Games all over the place
I haven't posted anything about games recently. . . mostly because I've been too busy playing them. So here's a bunch of stuff about my recent gaming habits.
Star Ocean: 'Til The End Of Time. I am 90 hours into this game already, and I'm only about 3/5 of the way through. This is just one of those epic time-eaters, where as soon as you make some progress, they spring a side-plot on you, or it turns out that the newest monsters start handing your ass to you in a gift-wrapped box, so you have to level up in order to progress. But everything about Star Ocean is perfect. The combat is always fun, it takes some acutal strategy, and never gets to be a boring grind. The invention system is still good, and actually a necessity at the late stages of the game. The music has been great, especially in some of the dungeons -- the sinister, pipe organ drone in the Shrine of Kaddan is mesmerizing. The mini-games aren't quite as sundry as in the previous Star Ocean, but they are a worthwhile diversion. The core of this game has to be the fantastic characters. They aren't histrionic stereotypes, the game takes the time to develop them nicely, and they make you care about their plight to save the universe. (. . .well, I care, anyway. . .) Oh, didn't I mention the graphics? I tend to favor gameplay over graphics. . . but the graphics are extremely good. I can't think of any real letdowns at all in this game. And I can't wait for the next one!
Xenosaga II. OK, I've only played the first hour of the game, but that's long enough to make some predictions about the rest of the game. It's not possible to NOT compare this game to the first Xenosaga, just like each chapter of a book stands on the previous ones. So. . . in this game, we start out by getting some backstory about Chaos and the conflict on 2nd Miltia that was mentioned in the first game. Looks like the massive cutscenes are back. . . after you start up the game, the first 20 minutes are movie. But very good movie. Quick note -- if Square Enix and Tri-Ace can manage to change the graphics of character speech to match the english dialogue, then what excuse does Namco have? Instantly, that is the most irritating thing about the game. English dialogue, even english subtitles. . . with Japanese language mouth movements. I try to overlook it, but it ruins the overall effect of the cinematics. But onward. . . Once again, the menu screen is like a course in systems analysis. . . Just finding the skills menu takes a while. There is a tutorial right in the menu, which is good. The game graphics are. . . um. . . I dunno, I guess better than the first game. One thing that really sucks so far about the game is the camera. Even in the first level of the game, I was smashing the shoulder buttons, trying to find out how to rotate the camera. Star Ocean's wonderful camera must have spoiled me. It looks like there is NO camera control at all in Xenosaga II, a bad omen for the rest of the game. The combat has been revamped. It is sorta like the first game, but with many many extras flopped on top of it. Some of the changes seem to be just to make it different than Xenosaga I. I haven't had enough combat to decide if I like it or not. So, after an hour of gameplay, I am a little disappointed with it. . . I hope it gets better.
Ace Combat 5. I can't say enough good things about this game. It is worth the $130 to get the stick and throttle control. . . the experience is much different, and I think much much better, compared to using a standard controller. Most of the staples of the Ace Combat games are still here -- great graphics, great sense of speed, great control -- but now the missions are more varied and interesting, and your wingmen aren't the useless turds they were in the previous games. Now your wingmen kick some ass! The enemy AI is better, too. . . they will work in groups to lure you into position for a missile enema. The arcade mode is surprisingly fun, as is the tutorial. The well-designed tutorial is a must for new Ace Combat players, or anyone who is using the stick and throttle for the first time. Secondary weapons are actually useful in this version. . . in Ace Combat 4, it didnt' really matter what you dropped on the ground, it went BOOM and the tank blows up, with little or no variation. Not so in this game. I can't say enough good things about this game. Just like Burnout 3 is for everyone, even people who don't like driving games -- Ace Combat 5 is for everyone. If you don't like flying games, you will make an exception for Ace Combat 5.
Technic Beat. Aw c'mon, give it a chance. . . I am a sucker for music games (Parappa, Um Jammer Lammy, Dance Freaks, Techno Motion, Mad Maestro. . .) and this one is a good blend of music and puzzle. The game involves activating special markers with your character, by running to the marker and hitting the button at the right time. The right time happens to be with the beat. . . Markers can be picked up, dropped, kicked, moved, and otherwise altered to make chains and chords. It really is a puzzle game set to music. And for being so cute, it is fiendishly hard. It's humbling to get your ass kicked by a game you thought was for pre-teen girls.
And that's just the new games. I'm still playing Hot Shots Golf Fore, Burnout 3, some Drakenguard, Midway's Arcade collection 2 (Total Carnage!) . . . whenever I have just an hour or two and don't want to get into anything too serious. Not too many games coming out right now that I'm interested in. Just Wild Arms Alter Code F soon, and I still need to get BloodRayne 2. Later on this year, an FPS game called DarkWatch is being released, and I'm not a big fan of FPS games, but this one is strangely appealing. Plus, I plan on doing much more shooting this year, which will drastically cut my gaming time. The benefit to that is, I don't think I will have to buy another game for about 9 months. . .
Last thought: go to www.maddox.xmission.com and read it. All of it. Good stuff.
Star Ocean: 'Til The End Of Time. I am 90 hours into this game already, and I'm only about 3/5 of the way through. This is just one of those epic time-eaters, where as soon as you make some progress, they spring a side-plot on you, or it turns out that the newest monsters start handing your ass to you in a gift-wrapped box, so you have to level up in order to progress. But everything about Star Ocean is perfect. The combat is always fun, it takes some acutal strategy, and never gets to be a boring grind. The invention system is still good, and actually a necessity at the late stages of the game. The music has been great, especially in some of the dungeons -- the sinister, pipe organ drone in the Shrine of Kaddan is mesmerizing. The mini-games aren't quite as sundry as in the previous Star Ocean, but they are a worthwhile diversion. The core of this game has to be the fantastic characters. They aren't histrionic stereotypes, the game takes the time to develop them nicely, and they make you care about their plight to save the universe. (. . .well, I care, anyway. . .) Oh, didn't I mention the graphics? I tend to favor gameplay over graphics. . . but the graphics are extremely good. I can't think of any real letdowns at all in this game. And I can't wait for the next one!
Xenosaga II. OK, I've only played the first hour of the game, but that's long enough to make some predictions about the rest of the game. It's not possible to NOT compare this game to the first Xenosaga, just like each chapter of a book stands on the previous ones. So. . . in this game, we start out by getting some backstory about Chaos and the conflict on 2nd Miltia that was mentioned in the first game. Looks like the massive cutscenes are back. . . after you start up the game, the first 20 minutes are movie. But very good movie. Quick note -- if Square Enix and Tri-Ace can manage to change the graphics of character speech to match the english dialogue, then what excuse does Namco have? Instantly, that is the most irritating thing about the game. English dialogue, even english subtitles. . . with Japanese language mouth movements. I try to overlook it, but it ruins the overall effect of the cinematics. But onward. . . Once again, the menu screen is like a course in systems analysis. . . Just finding the skills menu takes a while. There is a tutorial right in the menu, which is good. The game graphics are. . . um. . . I dunno, I guess better than the first game. One thing that really sucks so far about the game is the camera. Even in the first level of the game, I was smashing the shoulder buttons, trying to find out how to rotate the camera. Star Ocean's wonderful camera must have spoiled me. It looks like there is NO camera control at all in Xenosaga II, a bad omen for the rest of the game. The combat has been revamped. It is sorta like the first game, but with many many extras flopped on top of it. Some of the changes seem to be just to make it different than Xenosaga I. I haven't had enough combat to decide if I like it or not. So, after an hour of gameplay, I am a little disappointed with it. . . I hope it gets better.
Ace Combat 5. I can't say enough good things about this game. It is worth the $130 to get the stick and throttle control. . . the experience is much different, and I think much much better, compared to using a standard controller. Most of the staples of the Ace Combat games are still here -- great graphics, great sense of speed, great control -- but now the missions are more varied and interesting, and your wingmen aren't the useless turds they were in the previous games. Now your wingmen kick some ass! The enemy AI is better, too. . . they will work in groups to lure you into position for a missile enema. The arcade mode is surprisingly fun, as is the tutorial. The well-designed tutorial is a must for new Ace Combat players, or anyone who is using the stick and throttle for the first time. Secondary weapons are actually useful in this version. . . in Ace Combat 4, it didnt' really matter what you dropped on the ground, it went BOOM and the tank blows up, with little or no variation. Not so in this game. I can't say enough good things about this game. Just like Burnout 3 is for everyone, even people who don't like driving games -- Ace Combat 5 is for everyone. If you don't like flying games, you will make an exception for Ace Combat 5.
Technic Beat. Aw c'mon, give it a chance. . . I am a sucker for music games (Parappa, Um Jammer Lammy, Dance Freaks, Techno Motion, Mad Maestro. . .) and this one is a good blend of music and puzzle. The game involves activating special markers with your character, by running to the marker and hitting the button at the right time. The right time happens to be with the beat. . . Markers can be picked up, dropped, kicked, moved, and otherwise altered to make chains and chords. It really is a puzzle game set to music. And for being so cute, it is fiendishly hard. It's humbling to get your ass kicked by a game you thought was for pre-teen girls.
And that's just the new games. I'm still playing Hot Shots Golf Fore, Burnout 3, some Drakenguard, Midway's Arcade collection 2 (Total Carnage!) . . . whenever I have just an hour or two and don't want to get into anything too serious. Not too many games coming out right now that I'm interested in. Just Wild Arms Alter Code F soon, and I still need to get BloodRayne 2. Later on this year, an FPS game called DarkWatch is being released, and I'm not a big fan of FPS games, but this one is strangely appealing. Plus, I plan on doing much more shooting this year, which will drastically cut my gaming time. The benefit to that is, I don't think I will have to buy another game for about 9 months. . .
Last thought: go to www.maddox.xmission.com and read it. All of it. Good stuff.
posted by Luminazuma @ 11:08 AM
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