This one year old knows her game characters

Why hello there! This isn’t the start of daily updates just yet, but a random post I decided to make about a video that I recently stumbled upon while browsing Youtube. What did I find? A one year old girl who knows more game characters that a lot of other people I know. Prepare to go “Aww” as you watch one of the best gaming related videos I’ve seen all year!

So it’s really nothing amazing, but it’s undeniably cute and goes to show all of the gamers out there who want to both be a good parent and teach their young ones about the good old video games as soon as possible! Come on…say it with me now “AWWWWWWWWW”

No more daily updates until 2009 (Oh, and I finished Persona 4)

I guess I’ll take a two week break from the daily blog updates until January 1st. There isn’t much left going on this year for gaming, so I’ll return with my top 10 of 2008, among other things, next year. I’ll still have an occasional post or two before the end of the year, but it won’t be a daily thing like it has been since October. I still have a guest post planned to wrap up the Metal Gear Solid thing as well, so look forward to that.

2008 was certainly an interesting year for games, wasn’t it? So many great releases, quite a few huge news stories (both good and bad), and the, ahem, “sudden” down turn in the economy. And 2009 will most likely have some pretty crazy things to look forward to as well. Let’s just hope publishers learn how to spread out the game releases just a little bit more. A few big titles over the summer might help just a little bit!

In other news, I finished Persona 4 and got the true ending! That was quite a journey, but 57 hours later, I felt like it was worth it. What a fantastic way to end a fantastic game. You know that feeling you get when you finish a game and already begin to miss the world, and all of the characters? Man, I feel that way now. Although Atlus already pretty much confirmed there would be no “expansion” like there was for Persona 3, I would love to be able to re-visit Inaba again. Well, I guess I can, since now it’s time for a second play through to fight those optional bosses. Wish me luck!

Just play the game yourself!

Why are people so damn focused on trusting reviews, and on what reviewers think, and blah blah blah? Come on, there are so many different gaming options available right now, you can’t just blatantly trust a few people on whether or not you buy a game, especially if the game caught your interest before. I’m not saying reviews are always wrong, they get it right quite a few times, (at least the general consensus among them does) but I guarantee it’s not something that you should depend upon.

It’s like talking to a group of five random strangers, holding up a game, and pretty much having them tell you “buy it” or “don’t buy it”. What’s the point? Why should you trusting these people you don’t even know? You could, oh I don’t know, rent the game for yourself. Or maybe a friend bought it? Borrow it from them! Demos are also usually released for a lot of the bigger titles, so give those a try too. There are so many options available, there is no reason to trust a few numbers on what games you purchase.

That leads me to another thing: people’s reactions to reviews. I know this will never change anything, but who cares what a certain site gives a certain game? “But blah blah blah is biased they didn’t play the full game blah!” A lot of people complain about reviews for games they’ve never even played, they are just hyping. And if someone says something negative about a game they just know will be good, despite them not even actually have played it, it’s a terrible review!

Maybe a lot of reviews will hate a game, but if you try it, maybe you’ll like it! Just because these “professional game critics” have more “experience” in the field, doesn’t make their opinion any more valid than yours, or your friends, or anyone else out there right now. You can have an opinion, feel strongly about it, but it doesn’t make your opinion the right opinion or the facts about a game. Same goes for any reviewer out there. How could people who play a game like, let’s say Grand Theft Auto IV, not like it? All of those “professional game critics” game it 10s! That’s a perfect score! It’s because they don’t find the game enjoyable. Does that make them wrong? No, just different.

So, this is a bit pointless, since I won’t change a thing with this little rant, but just try the game yourself. Don’t get mad about game scores, don’t let them persuade you to buy or not buy a game, just find a way to be the judge of a game and just not leaving it up to some guy who gets paid to play games. I guarantee you’ll discover a lot of games you may have passed up otherwise, and when it comes to the season when so many games are released, there are quite a few out there that may be the right games for you.

My favorite game of all time (featuring a special guest post concerning one of the greatest game series of all time PART SIX)

The suspense is killing you. You’re just dying to find out what my favorite game of all time. I know you are. You’re not going to be able to stand it much longer! You’re probably not even reading this, you’re going to scroll past everything I’m writing right now to get to what my favorite game is.

Well, I’m going to throw in another guest post from Grey Fox about Metal Gear Solid that…well, has some connection to my favorite game. I’ll let you figure it out from here!

Current addiction: Persona 4

Persona 4 is one of the best JRPGs I’ve played since…well, since Persona 3, and it only seems to keep getting better. But what I love about it, more so than in Persona 3, is the story. It seems like the story lines in the game, not just those of the main story, but the ones found in social interactions between the characters are all excellently written. Your caretaker and uncle, Dojima, has one of the best stories in the entire game once you get to know more about him and his current situation.

Stories in games just keep getting better, and with the amount of content that can be found in RPGs like Persona 4, or in other cases, a game like Fallout 3, it’s no surprise to me that video games are reaching a new level of story telling, stuff that rivals the stories in films and television shows. And it goes one step above with the level of interactivity. Don’t care about a certain character in Persona 4? Don’t interact with them! Focus on the ones that interest you the most, and although there is a gameplay twist involved, they don’t impact you negatively if you don’t follow social interactions based on your Personas; so, in other words, go nuts!

<Insert English text here>

This was a mini-rant and a bit of a lazy post. And now, I need to sleep. But I think that a game like Persona 4 came around at the perfect time; sure, we have RPGs like Fable and Fallout, but this is a much different experience, and one that people should give a chance. Expect to see more high praise of this game when it comes time to reveal my ten favorite games of 2008, because I can guarantee it’ll be in there.

The five worst games I’ve played this year

I was going to do this in January, but I was inspired by a friend’s recent decision to buy one of the games on this list, so I might as well do it now. Keep in mind, there are a couple of games I haven’t played that could make this list. So don’t worry, Sonic Unleashed may still make it! (oooh burn)

#5: Silent Hill Homecoming (360/PS3)

Normally I would post a video and maybe a screen shot or two of each game when I do a list like this, but I will avoid doing so with these games. It’s for the children! Anyway, the fifth game on my list was tough, because I had a couple of games in mind, but the more I played and generally thought about Silent Hill Homecoming, the more I absolutely hated it. Let me also say that there is a HUGE gap between this game and the other four on the list, as some people could find some enjoyment out of it, but most won’t, even the hardcore Silent Hill fans may turn away.

The story is awful, and they like to include things (mainly enemies) from Silent Hill 2, such as Pyramid Head, when they feel completely out of place in this game. All of those creatures dealt with James Sunderland and what was going on inside of his head. And now Mr. main character we don’t care about sees them too? There was a point to James’ visions and the enemies in Silent Hill 2, they made sense, and they just feel completely out of place in this new game.

The gameplay? Oh yeah, this is a game after all. A new team is in charge of the development here, an American team, and from there that’s where everything goes downhill. The new combat system makes me miss the old sluggish controls of the previous games. And despite a couple of bright (or should I say dark EH OH EL) spots in this game, such as the atmosphere of the different areas, there isn’t too much good going on in this game. Everything just doesn’t feel like Silent Hill, and if you take away that name, what you are left with is a poor man’s Silent Hill; a game that feels like an imitator, the alternative to the cheap cereal your mom would buy you as opposed to the good stuff you see advertised on TV. That’s Silent Hill Homecoming, and it’s a big bowl of mush and blah.

#4: Turok (360/PS3)

Oh man, where do I begin? Turok 2 on the N64 was a pretty damn good game, and while it was no Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, it stood out to me as one of the better shooters out for that system. Since then, we’ve gotten nothing but crap and more crap from the series. I hate whatever development team decided to just make a game with the same main character, the same dinosaurs, but then throw all of that down the toilet and attempt to plunge it back out. What’s left? The watered down and generic corpse of a once great series.

The big problem deals with the controls, more specifically, the aiming. It’s WAY too sensitive. And guess what? There is absolutely NOTHING you can do about it but just shoot in the general direction of your enemies and hope you manage to hit them. It’s so bad in fact that it makes certain sections of the single player nearly unplayable. And the game is difficult, but that’s not a bad thing; at least it wouldn’t be if you could AIM WHERE YOU WANTED TO! The enemies are pretty dumb as well, but they take an unrealistic amount of gun fire, so they can blindly charge at you and still manage to win. And no, I’m not talking about the dinosaurs, there are human enemies as well; the dinosaurs definitely act like dinosaurs.

Oh yeah, there is multiplayer, if you want to call it that. I call it: throw eight players in a circle and give them guns, whoever can shoot in random directions and be the last one standing wins. Oh yeah, they put dinosaurs in the multiplayer as well to “spice” it up, but they will most likely kill you more often than any other human player will. So, is there anything good to say? The game looks kind of nice. Yeah…

#3: Golden Axe: Beast Rider (360/PS3)

“Let’s turn Golden Axe into a boring hack-n-slash, but add lots of violence…for the kids!” Uhh, no. Sega, I love ya, but come on…who actually thought this would turn out good? Let me rephrase, who actually thought this would even turn out just okay? Come on guys, I can’t believe what you did to one of my favorite Genesis and Arcade franchises. I mean, I understand the need to revisit every single old series you haven’t already destroyed, (Vectorman, be careful, you may be next) but this is a bit unnecessary.

I wouldn’t be as mad if the game was just another generic “let’s mash buttons and kill everything on the screen” kind of game. Those could be fun, probably with a large amount of some kind of illegal substance. But what do we have here? Bad camera angles? Terrible hit detection problems? Annoying controls? Oh the glitches, those are the best. I remember trying to move my character, but she just kept running towards the lower right corner of the screen, like she was stuck, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I swear…it was like she was trying to escape from the game. Trust me, I’d feel the same exact way, except I probably would have killed myself by that point.

#2: Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (360/PS3)

Copy and paste everything I said in my Turok rant, except remove the dinosaurs, and replace them with glitches and bad graphics.

#1: Operation Darkness (360)

I love Atlus. They bring over some of the best games to the good old U.S.A. and we discover many games that we may not have even heard of previous without the help of this amazing company. But sometimes, just sometimes, they bring over a game that is so bad, you regret Atlus even existing in the first place. Oh yeah, that bad.

I could use italics all day long to help explain just how bad this game is, but I won’t, I’ll actually use logical reasoning. Let’s start with the premise: It’s in World War II, and the Nazis are zombies and vampires. Okay, I’M SOLD! And yet, the developers somehow managed to screw this up so badly…oh so badly. I guess making a strategy RPG out of it was a bad start, but I guess I can always turn to Call of Duty: World at War for my zombie Nazi shooting range.

First, the battle maps are too big. I understand they were trying to make it feel like a large scale battle, but…when you have maybe six allies, and about ten enemies, all scattered around on a map that could easily fit fifty…then you have some problems. This makes some parts of the game practically unplayable, since you have to keep an eye on all of your men, and some of them, if they die, will end the mission completely. So if you have to split your party up, have fun moving the annoyingly slow (and too close to the ground) camera around the battlefield to find everything. It sure is fun!

Also, the game just doesn’t work a lot of the times. Commands I issued to men just won’t happen, and sometimes some of my troops will just disappear completely from the map, and yet it would say they are still alive. Uhh…that’s great. Plus, the missions are WAY too long, with absolutely no check points. So close to the end, yet are killed right before you achieve the final objective? Back to the beginning for you!

I really could go on, I could write a book about the problems this game has, but I won’t. I can, however, safely say that this is the worst Xbox 360 game I have ever played. It makes Bullet Witch and Bomberman Act Zero look like Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3. If you’re an absolute Atlus crazed fanboy who needs to buy EVERY game they bring to the States, no matter what, go for it. But don’t open it, don’t play it, don’t even look at it after you buy it. Put it in a box, and keep it hidden from everything. You’ll still own the game, but you just won’t have to be embarrassed about it.

A game Wii owners need to buy

I forgot to update yesterday, “whoops.” So I guess I’ll just have two posts today! Here’s the first.

I don’t want this game to turn out to be another No More Heroes and not sell terribly well and be completely ignored by those Wii owners who didn’t buy the Wii for Wii Fit and Wii Play. THEY EXIST?! Yes, they do, and I am one of them. The game I’m referring to is MadWorld, the first game from ex-Clover Studios (the developers of Viewtiful Joe, Godhand, and Okami) members now a part of Platinum Games.

Sin City meets Smash TV

Just…just LOOK AT IT! The black and white art style is amazing, and it just goes to show that the guys at Platinum know what they set out to make: a mature, original, and flat out fun game for the Wii. And like No More Heroes, I have a feeling that it will go mostly unnoticed while people continue to buy endless copies of Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii. And although No More Heroes is getting a sequel, (Suda 51 wants it to be a trilogy, after all) it still didn’t get nearly the attention or respect it deserves, and it’s still my favorite Wii game around.

Will MadWorld be next year’s No More Heroes? I both hope it is yes and no. Yes because I want it to be as fun and original as that game was, but no because I want it to actually sell relatively decently. I’m not talking Super Smash Bros. Brawl numbers here, but a bit better than what we can come to expect from a game like this. I leave you now with a great video showcasing what to expect from our new friends at Platinum Games.

CHA-CHING! (featuring a special guest post concerning one of the greatest game series of all time PART FIVE)

Video game sales for November were HUGE! I mean, the top two selling games in November made a total of around $3 million ALONE. That’s pretty impressive. As of no surprise to anyone, Gears of War 2 took the top spot, with $1.56 million, and Call of Duty: World at War took a close second with $1.41 million. Now, with the economy as bad as it is right now, you’d never think people would be focusing on buying games, now would you?

Child’s Play Charity: Worth every penny

The Child’s Play Charity that is done every year is a great way to raise money for children in need. Not only money, but toys and video games are also supplied to many hospitals across the country thanks to this event. Last night seemed to be a big success for them, as they raised $200,000 in last night’s auction, and that is very good news.

It’s excellent for both the bidders, being able to attend and get a chance at some very rare and pretty awesome stuff that any gamer would appreciate, and also knowing that it all goes towards a good cause. I just wanted to make a quick post to say that I truly appreciate what the Penny Arcade folks  (mainly Jerry and Mike, or Tycho and Gabe, themselves)  have done each year during this event. It’s something that is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.

That’s all there is to say! I’m continuing my Persona 4 progress, as well as a Metal Gear Solid 4 replay, since all of the 360 games I had been playing are kind of on hold due to the fact that I have to send my system back to Microsoft. Ah well, I guess I’m not surprised this happened. At least I have some other great games to play in the meantime.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4: First Impressions

Okay, everyone just calls it Persona 4; it’s not officially a part of the SMT series, it’s more of a spin-off series, but Atlus decided to slap that name on it for the U.S. release. Anyway, Persona 4 continues the tradition of yet another PS2 RPG from Atlus, as they will continue to be the only company that still supports the PS2 at this point in time.

Persona 3 (more importantly, Persona 3 FES) is an incredible RPG, and after around two hours with Persona 4, I can tell it is ready to continue that tradition. The battle system is pretty basic, but when more people get involved and team commands are needed, things can get more strategic. And then, of course, the endless hours you could spend making different Personas for different battles or situations. It’s truly an incredibly deep RPG, and one that is very addictive as well.

The unique team command system and the further exploration and expansion of Persona creation make this sequel not only a worthy successor, but one of the best games of the year.

The soundtrack is nice, not the best, but it’s different, quirky, and overall, it works. The game is definitely more “mature” that most other RPGs, as all Shin Megami Tensei games and spin-offs are, and it works in the game’s favor. Also, the voice acting is pretty much excellent, but that is to be expected. There isn’t really anything negative to say in my pretty brief impressions.

If you liked Persona 3, you’ll love Persona 4; I can tell it improves on P3 in every way imaginable, and includes a much more engrossing story and more interesting characters. It does take a little while to really get started, but as I said, if you could look past it in Persona 3, you’ll definitely be able to look past it here. Don’t pass this one up, give it a try even if you’ve never played a Persona game (or even a Shin Megami Tensei game) before. They aren’t as popular as the Final Fantasy series, but they are definitely a worthy collection of games that any RPG fan should give a chance. Just don’t wait too long to buy it, because as you know, Atlus games become pretty hard to find pretty quickly.