Glog: GTA4 and FF7: Crisis Core

I must admit that I’m very content with my current gaming options. I am a gadget and gaming whore, so bought a PSP for my birthday with my birthday money instead of using it for all the stuff I really needed. I mostly bought it for FF7: Crisis Core. I loved FF7 and heard good things about Crisis Core so decided, somehow, that this was worth a new system.

I was 100% correct in my purchase. Crisis Core is awesome. The gameplay takes some getting used to, and it sometimes bugs me a little that you don’t earn experience points to level up, but the well-crafted story (again, this is from the perspective of someone who loved FF7), beautiful graphics, and customizable character development (yay for materia!) make it a great game overall. I also really like the mission system that lets you play a short game if you don’t have much time and gives you an additional chance to get phat loot.

GTA4 was another birthday present. I toyed with GTA3 but never got that far into it; I played enough to be know the basics of the series. GTA4 plays a lot like the previous installments to me; I’m sure people better acquainted with the old can, and have (there are too many reviews to link and they’re almost all 10/10 anyway, so there isn’t much reason to read), give a better idea of the differences. Here’s what I like about the game:

1. Depth: There are a lot of missions, side missions, friends to make, and girlfriends to bang. You can play this game forever and uncover new angles to your character and to the world in whch he lives.
2. Rewards: For someone who likes being rewarded, GTA4 is great. The rewards range from small (some guy likes you more) to huge (an ass-ton of money or guns), but they are always there. Some people complain about the chore of making and keeping friends, but I find the little thumbs up worth the effort.
3. Quick play: If you don’t feel like playing for long or don’t have much time, you can turn on GTA4 and do any number of things for 10-15 minutes. You can do something to help your character like the aforementioned making and keeping of friendships, or you can grab a shotgun, shoot a cop, and run like hell. I haven’t used any cheat codes yet, but the use of these is bound to make the latter quick activity all the more fun.
4. Story: The story is more than a little played out (handsome immigrant, dark past), but it’s still compelling enough to make you want to figure out what is going to happen next to poor Niko Bellic. Sure, sometimes he does things that are a little weird or seem out of character and sometimes his motivation isn’t entirely clear. It’s no FF7, but it’s still pretty good.
5. Graphics: GTA4 looks really nice. I’m no graphics whore, but admit that graphics can add to a game in many ways. In GTA4, it makes the environment (so important to the style and play of the entire GTA series) seem big and real.

I’m only at the second safe house, so I have a long way to go in the story and the game. I’ll be playing for a long while yet, so I’ll keep everyone posted on what else I enjoy/hate about it.

The best part about these two games is play them at the same time. Crisis Core is for the Metro and late at night, while GTA4 is for other times.

Glog: Archery in Phantom Hourglass

After about 100 tries, I managed to beat the archery contest in Phantom Hourglass. It is a lot of fun but harder than I thought. Here’s how the game works: the targets appear and move on the top screen and you are on the bottom. You tap the lower screen to shoot your bow. The targets start out moving and then stopping, but later move constantly across the screen. You get more points for hitting targets in a row without missing. You have 70 seconds to beat the high score of 1700. The first couple of times I tried I scored around 500.

Later in the mini-game, the targets you’re supposed to hit (ghosts) are mixed with targets you’re not supposed to hit (girls). My favorite part of the game is when you shoot and miss 3 ghosts, thread the needle, and wail some girl. I also love it when the Metro train lurches causing you to shoot wildly and miss after scoring 1300 points.

I managed to beat the first high score, but there is a second high score of 2000 that my brother claims earns you another heart container. To get that high a score you basically can’t miss a target. I’d love another heart container, but I need a break.

Glog: Phantom Hourglass

After a long hiatus from The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (PH), I picked up the DS the other day to continue Link Jr.’s adventures. Of course I had no idea what to do next. I sailed around for a couple of hours, shot a frog with a cannon, killed some big monster (it was guarding an island; this should have tipped me off to the fact that this island was my destination), broke my fucking salvage arm twice, then finally looked up what I needed to do at Gamefaqs. I use Gamefaqs a lot, but generally try to avoid it until I’ve exhausted my own leads or if I’m pursuing something in the game that isn’t necessary but that I want to do because I’m a completionist (e.g., the last few bugs in Twilight Princess or an extra missile tank or two in any Metroid game or, best example, Chocobo breeding in FF7). I really don’t like to use it when I’m stuck on the plot in a game because the FAQs, while good, often give away plot pieces that I want to discover on my own. I asked my brother for help, but he’s a dickweed and didn’t call me back. I think he’s still mad at me for even playing PH without beating Windwaker first. In the end, I found my way to the Temple of Courage.

It takes a lot of time just to get to the Temple of Courage (especially if you take a month or two off from the game), so I’m glad that the dungeon itself was pretty short. I died a couple of times towards the end because I was exhausted, but generally proceeded smoothly through the Temple.

There is one enemy in the ToC, however, that exemplifies a trend in DS games that I don’t like. There’s a big-eared rabbit thing that requires you to make a noise in the DS microphone to stun so that you can kill it. There are other examples from PH where you have to use the microphone to get an item or kill a monster. I don’t like to use the microphone because of the two places I most often play my DS: on the Metro or in bed at night. When I’m on the Metro with crowds of other people, it’s more than a little embarrassing to be blowing on or clapping at a tiny machine. In bed at night next to my wife, I feel bad waking her up because my video game requires shouting. Now that I think about it, it would probably disturb my dog, too. Let’s just say that yelling at a DS is disturbing all around. But last night I had to kill a couple of these rabbit-eared monsters, so I quietly turned over and blew as softly into my DS as possible. Boy, that is disturbing.

I’m probably headed back to the main temple (the one that kills you just by walking through it) next, which is sure to piss me off. I hate that place, even with more time in my hourglass. It gives me an excuse to go back to the main town and customize my ship, though, which is always fun. I picked up a few new pieces while trying to figure out what to do next, so I’m going to mod that baby up.

Strikers Charged is fun

My predictions about Super Mario Strikers: Charged (SMS:C) were spot on. I had a friend come over this past Saturday and we played for about 5 hours straight, to his great frustration as he only won a single game. Yesterday I played online against my brother and his friend for a couple of hours. Playing competitively on the ladder would take a lot of time (the leader as of yesterday had 100 wins; I have yet to play 20 ladder games in total) and would require dealing with stupid, cheaty moves. I had some great series against my brother. In fact, the last series we had going was quite the nailbiter. I won the first game 7-6 amidst a frenzy of megastrikes by both sides, then my brother came back to win the second game 1-0, with the game’s only goal being scored in the last 15 seconds. Then we got disconnected before we could play the deciding game. It was quite sad, but I wasn’t all that torn up about it (I probably would have lost). The stability of the Nintendo Wi-fi connection has not been that great during these first few weeks of SMS:C, but once Nintendo gets a few more weeks’ experience under their belt and the server load drops in September when school starts stability will probably be less of an issue.

HOLY CRAP!

In what will be hailed as a miracle throughout the khreniverse, I fucking beat Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor for the first time last night. After so many failed attempts, it is an enormous relief to have this win. There are many games out there that I have never beat, though I cannot think of any single one that has haunted me as much as Spellcraft. It could be that the game itself, from a gameplay perspective, is not that challenging, or it could be that I really like this game. Most games I don’t beat because I go through my own personal cycle with them: I get bored and leave the game for enough time to forget my progress. I then come back to the game and decide to start over instead of trying to figure out what to do next to continue my previous attempt. I’ve done this many times with many games. There are very few games that I have stopped playing right at the end simply because I cannot win. Spellcraft was one such game, and now I can scratch it off this black list. I’m so happy.

I have a good feeling about it this time

I am getting close to the end of Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor, something that I have done many times before in my life. What I have not done, however, is beat the game. This is because there always comes a point in the game (it has been at different points for each attempt I have made at the game) where I cannot defeat the enemy wizard. In Spellcraft, you must defeat enemy wizards by attacking them with spells to bring their health down and then hitting them with your sword to finish them off. I can do the weakening easily enough, but I often get to a point where the blasted fiend won’t actually die because my sword won’t hit him. I figured that this was because I didn’t have a good enough sword (you get better weapons and items as you progress through the game that give you higher attack skills), but I also could not find another sword that was any better. This time around, I have discovered the spell Energize. I never used this spell before because I didn’t understand it (in truth, I didn’t really read the description). What it does is increase your attack skills for a short time. So now, when I get to the sword battle with the opposing wizard, I cast Energize first. This trick seems to work and may be the key to getting to the end of this game. I’ve been playing rabidly the last few days because I really think that I can beat it this time. I’m going to play more tonight and I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

Temptation abounds

My birthday has come and gone, and I scored pretty well. I somehow got both Pokemon: Diamond and Pokemon: Pearl, as well as Puzzle Quest for the DS. I am incredibly pumped for all of these games. I haven’t had a good dose of Pokemon in a long while, and the reviews of the new games have been quite positive. Puzzle Quest is also very exciting. I’m not hugely into puzzle games, but that is only for lack of exposure. A game like this, which combines a compelling story, RPG elements, and puzzle gameplay is sure to suck me into the genre. I’m a big fan of Meteos already, which only has addictive gameplay. The addition of a story bodes ill for my time. But it’s Pokemon that’s really getting me pumped. I hate writing this paper, but with this kind of excitement waiting for me I’m able to push through.

I just saw a preview for the sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance over at Gamespot. Now I can’t stop drooling.

My brother sucks

My brother is an incredible jerk. In his spare time, he has developed a new take on Super Mario Strikers. He crafted season-like system, where each team has to qualify for the four cups the game provides in order to play in the cup. In addition, placing high in each cup earns a team points, which are tabulated at the end of the Bowser Cup to see who wins the season (the team with the most points). The idea is simple yet intoxicating. Hearing him talk about his struggles and triumphs within this system has drawn me back to perhaps the most frustrating game ever created. The AI in this game is simply ridiculous. At the penultimate level of difficulty, it takes a master at the game to regularly win. Even if you are so skilled, however, there often occur games that are simply unwinnable. You can outshoot your competition 20-5, and lose by multiple goals. The entire thing frustrates me to no end, yet I cannot stop playing. If I’m not updating this site regularly, it’s because of this insanity. For reference, I have yet to win any cup in 5 iterations of my brother’s seasons. In fact, the best I have done is 4 points (you get points for placing in any cup). It makes me hate myself, yet I can’t stop playing.

Children of Mana

I made my wife buy me a new video game on Sunday (I threw a fit in the store), and decided on Children of Mana. I had read mixed reviews of the game, but the general gameplay intrigued me. It’s created by Square Enix, too, which gives it some cred in my book. I’ve played it for a couple of hours, and I like it so far. It’s an interesting mix of The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy. You hit buttons to swing various weapons you can acquire (a sword, of course, or a flail or a bow) or use magic to kill the many monsters on the screen. Your character also goes up levels, being able to equip better items and doing more damage while taking less. You can also acquire gems that boost various stats; you can only equip so many, so you have to mix and match depending on what you want boosted more. The few dungeons I’ve been in are a bit repetitive in level structuring, and it looks like each dungeon can/must be done a couple of times to get the best stuff, which of course I want. Still, it’s an enjoyable game that does a good job of combining hack-and-slash with legitimately customizable RPG elements.

Done, in all possible meaning of the word, with New SMB

I now have 3 stars next to my game in New Super Mario Bros. I found all the secret level exits and warp cannons and I collected all the big coins from all the boards. I had some help from Gamefaqs, but most of the discovery was my own. I’m awesome.

I’ve got to decide what game to play next. I’m thinking of finishing up Advance Wars: Dual Strike or Wiiing (look at all those ‘i’s!) it up with Red Steel or perhaps some football or golf.