About Review #300

  So, umm... here's what I'm playing at the moment.

 So, Aquapazza is gonna be review #299, that's already decided and set on stone. I've taken a bit of a break from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate after logging over 40 hours into it, I haven't even finished the vanilla campaign yet, but the game is fun. Earth Defense Force 2025 is on hiatus, since I'm doing a co-op campaign run with my sister, it might be a while until we finish it. Dragon's Dogma... I dunno why or how but I stopped playing it, but I will resume play after a while.

 As for TMNT 2, yes, I admit I didn't finish it, but I'm close to the end! The thing is, it didn't matter how much more I played it(Those two last levels), I hated the game, and nothing those two levels could've done would've changed that. I played over 90% of the game, I was sure of my opinion on it. But I will finish it someday, that much I promise. Then there's Dungeon Explorer, a game I simply lost interest on. It's so.... dull, lifeless, boring... I might attempt to finish it later sometime down the line. Maybe.

 Rune Factory Frontier I actually resumed play last year, but hit a roadblock upon the third boss. I aim to finish it someday. I dunno if its worth a review, since it's been so long since I got into it and actually learned how it worked. And then there's Demon's Souls which has been on a four year hiatus, some day though....

 But what really matters is Review #300. I've been somewhat rushing through games, at the expense of my daily literature, in order to make it to #300.  I wanted to make it special, so it had to be a special game. For a while I thought about making it Borderlands - The Presequel, since I'm getting the Triple pack soon, and since I adore the Borderlands franchise, it made sense. Then I considered Final Fantasy VII, my favorite game of all time, and although I wrote about it early in the blog's life, I was terrible(Even more than now) at writing, and it didn't do the game justice. I wouldn't be able to do the game justice now either way, but it'd be a better piece.

 But then I remembered that there's a certain game on my backlog that holds a certain special place in my heart, even if I don't talk about it very much. The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time 3D.

 Lemme tell you about my life as a gamer. I've been gaming ever since I've memory and a sense of self. It all started with a Chinese knock off NES called the 'Family'. I played Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong(And DK Jr and 3 as well!), Megaman(Which I played as Rockman!!), Bomberman, Milk and Nuts and even bootleg versions of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and the infamous Somario. Eventually I would upgrade to a proper NES, and I have clear memories of Super Mario Bros. 3 being the first game I played on it! I would skip the SNES, sadly, but I got the N64.

 Mind you, I hadn't played a single Zelda game ever, but at this time I started buying videogame magazines. Xpert Gamer, EGM, GamePro and a Mexican magazine, 'Club Nintendo'. I learned about this upcoming game, 'The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time'. I don't know why, but these magazines managed to hype me up for this game. Mind you, I had never ever played a Zelda game before, and yet, I needed to play this game. I'd tell my father all about it. And one fateful day, we went out for dinner, and me being somebody that just can't sit still, would often times go out of the restaurant, while the food was being cooked, for a walk. Well, on this fateful day I entered a store and lo and behold, THE LEGEND OF ZELDA - OCARINA OF TIME was sitting there. I went running back to the restaurant "DAD, DAD, OCARINA OF TIME. THEY HAVE IT. IT'S THERE!', he actually took me back into the store and he bought it for me. I loved Ocarina of Time. And since I was young, I was like those people on the Internet that can't stand other people's opinions. 'THEY ONLY GAVE OCARINA OF TIME 98/100?! WTF, IT'S A PERFECT 100!'.... gosh, I can't believe I just admitted to being one of those idiots. But it's all in the past now. I've learned to accept that even if other people consider Quest 64 trash, it can still be one of my most beloved games. And people might love Xenoverse, but I hate it, and that's just fine as well.

 Anyways, eventually I'd meet Final Fantasy VII(PC Port baby!) and my eyes were opened to the existence of this fantastic little gem that I felt was waaay superior to Ocarina of Time. It's one of the reasons I abandoned Nintendo once the Gamecube hit and opted for the PS2. That and Tekken. Regardless, throughout the years my opinion on Ocarina of Time has always been that it's a good game, but incredibly overrated....

 ...But maybe I need to give it a second chance, with better graphics and a better interface, on the 3DS. That and the fact that I was an idiot and sold all my N64 games in order to get a Ps3, which I regret every single day of my life, so unless I want to play an emulated version, the 3DS it is. And this is why I want Ocarina of Time 3D to be my review #300. Because it's a game that meant a lot to me once. Because it's a game that even if I don't consider to be as amazing as most other people, it still has a spot on my heart.

 So here's to you, Ocarina of Time. Here's to playing more games. And here's to making Final Fantasy VII my review #500!

Review #298: Samurai Champloo - Sidetracked

 Suda 51's worst game?

 It's no secret that I consider Goichi Suda my favorite videogame director. He's got an impossibly unique writing style, and does things with videogames nobody else would dare to. His games have an almost David Lynch-like weirdness and surrealism to them, that I just adore. That said, they tend to be technically clunky, a bit rough around the edges, but they make up for it by having both style and substance, usually hiding a surprising amount of depth behind their rather simple mechanics. Samurai Champloo Sidetracked is clunky, with a ton of style but nothing of substance, and it pains me having to write this about a game from my favorite developer.

 The game follows an entirely original story, that takes place sometime before the anime's end. You can either play as Mugen or Jin, and they follow different, but connected, storylines. Mugen deals with the enigmatic new character, Worso, directly, while having to deal with a witch's poison, while Jin meets Worso's sister and her attendant. The story feels very Samurai Champloo-ish, even if it veers into the supernatural... although the anime did acknowledge 'ki', so it's not all that out of place, but what's even better, it also reeks of Suda 51. From the screen transitions, to the dialogue(Even Jin breaks the 4th wall once!), to how enemies disappear when killed, to the weird characters(Talking Yakuza Monkeys with colored hairdos!) it's all very Suda 51, and it's amazing. Both Jin and Mugen have different stages and bosses, eight chapters each, and finishing the game with either unlocks Worso as a playable character, with 4 chapters to his story. It should be said that character models are a bit... off, and it doesn't help that the game only offers English voices, which are fine on their own, but they don't match the mouth movements at all, so it comes off as very off putting.

 Gameplay is when things start falling apart. Mugen and Worso play a bit similarly, but Jin is fairly different from both of them. There's weak attacks and strong attacks that can be used after certain weak attacks, and while Worso and Mugen jump with the X button, Jin enters an alternate stance. You can buy different weapons and 'tracks' inside shops, these tracks not only alter the sound that's playing, but also how your character attacks and even when you can end a combo with a strong attack, and sometimes they come with side effects, like boosting defense. You can only bring two tracks with you, and can only equip them at stores. Successfully landing many attacks, without being hit, rises Tension, and once maxed your combo strings increase, which vary from track to track, and performing a certain attack string, shown on screen, will make you enter Hyper Mode for a short while, which makes you faster and stronger. There's two different forms of counters as well, pressing an attack button without being hit will do a weak counter, while pressing circle will let you use an even stronger counterattack, but it's riskier since circle does nothing for Mugen or Worso, but makes Jin dash forward, putting them in harm's way. Lastly, after maxing tension, you might come across enemies with stars on their heads, killing them will let you enter 'trance mode', where you have to kill 100 enemies before being hit 3 times, in order to receive rewards. Trance Mode is very stylish, but it's also a drag. Later in the game you'll try to avoid entering Trance Mode since it's so damn boring, and wastes so much time.

 And the game loves to waste your time. Most of the time, enemies respawn infinitely and constantly, which is just annoying. So you'd think to yourself 'I'll just avoid them once I get bored of cutting them down', which would be viable, if only there weren't tollbooths. Tollbooths are the game's way of forcing you to kill enemies, but these don't charge you money, which is rather plentiful, but instead require Kobans. Kobans fall at random from killing enemies, so it might take you anywhere from a few minutes to more than half an hour to get the Kobans you need. What were they thinking? D'you know what the solution for this was? HAVING A FIXED NUMBER OF ENEMIES PER STAGE, LIKE ANY OTHER NORMAL ACTION GAME. The last level for both Jin and Mugen is an absolute nightmare, it's long, repetitive, poorly designed and filled with tollbooths. Oh, and I didn't mention it, but you can only save your game upon finishing a chapter! There was this one time, during the last stage, that I spent 30 minutes wandering aimlessly killing enemies because the goddamn Koban didn't want to fall. Fun times.

 Then there's the subweapons, you can carry up to two of them, but they will break if you use them too much, and only the rare 'herb' item will repair them mid level. And if they break, you have to pay a fee to repair them at a shop. The best part about these weapons, is that they are sometimes stronger than you basic weapon, but they have different durability levels... of course the game doesn't tell you how strong or durable a weapon is, so you have to find out by yourself. And the load times, hot damn, they might not be long, but they are very frequent. Some bosses have various cutscenes mid battle, and it has to load each and every one of them, which really takes you out of the game. And if you access a shop from a level, instead of from the town, the load time will be rather long. And the camera, jesus christ, the camera is terrible, because there're fixed camera angles. Basically, you'll have to use the map on the lower right of the screen(Or press R2 to make it appear) in order to navigate levels. It's not unusual to get hit by enemies hidden by the camera.

 But what surprises me the most is how many positive reviews this game got. Maybe this was acceptable at the time of its release? I dunno, but I swear to god, I couldn't enjoy this game at all. I tried, I wanted to, specially since it was made by my favorite developer, who both wrote and directed this game! That said, for a Suda 51 fan, I'd say it's worth a look. You will find the game has a lot in common with No More Heroes, heck, I'd say this game feels like a sort of a prototype of No More Heroes, but fans of Samurai Champloo'd do better to altogether skip this game. It might feel like an episode from the show, but it's not even half as fun to play as it is to watch an episode of the series.
 3.5 out of 10

Review #297: Super Mario Bros. 3(Virtual Console)

 Still has it.

 Back when I was younger, there were two Mario games I played(3 if you count Super Mario World), Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3. I grew up with Mario, I adored Mario, and for the longest time I considered 3 the best Mario game. As I grew older, I started consider Mario Bros 1 the more 'timeless' one, but 3 the better game.... but I think my views have changed a bit since then.

 Super Mario Bros. 3 features the debut of the Koopalings, Bowser's seven kids, who steal the magic rods and transform 7 kings into animals. It's up to Mario to rescue the poor kings... and eventually Princess Peach as well. The game is divided into 8 different worlds of different themes of varying lengths each. For the first time in Mario history, there's an 'overworld' of sorts where you walk over the levels you want to play. On this overworld you may also come across minigames that will grant Mario power-ups. But these power ups can be stored for later use! As for power ups, there's the Mushroom, which makes Mario taller and grants him an extra hit, the return of the Fire Flower, which grants Mario projectile attacks, the new Leaf that grants temporary flight and a close range attack by sweeping a tail, the Tanooki suit, a beefed up Leaf that also lets Mario transform into an invulnerable statue, the Frog suit, which is useless on land, as a matter of fact, it encumbers movement... but turns water stages into a cakewalk and, lastly, the Hammer Bros. suit, the rarest power up in the game, that grants Mario projectile attacks and cover while ducking. There's also a plethora of items that affect the overworld, you can use the Cloud item to bypass a stage, the flute item to warp to a different world, etc.

 This is 3D platforming at its finest. Levels go from foolproof easy to very, very challenging. That said, I don't think levels are properly spread out. While World 8 is definitely the hardest, World 4(Giant World) is one of the easiest worlds in the game, and is number 4. That said, Mario's movement is spot-on, with tight, responsive controls. When you die, it never feels as if it wasn't your fault and your fault only(Although I bet DarksydePhil would find a way to blame it on the game). Some obstacles may seem impossible, but they simply require proper timing to get across, and man, can the timing get strict. At least, since you can carry power ups with you, you can sorta give yourself extra 'hits' if a level proves to tough, or skip it altogether with the Cloud item. That said, there were a few gimmick levels, labyrinthine at that, that I didn't enjoy very much. They felt more of a hassle than anything else, I go to Mario for platforming, not pseudo-puzzles.

 One thing I will say, is that I missed this limited color palette. Don't get me wrong. subsequent ports(SNES via All-Star Mario, GBA via Mario Advance 4, Wii via Mario Anniversary) feature more colorful. better graphics... but maybe it's because I grew up with these, but I simply enjoy this graphics more, and I usually prefer SNES-style spritework to NES'. Speaking of ports, these have extra features that this version doesn't have, like the GBA port that lets you replay any level that you want at any time, after finishing the game. There's also NO saving, but luckily the 3DS allows you to create 'savestates', so that's not an issue.

 Super Mario Bros 3 is still a phenomenal game, an example of what 2D platforming should be. This playthrough made me realize that I enjoy Super Mario Bros. 1 a bit more, but I think it has to do with that game's simplicity. There's a lot to do in this Mario adventure, a lot of variety and a lot of ways to get to the end. It's a piece of videogame history that deserves to be, at least, tried.
 9.0 out of 10

Review #296: Tomb Raider(2013)

 's fine, 's fine.

 And now it's Tomb Raider's reboot turn at my hands. By the by, I find it hilarious that this game took a huge cue from Uncharted... since Uncharted borrowed a lot from Tomb Raider back when it was released! It went full circle!

 How to tackle the story? It's a bit of a mess... Lessee, the supporting cast is cliched, stereotypical, bland and predictable. You've the fat 'native' guy that believes in supernatural stuff from the get go, the short tempered black woman(They went there), the guy that's totally not suspicious and totally not a coward and totally not putting a front for the cameras even though he behaves like a character from a cartoon show with all his mysterious pauses while he speaks, etc. You'll be able to predict the fate of most characters, because they are just that uninspired. Then there're some truly jarring moments, like when Lara is administered CPR when... she totally didn't need CPR but somehow it saves her, or how she decides that the best way to deal with impalement is to... just remove the arrow there and then, which would've caused tons of bleeding and internal damage. It's also a bit inconsistent, Lara just shrugs off said impalement, and gets beat up(While the wound is still fresh) and... just walks it off. But later on, she receives some blunt hits, and now suddenly she needs first aid(Which is conveniently nearby). There's a lot of contradictions between what you are supposed to do in game, and what the cutscenes portray. For instance, Lara cries when she has to kill an animal to survive. SHE CRIES. But then you are allowed to freely hunt any animal you want, not for food but for sport, and you are rewarded for it. And she's supposedly scared and a bit of a wreck since she has to kill... yet you are killing enemies by the hundreds as if nothing. The game even rewards you for finishing them off in special ways, 'Headshot', 'Axe finisher', etc. So much for making such a big deal of her first kill. And there's a lot of cutscene incompetence as well, sometimes Lara seems to forget that she has taken care tens of enemies at the same time, yet she is easily captured by a few. There's this moment where she has a clear, easy shot against the big bad and yet... lets everything unfold, because why not. Or she does really silly stuff that gets her in danger. You are a badass as you slay enemies as if nothing, yet when the cutscenes start, Lara suddenly turns into a foolish weakling. As for Lara herself, I don't agree with the direction they took her in, wanting to make her more vulnerable and wanting to make the player want to protect her, but, BUT, the new Lara is very likeable, and you just root for her. But I still don't agree with them doing it to Lara. Even Young Lara, back in the PS1 days, was much more of an adventurer than this one.

 You'll be surprised to learn that this game is a Metroidvania. Kinda. The game never forced me to backtrack, but most of the time you are free to backtrack(You can 'fast travel' from specific 'Camps' on each area) and search for collectibles with your new upgrades and tools. I do wish that there were more of these camps, or at least allow Fast Travel from any camp, since the map isn't very clear at times, and some areas are rather large, so just for convenience's sake, it would've been nice. They also took a page from Batman with 'Survival Vision', by tapping L2 the environment will turn grey, and both enemies and interactibles will be highlighted. Speaking of collectibles, there's a ton of them, plus, 'goals'(Like setting X amount of banners on fire) and a few Tombs to explore. Tombs consist of one-puzzle 'challenges' that rewards you with a fair amount of XP, scavenge and a map that shows all the collectibles in the area.

 But when you are not exploring, you'll be shooting your way through, and combat works pretty smoothly. Lara will automatically duck besides any object higher than her waist, and you pop out by simply holding L1(Aiming). It works very well and doesn't make Lara stick to the surfaces, which allows for more movement when it comes to evading. There's four weapons in the game, Bow, Gun, Shotgun and an Automatic Rifle. Truth be told, I spent 90% of the game with the bow, it's easy to use, lethal, you'll recover more ammo than the one you use, and by the end of the game enemies come with armor... but the bow can be upgraded to ignore this armor. That said, sometimes it's a bit slow, so I did alternate between shotgun and bow on some of the latter shoot-outs. Lara can also use her climbing axe, once she finds it, for melee attacks, which were fairly fun to pull off.

 One aspect I really liked about the game was all the upgrading. By defeating enemies, or hunting animals, or finding a few collectibles, you'll earn experience points, and upon leveling up you can acquire different perks. From more damage resistance, carrying more ammo, to having Survival Instinct highlight collectibles as well. But it doesn't end there, you will also come across crates, as well as searching enemy bodies, for scavenge, which is then used to upgrade your weapons! The upgrades actually change how your weapons look, and randomly, you may come across 'upgrade parts' that will upgrade the weapon, change the entire look of the weapon, and enable purchasing even more upgrades.

 One thing I did not appreciate, however, were the many, many QTEs. QTEs to kill enemies, QTEs to hold onto ledges, QTEs to avoid rocks... the entire first half hour of the game is filled with these, and gave me a fairly bad first impression. Their frequency does lessen, somewhat, as you advance through the game though. There's also bugs, I came across two. The Rope Ascend Bug, that is almost gamebreaking, if only there wasn't another bug you can exploit to proceed forwards! Then another one during an elevator section, where you are to break some jammers, the game allowed me to break one of them when I shouldn't, and while the floor didn't break, as it should've, it let me kill myself and upon reloading, the way was cleared.

 This game has been compared to Uncharted, and it's... somewhat deserved. There's a fair amount of scripted sequences throughout the game, or stuff breaking as Lara 'parkours' over it. From highlighted climbables in yellow or white! But when it comes down to it, the game is its own beast. The cover-based shooting is completely different, the Metroidvania approach is different, etc. Inspired by? Definitely. A ripoff? Not even close.

 Tomb Raider is a pretty fun game, even though I don't agree with the new direction they took Lara in, Lara as in the character, as for the game itself, I did enjoy this new direction, but then again, I do love Metroidvanias....
 8.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Tomb Raider

 More like QTE Raider, am I right?

 So, where to start.... Hmmm, I know. At first, I wasn't really feeling the game. I hate the new direction they went with Lara, how they wanted to make her 'vulnerable' and wanted you to want to 'care' for her... which came across as slightly sexist and misdirected. You don't usually see male characters go THIS 'vulnerable', even on their origin story. And it's even worse if you grew up with Tomb Raider, even her Last Revelations younger form had more of a... drive towards action than this Lara. It didn't help that I hated the first parts of the game, where everything was a QTE. QTE to dodge rocks, QTE not to fall, QTE to push back the assailant, etc. It was particularly bad when the game teaches you 'If Lara doesn't hold with both hands from an edge, you have to tap square', only to have her fall during a scripted scene. DON'T TEACH ME SOMETHING ONLY TO BREAK THE 'RULES' MINUTES AFTER THE FACT, GODDAMN IT.

 But then you get the bow. And then the axe. Then you get to explore, and the game became fun. It's sort of like a Metroidvania, you will find collectibles, or even routes, out of reach, due to a certain obstacle. Later you'll find a tool that will be able to deal with the obstacle, so you can backtrack, etc etc. It also breaks its attempt at 'realism'(And man, is the game gruesome) by letting you fast travel from camp to camp, but at least its convenient. Oh, and the game isn't nearly as Uncharted-y as people make it out to be.

 What I didn't like:
 - QTEs up the wazoo.
- The new direction they took Lara in.

 What I did like:
- The Metroidvania like gameplay.
- The skills and upgrade system.

So, about the Borderlands 1.08 update...

 It received an update...

 ...and everyone's been talking about how it has fixed everything. Well, I decided to put it to the test. I launched the game, started at Scarlet's DLC, which I stopped mid-way since I was tired of all the freezes. Well, the Framerate is definitely much better. But that's not enough for me, I had to truly test the game, so I went to Lynchwood, the glitchiest part of the game, and.... 10 minutes later the game froze. I kid you not, I got 10 minutes of gameplay out of the game before it froze on me.

 To put it bluntly, the framerate is indeed better, but the freezes are still there, and these break the game. The fact that you can't get more than 10 minutes out of game time before a freeze is unacceptable. The game is still broken.

Review #295: Vitamin Z

 Not to be confused with the Japanese dating sim.

 Vitamin Z on Playstation Vita is a free to play game I've been playing on and off since last year, and I think it deserves me talking about it, seeing how much time I've spent on it.

 You play as this cutesy scientist girl, who must defend herself from wave after wave of mutant vegetables. This is a 'Defense game', in this case your character is firmly stuck to the center of the screen, and you use the analog sticks to direct her firing. Normal shots are done automatically, but the more enemies you kill, the more Heat you generate which allows you to use your special shots. There's also a Stomp attack that pushes all surrounding enemies back, but this is governed by some kind of invisible cooldown period. I say 'invisible', because sometimes the game won't let me use the stomp, even though I haven't even used it yet on a playthrough. It always bugged me, since I just can't figure out when I can or can't use it, I used to think that it had to do with the color of the platform, or that it reloaded when steam came up, but... doesn't seem to be that way.

 The more enemies you kill before dying, the more money you'll earn which you can then spend on all types of upgrades. From health upgrades, to damage upgrades, to unlocking possible power ups like Spread Shot or Ice beam. Frankly, I thought the differences these upgrades did was negligible, I never really felt much stronger or sturdier than before. Also, scrolling through the store is done with the touchscreen, but sometimes it seems to get stuck, which makes it annoying to go through. If you can't be arsed to earn the money, you could always buy the microtransactions. Seeing how the game is free to play, and everything can be earned in-game, I don't really have any complaints about them.

 The review would've ended there and then, but I just booted out the game(To check out what the Microtransactions offered) and... it turns out it didn't save my progress from the last time I played. I don't know why it didn't save, but it's mighty annoying, since I'm missing the last two fire power upgrades!

 Vitamin Z is not a very good game, but damn if it isn't addictive. I've played this game more than I like to admit, and hey, it's completely free!
 4.5 out of 10