So I beat "Final Fantasy XIII" a few nights ago. Some of the cutscenes in the last few chapters are positively jaw dropping. There are even some "OMG Sephiroth kille Aeris!!!!" moments during some of the moments sprinkled throughout the game. For those not familiar with that reference, it goes back to "Final Fantasy 7", a game a lot of people argue as the greatest "Fianl Fantasy" game ever created, and Sephiroth killing Aeris was quite a shock at the time, so much so that it brought more then a few people to tears due to the emotional bond they built with the characters. One of the things that I really like about "Final Fantasy XIII" (and no, there aren't any spoilers in what I am about to say) is that even after beating the last boss of the game, it lets you save your game, and you can go back to the point just before fighting the boss, and it allows you to go back and farm up items, or improve on your characters and finish any missions you may have missed or missions that were too hard the first time around. I wish more games did this sort of thing. Too many times, you come to the end of a game, not maximizing your gaming experience, the game ends, you are left asking yourself "now what?". With "Final Fantasy XIII" though, it lets you go back and do a lot of stuff you might have missed, either intentionally or by accident.
So I am still playing "Final Fantasy XIII", but there is some other, rather big, "Final Fantasy" news that has happened recently. If you have read this blog in the past, you know that the reason I started it, was I had just quit playing "Final Fantasy XI" and wanted to share my post-MMO gaming experience with you. Well, let's just say I recently decided to click the heels of my ruby slippers together times, and am planning on going home again. Yeah, I decided to return to "Final Fantasy XI" at some point in the month of April. There were a few things that helped me decide this. First thing, I never stopped listening to the "Final Fantasy XI" related podcasts I enjoy listening to, so every week I would get to hear about "Final Fantasy XI" through listening to "Pet Food Alpha", and "Limit Break Radio" among others. They kinda helped to tide me over I guess you could say. Second thing, with all the new content Square Enix has announced recently for the upcoming year, this got me really excited. While I am still skeptical about the level 99 cap, a lot of the stuff they are planning on introducing to the game sounds quite intriguing.
And the last reason I decided to come back is, simply, I miss it. I miss playing the game, but more importantly, I miss the people I play the game with. The linkshell I am a part of is full of great people......people who I have enjoyed gaming with for many years now. So after a seven month break, I will be making my return to the lands of Vana'diel. I just hope my moogle is still alive.......
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
13 is a good number after all
So as you may imagine, I have been playing a little bit of "Final Fantasy XIII" lately. In all honesty I have been playing a lot of "FFXIII" lately but that is neither here nor there. I think if I remember correctly, I am up to about 27 hours of gameplay and am on Chapter 8 of the game. And I have some thoughts about this game as you may imagine.
First thought is this. This is far and away the most visually stunning game I have ever played. I say that knowing I am not a gamer on the PC, and there are probably some titles on PC that look as good or better then "FFXIII", so I should probably say that it is the most visually stunning console game I have ever played. Some of the areas I have gotten to visit in this game have been truly jaw dropping. There have literally been moments in this game where I have stopped running with whatever character I am controlling at the time, and have looked up, down, and all around at my surroundings just to take in how beautiful this game looks. It isn't just the scenery though that looks amazing. The character models, both your characters and the enemies you fight, look phenomenal. Everything from the hair, to the clothing is gorgeous. In so many games, if you are using a character with longer hair, a longer coat or a cape of some sorts, you always seem to run into some sort of clipping issue where it will seem that it disappears when it comes into contact with objects. Not in this game. It all flows so smoothly its unbelievable. This game is definitely a treat to just sit back and stare at.
The gameplay so far is unlike anything I have played in a "Final Fantasy" in the past. I'm not saying it's necessarily bad, but the combat happens at a much faster pace then most "Final Fantasy" single player games I can remember. The battles happen in real time, which in the "Final Fantasy" games I have played, is a new approach. In past games, battles have always been turn based, so the real time is a nice change of pace. And there is really a strategy involved, especially in some of the boss fights. All fights take place with 1 to 3 characters and you have the ability to set up what are called a "Paradigm". Basically all a "Paradigm" is, is what set of jobs you want your characters to use, and you have 6 to choose from ranging from "Medic" to "Saboteur" to "Commando". The really interesting thing is at any time, and as many times as you need, during any battle you can do what is called a "Paradigm Shift", essentially switching your characters to jobs better suited to your current status. Say for instance you are at the start of a fight and want to take things slow, you can switch your "Paradigm" to a tank, a healer and a support job., but later on you want to finish the fight and switch to all attackers. It is all possible, and it really makes the battles quite fun. It really keeps you on your toes, and makes you have a few different "Paradigm" set up, never knowing what kind of battle is coming up next.
Being a "Final Fantasy" game, everyone knows there is going to be a story and the story so far is actually pretty good to this point. Each character has their own personal demons that they have to deal with, all while trying to combat a bigger threat. I don't want to say too much on the story to keep from giving away any spoilers, but it is a very deep story. One thing they did well in this game is give you an option in the menu to go back and read a synopsis of everything that has happened up to the point of the game you are at, and you can review it at any time, chapter by chapter. You can also read the backstory you have unlocked on each character at any point if you need a refresher. And since it is a "Final Fantasy" game, there are things in every single "Final Fantasy" game made that fans come to expect. With that said, those things are in this game as well. Cid is here (and that's all I will say to avoid spoilers), the airships are here, and perhaps most importantly, the chocobos are here.
Then there is the music. The music is on par with the graphics. I guess I shouldn't just limit to the music as the sound effects during the battles are amazing as well. But the actual soundtrack is unreal. They definitely add to the ambiance and the surroundings with the music in every area of the game.
And it is the music that, for the first time in a really long time, made me kind of miss "Final Fantasy XI". When I got to an area of the "Final Fantasy XIII" last night, and I heard a remixed version of the famous chocobo riding music, I actually had some regret about giving all my gear away. And I was told by more then one person to not give my gear away, since there was always the chance I might come back, which at the time I was certain I'd never be back. Turns out I may have been a bit presumptuous....
First thought is this. This is far and away the most visually stunning game I have ever played. I say that knowing I am not a gamer on the PC, and there are probably some titles on PC that look as good or better then "FFXIII", so I should probably say that it is the most visually stunning console game I have ever played. Some of the areas I have gotten to visit in this game have been truly jaw dropping. There have literally been moments in this game where I have stopped running with whatever character I am controlling at the time, and have looked up, down, and all around at my surroundings just to take in how beautiful this game looks. It isn't just the scenery though that looks amazing. The character models, both your characters and the enemies you fight, look phenomenal. Everything from the hair, to the clothing is gorgeous. In so many games, if you are using a character with longer hair, a longer coat or a cape of some sorts, you always seem to run into some sort of clipping issue where it will seem that it disappears when it comes into contact with objects. Not in this game. It all flows so smoothly its unbelievable. This game is definitely a treat to just sit back and stare at.
The gameplay so far is unlike anything I have played in a "Final Fantasy" in the past. I'm not saying it's necessarily bad, but the combat happens at a much faster pace then most "Final Fantasy" single player games I can remember. The battles happen in real time, which in the "Final Fantasy" games I have played, is a new approach. In past games, battles have always been turn based, so the real time is a nice change of pace. And there is really a strategy involved, especially in some of the boss fights. All fights take place with 1 to 3 characters and you have the ability to set up what are called a "Paradigm". Basically all a "Paradigm" is, is what set of jobs you want your characters to use, and you have 6 to choose from ranging from "Medic" to "Saboteur" to "Commando". The really interesting thing is at any time, and as many times as you need, during any battle you can do what is called a "Paradigm Shift", essentially switching your characters to jobs better suited to your current status. Say for instance you are at the start of a fight and want to take things slow, you can switch your "Paradigm" to a tank, a healer and a support job., but later on you want to finish the fight and switch to all attackers. It is all possible, and it really makes the battles quite fun. It really keeps you on your toes, and makes you have a few different "Paradigm" set up, never knowing what kind of battle is coming up next.
Being a "Final Fantasy" game, everyone knows there is going to be a story and the story so far is actually pretty good to this point. Each character has their own personal demons that they have to deal with, all while trying to combat a bigger threat. I don't want to say too much on the story to keep from giving away any spoilers, but it is a very deep story. One thing they did well in this game is give you an option in the menu to go back and read a synopsis of everything that has happened up to the point of the game you are at, and you can review it at any time, chapter by chapter. You can also read the backstory you have unlocked on each character at any point if you need a refresher. And since it is a "Final Fantasy" game, there are things in every single "Final Fantasy" game made that fans come to expect. With that said, those things are in this game as well. Cid is here (and that's all I will say to avoid spoilers), the airships are here, and perhaps most importantly, the chocobos are here.
Then there is the music. The music is on par with the graphics. I guess I shouldn't just limit to the music as the sound effects during the battles are amazing as well. But the actual soundtrack is unreal. They definitely add to the ambiance and the surroundings with the music in every area of the game.
And it is the music that, for the first time in a really long time, made me kind of miss "Final Fantasy XI". When I got to an area of the "Final Fantasy XIII" last night, and I heard a remixed version of the famous chocobo riding music, I actually had some regret about giving all my gear away. And I was told by more then one person to not give my gear away, since there was always the chance I might come back, which at the time I was certain I'd never be back. Turns out I may have been a bit presumptuous....
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Is it too much?
I mentioned in my last post I was going to talk about the recent news concerning "Final Fantasy XI". I figure now would be the perfect time while I install all 3 discs worth of "Final Fantasy XIII" on my Xbox 360. Recently at VanaFest, which is "Final Fantasy XI" convention held in Tokyo, they announced some huge and truly game-breaking changes to "FFXI". For years, the level cap for a character on an particular job was 75. Now this wasn't always the case. It used to be 50, then got moved to 60, and eventually got moved up to 75, where it stayed.....until VanaFest a few weeks ago. They dropped an absolute bombshell stating that over the course of the next set of game updates, they were raising the level cap for jobs up to an astounding 99. The nostalgic gamer in me loves this boost in the level cap, especially since every single "Final Fantasy" game had characters you could level up to 99, with "FFXI" being the lone exception.
However, nostalgia only gets you so far, and nostalgia won't be as gamebreaking as a BLM99/RDM49. That isn't the only job that would be ridiculous though, just the first one that comes to mind. To their credit, Square Enix has said that jobs and abilities will be adjusted so that jobs won't be overpowered, but it remains to be seen what this will do to the overall balance of the game. Are they going to make certain spells and abilities main job specific? Are they going to raise the level of certain spells and abilities so they still can't be used when you are using these jobs as subjobs? Not only that, but will they adjust the current gear, or introduce a whole lot of new gear reflective of the higher level cap. While everything up to this point is anything but speculation, it will be interesting to see how the landscape of Vana'Diel changes going forward, which brings me to the title of this post. Is this increase in the level cap going to bring more interest to the game, a game that has been out for over 7 years, or is going to overwhelm players and drive them out of "FFXI", especially with "FFXIV" on the horizon.
It definitely remains to be seen how this really shocking announcement shakes up the "FFXI" landscape, and I do give kudos to Square-Enix for trying to infuse this game with some much needed new life. One thing I am curious is how long Square-Enix has been thinking about doing this. My guess is they have been considering this for a few years now, but I really don't know if they have thought about all the possibilities of what this change will mean to the players. Granted, I doubt they have thought of everything, and how could they, but knowing "FFXI" like I do, something will come up that Square-Enix was prepared for that could possibly have a huge effect on the game. Having played this game for almost 5 years, I will always have a special place in my gaming life for "FFXI", and I really hope this isn't a case of Square-Enix changing the game too much and in the end, killing it in the process.
Well, my "FFXIII" installation is finished so I am going to go have some long awaited "Final Fantasy" goodness. The nice thing about that is I'm pretty sure the level cap will already be set at 99.
However, nostalgia only gets you so far, and nostalgia won't be as gamebreaking as a BLM99/RDM49. That isn't the only job that would be ridiculous though, just the first one that comes to mind. To their credit, Square Enix has said that jobs and abilities will be adjusted so that jobs won't be overpowered, but it remains to be seen what this will do to the overall balance of the game. Are they going to make certain spells and abilities main job specific? Are they going to raise the level of certain spells and abilities so they still can't be used when you are using these jobs as subjobs? Not only that, but will they adjust the current gear, or introduce a whole lot of new gear reflective of the higher level cap. While everything up to this point is anything but speculation, it will be interesting to see how the landscape of Vana'Diel changes going forward, which brings me to the title of this post. Is this increase in the level cap going to bring more interest to the game, a game that has been out for over 7 years, or is going to overwhelm players and drive them out of "FFXI", especially with "FFXIV" on the horizon.
It definitely remains to be seen how this really shocking announcement shakes up the "FFXI" landscape, and I do give kudos to Square-Enix for trying to infuse this game with some much needed new life. One thing I am curious is how long Square-Enix has been thinking about doing this. My guess is they have been considering this for a few years now, but I really don't know if they have thought about all the possibilities of what this change will mean to the players. Granted, I doubt they have thought of everything, and how could they, but knowing "FFXI" like I do, something will come up that Square-Enix was prepared for that could possibly have a huge effect on the game. Having played this game for almost 5 years, I will always have a special place in my gaming life for "FFXI", and I really hope this isn't a case of Square-Enix changing the game too much and in the end, killing it in the process.
Well, my "FFXIII" installation is finished so I am going to go have some long awaited "Final Fantasy" goodness. The nice thing about that is I'm pretty sure the level cap will already be set at 99.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Guess who's back. Back again....
After taking a break from my blog, and with March being such a huge month for me gaming wise, I decided to hop back on and jump start the blog. Not only that but Square Enix recently announced a huge bit of news concerning my old stomping grounds of Vana'diel which is unbelievable.
So where hve I been and what have I been doing? Well gaming of course. I'll try to give a quick rundown as to what I've been playing lately. After giving "Fight Night Round 4" a go, which by the way is an excellent game, one of the best games came out at the end of January. Commander Sheperd and company made a triumphant and ass-kicking return in "Mass Effect 2". This game was a noticeable improvement over the first game, which was hard to accomplish seeing as how the first game was so good itself. I won't go into a lot of details, but the end cutscene was jaw-dropping and made me and thousands of other gamers want "Mass Effect 3" NOW!!! On the bright side, "ME3" is being released next January so we won't have long to wait.
After I beat "ME3", I went on a Xbox Live Arcade binge, playing a lot of "Puzzle Quest" and "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix". Both are quite fun and definitely addictive. Then I actually ordered a game, which I don't often do. I ordered the original "Fable: The Lost Chapters" and also bought "Fable II: G.O.T.Y. Edition" with the extra DLC included. I had heard quite a bit about these games from people I know, but never took the jump into Albion. I wish I woulda listened earlier on. Both games are so much fun. The one thing that is surprising me about both games is the humor in each. Since they use all British accents, some of the lines sound like they could be pulled from an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I've played and beat "Fable" already and am now in the middle of "Fable II". Somewhere in there I also played the Arcade game "Fable II Pub Games" which had an interesting hook. Any gold you won or lost would affect your actual ingame "Fable II" character, and winning game tournaments in "Pub Games" unlock "Fable II" ingame items. So anyway I unlocked everything there, and fast forward to today, amd back to playing "Fable II".
Now I started off this post talking about this month for gaming. Two of the games I have been waiting a long time for come out later this month within a week of each other. March 9 signals the release of the first single player "Final Fantasy" game on the 360, that being the highly anticipated release of "Final Fantasy XIII". I have been really excited about this game since I saw it first announced at last years E3 and now we are a week away. Then, a week later comes the first full expansion pack for "Dragon Age: Origins", that being "DA: O - Awakenings". From what information I have read, this expansion is gonna be packed so I am looking forward to that as well. There is one problem though. There aren't enough hours in the day to play these games. So for the month of march, I will be giving up sleep.
I also mentioned some "FFXI" news, but since this post is getting a little long, and since I want to hop onto "Fable II", I will be saving that for a later post.
So where hve I been and what have I been doing? Well gaming of course. I'll try to give a quick rundown as to what I've been playing lately. After giving "Fight Night Round 4" a go, which by the way is an excellent game, one of the best games came out at the end of January. Commander Sheperd and company made a triumphant and ass-kicking return in "Mass Effect 2". This game was a noticeable improvement over the first game, which was hard to accomplish seeing as how the first game was so good itself. I won't go into a lot of details, but the end cutscene was jaw-dropping and made me and thousands of other gamers want "Mass Effect 3" NOW!!! On the bright side, "ME3" is being released next January so we won't have long to wait.
After I beat "ME3", I went on a Xbox Live Arcade binge, playing a lot of "Puzzle Quest" and "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix". Both are quite fun and definitely addictive. Then I actually ordered a game, which I don't often do. I ordered the original "Fable: The Lost Chapters" and also bought "Fable II: G.O.T.Y. Edition" with the extra DLC included. I had heard quite a bit about these games from people I know, but never took the jump into Albion. I wish I woulda listened earlier on. Both games are so much fun. The one thing that is surprising me about both games is the humor in each. Since they use all British accents, some of the lines sound like they could be pulled from an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I've played and beat "Fable" already and am now in the middle of "Fable II". Somewhere in there I also played the Arcade game "Fable II Pub Games" which had an interesting hook. Any gold you won or lost would affect your actual ingame "Fable II" character, and winning game tournaments in "Pub Games" unlock "Fable II" ingame items. So anyway I unlocked everything there, and fast forward to today, amd back to playing "Fable II".
Now I started off this post talking about this month for gaming. Two of the games I have been waiting a long time for come out later this month within a week of each other. March 9 signals the release of the first single player "Final Fantasy" game on the 360, that being the highly anticipated release of "Final Fantasy XIII". I have been really excited about this game since I saw it first announced at last years E3 and now we are a week away. Then, a week later comes the first full expansion pack for "Dragon Age: Origins", that being "DA: O - Awakenings". From what information I have read, this expansion is gonna be packed so I am looking forward to that as well. There is one problem though. There aren't enough hours in the day to play these games. So for the month of march, I will be giving up sleep.
I also mentioned some "FFXI" news, but since this post is getting a little long, and since I want to hop onto "Fable II", I will be saving that for a later post.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Times, they are a changing
After not updating this blog in forever and a day it seems, I decided to stop the blog. However, I am not quitting updating people on the goings on as far as video games and movies go. I am moving The MMOrning After from a blog format to Twitter. The main reason was an Xbox Live update a little while back that gave Twitter access to Lives users through the Dashboard. That will make things easier for me to post on the internet, and hopefully get updates out to you guys on a more regular basis. So while the blog may be stopping, I am hoping you guys move to Twitter and pick up things with me there!!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Technology is wonderful....when it works.
I apologize for lack of updates this month. With a houseful of people and the laptop still on the fritz, it can be hard to squeeze in time on our desktop PC, which results in the lack of any updates.
We went and saw "2012" about a week ago. I enjoyed it. For those that don't know, it is a story about the end of the world coming in conjunction with the end of the Mayan calender, which is December 21, 2012. While the story itself was alright, it paled in comparison to the special effects. The effects in this movie were phenomenal. Watching Los Angeles or Las Vegas or any of the other well known locations be destroyed by Mother Nature was pretty intense. It is a longer movie, but it doesn't feel like it with everything that is going on onscreen. So if you are looking for a fun movie to go to, I would recommend "2012".
I've been playing a ton of "Dragon Age: Origins" as you may imagine, and in fact, a few days ago, I ended up beating the game. What a game. A lot of the things that happen in the game reminded me a lot of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which I am a huge fan of. From the army of evil marching across the countryside destroying everything in its path, to the band of adventurers comprised of men, elves, and dwarves, this game is epic in scale. One thing I would have liked to see is there not be so much linear parts to the game and have it be more of an open world type of game like "Oblivion", but this is BioWare, and this game does indeed borrow a lot from "Mass Effect". It will be interesting to see how much along the same lines "Mass Effect 2" is. And that is a very good thing. Even with the linear nature of a lot of this game, I put in almost 90 hours of gameplay. Not only that but the way you can build relationships with your party members, and with the multitude of job and specialization combos makes for a ton of replayability. Which is why I started another game, this time as a female elvish Rouge. On my first playthrough I was a human Warrior, but this time around I'm looking forward to the different play styles between the two jobs,
Then last night I was on Xbox Live and saw their deal of the week which was 50% off of "Peggle". I've read a lot about this game and it's expansion "Peggle Nights" and they sounded really interesting, so I downloaded and played the demo, and I was hooked. It's an arcade style game kind of like a marriage between pinball and "Arkanoid". Basically you shoot balls at a table full of pegs, and every time your ball hits a peg, it disappears. There are different color pegs on the board, and the object of each board is to eliminate the orange pegs. This is a lot more challenging then it sounds, and a lot more fun. And a lot more addicting.
We went and saw "2012" about a week ago. I enjoyed it. For those that don't know, it is a story about the end of the world coming in conjunction with the end of the Mayan calender, which is December 21, 2012. While the story itself was alright, it paled in comparison to the special effects. The effects in this movie were phenomenal. Watching Los Angeles or Las Vegas or any of the other well known locations be destroyed by Mother Nature was pretty intense. It is a longer movie, but it doesn't feel like it with everything that is going on onscreen. So if you are looking for a fun movie to go to, I would recommend "2012".
I've been playing a ton of "Dragon Age: Origins" as you may imagine, and in fact, a few days ago, I ended up beating the game. What a game. A lot of the things that happen in the game reminded me a lot of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which I am a huge fan of. From the army of evil marching across the countryside destroying everything in its path, to the band of adventurers comprised of men, elves, and dwarves, this game is epic in scale. One thing I would have liked to see is there not be so much linear parts to the game and have it be more of an open world type of game like "Oblivion", but this is BioWare, and this game does indeed borrow a lot from "Mass Effect". It will be interesting to see how much along the same lines "Mass Effect 2" is. And that is a very good thing. Even with the linear nature of a lot of this game, I put in almost 90 hours of gameplay. Not only that but the way you can build relationships with your party members, and with the multitude of job and specialization combos makes for a ton of replayability. Which is why I started another game, this time as a female elvish Rouge. On my first playthrough I was a human Warrior, but this time around I'm looking forward to the different play styles between the two jobs,
Then last night I was on Xbox Live and saw their deal of the week which was 50% off of "Peggle". I've read a lot about this game and it's expansion "Peggle Nights" and they sounded really interesting, so I downloaded and played the demo, and I was hooked. It's an arcade style game kind of like a marriage between pinball and "Arkanoid". Basically you shoot balls at a table full of pegs, and every time your ball hits a peg, it disappears. There are different color pegs on the board, and the object of each board is to eliminate the orange pegs. This is a lot more challenging then it sounds, and a lot more fun. And a lot more addicting.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thirteen is lucky after all
So I was poking around on the Xbox Live Dashboard and saw something pertaining to a special announcement about "Final Fantasy XIII", the next installment in the phenomenal series of RPG games. So I downloaded the video, and they showed some really, really good looking gameplay footage, announced that Leona Lewis has a new song coming out called "My Hands" which was chosen as the "FFXIII" theme song, and last but most importantly not least, they announced the North American release date. So if you are a big fan of the "Final Fantasy" series, mark your calenders for March 9, 2010.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Where does the time go
So I was thinking about my blog, and it came to me that I hadn't updated it in almost 2 weeks. Shame on me. It's been kind of an interesting 2 weeks though. It started with some more "Magic: the Gathering", doing some co-op with my son. That was kinda fun. I am still impressed at the job they did on that game recreating a good "M: tG" play experience. Then a few days later I was looking on Xbox Live and I noticed something about "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2". And much to my joy, it was the first character DLC pack. Not only did Xbox owners who did not pre-order the game finally get to play as Juggernaut, but we also got Cable, Psylocke, Carnage, and Magneto. They also gave us some new Simulator missions which were pretty cool, so once I downloaded that stuff, I played that for a day or 2, trying out the new characters and playing the sim missions. The new characters seem to be pretty good, from the limited playtime I gave to them. Probably my favorites of the group are Juggernaut and Magneto. Carnage isn't too bad as well, and I really didn't spend a lot of time playing with Cable or Psylocke, just enough to unlock their alternate costumes.
With my wife out of town last week, I decided to go against a rule she set for me a few years ago. Since I am a huge gamer, and my family knows it, she decided that come November 1, I am not allowed to purchase any new games until after Christmas, since I don;t know who will be getting me what games, if any, for Christmas gifts. Well, I had a thought, that with so many good games coming out, buying 1 won't make a difference. So I bought "Dragon Age: Origins". I fully blame this game for my lack of an update. This game comes from the same guys that gave us "Mass Effect", the upcoming "Mass Effect 2" and "Baldur's Gate" 1 and 2. After recently playing through "Mass Effect" you can really tell where some of the gameplay in "Dragons Age: Origins" came from. I am really enjoying this game to this point, even though I am only about 25 hours into a 60-80 hour game. The game is the story of the Gray Wardens, a group of elite warriors, rogues, and mages, who have one job. Every few hundred years, an army of evil beings known as Darkspawn bring hell to the world of Ferelden in an event known as the Blight. It is the Wardens job to eradicate the Blight. Once you create your character, you start the game as one of the newest Gray Wardens, and you are off and running. Like I said, this game is a whole lot of fun. Combat is definitely interesting, with probably the most interesting thing you can do for each member of your party is set up what is called Tactics. These are different commands you can have each party member do certain actions if certain conditions are met. These can range from doing certain abilities or using certain spells, to even taking health or mana potions. You start off with only a few Tactic lines, but can increase those as you level. This is a great RPG, and serves as a really un bridge until January when "Mass Effect 2" comes out.
Sandwiched in between this all, I had to replace my old router, when a firmware upgrade crashed my network, making our laptop virtually useless to go online. I highly doubt I will buy a Linksys produt ever again, and I will leave it at that.
Last but not least, I want to give a shout out to my good friend Oprahruru. He recently decided to take a leave of absence, possibly a permanent one, from the world of Vana'diel and FFXI. Oprahruru, take care of yourself, keep in touch on Facebook, here on my blog, on your quality blog, Master of Manipulation, and on the Duskwalker website.
With my wife out of town last week, I decided to go against a rule she set for me a few years ago. Since I am a huge gamer, and my family knows it, she decided that come November 1, I am not allowed to purchase any new games until after Christmas, since I don;t know who will be getting me what games, if any, for Christmas gifts. Well, I had a thought, that with so many good games coming out, buying 1 won't make a difference. So I bought "Dragon Age: Origins". I fully blame this game for my lack of an update. This game comes from the same guys that gave us "Mass Effect", the upcoming "Mass Effect 2" and "Baldur's Gate" 1 and 2. After recently playing through "Mass Effect" you can really tell where some of the gameplay in "Dragons Age: Origins" came from. I am really enjoying this game to this point, even though I am only about 25 hours into a 60-80 hour game. The game is the story of the Gray Wardens, a group of elite warriors, rogues, and mages, who have one job. Every few hundred years, an army of evil beings known as Darkspawn bring hell to the world of Ferelden in an event known as the Blight. It is the Wardens job to eradicate the Blight. Once you create your character, you start the game as one of the newest Gray Wardens, and you are off and running. Like I said, this game is a whole lot of fun. Combat is definitely interesting, with probably the most interesting thing you can do for each member of your party is set up what is called Tactics. These are different commands you can have each party member do certain actions if certain conditions are met. These can range from doing certain abilities or using certain spells, to even taking health or mana potions. You start off with only a few Tactic lines, but can increase those as you level. This is a great RPG, and serves as a really un bridge until January when "Mass Effect 2" comes out.
Sandwiched in between this all, I had to replace my old router, when a firmware upgrade crashed my network, making our laptop virtually useless to go online. I highly doubt I will buy a Linksys produt ever again, and I will leave it at that.
Last but not least, I want to give a shout out to my good friend Oprahruru. He recently decided to take a leave of absence, possibly a permanent one, from the world of Vana'diel and FFXI. Oprahruru, take care of yourself, keep in touch on Facebook, here on my blog, on your quality blog, Master of Manipulation, and on the Duskwalker website.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Haunted house of cards
So last week after playing some "Halo Wars", I decided to finally start playing "Grand Theft Auto 4". I had bought the game a few weeks ago, a few days before jumping feet first into the"Halo" universe. I really enjoyed "Grand Theft Auto 3" on the PS2, and had heard and read a lot about "GTA 4", and everything pointed to this being another great addition to the "GTA" universe. After playing it for a few days, and enjoying it, I decided to download demos of two games that some friends of mine turned me on to.
The first game I tried was called "Carcassone". It's a strategy game based on an old board game. My friend Leo told me about this game, and the demo was fun. It took me a couple tries to get the hang of the game, and unfortunately the demo was kind of limited. At some point I think I'm gonna have to buy it. The other game I tried out, eventually downloaded, and bought the full version of, and have been playing virtually all this week is "Magic: the Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers". Before I talk about the game, I feel I should give a little background info. I used to play the card game a lot. There used to be a HobbyTown USA store in my area, and me and a bunch of friends of mine used to go and play every week for a few hours, and many times would even go to each others houses to play. In fact, my friend Brian is the one who told me about this game, and he was pretty much the one who taught me how to be a better M:tG player.
So fast forward to me and my 360. This game is a lot of fun, and they did a really good job recreating the card playing experience. They even gave you access to a few really good decks, along with unlocking more cards for each deck as you win matches against the AI player. One thing about the AI players is that the ones later on in the single player game can pose a pretty decent challenge. I was actually pretty impressed by this. But there is one huge drawback to this game. In the actual card game, decks are usually constructed using a total of 60 cards. In the 360 game, you are very limited to how you can construct a deck. A lot of the matches I am playing with a deck totaling 70 cards or more. Not only that, the only cards you can add or remove from a given deck, are the ones you unlock, even if some of the cards in the decks they give you kind of suck. And the bad part about this, is that a lot of the cards you unlock are actually quite good, so you really don't want to play without them. But other then that rather major drawback, I really enjoy this game so far, and not even close yet to unlocking all the cards for every available deck.
Earlier today, my wife and I went to see "Paranormal Activity". I was very surprised that this movie came to my area, seeing as how I live in a smaller area. When I first heard about this movie, and the strategy they were using to release it, I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I would have to wait for it to come on DVD. But word of mouth for this movie was so strong that it pushed itself into a nationwide release. This was a really good movie, filmed in much the same style as "Blair Witch Project", "Cloverfield" and "Quarrentine". Very fitting that they release such a good ghost story the night before Halloween. I highly recommend that if you want to have a few moments that make you jump, go see this movie.
The first game I tried was called "Carcassone". It's a strategy game based on an old board game. My friend Leo told me about this game, and the demo was fun. It took me a couple tries to get the hang of the game, and unfortunately the demo was kind of limited. At some point I think I'm gonna have to buy it. The other game I tried out, eventually downloaded, and bought the full version of, and have been playing virtually all this week is "Magic: the Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers". Before I talk about the game, I feel I should give a little background info. I used to play the card game a lot. There used to be a HobbyTown USA store in my area, and me and a bunch of friends of mine used to go and play every week for a few hours, and many times would even go to each others houses to play. In fact, my friend Brian is the one who told me about this game, and he was pretty much the one who taught me how to be a better M:tG player.
So fast forward to me and my 360. This game is a lot of fun, and they did a really good job recreating the card playing experience. They even gave you access to a few really good decks, along with unlocking more cards for each deck as you win matches against the AI player. One thing about the AI players is that the ones later on in the single player game can pose a pretty decent challenge. I was actually pretty impressed by this. But there is one huge drawback to this game. In the actual card game, decks are usually constructed using a total of 60 cards. In the 360 game, you are very limited to how you can construct a deck. A lot of the matches I am playing with a deck totaling 70 cards or more. Not only that, the only cards you can add or remove from a given deck, are the ones you unlock, even if some of the cards in the decks they give you kind of suck. And the bad part about this, is that a lot of the cards you unlock are actually quite good, so you really don't want to play without them. But other then that rather major drawback, I really enjoy this game so far, and not even close yet to unlocking all the cards for every available deck.
Earlier today, my wife and I went to see "Paranormal Activity". I was very surprised that this movie came to my area, seeing as how I live in a smaller area. When I first heard about this movie, and the strategy they were using to release it, I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I would have to wait for it to come on DVD. But word of mouth for this movie was so strong that it pushed itself into a nationwide release. This was a really good movie, filmed in much the same style as "Blair Witch Project", "Cloverfield" and "Quarrentine". Very fitting that they release such a good ghost story the night before Halloween. I highly recommend that if you want to have a few moments that make you jump, go see this movie.
Friday, October 23, 2009
So all precincts are in......
Work was kind to me today and I was able to go see "Saw VI" like I had hoped to this morning. Let me start this by saying there will not be any spoilers about the movie, so this will most likely be a short update. The movie was really good. This one was similar to the last 2 movies in that a portion of the film was told through flashbacks, to tie the movies and the total storyline together and "Saw VI" accomplished this well. They tied up just about every lose end that the previous films had left us, which leads me to my only gripe. While every plot line was finished, they did unfortunately leave a small opening at the end of this one for a "Saw" movie next year. I really hope that the series is done. If they do in fact release a new "Saw" next year, they are gonna be doing the series a disservice. Hopefully the people at Lionsgate know when to call it a day with the series. I'd hate to see this go the same way as the "Friday the 13th" movies and just become a joke. The "Saw" series deserves better.
A tradition unlike any other......or not.
Well today marks year number 6 of a tradition that I have come to look forward to every year. What is this tradition you may ask? Today is the opening of "Saw VI". Ever since the first one came out, I have made a point of going to see the new one the day of release every year. Don't ask me why. I don't really have an answer as to why. I will be honest. While I do enjoy the "Saw" movies, they really need to end the series with either this movie or with the possible release of "Saw VII". I haven't done any looking into another "Saw" movie release for next year so they might already be planning another movie for next year. But the series does need to end soon. One thing that keeps me curious about the new "Saw" movies is how they keep the "Jigsaw" storyline going with him long dead. I also enjoy the flashbacks into his life they have had in the recent movies, going more into his life before "Jigsaw" and the events that pushed him to his breaking point.
So, after work today, I will be in the theater, pop and Crispy Critters in hand looking forward to see what "Jigsaw" and company come up with next. Hopefully the movie can meet my expectations. Those expectations being just not to suck too bad.
So, after work today, I will be in the theater, pop and Crispy Critters in hand looking forward to see what "Jigsaw" and company come up with next. Hopefully the movie can meet my expectations. Those expectations being just not to suck too bad.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Beyonce would be proud
So I went shopping last week with the family, and I finally became the last person on the entire planet I believe, to take the "Halo" plunge. Now granted, this isn't the first "Halo" game that I have, since I've had "Halo Wars" since it came out. I am more referring to the single-player shooter games. Well, it's been 8 days since that shopping trip and I have played through the main trilogy, leaving me only "Halo 3: ODST" to finish on the single player side.
This group of games has been widely considered as some of the best games ever created for any system. I had always thought that this hype was a bit much and couldn't understand what all the hype was about. I mean, could a trilogy of games actually be this good? Well, after playing through the single player campaign of all three games, I can honestly say the hype might not have lived up to the game. These first-person shooters have everything you could want in a superb game. The storyline that is stretched over the could have been pulled right from a $400 million dollar Hollywood blockbuster. The graphics were phenomenal. The gameplay was some of the best in any shooter I have ever played. These games had some of the most intense moments I've ever had while playing a shooter. They really did a great job drawing you into the war you were a part of in the series. And Bungie (the people behind the "Halo" series) really did an awesome job with the parts of the game involving all the different vehicles you had a chance to use throughout the series.
I really can't say enough about these games other then I wish I would have played them sooner. I know from now on, I will be there front and center buying whatever "Halo" games are released from here on out. Now if only I didn't have to work so I could start "Halo 3: ODST".
This group of games has been widely considered as some of the best games ever created for any system. I had always thought that this hype was a bit much and couldn't understand what all the hype was about. I mean, could a trilogy of games actually be this good? Well, after playing through the single player campaign of all three games, I can honestly say the hype might not have lived up to the game. These first-person shooters have everything you could want in a superb game. The storyline that is stretched over the could have been pulled right from a $400 million dollar Hollywood blockbuster. The graphics were phenomenal. The gameplay was some of the best in any shooter I have ever played. These games had some of the most intense moments I've ever had while playing a shooter. They really did a great job drawing you into the war you were a part of in the series. And Bungie (the people behind the "Halo" series) really did an awesome job with the parts of the game involving all the different vehicles you had a chance to use throughout the series.
I really can't say enough about these games other then I wish I would have played them sooner. I know from now on, I will be there front and center buying whatever "Halo" games are released from here on out. Now if only I didn't have to work so I could start "Halo 3: ODST".
Friday, October 9, 2009
Apologies
Yeah it's been a little too long since my last update, I know, and I apologize about that. I place complete blame on Commander Shepard and the rest of the crew of the Normandy. For those of you that don't know, Shepard is the main character in "Mass Effect" and the Normandy is his ship. I had yesterday off of work, which was good timing, since I got to the point where I was able to beat the game yesterday afternoon. I really can't say enough about this game. Maybe it was a little shorter then I liked, but I still managed to get almost 50 hours of gameplay out of it, and that was with completing every side quest I had access to.
Before I get to what what made this game an all-time classic, I have one complaint. The inventory system was kinda tedious. Whenever you tried to sell off some of your old or duplicate equipment you had to scroll through the entire menu. And when you can hold up to 150 items, that can take a while. But considering the rest of the game, that complaint is just a pebble on the beach. What a game. The story could have been pulled right from a Hollywood movie, and with some of the voice actors they had on "Mass Effect" it basically was a movie. A couple of the voices I was pretty sure I recognized right off the bat with Seth Green and Keith David voicing two of the characters. What surprised me when I read the credits is who some of the other actors they had on the game, most notably Marina Sirtis of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame, and Lance Henriksen who has been in a ton of movies. But what a story it was.
One thing I remember hearing about this game was Fox News having a problem with this game, and while I don't remember the complete news story and I don't have time to look it up, it had something to with a naked alien. After playing through the game and getting to see what the fuss was about, all I have to say is seriously? That was it? You see more skin on prime time television and that is free of charge. This is something that has an "M" rating so you need to be 17 to purchase it anyway. So Fox News needs to get a grip.
I did start a second playthrough already, mainly so I can hit the level cap. You get capped at level 50 the first time you play through the game, and that gets bumped up to 60 on your second palythrough. There are also some other things I want to do, most notably being a jerk, and maxing my "Renegade" points. On the first playthrough, I maxed my "Paragon" points, which means I was a good guy. The "Renegade" points mean I will be a big jerk at times.
Time for work, but if you read this blog and like games like this, go out and buy "Mass Effect" today. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Before I get to what what made this game an all-time classic, I have one complaint. The inventory system was kinda tedious. Whenever you tried to sell off some of your old or duplicate equipment you had to scroll through the entire menu. And when you can hold up to 150 items, that can take a while. But considering the rest of the game, that complaint is just a pebble on the beach. What a game. The story could have been pulled right from a Hollywood movie, and with some of the voice actors they had on "Mass Effect" it basically was a movie. A couple of the voices I was pretty sure I recognized right off the bat with Seth Green and Keith David voicing two of the characters. What surprised me when I read the credits is who some of the other actors they had on the game, most notably Marina Sirtis of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame, and Lance Henriksen who has been in a ton of movies. But what a story it was.
One thing I remember hearing about this game was Fox News having a problem with this game, and while I don't remember the complete news story and I don't have time to look it up, it had something to with a naked alien. After playing through the game and getting to see what the fuss was about, all I have to say is seriously? That was it? You see more skin on prime time television and that is free of charge. This is something that has an "M" rating so you need to be 17 to purchase it anyway. So Fox News needs to get a grip.
I did start a second playthrough already, mainly so I can hit the level cap. You get capped at level 50 the first time you play through the game, and that gets bumped up to 60 on your second palythrough. There are also some other things I want to do, most notably being a jerk, and maxing my "Renegade" points. On the first playthrough, I maxed my "Paragon" points, which means I was a good guy. The "Renegade" points mean I will be a big jerk at times.
Time for work, but if you read this blog and like games like this, go out and buy "Mass Effect" today. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Amazing
As I said, if I had Tuesday off of work, I was going to start up "Mass Effect". Well, I did indeed have Tuesday off, and after laying an early morning game of "Madden" that ended up freezing up before I could save, I erased my old game save and started up "Mass Effect". This game is amazing. I could toss every superlative at this game but that would just be boring. The main storyline of this game is playing out like a sci-fi movie, the cutscenes are really good, and the fact that every conversation that you can carry out with the NPCs in the game are all voice acted only adds to the depth of the story. The music in this game literally rocks, and does so much to immerse you in the "Mass Effect" universe. To be honest, I am not all too sure how far into the main story I am, but I am spending a lot of time doing side missions now, and exploring a lot of the other star systems not involved in the main storyline. But all I can really say is I wish I would have started this game a long time ago, and now I really can't wait until "Mass Effect 2" comes out next year.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Are you ready for some football?
It's been kind of an uneventful week as far as gaming goes. I ended up beating "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" through the Pro-Registration campaign earlier in the week. And after thinking about this game, I am a little disappointed. While the story was really interesting, both campaigns played almost the same. the only thing different was the middle third of the game. The first third was the story leading up to having you choose which side to play as during the middle third of the game. And the last third of the game had to do with the two sides setting aside their differences to defeat a common threat. I did like how the middle part of each campaign weaved together with the other storyline. Maybe I just had my expectations too high for this game. I will admit that I haven't had the chance to try playing this over Xbox Live with anyone so that might add something to the game. I really hope any DLC they add is kick ass, and not just an additional character or two. One other thing I did notice comparing the two "MUA" games is that the first one, while not based on a particular comic storyline, had a much longer game storyline. "MUA 2" was a lot shorter from start to finish then I hoped it would be. Maybe they will add some extra stuff to the single player campign down the road.
So once I got done beating "MUA 2", I played a little "Call of Duty 4" and advanced a few levels. After playing that for a while, I was looking at my games, and decided to fire up "Madden 09" after not playing it for a while. Once I played a few practice games, I loaded up my San Francisco 49er franchise to see where I was in my current season. It was a good thing I played a few practice game. Once I loaded up my save, I was happy to remember I just finished a 16-0 regular season and was on my first playoff game, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That game went well for playing my first game that mattered in a while. I won 23-10 and advanced to the NFC title game against the hated Dallas Cowboys. That game went pretty well as well, with a 28-13 win. That is when I got the bad news and found out who my new opponent was. I was matched up with the 15-1 New England Patriots. I was dreading playing these guys, and was anticipating a shootout, with the last person with the ball having a chance to win. Boy was I wrong. I ended up winning my second straight Super Bowl, winning 13-7. After advancing through the off-season, doing free agency and the draft I started my next season and picked up on a good note, beating the New Orleans Saints 44-24. Next up on the schedule is the Denver Broncos.
And no, before you ask, I don't play on the All-Madden difficulty level. I'm not that good at the game in my opinion. In this version of "Madden", they have what is called the My Skill skill level. Basically what it does, is it adjusts itself to how you play, and adjusts the skill level accordingly, either for the better or the worse. That seems to work well for me, and just about every game is fun and competitive.
I do know that the next day off I have, I will be starting up "Mass Effect". I want to be able to get a good start into the game, so I am saving it for a day off. Hopefully that day off isn't too far away.
So once I got done beating "MUA 2", I played a little "Call of Duty 4" and advanced a few levels. After playing that for a while, I was looking at my games, and decided to fire up "Madden 09" after not playing it for a while. Once I played a few practice games, I loaded up my San Francisco 49er franchise to see where I was in my current season. It was a good thing I played a few practice game. Once I loaded up my save, I was happy to remember I just finished a 16-0 regular season and was on my first playoff game, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That game went well for playing my first game that mattered in a while. I won 23-10 and advanced to the NFC title game against the hated Dallas Cowboys. That game went pretty well as well, with a 28-13 win. That is when I got the bad news and found out who my new opponent was. I was matched up with the 15-1 New England Patriots. I was dreading playing these guys, and was anticipating a shootout, with the last person with the ball having a chance to win. Boy was I wrong. I ended up winning my second straight Super Bowl, winning 13-7. After advancing through the off-season, doing free agency and the draft I started my next season and picked up on a good note, beating the New Orleans Saints 44-24. Next up on the schedule is the Denver Broncos.
And no, before you ask, I don't play on the All-Madden difficulty level. I'm not that good at the game in my opinion. In this version of "Madden", they have what is called the My Skill skill level. Basically what it does, is it adjusts itself to how you play, and adjusts the skill level accordingly, either for the better or the worse. That seems to work well for me, and just about every game is fun and competitive.
I do know that the next day off I have, I will be starting up "Mass Effect". I want to be able to get a good start into the game, so I am saving it for a day off. Hopefully that day off isn't too far away.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Which side will you choose?
I have really been enjoying "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" lately. I played through the game once already, picking Anti-Registration the first time through and thought the storyline was great. The end boss was kinda strange, but the overall experience was a lot of fun. Once I beat the game the first time, then I started the Pro-Registration storyline. They did a great job incorporating the 2 different storylines into the game and weaving them together like they have. It's been a lot of fun seeing some of the battles between various heroes such as Captain America fighting Iron Man among others, stuff you would think you would never get to see.
They really did improve on just about every aspect of the first game. I am finding it hard to find something from the first game that they carried over to the sequel and didn't improve upon it. Granted, the game isn't even a week old yet, and we have yet to see any sort of DLC, but I really doubt they can screw that up.
One thing I have given some thought to is to try and find all the comic book issues pertaining to the "Civil War" storyline. Like I said, I've really enjoyed the game to this point, but since I haven't read the entire story, I'm not completely sure how much of this game is pulled right from the story and what they have added for the game. The thing that will be really interesting to see is if they make a third game, what storyline will be used. Will it be a story written for the game like the first one, or pulled directly from the pages of the comics like they did for the second game. I can tell you about one thing I hope they keep in any other "MUA" games: the cameo appearance by Stan Lee was genius.
They really did improve on just about every aspect of the first game. I am finding it hard to find something from the first game that they carried over to the sequel and didn't improve upon it. Granted, the game isn't even a week old yet, and we have yet to see any sort of DLC, but I really doubt they can screw that up.
One thing I have given some thought to is to try and find all the comic book issues pertaining to the "Civil War" storyline. Like I said, I've really enjoyed the game to this point, but since I haven't read the entire story, I'm not completely sure how much of this game is pulled right from the story and what they have added for the game. The thing that will be really interesting to see is if they make a third game, what storyline will be used. Will it be a story written for the game like the first one, or pulled directly from the pages of the comics like they did for the second game. I can tell you about one thing I hope they keep in any other "MUA" games: the cameo appearance by Stan Lee was genius.
Friday, September 18, 2009
So it's been a month......
One month ago tonight, I logged off of "Final Fantasy XI" for the last time. And I have to be honest, for the most part, I really don't miss it. There are parts of it I miss. For example, Thursday nights had been Nyzul Isle nights for the last year, and we were gonna be starting up regular assault runs by now, to try and get us all Captain rank. Nyzul nights were one of the only things left in-game that I really looked forward to, and was probably one of the main reasons I hadn't decided to quit sooner. I miss hanging out with my linkshells, especially the DuskWalkers crew. I met a lot of amazing people in my time playing "FFXI", and had many a laugh with a lot of them. I miss the experience point grind as well, the first clue being the 11 jobs I had capped to 75. Had it not been for the pride I took in making sure my jobs were geared well, I might have had more jobs leveled. Hell, I even kinda miss the eventing grind.
That said, I don't miss it enough to come back. It really did get to the point that playing "FFXI" almost begn feeling like a second job. I had forgotten for the most part how fun it was being able to play and enjoy other games. And aside from a few events I enjoyed doing, a lot of nights, logging into "FFXI" became a chore. Maybe in the back of my mind, I had come to the decision to walk away from "FFXI" a while ago, I really am not sure. The thing I am sure about is that I walked away at the right time.
A very well known and popular thing to say about people that have walked away from playing "FFXI" is that "they always come back". After a month away from the game, and really enjoying that month, I gotta be honest: no, they don't.
That said, I don't miss it enough to come back. It really did get to the point that playing "FFXI" almost begn feeling like a second job. I had forgotten for the most part how fun it was being able to play and enjoy other games. And aside from a few events I enjoyed doing, a lot of nights, logging into "FFXI" became a chore. Maybe in the back of my mind, I had come to the decision to walk away from "FFXI" a while ago, I really am not sure. The thing I am sure about is that I walked away at the right time.
A very well known and popular thing to say about people that have walked away from playing "FFXI" is that "they always come back". After a month away from the game, and really enjoying that month, I gotta be honest: no, they don't.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Game day
Work has been beating my ass as of late, so I haven't got to play as much as I would like, but when I did get a chance to play, I made up for lost time. Sunday was a "Shadow Complex" marathon for me, and eventually late Sunday night, I beat the game. I really enjoyed that game, and have the opinion that that is the best game available from Live Arcade. I will say that I haven't played games like "Castle Crashers" or "Braid" which have also gotten rave reviews from critics and players alike, but I really liked "Complex". The backtracking got a little tedious at times, but you had to do a lot of the same in "Metroid" and "Castlevania" as well so I was expecting some of it going in. The way they did it though in "Complex" made it not seem so bad. For a Live Arcade game, I thought they did a really good job with the graphics, even though it is just a 2-D side scroller. None of the mini-boss or main boss fights were too terrible, but I wasn't playing on the highest difficulty so I guess that was to be expected. I will definitely be playing through this again, on a higher difficulty, and try and knock out some of the leftover achievements I missed out on. That and the game is just plain fun. And games like these always play through faster after the first time.
As I stated before, I was a huge fan of the first "Marvel Ultimate Alliance", so it shouldn't be a surprise that I picked "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" last night, on the day of release. Now granted, I didn't get a lot of time to play last night, but my initial impressions is "wow". They took what worked in the first one, improved upon it and gave it a serious graphic overhaul. It looks amazing up to this point. I am really looking forward to jumping into this game a lot more over the next days and weeks to come. One thing that will be interesting is what kind of DLC they will release for this game. For the first game, they released some hero and villain playable character packs, and I imagine they will do the same thing for this one.
The movie scene has been pretty slow as of late, but the previews I have been seeing for "Pandorum" look pretty interesting. It looks like a cross between "Event Horizon" and "The Decent". And if it is half as good as either of those, I can't wait.
As I stated before, I was a huge fan of the first "Marvel Ultimate Alliance", so it shouldn't be a surprise that I picked "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" last night, on the day of release. Now granted, I didn't get a lot of time to play last night, but my initial impressions is "wow". They took what worked in the first one, improved upon it and gave it a serious graphic overhaul. It looks amazing up to this point. I am really looking forward to jumping into this game a lot more over the next days and weeks to come. One thing that will be interesting is what kind of DLC they will release for this game. For the first game, they released some hero and villain playable character packs, and I imagine they will do the same thing for this one.
The movie scene has been pretty slow as of late, but the previews I have been seeing for "Pandorum" look pretty interesting. It looks like a cross between "Event Horizon" and "The Decent". And if it is half as good as either of those, I can't wait.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Everyone should have this "Complex"
So last night I was playing some "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" and I ended up getting my next rank up in the Prestige ranks that they have. For each Prestige rank, and if I remember correctly, there are 8 of them, you have to level up to 55, unlocking different perks and weapons along the way. Once you cap your experience points for that particular rank at 55, you get the option to stay at that rank, or move up a rank. Now the kicker is, if you choose to move up to the next rank, you are, for the most part, demoted. You get reset to level 1, so you have to go through that next rank, unlocking everything again on your way to 55. I think I only have 5 more ranks to go......
Now onto the game I refer to in the title of this post, and that game is "Shadow Complex". It is only available on the Xbox Live Arcade, but at some point it might get released on PC. This game was partially created witht he help of Cliff Blewzinski (I hope I spelled his name right), or better known as Cliffy B. (I know I spelled that right). He is the guy responsible for the "Gears of War" games, so I had a good feeling about this game before it even came out. Then I saw some gameplay during the coverage of E3 over the summer and I was hooked.
But probably the thing that got me the most excited was the style of gameplay. What they did was go back to the good old days of the 2-D side scroller, bringing back fond memories of the original "Metroid" and "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night". They used quite a bit of the old school side scrolling gameplay, and added 2009 graphics and that combo definitely works. Hell, I didn't even start the main game until earlier tonight. I spent a good 6 hours or so last night just working on what they call the Training Grounds, if I remember the name correctly. Basically what that is, is a bunch of short, and in some cases, timed and scored mini-games. And I gotta say, some of them are really hard. I finally had to shut it off last night and go to sleep, because it ended up getting pretty frustrating. I did end up beating what challenges I had left, not even worrying about my rank on them, just hoping I would be able to finish them.
Once I did finally finish all of the challenges, I dove into the main campaign, and it is a lot of fun so far. They did a really good job bringing a 2-D side scroller into this day and age of gaming. They deserve a ton of credit for making such a high quality game, and releasing it on Xbox Live. Most companies would be after the big bucks and releasing a game like this to mass retail, so kudos to them. The only bad part about that though, is if you don't have a 360, you're kinda hosed. But if you do have a 360, I really recommend picking up this little gem off of Arcade.
Now onto the game I refer to in the title of this post, and that game is "Shadow Complex". It is only available on the Xbox Live Arcade, but at some point it might get released on PC. This game was partially created witht he help of Cliff Blewzinski (I hope I spelled his name right), or better known as Cliffy B. (I know I spelled that right). He is the guy responsible for the "Gears of War" games, so I had a good feeling about this game before it even came out. Then I saw some gameplay during the coverage of E3 over the summer and I was hooked.
But probably the thing that got me the most excited was the style of gameplay. What they did was go back to the good old days of the 2-D side scroller, bringing back fond memories of the original "Metroid" and "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night". They used quite a bit of the old school side scrolling gameplay, and added 2009 graphics and that combo definitely works. Hell, I didn't even start the main game until earlier tonight. I spent a good 6 hours or so last night just working on what they call the Training Grounds, if I remember the name correctly. Basically what that is, is a bunch of short, and in some cases, timed and scored mini-games. And I gotta say, some of them are really hard. I finally had to shut it off last night and go to sleep, because it ended up getting pretty frustrating. I did end up beating what challenges I had left, not even worrying about my rank on them, just hoping I would be able to finish them.
Once I did finally finish all of the challenges, I dove into the main campaign, and it is a lot of fun so far. They did a really good job bringing a 2-D side scroller into this day and age of gaming. They deserve a ton of credit for making such a high quality game, and releasing it on Xbox Live. Most companies would be after the big bucks and releasing a game like this to mass retail, so kudos to them. The only bad part about that though, is if you don't have a 360, you're kinda hosed. But if you do have a 360, I really recommend picking up this little gem off of Arcade.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Attack of the Real Life
First I want to apologize about the lull in updates lately. Had a busy holiday weekend and wasn't home much, so there wasn't really anything to post about. The only game playing I did over the weekend was a little on Facebook. However, once the busyness of the weekend died down, I did get a chance to fire up "Oblivion" again. I've been plugging away on that the last few days, and a couple hours ago, I finally beat the main quest line, and in doing so, got my first Xbox game with all the achievements finished. I must quantify that statement by saying that as long as you do the main quest, and all the side quest lines, you will finish the achievements off. I wish more games were set up that way, because some games have such ridiculous achievements. I will say this about "Oblivion": that game is HUGE. I'll go into that more in a later post though.
Once I got done playing "Oblivion" earlier, I decided to fire up "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare". I hadn't played that in a long time, so it was kinda nice to get back into that for a while. I'll admit I am not the best at that game, partly because I get some ugly lag in some matches. If I can get on a game with a good host though, I do OK. Plus it's a lot of fun.
I know I said I was gonna pick up "Mass Effect" but I might have to put that on the back burner for a while. One of the games I have been really excited about is coming out next week, that game being "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2". The first game was really a lot of fun, and once I heard they were making a sequel, I have been looking forward to it ever since. Hopefully work cooperates and I have next Tuesday off.....
Once I got done playing "Oblivion" earlier, I decided to fire up "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare". I hadn't played that in a long time, so it was kinda nice to get back into that for a while. I'll admit I am not the best at that game, partly because I get some ugly lag in some matches. If I can get on a game with a good host though, I do OK. Plus it's a lot of fun.
I know I said I was gonna pick up "Mass Effect" but I might have to put that on the back burner for a while. One of the games I have been really excited about is coming out next week, that game being "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2". The first game was really a lot of fun, and once I heard they were making a sequel, I have been looking forward to it ever since. Hopefully work cooperates and I have next Tuesday off.....
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