Gaming Addict

First off I guess a quick mention that my Wii is now back with its rightful owner and my Wavebird has come in from eBay so now I can really get down to playing some Brawl. More impressions on my time with the 360 in another post which I get the feeling will come right after this one.

So the Wii is back, but I haven’t gone right to playing anything on it really. I may have played 30 minutes of Brawl in the last week simply because something else has been holding my attention. It’s a gaming gem from Square and Jupiter entitled The World Ends With You. It is by far the greatest and deepest action RPG I’ve ever played and it has an engaging story to boot. Since I don’t want this post to drag on and on because it would literally take me at least 10,000 words to fully describe WEWY considering all the different mechanics and battle styles within the game and I’d be here writing until tomorrow afternoon.

Fortunately for you there’s an easy way for you to absorb the game’s combat system at the official website by just clicking on “Gameplay”. That’s about as much time as I want to spend trying to explain the game and simply want to say that it’s a must have for any DS owner and it would be incredible if The World Ends With You were to become the next big franchise from Square Enix.

I had originally planned to go with a WEWY banner and color scheme but due to my lack of knowledge of using Gimp among other things such as editing themes in WordPress I decided to go with a built in theme that I found. I would’ve really preferred to have done my own things but this will do for now.

And just one last thing; Okami or Mario Kart? I’m only going to get one for the time being with the other coming later but I’m having a hard time choosing which one I should get. Help me out a little.

…and I could see myself buying an Xbox 360 Arcade pack. Up until now I’ve been holding out for the Premium. … And now that I’ve given it some more thought, I’m jumping back onto the Premium bandwagon. Having a hard drive, headset, and better games bundled inside I think are worth the extra cash and I see the hard drive and headset as almost necessary.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I really don’t know what to write about. I’m really just doing this for the sake of posting something before I forget that this place even exists. So I guess I’ll do the usual and mention what I’ve been up to and then rant and rave in an angry rage about something I don’t particularly like. On that note, let’s get rolling.

Let’s see… what was big? Galaxy? Yeah, I’d say Super Mario Galaxy was a big purchase. I was early for work one day and decided to kill time at the Future Shop that wasn’t even a minute away. After playing the Guitar Hero II (you read that right. Guitar Hero II. I guess they’re aware that a new Guitar Hero is out but just don’t want to put it on the demo consoles?) for a good 20 minutes, I grabbed the game on my way out and that was all there was to it. No standing there thinking “Should I, or shouldn’t I?”. Just grab, pay, leave. In what little time I’ve had to play it in the past week I’ve had lots of fun and hit 75 stars. I’m thinking that I’ll probably make it to 90 stars before it starts getting really challenging to find all the hidden and special ones.

I also got quite a bit of time with Call of Duty 4 and the game didn’t make me feel any better for not owning a 360. But as much as I really want one of those now I know it isn’t going to happen. For money, and personal reasons. My grade 12 year is moving faster than I’d like and university is just around the corner, and my parents paid for my Wii so asking for the 360 as a Christmas present is out of the question since they’ll just laugh at me. Of course, you could always give me a hand. And just so that we’re clear, I’m not expecting anything out of that and I just made that when I was really bored one day. But enough 360 talk. I want to get my mind off of that.

So then, PS3? What’s there to say? Assassin’s Creed? Not as great as I thought and on 360 either way. Army of Two? Multiplatform as well. Devil May Cry 4? 360. F.E.A.R.? On the Xbox too. Final Fantasy? I could care less. God of War III? Semi-interested. Grand Theft Auto? Don’t care at all, but it’s still a little more than for Final Fantasy. Haze? The one and only PS3 exclusive I’m really looking forward to. Let’s just hope the game doesn’t pull a Lair and flop because I really hopeful for Lair (but I was also hopeful for Red Steel [see last post]). So before this becomes yet another long winded list like my last post I’m going to stop right there and say, there are nearly no PS3 exclusives that appeal to me in the least. Come on Sony, get a few more exclusives in there so that I start to at least second guess my 360 purchase. “But what about Ratchet and Clank and Resistance?” you say? I’ve never been a fan of Ratchet and Clank, while Resistance was nothing more than a great launch title but average shooter. There are far better games out there.

I don’t want to talk 360, nothing to say about the PS3, and I’m always blabbing about Wii too much. DS then? I got my DS repaired (or rather, Nintendo just sent me a new one) and my touchscreen is no longer bulgy and there’s no dead pixel. Hooray! So maybe now I’ll finish Dementium and Call of Duty 4 at some point on it. That would be easy to do if I wasn’t distracted by Puzzle Quest and Super Mario Galaxy. Damn, I’m talking Wii again. I guess it was inevitable. It’s the only console I own and there isn’t much to talk about in the DS vein.

Funny thing happened to me as I went downstairs to get in some Galaxy time today. I didn’t play it (right away). Instead I put in Wii Sports to get used to boxing again for the Wii Sports tournament I entered in at my school which is tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes. And the strangest part of it all was that in my one match of boxing and tennis I was having fun. A game that had bored me so easily after reaching Pro in every sport was actually entertaining me once again. And I made the smart decision to quit while I was ahead and move onto Galaxy before I got bored again.

After Galaxy I really felt like getting some Metroid in and thought I’d start my Hypermode file since I just got the game back from a friend. The problem? I never saved after I’d beaten Dark Samus last time so I had to go through it all again. By the time I was done it was getting kind of late and I didn’t want to start a new game and now find myself in bed writing this just so I have something to do.

Speaking of bed, I’m getting kind of tired. So I guess that means no angry rant this time. I owe you one angry rant. Feel free to quote me on that.

It’s not like I can get to sleep anyway so I might as well write a blog post. So let’s see. What’s happened between now and a month ago…? The only new game to speak of is Dementium: The Ward on DS. It accomplishes something no developer could beforehand on the handheld and that’s atmosphere. You actually feel creeped out by a few things and on a couple occasions I actually got scared. Believe it. It’s a FPS survival horror that has great graphics, controls (think Metroid Prime Hunters), and story to boot. Unfortunately I was only a few chapters in when I sent my DS to Nintendo for repairs. It could’ve waited but the messed up touch screen was really starting to piss me off. So no DS for a couple weeks.

Probably a good thing since Super Mario Galaxy is coming out tomorow today but I doubt I’ll have it until the weekend. I also want Guitar Hero III. Badly. I’ve been getting my rhythm fix from Elite Beat Agents and Band Bros. recently but with the DS gone that doesn’t leave me many options and I don’t feel like playing Frets on Fire. I honestly wasn’t too hype up about SMG until the middle of last week. Nothing like I was for Metroid. Speaking of hype, Nintendo release it’s TV ads for SMG. Another one of those casual aimed commercials. And while I’m understanding that Nintendo wants to show the game off to the casual crowd, and that the hardcore audience already knows about the game and could care less about the commercials, doesn’t mean that I still can’t dislike them. Who the hell would willingly play a video game with their mother?! With a smile on their face no less.

Passed that I see Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl at some point in the future. Both because I desperately need some kind of online game on my Wii, and Heroes because I need a good shooter. Especially if its controls are said to surpass those of Corruption. So that would all set me back… a hell of a lot of money. More than my parents would want me spending on games. Add that to the fact that I still want a 360 and that Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 just came out and you’ve got a lot of money that wants to leave my bank account. As awesome as these passed couple month have been from a gaming standpoint they’re going to put a big hurt on people’s wallets. These publishers need to learn to spread their games out more because aside from a couple gems the summer was pretty much begging for a great game to be released.

Now, I wouldn’t have mentioned Call of Duty 4 back there if I hadn’t played it since the previous CoD failed to really impress me. But CoD 4 is a great game which is leaps and bounds above its predecessors. And it seems that they’ve finally accepted that WWII actually ended at some point. The modernized effect feels like a cross between the CoD WWII formula and Rainbow Six. A great mix. This game is dying for some great Wii IR controls however.The only thing that could have made it any better than it already is.

And the fact that there isn’t a Wii version of CoD 4 troubles me. It seems that developers just aren’t willing to put out a Wii port of a game if there isn’t a PS2 or PSP game for them to port from. Don’t get me wrong, Heroes 2 looks great and I’m going to love Okami, but couldn’t you have just made a slightly uglier looking Wii version? I would’ve bought it right away. So what does this mean for Wii? Is it doomed to ride the PS2’s waves forever only receiving unorthodox exclusives from third parties like Zack & Wiki (another great game) and never getting the big name games like CoD, Splinter Cell, and a real Resident Evil? Probably the only reason why I’m not looking forward to Umbrella Chronicles may be simply because it won’t be the traditional RE sequel that RE5 will be. A shame considering RE4 sold quite well on Wii. I guess us Wii owners just need to keep hoping that the PS2 is able to stick around as long as possible so that we can at least get something that’s on other platforms every once in a while. So support Wii third party titles by getting a PS2! Wait, that can’t be right…

In this passed month I’ve also stumbled upon a hilarious series of video gaming reviews by one Ben “Yahtzee” Crowshaw. Once you get used to his incredibly speedy speaking habits you’ll find these videos just as funny as I do. New videos go up Wednesdays so you can expect to hear me talking about him again in the future. At the end of the post I’ve put the first review he did for The Escapist and it was for the Heavenly Sword demo and a little RE5 thrown in for good measure.

And finally, some Zelda talk. morph ball from over at WiiLoaded posted his concept for the next Zelda game and gave it a kick ass title, being The Legend of Zelda: Serenity’s Edge. Some of his ideas are really solid and he’s looking for help so check the links section on the right (or wherever it may be since it could get moved in the future) and head over to his blog to try and help out if you want. That seemed to also put me in the mood for Zelda. I went back and started a new game in Twilight Princess and it almost feels like I’m playing again for the first time, which is a good thing. I forgot how fun it was playing that game even with the retartedly easy bosses. The next true Zelda game can’t come soon enough. See you in hell Link’s Crossbow Training.

Well I couldn’t embed so here’s a link to the videos. And now Im out of here before my laptop’s battery craps out on me.

It’ll come some time this week. Once I get passed my big chem test. A few things I feel like writing about. Probably the fact that I played Dementium and loved it until I sent my DS to Nintendo for repairs. The Zero Punctuation reviews I discovered on the net which are always a riot. And the project morph ball from WiiLoadd is trying to start. It’s LoZ: SE and it’s in the links section over to your right. Those and other things, one of these days. I can’t let LMX’s blog get the better of me.

I finished Hotel Dusk: Room 215 this weekend and really enjoyed it. It’s such a deep and enjoyable game and it’s so well written that you’re pulled right into the story. You feel like you actually become the protagonist, Kyle Hyde, and will actually come to love and hate many of the characters on a personal level. The game is very wordy which means that the dialog will make or break it. The conversations between characters feel so natural that you’d swear they were really happening. Each character has so many different layers to them that it’s interesting to uncover what each person has to hide. I also love the art style in the game. The characters are presented entirely as pencil drawn black and white animations.

The best way I can describe Hotel Dusk would be that it is the mystery video game equivalent to the movie Crash. Every character in the hotel is in some way connected to the main storyline that is hidden within the hotel’s walls. The game encourages you to explore every nook and cranny so don’t overlook that trash can in the corner, or that file cabinet because there could be big clue hidden within, on top of, or under anything.

If you enjoyed Phoenix Wright then there’s no doubt you’ll love this game as well. The story was so great that I had a hard time putting it down at times and was just sucked into it. The best example to show this? At the end of the game as I was saying my goodbyes and checking out of the hotel I was having a hard time doing it because I didn’t want to believe it was really over. There are multiple endings in the game depending on the choices you make. I won’t give anything away but there are still a few questions left unanswered at the end which leaves hope for a sequel. So get out there and pick up.

note: Things are kinda screwy again and lines might not make sense at times because they’re actually continuing on to the right, past the margins. I think I’ve found a way to fix it for future posts. Bare with me for this one.

I guess I’ve slowly been neglecting this place. I’ll try to keep updating as often as I can to not watch it slowly die on me. It seems like I only get around to posting whenever I’m between games. So yes, that means I finished Corruption. Glorious day!

I did come away from it feeling kind of empty inside however. I think it was how retartedly easy the game felt. The only times I can remember dieing have either been at the first boss (Rhundas) and out of my own stupidity (forgetting to look at my health while burning in the fuel gel or acid rain, or corrupting myself in hyper mode). Missile and health expansions are placed right in front of your face. To not see (and in some cases collect) them is literally impossible. Not to mention that what you miss get’s shown to you later on in the game on your map as a satellite reveals all the pickups you’ve missed.

So eventhough I’m sitting at 99% (one energy tank is in an area where I can’t download item data) it feels a bit hollow. It’s not I actually spent a lot of hard work in trying to collect them all. I just sort of progresed through the game, found out where the rest where, and got them easily. In some cases asking myself, “How the hell didn’t I see that before?”

I let my friend borrow the game now so once I get it back I’ll try looking for that last energy tank which isn’t on my map. For weekend I guess it’ll be Resident Evil 4, wherever I can squeeze it in. But I’m really in no hurry to finish that game for a forth time. The first three coming on GameCube.

My DS could also use some love. After the month long honeymoon shortly after getting it, I’ve more or less ignored it recently. Phantom Hourglass can’t come soon enough. I’ve heard that the game is very easy though which makes me shudder. Something that could all but ruin the first true Zelda game for DS. Worst yet is that there apparantly NO MORE PIECES OF HEART! Yes, you read that right. They’re gone entirely. Not in the game at all (heard this in a 1UP podcast I think). Now you just collect entire heart containers.

That news would’ve really spoiled the game for me if I wasn’t so damn excited for it and there was something else for me to play on my DS. This combined with the disapointing difficulty of Corruption and even Twilight Princess has me worried that Nintendo’s dumbing down it’s huge hard core franchises to suit the needs of the casual gamer.

If they take the same path with Super Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. Brawl, God help me, I will go ape shit on their collective asses and smack some damn sense into them. They’re ruining what would have other wise been kick ass games. I’m sure on Hyper Mode Corruption is a lot harder and has a more hardcore feel to it, but I don’t want to have to be forced to beat the game once over just to get it when it should’ve been the standard. How I see it, “Normal” should’ve been called “Beginner”, with “Veteran” becoming “Normal”, the current “Hyper Mode” taking the place of Veteran, and an unlockable, even harder, Hyper Mode.

I also remember an interview with one of the people working on Twilight Princess (back when it was still a GameCube exclusive) mentioning that it would be the best Zelda in the series with the hardest and most epic boss fights we’d ever seen (somewhere on IGN). What happened to this great version?! The bosses in Twilight Princess were pitifully easy to beat, and it was the same case in Corruption.

Please Nintendo, if you plan on branching out to the casual market, don’t punish your hardcore fans in the process! Remember us? The people who bought your purple lunchbox and the ones who actually follow the gaming industry?

I could go on, but I’m pretty tired. I guess I’ll leave on that editorial Matt Cassamassina wrote at IGN. Give us some voice chat Nintendo! And some freedom with it as well. Let us talk to whom ever we please. Little Jimmy isn’t going to be molested or abducted by someone who only knows him by voice. Not to mention that you can’t protect them everywhere. They probably have a 360 with XBL, or heaven forbid, a PC with internet access. You aren’t their parents! They should be the ones monitoring what their children do when playing online, or just plain what they’re doing on the internet. The friend code and lack of voice communication feels like a really short leash around my neck and it’s starting to piss me off.

Guess I kept going on a bit more than I planned. So long story short: Nintendo and it’s casual and over protecting ways are really starting to get to me. I can’t take much more of this. I’m making myself too angry.

I’m gonna let you know right away, blogger is bugging out on me so some stuff is gonna look weird. Like lines going too long, or cutting off too soon.

This whole thing I’ve got going with completing Metroid Prime got me thinking about other games I’ve started and just never finished. I’m the kind of guy who can really enjoy a game and
then part way though it, get sidetracked by something else and completely forget about it. So here and now, I’m going to challenge myself to at one point complete all these games.

Metroid Prime: I had the whole detailed story about it in the other post. In case you’re wondering, I just beat Ridley but got my ass handed to me by Metroid Prime. So I’m almost there.

Will I finish it? I’m already 99% there

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes: I remember less of where I was in this game compared to the original. Long story short, I never finished and barely scratched the surface.

Will I finish it? Of course. After beating the original, and before even touching the sequel.

Final Fantasy VII: Going back to my days of when I used to own a PlayStation. I was really into these types of games back then and was enjoying FFVII. The problem was that somewhere around half way though the game, it kept freezing. And I never was able to get passed that point. It sucked to say the least. Since then I returned the game to my friend and sold my PlayStation a few years back. So I don’t know if I’ll be finishing this one any time soon. Especially since I no longer like the turn based RPG crap.

Will I finish it? I stopped likeing turn based RPG, so no.

Paper Mario: A rented game which was played on a borrowed console. I don’t remember exactly how far I got but
I think it was around that Shy Guy Toy Box. Which, after taking a quick look at a walkthrough wasn’t far from the boss fight. Now that it’s on the Wii Virtual Console there’s always the chance I could finish it.

Will I finish it? Perhaps. One of these days I can see myself downloading it.

Viewtiful Joe: A fairly decent game and I had fun playing it. That is, until I came to the final boss. I must’ve tried dozens of times but I just couldn’t beat it/them. You were just made to fight all the old bosses over again one after the other. So eventually I got tired of it. I tried picking up again later on but it was hopeless. It’s still sitting with the rest of my collection so one of these days I could finish it…

Will I finish it? I’d like to. I think I’ll give the boss another shot after Prime.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages: I remember renting this a LONG time ago. If I’d really wanted to, I bet I could’ve beat it back then, or more recently. But the thing is, I just wasn’t drawn into this game and wasn’t compelled to finish it.

Will I finish it? No

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Yes, you heard right. But I guess I should also but a * next to it. Me and a friend played through an account together when it first came out and I have beaten Ganon/Ganondorf. But now I’m going through it on my own on my Wii. It’s taken a back seat to Metroid recently, but I’ll finish it one of these days.

Will I finish it? Probably once Metroid is out of my system.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask: I barely scratched the surface with this one. I only got limited time with the Zelda Collector’s Edition for GameCube and didn’t really get a chance to play much. At the same time, I just couldn’t get into it like I did with OoT. When it comes to the VC I suppose I’ll finish it, but I won’t be in any hurry to spend my Wii points.

Will I finish it? Signs point to, yes.

Super Mario World: I’ve played this game so many times, yet never finished it entirely. I’ve borrowed it from or played it at a friend’s house. And I even had it emulated on my PC once. It is on the Virtual Console, but I feel like I’m being ripped off, essentially paying $8 for it. I might just borrow my friend’s SNES or emulate it again if I really feel like it.

Will I finish it? Not likely, but there’s the slim chance I could.

Chrono Trigger: 5. The number of times I’ve tried playing this game. Each time I’ve never gotten much farther from going into the time machine thing. Like I said with FFVII, RPGs just don’t appeal to me anymore.

Will I finish it? I’m leaning towards no.

FIFA Street 2: This game was fun for a bit but it got boring before I was able to finish it. It actually seems like it’s a fairly long game but the lack of depth is it’s downfall. NFL Street was smart in that it didn’t
overstay it’s welcome and was finished just before I lost interest.

Will I finish it? If I’m really bored, I might play a couple matches. At that rate, I’d never finish however.

Splinter Cell: Yes, the original. I actually enjoy Splinter Cell games, and finished Double Agent. But I bought the original a year ago and just couldn’t beat the last level. It was insanely difficult IMO. After trying for an entire weekend, I gave up and havn’t touched it since.

Will I finish it? I’m just gonna come out and say no. I just don’t feel compelled to.

Super Mario 64: I don’t remember exactly where I am, but eventually I got tired of the game and moved onto something else. I really want to finish this one but then I downloaded Zelda. And then came Metroid…

Will I finish it? Eventually.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: A great game. I liked it alot. But after progressing a lot, forgetting to save, and then dieing, I got a bad taste in my mouth and didn’t want to go and redo everything over again. So many levels lost… I guess I’ll go back eventually. It was a good enough game.

Will I finish it? Probably once I’m done with everything else.

Starfox Command: I havn’t really let this one sit for too long, but it’s getting up there. The single player started to bore me eventually, but I still play the odd Wifi match here and there.

Will I finish it? I think I will, one of these days.

New Super Mario Bros.: Another great game that just got pushed out of the spotlight by something else. I think it was once I got Ouendan. Either way I’m hoping to finish this some time soon.

Will I finish it? I think I already answered that.

Mega Man ZX: Like Star Fox, this one hasn’t been sitting for long, but it’s been a while since I’ve touched it. The new suits and abilites that you can get add to the depth and it isn’t a bad game. But I guess I just overplayed it at first and then couldn’t really take much more of it.

Will I finish it? I think so. Just not any time soon.

Hotel Dusk: I don’t know what it is that I like about this game, but it doesn’t matter. It was pretty good. But I eventually moved onto another mainly text based game in Phoenix Wright which pushed this away. And until recently, I would’ve put Phoenix Wright on this list. I started with the sequel but am finding it very hard in the early stages. Perhaps this could signal a comeback for Hotel Dusk?

Will I finish it? I honestly don’t know right now. Your guess is as good as mine.

Honorable mentions: These games are either getting close to that point of being forgotten or I started and just decided not to played them again. I havn’t touched the Phoenix Wright sequel in a while as it’s getting lost to Metroid. I borrowed Fire Emblem for GameCube from a friend. If you want to know why I didn’t finish it, see my reasoning for FFVII and Chrono Trigger. Mario Kart DS doesn’t entirely belong here. I still play for the Wifi but find the single player against the computer to be very boring.

I’m sure I’m forgetting a few, but this is as well as my memory is going to work right now. I’m going to try to finish as many of these as I can, and will keep the rest you posted. And I’d like to know if there are more people out there like me. Anyone else have a mountain of unfinished games?