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.
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!
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!
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.
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 ;)
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.
After
reading couple of articles and blogs, it seems the news are really
true (sadly for me) that Senjou no Valkyria 3 – Unrecorded
Chronicles will not going to
have a Valkyria Chronicles 3
release for US. Its a shame because I was actually anticipating the
game ever since day one.
As
much as I feel upset that I couldn't play VC3 in English anymore, I
can't really blame on why SEGA decided not to localize the game. The
second game, Valkyria Chronicles 2
wasn't much a hit outside Japan, not to mention handhelds such as the
PSP wasn't that popular in majority. It's a fact, I guess but its too
bad for us too, who're fan of the game. I just wish something would
change. I do read something else about consider releasing VC3 at
Playstation Vita but
its a thing that is not been decided and unclear... so for now I
can't expect much from here. I can only wish...
Anyway,
prior to this news, SEGA has recently announced a new VC3 release
titled Senjou no Valkyria 3 – Unrecorded Chronicles
Extra Edition(Valkyria
Chronicles 3 E2). It's
basically the same game only with expanded content. The new edition
is set to release at November 2011 in Japan.
(You
can see from it how much I'm really excited for the game *sigh*)
UPDATE: 10-20-11. A week after this news came, a news came out that there may still be a chance for Valkyria Chronicles 3 to be localize... "may" is a strong word here. At the point I inserted this update, everything is still unsure. So again, we can only wish for now...
I
am very much excited after hearing some of the games I love will have
another kick for next year. At the recent Tokyo Game Show 2011,
Konami announced a new Suikoden game and Namco Bandai
announced a sequel for God Eater Burst still under working title of
God Eater 2. Both games will be release for the PSP, which is
a big plus for me since I'm more in playing PSP games.
screenshot from the official website
First
of, Suikoden... finally, they made a new Suikoden game! I've been
waiting for ages for this! If you guys didn't know, I love the
Suikoden series. It's one of my all-time favorite RPG back in the
Playstation days. I just love how the gameplay and story were made in
the game.
The
new Suikoden is titled Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi
Hyakunen no Tokior
in English, translated as Suikoden: The Woven Web of a
Century. The subtitle doesn't
make sense for now. At this point, there weren't any official
gameplay footage revealed except for the teaser trailer that only
shows an Anime clip. Another thing is, this new Suikoden game is
probably be a different series than the original.
god eater 2 working title
Next
is God Eater 2.. I played the first and I really like it. I always
thought that there will be a potential sequel for this game... and
here it is! The most notable here coming from the teaser trailer is
that the visual design is totally change to be more like on par with
Final Fantasy Type-O's design. There's no official gameplay footage
on this yet but there were some images already shown. Base on the
trailer and photos alone, GE2 introduces a new Aragami
monster and 2 new weapons, a Charge Spear
and Burst Hammer as
what they have called it. The premise of the story is also revealed:
the story sets 3 years after the first game and it will focus to a
certain group of God Eaters named Blood.
Both
Suikoden and God Eater 2 is scheduled to be release next year.
Nothing much to say about it for now but I'm very much happy in the
news. My only hope though is that these titles will be localized for
US release in the future. For now, I'll keep tabs on this games.
Until
then! God Eater 2 Teaser Trailer Suikoden Teaser Trailer
