carninjaalex

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 09:19:55 GMT

It took me a year and a half of off and on trying, but I finally killed the goddamn Omega Pirate on hard mode in Metroid Prime. I wish I still had my list of acquired items, since I was crossing stuff off... this'll be fun. Only have Ridley and Prime left!

Friends don't let friends spoil games.

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:43:45 GMT

Recently, our friend Kat has been playing through Final Fantasy 7 for the first time. And, for whatever reason, I didn't realize it was her first time through. It's a good thing she wasn't paying attention to me when I mentioned something from later, because I'd have probably kicked myself pretty damn hard, for quite some time, because of that one. But the whole thing made me think of something.

I'm going to go through all of the significant things in games that have been spoiled for me in advance, thus making the games nowhere near as good on their own. Fun, no?

Final Fantasy 7: This one was fun. The first thing of the game that I was shown, aside from the various TV spots at the time, was the ending. And of course, I was completely confused. "Wait, who the fuck is that?" "That? Aeris?" "Yeah, who the fuck is that?" "Uh, she died." "What?" "We didn't show you that scene?" "I guess not..." Ironically, this is what I almost spoiled for Kat.

Final Fantasy X: It's kinda funny, I had a long streak of "Final Fantasy is goddamn boring," and I kinda fell back into it since I put this game down. But I actually really got into ten, and was playing it for long hours every day that I could. One of my friends in Portland, Chris, was talking with me about the game, and how emotional the ending was. After trying to tell him not to say anything about it, I got to hear about Tidus dying/vanishing at the end. Granted, this is supposedly all but eliminated from the plot thread with FFX-2, but that's irrelevant.

Chrono Trigger: Crono dies. This one I heard when I was finally getting to play through the game all the way, since I had tried to a few times, but the save always got lost someplace. I had just beat Magus' Castle, and was talking with Ben about it, and he mentioned the new "awesome" anime scene where Lavos explodes him.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Miller is really Liquid Snake? WTF?! I can't really place the blame anywhere on this one, it was mainly circumstance. While watching Isaiah and Ben play through MGS on Extreme, starting with the Vulcan Raven fight, they didn't skip any story sequences. And after about an hour, I decided that I needed to play the game. Immediately. Unfortunately, Isaiah me told about 5 seconds too late to cover my eyes/ears when all of this got revealed, so I still saw the animation of him pulling off the glasses and such.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Raiden. Uh... I don't know if I'm actually upset about this one. Not to mention, considering how long it took for me to finally play the game (what, two and a half years?), it's one of those things that's more than likely going to be slipped out. Really, at least I knew I was going to be let down by it.

Xenogears: This had a few, but they were all around the same part of the game. My friend Christian had been screaming for about two weeks that it was the best game ever, and that I should play it immediately. Of course, by the time he got to Etrenank (Solarian capital), he had given up hope on me playing the game. We all know how that one went, heh. But a lot of things get revealed in that part of the game, and he really wanted to tell someone. So I found out both about Citan/Hyuga working for the Solarian government the whole time, as well as the big thing, Id being Fei (kinda.) Thus, some of the hugely amazing parts of the game were lost for me.

Shadow of the Collossus: One game that, when people talk about it, have been trying to say as little as possible about the storyline. It was being played when I got to Blakezilla's the other day, and despite my best efforts to go outside and keep away from it, I saw the last couple minutes of the ending. Goddamn boring outdoors. Ah well, at least that one's my fault, so I only have the urge to punch myself instead of anyone else.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Not really a game, but worth mentioning. I was watching through the series, and got to about episode 16 before I finally took a break (as opposed to renting two tapes a day, watching/recording them all, then renting two more.) I mentioned to a couple of friends online that I was finally watching the series, and most of the later half of the series was ruined for me, or at least all the major points. Kaworu being an angel, Lilith, and most of the movie. At least the mass productions still had a lot of impact, but tearing through Asuka would kinda do that regardless.

As much as all of those suck, I'm glad that there are certain games that were never spoiled for me, so I could really get the full impact. The only thing Paul told me about Deus Ex after telling me to play it, is that it was awesome. So every little tidbit of the story was completely new, and holy shit. I can still remember certain moments of it with so much clarity, and my initial reaction of "HOLY FUCK WTF OMG WTF." That was always really, really satisfying.

Also one of the things I like about being the first to play games/watch movies/read books. I do my best not to spoil things when telling other people to play/watch/read, but I never have any idea what to expect, and I get to get the full effect. Like Transmetropolitan. Still amazing every goddamn time, but that first time I read it, I think that my mouth was hanging open for at least 1/4th of it.

Remember, don't spoil plot points for your friends, they'll hold it against you forever! But if the person's a total asshole, go for it.

Isaiah is going to drool.

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 04:31:31 GMT

Of course, now there might be a slight reason to look into a PSP, what with a Valkyrie Profile remake coming to it. And a sequal on PS2! Well, looks more like a prequal, but still.

This is different...

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 11:44:38 GMT

I've been reading up on MSI's website about various things, including the Shut Me Up video (which is just insane, I'm a fan). One of those is that Straight to Video is on the Burnout: Revenge soundtrack. I figure hey, that's awesome, more exposure for them... but it was remixed by KMFDM. I'm not sure what to think. A part of me likes it, a part of me feels like they're raping the song. Kinda like Renholder remixing Perfect Circle. Hmmm.

Xenosaga Episode 2: Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 21:54:28 GMT

Well, I'm about five hours into the game, and I figure it's time to write up what I think about it thus far. Compared to say, what the people over at Z said about the game, I'd say I'm enjoying it much more. Granted, that's not saying a whole lot, but hey.

The beginning of the game is reminiscent of the beginning of the first game, where there's a shit-ton of cut scenes with gameplay periodically added in. Hypothetically, it's going to balance out later on (especially when it's considered that this game only has about five hours of cut scenes total, compared to the first game's 7.5). During the cut scenes, the story is good, at least when it's dealing with story. I'm falling in love with the stuff involving U-TIC, and it greatly concentrates on the URTVs (Yay, more Albedo/Rubedo/Nigredo). When it's dealing with bullshit character stuff that I honestly don't give a fuck about, though (they had another fucking curry scene! WTF?), it's kinda painful. The voice acting sounds like a step down compared to the first game, and a drastic step down compared to say, Metal Gear Solid 3.

The music during the cut scenes is good stuff. What I've heard is quite quality, all done by Yuki Kajikua (Noir, .hack//SIGN anime). Though I don't like the feel as much as Yasunori Mitsuda's grand opus that was the first Xensoaga game (comparing pop-esque to heavy orchestral), it's still quite good. Unfortunately, the music outside of the cut scenes, for the wandering around and battle music and such, not so quality. It was done by a relative unknown (he did an orchestral version of the Metroid Fusion theme), and honestly, I hope he stays unknown. I've had to mute my TV more often than not during those sequences because I felt like the speakers were raping my eardrums with a knife.

The gameplay, though, is much like the first game: mediocre. The battle system was tweaked from the original game's battle system (which in turn was a varient of Xenogears' battle system), and for the worse. While there are some things that were added in that are nice (namely useful mech combat), the rest of the battling is fairly annoying. While a number of elements were left the same as the first game, there are a few other things added in. Back attacks, which is fine in itself if it was implemented properly. Same with character swapping, ala FF10. The same problem, though, is that it was implemented poorly.

I have two major complaints with the gameplay right now, though. The first is that so far, everything I do is just to trigger the next story sequence. Which is fine, but if I want to wander around the city, I shouldn't get stopped by the game to say "This is what I want to be doing next! Go here!" That's just overly frustrating in my eyes. The second, is there is no money, or shops. At first I thought this was a pretty interesting idea, because hey, it's something that I don't think I've ever seen before. Pretty quickly, though, I learned why it was never done before. It's a terrible fucking idea.

The inherent problem with it is this: All of the items that you get, you get off of fights, or collecting items that are in boxes that are blown up (similar to the first game). Fighting isn't done nearly enough to be able to get all of the items that are necessary in said fights (I've been in three areas so far that have fighting, the rest is running around triggering story events). I think that total, I've come across three revives. Now, when monsters are killing my characters in two hits, and because of the boosting system are able to go enough to kill a member or two before I can get around to healing... yes, bad times.

The skill tree was also changed. While I like the change, because it makes the tree much, much larger, I've noticed that pretty much everyone has the same skills. Going through the list, I've honestly seen no difference between the skills that the different characters receive (though there's still a great deal to be unlocked to even look at).

Overall, so far, I'm very glad that the game has a story that's interesting me as much as it is. I only wish that I didn't have to deal with such bad gameplay to get to it. Also hoping that everything starts to balance out soon, but we'll see.

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 00:40:59 GMT

Why I'll probably buy Half-Life 2. Eventually, anyways.

An Ode to Chrono Trigger

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 08:24:36 GMT

Ah, Chrono Trigger. In my opinion, the most perfect game that's ever existed (despite the fact that there are certain games that I enjoy more... but that's something to go into later). I recently replayed it, because after finally finding a screencap of the Metal Gear Solid 3 ending, I decided I wanted to get one of the one scene that tops it: Frog pulling the Masamune from the ground in front of the Magic Cave. What I ended up with was closer to ten, and then a number of others from the scene where Frog stands at Cyrus' grave. Unfortunately, ZSNES always takes screencaps at 256x233, so I can't do anything as impressive with it.

Chrono Trigger is one of the few games that really feel like nothing could be changed to them that would improve them, in a good way. Unlike say, Shaq Fu. The only other game that comes immediately to mind in this sense is Super Metroid (Funny that both are on the SNES, but I guess that shows just how good of a system it was. Next-gen consoles can't step.) The plot, despite being relatively simple (time traveling to save the world), was amazingly well executed. Things done in the past affect the future, and so on. The characters also had a lot of... well, character to them. Even Crono, despite the fact that he remains mute throughout most of the game. The expressions and body language were just perfectly done, for pretty much everyone, it seemed like.

And then there is Frog, and to a lesser extent Magus. Those two were the characters that got the most background done for them, and what amazing background it was. Almost all of the scenes with Frog are some of my favorite in the game (especially the already mentioned Masamune scene... mmm). Though the development of Frog unbalanced some of the development of the other characters, I can't think of a better character to focus on.

The music... wow. Yasunori Mitsuda's first game work (or his first work period? I'm not sure) really sets the mood for everything. The music feels perfectly in place, and with no notable exceptions, is good on stand alone as well. Especially certain songs. Mmmm, Undersea Palace...

There have been a few projects recently that have tried to remake Chrono Trigger. I have to wonder why everyone seems to think that the idea of redoing CT with the UT engine is so brilliant. I for one don't think it could be done properly, by anyone, but that could be my fanatical nature coming out. One of the better known projects, Chrono Trigger Resurrection, was shut down a few months ago. I seem to remember reading about it, but going back to the Chrono Trigger community, I see so many people bitching about it still. And then, of course, there's the Chrono Trigger Remake Project, who seem to believe that since theirs is a mod for 2K4, it has no chance of being shut down. That just doesn't seem accurate, but I could be wrong.

You know a game is good when you play through it three times in two days. And now I have to return to it... hoping to get ** for everyone's levels soon, then I get to go through the game infinite times collecting tabs. Here I go!

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - First Impressions

Sat, 27 Nov 2004 12:05:48 GMT

Well, I've finally been able to sit down and play the new Prime for more than five minutes without getting distracted by something, so I figured I'd write up what I'm thinking towards it. I would say I'm only about an hour in, but it's enough to get a general feel for how the game works. And one thing comes to mind with it.

Prime 2 is to Metroid Fusion as Prime is to Super Metroid.

From everything that I've played so far, this is amazingly accurate. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because I did enjoy Fusion, it just wasn't the masterpiece that Super Metroid is. And as such, I don't think that Echoes is going to be the masterpiece that the original Metroid Prime is.

Fortunately, the controls are the same. So after spending a full weekend with Metroid Prime hard mode, it isn't taking much to get into in that respect. Graphically, the game is a bit better, but it isn't amazingly noticable. Which is fine, considering how amazing Prime looks. The world, unfortunately, doesn't seem anywhere near as... alive. Now that could be because everything is dead (Ha!), but one of the large things that I loved about the original Prime is that it had what seemed like a living ecosystem. All I've come across so far are a lot of War Wasps and Splinters. Maybe this area of the game is just amazingly overrun with the two species, to the point that they've killed everything else, I dunno.

The comparison to Fusion bothers me, though. Like I said, I was a fan of Fusion, but when put up to Super Metroid, it's mediocre (Several people may disagree with me on that). There are two major "problems" with the game. One, is that it's far, far too linear. This isn't quite as bad in Echoes, but it is very similar in how a lot of things work (such as the translation scripts, reminiscent of the security door levels).

The other part is the integration of story. Now, story in games is something that I'm a fan of. My favorite games are games that are largely story-driven (Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger), but it just doesn't feel like it fits that well into a Metroid game. In Prime, everything was done through the logs, which weren't necessary to read. There are still logs in Echoes, though there are also other characters that Samus has conversations with (or, more accurately, the characters talk to Samus). It just feels so severely out of place, in my eyes. Of course, the game wouldn't be the same without them. The idea of playing Metroid Fusion without the Adam computer is a frightening idea, and it seems like this is going to be similar with the Luminoth.

So, is the game bad? No. I'm sure it's going to be worth the $50 that I paid for it. Sadly, though, I can already tell that it's not going to be anywhere near the experience that Metroid Prime is.

Just a question... does anyone know why they're calling this one Metroid Prime 2? Since uh, I killed the fuck outta Metroid Prime already, shot it good. Though I guess it's like Snake Eater being called Metal Gear Solid, even though there wasn't a Metal Gear in the game. Ah well, we shall see. Full review when I finish.

Tue, 23 Nov 2004 03:30:47 GMT

You know something that I'm finding myself really missing with current games, is the sense of accomplishment after finishing them. That's something that I don't know if I've actually felt since the SNES. Yeah, big cut scenes and everything show the importance of everything you did, and that's a reward of sorts, but there are some things that just have never been duplicated for me.

For instance, the first time I beat the original Street Fighter 2, back in third grade or so on a rental. I spent hours playing that, hours and hours, just trying to beat the last four. When I finally did, I felt so good about it, because it took me so long to do. Kinda similar to Donkey Kong Country 3, when I finally beat that with 110% or whatever the top percentage in the game is. The first time I finished Super Mario RPG gave me a similar feeling.

Recently, though, I haven't been given that feeling from pretty much any games that I can remember. The only game that gave it, kind of, is Metroid Prime's hard mode, and I think that a large part of that is because some of my friends got so 0wned at the very beginning that they gave up. Of course, I don't think I'm ever going to beat the game at this point (Fuck you, Omega Pirate!), but the fact that I got that close really gave me that sense of accomplishment. I miss then... the kind of, wonder that I got when playing games. It seems so rare these days, that I find myself playing Super Metroid on ZSNES to get that feeling rather than Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which just hasn't done anything for me in terms of getting me into it.

Ah well, maybe there'll be a shift, and things will once again have that sense of wonder.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Full Review

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 12:42:23 GMT

Holy mother of God.

That's all I could say at the end of the game. Watching the credits scroll by like my life depended on it, that was the first phrase that came to mind, and it's still in my head.

I know most people know how much I love the original Metal Gear Solid, and to a lesser extent, it's ADD twin brother Twin Snakes, as well as the crazy child, Sons of Liberty. Well, Snake Eater ranks up there with the original. Not quite as highly in my opinion, but goddamn does it feel close. The game does have a few flaws though, and though on the one hand they seem a bit gaping when thinking about it, they aren't nearly as bad during the actual gameplay. So I'll get those out of the way now.

With a few major exceptions, the boss fights aren't very memorable. The "group" of this game (ala Fox-Hound and Dead Cell), called the Cobras, just weren't as interesting of fights as in the other games. Different, at least, but nothing amazing. Nothing compared to say, the Psycho Mantis fight in MGS1. The first two were fairly standard, the third is very memorable because of how horrendously annoying it is, and after that the boss fights get much more interesting. I know at least one person that's planning on playing the game that reads this, but hasn't had the opportunity yet, so I won't go into spoiler territory with that. I will say, though, that the last battle in the game was something that I was awestruck by.

The storyline in this game was, admittedly, lacking compared to the others. What was there was very excellent, although it honestly, wasn't really a Metal Gear game. There are a few minor references to the other games scattered throughout, although only one that's really there before the last hour or two. Honestly, if they had left out the few references (Snake, Ocelot, the minor Metal Gear reference, and... well, most of the ending sequence), it could have just been a really fucking good stealth game. Hell, there wasn't even a real Metal Gear! I can't say if it would have got nearly as much attention, though. Now, granted, the game isn't quite as stand alone as Metal Gear Solid, if only because of those references, but it felt much more playable on it's own than Sons of Liberty. Unlike the other MGS games, there is very little character development, though.

There are a few characters who get a lot of development (Snake, The Boss, EVA, and Sokolov to a lesser extent), while the others, such as the entire Cobra unit, get pretty much none. There's one character who bothered me for not getting enough, because he seemed like the "big baddie" in the game, but really, towards the end, he reminded me of a Liquid Snake clone. Even one of his lines was pulled directly from the original, and in my head (as well as Isaiah's), we heard Snake's reply to Liquid saying that in the original. It would have been nice to know why he was able to do what he did, or to know more about the Cobras like we learned about Fox Hound, but I don't know how well it would have fit into the game. Snake isn't a legend here as he is later, and he's treated like "random soldier guy" by pretty much everyone excepting The Boss, at least at first. I figure that's at least a factor in a lot of it.

On to the better parts, though. Graphically, the game is amazing. I can't think of a game that has ever looked better on the PS2. It's a step ahead of Sons of Liberty, though the graphics are close in quality. I think largely because of how ahead of it's time Sons of Liberty was. The framerate never got too low, despite the fact that most of the game took place in a living, breathing jungle, which has lighting from the sunlight coming through the trees, all different kinds of jungle life, and... well, it's just really amazing how good it looks and how well it runs. The buildings look just as glorious, and the character models are very detailed, now showing damage locations and other such things.

Since I went over a lot of the gameplay in my first impressions, I won't go back over it here. The camoflage, food, and survival medicine never to the point that I was annoyed when I had to use them, though, which was definitely a good thing. There were a few things that I noticed about the game, though, that surprised me. For instance, in the demo that came with the November issue of OPM, the shotgun physics took a rag doll setup, and... exaggerated it. Really exaggerated it. I thought it'd be changed in the final, but it wasn't. On the one hand, it isn't very realistic, but at the same time, it was quite hilarious to watch guys get launched 25 feet from a point blank shotgun blast. The game also has a number of different paths through the jungle, which is cool. I can take two or three different paths to end up in the same place, it just depends which one I want to go down. Not to mention the jungle is huge. There are loading times here and there, but they aren't very long (a few seconds at most), and when they do load, they load a lot. Though the buildings aren't as non-linear, they are very expansive, and take a fair amount of time to go through all the way.

This game, much more than any of the other Metal Gears, just plain oozes style, and is almost always good. The supernatural aspects of the game, which were far more there than the others (ie: almost absolute) were certainly a change. While I prefer the more realistic style of the earlier Metal Gears (with the exceptions of Vamp and Raven), it certainly worked well in Snake Eater. A couple of places in particular are very notable for this, and won't be soon forgotten by anyone who plays through them (or I'd hope not). The ending, especially, is... very full of a very distinct style. The James Bond-esque song, "Snake Eater", also has an impact on the whole thing. While it's the title song, it comes back in a few other times as well, without the loud brass, and fits in amazingly well.

Luckily, the game is incredibly long, at least in terms of Metal Gears. My total playtime at the end was around 22 hours. I believe my total playtime on Metal Gear Solid the first time was around 10 hours, and Sons of Liberty around 12. This, combined with Snake vs Monkey (an Ape Escape game with Solid Snake and Roy Campbell), makes the game quite worth it's price. Not to mention, the replay value on these games is usually quite monstrous, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible, as I said before, but there's one thing that really needs to be given a note. While I mentioned the ending of the game, the term isn't the same here as it is in normal circumstances. When I think of the end of the game, I think of the last... I'm going to give it two hours, with all the cut scenes (and the snippet at the end of the credits). It was beyond describable. All of the events, a lot of the gameplay (though playing drag-along got annoying, not nearly as annoying as other games though *cough*SilentHill4*cough*), were just... incredible. The final boss fight was the most memorable in any Metal Gear, easily, and up there for most memorable in a game period. At least that I can think of off the top of my head.

On a whole, the game was excellent. There were a few snags, and a few faults, though the overall package more than makes up for them. At the moment, I consider it the Game of the Year. Of course, I have a number of other contenders to play until I can make that decision final, so I'll just go with PS2 Game of the Year. Next up is Gamecube's, Metroid Prime 2. Though that has far less competition, admittedly.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - First Impressions

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 13:36:15 GMT

Wow. That's really just a one word summary of the game so far. Granted, I'm only a few hours in (just beat The Pain, for Isaiah, who I'm guessing is the only other person that would know the game), but it really is amazing so far.

The gameplay mechanics are all nicely done, although pulled from Metal Gear Solid 2, so they feel a bit... dated. Or at least the more basic mechanics. I mean, it's a tried and true system that's worked since the first MGS (with a few tweaks here and there for Sons of Liberty, Twin Snakes, and now Snake Eater), but that doesn't really change the fact that it's the same basic gameplay. At least for that aspect.

The camoflage system had be worried when I heard about it, because it really turns the game into a fairly menu based setup, where as before it was mostly done on the fly. Well, the camo system is done quite well, and it hasn't felt like a major drawback in the hours that I've been playing. We shall see how that progresses throughout the game, but it hasn't become a problem yet. The cure system is also done through menus, and is fairly ingenius and innovative. Using different items, you actually use survival medicine/surgery. Using a knife to pull out bullets, then pouring disinfectant on the wound, stitching it, bandaging it, etc. This is also all done through menus, so with one exception (and that seemed utterly random), I never actually see Snake go through the motions. On the one hand, it kinda sucks, because that'd be cool to see, but at the same time, it'd be time consuming, and would get annoying after a while.

One of the larger reasons I play Metal Gear games is for the storyline. In fact, I'm quite happy that the game is set up to allow me to watch through all the cut scenes/codec conversations after I beat it, because it plays out almost like a movie. A very, very good movie. The story in this one so far, is very, very well done. Much moreso than Sons of Liberty (but that's not saying a whole lot). It's done in the 1960's, when the first Metal Gear (named Shagohod by the Russian scientist who created it) is built. There are a lot of historical references, such as many mentions of the Cuban Missile Crisis and how that affected relations between Russia and America, as well as other things of the time (a mention of Kennedy's assassination, for instance). Combining the historical fiction with a Metal Gear story that feels like it's returning to a Shadow Moses feel, makes me very happy.

The one problem that I have with the game, so far, really lies in the beginning, the first two or so hours. Snake Eater, sadly, suffers from Xenosaga syndrome. Though it was also there in Sons of Liberty, it wasn't quite as bad. By Xenosaga Syndrome, I mean that there is a significant ratio problem between story and gameplay. While yes, the story is quite excellent (much like Xenosaga, in my opinion), it is... far too there. Between starting the game, and getting to actually pick the controller up for real gameplay, there's a fifteen minute difference. Walk thirty feet, climb a tree, and there's another fifteen or twenty minutes of story. It continues on like that for the first while, and as I said, the story's good, but the lack of gameplay was kind of a disappointment. It certainly picks up later on, though. I did notice, however, that there were four hours between the intro and the first "boss" battle. I think that's more because of pacing rather than story sequences taking up too much time, though.

On the flip side of that, there are a number of little things added in for stylistic touches, that really do amaze me. For instance, the first time I actually saved on the radio (ghetto fab codec system), Snake had a three minute conversation with the Para-Medic (this game's save chick) about Godzilla, while tossing in a crack about his penis size. This, as well as other similar quirks, really are what make the game as good as it is. It's a similar vein to Deus Ex, with Gunther and Anna's discussion about the soda machine, and Gunther's hypothesis that there's a conspiracy to keep him from getting his orange soda.

All I can say is, if I didn't have to work tonight at five, I would not be sleeping tonight. No one would hear from me until I finished the game.

Of course, that's what tonight after work is for. Then I get to start up on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which will also get a first impressions written about it. Full review on both games when they're finished.

Sat, 09 Oct 2004 13:12:27 GMT

Ahahahahahaha! Foolish mortals! You think that your human weapons can face the mighty Katamari?! I'll swallow you, along with your children, and your motorcyclists!

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 01:21:35 GMT

Animal Crossing is addicting as fuck.

Time to sign up for Nintendo Power

Tue, 17 Aug 2004 17:47:40 GMT

I'm almost tempted to try selling my GCN so I can get the current bundle. Having a platinum would match all my platinum wavebirds, and it comes with a playable demo of Echos. Grrrr. Stupid Nintendo.

Sun, 25 Jul 2004 23:45:04 GMT

Metroid Prime hard mode = fucking insane. I finally beat the Shegoth, and the six flying pirates (*grumble grumble*, wasn't that hard, just overwhelming at first). Now I'm at the Thardus (rock man). Sweet christ, that fight's going to take a while.

Metroid Prime 2: Echos

Sun, 30 May 2004 23:38:50 GMT

After reading an article on the game on IGN, this certainly looks to be an interesting game. Considering I hold Prime in really high respects (not as high as Super Metroid, though I did enjoy it more), I'm not sure if I want to find out more about the game or wait until it comes out.

Unfortunately, the game seems to be slated for a November release. Which is awesome because it's relatively soon, but I'm gonna be failing classes because of this game, I just know it.

Parts of the game sound like Prime + Ikaruga, with a light beam and dark beam. It sounded kinda gimmicky at first, but reading the details on it, it should be interesting. Also, some stuff that I know Isaiah is going to cream himself over...

"...The game will also feature several new additions that all take place in the third-person mode. The first is inclusion of the Screw Attack, which sends the bounty hunter spiraling forward in third-person view. She can use the Screw Attack in conjunction with the Wall Mount to skip back and forth between walls, going up and up and up..."

They didn't mention Space Pirates or Metroids until the very end of the article, so I wasn't sure if it was going to be like Fusion and just be another mission of Samus that wasn't really relating to them. But, it would appear that they're going to play a part, just impossible to tell how much of one until I play the game.

Xenosaga Amusement.

Sat, 29 May 2004 21:11:24 GMT

I'm sure everyone who played Episode 1 remembers the swimsuits, because of how insane the bonuses they added were (+25% tech points). Well, they have new ones for Episode 2. KOS-MOS and Ziggy get one, as well.

KOS-MOS looks alright, Shion looks way hot (but that's largely because of the new model), and Ziggy is now a part of the special ops. Doesn't look quite as bad as he could, but what's he going to use the snorkel for? Too bad they didn't give him flippers...

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 12:07:23 GMT

I'm confused. How is it that Batman is so amazing? Honestly? I mean, there are obvious flaws in it.

Batman and Robin, to name one. :P

I'm slowly tracking down the animated series. Have almost all of it now, the second, third, and fourth seasons are downloading. Of course, there's also Batman Beyond, which has an entirely different feel, and the Adam West Batman, which again, different feel, but still good.

I just finished reading KnightFall, KnightQuest, and KnightsEnd. It was a set of some of the better comics I've read in... well, ever. I wonder if the rest of the comics are as well written as that, but it'd be hard to top. One of the best parts about it is the characterization. Bane is a really good character in those comics, unlike his appearance in the TV series, and the insult that is Batman and Robin. I've also decided, based on that set of comics, as well as the TV series, and to a degree the first movie by Tim Burton, that the Joker is one of my favorite characters ever. There's just something about him that works so well.

Perhaps it's time to track down more TPBs.

Xenosaga!

Fri, 16 Apr 2004 00:23:21 GMT

Limited Edition Box Set!

Sat, 10 Apr 2004 22:18:55 GMT

It's destiny!

DESTINY!

I don't think I need to say anything more. Depending on what I make in tips tonight, I believe that will soon be mine.

Long rant about anime.

Wed, 07 Apr 2004 19:44:04 GMT

Why does it take so long to localize anime? Or video games for that matter? I mean, yeah, I know that the translation is necessary, and then the redubbing and everything... but seriously, some of this is just obscene.

Xenosaga: Episode 1, for instance. Yes, they translated it twice, because the first translation wasn't as good as it could have been (apparently, the dialogue was very, very flat, which makes me wonder), but it took literally a fucking year. It was released in Japan on February 28th, 2002. Released in the US on February 26th, 2003.

Now then, my current complaint is with Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex. This show's been licensed for at least six months, and it's not being released over here on DVD until June? Not only that, but I can't find any details on the release, just that it's going to happen, it's being produced by Bandai, and distributed by Manga. When I saw Manga's name on it, I was seriously about to punch something, because of how they ruined the original Ghost in the Shell, as well as End of Evangelion. Ninja Scroll wasn't as bad, but still.

That's at least eight months to get one DVD produced. Six episodes. Now, I'm sure that they're translating everything now and that kind of thing, but they should just release all the DVDs at once. None of this waiting months between the releases bullshit, ala Witch Hunter Robin. It's an excellent series, and it'd pain me to have to wait for three months between every five-episode block.

And I just looked at AnimeOnDVD. Wolf's Rain volume 1 is coming out at the same time as Ghost in the Shell (again, by Bandai), June 22nd. I remember fansubbers had to stop because of the series being licensed at episode 19, and though one (maybe two?) decided to finish out the series, it technically wasn't legal to distribute them. I watched Wolf's Rain LAST FUCKING AUGUST, before I even had my car! I wasn't even close to the status of Car Ninja.

Ugh. The idea of someone buying the rights to Naruto scares me, very, very much. "Seven years later, the series has finally been completely localized!"

Fucking brilliant.

Thu, 18 Mar 2004 21:39:26 GMT

Now I can light cigarettes with my 5.25" drive! It even comes with an ashtray!

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Fri, 05 Mar 2004 12:39:26 GMT

I am officially killing all connections to new information on this game. Based on recent things I've read on Zenosaga.com, I've decided that the best way of not having anything more spoiled for me is to stick with watching trailers occasionally but not reading any, -any- information relating towards the game. I went into episode I fairly ignorant about the story, and I'd like to do the same with episode II. Wish me luck.

Games!

Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:34:20 GMT

Hooboy I have a lot of games to play through now.

First, Metal Gear Solid deserves another playthrough. The game is amazing, and with Twin Snakes coming out in just under a week, I'd like to remember just what makes the first game so damn good for a better comparison. Then I have to play through Twin Snakes (I still need to take time off from work so I never have to stop playing). After which, I have a large variety of possibilities.

I just ordered a few games from EBGames.com, so those are next up, though I haven't decided which order. Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance will likely be first up after Twin Snakes. I also picked up Guilty Gear X2 (which is one of those 'pick up and play for a bit' games, rather than having to put a lot of time to it... at least at first), Ikaruga (which is going to kick my ass, and I'm going to love it), and Soul Reaver 2 (but I need to finish the first Soul Reaver first).

Then there's Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomstick, and Okage: Shadow King, plus Super Smash Brothers as I gradually get everything unlocked. I'm also going to give Deus Ex: Invisible War another try, but I think I'm going to wait until after I pick up a new video card for that.

I'm going to be busy for a whiiiiile.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2

Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:25:10 GMT

It amazes me how possible it is to have the same game made with a few tweaks, and make it considerably better. That's the one major thing about Dark Alliance 2, is it's similarities to Dark Alliance 1. The differences, though, are all things that don't quite seem as much, but in the end do considerable amounts of good for the gameplay.

First off, the addition of two more classes is cool. So there's the necromancer, rogue, monk, cleric, and barbarian. When Ben and I played through it, we used the monk (me) and the rogue. Though, they have very odd races for them, and it seemed a bit out of character, unfortunately. Then again, the game is based largely on simplicity, unlike the Baldur's Gate PC games, so it's no real surprise they didn't go terribly into character. For instance, Vhaidra, the monk, is a Drow. Based on what I've read in the Forgotten Realms books, Drows are an incredibly feared race, and most are met with violence from anyone who sees them. That isn't the case with the game, though, where everyone just treats her as through she's just a human. The rogue is a dwarf, and while he takes things from both the dwarf and rogue, the idea, and the sprite, look kind of silly.

In the game itself, little has changed from Dark Alliance 1 in terms of battle mechanics. For the most part, it's the same control layout, with one significant difference, being macros. Using L1, it's now possible to set up hotkeys for different spells, so it's no longer necessary to scroll through a list of spells to get the two or three that are constantly used.

The story seems to be much more involved in this game, although it does take some time to get really opened up, about the halfway point. The Onyx Tower that was destroyed in the first game has been brought back from the Shadow Plane, and there are three different factions that are out for control. It's fairly basic, but it's enjoyable. Unfortunately, when the main story takes center stage, the dungeons seem to suffer some. In the first two acts of the game, the dungeons are monstrously large. Some being so long that they took at least an hour or two each. In the later acts, they slow down quite a bit, and seem to be more for getting to the point of the area rather than the dungeon itself.

The game is also less linear. I'm not going to say far less linear, because it's really not, but there are more things to do, and a bit less direction. For instance, there is some control over which order some of the dungeons can be played, and there are also some side quests that are given by different people in Baldur's Gate.

Another interesting thing is that the characters each have a different backstory, that's revealed through NPCs that are close to them. The dwarf, for instance, is part of a mining clan (quite the rogue, I know) who is trying to pay back a debt that they owe to the moon elves, and you contribute to that. The drow is from a former house of Menzoberranzan (*squeal*) that was wiped out, and she's seeking vengeance. Unfortunately, these two were fairly uninteractive, and it only meant giving the NPC money who would then return it with EXP, and at the end of it all, there was a (small) dungeon to go and tie up the loose ends.

One very interesting addition to the game is the ability to create armor and weapons using gems. Taking one base set of equipment, and placing different gems onto it, will give it different powers. Some will add resistance to damage, some will add in more skill in some things, some add to stats, etc. For the monk, it's possible to add different damage onto gloves, so she can attack with say, shocking damage. It's a very cool addition, though it's incredibly expensive. Especially without the dwarf, who has a skill, Forge Lore, that lowers the cost of it.

Unfortunately, one of the glaring flaws with Dark Alliance 1 is still here, and that is the ability to dupe equipment and gold (and, with the different side quests for the characters, experience as well). The idea is good in theory, being able to import a character from another file into the game. Unfortunately, the way it was executed allows for cloning items and money, which is quite abusable. It's one of those things that can be ignored, and not taken advantage of, though it's still there.

Overall, the game is quite awesome. It's lots of fun, and took significantly longer to go through than the first one (15-20 hours the first time through). After beating the game, Extreme mode was unlocked, as well as one hidden character (Drizzt, from the Forgotten Realms books). Apparently another (Artemis Entreri from the Icewind Dale series) is unlockable after beating Extreme mode, which is cool. It seems like the game has quite a bit of replay value, and I'm sure it'll get replayed a number of times.