So yeah. If you read my last post, or follow me on Twitter, you know I purchased DJ Hero. I truly did scoff hard at this game when I heard about it.

I said hurtful things like, "I liked it better when it was called Beatmania!" and, "First they alienated my love of rock music, and now techno?! Thanks a lot..."

Then I read the tracklisting. I got tempted to play Daft Punk songs, as well as some of the intersting sounding mash-ups on the game. So yeah, I'm a hypocrite, and yeah you can lol at me all you want, intarwebz. But this game is good, and waaaaaay easier than fucking Guitar Hero. I love rhythm games, but when a game makes it harder to play than the actual instrument itself that's when things stop being fun for me. That's exactly what Guitar Hero did for me, and exactly what DJ Hero DIDN'T do (not that I've ever DJed, but I can imagine that creating your own mixes on a live turntable is much harder than this game makes it).

The game boasts in impressive list of respectable DJs who have mixed songs for your pleasure. You have DJ Shadow, DJ Z Trip, Daft Punk, and DJ AM (RIP). A lot of the songs get reused, but they use different parts of the songs in each mix, kind of making it a moot point. Oh yeah, GRAND MASTER FLASH AND DJ JAZZY JEFF MIX IN THIS GAME TOO SO EAT A DICK. If you have a problem with the music in this game, then this is obviously not the game for you and you have very poor taste in music. In particular, 2Pacs "All Eyez On Me" and Aranbee Pop Symphony's "Bittersweet Symphony" is the catchiest fucking mash-up on the game, in my opinion.

The gameplay could be a little more intuitive, and at times tries to force you to think out of both sides of your brain in ways that are pretty much impossible for me. But it's not bad, and the game incorporates features that let you change the difficulty in the middle of a setlist. This eliminates the frustration of having to start a set all over just to play a damn game.

The crossfade switch is a little tricky; at times being very sensitive, and others not being sensitive enough. The layout of the crossfade on the screen in tandem with scratches and taps makes it pretty much impossible for me to follow what I'm doing when the intensity of the game is at its peak. I can only imagine that this is the same for a lot of people, unless you're the asian rhythm game champ. Be mad at that if you want, but we all know asians own rhythm games forever. But I hope that in the future they let people who AREN'T DJs play this game in beta, and decide to make the layout of the game a little more friendly to those of us who only WISH that we were DJs.

I also wish that there were more original pieces in the game, instead of just mash-ups. Overall I highly recommend this game.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps3/file/958720/57901

Or maybe the other way around. I have to see how well I hold up online with Hakumen. My Shishigami ninpo style has been improved markedly, and my victory percentage is slowly on the rise. Spammy Taokaka players are easy now, and most Jin players are becoming a snap. But Noel, OH NOEL VERMILLION YOU EQUILIBRIUM-INSPIRED SPAMMY BITCH...

I have officially dubbed this game Blaz N00b. Seriously. I don't EVER want to hear anyone bitch about any Guilty Gear cheapness ever again. At least Sol, Chipp, Ky, Axl, etc. all require more skill than just pushing buttons.

Bang Shishigami combo list: http://s1.zetaboards.com/blazblue/pages/bangcombolist/

Need to get some serious practice in some time. Fucking Noel Vermillion...

Also why I will never play online or enter a tourney...

My PS3 name is Disco_Granny if anyone has a PS3 out there.

I've been playing videogames since I was old enough to hold a controller. My first game was NOT a Mario game, but it was Blaster Master. I loved it. I love good videogames, period. I always will.

( Let us begin, shall we? )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_Forever

Either way, THIS is what they should have based the TMNT Smash Up game on. Not the shitty 4th TMNT movie, with 3 Raving Rabbids as unlockable characters in this game (WTF?!).

I might get this movie when it comes out. The Ninja Turtles will always be cool in my book.

But back to the topic of Smash Up. What the hell?! I didn't buy it, because Sonic Team has made me distrust any childhood thing I ever liked being made into a new videogame. There have already been TMNT fighting games in the past (the best one being for the SEGA, in my opinion), and most have sucked. I waited for the reviews to come out, and I knew something was up when the reviews were so very vague about unlockable content, fan service, or anything that a long-time TMNT fan would care about. Here's the generic review of this game (on a half shell!): "This game is for you Smash Bros fans who also are TMNT fans! Yay!"

I've never been one to fully (if at all) base my purchase on someone who gets paid to review games. Instead, I tend to rely on people who actually play games, and aren't afraid to say flat out if something sucks. The people have spoken, and there is an extreme lack of content, and you're better off playing SSB Brawl. I think the amount of unloackable content in Brawl is ridiculous to the point of it actually angering me. Then again, I hate SSB Brawl. The only reason I own the game is for Sonic.

But for them to throw so much content into that game, but throw so little into Smash Up is upsetting. Even if it were just alternate skins for the characters, or clips from the original cartoon. But no. Nothing. Instead we get Rabbids. Fuck this game and, while I'm at it, fuck Smash Brothers Brawl.

Seldom does a game come along that I have absolutely nothing bad to say about. The last time I was truly happy with a game would be the days when SEGA was the 16 bit master of my life. Needless to say, that was some time ago. This was also the first time in a long time that I jumped into a game knowing next to nothing about it, making my judgement solely on the graphics, and was not disappointed. AT ALL.

You pop this game in, and you're greeted with beautiful opening artwork. This is just a small taste of things to come. Since I usually break reviews down into good and bad and overall, this review is going to seem less organized by comparison, as I have nothing bad to say about this game. But let's start with...

GRAPHICS

If you're one of those people who complains about the Wii's limited graphic capabilities, I'll be the first to throw this game in your face. The environments, the character designs, and the cut scenes were all done flawlessly. The style of the game seems to be a hybrid of Japanese scroll art and anime. It's beautiful, and the music only compliments the historic Japan feel. This is what Samurai Shodown would have been if they didn't make a fighter, but a beat 'em up. I feel the need to preface my next statement by saying that this is not meant to be a sarcastic statement. Muramasa is not just a videogame; it is a fucking experience. I started playing it around 6 or seven at night, and by the time I finished Kisuke's story it was almost nine in the morning. I was so immersed in this game I had lost all sense of what time even was. What's more is that I couldn't stand putting the game down until I had achieved total victory. You feel like you're watching a really good anime instead of actually playing a videogame.

Some of the backgrounds are reused, but that's forgiveable when you consider the amount of detail that went into creating each one. Also consider this: it's ancient Japan so a lot of woods and countrysides would probably look kind of similar anyway, right? Also, if you enjoy action games in the same vein as Muramasa, you're not complaining about this since reusing backgrounds and enemy character sprites has been a cost-effective way of creating since the 80's.

GAMEPLAY

At the start up screen you're given the opportunity to choose your destiny. There are three control methods: Wii controls (LOL), Wii Classic Controller, and the Gamecube controller (my personal choice). You start with two difficulties from which to choose. However, upon beating the game once, you unlock an insane difficulty where one hit will kill you instantly.

Once you pick your poison you have two separate stories from which to choose: Kisuke (young, badass ninja type) and Momohime (young princess possessed by a malicious spirit). I played through as Kisuke and hot DAMN. After a brief tutorial to familiarize yourself with the controls you are thrown into the fray.

The tutorial shows you basics (movement, attack button, jumping, etc.), but then shows you what makes this game so cool, I STILL feel like they gave me this game by mistake and gave some cooler dude the lame-o game meant for me. The only times your character is able to walk are during scenes where he/she must deliberately interact with the characters on screen to proceed to the next battle. When he/she isn't doing that, they're running around like a coked out ninja, slicing the hell out of anything in their way. Oh, and one of my favorite game features for any game ever? They can glide through the air. I'll let you in on a little known fact about me: give any character in a game, any character at all, the ability to glide or float down to deliver doom upon the heads of their enemies and I'm pretty much sold on that game (the Legacy of Kain series, Chrono Trigger's Magus, and now Muramasa).

You fight with three blades at your disposal when you're in BATTLE mode, and can switch freely between them with the press of a button. HOWEVER, The blades have their own health gauges ala Samurai Shodown, called "Souls", and when the souls of your blades have charged sufficiently you can perform a "quick draw" attack by switching to another sword. Simply put, this attack ruins the day of any enemy and mid-air projectile coming your way. If you're a fan of ninja/samurai movies, then you know all about Zatoichi the blind swordsman. In homage to his character, the screen turns black and slash marks cover the screen. The only thing missing from this is Zatoichi's catchphrase when he makes everything go black in the gambling parlors. This attack can be performed at any time, as long as you're not in a hit stun, and even works on bosses.

The battle system, much like the entire game itself, is super fast paced and responsive. Basically, if you loved beat em ups of days long gone this game is for you. How fast you attack is dependant on the type of blade you use. There are two types of blades: the long blade and the short blade. The long blade yields high damage and, when used to its full potential, allows you to sweep large groups of enemies up in your path of destruction for big combos and quick victories. It's slower than the shorter blade and I found it best used in boss battles. The short blade doesn't deal heavy damage, but is good if you like fast attacks, and an easier set up for combos. I found this type of blade best used when large groups of enemies attack at once.

To get into full detail of of the battle system would take forever, so I'll sum it up as fast as I can then move on. You have a low stab attack (used to hit downed opponents to continue your combo), a regular stab attack, an upward slash (can be used as a launcher and to hit opponents jumping toward you), a dash slash attack (can be repeated up to 3 times, and is controlled with directional buttons and attack button. Think Chipp Zanuff's Alpha Blade), and a dropping stab attack from the air. All attacks and combos are performed with the game's single attack button, and the directional input. It's easy to pick up and requires practice to master. Once you get the hang of it, though, your enemies are already dead. You can also parry attacks by hold the attack button, but this requires a small portion of your blade's soul meter. Once depleted, the blade with shatter and must be sheathed to heal itself.

To enhance the already deadly abilities of your character, each new blade has its own special "secret art" attack. You perform the blades special attack by pressing the designated button. To limit the use of these mostly deadly attacks, the art requires a portion of your blade's soul. Some arts can be performed in mid-air and the ground, while some can only be performed on the ground. Some add to your combo count while some don't. Either way it's all good.

MENU/MAP INTERFACE

The menu screens are easy to navigate, and the Item Shortcut feature is used to make healing yourself or your blade during battle a snap. The save screen has an insanely fast load time, almost as if the game is as excited about being played as you are to play it.

The map also keeps you moving through the game at a break-neck speed with its super helpful setup. You have two options for map display: keeping the map limited to a view of the current grid you're in or super-imposing the entire map over the game screen. If you think that sounds stupid you are surprisingly wrong. The map's design is in keeping with the wall scroll/anime design theme of the game, and I think it actually COMPLIMENTS the graphics as a whole. The map is just a series of stylish black rectangles and squares indicating the "rooms" of each province. It's relatively transparent, except where items and other helpful things (e.g. shops or shrines) are indicated. As if this all wasn't enough, the map even indicates the direction in which you need to head in order to complete your missions. This keeps you from getting lost and also just plain looks cool. You also have the option of not using a map at all, but I recommend using it since there's no reason not to.

OVERALL

I skipped a lot of other stuff that I enjoyed about the game, but only because if I went into everything I liked about this game no one would read this entry completely. It would simply be too long. It's much easier to review a game with flaws, because then you know what is important enough to mention. This was tougher than writing about any game I've written about so far. I will say this: there is something here for anyone who is a fan of ninja/samurai movies (some of the in-game challenges have titles that reference classic movies) or beat em ups.

The game is fast-paced, blends seamlessly from one chapter to the next, has a good enough story for each character to keep you interested, and is just an extremely user-friendly game overall. Anyone from the youngest to the oldest gamer can play and enjoy this game without feeling it's too hard or not challenging enough. As I've said before, this has done what no other game has done in the past few years: delivered a 100% enjoyable experience without making the gamer make comprimises over the game's flaws. If you own a Wii and do not buy this game then you need to just trade the damn thing in already.

If you're one of those people who didn't get No More Heroes or MADWORL, your last chance for redemption is to buy Muramasa. DO IT NOW.

No More Heroes 2 trailer. THE MINIGAMES ALONE ARE RETARDED BOSS!



Something is wrong with you if you are not getting this game on launch.

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.


Words given to me by soan :

Twitter- I use Twitter. I think it's fun, and allows for more light-hearted updating in the spur of the moment. It's fun to be able to post a quick update from my phone on the spot, or from my computer when a funny thought comes to mind. I don't feel that LJ is the place for updates like that.

King of Fighters- My first introduction the KoF characters was actually Capcom vs SNK 2. I had played very few SNK fighters (Samurai Shodown being one of my favorites at the time) because I didn't grow up around anyone with my interests in gaming, and CvS2 opened the door to other SNK games. Iori Yagami's character design was interesting to me, and I really enjoyed his brutal fighting style. After I learned more about him and Kyo Kusanagi, I started getting into the KoF games. I'm not a pro KoF player, but I love the series.

Earth Worm Jim-Hands down one of the best SEGA games ever. I have it downloaded on my Wii. This game holds a special place in my heart because it brings memories back of good times as a child, and not just gaming memories. The cartoon was also awesome AND LET'S GET THIS RELEASED ON DVD ALREADY YOU PUT SAM AND MAX ON DVD SO LET'S GET SOME EWJ LOVE OKAY THANK YOU BIG BUSINESS.

Guilty Gear-I was actually exposed to this series through a couple friends. I went over their place, and one of their friends was practicing GGXX in training mode. I was blown away by how smooth the graphics, character design, and music were. I've been playing ever since, and own every major installment in the series starting with the first GG for Playstation, and ending with Accent Core Plus. I don't own the XBox RPG-type game because I don't own an XBox.

That funny guy-I guess this means soan thinks I'm a funny guy? I mean I guess I'm pretty funny, so that's cool.

As you all know, I just recently joined the Dreamcast party. So I got some recommendations from friends as far as games to get. I've picked up a few games on my own, and for the most part the Dreamcast is a solid enough system. The biggest problem I've had with the actual console is the controller design (who the fuck OKed putting the cable on the BOTTOM of the controller?!), but it's manageable.

It seems like the largest chink in the Dreamcast's armor was not in the console itself, but the designers of the games. The best example I can provide is the first Marvel vs Capcom. The controller has a D-Pad and an analog. The D-Pad is a monster, and can wear on the thumb after extended use. The smart thing to do would have been to let the player have the option of using the analog, instead of only being able to use the D-Pad exclusively. Sure, you can buy and arcade stick (I got one as an anniversary gift), but you shouldn't have to. It's small things like this that can ruin a console's shelf life. Unless you have giant monster hands, this makes the game extremely difficult to play with precision.

While the Dreamcast is obviously a well-rounded system, and some of the games I have played so far have displayed tight, responsive controls, some games are just terrible.

Which leads my to the main point of this post, and something I'm sure everyone who owns a Dreamcast will be angry over my opinion on: Jet Grind Radio.

( Game review of doom... )

For those of you in this community who may be asking yourselves, "Why would this guy feel the need to specify that it's 'The Movie'? Is it a book? A game?"

( Read more... )

The reason that I went into such depth about the games themselves was to 1. Hopefully turn those of you who like these types of games on to a new one you may not have heard of (the series has a strong cult following, but never gained the mainstream like Silent Hill or Resident Evil did), 2. Show those of you who have never played the game what you could expect from the movie, and 3. Stir some discussion from those who may have played these games, and see what aspects you would hope to see in the movie itself.

I didn't talk much about these games story lines, because except for the first two, they're all very different and have little to do with the previous games. I also figured that a rambled on enough about the individual games that you all would stop reading halfway through if I continued on any longer.

So, to cut to the chase, what are some thoughts out there from those of you who have seen horror games made into horror films? Are you anticipating this title, or are you dreading it?

ALWAYS BET ON TRAVIS!

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/748-Duke-Nukem-Forever

After reading other reviews of this game, I can honestly say that I agree with Yahtzee's opinion. It's just an outdated game created by developers who have no clue what makes a good game these days, and are relying on the fact that "C'MON GUYS IT'S DUKE YO! REMEMBER DUKE?! REMEMBER THE TITTIES?!"

But that's just my opinion.

Samurai Shodown VI has the most disgustingly awesome soundtrack in a fighting game.

BRB SAMURAI SHODOWN ANTHOLOGY

Hopefully you answered "YES" to all three. Why? MUTHAFUCKIN' PUNCH OUT! TOURNAMENT ON THE 30TH!

I'm there. Any other MD people in?