I've restarted Bioshock on hard with Vita-Chambers turned off so that I can get the last three achievements. The achievement system has definitely affected the way I play games - sometimes I'll stick to something far more stubbornly on the 360 than I would on other systems just because I want those points...but I must admit, not even an hour into my second run-through of Bioshock I remembered exactly how much fun that game is. I'm still gunning for those points, but it's taken a back seat to wanting to play through the entire game again. That's a nice change.
I'm playing Magical Starsign on the handheld front. It's an interesting title mostly because while the character portrait art sucks horribly and the writing is incredibly corny, the game play and general mechanics are highly entertaining. It's a bit on the easy side - I think it's meant to be an RPG for a younger crowd - but that hasn't hurt it much in my opinion. If anything I'm just glad there's another RPG on the DS that uses the stylus exclusively for everything. The remake of Final Fantasy III uses the same concept and it makes both games a joy to play.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Boring
It's always bad for blogging when I get truly stuck on playing a single game. It certainly limits what's on my mind or what I've got to talk about. This time it's Etrian Odyssey II: Heros of Laagard on the DS. It's an excellent first-person dungeon crawler that hearkens all the way back to Wizardry. The touch screen is used exclusively to draw the floor map yourself. You can't get any geekier than that, so naturally it's right up my alley. I enjoyed the first one as well, but it wasn't balanced quite as well and it was very easy to run out of money in the beginning, making it very hard to level grind and recuperate at the inn with any frequency.
There are a ton of classes to choose from, each with their own skill sets that have to be purchased with points you get from leveling. The artwork is beautiful, the quests are challenging, and pretty much every aspect of the game play works perfectly for the kind of game it is. I am still playing a couple of other games, but they're ones I've already talked about - like Picross. Still, there are a couple of 360 games coming out soon that I'm looking forward to trying out so I'll probably have more to talk about soon.
There are a ton of classes to choose from, each with their own skill sets that have to be purchased with points you get from leveling. The artwork is beautiful, the quests are challenging, and pretty much every aspect of the game play works perfectly for the kind of game it is. I am still playing a couple of other games, but they're ones I've already talked about - like Picross. Still, there are a couple of 360 games coming out soon that I'm looking forward to trying out so I'll probably have more to talk about soon.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Waiting
Sometimes I wonder why I pay attention to release calendars. I almost NEVER buy games new; I think I've purchased a total of 10 new 360 games out of a total of 32. Three of them I bought with the system, and two were purchased new because weirdly enough they happened to end up in the discount bin way ahead of the used price fall-off. The remaining five I bought new specifically to give the developers money for a fantastic product so that they could make more. Given that, why bother to read release calendars? There's no way I'll have the game on that anticipated day. I suppose there's the thought in the back of my mind that someone will buy it, beat it, and then get rid of it quickly, but even when that happens I generally put it off until it drops a bit. My sweet spot is around $30 - a very nice price for a 360 game - and it can take a little time for them to drop to that point. I guess it comes down to wanting it to be available just in case I end up buying it ahead of my normal schedule.
Anyway, skimming the calendar regularly can yield some funny tidbits. The current 360 release list on IGN has an entry waaaaaaaaay down at the bottom - Mass Effect 3, TBD 2011. While it's nice to know they're planning a third entry in the series, it's probably jumping the gun just a bit to announce a sequel to a sequel that's at least a year off in of itself. Still, cool. There's also an entry for Blue Dragon 2, which is a nice discovery. A friend and I both hoped there would be another one, we just can't get enough of strictly turn-based JRPGs...unfortunately a rapidly disappearing genre.
Anyway, skimming the calendar regularly can yield some funny tidbits. The current 360 release list on IGN has an entry waaaaaaaaay down at the bottom - Mass Effect 3, TBD 2011. While it's nice to know they're planning a third entry in the series, it's probably jumping the gun just a bit to announce a sequel to a sequel that's at least a year off in of itself. Still, cool. There's also an entry for Blue Dragon 2, which is a nice discovery. A friend and I both hoped there would be another one, we just can't get enough of strictly turn-based JRPGs...unfortunately a rapidly disappearing genre.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Tony Hawk, Funky DS games, and Stupid People
Last night I "beat" Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, which is to say I have accomplished the minimum number of goals to reach the final task in the list of events that loosely represents a story. I would love to be able to say that I'm just getting started on knocking more goals out, but I'm really not that sure about that this time. Proving Ground is a lot of fun and follows the perfect control and story scheme laid down by Project 8, but damn it's harder. I'll definitely run through more events in general, but I don't know how much further I'll get overall.
Check this out whether you own a DS or not because it's damn impressive either way. It's an upcoming FPS named "Moon," and the 3D engine is absolutely incredible for a hand-held system with two low-power ARM processors. The DS definitely had a weak launch with a lot of skepticism concerning the touch screen, but now that it has established itself there are some companies constantly pushing the system much further than anyone originally thought possible. I mean, BioWare is bringing Mass-freaking-Effect to the DS. There are no details as to what kind of game it will be or how it will look, but I trust BioWare to do something stupendous. They're thinking of using the DS game to keep interest in the franchise high, and you have to step up to the plate to meet a goal like that. Read the comments at the bottom if you have time - I find it absolutely hysterical that some people actually think BioWare is going to try porting the original game.
Check this out whether you own a DS or not because it's damn impressive either way. It's an upcoming FPS named "Moon," and the 3D engine is absolutely incredible for a hand-held system with two low-power ARM processors. The DS definitely had a weak launch with a lot of skepticism concerning the touch screen, but now that it has established itself there are some companies constantly pushing the system much further than anyone originally thought possible. I mean, BioWare is bringing Mass-freaking-Effect to the DS. There are no details as to what kind of game it will be or how it will look, but I trust BioWare to do something stupendous. They're thinking of using the DS game to keep interest in the franchise high, and you have to step up to the plate to meet a goal like that. Read the comments at the bottom if you have time - I find it absolutely hysterical that some people actually think BioWare is going to try porting the original game.
A Small Change in Plans
I've decided to do something slightly different with this review blog. Lately I've had so much on my plate that I simply haven't been able to muster up the time, energy, or concentration to write reviews of either bad OR good games. The infrequent posting schedule makes having a separate column for both good and bad games outright laughable. The one-sentence reviews were an easy out, but I can't do that more than once or twice in a blue moon without making the entire concept of a review blog pretty pointless.
I have decided therefore to orient this particular one to regular posts as well as reviews. I'll be posting my informal thoughts on video games I'm playing or news I've read, a task much more likely to be completed on a regular basis. I do after all have a journal but feel posts of that nature don't really belong there, so I'll kill two birds with one stone and put them here.
I have decided therefore to orient this particular one to regular posts as well as reviews. I'll be posting my informal thoughts on video games I'm playing or news I've read, a task much more likely to be completed on a regular basis. I do after all have a journal but feel posts of that nature don't really belong there, so I'll kill two birds with one stone and put them here.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Xbox 360)
Yeah, laugh it up. I rented and played what could be considered to be a softcore porn game. I won't make any lofty claims that I simply needed to review it for any particular reason, either. I was shamelessly fishing for easy achievement points, curious as to how it actually played, and curious exactly how porn-ish it could get. Lo and behold the points are far from easy, it plays almost exactly the way you would think it does, and it can get pretty damn porn-ish...but not in a way I would consider even remotely erotic.
The premise is ridiculous and completely transparent: take the girls from the Dead or Alive franchise and put them on an island taking a vacation wearing only swimsuits from morning till night. Arguably the point is to play volleyball, but I'll tell you right now that when the Microsoft VP in Japan went to announce the upcoming release he couldn't keep a straight face when he got to the phrase "sports game." Yes, you play volleyball and a host of other mini-games...but that's to collect money spent on the real point - hundreds of different swimsuits for the girls.
I'm not going to say the game is outright bad, because it isn't. It's well put-together, looks nice enough (creepy, gravity defying breasts aside), and certainly has a lot more meat than the previous iteration...I simply find the entire product pointless. It is in essence a collection of mini-games - including the volleyball - with sizable amounts of T&A as the bookends.
The only feature that really got my attention was the gift system. You can buy various items at a store on the island, wrap them up, and give them to the other girls as gifts. Naturally this means there are items you can only acquire as gifts from other girls, and naturally you have to give them the right combinations of gifts and compliments for them to part with the special items. This itself is trivial, but there's a sizable monkey wrench tossed into the system via the girls all having likes and dislikes that you have to puzzle out for yourself. We're not just talking about the gifts themselves, either...even the color of the wrapping paper and bow can tip the balance between well-received and disliked - and as you can probably guess there are many, many different kinds of bows and wrapping paper. The possible combinations are enormous, and you have to puzzle them out on your own. Well, unless you get desperate and go look up guides on the Web. (I still haven't decided if I'm impressed, frightened, or saddened that quite a few people spent the time and energy figuring all of the various combinations out.)
Unfortunately even that complex and in-depth set of tasks is completely trashed by what is perhaps the single most stupid feature of the game - an extremely linear time system. You wake up in the morning and can play one game and then it's afternoon. You can then play another game or lounge by the pool and it becomes evening. At that point you may head to the casino to play some extremely basic card games, send out a round of gifts from your hotel room, or choose to sleep and end the day. Each of the segments has a short "cutscene" of the new time, and of course you have to cycle through another day before the results of your gift giving are shown to you. This. Was. Maddening. It takes forever to do anything, and that reduced my "passing interest" in the game to "active dislike," and I sent the game back to Gamefly soon after.
Oh, and a side note for Tecmo and Team Ninja: enormous breasts that bounce in opposite directions are just creepy - not sexy.
The premise is ridiculous and completely transparent: take the girls from the Dead or Alive franchise and put them on an island taking a vacation wearing only swimsuits from morning till night. Arguably the point is to play volleyball, but I'll tell you right now that when the Microsoft VP in Japan went to announce the upcoming release he couldn't keep a straight face when he got to the phrase "sports game." Yes, you play volleyball and a host of other mini-games...but that's to collect money spent on the real point - hundreds of different swimsuits for the girls.
I'm not going to say the game is outright bad, because it isn't. It's well put-together, looks nice enough (creepy, gravity defying breasts aside), and certainly has a lot more meat than the previous iteration...I simply find the entire product pointless. It is in essence a collection of mini-games - including the volleyball - with sizable amounts of T&A as the bookends.
The only feature that really got my attention was the gift system. You can buy various items at a store on the island, wrap them up, and give them to the other girls as gifts. Naturally this means there are items you can only acquire as gifts from other girls, and naturally you have to give them the right combinations of gifts and compliments for them to part with the special items. This itself is trivial, but there's a sizable monkey wrench tossed into the system via the girls all having likes and dislikes that you have to puzzle out for yourself. We're not just talking about the gifts themselves, either...even the color of the wrapping paper and bow can tip the balance between well-received and disliked - and as you can probably guess there are many, many different kinds of bows and wrapping paper. The possible combinations are enormous, and you have to puzzle them out on your own. Well, unless you get desperate and go look up guides on the Web. (I still haven't decided if I'm impressed, frightened, or saddened that quite a few people spent the time and energy figuring all of the various combinations out.)
Unfortunately even that complex and in-depth set of tasks is completely trashed by what is perhaps the single most stupid feature of the game - an extremely linear time system. You wake up in the morning and can play one game and then it's afternoon. You can then play another game or lounge by the pool and it becomes evening. At that point you may head to the casino to play some extremely basic card games, send out a round of gifts from your hotel room, or choose to sleep and end the day. Each of the segments has a short "cutscene" of the new time, and of course you have to cycle through another day before the results of your gift giving are shown to you. This. Was. Maddening. It takes forever to do anything, and that reduced my "passing interest" in the game to "active dislike," and I sent the game back to Gamefly soon after.
Oh, and a side note for Tecmo and Team Ninja: enormous breasts that bounce in opposite directions are just creepy - not sexy.
Friday, October 5, 2007
State of Emergency (PS2)
Yeah, okay. You know what? This is one of those semi-rare cases when I won't even try to beat around the bush. This is one of those times when I will state rather firmly that I was gullible and a complete fucking idiot. One of my moments of shame. Enjoy it kids, 'cause it doesn't happen very often. I do take some small consolation from the fact that I wasn't alone. That many others, also having just played Grand Theft Auto 3 and feeling that Rockstar Games could do no wrong, preordered and purchased State of Emergency - for fifty fucking dollars.
The game was based on a concept that sounds fun enough – wander through areas like malls and city streets and kill well, everyone. Be a rebel! Smash the Corporation, and shove a rocket into the face of anyone that tries to stop you. Deal with crowds of 100+ people on screen simultaneously with little to no slowdown, an impressive feat at the time. Use an arsenal of nasty weapons, ranging from semi and automatic rifles to flamethrowers to grenades and rocket launchers. Play through the challenge-based story mode, or take on mini-quests that can involve wonderful objectives such as “kill as many civilians as you can in one minute.” And you know what? It is fun. For about...an hour. Maybe two. Two whole hours of entertainment - for fifty fucking dollars.
So then what happens? You start realizing that the only real point of the game is to run around in a tiny handful of small environments picking up weapons and firing in almost any direction over and over and over and over and over. Close your eyes, rotate the left thumbstick slowly in a circle, repeatedly tap the X button, and you will probably get a decent score. This is what happens when you get too much of a good thing. This is what happens when someone in a boardroom says “HEY! Kids like shooting innocent people in Grand Theft Auto 3. If they like shooting one person, they'll LOVE shooting a hundred. Let's make a game about THAT!” And so they did. They took a single facet of a popular game, purified it, proceeded to beat it into the ground, and then dropped it on store shelves - for fifty fucking dollars.
When you really boil it down, State of Emergency is nothing more than a mini-game from Grand Theft Auto 3. Run around and kill people. Rinse and repeat. It's so ridiculous that I almost wonder if Rockstar realized this during playtesting, if they watched people cackle with glee for about two hours before getting bored and frustrated. Come to think of it I feel sorry for those testers, because I know they weren't allowed to put it down when they got bored. No, they had to keep playing and playing and playing until I'd imagine someone drilled through their right eye with a Black and Decker. Maybe they got to go home early that day, making that guy a hero. Even without that I think Rockstar knew what they had, that they held in their hands a game that would at least at first sell like hotcakes based on the concept and the hype. By the time anyone figured out they'd been had it was too late. Thanks to the asinine rules at almost every retail chain, you can't return a game you've opened after purchase. Nope, Rockstar just took you for a ride - for fifty fucking dollars.
I'll freely admit this was really my mistake. That I was a fool for buying into the hype that few games manage to actually live up to. It's okay though. I learned my lesson, so the experience was worth something in the end. I'm only really mad about the money - fifty fucking dollars.
The game was based on a concept that sounds fun enough – wander through areas like malls and city streets and kill well, everyone. Be a rebel! Smash the Corporation, and shove a rocket into the face of anyone that tries to stop you. Deal with crowds of 100+ people on screen simultaneously with little to no slowdown, an impressive feat at the time. Use an arsenal of nasty weapons, ranging from semi and automatic rifles to flamethrowers to grenades and rocket launchers. Play through the challenge-based story mode, or take on mini-quests that can involve wonderful objectives such as “kill as many civilians as you can in one minute.” And you know what? It is fun. For about...an hour. Maybe two. Two whole hours of entertainment - for fifty fucking dollars.
So then what happens? You start realizing that the only real point of the game is to run around in a tiny handful of small environments picking up weapons and firing in almost any direction over and over and over and over and over. Close your eyes, rotate the left thumbstick slowly in a circle, repeatedly tap the X button, and you will probably get a decent score. This is what happens when you get too much of a good thing. This is what happens when someone in a boardroom says “HEY! Kids like shooting innocent people in Grand Theft Auto 3. If they like shooting one person, they'll LOVE shooting a hundred. Let's make a game about THAT!” And so they did. They took a single facet of a popular game, purified it, proceeded to beat it into the ground, and then dropped it on store shelves - for fifty fucking dollars.
When you really boil it down, State of Emergency is nothing more than a mini-game from Grand Theft Auto 3. Run around and kill people. Rinse and repeat. It's so ridiculous that I almost wonder if Rockstar realized this during playtesting, if they watched people cackle with glee for about two hours before getting bored and frustrated. Come to think of it I feel sorry for those testers, because I know they weren't allowed to put it down when they got bored. No, they had to keep playing and playing and playing until I'd imagine someone drilled through their right eye with a Black and Decker. Maybe they got to go home early that day, making that guy a hero. Even without that I think Rockstar knew what they had, that they held in their hands a game that would at least at first sell like hotcakes based on the concept and the hype. By the time anyone figured out they'd been had it was too late. Thanks to the asinine rules at almost every retail chain, you can't return a game you've opened after purchase. Nope, Rockstar just took you for a ride - for fifty fucking dollars.
I'll freely admit this was really my mistake. That I was a fool for buying into the hype that few games manage to actually live up to. It's okay though. I learned my lesson, so the experience was worth something in the end. I'm only really mad about the money - fifty fucking dollars.
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