XBox 360: Part 1 of 6

Part one of this series is a simple apology to anyone I've talked to about the XBox before. I apologize for saying it wasn't any good (I prefer its games to the PC versions of the games). I apologize for pointing out only its unreliability (50% break rate, 50% of those broke again). The newer ones are more..."durable".

Anyway, we purchased the XBox 360 Elite (120 Gb Hard Drive, HD cable, and two games we won't be rating: LEGO Batman and PURE). I'd rate the system itself NEARLY as high as the PS3 (as compared to the almost as low as I rated WoW) I would have given it before). We also have a total of eleven (11) games for it (if you count the Orange Box as 5 games, which it is).

Part 2: - Me - The Orange Box (all 5 rated as one collection)
Part 3: - Me - Left 4 Dead 2
Part 4: - Sumomo - Assassin's Creed 2
Part 5: - Sumomo - Bayonetta
Part 6: - Me - Mass Effect 2

Forgot

I completely forgot to post on here. I've been busy attempting to play violin (I can play a whopping 4 notes) and playing Dragon Age. I'm not really going to give a summary of it, but think of it as having the world/plot based on/ripped off of Guild Wars: Eye of the North and Final Fantasy XII, the systems of Dungeons and Dragons, and the NPC reactions of Fallout. Overall, I give it a 10/10, but it has some minor issues that bother me, but are just annoying and don't affect the game at all (like the quest to get the acorn for the rhyming tree...if you get the acorn before you know about the tree, the quest arrow never goes away -_- Another issue is that sometimes, it takes a LONG time for a corpse to allow you to loot it...which means you can wait a while to finish quests that involve killing stuff, because they don't update until the corpse can be looted...oh, and there's an annoying thing in Redcliffe where a skeleton gets stuck behind a building...it took me 20 minutes to find it...I ran around everywhere else and even left for a few minutes to see if it would update...but that quest seems to have a lot of waiting issues anyway...). So, if those annoyances DID take points off, it would still be a 9.9.

Here's a poem that summarizes how one of the bosses, the Brood Mother, came to be. It is chanted by Hespith, a member of the same royal house as the dwarf that became the Brood Mother.

First Day, they come and catch everyone.
Second Day, they beat us and eat some for meat.
Third Day, the men are all gnawed on again.
Fourth Day, we wait and fear for our fate.
Fifth Day, they return and it's another girl's turn.
Sixth Day, her screams we can hear in our dreams.
Seventh Day, she grew as in her mouth they spew.
Eighth Day, we hated as she was violated.
Ninth Day, she grins and devours her kin.
Now she does feast, as she's become the beast.

She continues it in prose after you finish talking to her, describing this person eating her husband's face. So yeah, the game is very dark. I love it.

Will Play for Souls

You know those games that with enough skill, time, and determination you can get through them without dying even once? Well, Demon's Souls is not that kind of game. If you don't want to read a long review, then I can leave you with this: You will die; you will die often, and you still won't be able to stop playing it.

For those of you still interested enough to listen to the rest, please continue reading. It's a long one, though, so I'll wait while you use the bathroom and get a snack.

Ready? Good. First, a small description of the plot (which I still don't really understand at this point). This is paraphrased from the Wikipedia article for the game. King Allant XII used the power of souls to guarantee the prosperity of his kingdom: Boletaria. However, King Allant had unleashed the Old One (I am in awe of their creativity), an ancient beast who had been slumbering beneath the Nexus. The Old One brought with it a fog that covered Boletaria, and infested it with demons who are after your soul. Many heroes have tried to free Boletaria from its curse, but none so far have succeeded.

Now to the good stuff. Automatic plus for the game: customizable character creation. The character's basic stats are chosen by class; you can choose from: Knight, Priest, Thief, Magician, Temple Knight, Soldier, Wanderer, Barbarian, Royalty, and Hunter. Different classes have different starting equipment; some will start with a spell or a bow, while some (i.e. the Barbarian) will start with no armor.In addition to basics such as age, gender, etc., you can make your character look anyway you want in a character creator that uses sliding scales to change pretty much every detail of your character's face. One odd thing in the character creation is a sliding scale for their gender where you can make them more masculine or feminine separate from their actual gender...well...I guess if that's what works for you...anyway...

You start off in a basic tutorial where you go around finding out how to attack, use your shield, and use items. However, you end this tutorial by dying at the hands of a giant demon that kills you in one hit (two if you're lucky). Now, it's obviously not game over when you die, because this is the first of many deaths, but a few things happen. You are sent to a place called the Nexus, a place for souls where you can also buy items, or deposit items that you've picked up for later use. It is here that you find that you have lost your physical body. Regaining your body only requires you to obtain a Demon's Soul, but your HP has been halved while in spirit form. The Demon's Soul can only be acquired from a boss-level demon, but you have to battle your way through lesser demons first. The souls you collect from them are used as currency throughout the game. You can then use one of the Archstones to be teleported to a place within Boletaria.

One of the most important things to remember is that you cannot pause while you're in the middle of a level. The only completely safe place in the game is the Nexus, but the game also auto-saves pretty much constantly. So before you start playing make sure you have a good amount of time, or someone to hand the controller off to. The aforementioned soul-craving demons like hiding around corners, behind things, and in dark rooms. They're armed with swords, bows, firebombs, and spears; some are wearing full armor, while others are wicked fast. No matter how quickly you can kill them, they can kill you just as fast. Even in the beginning stage you will die several times, and at least one path is blocked by a foe we have yet to beat. Every time you die, you lose all the souls you've earned, but if you can make it back to where you died you can pick those souls back up.

In addition to using souls to buy items, repair weapons, or upgrade weapons you also use them to upgrade your character, which replaces a traditional level system. You choose one of your basic stats to upgrade, which then upgrades things like your physical/magic defense, HP, spell memory, etc. You have to know what your character needs to really make the most of this system.

Really, the only bad thing I can about this game is that sometimes playing the same level for the eleventh time gets a little frustrating, but for some reason you just keep playing.

On to a point break down:

• Battle System 10/10 - It's easy to switch between weapons, magic, and items, which is good when you're in the middle of fighting a demon that wants, and is completely able, to make you into a shishkebab.
• AI  9/10 - While you will encounter some enemies that are pretty dumb, many enemies are going to put up a good fight.
• Graphics  9/10 - The graphics are good; the characters and world are highly detailed. This game has a pretty stunning look.
• Storyline 8/10 - It's hard to get a real feel for the storyline when it takes you fifteen tries to get through the first level, but from what I've seen it looks good; it's better than most games' at least
• Difficulty 10/10 - This game is hard, sometimes bordering on impossible. Why is this a good thing? Most games try to coddle you by giving you lots of items, and easy enemies. This game all but tells you that you suck, and I think that's what makes you want to keep playing it.

So, final score: 46/50. I know I've said it before, but this game is hard. You're going to die, maybe at the hands of a basic, firebomb wielding demon; maybe at the hands of a boss that will kill you by looking at you. However, the bottom line is you're going to keep playing it. You're going to play it and beat it just to prove that you can.

And I think a picture to wrap up this very long review: this is what you're going to look like after playing for about half an hour (though hopefully not so...baby-like, but you never know)

Review and MORE!

Okay, quick review of the Fallout 3 Add-on: Point Lookout.
8/10
+ Great location
+ Pretty cool weapons
+ Great Plot*, though short
+ Not as many glitches as a few of the others (Specifically The Pitt, as awesome as it was)
- Lots of stereotyping (stereotypical rednecks shooting you with shotguns when you're running through the swamps. A few of them carry giant jugs of moonshine, as well. Most have lots of beer and drugs, too)
- COMPLETELY unfulfilling ending (it just ENDS. Very anti-climactically, at that)
In other words, if you have Fallout 3 and don't have Point Lookout, GET IT NOW.

Okay, onto other stuff...I'm going to be doing concept art for a game for a while (not a big game, just an RP...so people know what everything looks like basically, so no kudos to me). I might not be too active anywhere else. I'll make sure to post whatever sketches I'm allowed to on the art blog (which has been renamed to those who didn't notice).

Fallout 3 Add-ons for PS3

This will just be a quick review as I'm getting progressively aggravated and worried over the unspeakable issue I mentioned roughly a week ago...in fact, I'll just do the ratings out of 10 for each of the expansions:

Broken Steel: 8/10
The Pitt: 9/10
Operation: Anchorage: 4/10

Meh, I'll list positive and negative points, as well.

Broken Steel

Summary: Two weeks after the end of the main story, you wake up from your coma. Your main goal is to finish the war against the Enclave.
+ Completes the story (instead of the main character just dying at the end)
+ Awesome new weapons and armors

The Pitt

Summary: You receive a radio signal from an escaped slave. He wants you to find a cure for the mutagen changing everyone in The Pitt. You have to become a slave yourself. All of your equipment gets taken away (temporarily) and you have to work as a slave for your new raider masters.
+ This new plot is well-developed and fun
+ My favorite new content, including a very..."Spartacus" equipment...it's like Spartacus set in a post-apocolyptic-but-steampunk setting (The Pitt = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...but it's mostly in the steel mill)
- Nowhere to sell stuff
- The "better" option involves killing slaves (I'd explain why it's better, but it would be a pretty big spoiler, since the "cure" is what you're trying to obtain and...well...I'll stop)
+ The "better" option leads to a pretty...erm..."heartwarming" twist

Operation: Anchorage

The Brotherhood Outcasts have found a place that is supposed to have all kinds of awesome pre-war technology. They need you to go through three simulations to open the door because you just happen to have an external user device (Your Pip-Boy 3000) because the door's failsafe won't activate without it.
+ Pretty nice new equipment (including an essentially indestructible armor)
- Armor isn't available until you finish the whole story
- NO plot; just running around and killing commies
- Pretty much no reason for the Player Character's actions


And a side note: If you like music from the 30s and 40s (specifically the stuff that plays on Galaxy News Radio (GNR) in Fallout 3), that station is available online (without Three Dog as a host, unfortunately). Feel free to listen to GNR Online. I'm doing that right now, in fact.

WET (Full Review)

I'll just get straight into this review; it focuses mainly on plot and music. The game is impressive for its visual style (not the best graphics, but I've covered this aspect) and plot. It's a basic third person shooter with the plot of a Tarantino movie. The only thing I thought was strange was the very end, where the fight against a character named "Tarantula" involves you being instantly transported to a battlefield and isn't a normal fight like the rest of them. It involves timed reaction commands (the button shows on the screen for about a second and you have to hit it RIGHT AWAY). Tarantula is actually the only character who really stands out. I was going to include a picture, but I couldn't find one. I'll try. She looks like a new x-men character and carries pistols with a blade below each barrel (similar, but more logical, than the Gunblade in Final Fantasy VIII).

I'd also like to include that the game can be completed in like 3 hours on the easiest mode. I'd also like to point out that "Golden Bullet" mode is excessively difficult, even though you kill all enemies (except the guys with miniguns, who require a special set of commands to kill, always ending in the sword going deeply into their crotch or, on rare occasions, down their throat).

The game is full of humor similar to what you would find in a Tarantino movie or in a Russian book. It also includes interludes in each chapter that are commercials from 70s drive-in movies. It even gives a break after the introductory tutorial mission to get up and get refreshments.

The plot is fairly straightforward, though about halfway through there was at least one twist I wasn't expecting and one that made sense because of that one (and a card for a character involved).

Throughout the game, you unlock various upgrades. There are two types of upgrades: Abilities and Weapon Upgrades. Abilities range from the ability to change who you're targeting to the wonderful "Human Wall Run Slash", which is exactly what it sounds like; you run up an enemy, use your sword on them, and jump off.

The weapon upgrades increase fire rate (for guns and the crossbow), damage, and ammo capacity (also, for guns and the crossbow). Rubi has five weapons to choose from: her katana, dual pistols, dual shotguns, dual SMGs (Submachine Guns), and dual crossbows (which is illogical if you've ever used one, but meh...the "darts" [as they're called in-game] explode on contact). All of the guns have limited ammo except the pistol (which with maxed fire rate is almost as fast as the SMGs).
The shotguns are (obviously, if you've ever used one) best used at close range, but are especially nice against the guys with miniguns, as are the SMGs, but the SMGs I would consider medium range weapons. The crossbow should really only be used against the guys with miniguns or if you only have a few enemies around you as they have a small ammo capacity and fire very slowly. The pistol is the overall best weapon to use whenever as it's fast, accurate, and can be used at any range. The sword is next, as if it is timed correctly, it can increase your score multiplier significantly (which is used to heal when you attack enemies).

There are two ways to restore Rubi's health (which is more like pain tolerance than anything): Alcohol ("to dull the pain") and a high score multiplier (when it's 2x or higher, you restore health with every kill).

There are many ways to raise your score multiplier, but the best is to use acrobatic slo-mo to your advantage. This can be triggered by sliding and shooting/slashing, jumping and attacking, wall running and attacking, human wall running and attacking, pole-spinning (not like a stripper) and shooting, shooting enemies from a zip line, or getting near a multiplier thing that each level seems to have.

The music all sounds like Tarantino picked it all. It's all reminiscent of stuff that could be found in either Kill Bill volume, though there's a little trend: Most of the songs are by bands with Corpse in the name or the songs have corpse in the title. The rest all have some synonym of crazy in them. The website for WET has a list of the songs and artists who did music and has five songs that are free to download. Three of them are songs I love (Gypsy Pistoleros' The Crazy Loco Loquito, The Arkhams' Insane and Knock Galley West's Undead West) and two are created specifically for the game (they're the two by the same artist). The music is all phenomenal in my opinion, though it could handle less from the Hypnophonics and more from the Arkhams.

The main drawback is that it can be completed very quickly (around 1-5 hours, depending on skill and difficulty level) and has no replay value if you're not into completing "gun-and-run" challenges after you finish story mode (-0.5 pts). The plot is, however, deeper than most other shooters (or even just games where the main character is a mercenary).

There are also very few scenarios to play through. There are four main types of play in the main story: Arena fights (trapped in a room where enemies keep coming in until a certain event occurs or your block all the doors), "Rage Mode" (make the longest chain of kills before leaving the level), Car chases (where you jump from car to car while shooting the enemies), and action sequences/stationary gun pwnage sessions (there are few of these last two). This makes the game lose another 0.6 points on my scale.

My overall, score (not broken down, but on a decimal scale): 8.9/10
My advice: Play it for the Tarantino-esque plot and music and pretend you're watching a movie, then work on completing some gun-and-run challenges in Rubi's Boneyard (not what it sounds like).

I'd also like to point out that I LOVE this game. I'd also like to point out that I have updated my links on the side. I've replaced the Fallout link with the WET one and added Sumomo's reincarnated blog.

WET

All I've played is the demo and I already like it more than any other game. It's the first game where you dual-wield guns and can target two enemies at once (auto-target one, other gun is under your control). You can slide while swinging a sword or shooting both guns. Not to mention the music is AWESOME (10/10).

So, based on the DEMO alone:

Gameplay: 10/10

Music: 10/10

Controls: 10/10

Graphics: 9/10

Style*: 10/10

OVERALL: 49/50

Gameplay and controls are 10 for reasons already stated and also because they're simple and nearly intuitive.

The music is what you expect from a 70s action/Tarantino movie. It's energetic and fun...and PURELY AWESOME.

The graphics are really good, but even Fallout 3, from the same creators, has better graphics.

*Style refers to the overall look of the game.

The game's style DEFINITELY matches what you'd expect from Tarantino, the main inspiration for this game, and is definitely reminiscent of Kill Bill.

So...I'd even give this the extra credit point to give it a 50/50. I DO NOT recommend it for children, but neither does the ESRB (who gave it an M for MANY reasons, and I'd have to agree, for once). I AM going to buy this in 4 days. And I'll review the plot even (from what I can tell, it's pretty good...just from what little there is in the demo)

And an example of the music:

Fat Princess is...GOOD?!

Post has been edited to add/change content (09 Sep 2009).

So, according to IGN, Fat Princess is a good game. In fact, it earned a score of 9.0. After reading the review, we bought it to test it. You know what we found? IT'S THE MOST ADDICTIVE GAME available on the PS3. It's incredibly simple, though also remarkably complex. So, review time! You play as a member of a group of up to 32 characters (not choices of characters. The others are unplayable and merely help you fight the other team). You customize your character from the main menu, changing your head hair, facial hair, eye color, and skin color, and gender voice. Your weapons are decided by the hat you wear in battle (literally). You change your class by picking up hats that are either dropped by the enemy or dropped by your "hat machines". Each class has a unique attack style and an alternate weapon (available upon machine upgrade), which can be changed by hitting triangle. CLASSES: Warrior: Uses a sword for melee attacking. Charging the attack merely does more damage. The upgrade to this class uses a spear. The charged attack is a few sweeps of the spear and a jumping attack.
Priest: You can hit gently...pretty much useless for attacks. You can heal allies by targeting them and charging your "attack". Charging your "attack" without targeting heals all allies in a circle around you. The alternate is the Dark Priest, which saps life from enemies. Charging the attack deals damage to all foes around you.
Mage: You can attack with your staff or shoot fireballs. Charging the attack creates a circle of flames around you. The alternate uses ice to slow enemies. Charging creates a circle of ice, slowing all nearby foes.
Ranger: Attack with a bow. Charging increases range a little and increases damage heavily. The alternate uses a gun with a wide spread, like that of a shotgun. Charging this is the same as charging the bow attack.
Worker: You can attack with an axe. The alternate attacks with bombs. Charging increases attack only. Workers can also build and repair gates, collect resources (wood and metal) and upgrade your machines.
Villager: Hatless villagers can only punch, but with almost no health, they're rather useless if enemies are around.

The game sort of has a plot, though it has little to do with the gameplay at all. You listen to the story and complete the missions to listen to more of the story. That's all.

There are several ways to play, each chapter having a different goal. Several goals are:
Rescue the Princess: Rescue your princess from the other team. They'll try to do the same. You can just kill the enemies and wait for your team to do it or rush in yourself.
Invasion: Capture outposts to lower the other team's morale to zero. Again, it's more fun to slaughter your foes.
Search 'n Grab: Capture the enemy princess and throw her in your dungeon three times.
Team Deathmatch: Kill the enemies until their lives reach zero. That's it.

Oh, the game is also full of adult humor, as well as a lot of gamer humor (like the narrator yelling "We're being ganked!" when your castle is under siege), and the game has a lot of replay value, so long as you're very bored.

GAMEPLAY:       9/10
PLOT:           8/10
MUSIC:          8/10
HUMOR:         10/10
CUSTOMIZATION:  7/10
ADDICTIVENESS: 10/10
--------------------
OVERALL:       52/60

My next review should be of Farcry 2, though so far, it's not favorable...but the guy who sold it to us said it's not that great the first two hours, but is awesome afterward.

EDIT: Farcry 2 isn't worth a review as it's rather average. Graphics get a 10, but the rest gets 5-7.

Dissidia

I bought Dissidia on Tuesday (the day came out) and...well, I like it and it's addictive...but...

Graphics:      9/10
Music:         9/10
WTF?!         10/10
Gameplay       9/10
Characters:    9/10

-The graphics are really good for PSP. I'm not sure why I only gave it a 9...oh, and Squall looks more awesome than he did in VIII.

-The music is some of the best music from each of the games in the first 10 numbered games.

-The gameplay receives a WTF factor of 10. It's...well, have you ever considered combining Chess, One-on-One battles, and the clichéd plot of every other Final Fantasy? Well, that's what it is. You move around on the board and fight monsters until you get to the Chaos Insignia (I think it's Insignia...) at the end.

-The controls are fairly simple, but at the same time, they're hard to control. In battle, you use Circle to use Bravery Attacks (lower the attack power of the enemy while raising yours, but not doing damage to HP) and Square to attack HP. It's possible to only have to use ONE HP attack on your enemy. Oh, you can also use X to evade and Triangle and R to jump toward your enemy. Every once in a while, you can gain EX "power" (My term) to go into EX "Mode", which has various benefits individual per person. If you hit with an HP attack in this time and are successful with some button pressing (again, individual per character), you can unleash a REALLY powerful attack.

-There is one of the main characters from each of the first 10 numbered Final Fantasys (that looks weird, but it's proper, like with last names) and the final boss of the individual game (which you have to unlock). My only complaint is they should have had Rikku instead of Tidus and...what's-her-name instead of Terra.

Notice, I didn't once mention the plot. Guess why?

FF VIII and...LOTS of other stuff

I was playing Final Fantasy VIII today. and I realized something. When I know what that something is, I'll tell you, but for now, let's just say it was nothing profound. So, here's some random stuff about it:

-GUARDIAN FORCES (GF) are what the summons are called, as compared to "Summons", "Espers", or "Aeons". They are aptly named, as while you're waiting for them to come, they take the damage for you.

-WEAPONS are crafted. You get the parts, the weapons get made. I like that in a game. I also like any other form of customization (like the weapon creation in Vagrant Story, another AWESOME, but often overlooked, game).

-CHARACTERS are extremely malleable. They can trade magic, GFs and abilities (abilities are another thing given by GFs and magic isn't learned, it's drawn from enemies and draw points). The only problem with the customization in this is the characters can all be each other, save for weapons, "Limit Breaks" (FFVII term, but in FFVIII, the characters get them randomly when their hit points are low), and appearances (obviously).

This is one of my favorite games in the Final Fantasy pseudo-series for the story and music.

Random Other Final Fantasy Stuff now!

My favorite FF of all is either XII or VII, because they have a balance of cool features and good music. They all share roughly the same plot, so I have to say that the way the plot is done is better in these two than the others.

WHY I LIKE EACH FF

FFI - It's the original and it was outstanding for its time. Only problem: Nameless chars. "Hey, Fighter, wanna go out drinkin' tonight?" "Sure, Blackmage!"

FFII - In number, this is TECHNICALLY IV in the US.

FFIII - I don't honestly remember it.

FFIV - Didn't actually like this one that much, though Rydia is awesome...but I tend to like summoners.

FFV - Meh, again, it was okay. It allowed a LOT of character customization, including a class-change system. Not to mention I liked Faris...even names a dog after her in NintenDogs. Named one Fran, too. I forget the names of the others.

FFVI - Haven't played it.

FFVII - First with 3D on 2D backgrounds, well-designed characters with personalities, the plot was well-done, the music was some of the best in the series, and it was LONG. That's good in any game.

FFVIII - Good characters, good plot (until the Gardens start flying and the player finds out everyone knew each other already, then it just gets weird...). The rest I already said. Oh, and it has the second best opening movie, Liberi Fatali (which is one of my favorite songs).

FFVIII - Liberi Fatali


FFIX - Well-done/deep plot, good characters (if you can look past their cartoony appearances), has some of the most memorable characters (along with only VII and X)

FFX - Plot's average, music is AWESOME, good graphics, varied world, and...well...Lulu. Gotta like an awesome black mage. This is the only one I didn't like the summoner in, 'cause she was annoying as hell. And stupid. But it makes up for it with its "opening" movie (a little ways into it), Otherworld (another of my favorite songs).

FFX - Otherworld


FFX-2 - Crap-in-a-box, but if you remove the preteen girl elements of fashion and such, it's actually pretty good. The plot is deep, though it's done in a mercenary (mission-based) style. The characters are okay and you can customize them fine...but they all end up being the same with a FEW exceptions: The Mascot Dressphere and the special dresspheres. It also has one of my favorite video game FMVs, 1000 Words. I can't stand the song, but the video is dramatic (I have the heart of a preteen girl, apparently).

FFX-2 - 1000 Words


FFXI - Haven't played it, but from what I've heard, I wouldn't like it. Not to mention it's one that has to be paid for monthly, a HUGE drawback for ANY game.

FFXII - It's just...good. Overall. Especially Fran. I can overlook that she's a bunny for the fact that she's awesome and has the best "Limit Breaks" (Or, as they're called in XII, "Quickenings"), Feral Strike, Whip Kick, and Shatterheart.

FF Tactics - This is one of my favorites, as it allows COMPLETE customization. And even though you can have a team of black mages, they can all still be different. Black Mage 1 could use a crossbow, Black Mage 2 could be wearing a knight's armor, and Black Mage 3 could be dancing, wearing heavy armor, and picking stuff up off the ground, also counterattacking with a skill that turns the ground they're on against the enemy (Geomancy, specifically the counter skill, Nature's Wrath). I have this for the PSone and PSP, but I like the PSP one better (more stuff and better translations).

FF Tactics Advanced (1 and 2) - Meh.If you play the other Tactics first, TA is kinda boring and restrictive (a Judge system where you go to jail if you do whatever the law bans that current day).

And no, my favorite game series is not Final Fantasy. I prefer Shadow Hearts (not to be confused with Kingdom Hearts, which I don't particularly love, but I don't hate, either), as it has a less "clean-cut", gritty story set in modern times, but with magic that's more logical. It also has the best battle system, where you have to use your reaction time instead of button-mashing or menu-surfing. Oh, and it has good music. AND good characters. AND lots of humor. AND...well, you get the idea.

But Fallout rates pretty high on my list.

And I can't wait for WET and Dissidia (another FF title, released 4 hours, 1 minute ago at the nearest walmart, but I don't have it...I'll probably get it later, after I wake up).

And WET, if you haven't seen the trailers, which are everywhere, is a current project of Bethesda Softworks (Bethsoft), the makers of Fallout 3, that is made to look like a combination of a 70s action b-movie. I sense this is going to be my new favorite game, though, when I want to just kill stuff. It features a dual-wield system for guns where BOTH guns are used and can target different targets instead of just the guy in front of you (one auto-targets, you control the other with the camera).

So, when I get Dissidia and/or WET, I'll do a review for them.

Game Creation

Game creation can be fun and simple, depending on what kind of game you want to make and how you intend on making it (what programming language, etc.). There are programs to make the process simpler (like VisualBasic...which I don't know where to get) and some that do a lot of the work for you (liker RPGMaker, Mythmaker, etc.). This post will be about the last group, specifically RPGMaker XP (RMXP).

You can find a downloadable version of RMXP from the company's site for it, but it costs $60. I DON'T RECOMMEND IT, but there are also patched versions and keygens available all over the internet. There is even an illegally ripped version called RPG Maker XP Postality Knights Edition. The LEGAL version is available at http://tkool.jp/products/rpgxp/eng/.

A lot of programmers look down on programs such as this because they make it too easy and the scripting you do in the game isn't real programming. Most of what you're working in in the scripts section (unless you're a programmer and are making new content that isn't possible with the current scripts) is in a modified version of the Ruby programming language called RGSS (Ruby Game Scripting System).

Now, onto specifics about RMXP:

You can make a game without ever having to go into the database or scripts, as there is already default content (8 characters, 32 skills, 32 weapons, 32 armors, and much, much more)

Graphics are 2 dimensional unless you want to do a LOT of scripting and make a LOT of images to make a pseudo-3D world. I've seen people who have done this and they did it well. Others...failed.

RMXP is powerful enough to make a Virtual Machine (a computer within a computer, essentially), but as of yet, I don't think anyone has made a way to install downloadable content inside a "game". RMXP has scripts you can find from several different sources (that can be found with Google searches) that allow internet access.

It is possible to make games in RMXP that are EXACTLY like the old Final Fantasy games, Such as the first one, which was available for Super Nintendo.

Within many RMXP communities, games with unoriginal content (like music from popular games, ripped sprites, etc.) are frowned upon and are not viewed as highly as games with completely new content.

However, if your game has content, like a tactical battle system (Think Final Fantasy Tactics), people will ignore a LOT of its other problems because of the difficulty of the script.

And, if you choose to download it (legally, I'd hope), here's a few links to get some custom content:
Ragnarok Online Item Database - (ENGLISH) - You can find all the items from Ragnarok Online here. Their images (possibly with some editing; I don't know, as I haven't tried it myself. It was a suggestion from someone else) can be used as the icons for items in your game. If you want, you can emulate the stats of these items in your game, too, but it'll take a little more effort, as they both calculate damage differently.
Material/TKXP - (JAPANESE) - This site has a few good things (maybe 10 windowskins, a battler or two), but a lot of it is crap. The few good things make me give it a rating of 3/10, at least ^-^
Scripts RMXP - La source du pouvoir - (FRENCH) - This site has a LOT of useful scripts. They're even more useful if you read French, which I do, conveniently ^-^
Seventh Sanctum - (ENGLISH) - This site is awesome. I recommend it to anyone doing anything creative. It has almost any kind of (text) generator you can think of.
Random Plot Generator - (ENGLISH) - Though it doesn't do what the name implies directly, it is useful for if you can't come up with a plot. It gives advice for 5 characters, then a few "Murphy's Laws of Combat", which are very useful when it comes to making a comedic modern warfare RPG.
Erm... - (GIBBERISH, but the site is JAPANESE) - You can't read much of anything on this site (it's NOT in Japanese, despite ending in .ne.jp), but the battlers available here are some of the best I've seen (the only ones I've seen that were better were on a site that's blocked to anyone but the owners now). TECHNICALLY, the site has battlers for RMVX, a newer, less well-received RPG Maker, but they work just fine with RMXP...so long as you can find character graphics that look like the battlers.

Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics

This post has been edited to include more information about getting the games (8/10/09)

Just a heads-up that I will be doing a review of the Fallout Trilogy, which includes the original game, the sequel, and Tactics...which is nothing like any other game with Tactics in the name that I've seen...in fact, it seems more like a TPS (Third-Person Shooter) than the original.

These games are available at Walmart as one game (a single disc) for $19.97 (or something else slightly under $19.99) in the US. I'm not sure about other countries, but it's probably just a simple conversion.

FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN SO FAR:

Fallout:   8/10
Fallout 2: ?/10
Tactics:   5/10

The original game, for the time it came out, is quite awesome, especially if you've played other games from (the now defunct) Black Isle Studios branch of Interplay. The 2 points off are for the controls: There's no tutorial and this package doesn't contain a booklet, so I had to figure out that you move with a left click, then right click to switch to an "interact mode", then left click on whatever you're interacting with. The battles are turn based, but are in whatever map you're in. The battle system is actually somewhat of a menu-less version of Wild Arms XF (which I also happen to enjoy).

Also, from what I've noticed, the little text area in the bottom left corner serves as a computerized D/GM (Dungeon/Game Master for you non-Roleplayers out there). It gives a brief description of the effects of what you do (Rat takes 2 damage) and see (You see: Rat).

The game has a standard world map that you run around in however you want, only allowing access to "dungeons" and cities, so not as graphically demanding as Fallout 3. Also, the fully 3D world may visually immerse you into a game, but this one draws you in with that little text box.

I haven't played 2 yet.

Tactics is just too damn complicated, even for me. I LOVE other games that I have with Tactics in the name (since they're generally strategy games, not tactical games like FPSs ^_^), such as Final Fantasy Tactics and La Pucelle Tactics...or...Wild Arms XF, which doesn't have Tactics in the name, but is that type of battle system. But nonetheless, though my rating for it so far isn't too high (big plus for this one having several tutorials), I WILL be playing it more to get a more accurate rating.

EDIT: And if you're wondering, the Browning M2 description reads: "A heavy machine gun developed in 1918 and has always been in use when war has broken out". I haven't actually seen it in the game yet, so I couldn't tell you what it says in the English version.

In fact, I'll play them all more to get a more accurate rating.

Fallout 3 (Actual Review)

So, now I'm pretty far in Fallout 3, so it's time for a good review of it. I don't have much else to say other than that...(Oh, and it's the PS3 version)

Music          10/10
Graphics       10/10
Plot           10/10*
Char. Create   10/10
Equipment      10/10**
Humor          10/10
Char. Dev.     10/10
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Overall        70/70

So, I wasn't expecting to give this a perfect score before I started playing (I'm not all that into FPSs, frankly), but as soon as I started playing it and heard "I Don't Want to Set the World On Fire" by the Ink Spots, I was hooked.

The music fits the mood of the game PERFECTLY.

The graphics are nearly realistic.

The plot is open-ended, but there are quests to guide through the main story of the game (find your father, etc.)

Character creation occurs AT BIRTH. That very moment, in fact. It has character creation almost parallel to The Sims, sans personality (which you develop naturally throughout the game).

There is a vast selection of weapons, from knives and sledgehammers to "Fat Man" (A nuke launcher named after the bomb dropped on Nagasaki to end WW2) and laser rifles. Armors vary from normal clothes to "Power Armor", which adds to various attributes. I'd be fine if there was a greater selection of swords, though, as the only one I know of, the Chinese Officer's Sword, you can get as soon as you get to the closest town to your vault...which is less than 5 minutes away.
EDIT: I completely forgot about the Shishkebab, a flaming sword that you can craft from a motorcycle gas tank, a motorcycle handbrake, a lawnmower blade, and a pilot light (all of which can be found in a ghost town called Minefield, which is a location near where you get the schematic for this from a quest).

The humor is mostly dry and a lot of it requires some intelligence (that most people old enough to BUY the game should have).

Character development occurs throughout the game. Every decision you make has the potential to change what people think of you and even what you can get for rewards. When you level up, you raise a variety of Skills (Barter, Small Guns, Large Guns, Energy Weapons, Melee Weapons, Medicine, Lockpick, and Sneak are just a few) and pick a Perk (Gun Nut, Lady Killer/Black Widow, Swift Learner, Intense Training, Size Matters, Scrounger, Nerd Rage!, Night Person/Solar Powered, Sniper, Tag!, and Ninja to name a TINY amount of them). You can also gain Perks from quests and Skill points from books. Occasionally, you have the ability to raise your attributes, or S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck), as well. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points also increase related Skills (Strength increases Melee and Unarmed Weapons, etc.) or have other effects (like Intelligence, which raises the number of Skill points you get when you level up).

Overall, unless you're a little kid/easily offended person/Anti-Violence In Games person (the game is gory and has drug and alcohol use), this game is perfect for you...even if you don't get into FPSs, as it has many elements of RPGs, as well. Also, many of the things in it were inspired by 1950s themes, like the burned out cars which were a concept car designed by Ford in the '50s that would run on nuclear power. Much of the technology also comes from '50s sci-fi, like the Gene Projector (used in character creation to determine what you'll look like).

WoW, this game sucks...

Mind you, I've only played this game TODAY and only for like 3 hours, so I'm sure to get flak from hardcore people, but I don't really like it at all, especially after all the hype from people who buy Guild Wars and talk about how much it sucks compared to WoW. I'll rate this on points that people have brought up and on a comparative scale. Quests are on a comparative scale to introductory quests from GW, which serve the same purpose as the ones I've completed. Skills are being compared only to starter skills in GW and rated on the number available as compared to GW.

Interface      3/10
Char. Creation 9/10
Graphics       4/10
Quests         2/10
Skills         2/10
Armor          7/10
Sound/Music    6/10
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Overall       33/70

Wow, that's even lower than I thought I'd rate it.

-INTERFACE:
--Awkward placement
--Cluttered
-CHARACTER CREATION:
--There is an assortment of races, each with classes limited by the race.
--There are 6 available classes maximum for good or evil in both GW and WoW
--Lost a point for how horrible the creation interface is. ONLY one point. I'm being nice.
-GRAPHICS
--They suck. Period. They're just horrible, even on the highest settings.
-QUESTS
--While introductory quests are ALWAYS "kill this many enemies!", "pick this up!", or "Collect this many of this item!" in pretty much every MMO, many are rendered nigh impossible by spawn campers and high-leveled characters in newbie land.
-SKILLS
--The skills are visually appealing and effective; however, the enchantments last FAR too long for balanced gameplay and characters have FAR too many skills that they can use whenever. A limit on skills allows more strategy while playing, as does skill balancing. As much as people complain about ArenaNet nerfing skills, they're doing it for the overall enjoyment of the players as well as requiring a more intelligent group of players. Me saying this also comes as a surprise, because I RARELY defend ANet.
-ARMOR
--There is a good selection of armor early on and it is limited by class, level, and proficiency.
--Many armors are unrealistic/illogical, even for a fantasy world, like shoulder pads that are larger than the character's chest.
--The LOW LEVEL armors are actually attractive and I wouldn't mind seeing some in GW.
-SOUND/MUSIC
--Overall, it's pretty good. However, the music during character creation sounds a bit too much like it could be used as battle music in a Final Fantasy knockoff.
--It's hard to hear music of all the people casting spells (I know, you can change volume levels, but one shouldn't have to)
--Spells, actions, and monsters make "appropriate" sounds (what one would expect).
-OVERALL:
--If it was free, it'd be worth it. $12.99 a month for something so craptastic is a bigger waste than gardening supplies for the guy in Metallica's One.

Busy/Guild Wars

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy landscaping in my backyard. I had to dig a giant pond and plant some stuff around it. Now we have to work on making it look good. I'm rather itchy right now because I'm allergic to the tall grass that I had to carry (and it's heavy)...anyway...yeah. That's why I haven't posted. But...just to take up space: A review! It's a general information review rating personal opinions on the different Guild Wars campaigns!

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PROPHECIES:  7/10
FACTIONS:   10/10
NIGHTFALL:   9/10
EOTN*:       9/10
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TOTAL:      35/40

*Eye of the North. The title was too long and would make the rest look weird ^_^

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PROPHECIES
-Appears to be medieval Western Europe mostly, with a few tropical areas and deserts. Typical generic RPG settings.
-Mandatory Tutorial: You have to go through several quests in "Pre-Searing" (pre-apocalyptic castle town type setting) before you can advance into the largest portion of the game.
-Slow Development: The story takes many quests and missions that take a LONG time to finish at times to finish. You can hire runners to skip large areas, but there are some mandatory missions and there are some runs that can take up to 4 hours with a GOOD runner.
-Low Rewards: It takes a long time to level up and you might as well give up on making a fortune unless all you do is farm rare things (which is harder to do here)

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FACTIONS
-Asia, Eastern Europe, The Middle East
-Lots of Otaku.
-Optional Tutorial QUEST. Just one. All you get from it is information, a few items, a few experience points, and a tiny bit of gold.
-Fast Developement: Though you DO start on a tutorial island, you get into the main plot almost immediately.
-HUGE rewards: You can generally leave the beginner island at max level with at least 10 platinum (10,000 Gold).
-Pretty armor

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NIGHTFALL
-Africa, The Middle East, The Mediterranean Region
-Beautiful Scenery
-The Prettiest Armors (and the most expensive non-core elite armor)
-Optional Tutorial Quest. Gets better rewards than the factions one, like the possibility of rare materials that can sell for up to 1 platinum (1000 Gold)
-Medium rewards: You get less experience and gold than factions, but it's tolerable
-Fast Development: A little slower than Factions, but there's a LOT of new content (Heroes), and it's not painfully slow like Prophecies.

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EYE OF THE NORTH
-The only expansion (other than the bonus mission pack). In other words, this is the only one that requires another expansion, though it doesn't matter which you have.
-Pretty armors. You also have to EARN the armors (reputation points gained from quests and hunting, as well as materials and gold). Most of them are worth the work.
-Fastest Advancement: You're into the story before you get into the place the story starts. You can also beat the game in a day or two if you play non-stop (It took me a few weeks playing in it about an hour or two a day 5 days a week...another time it took me about 3 days, 5 hours a day).
-High Rewards, BUT...: The rewards for everything are high, but everything's a little expensive. Also, due to how short it is, if you divided the time it took to get the stuff by the time it was useful (TIME TO GET / TIME USED), you end up with a positive number (meaning it takes longer to get it than you have time to use it).

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BONUS MISSION PACK
-Not scored because it's 4 missions, nothing else.
-Explains a LOT of the GW history as seen through the eyes of 4 of its most prominent characters.
-When you finish the missions, you can trade the storybooks for some really pretty weapons (My favorite being the Undead skinned weapons from Palawa Joko's Story).
-I'd Give it a 10 if I were to actually count its score.

Pandora Radio

Time for something new; how about a review of a website? Pandora.com seems like a good candidate.

Pandora is an internet radio site where you create your own radio station based on a band, a song, or a genre. The site takes over then, playing songs that share similar characteristics as the base choice. You also have multiple other customization options, including, but not limited to:

Add Variety: Add another band or song to the current station's influence.
Thumbs up: The station plays more music like the current song
Thumbs down: The station narrows down the song list by removing songs similar to the current song.
Sleep for a Month: If your station plays a song too often, you can make it NOT play it for a month

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BASED ON BAND:   10/10
BASED ON SONG:    9/10
BASED ON GENRE:   8/10
VARIETY OVERALL: 10/10
----------------------
OVERALL SCORE:   37/40

-Basing a song on a band is great. You get EXACTLY what you want, since it will try to play music similar to all of the content of the band
-Basing it on a song works well, but offers less variety
-Genre stations should possibly have gotten a lower score. Genre stations are shared by all members of the site, so that means everyone decides what gets played. Therefore, the songs that come up occasionally do not fit the genre (like David Bowie on the Industrial genre station), but it redeems itself in that MOST of the songs do belong to the correct genre.
-No matter what your choice is, you will discover new bands to listen to.

Dead Space

Here's an old review I posted on another blog, though I GUESS it's still relevant. I will post newer reviews, but my gaming's been rather...stale lately. I haven't gotten a new platform game in months. Oh, and I've cleaned it up and fixed it to work with this blog's format.

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Well, the best quick summary of Dead Space is Resident Evil...IN SPACE!!! But instead of relying on headshots for one hit kills, you have to strategically mutilate the enemies (take out their legs to slow them down, take out their arms to their likeliness to attack, take out the head to unleash a frantic attack on yourself). You have an arsenal of futuristic mining equipment (plasma cutter being the first you get) slowly added to your inventory. The "necromorphs", as the enemies are called, get progressively more difficult as the game goes on, but only in the sense that they come in larger amounts. There is even one you first meet in chapter 3 or 4 that explodes when you kill it, releasing several dozen small ones that latch onto you and prevent you from shooting while doing damage.

Graphics:  9.6/10
Music:      10/10
Interface*: 10/10
Gameplay:    8/10
-----------------
Overall:  37.6/40

-The game's graphics are nearly realistic. For a game with as much action as it has with no lag, this is an achievement.
-The music is limited and what there is fits the mood of the game perfectly.
-There isn't a traditional interface. Health is displayed on the character's back. Ammo is displayed on the gun itself. "Stasis Energy" (used to slow down enemies) is also displayed on the back. The menu projects in front of the character and does not stop gameplay.
-The gameplay would get a 10/10, but I deducted two points for the controls alone. The left stick (since I have it for PS3) moves you forward, backward, and left/right strafing. The right stick controls the direction you're looking, as well as the direction that is considered "forward". I also deducted a little for the Zero Gravity settings which, while awesome, are very clunky in the controls. This was only a minor deduction, however, as the strangeness is logical (can't jump to a platform you're too close to).

Don't Piss Off Old Gypsy Women

I went to see "Drag Me To Hell" this morning and have decided that the main idea in this movie is "Never Piss Off An Old Gypsy Woman".

Soundtrack:      10/10
Special Effects: 10/10
Plot:             7/10
"Scariness":      7/10
----------------------
Overall Score:   34/40

-My score for the music is a little biased, as I'm a huge fan of music from the Roma culture (more frequently called Gypsy music, which is a more general [and slightly offensive] term).
-They definitely spent money on the effects...with one minor exception (the first time it shows the Lamia when Christine first goes to the fortune teller guy).
-The plot was lackluster and left me wanting more; however, it was better than most modern horror movie plots. The characters were a little...erm...dense, but they were smarter than the average horror movie characters. I don't recommend watching the movie if you like kittens, though. I especially don't suggest it if you don't like profanity or are part of the Roma culture. It does depict Gypsies as evil and having pacts with Satan, which is a HUGE lie about such a strong culture. On the other hand, it DOES teach a TINY, TINY bit of Gypsy culture at the funeral of Sylvia Ganesh (the furious Romanian woman who cursed Christine).
-There were some scenes where even my fiancée jumped and she's less of a coward than I am. However, these scenes were destroyed by other scenes where we couldn't help but laugh, as we pictured the Burger King showing up instead of the Lamia.

The movie may make you nauseous at points from flies, partially digested insects, and embalming fluid...oh, and a crazy Gypsy woman gnawing on Christine's face. I recommend this movie if you have a strong stomach, but a love of small fluffy animals.