Enjoy the Silence

Many moons have passed since last I posted, and lots of stuff happened. Some of that time was spent wrapping up school and graduation, I visited Japan during this time as well and had some good times there. Also in this time I was fortunate enough to receive a fair share of gifts from my graduation. Using some of this I recently procured a Playstation 3, I am now fortunate enough to have all three of the current consoles. Yeah, basically it is pretty sweet.

While visiting Japan I picked up some rather cool tidbits that were game related. I was tempted to pick up a game for my PSP or DS while there but figured the difficulty I would have for translating it outweighed my desire for any of the titles I saw. I picked up a full set plus extras of some SMT One Coin figures (a picture, the seventh character being a wolf) as well as a lovely Gwendolyn figure from Odin Sphere. I missed out on a gorgeous Valkyria Chronicles figure due to limited luggage space, I also just missed the last Etrian Odyssey gunner figure that was in a store. Finding well done figures from games that I've played is rather exciting...

Ok that's enough random talk about figures, now about games. Having gone on a long trip with plenty of time on an airplane as well as a new console to boot I dug into plenty of games since the last time I posted. The end of my semester was spent playing metric ass-tons of Rock Band and Resident Evil 5. My roommate and I SS ranked all of the mercenary levels save for maybe one? It's been a while but damn co-op mercenaries is hella fun. On my trip to Japan I played a huge amount of Wipeout Pulse for PSP as well as the Star Ocean Second Evolution port (stuck in the same part of the bonus dungeon as I was back in 2000/2001). I had gotten to the last disc of Lost Odyssey while at school, when I eventually get around to finishing it I need to do a summarizing post since the pacing really slowed and it has become slightly tedious to play. Finally, in my time since getting back from Japan I have been putting my PS3 to the test in terms of time in use. I started playing Folklore which I picked up from Bestbuy for $30 and LOVE the art direction/atmosphere but the actual gameplay is a little lacking. I have played some Little Big Planet, it is very unique but I am unsure if I will be able to personally use the customization elements to its full effect. Noby Noby Boy is something that, well it just needs to be experienced because you can't really describe it. I played lots of PS3 demos, in particular the demo for R&C: Tools of Destruction and it reminded me of all the reasons why I loved the first 3 Spyro games on Playstation (yay Insomniac) so lotsa fun there. To end it all before I ramble too much longer I played and beat MGS4 (stayed up this past night cause I couldn't put it down once I had gotten back to Shadow Moses MMMMM so good). That was a very satisfying and great first experience with the PS3 and I hope to make a more detailed post of my very late impressions of the PS3, particularly in comparison now with my other current consoles.

2008 In Gaming For Me (AKA realizing how few new games I played)

I was going to do my top 10 of the year and after browsing over releases from this year I realized I have spent most of the year catching up on 360 games. Having purchased the console this summer and getting my hands on things like Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Rock Band, Lost Planet, Forza 2, etc. then I have not actually played through a large number of releases this year. Because of this I barely played over 10 games that were released this year. Because of that I will put together my top 5 favorite releases of this year.

1. Braid
2. Persona 4
3. Rock Band 2
4. Dead Space
5. Devil May Cry 4

Ummm, well I honestly only just downloaded Braid last week and played through and completed it. I just found out there is more that I could have gotten, but at this point I am proud of my completion of the game with a friend and putting together all the puzzle pieces without aid from hints. That being said I had no expectations and was pleased and blown away by the elegance and grace that the game has. It just exists, and I found it a refreshing change of pace from the norm. Persona 4 was rad and satisfied my JRPG hunger for the year (I started it right after completing Nocturne for a second time through, I got the neutral ending this time whoooo). Next Rock Band 2 improved on the first iteration in so many ways, I also live by the amazing DLC. Dead Space was a game that, in my opinion, was executed well and drew on source material that I grew up with so I ate it up. While some critics have sighted it as unoriginal or a sign of stagnation in the survival horror genre (I have heard some people insist that the genre has died all together and Dead Space and RE4 are just action games, which I partially agree with) I found it cured my itch for a scary gaming experience. While it may not be as psychologically streamlined as the Silent Hill series or as creepy as other franchises I liked it. Off the top of my head I can't think of how many sci-fi horror games there have been in recent years, and Dead Space filled that hole in my life. Finally I really liked DMC 4. While I feel that it wasn't as good as the first or third iteration of the series, it is a solid game and I have accumulated a good amount of playtime with my copy.

Honorable Mentions:
Ninja Gaiden 2
Castle Crashers

Ninja Gaiden 2 is a breakneck action game, much faster combat than DMC 4 (I feel like DMC 4 had slower combat compared to DMC and DMC 3). This sometimes leads to ridiculously unlucky deaths to enemies and it does suffer from a wonky camera at times, but overall the game is way above average. Like the DMC series, the ultimate pleasure in these games comes from those completely mesmerizing moments where you're just in-the-zone and perform something amazing. Or that moment that you get past that frustrating section and it was beautiful.

Castle Crashers is such a great homage to beat 'em ups that I was filled with such joy while playing it. The art style is fantastic, humor that had me laughing constantly, and accessibility of classics like Gauntlet and Streets of Rage. A wonderful multiplayer experience that shouldn't be missed (the game was even fun playing solo as well which was a surprise).

Games that I sorely missed and need to try from this year are Lost Odyssey, Bangai-O Spirits, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Sonic Unleashed (I dun care, I need to experience it), Tomb Raider: Underworld, and possibly more.

Currently Playing: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend, Final Fantasy 4 (from FF Chronicles on Playstation)

What about you guys LBJ and J FU K? I know it's been a while since you've posted... but what has been up?