Going Retro and Casual in Gaming for Me.

So let me backtrack you on what I've been doing while inactive in the blog.

Android games are still okay, I guess

So finally I got myself my own Android phone. Not your trendy phone but spec-wise it's on par with the major ones and I'm good with it. So I got pre-occupied in exploring my phone. Of course, I'm also looking for good games to play with it in Android.

I'm fine playing games in the phone, at least casual games. So I'm not entirely agree on some talk before that Android games will be the future of gaming. I don't think so... when it comes to hardcore and intensive gaming, I still go for gadgets meant for gaming like consoles and handhelds. PC is fine too.

So for my gaming treat in my Android, I'm at least okay with simpler yet really fun games. Doesn't need to be that intensive or lengthy. There are several games that already caught my interest most of them recommended by friends. I'll probably share something with it next time...

It's oldschool but it still enjoyable.

Another thing that got me occupied for a while was playing Playstation 2 games. I actually bought my friend's Playstation 2 Slim for that. Now, I know it's already an obsolete, more than 10 year old system and to most of you probably thought it's a waste already considering that most of us are already able to play PS2 games by other means. Even so, for me, it still a different experience when you're playing games on the actual console and playing it in front of your television set. More than that, I still love playing games on PS2. One thing of that is because there are ton of games from the console that I missed playing. It's so oldschool, yeah, I know. But it's still something that I enjoyed the most.

I've been catching up to games that I haven't played on the PS2 ever since. Honestly, I haven't even played Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater or even most of its RPGs like Final Fantasy XII. And while I'm at it, I'll try to share some of those games that I've been longing to play on my blog post.


Until then,

READ MORE!

Finally! Valkyria Chronicles 3

Finally, I got to play Valkyria Chronicles 3 in english now. Although not official, actually. An english patch has recently been made for it but it actually took very long before the patch got available around the holidays. When the patch was finally available, I kickstart my PSP again after several months of not using it.

So this how it goes... Valkyria Chronicles 3 (Senjou no Valkyria 3 in Japanese) was released around January 2011 and had a second version release (Valkyria Chronicles 3 Extra Edition) around November 2011. Unfortunately, it never had a US release. So I almost gave-up the thought of playing VC3... until I thought of perhaps someone would translate it.. and there was! So there's this certain group who took up the task of creating a translation patch for VC3 but it was actually a very very long process that almost took 2 years before it became available. I'm patiently waiting for it for 2 years.

Finally! I could understand you now! XD

At the moment I wrote down this, the current english patch for VC3 was still in beta version, whereas according to them it was 90% complete. As far as I could tell, the translation is very good enough. Enough to be able to go along with game and understand the main story. I guess the one's that haven't done here are the extra stuffs like encyclopedia's, information and DLC's. There were quite few typos, misalignment of text and even some I think just minor bugs but I believe it doesn't have a major effect in the overall gameplay. All is good and I'm very much thankful to the guys who work on the patch.

If you want to learn more about the guys behind the translation patch and about their patch file, just go over to their site here.

Please note that everything about these patch stuffs are obviously not legit. If you're not so agreed with this kind of stuffs then it's alright to stay away and forget about it.


Until then,

READ MORE!

Dissidia 012 Feral Chaos Battle FINAL

So last time, I posted my gameplay of battling the Manikin Feral Chaos and one skirmish battle against the real one. So now, here's my whole battle against the real Feral Chaos. It took 4 of my characters to beat him, pretty much the same as before. And as I said before, the real Feral Chaos is somewhat almost the same as the manikin version only without the insane accessory boost but with more variety of attacks, more aggressive and has an assist attack from Garland (which I hate it with a passion!).

Feral Chaos is the final boss in the story mode – 000 Story Confession of the Creator. The mode is unlocked once you beat both 012 and 013 story mode (beating the game, basically). The mode allows you to explore the overworld freely until you find your way to Feral Chaos. In this mode, the enemies are insanely strong and here, you will able to get most of the rare materials to create stronger equipments.

Round 1 – Jecht

Jecht now is my favorite character because of his brute combo I have recently learned. Here, I haven't got to learned his combo yet so...

Round 2 – Lightning

The longest round of all... funny thing because in my last gameplay with Lightning, it was almost the same thing happened... I guess I've manage to survive that long because of Lightning's various abilities that I could easily catch Feral Chaos off-guard

Round 3 – Cloud

Seriously, I could have beaten Feral Chaos here but I was caught off-guard. Nothing much to say in this part... my bad.

Round 4 – Squall

Last round. Beat Feral Chaos using Squall's Blasting Zone as intended, hehe!

Hope you enjoyed my gameplay.

Until then!

READ MORE!

My Best Moments in Gaming of 2011

Another New Year has come and yeah, time flies like it was yesterday. It almost felt like I just did my Best Moment in Gaming of 2010 just few days ago, but yeah its already that long.

Looking back last year, I played lots of PSP games (as always). I just wish I were able to play titles from other platforms like on the PS3 or Xbox 360. I would have probably wanting to play those big games like Skyrim or Demon Souls. I just wish, hehe.

But enough with the wishful thinking.. I'm going to talk about MY games. These were the games that got hold onto me throughout last year. Some of them I already played few years ago then played it again, but even so, its something I still enjoy playing it. So again... to start things up this New Year, let me share you My Top 11 Best Moments in Gaming of the last year!

11. Warriors Orochi 2

I never played any of the Dynasty Warrior/Samurai Warrior games so pretty much this was the first game I played relating to those. It was a fun game, hacking and slashing almost mindlessly to hordes of enemies. It really felt like you've been playing war similar to those historical wars of Japan. The gameplay was good but since I have no further knowledge about either of the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors, so the appeal to me its just average.

10. Kamen Rider Climax Heroes Fourze

It's the latest installment of the Kamen Rider Climax Heroes series. Kamen Rider (or Masked Rider in English) is a popular superhero series in Japan. There were some Kamen Rider games ever since and Climax Heroes was one of the recent. Its basically a fighting game that puts all sorts of Kamen Rider characters together in one-on-one brawl. As much as I'm a big fan of the Kamen Rider series but the game didn't get into to me that much. But nevertheless, the game was worth especially for someone like me who loves the Kamen Rider franchise.

09. Cladun X2

I love playing classic games or something that stimulates it. That is why games like Cladun appeal to me. Its basically a dungeon-crawling adventure with matching wide array of in-game customizations. The game was fun.. and hard because of its crazy dungeon levels. Not to mention the customization feature was also deep, it will overwhelm you. I didn't even expect that I would actually beat the game.. uhm, well partly beat it, I guess XD

08. The 3rd Birthday

I've recently played this game and even wrote a personal review about it. The 3rd Birthday was somewhat the sequel of the Parasite Eve series but unlike from its predecessors, the game became more to action-shooting style than the former action pseudo-RPG ways. Its not a well-received game compare from its previous incarnations but personally, its good at its own right. I enjoyed the non-stop action the most and its a fun game, nonetheless.

07. SD Gundam G Generation World

Just like how I like playing Super Robot Wars, SD Gundam G Generation is one of the few import games I really love to play despite the language barrier. Its been a long time since I last played a G Generation game, that is why I got excited when they finally released G Generation World for the PSP. I haven't completed the game, actually but I'll pretty much go back into this game once I'm in a groove for another turn-based mobile suit war!

06. Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection

Aside from the ever love 2D RPG classic, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy IV is also one of my personal favorite RPG classics. The SNES version was really good, and they made it better at Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection for the PSP. The game was bundled along with the sequel After Years and a new story Interlude that suppose to bridges the original and the After Years story. I only played and completed the original game and haven't touched Interlude and After Years just yet. Maybe I'll going to play it next time, but personally, playing the original FFIV game was already worth enough.

05. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

I just can't get enough playing Monster Hunter Freedom Unite that I actually start a new game all over again but as a female hunter. The story behind it was because, me and my friend got slump and we couldn't think of something else to play. But we felt bored on playing again our old MHFU save data and rather, start off fresh.. and guess what, we pretty much enjoyed replaying it. Maybe because we're using female characters? I mean, who wouldn't want to play as a female hunter? XD

04. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

So far at this point, there still no update on MHP3rd if its going to be release on the US, instead, they announced an HD version of the game for the PS3, still in Japanese version. After I'd tested the new moves on most weapons of the game, I took a break as I'd said before that I'll wait for the English release. BUT because we’re so impatient, me and my friend played the game through and through XD Of course, I’m still hoping for the English release and I really hope Capcom would finally update us this year.

03. Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Like MHFU, I played again Peace Walker from the start. I really enjoyed playing it the second time around because I was able to play it through and through (solo all the way!) and became a lot better with it, unlike before where I was more likely rely in Co-op play in tough missions (like beating Peace Walker Custom!). Speaking of Metal Gear, Konami also released an HD collection of MGS2, 3 and Peace Walker for the PS3. I wish I could also play those again.

02. God Eater Burst

It's one of my most anticipated games and finally got its English release last year. God Eater Burst was also an Action RPG, Monster Hunter style only in fast-pace action. I personally love its frantic actions, the Anime-like design and the story itself, although it lacks some varieties. It’s not the best Action RPG but its a good and fun game, nonetheless. There's no need to compare it to Monster Hunter. For me, its still a unique game in all. Which by the way, Namco announced a sequel in development for God Eater. I'm definitely going to look forward on that.

01. Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

This was pretty much the game me and my friend mostly played throughout the last year. We had a lot of fun playing the first Dissidia and we became crazier about it on Dissidia 012. We even bother ourselves to save replay data's of our fight, convert to video file and even uploaded it at YouTube. I guess what makes the game really appealing for us was because we got hook on its competitive gameplay. I mean, Dissidia's fighting system was really fun especially when battling with a friend. And considering that I'm not much of fighting game guy, Dissidia's pseudo-fighting style and customizing character moves was able to give me a chance to actually enjoy a fighting game (if you do consider Dissidia a fighting game, hehe)

Personally, there were several points in the game that appealed to me (other than being a Final Fantasy). One, because its a crossover of FF characters, and as I once said, I like crossovers of any sort. I also like the story of the game. I think most of us didn't notice it but the game's story is really interesting if you pay attention on it in detail. I have nothing much to say about how Square-Enix wanted to throw any sort of ideas to the series, but at the very least, I can say that the Dissidia Final Fantasy series is a good Final Fantasy game.

And so that's it. Those are my games that gave me the best moments from last year. Of course, I'll keep on playing more games this year. I just hope I could able to expand and experience playing games in other platforms other than my handheld, hehehe XP Anyway... here's for more gaming!

Until then!

READ MORE!

[The 3rd Birthday] Review

I recently played The 3rd Birthday for the PSP. The game was basically described as the sequel for the Parasite Eve series after a long time of absence. The game was released around March 2011 and most reviewers rated it ranging from low to fair score.

Unlike the previous Parasite Eve games, The 3rd Birthday is more like an action-shooting game than the traditional action RPG style before but then again, they also made changes at the gameplay system back at Parasite Eve 2 (from what I heard). I didn't played PE1 that much and never played PE2 at all so for this review, I will not make any comparison to whether how The 3rd Birthday was differ from its predecessors.

The story starts at the city of Manhattan at the midst of Christmas Eve. The city was struck by plant-like structures suddenly grow out of nowhere destroying most part of city in the process. Since then Manhattan was actively attacked by unknown creatures known as Twisted. Few years later, a group is form called CTI (Counter Twisted Investigation) specifically to engage against the Twisted. One of the members was Aya Brea. Aya mysteriously lost her memories and only vaguely remembers one thing where she sees herself supposedly getting married but with an unlikely scenario. As Aya carries on engaging the Twisted, she’ll soon realize the whole connection between herself, her power, the Twisted and her lost memories.

The story is simple to me. It doesn’t have much of a deep story-telling so I can’t really say if the story appealed to me. There are only few characters in the story but personally, all of them aren’t interesting (except for Aya, I guess). One that killed the story-telling is the bad voice acting. Not all of them were bad but you would frequently catch some off moments in their conversation. Aya’s backstory slowly unravels as you progresses but things won’t be interesting until the end of the game. If you haven’t got any clue throughout the game, then the ending might surprise you.

The gameplay is almost your typical third-person action shooter with some unique elements like the Overdive that you will use primarily in the game. The controls are a bit odd for me since I’m not that use on mapping the fire button on the shoulder button but it’s not that hard to learn once you get a hang of it. When it comes to gameplay, the action is solid. There are no dull moments in the game except for some few cinematic scenes and intermissions but most parts are non-stop action so personally, I have lots of fun with it.

Aya is build-up by using DNA boards and attaching or mixing sorts of DNAs to create certain skills. The problem here is using it is all trial-and-error thing. Unless you don’t have a cheatsheet for it, you might end up spending too much time on experimenting on it. Aya’s weapons can also be upgraded as well. Weapons are usually unlock through game progress or obtain from certain NPC’s Aya have dive-in although most of the powerful weapons are only accessible in more advance difficulties.

Replayability is encourage here for they’re lots of unlockables even after beating it for the first time. Once completed, a new difficulty mode is unlocked, and you can start a new game retaining your progress. You’re encouraged to play through harder difficulties thus you can obtain more unlockables like weapons, costumes and such. It can still be fun and challenging for the second or third time around but it can be tiring to repeat the game all over again. But it depends if you’re up to challenge of getting the unlockables. 

The 3rd Birthday got its mixed opinions by many. Honestly, it may not be the best but it’s still a fun game. The action is solid and its definitely fun, so anything bad like the voice acting and such can be forgivable at the very least. And yes, the game is good WITHOUT seeing that Shower scene, okay!? So if you like shooting action in general, then try The 3rd Birthday.

Until then ... and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

READ MORE!

Dissidia 012 Feral Chaos (Manikin) Battle

This is my whole gameplay where I finally beaten Feral Chaos (Manikin) at Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Feral Chaos is the final boss in one of the story modes of the game titled 000 Story - Confession of the Creator. This story mode is entirely optional and it will only be unlocked once you have beaten the game itself. In this gameplay, I'm yet fighting the manikin version of Feral Chaos. Manikin means in the game is merely a imitation or basically a lesser version of the actual.. So meaning this is not the real Feral Chaos... yes, its NOT the real one yet its already that strong and intimidating (x_x) so yeah, you get the idea. 

It took 4 warriors of mine to defeat it. My initial plan for beating Feral Chaos is to try draining its HP at least 10,000 for each warriors. So for my party of 5 warriors, each must deal a damage of 10,000 or more. If I meet those conditions for each of them, then I will have a greater chance of actually beating this monster! But I didn't actually expected that I would defeat Feral Chaos very soon.



Round 1 -- Jecht
I got fairly good start with Jecht and able to maintain my fight until Feral Chaos already got 9999 Brave attack (yikees!). It's just so bad of me that I let myself be hit before I ever got the chance to use the Jecht's EX Mode, tch! But anyway, Jecht manage to drain Feral Chaos' HP up to 10,000 so this round is good at least...



Round 2 -- Lightning
This round took longer than I expected. I manage to cut a large chuck of Feral Chaos' HP. I guess I got a good momentum on Lightning, and considering that she has both good close and range attacks... plus manage to attack Feral Chaos with an EX Mode. I was actually so itching of hitting him with an EX attack, hehe! This round is very good to me. Now my chance of beating Feral Chaos greatly increase!



Round 3 -- Cloud
Perhaps the worst round... not because that I didn't manage to dealt damage. I did... and it back fired to the point that I was thrown out in oblivion (x_x) ... Cloud could have already ended the battle here but because of my carelessness, Feral Chaos did an EX Mode and regain a large amount HP... and Cloud just got a taste of Feral Chaos terrifying EX attack. Fine... the next round will be the final! Feral Chaos! This will be your last stop!



Round 4 -- Squall
And finally beaten Feral Chaos in this round! (^^) Its kinda funny that I was able to defeat Feral Chaos using Squall because he is actually my first and favorite character that I use in Dissidia ever since. Nothing much to say here except for the fact that I screwed on using Ifrit there... 

My fifth character was actually the Warrior of Light, if you wonder. The one greatly contributes among my characters was obviously Lightning. Didn't really expected that I could do better at her at that time though. 

So beating the manikin version of Feral Chaos is just half-way of your adventure in 000 story mode. It took a while before I finally reach the very end of this mode which is fighting the real Feral Chaos. I did reached and fought him but at the point I'm writing this article I haven't beaten him. I only did a skirmish to test out how he fights. So basically, his the same as the former only aggressive. To have an idea, here's my first fight with the real Feral Chaos.



Just about it for now. Of course I'm going to save another replay data of fighting Feral Chaos but that might take a while. So for now, I hope you enjoy my videos there. Thank you.


Until then!

READ MORE!

Silent Hill Shattered Memories Review

Silent Hill Shattered Memories was basically described as the re-imagination of the first Silent Hill but it played nothing like any SH games before. It introduces a much different approach and its more likely focus on the story other than solid gameplay. Most fans of the series had mixed opinions about it but for me, what matters to know is that, is it a good game and all? Or should I say, is it worth the scare?

Shattered Memories introduces some familiar characters from the original game but the story is totally different and so as the original characters' roles. The story starts of with Doctor Kaufmann, a Therapist who's going to start a therapy session with you. The story then shifts to an incident that was very familiar to us-- Harry Mason had a car accident and it was outcold for a while. When he wakes up, he realizes that his daughter, Cheryl is gone after their car got crashed. He then runs off to look for Cheryl in the midst of the snowy weather in Silent Hill.

Like I said, Shattered Memories' gameplay is unique compare to other SH titles. Its camera perspective is pretty much similar to Resident Evil 4 and 5 (but not that its play the same), and majority of the game is focus on exploration and interaction to the environment. You will be spending most of your gameplay looking and interacting with stuffs around, this includes searching for keys or clues to proceed, talking to few characters and puzzle solving in general. They're no monsters or anything threatening at all while you're exploring and instead the monsters are only present if you're in the Nightmare realm. This is in contrast in previous SH games whereas monsters are always present whether you're in or not in the nightmare realm.

Some are skeptic because of this approach and like how everybody complains to those other recent SH games (Origins, Homecoming)like it doesn't have that old Silent Hill feel at all. For Shattered Memories, it's true that it doesn't share the same feel or generally, doesn't share the same charm of the old SH games either but to be fair, the game is actually good in its own right and probably (just probably since I never played the other) a lot bit better than the recent SH games. It's surprisingly impressive especially on how they work on the story. I find it clever on how they stimulate horror in the game despite having less action. It’s kinda like how you feel when you played Silent Hill 2 in the first part where you’re walking alone. I guess this is a good example where the sense of isolation can also be scary; also, the environment in the game also helps stimulate that.

As I said, monsters in the game are only present if you’re in the nightmare realm. What makes it kinda interesting is that, the game doesn’t allow you to fight back but instead you have to run away. The whole theme of the nightmare level is to find your way out of it while desperately avoiding the monsters that linger around. It sounds easy but really its not. Not only that you can’t fight them, but they do chase you around wherever you go at most part. Its makes more complicating that even the area that you have explored for quite a while will be different in the nightmare level like some ways are now block and alternate route are open, not to mention that the area’s palette is turn into an ice-like stage so you can’t sometimes tell the difference.. especially if you’re running. And yeah, you will run A LOT.

Personally, I like the concept of the nightmare level at Shattered Memories because it’s quite original for me. It may not be the same dark reddish and dreaded environment that we used to know in a SH’s nightmare level but for me its okay because for one thing, it fits in the game’s theme and story. I like the “run-like-hell” style in the nightmare level. It’s a unique approach but in the good way, in my opinion. It stimulates the sense of helplessness in the player that you have no other choice but to run. And if you do care about the story, you might understand why. Gameplay-wise, it's a thrilling gameplay whenever you’re at it.

Another interesting feature present in the game is the psychological evaluation the player is getting. Certain points in the game where you’re under going psychiatric evaluation, you’ll be giving certain test in a form of a mini-game (kinda). Depending on the answers, any aspects in the game will have an effect like how characters will behave, the way they dress, and even how monsters would look like. While exploring the surrounding and by looking closely on things around will make Harry say something about it. This certain actions will greatly contribute on the outcome of the ending. Basically, every action the player made will have an effect as if he or she is the one shaping it.

Overall concept of Shattered Memories is good to me; the only drawback I could see here is that the game is very short. Once you’re already familiar with the game and considering that it doesn’t have much solid gameplay action, it will be pretty much a cakewalk already if playing it for the second time, but not that I’m complaining about it either. Since the game emphasizes on exploring, I find the environment to be really look amazing. Consider that I only played this on the PSP yet the graphics of the environment looks good already, I guess it will be more appreciated if playing it on the consoles more preferably to the Nintendo Wii, not to mention that most of the interactions here are point-and-click maneuvers so I guess playing it with a Wii remote is suited.

Silent Hill Shattered Memories may have been a different kind of SH game but nonetheless it’s a good game. Granted, it doesn’t have the same feel but it didn’t fail on giving a good mix of psychological, mystery and horror story on its own. As I said, the game is more like telling a story than being a game, so if you’re good with that kind of games then you will appreciate this. All I can say is, as much as I like the original Silent Hill games, Shattered Memories is definitely a good alternate SH game and its worth of the experience... and scare ;)

Until then


Extra links:
You may also want to see the latest video review of Shattered Memories by Dena Natali, one of my favorite reviewers on the Internet -> http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/10/game-den-sh-shattered/

READ MORE!

Another brawl at Dissidia 012!

What's this? Another gaming slump for me? Well, kind of I guess. I couldn't think of something to play in my PSP (again) for now and just few days ago I learned that my friend is playing Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy again.. and because we're constant Adhoc multiplayer buddies, I thought to play it again also with him... and so here we are, another “cycle of battle” have started! XD

So for everyone who doesn't know about Dissidia, Dissidia Final Fantasy is a game for the PSP. It's hard to describe on how to categorize its genre though. It's more kinda like a mix of Action-Fighting with some Adventure-RPG elements at the same time. The original game was released around August 2009 and the sequel and recent game titled Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy was released March of this year (2011). I don't actually considered Dissidia 012 to be a sequel rather its a expansion version of the original.

For those who haven't played it, you got to give it a try. It a good Final Fantasy game even though its not entirely an RPG. I personally recommend you play Dissidia 012 instead since its essentially the same game as the original only with added features.

Until then!

If you like, you may check my previous articles about Dissidia Final Fantasy.

My first Dissidia 012 Gameplay

Last article created a month before the release of Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

First article about Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Thoughts about the new characters

Old Dissidia Gameplay (original game)

My recent Adhoc battle of Dissidia 012 with my friend

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy English trailer

READ MORE!

Old Monster Hunter Gameplay

Also one of my gaming slump at the moment is replaying Monster Hunter Freedom Unite along with a friend. Also enjoying it so far. Now that I thought about it, I suddenly remembered my old MHFU gameplay that I recorded and uploaded on YouTube last year. So I thought of sharing it here...

This was one of the first few gameplay videos I had made. You can see the video rendered not quite good. I was a noob when I edited it back then so excuse me for that. And the gameplay itself was not something to be impressed about either. It sounds really funny coming from me but after watching it again, I say that, my gameplay there was really LOUSY. If I could send a message to the past, I would have said to my past self – “Josh, your gameplay just sucked!” XD

If I could compare my current gameplay with that same scenario, I could have done better. I guess back then I was too cautious on hitting Khezu. There were lots of openings there but I hesitated. Not to mentioned, my precisions there was really bad. And I was actually hit by Khezu's combo! Damn! Now I'm starting to wonder myself why did I recorded this in the first place XD Anyway, hope you enjoy the video for now. =p  

Nekoht Quest - Old Jungle Lightning
Weapon: Lance
Armor Set: Mixed Ceanataur Z/U armor set

READ MORE!

Favorite Moments at Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

I’m pretty much on a gaming slump from the point I’m writing this article. There isn’t much to play at the moment… no, actually there were few games here that I haven’t tried playing yet and even games that I haven’t finished but for some reason I don’t feel like playing it and instead I’m craving to play something else... so I ended up replaying some games like Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. I already completed this game as I mentioned before but still love playing for the second time around and so far I’m enjoying it.

So I thought of doing an article regarding Peace Walker.. again. So let me share you guys my personal favorites in the game. NOTE: for those who haven’t played the game or haven’t played the game thoroughly, you might be spoiled. So anyway, this is my 10 Most Favorite Moments at Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.

(10) Leap of Faith. Kojima loves to spoof and that’s made his game really amusing. First time I saw this on a gameplay demo I was like “Wow, Big Boss can actually do a leap of faith”.. although not as high like in the Assassin’s Creed game, but its still cool to see. Not a fan of the Assassin's Creed series but seeing this is really amusing. Too bad you can only do this on particular missions with Straw Box around.

(9) Operation Pooyan. For those who don’t get this. Pooyan is an oldschool game where you’re shooting balloons and I remember playing it on the NES. When I first played at PW I was just LOL’d to the spoof. And it’s becoming more hilarious because while playing the Operation Pooyan mission, they’re playing the old BGM of it. For those oldschool gamer like me, its pretty much amusing.

(8) “La—lala-lalala-lalalah...”. Don’t you think its unsettling hearing a machine humming like this?? Just imagine a real-life battle tank or even a jet plane making sound like this while firing and killing someone. Hehe, anyway the sound was so catchy I would sometimes hum into myself.

(7) AI Cocoon battle. Among the three AI weapons, I was overwhelmed by the size this boss. I already first saw it in some video reviews of PW but I first thought it would be a special boss or something... but no, it’s just one of the regular AI bosses. So I was like “WTF! That big!?” I almost panic on how am I going to beat it.. and how am I able to reach the pod! (><)

(6) War vehicle battles. Whether it’s the armored vehicle, battle tank or the chopper, who the hell in the right mind is going of take out these vehicles with matching foot soldiers around?? Well... NOBODY BUT Big Boss! And you know what, that’s the MANLIEST thing you could ever do here.. and even more manlier if you going to fight with your shirt off. >=D

(5) Storming the Comm Tower. Probably, it’s the only mission where you have to gun your way through. My favorite part here was the crossfire at the near end, a chopper with some troops gunning you from the outside. It feels like an action movie scene especially when the music of Heaven’s Divide started to play in the background while you’re in action. That was so epic and cool!

it's BRILLIANT! XD

(4) The Briefings. I always love to listen to codec talks and conversations at MGS and I don’t care if it eats up my hours of gameplay. I just love every moments of it. In PW, the conversations are in the form of tape-recorded briefings but its still fun to listen to. Of course, one thing that makes it amusing was the ever funny silly talks thrown here, one of the most notable was the “Kojima is God” thing but my personal favorites would be the Naked and Cardboard Tank briefing, I LOL’d on that.

(3) Metal Gear ZEKE battle. Talk about “Taste your own medicine!”, you will actually have to fight your own Metal Gear at the very end of PW. Depending on how well you improve ZEKE, the difficultly can be medium to insanely hard. Though the battle didn’t felt that epic compare to PW, the whole “twist” in the story was enough for you to be overwhelmed. With the background music played that you would feel mix emotions while fighting the MG and to think that you’re up against something that you’ve personally built.

(2) Monster hunting. Some of you would probably guess it that this one would be near top of my favorites. Yes, of course! Ever fan of Monster Hunter, I actually had an imagination before of what if monsters ever exist outside the MH universe, would modern weapons like guns could work on them?... until I saw the gameplay of the yet upcoming PW showing Big Boss fighting a Tigrex. My face was like (O.O) -- something like that. I became very excited on it. Not only that MH fans would love this but seeing Big Boss fighting a monster, it really made him really badass.

(1) Peace Walker battle. I never felt engaged and overwhelmed again in MGS ever since MGS 2’s multiple Metal Gear Rays and Solidus’ duel (both in hard mode). PW have 3 separate battles and two forms. The first form might be not as much but the second will surely get the best of you. PW will hit you hard and you will be hit a lot if you don’t know what you are doing. Not to mention PW constantly doing the nuclear launch mode that will keep you pressured in your entire battle (and Miller’s whining will pressure you more). If you compared it to MHFU, it was like fighting Tigrex the first time and it’s really a pain. The background music playing was so epic that it would considerably be the only thing that motivates you in the battle. In terms in the story, having that kind of machines in a 1970’s era was way ahead of its time and to think, it could have been the first walking machine ever created that led to the creation of the bi-pedal tank that we’d all come to knew as -- Metal Gear. And that is why this is my number one most favorite part in the game.

So, that’s my 10 most favorite moments in PW. Whether you’re agree or disagree on how I rate it, I’m sure most of you would agree that these were indeed one of the great moments in the game regardless of the number sequences. If you haven’t played it yet, I HIGHLY recommend you to play it. For an MGS fan, you SHOULDN’T past this one! It’s very much worth it. >=)

READ MORE!

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie Impression

I finally watched the movie special of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds where 3 of the main characters (Yugi Mutou, Judai Yuki and Yusei Fudo) of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series had joined together. The movie was shown last year and it was a special movie in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the said Anime series.

I'm not that fond of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Cards but I'm always fond of its Anime series. This is one of those Anime’s that I would love to watch despite of its cheesiness at times and ridiculous ideas to the story involving playing Duel monster cards. So let me share to you my impressions about the movie itself. I’ll try not to spoil everything so I won’t be too detail in the story.

The full title of the movie is Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie – Super Fusion! Bonds that Transcends Time or in English release officially titled as Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time. The story is about Yusei, (main character of the 5Ds series) trying to stop a man named Paradox who come from the distant future to alter the course of history. Paradox steals Yusei’s card the Stardust Dragon and flew into the past. Yusei manage to follow him using the power of the Crimson Dragon. In the past, he meets up with Judai Yuki (from the GX series) and also Yugi Mutou (from the original series). Thus they join forces to stop Paradox from his plan.

For most fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, one of the main reasons why this movie is worth watching is for to see the 3 main characters of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series in action together. I mean, who doesn’t want to see Yusei dueling with Judai and Yugi side by side. The whole movie is short so basically there’s nothing much to see except for the 3 main guys in action. Other than Yugi and Judai, there are no other old characters from the previous series present, only very few of them, actually. The story is pretty much typical – time traveling and all that. Since the movie is short, everything there is done quickly so there isn’t much conversation happened. Just some few scenes like Judai is intrigued with Yusei’s Duel Runner or when they finally met up with Yugi and ask for his help.

Of course, the very highlight of the whole movie is the duel. Although the duel is not that long but it’s indeed intense and exciting because of the constant use of their card’s abilities, countering each others by trap cards, quick play spell cards and everything.

If you’re expecting something big like Yugi use the God cards, sorry, he didn’t use it nor even Judai use his known combo fusion monsters. But I guess it doesn’t really matter. The fact that they’re working together in the duel is already awesome enough to see. And of course, the duel won’t be that interesting without showing some never-before-seen cards and they’ve shown some quite here. Even Yugi and Judai have shown new cards.

 

Few people have mixed opinions in the movie. Some were kinda disappointed all because they’ve expected that Yugi will be one who will stand out among the 3 just because he’s the original hero of the series. Well, he didn’t stand out that much. In fact all of them have their own share of spotlights so it’s all okay to me. Besides, story-wise, it’s still a movie for the 5Ds series so pretty much Yusei is the main guy here and for me it’s all okay.

My final thoughts about the movie... it’s not the best Anime movie but its enjoyable. I very much enjoyed watching it. It’s short though but it’s okay. I can’t recommend this to all especially if you’re not familiar with the Yu-Gi-Oh! series but you could try watching it at the very least. And of course, for those Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, you should definitely watch this. 

READ MORE!

Quick Share / Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Gameplay

My Gameplay recorded from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

I once again use my character - Squall and did an exhibition battle to beat the crap out of Lightning XD But one thing I notice, even before the original Dissidia, despite of setting up the COM's difficultly and its options to as close to average level (to be on balance with my character), the COM will tend to be  more insane stronger than yours. (x_x)

It took a while before I finally beat Lightning... I kinda felt satisfied on my game there despite how disadvantage I am. I kinda like how I manage to turn around the tides there. Take that Lightning! (^^)

Hope you enjoy the video...


Here's the link of my old Dissidia gameplay video (the first game) that I posted way back around when I started this blog... just in case you wanted to see my old crappy gameplay (^^)

READ MORE!

God Eater Burst / God Arc Weapon Review Part 2 Final

Sakuya.. and her BIG gun >=D

When I'm playing Action RPG such as Monster Hunter or God Eater and they have a variety of weapons to choose, I always like choosing any melee weapons especially swords. I'm not really fond of using any ranged-type of weapons. In GE's case, you are fix to use a sword and a gun. Although you're free to choose whatever you want to use in battle, you will come to the point that you will have to use them both. As for me, I'm force to use the God Arc's Gun form at some point, but its not that I don't entirely like it. Since the game encourage you to be versatile, being trigger happy sometimes can't be half bad, I guess. And to be fair, there are lots of things you can do in Gun form other than just blasting Aragami's.

With Gun form, you're able to equip various bullets at your disposal. Firing bullets are done by pressing either Square or Triangle button (Depends on where you set the bullets). Bullets can be set either by in the menu options by pressing Start button and choose the option for bullets or in-battle by holding either Square or Triangle button (Again, depends which button you want to set the bullet) then scroll left and right using L or R button to choose bullets available to you.

Most of the bullets are elemental-based so it’s advantageous to use one especially against Aragami's with specific elemental traits. There even bullets specifically for healing comrades in battle. Gun form consumes OP (Oracle points), the stronger the bullet you're using, the larger the OP consumes. If run-out of OP, it can refill for every melee attack (Sword form) connects.

Once in Burst mode, Gun form's capabilities extends and you can able to adapt Aragami's abilities you have bitten and use it as bullets for your gun. The added Aragami ability is usually set on Triangle button overlapping the bullets that was set there but you can always switch it if you like. You can even share your Burst to other comrades (Burst Link) by pressing R and Triangle button while facing to the direction of your comrade (You'll notice a triangle indicator serves as a lock-on Burst link for comrades).

Just like I mentioned the last time, both Sword and Gun form have its own set of types to choose. Gun form also has 3 types. Basically, you can equip any types of bullets to any types of gun BUT the effects of the bullets can be enhance when equipping specific gun-type fit for it. I wasn’t actually aware of this difference until recently. Thanks to my buddies Raipo and Homer for pointing me this. ;)

used a custom bullets. 3 directional homing laser!

Sniper type. Sniper-type gun enhances piercing damage. Probably the most balance gun-type you could use because most types of bullets works well in this type since most bullets have pierce attributes. One good example for it is the Laser bullet.

it doesn't look that fast but its definitely faster than sniper and blast

Assault type. Assault-type gun enhances the firing speed of the bullet. Just like Sniper-type, most bullets works well in this type only enhances its firing speed. It’s easy to say that this type is probably the most offensive because of its quick shots but the damage per shot is actually weaker compare to Sniper-type or even compare to Blast-type.

bang! Bang! BANG! XD ... wait. where do i heard of that... 

Blast type. Blast-type gun enhances crushing damage so this type works well to any bullets with exploding effect like bombs and mortars. The type is best describe as a grenade launcher. Compare to other 2 types, Blast-type's firing speed is slower.

Once you get a clear idea on what gun-type is best at and what bullet is best use at, its pretty much self-explain on how would you use your bullets and what kind of gun you would prefer to use. The only thing that might complicate it is the bullet customization... and sorry, we won't get to that part for now. (^^)”

And that concludes my God Arc review. Hope it helps a bit. I would still make another review for GEB and it will be a general review for the game but I won't probably be working on it for now and I actually plan to save that article for my other blog page. For now, I'll leave this to you and I hope you enjoyed it.

Until then!

PS: If ever any of you read my other reviews regarding Monster Hunter Portable 3rd's Weapons and you're wondering what happen because I haven't continued it, I'm still working on it, don't worry. It just that I got too busy on stuffs and my mind slips (again). 
Though I could work on it already but since its been a while now and I'm thinking of a right moment to work and post it. You might not going to see it for a while but I'll definitely going to finish it. For now, I hope you would still enjoy dropping by. Thanks!

READ MORE!