My Next Top List! Or Possibly Just A List...

Wow, its been awhile, and while I have been around, I haven't been doing anything here.  And that's a shame.

I need to rectify that.

So what did I miss?  Well, its a long list, some of which I probably should talk about at some point...

Note:  This list is not all encompassing or in any particular order, and only includes games that:

1. I have played since the last time I posted here (which appears to be in early 2011)
2. Games that I currently own physically on the appropriate medium of that system, EXCEPT for the Xbox 360 list, since that information (and shame) is readily accessible thanks to MS's cross-platform integration.
3. Does not include PC games, or downloadable games (again, except for Xbox 360)

Videogames (things you play with your hands on a telephoto infotainment square)
-XBox 360 (Clippy tested and approved)

• Comic Jumper
• Alpha Protocol
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Tron: Evolution (don't judge me!)
• Beyond Good & Evil HD
• Stacking
• X-MEN Arcade
• Dead Space Ignition (didn't pay for this one)
• LEGO Star Wars III
• Dragon Age II
• Hard Corps: Uprising
• Bulletstorm
• Warriors Orochi 2
• Portal 2
• Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
• Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
• From Dust
• Bastion
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
• Orcs Must Die!
• Enslaved
• Rage
• Renegade Ops
• Nier
• Alice: Madness Returns
• Darksiders
• Iron Brigade (formerly Trenched)
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Rayman Origins
• Halo CE: Anniversary
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• L.A. Noire
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Skylanders:  Spyro's Adventure
• Torchlight
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
• Syndicate
• Saints Row: The Third
• Asura's Wrath
• Borderlands
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Child of Eden
• Dust: An Elysian Tail
• Assassin's Creed III
• Dishonered
• Sleeping Dogs
• Metal Gear Solid HD
• Anarchy Reigns
• Lollipop Chainsaw
• Halo 4
• Retro City Rampage
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
• Dead Space 3
• Tomb Raider (2012)
• Metro: Last Light
• LEGO Lord of the Rings
• Lord of the Rings: War in the North
• Remember Me
• Minecraft
• Far Cry 3
• Deadpool (I demand tacos!!!)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Dungeons and Dragons" Chronicles of Mystara
• Mass Effect 3
• Battlefield 3
• Charlie Murder
• Resident Evil 5 
• Borderlands 2
• Shadows of the Damned
• Saints Row IV
• Bioshock Infinite
• Dark Souls
• Dark Souls II
• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13
• South Park:  The Stick of Truth

-Playstation 3 (surprise, I actually do have one of these)

• Mod Nation Racers
• No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise
• Disgaea 4:  A Promise Unforgotten
• Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
• Dragon's Crown (I chose the elf, thank you very much)
• Tales of Xillia
• Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness
• Kingdom Hearts: HD 1.5 ReMIX
• Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD

-Nintendo Wii (I regret nothing)

• Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Xenoblade Chronicles (PAL)
• Xenoblade Chronicles (NA)
• The Last Story
• Pandora's Tower

Nintendo Wii U (I own all of these)

• Nintendo Land
• New Super Mario Brothers U
• ZombiU
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted U (this is actually a really good port)
• LEGO City Undercover
• Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition
• The Wonderful 101
• Rayman Legends
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Director's Cut
• Super Mario 3D World

Nintendo DS (I don't remember most of what I had for this thing)

• Sands of Destruction
• Infinite Space
• Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier
• Radiant Historia

Nintendo 3DS (as if this list wasn't long enough already)

• Dead Or Alive Dimensions
• Pilotwings Resort
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Super Mario 3D Land
• Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy
• Bravely Default

Disney Epic Mickey Review

Mickey Mouse was not the first character created by Walt Disney.  Some time earlier, when he was contracted to Universal Studios, he created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.  However, dissatisfaction with his superior caused him to leave Universal, leading to the start of his own studio, and the creation of Mickey Mouse.  Mickey’s popularity grew, while Oswald was soon left by the wayside, and ultimately forgotten...

Until recently, when Disney Studios reacquired ownership of Oswald as part of a contract negotiation.  Designer Warren Spector, a self-admitted Disney-phile, knew of Oswald, and was determined to bring him back to the world.  He made Oswald one of the cornerstones of Disney Epic Mickey, a game envisioned as part of Disney Studio’s attempt to update Mickey for modern audiences.

In Disney Epic Mickey, the player plays as a retro looking version of Mickey Mouse.  As the story goes, before his rise to fame, Mickey wanders into the workshop of Yen Sid (the sorcerer from Fantasia).  Yen Sid is using a magical paintbrush to create home for those things that have been forgotten.  After he retires, Mickey attempts to create something with the magic paintbrush, and fails spectacularly, instead creating a creature of ink.  Mickey escapes, and some time later, the Inkblot comes and pulls Mickey into Yen Sid’s creation.

The creation Mickey is pulled into is the Wasteland, an idealized version of Disneyland that is home to all of Disney’s old and forgotten characters, primarily ones that most people of the current generation have probably never heard of.  The Wasteland is ruled over by the longest forgotten Disney character of them, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.  But Mickey’s inadvertent creation has laid waste to Wasteland, while Oswald grows further jealous of his predecessor, ruling Wasteland from a literal mountain of old, forgotten Mickey Mouse merchandise.

DEM’s most successful feature is the art design.  All the characters and settings have that bright, friendly, retro-Disney charm, except where the blot has taken away the paint.  These areas instead take on a dark and demented look that could easily be cribbing the styles of Tim Burton or Jhonen Vasquez (in a good way).  These differeing visual styles create an interesting dichotomy, as the areas are placed together.  This works with the game’s paint/thinner mechanic in that the areas that can be affected are clearly delineated.  When thinner is used on bright areas, color, as well as portions of the environment are removed, and the remaining area matches the unpainted portions in color and style.  Adding paint to those unpainted areas returns them to their former color.  Some cinematics use the in game engine, but many others use a unique, stylized, limited animation that captures a unique art style that this reviewer has trouble describing.

Also of note is the 2D stages.  When transitioning between zones, Mickey must travel through projector screens set up throughout the Wasteland.  Inside the screens are 2D sidescrolling levels that are based on classic Disney cartoons, from early Oswald up to Fantasia.

Sound design is also very good.  No character speaks, except for Yen Sid, who provides the narration for the opening and closing cinemas, but most of the characters have some basic vocalizations to represent them.  While simple, the vocalizations are enough to add alot of character.  The music is primarily modern arrangements of classic Disney tunes, with a small number of original tracks that complement those quite nicely.  As with many of the characters, this reviewer is not a follower of classic Disney minutiae, and thus does not know which were which or if they were right.  They simply sounded good and fit with the visuals properly.

Where the game falls apart, however, is the gameplay itself.  It is not the only issue, but the first, and definitely foremost problem is the camera.  DEM makes an excellent first impression with the opening cinematic, but makes a terrible second impression when the player reaches the first area where actual camera control is needed.  As the game is primarily a platformer, the camera rarely ever reaches positions conducive for it without alot of struggling with Wii-mote d-pad, which takes the place of the right thumbstick on other controllers.  Often the camera turns slower than desired, except during combat, where it actually seems to swing around quickly enough to keep enemies in view.  The big offenders though, are that the camera often gets caught on scenery, and that in some areas the camera is completely locked.  This is okay during the 2D stages, that is how they were made after all, but in 3D areas, the camera is often placed at terrible angles.  The developer often intends that the player will go left or right from the static position, when many times the player will probably not.

The camera never truly makes the game unplayable, but struggling with it mars the experience more than any of the game’s other faults.  Warren Spector has stated that the game is an action-RPG with some platforming, but he obviously does not know what kind of game his team made.  Sure, there are action elements, but RPG is minimal at best, and the game is primarily platforming.  A camera that cannot swing around quickly and constantly gets stuck on scenery is not okay.  Why is the camera doing that anyway?  Getting caught on scenery may still happen today, but it has not been a significant issue in any game type since the N64/PS1 era.  Most developers have learned how to let the camera move through or, should it get caught, around scenery quickly to help avoid issues such as this.

Thankfully, controlling is generally okay.  Movement and jumping work well.  Mickey can run, jump, and double-jump as well as he needs to.  Most any jumping issues are do to the camera, except in the 2D stages, which have minor hit detection problems on platforms.  Painting and thinning is aimed by an onscreen cursor.  The stream follows the cursor very well, but the cursor does not travel across the screen as smoothly as it should.  As well, the paint stream originates from Mickey, and he fires from the hip.  While the player may be able to see the target onscreen, if Mickey cannot, then he will not be able to hit it, which is especially difficult when the player has to fire at targets below Mickey.  Firing at high targets is, again, made difficult by camera positioning.

Finally, there is the paint and thinner mechanic itself.  It is both a means of affecting the world, but also plays into a morality system that determines how other NPCs act towards Mickey.  Paint restores objects, while thinner destroys them.  This is interesting, except that its very binary.  Only certain areas of the world can be painted and thinned, the rest are static in their thinned state.  It makes for some interesting puzzles, as well as additional danger during combat.

The related morality system, on the other hand, does not really exist.  It is supposed to be based around completion of some sidequests and how the bosses are defeated, but has no effective ingame purpose.  It does not change anything significant.  Rather, it is more of an excuse to cover up the fact that the paint/thinner mechanic allows for two ways to solve almost all problems in the game, from combat to puzzles.  Paint makes enemies friendly, thinner will destroy them.  Paint will unlock the secret door in the wall, thinner will find a way to simply break the wall down.  It is a good mechanic, it simply is not taken as far as it should be.

Really, the saving grace of Disney Epic Mickey is the story.  Its rather simple, but still a well written and executed morality tale.  Mickey did something wrong, and it is up to him to try and set things right, and escape Wasteland, potentially leaving it better or worse off than it was.  The plot arc involving Oswald is interesting as well, how he had to try to fix Mickey’s mess and hold the Wasteland together in the interim, all the while growing more jealous of Mickey’s otherwise easy life up until then.

In the end, as Disney Epic Mickey went on, it got better.  That initial second impression after that opening cinema was very off-putting, with the camera being the primary culprit.  That problem never goes away, but this reviewer learned that it was just better to try to ignore except during combat.  Really, this is a great story trapped in an average game.  This is a game that could have lived up to its hype, and a couple more months in development could have gotten it there.


Score:  6/10

Pros:  Art design
Strong Story
Large amounts of unlockable content, including two classic Disney cartoons

Cons:
The camera is terrible
The morality system is inconsequential
Paint and thinner mechanic is somewhat limited

Donkey Kong Country Review

When Retro Studio finished their work on the Metroid Prime series, they went silent for a very long time, working on a secret project.  Speculations ranged from non-Metroid based side-stories within the Metroid universe to the revival of one of their original titles before production of Metroid Prime 1, to a totally new IP.  No one was expecting the announcement at the 2010 E3 that they were working on a retro-revival project, Donkey Kong Country Returns, a reboot of the SNES franchise originally developed by Rare.

As with previous entries in the series, DKCR begins on the island, with all of Donkey and Diddy Kong’s bananas being stolen.  Only this time, instead of the reptilian kremlings being the thieves, a meteor falling from the sky releases musical tiki creatures from the island’s volcano that brainwash the animals to do it for them.  They even try to do it to the heroes, and get pummeled for it.  That’s all anyone needs to know about the story, the rest is unimportant.

Graphically, DKCR is impressive.  The same general art style as the original series is kept, while successfully making the transition from prerendered sprites to full 3d characters and environments.  Each section of the island has its own general theme, from the starting jungle stages, to the beach, factory, and volcano, to name a few.  In keeping with each style, the backgrounds often have a lot of activity in the main area, as well as in the background, some areas even using the backgrounds to create multi-plained stages.  Often the scrolling nature of the 3d backgrounds allows for some interesting perspective shifts, and there are several easter eggs hidden there too.

Sound design is adequate.  Basic sound effects seemed to be pulled from the original series and rerecorded.  Music are modern remixes of the original music as well.  There really is not anything to say, good or bad about it.

Gameplay is standard platforming.  Running, jumping, navigating through stages designed to test the skill of players.  As with the original, Donkey Kong still has his roll maneuver and ground slap abilities, which can allow longer jumps, stun enemies, and solve some basic environmental puzzles.  Diddy Kong is along too, this time riding along Donkey Kong’s back instead of running behind him.  Diddy Kong has a jetpack which serves as a way of extending jumps for an additional second or so, and as a safety net as jump distances often seem to be a bit deceiving.  Diddy also has a peanut gun, but it is only usable in 2-player mode, which this reviewer did not play, as the player cannot switch control between the two anymore.

Additionally, there are more collectibles this time around.  Originally, there were only bananas, which served the same function as coins in the Super Mario series (collect 100, get and extra life), balloons (extra life), and the K-O-N-G letters (collect all four letters in each stage for an extra life).  Added in DKCR are banana coins, used for buying items at the shop, and puzzle pieces.  The K-O-N-G letters no longer grant extra lives, but instead act similarly to the added puzzle pieces, and grant unlockable music and concept art if all within a stage are collected.

All of the K-O-N-G letters are placed out in the open, but are often placed in difficult to reach places.  Deaths cause the player to lose any they collected since the last checkpoint reached in the stage.  The Jigsaw pieces, however, are always hiddens.  Often they are hidden behind often obvious foreground scenery, poundable objects, from collecting a specific set of bananas, and as a reward for completing the secret rooms.  The secret rooms make a return, but they are not as interesting, as there are only about five or six rooms that are repeated throughout the entire game.  The jigsaw pieces at least do not have to be recollected after death, as long as the stage is completed without having to use a continue.

As mentioned, there are now banana coins, which are used to at the new shop.  Aside from Donkey and Diddy, Cranky Kong is the only other Kong character to appear, the rest seeming to have been excised, and he runs this shop.  The coins can buy multiple balloons, and single use items such as the parrot (finds jigsaw pieces), a heart container (additional health point for the stage), banana juice (10-hit invincibility), and a key (unlocks an alternate stage in each area).  Aside from the banana juice, which can potentially kill the difficulty of the bosses, there is nothing game breaking, as the balloons can be lost quickly, and the other items are one-shots.  Coins are plentiful enough that any used item can be replenished easily.

If there is one word this writer had to describe DKCR, it would be “hard”.  DKCR is long stages that can have long difficult sections between checkpoints, with several seconds and sometimes long stretches of progress lost.  Its often difficult to tell how far into the stage the player aside from the ever present K-O-N-G letters.  Some stages have one checkpoint, some two, and the distance between them is often  inconsistent.  As well, while a Diddy Kong barrel is usually placed near the checkpoints, but sometimes there is some platforming between the two, with the problem being that the platforming difficulty seems to be tuned to having Diddy with you at all times, the additional safety net of his jetpack making difficult jumps slightly safer.

Also, the minecart stages return, and are accompanied by new rocket-barrel stages.  There are many difficult portions of the game, but often times that difficulty is increased from trying to reach the collectibles.  The minecart and rocket-barrel stages break from the basic platforming gameplay and into automatically scrolling areas of rote pattern memorization, where a single miss is an instant death, and the uneven spacing of checkpoints truly becomes noticeable.  There are some minor branches that can be taken, but there is basically one critical path that must be followed, or the player is thrown back to the checkpoint.  These stages, while the most dynamic, are also among the most frustratingly difficult stages in the game.
One of the other iffy things about the difficulty is the controls.  This is a game where the inclusion of motion control is particularly contentious.  Simply, it is required where it should not be.  DKCR is supposed to be an homage back to the original SNES DKC, and that was a three-button game, this is a two-button-with-waggle game.  Where in the original, important moves like the roll and ground pound were mapped to the d-pad and button, those moves are mapped to d-pad and waggle.  While it works okay for the ground pound, it is impractical for the roll, and consequently the roll-jump, which is an important move for grabbing collectibles in each stage.  Even nearly finished with the game, this writer still has not quite gotten used to it.  There is no Classic Controller support.  Every major outlet, when DKCR was shown off at E3, told Retro Studio that support needed to be included.  The fact that they did not was probably a choice made by Nintendo and its want for a consistent marketing message with the string of 2D retro-revival games for the Wii, despite DKC having been an SNES game as opposed to NES.  Wii-remote and Nunchuk combo is also a control option, but this reviewer did not use it.

Being a retro-revival, the purpose is to restart a franchise by harkening back to its original fanbase, while at the same time creating a new take on the franchise.  After their work taking Metroid from 2D to first-person 3D, going for a 2D game is an interesting choice, but this writer has to say that they were generally successful with their efforts.  This writer say’s generally because despite being a reboot, at times it feels like a retread.  Everything is done well, but there are places where it seems to be missing that intangible thing that makes it all fit together.

Score:  8/10

Pros:
Strong, consistent art style
Great use of multi-plained stages for level design.

Cons:
No Classic Controller support.
Often feels more like a retread than a reboot.
Minecart and Rocket-Barrel stages are too difficult.

Thoughts on Metroid: Other M

I must say that Metroid: Other M has me very confused.  On some levels, its very good, on others, not so much.  I’m torn because while the flaws are more than a little glaring, I don’t think that they entirely detract from what the developers did get right, and thus the product as a whole.

I guess I’ll start from the top.  Metroid: Other M, was co developed between Nintendo and TECMO/Team Ninja (of Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive fame), and released right before PAX10 (those bastards :p).  With story by series creator Yoshio Sakamoto, it bridges a minor story gap between Super Metroid (SNES) and Metroid Fusion (GBA).  Now that is an interesting point, in and of itself.  While some of them may contain stories, many Nintendo franchises, the most obvious being the Legend of Zelda series, do not actually contain any real continuity between each entry into the franchise.  Metroid has been the only outlier, and proof that it can be both a blessing and a curse, as it were.

I’ll be straight up here.  There is a story, and its good, but its badly executed.  In this game, we learn about Samus Aran’s backstory, specifically the time she spent in the military, before leaving to become an independent bounty hunter.  This information is told to the player as flashbacks during the current mission: the investigation of the Bottle Ship, a seemingly abandoned research station.  Big hint, metroids are involved, though as always it isn’t readily apparent until well into the game, and even then there aren’t that many…

Anyways, the story is good, but its presented badly, and depending on your point of view, potentially hurts the Samus character.  When Samus gets to the Bottle Ship, she meets up with a squad of marines lead by her former commander and surrogate father, as it were.  Most of the flashbacks seem to be about their surrogate father/daughter relationship, despite the fact that is her commanding officer, and Samus is the rookie in the unit.  In fact, despite the Federation being composed of many worlds and races, the military is shown as being primarily human, and male, like the Empire in Star Wars (realistically because Lucas didn’t have the budget, which in canon became Palpatine being a bigot).  Due to Samus being female, it seems, in the cut scenes and her own inner monologue at least, that she is treated differently because of it, and she acts out in a typically (teenager-like) rebellious way.

Why would it matter?  Presumably, that far into the future, gender in the military shouldn’t mean anything at all.  In fact, much of science fiction deals with this exact thing.  As bad of a movie as it was, Starship Troopers displayed it perfectly, a co-ed military where no one bats an eye at the female troops, and everyone is expected to pull their own weight, or risk injury and death.  There is no “just one of the guys” or “girls club”, everyone is just a trooper.

I realize that Japan is still a little wonky when it comes to gender politics, but this is science-fiction/fantasy.  It is a work of fiction where any world the creator wants can come alive.  There are no constraints.  There are no rules except the ones the creator decides to impose on the creation.  There is no need to be burdened with real world expectations when the creation isn’t the real world.

One of the biggest strengths of the genre/style is, since the world isn’t real, the ability for it to deal with real world issues without actually talking about them.  Religion, human/alien rights, foreign affairs, torture, anything can be talked about.  Anything can be made relevant, because just about everything can be relevant.  Yet here in Metroid: Other M the creator is regressing back to gender politics, possibly without even realizing it.  Why?  This is a game made by the Japanese  for the Japanese and, especially, the American market.  And in the US, gender is practically a non-issue, at least in fiction.  It may work in Japan, but we Americans, while still a little iffy on the subject of women in the military, are more than happy with women as protagonists, antagonists, action heroes, and even in the military (in fiction anyways).

Now that isn’t to say we don’t have our issues with female characters in leading roles, but science fiction seems to be one of the few places where we Americans can seem to drop many of those pretensions.  The love interest?  No longer required.  Emotional instability?  Guys hagve I too.  Being saved by a man?  She’s got a gun and martial arts.  Subserviant to someone or something?  She commands an entire fleet of armed-to-the-teeth battleships.

In the previous Metroid games, Samus Aran has always been displayed as the strong and silent type.  Now, the fact that all but one of those games had zero dialogue to begin with helped maintain that appearance.  Samus Aran is a bounty hunter, she goes into hostile environments, alone, with nothing except her power suit and her training as a former military trooper in order to survive.   And she succeeds time and again.  And the plot of Metroid: Other M effectively turns her into someone who emotionally stunted, distant, and has “daddy issues”.  Now admittedly, Samus’ backstory is tragic, with being orphaned by a pirate attack.  But her early life after that was spent training to take revenge on the pirates, which any term of military service would only reinforce.  Yet, as I stated earlier, during the flashbacks to her time of military service she is shown acting like a petulant teenager opposite squad mates and a commander who treat her differently because of her gender.  During the game itself, she is shown being indecisive, and even freezes when faced with threats that she’s already faced before.  This is not the character we’ve seen over the series, and is quite possibly a step back for her as well.

I understand Sakamoto has a story to tell, but in the end he just seems to have failed because he fell back on using gender politics in a genre and universe that, generally speaking, had seemingly not even included them in the first place.  The only thing that can really save it, story wise, is that we’re really only seeing a microcosm of the universe.  We deal with only a small handful of characters, but at the same time we see a lot of the universe in other ways.  Things end up muddied, and in the end we are left with a story with a strong primary plot thread, but the peripheral things like this end up being unneeded, negatively impact the character, make the plot unnecessarily melodramatic, and paints the author as potentially chauvinistic and/or mysoginist, more out of cultural naiveté than actual intention.

Innocent Aces quickie

Okay, its been months since I've posted anything here, even though I fully intended to do so sooner anyways.  So what is there to say?  I don't know.  I played and saw alot of things, but really ran out of any desire to write about any of those things since I didn't get around to talking about them sooner.  Go me!  And go procrastination!  But since I'm here, I should probably talk about something...


The Sky Crawlers:  Innocent Aces


This game came out for the Nintendo Wii in the US earlier this year.  It was a small time release, and the cover art was pretty bad (the promotional cover art was better), and I don't believe it sold that well.  Innocent Aces is a tie-in game to Mamoru Oshii's animated film from 2008, The Sky Crawlers.  The game does not follow the plot of  the film, and even appears unconnected if not for the presence of Kildren and WWII style planes.  It is, however, a prequel, with the actual connection to the film not being made until the game's ending, and even then it is only noticeable if the player has also seen the movie.


Anyways, the game was produced by Project Aces, the team behind the Ace Combat series, and could best be described as "Ace Combat Light".  It looks like an up-rezzed PS2 game, despite the Wii being more powerful than it.  Overall, its rather easy, with only the two or three ace battles providing any kind of real challenge.


That brings us to the controls.  While the game has Classic Controller support (which, in my opinion, is preferable to the default), the default control scheme is Wii-mote and Nunchuk motion control, using the Nunchuk as an aircraft yolk with Wii-mote controlling throttle.  It works on an immersion level, but since the Nunchuk only has an accelerometer and no sensor, it ends up not being responsive enough.  As well, the yaw controls (for fine left/right turning movements) is mapped to the Wii-mote's d-pad instead of the Nunchuk's analog stick.  The analog stick instead maps several combat maneuvers that are difficult to pull off with such imprecise controls, namely barrel rolls and various types Immulman turns.  These maneuvers are possible with the Classic Controller, but the use of these maneuvers is faster than doing them yourself.


More of the gameplay, however, hinges on the use of more specialized "Tactical Maneuvers".  In most cases, they are effectively kill-commands, with the exceptions being the ace battles.  These maneuvers are crucial to success since you are relying on unguided weapons to take out (usually) fast moving targets.  Whenever you are within attack range of anenemy that you're locked onto, a gauge onscreen fills up to up to 3 levels.  As soon as one level is filled, and you remain within range, you can use it to pull off a Tactical Maneuver, which is represented by the game temporarily taking control from you and pulling off a series of impossible maneuvers in orderto put you directly behind the enemy so that you can shoot them.  Harder enemies, including the aces, require higher level maneuvers to get behind, though you'll never be close enough long enough to get past a level one fill.  This whole sysetem is generally what makes the game easy, since so many concessions had to be made for the default control scheme, while if makes the ace battles (especially the final battle) much harder, since the maneuvers will get you near the ace, but not behind them.


Music is pretty good, with a sort of Celtic beat to it.  It does not include any music from the film, but all of it seems like it could easily have come from it.  The music for several of the major battles (including the final battle) is definitely one of the best of the game.  Kinda wish there was a soundtrack available somewhere.


Well, I was originally hoping to do some short paragraphs on multiple games.  Guess that didn't work out though.  But maybe doing some short ones now and them will help me get stuff on here more often.

Tale of the Six-Shooter Samurai

Red Steel 2, yeah. Where do I start on this one? How about this: Red Steel 2 is an FPS game for the Wii (yes, the Wii) that came out last month. Sequel to the Wii launch title, Red Steel, this game has almost nothing to do with the original.

Not that that's a bad thing.

In the original, the player played a former-Yakuza bodyguard trying to save his girlfriend, the Yakuza heiress he was formerly protecting, from a usurper. Usually, you shot guns at people, occasionally stopping for a one-on-one duel. It was good as a proof of concept, but not much else. The movement and looking controls were janky, sword-fighting was unresponsive, story was absurd, graphics, while not bad, could've been better.

Red Steel 2, you play an outcast from a samurai clan returning to avenge the destruction of said clan. You shoot stuff, and you hit stuff with a sword, usually in quick succession. Often. Like Metroid Prime 3, this isn't proof of concept, it is simply proof. Proof that the Wii controls can do an FPS, and do it well. Controls are good all-around, story is still absurd, but at least it fits with the game's style, and the graphics are good (for a Wii game, and having to use that caveat sucks, but this is an XB360 and PS3 world...).

I think I'll start with the graphics. Knowing the Wii's limited graphical power, the developers went with a stylized, comic book visuals. In terms of actual aesthetic though, I would have to describe it as Borderlands-lite. If the Wii had more horsepower and kept with the stylization, I'm sure Borderlands is what Red Steel 2 would look like. The whole aesthetic is a combination of American western, Japanese samurai, and high-tech. Most building fit western, with major locations being traditional japanese, while high-tech is mixed in throughout. The enemies wear psuedo-modern/high-tech takes on traditional japanese samurai/ninja gear. The player character is a straight-up man-with-no-name in a double-breasted duster straight out of a 70s Western movie (and that is so absolutely badass). The main antagonist, as well as the friendlies, are over-the-top stereotypes as well. Included are a hilly-billy crossed with a stereotypical old japanese man (dressed in an unbuttoned hawaiian shirt and western hat no less). A southern-belle dressed like a goth-punk. The teacher character is an old sensei who looks like he was pulled from a 70s kung-fu movie, and was written and dubbed like a 70s english dub of said kung-fu movie (also freakin' awesome). The antagonist, he's just your stock evil scarred man character, not as interesting as the others, but it still works in context.

Primary complaint here is that you're in towns that are supposed to have people in them, but you only see the enemies. Even the friendly NPCs are relegated almost entirely to cutscenes, so the world feels pretty empty. On the gameplay side, it isn't helping that while the graphical style is great, the design of the levels are mostly uninteresting.

Gameplay though, that's where a game like this needs to succeed. In my personal opinion, Red Steel 2 delivers what Red Steel 1 promised: First-person shooting and sword-fighting. At the same time. Firing your gun is as easy as pushing the B button, swiping with the sword is as easy as any amount of Wii-mote flailing. Though its not that simple, those are basically what you do. Point the Wii-mote at the screen to aim, move the cursor to the edges of the screen to turn your character. Pressing B shoots the gun you have equipped. Holding a direction and pressing A will dash you in that direction, while holding A will pull out your sword to block. Swinging the Wii-mote will swing your sword in roughly the same direction as your swing.

Its not perfect, but actually, it doesn't need to be. One of the primary problems with alot of games that use the pointer is that the pointer is TOO precise. By that I mean that its so precise that it even picks up the involuntary movement and jitters of most people, so trying to hold the cursor still simply doesn't work. Only now are developers starting to work out how to keep the game from recognizing these movements and only see the deliberate ones, and this dev team has figured it out. Cursor movement is smooth, precise, and if you miss a shot, then either the enemy blocked it, or your aim just sucks.

The other big problem is the flailing that is typically seen in almost all games that use the Wii-mote's motion sensor. Yes, you need to move to swing your sword, but you can't flail, or you'll die. I know I should have mentioned this sooner, but Red Steel 2 requires the use of the Wii-Motion-Plus accesory, and the swordfighting is the entire reason why. It makes swinging the Wii-mote be more properly displayed onscreen. You don't need (or want) to flail because the WMP reads not only the direction, but also the force behind the movements. Flailing will give you weak slashes in random directions, and while that may be okay for the lowest of the low enemies, you will need hard, deliberate strokes (yes I see the double-entendre, moving on...), many times in particular directions, to see your way through tougher battles, as well as when using many of the combo moves in the game. It needs to work, and it does as long as the player realizes that flailing sucks.

Sound, well, I don't actually have alot to say there. The voice-acting isn't bad, but its not necessarily great either, most of it being merely adequate in service to the plot and setting. The only real standout is Jian, the sensei character, who as I stated earlier, is written like an over-the-top 70s english dub of a 70s kung-fu movie. He likes talking about how you, an outcast of the clan, is being successful against the enemies when the clan failed, and how it shames him. I find it rather humorous. Music, on the other hand, is quite good, primarily being heard during battle. It brings in a nice mix of ethnic japanese and american western string music in many various compositions. I, however, am not terribly knowledgeable in music terminology or criticism, so suffice it to say, the music is good. As an aside though, the song "Storm" by the "Yoshida Brothers" wouldn't be out of place in this game.

Red Steel 2 does have some issues, but they're pretty minor (in my opinion). The game tries to act like its non-linear when in truth its just as linear as any other, with objectives spread over an area map that you might go through 2 or 3 times before being shunted to the next area (through a clearly marked "point of no return" screen). The game is supposed to (at least partially) affect the difficulty based on player performance, but it doesn't really work, as even the lowest rank enemies end up appearing throughout the game. You can get up to 4 guns, but only the first one is required to finish the game, and 2 of them aren't even all that useful (the machine-gun and lever-rifle). After battles where you finished the final enemy with the sword, the character will typically look up because chances are that was were the aiming cursor ended up from the sword slash. Those are things I noticed, I'm sure other people found others.

I think I covered all the major things. Red Steel 2 isn't perfect by any means, but I think its one of the better core games on the Wii now, and someone looking for an original take on an FPS should definitely give this game a shot.

While I've been around, I obviously haven't posted anything in about 2 weeks. Just really haven't had anything to talk about. So forgive me if this is rather rambling and uninteresting. That is, unless I end up finding a subject at some point during typing.

I'll start off saying that I haven't really been playing anything new recently. Just going through Dead Space again, playing the new Fallout 3 DLC (Point Lookout), with The Conduit (Wii) being the sole actual new game (besides wondering why I haven't picked up Punchout! yet...). I've actually had the hankering to pull out and play Project Sylpheed again, if only for the thought of being in a fighter that performs various forms of asset denial (IE, blowing shit up). For that matter, I should pull out Star Ocean 4 again, if only to finish up the main game, since I'm on the final dungeon anyways.

As some videogame podcasts have put it, I have a very large "pile-of-shame". The term refers to games that one has had for a considerable amount of time and either played but not finished, and/or games that haven't even been played. As much as I like RPGs, they, and the considerable amount of time they take to play, are the primary cause of my pile. I'm not going to even get into what's on the list.

As for pulling out Dead Space and Project Sylpheed after having already completed them, well, I guess I am an achievement whore on the level that I like getting achievements in the games I have. I AM NOT an achievement whore on the level that I do not buy games specifically for the achievement points (Avatar will never appear on my gamertag! XD). This is a problem when playing RPGs though, especially the handful of JRPGs, which are known for their excessive use of sidequests, hidden areas and bosses, and general miscellaneous crap that requires you to play considerably large amounts of time for things that aren't related to the main quest. Some side stuff is okay, but sometimes theres so much that it just gets assinine (I'm looking at you, Blue Dragon and Tales of Vesperia).

Anyways, Fallout 3 DLC. Called Point Lookout. Of all the Fallout DLC packs, this one is on level, potentially better, with the previous pack, Broken Steel. Broken Steel allowed you to reenter the world after the ending, with additional quests and raising the level cap. Point Lookout, though, simply adds new map with its own seperate plotline, but it does it much more skillfully than the two DLCs before Broken Steel. Instead of being (primarily) linear, pathed experiences, Point Lookout is completely open to exploration from the getgo. As well, the area contains quests that are not actually part of the primary plotline. As well, all the plotlines fit well into the overall mythology of the game world. Moonshining hillbillies, Chinese (in this case communist) spies, and drug using hippies being led by a brain in a jar. Not to mention being in a bayou. The only issue I found is that Point Lookout is supposed to be in southern Maryland, but it has a distinctly Louisiana/Alabama vibe to it. Ohwell, I still give this particular DLC 5/5.

Now, The Conduit, FPS for the Wii. YES, THE WII. As much as I hate using the caveat, I have to, but this game looks great for a Wii game. I need to play more, but I've seen enough to impress me (I've only played up to halfway before accidentally deleting my save file >.<). The customization of the controls makes it possible for anyone to tweak it enough to be comfortable (but can't turn crouch into toggle instead of button hold, grrr...). Like alot of the reviews out there, though, I have to agree with comments on lackluster area design. Also, while the game isn't supposed to be difficult, there are occasional spots where the difficult gets to wallbanger (IE, Wii-Mote chucking) levels. My current replay has me stuck at one of those spots, and its not nice. Not nice at all. And the area is the Jefferson Memorial of all places too.

Ohwell, I think that's all I got for now. o.O