NewNews - Battlefield 3 Beta Begins

Official Site: http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3

Source: Youtube Channel cvg

Battlefield 3's Open Beta Testing started yesterday and will only last for a week or so.  The beta is available to everyone on all platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360.

For PC:
-Login with your EA account through their new Origin program
-Download Battlefield 3 Beta through the program
-Make sure you have the latest drivers and meet the minimum requirement
-Install Battlefield 3 and launch it to get to the Battlelog screen
-Press Quick Start or find your own server to join and play

For PS3:
-Go to the PSN Store and download the BF3 Beta
-Install it and start up the game and select quick start
-Here are the controls for PS3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/playstationblog/6193188563/

For Xbox 360:
-Go to the XBL Marketplace and go to the demo section
-Download and install BF3 Beta

Please find the time to log into the Battlelog and list off all the bugs you find in the forum page under "Bugs/issues".  I couldn't even play the game on PC because of countless errors.  For the PS3, the game would keep loading without any results, I've fallen through the ground several times before, and a lot of weird ally spawn collision happens.  So there's plenty to report.  Send in your bugs and opinions and help the developers make the best FPS experience they can possibly make.

GameLight Review – Rusty Hearts

Official Site: http://rustyhearts.perfectworld.com/

Source: Youtube Channel steparu

Developer: Stairway Games

Publisher: Perfect World Entertainment

Platforms: PC (Available on Steam)

Release Date: July 27, 2011 (Close Beta Start)

Genre: Beat-Em-Up, RPG

Pros:

-Satisfying, arcade-style beat-em-up mixed with RPG elements

-Interesting characters, humorous dialogue, and captivating combat

-Unique animé-style, cel-shaded 3D graphics makes it easier to distinguish surroundings

-Fast-paced and easy to learn, but still challenging and engrossing to the advanced player

Cons:

-A lot of items are exclusive to those who pay with real money

-Going through the same dungeons multiple times can get repetitive

-Some of transitioning in attacks feels sluggish and clunky

I’ve been waiting for the global release of Rusty Hearts for quite some time now (1-2 years) and was very happy to hear that Perfect World Entertainment was going to publish and host the game.  The game is what I hoped it to be: fast-paced, instant gratification, challenging, and reminiscence of great beat-em-ups of the past.  With classic style beat-em-ups becoming a dying trend in the game industry, it was exciting to see Rusty Hearts bring some of it back while breathing new life into the genre with MMORPG elements such as questing, party gathering, looting, and equipment acquiring.  Since it’s an online game, it’s not as straight forward as retro beat-em-ups where the player just keeps moving on to the next level and beats the game in half an hour.  But the different objectives given to players by the in-town NPCs, different skills learned, and varying difficulty levels keep the game fresh, even when running through the same dungeon 5-10 times.  If you’re looking for a game you can instantly enjoy or a good cooperative game to play with friends, I would definitely recommend checking Rusty Hearts out.

Graphics

The majority of the game is based on an animé-style character and theme design using Cel-shaded 3D rendered models as its main look.  Because of the simpler graphics, I was able to run the game at full resolution and at the highest quality on my laptop, though the graphics lagged a bit so I switched the resolution down.  I would’ve liked to see graphics a bit more advanced for the game, but I think the developers desire to create an edgy look on the game works with the path of art style they chose.   Character dialogues have 2D versions of themselves next to the text.  Dialogues are usually 1-3 sentences by each character while they exchange quips and witty responses.  It makes reading the quests and character dialogue much more tolerable.  The conversations taken place among the characters in the game are actually quite hilarious considering the darker mood set by the darker color choices.  Despite having a heavy use of black, grey, and maroon, there’s a sense of vibrant contrast and colors throughout the game.  Franz is fitted with an extravagant coat, Angela has a bright red spiky hair, Tude has light blond hair, and upcoming character Natasha has a pastel violet hair which makes all the main characters stand out from the rest of the environment.  This makes is easier for players to keep track of where their characters are in dungeons as most of them are dark and in a very somber tone.  The graphics aren’t the best, but they work really well for the game.  It’s unique and distinguishable as its own game when compared to other online games.  Graphics: 8/10

Audio

I want to start off by saying that I really like the music.  It sounds similar to the style in music for Land of Chaos Online, and I’m wondering if it’s the same composer.  The compositions are subtle, but alluring.  In dungeons and boss battles, the music is exciting and in-your-face.  There are parts in the game where the characters have voiced-over dialogues, and they’re rather decent.  I generally cringe at English voice-acting when an Asian made game is brought over, but the voice-actors gave a sense of life in the characters through their dialogues and quips with each other.  I can’t really tell what the characters are saying when using their skills, and it’s possible that they’re spouting words from the original Korean version of the game (which I don’t mind).  The sound effects and flashy animations make all the attacks looks powerful, stylish, and devastating.  I’m not sure why, but some of the voice-over parts have problems where they skip over each other and off-sync from the texts.  This happened in the Steam version of the game and not the Open beta version from the official host.  I think the team that worked with the audio did a superb job for the game. Audio: 9/10

Gameplay

The easiest way for me to describe the game is to say that it’s like a 3D version of Nexon’s Dungeon Fighters Online.  The character walks around an open town to collect quests, purchase equipment, gather their party members and then instance into a dungeon together.  It may be that I’m not that far into Rusty Hearts yet, but the dungeons are a linear path (though it may not be later on, I’m not sure).  So it’s very much like retro beat-em-ups of going from one part of the screen to the next.  The combat is very basic with attacks being able to chain up to a certain amount of times while character skills can further continue the chain.  Each character starts with two special attacks and can later acquire more as they level up.  Players can block by holding down the Z key, but they can only execute it when they’re not moving or attacking.  A portion of the action bar can be spent to dash out of an attack in the middle of a combo.  The gameplay is very straight-forward in that the player must defeat all the enemies to advance forward, but the combat can be tricky as each enemy has their own special ability and attack to prevent the player from progressing further.  A lot of the attacks feel sluggish and clunky, but I suppose it’s to emphasize the amount of strength that each attack has when connecting each hit to the enemy.  It’s quite annoying in the beginning, but you’ll get used to the timing and be able to play more tactically that way.  It can be considered rather repetitive as many quests require the player to go into the same dungeons over and over again, and when the player isn’t advancing towards new skills.  One must understand that the game is a beat-em-up and that it mostly involves a lot of combat.  To some, the game might be more of a button masher than anything.  Players can easily jump into a party by using the party finder in town and gather up 4 players to get through each dungeon.  For the paying items in the game, some of them do give paying players an advantage; however, a majority of the items are for aesthetic purposes with outfits and accessories to dress the character up.  I am so keen on playing games such as Rusty Hearts now since they don’t require too much time to fully enjoy the game and the core game is playable right from the start (I do love my MMORPGs, but too many of them require that you hit a certain level before you start instancing or PvP).  There hasn’t been a free online game recently that has made quite a good impression as Rusty Hearts has.  Gameplay: 9/10

Overall

The game has high quality development in aesthetics (graphics/audio) and concept (gameplay).  I was really excited to be able to play it after waiting for it for so long.  Even better, Perfect World has added Rusty Hearts to the Steam program which makes downloading and updating much easier.  The game isn’t complicated and a ton of fun.  I also must commend the localization team for the translations, dialogue, and voice over dubbing.  The texts for quests are interesting and humorous, the dialogues between the characters give more personality to them, and the translation seems to be holding up very well so far.  I hope that more online game publishers AND developers learn from Rusty Hearts in creating dialogue that players care about.  I love the lore in a lot of games, but I don’t need to read 5 pages worth of dialogue to know that I’m supposed to kill 10 rabbits and bring them back.  I wish Perfect World Entertainment the very best in running Rusty Hearts and hope that more people will try out this magnificent game.  Overall: 8.7/10

NewNews - The Binding of Isaac is out on Steam

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/

Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid

The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated dungeon crawler with action/RPG elements created by Team Meat (creators of Super Meat Boy).  It is now available on Steam for a measly $5 ($4.49 right now until Oct. 5th).  As you can see, the art style is rather dark and grotesque as opposed to their previous style in Super Meat Boy of being odd but somewhat cutesy.  The game has a keen resemblance to the original Legend of Zelda when going through a dungeon.  I hear that the game is very challenging and has a lot of replay value.  I'm probably going to hold off for now (even though it's just $4.49) since I'm struggling to finish up games (or even start) ones that I've bought from the beginning of summer.  But once I feel ready, I'm definitely going to purchase The Binding of Isaac.

GameLight Review - Metal Gear Solid 4

Official Site: http://www.konami.jp/mgs4/us/top.html

Source: Youtube Channel pythonselkan

Developer: Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Playstation 3
Release Date: June 12, 2008
Genre: Action-Stealth

Pros:
-Incredible graphics, cinematics, animations, voice-overs, etc.  Top-notch development.
-Much more player friendly camera control in-game
-Appeals to a larger audience than just the hardcore
-Definitive story that brings all the games in the series together
-A lot of small things that pleases those who have played past MGS games

Cons:
-Cut-scenes are notoriously long (which can be a problem for those who suddenly needs to go stop)
-The story can be convoluted and possibly boring to those who don't know the background
-The change to a more direct, semi-linear level design might disappoint fans
-Some puzzles can be devilishly frustrating and confusing

I don't think I would've been able to appreciate the game as much as I did if I hadn't played the previous installments in the Metal Gear Solid series.  The whole story and premise of the world within Metal Gear Solid is brought together in this one game.  There are so many references and ties back to the first three games that it rewards the player for playing them before hand in order to fully appreciate all the little things such as phrases, characters, events, gameplay re-enactments, and many more that they integrated into the game.  Aside from an incredible story, the gameplay is completely changed around to bring out the best that the series has ever seen.  Casual players will find entertainment, hardcore players are challenged, and fans will have some of the greatest moments in the series brought to them in one of the most engrossing Action-Stealth game on the Playstation 3.  If you haven't gotten MGS4 yet, you can probably find one for $15 at a local game store.  And even if you've never played any of the Metal Gear Solid games, you'll be able to enjoy some great action.

Story
One of the greatest elements in the Metal Gear Solid franchise is Kojima's knack for creating a crazy, far-out story that involves something really big, usually about life.  MGS4 did seem to have that trend going throughout most of the game, but it was different in that the plot focused heavily on the characters throughout the past 4 games including this one.  It would be a shame to dismiss everything told in the first three games in this one (which MGS3 was like for many fans), but it didn't.  Instead, characters, events, and past questions are brought altogether to tell the story of each character, the history of each one, and their involvement in this entire series.  Events and places within MGS 1 are revisted (literally at one point), characters are brought back once again from MGS2 to assist in the fight and deepen their story from after the ending, and secrets and plots are revealed from MGS3 to explain the manifestation of MGS4's premise.  The game is cut up into 5 chapters with about 3 hours of gameplay and cinematic in each one.  Throughout the game, dialogue, cinematics, and flashbacks push the story along while transitioning from one event to another.  What really got enraptured by the whole tale is the ending.  There wasn't a vague philosophical speech about our lives (though it was hinting at it), but it was about the characters and Snake (the main character).  It really brought it home for MGS fans to see such a conclusive ending that really satisfied a lot of story telling that the first three didn't want to do.  Perhaps on its own, the story would've been weak and confusing.  But with prior knowledge of the first three MGS (and even those before it such as Metal Gear on NES and Gameboy), the story really brought everything together and made it worth while to have played the previous games as well as paying close attention to everything that is said and told in this one.  The story totally captivated me.  Story: 10/10

Graphics
I'm playing this game three years after its release, and I've gotta say that Kojima Productions really knew what they were doing in the development of the game's look.  Honestly, the first thing that caught my attention was the ability to move the camera around freely.  It made me so happy to be able to look around and ahead of myself in order to position myself more effectively.  One of the difficulties in MGS 3 for me was that it was in the jungle (which made it difficult to spot enemies sometimes) and the camera was still stuck to the tradition of seeing everything overhead and not ahead which caused me to trigger a lot of alarms.  So I was worried when I saw that the first place I started in MGS4 was a desert like color with enemies wearing uniforms of similar color.  Aside from the camera, I was excited to see so many familiar faces in incredible detail and realism.  Along with the much improved voice-overs, the characters were really brought to life.  The environment is both visually appealing and game-friendly in that the player knows what is cover/an item/a trap/etc.  The beautiful graphics made it acceptable and much more tolerable to watch the 30-minutes to 2 hours cinematics.  Character's animations moved with purpose and the art style was realistic, but not so much that it would make all the absurdities of the game out of place.  The player will go through enviornments of drastic differences such as forests, snow storms, indoor corridors, and even through live towns with a war being fought (in the beginning of the game).  The visuals are a great leap from its PS2 counter-part and some of the best the PS3 has to offer.  Graphics: 10/10

Audio
The voice-overs for MGS4 is much better than the first 3 installments of the game.  Although they're the same voice-actors from past MGS games, they have a lot more feeling and emotion in them.  I always found the voice-acting in the MGS series to be sorta awkward and I liked them for being funny in that way.  But the quality in the voice-acting is much better in MGS4.  You can feel tension and emotion being emitted from the character through the talents of the voice-actor, and it had a huge impact in creating the premise of the game's world.  There's a lot of attention to detail in audio throughout the game such as shouting from the enemies and allies, sounds from certain directions, and objects in collision with projectiles all have their unique cue.  For the music, I know I'm very harsh with it but I never found the music from MGS to be exceedingly incredible.  I do like the music, but it's just that they feel very "movie-like" to me.  Meaning, they create the atmosphere, but it doesn't quite stick with me at all.  The greatest songs in the "Solid" series (not the originals) are the main theme from MGS2 and "Snake Eater" from MGS3.  So near the end when you have that epic fight against liquid ocelot, it was really cool to have all the songs from the past 4 games cycle through (which Snake Eater being my favorite).  It's not a really big problem, but the thing is that I don't find most of the music to be interesting enough to listen out of the game.  It's understandable that the music as that "movie-like" sound to it since Harry Gregson-Williams (the composer) is a veteran film composer and has most of his experience in movie music, but it's not my favorite (definitely no offense to Mr. Gregson-Williams, I have high respects for him).  One of the other cool features in the game is the ability to use an ipod (in-game ipod that is) to listen to music from past Metal Gear games (even the retro ones from the NES).  Overall, the audio was top quality.  Audio: 9/10

Gameplay
Metal Gear Solid 4 was probably the most entertaining one out of the series for me.  Aside from a few confusing puzzles, the level designs were straight-forward, the controls made much more sense, and the concept of action-stealth felt more feasible.  I felt a lot more freedom in being able to make decisions to rambo my way out of a situation or to carefully approach my targets.  One function that was added to the game was the ability to "unlock" weapons and be able to purchase add-ons, ammunition, and items that would help along the way.  I remember playing MGS3 and missing a lot of weapons and items which made the later part of the game much more difficult.  MGS4 can definitely be challenging, but it felt much easier than MGS3 and perhaps even 2 and 1 since everything is much more accessible.  Some fans might be upset that the game isn't as non-linear and open as it has been in the past, but I liked how I was able to get right to juicy part of the game without the "obstacles" (lack of health, confusing levels, no ammo, etc.) in the way.  Aiming is a bit different and a bit similar to past MGS games.  You can still go to first-person view (and be able to move in this one), but you will be in a 3rd-person perspective when aiming to shoot by default.  So even for those who doesn't want to go through a stealth route can play the game much like a 3rd-Person shooter.  There's still a lot of puzzles and places the player can crawl through, and there's even a special item the player can get if they don't kill a single enemy and don't trigger any alarms through the game.  So stealth is still a viable option and a very necessary one at the higher difficulties.  The new controls and improved aiming system truly made it an entertaining experience.  Gameplay: 9/10

Overall
There wasn't any huge plot twists in the story, but there was always tension and the feeling of "what's gonna happen next?"  The graphics is some of the best that I've played with on the PS3.  The audio has been an improvement (though past ones were never that bad) so it furthers its quality.  Although I knew there were going to be a lot of cinematics in the game, I didn't think I would enjoy the gameplay as much as I thought I would.  I had so much fun with MGS4 that I plan on replaying it again very soon.  While I do that, I'll be patiently (as eager as I am) waiting for Metal Gear Solid Rising to release.  Overall: 9.5/10

NewNews - LoL Dominion is Live (for reals this time)

Hey League of Legend fans and players, Dominion is finally out of beta and is Live (really this time)!

Source: Youtube Channel RiotGamesInc

Dominion feels like a totally different game (if you're already used to the DotA style map and haven't tried this one yet) and allows a player to try out characters with different builds and play-styles from their usual modes.  The matches are much more fast-paced and team-intensive as the main objective is to capture more points than the opposing team to knock their team life-bar down to zero to be the victor.  If you have missed a previous post on this, check out the last post on League of Legends and see what this is about.  If you haven't tried out League of Legends yet, I implore you to give it a try as it is free, easy to learn (compared to DotA and Heroes of Newerth, also good games), and a ton of fun.  You can sign up and download the game at Riot Games' League of Legends sign up page.  Have fun summoners!

VGCulture - Mass Effect Movie

A while ago (I don't remember clearly, but maybe half a year to a year ago?) the rights to making a Mass Effect Movie was bought and is now showing some progress of its existence.  Videogame to film adaptations has been one of satire and mis-guided tribute in order to use the success of the game to bring in money for the movie.  I never understood why so many movie makers go out of their way to create a film that the general public wouldn't really understand or be able to appreciate without the background and upset the actual fans of the franchise that the film is based off of when it doesn't even make them that much money.  If someone is very serious about creating a "good" movie out of the characters and content of a popular videogame, they should do it in a way that interests movie-goers and please the fans.  With Mass Effect 3 coming out early next year 2012, the movie is hard at work on finishing it if they want to use the hype of Mass Effect to its fullest.

Source: Youtube Channel EAsingapore

Well it seems that screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) is determined to make Mass Effect an incredible movie in its own rights.  What has fans worried at the moment besides the fact that it's going to be actually made?  Well, it seems that they're focusing on the plot of the first Mass Effect and is planning on changing the entire story for the movie.  Mass Effect has its popularity in the ability to create an immersive atmosphere in a believable environment by giving life to all the NPCs, allow the player to travel freely in a gigantic galaxy, and tying in a large adventure for the player to journey.  Is it really possible to create such a story that can match the epic proportions of the game in all its characters, story, and world into a 2-3 hour movie?  The crew responsible for the making of the movie has their work cut out for them for sure.

Source:
-Tom's Guide - Mass Effect Movie Will Have a New Storyline 

GameLight - LoL Dominion is Live!

Official Site: http://dominion.leagueoflegends.com/

Source: Youtube Channel RiotGamesInc

League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) based game inspired and developed by the creators of the ever popular Warcraft 3 custom campaign "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA).  Riot Games have been working hard to deliver the best MOBA experience to the world by releasing their game as a Free-To-Play game with Pay2play quality.  New characters are added every month, the game is constantly being improved, and the game always seem to bring something fresh.  Just today, Riot Games released Dominion officially after a very very short beta of only one day (yesterday) and is allowing the general public to play the new map and mode.  Traditionally in MOBA games, a team of 5 players on each side fights against each other to push their army of minions into the enemy's base to destroy the main point.  It's like an Action-RPG mixed with an RTS style Tower Defense map between two teams.  In Dominion, the goal is to capture more points (5 in all) than the enemies to lower their team's health bar.  It's much more fast-paced and is nearly always player vs. player.  Think Company of Heroes or Call of Duty's Domination mode where players capture a point and gradually decreases the enemy's points until it reaches zero.  A lot of new items have been added, new rules are put into play, and characters that might have been useful in the regular mode might not necessarily be useful in Domination.  I play a lot of tanks and captured a lot of points (or defended one) because of my ability to take more hits.  Having one less player can really harm a team (which has happened when players get disconnected).  Since it just came out today, I noticed that the mode isn't 100% bug free yet.  Lag was persistent, character skills might glitch, and some of the map items seem to have some hit-box issues.  The mode isn't perfect yet, but it's incredibly fun.  To be able to fight so many players consistently and finish in 15-20 minutes is a mode competitive players will love.  If you still haven't tried out League of Legends yet, you gotta check it out (It's free!!!).

GameLight - Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena

Source: Youtube Channel SilvaWulf19

It's sad, but I've bought Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 and have yet to play through either one.  I was never much of a Shin Megami Tensei fan until the Persona series and because of MegaTen Online.  But I was still excited upon hearing today that Arc System Works joined up with Atlus to work on a Persona 4 fighter for the PS3 and Xbox 360.  The gameplay and art style looks similar to that of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue (developed by Arc System Works) with the thematic backdrops and characters of Persona 4.  I really hope that this will be brought over as a retail game rather than a digital game.  What's preventing me from getting Arcana Hearts 3 right now is because of the limited hard drive space of the PS3 I got has and my dislike for digitally distributed games on consoles (I like having the physical copy of a game).  I've gotten used to buying games digitally on PC now, mainly because there's significantly more hard drive space, games cost only $2-$10 on most purchases, and it's much more manageable than digital games on a console.  Anyways, the game is looking pretty so far and I'm already interested in getting it if it is brought over.  Seeing past success in the Persona series, there shouldn't be any reason to not bring it over to the Western market.

Source:
-Joystiq - Persona 4 fighting game footage unleashes some demonic Supers

NewNews - Battlefield 3 Beta on Sep. 29th

Official Site: http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3

Source: Youtube Channel XboxViewTV

Before I start, I want to say that Joystiq might actually read some of my posts!  They started something called "Deja Review" which is synonymous to what I do for "Retroview".  Of course I don't have a problem with that since they didn't use my exact term AND their first "Deja Review" is on legendary Shoot-em-up "Radiant Silvergun" (which I sadly never played before).  It's cool to know that I might have contributed to an idea for the guys at Joystiq.  Anyways~

Electronic Arts has announced that Battlefield 3 will have an Open Beta Testing for all platforms on September 29th to all gamers.  I originally planned on buying this for PS3, but I recently found out that my friend will be getting it on PC since he won't even have his PS3 with him while in college.  Along with the fact that PC will have more content (slightly) than consoles, I am now considering getting it on PC instead and get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on PS3 instead.  So this Beta Test is a great time for everyone to try out on all their systems and decide which one they want to get it for.  You can figure out whether your PC specs can hold out, is the console version good enough to ignore the limited capacity of players, and which system feels most comfortable to play on.  And if you're one of the people that has early access beta, Beta starts on Sep. 27th for you.  I'm not sure when I should actually buy the game since I'm not desperate to get it the first day it comes out.  I'm willing to wait a little while to get a bit of a discount on it.  But if EA is anything like Activision in how they market Call of Duty, the price will never go down until the next sequel comes out.  Well, hopefully EA has some sort of sale or special discount on their Origin service.  I will see you all out on the battlefield on September 29th!

NewNews - New videos on PSO2

PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2!!!

Source: Youtube Channel SEGA

Aside from Diablo 3, Phantasy Star Online 2 is one game I'm most anticipated to see released (hopefully) in English and am willing to buy on the first day.  Sure, there's also other incredible RPGs coming out such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Dark Souls, Dragon's Dogma (hey, it looks like an RPG! I know it's not one), Kingdom of Alamur: Reckoning, Torchlight 2, Mass Effect 3, and Guild Wars 2, but I'm willing to wait for all of those (well, maybe except for Guild Wars 2).  Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 and 2 is still considered one of the greatest games I have played and still holds the most hours played in a game for me.  I did (and still do) enjoy all the spin-offs such as Phantasy Star Universe, Ambition of Illuminus, Phantasy Star Portable 1 and 2, and Phantasy Star Zero; however, none got me as excited as hearing about Phantasy Star Online 2.  There was something about PSO that just made it so magical, so addictive, and completely satisfying while playing it.  It seems that PSO2 will be bringing that back to us gamers.  It won't exactly be the same (which isn't what most of us are looking for), but it will still have the same charm and element that made it so great in the first place.  Some of the changes I see so far is an extensive character customization, the ability to jump, customized combos, a more action orientated combat system, a Third-Person Shooter style perspective and control for guns and rangers (much better system of aiming than the First-Person View used in the Universe series onwards), large parties, and special events that happen in the middle of a dungeon run.  I'm super excited about this!!!

Source: Youtube Channel InitialF7

You can check out more at this site: http://pso2.jp/special/nettv/

VGCulture - Filler - FF14 Comic

Source: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/image/583

Well they can try.  Hellgate was revived, though I'm not sure how it's currently doing.  The point is that they're trying.  I don't think it was that FF14 was a broken game as much as it was an outdated formula.  People didn't want to play FF11 again with a few changes and especially if they have to pay monthly for it.  There are too many other games to invest time and money on if there isn't anything in particular interest that the game can offer.  Honestly, I'd give the game a try if I didn't have to pay monthly (I wouldn't mind paying once for the game and play for free afterwards like Guild Wars did).

Retroview - Genghis Khan (NES)

Source: Youtube Channel NESguide

Some of my best childhood memories (besides playing videogames) was watching my father player them.  He really liked strategy games.  One of those games was Genghis Khan, the story of the man who founded the Mongol Empire.  These strategy games are very different from the Strategy games we play now and it more closer to "management simulations" and "tactics" games.  A player manages their area of its resources, train their military, and takes over other areas to expand their rule over the land.  There's the planning phase and the battle phase.  It was games like this one as well as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Nobunaga's Ambition, and Bandit Kings of Ancient China all developed by KOEI that got me interested in Asian history.  Back then though, it was just a bunch of numbers and names fighting each other for me.  I never really figured out how to play (tried and then lost my entire army in one battle) and it's probably the reason why they're not publicly popular.  They're difficult games with a lot of foresight and planning required in order to even begin playing.  To my surprise, Koei still creates these games.  One thing that gets me nostalgic from these games is the music.  They might be short, repetitive, and possibly annoying, but I recognize them pretty easily and hold a lot of memories of my childhood.  In the past decade, Koei has worked on the same histories and storyline through a different genre.  The most popular one being the Tactical hack 'n slash genre of Dynasty Warriors.  That one follows Romance of the Three Kingdoms.  Now my father plays nothing but Dynasty Warriors 5.  I asked him about Genghis Khan and he said that he really missed playing those games back in the NES days and how exciting it was to plan a huge army to decimate an entire fief.  So 20+ years later, I'm still watching my father playing videogames based on the same history of the games he played back in the NES days.  Genghis Khan was one of the more obscure games since I never really learned that much about the Mongols or the history of them.  I think I eventually learned more about Chinese and Japanese history on my own.  It was also probably because in Genghis Khan, you played several different nations in the world: The English, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and Byzantine.  Seems like the last Genghis Khan game that came out was back in 1998 in Japan (Genghis Khan IV).  I definitely remember watching my father play Genghis Khan 2 because it's synonymous to my memories of watching Halley's Comet.  I've always wondered if I should go back to this game and try to play it myself sometime and see if I can fare better than I did when I was younger, but I never hesitated to back to listen to the music from it.

NewNews - Prepare for Diablo 3

No, a release date hasn't been announced; however, the skill calculator is up and running with the most up to date skills and runes for the game!

Source: http://www.gamegavel.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/diablo3.jpg

The skill calculator allows players to plan out what sort of abilities they want to bring into battle (only 6 active skills and 3 passive skills can be equipped) and what runes to use for each of those abilities.  The link will change according to the settings of the sheet and can be shared with friends, family, and people of the web.  So far, there are 5 classes in total.   I'm hoping for more in the future as Diablo 2 had a good selection (granted that it was an expansion), but 5 will do at the moment with 2 that I really want to play.  So if you're eager to find out what sort of build you want to make for your Barbarian, Monk, or which ever character you desire, go experiment right now: http://www.gamegavel.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/diablo3.jpg

NewNews - 2nd Analog Stick for 3DS

There have been rumors about Nintendo adding a 2nd Analog stick to the 3DS system, and now it has been confirmed that it is true.  The problem is how they're adding it to the system:

Source: Youtube Channel ReviewTechUSA

It's a chunky attachment that goes on the back of the system adding one extra button, an analog stick, and requires a single AA battery to run sold for $20.  There's a chance that it's going to be released along with a game and that many games will be utilizing it from here on out which makes it imperative that a player has the attachment to play any games released.  It's not a huge as one of the peripherals I had for the Gameboy Color (magnify glass to make screen bigger, stereo speakers, and a light attachment, that thing was chunky), but it still sticks out in an odd way and causes the portable system to be that much larger (3DS is currently larger than a DS Lite, but lighter than one).  One of the main concerns right now is that the original system will quickly become obsolete and a new version will take over with the 2nd analog stick built in.  Though some are hoping that's the case, it might be a while before that happens due to the sudden price drop of the system and the soon to be released attachment just announced just now.  Nintendo is being careful not to upset their fan base any further as it has become detrimental to their sales.

Aside from the ugliness and price, I'm glad to know that the 3DS will eventually have 2 analog sticks so that developers are more willing to create games that utilize them such as FPS games, 3D Action games, and Top-down shooters.  I'm prepared to wait even longer for a new version of the 3DS to come out before I get one since there aren't that many games in particular that I want yet and because I want a different color and better model.  I remember when the DS came out; I waited for a new version even though many people were telling me that there wouldn't be one.  Sure enough the Nintendo DS Lite came out with a smaller design, brighter screen, and longer battery life.  Seeing how each gameboy has 3 iterations (Gameboy->GB Pocket->GB Color, GBA->GBA SP->GBA Micro, NDS->NDS Lite->NDS XL), I'm willing to wait for the 2nd version to come out before I get a 3DS.  Hopefully by then, there will be a handful of games I want to play that I'll get with the system upon purchase.  For those who have the current 3DS and can't wait to play games like Monster Hunter Tri G, spend that bit of $20 for the chance to play it before everyone else.

GameLight - Crysis (Remastered)

Recently, there was an announcement on Crysis being re-released for digital downloads on Xbox 360's XBLA and Playstation 3's PSN services as a remastered version of 2007's highly acclaimed first-person shooter that was exclusively for PC.  It's be redone and reworked on the CryEngine 3 so everything looks even nicer than it did when it first came out.

Source: Youtube Channel the4nshadow

I'm currently playing Crysis (The original) right now since I didn't have the time to play it before.  It's quite a surprising First-Person Shooter for me since I've been playing so many Tactical-Warfare type FPS games such as Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, and Battlefield.  For one thing, the levels of each mission is very open-ended and large.  A player has a number of approaches to reaching their objectives.  The suits that the characters wear in the game allows them to switch between different aspects that enhances their power, speed, armor, and such.  While utilizing all the settings, a player can set themselves in several ways to engage a group of enemies such as rushing in, cause them to funnel through, take them out silently one by one, etc.  The levels don't feel as linear, even though there's a clear path of where the player is supposed to go.  The graphics are amazing and has dramatically improved over the years as they've switched over to new technology that is currently used by more and more developers (up to CryEngine 3 at the moment).  The game is quite challenging as enemy AI are varied and will try different methods of killing the player.  I probably won't be getting the remastered version as I'll be satisfied with finishing the original and then move onto playing Crysis 2.  The remastered version of Crysis is set to release on PSN and XBLA sometime in October 2011.  If you haven't played it yet and like FPS games, I recommend not missing out on the experience that brought many great FPS aspects into one cohesive game.

GameOn - Shmups - Castle of Shikigami 3

On the last day of this week's GameOn series of Shoot-em-ups (Shmups), I'll be talking about Castle of Shikigami 3 and the sub-genre Danmaku.

Source: Youtube Channel jedikevin20

I could've talked about Touhou, but I seem to talk about Touhou whenever it's about Shmups now (and so does many other Shmups gamers), so I chose a non-obvious choice.  Castle of Shikigami 3 is a vertical shmup danmaku (or more commonly known in English terms as Bullet Hell) where the levels consist mainly of enemy bullets.  There aren't that many Bullet Hell shooters in the United States (as far as I know) and the ones that are brought over are extremely rare (argh, still can't find Ikaruga!).  I first tried Shikigami no Shiro 3 (Japanese name for it) through a demo on PC and really enjoyed the unique characters, the music, the spectacular 3D-like graphics and effects, and the challenge of the "extreme" difficulty.  So when I heard that it was being translated and brought over to the States for the Wii, I really wanted it.  The voice acting is atrociously bad, but it's bad in a way to be considered humorous and laughable.  It added to the light hearted vibe the story gave considering its insane difficulty.  From the video above, it doesn't seem much.  This video here is closer to what a Bullet Hell usually looks like:

Source: Youtube Channel YannBer16

That excitement and thrill you get from barely escaping through enemy fire in such a chaotic moment is the charm of most Danmaku/Bullet Hell games.  It gets even crazier with a 2nd player joining in.  For Castle of Shikigami 3, the story/dialogue of the characters changes depending on who the player chooses and who they're paired up with.  Bullet Hell and even just shooters in general aren't as popular anymore (at least in the Western Market), but those that get brought over or are made are usually of the Bullet Hell style sub-genre.  The most recent one I bought and played is indie developed Jamestown.  I actually still play Castle of Shikigami 3 and see how little continues I need to use before beating the game each time and because I find the dialogues to be hilarious between the characters.  I hope you enjoyed this week's GameOn and I encourage everyone to try out all these sorts of Shoot-em-ups in the future.

GameOn - Shmups - Space Harrier 2

Watching some of the videos of Space Harrier 2 brought a sense of nostalgia of childhood back.

Source: Youtube Channel ACESpark

It was (and kinda still is) amazing seeing the illusion of 3D perspective of running on the planet at a fast pace and fighting monsters that can appear far and close.  Space Harrier 2 is of a sub-genre of Shmups called "Rail Shooters".  The screen moves on its own while the player shoots at whatever is on the screen that's incoming while moving their character around (if there is one) to avoid enemy fire.  It was so fun playing Space Harrier 2 flying around and running at a crazy speed while mowing down all sorts of weird enemies while avoid incoming pillars and obstacles.  Rail Shooters are more synonymous to arcades and so we don't see that many Rail Shooters on home consoles (though more of the gun shooters are still around such as Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, Dead Space Extraction, and House of the Dead: Overkill).  Rail Shooters are unique in that they're more 3-dimensional more on the Y-axis and Z-axis than the Y-axis and X-axis (if you look at it in more of a grid format).  But one of the things that really got me pumped up for Space Harrier 2 was its catchy music.  The main theme for Space Harrier 1 and 2 is like 4 minutes long, which is an incredible length for games back then.  If you're interested in Rail Shooters such as this one, look for Sin and Punishment: Star Successor or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (both on Wii).  I think both utilize the motion controller to aim.  Rail Shooters are rare these days, but they have a certain charm to them compared to other Shmups.

GameOn - Shmups - Gradius

Gradius has been an influential horizontal side-scroll shooter from the beginning till now.  From its difficult level designs to its catchy tunes, Gradius had set the history of shoot-em-ups in motion with a formula that is still commonly used today in horizontal side-scroll shooters.

Source: Youtube Channel Toad22484

One thing that really got me interested in Gradius when I was playing it as a little kid was all the power-ups the player can acquire.  The player can add: speed, missiles, lasers, double shot, an option (extra tiny ship to fight beside you), and shield to help fight against the hordes of enemies the player faces through the game.  One of the biggest challenges in side-scroll shooters such as Gradius is having to weave through enemies and their bullets with enemies popping around the end of the screen trying to destroy the player's ship.  In yesterday's post on Space Invaders, fixed shooters (or I like to call them arcade shooters) only had enemies and their enemy fire to worry about.  With Gradius, there's environmental hazards where touching the walls would destroy the ship.  Like Space Invaders, Gradius has evolved, but the looks and concept are fairly similar.

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

I really enjoyed Gradius V because it still felt like Gradius, but on a totally different level.  Treasure, the developers well known for their danmaku (bullet hell) sub-genre of Shmups worked on Gradius V and gave the game a challenge like no other.  I will be talking about Bullet Hell on Friday.  Horizontal shooters seem to have lost its popularity now as more 3D shooters and vertical shooters are played more.  The Gundemonium series will be out on Steam soon, so maybe I'll get my fix of horizontal shooters when that comes out.

GameOn - Shmups - Space Invaders

Good evening everyone!  I hope everyone had a pleasant Labor Day holiday yesterday.  This week, I'm going to be doing a GameOn series which I feel as if I hadn't in the longest time.  Each of the four days, I will be talking about a sort of "Shmups" (shortened for Shoot-em-ups) sub-genre.  Today, I will be talking about Space Invaders of the past and now.

Source: Youtube Channel pspshow

Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooters that I played when I was a little kid.  It was a simple objective, but a difficult task.  Shoot-em-ups consists of a level of enemies that the player has to mow down to progress.  For Space Invaders, it was a single screen game where a bunch of aliens planning on invading Earth.  The player takes the role of a single fighter and shoots them out of space and from invading and destroying the player and earth.  In the past 25 years or so, Space Invaders have gone through many iterations with little to no change at all but has introduced things such as power ups, special aliens, and different aspects that changes the game around.  Space Invaders is still played today, even if it looks and plays differently.  It still has that frantic feeling of the last alien whizzing down the screen.  It's still fun for me, but has been overshadowed by many other sub-genre of shooters.  I would call this an Arcade Shooter (I guess it's called a "Fixed shooter" on Wikipedia, makes sense) because of its history of shoot-em-ups in arcades with Galaga, Galaxian, and such being the popular shooters during those days.  You can probably find a site that still has the original Space Invaders for you to play, and there's also many iterations of Space Invaders all around on different consoles and sites.  Space Invaders certainly isn't the first shooter or game to come out, but it is one of the most influential ones that have paved the way for other Shmups.

Retroview - Far Cry

I think I'm quickly becoming a Far Cry Fan.

Source: Youtube Channel hankmanGTA

Far Cry is a First-Person Shooter with sandbox elements released back in 2004 exclusively for PC.  I didn't care much for it back then (mainly because I didn't play much FPS games back then and I also didn't have a computer that could handle anything other than Delta Force 2) and so I never bothered to try the game out.  It was recently on sale for $2.50 on Steam with Far Cry 2: Fortune's Edition for $5.  I missed out on a LOT of great games that many gamers talk about but I never bothered to try (Deus Ex which I finally did, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, F.E.A.R., Hitman, Brothers in Arms, Call of Duty the original, etc.) and so I've been getting them all now that I finished my academics and can afford to buy and play games.

I bought both Far Cry 1 and 2 and decided to start with the original first.  The game surprised me in that the levels were huge and completing an objective didn't have to be completed by going through one path.  I like the option of being able to choose how to approach a fight and having that non-linear pathway to complete an objective.  The graphics are better than I had expected seeing how it's a game from 2004.  The loading takes forever though for some reason, but it's very fast after the initial load.  I'm not entirely far into the game, perhaps 3/10 of the way to being completed, but I'm really enjoying the game so far.  The game provides a fair challenge and different scope in the FPS genre that I am used to, so it feels very fresh even though it's 7 years old.  I feel very immersed with the environment and the whole situation that the character Jack Carver got himself into.  I think it has something to do with being able to explore around that makes it feel like I'm part of the world rather than running from point A to point B.  I can choose to kill people or leave them behind when sneaking around.  I recently played Crysis 1 for the first time and see similarities in gameplay with Far Cry with it being outdoors in the jungle with huts and having the ability to be stealthy or trigger happy.  I'm very happy with my purchase and can't wait to get on to eventually playing Far Cry 2 (and Crysis 2).  You can find Far Cry for $10 on steam or you can wait for another sale and buy it for a fraction of the price like I did.

VGCulture - Art - Mass Effect M8 Avenger Assault Rifle

This guy got props: http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/

Source: http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/2010/08/mass-effect-m8-avenger-assault-rifle.html

What I mean is, this graphics designer from Atlanta has amazing skill in creating replica models of props from movies and games.  He's created things from Portal, Claymore (I think it's a manga/animé), and Mass Effect with the lights and gleam of the actual items from the game/shows/movies.  On his blog, it shows step by step on how he created the assault rifle and what materials were used.  This particular one in the picture above was created mostly of what he already had from other props he created and took a total of only $28 to complete.  The rights to creating a Mass Effect movie has already been sold.  So if they ever plan on making the movie for it, they really should look for someone with his expertise to create the props.