Sunday, September 30, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
And the award for best posthumous gamer goes to... Pt. 1
I've been pretty busy for a dead guy. Man all these games I've played... So let's see I have to catch you up on like 2 years worth of gaming? Sheesh.
Well because no one ever truly cared about what I was playing when I was actively writing here I'll stick to sum sort of summary of the games that stand out.
I believe it left off with Pokemon Black/White. I had typed up a "review" for this blog and in wondering if it was too long, I ended up changing it around and becoming 8bitfix's newest reviewer. Craziness. Needless to say that was the last time I ever posted here in earnest. As a game it's great, as a Pokemon game... well it's the best. So many legitimate improvements were made to it based on fan input and in general so the game truly shines. The graphics are more dynamic, it keeps the killer formula that made it great to begin with, adds new pokemon with designs that are as good or better than the original 151. Plus since only Gen V Pokemon are available until you beat the elite four, these games really give you that feeling of the unknown again while giving you enough familiarity with the formula that you still feel at home. In a word, great.
Pokemon Black Version/Pokemon White Version
Gamefreak/The Pokemon Company
Nintendo
March 2011
Nintendo DS
$34.99
I love Dragon Age: Origins. The game was pretty massive and I've beat it at least 3 times so far. So I was pretty thrilled when I heard about Dragon Age II. Though you didn't get to play as your Grey Warden, and the game takes place in Kirkwall in a land north of Ferelden, I still enjoyed it. Now that's not to say the game doesn't have problems. In the area of customization the game takes a nose dive of sorts. No matter what you play as the Champion of Kirkwall, though you can still choose your gender, apperance, and class. Unfortunately your backstory is pretty much already established no matter what you do. The combat is ramped up though and is a big improvement over Origins. Instead of just watching your character auto attack, and using the occasional ability, DAII introduces cross class combos for massive damage. Combat is even much better to look at overall. The characters are also pretty great in DAII, even if the story seems convoluted at times. It's not the pile of shit people make it out to be, but it does take a back seat to Origins in most ways.
Dragon Age II
BioWare
Electronic Arts
March 2011
Xbox 360 (also on PC and PS3)
$59.99 (I'm 99% certain it's cheaper now)
After Pokemon and Dragon Age II I kind of didn't do anything for awhile as all I was doing was Pokemon. Then an awesome deal came around and I managed to get the inFAMOUS 2 Hero Edition for like... I think it was $40 bucks. CRAYZAY cheap. I even traded in a few games and brought that price down to like.. $15. Insane. Either way I had already been playing the first one, and loving it so I felt like it was worth a try. At first I hated it. They got a new VA for Cole and redesigned him a bit which I didn't like at first, but eventually got over. When I did I really loved the game for adding a wide variety of powers, and mixing it up with new mission types, a great story, and of course a great way to extend the life of the game with the User Generated Content mission creator built in! Fans of action/adventure open world games, you'll love inFAMOUS 2!
inFAMOUS 2
Sucker Punch Productions
Sony Computer Entertainment
June 2011
PlayStation 3
Hero: $79.99, Reg: $59.99 (cheaper now)
So It's June 2011 and birthday time for me. The Nintendo 3DS dropped in I think April-ish and it wasn't doing well due to a poor launch library and steep price, but I wanted the crap out of one. I managed to get one and I picked up Dead or Alive Dimensions and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D with it (Though I think I had to wait a few weeks for Ocarina). As a system itself I think the 3DS is strong. Sure, the graphics are good, but not great, but features like the eShop, StreetPass, and online friends list made this a great improvement over the DSi/DSi XL. The quality of the games were great too. I loved DoA Dimensions, though really it's just a semi-port. Ocarina of Time was great too, as the gyroscope additions to the gameplay made it worthy of another pick-up and play. All in all, expensive (I paid the original $250 price) but hey, I got the 20 free games, and because of that, Platinum status on Club Nintendo :)
Nintendo 3DS, Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Nintendo, Team Ninja, Nintendo EAD (respectively)
Nintendo, Tecmo Koei, Nintendo (respectively)
March-July 2011
Nintendo 3DS
$249.99 (now cheaper), $39.99, $39.99 (respectively)
Along with Arkham City and DX:HR another real contender for 2011 Game of the Year is Valve's Portal 2. A sequel to Portal was kind of a shock to me at first but I welcomed the idea. After all, who didn't want more Portal the first time around? The end result was definitely a triumph. The single player introduced new elements, though certain areas in the second half of the game bordered on tedious. Regardless, the voice talent really drove the "implied" sub plots within the game such as the origins of Aperture Science and it's founder/CEO Cave Johnson (voiced by J.K. Simmons!). At the end of it all you have some pretty sweet closure if I do say so myself. You even have a spectacular 2-player Co-op experience that is a total blast. Portal 2 is a killer game, and you should play it!
Portal 2
Valve
Valve
April 2011
Xbox 360 (also on PC, Mac, and PS3)
$59.99 (less now)
Time passed and after doing several reviews Beatboxtaun offered me a free game if I would review it. The game was Deus Ex: Human Revolution for PS3. Never having played the first 2 I wan't that excited about this title until post E3. I said yes. I even got this awesome press kit with a review guide, press book, press assets CD, and a freebie polyester "arm augment" sleeve. Pretty wicked. I absolutely loved this game. It was and still is my 2011 GAME OF THE YEAR. It's an FPS with plenty of RPG elements including crazy side quests, great character customizations, and a nearly open ended quest system. There are always multiple ways to achieve any goal. Even the first mission features 3 different ways to simply get into the building. From there, countless opportunities and choices await you. You never miss a beat even if you prefer to play stealth, aggresively, or a mix of the two. The game balances different gameplay elements you never sacrifice anything by playing the way you want to play. That's downright amazing to me.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Eidos Montreal
Square Enix
August 2011
PlayStation 3 (also on Xbox 360 and PC)
Augmented Edition: $79.99, Reg: $59.99 (now cheaper)
Well that's it for this one. I'll continue it with part 2, and eventually part 3 like next week or something when you guys are no longer sick of me!
Well because no one ever truly cared about what I was playing when I was actively writing here I'll stick to sum sort of summary of the games that stand out.
I believe it left off with Pokemon Black/White. I had typed up a "review" for this blog and in wondering if it was too long, I ended up changing it around and becoming 8bitfix's newest reviewer. Craziness. Needless to say that was the last time I ever posted here in earnest. As a game it's great, as a Pokemon game... well it's the best. So many legitimate improvements were made to it based on fan input and in general so the game truly shines. The graphics are more dynamic, it keeps the killer formula that made it great to begin with, adds new pokemon with designs that are as good or better than the original 151. Plus since only Gen V Pokemon are available until you beat the elite four, these games really give you that feeling of the unknown again while giving you enough familiarity with the formula that you still feel at home. In a word, great.
Pokemon Black Version/Pokemon White Version
Gamefreak/The Pokemon Company
Nintendo
March 2011
Nintendo DS
$34.99
I love Dragon Age: Origins. The game was pretty massive and I've beat it at least 3 times so far. So I was pretty thrilled when I heard about Dragon Age II. Though you didn't get to play as your Grey Warden, and the game takes place in Kirkwall in a land north of Ferelden, I still enjoyed it. Now that's not to say the game doesn't have problems. In the area of customization the game takes a nose dive of sorts. No matter what you play as the Champion of Kirkwall, though you can still choose your gender, apperance, and class. Unfortunately your backstory is pretty much already established no matter what you do. The combat is ramped up though and is a big improvement over Origins. Instead of just watching your character auto attack, and using the occasional ability, DAII introduces cross class combos for massive damage. Combat is even much better to look at overall. The characters are also pretty great in DAII, even if the story seems convoluted at times. It's not the pile of shit people make it out to be, but it does take a back seat to Origins in most ways.
Dragon Age II
BioWare
Electronic Arts
March 2011
Xbox 360 (also on PC and PS3)
$59.99 (I'm 99% certain it's cheaper now)
After Pokemon and Dragon Age II I kind of didn't do anything for awhile as all I was doing was Pokemon. Then an awesome deal came around and I managed to get the inFAMOUS 2 Hero Edition for like... I think it was $40 bucks. CRAYZAY cheap. I even traded in a few games and brought that price down to like.. $15. Insane. Either way I had already been playing the first one, and loving it so I felt like it was worth a try. At first I hated it. They got a new VA for Cole and redesigned him a bit which I didn't like at first, but eventually got over. When I did I really loved the game for adding a wide variety of powers, and mixing it up with new mission types, a great story, and of course a great way to extend the life of the game with the User Generated Content mission creator built in! Fans of action/adventure open world games, you'll love inFAMOUS 2!
inFAMOUS 2
Sucker Punch Productions
Sony Computer Entertainment
June 2011
PlayStation 3
Hero: $79.99, Reg: $59.99 (cheaper now)
So It's June 2011 and birthday time for me. The Nintendo 3DS dropped in I think April-ish and it wasn't doing well due to a poor launch library and steep price, but I wanted the crap out of one. I managed to get one and I picked up Dead or Alive Dimensions and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D with it (Though I think I had to wait a few weeks for Ocarina). As a system itself I think the 3DS is strong. Sure, the graphics are good, but not great, but features like the eShop, StreetPass, and online friends list made this a great improvement over the DSi/DSi XL. The quality of the games were great too. I loved DoA Dimensions, though really it's just a semi-port. Ocarina of Time was great too, as the gyroscope additions to the gameplay made it worthy of another pick-up and play. All in all, expensive (I paid the original $250 price) but hey, I got the 20 free games, and because of that, Platinum status on Club Nintendo :)
Nintendo 3DS, Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Nintendo, Team Ninja, Nintendo EAD (respectively)
Nintendo, Tecmo Koei, Nintendo (respectively)
March-July 2011
Nintendo 3DS
$249.99 (now cheaper), $39.99, $39.99 (respectively)
Along with Arkham City and DX:HR another real contender for 2011 Game of the Year is Valve's Portal 2. A sequel to Portal was kind of a shock to me at first but I welcomed the idea. After all, who didn't want more Portal the first time around? The end result was definitely a triumph. The single player introduced new elements, though certain areas in the second half of the game bordered on tedious. Regardless, the voice talent really drove the "implied" sub plots within the game such as the origins of Aperture Science and it's founder/CEO Cave Johnson (voiced by J.K. Simmons!). At the end of it all you have some pretty sweet closure if I do say so myself. You even have a spectacular 2-player Co-op experience that is a total blast. Portal 2 is a killer game, and you should play it!
Portal 2
Valve
Valve
April 2011
Xbox 360 (also on PC, Mac, and PS3)
$59.99 (less now)
Time passed and after doing several reviews Beatboxtaun offered me a free game if I would review it. The game was Deus Ex: Human Revolution for PS3. Never having played the first 2 I wan't that excited about this title until post E3. I said yes. I even got this awesome press kit with a review guide, press book, press assets CD, and a freebie polyester "arm augment" sleeve. Pretty wicked. I absolutely loved this game. It was and still is my 2011 GAME OF THE YEAR. It's an FPS with plenty of RPG elements including crazy side quests, great character customizations, and a nearly open ended quest system. There are always multiple ways to achieve any goal. Even the first mission features 3 different ways to simply get into the building. From there, countless opportunities and choices await you. You never miss a beat even if you prefer to play stealth, aggresively, or a mix of the two. The game balances different gameplay elements you never sacrifice anything by playing the way you want to play. That's downright amazing to me.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Eidos Montreal
Square Enix
August 2011
PlayStation 3 (also on Xbox 360 and PC)
Augmented Edition: $79.99, Reg: $59.99 (now cheaper)
Well that's it for this one. I'll continue it with part 2, and eventually part 3 like next week or something when you guys are no longer sick of me!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The forecast calls for 98% chance of brainstorm!
Since I'm all active on this blog again and whatnot I'm brainstorming possible different weekly posts. Naturally being a gamer I think I'm going to do some kind of "what I'm playing this week" sort of deal. I play tons of games, and many are not widely known. NO, that was not a hipster comment because the majority of them are in this generation. Think of it more along the lines of giving credit where credit is due.
I also have a couple articles I was working on for 8bit so I'm just going to swing those here instead. It'll be easier I think to do, since I don't have to worry about damaging a site's reputation with my opinions lol. To be completely honest it's good not to have to worry about that sometimes.
So thats where I'm standing right now.
Of ourse I'll also do non-gaming related entries as well... comics, movies, cards, music, general geekery. You all know the drill by now.
In the meantime I think I'll cover a few recent game's I've bought and which ones stand out. Yeah, I think that's a great idea!
I also have a couple articles I was working on for 8bit so I'm just going to swing those here instead. It'll be easier I think to do, since I don't have to worry about damaging a site's reputation with my opinions lol. To be completely honest it's good not to have to worry about that sometimes.
So thats where I'm standing right now.
Of ourse I'll also do non-gaming related entries as well... comics, movies, cards, music, general geekery. You all know the drill by now.
In the meantime I think I'll cover a few recent game's I've bought and which ones stand out. Yeah, I think that's a great idea!
The WildCard Returns
To make a long story short I will be posting here again... Surprise! I'm going to take as many articles and blog posts from 8bitfix and post them here so...
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Gaming Revelations: Who Really Killed Jason?!
It was a normal sunny that quickly turned to tragedy. We are all familiar with the tragic story of Jason Mars from Heavy Rain. A combination of stupidity and inattentiveness seemed to take the poor kid out, but what if it wan't so simple? What if, like so many cases, there was far more at stake? What if this seemingly random tragedy belied a conspiracy that could shake the very foundations of the video game industry as we know it?
David Cage and Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain was quite the game. You meet happy-go-lucky parent Ethen Mars, a slightly mentally handicapped 30-something. Any person who can't quite master pouring orange juice has problems, let's face it. Things take a turn for the worse however when Jason decides "Hey, today is a nice day for a balloon."
WRONG! See that was the first mistake and the hint at something larger at work, a detail often looked over in the vicious murder of Jason Mars. That's right, I said murder. Now we all know he ends up street pizza but let's examine this crucial moment in depth. You see, theres this guy:
Yep. He's a Pokemon named Drifloon. I know what you're saying, what does Pokemon have to do anything with Heavy Rain? Well prepare to be blown away. Here is the Pokedex entry for our precious little balloon Pokemon. This particular entry comes from the Pokemon Pearl game:
It tugs on the hands of children to steal them away. However, it gets pulled around instead.Disconcerting to say the least, but there's more. The english translation was modified to be less creepy. In the original Japanese game Drifloon takes children to the "world of the dead" not simply "steals them away". If that wasn''t enough, this entry comes from the HeartGold and SoulSilver games:
It is whispered that any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing.So, dear readers, what if Jason's death was the result of a clever assassination attempt by none other than... Nintendo! Corporate sabotage most subtle and foul could be the result of Nintendo's desire to eliminate PlayStation first party characters. Afterall, a cleverly disguised Drifloon would only be acting on its own nature by taking Jason to the land of the dead, and what faster way than by car?
So far Nintendo has declined to comment on my accusations. If anyone would like to join me at Gamefreak to make a citizens arrest on Ken Sugimori, Drifloon's creator I would appreciate it!
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