Knives a duex -or- When Conner met Ave

So the temptation was too strong! I had my money all ready to go for Halo 4, and I had an odd change of heart. I'm actually confident the game is fantastic, many reviewers I trust have had nothing but good things to say so far, but for a couple different reasons I decided against picking it up Tuesday.

Whatever will I do with all that money you ask? Well not one to be wasteful I found a new home for it!

Yup I got Assassin's Creed III. I knew I would be getting this game, but I didn't think I would so soon. As it turns out I was wrong. I even picked up the PS3 version for the bonus missions, and Liberation connectivity.

I didn't plan on using that connectivity with Liberation so soon, but I did know I would eventually get it, and when I did I'd want the PS3 version. Well...

I'm seriously the worlds biggest sucker. I don't even know what to say, when I want something I want it now and there is very little I or anyone else can do about that. I'm just damn glad the things I want most are usually video games!

So I'll give you guys a fine run down in the what I'm playing segment but until then ladies and gents I'll bid you all adieu!

The odyssey begins, a Ragnarok Odyssey unboxing!

It's so secret I've been looking forward to this title. My incessant blabbering is probably bordering on unprofessional considering I'm reviewing the game, but welp, I don't care. I did pick up my personal copy of this game yesterday, the swanky Mercenary Edition no less.

Ooooh shiny! Let's have a look see at what's inside shall we?

First off here is the actual game. Less shiny but hey, it'll look good in my current collection of Vita games.

Next we have the game's soundtrack. There is 32 songs on it, all composed by Kumi Tanioka. I mentioned before she also composed many songs for Final Fantasy XI, which I played for nearly 9 years. I still do occasionally, but that's beside the point.

Now we have the mercenary guide. This this is actually pretty beefy at 96 pages. You could really consider it an "essentials" strategy guide. It has the 6 character classes with their combos detailed, a boss bestiary, a card catalog, area maps, and a great section on the combat and various elements to gameplay. It's nice and filled with a lot of pretty pictures as well so yay :)

And last but certainly not we have the cards! I would be lying through crooked teeth if I said the fact this game came with cards didn't influence my decision to buy this. There are 56 in total, each a replica of the cards you get in game to customize your equipment. There is even some info on the monster and what they drop on the back. You get 10 random ones in the Merc. Edition and I really have no idea on how to get more, but I sure as hell want to!

Well here is one last look at the whole shebang, hope you enjoyed!

Fenris Howls! Ragnarok Odyssey First Impressions

Giants and giants and giants, oh my!

So I've had the luck to be able to get a review copy of XSEED's Ragnarok Odyssey. You may remember me talking about this before, and even though I've already preordered the Mercenary Edition in full, I jumped at the chance to get my greedy hands on an advance copy of this game. First off I just want to say I'm actually really happy I did get my Mercenary Edition now, if nothing else for the soundtrack it will come it. The soundtrack is great and it reminds me so much of a lot of the music in Final Fantasy XI. That is probably because the composer actually did compose about 1/3 of the music for Final Fantasy XI. Yup, the game comes with a meaty soundtrack composed by Kumi Tanioka. That's such a win for me.

So anyways, there's no embargo date on this which is fancy lingo for I can talk about this all I want without getting in trouble, hurray! Because of that, you all get to read my first impressions. This game is an action adventure game, with a strange sense of RPG elements. You never "Level up" but your stats do increase whenever you've finished all of the missions in a chapter. Aside from that, any and all stat customizations are done by equipping weapons and cards. Fans of previous Ragnarok games will be familiar with the concept of cards, but for those of you that aren't its not difficult to explain. Cards literally represent the physical remnants of the soul of a monster you kill. When you attach this card to your armor it will lend attributes to you based on the monster. There are several cards that can drop for a particular monster species, some better than others. Basically, they're all essential to customizing the best character you possibly can.

Once you're satisfied with your weapon and equip you head to the quest counter and pick up a mission. This is where the game feels very much like Monster Hunter. Combat however, feels way more like .hack//G.U. (for the record I LOVE .hack). The attack animations are very over the top and indicative of the Japanese anime style that the graphics are based on as well. You can launch foes and preform combos on them in the air, without the risk of falling until you are done. You have several combos you can use made up of the two attack buttons and powered-up charge attacks as well. The game is very action packed and the combat looks and feels great. Considering there are only two attack buttons you will be totally surprised at all the various combos you can actually pull off both on the ground and in the air. There is further variety to combat as well depending on what class you choose. I wont get into too much detail, but there are six different classes to play: Sword Warrior, Hammersmith, Mage, Cleric, Assassin, and Hunter. So far I've tried Hammersmith, Assassin, and Hunter; Hunter being my favorite so far.

His name isn't William in case you couldn't Tell

While on missions I have noticed that the enemy AI seems noticeably dumb. I'll have attacked a monster as it's walking on occasion only to see it continue walking to the same path as if didn't just get shanked for a critical 130 points of damage. It doesn't seem limited to any particular enemy type, though I notice it happens with orcs more often then anything else. It's not a deal breaker by any means as it will more often than not help you kill monsters without taking damage, preserving your precious HP for larger battles. It doesn't even really happen that often but when it does you'll notice. Another downside is the occasionally unbalanced difficulty level. Right now the game has fairly difficult moments even in the single player. The dang Orc King boss at the end of the first chapter was finally bested on my fourth try (as Assassin). I haven't attempted the same fight yet with my Hunter or Hammersmith, but I can estimate the strategy I'll have to use will be different. As tough as this fight, and the first extra mission were, they certainly weren't impossible. Perhaps they seem harder only because you can't simply level up before fighting the boss if you fail the first time.

I wasn't able to check out the online co-op due to there being only review copies out at the moment, but I did familiarize myself with the menus, and they seem very easy to use. You can create an online lobby via the tavern and set the game to PSN friends only or anyone and even set a password if you feel so inclined. Any mission you have available to you can be selected. I don't know if you will or will not be able to enter a mission you don't yet have available to you, but I guess we'll see what the deal is there when the full game releases.

All in all I am having such a blast with this game. The graphics are great, the textures especially detailed, and the amount of character customization is another great point of interest. I've already been able to make my Hammersmith look like Freddie Mercury, and my Assassin look similar to Bayonetta (minus the hair monsters, of course). You can even dye or armor or headgear to further customize your character, though only four paint schemes exist for each piece. Not a serious drawback, but I did appreciate the ability to dye my clothing with more than four colors in games like Fable III and Assassin's Creed II. Hopefully this is something that may be included in a sequel, right GungHo?

Prince of the universe... and hammers-drills.

Either way I've been having a blast and I cannot wait for retail to hit to be able to start a new character and play online with friends. the Review is incoming, but I do want to get a good feel for that online before finishing as I feel like it is a huge component to the game. Well kids, that concludes my first impressions. If you feel like picking this up, you may even see me on; my PSN ID is WildCardCorsair!

What I'm playing this week! Oct 15 - Oct 21

Well it's that time again, I delayed this a bit because I wanted to cover a game that was embargoed. Now it isn't. If you're reading my blog you probably already know what it is...

Anyways, without further ado, here's what I'm playing!

Got paid and decided to pick up Retro City Rampage for PS3/Vita. It's sort of a combo pack, pay $15 and get both. What you need to know about this game is that it is the video game version of Not Another Teen Movie/Scary Movie/Kung Pow, etc. It's bursting at the seams with video game parody. Everything from classic games like Duck Hunt and Metal Gear is sent before the firing squad for your pleasure. It even has tons of movie and generally geeky references like the game's first mission and it's striking similarities to the opening heist scene from The Dark Knight. I hear the phrase "love letter to gaming culture" a lot but I HATE that phrase so instead I'm going to say: if you enjoy the older GTA games (1&2, London, etc), were born in the late seventies/early eighties, and played video games on NES, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Sega Master System, or MS Dos, you will get a riot out of this game. You'll probably laugh your ass off every few seconds. Now, if you said no to those critera above this game will make little sense, many of the (purposely) poor design choices will feel like glaring flaws. It's a total niche title, but I fall very proudly into that niche so I'm having myself a ruddy good time so far.

I was lucky enough to begin a review for the Vita version of Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward from Aksys Games and Chunsoft on Wednesday. It's always awesome to be able to play a game before it comes out and I simply love reviewing so it's the ultimate win-win situation. The game itself is not unique, but rare. There aren't many visual novel/puzzle games that exist outside of Japan (where they are all the rage). This one is a sequel to 999: 9 Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors for the DS. I can't imagine it is a direct sequel, but two of the characters from the first one appear in this as well. As far as gameplay goes its split up into "novel" and "escape" portions. Novels are just where all the talking happens and yes, there is quite a bit of reading. Escape is there you have to figure out how best to escape your current confines. Escape does have several challenges and if you go above and beyond you can wind up with additional gold files in addition to simply escaping. The story itself is downright shocking at times and it really keeps you on edge as the fate of these character literally depends on your choices. There is of course multiple endings, 24 in fact, and there are some terrible ones and some good ones... I'll not spoil any of them for you. Just know what this game really does visual novels proud. It adds new features that I hope will become the standard, no, that should become the standard for these games in the future.

Because I wasn't always able to play VLR (and because Jet Set Radio for Vita was delayed) I bought and played Tales From Space: About A Blob. It's from Drinkbox Studios so I was pretty sure I'd love it, and I do. It's similar to its Vita sequel Mutant Blobs Attack!!! but different at the same time. Since this one is on PS3, it feels differently in a few ways. The first and most obvious difference is you have to hold one of the L buttons down to eat things. This was automatic in MBA!!! and it isn't bad but requires more button inputs. One of the crowning achievements in MBA!!! was its simplicity of controls which emphasized execution. Here in About A Blob that feeling is minimized somewhat. Also different is the blob's ability to "regurgitate" things he's absorbed. I haven't come across puzzles yet that require its use, but I feel safe assuming that this ability was dropped in MBA!!! because of the ability to manipulate puzzles via the touchscreen. It feels the same in that the same humorous approach is seen here as well. I laugh all the time playing this game, and I'm not even that far in!

And that's it! VLR cut such a huge swath of time from my gaming this week as I really worked to get the review up by release day. While that's true it's also because I just freakin loved playing that game. I'm moving on to reviewing Orgarhythm from XSEED Games this week, so alas my VLR time will be cut down, but I plan to put more man hours into this game than the.. uh.. you know... that project from Pretty Woman with all the man hours.

I'm just going to stop talking (typing) now.

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!

Kingdom Hearts 3D, AR Cards, and You!

So if you picked up Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance you have at one point noticed some AR cards that should have come with the game. Three were "preorder" bonuses (the AR Stand, R&R Seal, and Trio card), though I haven't seen any stock that didn't come with them, and the Mark of Mastery edition comes with the those plus additional two (Kab Kannon and Frootz Cat). What the heck do they do? Well I can tell you right now, they don't kinetically charge and explode once you throw them at your annoying siblings. Darn.



Most of them (4) unlock "Spirit" Dream Eaters within the game. The last card is a "stand" that will help corral your wandering Spirits so you can photograph/paint them. In actuality any AR card will work this way, but whatever, it's a pretty card so I won't complain. One of them works a little differently than the others though. The "Trio" card as it is being called unlocks a "random" one of three Dream Eaters in the game that is otherwise terribly difficult to get. From what I've experienced though it may be somewhat less random than it seems. So along with some pretty pictures this is all I've found so far:



It seems like each region has a different picture for these cards, including the Trio card. For instance the NA version of this card has Ursa Circus in the foreground, the EU region has Sudo Neku in the foreground, and the Japanese card has Meowjesty in the foreground. The ribbon below the image is also a different color in each region. This doesn't seem to affect the "randomity" of the Dream Eater you unlock though, as I tried scanning EU and JP Trio cards and it wouldn't even register. I tried resetting and rescanning my own Trio card and got Ursa Circus each time... even after six tries. After starting a new game on another save file I found myself yet again staring into the googly eyes of, you guessed it... Ursa Circus. I even tried the "soft reset" (L+R+Start+Select) trick recommended by Destructoid only to come up with Ursa yet again each time, even after another six tries. A friend helped me with this test and started a new game and scanning his Trio card got him a Ursa Circus whereas his first game got him a Sudo Neku. I deleted my second game and started a new one, and this time unlocked Meowjesty, but resetting I got Meowjesty each re-scan after that. It is clear to me at this point that the random factor occurs not when the card is scanned, but when the new game is started, so essentially the soft reset will do nothing. If you want to get a particular Spirit with this I suggest you start a new game until you get the one you want.

Another interesting thing about these cards is they will also work when scanned on computer or phone screens. You can also print them and scan them as long as you are printing them in color. Most other QR codes and even the Kid Icarus: Uprising AR cards will work from phone or computer screens as well but it is handy to know you don’t always have to keep the cards on you.

There is also the fact it seems these five cards will be it; unlike Kid Icarus: Uprising, where 400+ cards are planned and distributed on a semi-regular basis (depending on region, of course) and have a collectible value to them. Not to say this can't change in the future, due to the 3DS's capability to be patch games via Nintendo Network, but it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense unless future AR cards for Kingdom Hearts 3D had nothing to do with Dream Eaters. There are plenty of ideas I have for different approaches though, such as adding different backgrounds, items, or perhaps color patterns to existing Spirits. Despite how insanely cool this sounds I doubt Square Enix plans to support any game via AR cards, and not straight DLC.

So there you have it, all the accumulated knowledge for Kingdom Hearts AR cards straight from the WildCardCorsair himself. If you have any questions about these cards that I didn't seem to cover let me know and I will experiment until I find out!