memories of a Previous adult life

 

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Final Fantasy X review

 I believe that Final Fantasy X is the last game from Square that is really, awesomely good. It was all downhill after they joined Enix, in my opinion (I hope Final Fantasy XIII redeems them). Even FF12 was only average, to me. Anyway, this game is fantastic. Why? Well, let's find out!

Graphics (score 10/10): The graphics are really excellent for the PS2. I believe this game boasts the second-best graphics on the PS2, next to Final Fantasy XII. Although FFXII has the technically better graphics, FFX has much more creative and unique environments, so it's more graphically impressive to me. I guess it's kind of the difference between staring at a shimmering forest made out of crystalline trees and filled with iridescent swirls of light versus a big field filled with...grass...and just grass. So, FFX makes very good use of the graphical capabilities that it does have.

Music (score 10/10): Excellent, just excellent. The music is really quite beautiful, with my favorite song being "To Zanarkand". I even went and bought the soundtrack. And yes, I even like the song "Otherworld", which I've heard some people hated. Now, as for the voice acting... I thought it was great. Why do so many people hate on the voice acting for this game? I really can't figure it out. Other than the scene where Tidus and Yuna engage in fake laughter (it's cringe-worthy, trust me, but at least it doesn't last very long), the voice acting is top notch. I really found no faults with it. If you want to hear truly awful voice acting, listen to some scenes from the first Grandia game (on a side note, I got slaughtered with unhelpful votes for my review on that game; go figure).

Characters (score 10/10): Characterizations are excellent; everyone has a distinct personality and is well-portrayed. I know that everyone likes to complain about Tidus being a "crybaby" and whatnot, but I don't really think that's the case. To me, he's a realistic protagonist. With Final Fantasy 7 and 8, you had protagonists who were already used to battle, and who already had military training. It makes sense that they were used to dealing with stress (whether they actually handled that stress well is arguable, though, but that just makes them that much more interesting as protagonists). Tidus is just an average guy who is suddenly thrown into extraordinary events. In this light, I think his reactions (and subsequent narrations) are very realistic and appropriate for his character. I mean, he was living the good life before (he was a star athlete and living well, for the most part); why wouldn't he be unhappy about getting thrown into a world, which, through his eyes, must've seemed very inferior to what he just came from?! In fact, if he had immediately adopted a hung-ho, "this is so much fun" attitude, I would have found it very questionable. That being said, if he had been excessively whiney, it would've been annoying, but I don't really think that he is. As for the other characters, they all have subtle nuanced personalities, with the standout character being Yuna. So much of the story has to do with her, and she is extremely well developed. I love the fact that this game actually gives us a female character who is quiet, mature, and actually wears clothing that covers her breasts. Seriously, I get so sick of game developers thinking that all female characters must show cleavage, so it's awesome that Yuna actually has a real personality and isn't just eye candy. Not that eye candy is always bad or anything, it's just that I like to have some variety. I really love Yuna though because she is such a strong character without being a stereotypical gun-toting bad-ass female. She simply has a strong will and is dedicated to her morals and beliefs without being closed-minded. To me, she embodies what a "strong female character" should be rather than what Hollywood thinks that term means (ex. Large busted, cleavage exposing woman who wields guns). Once again, I have nothing against seeing that kind of portrayal once in a while, but there needs to be other kinds of heroines too. Too bad they ruin the good thing that they have going here in X-2, the sequel (see my review of that if you want to see how they screw over these fine characters). Whew, enough of my soap box. Overall, I think the characters are excellent, and yes, I even loved Tidus.

Story (score 10/10): This game's story is just awesome. It's one of the best RPG stories ever told, in my opinion. At its core, it's about a group of people coming to question the things that they have always believed in. I really enjoyed the themes of questioning traditional power structures and religious doctrine that is in place in the world of Spira, as well as themes of sacrifice, death, and hope. I don't know if the developers intended this, but you could almost interpret this story to be critique of real-world religions. The game even deals with the idea of prejudice in it's portrayal of the Al-Bhed. On top of these fine thematic elements, the plot keeps you engaged with various twists, culminating with the biggest twist of all at the end of the game. I'm not going to spoil that just in case you haven't played this game, but suffice it to say, it was so emotionally gripping that I actually cried at the end. Well, the story is awesome. What more can I say?

Battle System (score 10/10): The battle system is pretty unique compared to previous Final Fantasy games. Of course, I'm not talking about the turn-based fights; they're pretty similar. I'm talking about the ability to switch party members in the middle of battle. In previous FFs, you pretty much picked a party of three people and stuck to them, never using any other characters. In FFX, they actively discourage this by making each party member have very specific strengths and weaknesses, and having a variety of enemies that require everyone's skills. The fact that you need to switch people mid-battle to accommodate for different enemy types means that you really need to use everyone equally. This is a nice change of pace from the older games, although I still like doing it the old way equally well too.

Gameplay (score 10/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. Let's see...FFX is very well paced in difficulty level, the controls and camera angle are good, and there's a wealth of interesting sidequests to take part in. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. My only small complaint would be that I wish there was a way to skip cut scenes. It's annoying to have to sit through a long cut scene again when you have to re-do a boss battle. Other than that, no complaints at all.

Overall (score 10/10): NOTE this score is not an average; it's my subjective overall score. FFX is a fine and excellent game. In my opinion, FFX is one of the best RPGs out there, and definitely should be added your collection if you're an RPG fan. And for its (currently) cheap price, you can't afford to pass this one up!

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty review

 Let me start off by saying this. Action game fans will be disappointed as there is more and emphasis on storyline and more cut-scenes than actual action(well not realyy but you get my point.) Rpg or adventure gamers more used to a deep storyline and stealth like action will have an absolute blast as I did.
First let me talk about the game characters. People going into this game thinking that you'll play the entire game as solid snake(like I did) will be sorely disappointed. There is a second character, while not as cool as solid snake, he gets the job done. This character has gotten universally panned on many game websites but he isn't as bad as people are saying. In other words don't let a fools opinion sway from buying or not buying the game. Buy it and form your own opinion.

Secondly let me talk about the storyline. It is as deep and as intricate as many major film releases and puts many others to shame. If your one of those people who had to see the Matrix twice to "get it" like I did. You'll need to play this game a few times and pay very close attention to every line of dialogue ever uttered in this masterpiece as you'll undoutedly be stumped by the many plot twists within the game, as they will leave your head spinning with amazement. The story is so good that it has a few thousand people posting theories on various parts of the game ,including the ending, on a bunch of different website messageboards. I mean good god how many works of fiction, let alone videogames, have had people posting theories on it. Bottom line great storyline.

Thirdly the second most important aspect of the game( the first being the storyline.) the gameplay. Many people will be turned off by it's dialogue heavey nature. They'll complain that you don't do anything. Well they can be happy playing games with a throwaway plot( cough Devil May Cry cough, great ACTION game though) but other people who enjoy a good story and great gameplay elements will love the game. There are so many memorable battles in this game like the fight against the new Metal Gear and a fight against a harrier jet that you'll want not only to play it again but collect all the secret items that go along with it. The sneaking around you have to do is so realistic it's scary at times. Another great new aspect to the gameplay is the ability to hold-up guards for their dogtags. Doing this allows you to colect secret items that give you the ability to become invisible(stealth to those "in the know") and the ability to have unlimited ammo. These game aspects encourage you to replay the game which gives this game ungodly amounts replay value, another game aspect that is important to me.

Bottomline anyone who wants to miss out on an awesome game experience just because you don't play as Snake the whole time or because you hate having to listen to storyline that puts many Hollywood productions to shame go ahead. The rest of us who enjoy great gameplay innovations and a deep plot will have quite possibly the greatest game experience of all time. And that's not a stretch of the imagination in any way.

Trivia: According to Wikia, Solid Snake has an IQ of 180 and is fluent in six languages and is the man who makes the impossible. possible!

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater review 10

 he jungle has reopened with a lot more than enough to go 'round
Pros:
-Excellent graphics
-Well done voice acting(Tho some of it is clieche'd/cheesey)
-Great background music(Even the James Bondish theme song has grown on me)
-the 3rd person camera is freakin' sweet!!(No more looking around in 1st person to find out where enemies are)
-fantastic sound effects
-A very destructive arsenal (along with the shotgun, the AK, and the gun that never runs out of ammo, the patriot!)
-One of the, if not the best plot in videogames(Plot twists hit you up, down, left right, sideways, diagonal, reverse, aw u get it! It's seriously much better than sitting through a class to find out about the Cuban missile crisis)
-I never liked hunting for food........till now
-A lot more camouflage offered than before
-Pretty realistic(Keeping a eye on everything: Health, Stamina, poison, cuts, and you gotta aim manually to get a good shot, unless you have the scorpion sub-machine gun(Laser sight, and the M-60 machine gun(Too big to aim through)
-Man Ocelot is so bad, he makes his crew look like natural born killers(Seriously, when I fought him, his troops gave me more of a problem than he did)
-Awwwww... Eva! When Snake is ever hurt, all he needs is some sexual healing(*Sigh* if only that really happened)
-Weird but excellent boss fights, like the old man with the baseball sized eyeballs.(But he can be iced early, just watch out for his wheelchair after assassination)
-Online is the shrimp in the rice. You can team up with people with team death match, capture, and rescue missions, or just flat out kill everyone in deathmatch mode.(And you can be a couple of rumble roses chicks, but ya gotta spend over 50 hours online, something I'm far from doing)
-More snake V.S. Monkey missions(I usually don't play em' much, but yea.)
-The limited edition version comes with a DVD which splices all the cutscenes together and makes it a 3 hour 55 movie, and has a trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4(Although if you have a limited edition version, it's best not to open them, if you know what I mean)
-No Radien, despite Snake is sometimes called Jack, which was Radien's name (I still don't get what was up with that?)
-Also included are the sequels, or rather the 2 games that came after this, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2:Solid Snake(The 2 japanese versions that didn't come out in america; well the second anyway.)
-One of the best endings I've ever seen(Man, Kojima is just a genius. A prequel yet can beat out his earlier versions in endings)
The greatest prequel ever made, with the plot surpassing it's predecessors
The best Metal Gear Solid experience you can find when it comes to plot, no doubt, and if you have yet to play Snake Eater, don't start there, start here.
Cons:
-What is this game famus for? hmmmmmm, oh LONG CUTSEENES AND CALLS(I doubt that will ever change)
-No Radar, which makes it harder to know where the enemies are, and which way they are looking(Altho it's less of a problem with the 3rd person camera, it's still a problem)
-Even with cameo, I get seen as if I were a shadow in broad daylight when I'm standing(Crawling takes a while, but it pays off with a stealth kill, but still)
-Keeping an eye on everything can get repetitive(Like after I healed a gunshot, some butt-monkey shot me with a poison needle)
-Traps are usually hard too see(Like getting stuck with arrows, walking into mines, etc. unless you got thermal goggles)
How could Snake not like James Bond flicks!?(After I saved it once, he talked crap about Bond, and in the 60s Sean Connery was Bond, the BEST BOND. I'd understand if it was Roger Moore, the major had every right to say something back at him)
-Is Volgin gay?(It's just that in a certain scene he seemed that way)

Metal Gear Solid 3 is back, and back in a bigger, revamped way. Metal Gear solid 3 substance, is definitely better than MGS VR missions, and MGS2: substance by far. If any game developer is planning to make a game they made much more improved, they should check out how better this game is from the regular MGS3. This game is definitely recommended for those who love the MGS series, and those who love stealth games. Even if you have the regular MGS3, grab this, and if you never played MGS3 grab this. If you wanna be in a videogame where survival is not in a horror game, check this out. If you have a PS2 and don't have this game, someone should serve you up with a facial slap.

Jade Cocoon 2 review

 THE GOOD:
A vast array of monsters to train each with their own stlye and flare. A few old favorites make it to the PS 2 like Levant, Mu, and Ra. The Sweet Knights are cute (they remind me of misty and her sisters from pokemon). Battle in tournaments. Take up jobs like a bounty hunter. Find a vast amount of different and unique items (like sweet knights collectibles). Evolve during a battle to give you the edge.

THE BAD:
Merging is possible but you have to merge with a base set and it doesn't change their appearance all it does is cause them to revert back to their baby form. You can't capture any more you have to find or buy the eggs. The main character can't fight normally like Levant could. The beast emulate battle type in my opinion isn't as good as the original battle type from Jade coccon one. No anime cut scene like the originals opening. Your monster can only know two fighting techs at a time.the battle system is totally different from the battle system in the original Jade Cocoon. You cannot select which enemies your beasts attack when you are fighting, if there are multiple enemies; and your beasts can only use the type of elemental attack that they are aligned with on your beast amulet.

First of all, all of the features that made Jade Cocoon fun and interesting, such as catching monsters and breeding them and coming up with totally new monsters, breeding monsters to have a variety of available attacks within one elemental power, and upgrading armor and weapons of the player character as the game progresses are TOTALLY ABSENT FROM THIS GAME.

SUMMARY:
In my opinion this does not stand up to the original. This kid will always live in Levant's shadow in my eyes.

Genki is due for a ps3/psp remake

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days review

 I've been looking for a game like this ever since I played FF Tactics. FF Tactics was ok but I don't know it was just annoying for some reason. I don't really know how to put it.

But with Cursed Memories this is simply not the case. On Tactics I've always tried to get monsters on my team but it was hard but with this game all I have to do is beat an enemy and I can automatically recruit it into my party.

Another thing I like is the level up system. I'm not sure what the limit is you can level up to but you can go far past 100 and your stats can get into the hundred thousands!

Another thing I would like to mention is that you can literally put hundreds of hours into this game with all of the extra stuff you have available. Such as the Item World. The main storyline, if played perfectly throughout the entire game, is about ten hours long but with all of the extra unlockables and secret bosses this game could be the longest game you've ever played.

One last thing I would like to say is that the further you get in this game the better your gaming skills will get. I am on the final chapter of this game and I have noticed a major increase in my gaming skills. So if you want to be a gaming expert and show off in-front of your friends, get this game. Be warned though, this is not an easy game. Some battles can take days even weeks to figure out a solution but it's well worth it once you've beaten that tough fight. Some battles may seem impossible to win but I assure you there's always a solution you just gotta have patience.

So in conclusion, if you love challenging strategy games and want to push yourself to the limits to be the best gamers in your neighborhood than this is the game for you. Buy it! Trust me you won't be sorry!

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence review

 Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is the best of the 2D Castlevania games done in 3D. Anyone that thought that a 3D Castlevania couldn't be done right think again. This game is pure Castlevania. Fantastic graphics and sound, and the most important, awesome gameplay. Everything is in this game: whip, hearts, knives, axes, holy waters, and the classic enemies awesomely done in 3D, like flea man, skeleton, golden knight, peeping eye, etc. Like in Symphony of the Night, you can walk in the Castle as you wish, and have relics that enable magic powers. You also collect money to buy items, and can sell them as well. It is very nice to see this fantastic game series that started on the MSX (and got popular on the NES) so well done today, that's why i cant await for Ninja Gadein on Xbox. Don't be a fool, buy Castlevania: Lament of Innocence right now. Those who enjoy the side-scrolling elements of SOTN or the follow on GBA games will find only a few places where platforming makes much of an appearance. While it may not have the RPG depth that other games in the series have, it's not meant to. The M rating seems a little extreme; though there are some areas where it gets bloody, It's hardly in the range of Silent Hill or Resident Evil. If you let your kids play the other 2D Castlevania games, chances are there's nothing in here that will freak them out. For those hoping this would be a 3D version of SOTN, well, it isn't, and frankly, it wasn't meant to be. As a 3D action/adventure game in its own right, however, it stands up very well and should be considered a worthy installment.

Radiata Stories review

 

This game has one of the largest list of playable characters of any game I have ever seen, almost any character you meet can join your party. It has more then one ending and The general pay off for play is pretty interesting as a whole. You can follow any character you encounter in the game through out the city during the day and night and see were they spend there time all day long. The characters also say something different to you depending on were they are. As you befriend and meet more characters who would not mind being in your group you are then capable of getting others to join you if there in your group or any other number of suggested things. The interaction with the other characters in this game is a big jewel of this game. But the game play and over all content and feel is also a big plus, the art style is great and seems to lend to the developer trying to get the most out of the game. I would greatly recommend this game to any player who likes story and development during play. Because growth and characters you make friends with and a number of other things affect players you can party with along with a number of other things Its a great take as a whole to how you might enjoy the game.

Suikoden IV review

 Whenever you have a series of games, you often run into a clunker somewhere along the line. For the Suikoden series, the 4th installment more than fits that description.

In the other Suikoden games(1,2,3,5) the plot, in depth characters, and sheer enjoyment of finding the 108 stars of destiny are extremely well done. Not only does this game fail miserably in those aspects, but just moving around the world is a tedious act.

Since the game takes place in the island nations, you spend much of your time sailing around in your ship. Unfortunately the random battles in this game are also very high. I have nothing against random battles, and often enjoy them. However, a battle every couple seconds while moving around the world map is a bit extreme.

This game is extremely short,(actually a blessing) which is probably why you have random encounters every 3 seconds, otherwise this no plot game would last 10 hours. The only positives I can say for the game are the very nice looking graphics, perhaps the best in the series. However, I would gladly trade the graphics for a much better plot and character development.

Fortunately, Suikoden got back on track with the 5th installment. I can only recommend this game for those of you who must have every game in the series.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King review

 The mechanics are very simple and very old-fashioned. You decide all of your characters attacks/whatever at the start of the round, and then then round plays out. Unlike older game though, this game is (usually) very finely tuned. Enemies throughout the game provide a consistent challenge, but not are not overwhelmingly difficult (as long as you plan your rounds intelligently). This turns the relatively simple battle mechanics into genuine strategy because the choices you make actually matter; there isn't usually a best-for-all situations attack setup. Unlike final fantasy games, you won't just be pressing the X-button a bunch to get you through the random encounters.

The game does have some nagging old-school mechanics that weren't finely tuned though. The aforementioned random encounters are *extremely* frequent; get ready to fight a lot. Combine this with random encounters that aren't pushovers, and its hard to play this game in less than 2-hour chunks and expect to make progress (unless you're just running through a city and managing gear/inventory).

Additionally, it has the old JRPG standby of enemies having numerous attacks (some very weak, some very powerful) that they perform at random. This means the same battle can be very easy or very very hard depending on whether they do a sort of average of their moves, or if they hammer you with multiple "power" attacks. This rarely happens with random encounters, but is a big problem with boss enemies. There have been multiple bosses that wiped my entire party out from full health to dead without me getting a turn in between.

Fortunately, death is not a game-over in this game; you go back to the last place you saved and have everything you've accumulated so far (items, xp, etc) except your gold total is halved. Early in the game you're so broke from buying items its not a big penalty, and later in the game you can find banks to store your excess cash and protect it from this (you have to go and withdraw the money before you can use it though).

Also, its not possible to play this game without noting on how beautiful the graphics are for the PS2. Even after being used to HD graphics, this game still looks great for what it is. I'm usually not a fan of the artist's style (Dragon Ball Z), but I can't deny that the art direction in this game is top notch.

One final issue: the game is too long by about 20%. Its rare that I complain about a game's length, but the main motivation for playing this game (finely tuned encounters/strategy; not the story) wears thin past the 60 hour mark.

So, to sum up, this is a game with old-school sensibilities (and problems) that is very finely tuned, challenging and beautiful to look at.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time review

 The great thing about Star Ocean is that its characters have very fresh and unique appearance, they have personalities that you want to learn about, and the most important: it has a very interesting plot. Do not expect length and fancy CG cartoons, there are a few, but the selling point is essentially the plot and many distinguished characters. You travel among different spaces and times, including sci-fi future scenario with advanced technology, medieval times in so-called under developed planets. The main character is a typical teenage boy, lean, tall and a bit cute. The dubbed audio isn't bad at all - though I always prefer the original Japanese. Most of the voices are great and build on the personalities. I highly recommend you get some kind of guide to walk through this game. You can certainly get free ones online. One that I found is very complete, though the offical guide is still great because it has the maps. The world in Star Ocean can get quite large and get tiresome at times. The good thing is that you can always run away from a lot of stupid monsters that you don't want to deal with. Finally, sit back and enjoy the conversation.