You'll live, I'll have to make this entry extra awesome. Let's start with what I promised, a review of Song Summoner and Soul Calibur 4.
Song Summoner (for those not in the know) is a turn based strategy game that Square Enix surprise-released for the ipod about a month or so ago. It creates characters from your songs, similar to how Monster Rancher works. The plot is as hokey as you'd expect from a game that you play on a mp3 player, the combat system works well enough, and the graphics are about par for the course. The biggest downside is how battery thirsty the game is. If you don't want to sit plugged into the wall you better save pretty damn often. This is nicely balanced against how the character generation works. The biggest issue I have with the game is the difficulty in remembering which songs you've already transferred over (though there's likely some tag I've not noticed that explains this....I haven't had too many chances to play it sadly).
Next is Soul Calibur 4. The storyline is as convoluted as I've grown to expect from any fighter made by Capcom. I'm really counting on them releasing "Soul Calibur: This Is What Happened" a few years from now. It'll have a story mode with every character from the beginning of Soul Blade to the end of the series, so you can figure out just who all got to the Lost Cathedral in SC3, who beat Cervantes, and whose endings were canon. I think it'd be a big hit. Let's talk about mechanics though. They've added a new feature called "Critical Finish" that let's you end the fight with an instant win the second you perform it. This sounds pretty game breaking, but you only have the option of performing one once your opponents Soul Gauge is blinking red, which essentially means your opponent has been turtleing the whole match. What this means is that as long as you remember to use Guard Impact, you'll do just fine.
I have a problem with the story mode in SC4 though. Every character's story is a grand total of five fights long, which doesn't really give you enough time to get attached to the characters (particularly the new ones, Hilde and Algol). The Tower of Lost Souls mode is kinda fun, though for the life of me I cannot easily beat any Zasalamel bots. Lastly, the Star Wars characters (you knew about this, right?) that they added work pretty seamlessly from a gameplay perspective (though having a fight on a star destroyer is...weird). The Apprentice is particularly fun to play as.
Anyway, I'm having ADD something fierce right now. I'll try to update next week with my thoughs on Snoop Dogg's foray into country music, a local label called Sticky Green Records, and the game "The World Ends With You."
-Andy
Friday, August 15, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Superheros Galore and More
Ok, so I missed a week or so, no biggie. Let's talk about some more important things than my inherent tardiness.
Let's talk movies. Yesterday my friend Lindsey took my girlfriend and I out to see Dark Knight. I'll try to keep this spoiler free for the faint of heart, but I do need to review it. Overall, it ruled. Ledger's acting was above and beyond the best of his I've seen, and he really took the creepy version of Joker and ran with it. You really get the feeling that this is the kind of guy who could shoot a woman in the spine just to make her dad wince. Aaron Eckhart did just as well as Harvey Dent, and managed to come off as incredibly charismatic instead of a preachy know it all. The writer of this film has done a masterful job. That being said, there were parts of it that just ran....long. I realize it probably says something about the attention span of my age group, but really, did we need that much material? I dunno, I imagine it's a side effect of doing the dual villians in a comic book movie that Hollywood seems so fond of. Either way, a minor quibble with a great movie, go see it in theaters. Moving on now.
Let's talk musicals. That's right, musicals. I just finished watching Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and was very impressed. The first act was a little slow, but everything really came together for the second and third. For those not in the know (a population sampling roughly equivalent as those that speak gaelic), Joss Whedon (along with the rest of the Whedon clan) wrote a musical from the perspective of an aspiring super villain during the WGA strike. It was free to download until Sunday, and it's being put onto a DVD available for purchase. Check out the Master Plan. Anyway, very well done. Neil Patrick Harris was very likable, and had a relatable presence (well, as much as one can relate to someone who has a PhD in horribleness). I don't typically go for musicals, but this one really hit the spot. I hope to see more projects like this spring up, and if it turns enough of a profit, maybe some other writers will jump on the bandwagon. That's eleven sentences more than I ever thought I'd write about musicals.
Next up, video games. Since my last post, E3 has come and gone. Now, while I didn't attend (apparently a college kid who rants about stuff in his spare time doesn't really qualify as a desirable representation of the press...whiners), I tried to keep up to date on what was going down. A few things caught my eye. First, a new Final Fantasy 13 trailer is out. The game looks very pretty, and one of the stated goals is to make combat as fluid as the fights in Advent Children. Now, I'm not sure if they can really pull that off (the trailer does have some impressive in game scenes, but I'm withholding judgement until I get my hands on a copy), but the game should be worth checking out anyway. Todd Howard did a demonstration of some gameplay with Fallout 3, but it was kinda lackluster. I realize this is because he just focused on the combat (with a god-modded character and the bloody mess perk on), but what he showed other games do better. I did read a hands on review that actually dealt with dialogue, travel, side quests, that kinda thing, and from that source it sounds really good. Hmm, I was going to mention something disparaging about No Mutants Allowed, but after checking their website, they seem to have done a 180 and are in total support of FO 3. How odd. I remember grating my teeth every time Brother None said something I disagreed with. Anyway, the point I was trying to make earlier was that if the story elements of the game are good, I don't care if they recycle Thousand Arms' combat. If the combat ends up matching the hype, so much the better. Lastly, Megaman 9. That's right, an 8-bit classic Megaman game is being released on XBox Live, Playstation Online, and Nintendo Wiiware. There shall be much rejoicing.
I think three general topics is a good place to stop. Next post I'll be reviewing Soul Calibur 4 and Song Summoner.
- Andy
Let's talk movies. Yesterday my friend Lindsey took my girlfriend and I out to see Dark Knight. I'll try to keep this spoiler free for the faint of heart, but I do need to review it. Overall, it ruled. Ledger's acting was above and beyond the best of his I've seen, and he really took the creepy version of Joker and ran with it. You really get the feeling that this is the kind of guy who could shoot a woman in the spine just to make her dad wince. Aaron Eckhart did just as well as Harvey Dent, and managed to come off as incredibly charismatic instead of a preachy know it all. The writer of this film has done a masterful job. That being said, there were parts of it that just ran....long. I realize it probably says something about the attention span of my age group, but really, did we need that much material? I dunno, I imagine it's a side effect of doing the dual villians in a comic book movie that Hollywood seems so fond of. Either way, a minor quibble with a great movie, go see it in theaters. Moving on now.
Let's talk musicals. That's right, musicals. I just finished watching Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and was very impressed. The first act was a little slow, but everything really came together for the second and third. For those not in the know (a population sampling roughly equivalent as those that speak gaelic), Joss Whedon (along with the rest of the Whedon clan) wrote a musical from the perspective of an aspiring super villain during the WGA strike. It was free to download until Sunday, and it's being put onto a DVD available for purchase. Check out the Master Plan. Anyway, very well done. Neil Patrick Harris was very likable, and had a relatable presence (well, as much as one can relate to someone who has a PhD in horribleness). I don't typically go for musicals, but this one really hit the spot. I hope to see more projects like this spring up, and if it turns enough of a profit, maybe some other writers will jump on the bandwagon. That's eleven sentences more than I ever thought I'd write about musicals.
Next up, video games. Since my last post, E3 has come and gone. Now, while I didn't attend (apparently a college kid who rants about stuff in his spare time doesn't really qualify as a desirable representation of the press...whiners), I tried to keep up to date on what was going down. A few things caught my eye. First, a new Final Fantasy 13 trailer is out. The game looks very pretty, and one of the stated goals is to make combat as fluid as the fights in Advent Children. Now, I'm not sure if they can really pull that off (the trailer does have some impressive in game scenes, but I'm withholding judgement until I get my hands on a copy), but the game should be worth checking out anyway. Todd Howard did a demonstration of some gameplay with Fallout 3, but it was kinda lackluster. I realize this is because he just focused on the combat (with a god-modded character and the bloody mess perk on), but what he showed other games do better. I did read a hands on review that actually dealt with dialogue, travel, side quests, that kinda thing, and from that source it sounds really good. Hmm, I was going to mention something disparaging about No Mutants Allowed, but after checking their website, they seem to have done a 180 and are in total support of FO 3. How odd. I remember grating my teeth every time Brother None said something I disagreed with. Anyway, the point I was trying to make earlier was that if the story elements of the game are good, I don't care if they recycle Thousand Arms' combat. If the combat ends up matching the hype, so much the better. Lastly, Megaman 9. That's right, an 8-bit classic Megaman game is being released on XBox Live, Playstation Online, and Nintendo Wiiware. There shall be much rejoicing.
I think three general topics is a good place to stop. Next post I'll be reviewing Soul Calibur 4 and Song Summoner.
- Andy
Saturday, July 5, 2008
In Which I, and My Companions, Dealt a Mighty Blow Against the Ottoman Empire Using Only a Napkin
So last night I hosted a barbecue for the 4th of July. After vast quantities of meat and vegetables were consumed, one of my friends presented a bottle of wine and suggested we play a game. As it turns out, he had come across a (now almost impossible to find in print) copy of The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Münchhausen. That's quite a lofty name, as I'm sure you noticed. It's named after the historical Baron Münchhausen, a man well known for his tall tales (which include flying to the moon, pulling himself out of swamp by tugging on his hair, and riding cannonballs). The purpose of this game is to be the finest liar in the group, and a turn of it plays (loosely) like so:
Captain Jacob Dreadnaught (Me): So, my dear Count Borsht. I seem to remember hearing how you once invaded St. Petersburg with naught but five lemurs to your credit.
Count Borsht: Und yeah. I remember it well...
The stories typically take no longer than five minutes or so, though the other players can interrupt with things like "But I thought the Baron Bittergoat was incarcerated during 1785" which the story teller can either dismiss out of hand, often calling the questioner a fool, or work into his story. After each party member has told a story, they vote with their winnings (a part I didn't explain, as you have to have some reason to buy the game and not just lift the rules wholesale from me) for who told the best story.
All in all, while I don't typically like indy role playing games, I think this one is incredible. It's very much a pick up and go game, though I recommend having everyone drink around before hand. It makes it much easier to think on the spot. (My best story was describing when the Emperor of the Moon taught me how to go sky fishing).
- Andy
Captain Jacob Dreadnaught (Me): So, my dear Count Borsht. I seem to remember hearing how you once invaded St. Petersburg with naught but five lemurs to your credit.
Count Borsht: Und yeah. I remember it well...
The stories typically take no longer than five minutes or so, though the other players can interrupt with things like "But I thought the Baron Bittergoat was incarcerated during 1785" which the story teller can either dismiss out of hand, often calling the questioner a fool, or work into his story. After each party member has told a story, they vote with their winnings (a part I didn't explain, as you have to have some reason to buy the game and not just lift the rules wholesale from me) for who told the best story.
All in all, while I don't typically like indy role playing games, I think this one is incredible. It's very much a pick up and go game, though I recommend having everyone drink around before hand. It makes it much easier to think on the spot. (My best story was describing when the Emperor of the Moon taught me how to go sky fishing).
- Andy
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Diablo 3
I'm sure everyone who's interested has heard that Diablo 3 has been announced. This actually caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting Blizzard to announce it until after Starcraft 2 went gold, but hey, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. As I'm sure you can imagine, there have already been a lot of people bitching about it. This tends to happen whenever an older game is taken up by a new development team to make a sequel (see Fallout 3). I can understand where they're coming from, after all, someone else is handling (or perhaps manhandling) your childhood memories, but that doesn't inherently make it inferior. Anywho, here's some of the gems I've come across that I think you should see:
An online petition begging for a new artistic direction of Diablo 3. I'm doing my best to think of something that is less likely to affect any actual change that signing an online petition. I mean, does anyone really take these things seriously? Now, before I get started on my views about how Diablo 3 looks, I'm going to give some free advice to any online revolutionaries. When you make a petition, be sure to give it a quick reading first. A spellchecker won't notice that you put down "ear" instead of "hear." It really does just make it look unprofessional. And try to pick an email address that has some dignity to it, unlike "Ultramegazord00" (I guess he was a Power Rangers fan). Learning how to put a hyperlink into the post helps with making it look nice and official as well. Really, everything you should have learned in your high school english class (remember the MLA format?) should apply to this kind of thing. I guess that the petition actually did accomplish something though. There's another petition saying "Please keep the colours, we like them just fine!" I sometimes hate the internet, y'know?
I really don't have an issue with the look of the gameplay trailer. Sure, it's unpolished, but that kind of thing gets fixed with time. Overall it looks like a great spiritual successor to the earlier games, and it improves on a lot of areas. I'm not thrilled with only having five classes, it seems like a step backwards from Throne of Baal. It is cool that they (finally) let you pick what sex you want your character to be. What will really sell this game for me is if they allow for user made dungeons.
I was going to post more about some of the idiocies of the internet (in particular one man who hoped that Diablo 3 would bankrupt those bastards at WoW), but I lost the will after I read the petition.
-Andy
An online petition begging for a new artistic direction of Diablo 3. I'm doing my best to think of something that is less likely to affect any actual change that signing an online petition. I mean, does anyone really take these things seriously? Now, before I get started on my views about how Diablo 3 looks, I'm going to give some free advice to any online revolutionaries. When you make a petition, be sure to give it a quick reading first. A spellchecker won't notice that you put down "ear" instead of "hear." It really does just make it look unprofessional. And try to pick an email address that has some dignity to it, unlike "Ultramegazord00" (I guess he was a Power Rangers fan). Learning how to put a hyperlink into the post helps with making it look nice and official as well. Really, everything you should have learned in your high school english class (remember the MLA format?) should apply to this kind of thing. I guess that the petition actually did accomplish something though. There's another petition saying "Please keep the colours, we like them just fine!" I sometimes hate the internet, y'know?
I really don't have an issue with the look of the gameplay trailer. Sure, it's unpolished, but that kind of thing gets fixed with time. Overall it looks like a great spiritual successor to the earlier games, and it improves on a lot of areas. I'm not thrilled with only having five classes, it seems like a step backwards from Throne of Baal. It is cool that they (finally) let you pick what sex you want your character to be. What will really sell this game for me is if they allow for user made dungeons.
I was going to post more about some of the idiocies of the internet (in particular one man who hoped that Diablo 3 would bankrupt those bastards at WoW), but I lost the will after I read the petition.
-Andy
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Pertaining To My Favorite Music
If you'll look to the right of this post, you'll see a link that leads to my complete profile. If you click that link you'll see that my favorite music is simply "Any but country or christian." I realize this sort of defeats the purpose of having a list of my favorite music, but honestly, the typical song ranges between a minute in a half to three minutes. And there are how many new songs released each year? A few thousand? A few tens of thousands? Really, it's too fluid of a category for me to tie myself down to a handful of songs that I probably won't like in three weeks.
I guess I could just put down the "Greatest Hits of Andy" or something over there, but really, aren't there enough songlists with the same classics of the 80s, 90s and now on the internet? Let's be realistic, people my age have a tendancy to like Smells Like Teen Spirit. We really shouldn't need to frame it on the internet so our "music buddies" can find us. I really need something more than having one or two songs in common to base a friendship (even a soulless internet one) off of.
Oh, and as for the lack of country and christian? This is solely because my freshman roommate listened to the both of them far far too much. There's a handful of songs in either genre that I not only tolerate, but actually enjoy. However, rules of thumb exist for a reason, so it stays.
-Andy
I guess I could just put down the "Greatest Hits of Andy" or something over there, but really, aren't there enough songlists with the same classics of the 80s, 90s and now on the internet? Let's be realistic, people my age have a tendancy to like Smells Like Teen Spirit. We really shouldn't need to frame it on the internet so our "music buddies" can find us. I really need something more than having one or two songs in common to base a friendship (even a soulless internet one) off of.
Oh, and as for the lack of country and christian? This is solely because my freshman roommate listened to the both of them far far too much. There's a handful of songs in either genre that I not only tolerate, but actually enjoy. However, rules of thumb exist for a reason, so it stays.
-Andy
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
....Americana
As promised, here is the second part to my last post. My biggest objection with d&d 4 is that it seems to be relying solely on combat. There aren't many social powers that I've found, and the only skills that deal with society are bluff, intimidate, and possibly religion or arcana. I imagine the intention is for the players to roleplay everything out, but I feel crippled with passive insight being the closest thing I have to detect lies.
Since I'm usually a GURPS player, the combat in D&D throws me off a little. I understand the minor/move/standard action system well enough, but it feels....off not having a defensive roll at all. I suppose this keeps the system simpler, but it makes it all too easy for a player to be quickly overwhelmed (last night I went from 12 hitpoints to -15 because the bugbear I was fighting managed to nail his Brute Strike on me...this would have killed me if our GM didn't hate having non-epic deaths for players).
I'm going to jump back to other people's complaints about it now. The game is heavily inspired by the MMORPG scene, in particular WoW. A lot of people really hate this, and insist that the game is being dumbed down for teenagers (which is a lovely bit of irony, considering how many hardcore players started when they were in high school). I disagree with this outlook. Streamlining is not the same as dumbing down, and removing the need to crossreference a half dozen books is a good thing. I'm not confident that WotC will refrain from over-publishing, but at the moment that's not an issue.
I'm not really sure how long I'm going to stick with it. It's fun, but it hasn't really grabbed me. Either way, I definitely recommend anyone new to rpgs to give it a shot. It's fairly easy to pick up and play, just buy the module they alongside the game. It comes with premade characters and a light version of the rules, so you can decide for yourself if you're into it.
-Andy
Since I'm usually a GURPS player, the combat in D&D throws me off a little. I understand the minor/move/standard action system well enough, but it feels....off not having a defensive roll at all. I suppose this keeps the system simpler, but it makes it all too easy for a player to be quickly overwhelmed (last night I went from 12 hitpoints to -15 because the bugbear I was fighting managed to nail his Brute Strike on me...this would have killed me if our GM didn't hate having non-epic deaths for players).
I'm going to jump back to other people's complaints about it now. The game is heavily inspired by the MMORPG scene, in particular WoW. A lot of people really hate this, and insist that the game is being dumbed down for teenagers (which is a lovely bit of irony, considering how many hardcore players started when they were in high school). I disagree with this outlook. Streamlining is not the same as dumbing down, and removing the need to crossreference a half dozen books is a good thing. I'm not confident that WotC will refrain from over-publishing, but at the moment that's not an issue.
I'm not really sure how long I'm going to stick with it. It's fun, but it hasn't really grabbed me. Either way, I definitely recommend anyone new to rpgs to give it a shot. It's fairly easy to pick up and play, just buy the module they alongside the game. It comes with premade characters and a light version of the rules, so you can decide for yourself if you're into it.
-Andy
Monday, June 23, 2008
Welcome to...
Right. So, in a fit of boredom I decided to start up a blog, and rather than try to dig up my old livejournal filled with old friends and memories, I thought I'd start fresh with this wonderfully free service. The title says it all, this blog will be filled with nothing special. I'm thinking of focusing this blog into talking about games, both of the tabletop and video variety, with occasional posts about movies, books, music, or other kinds of entertainment. Since I'm living the college student lifestyle, I lack the funds to regularly buy new games, go to the theater, etc. I'm not going to let that get in the way of posting though, so at least quite a few of my posts will be about older games. Not necessarily the classics (how many review of Final Fantasy VII do you really need anyway), but ones that I like (or hated so much I'll always remember them).
While I'm not locking myself into anything, I can imagine that I'll be posting around once a week. Upon occasion it'll happen more often than that, and really, when that's the case you should feel blessed.
This is my promise to the internet: I will avoid all forms of personal information, drama, and politics in my posts. Please note that this won't keep me from analysing whatever I'm playing (or viewing or whatnot) ad nauseum, just that my views won't taint this blog.
Ok then, should we get started? I thought that since I'll be gaming tonight, I'd talk about D&D fourth edition. (Warning, the website I just linked to plays irritating music). The game came out, what, two, three weeks ago? It seems that in a lot of gaming circles people are torn. One group feels that it is World of Warcraft played with dice, an insulting game that pigeonholes the players into defined rolls, then arbitrarily gives them powers whose entire existance promotes gamism (If you don't know what this means, count your lucky stars. In the world of pen and paper rpgs, there are some people who believe that games, and to a lesser extent players, fit into a model of either gamism, narrativism, or simulationism. This is called GNS theory, which isn't bad as a rule of thumb, but some people take it as a law of nature.) at its worst. The other group looks at it as an accessible game that will help get new players involved. I'm not going to say that the pro-fourth side isn't as fanatic, but I haven't ran into any that feel as extreme about it as the anti-fourth people.
As a disclaimer, I haven't played much D&D before. I've done some of the games (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, that kinda thing), and a few one shot 3.5 edition games, but I'm probably not qualified to make any definitive statements about the game one way or another (yeah, like that'll stop me). I will say this, it's very refreshing having a chance to pick up every book for a game system. It can be pretty daunting to go into a game shop and see shelf after shelf of D&d 3.5 books staring at you. I mean, where do you start? The player's handbook does give some suggestions about which role each class has in the party (the four roles being striker, controller, defender, and leader). I've seen some fights break out on gaming forums about how much of a pain in the ass having to fill all these roles are, and if your party doesn't have at least one of each you may as well just stop. Really this just seems like arguing for the sake of argument. The roles seem to be a way to let players know what each of the classes are good at. To be honest, my group didn't notice that part of the player's handbook until we'd already started. As it turns out we had three strikers and a defender. Whoops.
Anyway, I just got called by my GM to come over for gaming, so I'll have a second parter to this up by next week.
-Andy
While I'm not locking myself into anything, I can imagine that I'll be posting around once a week. Upon occasion it'll happen more often than that, and really, when that's the case you should feel blessed.
This is my promise to the internet: I will avoid all forms of personal information, drama, and politics in my posts. Please note that this won't keep me from analysing whatever I'm playing (or viewing or whatnot) ad nauseum, just that my views won't taint this blog.
Ok then, should we get started? I thought that since I'll be gaming tonight, I'd talk about D&D fourth edition. (Warning, the website I just linked to plays irritating music). The game came out, what, two, three weeks ago? It seems that in a lot of gaming circles people are torn. One group feels that it is World of Warcraft played with dice, an insulting game that pigeonholes the players into defined rolls, then arbitrarily gives them powers whose entire existance promotes gamism (If you don't know what this means, count your lucky stars. In the world of pen and paper rpgs, there are some people who believe that games, and to a lesser extent players, fit into a model of either gamism, narrativism, or simulationism. This is called GNS theory, which isn't bad as a rule of thumb, but some people take it as a law of nature.) at its worst. The other group looks at it as an accessible game that will help get new players involved. I'm not going to say that the pro-fourth side isn't as fanatic, but I haven't ran into any that feel as extreme about it as the anti-fourth people.
As a disclaimer, I haven't played much D&D before. I've done some of the games (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, that kinda thing), and a few one shot 3.5 edition games, but I'm probably not qualified to make any definitive statements about the game one way or another (yeah, like that'll stop me). I will say this, it's very refreshing having a chance to pick up every book for a game system. It can be pretty daunting to go into a game shop and see shelf after shelf of D&d 3.5 books staring at you. I mean, where do you start? The player's handbook does give some suggestions about which role each class has in the party (the four roles being striker, controller, defender, and leader). I've seen some fights break out on gaming forums about how much of a pain in the ass having to fill all these roles are, and if your party doesn't have at least one of each you may as well just stop. Really this just seems like arguing for the sake of argument. The roles seem to be a way to let players know what each of the classes are good at. To be honest, my group didn't notice that part of the player's handbook until we'd already started. As it turns out we had three strikers and a defender. Whoops.
Anyway, I just got called by my GM to come over for gaming, so I'll have a second parter to this up by next week.
-Andy
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