Archile's Grab Bag: Turtle Month is still a thing Edition

TURTLE MONTH 2015!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Box box box stuff stuff stuff

 Tearaway - Because it looked awesome. Really.

 Silent Hill: Book of Memories - I know that it's not a Silent Hill game, but I never claimed to be a Silent Hill fan... but I am a dungeon crawler fan, and that is exactly what this game is, which is why I got interested in it!

 Tales of Hearts R - One of the very few VITA RPGs without waifus or some kind of undressing mechanic, and being a Tales fan... I kinda had to get it. I was bummed that the DS version never made it, but if  I knew it meant getting an upgraded port, I wouldn't have minded!

 Toukiden: Kiwami - It looks like a very badass Monster Hunter-type game, right up my alley!

 Soul Sacrifice - I could pretty much copy how I feel about Toukiden for this one. But I'll elaborate on why I got vanilla SS instead of Delta... well, physical release! And yes, I do know that the Chinese release of Delta has an English language option, but that version is a bit tougher to find.

 TMNT(PSP) - While the Movie is a Raphael-fest, it was one of the few post-SNES era TMNT games that I hadn't played, and Turtle Month was coming.... so yeah! Being completely honest about it, this game looks bad... but hey, at least it seems to be better than the DS version(TMNT had three releases: TMNT(PS2, GC, Xbox), TMNT(DS,PSP) and TMNT(GBA)).

 TMNT(GC) - The third version of the TMNT - The Movie - The game thingie, and also the first Ubisoft-pusblished TMNT game, it looks... decentish. I admit, I've never been interested in the Ubisoft-era games(Except maybe Smash-Up, which I bought at release. and was a huge disappointment and the GBA TMNT, which looked great), but since Turtle Month is comin' up... why not!?

  And thus we have the final line up for Turtle Month 2015. Not gonna lie, the only games that look promising are the three Konami games and the Ubisoft-published TMNT(GBA). But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Month Overview: May 2015

 Games finished in May 2015:

Bleach - Shattered Blade           3.5
Touch my Katamari                   6.5
SoulCalibur Legends                 4.5
Uncharted Golden Abyss          8.0
Soul Reaver 2                            8.5
Jeanne D'Arc                             7.5
Legacy of Kain - Defiance        8.5
Borderlands 2(VITA)                2.5
Animal Crossing                        5.5
F-Zero GX                                 8.0
Maximo - Ghosts to Glory        8.0
Silent Hill 4 - The Room          9.0
The Orange Box                        10

 Another Month I'm cutting short since I'll be away when June begins. I don't even know how I managed to cram so much into May, supposedly, it was 'test month', so, supposedly, I had to study tons.... and yet, I seem to have played tons! The best part about it, is that I finally finished the Legacy of Kain series, and man oh man, how good it was. I feel like I might've been a bit too.... generous with Defiance, but the thing is, if you've been playing the games from the start, the pay-off is immense, to fully appreciate Defiance, you need to have played the previous games. And I replayed some old favorites from my past, Maximo, Silent Hill 4 and Half-Life 2, they were all so, so good.

Game of May:

 Half-Life 2 is every bit as good as it once was, and once you are done with it, you've got the two Episodes, which while they aren't as good as the whole of HL2, they basically add up to the previous game, which translates into a whole lot of Half-Life 2 to go through. And then you've Portal for dessert, short and sweet. What I'm trying to say here is that The Orange Box is amazing.

 Runner-up:

 I dislike Survival Horror games, but Silent Hill 4 is all kinds of awesome. The premise is creative, and the overall execution leaves nothing to be desired. Remember when Konami was awesome? I do.

Review #237: The Orange Box

 The cake is a lie... and I'm really late with that joke.

 The Orange Box is a 5-games-in-one kinda deal, featuring five first-person games that run on Valve's Source engine. It might sound a bit of a cop out, but the camera and the engine are the only things these games share(Well, technically Half Life Episode 1 and Episode 2 are pretty much Half Life 2 expansions), as they couldn't be more different from each other... Which is why it's better to talk about each one separately.

 Half-Life 2 - As far as I'm concerned, this is The Orange Box's centerpiece. It's over 10 years old, and the game only shows its age when it comes to graphics, otherwise, it has aged as gracefully as it gets. HL2 comes from an era before 'regenerating health', and the somewhat realistic, if completely anti-fun, two weapon limit.

 The thing about Half-Life 2, is that it feels like a big epic. You never lose control of the character, there are no cut-scenes so to speak, so you are always seeing stuff as Gordon sees it. The pace and the sense of adventure is something I really, really like about this game, you are always pushing forward, through a large, interconnected world. Even more impressively, the game always keeps it fresh, you'll go from traversing water on a boat, stopping only to open gates, to commanding an army of 'ant-lions' and laying wreck on a prison, to driving a buggy through deserted land and then traversing the abandoned, trap-ridden town of Ravenholm. Needless to say, you won't be doing the same thing for long.

 As much as I love the game, the PS3 port has a couple of shortcomings. Loading screens are rather frequent, as they were on the PC version, but they feel a tad longer in this one. The somewhat lame graphics, lame nowadays anyways, wouldn't bother me, if only there weren't a couple of frame rate issues. They are rare, but they are there. Then there's the vehicles' controls... The sand buggy is fine, but for some reason the boat's controls are all messed up. It's hard to explain, but it's a bit too sensitive, and both accelerating and steering is done with the left analog stick, and for some reason, when you go backwards, if you push left, it turns you right, but if you are accelerating, it turns you left... the game come be veeeery finicky as to how the boat is moving before deciding whether it's gonna turn you left or right. It made the fun boat sequence into an absolute mess.

 Consensus: Half Life 2 is every bit as good as it once was, but the PS3 isn't as good as the PC version.

10 out of 10.

 Team Fortress 2 - There's no point to playing this version, as it's awfully outdated. It's missing alternate weapons, hats or any kind of customization item. I mean, the PC version is free and it offers everything this game has and then some. And it's hard to find full rooms in the PS3 version. Really, Team Fortress 2 is awesome, but there's no reason what so ever to play this particular version.

 3.0 out of 10

 Half-Life 2 Episode 1 - I'll say it now before I even dabble into Episode 2... I don't think the Episodic format works for Half-Life. Heck, it's hard to judge just a piece of a bigger thing, a bigger thing that isn't even finished as of now. On it's own, Episode 1 is a decent, if very short, game. Chapter 1, of 5, can be a bit frustrating, but it gets decent-ish later. Thing is, it reuses mechanics from Half Life 2, sure covering Antlion's nests with cars is fun at first, but it kinda runs its course the third time around. I did appreciate the first three chapters, as you are limited to the pistol, shotgun, machine gun and Gravity gun, and ammo is very scarce, as you trudge through very dark areas filled with zombies... it certainly lends it a very unique flavor, when compared to Half-Life 2.  But then again, and due to its episodic nature, it's missing some of the things that made Half-Life 2 so good, its pacing and its sense of progression. It only adds one new enemy type, the Combine Zombie, and the facial animations have been tightened up.

 Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, a game that basically adds upon Half Life 2 can't be bad, but it certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

 6.0 out of 10

 Half-Life 2 Episode 2 - It fares slightly better than Episode 1, but it still suffers from its episodic format. It's a bit longer than Episode 1, 7 chapters instead of 5, and while it doesn't introduce any new weapons either, it has a new item, the Magnusson Device, which is an anti-Strider sticky-bomb like weapon. It's only used in Chapter 6 though. There're two new enemy types, an larger sized Antlion, and the Hunters(Which behave like 'Guardians', but they have a new attack). What I liked about this one, more than Episode 1, is that it feels more like Half-Life 2. It has a vehicle section, the aforementioned chapter 6 in which you get to use the Magnusson Device, or even a 'defense the base' section... it keeps things fresh, keeps you doing different things, I really liked that! Still, it's very short, the blame once again falling on the episodic format.

 Episode 2 is a step up from Episode 1, but I still think that Half-Life shouldn't stick with with Episodes.

 8.0 out of 10 

 Portal - It's hard to truly judge Portal for what it was, considering how much of what made it so good has been spoiled on the Internet... unless you are lucky enough to have been living under a rock for the past 7 years.

 Basically a first-person puzzle game, in which you have a gun that can create two portals, an exit and an entrance, upon certain surfaces. The rules are simple, and puzzles get increasingly more complex as you go along. The funny, if creepy, quips from GlaDOS while you adventure certainly add to the game's charm.

 It's a fun, original, creative and a bit short game. Personally, while I think it was pretty good, I wasn't left awestruck, contrary to most people on the Internet, but I think it has to do with how familiar I was with it before I even played it.

 7.0 out of 10.

 Here's the thing about The Orange Box, not only does it contain one of the most influential First Person Shooters ever, in Half-Life 2, it also contains one of the most influential games in Pop Culture ever, in Portal. There really is no going wrong with The Orange Box. Unless you are looking for a multiplayer game, in which case, well, it can't offer much, seeing how awfully outdated this version of Team Fortress 2 is!

 10 out of 10

Now Playing: The Orange Box

 Whoever designed this cover... fire him.

 Half-Life 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and I've been aching for a physical version... and since I consider myself more of a Console duebro, why not the Orange Box? I'm up to the Water Hazard chapter, and it's every bit as good as I remembered. If I could say one bad thing about it, it'd be the frequent loading times...

 That said, Half Life 2's got to have one of the most epic, action-drive opening scenes ever. The chase through the roof is as memorable as it's fun to go through. Man, there's so much to like about Half-Life 2, and it gets good right from the start, only getting better going forward.

 Then there's the other benefits of getting 'The Orange Box', Half Life Episode 1 and 2, both which I have never played for... well, reasons. As well as Portal, a game I've never, ever been interested in, but hey, it's an extra.

 There's also Team Fortress 2 but... It's very outdated, no custom weapons, which means no custom presets.... I mean, the PC version is free and has everything this version has and then some, plus, highly populated servers, so... Yeah.

Review #236: Silent Hill 4 - The Room

 The Room of AWESOME that is.

 Everyone and their dogs(If you know what I mean(Hint, it's a reference.) knows Silent Hill 4's story, it was supposed to be a gaiden/spin-off game, but somebody decided to make it a numbered sequel yadda yadda. And it's true, it might be a terrible Silent Hill game, but it's an awesome game.

 The game's premise is easily what I like best about it. You play as Henry Townshend, a character that it's as flat as they come--but that's alright, he's supposed to be an everyman, an unlucky sod that finds himself trapped in his apartment. The door leading outside is chained up, the windows are shut, it doesn't matter how much he screams or punches... nobody outside can hear him. It's genius, it's original and it's immediately engaging. The game does a great job of letting you feel as trapped and isolated as Henry, as a matter of fact, while the game is played in third-person, whenever you enter your apartment, it goes into first person. You can stare through the windows, you can look through the door's peephole, and watch as the world goes by. Oh, and I did mention 'entering' the apartment, y'see, not long after the game starts, a hole opens up in his bathroom, a whole that leads into the outside world. Everything about the game's story kept me hooked all the way through the end, as a matter of fact, this was the second time I played through the game, and I was every bit as invested on the story as before. It can be argued that Henry isn't a very good character, but I don't think that's fair. Henry is supposed to be a flat, one-dimensional character, not unlike Gordon Freeman(Foreshadowing), Henry is the medium through which the player interacts with the world and learns Walter Sullivan's story. That said, the game is very loosely tied to Silent Hill, you do travel near Silent Hill, and Henry claims to have visited Silent Hill before, but that's as close as you'll get to the fog-infested hell.

 Most of the game follows a pretty clear structure, you start off on your apartment, which serves as your personal stash, as Henry can only carry up to ten items, and it's the only place in which you can save your game and even restores your health.... initially, anyways. As you go through the game, your previously thought safe haven will start getting possessed by the outside world, and you'll have to get Holy Candles if you don't wanna take damage while on your apartment. Regardless, you will go through the hole on the bathroom to the zone of interest. You could argue that the game is made up of different chapters, which each takes place in a different area, regardless, in these outside areas is where most of the game takes place. Where you'll explore and solve most puzzles(Some require travelling back to your apartment!), fight monsters and collect weapons and other miscellaneous supplies. You may also come across holes that allow you to go back to your apartment, so that you can save, peep through the windows or the door or reorganize your inventory.

 Fighting is fairly simple and a bit clunky. There's two types of weapons, melee and ranged. There's only two ranged weapons, a pistol and a revolver, but there's a lot more of variety when it comes to melee weapons, from a pipe, golf clubs, an aluminium bat to a cardboard cutter or a hand-axe. Melee weapons not only offer different speeds and damage, but Henry will swing them in different ways, plus, you can hold the attack button to charge for an stronger attack, and each weapon will produce its own, unique charge attack. The thing about the combat, is that it's fairly slow, you can only attack while holding the R2 button, which enters you into targeting mode. Henry can't run while targeting, and his sidesteps feel off. Fighting enemies in numbers can be a bit daunting, they can take a fair bit of punishment, and unless you finish them off by stomping them, they will rise back up for another beating, when facing larger numbers of enemies, getting an opening to stomp a downed enemy can be difficult! But that's OK, a large amount of enemies are actually immortal, so you'll have to get used to running.

 Moving around isn't all that bad, except when the camera decides to get in your way. Y'see, most of the game is seen on a third person-angle, but sometimes the game decides to throw fixed angles into the mix... and some of these are a bit... bad. Heck, sometimes the it won't be a 'fixed' angle, so there's actually a button to move the camera behind Henry, which is all kinds of odd, it managed to throw me off quite a couple of times, as the switch isn't done very smoothly. Still, besides one or two cheap hits, the camera didn't really get in my way when it mattered. The puzzles in the game were quite simple, but then again, I didn't play on the hardest difficulty setting, which apparently, changes the hints to make them more vague!

 So, you made it through half of the game, which is about 3-4 hours in, and then... the game turns into a massive escort mission all the way to the end. And you have to go through all the previous areas. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. The person you are escorting can't actually die, though if you want the best ending you'd better do your best not to them get hurt a lot, although they seem to fall behind very easily, so sometimes you'll have to go back into the previous room to fetch'em, or wait until they are closer to you before getting through a door... and in those rooms filled with unbeatable enemies, waiting for them to get closer can be a bit of a pain. As for retreading old ground, you'll go through new areas and rooms, plus, all the puzzles are different. As a matter of fact, your first visits through the different 'worlds' are pretty short, with 1 or 2 simple puzzles, it's on your second time around when you'll actually have to do most of the thinking and exploring!

 As far as visuals go, it's nothing short of excellent. While I usually like my games colorful and vibrant, this game was aiming for creepy, so the dark, dry colors are welcome. The game also has a grainy filter applied to it, that heightens the creepiness. As for the art itself, the monsters are all abominations that look and sound the part. And then there's your apartment, which gets possessed, and all the various hauntings are both creative and scary, I mean, there's zombie ghosts trying to come through your walls, that's enough to merit a visit to the big boy's room! Sound design is top notch as well, what little music there is fits the scenes when it play, but the ambient noises? Holy chipotle. The voice acting however... Let's just say that it's passable at best, but Henry? Either the guy is the most badass everyman ever, who manages to keep his calm and stoicism regardless of what is going on around him... or the voice actor just didn't know what he was doing. I think it's the latter.

 Look, I don't care if the game 'isn't really a Silent Hill game', as far as I'm concerned, Silent Hill 4 - The Room is excellent through and through. The premise is original and creative, and they managed to make the most of it. And there's something to be said for a game that makes you go through the same areas twice, that half of it is a massive escort missions, and remains being fun.
 9.0 out 10.

Now Playing: Silent Hill 4 - The Room

 Thank god it ain't ma room.

 Genre's that are not 'my thing': Racing, Sports, Simulation and Survival Horror. And yet, Silent Hill 4 struck a cord on me. I don't know why it did, but I know why it does today. Silent Hill 4 retains the honor of being the very first Survival Horror game that I beat, brings a tear to my eye really. First things first, I am playing on Easy, and there's two reasons for that: A) I beat this game previously, so yeah and B) I am a coward. No, really, it's not the game that scares me, but the idea that I might get stuck in an impossible situation. Sue me.

 Secondly, I love the premise. The idea behind it is pure genius, the whole deal with the locked room, and how a hole 'transports' him near future victims and what not. I loved, LOVED the story of the game, so much so that I'd tell my father(I was young and easily impressed, sue me) about the story as it developed. That hasn't changed one bit, since the game's start, it's got me hook, line and sinker. And the enemies? Creepy as hell. The grainy filter applied to the game works towards that as well. The gameplay is a bit clunky-ish, as expected of a Survival Horror, but the story and premise are so good that I can ignore what few annoyances it could cause, y'know, like the less than optimal camera(Leagues above Maximo's though!).

 Basically, I'm in love.

 PS: Henry's voice actor is terrible.

Review #235: Maximo - Ghosts to Glory

 Not a single Red Arremer in sight!

 Remember Ghouls and Ghosts? What about Ghosts and Goblins? Quite the games they were! While most would assume that the franchise died after the SNES-era, they'd be wrong. Maximo is the spiritual successor to the franchise. And that's just fine, it's a game that doesn't ride on the coattails  of the franchise in order to carve its mark.

 Maximo, hardened warrior king, returns to his Kingdom, only to find Achille in charge, as well as having stolen his Queen. Maximo tries to attack, but is killed in action... not before Grim AKA Death, strikes a deal with Maximo, since both want Achille's head, Maximo wants his bride and Grim isn't too happy about Achille taking souls from the underworld. A simple premise, and not too different from the 'Ghosts' series.

 This is a 3D action-adventure game, with pretty obvious roots in 2D platformers. Maximo is armed with his armor, sword and shield and double jumps, as well as other skills he may acquire. Maximo's health bar is split in up to four segments, each segment standing for a piece of armor, more or less, 1 segment has him on his underwear, two with his armor, three adds a helmet and there's an optional fourth if you've the skill. The thing is, if you lose an entire segment, you can't restore it unless you find a new piece of armor, which means that grabbing health potions doesn't restore segments. The Shield has a separate endurance gauge, which decreases every time you block a hit, or if you have the skill, throw it against an enemy. Then there's the sword, which can slash, dice and thrust(If you've the skill).

 Maximo has a very interesting Skill system. You can find 'skills' by defeating enemies or buying them from altars, and these greatly enhance Maximo's repertoire of moves, from a two hit combo, allowing Maximo to throw his shield, turning his shield into a Magnet for power ups or even one that allows him to have up to four armor segments in his health bar. Thing is, if you die, you lose some of them. At the start of the game, you are given 3 'lock slots', skills placed in these will stay with you even if you die, and every time you defeat a boss, you are given an extra lock slot, for up to seven. I thought the skill system was excellent, it forces you to play carefully, but also gives you some leeway so that you can keep your favorites if you screw up. Plus, these skills offer a real advantage to Maximo, expanding his moveset, you want to keep these powers.

 Spread throughout each level there are two form of currency that you'll want to gather: Coins and Fairies. Coins are of utmost importance, not only do they let you buy items from altars, you also need 100 of them to save, yep, it's one of those games, your game or travel to previous worlds. Then there's the Fairies, on their own they do nothing, but collect 50 of them and you get a Grim Coin. Grim Coins are basically continues, kinda, the first time you lose all your lives, it'll take one Grim Coin to come back, but every time you 'continue', the price goes up. And it's worth mentioning that most people consider this game kinda hard. Personally, I died about 20 times and only used a continue once, which means... I thought the game was pretty much standard, not easy, not hard, just right... but not for the right reasons.

 The things that make the game 'hard' isn't the design itself, but rather it's flaws. The camera is terrible, no right-analog support and the only way to 'control' it is to press L1 and hope that the camera can position itself behind you, which isn't always possible. Most of the hits I took were because I couldn't see what was ahead of me. Then there's the overall movement, which feels rather slow, as if Maximo was weighed down by... something(Probably his armor? heh!), which means that it's easy to underestimate or overestimate his jumping prowess until you get used to it. Mind you, the platforming isn't too bad, it's just decent, it could've used some more polishing. As a matter of fact, there's this jump in one of the latter stages, in which you must jump from a huge siege tower towards a cliff, which is just plain evil. Must've died about 5 times, I even considered that, despite the trail of coins, it just wasn't the way to proceed. But it was. Honestly, both of these issues can be attributed to its age, and none were dealbreakers as far as I'm concerned.

 For an early PS2 game, it looks fine. Environments are simple, but varied, and characters are based on horror themes, but done in a charming, goofy manner. There're Skeletons frozen in ice cubes that slide through the ground trying to poke you with their harpoons, and wizards that turn Maximo into a little baby or an old man. The soundtrack I found lacking, there's about... 3-4 different tunes? And a ton of remixes of the game's main theme(Which might be mighty familiar if you are a 'Ghosts' fan!). I don't see it needed to talk about sound effects, but something about the sound your sword makes when it hits the skeletons is very, very satisfying. Heck, everything sounds really good, it's almost another reason to collect coins!

 What can I say? I enjoyed my time with Maximo - Ghosts to Glory. It is a bit dated, but nothing that can't be overcame. With that in mind, I thought the difficulty was just right, but I've read that some people thought it was a bit too tough, so, y'know, be ware.
 8.0 out of 10