Entry number 200 Special: Top 10 games of Last Gen

 Well, another generation is over and everyone is talking about the favorite Last Gen moments. Also, with this entry I hit 200 entries, so it was time for another Top 10.
 Number 10)

 From the mastermind Suda 51 comes Lollipop Chainsaw, his first real HD game. Yeah, there was Shadows of the Damned, but his input there was not as pronounced as it is here. This game just reeks of Suda 51, Juliette Starling is one badass zombie hunter, and the rest of the cast, both bosses and allies are just as zany as her. It also helps that it's a blast to play. While it is a bit short, there's loads of unlockables and collectibles, plus, the game lends itself to repeated playthroughs.

 Number 9)

 Speaking of short, Journey lasts barely two hours, but they were two of the most awe-inspiring hours of my life. It really is that good. Be it the beautiful vistas, the way the characters journey(pun intended) through the various landscapes or it's minimalist storytelling, this game will leave some kind of lasting impression on you. And what a game it is.

 Number 8)

 Batman Arkham City is one of the few games this generation that didn't try to rip you off. There were a couple of DLC released, but they were mostly cosmetic, and the one piece of Story-related content actually felt like real DLC and not something that was taken off the game while it was being developed. It's also a fantastic game in it's own right. Everything Arkham Asylum had, this game doubles. There's so much more to do, to find, even easter eggs that only the most hardcore of Batman fans would notice. Speaking of Batman fans, the story, while a bit simple and straight forward, is straight out of a comic book, it's that good. But the game's crowning achievement is how it makes you feel as Batman, it's hard to explain, but few things are as pleasing as taking down a huge crowd of enemies, with them not even knowing where Batman is, freaking out as they get taken out one by one.

 Number 7)

 Square-Enix might not be the company that they used to be. They may have ruined Final Fantasy forever. But as much as they failed on the HD consoles, they released numerous decent-to-great RPGs on the DS. Above all of them lies The World ends with You, one of the most unique RPGs out there. While it has a bit of a SMT vibe, taking place in modern-day Shibuya, and if Neku wants to live, he has to complete certain tasks, part of a game of death. You grow stronger both by fighting and by eating food, which you must digest. Armor takes the form of clothes, regular clothes, and accesories like watches or earrings. Plus, the combat system would take too long to explain, but it's as unique as it is fun. This game is a reminder that Square-Enix can still produce quality games, if only they tried.

 Number 6)

 Present day Gearbox has become a bit of a shadow of it's former self. Borderlands 2 is a DLC cow/rip-off, heck, even the GOTY edition doesn't contain all it's DLC. Aliens is a really bad game that also gave way to numerous rumors about how Gearbox might've scammed Sega. Regardless, before becoming that, they created Bordelands, one of the best games this generation had to offer. Basically, it's Diablo 2 meets and FPS. And it works, fantastically if I may say so. And having couch Co-Op is just genious.

 Number 5)

 As many screw-ups as Capcom has done in the last few years, Tatsunoko VS Capcom remains as a reminder of just how awesome they used to be. TvC should've never seen the light of the day in USA, as getting the rights to every Tatsunoko character should've been very expensive and very complicated. But Capcom pulled through. Not only that, one character was lost as they could not attain the rights, so what did Capcom do? 5 completely new characters. As for the game itself, you might consider it the foundation upon which MvC 3 built upon. Still, TvC remains a superior game. It's a blast to play, and it doesn't have any sort of comeback mechanic, but adds a fantastic mechanic named Baroque, that basically makes it so that there's no infinites in the game, as long as you sacrifice some red health. The cast of characters was also incredibly diverse, something that MvC 3 didn't get right(3 DMC characters? 4 Resident Evil characters?), and MvC 3 has a larger roster!

 Number 4)

 Back in the PS2 era, there were two games that I loved: Gundam: Federation VS ZEON and Gundam VS Z Gundam. There were fast-paced, arcadey games with an emphasis on fighting. Needless to say, these games felt as if they had been made for me. Fast forward to this generation, I learn of Gundam Extreme VS just weeks away from the PS3 port, and I spent every day looking at videos and looking up information on the game. I bought it at launch and paid over 150(Sent from Japan+Buying through a third party... Latin America sucks and I didn't have my own card, sue me). And I don't regret it one bit. This game has EVERYTHING I want in game. Huge character roster(Over 60 different units), emphasis on fighting, Sword fighting, Arcadey gameplay, easy to pick up and play and lots of stuff to do. There are around 50 different stages just in Arcade Mode, but there are 200 different Missions in, well, Mission mode. I love this game. And the entirety of last year I spent it lurking the forums, waiting for news of a PS3 port of the sequel, Full Boost(Has over 90 units!)... well, it was finally announced a couple of months ago and I can't wait, heck, it might top my number 1 game....

 Number 3)

 The Orcs and Elves saga, which includes the equally awesome Doom RPG and Doom RPG II, are the perfect mobile games. They lend themselves to portability perfectly. Orcs and Elves on the DS is an upgraded port of a mobile game, the graphics were redone(And now look amazing) and a couple of new areas. What remained the same, however, was the fantastic gameplay. Basically, everything takes one turn, moving, attacking, etc. But enemies can't move until you move.While it may sound boring, it actually moves pretty fast, movement is done in tiles, just like Pokemon games, and you move at the same pace, thing is, until you make a move, the enemies can't move. This, plus the Save whenever you want is what makes it so portable-friendly, you can literally stop playing at a moment's notice and resume right where you were. And it's also very, very fun. I easily finished it over 15 times, both the Mobile and DS versions, and they never grow old. Never.

 Number 2)

 The one game that defined this generation for me was No More Heroes. It's also the game that introduced me to my favorite video-game director, Suda 51. The game is no technical masterpiece, there's slowdown in the shoddily implemented overworld, sometimes getting money before each match requires repeating certain tasks, and sometimes it's easy to tell that the game has some technical limitations when it comes to moving around. Despite all that, despite ALL that, the game oozes with personality. The main character, Travis Touchdown, is a star all by himself, and the 10 assassin's he must fight are all incredibly unique. Each one gets a long introduction and a death cutscene, and just those two makes every boss oh so memorable. While Motion controls on some of the side activities are a bit lame, everything that's involved in fighting is perfect. Slashing with the wiimote to perform a finishing move is impossibly satisfying, you really won't understand just how good it feels until you play the PS3 version and get stuck with the analog sticks, unless you use Move. There no games like No More Heroes, sure, action games with swords are a dime a dozen, but none have the same style and personality this one has. The only one that comes close is Lollipop Chainsaw.

 Number 1)

 If you like Fighting Games, it really doesn't get any better than this. Huge amount of characters(Over 50!) with only a couple of clones, and most of them have more than a few different moves. It also has the right kind of fanservice, every character from the series makes a return in here. Well, except Gunjack, which was really just Jack III, Kuma 1(Who'd be just Kuma 2), King 1(Who'd be just King 2) and Armor King 1, but no one really cares about them as they were replaced by identical characters. I digress, this game is a celebration of everything that is Tekken. It contains the tried and true fighting mechanics that have been perfected over the course of more than 6 games, and it brings back the much loved, and missed, tag mechanics. Don't want to learn two characters? You can just pick 1 character, with an extended life bar. The only complaint to be had, is that the customization options have been a bit streamlined since Tekken 6, this means that Gloves and body wear are one item and Feet and Legs are another one, not a real loss anyways.
 Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is as close to perfection as you can get, when it comes to Fighting Games. Plus, it's my favorite game of the last generation. I really don't know how to end this. Bye.

Now Playing: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

 Uncharted was really bad. Uncharted 2 was really good. Uncharted 3 is already off to a great start.

 And this is why I now refrain from watching as many trailers as I can: I didn't know Chloe would be back. Seeing her again was a great surprise. Just had to get that off my chest, heh. Anyways, I don't have much to say: Up to chapter six, so far it's pretty good. The story follows the formula of the previous two games, big baddie wants a certain thing that's found in a land of legend, Drake must race to get there first, bla bla bla. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but a bit formulaic. Characters are as good as always, they probably noticed that these exchanges during gameplay were one of the series strongest points, as you already start with two companions.
 Gameplay-wise, I haven't noticed any particular improvements, not that they were needed as the last game got them almost right. Haven't had much perilous platforming so I haven't tested it with jumps, but young Drake's segment going through the roofs felt silky smooth.
 Bottom line: It's looking mighty promising, I'm gonna get back to it after I get home from the U.

Review #72: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

 This is how you do a sequel.

 Uncharted 1 was awful. The production values were there, but the gameplay just didn't live up to it. Uncharted 2 fixes most of Uncharted 1's issues while expanding on ever redeeming quality Uncharted 1 had. The end result is a vastly superior game.
 Among Thieves takes up a little while after Uncharted 1, although there are no references to it what so ever. The game starts you up right about the middle of the story, with a wounded Drake being in a perilous situation, as he gets through it he recounts how he got there. Basically, there's an artifact, a dagger, that is said to be the key to opening Shambala, a hidden land, and the bad guy, who happens to have an accent like Uncharted 1's villain, wants it. There are plenty of similarities to Uncharted 1's story, a moment when Drake wants to call it quits, an ally in need of rescuing, a villain with an accent that learns how to get to the item he needs through Nathan, former humans turned inhuman enemies and a few others. The story is much better told this time, though, and there are many more supporting characters than in Uncharted 1, and they are all as likeable as the cast from UC1 were. Heck, most of the game, Drake will have at least one companion, and the exchanges between both are pure gold.

 My biggest gripe with Uncharted 1's gameplay was it's control, well, that's gone. Mostly. Movement has been tightened quite nicely, and doesn't feel as floaty. It's still not perfect, as a couple of jumps will make you feel as if it was the controls fault. And it probably was. The exploring segments are much better as well, Nathan will no longer prompt you towards deadly jumps, so if you mess up, it's completely your fault. There are a couple of puzzles too, and they are much more engaging and involved than Uncharted 1's, they are still pretty easy, but they are more fun. Attention to detail has been paid even to Drake's journal, as you can flip through the pages(When looking for hints for the puzzle) and see Nate's hilarious notes. Lastly, treasures return, and it's 100 instead of 60 now, although the game is just as linear as it used to be. Not that being linear is a bad thing.
 Combat is also better. Drake takes cover in a much smarter manner, and getting in and out of cover is much tighter as well. Enemies don't soak up as much damage as they used to be, at least not early in the game, and later when they do, it's at least explained by them having tons of armor on top. Every weapon returns alongside a couple of new ones. There are also special weapons, like a Riot Shield, a Minigun and gasoline tanks that you can throw and shoot them in the air to make them explode. Another complaint I had was that the game felt like you were going from shooting arena to shooting arena. While there are still a couple of those, they are not as heavy populated as before. The best feature, however, is that grenade distance is no longer controlled by motion controls, thank god. Even blindfire was enhanced, now you get a reticule so it's easier to aim at an area while doing so. I take it back, the best feature are the new set pieces. Many a times the game mixes the platforming with the shooting sections, making them much more exciting and fun. The train level is probably the standout moment of the game, but there are many more, like the car chase when you need to jump from car to car as you shoot your enemies, who are also on cars, really cool stuff.

 Presentation is downright fantastic. Gone is the plastic look that skin had in Uncharted 1, and everything is even more detailed. And details are everywhere, Drake and allies getting covered in snow while rolling around on it, getting wet too. There are physics applied to everything, so if you walk across it, Drake's body will push it. The soundtrack and voice acting is on par with Uncharted 1, and that's not a bad thing at all. Series newcomers are voiced just as well. What makes it even better is the dialogue, especially every character that gets to accompany Nathan, as the banter is fantastic.
 After you are done with the game, there are a multitude of stuff to unlock, from alternate skins for Nathan, to get-certain-weapon-whenever-you-want to even alternate filters or modes(Mirror World and Flip world are back). There's also a multiplayer component, but I had a bit of trouble finding matches. Regardless, Multiplayer is surprisingly fun, getting the acrobatics a gunplay into multiplayer arenas actually works quite well.
 Uncharted 1 is awful, it's just very hard to like. Uncharted 2 takes the redeeming qualities from it's predecessor and fixes everything that was wrong with it, ending up with an all around great game.
 8 out of 10.

Review #71: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law

 Take Phoenix Wright, next, mess everything up.

 I bought this game expecting a Phoenix Wright clone. It is a Phoenix Wright clone, made by the same developer, although not the same team. But.... it's so bad. It's hard to fit the game within a genre, the best fit would be ab adventure game. You must travel through different places, talk with people and gather Evidence(Items) that you must later use in court to prove the witness wrong. Or get more information out of them.
  The game really doesn't have a story, but rather, 5 different and independent chapters, although they must be played in order. Each case is really short, probably 30-40 minutes long at most. Basically, the whole game is as long as one Phoenix Wright case. Really, really disappointing. The game also tries to be funny, it tries really hard, but while I may have chuckled a couple of times, the game's humor didn't really do it for me. Maybe fans of the show might get more of it, but I didn't.

 As previously stated, each missions plays more or less the same. Someone gets accused of something and you must save them. This involves visiting places and examining them, searching for evidence. Every now and then the game might have you use one of the items you have on the Evidence in order to trigger something, but these are very few, select occasions. When you go to the stand, it's standard Phoenix Wright fare, witnesses say their part and you must examine it, finding flaws in their statements...except that most of the time, the evidence that you must present makes no sense. Sometimes the witness won't even be lying at all, and you just need to present the item they just talked about just to get more information out of them. It's a bit offputting and dumbfounding.
 The presentation is it's biggest asset, it has the voice actors from the show and the game looks really good. Some of the animation shows that it was, probably, made in Adobe Flash, but it doesn't matter. While I guess they were going for fidelity, I'm really not a fan of the voicework, it's too exaggerated. Maybe fans of the show will "get it", but to me, it tries too hard to be funny.

 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is a very boring game. It's very short, and it's just no fun at all. I admit I chuckled a couple of times, but most of the time I was bored out of my skull. It tries so hard to be funny, but most of the time it falls flat on it's face. This is not a good game, not by a long shot. And this game got a physical release while Phoenix Wright V didn't, Capcom, get your priorities straight.
 2 out of 10

Review #70: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

 What a letdown.

 So I've been told by lots, both friends and randoms, that I just had to play the Uncharted trilogy, so I obliged. After so much hype, so much build up, it had to be awesome. It isn't.
 The game is set up as a summer block buster popcorn action movie, y'know, those that are a dime a dozen. Even the dialogue follows suit, luckily, the writing is fantastic. The story itself has a few twists here and there but nothing too shocking. Basically, Nathan Drake is this generations Lara Croft, he is hired to find the remains of his ancestor, Francis Drake, as he hid a treasure somewhere. Drake soon finds himself knee-deep in trouble, as other parties are interested in the same treasure. The characters are very typical of the genre, Nathan is the cocky one-liner spouting and gun-toting hero, he works alongside Sullivan, a friend of his who provides gunfire cover every now and then, plus, his relationship with Nathan is very interesting, lastly for the good guys, there's Elena, even though she had never held a gun before, she quickly fells almost as many baddies as Drake himself. Bad guys are as cliched as they get, I'd delve deeper but I might spoil a couple of things.

 Uncharted is a third-person action game with a few adventure elements. Most stages are pretty linear, although exploration is encouraged in the form of hidden treasures. When Nathan isn't shooting hundreds of bad guys, he is climbing cliffs, vines, worn down walls and what have you. Platforming is reminiscent of Prince of Persia(PS2), however, it doesn't feel as tight. Sometimes the game lets you get away with mashing X while aiming in the direction of the next object, sometimes you'll have to be more precise. Sometimes it thinks that you want to jump away from the object, when you just want to jump in order to hasten the climb. Most of the time it works fine, though, but I'd lie if I said I didn't have some grievances with it. Occasionally there'll be some pushing or pulling in the form of puzzles, they are pretty easy to figure out though. As a whole, it's alright, although movement feels a bit loose.
 Most of the game has you taking cover and shooting though. My biggest beef with the game, is that the game loves to place you in "arenas' as soldiers surround you. These sections easily grow long in the tooth, specially since most enemies are bullet sponges, while drake can only take 3-4 direct hits before dying. Aiming for headshots is a must, as ammo can get rather scarce, specially when enemies get you pinned down and you can't move in to gather ammo from fallen enemies. As with most modern shooters, there's no health bar, opting instead for giving Drake regenerating health, as long as he doesn't receive damage. Hiding behind cover waiting for your health to recover isn't really my idea of fun. Oh, cover, once again the controls are a bit wonky, getting out of cover, or into cover, feels a bit clunky and imprecise. And why you could lower the difficulty to easy, easy is too easy. Adding insult to the injury, throwing grenades is done by tilting the joystick to determine the arc of the throw, who came up with this I do not know, but I despise him.

 As previously stated, there are treasures hidden throughout the game. They don't reward you in a direct manner, rather, there are achievements, some of these are related to the treasures. Achievements are not just for bragging rights, the more you get, the more points you get. These points unlock a variety of extras, from graphic filters, to costumes(Fat Drake!!) for both enemies and heroes, infinite ammo, behind the scenes videos and a variety of extras. Really neat. The game itelf is a bit on the short side, but the amount of extras give it some replay value.
 The presentation is fantastic. While the character's skin looks a bit too shiny and like if it were made out of plastic, the rest of the textures look fine. Even for a rather early PS3 game, it rivals a lot of late-releases. There are lots of neat touches, like clothes getting wet. The world itself is highly detailed and pleasing to explore. Still, there's not a whole lot of different enemies, and a lot of them are color-coded. The guys with the red shirts? They carry rocket launchers. The fat guys? They have the shotguns. And so on, and later on, when the camouflage guys are introduced, the guys with the hats(The same hats the guys in the red shirts wore) have the rocket launchers, and so on, it feels a bit cheap. What really hurts the visual presentation is the huge amounts of pop in that there is. Many times the game will load faster than the textures do, this is a frequent thing, so get used to it. Everything audio related, however, is phenomenal. The soundtrack is fantastic, every piece of the score sounds great, and the voice work is nothing short of perfect, it helps that the lines they get to deliver are so good.

 I really don't understand why this game was regarded so highly, it's not that much fun. The production value is through the roof, and it's clear that Naught Dog really tried, but it's just not that much fun at all. Most of the time it feels as if you are going from shooting arena to shooting arena, with the odds stacked against you. And the platforming is not as good as say, Prince of Persia. Frankly, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

 4 out of 10.

Now Playing: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

 Better than the first one!

 I didn't like Uncharted 1 too much. I found lots of flaws in it, which I will cover in a bit, and as a result ended up not having much fun with it. So far Uncharted 2 feels much better. Movement all around feels better, I think graphics aren't as sharp as before, but at least there's no pop in, unlike Uncharted 1.
 I haven't been in a shootout yet(Just cleared the 2nd chapter), but controls work much better, at least what I tried in Multiplayer. Here's to hoping the shooting galleries and bullet-sponge enemies are gon.

Review #69 Risen 2: Dark Waters

 One of the most hardcore mainstream RPGs of this generation.

 As the name implies, Risen 2 is the direct sequel to Risen, if you are a PS3 owner like me, you are screwed, as the first one is a PC/X360 exclusive. You don't really need to have played the first one, but characters love referencing it, so a lot of the jokes and returning characters might get lost on you.
 The story sees the nameless hero turned into a Inquisitor drunkard(The reason as to why he is back to level 1), and the appearance of Mara, an ancient being bent on destroying the world. There's only one way to defeat Mara, and that is to gather 4 ancient artifacts, the main character is tasked with doing so, but he will need to enter the Pirate world and abandoning the Inquisition. The story is nothing special, and neither are the characters, the dialogue however is, at times, quite entertaining.

 The game plays like most western RPGs, being very open ended. As soon as you leave the first island, you are free to gather the artifacts at your leisure. There are numerous sidequests to be done as well, which reward you with Items, Gold and or Glory. Glory is this game's Experience Points, and it's almost as hard to come by as Gold. Y'see, this is a very hardcore and unforgiving game, you need Gold for everything: Getting items and equipment, learning skills and sometimes, even to fulfill certain sidequests. Heck, the few equipment pieces that can be found are pales in comparison to what you can buy, except that one sword that you can forge. Stuff is very expensive, and gold is a very rare find, specially early on the game. The worst part is, you use Glory to level up your stats(Blades, Toughness, Cunning, Guns, Voodoo), however, that doesn't net you any skills, oh no. You must find a Teacher that will charge exorbitant amounts of money to teach you skills. At the outset of the game, your character cannot do anything besides attacking with the square button. Power Attacks, parrying, stealth, lock picking? All requires to be taught. And you will require some of these in order to fulfill some sidequests and earn more money. As previously stated, the early game is really hard, I easily died over 7 times in the first three hours of the game, save often.
 The game lasts around 30 hours, and you won't get enough Glory and Gold to max out everything, so you must choose wisely. Furthermore, later in the game there's a branching path in which you can choose to side with the natives and learn Voodoo, or side with the Inquisition and get access to better Gun teachers and learn to handle a Musket. Minor happenings on the main quests also change up a bit, which is kinda nice. As you go through the game, you will aquire a small, but respectable crew. There's about 5 characters, one that needs the DLC to get, and a couple of "?" on the menu, which probably means that there was more DLC planned. Some of these companions, three of them actually, you can bring alongside you. They are really useless, and tend to get stuck on terrain. At least they help on the early game by attracting enemies towards them, exploiting them quickly becomes second nature.

 Graphics are really mediocre, siding on bad. Animations are stiff and dated, and models aren't too appealing. Even worse, a lot of character models are cloned and retouched a bit, leaving dozens of NPCs with the same face. The Islands themselves fare a lot better, offering some very pleasing vistas. There also happen to be tons of framerate issues, fighting on watery areas, with a companion against more than one foe can become quite taxing on the fram rate. Many times, it gets so bad that the game might mistake mashing the Square button for holding it, due to the slowdown, making you attack with an unwanted heavy blow(Which you must learn, by the way). The music is alrightish, nothing to write home about, and the voice acting is merely adequate. There are many NPCs that share the same voice actor, and it's hard not to notice. At least the dialogue is rather good.
 As frustrating as the framerate issues are. As vexing as the game is at the start, I was having fun with it. Beneath all the technical issues, beneath it's unwelcoming exterior, deep down, there is a decent game. Still, it's hard to recommend, even to pirate fans, as the beginning can be quite offputting.
 6 out of 10.