New Year, New Game Plays -January

[McMurphy]

It has been a few months since myself or anyone else has posted a "What are you playing" thread. What better time for an update than now?

Let's change up how we usually do it, though, so not to have a thread full of title-only posts. For each post that is stating what you are currently playing at the start of the new year, post the following information:

Title of Game:
Platform:
Genre:
Premise/Opinion:

I have currently attached myself to two different games:

Dark Cloud
Playstation 2
Action/RPG

The game centers around a young Link look-alike named Toan (or whatever you choose to rename him) and his quest to rebuild not only his home village but his entire world after an ancient Dark Genie is foolishly unleashed by an ambitious military figure and, although the game tends to gloss of this fact, everyone is killed. Using the power of Alta, which has been gifted to you, you fight your way through dungeons to earn pieces of the old world in hopes to rebuild it to its original form or to your own image.

Dark Cloud, while quite dated by this point (it was a first generation Playstation 2 game), it is giving positive marks for combining gameplay from three of the most popular types of role playing games: hack-and-slash (think Diablo), adventure through problem solving (think Legend of Zelda), and realm building (think of pretty much any type of popular PC kingdom sim game).

Personally, the game gets a bit too repetitive and the storyline feels too much on the childish side to imagine myself coming out the gaming experience enthralled, but the aforementioned combination of inspirations is good enough to keep me playing the game.

Mario Kart DS
Nintendo DS
Racing

Anyone familiar already with Nintendo's favorite cart racing game has a good idea what the DS's version of the franchise is all about. While I have heard some complaining about the Advanced Gameboy and the Gamecube's additions to Mario Kart, DS is clearly an improvement, and I highly recommend it. Granted, if you are a gamer not impressed by cart racing, the DS version isn't going to convert; rather, it offers up some new characters and tracks for addicts to slobber over. A nice notable feature is the Retro Cups that are quickly unlocked after beating a few 50cc rounds. The N64 tracks are well ported.

 

[Aes]

Dark Cloud
Playstation 2
Action/RPG

If you like it, I highly recommend checking out Dark Cloud 2. It improves on all the annoying aspects of DC1, and even then rocks in its own way.

Anyway for me, I have a few going all at once:

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Wii
Action/RPG

What can I say? It's the latest game in the Zelda franchise, so you know Nintendo has done everything they can to make it live up to the name. Without spoiling, I'll say your goal is to restore light to the twilight-shrouded kingdom of Hyrule etc. In this version, Link finds himself transformed into a wolf when within the twilight realm, which persists until he is able to solve whatever puzzles are necessary to restore light to a given area.

While the general theme (being in the form of a wolf, banishing a darkness which blankets the land) feels a lot like that of Okami, it's still an enjoyable game all on its own. Using the Wii controller makes gameplay even more enjoyable, since you're swinging your remote rather than mashing the A button.

Final Fantasy XII
PS2
RPG

While I had mixed feelings about the direction the Final Fantasy franchise was going from 9 and above, this game has restored my faith in the series. You're not forced to always keep someone you don't like in your group, although the lisence system kind of makes everyone's development feel the same, in a way. Sure, you can train them all differently, but really, you'd be a fool to not give everyone all the augments, or a full book of white magic.

This game takes the best of the mmorpg world and mixes it with the console rpg world, giving you a huge, 3d landscape full of monsters. You can either run past them, or charge forth and kill them--battles are not initiated in a seperate battle screen like in the past. What makes battles even better is the fact that you can customize the AI of everyone in your group, or turn it off completely, using the game's Gambit system. If you're clever enough, you can whip up a set of Gambits that handle all the repetitive things, like spam-attacking, healing, and buffing, for you!

Even better, is that the plot really isn't something I can sum up very well in a single paragraph, since it's so large-scale. You just have to play this game for yourself!

Okami
PS2
Action/RPG

A lesser-known game, this game is simply awesome. I describe this game to people as "very japanese" because, well if you played it for even a few minutes, you'd see.

The world is veiled in darkness, and as Amaterasu (the sun goddess) in the form of a wolf, it is up to you to defeat Orochi and restore the world to its former glory. You even have a little "helper" that follows you around giving advice, just like in Twilight Princess. I really can't help but wonder which of the two ripped the other off, or if they're both borrowing from Japanese mythology of some sort.

What sets this game apart is the method by which you "cast spells." You paint them! To restore withered trees, you draw a circle around them with your celestial brush. To slash enemies or objects, you draw a line through them. Drawing from point to point can create vines, a circle with a line through the top can create a bomb, etc etc. It's neat, and really helps give you a feeling of being godly to the things around you.

In short, the game is beauty incarnate, and should not be missed by anyone, especially anyone who enjoys games like Zelda. I'll also say the game has better play control than the Twilight Princess, meaning Amaterasu could run circles around Link before he even saw her coming.

 

[Azathoth]

I've been playing a couple games lately:

F.E.A.R
PC
FPS/Horror

In this FPS, you play an elite member of the First Encounter Assault Recon team, a team dedicated to "dealing" with certain...uncanny threats. You are tough, you have incredible reflexes, and you have the ability to slow down time...but will that be enough to survive an army of clones and their psychic commander, as well as the ghost of a girl who possesses immense power and is very, very pissed off?

This game is unique in that the enemies are highly intelligent (a cookie to whoever programmed the A.I. in the game). The enemy clones react to your actions as real soldiers would - if you duck behind a corner, one will toss a grenade at you while another moves to a closer position. Your enemies will lay down supressive fire while one half of their team attempts to flank you. If you are shooting at them, they will attempt to take cover.

However, this was the only enjoyable aspect of the game. Quite frankly, the game's "horror" aspect was pathetic.The girl was a total ripoff of the one in "The Ring", and she never really turned out to be a threat. Basically,the player is shown footage of her kicking butt time and time again, and she will leap out at the player at random intervals, but she never has a bite to back up her bark. The psychic commander was a pretty cool antagonist; he would whisper into your mind, and he had a taste for human brains, which led to some cool scenes. Nevertheless, the chase after him turned out to be totally anti-climactic. Furthermore, neutral characters behaved in totally irrational ways.

Also, the graphics of the game, which had been touted as "awesome", turned out to be mediocre. Most of the areas in the game looked identical to one another, and were utterly bland. The fire effects were lame, and the Slow-Mo effect wasn't half as cool as Enter the Matrix's.

And finally, you can only go through so many of the same enemies before it all blends together...activate Slow-Mo, ambush them, toss a grenade, get in close, switch to shotgun, finish them off. *yawn*

I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

Thief: Deadly Shadows
PC
Stealth/Fantasy

I decided to dust this game off once again and give it a try. And boy, I found that my second time through this game was even better than my first. Y

ou take on the role of Garrett, a master thief, in the sprawling City. The City itself is a fabulous fantasy setting - the game indicates that the city sprung ex nihilo, and haphazardly grew as its population rapidly expanded. There are three major factions at work in the city (aside from the city guards) - the Hammerites, who worship an industrial deity, and the Pagans, who worship the Trickster, a nature deity (both deities are bloodthirsty, of course.) The third faction consists of the Keepers, who maintain the balance of the City, wield mighty Glyphs, and more or less observe history. The game's plot revolves primarily around this third faction.

This game is a work of art in terms of level design. From a sharp, angular cathedral to a zombie-infested ship, the areas of this game never get repetitive. Indeed, this game contains one of the coolest levels in gaming history - an abandoned, haunted, and sentient orphanage/insane asylum called the "Cradle."

When you aren't prowling through the beautiful levels of the game, you can spend some time actually wandering the streets of the City, stealing from people passing by and from local shops and inns. This, in my opinion, further increased this game's awesomeness.

And finally, the plot is intricate, but not incomprehensible. I won't give away any details, but it really does unfold like a good mystery novel. I'd give it a 10 out of 10.

And finally, I've been playing Diablo II - a game which needs no review.

 

[lou.mor432]

Not playing anything at the moment. Boo! My PS3 doesn't arrive until March BIGGER BOO!!!!!

 

[Rane Longfox]

Fifa 07 (Xbox 360)
Sport
The premise is the same as any other football game - manage a team through (in this case) 5 seasons, and win as much as possible in the process.
First sports game I've played on the 360, and it's lack of features that it hs on the PS2 is rather dissapointing. Only the major european leagues are used, you can't play as teams below each country's premiership, which is very dissapointing. Great gameplay though, far more realistic than previous ttempts.
8/10

Medieval2: Total War (PC)
RTS
As in all the previous Total War games, you control one faction in europe, and try to achieve total dominance over all the others. You can try diplomacy or religious conversion, but the easiest and most enjoyable way to do it is good old fashioned WAR! Medieval 2 adds some nice features to the series, including Papal Crusades and Muslim Jihads, princesses as diplomats, and the ever-present threat of excommunication from the church if you kill too many catholics.
This is an absolutely wonderful game. The only way it could imrove would be by having naval battles you could participate in, instead of auto-resolving them all.
9.9/10

Star Wars: Empires at War (PC)
RTS
In Empires at War, you play as either the Empire or the Rebel Alliance, and try to take control of the galaxy. Each planet has different strategic and material importance, and fights vary significantly depending on which planet you are attacking. In the expansion pack, "Forces of Corruption", you can play as a third faction, the Corrupt side (shockingly) in which you are simply going for personal power.
Pretty decent, although I've only played a little bit so far. Haven't even got around to installing the expansion pack.
Initial rating: 7/10

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP)
Well, it's GTA, isn't it...
A tried and tested formula that never goes wrong - grab some guns, work for people, do missions, betray people, take over the city, but always end up being the good guy! In this particular GTA, you take the character of an army private, working to support his family, who is set up by his superior and fired. From then on, he takes on many unsavoury jobs, but never fear, he's still the good guy!
The GTA games are the best the PSP has to offer, and are lightyears ahead of anything else on the console. I really think they suit it perfectly, and however predictable the story might be, it's still an excellent game, provided you like that kind of thing.
9.5/10

 

[McMurphy]

If you like it, I highly recommend checking out Dark Cloud 2. It improves on all the annoying aspects of DC1, and even then rocks in its own way.

I remember taking a look at screen shots and art associated with the second game back when another Chronicles chatter posted a thread asking for some help on a certain section (can't recall which), and I have heard nothing but great things about the game. Because of that, I picked up the first one: not so much because I was worried about dropping into the gameplay half way through the storyline, but because a price tag of under ten American bucks was just too hard to pass up. At the moment, I am on level 11 of the Wise Owl's Forest dungeons, and have recently added the Great Hunter's obese son, who I have renamed as "Chunk" (must pay tribute to The Goonies, right?) to the party.

How far are you into FFXII? Although my girlfriend was at the controller most of the time---side note: successfully getting a significant other hooked on video games has a downside; thus, my time gaming has been shared---, I did see the game from beginning to end (for the most part). I completely agree with your assessment of the game, and I miss the days that there was less political debate between the characters and more things like love triangles or interpersonal relations. Nevertheless, it did succeed in feeling like an epic.

As far as Twilight Princess...let's just say I envy your purchase greatly, and must denial it even exists until I can pick up a Wii.

F.E.A.R
PC
FPS/Horror

Are you familiar with the online comic "Red vs. Blue" on the RoosterTeeth site? They also did a short F.E.A.R parody (about five episodes, I think). The rumor is that they were hired by the company to help promote the game. Warning, however. The parodies are of an adult language.

 

[Rane Longfox]

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 (Xbox360)
Sport (wrestling)
The Smackdown vs Raw series is dramtically better than any other wrestling game out there. The gameplay is excellent, and the graphics on this new version are simply awesome. The big hoo-ha about 2007 was a new "dynamic" control system, which seems to work quite well, and gives a much wider variety of moves for the player to utilise. The main problem with 2006 was the repetitiveness of the game, but this new control system gets rid of that quite effectively. Well, to a certain extent at least - theres always going to be an aspect of that, because it's wrestling. It's an inherant problem.
The general manager mode has advanced significantly from 2006 as well - you can create long-term rivalries that actually make a lot more sense than before, and you don't need to involve just two wrestlers now. Up to 6 can be involved in one rivalry, meaning you can re-create famous real life stables, like Evolution, DX, or the nWo. It's still not as wide-ranging as it could be, however, and you can't have GM-interference, or chose which matches to reveal before each weekly show starts, etc, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
While I'm inwardly cringing at atmitting to being a wrestling fan, it's a good game for those who are, and the more absurd you can make things, the better it becomes. It's a shame the GM mode is still not as complicated as I would like, and the storyline season mode is rather repetitive after two or three plays, but it's a very solid game, with excellent gameplay, and to-die-for graphics.
8/10

 

[Aes]

At the moment, I am on level 11 of the Wise Owl's Forest dungeons, and have recently added the Great Hunter's obese son, who I have renamed as "Chunk" (must pay tribute to The Goonies, right?) to the party.

I never really did like that character--he felt too akward to use. The character to really jump for joy over is Ruby and her awesome ranged attack. In my endgame save, she obliterates pretty much everything with 1-2 shots before they can even get near--it's awesome. DC2 is much better in terms of balancing melee & ranged attacks, plus you only have to worry about building 2 characters up instead of...however many #1 has.

How far are you into FFXII? Although my girlfriend was at the controller most of the time---side note: successfully getting a significant other hooked on video games has a downside; thus, my time gaming has been shared---, I did see the game from beginning to end (for the most part). I completely agree with your assessment of the game, and I miss the days that there was less political debate between the characters and more things like love triangles or interpersonal relations. Nevertheless, it did succeed in feeling like an epic.

Currently, I'm paused at the Cataract of Ridorana. Part of this is because I want to catch up on sidequests and hunts, while the other is because Zelda has laid claim to most of my gaming time right now.

Honestly, I like a good mix of political involvement combined with romance in games like Final Fantasy, but they have to be balanced. Too much romance nets you a storyline like FF8, which sucked outside the world of Rinoa & Squall. On the other hand, give them absolutely no romance, and one tends to only see them on a plot element level, rather than a more personal level.