| LEGO: Star Wars & Indiana Jones for PS3 |
[Jul. 18th, 2009|11:41 pm] |
I've played the Wii version, the PS2 version, and the PSP version for these games.
I haven't played the Wii version in recent memory, so I will throw that out of the discussion for now. [Also compounding the problem in comparing to the Wii version is that I can't get my Star Wars disc to read at all (and we bought it new a long time ago).] I distinctly recall many features that weren't in the PS versions, but I will refrain until I can clear that up.
Looks: (and this is important)
It looks ridiculously beautiful.
Since the entire thing is in 1080p max (the highest resolution on HD tv, while most PS3 games are 720p), it looks like shiny awesome legos. Seriously speaking, this is a high point for me, because you need /something/ to amuse you while you play this game for too long. This may not be such a strong point, though, if you 1) lack such a tv/monitor with hdmi hookup, and 2) don't notice the graphics difference as much between good (720p) and excellent (1080p).
Sound:
This shouldn't even come up. It's Indy and Star Wars. Done by the same composer and world-famous. They just take it straight from the movies.
Gameplay:
Sometimes different from other versions, but a huge downside is that this game can glitch and freeze. Not cool when there isn't the rampant autosave functions of Oblivion. Controls are same as PS2 -- simple, easy. Same as before, though, it can get irritating (getting shot at while you build something, etc). Load time is, of course, fast, but then again, the PS2 versions were fast. (Only the PSP is kinda slow, and it's done in a tasteful manner.)
It's not necessary to watch the movies to play the game, but it's best if you have.
Overall:
Fun, cute, sadistic, twisted sense of humor. I'd say it's only worth it if it's $20 or below (preferably below 15), considering hours you will clock on it and equivalents for sale on the PSN.
No trophies. (why am I buying games that all came out in the same time period of no trophy system?) |
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| Yakuza, and something for Kamitra |
[Jul. 18th, 2009|06:21 am] |
The Yakuza series has found an interesting way to latch onto me. While initial impressions of the series so many years ago (like, five) left me with a cocked eyebrow and an opinion that this was just some lame cash-in on the popularity of the GTA franchise, these days, it's starting to become welcome. There are so many open world games with so many gravely voiced anti-heroes it's insane. Having played the first game to completion and currently playing the second game, I can say that I'm a fan at this point, and I'd love to get a chance to play future titles in the series, which will probably never happen seeing as how they will probably never come stateside.
As for the thing for Kamitra, here ya go:
http://kotaku.com/5314871/valkyria-chronicles-2-is-a-psp-game
http://kotaku.com/5317319/the-first-valkyria-chronicles-2-screens/gallery/ |
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| PS3: Valkyria Chronicles |
[May. 26th, 2009|11:35 pm] |
This is one game that I actually haven't touched, but I'm watching my brother play.
Story: I actually don't think I should say much of anything about the storyline. At first sight, it looks more like Ring of Red (a PS2 strat game) than anything else in its AU war story, but now that he's in chapter 6 (with the game's title first being hinted at in chapter 5), the storyline is in a twist. The pieces are coming together and it's /very/ interesting. Unusual in a great deal many ways.... ways I wish I could spoil here, but I won't.
The pace is actually on the slow side. We spent hours as it was, just recounting the cut scenes (since both my mom and I jumped in it late).
Gameplay: The combat is interesting. Levelling is by combat classes, so new and old characters level at the given rate, and no training to bring them up to speed. Which is a good thing, because characters can actually permanently die in battle if not medivac'd out during combat.
Phase turn system, with points determining the amount of moves done per phase. One action per point-turn taken, not including movement. Defense is done by sentry style (that is, they fire and duck automatically if enemy is in range during the enemy's turn and vice-versa), and points can be saved to the next phase. Each character on the team has a bunch of quirks that seem to range from wth to useful to arrgh... like a sniper having acrophobia.
Difficulty: Hard. Seeing my brother lose his main characters or his entire team is not an unusual occurrence.
Graphics: Really nice, which is not a real surprise. What is a surprise is the style they chose to do it in, which is a drawn cell-styled 3-d animation in technicolor, which is pretty much like a lot of anime-based ps2 games but in a more painted atmosphere. It's portrayed as the past in a book, after all.
I cannot decide, however, if it's nice that the land mines are realistic enough to be not-so-easy to spot.
Sound: I don't remember any music. [Edit: There is music, and while it's good, it's /distracting/. I play with the music down to half just so I can hear what is going on instead of the music.]
Voices, Dialogue, Translation: It's unusual and rather interesting. There are some things I wished they translated more in the normal style, but some others I'm more on the pleased side that they didn't, because it doesn't work.
I'll also mention here that character design is also pretty unique in this game. I've never been so messed up on character gender before. One character looks to me like a cross-dressing bishounen, but it's a girl. Another is an okama in guy's clothes. Not sure what to make of that.
Trophies: Considering that this game came out about the same time as Eternal Sonata, it probably doesn't have any, no matter how hard it is.
Overall: 7.8 out of 10. It's worth getting for those into strategy games, but it looks too hard for just anyone to get into. For the fact that it was on sale right now at GameStop for 30 dollars, though, is a big incentive. |
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| Alone in the Dark: Inferno - Review |
[May. 22nd, 2009|08:00 pm] |
The Game:
Alone in the Dark: Inferno is the Playstation 3 port of the Xbox 360 & PC game Alone in the Dark released in 2008, a third-person free-roaming survival horror/adventure game released by Atari. It was developed by Eden Games, who also developed the V-Rally series as well as Test Drive Unlimited. Alone in the Dark: Inferno is set in modern day Central Park, where all hell is breaking loose as New York City burns and crumbles to the ground. You play as protagonist Edward Carnby, a man suffering with amnesia as he fights to stay alive while trying to solve the riddle of to who he is, what's happening to the city, and how he's connected to everything.
Alone in the Dark, which was previously released on Xbox 360 & PC in June 2008, was notorious for being cursed with a multitude of vexing flaws. Graphical technical issues, finicky controls, clumsy hit detection, terrible driving physics, and a fixed camera angle that made platforming sections overly difficult were many of the complaints to be had in the original release. When Alone in the Dark: Inferno was released on the PS3 in November 2008, many of these issues were alleviated. Controls were improved both on-foot and while driving, vehicles were given better physics, the hit detection was revamped, and the player was granted a 360-degree controllable camera, giving gamers a much better package overall.
( Full Review ) |
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| To Oblivion |
[May. 4th, 2009|02:52 am] |
Besides ES, I've been doing a LOT of testing on custom character builds in Oblivion. I thought I had the optimum (I can't say perfect) build for now, and then I remember the perfect training device -- the scamp staff. I just drag the scamps with me wherever I go. It's a pain, but it's totally worth the controlled stat levels.
I've read up a little bit on the faqs on this or that, but not too much -- I'd rather work with whatever I have, and sometimes what people have seems too... elaborate for me. As if what I'm doing isn't complicated (logistics-wise) as it is already...
My newest one isn't even a mage race at all (I've been using mages only) -- an Imperial (for the mercantile) and I've just been training in lots and lots of magic.
Because I don't like naming my character, I just pick natural colors as names -- Mahogany, Charcoal, Olivine, and now Ash. They all range in looks (I just randomize the face until I see something interesting to me) and gender. |
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| The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - The Review |
[May. 2nd, 2009|07:10 pm] |
EDITED: May 2nd, 2009
Kamitra set a bit of a bar to achieve to as far as her review of Eternal Sonata goes. Since this is a product I recently invested in, I feel as though I should speak on this game in-depth.
The Game:
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is a first-person adventure game developed by Starbreeze Studios, who also developed 'The Darkness', and is set in the Riddick universe popularized in the films Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. You play as Riddick, a gruff convict and all-around badass with the ability to use 'eyeshine', which allows him to see in pitch-black darkness. He is modeled after and voiced by his on-screen counterpart, Vin Diesel. The game features 'two games in one' of sorts, with the option of playing not only the new Dark Athena, but the original Escape From Butcher Bay, which was previously released in 2004 and only available on the original Xbox and was -not- backwards compatible with the Xbox 360.
( Full Review )
Overall:
A pretty decent game. While it has certain blemishes and hardships, this shouldn't stop most of you from at least giving the game a try at some point. Rent it from a Blockbuster or borrow it from a friend to see for yourself, since the demo focuses heavily on Dark Athena content when really Butcher Bay is the real meat. |
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| Eternal Sonata: The Review |
[Apr. 26th, 2009|01:05 am] |
( AKA, why you should buy this game. )
Overall:
Get it, RPG lovers.
Everyone else? I'm not so sure. They might like watching it, but playing it? This is actually more of the hardcore type of RPG, but also built so that way newbies can enjoy it as well. If you're too casual about it, you might not enjoy this at all, because you'll get bogged down by everything and expect too much in the wrong areas.
However, you might not know unless you try it.
Suggestion? Borrow it from someplace or someone. Yes, I know there's a demo for it, but no demo can actually do this game justice, due to the evolving battle system and deceptive psychological storyline. And before you judge the storyline, play it until the end. |
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| It's Raining.... PSP Games |
[Oct. 25th, 2008|11:55 pm] |
So far I got everything but the Star Ocean 1 and LocoRoco2 (which isn't out yet). I was kind of upset to note that the one game I wasn't counting on Toys n' Joys to bring in they managed to have -- Bleach Soul Carnival. Too late, though -- I ordered it online, along with DJ Max ES. So I'll be expecting them to come in within the week.
Strangely enough, Bleach Soul Carnival is apparently the first full-psp game released for on the Japanese Playstation online store. English has had LocoRoco up for quite a while and just recently released a bunch more such as Jeanne D'arc, which is really worth it. Given how LocoRoco is suddenly /so/ impossible to find (where do all those used games go? gamer heaven?), this may be a way to go as well.
Why I didn't expect this? Well, while I expect it to not require a lot of reading, I do expect it to require an understanding of the language to catch the humor. Otherwise, I think the enjoyment one might find in these games to be more than halved.... this is my own pre-assessment, though, given that I haven't played said game yet.
Haven't been able to learn Macross Frontier yet. My brother is counting on me to learn how to play to show him and read the mission requirements, but I'm fearing for my paperwork problems... bad enough we just got Eternal Sonata... (which by the way, they FIXED the subtitles problem from the Xbox 360 version)
Even worse, I found Bleach Heat The Soul 5 used. Suddenly. Out of nowhere. So after having only about 3-5 days to play 3, I get about 5-7 days to play 4, and now I have 5. And I'm not sure if I'm that eager to learn it right now, since it has a tag team system added to it.
( Heat the Soul rambling. ) |
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| Games and Computers |
[Oct. 17th, 2008|10:18 am] |
Before someone asks what I did yesterday (yeah right), I spent five hours cleaning a computer, inside and out. And given how we don't have physical cleaners, I can only do so much. It's not like I was expecting a computer to be covered in dust more than ours...
Anyway, currently here are the releases going to drive me crazy this year:
For PSP
Macross Frontier: Already out (about a week ago or so)
Star Ocean 1 [English]: Sometime October
Bleach Soul Carnival (wtf chibis): October 23?
DJ MAX Emotional Sense: Sometime November
LocoRoco2: December 04?
For PS3
Eternal Sonata: October 21
Now if Bleach Blade Battlers comes out with a third game, I'm totally screwed, even though that would be really really awesome and stuff.
I also FINALLY learned how to play Heat the Soul 3. I don't know if I have any motivation to be any good at it, though... as the usual, the only character I really learned how to play so far is Rukia... (My only current motivation is that because there are 5 games, #4 is 20 dollars used...) |
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| Recap and Star Ocean 2: Second Departure. |
[May. 6th, 2008|11:34 pm] |
Wow, I haven't been posting here in a while. No shock, I guess. Well, to recap, here's my posts on games previous on my fangirl journal (for those few that haven't seen them already):
Taiko DS: Codes are for the weak.
SO2: I got mad that I got it...
DJMAX2: I hate this game.
SO1: Yay.
DJMAX: I can so get my license.
Okay, since I haven't done it yet, a more comprehensive recap of Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution for PSP.
Awesome. Okay, so I had /massively/ high hopes after playing SO1, but really, the game is still (mostly) the SO2 that we know and love. Okay, my most major letdown is a lack of the voice credit system -- I still think that only RPG tweakers play SO2. Heck, it also would have been nice if they had a PS3 memory conversion to PSP system, that'd.... yeah, I'm smoking pipe dreams.
Anyway, the voice cast is of course, different from the original (I love Leon's voice but cry everytime I hear Ashton's), and the exact item and skill set follows the PSP SO1 system. In many ways, it's more accurate to call /this/ game SO2, and the original PS1 game SO:SS, because this is a true sequel to SO1.
Character designs are refurbished more in line with the game than the anime or manga series.
I'm glad they kept the difficulty settings. I'm not exactly sure if default setting is at easy or medium difficulty, however -- I died on the 7th floor of the hardest dungeon without saving and have refused to play that data since then.
I give it an 87%.
If you're not an SO2 maniac you really won't care about the deviations made from the original, but if you do, that can really lower your score.
~Not having a trophy/voice credit system for (extremely) long replay value: -15% (I was extremely disappointed when I found this out and lost interest for a while because of it...)
~Not redoing the backgrounds: -1%
~Using the S01 equipment system for accessories: +/-3%
~Being able to finally tell which of the wise men/apostles are which: +1%
~Not letting you make your own dream team: +/-0% (because no one was seriously expecting this to happen)
~Adding Welch in: +1% (it balances out the amount of un-bound characters you can have)
~Allowing you to speed up creation time: +3% |
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| You've all been waiting for it... |
[May. 2nd, 2008|08:10 am] |
My thoughts on GTAIV.
Ahem.
Lets start at the top.
Seven years ago, Grand Theft Auto 3 was released. While there had certainly been games of this type released before, third-person free-roaming action games had never really taken off very far, mostly because it's forefathers in the industry consisted of Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2, which were fun but hardly revolutionary affairs with their rather primitive graphics and practically non-existant storyline, and the Driver series, which actually WAS somewhat revolutionary.
Driver 1 was the first game to give us a 3D car in a 3D city and allow us the opportunity to just let us drive about and do whatever we please. The problem was, there was no such thing as getting out of your car, or driving other cars besides the one you initially start with, or, uh, curved roads. We were going in the right direction, but we hadn't seen the top of the mountain yet, and the incredibly shitty Driver 2 didn't convince anybody.
Then, in 2001, not very long into the release of the PS2, Grand Theft Auto 3 was released, and it was then that people saw what the top of the mountain looked like.
Now, seven years and five games in the Grand Theft Auto 3 Trilogy later, we now have another numbered game in the series with Grand Theft Auto 4.
We have not seen the top of the mountain. We are at the top of the mountain. Grand Theft Auto 4 represents the pinnacle of this type of gaming. Grand Theft Auto 4 is every bit as good as the GTA3 Trilogy was and better. Grand Theft Auto 4 takes from it's predecessors and builds in almost every category until everything is polished to a mirror shine. Never before have I felt like I'm playing a game that's absolutely perfect, even while playing games like Silent Hill 2 or Metal Gear Solid or Kingdom Hearts 2.
Likely, never again shall I feel this way.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is perfect.
raven_crow50 rates this game: A+ |
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| GTAIV stats |
[May. 1st, 2008|01:10 pm] |
Game Progress: 53.79%
Current Money: $371342
Playing Time: 29:00:57
Longest Non-Stop game: 7:56:04
Addiction Level: Fiend
Yeah, I'm tweaking out on this game.
I'll write an entry about this game when I get a chance to breathe. |
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| Cutest Fucking Thing Ever |
[Mar. 17th, 2008|11:24 pm] |
This is the cutest fucking thing ever, and if you don't think so, you're with the terrorists.
Phoenix Wright related. It's only relevant up to the second game, however, with only Godot showing up from the third game and no fourth game characters in sight.
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| Gaming updates |
[Mar. 8th, 2008|12:41 am] |
Well, guess I'll drop some updates going on here, since everyone else is.
I've finally put down Mass Effect, after it had it's grip on me for about another two weeks after I put it down the first time. I have Rasaman to thank for that, the bastard. On the positive side, I was able to get more achievement points out of the game by completing many of the 'use-over-time' achievements.
I made another new character on WoW, bringing my list up to three (two of which I actually play). Her name is Maryshelley, an undead rogue who was named after the author of Frankenstein. I enjoy playing as her, so I'll probably trade between Maryshelley and Kurrgan as time goes on.
I plan on attending Ala Moana's Saturday midnight release of Super Smash Bros Brawl. Hopefully I'll be able to beat the lines, but it's kind of unlikely. They claim that they have over 1300+ preorders in, mine of which I've already paid in full.
Lets hope for the best.
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| Super Smash Bros Brawl: SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! |
[Mar. 7th, 2008|08:35 pm] |
SUNDAY!!
Be there for the first ever Manga Bento Super Smash Bros Brawl party! If you can't bring a controller, bring a friend or some snacks or something, and we'll have a big ol' brawl of a bash!
Whut: Super Smash Bros Brawl release party
Wen: Sunday, March 9th, 2008 @ 1PM.
Whurr: Mangabento, of course!
Y?: For the lulz |
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| woooo |
[Mar. 5th, 2008|01:28 pm] |
Since brave made a game post I should too.
I've been playing nothing but tekken. So far the newest character I learned to use was ling xiao yu. Her moves are fast and tricky but a bit weak. I need to learn ways to score more hits with the moves at her disposable.
also good news...
If you missed it the first time it's time to repent.
It's coming! The previous post I said if final mix ever makes a NA release this game should follow. That was proved false because atlus is shipping this game out in the end of april this year. It has many bonuses. New side stories, a new ending story starring Aegis, new personas(including penis monster, mara) and OUTFITSSS! I'm a sucker for collecting change-able outfits..
Well anyway I hope you guys support this game! BUY IT!!
also Silent hill origins for ps2 comes out tomorrow. So far people who played it already are doing their uber speed runs. So seems like nothing spectacular.. I'm getting it of course. |
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| Hmm.... |
[Mar. 5th, 2008|09:39 am] |
With everything going the way it is now, my gaming self has came back, playing lots of ps2 and 360 lately, also leveling my characters on Maple Story Ranger at 93, Priest at 97 and Chief Bandit at 115, tweaking three character a day is awesome lol, the game to beat me in is Guilty Gears, Street Fighter/SCup2 "AkA" SVC2 games and Halo, though I never assumed to be the best in anything.. But I give fair warning never play me in Guilty Gears, if you want to have some pride left in you, if you have the chance to play me just put the controller down and ask for another game to play with me.. Also that game called "WoW" going to lose lots of its customers when Star Craft 2 comes yay... Sigh whenever thats gonna come out, I don't consider myself a "Game Guro" Though I know well enough to see who is and who is not one, people claim to be the shit on a certain game but when I play them, I scrub them like hell.. Those of you don't know this I read forums from KK or whatever site there is, looking for invitations to play in arcades or a game day at someone place, so I go there to play with them and they are scrubs that cant play the game correctly and they get face guard pretty bad by me.. Yawn today such a boring and lazy day to be doing anything.. Find me at Maple Story or at my place playing Street Fighter.
P.S. Played Mass Effect and BioShock at a friends place, I say Bioshock is better and funner.. Mass Effect gets boring and easy after you learn how to play it correctly.. Remember this is just my opinion about it, can never change what I think about it... |
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calm
tweaking
bitchy