Blizzard recently has slapped up 3 of their classic titles for digital download via their online store: The Starcraft Legacy (Starcraft + Brood War expansion), Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (WC 3 expansion). While I've originally played these games years ago, I have long since misplaced the CD keys and like the idea of having a digital version on my hard drive to play during an upcoming plane flight.
It should be noted that owners of these games with their CD key can input their key on the website and receive a full version for download to replace lost or broken discs (or the hassle of having to put the disc in each time).
After trying to place an order for the digital download versions through the official Blizzard Store, I received error messages despite my credit card and contact info being correct. Frustrated, I called their Billing Support and was told to call my credit card company to see if they were blocking any charges as the Blizzard online store sometimes gets mistaken for online gambling sites (?!).
After work, I came home and called the card company and was told my account is fine and no charges have been blocked. Half an hour of scratchy Diablo soundtrack music later, I get to talk to a rep at Blizzard who tries to take care of the process himself. After being put on hold for 5 more minutes, I am informed that it is not working and to try again in a few times. He admitted the Blizzard Store was recently revamped and has been running into a lot of problems (too many people trying to buy the digital download of Starcraft since it is tough to find in stores?).
The lesson? If you're going to order from Blizzard's online store, do it from over the phone.
I admit the customer service was nice, except for the hold times. Their phone menu system is rather confusing, but I did get to geek out with the Blizzard rep about various classic Blizzard titles.
I will try again this coming Sunday and am hoping for the best. Stay tuned for more bloggage.
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Word association is a funny thing-the results might be predictable, but every once in a while something jumps out of the blue. Pizza: pepperoni. X-Men: Wolverine. Casual games: zombies? The Last Stand 2, a free Flash game, manages to be an odd blend of Resident Evil, Root Beer Tapper, and Rampart while adding depth to the original game's premise.
Taking place on an island, players have to round up and arm survivors against constant zombie attacks at night. Inbetween the action sequences, players have to choose whether to repair their defenses, go exploring for villagers, weapons or supplies, or venture forth to a variety of villages on the island map to reach the port before time runs out.
Aside from bland visuals, the game remains an addictive flesh-eating romp. I give The Last Stand a B.
The Last Stand 2
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The concept of Gamefly has so much promise-- it's the Netflix of videogames. With videogame rental prices at around $6 a pop, one thinks such a service would be useful. Too bad that Gamefly has failed to meet my expectations for one reason: they are way too slow.
Part of it might be a lack of distribution centers, but I am attributing it more to inventory. My Queue had over ten titles, consisting of mostly older games that had high availablity. It took over a week and a half to receive one of those titles, which is unacceptable. I cancelled my account with them with less than a month of service, which is rather lousy.
I am off to see Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantamano Bay, but just wanted to vent here briefly. Anyone else frustrated or delighted with Gamefly's service?
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Patapon
Patapon has been widely considered one of the best games out there for the PSP, so I decided to give it a whirl. Despite charming graphics, unique Real-Time Strategy meets Taiko Drum Master gameplay, and clever localization, Patapon's gameplay falls flat. Just because a piece of candy looks unique doesn't mean it's going to taste good.
In the game, you play a god of a race of tiny round creatures. By playing on your mystical drum, you inspire your subjects to get off their kawaii asses and march, attack, and defend their way through various battles or puzzles along the way. You can't just mash the button combos to win either-- you have to pound them out at a very deliberate rhythm (moving is PATA-PATA-PATA-PON, attacking is PON-PON-PATA-PON, etc).
Patapon gets surprisingly grindy an hour into the game, where the difficulty skyrockets. I was charmed by the minimalist look of the game, the lovely animations, and the tribal touch to the music, but found gameplay ultimately too simplistic-- RTS fans will be pissed at the lack of complete control over the units and rhythm game fans will be pissed at the sometimes confusing gameplay which lacks a decent tutorial.
I give Patapon a C. It's quirky, just not a quirk I especially like.
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On my second week of Gamefly I tried out two PSP titles. One was a lot of fun and the other was tedious but funny.
Mega Man: Powered Up (PSP)
Few people have played the original Mega Man for the NES. It is arguably one of the harder games in the series, features 6 bosses instead of the usual 8, and actually keeps track of points for killing bosses and enemies. Capcom decided to soup up the Blue Bomber's first adventure with Mega Man: Powered Up for the PSP by adding a dollop of kawaii, some extra bosses (one of which is racist), and a Mega-ton of mini missions.
One of the two new bosses, Oil Man, looks like Square's version of the slave Jim from their Japanese Tom Sawyer game for the NES- big eyes, big lips, and not a tinge of irony. If you kill the bosses using the regular blaster, you can play through the stages as the bosses, which is novel, though a bit of a gimmick- there is a lot of extra collectible items to pick up if that is your mega of robot chips. Remixed stages are easier than the original, but those who want to play the original set have the option to do so. Super-cute graphics and an enhanced plot, along with a mission editor and short challenge levels, make this worth picking up for retro Mega Man fans.
I give Mega Man: Powered Up an A- for its short length compared to other Mega Man games, but the variety of modes offset this somewhat.
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
Even though I consider myself a hardcore gamer, there are still loads of games I haven't played but should have. Top among this list is Capcom's celebrated Phoenix Wright-Ace Attorney franchise. Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law has gameplay which is apparently very similar, though with a presumed more absurdist bent. It keeps the humor of the show, but the puzzles are so illogical, it makes one want to scream, not unlike Michael Jackson.
You play the titular lawyer who has to solve 5 cases, each one more silly than the last-one case has you defending the suspect who broke into your own office! Cut-scenes are as crisp as in the show, but there is so much animation and voice-acting that one wonders why Adult Swim didn't just make a DVD with 5 new direct to DVD episodes of the show instead? Aside from the first case, you can investigate crime scenes, grill potential suspects, and cross-examine witnesses. As a casual fan of the show, I enjoyed the humor in the game, but wish it had more gameplay. This is worth a rental for fans of the show, but not much of a game.
I give Harvey Birdman a B- for being a short, humorous diversion-kind of like my ex-wife.
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In an effort to save money and enjoy more video gaming on a variety of systems, I have decided to try out Gamefly. Here are my brief impressions of two titles I've tried recently.
Mass Effect (360)
- Having detailed character creation in this title makes a lot more sense than in Oblivion since Mass Effect is in 3rd person (as are the cut-scenes).
- I didn't find the inventory system that confusing, but was lukewarm on the battle system. If they were going for gun-heavy gameplay, it might have been a better move to make the gameplay an FPS to make the experience smoother.
- Graphics are quite nice, even though there is a lot of slowdown.
- The opening text crawl is really dorky and boils down to this: "In the future, the Earth has discovered a new means of rapid interstellar transportation: MASS EFFECT!" It's the equivalent of calling Star Trek "TRANSPORTER BEAMS!"
- Although I only played the intro mission, I will definitely check this game out once it gets to the $30 level or so.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS)
- There is a lot of voice acting in the intro of the game. Kinda sad that it is 2008 and that is still a big deal for games on a portable Nintendo system, but there you go.
- Gameplay is like Diablo for 5 year olds. While the intro dungeon seems to be fairly large, you are just whacking enemies to get to the next tutorial moogle.
- The graphics work for the little-kid feel of the game, but is nowhere near as pretty as the GC Crystal Chronicles title.
- I couldn't make it through more than an hour of this game. Maybe the multiplayer is good- too bad it only works locally.
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After the success of Final Fantasy VII on the PSX, Square decided to continue riding the sci-fi train with Final Fantasy VIII. This time around the main character was Squall, a mute asshole who clumsily dealt with light flirtations from a gaggle of girls, the sexiest of which is a girl named Rinoa.
After an avalanche of angsty adventures, Rinoa appears to die in space due to dire circumstances. In a dialogue-free cinematic, Squall watches her float through space and comes to a realization that he loves her. It is a moving scene, perhaps the pinnacle of Square's CG sequences from the PSX period.
Too bad it all gets undercut by pastel colored aliens. Talk about Post Coital Fail!
Whatever somber mood the player might have felt from the previous scene is shattered by a goofy sequence in which you have to run through the Ragnarok space-station and kill identically colored aliens to solve a puzzle. I'm not suggesting that a minigame along the lines of "Tap X rapidly to make a space-grave for Rinoa" would have been better, but surely Testuya Nomura and company could have thought of something better for pacing.
What if instead of fighting rainbow aliens, the player had search around the Ragnarok and collect Rinoa's belongings to place at a memorial while somber music played? That would have been a puzzle that could have built up on emotions from the previous scene.
This isn't the only Final Fantasy Fuck Up, but it is one of the more nagging ones.
Anyone have similar moments from Final Fantasy games or RPGs in general where a serious mood was shattered by a comedic one?
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WARNING--Lots of Spoilers ahead?!?!
Crisis Core is a game which improves by leaps and bounds once you complete the first "real mission" of the game and get access to a lot of side missions. Completing these are nice if you want to grind or get special loot and the missions are brief, but somewhat challenging.
I am playing this game on Hard Mode and the boss fight with Ifrit was very difficult. Zack was only on Level 9, lining up the Blizzard spell with Ifrit's attack animations to hit him before he moved out of range was aggravating, and the PSP analog stick kinda blows. Defeating Ifrit was such a nice feeling-- no boss so far has been as hard.
A main flaw with the battle system is the limited amount of space Zack can run around in. You might be surrounded by 2 robots, 2 ninja clones, and 3 floor robots at once and have a limited amount of space to move around in. You won't lose a battle from lack of skill--you'll lose from not being able to get to have enough time for the heal spell to kick in before you get robo-raped to death.
Parasite Eve had a similar battle system, but gave plenty of room for the main character to run around in, making most battles not so frustrating (apart from the limited ammo situation, which is another issue entirely).
Still, I'm having fun with Crisis Core in a retro way. It's like Parasite Eve's autistic little brother.
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My first hour into Final Fantasy 7-Crisis Core for the PSP is fairly positive. Some random thoughts. SPOILER WARNING!?
-- Zack is an upbeat main character who just wants to be a hero in SOLDIER. This is a surprise for a sci-fi themed Final Fantasy game, where the protagonist is usually a cigarette smoking emo kid who cries about the girl he'll never get.
-- Dumbapples? Really? Couldn't they have called them something else?
-- I laughed when after completing a battle, a computer voice says, "Conflict resolved." Her tone reminds me of EVA from Command & Conquer.
-- A lot of people have compared the combat to Kingdom Hearts, but a more apt comparison would be Parasite Eve. You can wander around during combat, but are in a fixed location. While you can just mash the X button to attack things, if you try to hit things from behind you do more damage. There is a slight waiting period between attacks. The only thing that would make the combat more Parasite Eve is if you fought with guns.
-- Hard mode is slightly hard. I managed to get wiped out right near the end of the first assault on a Wutai castle. Kinda frustrating that I'll have to replay 30 minutes or so worth of combat, but I am a Final Fantasy fan from the SNES era, so it's not like this experience is unusual to me.
-- Not sure what to think of the constant slot machine action going on in the background during fights. You don't gain XP during combat, but can gain levels if the slot machine settles on a random combination. Not that I've gained a level yet, though I've done some grinding to little avail. :)
Anyone else playing this game and have similar/opposing thoughts?
Hour 2 coming soon! I'll have a glass of wine before playing some more Crisis Core.
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This is it, the moment I've been waiting for. Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core is piping hot in my hands, ready to slide into the PSP.
Is it going to be a fun spin-off or is it going to be a Dirge of Cerberus?
I'm going to try to do an hour by hour review of the game-- this doesn't mean I'll play the whole game in a long-ass session (I do have a full-time day job and the PSP needs to charge), but it should be a fun experiment.
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