Quick Fixes

Not that many this time around, just two, but I don't have quite enough to say about one or the other to make a Daily Review.

 So this kind of came out of left field, but I hit the fortune cookie option on the Backlog, and it gave me this. My wife bought it a while back from a Gamestop for about 5$, and neither of us have really touched it. Quick thoughts on it though: The art style is beautiful, the sprites on 3d backgrounds actually work really well, and the art in the battles is very well done. Not quite Valkyrie Profile 2 level, but hey. Another thought is that I'm really enjoying the alchemy system, since its mostly collect recipes, have the other character craft it, then you can make them with mana from then on. This means that healing potions almost never run out, since they need just 1 Wood mana, which you can get from anywhere. I have 99 of several items just to not let my mana go to waste. The combat system itself is rather fluid, though for some reason seems to have brief load times mid fight, as in a half second or so. Not a major deal, but it does make the otherwise fluid action kinda herk at times.

The title of the game is "God Catching Alchemy Meister" or Kamidori Alchemy Meister (kinda prefer the latter since the direct translation is silly), and yeah, its a great game. I'm always a sucker for strategy RPGs with very in-depth aspects of crafting and character building. This doesn't have so much on the character building, kinda leaning towards Fire Emblem in that they just level up, gain stats, and go from there. The main heroines get outfits you can make that radically change their stats and skills, and the main character gets far more customization through his menu, but mostly its just swapping gear. Still, the strategy aspects of crawling around the maps and fighting monsters, and collecting materials to make new items is pretty fun. The game is split up into chapters, and they do warn you when you're about to change chapters since you can miss out on quests. All the quests tell you what chapter you fail them on too, which is very conveinant. The only thing you'd have to look at a guide for is the level certain characters have to be at to get events. Of course, being a strategy RPG with set characters...some are rather useless or ungodly slow, and very hard to level to get those events (in this case, mostly the earth elemental Aht since she only moves 2 spaces). Also, yes, it is an adult eroge game. Doesn't change the fact that the game itself is damn good, dirty pictures or not.

Beaten: Front Mission 4

Beaten

Front Mission 4

System: PS2 (Playing on PS3)
Status: Beaten
Currently: Just beat the game, need to go again and do the optional simulators.

Ah, another game that while great, took me forever to beat. I do love the Front Mission series, especially this game with how it portrays fairly realistic mechs. Its a fairly old game by today's standards, but the graphics still look very crisp (barring the wonky trees of course), and the little details they put into the terrain and combat make all the difference in the game and its presentation. The only odd spot there is when people are talking, they have a still image with their jaw moving up and down...which...looks really weird. The voice acting itself is pretty good though.

The characterization and story of the game plays out well. It never gets too deep into philosophical nonsense that has nothing to do with mechs, instead pretty much sticking to the people, their job (or goal), and having you follow them along. The oddity being that the game actually has two stories, one based on a team in Europe, and one based on a team in Venezuala. You would think that with an RPG with two stories like that, eventually they would combine to one final mission...nope. Eventually they do contact each other and exchange information, but you never have a mission where you use both teams. So instead you end up ping-ponging between the stories, following and enjoying each separately.

The game play is fun and enjoyable, though very slow at times. Some missions you can chew through pretty quickly, others are rather rough, and you have to go slow so as to not make any mistakes and keep healed...and that can lead to a mission lasting thirty minutes or so. There is a quick save function so you can resume in the middle of a mission, but sometimes the objectives you need to accomplish are borked by early decisions. The AI is both stupid and brilliant at the same time. They tend to lock on to one target and never change no matter what happens, which is dangerous for you, but it also means they ignore more vulnerable targets. Units that aren't close to you will either get 'pulled' by you getting close, or are activated on a certain turn. Usually this means you slow crawl across the map, pulling units one group at a time so you don't get overwhelmed. The mech designing aspect is simple enough, and you can tweak it to your play style, though there are noticeably better styles than others. Still, with two teams who have different skillsets, you get to experience a lot of different mechs without having to retool everyone, or worry about switching guys in and out.

Overall, a very good game, and considering I got it used for like 10$ it was well worth it. All I have to do to complete it is to do the optional simulator missions, but that requires a replay through on new game+, given by the time I realized they were there, I was already past the point of doing them for the European team.

Beaten: Bionic Commando: Rearmed

Beaten

Bionic Commando: Rearmed

System: PS3 (PSN Download)
Status: Beaten
Currently: Just beat the game, leaves super hard, the challenges, and the secrets.

Well, that was a little dissapointing. Picked the game back up on a whim, knowing I had been struggling on the final stage, and apparently somewhere along the line they patched the game to have infinite lives. So a stage where previously 3 lives didn't even get me through the first three parts of it, beaten in about ten minutes or so. Probably a good change though, I doubt anyone nowadays has the patience to do Ninja Gaiden level memorization of every jump and swing, especially with Bionic Commando's strange jumping mechanics.

Review wise, this is a great game and worth the price to pick it up. It is a true and true platformer, and very old school in design. The jumps are unforgiving, especially given they stuck to the original design in that you can't actually jump. You can only attach your arm and swing around, so a lot of the game kind of confused my wife until I reminded her that you can't actually jump in the game...so two platforms going back and forth is much harder, since to get from one to the other, you have to fall off one, shoot your arm up diagonally to catch the other platform, and then swing up top. With infinite lives this is less annoying since you don't have to start the entire stage back because you messed up 3 jumps. The boss fights are fun and quirky, though very short, once you learn the trick you can have them beaten in a minute or two. The game itself has far more replay if you're a perfectionist and want to get high scores, but for everyone else I doubt you'll play the harder difficulties. We'll see about them if I ever get back to completing this.

Completed: Pokemon Leafgreen Version

Completed

Pokemon Leafgreen Version

System: Nintendo DS
Status: Completed!
Currently: Completed!

It is always a great thing to add another game to my list of completed. I may have to touch this again to send up starters, but I think you can get them and the other fossils in the other games without issues. I have kind of adjusted my views on this game, since I remembered it was the first remake, and the games were still working on a few things back at this point.

If you go back and play it now, yeah, it seems very bare bones. You can barely catch anything beyond the original 150, and the post game content consists of a few small islands with some Johto pokemon, Mewtwo of course, and the ability to rechallenge the Elite 4, and one of the legendary beasts from gen 2 wandering around. I did the islands yesterday, and the rest of that basically took this evening to finish up. The Elite 4 were actually rather challenging the second time around, the first time I curbstomped them.

Overall, its a mixed bag for the game, it clearly shows its age, and it lacks the refinements that the 4th gen games have, and also lacks the novelty of a new story and mons that the other 3rd gen games had. Overall, I would say pass on this unless you can find it rather cheap (hah), or you really want to get the legendaries associated with it (of which, I think only Mewtwo is unattainable elsewhere, could be wrong).

Quick Fixes: Some games I've been touching on

So my issue lately is that I've been playing a few games in small amounts, and don't have enough thoughts on them to do a full on review post. Instead, I decided to cram a few into small little blurbs, with my thoughts so far about them.

A few missions in to this. It seems ok, though its clearly designed for controller use, despite only having 3 buttons you actually use during the game. At the same time, I just can not get my controller to synch up with the game ( a nice standard logitech controller), and thus I'm stuck using the keyboard. With the keyboard, the driving is all kinds of slippy-slidey, and I hurt myself more often than not slamming into objects because of the top down view and limited sight range. You really can't go that fast without slamming into something outright. The game itself isn't bad with the zombie crushing, but the controls and view distance really make it frustrating. You get guns and the like for your car, but its so hard to aim them properly while driving, I often just drive through zombies, then drive backwards and shoot at them.

I downloaded the free DLC "You have to name the expansion pack", which has added some more classes and a bit more variety to the game...and for some reason, wells that completely block hallways. Odd. Anyway, the game is growing on me a bit, I'm still playing with permadeath on because that is how I roll. Still, at the easiest setting, its very easy to get yourself killed on the first floor via bad luck...or on the 20th floor due to bad luck. Either or.

I actually played a bit of this, and I am on the second city. It seems more like a puzzler than anything else, figuring out how to destroy everything with limited tools. Still, the slowdown is horrendous on my computer, and large stages are all kinds of herky-jerky. I can run Dawn of War II with fairly nice graphics, but this thing bogs me down?

I'm actually a big fan of the Metal Gear series, I enjoy the stories and the boss fights are always a blast. My main gripe has always been the stealth elements are boring and tedious, with little midway between that and just dying. Crawling across a large map, inch by inch, stopping and starting to avoid patrols, is just tedious, and the shooting controls are often shoddy and make for poor fighting. This is...pretty much the same. The sneaking requires you crouch and walk slowly across areas, hiding when necessary. Too bad walking slowly requires you press your thumb ever so slightly on the PSP's tiny joystick, and hold it there for up to a minute at a time, praying you don't shift slightly further and accidentally run. The shooting controls are junk too, on the most natural setting you have to hold down the right bumper, use the camera controls to aim (which is the right buttons) and then press the down key to shoot...if you want to move while shooting, you have to use the joystick at the same time. I may fiddle with the control settings a bit, and there is a tiny bit of auto-aim, but dammit, if you don't have twin sticks, you need -way- more assist, or fewer buttons to press to hold it like this.

Almost forgot this one. Bought this a long time ago when I first got my PS3, and haven't played it in a long time. Finally started to sit down and play one game at a time, slowly learning the later stages (already have the first rhythms basically memorized) and earning more points for more lives. A simple game, I'll call it beaten when I finally beat all the stages, and complete when I unlock everything.

Daily Review: Pokemon Leafgreen Version

Daily Review

Pokemon Leafgreen Version

System: Gameboy Advance (Playing on a DS)

Status: Unfinished

Currently: 4 badges, working through Silph Co.

I really don't have much to say about the Pokemon games. They are kind of review proof. You either know you like them, you know you don't, or you haven't touched them since a certain game. Since the Leafgreen game is a remake of the first ones, its a bit strange, since it has a lot of the changes that have made them more balanced since the first incarnations, yet because it sticks to the same monsters being found throughout the world as in the original game, you really don't get a lot of the balancing advantages.

So yeah, this is probably the most 'eh' of the two remakes they've made so far. There's very little added to the game that isn't entirely superfluous other than the post game area where you can catch some different monsters than the original. If you've played the first gen already, you'd probably only want it to get the exclusive monsters that you need this version to get (which I think is only Mewtwo at this point, since the birds can be caught in HG/SS), and if you haven't played this gen already, there isn't much here to surprise you over the other versions with much wider selection initially.

My biggest trouble with the game is the system though, since I'm playing it on a DS, I'm so used to being able to close it and walk away, and have to remember the GBA games don't let you do the idle mode. Minor issue though, and not to do with the game. Does suck when you walk away, forget about it, and it dies on you though.

Daily Review: Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions

Daily Review

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions

System: PSP
Status: Unfinished
Currently: Near the end of Chapter 1

So yeah, I normally don't buy remakes if I already have the original, usually its not enough changes to spend more money on, but this one is well worth it. Mostly for one reason, and that's the redone translation. Say what you will about the purple prose and overly flowery and British language they go through, it doesn't dip into Dragon Quest "Thee Thou Thine" and it fits the tone...more importantly, it is far, far better than "Dragon casts Ice Bracelet!" that the original game had. That alone should be a reason to get this game even if you have the original.

My only complaint with this one is the slowdown...and it is horrendous, and I have no clue why. The original graphics were not that amazing, and yet the game slows to a dead stop whenever anyone uses any ability beyond basic attacks. Even if it doesn't have a complex animation, the game will sit and think about it for several seconds until it processes it. It doesn't seem to be a graphical issue but a processing issue, like the game has to switch gears to perform anything complex. Still, its not enough to sink the game, just makes the battles take a bit longer (while you watch the chocobo quiver in place preparing to attack).

The game itself is the Final Fantasy Tactics everyone remembers, great depth, a cool job class system, and a game system that is very unforgiving, along with story battles that range from easy to cheap. Yes, you will grind, you will grind very early, since the 4th story mission almost requires you to be 9 levels higher than the enemies to finish it without losing a character. Yes, you can still lose characters, someone keels over, you have three turns to revive them or finish the battle, or they are gone for good. Yes, for some reason protect and other spells that aren't straight up heals can miss outright due to low faith (even raise, which is great when you cast raise to bring a guy back whose death counter is about up...and it misses). Still, the game is never outright unfair. They give you tough challenges, which you can use the job system to beat with enough tactical acumen, and the tutorial actually makes sense now!

Definitely one to pick up if you own a PSP, even if you own the original. More review though as I get through it, now that I can actually understand the story.

Daily Review: Swords and Soldiers HD

Daily Review

Swords and Soldiers HD

System: PC (Steam)
Status: Beaten
Currently: Just finished the campaign.

So this was a short and quick little game, definitely what I would call bite sized. It has multiplayer elements, but I definitely can't see myself playing them. I'm actually debating to just call this completed, since all that's left otherwise is achievements, which I can't fully complete since I won't play the multiplayer. Either way, this will be my only post about it.

The game is pretty straightforward, and reminds me of numerous flash games I've played before. You create troops, they walk right until they run into enemies and die. Your objective is to usually just destroy the base on the other side of the map, building certain combinations of troops to overcome what they're sending you. It is a very simple design, which isn't a bad thing, once you get the hang of the game the difficulty curve is nice and even right up until the end of the campaign.

There are three 'races' to play, though the differences are there, in essence all you need to learn is which units are best against whatever race you're playing against, and make them over and over. If you play Aztec, you want the priest to make zombies and the melee dudes to rush in. If you play China, you want the old men to instakill anything, and a mix of warriors and rocketeers. If you play Viking, you make regular melee and ranged and just lightning bolt everything else. Other than just clicking the buttons to create the units and occasionally casting spells to help them work through blockages, there's really little strategy to it. Some of the campaign missions throw weird things at you, but after you overcome them, it boils down to the same thing.

The campaign is 30 missions, and can be completed in one sitting if you're determined, two if less so. There are three challenge maps that just serve to get achievements, obviously a skirmish mode and the multiplayer. They really think that people will play the multiplayer, because the campaign bugs you to go play it...every three missions. Seriously.

If you see it cheap on steam, it might be worth picking up, but if I had the choice to buy it individually I wouldn't even bother. I got it as part of an indie pack, and the other games made up the value, not this one.

Daily Review: Q.U.B.E

Daily Review 

Q.U.B.E

System: PC (Steam)

Status: Unfinished

Currently: Sector 5

Just some quick thoughts on this game, its obviously rather short and probably will only do one more post on it when I finish it.

Portal comparisons are obvious, so I'll avoid them. Suffice to say its a rather simple puzzle game in a first person engine, where you control various cube objects to get through each area. Each color has a set function, that you learn rather quickly through trial and error, and each puzzle gets slowly harder. Rather standard. The atmosphere is nice, a wierd grey-tone broken up by the colorful puzzle pieces that kind of reminds me of a children's playset at times. The addition of new elements is gradual enough that you never feel there's a huge jump...except for my one major gripe of the review so far.

When you get to sector five, you can tell rather quickly that its a one trick pony that is more annoying than challenging. Sector five is dark, and after the second or third puzzle, you can only work elements you have 'turned on' by hitting their power switch for their color. Essentially, this means you can't see anything but the currently on elements, and have to swap which ones are on to work with them. Given you have to move green pieces through the area and thus have to constantly check their location by turning that part on...this is really annoying. It adds nothing to the difficulty of the puzzles, it just makes you constantly have to turn the pieces on and off to make sure you didn't screw it up. If it was lit, it would be like the puzzles in the area right before it (albeit without the timing elements for obvious reasons). This entire sector is more frustrating than anything else, and really jerked me out of what had been a fairly simple and fun game.

I'll get back to this later and finish it, but gah, what a terrible design decision.

Daily Review: Avadon: The Black Fortress

Daily Review

Avadon: The Black Fortress

System: PC (Steam)
Status: Beaten
Currently: Just finished normal mode. Need to play on harder difficulties to complete.

So, finally finished this game after working on it all week (hence the lack of posts, didn't want to post about it till I finished up the last bits.) My thoughts are still unabashedly positive about it, it is a more than worthy game to purchase, especially if you like old school PC RPGs, and was a fun adventure game I will probably play again. It did have some flaws, though they were minor.

The first major flaw is the bossfights are...well..boring. Either the boss is far too easy and you overpower them rather quickly, or they come in two flavors: Minion deluge, and way too much HP. Due to the battle system's style (which I liked overall), there's really not much variety in the boss fights. They will throw around some buffs or debuffs you can't really do much about unless you want to waste a turn you could be doing damage, and you wail on them. If they have minions, you either ignore them because they don't do enough damage to be a pest and just make it hard to move around, or you have to track down the one minion shielding the master, then wail on them till it is resummoned. This is not a major problem in and of itself, except that due to the class system being rather limited (you advance, get some skills through a tree), your skill choices are at most 8-9 skills, most of which are variations of AoE damage or some status. So pretty much every boss fight runs down to whether or not you can deal damage faster than they can.

The other major flaw is the game seems seriously weighted towards the difficulty being foes dealing a lot of damage, getting a lot of attacks, and swarming you. Admittedly, while only playing on normal, I was going for the achievement where you only use one ally (instead of two) throughout the entire game. My partner for this was the mage, who I thought complimented my main character (warrior) rather well. The warrior class once you get to a point if you build it well...is near indestructible. I had over 80% or so damage reduction to most things, parried/dodged most attacks, and had a good chance to just start regenerating whenever I got smacked.  The mage was great at dealing damage, but couldn't take many physical hits, and with the abundance of archers, she often went down like a wet sack. This usually left my warrior to slowly slaughter every single enemy, so I could leave combat and have her auto-revive (still got the achievement for no-revives too). As it stands, I can't see how you could ever play this game without using the warrior, every enemy gets 2-3 attacks or turns to your one, constantly buffs themselves and their friends, and deals enough damage to take out the squishier classes in a single turn if you're unlucky. What makes it worse is that with the daze and charm spells being thrown around constantly, you can be either chainlocked/stunned for the entire combat and just die...or your warrior gets charmed and murders your other party members brutally, leaving him to solo the encounter. Again.

Still, with those two flaws being apparent, I will still be playing it again on a higher difficulty later. For some reason, the game reminded me of fallout, mostly due to the high amount of personal choices you were allowed to make, and how they actually affected things later, including little blurbs at the end talking about unresolved quests or changes you made to lands for the better. They definately put a lot of work in making you feel that all these grey and grey choices you make in the game actually matter to various characters, and not making you feel like you have to take a quest you think is wrong to max out your level.

A very well done game.