GameLight Review - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate

Official Site?: http://www.konami-castlevania.com/mof/
Source: Youtube Channel IGN

Developer: Mercury Steam
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Genre: Action-Adventure

Pros:
+ Although on 3DS, the combat is similar to the Lords of Shadow on console
+ Fluid animation and combat mechanics
+ The 3D effects are pretty cool on some parts of the game

Cons:
- Much like the first Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate has an identity crisis
- The majority of the game felt kind of empty
- Although the game is open-world, the game still feels linear
- Fans of the Castlevania series may cringe at Mercury Steam's take on the story

Recommended: No?  Maybe?  Although I had fun with the game, it's not exactly a game I'd recommend to my friends.

I was well prepared to be conflicted in thoughts on this game after completing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the PS3.  To be straight-forward about it, I did have some fun playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate; however, it didn't live up to the quality, experience, or entertainment value I got out of previous installments within the series.  The game promised players a return to its roots of classic Castlevania games while still retaining the open-world of exploration of the Metroidvania era.  Rather than finding the balance between the two, the game felt like a struggle between the two while playing very similar to the console version of Lords of Shadow.  Battles against certain enemies are a bit tougher and require patience to defeat, much like classic Castlevania games.  And since the combat is similar to the first Lords of Shadow, the player has many skills and abilities to utilize against enemies.  There are problems with these concepts.  Classic Castlevania games were linear, side-scrolling experiences where the player keeps moving forward.  With the utilization of free-exploration within the castle, you're going to have to run into those tougher enemies more than once.  After a while, you start to lose interest in fighting them and learn to run past them.  Then there's the many combo abilities the player has: most of them are ineffective.  Despite having so many different variations of attacks, a lot of them do not flinch the enemy or stop them in time before they attack you.  Because of this, you will end up using the same 2-3 combos throughout the entire game to fight effectively without getting killed.  There's no point in having so many different attacks, skills and items when they aren't useful.  There's also the matter of an open-world exploration: there isn't much to explore.  There will be a few places here and there along the way where you can't reach an item until a certain ability or item is acquired.  Once that said ability or item is in possession, it is a simple walk back to those few spots to get more items.  What made the Metroidvania formula work was the constant flow of action and fast-paced gratification received from fighting your way across the castle while exploring up and down the castle rather than going forward and occasionally backwards to gather extra items.  This was mechanic was like "yang" to the classic Castlevania's "yin" as the originals were linear and required a slower approach to fights with more patience.  Each Castlevania game before knew it had to be one or the other and couldn't be both at the same time and needed to find that balance.  Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was actually the closest to achieving that balance of both mechanics.  But in Mirror of Fate, battles weren't particularly difficult as much as they were tedious, exploration was shallow, and because of that it made the entire castle feel very empty.  And much of the music was similar to Lords of Shadow on console, so it just made the game feel more like Lords of Shadow than any of the other Castlevania games before it.  In fact, I think a lot of the songs used in Mirror of Fate are the same exact ones in Lords of Shadow.  There is still much I can go on about, but I suppose I should just get straight to the points of each aspect of the game.

Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Cel-shaded Medieval Fantasy within 2D environment gameplay
+ There are some really nice 3D effects on some parts of the game
+ Animations and movement are still quick and fluid despite the 3D graphics
+ Some of the bosses have really nice designs to them
+ Interesting way of telling the story through semi-moving cinematics
+ Impressive backdrops in various parts of the castle

- Why does every character have different accents within the same family lineage?
- Music is as high quality as the console game, but is still generic and forgettable
- Although the graphics were nice, all the levels were kind of the same: dark
Aesthetics: 7/10

Buttons
Controller: 3DS buttons, no need for touch-screen as far as I remember
+ Familiar controls to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow/other 3D Action games
+ Blocking and dodging react pretty quickly in the middle of an attack
+ Auto-aim grappling ensures you don't miss and fall down
+ Fairly well laid out controls for the game

- Why are there quick-time events in a hand-held Castlevania game???
Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Progress through fighting, solving puzzles, and exploring
+ It's really fancy seeing long combos and console quality combat on a handheld
+ Some of the boss fights were pretty fun
+ Having the ability to heal by attacking makes up for having no potions
+ There's a decent amount of unlockable abilities
+ You can change the difficulty at any time throughout the game
+ Sub-weapons are actually really useful in combat and compliment the whip
+ Dying is a minor setback so you never have to restart back too far
+ There are some tricky and challenging platforming involved

- Quick-time events don't add that much to the entertainment
- Near the end of the game, I didn't feel like fighting most of the enemies
- The castle felt so empty without all that music and colorful levels and enemies
- MercurySteam made their own take on the story, but it still makes me cringe
- A lot of the longer attack combos and abilities are useless
- Exploration was shallow and boring
- No end-game content other than an extra difficulty level
Concept & Content: 6/10

Duration

+ A decent amount of gameplay time for one playthrough
+ The flow of battle comes at a nice steady rate
+ Time is never wasted when you die, you lose 3 minutes at most

- Other than playing on a harder difficulty, practically no replay value
- Each new chapter felt like starting the game over again
- When you're not fighting, the game felt slow and boring
Duration: 5/10

Fun
+ I thought it was nice having console quality combat mechanics on a handheld
+ It did feel good fighting tough enemies and bosses and landing perfect blocks
+ The platforming and jumping parts of the game were semi-entertaining
+ Puzzles weren't too difficult, but they did provide a decent challenge

- Going back to get the few items I couldn't before killed the flow of the game
- The game never got past "it was kinda fun"
Fun: 7/10

Overall
My expectations were already pretty low for the game, so I was able to judge it for what it was.  I know Mercury Steam wanted to please fans of the series and still innovate something out of it, but it just didn't really work out.  What came out of it was a decent Action-Adventure game that was mildy entertaining but doesn't boast any merits or be considered that memorable of a game.  I did have my fun out of playing it, but I didn't feel like it was a "great" experience.  When I reviewed Lords of Shadow, I had a lot of conflicts with the game, but was able to look past all that and say that it was a pretty solid Action-Adventure game.  Even when doing that for Mirror of Fate, it is still a mediocre game under unbiased eyes.  Overall: 6.6/10

GameLight Review - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Official Site: http://www.konami-castlevania.com/castlevania-lords-of-shadow/
Source: Youtube Channel IGN

Developer: MercurySteam, Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: [PS3], Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: October 5, 2010 (PS3, Xbox 360), August 27, 2013 (PC)
Genre: Action-Adventure

Pros:
+ Does a lot of things right that other Action games do wrong
+ Controls are tight, responsive, and well designed around the game
+ Aesthetics are quite beautiful with a cinematic-like atmosphere
+ Puzzles are present, but they're never too complex to hinder progress

Cons:
- This games has a serious case of identity crisis
- Despite having well crafted aesthetics, the themes are painfully generic
- Although levels are separate, there's still a LOT of running around to do

Recommended: Maybe, Action-Adventure fans will like it.  Castlevania fans may or may not be able to enjoy the game.

I've played games where they've had good ideas but executed badly and I'll feel only a little indecisive about whether I liked the game or not.  But never have I been so conflicted with a game because it's well developed but doesn't live up to the expectations of a franchise.  I try my best to be as unbiased as possible when playing a game and I do not like fanboyism, yet every little aspect that takes ideas from other games and the factors that take away from what makes a Castlevania game disgusted me and clawed at the back of my mind as I dredged my way through the game.  I enjoyed playing the game, but I also didn't like it at the same time.  Do you see how contradictory my thoughts on the game are?  The exploration has some linearity in it to prevent the player from getting lost yet it's opened enough for them to find secrets and replay levels.  The combat is well thought out and addresses many problems that other Action games suffered from such as camera angles, blocking, enemy AI, platforming, and even the dreaded Quick-time events.  The graphics are beautiful with colorful landscapes, huge boss battles, and well crafted level designs.  Despite all this, the game suffers from a serious case of identity crisis.  The combat is like God of War, some of the boss fights is practically Shadow of the Colossus, the exploration is Uncharted, and the themes of levels are very similar to games like Garshasp: The Monster Slayer.  Although the music works really well with the atmosphere and has won a few awards, it's incredibly cinematic and overly dramatic on parts where it's not even that important as well as being forgettable and generic.  Gabriel Belmont is such a cool looking characters with intricate designs on his armor with one heck of a skill set utilizing his whip and sub-weapons, yet he still manages to be a boring character with a personality of a brick.  To sum it all up in one sentence: It's not a Castlevania game.  It's a reason that even I find dumb to even down-grade such a well developed game, but it's how I felt and still feel when playing through and finishing the game.  Had this game been presented as a new IP and be simply called Lords of Shadow with no ties to Castlevania, I might feel differently about the game and perhaps accept it lovingly a lot more.  But the fact that it's much more widely accepted than the older 3D Castlevania games hurts my pride as a Castlevania as the previous iterations of the series has always stood out as unique and original while this version screams of generic themes and cliché tropes of medieval fantasy despite being such a solid Action-Adventure experience.  I don't think I'll ever be able to get over it and so I'll say that I liked it as a game but not as a Castlevania game.

Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Medieval Fantasy
+ Great scenery in landscapes, atmosphere and environment
+ Despite no installation required, load times are short and textures are nice
+ Well crafted enemy designs, especially the bosses
+ The effects, slow-motions and color worked well with the game mechanics
+ Sound effects and animation delivered a visceral combat experience
+ Cues for QTE and exploration were subtle yet effective

- The whole medieval fantasy theme was a bit too generic and didn't stand out
- Music was very cinematic and forgettable
- Some of the "epic" music was just so exaggerated that it felt comical
Aesthetics: 8/10

Buttons
Controller: PS3 Controller
+ Tight controls that are responsive and designed around the game well
+ Perfect blocking is utilized much better than most games I've played
+ Platforming is pretty spot-on
+ Combat is free-flowing and feels really good

- Some jumps and wall collision aren't very solid in some levels
Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Fight, climb, and fulfill objectives to progress to the next chapter
+ A solid combat experience that's both challenging and enjoyable
+ Exploration is generally easy to navigate through and offers re-playability
+ Boss fights usually have multiple tiers to fight through adding depth
+ Although there is a predictable outcome of the story, there is a surprising ending
+ Puzzles are interesting but usually not too complicated to hinder progress
+ Some levels had interesting solutions to progressing such as riding on enemies
+ There were a plethora of abilities and skills for gain

- The story starts off okay, but quickly becomes predictable and uninteresting
- Gabriel Belmont can't decide whether he has an accent or not and has a personality of a brick
- Nothing in the game is innovative, they're just really good mechanics of existing ones
- One particular puzzle was too esoteric and confusing to make any sense
- Most of the skills were useless in combat and only a few were practical
Concept & Content: 7/10

Duration
+ A good length of gameplay provided with a nice steady flow
+ Revisiting levels and multiple difficulties provide a decent amount of replay value
+ I liked how lengthy and challenging some of the boss battles were
+ Combat definitely was the highlight of the game that made up most of the game time

- I hated certain puzzles that involved nothing but running around everywhere
- A few levels made no sense in terms of pathing and involved getting lost
Duration: 7/10

Fun
+ I liked how it addressed and resolved every problem I've had with 3D Action-Adventure games: Camera Angle, multiple enemy combat, Quick-Time events, platforming, puzzles, etc.
+ Although an idea rip from other games, I did enjoy the boss battles
+ Combat is a lot of fun and there are lots of skills to use and gain
+ I'm not too fond with most of the puzzles, but platforming was okay

- Honestly, my first reactions were "It's God of War..."
- Ugh, Quick-Time Events, though it's done a lot more elegantly
Fun: 7/10

Overall
To put it simply, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a solid Action-Adventure game.  It's not inspiring, innovative, or original as its own, but it does improve and utilizes the same game mechanics much better other in its genre has done in the past.  If you're a long time Castlevania fan, forget everything you know about Castlevania or better yet don't even think of it as a Castlevania game and you'll be able to enjoy the game a lot more.  It's a lot to look past, but at its core Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is an enjoyable experience.  Overall: 7.4/10

GameLight - Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate

Official Site: http://www.konami-castlevania.com/mof/
Source: Youtube Channel NintendoWorldReport

Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate released today on the Nintendo 3DS.  I have been very worried about it ever since its reveal last year at E3 as it seems to embody the original Castlevania more than the Metroidvania that handheld Castlevania games have followed.  It's not to say that I don't like the retro-styled side-scrolling adventure that Castlevania started with since I grew up with them and love them.  The problem is that they lack content in our current day generation where paying $40 for just a handheld game had better be worth our time.  The game follows the same story arc of Lords of Shadow with the return of 2 familiar characters in the series: Trevor and Simon Belmont.  It bothers me a little that the story of those two pivotal characters might be changed in a way that I may not find desirable.  As many might be able to tell, I am very skeptical about this iteration in the Castlevania series which is pretty scary since I gave even the infamous Castlevania Judgment a chance.  Still, it's a Castlevania and I'm willing to give it a go.  I'm just not willing to dish out $40 for it at the moment, especially since I just ordered 2 games for the 3DS that still hasn't arrive just yet.  I also haven't played through Lords of Shadow yet, despite having bought it a while ago.  Guess I'll wait out on this.  It's good to know I'll have a 3DS game to buy when I finished the others I have.

GameLight - Love Plus 3DS

Official Site: http://www.konami.jp/products/loveplus/index.html

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

After a year of seeing videos and news reports of dating simulator/visual novel game "Love Plus 3DS", the game finally releases in Japan today on Valentines Day.  This is one game that's more than likely not being brought over to the western market.  Visual Novels based around love stories or love simulators where the player interacts with a virtual girl have been around in the Japanese market for over two decades and have become "sort of" normal there now (It's still weird to those who don't play it there I suppose).  In the western market, it is looked down upon as a terrible product targeting the single male population (or something they take as a normal oddity from Japan's otaku culture).

Within the game, the player talks (from choosing multiple choices answers I suppose) to the characters in the game, goes out on dates, takes pictures, and simply interact with them as if they were real.  Konami added an extra function where players can receive virtual e-mails from the characters within Love Plus by subscribing for $4 per month.  I shouldn't judge, but Love Plus is after all still just a game and a player shouldn't get "that" involved.  The gyroscope (motion sensor), 3D camera, and dual screens allow the player to interact with their virtual girlfriend within their own environment with Augmented Reality.  You can see this happening at 2:05 in the video above.  Now if this can be utilized within the development of other games, we can see a lot of interesting gameplay from action, fighting, and adventure genres.

I don't pay much attention to these types of games mainly because they're rarely brought over or translated.  My interest in it lies within the story, though I can't really find any specific story for any of the characters for the game.  One such game series that played like a visual novel that captivated me is the Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney series, though that is quite a drastic difference between that and Love Plus.  There could be a chance that the western market would be a bit more open to the game if it was more emphasized as a game heavily based on "story" rather than just interactivity with the female character; however, the latter seems to be what works in Japan's marketing.  I hear the game has a manga series spin-off in the works, and so the focus on story would be interesting for the series.

In any case, Happy Valentines Day!

VGCulture - Music - Fight Evil with Religion!

My friend sent me this video today:

Source: Youtube Channel machinima

The game is Castlevania: Harmony of Despair originally exclusive to Xbox 360 XBLA and was recently released on PS3's PSN.  It's not like the usual Castlevania with exploration and such but more like a huge boss rush mode.  It allows up to 4-player co-op.  I tried out the original release at E3 2010 and thought it was okay, but I'm not happy with the price.  It's $15 for the base game with an extra $2-$5 for the other 10 DLCs that contain extra maps, characters, and such.  The video did remind how great the past few hand-held Castlevania games were, and so I plan to replay them soon.  Have a good weekend everyone.

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

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.

GameLight - Battle: Los Angeles The Game

If you haven't seen ads and trailers for it, a movie called "Battle: Los Angeles" came out:

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

And just recently on Steam, I saw a game version out for only $10, hmmm...

Source: Youtube Channel BattleLAMovie

When I first saw the trailer for the movie, I was pretty interested in all the action.  Little did I know that it was going to be ill received by the critics.  As for the game, I heard that the quality is laughable and that the game is shorter than the movie.  Whaaat?  The game is shorter than the movie?  Even for $10, that is not very much.  I've paid games that were $2 on steam that lasted longer than that.  The game's mechanics is mediocre and doesn't have anything new to show off, but many of those who played through it got a laugh out of the bad voice acting and story telling.  Sad, I was thinking of getting it on Steam when I saw it, but I hesitated when I realized there wasn't multiplayer.  After reading some reviews, I'm going to have to pass on this.  I'm already having a difficult time deciding between Crysis 2, Homefront, Brink, and Killzone 3, so I think passing on Battle: Los Angeles will be okay.

Sources:
-http://pc.ign.com/articles/115/1155782p1.html
-http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108496-Battle-Los-Angeles-Game-Can-Only-Kill-An-Hour-Or-So
-http://kotaku.com/#!5782079/battle-los-angeles-the-game-is-shorter-than-the-movie

GameOn - JVG Music Composers - Michiru Yamane

What an absurdly busy day I had.  I literally just finished work just 12 minutes ago.  Now this post is going to show up as tomorrow's post...Oh well.  Today, I'm going to present one of my favorite videogame composers Michiru Yamane.  She is most well known for her contributions to Konami's on-going series "Castlevania."  The first time I really took notice of her name is in "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" when a friend of mines let me listen to the soundtrack.  Here is one of tracks from the game:

Source: Youtube Channel shadowtheoblivious

Carving Wood Partita has the theme of an old Victorian feel to it using the harpsichord has the main melody with a backing of a full orchestra with layers of melody and harmony melding into one another.  The intricate composition has the complexity and flow similar to Bach with his subtle tunes within the pieces he wrote.

Source: Youtube Channel SupraDarky

Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab is an example of Yamane's ability to create genre specific music within videogames.  It has the strong beat of electro-house of an action game, but that haunting ambiance and melody keeps the Castlevania mood in mind.

Source: Youtube Channel Tabuu101

When I first heard Eneomaos Machine Tower, it blew me away.  The mix between classical orchestration with a rock-ish bass and drums really melded well into the song and emphasized the adventure and conflict within the game.  That dissonance in the melody of the piano, wind instruments and strings goes so well with all the harmony and melodic notes played by all of them in a round.

Source: Youtube Channel VGMChannel

Michiru Yamane's tunes are well known to Castlevania fans and highly regarded in the game industry.  The melodies are memorable, the sound is unique, the compositions are complex, and just listening to them is magnificent even out of the game.  The video above is actually an arranged version of Yamane's latest Castlevania work "An Empty Tome" from "Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia."

I have been listening to Michiru Yamane's music for a long time and have bought every Castlevania game that has come out with one of the reasons of her music being in it.  I personally love the Castlevania series not only for its long history of good music, but the unique twists that have been implemented into the action side-scroller throughout the decades.  I won't get into gameplay since the post is about the music.  Castlevania has been strongly defined because of Yamane's contribution.  The tunes never gets boring, and there have been a lot of songs that reoccur (granted that not all of them are from Yamane) and is appreciated by those who play the games over and over again.  I would really love to meet her one day along side with the original composer of Castlevania Kinuyo Yamashita.  I actually got a message from Yamashita thanking me for playing her music, it was truly an honor (too bad I stayed anonymous in the message).  So go out and check out Michiru Yamane's music, even those not Castlevania related:

Source: Youtube Channel groudon2006

Her music is truly listen worthy outside the game.  Gotta love her music~

NewNews - MNC Beta goes live and new Contra game talk

I couldn't decide which of two topics to talk about today so I'm going to talk a little about both:
-http://kotaku.com/5714402/a-new-look-at-the-cartoon-contra-hard-corps-uprising/gallery/
-http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/monday-night-combats-steam-beta-live/

Both of these were just posted on their respective pages about 15 minutes ago.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5714402/a-new-look-at-the-cartoon-contra-hard-corps-uprising/gallery/

 So Konami and Arc System Works are developing/recreating "Contra: Hard Corps" as "Hard Corps: Uprising" in a more animé-ish art style.  Knowing and loving both companies, I can expect fast-action challenges with flashy and stylish gameplay.  If any of you have played "Contra: Hard Corps" on the Sega Genesis, you'd remember that it was a monster of a game and that it was very VERY easy to die resulting in a continue or game over.  From the looks of the picture, it seems as though they added a health bar that looks similar to the one in "Castle of Shikigami 3".  More than likely, it's going to be digitally sold.  I haven't bought anything digital other than on Steam for PC.  It makes me feel uneasy buying a game that isn't tangible and relies on accounts and the services of the developers/publisher (especially online exclusive games).  I sunk into using Steam religiously now because of the Christmas gift my friend got me last year (Team Fortress 2).  I now have 128 hours on that game, which is a LOT for me.  Maybe I'll eventually go to a GameStop and buy one of those prepaid card points and start playing these digi-downloads.  There are quite a few I want to play other than "Hard Corps: Uprising".

Source: Youtube Channel UberEntChannel

I was kinda sad to see that I couldn't play the beta when I pre-purchased it 2 days ago, but behold!  It's now available for beta testing and I'm going to download it right now.  I find the concept of a 3rd person action shooter mixed with a MOBA gameplay structure to be an interesting one to experiment.  If it was popular enough on Xbox Live Arcade for the developers to create a port for the PC, then it must hold some merit of genuine entertainment.  So as far as I can tell, it's a mix between Team Fortress 2 and DotA (or League of Legends/Heroes of Newerth) in a 3rd person perspective.  It's a 6 on 6 versus battle with class based characters and MOBA leveling system.  I've played all 4 games referenced and have enjoyed each one for their unique aspects (TF2, DotA, LoL and HoN are all hybrid genre games too!) and am glad that developers of the gaming industry continues to further that experiment by mixing and matching.  It's only $13.49, so log onto steam and pre-purchase it now so that you can participate in the beta!

VGCulture - Music: Snake Eater

Source: Youtube Channel Ricpos

It looks like I'll be posting at a different time and making shorter posts from now on as I've got a project to take care of now.  Anyways, my game-a-week mission is probably going to be impeded by this project and so I'm not certain of my plans on continuing it.  This week's game for me is Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and wow, it's much harder than MGS2 (then again, I played very easy on 2 while I'm playing normal on 3).  After about 2 hours, the beginning song played (video above) and it really reminded me of a James Bond 007 movie (James Bond 007 being one of my favorite series of films).  That sense of mystery, sensuality, and classic film nostalgia was a bit humorous when put into contrast to one of the codec conversations Naked Snake has with para-medic.  She asks if Snake has ever watched "007 - From Russia with Love", and snake replies by expressing his dislike for James Bond in how unauthentic he was as a spy.  CO Zero then has his rebuttal on how James Bond was the greatest thing to come out of Britain right next to the Mayflower.  The song is definitely "listen" worthy, and listen to it now if you haven't heard it before!  I'm not very far in the game yet since I've been caught up with so many objectives to fulfill in the real world, but I imagine that the rest of the game should be fun (hopefully).

Retroview - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Title: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (MGS2)
Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Designer: Hideo Kojima (producer, writer, director)
Platform: Playstation 2
Release Date: November 13, 2001
Genre: Stealth Action
(Source Info: Wikipedia)

Instead of doing a full blown review (since it's a little over 9 years now since its release) I thought I'd dissect the game a bit and see what I've learned (A great deal, that's for sure).  Up till now, I've been learning most about design from bad games that were bad because they were so apparent and easy to distinguish.  For good games, it's much more difficult to pinpoint the things about them that make it so enjoyable and popular.  If it were really that easy to find out, we wouldn't have so many bad games.  So I bought Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty last year, 2009, on spring break when a local game shop was shutting down and had a huge sale.  I bought it used for $2.50 and never had a chance to play it.  I don't even remember what I did last summer, but I must've been very busy not to have played many games.  Continuing the journey I set off from this summer till now in my mission to beat one game each week and try to learn something from it, I borrow Metal Gear Solid 3 and 4 from a friend but decided to my copy of MGS 2 first since I didn't know the actual details of the story.  That's right, I've never played an actual Metal Gear Solid game (what I mean is I played the Game Boy Color version a little and I've tried the NES originals, but not the "Solid" Series.  Everything I knew about Metal Gear Solid I learned from parodies, music, and gaming references.  After playing through MGS2, I realized the story was much deeper and convoluted than I have previously suspected.

Source: Youtube Channel mysfhonor

Story
I'm not even sure how to elaborate the story other than trying to simplify it to the max.  Metal Gear Solid 2's story reminded me a bit of V for Vendetta in how there's an all powerful government that controls every information, entertainment, thought and say of it people; however, it goes beyond the government and explains to the protagonists and the player in how an entity known as "The Patriots" having even more control than the U.S. President.  Throughout the story is a swirl of unsuspecting plot twists, betrayals of allies and enemies only finding that they are being betrayed themselves or have some other important agenda they plan on taking.  It's how the story is told that I find most fascinating.  A large portion of the story is told through conversations rather than full blown CG cinematics.  Along with the dialogue is flashbacks, some showing events from MGS1.  But most of the time, it's a conversation between two or more people on nanocommunications.  Even for people who haven't played the game yet, it should look familiar:

Source: Youtube Channel Tobes14

I rather not get too detail into the story since it'll take a lot of explaining and it would spoil a lot to those who haven't played the series yet.  I've always been busy and didn't have the chance to play the series, but I'm glad I am now.  But yes, the story is extensive and is very detailed in nature.  I spent nearly an hour at one point just listening to a conversation or watching a cinematic.  In the words of my friend, "it's like watching an interactive movie!"

Characters/Voice Acting
So the name "Snake" is usually the one associated with MGS games, but in MGS2, the majority of the game is about an agent called Jack, codename Raiden.  Most of the interactions between the characters are through dialogue, and so the voice acting is very important.  Whoever played the voice of Rose was incredible.  She wasn't voice acting for the character; she WAS the character.  All the annotations and emotions and tone of her speech sounded so sincere and so real.  Rose is like the medic/save character for Raiden and is also his girlfriend.  As the game progresses, both character's history, personality, and purpose is slowly revealed and tugs at the heart of players to become more attached to them.  There are many other characters that share this type of attachment, interaction and relation with one another.  Raiden's voice acting I found to be weird and kiddish in the beginning.  In the middle of the game, I just thought his voice acting was just weird.  By the end of the game though, he sounded very human.  What I mean is that his character's voice acting improved and also had the tone and attitude that reflects all of human life, namely the player holding the controller.  I'd go as far as to say that the story and progression of the character is life changing in the eyes of the player.  I know I'm being very vague here, but I don't want to spoil anything for you readers if you haven't played the game yet.  I guess what I learned about building an involving character is giving a history to present reasons for their being in the present, interactions with other characters to reveal attitude, ethics and personality, and that conversations by itself can be a very powerful method in creating the credibility of a character's knowledge and interest.

Graphics/Camera Angle
I didn't have a problem with the graphics despite it being from 9 years ago.  The angle of the camera was something I had to get used to.  The ability to see all around the character from a top-down view made puzzles and sneaking around easier, but it made combat more complicated.  Objects, enemies, and items were distinguishable, but secret areas and dark areas are more difficult to deal with.  I liked the cinematics and most of the art style they chose to work with when showing a flashback or such.  It had a mix between videogame CG, film noir, espionage, and reality which pulled the player in and out of story, gameplay, reference, and life itself.  There were times where they used real clips filmed around the United States.  This reminded me of my art classes in how I shouldn't limit myself to one style or think so narrow-minded whenever working on a project.

Gameplay
The gameplay felt like a progression to me as well as the story.  At first, I really couldn't grasp the controls and combat very well.  I started in normal but I kept get caught, shot at, I couldn't bring out my gun and I died consistently.  So after a few deaths, I decided to just play on Very Easy.  The game was way to simple to get through, except when I didn't understand a puzzle very well.  The idea of standing still in order to go into first-person and shoot made it difficult to determine my presence to the enemy and how to act whenever I couldn't see where my enemies were coming from.  I got more used to the controls, I got more items, and boss battles started to get more challenging.  That was something I really liked: Boss battles.  I've played other stealth games like Splinter Cell before, but it was more towards the realistic side.  Tenchu has a similar style in camera angle and boss battles, and it was something I enjoyed in MGS2.  The game could be a lot of killing, or you could go through very stealthfully, and I usually go for the ninja path because I have plenty of hack n slash games to fulfill my urge for action games.  It got really action packed when I (hmm not sure if I should tell everyone this...oh well) got my sword.  Yes, you get to use a sword in a stealth game.  By the end, it's more action orientated and ended up killing enemies using the sword.  I'm still trying to figure out everything that made the gameplay fun, but I wasn't bored with sneaking around and avoiding conflict nor did I think it was repetitive slashing away with the sword.  Could it be the frequent conversations in-between each scene?  Maybe it's the fact that it's free roam and the player wasn't restricted to a linear path.  I guess I can still try to figure it out as I continue to play through MGS3, 4, and 1.

Music
Harry Gregson-Williams is amazing.  I can't say I remember all the tunes from the game, but the music truly set the mood at the right moments and changed the atmosphere when there wasn't even a graphical reference to rely on (during codec conversations).  The main theme and others is, by many MGS players, described as "epic" (orchestration) by building a momentum that feels as if the player was about to go into a journey of struggles, meeting new people, and facing formidable conflicts (much like how the music for Lord of the Rings sounded like).  Electronic sounding themes made for an exciting tune when encountered with a boss battle.  Abrupt computer noises with bass filled drums drew a sense of urgency and danger.  My personal favorite is still the main theme.  It seems to create a sense of nostalgia, even if I've never played the game before.  The music is definitely an important aspect to the success of the MGS series.

Replay Value/Secrets
There are a LOT of easter eggs and ways of playing/replaying the game.  One of the specials came with a book that went up to 129 pages and then goes onto another book for 397 or something pages.  I read the 129 page one and felt like I had enough.  I'd probably play the game again on a harder difficulty, and I unlocked a level called insane.  I'm probably not going to play that difficulty seeing how I could barely handle normal.  There are dog tags that the player can collect throughout the game.  A digital camera is given to the player so that pictures in game can be taken and possibly printed out at a game shop (doesn't exist anymore).  The characters had many dialogues and it was enjoyable to listen through a lot of the conversations.  I already started on MGS3 last night, and I already see a mode where you get to capture monkeys like in the old Playstation game "Ape Escape".  A lot of the secrets may seem silly, but those added surprises and references made by the developers builds credibility among the players in how much detail and attention was put into the game.

Stats (from what I can remember):
Play Time: 10hr 57min
Saves: 30 (I save often)
Continues: 40 (I also die a lot)
Enemies Killed: 22
(and some other stuff I don't remember)

After finishing Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, I felt pumped and ready to play through the rest of the games of the series.  It tells an intriguing (though convoluted) story, has recurring/beloved characters in each installment, dynamic gameplay and attention to detail in as far as realism, sound, and appearance, a worthy soundtrack, and a strong line in the franchise that continues its legacy even now.  I'm excited about Metal Gear Solid: Rising, but I hope it comes out on PS3 as well as Xbox 360.

Oh yeah, earlier in the post, I said I learned much about the series through parodies as one of them.  This is one of the ones I was talking about:



Source: Youtube Channel to both egoraptor

His stuff are AWESOME...no pun intended.