Well it seems like school is catching up with me Dtoid. Another late report, but I'm not off the case just yet, hopefully Ill finish up the next 3 games that I have beaten after these ones. Luckily this time these games aren't Mega Man games, so yay, break time! After these though, its straight back to some Mega Man, heheh. Anyway Dtoid thanks for listening. 45 games left to go!



Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow – date beat Feb. 17



Impressions:

Having lucked out at a recent run at gamestop, I found Dawn of Sorrow and knew I had to play it! Being the first DS Castlevania game and sequel to Aria of Sorrow I knew I’d like it at least. But as soon as I loaded up the game I realized how little I remembered from Aria of Sorrow, barely remembering the army dude and Soma and completely forgetting everything else. On the other hand the game played exactly how I remembered Aria of Sorrow played. The story was more interesting this time around with an evil cult trying to bring back Dracula through the dark candidates which were miles better than the villain in AoS. The characters most certainly had a bigger impacted on me compared to Aria of Sorrow considering I actually wanted to get the good ending because the ending I got was just so dumb I had to find the better one!

Which brings me to my next point, how was I supposed to know how to open the doors for the spirits you obtain? You only see them twice in the game and it’s never explained in the actual game. I didn’t care to look in the manual because I thought it had some significant to the plot, but nope! That is really my one big complaint of DoS, as the other times I got stuck I realized how stupid I was being or how I overlooked something. The rest of the game was great though because it was all about exploring and learning boss patterns which I love and it was always challenging along the way. The game difficult was just right, and the fact that there is so much game content I haven’t even touched makes me happy that I have something to go back too. Got to say I enjoyed Dawn of Sorrow far more than Aria of Sorrow, although I could do without the gimmicky touch screen seals.

Conclusion: Dawn of Sorrow left a far bigger impression on me than Aria of Sorrow, and I don’t think it’s because I played it last. No, Dawn of Sorrow actually builds on the characters while still delivering the same fast paced gameplay and exploration I have come to know and love about this series.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – date beat Feb.18



Impressions:

Meet Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Wii. That may seem like a backhanded comment, but that’s the reason why I like this game. Admittedly it doesn’t have the same charm as 8 bit games usually do, but this game makes many callbacks to SMB3. For one thing the Koopa kids finally make their return to the Mario universe again, and all their quirks are still there and as fun as ever. The music also makes a lot of cues from SMB3, and considering that SMB3 had some of the best gaming music ever in turn makes NSMB Wii have some amazing music. The game is also challenging like SMB3, not only are the levels and enemies difficult from time to time, but you can’t save till you beat a castle, with this simple element, 1ups and items become far more important and really makes you tense when you are on those last lifes! And if you’re still not satisfied there are branching paths and star coins to collect to make your life in NSMB Wii all the more difficult! Nearly everything about this game makes fans of the original SMB3 nostalgia all over again.
So why didn’t fans or myself gush all over it? Well it’s honestly just more of the same. There is just something missing or offbeat about NSMB Wii, that doesn’t compare to SMB3. Perhaps I’m just too old to appreciate it as much as I did when I was 6 playing SMB3. Or maybe it’s because the physics feel very weird to me, and don’t response like I think they will. Really it just falls short compared to SMB3, and unlike Super Mario World which gave so many secrets and so many levels then you knew what to deal with, NSMB Wii just doesn’t give enough and merely feeds to nostalgia. The quality itself isn’t bad, but it’s not inspiring, like a copy cat, for what once was there but now is gone. I’ll admit that Co-op makes this game far more interesting and challenging to a whole new degree, but single player should really provide more than it did.

Conclusion: New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a copycat of Super Mario Bros. 3, and while that isn’t exactly a bad thing, the fact that it doesn’t provide a lot of new and interesting things to deal with or play with is. Never the less the nostalgia I felt playing this game was a treat, but not enough for me to like this game more than its predecessor(s).

Sonic Rush Adventure – date beat Feb. 20



Impressions:

Having played Sonic Rush and a little of adventure I was looking forward to playing this game once I got it. Boy was I surprised how fast I beat it too. I suppose it is as long as the advance series and rush were, but I think the reason I beat it so fast was the fact the game isn’t difficult to any degree, save for the chaos emeralds. And as a long time Sonic fan I have to say the levels aren’t memorable or nearly as fun as the past levels in other handheld Sonic games. This again steams from the difficulty, as I pretty much Blazed (lol pun) through each level and whenever I died I simply restart from a varies amounts of checkpoints throughout the level. The game is extremely generous to the point that game over’s are simply “try again screen” and your back at the exact Act you were last time. Can’t say the game wasn’t fun, it totally was, but it’s not nearly as rememberable as past handheld games were.
I also have to say the story was bad, terrible bad. The fact that Marine is with you throughout the whole story and with a constant heavy accent that I’m pretty sure is offensive to some degree just doesn’t make this story enjoyable. Little alone is this story really interesting to began with, but it just feels really sloppy. The antagonists, Johnny and whiskers, are also rather dull, and the actual antagonist(s) doesn’t even show up through the main story, which feels rather shoe horned. Overall a lot of this game is forgettable but there is one saving grace that I love about this game, transportation mini games! I loved playing the wave rider, ship, and hovercraft mini games. It gave Adventure a much needed variety to it.
Wave riding is fun, and fast paced. The ship mini game is an interesting defending mini game in which you shoot other ships and ammo to make sure you stay alive to reach the goal, and the hovercraft game I swear is a callback to space harrier. The only complaint I have for transportation games are getting the chaos emeralds and the submarine mini game which is just a hassle, luckily these are either optional or not overused so the good truly out ways the bad.

Conclusion: Sonic Rush Adventure wasn’t challenging, and that is the biggest reason why I don’t find it as enjoyable as other handheld Sonic I have played in the past. While the transportation mini games are very fun and have a good amount of variety, it doesn’t put adventure over any other handheld Sonic game I have played.

Sorry this is a bit late Dtoid, been busy keeping my affairs in order and what not. Luckily I'm still as busy as something that is occupied all the time, and have several new games to talk about on my way to beating 60 games I have never beaten before! Sorry for no variety in this one though, Mega Man was really working for me, but I have this funny feeling that I just played this game 3 times in a row...


Mega Man 6 – Date beat Feb. 6



Impressions:

Seems like I’m a bit on fire with Mega Man games and 6 went down quite easily! Overall this game was easy, but a bit tedious. They pretty much handed E tanks like candy in this game and the levels fall off a little short, especially the Mr. X and Wily's castle stages. Although if the stages were longer I doubt I like this game as much as I did. Honestly a lot of this game just felt uninspiring, maybe it was the oblivious,” MR. X is Dr. WILY” plot that just really set the mood to, “Ya, just another Mega Man game, eh”. Or maybe it was coming to realize that Plant Man is totally a thing, and not a joke. Or the over use of Rush Jet Adapter and Rush Power Adapter to make levels have options that way. Really a lot of the game was just lazy.
But for what a lazy game this was, I still think it’s better than 8 or Mega Man and Bass. Now hear me out on this part. The thing about Mega Man 8 was how the level design was about trial and error and overall how it dragged on. Mega Man 6 on the other hand is short and easy to manage, making it an easier game to swallow, not to mention how it has my beloved E tanks. As for Mega Man and Bass, well I rather have a lazy game over a broken one, and yes I’m still quite mad at King Jet. I will admit that MM&B is still a decent game, but only when you play has Bass, but he’s not Mega Man so as a Mega Man game it doesn’t work nearly as well.

Conclusion: Mega Man 6 is a very lazy game, but it still manages to be decent enough to pass. It’s short and easy, but this works for MM6 as a double edge sword as if it was either just one or the other it’s likely that it wouldn’t be as “good” as it is now. Still though, we know Capcom can do better.

Mega Man 5 – Date beat Feb. 8



Impressions:

BLARGH! This game is so annoying! Just everything about it reminds me of all the Mega Man tropes I hate! The levels are full of trial and error, especially Proto and Wily's castle! The fact there is two castles doesn’t help to begin with either! The game constantly damages you and gives you a lot drops making it both easy and difficult pending on your luck. The weapons are next to useless, either they take up way too much energy, or are difficult to aim, or simply just bad altogether. The charged Mega Buster honestly is the only worthwhile weapon out of all of them, and it gets annoying to use because the sound it constantly makes. Also a lot of the enemies require a full charged buster shot a lot of the time, making this game longer than it should with a constant charging and going only to stop and charge again!
Not to mention that the difficulty of this game is all over the place! Bosses ,for the large part of the game, are easy! Wily is simply pathetic in all his forms and the only challenge I got were from Charge Man, Gravity Man, and Dark Proto Man. As well Dark Protoman is crazy overpowered! About 5 shots from his buster will kill Mega Man, making the battle tedious to memorize his pattern. Not to mention his weaknesses are either hard to aim or don’t do much. The stages are a constant mess of difficult ranging from super easy to hair pulling hard! Wave man's stupid shoot'em up part of the stage was horribly executed, why can't I use E tanks? WHY!?!? And don't get me started on Protoman's Castle! That thing was so infuriating! It was just a giant mess of annoying and difficult stages to deal with! Then I get to Wily's Castle then suddenly its back to easy town! Honestly by the time I was done with Mega Man 5, I didn’t like the game.

Conclusion: Mega Man 5 was a badly designed game and I don’t like it. The difficultly goes here or there, and the weapons aren’t worth the time and effort like they usually are. The two castles system is annoying as ever and I really don’t like how cheap the buster is in this game.

Mega Man 4 – Date beat Feb. 14



Impressions:

Going straight into 4 I knew I’d liked it more than 5 or 6, but it certainly didn’t wow me. With the introduction to the charge shot it wasn’t as broke as it was in Mega Man 5 nor nearly as annoying with the sound. The music was pretty good and the bosses were all difficult to a good degree. I honestly could see myself playing 4 again just to go through it or speed run it. But I still have two other Mega Man games to go, and MM7, 9, and 10 are far more fun as a whole.
As for what I didn’t like in this game, well, Ring man’s stage comes to mind. The fact that it not only throws 4 mini bosses at you and several tricky platforms in the beginning wasn’t enough, they give you the hardest robot master to deal with in the end. Ring man’s stage just felt like a total rom hack, and it’s one of my least favorite stages in the classic series. Speaking of unfavorable things, the two castle system arrives again, but this being its first original outing it wasn’t so bad. Cossack's castle sucks if only for the lousy checkpoint system and Wily’s castle is pretty forgettable. Both castles weren’t bad, but they certainly felt tedious. For the big part of it though, 4 is the most average Mega Man game of the bunch, plenty of things that work for and against it.It's just THE cookie cutter Mega Man.

Conclusion: Mega Man 4 is a very average game, and doesn’t really excel in anything really. Aside from adding another castle and a charge shot, nothing was really new, and it’s quite forgettable at most.

Thankfully I am currently hitting an easier patch of games now so the progress on this resolution should pick up a little before it dies down again. Which I suppose is good because next week I'm going to be back in college and working on my associates degree. Still for the time being Ill be focusing my attention on this resolution as well as Mega Man series for a little while. Only 51 more to go people and 10 more months after this one!


Mega Man 8 – date beat Jan. 30



Impressions:

Mega man 8 is another game that I have been holding off on for a number of reasons, but after beating Mega Man and Bass I can finally continue and beat this game. See I am playing the Mega Man classic games in reverse order because my first entry was 9, and aside from a few mishaps, Mega Man 10 being released, I have been trying to stick to this plan. But the other thing that kept me from playing 8 was the levels themselves. There is just something about 8’s levels that bug me, either how long they are or the checkpoint system on them, either way I just kinda stopped playing after beating Astro Man, which I recall was insanely hard for me, as I didn’t have the homing sniper at the time.
Well when I picked it back up I have to say I enjoyed it more than I remember enjoying it and aside from the usual parts I kept dying on I was working my way pretty fast across the remaining levels, then Wily Stage I happened! I was already informed that this stage was annoying and it didn’t disappoint, constantly hearing “SLIDE SLIDE JUMP JUMP SLIDE JUMP” started to really piss me off. But what really got me angry was the fact they don’t even tell you correctly when to slide or jump, once you hear jump you want to jump, but the problem with this is that the screen can’t keep up with you and the platform that is about to appear doesn't so you will end up jumping to early and barely miss the platform. In fact the easiest way to do it was just know when you had to jump and slide and ignore the signs telling you what to do, hence making this part a very big trial and error. I honestly doubt anyone could pass it their first time. Aside from Wily Stage I, the rest of the game was fun and like the Mega Man I know today. The Wily Stages were a good length compared to the rest of the game and honestly made me like it a lot more in the end. Wily wasn’t a big problem, but I still miss my E tanks. After I won I remembered why the cutscenes were so bad, the voice acting is terrible, just pure crap, and with that sober note I ended Mega Man 8.

Conclusion: Despite some levels being too long, and Wily Stage I, Mega Man 8 is a decent game. It isn’t as good as some of the other games in the series but it certainly isn’t terrible. Everything is quite doable and in the end it’s a fun ride, and only remembered perhaps by its terrible voice acting.

Final Fantasy II / Souls of Rebirth – date beat Feb. 3



Impressions:

Having finally beat FFVI as one of my first of 60 games I mean to accomplish I can finally restart my Final Fantasy train to discover more about the series and thus leads me to FFII. See I have beaten all the games that came out to North America to give me a sense of what it was like to be a NA Final Fantasy fan, playing the games FF, FFIV, and FFVI because they were released while FFII, FFIII, and FFV were not yet stateside. I know that FFVII came right after VI, but considering VII was a turning point in the series I want to experience the first half before I get onto the second. Thus leading me to Final Fantasy II and to a lesser extent, Souls of Rebirth.
Starting out FFII I have to say I don’t like how they surprise you with hard monsters if you make a wrong turn. I understand it’s a turret to keep you from exploring everywhere right away and giving you a sense of direction, but I find it very off putting that there is no way for me to escape or survive if I accidentally go where I shouldn’t, thus losing unsaved progress. Other than that, well I love the skill based system, admittedly it involves grinding but honestly it makes a lot of sense and lets me plan my characters how I want. It’s only logical that a character gets better the more they use a spell or weapon. The music was lackluster compared to the original or IV, but the story was better than the original so I suppose it’s a trade off. As for the characters, they are more or less there and really the only character you really get are any sense of are the side characters that join your party, although I have to say the Emperor is an awesome villain if only for the fact he dies on purpose to conquer both worlds in the afterlife.
As for the extra chapter you get after beating FFII, Souls of Rebirth I have to say it’s quite annoying. Considering the fact they give you all the side characters that die during the quest, ones you’re not likely to train or give an afterthought to considering if they may be useful again, it makes things quite difficult to begin. So by giving us some rather useless characters in a dungeon that is just as hard as the last one you just faced in FFII things get out of hand fast. It’s not even harder, but more so bad luck that you’re always up against. And till you are able to become a decent level so you can handle yourself, you still have two more places to go to finish the chapter. Really SoR just feels very unfair in the beginning and it would have been nice if they gave some sort of warning or help along the way. Put really it just comes down to "grind to survive". It’s not even that this little chapter is bad either, I like the idea, the fact there is a parallel between you and your party in FFII, but given the situation it just tends to piss me off more than make me enjoyed by the time I'm done. It’s certainly challenging, but in a bad way, and just by giving a little aid to players in the beginning would have made this whole chapter a lot easier to bear.

Conclusion: I like Final Fantasy II, and I’m sure it’s because of the skill based system. The story is promising from such an old fossil of a game, but nothing compared to later entries. In the end it feels exactly like a step up from the Original, but not exactly a classic like the original. Souls of Rebirth is also a nice addition to FFII, expanding upon its universe, but in the end it just comes out like a bad hand in poker.

Mega Man 7 – date beat Feb. 4



Impressions:

So after finally beating MM8 I am able to go down the list of the other Mega Man games that I haven’t beat yet and 7 is the next one considering that I am going in reverse order. For the most part 7 was the usual fare and frankly enjoyed it so much more than I did 8 or Mega Man and Bass. The music was catchy, the stages weren’t too long and the robot masters were nice. I was able to identify the patterns pretty easily and get all the RUSH plates to form the super adapter, which was pretty cool. I also like the fact that the buster is not only less annoying when charged, but its weakened compared to other installments.
I pretty much blazed through this game though, but I'm fine with that considering I have a long way to go and knowing that I have other Mega Man games to go through gives me some sense of hope in reaching my goal. It’s not even because the game is easy either, in fact I think most of the robot masters in this game are tough to manage, but when you’re good at one Mega Man game you are pretty much good at all of them. Even Wily’s Second form wasn’t much trouble as long as you have enough E tanks and learn how to use W. Coil properly. It was rather embarrassing to find out you have to hold the up button to make them go higher, talk about a big slap in the face! But really what it comes down to why I like this game so much compared to the other two 16 bit games is that Mega Man 7 gave me what I love about Mega Man. Good music, fast pace gameplay, and something that I can play again and again. I know most people out there want each game to be a bit different and have vast improves either graphically or via gameplay, but Mega Man should always have that same type of game play to me, no fancy tricks like in 8 or Bass.

Conclusion: Mega man 7 surprised me, after playing both 16 bit Mega Man games I thought I wasn’t going to like any Mega Man game that was a bit over 8, but 7 proved me wrong! The music is wonderful, the bosses are challenging and it’s something that I can play thru over and over again. Mega Man 7 represents what I love about Mega Man, and although it isn’t the best at it, it’s still pretty good for what it does.

Well Dtoid I finally got done with two games I have been holding off for a while now, both of which were a real pain to finish. After all there was a reason I stopped playing them, but with my new years resolution it was my duty to persevere and finally finish those two games! As an add bonus I was finally able to finish off Dragon Quest IX which I have been playing nonstop throughout this year! Anyway 6 games finished and only 54 more to go!


Breath of Fire (Game Boy Advance) – date beat: Jan.20th



Impressions:

It’s hard to explain how I feel about Breath of Fire. I mean I feel like I can only say bad things about it but I know they aren’t all bad. I like a lot of the ideas that were in Breath of Fire and personally thought they were clever. The first dungeon were you have to use the spring water to constantly heal yourself so you can gain a decent level, or the day and night system which I’m sure was new at the time. Or the character fusion that the thief was able to do, that was awesome! I mean putting 2/3 useless characters and 1 good character together to make an incredibly awesome one? GENIUS! The side quest with the dragon shines was also great and to see it effect the story in the end was cool too. That interesting scene with the Golem or the smart girl that knew she couldn’t win and used time travel?! I mean there are a lot of well thought out ideas here…so why don’t I like the game as a whole?
I guess it just comes down to how much I got stuck in a game. I actually think this is the game that I got stuck on the most in all my history of gaming. I mean starting out its fine, eventually I figure out what I had to do, but it just gets more and more cryptic. Sometimes they were really stupid things that I overlooked or things I simply had no idea about at all. It really came down to me admitting I didn’t know what to do or any idea of where to go and just simply look it up on a guide. It really hurt my pride, but honestly I don’t see myself completing this game without one. And in the end it really just came to me finishing it as fast as I could. I didn’t care anymore and just wanted to end this game. Then when I finally did, I still didn’t know how I felt, I mean I wasn’t mad or anything, just confused. Like “was that fun?”

Conclusion: I don’t know if I truly liked or disliked Breath of Fire. It has a lot of good ideas, but the second half of the game just came to me using a guide to figure out what to do because the game doesn’t tell you at all what to do or where to go, it simply doesn’t give directions. I mean, it’s an old gem but the age really shows.

Mega Man and Bass (Game Boy Advance) – date beat Jan. 21



Impressions:

I like the Mega Man series I really do, but this game doesn’t belong in it. This is clearly Bass’s game, not Mega’s and it becomes quite clear that it is. The way this is design just shoehorns Mega Man in to call it a Mega Man game. I would have like this game a lot better if it was just called Bass or something, but no we get this. Trust me I tried to beat the game with Mega Man I really have, but once you get to jet king tank it’s all luck, ALL OF IT. If Mega gets hit by one metal hand or it destroys a platform your done, that’s it, there are no clear weakness to it nor is this boss easier for Mega Man and on top of that you have 2 more bosses to get through during that stage making the last two quite stressful! I just called it quits and was satisfied beating it with Bass.
Aside from that, what else do I have to say? Well, it’s a 16 bit Mega Man game, strike two! The design on the levels are lazy, a clear example is the dick move know as King Stage 2. You don’t get to really choose who you face when it comes to bosses; there are just so many problems I had with this game! The only real saving grace in it all, really, is that you get to play as the bad ass known as Bass! Bass is awesome, but not even he can save this game from being mediocre at best. Really this game just felt like an afterthought, just something to make money on, it just isn’t good.

Conclusion: Aside from playing as Bass, Mega Man and Bass misses all the points in what makes Mega Man games so great. The levels are often tedious and annoying, levels are on a strict path, and Mega Man just feels shoehorned in this game. This is probably the worst classic Mega Man game I have played, although I'm not sure how much that is saying for me.

Dragon Quest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies – Date beat Jan. 24



Impressions:

DQIX has both the honor of being my first Dragon Quest game and one that I got an amazing deal on, I only paid 5 dollars for it new, it was the best day ever! Aside from that, I have always been interested in the Dragon Quest series; I mean they look exactly like Dragon Ball Z characters, what’s up with that! And as someone that was trying to get in touch with my gaming roots, Dragon Quest is a must. The problem I had though, was what Dragon Quest game to start off with? I don’t have the early dragon quests unless you count emulating, and the 5th and 6th are kinda part of a saga. VII is just too expensive for me to get at the time, so it came down to VIII and IX. I decided to go on IX because I like the backwards approach to a gaming series, I did it with Mega Man and I decided to do it with Dragon Quest.
I have to say I love the crap out of DQIX! It reminds me of some of my favorite RPGs: Paper Mario, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and Pokemon. I love the episodic storyline, as it keeps my attention far better than one continuous story does, and a lot of the stories are pretty depressing for such a lighthearted game. I find the best tale to be the one in Bloomingdale where you have to rescue a living doll; just how it resolves is rather heartbreaking yet heartwarming at the same time. The level up / skill tree system is wonderful too, I always loved customizing my characters, and Dragon Quest IX really lets you do whatever you want, and making an overpowered level 1 character is just so fun. I love how fast paced the combat in this game is as well, it just made quest, and leveling so much easier to bare for me The only real downfall I see in this game is the lack of music. Going through it, I think I heard like 4 songs total, and the battle theme is used constantly! Otherwise this RPG is just packed with loads of stuff to keep you constantly entertained! I honestly could spend 2 hrs. on this game and not realize it. Really this just made me fall end over heels to this series.

Conclusion: Dragon Quest IX is packed with loads of content, and customization you can simply waste hours on this game without realizing it! The soundtrack maybe nonexistent and the story isn’t award winning. But DQIX easily crawled its way into my heart as one of the best RPGs I have ever played!

Hello Dtoid, I've come back to you to talk about the first 3 games I have beaten for my 2012 resolution! Sorry it took a bit, Dragon Quest IX got in the way, but no matter, here they are!


Final Fantasy VI Advance – date beat: Jan. 1st 2012



Impressions:

After dragging my feet for the longest time to beat this final fantasy simply because the last dungeon was long and I got stuck on it, I have to say I enjoyed this game thoroughly. Kefka really makes this game for what it is, and honestly this game would be horrible without him. There’s just something about the horrid beast that makes me glee with excitement each time I saw him appear on screen. Aside from Kefka, I also liked the duality of the world of balance and world of ruin. It was neat to see the contrasts between the two worlds and how the game itself kinda flipped gears from simple story telling to a wide non-linear adventure of getting the gang back together. World of ruin didn’t feel like a cliché dark world either, but rather one that truly was ruled when the bad guy won, chaotic and full of despair. Overall I just love all the little things you find out during the second half of FFVI that makes going through the first part far more interesting. Don’t get me wrong though I find the world of balance far more interesting in terms of story and the way they set up characters which makes the whole ride worth it. My two favorite parts in the game were the Cyan and Kefka arc and the opera scene with Ultros.
As for what I didn’t like, well, what was the deal with Terra/ Celes? There both main characters at the same time, yet not, it was just very off putting. The magic only dungeon pissed me off royally as well; even when I knew the trick to it I still kept dying on my way back, and made me quit playing for quite a few weeks. Kefka’s tower was another annoyance, it’s not exactly that I didn’t know what to do; it’s that I missed what was oblivious. Having to go on youtube just to find out how dumb you are for something you missed really hurts your pride. Shadow’s death was also something I didn’t like, but mainly because I couldn’t go back and save him, please spare me internet I know not what I did. Also was a bit perplexed that the Godess gave me more trouble than Kefka.

Conclusion: I have to say that Final Fantasy VI is by far my favorite Final Fantasy after beating it, although I have only played the original and IV to begin with so my attitude may change. I think it blends story, character, and atmosphere better than any other RPG I have played so far.


Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – date beat Jan. 2nd 2012



Impressions:

I always liked the Ace Attorney series, so it was a no brainer to get investigations. I dove right into this game as soon as I got it and was able to finish it quite fast. I personally found this game to be quite easy compared to the rest of the series, Apollo Justice and Justice for All gave me a lot more trouble. Never the less the new setting, characters, and gameplay was a nice change of pace. I can’t say I’m a big fan of the logic mechanic though, seems rather shoehorned in compared to other stuff like the magatama and super sensing. The sprite animation was an excellent addition and made interactions a lot more fun to watch. New characters are interesting and I have to say I really like Kay, the “master thief”, and the new antagonist Lang. Edgeworth as the lead also makes for a lot interesting interactions and its fun to see him on the receiving end instead of Wright for once. I have to say I missed the battles in the court though, for some reason debating on the scene of the crime just doesn’t have the same effect for me.
The cases this time are a full arc which kinda surprised me; it’s about the KG-8 incident and all the events that come from it, as well as a smuggling ring. I often found myself moving a little too fast for the game and would often glare at it for some of the stupid things it wanted me to line up, but overall it was challenging enough. I also find the suspects for murder rather resist and just won’t stay down, it just gets to the point where you shout out “just give up already!!!”. For the most part though it’s the same kind of Ace Attorney game we have come to love and respect.

Conclusion: Ace Attorney Investigations is a great spin off. Totally beats Apollo Justice, and I’d say it’s on par with Justice for All as a whole. Logic is rather tacked on though and the endings to the cases tend to drag a bit, but it’s a fun ride.


Assassin’s Creed –date beaten Jan.16th 2012



Impressions:

I first experienced Assassin’s Creed when I was in college; I got to play it thanks to some dorm mates next door. I was quite impressed with it both graphically and in gameplay so much so that I decided to pursue a 360, although it wouldn’t be quite some time till I actually regretted buying one. Eventually I did get one but I dragged my feet on Assassin’s Creed because it seemed kinda boring after hearing a lot about how repetitive it gets, and boy does it. But as my 2012 resolution I decided to finally go through it all and I have to say I’m glad I played it.
AC really sets up next gen gaming well. It’s big and graphically pleasing. There really is a lot to explore and you can get lost when you do. That’s what makes this game so fun, simply exploring and looking around for your own fun. Assassinating a lot of guards or doing a bunch of roof top stunts. A lot of the fun is honestly missed in the actual missions in the game. I mean once you start playing the story and only the story it gets boring and repetitive. The assassination missions are fine, but info gathering just gets dull. The only thing that really compelled me to keep going was the story itself, which was quite interesting involving some mess with secret societies and government conspiracies, I mean would doesn’t like that?

Conclusion: Assassin’s Creed is a good game. Info gathering is rather dull and repetitive, but when you finally get to assassinate your target it’s worth it. However I think Assassin’s Creed truly shines when you just explore the world and create your own fun.

Well Dtoid I've finally decided on my New Year's Gaming Resolution!

Beat 60 different games by the end of 2012

It came to me easily enough, I was looking at my backlog of games and finally decided that I need to get to it and finally beat all the games I have. See Dtoid, the thing is, I was always rather low on funds and being low on funds as a child I was never quite able to play a lot of games that most others played in their hay day, and while rentals were available I simply can't bring myself to beat something I don't own, wait, that doesn't sound right. So as a young adult I have fulfilled getting games I have yet to experience but considering the rather large pile I have acquired over the years I have, well, not played/ beaten any of them yet, first world problems, you know? I have been too busy in getting these games to begin with that I have not experienced them yet, and thus ruining the very purpose of getting these games to begin with.
What are these games? Well, they range from Chrono Trigger to Final Fantasy 7 to Dark Cloud to Dragon Quest Series itself. I have missed a lot of good/great RPGs and as a collector and gamer I shall make it my duty to go into my backlog and play at least 60 games that I have yet to play and beat them! Of course, not all these games are RPGs or good, but at the very least I need to start cleaning that backlog of mine and what better way then by stating it as a new year's resolution! I mean who goes back on those?!

So for these 60 games I have decided to set a few rules to make sure I get there and do my duty as a gamer, collector, and amateur writer person.
1) It must be a game I have not played before.
2) I have from Jan. 1 till Dec. 31st of 2012 to get these games beat or I guess Dec. 21st (just in case)
3) I must report my impressions of each game I beat to the nice people of the Internets.

Considering that I have a few games already lined up at the end I figure I'd start with those and move up in my backlog. Hopefully this can bring me closer to my gaming roots and make me a better gamer in general. So that's my resolution, I wonder if other people have some of their own...Hmmm I guess I'll never know...unless...