Interlude

Wow, now I know what it feels like to be the second banana. I guess I had it coming. For so long I was content to be the favorite and now I've been ousted. I suppose it's fair but since when has fair ever felt good?   Pretty much never, I guess.

Well don't mind these ramblings. This is a blog and as such I felt it the most appropriate place to throw my feelings into the void of the internet so I might be rid of them. I'll be back to my video game discussing self soon enough, but for now I guess it sucks to feel like you've been replaced.

(We're Not) All-Stars!

So I had a blast playing with a couple friends of mine online, Bronson (@gamekraft), Rebecca (@rrquinta) and a random guy from my PSN list! My Raiden is getting better and I still need to work on Cole. I really want to use Sly, Radec and Ratchet too so we'll see where that goes!

8bitfix Review - PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Vita)

So after all my time playing PlayStation All-Stars I finally wrote a review on it. The Vita version, that is. This game is pretty awesome, right up the alley for PS fans but I think anyone who digs the competitive Smash scene will like this game better. Let's face it, if you are trying to play Smash competitively that's basically like bragging about how awesome of a driver you are when all you do is race go karts at Putt-Putt (do they still have Putt-Putts?)

It's a little alarming how I somehow reviewed two fighting games in a row considering I don't consider myself a fighting game kinda guy. This one was easier for me to talk about though considering it isn't an overtly technical fighting game. There is technical-ness to it, but it's all behind the scenes which I like. So I was able to talk more about how this differs from Smash and the overwhelming visual aspect of the game. All in all I feel I did fairly well, though I think everyone who wants this game has it by now. Hopefully it reaches Superbot and they notice some of the constructive negative feedback and use that to create and even better PASBR 2.

Anyways here's a link and a bit from the review: 8bitfix Review: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (PlayStation Vita)

"Since so many characters from different games are thrown together in this all out brawl, it is easy to lose your bearings sometimes. You'll do plenty of double takes seeing Fat Princess next to Big Daddy. Initially it does look awkward but you do get used to it in no time. I'm sure there are others out there who don't share the sentiment but I feel this amalgamation of Sony's diverse video game lineup is part of this game's charm. In fact if I were more of a Sony diehard fan I would probably say something like "the contrast is evident of Sony's diverse software lineup". It's a good thing I'm not a Sony diehard fan eh?" -me

Who does your dentistry?

8bitfix Review - Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes (Vita)

Lego Batman 2. Lego Batman.... two. I really loved the first Lego Batman actually, I played the hell out of it on Xbox 360. Now that I'm that more into playing on handhelds I decided to get Lego Batman 2 on the Vita. While I was at it I might as well review it right? Right! Well coming directly from Lego Batman I didn't notice at first that this largely has less to offer than the console versions. Indeed it does, and even ignoring that fact it is hardly a perfect game on its own merit. The CGI cutscenes and music is poorly handled and the game is simply too easy to appeal to more than the hardcore fan. Thankfully I am that hardcore fan so I don't much regret my purchase at all, but that makes this version of the game a hard sell. With few really appealing games on the Vita for consumers anyway I really wish TT Fusion would have upped their game for this title. After all, the Vita needs all the help it can get.

The review was easy enough and I spent the majority of time trying to cover the basic highs and lows of this game. In the end it became somewhat of a rollercoaster ride settling at an average score. I toyed with the notion of rating it lower, but felt the majority of my disappointment with this game rested on what it lacks compared to the console version. While it's certainly my intention to inform readers of the differences my desire to review objectively won out and I decided not to punish the Vita version for not being the full console version of the game.

Anyways you can read for yourself here: 8bitfix Review: Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes (PlayStation Vita)

The lack of difficulty isn't necessarily a terrible thing however, due to both the game's obvious target audience and the fact that the game is fun. It is a silly, whimsical fun that Lego games are known for. Seeing enemies explode into a flurry of bricks is hilarious every time and the game's story itself plays up the Lego humor without becoming annoying. It's this that keeps those who play Lego games coming back. - me

This is why we can't have nice things.

8bitfix Review: Persona 4 Arena

Well, so as it turns out it would be a good idea for 8bitfix to simplify its review format so it could be a bit more flowy. After several days of getting opinions like teeth out of the reviewers we finally Ok'd it and voila! So Persona 4 Arena for PS3 marks the first review I've done in the approved format. I had even started a review for Lego Batman 2, but to be honest it was proving a challenge. This seemed like a natural transition since it is a game that really lends itself to this free form sort of format. It was as much of an exercise for me as it was a review. So with that said I hope you guys enjoy!

When reviewing this game, being a person who is not generally of a fighting game background I decided to stay away from the analytic approach. Afterall, I wouldn't really know much about what I'd be talking about with weird stuff like hit boxes move priority, character tiers and other things I simply don't understand in fighting games. So keeping it simple, I decided to focus on what I know it does bring to the table. Accessibility and style. At least knowing what's up with games like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue helped give a point of reference to gamers who were looking for more technical info. All around I really like this game, and it is a steal at it's reduced price of $20. If you are a Persona fan or a fan of fighting games in general this belongs in your game library no questions asked.

Anyways here is the link with a little blurb as usual: 8bitfix Review: Persona 4 Arena (PS3)

When it comes to the actual fighting this game doesn't disappoint. The lesson mode teaches you there is an easy combo for players to rely on until they learn the ropes, but they are soon outgrown when greater combos are learned. Being able to combine attacks from your character and their Persona both can create some satisfying and unique combos I had tons of fun with it. The diversity of characters is pleasing as well. 13 characters from both Persona 3 and Persona 4 don’t sound like a lot but many of them have a diverse move set that covers all the bases. - WildCardCorsair

Want to piss someone off? Diaharan!

What I'm playing: Christmas

I figured I'd cover a bit more ground here to help catch up since I got lazy and let the last one go all kinds of late. I started off playing some games I got around my birthday and finished the year strong with some great titles I managed to snag for my brithday. My impressions are probably all over the place, but so too has been my list of genres! This will probably be my most diverse What I'm playing yet so I hope you all enjoy!

The team attacks in this game are great!

It wouldn't be a What I'm playing without an update on Persona 4 Golden! By now I'm sure you all are absolutely sick of hearing me talk about this game but this will probably be the last time... I finished the dungeon for the true killer, the Hollow Forest dungeon, and the I'm in the dungeon for the true ending. Needless to say there isn't much more I can eek out of this game without another playthrough. Either way I am getting up to that 120 hour mark and every minute has been a blast. I'll probably start a new play through to catch a few quick trophies but I won't go for a full playthrough until I make some headway on this back log! If I could give any closing thoughts on this game they'd simply be that this is a must own for RPG fans, and a great first foray into the genre for Vita owners looking for the best the handheld has to offer!

Take that, social link!

Since P4G was coming to a close I really didn't want to live in a Inaba-less world so with some birthday money I picked up Persona 4 Arena for the PS3. It's a fighting game that thinks it's visual novel lol. The story mode is pretty immense. It is not the exact same quality as Persona 4, so don't expect this awesome tale with tons of character development, but it is exceptional for a fighting game. It revolves around the reappearance of the Midnight Channel and the investigation team reuniting to figure out why. There are also several characters from Persona 3 as well, and they are tied in to the story pretty well. It's a great epilogue if you love the characters, but how is it as a fighting game? Actually, it's pretty impressive there too. Since it was developed by Arc Systems Works and as such it bares a whole lot in common with Guilty Gear and Blazblue. There is a fairly open combo system a lot of nuances to fighting like bursts, cancels, reversals, furious actions, awakened attacks, all-out attacks, you name it. Yes, there are even instant kill moves. Anyone who likes a fast paced 2D fighter like Gear will love this game as well, especially since it has a great online mode with 8 player rooms for that arcade feeling. The netcode is pretty smooth and after 20 or so games online only one had lag that affected the match at all.

Ever have a sticker that gave you super powers? Me either.

Well Christmas rolled around and my lovely honey got me Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS. I've never played a Paper Mario game before so I can't tell you really anything about how it feels compared to those, but I can tell you I love it so far. It is like a Mario RPG in which stickers you collect become your attacks in turn based combat with familiar baddies from the Mushroom Kingdom. The story is very simple and straight forward, true to Mario fashion, but the gameplay is actually very enjoyable. It's no Persona 4 (I'm saying this way too much, aren't I?) but it's pretty much what I need after such a such an intricate game as P4G. The only complaint I have about this game at all is that the game tutorials are pretty sparse  There was no mention of pressing the A button during my attacks to increase my damage and whatnot so I literally wasted tons of stickers dealing pathetic amounts of damage for nearly an hour into the game. Needless to say I was pissed that the game simply didn't see fit to share this vital info with me.

The new episodes of Justice League Unlimited are getting weird...

I have a special place in my heart for Lego games, so when they started coming out on Vita that made perfect sense for me. I put a couple Lego games on my Christmas wishlist and my aunt ended up getting me Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes! So far I'm several levels in and I just got Superman as a playable character but I'm really hoping to get guys like Green Lantern and the Flash. I read somewhere there are a few exclusive characters for the Vita version so that's pretty cool but I can't confirm that yet. Either way it is mostly what you would expect from a Lego game, simple yet fun. The Vita version feels very much like a full console version of this game save for the lack of that free roaming Gotham City mode I hear the PS3 and 360 versions have. The only other difference is that the movies were compressed rather poorly for the Vita version which is kind of a shame since any Vita owner knows what the handheld is capable of.

The fellowship of the brick!

Another gift I got was the Persona 4 Golden Solid Gold Premium Edition. I know what you're saying, "Don't you already have that game?" Well yes, but I also had the receipt too... See where I'm going here? I took the game and "returned" it and kept all the Solid Gold edition goodies. With the money I picked up Lego The Lord of the Rings for Vita. Once again I'm a fool for these games and I have a great love for Lord of the Rings as well so this was a great fit. Most impressive about the game is the fact they carry over most of the voice track from the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy for use in the game. The game is wacky of course, as Lego games are but currently I'm enjoying it.

I don't have any jokes to make here.

Since I started playing Persona 4 Arena, I naturally got a little curious about the Persona 3 characters, so another game gifted to me from my wishlist was Persona 3 Portable. I've played bits of Persona 3, Persona 3 FES, and P3P before but I never got far, and always ended up trading the games in (due to the fact they kept coming out with new versions) save for P3P, which I am sad to say I played a not-so-legitimate copy of for PSP. I figured I'd finally buy and stick with one so P3P was where I settled on. So far I've begun a male and female protagonist but I'm not sure which one I'll follow through with first so I'll talk more about this one as I play more.

Real Houswives of the UNSC, Cortana edition!

My brother, hilariously, bought me Halo 4 for Christmas. I say hilariously because this is about as much of a self serving gift as you can imagine. Yes I really appreciate the thought, but I can still laugh at the fact he bought it for me so he could play it as well. Well played sir, well played indeed. That chuckle aside the game is really great. The game really streamlines what Halo normally offers, while adding a bit of tactical shooter ala games like Call of Duty. What exactly is new is a sort of kill streak support package, only you don't have to remain alive for it to kick it. It accumulates slower (probably) than it does in a CoD game but unless you have an absolutely abysmal round you'll get at least one, probably two. The new maps are amazing, you have greater customization over the armor abilities and starting weapons, and the menus are gorgeous and efficient. Yes the menus. I love the menus. I want the menus in Halo 4 to have my children.

"What do you mean I'm not Batman?"

My last gaming gift this holiday was that of Dishonored for 360. This game is the story of Corvo. Framed for the regicide (technically she isn't a king but she's the ruler of the city) and kidnapping and sentenced to death, Corvo escape with the help of a resistance made to counter the new ruler's evil intentions. Steampunk-esque cityscapes and a unique feel are a total selling point to this game while the sub-par stealth is not. Don't get me wrong, the game is good, just not the second coming son of stealth gaming's god. It does have a fair amount of choice when it comes to how you want to tackle your mission, but in the end the stealth is too tedious to use and suddenly your options are halved because of your desire to completely ignore it. I won't say much for enemy AI which is bad, but no worse than other stealth games.

Well there you have it. Quite the haul, I know. A lot of these games will carry over well into 2013 so I know I'll already be starting off a great gaming year!

What I'm playing Dec 1 - Dec 15

This weekend was filled with enough gaming that I feel very compelled to share it all... lucky you!

Naoto wasn't in the beach scene! This isn't canon!

There was of course Persona 4 Golden... I have a feeling there will ALWAYS be Persona 4 Golden. This is both comforting and scary as hell at the same time. I'm at the end of the game, having successfully gotten past the "bad ending" and am proceeding to kick some killer's ass. Feels good man. I'm approaching the 100 hour mark very rapidly and that's cool, but I know there is an extra dungeon after this so I wouldn't doubt if this game rounds the 120 hour mark. BRING. IT. ON!

Jockstraps make the best head equipment huh?

Crimson Shroud is a game for eShop that I downloaded recently. It's a part of the Guild 01 game in Japan which did get a physical release, but instead of localizing them as a physical release, three of the four games were localized and released digitally on the eShop. Crimson Shroud is the digital equivilent of a table top role-playing game. I know that most RPGs can be considered to be the natural successors of table top RPGs, but trust me when I say this is moreso. There is a lot of reading being part visual novel, but at certain times you are given choices on how you want your character to act or react. Sometimes these choices may require you to roll dice to determine success or failure, harkening back to ye olde dayes (is that too many 'e's?) of rolling checks. When you get into the battle portions of the game are standard turn based RPG fare, but with another dice based twist. You can earn dice from chain attacks and those dice can be used to power up damage and accuracy. It really is so cool.

Can my president look like this please?

Along with Crimson Shroud, another Guild 01 title that localized on the eShop is Liberation Maiden. This one is a developed by Level-5 and Grasshopper Manufacture. You play as the 16-year old Shoko, President of New Japan, tasked with fending off the invasion and occupation of your country. It's got some pretty awesome anime cutscenes. Once you start playing the controls take a little getting used to. Unlike how it looks, turning and moving forward and back is all done with the analog stick and aiming is done with the stylus and touchpad. You can strafe but only if you hold down the "L" button. Sound confusing? It kinda is, but you should get the hang of it after the first couple missions. The game seems kinda short, but since it's only $8 I think it's priced right. Oddly enough I am getting some use out of my Kid Icarus stand again thanks to this game!

CYBORG!

Vita owners, I'm going to move away from the 3DS for a minute with a title that you should pick up. It's called Surge and it is made by Futurlab. You might remember me talking about them before. They made Beats Slider and Fuel Tiracas, some of the best PSM launch games out there along with Coconut Dodge and Velocity, the PS Mini that defined Minis. Surge is a super fun tile matching sort of game. You trace your finger on the screen to match exposed tiles to each other of matching color in order to clear them from the screen and make way for the next group of the tiles to continue and eliminate them before pressure builds up and the game ends. Think a Tetris feel with a refined, reinventive gameplay that Futurlab is known for. And no, I am not paying the least bit of lip service to them. They are the wizards of Brighton to me. Always. Anyways, the best part is Surge is a steal at less that $4. There is literally no reason not to get this.

Tags: SSBM, Brawl, Super Smash Bros

At the 8bitfix Christmas party thingy that we had on Saturday I also got the chance to play a bit more of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale with actual people. We had plenty of people in attendance and I took the opportunity to try something out. We had three people playing on the actual PS3 console, and I had my Vita with me so I had them invite me to their game over PSN. So for a couple rounds I fought looking at the Vita screen while playing but I actually switched to looking at the TV screen and using my Vita as a controller. I have to say it worked really well. When there was so little lag that I can actually do this that's pretty damn impressive. Not to mention after I started getting the hang of things I managed to take first a few rounds as well... nice :). I'm maining Cole MacGrath, which I'm sure is no surprise to any of you who have read my blog before. His level 1 super takes some finesse to work in big four player battles but I'm decent with it now and was even able to out-Cole Gusto's son Tito. Why am I so happy to have dethroned a kid less than half my age? Cause his Cole is over twice the level mine is...

All 4 Quark!

Lastly, rounding out my gaming weekend was Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. I realize this game came out like forever ago but it has literally sat unopened on my shelf for some time. I got it for $10... an almost criminal price, but at a time in which I had plenty of other stuff to play. So I pulled it out and popped it in my PS3 and I have to say I rather like it. It isn't this amazing awesome life changing experience but it is a very fun four player game. It is a little less fun by yourself since it is geared toward multiplayer, but it is still very solid. I don't remember having as much fun with a co-op multiplayer game since Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for the Gamecube. I loved this game to death so this is really saying a lot. I hope to be able to play this one a little more especially with local multiplayer.

And there you have it folks, that's what I'm playing for the week just before Christmas! I'll be back very soon with a new What I'm playing for the week of Christmas, trust me, it'll be good!