crap. You might disagree with me here, but hey - that's cool. Anyway, one last thing to note games in Orange are games that I plan on buying - or at least would like to buy. With all that said...

Wii

Madden 09 - 8/12
Mario Super Sluggers - 08/25
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility - 08/26
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 9/16
Samba De Amigo - 9/23
LEGO Batman - 9/23
Brothers in Arms: Double Time - 9/23
Wario Land: Shake It - 9/29
Cooking Mama World Kitchen - 10/6
Shaun White Snowboarding - 10/15
Naruto: Clash of The Ninja Revolution 2 - 10/21
Ghostbusters - 10/21
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
Guitar Hero: World Tour - 10/26
My Sims Kingdom - 10/28

DS

Line Rider 2: Unbound - 8/12
Bangai O Spirits - 8/12
N+ - 8/12
Madden 09 - 8/12
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness - 8/26
Spore Creature - 9/7
Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise - 9/8
Dragon Quest IV - 9/15
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 9/16
Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 - 9/16
My Japanese Coach - 9/16
LEGO Batman - 9/23
Time Hollow - 9/23
Kirby Super Star Ultra - 9/29
Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood - 9/30
Bleach: Dark Souls - 10/7
Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2 - 10/7
Ninja Town - 10/14
Tom Clancy's End War - 10/15
Ghostbusters - 10/21
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
My Sims Kingdom - 10/28

X-Box 360

Madden 09 - 8/12
Too Human - 8/19
Tales of Vesperia - 8/26
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - 8/31
Infinite Undiscovery - 9/1
Viva Pinata 2 - 9/2
Rock Band 2 - Game Only - 9/14
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 9/16
Warhammer: Battle March - 9/16
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway - 9/23
LEGO Batman - 9/23
Warriors Orochi 2 - 9/23
Silent Hill: Homecoming - 9/30
Golden Axe: Beastrider - 9/30
Guilty Gear 2: Overture - 9/30
Project Origin - 10/1
Farcry 2 - 10/1
Fallout 3 - 10/7
Saints Row 2 - 10/14
Tom Clancy's End War -10/15
Rockband 2 -10/19
Dead Space - 10/20
Ghostbusters - 10/21
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
Fable 2 - 10/21
Guitar Hero: World Tour - 10/26
Command and Conquer 3: Red Alert - 10/28

Playstation 3

Madden 09 - 8/12
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice - 8/26
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - 8/31
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 9/16
LEGO Batman - 9/23
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway - 9/23
Silent Hill: Homecoming - 9/30
Golden Axe: Beastrider - 9/30
Project Origin - 10/1
Farcry 2 - 10/1
Fallout 3 - 10/7
Fracture - 10/7
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift - 10/7
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm - 10/14
Saints Row 2 - 10/14
SOCOM: Confrontation - 10/14
Tom Clancy's End War -10/15
Rockband 2 -10/19
Dead Space - 10/20
Little Big Planet - 10/21
Ghostbusters - 10/21
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
Guitar Hero: World Tour - 10/26

PSP

N+ - 8/12
Madden 09 - 8/12
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 9/16
LEGO Batman - 9/23
Valhalla Knights 2 - 9/23
Tom Clancy's End War -10/15
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - 10/21
Star Ocean: First Departure - 10/21

PC

Line Rider 2: Unbound - 8/12
Space Siege - 8/12
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - 8/31
Spore - 9/7
Crysis: Warhead - 9/12
The Witcher: Enchanced - 9/16
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - 9/23
LEGO Batman - 9/23
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway - 9/23
Project Origin - 10/1
Farcry 2 - 10/1
Fallout 3 - 10/7
Saints Row 2 - 10/14
Tom Clancy's End War -10/15
Dead Space - 10/20
Ghostbusters - 10/21
Command and Conquer 3: Red Alert - 10/28

Concerning Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour. I'm getting either one or the other with the instruments and just the game of the other. I don't need that many plastic instruments lying around the house.

Looking good(er)

2008-07-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Alright, so after about a month I've finally come back to this. I was too lazy to even try and attempt to move on from LiveJournal, but now I'm finally ready to give this a shot. Sure it's missing a few features and a massive archive. But hey- it's got cool thinks like Blog Feeds, and Links.

I'm really digging the blog feeds, but maybe it's a little too cluttered? I dunno. Also what about that color scheme? I like it, but then again I'm artistically challenged. Maybe I should tweak some of the font colors some more.

Um, I'm sure I'll have a "real" post up at some point here, and hopefully I can get a neat little banner up there. Yeah, that would be sweet.

Nothing to see here...

2008-06-08T19:43:00.001-07:00

...Not yet anyway.

See: That other Moldy Tome