Like a flower growing from dirt

Despite my apathy towards Halo something good did spring from it. That something was...

Red vs Blue. Check it out on youtube, or stop being a mooch and buy it.

Kung Fu Panda's Spiritual Ancestor

It's true, Kung Fu Panda decended from...

Well, maybe not. Maybe not directly. But for some reason I get the same feel from them. I mean they both have animals that perform feats of martial arts, and... They both have a Oriental theme to them. Well that's close enough for me, and it should be close enough for you. At any rate I liked the movie, and I liked the game.

My Popluar Video Game Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking." Or in other words games that everyone else seems to love but I don't. It's not that they are bad games even, it's just that I don't see what all the hype is about.

Case in point:

Halo.

Halo is a decent first person shooter. Average. Nothing spectacular about it. If you want to play a good FPS, play BioShock. That game has all the graphical glam of Halo but also has a great story to boot. Maybe someone can explain it to me but I just don't understand what the big deal about Halo is? (This goes for Halo 2 and 3 as well.)

One Stupidest Moments from MGS2

When the "La Li Lu Le Lo" are first mentioned. I was half expecting Maria von Trap to pop out of a corner and continue singing "Ti, a drink with jam and bread." Like rats fleeing a ship this was but one of many signs that MGS2 was heading towards disaster.

(This image brought to you by a google image search.)

Hidden Gems: Demon Stone

This is a game that you might have missed. It has a lot of things going for it, as well as few drawbacks. But all in all it was a game that I really enjoyed and made a lasting impression on me. I will be the first to admit that I am a sucker for a good story. I am willing to forgive a lot of technical issues provided the story is good. Demon Stone illustrates this better than any game I can think of. The failings it has are not crippling but they are noticeable, but a moving plot and compelling characters are enough for me to overlook it's flaws.

The main strength this game has is it's story. It focuses on three unlikely hero's, all of them have a past that haunts them and makes them outcasts. This isolation pits them together in a battle to protect people who once shunned them. The bond of friendship the three develop is touching, and together they resolve to fight a evil that they themselves unwittingly unleashed upon their world.

(From left to right: Illius the sorcerer, Zhai a half-drow half-wood-elf assassin, and Rannek a human warrior.)

The game's story was written by R. A. Salvatore, (author of the books featuring Drizzt Do' Urden), whether you like his writing or not he is none the less an experienced storyteller and it shows in this game. Many video games I've played give little thought to story and what is produced is something like a pale shadow of various movies the creators have watched. It also features voice acting by Patrick Stewart, who does a good job as usual.

The game allows you to play as all three of the characters. But as you progress you really only need to play as two. Rannek the warrior for the standard combat situations and alternating him with Zhai for stealth attacks. Zhai has the ability to go invisible when she's in the shadows. This allows her to sneak up on enemies and then pounce on them to deliver a lethal one strike blow. This technique is great, as long as there are shadows. Sometimes there's not which is when you return to Rannek to do the fighting. Illius is somewhat sadly under used. Aside from the introduction combat scenario in the first level and a level later on where you'll need his unlimited ranged magic attacks, you'll never need him again in the game. Normally this would create a character that people would dislike as a useless tag along. But the story cut scenes give him, and all the charters something to do. Illius adds depth to the adventure despite not being much help in combat. Or at least I didn't play as him. You have the option to switch characters on the fly. This is a nice touch and the computer takes over whomever you haven't selected.

So, whats wrong with it? Well the most annoying thing for me was the lack of impact sensation. When ever I swung my weapon at a monster it was like the hit didn't even register. The creature I was fighting didn't reel from the blow, there was no sound effect, nothing. It was like slicing through thin air. This can be very frustrating. To illustrate further, in God of War Kratos will attack his enemies and when he strikes them the act like they've been hit. Their motion is disrupted, their attacks can even be interrupted. God of War is a good example of how this should work. In Demon Stone I had to guess as to whether my hits where landing and doing damage.

Then there are a few other minor points. The casting of Michael Clarke Duncan as Ygorl is off. His voice just doesn't seem to fit right. The same thing happened when he was cast as Atlas in God of War II. Visually Michael Clarke Duncan is a huge presence and he is very intimidating. Vocally not so much. There isn't anything inherent in his voice that makes you think "big scary tough guy." It seems like in both these games the powers that be were counting on your awareness of who Michael Clarke Duncan is to translate into the character. But that just isn't the case. (Although the delivery of his first line "Give me that sword!" sent goose bumps down my spine. After that though his voice just doesnt have the same effect.)

And finally my last complaint is that the game is relatively short. It's not to short, and saying that I am wanting more is perhaps more of a complement than a complaint. But I would have appreciated a bit longer of a game, or a sequel. But Demon Stone is worth a look, provided you like hack and slash beat 'em ups. I personally give it a very strong Seven out of Ten. For all gamers who like a good story well Demon Stone is right up there with the best of them.

Games that I thought were going to be better than they were

The Bouncer.

I remember getting all goose pimply about this game. It was one of the first that was going to be on the PS2. And it was made by Squaresoft. A company which at that time in my life I would have sworn to you that everyone that worked there also walked on water. (I am fortunately no no longer that naive.) But at that time I was of the opinion that Squaresoft could do no wrong. Plus the graphics looked more amazing than anything I had ever seen. And so help me I am a bit of a sucker for cool looking costumes no mater how unrealistic they may be. Not many real bouncers would wear a dog collar with a huge chain and cross on it. It'd be to easy for someone they were supposed to "bounce" to grab hold of it in a scuffle and choke them, or literally lead them around by the neck.

I look back at it now and think it more than just a little bit silly. Of course hind sight is twenty twenty. But I played the game and... well it was a mediocre beat 'em up game at best. Now this is just my opinion. As with all these games I'm going to mention in this post. Just because I was disappointed by them doesn't mean that you can't like them. Every one is different, with different tastes. I won't begrudge you yours if you don't begrudge me mine. Next up.

Metal Gear Solid 2.

This game was a landmark event for me. With it came the great split between myself and eastern culture. Up until this point I had regarded the ability of Japanese story tellers, through the medium of video games, to be superior to anything that the west had to offer. This game put an end to that. Now I don't know what exactly happened. For example I loved, and still do love Final Fantasy VII. The same goes for Metal Gear Solid. But something happened, either with me or with the Japanese culture, and the schism occurred.

Why didn't I like this game. Partly because MSG was such a great game and this sequel comes off as such a pale, poor, pathetic imitation of it's predecessors greatness. One point of contention is the supplantation the wonderful character Solid Snake, by a inferior whiner named Raiden. As I understand it Raiden did quite well in Japan, but not so much in the U.S. I think this is where the cultures begins to clash. Effeminate men seem to be very cool in Japan, where as in American we prefer tough guys as our hero's. I won't speak negatively of the preferences of others but when you market a game it's wise to consider your audience. This character switch (and it's Snake on the cover for crying out loud, and he's hardly in the game) was very unsettling. Every five minutes of game play I kept wondering when Raiden was going to disappear so that I could go back to playing as Snake.

But I think the major issue here was that the first game crafted a great story. The sequel was all puff. It was trying to imitate what it did in the first game. I used to ask how had Hideo Kojima messed up MSG2, but as more and more Metal Gear games came out I came to realize that Metal Gear Solid was the fluke. Kojima had some how managed to make one really good game, maybe it was luck or something, but I have been nothing but disappointed with the rest of the series.

Final Fantasy VIII.

In my ignorance and innocence of youth I thought that this was going to be a actual sequel to FFVII. I kept expect them to announce Cloud as a character. When it finally sunk in that this was not going to happen I still expected aspects of what made FFVII so good to be retuning. 'Surely,' I thought to myself, 'they will be bringing back the Materia system. It was so ingenious, inventive, and intuitive, that they wouldn't get rid of it after just one game... right?...' Well I was wrong. Then I played the demo. It was boring, the draw system was lame, everything seemed clunky. Where FFVII was smooth and slick, it was slow and rough. I can't say enough bad things about this game, and yes I played it all the way to the end. Eighty hours of my life I'm never going to get back. I'm going to have a whole post about how much I detested this game. I mention it here because I was looking forward to it and it disappointed me.

Rise of the Argonauts.

I was super stoked for this game. It looked like the graphics were good. The makers had promised that the story was going to be a main focus and that combat would be smooth. Plus they were going to give me a chance to worship Athena. Like an actually chance (in a small geeky way) to do her will, and to praise her over the other gods. (I have a geek crush on Athena so sue me.) Well the game came out got luke warm reviews so I didn't even bother. If a game doesn't get an eight or better from Gamespot.com it isn't worth my time. There are a few exceptions, but none of those scored less than a seven.

So those are the games that ached my heart on account of their suckyness, what disappointments have you had to endure?

So far, so good

Well, just a quick note. I've been playing inFamous. I just started but I'm liking what I'm seeing. Still it's to soon to tell if this is a great game or not. But I'm hopeful.

R.I.P. Necromancer

As excited as I am for Diablo III, I am nonetheless sad that the Necromancer will not be returning. Now I know that nothing is official yet except that the character classes of Barbarian, Sorceress, and the new Witch Doctor will be present in the game. But can you honestly tell me that the game will have both a Witch Doctor and a Necromancer. No, their respective powers are just to similar. The Necromancer with his summoning of the undead, poison spells, curses, and bone magic is not that different from what we can expect from the Witch Doctor.

Now I hear things as I wander around this Internet world. It's seems most people didn't like the Necromancer. Which is a shame, and puzzling. The Necromancer was one of my favorite characters in Diablo II. Well my friend the world may not have liked you, but you have at least one friend who will mourn your passing. Here's to you. And who knows, a master of Death like you may not stay dead forever.

(sniff)

Good games on the PS3

That is all.

I say this having just bought a PS3. And I'm kind of wondering why. Now first off I am not interested into getting into a fanboy debate of x-box vs. playstation. If you like one more than the other fine. I currently prefer the 360. In times past I have favored both the PS1 and PS2.

But right now this is how things stand for me. The 360 came out first so I bought it first. When games came out on both systems I would naturally buy the ones for the 360. Until recently there were not enough PS3 exclusive games to warrant my purchase of a PS3. Yet I could see the need for a PS3 was approaching. GOW III will be on the PS3, and that's a must have for me. Heavenly Sword was a great game. I was lucky enough to play it on my friend's system. So I've ordered it along with my new PS3. But there isn't much else going for it. I hear Infamous is good, so I'll give it a try. And when the Batman game comes out they say that you'll be able to play as the Joker, but only on the PS3 version. So that's a plus.

Outside of that what does PS3 have? For me nothing. Just those four games, two of which aren't even out yet.

Oh and by the by, I played MSG4 and was not impressed. Not at all.

Overlord II

For all you all that don't know Overlord II will be out this month on the 23rd. For all you all who don't know what Overlord is well your missing out. The first Overlord was a fun romp through a fantasy world in which you get to be the bad guy. Think "Lord of the Rings" where you get to play as Sauron.

(Overlord from the first game.)

Not only that but this delightful little video game pokes fun at a genre that, lets face it, kinda deserves it. (Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fantasy fan. But the fantasy genre, like all things, is not without it's foibles. (That's a weird word, foibles... anyway.)) But you get to control your own swarm of minions. Think Pikmin, if you haven't played Pikmin then I'm not sure how to explain it. And it's no meager swarm, you get up to fifty or so minions by the end of the game.

Overlord was one of those games where I find myself thinking, 'If they make a sequel I trust them not to screw it up.' That doesn't mean that they wont, but looking at previews I think it's a pretty safe bet that this game will be a good one. They don't even have to do much. If they just deliver more of the same I'll be happy. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see.