The Gaming Gab

Darksiders, and why it's actually good:

2011-01-17T22:39:00.007-05:00

I never did a formal review of Darksiders, but did I purchase the game and play about halfway through. Since I received a review copy of Bayonetta at the time, I had to put Darksiders down and focus my attention on her. I watched my younger brother play through the rest of the game on his own file. I never explicitly stated my opinion anywhere, be it internet forum or otherwise, but I did very much like the game. The Zelda-inspired exploration and dungeon crawling mixed with satisfying, Devil May Cry-esque combat made for a very fun gameplay experience.

What struck me immediately about Darksiders was its story. It's not often that you come across a game based in Judeo-Christian mythology. Outside of the occasional Japanese Anime or J-RPG bastardizing the myths, it simply isn't done. Darksiders not only had the balls to design an entire game around it, but actually injected enough into the mythology to create a story that was wholly new and refreshing.

*If you haven't played the game, or simply don't want to be spoiled, stop reading here. You have been warned.*

As mentioned above, the game takes elements of the apocalyptic myths and Book of Enoch and tells its own story. Humanity, the "Third Kingdom," was lost during the Apocalypse, and Hell defeated Heaven during the battle. War, the protagonist of the story and Horseman of the Apocalypse, was betrayed into believing he instigated the battle, and does everything in his power to prove his innocence. He is allowed to search for clues (stripped of his powers and under the Council's constant surveillance) on a decrepit and ruined Earth, and the rest of the game follows.

The game plays in what is essentially traditional Zelda fashion, in which players use their abilities, weapons and sub-weapons to explore and reach new areas, only to acquire more weapons and abilities which allows them to in turn reach more areas, etc.

What made Darksiders strong was the fact that your abilities, weapons and sub-weapons all had a distinct purpose, and all of them were useful for both fighting and for exploration. Zelda has fallen behind in this respect. Too often you get useless shit that you use once on your adventure and then leave in your inventory to rot.

Not so with Darksiders. The Crossblade was useful for keeping combos alive and juggling opponents, in addition to hitting switches and such. The Abyssal Chain was useful as a grappling tool in combat, as well as for exploration. The Tremor Gauntlet gave War some stupidly powerful attacks and helped demolish debris and crap in his way. Hell, the Scythe, the sole purpose of which was combat, was useful for getting more money (Souls).

This was Darksiders' strongest point on the adventure/exploration front: the versatility of the sub weapons. This needs to make it into Darksiders 2.

On top of this, War had some nice timing-based combos, a la Devil May Cry. Do a standard combo by pressing attack four times. Do an extended combo by pausing after the second slash. Do yet another combo by pausing after the third slash, etc. This method clicked with me because of its simplicity. You don't need to press different buttons to execute different combos: you get a great variety of attacks through one button.

I loved this aspect of combat, and the addition of another input (like say, back - forth on the analog stick + attack) wouldn't hurt in a sequel.

The only thing I can say I didn't like too much about combat was the aerial gameplay. Comboing enemies in the air looked cool, but could easily get you nailed. Enemies could still hit you while you were in the air, making it flashy but not at all useful. This was a shame because War came equipped with a easy-to-execute launcher (holding the attack button) and a basic aerial combo.

Devil May Cry 3 and 4 remedied this by making most enemies heavily ground-based (they can't touch you in the air) and by allowing Dante to jump off enemies while in the air (for a quick escape in a pinch). Bayonetta remedied aerial impotence by allowing you to dodge while in the air. A basic feature like this could go a long way to enriching the combat in Darksiders.

Darksiders also lacked competent enemies. Much like the demons in Devil May Cry 3, the enemies in Darksiders were aggressive, but not particularly dangerous once players recognized their telegraphs. War has a block and a dodge: enemies should have counters for both, so that players need to rely on one or the other to avoid taking damage from particular attacks. The same enemy should have attacks that must be blocked to mitigate damage, as well as attacks that will break through your block and must be dodged to avoid damage.

The timing for a player's reaction should get tighter as the game progresses, too. Bayonetta gives you one defensive maneuver: dodging. That's it. But the timing for that dodge must be precise, because different enemies have different attacks that must be dodged at different times. Hell, a single enemy has different attacks that must be dodged at different times. This makes enemies more versatile and unpredictable, and keeps players on their toes. And if the controls are responsive, this makes combat tighter in general.

All in all, I though Darksiders is a very good Action-Adventure title. Combat was enjoyable, as was the exploration and adventuring.

In truth, I really want to see the story of Darksiders continued. We never find out what happens to Samael, who the woman was that corrupted Abaddon, what actions the council would take against War, and what War and his brothers would do now that the truth was out and the Seventh Seal was broken. I read that Darksiders 2 would focus on a new character, and while I'm a bit disappointed to hear this, I hope some of these questions are answered.

Dracozombie's last two months in Video Game Trailers: September and October

2010-11-01T01:18:00.009-04:00

Yep, I've slacked. I haven't gotten my shit together, but I decided that I really need to put these links here. So I'm getting my shit together now.

Without further adéu, here is the lenghty list of articles I wrote for my National Video Game Trailers column on Examiner.com.

Capcom released its second episode of the Marvel vs. Capcom trailer. It is awesome. Dr. Doom and Super Skrull versus Chun Li, Captain America, Trish, Amaterasu and Viewtiful Joe? How can it not be awesome!

Devil May Cry is getting a reboot (DmC), which I can't say I'm very happy with. Dante looks like a hobo punk the developers pulled off the streets of England. The action is cinematic, but I can't really tell what the gameplay is going to look like. Here's to hoping it turns out well.

Alice, Madness Returns is a title I am looking forward to. The first title was critically acclaimed, but I never played it. This one looks like an evolution of that wonderfully twisted and deliciously macabre magic: I will definitely pick it up when it hits.

Square-Enix revealed a brief Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy trailer at the Tokyo Game Show, which you can view in my article. An extended version was also released some time later, which includes all of the footage from the former, plus lots of new contend. Tifa is revealed at the end of this trailer, which made many a man cream his pants at the sight.

A sexy trailer, narrated by Jason Isaacs, gives us a look at Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I still haven't played it, but I will get my copy some time this week. I promise you the review will be up as soon as possible.

Sega gives us a look at the newest Sonic title: Sonic Colors. The gameplay trailer showcases what players can expect from the blue blur in his latest outing.

A silly and quirky little game called Vikings Row! is scheduled for release for the iPhone. Two short teaser trailers were released, which you can watch here and here.

Keiji Inafune and Capcom reveal Mega Man Legends 3! Inafune reveals Capcom's master plan in a neat video, which you can view in my article. Sweet!

I uploaded the full TGS trailer of The 3rd Birthday, which you can watch in my article. They decided to re-work Aya's personality for this PSP iteration of the game, which is weird, to say the least. Chalk it up to amnesia.

I uploaded the TGS trailer for Okamiden as well. Watch it and melt at the overwhelming cuteness of it all! If you don't feel like petting Chibi from watching this trailer, you have no fucking soul.

Warren Spector and a few developers got together to explain storytelling, and what sets Epic Mickey apart from other games in a video called "Epic Mickey - Behind the Scenes: Storytelling." Watch it, because this game is looking really good.

Platinum Games and Sega has released an enemies trailer for their sexy-tastic action/shooter Vanquish. I regret to say that I haven't bought it yet, but I can't seem myself not pick this up soon. it's too bloody awesome.

Finally, we get an english gameplay trailer for Ys: The Oath in Felghana. I asked for a review copy, because I'm dying to play this bad-boy, but I'll definitely pick it up if it doesn't show. Ys is that good.

Dracozombie's last month (or two) in NY Console Gaming: September and October

2010-10-31T23:43:00.011-04:00

I've been slacking pretty hard. I can't really excuse my absence, so accept my apology instead. I've done a lot of writing these last two months, so I'm breaking down my content by website, to make these blog entries a bit easier on the eyes.

Here's all of my latest articles for New York Console Games, on Examiner.com:

Nintendo and New York-Tokyo held a Samurai Warriors 3 event at the Korean bar "Fat Buddha." The food was good, and I won't say no to free beer, of which there was plenty. Attendees got a chance to eat, drink and play some Samurai Warriors.

I got some hands-on time with a few upcoming Disney Interactive Studios titles, one of which was TRON: Evolution. A mix of energetic action, platforming and more, the game is a great-looking movie tie-in title, coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The second Disney Interactive game I got my hands on was Disney's Epic Mickey, an adventure and platforming title from the creative mind of Warren Spector. The title is absolutely unique, combining adventure elements from Zelda and platforming elements from Mario, alongside a painting mechanic that lets you greatly interact with the world.

I got my hands on a copy of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, for the PSP, and wrote up a review the moment I finished it. Fun combat, lots of content, and an interesting story makes Birth by Sleep a title worth picking up if you haven't already.

Just before the NY Comic Con, I got hands-on with Capcom's Okamiden, the DS successor to the classic Okami, for the PS2 and Wii.

I also managed to interview with Okamiden's producer, Motohide Eshiro, and get an interesting background on the title.

I managed to get hands-on with Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy. It plays much like the original, but there is a LOT of new stuff Square-Enix has added, like the assist system and the new characters. Check it out to read up on Lightning and Kain's movelist!

Ys: The Oath in Felghana is a very highly respected PC action-RPG from Falcom, which is being ported to the Sony PSP. Some new trailers and images were revealed, which you can read and view in my article.

Finally, Square-Enix revealed some new screens for Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy. The buxom brawler Tifa from Final Fantasy VII makes her official debut, kicking ass and taking names. New costumes and more round out the article.

Dracozombie's last three weeks in gaming: August 22-September 11

2010-09-12T23:43:00.008-04:00

Holy shit, I haven't been here in a good while! I've been busy with all manner of personal issues. Over the last few weeks, my parents' marriage has hit a very rocky point, my ex-girlfriend was in town, I got the flu, my fathers family (my grandmother and uncle) came up to visit (i.e. take up space), and I've been writing. It has been hectic, and very draining.

Fortunately, that shit is over now. Almost. My parents are still getting their shit together, but I'd imagine they'll sort it all out by weeks end.

As you can imagine, though, I haven't really gotten the chance to sit down and write in my blog, so I am very behind with my updates.

In any case, here are the last three weeks of my writing for Examiner and Multiplayer Games.

New York Console Games:

Mafia II his shelves recently, and I wrote a review of the game, which you can read here. It is not a bad title at all: the story is great, and the gameplay is very enjoyable. It is a bit bare-bones, mind you, as in there isn't much in the way of optional content.

With Mafia II's release, 2K and Gamertag Radio set up a very badass NYC release party at the 92nd Street Y's Tribecca Center. Protesters whined about the stereotyping of the Italian mafioso, but no one payed them any mind. Read more on the event here.

Konami held a sexy little event called the NYC Gamer's Night, showcasing some upcoming Konami titles. I got my hands on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, which has shaped up to be an great title, and an excellent addition to the Castlevania series. Check out my preview for details on this title.

Among the titles showcased at the NYC Gamer's Night was an interesting wrestling game called Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring. I thought it looked cheesy at first glance, but it was surprisingly fun and well-designed. What threw me was that it is being developed by spanish developer Immersion Software. Read more on Héroes del Ring if wrestling is your thing.

Ys Seven is the newest incarnation of the Ys series from Japanese developer Falcom. Publisher XSeed localized the title for North America, and it is out now. The verdict? Buy the game. Seriously. If you like Action RPGs and old-school, Zelda-style exploration and dungeon crawling, you need to pick this title up. Read my review if you're on the fence.

Dissidia is the over-the-top, nonsensical Final Fantasy fighting game from Square-Enix that finally let us beat the shit out of Sephiroth with Squall. An S-E has announced the sequel, which is being developed on the PSP just like its predecessor. Called Dissidia Doudecim, you can read all about the title and the new characters in my reveal article.

Video Game Trailers Examiner:

I only wrote one article for this column in three weeks. That's... pretty fucking bad. Anyway, the action-crazy geniuses at Platinum Games have rolled out a brand-new trailer for their upcoming third-person-shooter-on-crack, Vanquish. A demo is out, if you are interested, but definitely check out the trailer too.

Multiplayer Games:

"Wired" and several other sources reported that a negligence lawsuit had been filed against the publisher of the popular MMORPG Lineage II, NCSoft. A Hawaiian man alleges that he has developed an addiction to the game so ridiculously strong that he can no longer function normally. Game addiction is a sticky subject, so read my thoughts on it in my article.

NCSoft and ArenaNet were at GamesCom, showing off Guild Wars 2 in playable from. A storm of recorded videos were uploaded to Youtube since the event opened, and the biggest surprise of the event was the inclusion of the unannounced playable profession: the Necromancer.

The Guild Wars 2 official website officially unveiled the necromancer on it's professions page a few days later, giving it's readers a wealth of details about the new class.

Game site "Glimpse Dog" published it's five-part video hands-on experience with TERA, which gives it's viewers an enticing glimpse of what the game hopes to achieve. The videos are actually very fun to watch because they players discuss all sorts of subjects (particularly politics) as they interview the developers.

The official TERA website released two new screenshots for the city of Allemantheia, the elven capital in the heart of Southern Shara, and also updated with a rich history of the city and it's people. I love a game with a good backstory, and it's nice to know En Masse is putting effort in to translating and westernizing the story to make it more appealing.

Final Fantasy XIV has been in and out of beta for some time now. Websites all over were collaborating with Square-Enix to offer eager gamers a chance to win closed beta keys for the game. Square-Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIV would enter open beta on August 31st, and released a nice new trailer to compliment the announcement.

News of a fatigue system in Final Fantasy XIV hit the internet recently, and the response was fucking atrocious. Fortunately, an official translation explains in detail just how the fatigue system will work in the game. Plenty of people are still crying over the issue, but at least you can properly read how it works now.

It was recently announced via the official website forums that TERA would not be implementing IP blocking or any other territorial restrictions within Europe and North America. Korea wasn't mentioned. This means that players can freely choose which of the two territories they can play TERA in. Sweet.

Fansite "Rift Nexus" has released an exclusive preview of Stonefield, an early Defiant faction zone in Rift: Planes of Telara. This region pits players against assloads of the undead and the ex-servants of the Titans as they complete quests and gain some crucial early levels.

Nobuo Uematsu is considered by many to be a crucial part of the Final Fantasy experience. In the "Making of Eorzea" Final Fantasy XIV video, he discusses the direction he received from the development team regarding music, the composing process and more as well as details on the theme song of the game, which was sung by Susan Calloway at Uematsu's request.

Fansite FFXIVCore has provided a near complete list of the Guildleve Quests, which has been added on their Final Fantasy XIV wiki page. The fansite has also come across some unused/unreleased model data in the game, as well as some as-of-yet unused miscellaneous models.

EverDream Studio has revealed details on the latest instance for its 2D, turn-based, browser-based fantasy MMORPG Dragon's Call. Yes, the same Dragon's Call that a player threatened to sue for banning/flagging the word 'gay" in world chat, not that this fact has any bearing on the instance at hand.

And that does it!

Holy epic shit, this is a long post. But then again, it's three weeks worth of writing. That's what happens when I slack, I suppose.

Dracozombie's week in gaming: August 15-21

2010-08-22T21:43:00.014-04:00

Alrighty. Down one molar, but up quite a few articles, I'd say. Been keeping myself busy this past week, and I've been on-point pretty much the whole time. So much so that I'm actually posting my Sunday update on Sunday! (Gasp!)

Firstly, I'd like to say that I hate Examiner's basic publishing tool. I like to be able to edit HTML code - even if I'm not that good at it - and the basic tool negates this. Since that's all we can use during Examiner's current transitional period, my Examiner articles look a bit... off. Please excuse this. I'm hoping these transitional shenanigans come to an end soon.

Secondly, GamesCom was in full swing this week, meaning plenty of new images, trailers, artwork, and all kinds of game related jazz hit the web.

And with that, on to my week in gaming!

New York Console Games:

An interesting rumor hit the internet last week: the PS3, stoic paragon of unhackable gaming security (for developers, at least) was supposedly hacked by a mere USB mod-chip. I haven't followed up on the story, but many other sites corroborated the legitimacy of the product at the time. Read more about it here.

Valkyria Chronicles II has revealed it's pre-order bonus: two extra missions for the early birds who put money down on it before the August 31st release. Remember, Valkyria Chronicles II is being released on the PSP, unlike it's PS3 predecessor. Check out the article for more details.

Video Game Trailers:

With GamesCom in full swing, plenty of neat trailers have been released. BioWare's dark fantasy Dragon Age is hitting March of 2011 with a fully-fledged sequel. This cinematic teaser video, the "Destiny" trailer, gives us a pre-rendered taste of things to come in Dragon Age 2.

A while back the Japanese Metroid website had a video detailing the history of the Metroid series. This video has now been uploaded to the english website, with Samus' english voice actress narrating. Pretty neat stuff, so definitely check it out.

The Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep website has updated with the last of it's videos. This time we get the:

The GamesCom trailer, called the "Launch" trailer. Pretty much the final trailer before the game's release in September.
A multiplayer gameplay video, showcasing how you can play this incarnation of the game with other players.
A mini-games trailer, revealing what you can do outside of the story proper.

Multiplayer Games:

Blizzard Entertainment has sued a private server for copyright infringement, and won an astronomical $88 million from the case. And I thought they couldn't get any wealthier. This server not only let people play World of Warcraft without having to pay a monthly subscription fee, but actually made a profit of $3 million from selling in-game stuff to players. It's crazy stuff, so be sure to read the whole article.

The last of TERA's new class-skills has been revealed on the official website. Lancers get a sexy bash and lunge attack, and Berserkers get a neat health-eating ass-kick attack. Plus, TERA was at GamesCom, and announced that they have a full dungeon-crawl as a demo, instead of the E3 demo they've presented for a while. Read up on it here.

TERA has also revealed it's GamesCom trailer, showcasing many of the newly revealed skills in some nice cinematic combat footage. With that, they also revealed the newest screenshots of the week: the Azarel Temple has been re-named to Azarel's Labyrinth, and we get two images of the area surrounding said dungeon.

And that wraps it ups for the week! The latest chapter of Kurohime was finally uploaded by Imangascans, and now I'm very eagerly awaiting the next one. I also learned of a Korean Manhwa called Legend of Maian, which I've been enjoying as well, though I admit I like Kurohime a quite a bit more.

And yes, no Civilization V or Ys Seven yet. I simply haven't published my Civilization interview yet, (but I will this week) and I haven't received my review copy of Ys Seven. I borrowed a copy from a friend and played for a bit (it's awesome) but the fucker demanded it back before long.

*Sigh*

C'est la vie.

Dracozombie's week in gaming: August 8-14 (update)

2010-08-16T21:37:00.007-04:00

Had a pretty rough week, unfortunately. I cracked my molar several years ago, and it started acting up two weeks ago. The pain intensified last week, to the point where I was in and out of the hospital every other day. Fortunately, today (Monday the 16th) the doctors agreed they couldn't save the tooth (the decay was too extensive) and pulled it. So the pain is gone, but so is my tooth. I kinda miss it, now...

Anyway, the pain was kicking my ass hardcore, so I didn't write as much as I would have liked. Nonetheless, here is my week in gaming:

New York Console Games:

(Update) American McGee's Alice is a cult-classic PC title that was acclaimed for it's macabre, unhinged take on the Lewis Carroll stories "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass." Alice, Madness Returns is the sequel, set ten years after the events of the first title. I forgot to add this article preview at the time of the writing of this entry. Whoops.

My review of Arc Rise Fantasia went live. The verdict? Surprisingly good battle system (especially considering it's entirely turn-based) with a piss-poor localization. I honestly feel that Ignition (the publisher) cut some serious corners with their effort on the game. The dialogue is weak, and the voice overs are atrocious.

Video Game Trailers:

Bioshock Infinite hit the scene with it's impressive cinematic trailer, and let's just say that the new setting is fucking awesome. Bioshock has abandoned the underwater utopia of "Rapture" in favor of something fresher, and I think the decision is brilliant. Check it out.

Multiplayer Games:

Guild Wars 2 developers interviewed with a french (I believe) MMO website called "Univers Virtuels," and discussed a few elements of the game. They were extremely tight lipped, so we

get little more than snippets of info, but considering how secretive ArenaNet (the developer) has been on the subject of it's upcoming game, I assume any info is better than none. Right?

The badass Guild Wars 2 video, the "MMO Manifesto" promises everything from the kitchen sink to the second coming. I have to admit, It got me excited a bit. Guild Wars wasn't a major blip on my radar, but I feel compelled to keep an eye on it now. I hope they deliver.

The sexy TERA reveals it's screenies of the week, detailing the cities of Velika and Castanica. In addition, we get some super sexy skill reveals for the Sorcerer and Priest class. Sorcerer's get a powerful area-of-effect sleep spell, and Priests get a badass magical bolt combo. Last week saw the reveal of new skills for the Archer, Warrior, Slayer, and Mystic.

Blade & Soul, the sexy South Korean MMORPG from NCSoft, with artwork by the renowned Hyung Tae Kim, is promising a playable demo by the end of the year. They won't be at GamesCom this week, and they very likely won't be demoing at Tokyo Game Show, which leaves G-Star for the demo reveal. God, it's gonna be so sexy...

And that about covers it! My mouth feels like shit courtesy of the tooth-pulling, so I only wrote one article today, but I intend to write plenty this week. Expect to see some Civilization V, TERA, Ys Seven, and more this Sunday!

Dracozombie's week in gaming: August 1-7

2010-08-11T17:21:00.006-04:00

I... forgot to post on Sunday. Again. Clearly, punctuality isn't my strongest point. Still, it's only Wednesday, so I'm not terribly late in posting this. And besides, I have writers block, so writing this out now may get my creative man-juices flowing.

I'm gonna try something bold and creative: a new, ass-kicking style for my "week in gaming" posts. Let's hope it looks good.

New York Console Games:

Ys Seven's official website is now open!

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Ys Seven's release is fast approaching, and fans of the action-RPG genre should definitely not miss it. To create a bit of hype before the August 17...
Keep Reading »

Multiplayer Games:

TERA Introduces New Class Skills & Screenshots of the Week

Monday, August 2, 2010

TERA's has revealed the latest in-game images of the Valley of Nihil, a desert region within the game world, as well as examples of newly developed skills being introduced in the already action-packed MMORPG.

Richard Garriott Awarded $28 mil. in Lawsuit Against NCsoft

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Korean gaming giant NCsoft, responsible for Aion, Lineage, and the upcoming Blade & Soul, has been dealt a nasty blow by former employee Richard Garriott, of Ultima and Tabula Rasa fame. On a federal court jury in Texas awarded him $28 million dollars as a result of his lawsuit against NCsoft last year

Final Fantasy XIV Impressions and Beta Key Giveaway

Friday, August 6, 2010

1Up's Michael Vreeland has posted his impressions of FFXIV. He touches on the character creation system, intro and low-level gameplay, combat system, and quests. Also, the Final Fantasy XIV community FFXIVCore is having a beta key giveaway, so you can actually get in and play the game for yourself.

Blizzard to Stamp-out “Erotic Role Playing” in World of Warcraft

Friday, August 6, 2010

The town Goldshire in the role-playing server Moon Guard is apparently renowned as a hotspot for unrestrained, lascivious sexuality and zany shenanigans. What began as a complaint topic on World of Warcraft's customer service forum has resulted in a serious crack-down from Blizzard. They will now be policing the Goldshire for harassment and erotic role-playing.

And that about does it! This looks absolutely ghastly on the publishing tool, but doesn't look too bad on the published page. I'll probably adopt this for future posts. And yes, I didn't do anything for Video Game Trailers. I've had a damned toothache that hasn't let up, and a splitting headache since last Monday, so my work has fallen behind a bit. Hopefully my Dentist's visit tomorrow will alleviate this somewhat and let me kick ass with writing.

Dracozombie's last two weeks in gaming: July 18-31

2010-08-02T02:29:00.010-04:00

Umm... well, I forgot to write in my blog last week. I know I said I wouldn't not write, but unfortunately, I did. Lucky for you, I'll post double the normal amount of ass-kicking gaming content in a single post! I know, I spoil you. But there is no such thing as "too much of a good thing," I say.

New York Console Games:

I posted my hands-on preview of Mafia II, which I play-tested a few weeks prior. I have to say that, despite the awkward faces/lip movement, the game looks fantastic. Good combat, good voice acting, interesting story, and great look.

The weekly Japanese comic and game magazine Shonen Jump, revealed some interesting info on Namco's popular Tales series. Tales of Graces is headed to PS3s, a new Tales game is in the works (also for the PS3), and more.

Video Game Trailers Examiner:

I updated this column like mad these last two weeks, LOL.

The Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep website updated with some awesome gameplay demonstrations:

The mobile Kingdom Hearts title, Coded, is getting a graphical face-lift. As you can see by the awesome trailer, the gameplay is perhaps the most varied of any in the series.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, the newest and sweetest clash between the legendary companies, has revealed two new characters in the fighting universe. Amaterasu, (yes, mother-fucking Ammy, goddess of the sun in wolf form and heroine of the awesome Okami), and the thunder-god badass Thor.

San Diego's Comic Con revealed some cool stuff, but the Street Fighter Vs. Tekken trailer raised more than a fair share of eyebrows. Yes, Street Fighter. Yes, Tekken.

Speaking of Okami, the DS sequel Okamiden has recently revealed a new gameplay trailer, and is so over-the-top cute I can't say much other than... damned, that's cute. Really, though, Chibi is the cutest puppy-wolf-god ever.

Halo: Reach, the latest and greatest title in the acclaimed Halo series has released it's launch trailer, and the game looks pretty damned sweet. The scale is incredible, so don't miss it.

MultiplayerGames.com:

TERA, the awesome action MMORPG from South Korea is being published by En Masse Entertainment in North America. However, it is being published by Frogster Entertainment in Europe, known primarily for their free-to-play titles.

DC Universe Online, the action MMORPG from Sony Online Entertainment and Warner Bros. Interactive, is (or rather, was) accepting registration for their beta later this year. They are also offering ass-loads of pre-order goodies should you decide to reserve the game.

Heroes of Three Kingdoms, based on the heavily romanticized "Three Kingdoms" era of Chinese history, entered open beta testing on July 27th.

Frogster took notice of the negative press from European TERA fans, and made a formal address on TERA's official forums to explain what exactly they would be doing in collaboration with En Masse and Blue Hole regarding localizing the game.

The Vindictus article I wrote a few weeks back got some good attention, so I was asked to whip up another article on the subject. Fortunately, the official Vindictus website uploaded some character and gameplay trailers for the game, which you can watch on Multiplayer Games.

San Diego's recent Comic Con revealed a crap-storm of new of stuff. TERA unveiled a few new game-enriching mechanics: The Glyph System, achievements, and an improved user-interface

Dracozombie's week in gaming: July 11-17

2010-07-18T21:01:00.008-04:00

Still haven't come up with a decent title. It'll come to me, eventually. Anyway, another week has come and gone. I feel as though I didn't really do much during the week, which is weird, since I also feel like I've been pulled every-which-way these last few days.

New York Console Games:

Last week (July 10, 2010) saw a Dragon Quest IX event at the Nintendo World Store at Rockefeller Center. This week saw a new event at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Called the Wii Games: Summer 2010, Nintendo invited players to join in the summer spirit and compete in some video game tournaments.

Ys' Official Facebook page uploaded some new images for the upcoming Ys Seven title for the PSP. Being an avid Ys fan, this is definitely something I look forward to. This game introduces all new concepts to the series, particularly the three-person party mechanic. Ys Seven is scheduled for release on August 17th, so give it a look-see if you own a PSP.

MultiplayerGames.com:

Bioware is officially testing it's upcoming MMORPG based on the Star Wars mythos. Star Wars: The Old Republic is undergoing small focused-group tests, and will branch out into larger scale tests as the year progresses.

Runes of Magic, the very well-known free-to-play MMORPG, is introducing a relationship system. Marriage is at the core, but friendships and family ties can also be established. Runes of Magic is also introducing a video-tutorial system to help newbie players get into the game.

I did another piece on Allods Online and it's stupid fucking cash-shop nonsense. The game's player-base ran the hell away because the game is now without a doubt pay-to-win. I also wrote an article for MMOsite on the subject, but it was too opinionated and actually got taken down. Self-pwnage?

There is a bit of TERA info out: an interview reveals some info on the jumping mechanic and crafting. I also put up the most recent (at the time) screenshots of the week, which publisher En Masse puts on the official website weekly.

Vindictus, the upcoming free-to-play MMORPG is holding it's closed beta on July 22. The game is heavily action-based, and very awesome-looking. For a free-to-play title, Vindictus looks like it will offer some great gameplay. Sign-up for the beta test ends on July 19th, so you may still be able to get in!

Dragon's Call, a free-to-play browser-based MMORPG, had a bit of controversy go it's way: A player learned that the word "Gay" was banned/flagged by the World Chat system. In essence, you couldn't say the word in-game. Which pissed off the player, who threatened to sue.

Lastly, Free Realms, the ridiculously popular online virtual world, is offering a lifetime membership to it's players. Shell out $29.99, and you can get premium access to Free Realms. Considering how the damned game is growing at a rate of about a million players a month, you may want to check out the game and see what all the hullabaloo is about.

I haven't written anything for Video Game Trailers, and that's pretty fucking sad. I need to get back on-point.

A week in the life of Dracozombie...

2010-07-14T00:42:00.013-04:00

I've been so bad to this poor blog. This is the one and only place I can really cut loose and talk about the games I love in a way that won't get me in trouble, and I haven't posted in the poor girl in well over two months. For shame, Gabriel. For shame.

So I came up with a kick-ass idea!

Since I'm so busy writing everywhere else, I'll re-cap what I wrote every Sunday here on The Gaming Gab. Not only is this a shameless self-promotion, but I can (hopefully) benefit from an SEO boost with links going every-which-way to all my writing sources. And I'll actually be using my fucking blog! Whoamfg!

All I need to do is come up with a catchier title...

Anyway, here is last week, (July 4- July 10), in gaming:

New York Console Games:

I wrote a review for Toy Story 3: The videogame. The game itself is pretty good, especially considering it's a movie-tie-in game. Check it out if you get the chance.

I also wrote a preview for a surprisingly bad-ass Dragon Quest IX event at the Nintendo World Store at Rockefeller Center. Plenty of people showed up, and the game itself looks sweet.

Video Game Trailers:

The awesome Vanquish E32010 trailer. Like the love-child of a first-person shooter and a third-person action game, Vanquish looks fucking amazing. Platinum Games is on a roll.

The Last Story finally revealed it's debut trailer. I don't wan't to get to excited yet, but The Last Story looks fucking great. It's like Sakaguchi (the father of Final Fantasy) is showing Square-Enix what an action-RPG should look like. And it's for the Wii. A pwn-some A-RPG on the Wii? Inconceivable! And yet...

Multiplayergames.com:

Uploaded the E3 2010 demo-walkthrough for TERA, a fucking incredible action-MMORPG from South Korea. In a genre with few action-intense games, TERA is going in for the kill.

Wrote about Allods Online's ridiculously ass-backwards patch. The developers have replaced one stupid, player-deterring gameplay mechanic with an even stupider player-deterring mechanic.

TERAFans hosted some sexy-as-fuck armor renders for the demonic "Castanic" female characters in TERA. My weak, tempted manliness couldn't resist, so I had to write about it.

And that about wraps it up! Join me next week for more of Dracozombie's week in gaming! (It's a working title, please STFU).

Final Fantasy XIII: It's a love-hate thing

2010-05-13T20:01:00.011-04:00

I'm as much a Final Fantasy fan as anyone. True, I haven't played much of the Nintendo Final Fantasy games (just chunks of FFVI and FFIV), but I've played through all of Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, X-2, XII, and now XIII, plus the first disk of FFVIII and a few hours of FFXI. That's a lot of fucking Final Fantasy. And sadly, the latest installment, Final Fantasy XIII is tied with FFVIII as my least favorite of the games in the series.

Gameplay wise, XIII is the strongest game in the series. You cannot fucking argue this. The Job system has been re-worked and refined as the Role system, where many of the series' staple moves and abilities have been modified and simplified to fit six basic "jobs", all of which are actually useful in battle. Characters can input up to six commands at a time, and can act before the gauge is full, making combat flow much better and faster. MP is gone: everything uses varying amounts of the ATB gauge. Awesome.

The chain system, lifted from Final Fantasy X-2, has been re-worked into a system that heavily impacts how fights play out. Chaining and Staggering determines how much damage you deal to enemies: the higher the combo chain, the more damage you deal. When enemies hit a certain point in the chain, (it varies by enemy type), the enemy will enter "stagger" state, making it vulnerable to damned near everything, and dropping it's defense to shit, leaving them open to all kinds of sodomy.

All in all, the gameplay is a fucking model for future games in the series.

So why don't I like it?

Well, the characters are shit, the story is shit, and worst of all, the developers prioritized the story. The first five hours of the game has you running around linear corridors doing all sorts of action-movie-esque stupid nonsense, all the while the game is throwing out random fucking jargon information that doesn't make sense to anyone who isn't a developer or has a fucking summary of the story in-hand.

Once the developers pull their heads out of their ass and start telling the story, you still continue playing the game on rails for hours on end before the game actually lets you do something that isn't story related. I clocked in at about 22 hours before Grand Pulse (where the game opens up). Twenty-two motherfucking HOURS. That's a long fucking exposition for a game with such a simplistic, melodrama-riddled story. What does the story boil down to, that requires such a long and elaborate set-up? People fighting their fate. Defiance. Not accepting the circumstances, and fighting to survive. Thats IT. Square-Enix took over twenty hours to say that. Jesus weeping on the cross.

I hate Final Fantasy VIII for similar reasons. The gameplay improved in every way from Final Fantasy VII, but the story was such angsty shit, and some of the situations the characters found themselves in were so fucking ridiculous, I actually couldn't play past the first disk without feeling my gag-reflexes kick in.

Bayonetta: The best thing since instant noodles

2010-04-23T22:45:00.006-04:00

Everyone knows instant noodles are the shit. Maruchan, or good old Nissin, are fucking classic. Well, until I discovered Bayonetta.

Okay, not really "discovered": I've been playing the thing since January. However, I find that it's such an incredibly rich action title, and just an incredible game in general, that I keep coming back to it regardless of whatever else I'm doing. Food? Fuck it, that means less time for Bayonetta! Work? My boss can blow me. Other games? Why bother? They aren't Bayonetta.

Seriously though, Bayonetta boasts the complex branching combo lists of the Ninja Gaiden games, the ability to free-form and spice up combos with ass-loads of extra moves like Devil May Cry on crack, and a cool finisher system that's something like a mix between God Hands roulettes and reflex-based QTE's. On top of that, the enemies are both challenging and fun to fight (who'da thunk?), and the bosses are so epic they make every other action game boss look like absolute shit. SHIT. Christ, just the first boss (Fortitudo, the two-headed chrome dragon-angel) is so fucking incredible and satisfying to fight the game guarantees a Jizzgasm for fighting it. It says so on the back of the fucking box. (Read: no it doesn't).

Story wise, the game is silly, and rarely gets serious. This isn't a bad thing. I can't begin to tell you how stupid games make themselves look when they present shitty, nonsensical conflicts completely seriously, I.E. Ninja Gaiden. Pull your head out of your ass, please. Bayonetta has a great sense of humor, the voice acting is great, and some of the torture attacks are fucking hilarious.

It's only real flaw is the odd instant-kills the game throws at you, be it during some platforming segments, or during cutscene QTEs. Once you recognize them, they aren't a problem, but knowing doesn't make it any less inconvenient.

Here's a little review of mine, which I published for Examiner.com

Anyway, play this game if you haven't already. PLAY IT. I'm serious.

Metroid: Other M, leaked introduction???

2010-03-02T17:08:00.004-05:00

This is the leaked introduction to Metroid: Other M. The 3D render for Mother Brain and the Baby Metroid are what make this trailer badass, which explains why Nintendo keeps taking the fucking thing down from Youtube. No doubt they'll catch on and pull it off here too. Which will suck. But still, enjoy it while you can.

I wish it showed some actual game-play.

... Sigh.

Metroid: Other M, New Cinematic Trailer

2010-03-02T17:01:00.004-05:00

Metroid: Other M, New Cinematic Trailer

Not much is known about the title, but the game seems to flesh-out Samus' humanity, and give her some actual personality. Mind-blowing, I know.

On top of that, Tecmo's Team Ninja is co-developing the title with Nintendo. Boob-physics FTW. If this title does well, maybe Nintendo will enlist another developer to help make Zelda less stagnant.

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Just Cause 2, pretty badass trailer

2010-01-15T16:49:00.003-05:00

What's cool is actually the way the video plays out. You play as Nico, the super-secret ace in the Agency's sleeve, who tackles the military regime in Panau in pursuit of his former boss and mentor Tom Sheldon. It seems going rogue with military intel and cash is not something the Agency takes too lightly.

So you can actually branch out and "play" through different scenarios by clicking on different prompts when you reach a certain part of the video. Kinda like a "choose your own story" book. Neat.

Here comes the New Year...

2009-12-31T23:17:00.002-05:00

After neglecting my poor blog for well over a month -a shit-storm of everything bad that shouldn't have happened did happen- I have finally settled everything out (more or less) and can devote myself to my thoughts and writing.

I managed to write a few articles for Multiplayergames.com, submit a few trailers for Examiner.com, and worked on (but never got around to submitting) four articles on misogyny, sexual orientation, and women in videogames (particularly MMOs). I'll get on those ASAP this January.

The coming year is bringing lots of new games to try out as well; games like Bayonetta, Darksiders, Fragile, Final Fantasy XIII, No More Heroes II, Arc Rise Fantasia, and ass-loads more I can't even begin to try and remember.

In any case, the new year is fast approaching (half an hour more, here in New York City). I always said fuck New Year's Revolutions (and I still do), so my promise to myself this coming year is to be honest with myself and tell people how I feel, instead shutting my thoughts up and coddling/ accommodating every needy fuck out there to my own displeasure. I live in New York, after all, nobody here censors themselves like I do, considering how rough and downright nasty people can be in this shit-hole.

I'll need to work on some witty retorts for when the need arises...

Happy New Year, everyone!

Blade & Soul at G-Star 2009 game festival in Busan, South Korea!

2009-11-29T20:03:00.004-05:00

All I can say is "Holy Shit". It looks like a must-own MMORPG.

I did a little blurb on Blade & Soul a few months back, (here), when it caught my attention with a beautiful video trailer of the world, the premise of the game (Asian myth and martial-arts), and the freaking fantastic artwork by manhwa artist Hyung-Tae Kim. (Blade & Soul is the only game with Hyung-Tae Kim as it's character illustrator where the characters actually look like their illustrations).

I was very much impressed.

At the G-Star game event in Busan, South Korea, NCsoft revealed two major trailers, one which you can see on Examiner.com, and another which was shown in a press conference, which is pretty shitty quality as it looks like it was filmed on a cell-phone.

Nonetheless, the viewable trailer (again, click here to see it, but be sure to come back) shows us four races total, the Jin and Gon, as well as the slender, graceful new Kun race, and the tiny fox-kids, the Lyn.

In addition, four playable classes were announced, the Sword Masters and Kung-Fu Masters (which we already knew about) plus the new Force Masters (gravity and energy type mages) and Destroyers, the massive axe wielding tanks of the game.

Man, the game looks too fucking awesome to pass up. I can't wait for actual gameplay videos to hit Youtube when the game hits open beta.

God Of War III Vs. Bayonetta; a comparison piece by David A.

2009-11-19T23:05:00.008-05:00

A recent article on thesavepoints.com caught my eye. It was a lengthy comparison of the God of War III demo gameplay with the gameplay found in Bayonetta.

Here's a brief excerpt:

"I really wanted to see the contrast between both games, as I’m sure a lot of people will skip Bayonetta simply because God of War III is coming out just a bit later in 2010. In my opinion, that’s a shame, because from what I’ve experienced from the demo, Bayonetta is a much better experience."

"Wait Dave, are you comparing a full game to a demo? I guess I’ll have to call guilty to that one. But wait! I was a strong defender of the Bayonetta PS3 demo before the game came out in Japan, as I believed that the subpar demo was an issue of it being an in- development built. And I was right. So I’m not going to judge GoW III fully before the full game is out either. I’d be too much of an hypocrite to do so. But we can still take a look at design choices for both games and compare them."

"First and foremost, God of War III’s graphics are one of its high point. We can all assume that even as good as it looks running right now, it’ll look better when the game hits us this spring. Nothing to doubt here. The game’s engine is stunningly better at rendering than Bayonetta. Oh, I haven’t looked much at the 360 version of Bayonetta, so I’m always speaking of the PS3 version."

Interesting stuff. Read the full article here.

I'm definitely looking forward to Bayonetta, simply because it's fun. I haven't had this much fun with an action game since God Hand. The entire game exhudes polish, and while God of War is just as polished (if not more so), the gameplay in Bayonetta looks like a brilliant combination of everything great about action games. God of War's combat simply isn't as deep or satisfying.

In honor of Bayonetta's release in Japan...

2009-11-07T22:24:00.005-05:00

Yes, Bayonetta is out and about in Japan. Don't know the exact figures, but I read she sold over 100,000 copies on her first day, outselling Tekken 6. Pretty badass. Looks like Hideki Kamiya has developed a game that struck the right chord with Japan (who, for whatever reason, aren't usually as into his games as Americans are).

Good for her, and good for Hideki Kamiya and all of Platinum Games. I would be more excited, but since I have to wait two extra fucking months for the game, I'll sulk a bit, if you don't mind.

Anyway, to commemorate the re-defining of the action genre with Bayonetta's release, I've embedded a little music from the game to whet you're appetite. Here is the Jeanne's boss-fight music.

Track uploaded by wishyyy

I've actually been looking for this track for some time now. Great music.

New Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep trailer!

2009-10-21T21:25:00.003-04:00

Brand new trailer from the Tokyo Game show for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

Wrote a pimp-ass article for it on Examiner.com. He's a small excerpt:

"Birth By Sleep takes place about ten years prior to the original events of Kingdom Hearts,revolving around the Keyblade masters before Sora and Riku. One in particular, Master Xehanort (the old man) as well as his apprentice (Vanitas), disappeared. Terra, Aqua and Ventus, three apprentices and the knights in the secret trailer, were ordered to find him."

For the rest of the article (and the bad-ass video trailer), click here.

Video: Final Fantasy XIII, English TGS trailer

2009-10-06T11:33:00.001-04:00

Video: Final Fantasy XIII, English TGS trailer

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Bayonetta's surprise demo at the NY Anime Festival

2009-09-28T21:04:00.001-04:00

Bayonetta's surprise demo at the NY Anime Festival

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Midpoint! WCG National Tournament, Day two.

2009-09-27T09:36:00.001-04:00

Midpoint! WCG National Tournament, Day two.

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World Cyber Games National Tournament: Day One

2009-09-26T03:16:00.001-04:00

World Cyber Games National Tournament: Day One

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Bayonetta's Tokyo Game Show Trailer

2009-09-24T17:07:00.003-04:00

Well, you know me. I'm really looking forward to this. So it comes as no surprise that I'm posting more Bayonetta awesomeness

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Hell yes, I want me some of that. January can't come any faster, damned it. Credit to lucasciclope.

In other news, the New York Anime Festival takes off tomorrow, and I'm gonna be reporting there. Pretty cool, eh? I'm gonna focus on the World Cyber Games national tournaments, but there is a lot of shit going down this weekend aside from just that. I'm making myself a schedule in hopes of catching as much of it as possible, and will be reporting at night. Wish me luck!

Early look: Tales of Graces

2009-09-17T19:38:00.001-04:00

Early look: Tales of Graces

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First 15 minutes of Bayonetta

2009-09-14T14:39:00.010-04:00

UPDATE!!!!

Sega's Ninja Lawyers, I swear. They took it down pretty much the same day.

Anyway, let me give a somewhat brief and vague description, at least.

The trailer starts off with the old "long since erased" intro, with Bayonetta and Jeanne looking into the far-off moon. An army of angels is fast approaching, and the camera turns to reveal both of the women, standing on a falling clock tower, ready to fight. And fight they do. Holy shit it's cool. As they fight, (and it looks like you actually control Bayonetta in this sequence), you hear about the backstory between clans. Some dispute arose between them, which caused a rift, which led to a war. The Umbra clan was victorious, until they were targetted by common folk and murdered during witch hunts. The Umbra witches were wiped out. All save for one.

Switch to modern day. We have Bayonetta, (in a nun outfit), praying in a graveyard. Enzo, a greasy italian "buisnessman", is talking all sorts of shit. (I swear, his lines are fucking hilarious). Apparently, Bayonetta is summoning the angels down to her, and they respond, with more hilarity from Enzo.

She dashes into the air, kicks ass, and transforms (bombastically), into the outfit we know and love her for. More fighting and Rodin rises from the grave (with a coffin full of guns). Talking, teasing, and still more fighting, and that concludes the intro, and the game dives into more action.

*****

I am literally watching this as I post. So freakin' sweet!

Holy shit it's awesome. I can't tell you how badly I want this game. The second coming of action, indeed.

And here is part 2! Props to Rikarikachu from Youtube for the upload.

For the Lulz

2009-08-31T16:53:00.002-04:00

God Hand is awesome. So much so, in fact, that it needs to be said again. God Hand is awesome.

Even the ending credits are awesome. Bow down to the overwhelming (and Hilarious) awesomeness that is God Hand. You cannot resist.

Your brain is no doubt trying to catch up from being smoked by awesomeness. It's okay, it happens to everyone.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Awesomeness I'm not gonna buy

2009-08-16T12:47:00.004-04:00

Look, Tomonobu Itagaki is a massive dick. Just absolutely massive. Arrogant to a fault, with no sense of respect for anyone who is not himself, especially towards developers in his same genre.

But, he developed for the X-box 360, and I don't intend to buy a PS3 until it's actually reasonably priced.

So it sucks that, now that Tecmo gave Itagaki the boot, Ninja Gaiden 2 is getting ported over the the PS3 with extra boss fights, new enemies, new weapons, and three new fucking characters.

Oh, well. It looks pretty badass. And you know what they say; you can't win them all.

Bayonetta broke my heart...

2009-07-20T19:45:00.004-04:00

Oh God, it hurts. She ripped my heart out, stomped on it, laughed at me, and poured lemon juice on the gaping wound. My life will never be the same... I don't know what I'll do with out her... I... I....

Okay, enough teenage drama bullshit.

Turns out, because of the shit-storm of games coming out this fall and winter; Modern Warfare 2 (which I'm buying), Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (which can kiss my ass, unless it's coming out on the 360), Assassin's Creed 2 (never got into the series), Demon's Souls (read Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2), and a whole plethora of other games, my sexy little Bayonetta is being pushed back to fucking January.

I'm so pissed about this I could kick a puppy or three.

I can understand, though. Madworld was hella fun, but the sales were lackluster. It doesn't surprise me that Sega is being cautious this time around and releasing its AAA title when there isn't much else to compete with it.

*Sigh*

If that's what it takes, I guess....

Birth by Sleep: Heavy on the Awesomesauce

2009-07-13T22:36:00.003-04:00

Well, you may not know this, but I'm a Kingdom Hearts fan. The series took me by surprise, and I really did fall in love with it. It's like nostalgia to the max, re-living all my favorite Disney memories. The gameplay is pleasantly sweet to boot.

What I fucking hate, though is Japanese-exclusive releases. After releasing Kingdom Hearts 2 in the NTSC region, Tetsuya Nomura decided to re-release it in Japan (ONLY), after he fucking said he wouldn't do that. So Japan got a KH2 with new moves, new abilities, new fucking bosses, (like twelve of them), and new areas. Plus, they released it with a PS2 remake of KH: Chain of Memories. Thank God though, that Square saw fit to release Re: Chain of Memories in the States, otherwise I'd have sent Square-Enix of Japan a tasty letter bomb or three.

Anyway, if you finish Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix plus on Critical Mode (the new uber-hard mode), you get this fucking awesome cinematic.

Birth by Sleep is being developed for the PSP. Guess I'll have to go out and buy one now.

Even more Bayonetta goodness

2009-07-07T17:00:00.004-04:00

You can probably already tell, but I'm a big Hideki Kamiya fan, and a big Platinum Games fan. I really, really hope the team and their games do well.

So obviously, I'm excited whenever anything Bayonetta is released.

On their PlatinumGames website, the team members posts small blurbs about what that specific member does, background design, artwork, etc. This week, the team posted a small vid where Hideki Kamiya answers questions asked on the blog.

Looks like they're havin' fun working on the game.

Magna Carta 2 looks like it won't suck

2009-06-26T17:26:00.004-04:00

Really. Magna Carta 2 is looking pretty sex. The gameplay looks like a cross between an Action RPG, and Final Fantasy XII, which is looking very, very cool.

Oh so very cool.

The shitty part is that there are alot of nice-looking games coming out pretty damned soon. And I have, like, no fucking money. Bayonetta, Muramasa, Darksiders, Magna Carta 2, and I know I'm forgetting something or another.

Sad panda = me.

Found the Bayonetta trailer again

2009-06-25T14:53:00.002-04:00

Yeah. I figured Sega would take down the leaked trailer Gamekyo was hosting. And they pull the trailer down every time someone posts it on Youtube.

Fortunately, the uber secret internet ninjas at 4playerpodcast are hosting it there. And I'm embedding it here too. And maybe saving it on my computer as well, just in case Sega decided to 404-error our asses.

Schedules suck, and a new comment!

2009-06-21T15:06:00.008-04:00

Reading up all that E3 jazz has been insanely time consuming, made worse because I'm trying to write about it all.

Anyway, yesterday marks my #10 article published for Examiner.com, so I need to pat myself on the back for that. Read up on it here.

Now, onto more awesome news. I noticed a comment was left under my Misogyny #2 post. Thanks very much Yunafire for that comment. I'd like to address a few points.

-Personally I think Ashe could be a great female lead were she not burdened with seeing her dead husband every five minutes

-I would agree that Ashe could be a great female lead too. She is head-strong, ambitious, and a skilled fighter to boot. Her husband is a major motivator for her, as well as the restoration of her throne and people. As far as the ghost-husband thing, well, that's actually a story related vision she gets which I won't spoil for you. It's much more than just dramatic effect.

-And she can't wield the big, heavy Sword of Kings, only the smaller thinner ones. Ahem, symbolic imagery, much?

-About the Sword of Kings: well, it's a big fucking sword. Absolutely massive. I think that she couldn't use it in the cutscene was simply to imply how big/ heavy the blade actually was. I think she can weild it during the game, though can't she? (I though I equipped her with it during play, only to find that it sucked).

And about her not handling big and heavy swords, but only small, thin ones, well that just implies.... that she can't handle.... that she's not.... I wont get into that, LOL. I know what you mean though, innuendos and all.

The problem with Ashe is the problem I have with FFXII; the story is much too sparse. It really does feel like an MMO, where you play with only tidbits of story given to you at critical points. Some elements should have been introduced much, much earlier. (Venaat, and the Occuria), and some elements needed expanding. The characters in particular get just enough screen time to establish their personalities, but I don't feel any genuine development as the story progresses. They're just... there. The game doesn't focus on the war or it's people much either, (again only at critical points), so in the end I walk away from FFXII wanting a bit more.

So I wish we knew more about Ashe than what little the game gives us. If she and the other characters had more screen time, and more life and emotion in the scenes that they are involved with, than the story and characters of FFXII would be excellent.

-Oh, and on the idea that Balthier isn't pretty enough for yaoi, I'm here to tell you, that's far from the case. And I only know that through...uh, research. Yeah.

-About the yaoi thing, well lets just say I know full well how pretty and, um, open minded Balthier can be. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but, yeah.... But I think the fact that he is a suave, smooth-talking badass makes him harder to relate to, (for the average teenage FF consumer), than a blunt little teen-prick. Who is prettier. And less manly.

-To me, Vaan isn't the main character at all. He's merely a way for the audience's questions to be answered.

-I hate Vaan. He definitely isn't the central character, but that the story is told more-or-less through his eyes irks me to hell. He's unnecessary, or at least he would be if we were given Balthier or Ashe instead.

Glad you liked the post, and thanks for reading, Yunafire and all!

Happy father's day!

New Bayonetta trailer!

2009-06-18T11:43:00.000-04:00

I noticed GameFAQs' Bayonetta forums were buzzing yesterday and learned, much to my disappointment, that a brand new trailer for the game had been leaked to the public before it was intended to be shown. No doubt it is being saved for E3, 2009.

Well, I missed my chance to see it. (Hence, the Disappointment). Fortunately, for the moment Gamekyo is hosting the trailer. So I'm embedding it here too!

UPDATE:

Yeah. Sega took it down. Sugar-doodles. Oh well. I'll find it again, eventually.

Business trips suck.

2009-06-13T10:46:00.003-04:00

Been to Ecuador to resolve an inheritence hiccup on my mothers behalf. Crappiest two weeks I've had in a long, long time.

Worse still, I missed out on E3, only the biggest gaming event in the Americas. God-freaking-damn.

So now I'm playing catch up; reading up on every new bit of info that's been released these last two weeks.

*Sigh*

Anyway, I posted 4 new Examiner articles while I was away. Check them out!

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria- http://bit.ly/valkyrie_profile
Odin Sphere- http://bit.ly/odin_sphere
God Hand- http://bit.ly/god_hand
Blade and Soul- http://bit.ly/Blade_and_Soul

Read 'em NOW! LOL.

A Little MadWorld In Your Life

2009-05-21T18:20:00.003-04:00

MadWorld 'Death Watch Boss Battles' trailer

A little bit of awesomeness, by the name of "MadWorld". It's on sale at Gamestop for $30. Check it out!

Check Me Out

2009-05-17T20:52:00.004-04:00

I've been featured on Examiner.com! http://bit.ly/HipGamer. Pretty cool, eh?

I Like Women. Really.

2009-05-16T19:30:00.001-04:00

I've noticed that as of yet, there aren't too many good female mains in videogames. No, I don't mean "main" like love interest main, as is sadly the case with most games and movies nowadays; I mean lead character. Typically, your standard leading lady is a big-breasted, under-clothed strumpet who tries too hard to be sexy and badass and falls flat as a character because of it. Lara Croft, Ayumi, Nariko, Rachel, etc. All eye-candy with crap personalities and attitude.

However, there is one female character who is not only my favorite woman in videogames, she stands as one of my favorite videogame characters of all time, right up there with Zidane from Final Fantasy IX. This woman is Lenneth Valkyrie.

Lenneth is the central character in "Valkyrie Profile", an RPG developed by Tri-Ace, and published by Square-Enix. A lead in a genre dominated by males, Lenneth is a powerful character, being the Goddess and reaper of the souls of the slain. She is strong, proud and confident, possessing something of a superiority complex, but she is counter-balanced by her sealed humanity, the meek, shy and insecure girl she was during her life as a human.

As the story progresses, we see Lenneth grow emotionally and dynamically; she begins to doubt the will of the Gods, and develops a deep bond with the souls she encounters during her mission, until at last her humanity is awakened, and she faces down the threat to her world and her people.

What's really cool, aside from playing as a God, is that Lenneth doesn't have to whore herself to the player with skimpy outfits or giant tits to win any favor. Her character and story alone warmed me to her. She is badass because her personality is badass. No nonsense, a strong sense of right and wrong, and when she regains her humanity and memories, not even the Gods can stand in her way.

More Sexy Bayonetta Goodness

2009-05-13T16:13:00.007-04:00

As you probably already noticed, I'm pretty damned excited about Platinum Games' upcoming title "Bayonetta". It's being directed by Hideki Kamiya, the director from the first Devil May Cry. If you've played the first DMC, you'll know why I hold that game in such high regard, and why I'm expecting Bayonetta to be the Second Coming.

But even if you haven't played DMC, (and really, any action gamer worth his/ her salt should play it; it's like 6 bucks at Gamestop), Kamiya was also at the head of Viewtiful Joe and Okami. Platinum Games itself is comprised of many ex-employees from Capcom's studio "Clover", (they developed God Hand, by the way). Surely, you've at least heard of these critically acclaimed games, right?

Anyway, a few weeks back, Platinum Games released the third Bayonetta trailer, titled the "First Climax Trailer", (seen here). Yesterday, Hideki Kamiya did a commentary on the First Climax Trailer, walking us through the flashy preview's many scenes and gameplay segments.

Check it out!

Opinions are like Butt-Holes....

2009-05-07T17:22:00.004-04:00

Yeah, yeah. You know the saying.

I post regularly on the GameFAQs forums, not only because of it's plethora of game news, but because it's such a great amalgam of voices, all shouting, debating, and speaking at once. I often find myself lost in thought, taking in all the opinions and ideas I pull from others there.

Anyway, a discussion regarding Star Ocean's story came up again. (Yes, I'm going to beat the dead horse). As you already know, I find S.O.'s story, it's overall presentation, and it's characters to be God-awful. Many in the forum agree, and drop a lengthy post about why they think so. Obviously, there are others who disagree, or find complaining about it pointless.

Some on the forum argue that gamers are not writers, and as such have no right or capacity to judge a games' story. Others argue that we don't need a degree in writing to judge a games' story, only our own extensive backgrounds in gaming. (I agree with the latter statement, though a degree is nice).

And, at the end of the day, I'm paying money for the game. It is a product. Why don't I have a right to complain about the product I'm purchasing, if it's flawed? If you ordered furniture, only to find the delivery service had broken a chair, would you suck it up and keep it? Of course not. Likewise, if I don't bitch, how will the developer know they shitted (shat?) in my case and called it a video game?

That's right, they won't. Bitch, gamers. It's your right.

Voice acting: The Gift and the Curse

2009-05-01T19:57:00.005-04:00

The first video game I played was Super Mario Bros. on my Nintendo in 1988. I lived in a 2 family house, and our landlord lived below us on the first floor. He had two sons who were my first friends, through the passing of time has clouded their faces from me. Rondel and Ruel were their names. The two had a plethora of games, and they introduced me to the lot of them.

Back in those days, it was common for games to have stories. However, they were usually brief back stories to the game proper, and tucked away in the games User Manual, which gamers discarded the minute they opened their game. So in reality, imagination played a major part in the games story. We were given a name, place, and time, and essentially set free in the games' world. Voice acting was very, very uncommon, mostly because of the limitations of the hardware in those days.

The advent of the PlayStation introduced larger, meatier system specs., and the expansion into the world of voices really took hold. Voice acting added a new level of immersion to games that could only be achieved before through our imagination. In fact, there are plenty of die-hard fans out there who adamantly reject voice acting in their favorite series,simply because they feel voicework would ruin "how they imagined it would be". (I'm looking at you, Zelda fans).

The problem with video game voice-work is the same problem that Anime faces: the crappy Voice Actor (VA). I feel that voice work has gotten gradually better over the years. It is rare that you get games with really bad VA's. (Click here for hilarity). As you can see, there are instances where the VA's are genuinely bad, or miscast, or simply don't give their performance there "all". Voice acting then becomes one of those things you define by it's bad, instead of it's good.

Now, I'm not condoning crap voice work. Quite the contrary; I am very critical of games regarding both their stories and their VA's. However, unless the voice work is miserably bad, I don't let these criticisms interfere with me playing my game. It just doesn't get to me like it would the typical wapanese otaku. I do understand, though, that bad VA's can easily ruin the immersion aspect the game was trying to achieve in the first place.

Mediocre though many claim American VA's to be, I sure as hell don't want to listen to Japanese VA's, who follow nothing but archetypes. Added to the fact that I don't know a lick of Japanese, and you have an unfun-filled gaming experience.

"Storytelling" in games: Part 3?

2009-04-20T18:54:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I touched the subject, but my train-ride from work got me thinking about it again.

To date, my favorite Japanese RPG has been, and still is, Final Fantasy IX. Why? Because as far as plot and presentation, I find it's the most uniform, and well thought out.

What it comes down to is style. FFIX presents it's world through pre-rendered backgrounds and areas, as did all Final Fantasies of the PS1 era. Because of this style, the scenes were relatively static. You walk and move your character through what is essentially a painting, with "walls" coded into the game to create the illusion of surface and space. So you couldn't "move the camera" or center the view behind your character; what you see on screen is all you will get.

Developers worked around this by creating multiple backgrounds for certain areas, and automatically shifting between screens as you approached borders. This was also implemented during story-scenes, which of course, gives the scenes a much more cinematic appearance because of the "dynamic" view shifts.

Lastly, as you can see above, FFIX and plenty of other videogames employed FMV. Essentially computer generated movies/ shorts, these play during dramatic or important scenes, and are wonderfully directed and exciting.

The result is a great mix. The story scenes go from simple, one camera scenes, to shifting perspective and panning scenes, and finally the FMV, which can be as dynamic as a real movie. But the beauty of FFIX, at least for me, is that the story is not overbearing. Perhaps because its because the story is presented through text/ speech bubbles, that the dialogue never gets annoying, as it does with voiced scenes. The FMV's are always a treat to watch, and the cinematic panning and shifts can still catch me by surprise. Maybe the variety of methods the game used to tell it's story made it so easy to enjoy.

I'll need to chew on it some more....

Misogyny? In My Videogames? Part Tres

2009-04-19T17:05:00.004-04:00

Let's wrap this matter up, before I go off on a tangent.

Here's the thing: Sex sells. It sells porn, it sells movies, and it sells videogames. And you can hate me for saying this, but it's not all bad. There is a good kind of sexy, and there is the tactless, shallow kind. Bayonetta, for instance (see the trailer in my "On a Lighter Note" post) is a heavy sexual trip. Innuendos abound, over-the-top sexiness, partial nudity, and God knows what else will be in the final product. However, its sexuality is so rampant and silly that the game can't be taken seriously; it becomes almost parodic.

Blade and Soul is another game with scantily clad women. But notice too, that many of it's men are scantily clad. This is Hyung-Tae Kim's style. He draws in a style that pretty much ignores any anatomic accuracy, in exchange for a look or feel. Which is why his characters are either hulking and half naked, pretty and half naked, or pretty, half naked, and massively boobed. It's like he captures everything I'm writing about in one art style.

So I judge a games tact based on balance. Either make the sexuality so over-the top that it's silly, or make everyone half naked. That way, everyone wins. Or loses?

Misogyny? In My Videogames? Continued...

2009-04-18T21:44:00.011-04:00

You see, men are divided into two camps in videogames: the "pretty boy", and the "manly man". There is no in-between. Japan in particular is notorious for super-prettying its males in videogames. In many cases, the only way the untrained eye can tell if a character is male or female is breasts. If the pretty character in question has breasts as big as footballs, it's female. Anything less, and it's male. The "manly" male characters are usually massive, 7 foot tall monstrosities that eat muscle for breakfast, and have jaws so great and square you would think they've partially swallowed a brick.

Well, so they're exaggerated a bit. No big deal, right? Well, not quite. In both cases, the characters are objectified, though the females get the worst of it. The women characters typically are more valuable as a walking pair of titties than as an important aspect of the story. Myuria in Star Ocean could have been left out entirely and no one would be the wiser. The only people who would notice would be those familiar with the Anime genre, who would wonder where their giant tit archetype went. Women typically wear a lot less than the men do, even when it makes no sense. So you're a woman knight, huh? Well, you're hot and all, but... uh, why is your midriff exposed and un-armored? Won't that be the first place you're enemies target? Of course, it gets a lot sillier than that.

Men are objectified as well, though. There is huge appeal in the markets (I'm looking at you, Japan) for the pretty male character in games. There is always at least one. Final Fantasy XII, for instance, was originally designed with Balthier as it's main character (a rather stylish air pirate in a badass embroidered vest and slacks). However because of the "pretty boy" demand, the story was told through the eyes of Vaan, a scantly clad teen in armored pants and a tiny vest. (I'm talking 10 sizes too small). And no shirt either, just the vest. The reason for the change, I can only surmise, is because the developers knew the Japanese fangirls wouldn't stand for a non-pretty main character that be couldn't paired up in yaoi fanfiction and art. (Or maybe not, who knows?)

Manly men are designed to appeal as well, but not in a particularly sexual way. "Manlies" are essentially the idealized male. Massive muscles, big jaws, "I'm gonna kill you" attitude; (cookie cutter stuff, really), these are the dudes men wish they could be, but are too lazy to put the effort into becoming. So you get to live out your muscely murderous wet dreams through the character instead.

Misogyny? In My Videogames? Part One

2009-04-14T18:24:00.014-04:00

My last post net me an interesting comment. Now, I like bewbs as much as any other guy (maybe a bit more than the other guy), but I play videogames for the immersion; to be able to lose yourself, if only for a moment, in another world. Call it escapism, or a distraction, or maybe even running away; I really don't care. Anyway, part of the whole immersion process comes from the games presentation; it's graphical, aural, and artistic appearance. Games that look and sound good are easier to get into than games that don't. The other aspect of immersion is the gameplay. Challenging gameplay, tight control, clever level designing, etc. all contribute to the "feel" of the game, which again, allows the player to really sink their teeth into the whole experience.

We have to keep in mind that Video Gaming is an entertainment industry, just like Film. As such, developers must focus not just on making entertaining games, but good-looking games too. Sexy games, even. Just like Hollywood cakes its actors' faces with makeup to make them more flawless and appealing, so too will developers "pretty up" its characters for the same effect. Fortunately for developers, videogame characters are complete fabrications. They are as flawless as they are designed, essentially.

So how do you make a flawless character more appealing? Exaggerate, of course! Make the hips wider! Make those legs thicker! Pinch down the waist! Her breasts need to be as big as her head! And why is she wearing so much clothes? For female characters, size is everything. Breasts are usually #1 on the super-size list. Developers have the fortune, as I said before, of working with fabrications. They don't need to hide "imperfections" ; they design their characters without them.

On a lighter note...

2009-04-11T22:45:00.000-04:00

I noticed my last few posts were rather negative and, well, pissy. I suppose I've just been having a crappy week. So instead of focusing on the disappointments in gaming I've been coming across, let's look on the brighter side of things.

Platinum Games' "Madworld" was released a few weeks ago, and looks bloody awesome. While I haven't picked it up yet, I will when I get my tax return.

With Madworld, I'll also be picking up the "Legacy of Ys" for the DS, just because "Ys" is an insanely cool series that, unlike Zelda, actually knows what it is and where it wants to go with its gameplay and story.

A brand-spanking new trailer for "Bayonetta" was released yesterday, seen here:

Damned sexy, as you can plainly see. Hideki Kamiya is at the helm of this project, the father of the first Devil May Cry, and Platinum Games is the developer, the same Platinum of "Madworld", who coincidentally, were originally team "Clover" at Capcom. So yes, these guys brought us DMC, and Resident Evil, and Viewtiful Joe, and Okami, and God Hand, etc. You can expect frantic, fast-paced, challenging action goodness from Bayonetta, to be sure. I know I am.

Another game to keep your eyes out for is "Blade and Soul" a Korean Mmorpg, being developed by NCsoft. What makes Blade and Soul cool as hell is that it's an Oriental Martial Arts MMO, set in an obviously Asian fantasy world. I read it's based loosely on the Korean myth called "Song of Genesis", which I can only assume is a creation myth (?). What's more, Korean uber-artist Hyung-Tae Kim is doing the artwork for the game, whose asian flair suits the game's style to a freakin' tee, as you can see by the image to your left. Now, they haven't stated whether or not they'll bring this gem of a game here to the states, but come on. These guys made "Guild Wars", "Lineage", and "Aion", among other titles. It'll happen. Behold the beauty that is "Blade and Soul" in its trailer here:

And lastly, on a completely unrelated note, I was paid this week, finally, for all the work I've been doing for a friend these past few months. A very respectable check indeed, and I'm in a much better mood now because of it. I wuv money =)

Have a great Easter!

Eiji Aonuma needs to stop developing "Zelda": Redux

2009-04-10T18:37:00.000-04:00

As I left off yesterday, Windwaker was flawed, but not a bad game. Certainly not the worst of the Zelda's I've played.

Anyway, a few years after The Wind Waker, Nintendo attempted to address TWW "problems" (read: the art style), by making Zelda more "realistic" graphically. Which means it looks like 3d manga, which as far as I'm concerned is the ugliest graphical style this side of Japan. They called this little "gem" The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Of course, none of the real issues with Wind Waker were addressed, except length. Combat was still simplistic and unimpressive, traveling was still tedious and boring ('cept you ride a horse this time, intead of a boat! See, it's different!). What's more, the story got JRPG'd, so now we get long, boring, poorly editted garbage cutcenes. Jeez, at least Wind Waker had charm.

So you see, I've become disillusioned. The once epitome of Adventure is now scrapping the bottom of the proverbial barrel, not even trying to keep up with developers who innovate and invigorate the genre; instead sticking to a model that is two generations too old.

I really think they need to get the father of Zelda, Shigeru Miyamoto (and only Miyamoto) to direct and supervise the next Zelda, because it's obvious Eiji Aonuma has no damned clue what he wants to do with the series. Seriously, there are trains in Zelda now. Trains. In a medieval fantasy setting. Yeah....

Either that, or give future projects to the Capcom team that developed Oracle of Ages/ Seasons, and the Four Swords series. They did a fine job with Zelda, which is ironic considering a third party developer (Capcom) develops better Zelda games than the in-house, "Mother" development team.

Ass-backwards, I swear.

Eiji Aonuma needs to stop developing "Zelda"

2009-04-09T19:00:00.007-04:00

Alright. At the risk of sounding crazy, stupid, or both, let me say this:

I hate Zelda.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I do not like the Zelda series.

But wait! Don't leave yet! Let me explain.

I remember back in '94, when my father drove me to some dark, grimy electronics shop (more like a friggin closet) and asked me what game I wanted. I forget the occasion for this, but I know that, because I saw my neighbor playing it, I wanted to play it too. "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past". So the disgruntled shop (closet?) owner pulled a brand new copy of Zelda out from his filthy case, and my father shelled out $65 bucks for it. But I didn't care, I was the happiest little snot-nosed kid in the world.

To this day, Zelda: A Link to the Past, (Alttp), is still my favorite game. I dust off my Gameboy Advance once a year to play through it. So what happened? Why the Zelda hate now?

Honestly, I was let down by "The Wind Waker". Much too short, the last segment (the Triforce shard bullshit) was tedious and felt rushed on the developers part, sailing was less fun and engaging than watching paint dry, and the combat was the same simplistic crap as "Ocarina of Time", the first successor to Alttp. I did like Wind Waker's art style, though everyone and their mom ragged on it and it's cel-shaded, "kiddy" style. And it wasn't a bad game, at the end of the day.

To be continued....

"Storytelling" in games, Continued

2009-04-01T16:45:00.001-04:00

The Star Ocean series, and quite a few other Japanese Role-playing Games (J-RPGs) I've played, have poorly conceived and/ or written stories. They are often unnecessarily convoluted, overly melodramatic, and terribly edited. I get the impression from watching the story scenes that developers try to cram as much garbage as possible into the games cutscenes because they have some mistaken idea that more content equals better content. Thus, unnecessary tripe that should have been edited out of a games story, isn't.

What's really frustrating, though, is that I feel that the developers aren't even trying. After all, why bother getting creative when you can spoon-feed your audience the same tired crap you fed them before, and your audience gobbles it up regardless? We need writers and developers who don't mind getting creative with the stories, and don't mind trimming the fat down just enough to keep us wanting more, and not forcing forty minutes of dialogue and cutscenes down our throats. Characters who resemble the archetypes of the genre, but through their actions and speech and mannerisms, are as complicated and interesting as the genre will allow.

To hell with petitioning the developers. Writers unite! We can crap better stories than they can dream!

"Storytelling" in games. Who writes this stuff?

2009-03-30T15:30:00.002-04:00

Seriously. I just finished Star Ocean 4 for the X-Box 360, and can't help but feel extremely disappointed by the story. If there is one thing that always bothered me about the "Star Ocean" series, it's that all the "alien" races in the games look almost exactly like humans. Pointy ears does not an alien make. So you mean to tell me that completely different ecosystems on dozens of planets millions of light-years apart produced sentient beings that are all nearly identical to one another save for ear-shape, at almost the same time? The odds are ... well, ridiculous. Suspension of disbelief = no longer suspended. It makes no bloody sense.

But then again, J-RPGs are often developed with the anime-fan in mind. Plenty of anime archetypes are recycled in J-RPGs, and so too are the stories and general style. This explains why so many of the characters feel so goddamned similar. It's all modeled after something else. The J-RPGs job then, is to make it's story and characters as interesting as possible, without straying too far from the mold. Star Ocean 4 doesn't get it right, though. None of the characters are interesting enough for me to care about them. A hero with a "strong sense of justice"? The strong-willed but quiet female companion? The seductive assassin looking to avenge her dead love? The silent, arrogant badass? The obnoxiously loud (and terribly dressed) cat girl? Yeah. I think I've seen this all before....

Us writers need to submit something to these developers. They need some fresh blood.

Nothin' like a swift kick to the balls....

2009-03-19T20:13:00.000-04:00

Really. Anyone on the receiving end will agree, that there is nothing quite as painful, or as humbling, as a proper testicle-booting. Except maybe playing Capcoms tough-as-nails "God Hand".

This is one of those games though, that leaves a lasting impression on you. An action gaming experience you will remember, and in my case, compare all other action games to. Yes ladies and gentlemen, God Hand is a "good" kick to the balls.

It is probably the most challenging game I've played in recent time. The beauty of the gameplay though, is that frustratingly hard as it is, I never cried out "cheap" or "unfair" like I do when I play Ninja Gaiden, (or sometimes even Devil May Cry). I weave, side-step, and back flip out of any attack the game throws, and if I get hit I know is was because I made a mistake, and not because the game nails me with an attack I couldn't avoid.

What's more, the gameplay is tight. By this I mean everything you need to conquer the game is at your fingertips, but necessary for you to utilize. Easy to access and use, but hard to master. This makes the game feel tight; everything has a purpose, everything fits.

If you are an action buff, you need to play this game. It belongs in you game library, not cold and lonely in some bargain bin. It needs some love!

Why is it so damned good?

2009-03-04T14:46:00.000-05:00

Alright, I admit it. I'm a little late to the party.

I played Okami only a few months ago. (Sue me). But damn, did it leave an impression on me. Anyone who has played it knows why. It's friggin beautiful. The art direction was brilliant (Japanese watercolor? Seriously?), the music was actually good ( I find that too many games get away with crap music), the story was interesting, as were its characters. Who can forget Mrs. Orange "Raging Demon"-ing her stove to whip up some cherry-cakes for you? The incredible battle with the demon Orochi in the cave shrine? Or Nine-tails on Oni-Island? The sense of awe and warmth at Ammy's recovery, thanks to Issun, during the final battle with Yami? Whats more, the gameplay is solid, if not a bit easy. But hell, I can forgive ease; it's an adventure game, after all, not a hardcore action game.

What makes Okami such a classic is the fact that the game is a brilliantly polished "whole-package" of a game. Every major aspect of the game, control and gameplay, sound, story and pacing, characterization, is all done beautifully. It is what I would consider the adventure game "ideal". Okami had everything that it needed to do the be a good, memorable game, and it executed it wonderfully.

What this amounts to is a gaming experience I have not witnessed since my completion of Zelda, A Link to the Past, back in 1994. Okami is now the game I use to compare all other games in this Genre, that's how wonderful it is. If you still have a PS2, I highly, highly encourage you to get this treasure of a game. (It was ported over to the Wii as well, but I heard the port was kinda choppy and unresponsive regarding the Wii-mote controller. I haven't played the Wii version, so I can't say for sure).

Of course, it's not perfect. But the minor gripes feel so insignificant compared to the whole of the game that I may as well not even mention them. So I wont. Buy Okami if you haven't already. Buy it. Now.

Gaming tirade. Where to go from here?

2009-02-28T22:39:00.001-05:00

Console gaming today is a radically different entertainment medium than it was over twenty years ago. The hardware used for gaming has evolved and grown tremendously since the 8 bit days. Games are capable of performing and delivering graphical and audio experiences unlike games before them because of the tremendous processing power of the gaming systems of today.

As such, story telling and graphics have taken enormous strides in games; indeed, many games nowadays are less like games and more like interactive movies, with on-screen button prompts triggering scripted attack scenes and such.

Since gaming has evolved, the target audience changed. Many of the older gamers (myself included I suppose), are much more patient at learning and playing games, having learned to play and master the uber challenging games of old. Younger, newer gamers want as much bang as possible for their buck, without committing much to actually learning how to master said game. They expect flashy graphics and simple, easy-to-get-into-and-finish games. So there is something of a rift between gamers; those "hardcore" gamers, who appreciate genuine challenge, who study the subtle nuances of the game play and stick to it until they succeed, and the casual gamer, who picks up a game, plays it to his or her content, then moves on to the next game with little to no commitment.

There is a rift among developers as well. There are the more free-style type developers, who create games that are fun for them. Then there are games that the developer makes to appease a certain market. The "casual" game, which uses generic archetypes in as flashy a manner as possible to appeal to as many gamers as possible. I call these the "one-night stand" games. Jump in, do your thing, and walk away. No commitment required. Catering specifically to the casual.

Where do they go from here?