Thursday, November 10, 2016

Steins;Gate (PSVita)

Visual novels are often viewed as something that is very niche and uninteresting to the masses.  I feel that this game is perfectly acceptable to anybody that enjoys a good story.  Although sometimes it is hard to follow, it has lots of characters and a tale that keeps you interested.

As a game, this is pretty simple.  Follow the story and sometimes answer questions or send emails.  These actions can lead to different endings and it is worth it to try to get all the endings.  It gives you a complete picture of the whole story.

I can't really talk too much more about this without spoiling too much.  If you have the time to play this and like visual novels, this is a must have.  It is really good.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Devil May Cry HD (PS3)

Twitch combat and combo based action games have never been my forte.  I'm terrible at them.  I have a hard time doing combos in things.  So when I decided to get the Devil May Cry trilogy for the PS3, I thought I was going to have a super hard time with it.  I was right.

The first game for me was brutal.  My scores for the various challenges were pretty bad.  I lost to a lot of the bosses numerous times and I had to use cheap tactics and items to win.  The game itself is solid though.  The combat is fluid and when the player whiffs on an attack or dodge, it is their fault not the games.  Albeit, there are some rooms where the camera was in an odd place and an off-screen enemy rushes without little notices.  I don't remember anything feeling cheap or downright frustrating.

The story is kind of unique.  Demon hunter Dante is investigating a castle or whatever.  Things happen, people get killed, and things gets saved.  Some of the scenes get cheesy with how over the top it is and some of the dialogue is questionable but this is what the developers were going for.  Opposed to the darker feel that Devil May Cry 2 had, this one is a little pulpier.

There is a lot of game to play and lots of ways a player can push themselves.  Multiple difficulties, lots of challenging parts, and different ways to play.  In a lot of ways, this game is like God of War but much more refined.  The combat is much tighter.  Sure there are some flaws with the combat and sometimes the platforming was sketchy but the game as a whole is solid.  I enjoyed myself as much as I could for a type of game I am absolutely terrible at.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

Another game and another legend.  This time set in the lands of the Minish.  I have to admit, this is still one of my favorite Zelda games.  It came out in a time in my life when I had all the time in the world to play games and it was great.

The concept is still the same as previous Zelda games.  Go around collecting treasures, tools, and artifacts.  Once you have them all, you fight the big baddie and save the world.  This one is a little different in the fact that you have the Minish Cap.  This allows you to shrink in certain parts of the game to see the world from the tiny Minish point of view.  This is kind of unique because some things are only doable as a mini-Link.

The items this time are all kind of unique as well.  There are favorites like the Lantern and then new ones like the Gust Jar.  Using these items to solve puzzles is a series staple.  Each dungeon is unique, my favorite being the ice dungeon where the boss is something that is very iconic to the series but as a Minish, it is a much different fight.

One new feature from this game is the Kinship Stones.  These are halves of round medallions that you find the pieces to throughout the game.  By joining the pieces together you can influence the world in ways that will sometimes yield things like rupees or a Heart Piece but some are used to progress the story.  There are lots of these things and they are always good to keep around.

This was a good Zelda experience.  It expanded on the lore, seemed fresh for the time, and tried some new things.  I had tons of fun with this game when it first came out.  I then did a speedrun of it on my 3DS when I received it free for being a 3DS Ambassador.  If you get a chance to play this game, don't miss out.  It is a fun little romp through this big world.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Metal Gear Solid 2 HD (PSVita)

A death to call my own.  This game starts out strong and gets better.  I understand why the fans hate it and I can see why they would be mad but if you play this game now without the prejudice of the time when this was released, it is actually a well built game.

I should preface this with my usual, I'm very bad at stealth games.  I have never been good at being stealthy.  I gave the Metal Gear Solid a series because I enjoyed 3 a lot.  By the time I got to this game, I had already beat 1 and 4.  So I had seen the beginning and at the time the ending of the series.  This game is better than 1 but not as good as 4.  Still worth playing though.

The game starts out with the normal sneak around a boat as Solid Snake and fighting enemies or being stealthy.  Your choice.  Then events happen and the player ends up playing as a new character named Raiden.  You infiltrate an oil rig turned hideout called Big Shell, I think.  I can't really remember the places that well.  Anyway, per normal fair there is lots of sneaking, espionage, cryptic metaphors, bosses with gimmicks, and timed stuff.  If you played Metal Gear Solid 1, this will seem very familiar.

Where this game differs is the story.  It seems much more cohesive and understandable than series in known for.  There aren't any really memorable moments for me though.  Raiden just doesn't have the same appeal Solid Snake did.  I'm not saying this ruins the game as a lot of fans did when this first comes out, I'm just saying.  You could have replaced Raiden with Snake and the game wouldn't have been much different.

There is a lot to this game and if you are a fan of the series, play this game.  It has some fun things to do and I enjoyed playing it on the go with the HD version on the Vita.  It definitely does help explain things about Raiden if you only knew him from MGS 4 like I did.  Now get out there.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f 2nd (PSVita)

I was never really into rhythm games when I was growing up as a kid.  I wasn't good at music and I didn't do well when I was forced into taking band.  I played percussion and I wasn't good at it at all.  But I wish I had worked harder at it cause I do like music and I think playing an instrument or being musical in some way makes a person more well-rounded.  All that said, I didn't need to be musical to enjoy this game.

Hatsune Miku is a digital diva.  She sings and dances on screens all over the world and even has concerts.  The character was born from a computer program designed to pronounce all the syllables in natural Japanese speech or so I've been told.  Just as you can expect, some of the songs get a little rough and you can tell a computer is speaking when the words are being said faster than a human possibly could utter the lyrics.

The concept of the game is simple.  Hit the corresponding button to the beat and try to time it to achieve the best performance on each song.  The songs range from super fast electronica beats to slower more melodic tunes.  There are a number of other "Vocaloids" to play with and each has their own voice.  My personal favorite is Meiko but she isn't very popular, so she doesn't appear as often.  There are options to dress your Vocaloids up in various outfits and you can play through the songs in multiple difficulties.  I've never been able to best anything past Normal though.

There is a lot more to this game.  There is the sim portion where you hang out with your chosen Vocaloid and play games and stuff.  I honestly spent the least amount of time with this.  I'm sure it is fun for people that like that but I have a hard enough time dealing with my own life.  I don't know if I could handle taking care of a digital person too.

The key draw to this game is the music.  It is great, I love listening to Vocaloids sing.  Even though most of the music is very "pop", it still has its moments.  If you have a knack for music and enjoy rhythm games, you can't do much worse than this.  It is fun and the game doesn't lack in features.  There is enough variety to keep even seasoned rhythm fans busy trying to Perfect every song.  Support Hatsune Miku because this is likely the future of music in some form.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Super Mario Maker (WiiU)

This is the kind of game that should really appeal to me.  I love thinking of my own levels and being given the tools to a great franchise like Mario should seem like a dream come true.  The problem is, there is a limit to everything in this game and that only limit is your imagination.

The concept is simple, the player is tasked with building their own levels.  If you are impatient, you can get all the set pieces early but I did it the slow way and worked with the delivered pieces as they came.  After 7 days, all the pieces are there to play with.  Once you have them all, it opens the doors to complex levels that even I can't figure out how some of these are created.

The other aspect of this game is to play levels created by all the other game owners.  These can range from simple jumping adventures to infuriating complex puzzle levels and everything in between.  I must say that I rather enjoy the well thought out levels.  Thinking of new ways to use an item or set piece or enemy combination is always a blast when the creator of the level uses them correctly.  Then there are some levels that are just so stupidly hard they no longer are fun.  Having pipes or doors that lead to nothing and the player has no way of knowing beforehand this will happen does not make a good level.  Trial and error is not fun.  Especially blind trial and error.

This is a good game if you enjoy building levels and creating ideas for others to play with.  Although a lot of the user created content is hit or miss, there is some fun to be had.  I do wish they wouldn't lock the costumes behind some stupidly hard levels but so far I haven't had too much for a problem getting all the special stuff.  If you are a fan of Mario, definitely get this game.  Get this game if you have a lot of amiibos too.  Those costumes may not seem like much but you can make some cool themed levels with them.