It’s scientific fact that if you want to make nearly anything better all you simply need to do is add alcohol. You name it, dancing, talking to your parents, happy slapping police officers and mildly raping the under age are all activities that are much more entertaining to you and all those involved if you are slightly or very intoxicated with booze and video games are no exception. So without further ado I introduce to you the Marvel Vs Capcom drinking game!
What you will need:
1.)A copy of MvC (obviously) and 2 or 4 controllers. I play with my 3 buddies on the Dreamcast version with a controller each but any version of the game will do and if you only have 2 controllers then you just have to pass the controller to your partner when you swap them in
2.)A method of randomly selecting your characters (I use a hat with slips of paper that contain all the names of the playable characters)
3.)Lots of Booze!!!
This game is designed to be played by at least 4 people although you can have more players and just swap people in and out and the people not playing can referee and keep drinks topped up. Speaking of drinks it doesn’t matter what your poison is as you can adjust the rules slightly to accommodate whatever it is you’re drinking. The way I play involves having a primary drink that is weaker and can be drunk in large amounts and over a longer amount of time i.e. beer/cider/mixer/alcopop and a secondary drink that is much stronger i.e. shots and when explaining the rules when I say drink I’m referring to drinking your primary drink. If you prefer you can forget all that and just stick to one drink throughout the whole game whether it be beer or shots but I think it’s a bit more fun and chaotic to have different drinks and it also helps you get wasted a bit more easily and let’s face it, that’s what counts :-D
If you are under the legal drinking age you can also swap the primary drink with punches to your opponents arm and shots with a slap to your opponents face if you want to get involved..... in fact you don’t have to be under the legal drinking age to do this..... once you’re off your face it’s an awesome way to keep going without chucking up on your beloved Dreamcast. Also drink responsibly blah blah blah....
Housekeeping Rules
1.) Teams/partners must be chosen randomly. Roll a die, cut a deck of cards or whatever but you can’t choose who will be on your team/who you play with.
2.) Characters must also be chosen at random. The way I do this is by having all the characters names in a hat a drawing a name when you start your round.
3.) The players fighting onscreen do not drink. Only their partners/teammates who are currently off screen drink.
4.) When the round is over teams/partners and characters must all be chosen again.
Drinking Rules
1.) If your opponent lands the first attack/hit then you take a shot
2.) Every time your partner performs a super jump you drink (take a swig of your primary drink)
3.) If you partner uses your assist character (pressing medium punch & kick) and your opponent either dodges or blocks the attack then you drink
4.) If your partner gets hit by your opponents assist character you drink
5.) If you swap in your partner (pressing heavy punch & kick) and you opponent blocks their flying kick then you take a shot
6.) If your partner gets hit by an opponents flying kick when they are swapped in then you take a shot
7.) Every time your partner gets successfully thrown by your opponent you take a shot
8.) Every time your opponent performs a tech hit on your partner you take a shot
9.) If your partner gets hit with a super move/hyper combo you have to drink for the same amount of time in seconds as the last number of the combo from the move. E.g. your partner gets hit by a super move that does a 26 hit combo; you then have to drink for 6 seconds. Or your partner gets hit by a super move like Spiderman’s maximum spider that does a 07 hit combo or something like that and you then have to drink for 7 seconds.
10.) If your opponent blocks a super move then you take a shot
11.) If your opponent performs a crossover super move (when both characters/partners are on screen at the same time in real time with infinite super moves) then you drink until the move is over but if your partner counters with a crossover super move of your/his own then you don’t drink as you are on screen and hopefully kicking arse! During a crossover super move no one in your team has to drink
and finally remember that it's not the winning or losing or even the taking part that counts but how drunk you get that counts :D
I'm sorry for ranting and jumping on the EA Rockband hate bandwagon but this is simply ridiculous.
Everyone knows the prices at this point:
Rockband game: £50
Rockband instruments: £130
Total: £180 or $378
I don't know how EA can really justify this price when you can get a Wii for that price and an xbox 360 Arcade is even cheaper than that at £160.
Now the people like myself who still want the game and who are rightfully saying "fuck you EA" are looking at our one other option: importing. The thing is there's a few problems most of which can be sorted out with a little know how except one thing which is ironically the price. What the hell am I talking about you ask? Rockband is half the price in the states right? Technically speaking yes it is but EA isn't the only one dicking us over, online retailers are jacking up the price of Rockband as well for easy profit and then there's shipping. I've been looking around online and I've found a few fair prices for Rockband before shipping and when you consider that the special edition Rockband is pretty big and heavy shipping ain't cheap. Actually the average shipping cost is an extra £50 on top of the price for the game and instruments.
The cheapest price I could get was £155 including shipping off ebay. Of course this is for the PS3 version of Rockband as the 360 version is region locked so for all you 360 only owners I'm afraid you are out of luck.
Now I know you're looking at that and thinking you're making a £25 saving right? Well not quite. Most retailers will be bundling the Rockband instruments together with the game and the average price that I found from Game, HMV, Gamestation and Zaavi/Virgin is £150. So you actually won't be saving that much and then there's the possible dreaded customs charge on top if you import (although I'm not sure on this because I've never imported anything of this size or price before).
There's one more problem when it comes to Rockband on the PS3 and that is DLC. In order to purchase things off the US Playstation store you need a credit card with a billing address in the US. Bugger. Fret not though! because this is easily bypassed and if you're interested then PM me and I'll elaborate more.
So is it worth it? In my opinion if you own a PS3 and want Rockband then yes do import it! If you own a 360 import the instruments and get the game when it comes out. I personally will probably end up importing Rockband for my triple because I really really really want this game especially after I got to jam with fellow dtoiders on it at play.com live which was super awesome!!
Whatever you do though I urge everyone TO BOYCOTT EU ROCKBAND!!! If you have a 360 then you're going to have to buy the game but DO NOT buy the instruments. Here in the EU we keep getting dicked over in the cost of games. A lot of other products are priced fairly when compared to the rest of the world (except rent in central London, spending £115 a week is not very fun) such as CDs and DVDs which cost around £15 and in the US I believe they are $30 which at the current exchange rate is the same. However when it comes to games we are always getting shafted and this is a perfect time to make a stand.
Like most students I have a very bad habit of leaving things to the last minute but it's still before the deadline so I am safe and here's my "rig"
I don't actually have a proper rig, my laptop is all I have but luckily for me it's pretty beefy :-) It's a Rock Pegasus 710 and has the following under the hood:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2GHz, 4MB Cache, 800MHz
WXGA+ (1440 x 900)
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS Graphics
HD DVD-ROM (came with it at no extra cost, lucky me?)
2GB DDR2 667MHz
160GB 5400rpm SATA HDD
Windows Vista Home Premium
It cost me an arm and a leg but hey that's what the student loans are for right? The only problem with it is that the HD DVD drive (yeah yeah I know but like I said I didn't pay extra for it) doesn't seem to fit 100% and when it's reading a disk it can sound like an aircraft taking off. It's even louder than my 360 and even my Dreamcast! If you just touch it though, all most all the noise disappears which is annoying as hell as sometimes I just have to hold the drive while it's reading a disk.... luckily I don't really use it too often...
Anyway I guess I might as well show my gaming set up while I'm at it.
You can see my PSWii60 set up and I've also got a modded slim PS2 behind the TV on top of my sub woofer. Unfortunately because I'm at uni and don't have a permanent place of residence all my older consoles are back home in Wales while I'm here in London or until I actually get a place of my own.
Here's my games collection which is kind of small because a lot of my PS2 games are back in Wales and I also keep a fair few games in those black CD cases. Hopefully I can make up for that though with my collection of signed 7 inch singles and CDs. If not I can distract you with my custom made Dtoid sign that I made for the play.com live event a few weeks ago which had to be censored by EA when we went up to play Rockband. I now use it for raping little children.
So thanks MTV for coming and checking out my crib. Please don't come back and steal anything...
Everyone knows the story behind GTA IV. Once offered to Sony as a PS3 exclusive if Ken Kutaragi gave the word, which he didn’t because he’s an idiot, the game went multiplatform and Microsoft bought exclusive DLC from Rockstar for the Xbox 360 version for the price of a small country. This is well known and has led to the 360 version of GTA IV being the definitive version of the game to buy. Or is it? Personally I’m not sure which console I’m going to buy the game on just yet but I’m leaning more towards the PS3 and I’m going to explain why.
What DLC?
Now I’m probably in the minority but the DLC isn’t selling the 360 version to me. I mean what exactly is downloadable “episodic content?” Ok no shit it’s additional content that comes in episodes but that’s all we know. Does the story carry on after the main game like Half Life 2? Is a new character introduced and the extra content follows his/her story? Is it simply just more random side missions for you to do for shits and giggles? Or maybe cetain missions are expanded in the main game which forces you to replay the game to find out more about a certain situation/character at a certain point in the main game? We also don’t have anything from Rockstar to compare or judge from as they haven’t released any DLC for any of their other games (the extras found on Bully: scholarship edition doesn’t count because they aren’t extra content to increase the longevity of the game).
GTA IV and DLC to me looks quite similar to Mass Effect and its DLC. Both seem perfect for each other but the one extra side mission released for Mass Effect isn’t the kind of content that would make me choose that version over another. It just doesn’t seem deep enough to warrant a purchase and convince me to play the game again. Now I know Rockstar are exceptional when it comes to delivering the goods but for a game like GTA IV I can’t see any kind of DLC really being so good you have to play it unless it’s multiplayer related and “episodic content” doesn’t really fit that bill. While we’re at it let’s be honest, how much variety can you pack into DLC? And if the content was that good surely Rockstar would put it in the main game rather than bonus DLC.
Does GTA even need DLC?
The last GTA games were full to the brim with content with San Andreas sometimes being criticised for having too much to do (even without all the back peddling) and GTA IV looks like the main game will be no different. Think how long it took you to complete those games because for me it took a while. Now while I love getting really immersed in a game and playing it all the time if it’s that good, sometimes I feel that some games are just too long and I just want them to end. To some extent I had that feeling with Mass Effect and Persona 3 which are both games I loved! and I’ll admit I can’t wait for GTA IV and I’ll probably love it as much if not more than I love Vice City (one of the best games ever!) I don’t want it to consume my life for that long, especially when there are other games coming out that need to be played. Also by extending the length of the game you run the risk of losing the magic it captures simply because you play it too much. Portal was awesome partly due to its length. If the game was any longer you would start to get that “been there done that” feeling and the game would stop feeling so special.
It belongs on a Sony platform
Ok let me say that I am in no way more of a Sony fanboy than I am a Microsoft fanboy. I would also be a bit of a Nintendo fanboy but I don’t think anyone in Europe can say that without a hefty cheque as it's borderline illegal. It maybe just a familiarity thing but I simply see GTA IV as a Playstation game. I mean after playing the last 3 GTA games on my PS2 I’m just used to GTA on a Sony machine. I do prefer the sixaxis/dualshock 3 controller for action/adventure games but that being said I had no problem playing Crackdown on the 360. I don’t care about achievements and in fact the only real reason I don’t want GTA IV on the 360 is that I’m paranoid about the RRoD (my last 360 croaked a few weeks ago and I don’t like playing on my current 360 when I don’t have to). Also I don’t really get that much use out of my PS3 so I need something to play on it! And the PS3 will still be getting some DLC so I won’t be missing out on everything right?
Despite all this I’m still not quite sure which system to get GTA IV on. I want it on the PS3 but if the exclusive DLC is really all that I don’t want to be missing out. So to all the PS360 combo owners out there which console are you going to get the GTA on?
[Author's note: I know this topic has already been touched upon but hell I wrote this on the train going back to Wales so I might as well put it up anyway]
Arguably RPGs are one of the most hardcore of videogame genres. They require a lot of time and dedication to complete especially if one wants to find all there is to find in the game. Due to the traditional turn based combat system found in the majority of RPGs and the list of menus and commands, many gamers are turned off by the genre especially if they don't contain the words Final Fantasy in the title.
The Final Fantasy series has the biggest cult fanbase next to Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts series and can stand toe to toe with the Halos and Grand Theft Autos of the Western world in terms of popularity, however the truley devoted followers of these games and genres are somewhat different in the ways they see and play games.
In this blog I hope to flesh out and describe a dedicated hardcore RPG gamers. Of course all of the following points will not apply to every single hardcore RPG gamer out there as everyone is slightly different and has different tastes, so consider this as a kind of checklist that covers a broad range of points rather than a definitive list of what a hardcore RPG gamer is, if that makes sense. Well with that in mind let's begin!
Story > Game Mechanics
Every RPG gamer will tell you that the most important asspect of an RPG is the story. A good story can make an RPG with relatively boring game mechanics a good RPG and this can be seen with Mistwalkers latest epic Lost Odyssey. Likewise an RPG with excellent mechanics and a crappy story will lead to an average RPG at best which unfortunately can be seen in games such as Grandia 3. It is this preference in story that tailors a hardcore RPG gamers mentality towards a lot of games.
Personally a game with a rich story is more likely to grab me than one with a weak plot. If anything it keeps me playing just to see what happens next. Halo 3 apparently had a decent story, however I failed to see it and to me the plot seemed only there to give you a reason to shoot people. Apart from Bioshock, I find that's the case in most FPSs. I couldn't for the life of me explain the story of Call of Duty 4 or Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 apart from there are terrorists and you go kill them. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction was a game that had me playing for the story and charming characters, although less so than say Persona 3.
Graphics
Any real gamer will tell you that graphics come second to gameplay and this is none the more apparent than in RPGs. Whereas games of other genres can be super seeded by better versions that came out after the original, classic RPGs are truly games that stand the test of time. Games such as Super Mario Brothers on the NES may still play fantastically today as it did when it came out but there are better iterations you can play from Mario World to Mario 64 and Galaxy. Chrono Trigger is a game that many still regard as one of the greatest ever made despite the dated 16-bit graphics and presentation. Due to the fact that every RPG is unique in their setting and story, classic RPGs are truly irreplaceable and cannot be duplicated, much like a classic book. Sure they can take the ideas from one and make a better game/sequel but no matter how much better it is, it will never be quite the same and anyone whose played the majority of the Final Fantasy games can attest to that.
With the PS3 and Xbox360 being the graphical powerhouses they are pumping out beautiful games such as Eternal Sonata, uncharted and Assassin's Creed it's hard for a game that doesn't look as good to stand out. One of my favorite games of last year Persona 3 may not be as easy on the eyes graphically as those games but it can still stand toe to toe with them simply becasue of the rather unique graphical style.
A lot of amazing games I remember playing when I was little end up being really disappointing when I go back and play them now except for the RPGs. Some of them look horrendous like Panzer Dragoon Saga, but despite the graphics the game is still as good if not better than anything I've played recently.
Innovation?
Every gamer loves innovation. Hardcore RPG gamers are no different however, they are a lot more forgiving when there is a lack of it. Using Lost Odyssey as a recent example, the game received a fair amount of criticism due to it's traditional roots (turn based battles, random encounters etc) but any fan of RPGs can easily overlook this fact. After all the game is beautiful and the story is epic. The Dragon Quest series is as traditional as you can get with it's low damage turn based battles and game structure of town -> plot point -> dungeon -> repeat but that doesn't stop the games selling as much as Thuper Hardcore fails. Although one could also argue that RPGs are one of the most innovative genres in gaming from Final Fantasy XIIs gambit system to Mass Effects enhanced dialog trees.
Emotional Attachment
So hardcore RPG gamers love great stories but there are a good number of games outside of the RPG genre that have great stories. So what is it that's missing in those games that prevent the same cult following? It may seem obvious but a great story needs great fleshed out characters. This is what makes the Dragon Quest series so good and it's what gives hardcore RPG players the drive to really get absorbed in the games. Not only do they allow themselves to get stuck into the world of the game but they allows themselves to get emotionally attached to the characters more so than any other gamer of other genres.
I hated Andrew Ryan in Bioshock, I felt like a comrade of Cpt Price and Gaz in Call of Duty 4 but after I finished those games I quickly felt no emotional connection to them. That being said I still hate Sephiroth, Kefka and Luca Blight while Junpei and Yukari still feel like my friends and teammates. The most memorable parts of an RPG are not always the huge plot twist moments but rather certain moments you have between yourself and some of the characters.
*potential spoiler* The most memorable part of Suikoden 2 (one of my favorite games) for me was when you finally came face to face with Jowy at Rockaxe castle. It's not the most memorable part of the game because of what actually happens which is quite a plot twist. It's because it's the first time you come face to face with your best friend Jowy and with neither of you able to stand down it looked like you had no choice but to fight each other, despite Nanami's pleas not to. You knew that confronting Jowy was inevitable but when it actually happens it still feels like you're turning on your brother. *end of spoilers*
Fanatics
Now while lovers of Halo 3 love it because of the gameplay and multiplayer, lovers of RPGs fall in love with specific games because of the story, characters and the world in which they inhabit. Some can fall in love to such an extent that they wish to be their favourite characters and as a result many of them cosplay. Now I know this doesn't just apply to RPG fanatics but I can guarantee that if you go to an anime or cosplay event you will not only see enough Naruto and Sasuke lookalikes to make you see them in your reflection in the mirror but you will see enough Soras, Axles and Clouds to make you feel like you're the odd one in your dtoid t-shirt and jeans.
I <3 Nihon
Although there are notable exceptions, most RPGs come from Japan. As a result a lot of them share many similarities in terms of themes and storytelling methods with other Japanese media, most notably anime. It comes to no surprise then that many hardcore RPG gamers also watch a lot of anime which also explains to some extent the love of cosplay. These similarities shine through and highlights a lot of the differences between Western and Eastern cultures. Since RPGs and anime are so typicaly "Japanese" it's not very surprising that many RPG fans become enthralled with Japanese cultures, especially the otaku subculture. RPGs send you away to a fictional world very different from our own and in the real world Japan is almost like another world found in videogames because it's so different than anywhere in the West. It also helps that many RPGs base their settings on Japanese culture which means it's easy to identify your favorite RPGs with things you see and hear about in Japan.
The Thinking Man/Woman
Turn based combat is the name of the game of many a RPG. This system allows for many different strategies to be implemented and since the flow of battle can change in an instant you have to keep your wits about you while you engage your enemy and adapt or change your strategy accordingly. With the exception of most Final Fantasy games going into a battle guns blazing, unleashing all your best moves from the get go won't necessarily equal victory. Veteran RPG gamers know when to take their time and use their heads to gain and maintain the upper hand whereas I'm sure there's many a hot-blooded Master Chief out there who will charge head first with an assault rifle and plasma grenade to the face. That's not to say that RPG gamers don't rush into things, it's just that they tend to be more aware of doing things at certain times.
Completionists
As RPG gamers get so absorbed in the worlds that they play in, the thought of leaving it can be a bit too much to bear sometimes. As a result many gamers end up doing the large numbers of side quests in the game in an attempt to extend the lifespan of the RPG. They enjoy wondering around and discovering new areas with new secret weapons/items in them to use in their fight to undoubtedly save the world. Finding all the secrets the game has to offer is a joy and so to is watching your character evolve and grow to become as strong as they can possibly be. Since they've watched and grown attached to these characters it's a great feeling to see them get so strong that nothing stands in their way. Most RPGs also have a secret boss that is insanely difficult to beat. Not only do hardened RPG gamers like to explore their world, they also love to rise to a challenge. They don't mind the amount of grinding or time needed to sufficiently increase their strength in order to defeat the toughest of foes. In short hardcore RPG gamers like to obtain and do everything the game has to offer and in other words they are kind of like achievement whores.
The differences between a hardcore RPG gamer and a hardcore gamer of another type really boils down to the love of deep involving plots and unique and likable characters. Many of the other traits can be seen in other kinds of hardcore gamers as anyone can pump an obscene amount of time into any game that they really enjoy and playing strategically isn't narrowed down to just RPGs. It's the love of the story/characters/worlds that lead the more fanatical to get more involved with cosplaying and all things Japanese. Now I'm sure that I've overly stereotyped hardcore RPG gamers and missed out a load of things so I'm just going to leave you with this image for no real reason other than to distract you while I run away!
As technology improves and games become more complex, traditional old school genres of games are becoming less frequent and more unpopular. Side scrolling beat em ups, traditional platformers, 2D beat em ups and shmups are such genres that are fading away in a deluge of FPSs, action/adventure and RPG titles. However, thanks to Xbox live arcade and PSN it seems that shmups at least are making a bit of a comeback. Everyday Shooter, Omega 5, Geometry Wars and Super Stardust HD are perfect examples of great shmups available to download and with the legendary Ikaruga on the horizon everything seems set. So does the arrival of Trigger Heart Exelica on Xbox live arcade signal the launch of another classic shooter? When I first purchased this game my 360 actually Red Ringed when downloading was about 12% complete. Now was this because Exelica was simply too awesome for my then 360 to handle? or was it a warning to avoid this stinker of a shmup?
Trigger Heart Exelica Developed by: Warashi Available on: Xbox Live Arcade Price: 800 points
The core of Exelica is the same as any other shmup, you dodge barrage after barrage of enemy bullets and destroy anything that pops up on the screen and collect the occasional power-up. This should come as no surprise. The gimmick that makes Exelica stand out from the shmup crowd is the capture system the game employs, so here's how it works. By pressing and holding the anchor button on the controller you lock onto any enemy that you are facing. If the enemy you have locked onto is a ground unit (tank or turret) or a boss then your fire is automatically aimed at your target regardless of where you are on the screen. Your movement is also greatly reduced which makes dodging dense bullet patterns a little easier and more accurate. Now this may not sound like much and really it isn't, but when you capture an flying enemy unit then something completely different happens and this is where Exelica comes into its own.
Firstly you are unable to shoot at an aircraft you are locked onto but if you keep the anchor button held down you can "capture" the enemy unit. The bigger the enemy the longer you have to hold down the anchor button to capture them. Small fry can be captured instantly whereas their bigger brothers can take several seconds to capture where you movement is reduced almost to a crawl and you will have to dodge many many bullets with your name on them and of course you can't return fire. While capturing, a timer in the form of a percentage appears over your target to indicate how long you have left to wait and when it reaches 100% is when the fun begins.
Once a flying enemy is captured you have two options. You can either use them as a shield or you can spin them around and throw them back at your enemies for destructive results. Spinning and throwing enemies back is more complicated as while holding down the anchor button you have to then hold down the shoot button to "reel them in" and then rotate the analog stick/d-pad to gain momentum and then release to launch your enemy. This feels very unnatural at first and takes quite some time to get used to although there is an auto rotate option which unsurprisingly automatically spins captured enemies by just holding down the capture button but takes away an important element of the game mechanics. For less destructive power you can also nudge captured foes into nearby enemies but spinning and launching them can take out way more enemies. While being spun your captured enemies also block any bullets they come into contact with until they blow up from too much damage and that's pretty much how the capture system works.
The problem with the capture system is this whole spinning system. As I mentioned above it feels unnatural and takes a fair bit of practice. Not only that but you need to maintain a steady rhythm in your rotations to keep your enemy spinning at a decent speed which also determines the speed at which you throw them. This leaves you practically defenseless as you can't really dodge bullets when you're spinning your captured foe. Another tricky aspect of the system is throwing the enemy in the right direction as you're going to want to throw them at a fast speed to do maximum damage but that means spinning them at a fast speed and releasing them when you are facing the right way so you don't end up lobbing them off the screen. All this comes with practice but can lead to frustration when you first begin playing the game however, when you master it it does become incredibly satisfying, addictive and fun.
The scoring system in the game is also very well thought out. When you defeat any enemy they drop yellow diamonds and you collect these to increase your score multiplier. The longer you survive, more bad guys you kill in one go the bigger the diamonds become and hence the bigger the points gained and the more diamonds you collect the larger your score multiplier becomes. There are also weapons power-ups to collect as well as smart bombs which are dropped by certain enemies. There is also something Warashi has incorporated called the Variable Boss Attack System (V.B.A.S.). Now this is a fancy system that just means the more items you have when you reach a boss leads to more crazy bullet patterns being thrown in your face and hence a much tougher battle. For the more hardcore who want to maximize their scores, more details on this system can be found on Warashi's website.
There are 5 levels and two playable characters: Exelica and Crueltear but unfortunately each characters levels are identical. The only difference between the 2 characters is their bullet patterns when they shoot. Exelica has a much wider range, while Crueltear has a very linear bullet pattern which means that while controlling her you have much more specificity over who you shoot and who you capture but she lacks Exelica's ability to clear the screen in a tight spot without using a smart bomb. The game is designed so that it's easier to shoot down enemies but by doing so you limit your maximum score. As a result Exelica is more suited to beginners and Crueltear is more suited for score hungry advanced players since you can't rack up nearly as many score multipliers by shooting enemies, which of course puts more emphasis on the capture system.
So that's pretty much the game but is it any good?
Well yes and no. The capture system is great when you get used to it and it does bring something unique to the table. It adds an extra layer of strategy to the game as you have to consider when to shoot enemies down, how long to keep spinning your captured enemy, where and when to throw them and when to capture without getting hit. Things can get really intense when you're trying to capture a big aircraft while dodging enemy bullets and then spinning the aircraft fast enough to block the incoming barrage you know you can't dodge and then gaining enough momentum to launch it before the new wave of bullets come, and if you miss.....then you're in trouble.
Despite how fun the capture system is though the game focuses too much on it and as a result you have a shmup which has pretty little shooting in it. The game almost forces you to spam the capture system which leads to a game that almost becomes a pattern where you have to carefully plan all your movements in a methodical fashion. Shmups are supposed to be a genre that pushes your reflexes and improvisation skills to the limit and in this respect Trigger Heart Exelica falters somewhat due to the slower pace caused by the overuse of the capture system. You could argue that all shmups become a mesh of planned methodical movements in the end (you need only youtube clips of Ikaruga pros to back that point up) but in Trigger Heart Exelica there are a few too many occasions where you have to capture specific enemies and throw them into specific places one after the other and if you miss then you are buggered for a section of the level and even though shooting is designed to make the game easier, in these situations it does fuck all.
Graphically the game is not particularly eye catching. Now you maybe thinking well it's a shmup so no shit! But all the enemies you encounter look pretty much the same and they look very uninspiring. The bosses are plane dull to look at and there are very few if any at all moments in the game that make you go "wow!" Shmups are renowned for having fantastically breathtaking holy shit bosses but Trigger Heart Exelica has none. The game simply lacks personality on a graphical level. Although the music in the game is awesome! However, the sound effects are not.
Overall:
Trigger Heart Exelica is a good shmup although it has it's faults. It provides an experience unlike any other and looks damn cool once you get going. If you're a fan of shmups then this is something different that you should definitely check out but if you're not then this game is probably not going to turn you into a hardcore shmup fanatic but it is still worth a look.
[Author's note: I'm not really in this to win as I don't even have a steam account and I'm not much of a PC gamer anyway. I just wanted to get more involved in the dtoid community and this seemed like a really good idea which I thought I'd give a go at and it also seemed like fun.. so tally ho chaps let's get started! also cocks...]
WARNING!!! - The following post contains *spoilers* and as such should not be viewed by anyone who has not played Call of Duty 4. If you haven't played it... I don't believe you... if you really haven't go and do it now and join in on the EU Friday Night Fights because this is all we seem to play (sorry for the shameless plug.....I feel dirty now...)
Tragic Hero: Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish from Call of Duty 4
Technically speaking there are 6 characters in CoD4 whom you take control of at certain points in the game, however "Soap" is the one you spend the most time as and hence can be regarded as the main protagonist.
In terms of being "a hero who fails or suffers at the end of his or her journey" it's pretty obvious to anyone who has reached the end of CoD4 how this applies to Soap.
To recap here's a vid of the ending, one that in my opinion rivals Bioshock for one of the most cinematic moments in games.
So how exactly does he suffer?
After spending almost the entire game with Griggs, Price, and Gaz, you/Soap really form bonds with them like a real infantry unit, only for them all to be mercilessly killed at the end of the game. This really shows the dire consequences of war, that all your friends could be gone within a single moment and in this case right before your eyes as well. It's also unknown if even Soap survived as the last thing you see is Soap being air lifted into the helicopter but how serious were your/his wounds? If Price was pretty much as close to the exploding car as Soap was and he didn't make it, were the Russians quick enough to save Soap? There's no proof that the epilogue is linked to the main story or if it contains any of the same characters. It also doesn't state when in time it takes place so the question of what happened to Soap is a complete mystery. Dead? Alive? Traumatized? Used as a guinea pig for secret experiments? Was dead but came back to life for revenge of some kind who knows.....
It's a bit of a stretch but one could argue that Soap is a tragic hero in the literal sense. A true tragic hero is essentially a protagonist or character who is no more or less moral than a normal person but has a specific character flaw that leads to his/her downfall.
Now like I said this is a long shot but you could say that Soap, being a sergeant in the SAS must have extreme loyalty to his country and his duty. It is this loyalty that leads to him accept his mission with the 22nd Regiment and ultimately witness the death of his friends, possibly his own death and after saving 41 million people from 2 nuclear warheads no one will ever know.
Like I said it's a long shot.... and you could argue being a good soldier isn't really a character flaw... but you know maybe it has some weight to it... hopefully this didn't suck too hard
Authors note: OK my bad I know this is a little late and it's not February anymore but hey the new monthly musing isn't announced yet and I'm a final year student and have gotten into the bad habit of leaving everything to the last minute. This was an idea for a blog I was writing but I thought it'd also make a good good idea,bad idea entry so I went for it so here goes...
Ever since the Game Boy was released in 1989 gamers had the luxury of playing games anywhere. From the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear to the Neo Geo Pocket Color and Game Boy Advance/SP/micro, portable gaming has been a God send to gamers who have to endure those long arduous commutes on the train, long flights to PAX and agonizingly boring family get togethers.
If there is one thing that defined portable games it has to be addictive simple pick up and playability. These handhelds were made to be played on the go while you were away from your consoles and hence games were designed to be played in small quick doses while you were on the bus.
As time passed these handhelds became more powerful and were capable of having deeper, more complicated games. On the one hand this can be seen as only a good thing because it opens up the realm of possibility as to what games you can play anywhere. I know that I for one have played a game that I wished I could have took with me so that I didn't have to stop when I had to leave the house. Now on the other hand this also blurs the line between console and handheld games. With the PSP being nearly as powerful as the PS2 and the Nintendo DS with it's touch pad interface, the types of games that can be made portable have been hugely varied and in some cases comes extremely close to a console game. Some of them are ports from console games and others could have been console games as seen by the number of PSP to PS2 ports among other games. Now this leads me to ask a question that this good idea, bad idea is based on and that is "when is it a good/bad idea to make a game portable?"
GOOD IDEA: Games that are easy to put down and pick up where you left off without forgetting what you're doing
It may seem obvious but it's surprising to see how many games fail to do this. It's more than just sticking in a save anywhere/anytime function, you have to be able to stop playing the game without being in a position where you really need to focus on the game because stopping will break your momentum and when you return to the game you will have to get back into your previous frame of mind and by the time you do you could be dead (in the game not real life I hope) or failed the level. You're also more than likely playing the game when you are out and about and so there are other things you need to pay attention to aside from the game such as your bus stop and those chavs that might try and jack your PSP/DS. As a result a game that requires all your attention may not be best suited for a handheld.
Two examples of games that do this wrong: Final Fantasy III (long battles where you can't even save) and Mario Vs DK 2 (too much to keep an eye on so when you come back you don't remember where everything is). So let's have a look at some games that do it right.
New Super Mario Brothers
This is perfect handheld bliss. Simple, addictive gameplay that you can get into all most straight away. The levels are fairly short so if you have to stop suddenly it's not hard or too frustrating to pick it up and start at the beginning of the level again. The game can also be quite challenging at times which not only stops the games from being dull but also gives you a chance to get a little time out if you lose a life and fail which helps you not lose track of time, unless you become obsessively determined to complete that stage (which has happened to me a few times).
Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney Series
The Ace Attorney series plays out like an interactive novel and like a book it is easy to pick up and put down. The pace of the game plays out slowly enough that the plot never becomes to too difficult to follow (unless it's supposed to throw you off) and although it's like a good book in the fact that when you get to a big plot point it can be very difficult to stop playing, if you do stop then the important points are repeated enough for you to remember what exactly is going on.
Advance Wars Series
Although I haven't yet played days of ruin (I know shame on me) I can say for the other games in the Advance wars series that the story is only really there to give you a reason to play these epic battles. The turn based nature of these said battles are what makes the games great portable games as you can take as long as you want to plan and execute your moves. If you start playing in the middle of a battle then you can take your time to assess your situation and recall your strategy and since the story are usually throwaways then you need only concentrate on the battle at hand.
BAD IDEA Games that are truly epic
Now this will need some explaining. Let's go outside the realm of gaming for the moment and talk a bit about movies (not videogame movies, good movies).
There are some movies that you really have to see in the cinema to really get the most out of them and no matter how big your TV is and how beefy your surround sound system may be, you can never recreate that feeling of seeing that film in the cinema. For me these kinds of films are usually epic Hollywood blockbusters like 300, Spiderman 2, The Matrix and I guess more recently Transformers. Watching these films on my 20" TV doesn't quite cut it even in HD.
There are also movies that really don't matter whether you watch them at home or in the cinema and this is usually because there is less going on on the screen and/or they are more focused on characters and dialog rather than action and events. Actually a lot of these movies I've preferred on a TV and some of these include This is Spinal Tap, Wayne's World (best movie ever!!), Anchorman, most Tarantino films and more recently Control.
Now this can be seen in gaming except instead of watching a movie in the cinema you're playing a game on a console and instead of watching a movie on a TV you're playing on a handheld. Also like before there are certain types of games that should only be played on a console or else you lose a lot of the power of the game and in a similar fashion to the movies you should watch in the cinema being blockbusters, the games should also be big titles where there is plenty of action and all round epicness. Although it's great to have all your favorite types of games with you wherever you go, despite the power and capabilities of handhelds today, due to the nature and size of them, they simply cannot handle or contain some types of games. For example:
God of War: Chains of Olympus
I know this game isn't released yet so it's not completely fair to use this as an example but the idea of a God of War game on a handheld doesn't sit well with me. The series prides itself of truly huge, epic, over the top, bloody battles and especially the boss battles. The Simpsons game even parodied the hydra boss battle with dolphins and the level is called The God of Wharf. It's moments like these that really blow you away when you're sitting in front of your TV thinking to yourself "holy shit I can't believe what I'm seeing!" Now can you imagine playing that moment for the first time on a handheld, on the train and halfway through the fight you have to stop and get off. How much would that ruin the experience? It's almost like having someone pull the plug on your TV while playing on your PS2. Also how much could you really take in if you were playing on a handheld sized screen? Having everything shrunk down limits how much can be shown on screen before things get too small to see properly and hence you're potentially missing what you could be seeing if the games was on a console and a proper TV.
Final Fantasy III
First things first, no save option during battles? WTF! OK I know that's just a poor design choice on Square-Enix's part but what else about this game and maybe RPGs in general make them a bad choice for a portable game? The basic structure of FF III flows as follows: Town -> Dungeon -> Boss -> Plot point -> World map/travel to -> Town and repeat. Now considering when you play portable games you usually play in small doses which means that you're maybe covering one area on the flow chart per session (town or dungeon or...). Now this can lead to tedious and annoying gaming as each section can be really dull if you can't move on to the next one. Talking to people in a town in one play session and dungeon crawling in another leads to the story feeling very disconnected and boring as it's easy to lose sight of the goal. So say you are going through a dungeon to retrieve an item and if all you do in your play session is fight through the dungeon it feels like all you're doing is being forced to level grind and you don't feel like you're progressing through the game.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty/Vice City Stories
The GTA series is a series that was/is designed and made for consoles. They are console experiences and like God of War (mentioned above) should not be converted to handhelds. Likewise handheld games should not be ported to consoles as they should be games designed to be played on the go and therefore should provide a different experience to the consoles. If all you're doing is trimming down a console game to put on a handheld you are missing the point of what a handheld game is supposed to provide. In the end all you have is a worse version of the console game which begs the question "why bother?"
There's a thin line between when not to make a game portable. Yes it's great to have a great game that you can really get stuck into with you all the time but when you are traversing the great outdoors do you really have the time? When we sit down to play games on our consoles, most of the time we leave a fair amount of time to do so and often play for long sessions where we can really get absorbed, delve into the intricacies of the game and marvel at those monster cut scenes. On the bus however, it isn't so easy unless you want to miss your stop.
So long as the developer isn't trying to mimic a console counterpart any game can be made into a great portable experience. All it takes is careful consideration to the fact that the game is a handheld one and if the game is that massive then maybe it should be made for a console.
Good day sir/madam and welcome to the world of someone who calls himself Anus Mcphanus. In the real world I go by the name of Dan.
The name Anus Mcphanus comes from back in school in 6th form. We had a TV in our common room and I used to bring in my N64 to play games during our lunch breaks. Being in a public (or private to you yanks) school meant that we couldn't shout out obscene profanities so openly and so we made up words/names we could say and not get in any trouble. Eventually these words became associated with a certain person and I became known as Anus Mcphanus which meant arsehole. I thought the name was hilarious and so I kept the name and use it as my online and gamer name from then onwards.
In my free time I enjoy being Welsh, taking long walks down the beach where I bury my secret stash of peanuts (dry roasted of course) and happy slapping drunks on the tube.
My life is rather dull and uninspiring except for those times where I lose my clothes and need to communicate via the wonders of interpretive dance.
I can't sing but often kid myself into thinking I can.
I do not like things up my butt.
This is my sorry arse
Favorite Games Ever:
1.) Final Fantasy 7 (PS1)
2.) Suikoden 2 (PS1)
3.) Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn)
4.) Grandia 2 (Dreamcast)
5.) Dungeon Keeper 2 (PC)
6.) Mickey & Donald World of Illusion (Mega Drive)
7.) Guardian Heroes (Saturn)
8.) Brave Fencer Musashi (PS1)
9.) Goldeneye (N64)
10.) Saturn Bomberman (Saturn)
Favorite Bands:
1.) Green Day
2.) The Libertines
3.) Arctic Monkeys
Favorite Movies:
1.) Wayne's World
2.) Anchorman
3.) This is Spinal Tap
Currently (actively) Playing:
GTA 4 - PS3
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - PS3
Mario Kart - Wii
Super Paper Mario - Wii
Dungeon Keeper 2 - PC (one of the most underrated games ever!)
Call of Duty 4 - 360
Halo 3 - 360
Trigger Heart Exelica - 360
Starting playing but have yet to finish:
Resistance: Fall of man - PS3
Motorstorm - PS3
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Wii
Trauma Center: 2nd Opinion - Wii
