Now Playing: Transformers - Devastation

 Platinum struck gold again.

 Undeterred by my savefile loss, I returned to the PS3 to face Megatron in Transformers Devastation. I'll keep it short and sweet: It's fantastic.

 The Good:
- Combat is fast and furious, it feels so good to land attacks.
- The graphics look phenomenal, it's very colorful, runs at a steady framerate and the animations are top notch.
- Simple mechanics, easy to pick up and play, even the nitty gritty like synthesizing weapons is pretty easy

 The Bad:
 - No playable Decepticons.
 - All five characters are basically clones. It seems like a few weapons are restricted to a certain characters? But I've yet to come across one, I'm just going by the HUD at the LAB.


 And that's about it, I think it's pretty damn good. It might even be better than their Ninja Turtles game.

Review #378: The Hobbit

 More than just a silly cash in.

 Back when Peter Jackson was making mad cash with his Lord of the Rings trilogy, a curious little thing happened... somehow, two companies made out with the rights to The Lord of the Rings, EA had the rights for movie adaptations while Sierra had the rights for Book adaptations. So of course they had to churn out crappy little cash-ins, like that terrible PS2 game. Or that RPG on the GBA that would freeze after a certain battle. Or that fun, if generic, RTS for the PC.... and then there was The Hobbit.

 Based on the book by the same name, The Hobbit puts you in the role of reluctant hero Bilbo Baggins as Gandalf the Grey sort-of forces him into accompanying a group of dwarves on a quest to get back their gold... this quest will take Bilbo through forests, elven towns, human towns, mountains an even face to face with a mighty dragon. Changes in order to make it more 'gamey' not withstanding, it's a decent adaptation of the book. Graphics are colorful, if a bit lacking in detail, music is fine and the voice acting is fine.

 The Hobbit is a linear adventure game. You go from stage to stage solving puzzles, battling enemies and platforming your way through bottomless pits. Most stages have a fair amount of sidequests to complete, as well as a ton of hidden collectibles to find. Collectibles that matter come in three forms: Courage Points, which will increase your HP, money, which can be used to buy items and upgrades after each stage as well as scrolls to enhance your combat capabilities. Sometimes, goodies will be locked inside chests that must be lock-picked in order to pillage them, lock-picking consists of a series of simple minigames that don't really overstay their welcome, and can be bypassed by finding or purchasing skeleton keys.

 Combat and platforming are... serviceable. They are not horrible, but they are not great either, they work just well enough to be considered acceptable. Bilbo relies on three means of offense: His staff, his blade, Sting, as well as throwing stones. The staff works great to defeat fast moving enemies, since the swings cover a wide area, but deal little damage. The sword is your main goblin slayer, able to break shells and deal more damage than the staff, while rocks can be used to slay enemies from afar. For this type of game, the combat showed a curious semblance of depth, since there're reasons to swap weapons depending on your foes, but you'd do just fine sticking to a single weapon as well. Sometimes collision detection might feel a bit wonky, but it's passable.

 Platforming can be a bit challenging since there're a lot of botomless pits and sometimes it's not very clear if you'll make a jump... or even if you were supposed to land a few jumps! At least Bilbo will let you know if you can jump from a rope to another rope, if he extends his arm forward, he can make it. Each level is VERY long, but the game is very generous with multiple save spots... and you'd do well to use them, since death means starting back at your last save. Trust me, you don't want to lose hours of progress due to a poorly planned jump!

 Lastly, there're a few shoe-horned stealth sections, but save that one level, these sections are fairly short and fairly easy, plus, as soon as you get The One Ring you can go invisible for a while and it turns stealth sequences into cake walks.

 One of the game's biggest flaws are the loading times, they're excessively long, but, at least, most levels only need to load once, and continuing after death is seamless... That said, a few of the larger levels will have a few loading screens peppered through, but these are much, much shorter than the initial one. It also has to be said, Bilbo moves rather slowly... running around is very slow, and at times exasperating enough as to warrant trying to bunny-hop your way to your destination! Climbing ladders can also be a bit annoying, since Bilbo is so slow!

 Surprisingly, The Hobbit is a rather good game, limited only by the low budget. Exploring levels is fun, the platforming can be fun as unpolished as it is, and combat needed a lot of tightening in order to make it rewarding, but as a whole, the game works fine. It's no masterpiece, nor a 'hidden gem', but it's definitely worth a look.
 6.5 out of 10

My SaveFile died and Why I hate Modern Gaming

 So there I was, fresh off the Hobbit, ready to start a new game: Transformers - Devastation. So, I turn on my PS3, seems like something went wrong the last time it turned off, so it had to check for errors. So it did... but it got stuck at 49% for 10+ minutes, so I rebooted the system...

...and was forced to wipe off all my data and format the disc.
 There went all the costumes I spent hours getting in JoJo's All Star Battle Royale. I had a lot of games, like Tales of Graces and Xillia, or Devil May Cry, waiting for me to start new files with all the goodies. But alas, it was not meant to be.

  I also have to download all my DLC again, which isn't much fun. But then again, unlocking characters in ArkSys games is gonna be a chore. Unlocking everything in Saint Seiya Soldiers Souls is gonna be a drag, Raging Blast 2 was boring as well.

 My 100+ hours invested in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3? Gone.
 I was planning on giving Escape Dead Island another go with its DLC, the one that needs you beating it once in order to access? Those plans went down the drain. Fun. Warriors Orochi 3 was really fun, but unlocking every character? That wasn't fun. Unlocking as much as I did in Xenoverse was a grueling chore, and I'm not doing that again.

 Man, I miss memory cards. At least if my Wii dies, everything's in my SD card.

Now Playing: The Hobbit

 Ain't no cow milked enough like The Lord of the Rings.

 Nostalgia is a powerful coat of paint. It makes you remember things as being better, shinier and more beautiful than they really were. Case in point, Sierra's The Hobbit, a game I had rather fond memories of... but turns out to be rather mediocre. Kinda.

 My first impressions were not good. Bilbo moved like a sack of potatoes, invisible walls everywhere, and rather stiff movement.... But it was an interesting first level, not unlike Twilight Princess: An introduction with no combat, but instead a ton of mundane tasks that sets the mood for the beginning of the adventure. By the end of the first level, I was kinda impressed!

 Basically, it's not as fantastic as I remembered it to be, but it has an undeniable charm

Review #377: Tony Hawk's Underground 2

 Stands tall as the peak of Tony Hawk's games.

 Now this, this what I think about anytime someone brings up Tony Hawk. Fast, simple gameplay, ridiculous goals and a very immature sense of humor. Realism is thrown out the window, this game embraces what's made the Tony Hawk games so good before and delivers what I consider to be the finest in the series.

 There're two main modes to choose from: Story Mode and Classic Mode. Story Mode centers in a contest around the world between Bam Margera and Tony Hawk, with your own custom skater caught in the middle. It's a hilarious, ridiculous, if short, adventure that has you seeking secret skaters and secret vehicles while trashing everything around you. You'll spend time raising the dead, throwing shrimp at lifesavers as well as playing chicken with a stampeding bull. To cal it over the top is an understatement. But hey, maybe, just maybe, you don't enjoy Tony Hawk post THPS3, and that's fine, THUG2's got you covered with Classic Mode, featuring repurposed levels from the Story Mode as well as 7 new levels(Remakes from levels from THPS 1 to 3) as well as the 2-minute, multiple objective structure.

 Story Mode is a blast, you'll never be doing the same thing for too long, and every level lets you skate with four different characters: Your custom skater, a pro, a guest and a vehicle-character. Vehicle Characters come with their own set of wheels, from karts to rocket-propelled wheelchairs, and they control well enough, save maybe Steve-O and his bull. The character creator is fairly robust, so you'll be able to create something to your liking. I found it brilliant how you develop your stats in story mode: By accomplishing feats, like grinding for X amount of seconds, landing X amount of grabs in a single combo, etc. This lets you raise your stats at your own leisure. You could pretty much max your stats on the first level, or you can ignore it and develop it as you accomplish goals. In Classic Mode, however, it's back to finding stat points hidden throughout the levels.

 But what really makes Tony Hawk's Underground 2 my favorite game in the franchise are its levels. There's so much variety, and every level stands out from each other... well, at least as far as Underground 2's exclusive levels go, but hey, the retro-levels selection is pretty good as well. These new original levels feature all sorts of landmarks that make them so memorable and fun to just fool around in. It helps that there's a ton of secret skaters to unlock by completing both classic and story modes in different difficulty settings.

 But maybe you are the creative type? That's just as fine, create-a-park returns as well as create-a-trick, and now you can even create your own goals, with a few types that didn't even make it into the story mode. Basically, if you like to create? The game's got you covered. You like Multiplayer? You're accounted for as well, featuring the classic suspects like HORSE, or even 2-Player free skating. You like Classic Tony Hawk? It's got you covered as well. You like Modern Tony Hawk? Enjoy. There's something for everyone in here.

 I don't know what else to say, I love Underground 2. If I was to complain about it, it'd be about the short length of the Story Mode, since it's what I enjoyed the most. Regardless, if you like Tony Hawk's games, Underground 2 is a no brainer.
 9.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Tony Hawk's Underground 2

 Now this, THIS is MY Tony Hawk.

 Now, I've played my fair share of Tony Hawk games(3, 4, Underground 2, Project 8 and Proving Ground) but this one is easily my favorite. While my knowledge about 1 and 2 is pretty limited to a few vids and 2's demo disc, I'm pretty sure that Neversoft hit their stride, when it came to developing levels, with 4. But Underground 2's levels are just so goddamn good, it houses most of my favorite levels in the entire franchise.

 But I'm getting ahead of myself, there's so much more that makes Underground 2 oh so good. I could mention how this was, at its time, the most advanced, in depth and varied entry yet, but that hold true for every single entry, since each game just fine tuned what worked and piled up even more mechanics. So I might as well mention the fantastic structure that lets the player fulfill goals at their leisure, and man, are these goals fun! They are varied, ridiculous and marred in that immature punk-skater sense of humor, probably some of the best goals in the series yet. But maybe, maybe you don't like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4's goal system, that's just as fine, since Underground 2 also has a Classic Mode, with a few unique levels to itself! There's absolutely no going wrong with THUG2, whether you like classic Tony Hawk or... erm, post-3 Tony Hawk.

 There's a lot more I could mention as to why I love the game, but I'm saving it for the review, needless to say, this game is the perfect example of how Tony Hawk fell when it jumped into the PS3/X360 era. They tried too hard to be more realistic, sacrificing the franchise's  sense of humor. This also seeped into the missions, which became more grounded in reality, more boring and more repetitive. And realistic isn't necessarily bad per se, but when one of your biggest strengths is your over the top ridiculousness... letting go of it was a bad move. Another issue was how lame the new mechanics were, like Nail the Trick, Nail the Grab and Nail the Manual, but they were probably grasping at straws since the games were already loaded with so many mechanics

 But what really killed the games for me... were the new level designs. While, as I mentioned, I feel like Tony Hawk's games' levels hit their sweetspot with 4, even the previous games followed the same school of thought: Theming. Each level had its own theme, which made it fun to skate through. Project 8 and Proving Ground went with realism, and in doing so, skate parks lost their personality and became dull, lifeless and boring... everything a Tony Hawk game isn't.

Review #376: Suikoden 3

 It only took about 60 hours, but the war is over...

 Konami's third installment of their war-focused JRPG series, Suikoden, was also the series' first jump into the PS2 and the world of 3D. Featuring three different heroes, for three different point of views, it was a safe, but successful entrance into the then-next-gen gaming.

 Suikoden 3 starts off marred in political strife between three bands: Zexen, Grasslands and Harmonia, encompassing all the different tribes and civilizations that make up each kingdom. You could say that Suikoden's world is pretty grim, and you'd be right. You're given three different lead characters: Captain Geddoe, Zexen's elite knight Chris and Grassland's Karaya tribe's leader's son, Hugo. Each character has 3 chapter all to themselves, before all narratives fuse together for chapter 4 and 5. Although you are allowed to make a choice after clearing all 9 chapters which will affect on whom the story will focus, and it will lead to a few minor differences on the latter two chapters. The story was alright, it had a few interesting peaks as well as a few dull moments, and sadly, as interesting as some of the character interactions were, they weren't very memorable as a whole.

 Suikoden's main draw is letting the player collect 108 characters for their Headquarters. While not all of them can partake in battles, they will aid you in some way. Be it offereing passive abilities, like healing your characters after each battle, to commodities, like having your own personal shop and blacksmith at your HQ, as well as a few minigames. Gathering every character is a fun enterprise, and it's always fun coming upon the next unique character model to add to your garrison. Two of these, Thomas and Koroku, get a few side-chapters all to themselves. Koroku the dog's is more of a silly diversion, while Thomas has two very grind-heavy chapters that offer a light-hearted look at their happenings while the main cast is dealing with war, corruption and strife. These two chapters can be rather boring, since couple with grinding comes a few points in which you'll be at a loss at what the game expects you to do. When in doubt, go to sleep in Thomas' bed. Also, try not to recruit everyone with the same lead character during the initial 9 chapters, as you could make things unnecessarily hard for the remaining characters!

 There're three different gameplay mechanics in Suikoden. Most of the time it plays like your standard-fare turn-based combat JRPG, you move from town to dungeon to town while happening upon random encounters. You're allowed to take up to six characters with you, as well as a seventh support character, and you issue commands to pairs rather than each individual character. It works well, it's fun. Then there're also 1-on-1 duels which work as silly rock-paper-scissor matches. Can't say I was a fan of those, but at least they aren't too bad. Lastly, there're strategic battles. These are stressful and annoying. The former due to the fact that characters killed in these may die forever, locking you out of the bonus epilogue and the latter since, while you get to move each 4-man throughout the board, battles are fought automatically, so it's up to the AI not to screw up. And they will screw up because they are dumb. Why not let the player issue commands is beyond me.

 Back onto the good stuff: Customization. You can customize every playable character by having them learn skills, and thus tailor them to your playstyle. Characters can also be equipped with up to three different Runes, which translate into magic and/or skills. It all amounts to a rather large degree of control over how your characters will play. And you'd best spend quality time with a bunch of these, as they will have to partake in Strategic Battles, and you don't want them dying, do you? Not only that, Hugo, Geddoe and Chris will split up every now and then during chapter 4 and 5, and they will have to fight their own tough bosses, so they will need their own party members... basically, grinding in this game will be unavoidable.

 I still have a couple of gripes left for me to unload. The smallest one surrounding some characters, y'see, some characters will join your party near the end of Chapter 5 which means that you won't get to use them much. It feels like kind of a waste. Secondly, it's not 'til chapter 4 that you unlock the means to fast travel, and until that happens you'll have to go through every dungeon and town on foot. It's pretty time consuming. Which is why I clocked over 60 hours yet the game felt rather short as a whole! To add insult to injury, when you recruit Vikki you're not told that you gained the ability to use her teleportation if you talk to her back on your HQ. And that means that you'll have to walk all the way back to your HQ anyways!... unless you recruit an optional character that grants you an item with the ability to warp back to HQ. The game should've done a better job explaining this, I did not find out about it 'til Chapter 5 when I was doing the rounds inside HQ.

 Flawed? Definitely. But the political angle and focus on war gives it a rather unique taste among JRPGs. Plus, collecting all 108 characters is rather fun, even if most of them only require you talking to them in order to recruit them. You'll get the most mileage out of it provided you're willing to invest all the time it demands of you. I dunno, it kept me busy the entire month and the fatigue didn't set in 'til the last stretch.
 8.0 out of 10