HandsomeDead

Since I last posted Mass Effect 2 has been finished, its awesome. A likely candidate for GoTY unless something else surprises me. Also been playing (or trying to play) Fatal Frame 4: mask of the Lunar Eclipse, I'm happily playing it, thinking its one of the best Wii games out there then it brakes down on you, oh well. I also finished Fahrenheit and its frustrating as hell, I nearly put it down with the intension of never playing it again but a knuckled down because I did want to see that story to the end, glad I did to be honest. Recently I've played a little of The Misadventures of P B Winterbottom, I just played it a little but I really liked what I played, its like Braid but not as focused, trading in structured puzzles with ones that can be solved in numerous ways. Recently announced news about Fallout: New Vegas got me into Fallout 3 again, I'm trying to finish Broken Steel but I got raped by some Ghouls, I dunno what type they were but they were fucking tough, good job I have some stealthboys, I'll just sneak past them while they fight the robots. I've also been playing quite a bit of DJ Hero, I'm trying to 5 star every song on hard, it was going really well but then I got to some fucking Scratch Perverts song, the Freebird or Green Grass and High Tides of the DJ world.

I haven't been playing this game as much as I wanted to, 3 reasons really. 1, After milking Mass Effect 2 and jumping right into Fahrenheit I'm fucking done with games for a bit... fucking burned out. Just been playing tiny bits of DJ Hero since. 2, Its too fucking scary, I get back from a hard days work and I don't want to go through the stress. I can only manage it on a dead weekend 3, And most importantly, its buggy as fuck. Now I don't know if its because of the way the hack boots the disc or it is inherently fucked. The most distracting thing is the frame rate randomly drops, you can be walking around fine but you go back to an area, where it was smooth before and it drops to 10 frames a second, nothing has changed, its not like there are 10 ghosts floating around, its just the same as before but it chugs like a pro. My favourite bug is the one where you go through a door, say the door to upstairs corridor and you go through it and end up in a window in the downstairs dining room. The funny thing about this is I thought it was some 4th wall shit because I know Suda51 was involved, I thought I was getting fucked with but going into the next room took me outside the game, where its all black. Its happened twice in 3 hours 30 mins and you have to turn the thing on and off again and reload an old save. I guess thats why its not getting released because it needs another 2 or 3 months in development... its not done yet.. put it back in the oven. Its really annoying because when its running its brilliant, structurally its like early Resident Evil, exploring and weird puzzles, combat is like Resi 4, its clunky and you are always running for safety, finding somewhere to plant yourself and unleashing hell... camera style. But it has that heavy and intense feeling of Silent Hill 2. Its exactly the type of game I could loved to bits but its fucked, proper fucked.

I think I know why I stopped getting excited about games for a bit, I've sourced the problem. I really looked forward to Assassin's Creed but I ended up hating it. I think from then I was like I'm not getting hyped ever again, I can't take another Ass Creed. But when you're not proper excited about a game and it ends up winning you over, its awesome. Arkham Asylum did that to me, wasn't to fussed but it blew me away while playing it, you don't get that if you're bouncing off the walls all the time.

Teaser trailers are always shit. I just put it there for the craic.

That thread about being excited by games reminded me there is something.. This. <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Some details have been mentioned in ye old paper publications. There will be a hardcore mode where you have to keep yourself fed and watered and you're not simply good or evil, actions seen as shitty in one area you will be loved in another. Bethesda aren't making it, Obsidian are, famous for making sequels to other peoples games but its founders were involved in the original Fallout games so it should be fine, and rushed ending aside, what they did with KoTOR2 was awesome, there were some really memorable characters in that. Infact if KoTOR was a song then Obsidian's sequel was like on of those rare covers that is brilliant. I'm getting on this hype train since you're a miserable fuck if you don't get excited now, anyone else?

Since everyone is cool with it I think the music podcast gig should go to Wiivo.

The talky one was good, loved how it was unedited at the end, it was like an insight in to how it works. I get what Jimbo means about ME2, I didn't get into it right away... but I was into it 10 hours in, and it doesn't take 30 mins to scan a planet, I must of said it a billion times but I hate it when people exaggerate. It did need more knob jokes, mind.. The music one was great, I liked the voice too, it was like the radio station Journey in GTAIV. It was an awesome selection too, apart from mine, natch.

I don't get too excited either, I was giddy about ME2 but I can't remember one that gave the same effect, maybe a console launch. I look forward to playing plenty of new releases but proper Christmas Eve at 7 years old type excitement is very, very rare now.

Thats it! Could of swore I clicked on that thing.. Done now.

Dudes, how do I listen to episode 50 now 51 is over it? I know you can do this, I've done it before... but I can't remember how. There's a list somewhere isn't there?

Whaaaeey!

I love the way Dunkster's posts look like hippie poetry. I read that earlier today and didn't get it, now I do. Oh well, back to being slow.

03/01/10 - Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3). 06/01/10 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360). 08/01/10 - Jade Empire (Xbox). 12/01/10 - Bayonetta (360). 12/01/10 - A Boy and His Blob (Wii). 13/01/10 - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3). 13/01/10 - Left 4 Dead 2 (360). 16/01/10 - Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii). 24/01/10 - Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Xbox). 07/02/10 - Mass Effect 2 (360). 10/02/10 - DJ Hero (PS3). 11/02/10 - Chime (XBLA). 14/02/10 - Indigo Prophecy (PC). Thats right, not Fahrenheit, only the yank version is up on Steam. See the thread for more details, loved the narrative parts, hated the action parts. Also, its the first PC game I've ever finished... I'm a PC gamer now.

I just finished it. I both love it and hate it, while I didn't mind the QTEs so much at first I started to dread them at about the halfway point, some sequences are really long and when you fail them, which I often did, it was right back at the start, it doesn't help that most are seemingly random then finish off with one action that represents what you are going to do on screen. The basket ball match? pure, lengthy shite. Parts like the intro are dotted about and I wish more of it was like that. I really liked the story, I even didn't mind the mad plot twist but that could be because I was half expecting it, I knew it had some sci-fi nonsense in it but thats all I knew, not exactly what. The relationship between Carla and Lucas is stupid, it came out of no-where, it was unbelievable. I'm hoping Heavy Rain will not have as many issues, going from the demo I can only assume that the action parts are done much better and hopefully some better character development is in there, not to say its bad here, just that one sub-plot, the rest was pretty solid.. in an intentionally vague sort of way. I guess it has a bit in common with Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Great stories but with some crappy gameplay. Though I would say Dreamfall is better, that is enjoyable just not well made, where as the way QTEs are used here its just a pain.

There's strategy to Pokemon, Dragon Quest, Persona etc. This is really my issue with it, WRPGs used to be sluggish hack & slash things, including the old Fallouts to an extent. But the term has changed, and now Fallout, which plays like a 1st/3rd person shooter, is a WRPG, yet something like Yakuza isn't classed as a JRPG. If the definition can be so broad for one then it should be for the other I agree with Bob that it's all semantics, but disagree that it's just picking a fight, more that 'JRPG' is such a large genre banner (japanese rpgs) yet discounts whole swathes of its games. What people generally refer to as JRPG's are 'Turn Based' (as are strategy rpgs but that's another matter), they use (in my humble opinion and all that) the large banner to describe the small. The only other similarity is the anime art style, but that's superficial I never thought about it that way. Even action games like Bayonetta and God of War have a kind of level up system but if I were to give them a label it wouldn't be an RPG. You're right, when Fallout 3 borrows from the FPS its seen as an evolution of the genre, and when Yakuza borrows from beat'em'ups no one can see the evolution of the genre, I must admit, I was about halfway through Yakuza when I was sorting some items and equipment I realised how many RPG elements it has, coupled with the heavy narrative, I guess it fits in perfectly. I've no idea where I'm going with this, I guess having labels and genres helps when someone is explaining a game to you but games are so diverse now, with 3rd person shooter WRPGs, open world racers, RTS brawlers and stealth platformers (probably) it doesn't always work. Like I said, no idea.

Exactly. Western RPGs are hardily the most original games, over the last few years there have been some amazing examples from Bethesda and Bioware but for every Oblivion there are 10 Two Thrones, games with terrible voice acting, nonsensical plot and shit characters in a Tolkien-esque dressing. Sounds a lot like JRPGs to be honest but amongst all the androgynous leads with amnesia there are more original examples of the JRPG, the Persona games and Valkyria Chronicles. Thats not to say the genre doesn't need a kick up the arse, it does, it probably is the least progressive genre but great examples do exist now and in the future. I'm really, really looking forward to Infinite Space.

I liked the Heavy Rain demo, too. It isn't always obvious what the QTEs are going to do but the action sequences were a marked improvement over Fahrenheit's. The detective parts made me want a full on Phoenix Wright console game. I also found it very dark, not in tone, literally couldn't see.

<embed src="http://cdn.springboard.gorillanation.com/storage/xplayer/yo033.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="620" height="375" swliveconnect="true" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="e=4bffc0037b3a3a49328d685cccfc7c21cc002973d57a44951a38fddf065f5c696a66be9b89ee2d2f0947d4e15d253124c7d296b9a2a5d695fdd446d15f64f11765e48a3d71ea9b28f3c2db0a048a62a02723d09accafe3f4ff222bb8b0&width=620&height=375&pid=dest002&autostart=false&allowscriptaccess=always&usefullscreen=true&esnapshot=4bffc0037b3a3a493b90685cccfc7c21cc002973d57a44951a38fddf065f5c696a66be9b89ee2d2f094ccde2702233248cc5acabb2a1c298eade4b9a1869fa1f32b8d76936b6c068b683c70a008a7ca63b3d95da84&trueurl=http://www.destructoid.com/"></embed> Check out Leona Lewis playing FFXIII and reciting a press release.

03/01/10 - Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3). 06/01/10 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360). 08/01/10 - Jade Empire (Xbox). 12/01/10 - Bayonetta (360). 12/01/10 - A Boy and His Blob (Wii). 13/01/10 - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3). 13/01/10 - Left 4 Dead 2 (360). 16/01/10 - Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii). 24/01/10 - Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Xbox). 07/02/10 - Mass Effect 2 (360). 10/02/10 - DJ Hero (PS3). 11/02/10 - Chime (XBLA). I only bought it because it was for charity, turns out its good fun as it is. I'm still not 100% on how you get great scores but I like to just chill out to it, just break some blocks and listen to its ethereal soundtrack.

03/01/10 - Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3). 06/01/10 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360). 08/01/10 - Jade Empire (Xbox). 12/01/10 - Bayonetta (360). 12/01/10 - A Boy and His Blob (Wii). 13/01/10 - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3). 13/01/10 - Left 4 Dead 2 (360). 16/01/10 - Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii). 24/01/10 - Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Xbox). 07/02/10 - Mass Effect 2 (360). 10/02/10 - DJ Hero (PS3). I've done all the whole setlist on varying difficulties. I went on hard first but then I was finding it troublesome about quarter the way in so I knocked it down to medium, after a while I found it boring so I whacked it back up to hard for the last few sets. Thats my only problem with it, the difficulty between medium and hard is really big, when you first play it its a chore on the lower settings and too hard on higher settings. Put some time into it though and it all comes together nicely. The soundtrack is great on the most part but a few too many duffers do come up, it is great, it has kept me off Rock Band 2 since I got it which is an achievement, trust me. I'm not done with it yet, there is an alluring gold trophy for five staring all the songs on hard, and I think its possible. That challenge should keep my rhythm action urges satisfied until Rock Band 3.

I can't say first hand but I've read that Bayonetta isn't that easy on easy. I don't think you take less damage or anything, on easy it has an auto combo system where you just mash buttons and complex combos happen, it might help you deal out more damage so it might work, the lack of control may be a problem. You can only try first hand. That reminds me, I must get back to my hard play through on that, I'm probably rusty as hell already.

I'll give Zaeed more of a chance on my next play through, maybe stick him in my party more and see what cockney banter he comes out with. He's an ugly fucker though.

If they add new DLC characters I hope they include them more, I didn't mind Zaeed but you don't communicate with him the same way as the others. You do his loyalty mission and you can check out his souvenirs where he gives you a monologue about it and thats it, it goes no further than that, no reason to visit him anymore. Implementing them as well as characters on disc is probably impossible so I'm not too fussed if no more come along.

Yes.

This is that game that no-one can be arsed to release in the west on the Wii. One thing I should get out of the way is I've never played any of this series before so I don't know how good they are. I'm over an hour in and its okay. At the moment I'm just following clues in a creepy hotel (I think) pointing to the disappearance of my friends, the story is a bit vague but I'm hoping it will become clearer with progress, the fan translation is functional, there has been a couple of spelling mistakes, if I managed to spot them then they're obvious. I have a problem with the controls, they're usable but still counter intuitive, get this. The nunchuck moves you around in a tank/Resi 4 way but the Wiimote moves the camera up or down, and it isn't done using the pointer, just the tilting motion thing.. I forget what its called. It works okay while walking around but then you use the Obscura Camera for defeating ghosts - yeah, thats how you exorcise the ghosts by the way - you press left/right to look from side to side and tilt the Wiimote for up/down.. I don't know why they didn't use the pointer. Finding clues has been a linear affair, you can only find most of them one at a time, after finding it another comes to your attention and you go and find it. Some puzzle solving has been done too, early Resident Evil sorts of things. Another thing I maybe should mention, I'm shit when it comes to horror games and this one is proving difficult to play. In the short session on it I did stand up and nearly turn it off on two occasions, its pretty fucking intense. I think its just the ghost thing, you could be looking around a room and you'll see one in the corner of your eye, you get your camera ready and its gone.. well, its not, its just done its ghostly disappearance thing and you can't chill out and check a dining room out knowing a ghoulie there. It doesn't help that when you reach out to pick something up you have to hold the A button down while the wee girl - yes, you play as a young girl in a bonny dress - takes her sweet time about it, anything could jump out at me! I don't need that!