Bioshock

I found my first review I ever wrote for a 360 game today :) It was for Bioshock! I thought I would relay it here for your perusal! It's quite unnecessarily long, I do think, but it's interesting to see how I used to write, compared to how I write now.

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Nov 23, 2008

Bioshock spent a while in the making and I followed it from when I first heard it was in development. When it was released for Steam I grabbed it up. Playing it on the PC was great, and I must say that the graphics and game play blew me away. Of course I went into it thinking, " hey I know it's a creepy game, but I've played my share in my day and I can handle it." And so, I played it in the dark without a light on... and it freaked me the hell out. Most of what I could say for the PC version though, was eclipsed when I got it for the 360, and that's what I'll talk about here. I must say for all it's glory on the PC, the 360 version is much better. Maybe it was just me, but I noticed better graphic quality, sound quality, and game play over all. There is also a version for the PS3, but as I never played it, I don't feel I can review the qualities and flaws of that version here. Crashing into the water, at the beginning of the game, looked more realistic and gripping when the water hits your screen. Because water plays such a massive role in Bioshock, it had to be the best feature of the game, and it really excelled. Everywhere you find water it really feels like it's trying to invade the city and trying to submerge you. As you move through Rapture there is a constant aquatic presence and moving through it is beautiful. The splash effects are luminous and even when you run through a small puddle, you see it splash and ripple in other puddles and the ground. Plasmids are especially beautiful as well.

For instance there is a plasmid called Winter Blast which creates ice and cold, and freezes your enemy. When you have Winter Blast readied as your active plasmid, your hand becomes chilled and spikes of ice and frost surround your hand, coating it in ice. All very nice, right? Well the graphics are such that as the ice spikes emerge from your hand constantly, you can see little droplets and rings of blood on your hand every time this happens. It brings another quality to the play in that you can see this is probably a painful plasmid to have, it's continuously tearing through your skin,
causing damage. A price you pay for plasmids. Fire also plays an important role in Bioshock. Rapture is a city in ruin; a revolutionary society gone awry through war and torment, drugs and conflict. The city is in fire and destroyed from the inside out; the ocean is claiming it back, and destruction reigns. Fires can be seen everywhere, including through your scorched and bloody hand by using Incinerate ( a fire based direct damage and damage over time plasmid ). Through-out the city there are destroyed clusters of fires and ruin. The way the fire moves is incredibly beautiful. When you get close, heat is obvious and you see a wavering of space. Damage done to you through fire looks realistic and when you cause damage to the Splicers, it's a fantastic effect. The Splicers in general are done very nicely as well. Their costumes and attacks are surprising and creepy; all with a surreal context to them. Wandering through Rapture you see many kinds of Splicers along with Big Daddies and Little Sisters.

Big Daddies come in four types with two models which are quite beautiful in a surreal sort of way. Rosie's have several lights on their face and Bouncer's have a porthole. The best thing concerning them graphically is their aggression monitor. When a Big Daddy is passive it's face ports will be green, if it's suspicious of you or your motives, it will change to yellow, and when it will attack you, it's red. This is a useful way to determine threat, and doesn't ruin the immersion of the game. Little Sisters are only present with a Big Daddy for the most part. Their unhealthy greenish pallor and glowing yellow eyes are as unsettling as they are lovely to witness. The way they stab at angel's with their ADAM syringes is creepy to say the least. Over all the graphics are the best I've seen in a game, and I've played a lot of games
in my time. Everything meshes together in a unique way and fits the way the world of Bioshock works. The next big aspect is the music and sound of this game. I was highly impressed when the first song played as I entered the lighthouse. The game is filled with both instrumental pieces by Garry Schyman and old 1950's music. But here is the beauty of the 1950's music they play... it sounds like actual 1950's music. OK, let me step back for a moment. Usually when you hear music these days by artists such as the Andrew Sisters, Bing Crosby or Perry Como they are re-mastered tracks. They are digitally improved versions of the songs, which I personally hate. It makes then sound wrong, disturbed, and I feel somewhat betrayed. In Bioshock, none of this re-mastered crap happens to the music. You hear the sounds of the vinyl discs or tape recordings. It SOUNDS like it would if you heard it in the 1950's. A little distorted and tinny because the setting of the game is actually in the 1950's. They wouldn't have access to the technology to make the music better, and in that, it makes the game. Hearing the music as people in that time would have heard it, makes me forget a little that it's 2008 and we're in a time of CD's and DVD's and re-mastering. I love this so much. The music quality makes the game that little bit more disturbing.

There is a part in the game where you come across a jukebox and when you hit it, you hear How Much Is That Doggie In The Window? by Pattie Page start to play. As this is playing and you move around the room, you find a switch to open a secret room that you enter and open a safe and upgrade your weapon, but as this music is still playing, you turn around from upgrading your weapon and this plaster encased Splicer is standing there in this ballerina position briefly then starts wailing on you with a pair of scythes. This surreal moment, when I first encountered it, left me momentarily stunned and confused. I'm sure this was the effect the creators had in mind... the light hearted music which plays around the game sort of lulls you into this awkward sense of comfort while the ravaged reality of this broken city sticks a claw hammer in your skull. Conflicting emotions and responses are a common part of it. The instrumental music by Garry Schyman sets in slowly in some parts, you aren't really aware that its there, but then you become aware of it and a chill sweeps down your back. It's beautiful and haunting in composition and equals the world
around it, really setting the scene. Sound effects are very well done in the game and the sound you get from hitting different objects or enemies really shows. When you hit a Splicer, you hear a gooey flesh type hit and it makes a big difference from when you smack a shaft of wood or a door. The twirling sound of a grenade heading your way or a Splicer talking to them self in the next room are very noticeable and sometimes where they're coming from is not immediately discernible, which makes the already creepy atmosphere all the more unsettling. Your plasmids also have their own unique sounds to them, and using them is a great experience. As you walk, you hear footsteps, and you can hear the footsteps of your enemies as well. Depending on which enemy is around, their footsteps sound different. It's a great set up and was very enjoyable.

Controls on the 360 work out very well in Bioshock. I think the controller was utilized very well and everything is easily accessible. Of course switching between weapons and plasmids is easier on the PC if you believe binding each to a key is easier, which for some it will be. After I first got my few weapons and plasmids on the 360, switching between them was hardly a noticeable action. I knew where everything was, and in the blink of an eye I could navigate to my desired plasmid or weapon. It didn't become a problem at all for me. Interacting with the environment was, in a few places, touchy for a small part, but mostly due to the fact that in some places it was too dark to see where I was going and so I chose the wrong actions and move incorrectly the first time through. Turning the contrast up in this game is highly recommended. Getting around and what to look for became second nature very quickly, it really felt like I was having
to adapt to survive, which I was highly pleased with. Immersion in a game is a big must for me. You get a choice in the game to be a good person or a bad person, and the choices you make have, all in all, a very little effect on the overall game play. I would have hoped for more of a game impact with the choices you make, but for the most part, all these choices affect is the very short ending sequence. You end up being able to access more Gene Tonics and Plasmids if you're and evil child eating psychopath than if you're a cuddly Father Christmas teddy bear man. And yes, the difference is really that extreme. There is no in-between here. You either end up consuming the lands of all their milk and honey, and unleashing atomic war on the world, or you become Mother Teresa and create life for these children by giving them all the things they missed by being genetically manipulated in an under ocean laboratory. For the 360, one has to mention the achievements you can acquire through-out Bioshock. There are quite a few and you will need at least two play-through's to get them. The first play-through can be done on Easy and I HIGHLY recommend you go through it first on easy to do this. I would also recommend not harvesting the Little Sister's on your first time through because in all honesty, easy is very easy. The way I would rate the difficulties is in this manner: Easy - You beating up someone in the school yard. Normal - You getting beat up in the school yard. Hard - You have 10 seconds to escape Chernobyl before the reactor blows.

Yes, this is an extreme jump between Normal and Hard and it's a very, very accurate jump. Hard mode eviscerates your friends who just happen to be watching you play. There are two achievements for the 360 which must be done in hard mode, and I have not completed them yet, but am slowly making my way through Hard mode to get them. One involves turning off all the Vita Chambers in the game so you cannot be instantly revived at one if you are to die. Vita Chambers are pretty much useless throughout the game if I'm honest. In easy and normal mode, I left them on... why not? But I didn't die at all in either difficulty setting, so their effectiveness was rather lost. In hard mode however, that's where they would be most useful and yet, the achievement decides you cut your eyes out at every turn. I hear there is another difficulty for the PS3 which is beyond hard, but the sheer terror this thought inflicts upon me has yet
to be formed into human words. Leading to the other Hard mode achievement: Brass Balls. Beating the game on hard mode. Some tips I learned for hard mode? Hack everything you can, every camera you see, every turret, every security bot.. they WILL come in handy have no doubt. Enrage, Target Dummy, and Security Bullseye are your dear friends. You will not survive long without them. Always hack first aid units, they will poison a Splicer if they try to use the and you've hacked it. Telekinesis is a great tool for Nitro splicers and Rosie's. Choose your ammo wisely... if you fight Splicers or such use those anti personal rounds and for armoured enemies make sure you have armour piercing rounds. Electro bucks are always nice too. Your grenade launcher has some nice bombs in it, figure out when best to use them... don't underestimate proximity mines. SAVE OFTEN. Because you can't use Vita Chambers in Hard mode, if you want the achievement, you will rely on saves you make to return you when you die... and you WILL die. I saved after each Splicer battle, after finding first aid kits, after hacking. It may seem an inconvenience, but it is vital to your game, and after a bit, it doesn't take long to quickly save at all. The vital and imminent death in Hard mode really changes the game. Even if you've played it 20 times on easy or normal, the threat of death takes on a whole new meaning. Corridors are darker, enemies seem tougher ( and of course they are tougher... a lot tougher ).

I could go on for hours about this game, but I'll stop here for now. Overall, Bioshock is great. Besides what I've mentioned, I honestly can't think of any other flaws the game has. It is a near perfect game with incredible replay. As an FPS game, many people are turned off by it, saying it's not for them, and it's true, it might not be. But it's not your average FPS game. A few of my own friends who do not enjoy an FPS game have played it and felt they enjoyed it quite a lot. With game play, graphics, and sound as I have stated, it really has a unique way of pulling you in and holding you. I recommend this game with all my heart for the 360, and if you don't have a 360, have a go at the PC version. It's great as well.

Fallout: New Vegas

Coming back to the world of Fallout was an incredible experience. Being an avid fan of Fallout 3 & all the associated DLC, I was ecstatic when I heard about Fallout: New Vegas. With hundreds of hours & all of the many achievements for Fallout 3 under my belt, I felt confidant that I could experience Fallout: New Vegas with a full story of the Wastelands. A lot of people have been saying, in a most complaining form, that New Vegas is too much like 3 was. Too much the same & more like an expansion than a new game. Have you guys even played the game yet? Yea, it's very much the same in graphics & play, but the story is different, it's set several years past Fallout 3's story, & has so many new quests & areas to explore. Not to mention it's on the other side of the continent. It's definitely not expansion material. It deserved being it's own game & I think it works very well like that. In that it's so much like Fallout 3... I don't see a problem with this? My obsessive love for Fallout 3 has already been touched upon; another game in that vein cannot fail. That being said, there were some little things about the game which punched me in the stomach, but, thankfully, nowhere near as many as some people have reported. The game would freeze up a little, but I didn't experience this until I was something like 25 hours into the game? And one time I fell into a tree & couldn't get out, so I had to keep reloading & jumping as the game reloaded to get out of the tree... it worked eventually. OK then, I spent about 48 hours on my first play-through. This isn't being the actual main storyline is 48 hours long. I think a friend of mine finished it in 20-something hours, but he concentrated mainly on the primary storyline. For my first play-through I did everything I could the first time through. And though hundreds of quests, almost all the companions, over 100 locations discovered... I didn't even get through 75% of the content. So there's more out there. I have a rule that I never check achievements or guides the first time through a game unless I have been stuck on one particular thing for over three hours. I do this to preserve natural game-play for me. Surprises, exploration, game-play.

My first play-through was a Normal mode game, not using Hardcore as I wanted to get to know the game before I went through it in a more realistic way. The graphics in FO NV were very much the same as FO3... not bad at all, but not the best in the world. Regardless of that, they are very enjoyable. I love seeing all the weapons, armour, & terrains. They are, perhaps, better than I have said, even, due to that we are used to graphics making everything gorgeous & lovely, but the world of Fallout is not a gorgeous or lovely place. It's a murky, desolate, ruined world & the graphics do a very good job of portraying that. Things look genuinely grimy & grim. I would have liked better character creation, though. Sound & voice acting was wow.The world of Fallout has given us so many great Voice Acting that it demands it. There were some quite big names grappled for this game. Personal favourites like Liam O'Brien, Michael Dorn, Yuri Lowenthal, Fred Tatasciore, Wil Wheaton, Sam Riegel & Ron Perlman as well as more flashy favourites like Matthew Perry, Wayne Newton, Kris Kristofferson, Felicia Day, Jason Spisak, & James Marsden. The whole cast list can be found HERE. It was epic to say the least! The radio music is always great; I love those old 20-60's old time music so it's fantastic to hear those getting 'play' again. Aside from that, the actual ambient musics, which are hearable when the radio isn't on, are so nice. I had the radio off about half the time, just to hear the ambient music in different areas.

Combat is the same as FO3. You are in first person, unless for some god-awful reason you switch to 3rd, & you have melee or range weapons which you hack away at your enemies with. VATS is back & wonderful as ever, but it seems to act a little quicker this time. I found myself going in & out of VATS better & choosing which portion of my enemy to shoot off first was a little smoother. You can have two companions at any one time who help you out with some combat... on hardcore mode, though, if that companion dies, you're fucked as there is no way to bring them back. However, in a normal style game, your companions will just get up when all other enemies are eradicated. I ended up favouring Rex & Cass... How I got Cass is a funny tale actually, but that's another story, full of spoilers. I found that either fist weapons as melee or a Anti-Material gun were my favourites. Melee is so devastating! Just run at your enemies & bam, one or two shots to the kidneys. Woo.

I had such a great time playing FO NV & I am going to play it again as well. Not just for Hardcore mode, but I want to finish all things possible in the game, as I did with FO3. I finished my first play with 24/50 achievements knocked out. When looking through all the achievements, it's a nice bit, almost half. Most of the achievements are for doing 10k damage with certain weapons or finishing specific quest lines, so I will have a good time kicking those around in another play-through When I finished & checked out what the actual achievements were, I was a little surprised at them as they weren't so diverse as in FO3, but it's fine.

These achievements aren't BAD, but they could have been better I think. It's a great game & to be honest, even if you didn't play FO3 for some reason, give it a go! Buy it even, there's so much to do & so much time to put into it. I wholly recommend this game for those who enjoy FPS & RPG's as it combines a little of both. I do have a few friends who dislike FPS games who didn't get into it, & that's fine. I guess it does cater to a specific audience, but I do think those people will enjoy it a lot.

MagnaCarta II

And so comes the time for yet another review and another RPG at that, but this time it is no WRPG or JRPG... no ladies and gentlemen, this time it is a KRPG. From South Korean developer Softmax, together with Japanese publisher Banpresto, comes MagnaCarta II, only for the 360, in all its glory. I first played this game several months ago as a rental from Boomerang and after a few days I purchased it from said rental association. Unfortunately, it was then that it met with a sorrowful destruction at the arse of my younger sister. So, recently I decided to buy it again and I am very glad that I did. It is still as great as it was then. As with most Korean games, the art is what first attracted me to it; I absolutely love Korean game design and art! Like many games I play, need to set aside, then come back to, I started a new game. Having to multiple difficulty setting (It seems to be stuck somewhere between Easy and Normal) I ploughed in right away before remembering the one issue I have with this game. As much as I love Liam O'Brien and The Black Ranger, the voice acting in this game is deplorable. So grievous that I found myself turning off the volume on the monologue scenes and just reading the subtitles. If ever there was a time when the choice between English or Korean/Japanese voices was need... this is it! I beat the game at just under 40 hours with most of the achievements, although I didn't really actively seek them out, except for a rough knowledge of when/where to get the quests so I didn't miss any.

Also, I knew before hand to not sell a fucking thing for the weapons achievement, although the downloadable ones are so much better, you will never use another weapon (but you need to have them all in inventory). I found the end of the game to be satisfying and the storyline was really great albeit almost identical to the story of The Last Remnant, with names and places altered of course. Even though it was like reading a carbon copy of The Last Remnant, it was enjoyable and the characters are well cool. Crocell turned out to be my favourite, but that's really no surprise considering he is a fireball flinging pyromancer/maniac. The graphics for the game were good for when the game was released, I'm sure, and I suppose they are terrible now, but they are a little dated around the edges. It's very pretty to look at on my television and more so the graphics during FMV's and especially in battle. Each character has a few really special abilities which I just took to calling Mystic Artes, shamelessly ripping off Bamco's Tales games... Which is FINE because I'm pretty sure Bamco were the Publisher's for the NA version of the game (Atari EU and Banpresto in JP). Well when they do their Mystic Artes, wow, that's probably the best graphics in the entire game. I was really impressed by those. Scenery is very beautiful as well, especially in the distance. It seemed like the further away something was, the prettier it was, even in cities.

Combat is active and places you on a map much like Star Ocean and Infinite Undiscovery. You don't get a screen guiding you into battle and you can choose to dodge battles if you want. You pull the Left Trigger to enter a combat mode where you start using abilities and such and pull it again to enter Movement Mode where you run at normal pace and can't use spells/weapons. It sounds cumbersome, but it works really well and after about 20 minutes you don't really even notice the switching any-more. You place point into different trees to increase your ability with your chosen weapon (for Crocell it's either Fireballs or FireFists... I choose Fireballs of course) and so get new abilities which you can quickly switch through using your other buttons. It's very smooth and flows nicely with combat. No guns in this one though! The closest is a bow, but I really, really hated using her. You can have three people in your party at one time, with others in reserve. The reserve team gains %70 EXP I believe, but you can increase that with EXP items if you really want to. By pressing the Y button on the field you can change party leaders (who you control) and set the AI to act accordingly to your actions. Y also allows you to use items in battle.

Levelling isn't too terrible in the game; I never found myself too low a level for any fight I was in nor did I find myself wondering even what level I was. It only became a moderate annoyance after I had beat the game and didn't want to grind another 30 levels to fill the rest of my trees (quicker just to restart the game or actually go to 360a and pay attention to their skill tree guide). Levelling is also how you accumulate skill points (you can get weapon enhancements to increase that as well as belts or ring accessories) so every so often I'd just go into their skill trees and throw around some points and have done with it. Nothing has level requirements that I could find. Finally the music! It was very nice, but not the best over all. I did like some of it, but found myself turning on other music, like most games I play. I didn't bother to download the soundtrack either. Like I said, it was nice, but nothing special... thankfully it didn't ruin the game either. The ambience was good, but as I said earlier, the voice acting was so ghastly with one exception... Steve Blum did the voice for the main antagonist and of course anything with him voice acting in it must be listened to, so I just turned up the volume whenever he started talking (for those who don't know, Steve Blum did the English voice for Vincent Valentine in all appearances). Also, he is the reason I didn't just turn off voices... don't want to miss it!

I don't think I've missed anything this time, but there's always the possibility for forgetfulness. I had 37/46 achievements when I finished, putting me at 950/1240 which isn't bad at all. The rest involve mastering additional trees and doing chain breaks (pretty easy when you get the hang of it, just very time consuming). I'd recommend the game for RPG fans, but not just at that... you have to really enjoy RPG's I think to enjoy this one. It's very much a K/JRPG style of game and the story is structured in a way that would make sense to only those used to RPG's. It would help if you're a fan of Infinite Undiscovery or Star Ocean as well as there are many elements which are similar to those games. I don't ever remember seeing very much promotion for this game, which is a shame because it's really spectacular. Give it a go, but it's an acquired taste.

Resonance of Fate

Resonance of Fate (End of Eternity in Japan) was the first game for the 360 which I received as a gift and it was a few months ago that I received it from my dear friend Rob. I had wanted this game since long before it came out, being the shameless tri-Ace fan-girl that I am, but it was way too expensive. Once in my hands, glowing with joy and happiness, we hurried back to mine and I began playing it. At first it proved hard... so hard... so incredibly hard that I was tortured to play it. As a sort of blessing, other games quickly came into my possession so I was able to set Resonance of Fate to the side, lovingly, with promises to come back to it. Now, four months later, I have... and am I ever glad I did. Still as hard as ever, I decided that I would start anew and really give it all I could. Four hours into my new game, I was addicted. Not just, wow this is a great game addicted... but I couldn't put the fucking thing down. I literally played it for days straight. People on my friends list who I hadn't talked to knew I was playing Resonance of Fate. People on twitter who I never talk to, knew I was playing Resonance of Fate. People on podcasts who are friends of people I know on the podcasts, but who I have not spoken to, knew I was playing Resonance of Fate. I can't recall a game, in recent time, which had grappled my soul so firmly in it's metallic claw. So now that the gushing is done, I will begin talking about the actual game. I beat the game at 88 hours 11 minutes, though I could have beaten it sooner had I not gone to the Seraphic Gate... er I mean Neverland, when I did. I really wanted to beat the game with the golden guns though. But I am jumping ahead of myself. At game completion, I had only three achievements left to get and two of them I got by starting and beating a New Game+ so that was easy. The last one I am still working on because it entails 500 Arena battles.... Ah tri-Ace, you have the same tricks up your sleeves.

The graphics are not the best I've ever seen in a game, but they are quite nice and I enjoyed watching the game as much as I enjoyed playing it. The scenery is incredible, especially during the times after battle when you can wander around the empty area and take in everything around you. The end of Neverland places you on a high cliff overlooking the world and it is something so wonderful I just wandered around the area for about 20 minutes looking at the world below. Your characters are lovely as well and not to mention the incredible variety of clothing, hair dyes, and accessories that you can outfit them in. Every time I went back into my city I would change my clothes. I actively sought out clothes and such as well, everywhere I went. It's really quite wonderful... also not to mention that Zephyr looks like a Gackt replica and all his outfits seem to support this! Combat in this game is similar to other tri-Ace games in that it's a semi-turn based, free roaming combat system with combos and special abilities, but don't be fooled or lulled into thinking that combat is as 'easy' as it is in other tri-Ace games. The combat has a very steep learning curve which might throw you into a pool filled entirely of adamantium syringes, but once you manage to get it down, it's wonderful, but I won't blame you if you end up in tears while trying to learn it. Here's a hint... Scratch, Scratch, Pistol. Life will be easier... you can also throw in grenades if you want, but I stopped with those at about level 30 on each character.

Levels are another fun thing... you have three sets of levels, each go to 100. Pistol, Machine Gun, and Grenades. Your level is based off your combined level in these. You start off at level 3 because you are level 1 in each skill. You need to be switching around which weapons you use in order to quickly build up your levels... if you stick with, say, pistols for a few chapters, you will be under-level and finding it hard to do anything storyline wise. So once you get into moving around weapons and gaining skills/levels in various ones, you will be able to cope with life a lot better. This jumps us to your actual weapons. Pistols and Machine Guns are your bread and butter. You find them through out the game either bought, in chests, or storyline and you can customise them with different parts (scopes, bullets, speed etc.). I'll try not to get too into this as it became something of an obsession for me in the game and I could really spend 10 pages typing out my feelings/thoughts in regards to this, and that would be a bit much.

Anyway! Past all that is the music... I am finding more and more in games these days that I really enjoy the music of games while not actually playing them. The soundtracks are wonderful, great, and beautiful at times, but for some reason, just don't go with the game. I love Resonance of Fate's music! All six god-damn discs of it are on my iPod permanently, but while playing the game, the only music that really fit was during one of the two opening FMV's from the start screen (the Vashyron/Zephyr one for those who've played it). That music fit perfectly... the rest of the game I think I mostly listened to Miyavi, Nick Cave, or The Knife. Strange enough, they fit a lot better. So the music is really well done and there's so much of it because you can find an item called the Hi-Pod and when you equip it, it changes all the music to a B version which effectively doubles the musical content. Next up is something a lot of people are on two
sides about. The storyline of this game. I was doing pretty well at following it actually and those who spoke to me during the 117 hours of this game I've put into it, have heard all about my love of it. Anyone who says it's not a very deep storyline has obviously not paid attention to what's going on. The only part that confused me was between chapters 11-14 but it was cleared up afterwards and I was able to go 'Ah yes, OK that makes sense now' though mind you, my way of thinking is a bit warped, so I won't slight you to think it's a little confusing to follow. I loved it and think it is one of the most interesting story-lines I've seen in a game in a very long time, but I will tell you now. When I went through the New Game+ I switched the voices to English (Yes you can have JP or ENG language, I always pick JP) and it almost ruined the story for me... I quickly went back to JP voices. Just something about the ENG voices which ruins the mood and depth of the story. Also, sorry Nolan North, but you do not do a good bad boy voice. I'm pretty sure I've missed something, but I really want to get back to the game to finish up the Arena and hit my final achievement for 1000/1000 in this game, so I will end it here. I think this game is worth recommending to play, but it's hard guys. Don't get it thinking it's an easy game you can button mash through. You need to pay attention to every battle you're in and if you want to get the most out of the story, hit up every side quest (the game tells you if you're going to miss a side-quest so don't worry about missing them) and really pay attention to the story. Talk to people too! They have interesting commentary about the world of Basel and Chandelier. tri-Ace has made a wonderful game and even though SEGA were bastards about promoting it (IE they didn't), it really deserves more than it got.

Also... so glad to be using guns instead of swords.... finally.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

There were two games which prompted me to go for the Wii; Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World & Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers. Of all the games released for this system, those two appealed to me the most. I'm not saying they're the only two reasons to buy a Wii... I have since purchased quite a number of other games, but for this review, they don't matter. What does matter, Terr? (You might ask) Tales of Symphonia matters. The Tales series has been a long standing joy in my bleak life. Sadly, there are quite a few Tales games we didn't get here in the UK & even worse, where only released in Japan which means, at least for DS games, I couldn't get USA friends to purchase & send them to me. The most recent game, Tales of Graces, is still only a JP release since it came out '09 December for the Wii. Namco Bandai (or Bamco as my friends & I refer to it) loves the series so much it has it's own studio (Namco Tales Studio) just for producing our lovely Tales games, so please, please, please give us the Tales games we're missing! When I first started this game, I made the mistake of playing it on my 32 inch HD 1080p television... something that the Wii is so obviously not suited for. After pain & agony, I moved the Wii to my smaller CRT television where, although a smaller screen, it flourished & lived up to it's wonderful potential. After I got the 'where' to play it sorted, I restarted the game & the first thing I noticed was how alive my characters appeared to be. I don't know if I can explain it, but their movements are so real. I can't think of another game where the characters appear to be moving as a part of the game rather than just on the game... does that make sense? Well it does to me. The environment is gorgeous as well & flushed out with something going on

everywhere. Little bugs floating around or mobs hopping about trying to get your attention for a battle, it's all quite wonderful to see. I didn't get tired of it in the 62 hours it took me to finish this game. In combat, the artes, mystic artes, & burst artes are all beautiful to see. They remain much the same as other Tales games in their inception & little anime style flash screen for each characters mystic arte. I wasn't expecting the game to be 8-bit or anything, but I wasn't expecting it to be this good at all. I was quite surprised by how nice it was. A nice thing in this game is a little 'Pokemon' side thing you can do. You go out into battles, catch monsters to
battle with you, & raise them (cooking is only used for your monsters in this Tales), feed them, & they participate in battles with you. Unfortunately, this came as a problem in two ways, both of which I just took off my specs at times & rubbed my eyes in frustration. The first is actually catching the monsters. You have to match up the little elemental grid buttons around a main elemental button with the same element (brought on by artes used in battle by you AND the enemy) on at least four little elemental buttons. This is not as easy as it sounds, I assure you. I got a lot of monsters in the game, but I will tell you now only two of them I actually got intentionally. It is just way too much of a random hassle to get these things to match up! Not only that, but when you do get them matched up, you have to initiate a fully charged special arte with the other monsters in your party (you get two as part of a tutorial on the monster catching process).

The second aggravation is sort of a mixed blessing aggravation, but it caused me angst as I will speak of. When you have your two main characters in your party (Emil & Marta) you must use them, which leaves you two slots for monsters. So obviously for a while you'll be using your two main & two monsters. The pain comes when you get other 'temporary' party members to use from the previous Tales of Symphonia games. You might want to use them, nostalgia & all, but you won't use them because your monsters are better & your monsters can level. Level, you ask? Oh, didn't I say? The other characters you get for your party don't level at all. You can't get new skills, can't change their equipment, can't make them any better than they are when handed to you. Pretty much a downer if you ask me. Sure, sometimes I threw them in for nostalgia, as previously mentioned, but in the end it felt like I was wasting time not buffing up my monster allies who will end up being with me longer than the temp characters. Sadness, truly. That brings us nicely to combat & it's not much different than most other Tales games. You get your characters in battle, control one (other real people can control the other characters if you really want, but I often find it distracting & annoying) either with manual, semi-auto, or auto. I generally have it on Auto unless I'm feeling the need to farm Grade. Yes, my friends, farm Grade. It's here as well... did you actually think you'd escape it? How on earth would you play a New Game+ without it? Well anyway, you can sticky your artes to almost all the buttons on the wiimote & on the nunchuck & also depending on your wiimote swing. Move it to the right, cast an arte, swing it up & down, a different arte. That was kind of cool, though sometimes I got aggravated at a boss or something & shook the wiimote & cast artes I didn't intended to... so I eventually unbound those ones. I don't have a lot to expand on, regarding combat, because it was just like all the other Tales games. Jump in, hack, hack, arte, slash, exp, grade, items, move on. The only other time, by the way, that the motion thing comes into play is when you have to use your Sorcerer's Ring for various small explosions or the setting of things on fire!

Now we come to the music & game play, finally! Incredible is a nice word to use, so I shall. Beautiful is also a good one. I was able to listen to the music for a large amount of time playing it, & more so I wanted to listen to it while playing the game. Even little blurbs of situational music was pleasant enough to listen to. It really managed to match & compliment the game play, which was fantastic. One of my favourite things in the game play is to do with the sword you wear. You have it in a sheath horizontally, as you do with many JRPG's, but when you walk through a door, Emil moves his hands behind & turns the sword to the side a bit, so it doesn't hit the sides of the door as it walks in. Now, this isn't too obvious as it happens as the screen is fading to the next screen & I only caught it on the off chance, but now I see it every time. It's a nice little thing that not everyone at all is going to notice, but the designer put it in for whatever reason... realism? It's certainly realistic as you'd have to move it to the side a bit to get it through a door. It's little things like that, scattered around this game, that make it so much better. Well I think I might have left out one or two things, so I'll briefly gather them up. Moving from place to place is sort of nice... you don't get total control of it. You get a map, move to the list of where you want to go, click the name & off you go. It's quick, it's simple, it's easy to use. Sometimes I just want to get there & not plough through two hours of forest. The story is good, not great, but passable. I figured out pretty much the entirety of it about 11 hours into the game, but I'm an old hat at these kind of games so my RPG intuition is quite able to pick up on probable outcomes. Still, it was exciting to see how it happened & how the game turned out. I would love to see other people play this game. It's not an OMGGOBUYTHISNOW game, but I'd recommend you go out & give it a try. Maybe rent it or something. It's a game which should be played, however the way.

Lost Odyssey

There are some who would say that comparing a game to Final Fantasy X might not be a good thing, but I am not one of those people. Lost Odyssey sat on in my 360 shelf for months before I got around to trying it out & I am wholly saddened by this. To think that such a game sat neglected for so long... well I have discovered its joy now, so the past can remain just that. If we could have had this game as Final Fantasy X-2 or Final Fantasy 11, then my life would have been a lot happier during those dark times, but perhaps it was worth the wait for this quality of game. Mistwalker is responsible for making this game (with some help from feelplus) & some of you might know that they are the ones also guilty of making Blue Dragon, which isn't the worst game, but it could have been a lot better. On the other hand, Mistwalker (a Japanese game dev studio founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, who created Final Fantasy) are supposed to release The Last Story later this year which I am eagerly awaiting.

Before I start the run down, I want to touch on the writing in this game. Yes, the story's writing was spectacular, but not as fantastic as were the Dreams. Through-out the game are Dreams from the lives of the main characters which you can read through when you find. 'Read through?!' you might say, in a voice which China would recognise as a national threat, but this is not a bad thing. These Dreams, more to say Memories, are so well written that everyone I know, who takes the time to read them, is moved. Even those who haven't played the game. This probably isn't true for the entirety of the world, but for my small section of this universe it is. I have never encountered writing like this before in game form or book form. I was truly blown away. By far, the best part of the game are the moments I spent 'dreaming' & delving into the past of my characters. On to the game! Graphically, this game is beautiful! Not the best of the best graphics, but I think that it comes close, especially for a game released in 2007 (JP). As for the style of the graphics, that Eastern 'Korean' look as many called it (what?), I adored it. From the introduction of Kaim all the way to the end of the game & beyond to the option dungeon, the art style wooed me entirely. Maybe it's because I already have a love for that style & wholly wish more games would adopt it, but I really do think it was done exceptionally well. Animations were spot on & movement through-out the word was done great. Cities, villages, towns, mountains, forests, vast wastelands, & industrial sites all looked both realistic & surreal at the same time which is basically normal for how I see things anyway. Movements
were like being stuck in this fantastic dream-world for the entire game & every step you take through this world was a visual treat. Coming into this game, I was immediately in love with the music aswell. Little wonder since it was composed by Nobuo Uematsu who has managed to never compose something I did not love. Although, it isn't just the music, but the sound of the game. Everything about the audio. Yes, you can hear your footsteps, but there are parts of the game where if you didn't hear your footsteps you would start to get a bit paranoid about what was going to happen next. The music & sound effects blend well together, especially in the dreams; I didn't mind any of it; I craved it! The game play was very much like Final Fantasy X, but much improved upon. I went back & threw in FFX just to make sure I wasn't entirely crazy, wishing that they had made these similarities, & I was pleased to see it was very much the same. Again, this is a good thing, people. FFX had some of the best control & battle game play in any game, to me at least. Back in Lost Odyssey now, though. Battles are handled so well with your team of five characters in your battle party at any one time. At the final point of the game I had all four Immortals & one mortal in my team, but was surprised at the end boss when all my mortals decided to go 'save' the Immortals & I was left to fight the final boss with only my four Immortals. This might sound like shit on paper, but it actually worked out pretty well. I mean, my Immortals do have the abilities of all my mortal characters any road & I was about 50 levels over level by the time I got to the last boss (yea, I got distracted with the 40+ hours of side quests you can do). Overall, the game play through-out the game was great. I have no complaints about it. Even sitting here now & thinking about the game, popping it in for a quick refresher, I have only one issue with the game (to be said later). Even better actually is that if an Immortal dies in your party, after three turns they will automatically revive themselves (they ARE immortal after all guys) which means you only ever have to revive your mortals, or if you're in a super hurry you can revive your immortals as well. Some might see this as a cop out or lame game mechanic, but storyline wise it is right there! Your characters are IMMORTAL,
they aren't going to stay dead if they fall in a battle. I've already commented on the writing of the game, which was phenomenal, though I will say again that whereas the story is a great one & I was enthralled with how it was told, the Dreams were really the cream on the pudding here, but even the main story got a few tears out of me, especially the Epilogue. I know I often say I don't get emotional about games too much, yet most games I review I say, oh I got emotional blah blah, but I'll tell you know that the amount of games I review & the amount of games I play differ vastly. Vastly. So what you see here is a mere fraction of the amount of time I've laid into games, it would make sense than I would only review the ones which were so epic they mean something more to me than a normal game would. I won't review a game I didn't think was worth my personal time to play. I may get a little harsh in my reviews, but in the end, I wouldn't review a game that didn't give me some joy at some time to play (except Borderlands which was fake joy followed by failure). Another really wonderful part of the game were the side quests. While not grand in number, though there were a fair few, they were in depth & so great to do. Finding all the Dreams were one of them which I went after first. Giving insight to the world & also to your characters, the side quests were more than just 'mini-games' you could do for gamer points. They were mini stories you could follow through & at the end of each was a small phial of insight about the character the quest revolved around, or the city you got it in. The lives of those NPCs you met, the history of the land you walked on. It wasn't just fluff thrown in at the last minute; I really wanted to know more at the end of these quests. I wanted to become a part of the world I was traversing. All this being said, there is ONE achievement which I don't know if I will finish... the Treasure Trove one. Now there is a nice thing they've done with this... as you can probably determine, this achievement requires you to loot everything you can in the game, all treasure. This includes posters, chests, lamps, vases, pictures, grass, trees, rocks, steam vents... well you get the idea. The nice thing is that if you missed stuff in an area you can no longer get to, they appear at an Auction House in a city you will always have access to. You can go back to the city & purchase the items at Auction until you've bought all the items you can possibly get from areas you can no longer access. Of course, this still leaves places you CAN access which is a mother load of pain as the places are so intricate that you could spend hours & hours (& many have) looking for all this shit just for this stupid achievement. This is NOT fun. The one complaint I have in the overall of this game. 

Before I end this, I want to comment on the post game or the new game+. Simply put, shit. You start at level 50, nothing else. That's all. Level 50, go play the game again. Lame, but not really a complaint since nothing is offered else in the post game, I have no desire to play it AGAIN, which isn't to say I don't want to play my end file again, which I am liable to do many more times... I still must max my levels after all. Also in this little end blurb I will mention the game is four discs long, but this doesn't matter to be honest. Just install one disc at a time if you'd like. There's no disc swapping once you move forward, so having to progress to the next disc ever 15 hours or so isn't a big deal. I really don't understand the shit people say about games being a few discs long. If it's a good game, I don't care if it's 10 discs as long as I don't have to keep swapping when I want to go back to another town (Star Ocean TLH, I'm looking at you -_- ) I enjoyed this game, greatly. I love this game wholly. I would put it in my top 10 greatest games of all time for sure & would recommend a play through of this game. When I finished it I had 840/1100, but I did get sidetracked with side quests & such which accounted for many points in the end. Now sitting at 950/1100 I will probably go all the way not for the points (well maybe a little! It is a large chunk), but I just want to see everything the game has to give me! I want to explore it thoroughly.

Gaming Week(s) 2010 01 May - 14 May

Two weeks worth of gaming this time as I missed last week due to death (not really).

Lost Odyssey (360)

     - I am in love with -everything- in this incredible RPG

Magic: The Gathering (360 XBLA)

     - A great online card game that is enjoyable at times

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)

     - The epic tale of the best character in video games

Final Fantasy X (PS2)

     - One of the best Final Fantasy games in the main series

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)

     - Almost the best FF game in the series, takes you in & doesn't let go

Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)

     - One of the only 'fighter' games I play, but it's really very RPG

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

     - The best of the Tactics games truly; so enthralling

Pokémon Pearl (DS)

     - A fantasticly addictive strategy game of awesome

Final Fantasy IV (DS)

     - The best FF game ever made & it always entertains

Age of Conan (PC)

     - Enjoying some more time here & there in this great Funcom game

Star Wars Galaxies (PC)

     - Having rage-quit after NGE, I decided to try this game again

Gaming Week 2010 24 April - 30 April

Due to me having the Plague for the better part of three weeks, this is still mostly compromised of hand-held games. Also, this is delayed due to me having the Plague. Apologies.

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)

     - The epic tale of the best character in video games

Final Fantasy X (PS2)

     - One of the best Final Fantasy games in the main series

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)

     - Almost the best FF game in the series, takes you in & doesn't let go

Final Fantasy (PSP)

     - The original game redone in wonder; a great play

Final Fantasy II (PSP)

     - Not the best FF game, but still a good playthrough

Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)

     - One of the only 'fighter' games I play, but it's really very RPG

Breath of Fire III (PSP)

     - Bringing back the memories of the good ol' days is always nice.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

     - The best of the Tactics games truly; so enthralling

Hoshigami (DS)

     - It's hard to categorise this wonderful story, but it's worth a play

Anarchy Online (PC)

     - Enjoying some more time here & there in this great sci-fi game
League of Legends (PC)
      - I have no idea if I like this game yet, but I think I do

Gaming Week 2010 17 April - 23 April

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)
     - The epic tale of the best character in video games.

Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
     - A PSN release in all it's original glory!
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
     - Almost the best FF game in the series, takes you in & doesn't let go!
Final Fantasy VIII (PSP)
     - Another PSN release in all it's originl epicocity!

Anarchy Online (PC)
     - Enjoying some more time here & there in this great sci-fi game

Gaming Week 2010 09 April - 16 April

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii)

     - A really fantastic sequel to ToS & a great Tales game

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WiiWare)

     - Truly worthy of being the FF4 sequel.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES (PS2)

     - The best Persona game & best game in Megaten

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)

     - The epic tale of the best character in video games.

Final Fantasy (PSP)

     - A remake of the original, amazing, fantastic, addictive!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)

     - Almost the best FF game in the series, takes you in & doesn't let go!

Anarchy Online (PC)

     - Enjoying some more time here & there in this great sci-fi game

Left 4 Dead (360)
      - Killing zombies is so much fun!

Final Fantasy XIII

I guess it's about that time again to make a review for Final Fantasy XIII. I have tried to write this review four times now, but I always forget I'm writing it & then shut down the computer without saving. I suppose that is actually how I have summed up the latest installation of this wonderfully epic storyline. I'm well aware of everything else people have said about the game & I don't really care about that. I enjoyed the game to the end & for a bit of post-game as well, but after that... I just couldn't bring myself to pick it back up for the mission grind or the Crystarium grind... it just held ZERO interest for me. I had absolutely no desire to do those things. I'll get to that, though. For now, we'll start at the beginning. Graphically, this game is the best in the Final Fantasy game series, hands down. I played the 360 version, of course, & it was phenomenal. One day I hope that the entirety of all game-play in a game will look like Advent Children through 100% of the game, but until that mythical day happens, FF13 has come pretty damn close. It was very obvious, still, the differences between the full FMV's & the actual game-play (even on the PS3, the graphics really weren't all that different). Movement was incredible, but seriously, the footsteps? I'm all for realism, but I can't even hear my OWN footsteps when I'm walking (granted if I'm out walking I have my headphones on so I don't actually hear my footsteps...).

I really don't want to spend 80+ hours listening to my character running around, but alas, that is how it turned out. But this is for graphics! Audio will come next! The spells were breath-taking &, ladies & gentlemen, the Espers (Eidolon's! Ugh) were the stuff of legends. I really can't rave about the graphics more, just to say that at times I put the controller down, peering over landscaping forests, steep cliff-sides edging out into an expanse of ocean... it made me very sad that I couldn't be there & at times I felt that I was there. It was a fairy tale world & so lovely. Now we can get into audio. The sound was nice, yea nothing really amazing, I'm sorry to say. Actually, though, the soundtrack was awesome... away from the game. During the game I listened to the music for about 2 hours, then turned it off & just turned on the actual soundtrack on iTunes. Gorgeous composition for which I give it the highest recommendation, but while inside the game..? No, it got very irritating. I don't really have a lot of experience with audio in a game apart from the music, so I'll just leave it with my comments about the music & afore mentioned aggravating footsteps. Of course, we come to what everyone else bitched about relentlessly. The game-play OK, yea it is so very, very linear at the beginning... & for about 24 hours of game-play you have no choice in what you do & your actions are heavily controlled. This annoyed me at first until I just

stopped caring & enjoyed the beauty of the game. Combat in the game was... well it's hard to say. I tried to queue up my own spells & choose what I was doing, but 99.9% of the time, just spamming 'Auto' is really the best thing to do, unless you want to do one of your OMGabilities which are quite OMG to be honest (or an Esper ability or item). FF13 employs an event in combat which has NEVER been good in ANY game EVER MADE & for some reason games still fucking put this in! The character you control, if they die... it's game over. WHAT. This is never a good idea, developers. Why on earth can't your party members throw a rez down? It just boggles my mind endlessly whenever this crops up in a game. It's like in DMC4 when you first run into the Dice room? And you finish & think wow that was the most annoying experiment a game dev has put in a game, glad that's over, but then for the last 40 minutes of the game when you have to do five more Dice games & you're thinking WTF is this shit, did they actually think this was a good idea? Yea, well it's like that.

So after your initial stint in Cocoon you get ferried down, by Bahamut no less, to Pulse where the game expands in quite a Deer-In-Headlights way & you are thoroughly humbled by how lame your characters actually are. You're introduced to more mobs than you could take in an entire evening & the wonderment of Missions. Don't be blinded by this beautiful, forever-stretching landscape though, your game is still pretty linear. You can only do so many missions before you're scooted off to the next area & your exposure to the most difficult mobs you've had to encounter. Good luck levelling up for the next three hours. My biggest disappointment in this was that I really thought there would be more LIFE on Pulse, but it's almost like everyone is either a monster or Esper down here. No towns! I was so distraught by this! My favourite thing is running around towns & taking in the life of a game. Well after you're guided around Pulse for a little while & finish up some more missions (or not as they get way too hard to even contemplate) you're glided back up to cocoon in an owl-ship (I'm serious) for more linear-linear game-play instead of the semi-linear game-play on Pulse. I finished the game at 59 hours I believe & I didn't really have to spend time levelling except when I first got to Pulse. The last boss is not hard at all... it's just very long. It's a stamina battle, so make sure you have two cans of pop next to you instead of just the one. The ending sequence is almost 1 1/2 hours.

Post-game! Wooo...? I was very excited about post-game. I really love doing things around the world & taking my characters to trounce the evils I could not vanquish before, but unfortunately, nothing at really changed. My Crystarium was open to the max now & all my people could be... anything. It kind of lost it's beauty at that point, to be honest. Sure, some characters are better at one thing that the other, but they can do everything -_- What happened to being stuck with a Thief, White Mage, Black Mage, & Bard & having to really try to make it work? No. Now you can do anything with anyone & you won't really fail. Well I took my awesome characters of awesome back down to Pulse to work on Missions. Okay, it was cool finishing all the D level ones, the C ones mostly done, & a lot of B & A one's taken care of... this is getting really boring. What? Now I have to grind even more CP because everything takes 2839472394 to level? This is really boring. That sums up the post-game for me. Really, really boring. I have absolutely NO desire to play this game any more, unfortunately. Not to mention it has ZERO replay value at all! There is nothing you can do differently. Nothing at all, not one thing that you can change to do in another way. Everything, right to the end is determined & you are guided along that path. Don't get me wrong, the game was awesome to play through & I do not regret getting the CE of the game. I loved to go through it, but I will say, I probably won't play it again for a while & then when I do, it will be to get the achievements specifically, not because I want to play it again for fun & joy & love. This is a great installation in the Final Fantasy series, I really did have a good time. There are some glaring flaws in it, some of which crippled the game-play a bit, but being crippled myself ( har har ) I am used to setting those flaws aside & focusing on the better areas.

I recommend this for rental or buying it used most likely. Unless you're crazy obsessed with Final Fantasy, don't buy a CE or new issue of the game because you'll probably be disappointed when the game decides to play 80% of it by itself & just let you watch. Also, you have to switch discs twice, which isn't anything big at all & once you're on the 3rd disc, you never go back.