December 2009 Archives

Have you ever wondered if that guy on the bus that says he can see things might not be crazy? Maybe he really is having a conversation with the mold on his cheese sandwich.

Sawaki Tadayasu, Moyasimon’s primary protagonist, wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss him. Since childhood, Tadayasu has possessed the ability to see microbes around him without the assistance of a microscope. Instead, he sees incredibly cute little beings floating around, saying all kinds of adorable things like “I’m going to turn some sugar into starch!” as they bob around.

Check out the full review.

I actually published this weeks ago, and completely forgot to post about it here. It’s interesting to look back and see what I was wrong about. Check out my Silent Hill review to see where I ended up changing my mind. The graphics, in particular, were stronger than I thought they would be.

---

I can hear the siren blaring as the walls peel away to reveal rusted chain link fences and thick, oozing darkness. Every year or two, Silent Hill calls out to me, challenging me to see if it scares me the right way or the wrong way. With Silent Hill: Shattered Memories hitting the Wii just in time for Christmas, it's time to go back again.

Check out the full article.

A couple weeks ago, I finished watching the anime Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. As a very realistic portrayal of a major earthquake in a highly populated area, part of the story simply has to be about loss. However, to say exactly how that manifests would be what we refer to on the internet as "Spoilers."

What It's About
As with just about everything else in popular culture the last few years, publisher Konami and developer Climax looked at the Silent Hill franchise and decided it was time for a reboot. We return to the deserted lakeside town and to the first game's protagonist, Harry Mason. Following a car crash, Harry has lost track of his 7-year-old daughter, Cheryl, and must venture into the town to find her.

That's right about where the similarities to the original game end. This is hardly a mere graphical upgrade to the original Silent Hill. It's a reimagining of the original story, turning what was once a simple search for a child and encounter with the occult into a complicated psychological tale of loss and memories.

Check out the full review.

You know, I really wish King of Fighters didn’t so closely resemble the screenshot to the left. But unfortunately, it does.

After stellar fighting games like Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue this year, does SNK really think gamers are really going to accept a game that looks like this?

OK, I will admit that the animation is fluid, but when that fluid animation is applied to the most pixelated characters you’ve seen since PSone, the animation kinda falls by the wayside.

I’m not particularly well-qualified to talk about the mechanics of the game in any depth, but I will say that I like the Simple mode. I’m bad at fighting games – like really bad – and it lets me play and have fun with the game without having to know everyone’s moves.

I really like the three-fighter mechanic of King of Fighters, it makes for an interesting match and forces fans to become adept with more than one character. I also like the fighting system itself just because it’s a little different than Street Fighter.

Overall, I’m glad I rented it, but more because I didn’t have to buy it, versus having had the opportunity to play it. As much as people are saying graphics don’t matter anymore, King of Fighters XII is one argument otherwise.

I don't know about you, but where I live it gets real cold and snowy right about now, and stays that way for the next four months or so. Unlike lots of people around here, I don't count ice fishing and snowmobiling as a good time. Me, I want to stay inside. Thankfully — whether Modern Warfare 2 pushed half of the Fall 2009 lineup into Winter 2010 or not - we've been given a winter so packed with games that you'd think Christmas was in April. Here's just 10 upcoming games to help keep you warm in the New Year.

Check out the full article.

After talking about it for weeks, I finally got around to playing LucasArts' gorgeous download title Lucidity. I booted the game up, and finished it in one sitting. It's not a particularly long game, but what really kept me playing is the simple yet incredibly effective story. If you plan to play the game, but have been unable, you may want to click back, as there will be spoilers below.

Check out the full article.

Today I added Strategy Guide Love to my blogroll. SGL is my copy editor over at Kombo, Keri Honea’s, site. While I rarely if ever pick up a strategy guide (Fallout being one of those exceptions), it’s fun to see someone going through a guide and taking a critical look at it as a consumer and fan. Her site’s definitely worth a look, and she’s working through the guide for Assassin’s Creed 2 right now. You all know how I feel about Assassin’s Creed. If you don’t look slightly to the left.

I know that sounds really buzzy, but I'll explain! I promise! Hey, put that stick--wait, what are you--

I finished Assassin's Creed 2 last night. This is the part where I brag. I collected all 8 statues (I'm rich biatch), all 6 tomb crests (to get the assassin's armor), all the glyphs, all the feathers (only had to look up 13!), and I only have four achievements yet to get. Still trying to decide if I want to get all the treasures.

Anyway, while playing Assassin's Creed 2, despite avoiding FAQs almost entirely, I found that the internet played a major role in how I played the game. As I played I listened to podcasts, watched videos like Co-Op, and read tweets from a variety of gamers that I follow.

While people were good about keeping spoilers and direct cheats out of the game, I found lots of little stuff I might not have looked for otherwise.

For example, knowing that the DNA menu in the game shows how many feathers you've--excuse the pun--plucked out of each district is absolutely instrumental to finding all of them and winning the achievement.

Without all the information I pulled from those sources, I would've never checked out the UPLAY menu, which got me the Altair outfit (purely cosmetic), or access to the Auditore vault. This is a free dungeon won using UPLAY points gained in-game. It's mostly just history about Ezio's family, but it's free additional content and that can't be overlooked.

There are also moves you can use in combat that aren't in the standard tutorials. Using the absolutely absurd amounts of money you make from your villa, you can pay the combat trainer to show you the moves if you want.

I don't feel like the game itself was lacking or should've told me these things, but rather I feel rewarded for just being involved in the gaming community. Along with Uncharted 2, this has been a very good year for scrambling up the sides of buildings.

What happens when PopCap Games and Square Enix come together to make a game? Gyromancer. As the mage Rivel Arday, you chase Qraist the rebel leader into Aldemona Wood. Summoning beasts to aid you, you fight both Qraist's servants and the other beasts of the forest, as you track down Qraist himself as well as additional Gyro Codes that will allow you to summon more powerful beasts.

Gyromancer gives us the mechanics of Bejeweled Twist paired with story and art courtesy Square Enix; two great tastes, but how do they taste together?

Check out the full review.

(Note, I had hoped this game would be about cucumber sauce and shaving lamb, but sadly, Gyromancer wouldn’t have quite as big a market.)

Once in a while we get something a bit out of our usual range to look at. When One Peace (you read that right!) Books asked us to take a look at So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds, I had to jump at it to satisfy my curiosity.

One of the first releases from One Peace books, 15 Pounds is also Torii’s US debut. According to the back cover, she’s a well known author in Japan, with a list of best sellers in the health and beauty categories.

More than anything, the tone of the book is what makes it work. Torii writes in a very open, warm way that comes through in the translation. The book doesn’t feel like a science lesson or a cult induction, rather more like a friend relating some of her struggles. The format reminds me a bit of Azumanga Daioh. The comics are short and cute, with simple, but expressive art.

Check out the full review.

Like any good biography, fictional or not, the best thing about Vagabond has always been how intimate it is, and not just with its main character. It’s never a history lesson and it never feels like it, though Japanese history does play a significant role when talking about someone like Miyamoto Musashi.

In this volume of the story, we are once again watching Musashi try to heal from the injury he incurred in his big battle against the Yoshioka. We spend time not only with Musashi, but with some of the other people who have come together to support him while he heals. Everyone seems to be embroiled in deep, thoughtful conversation. There’s little idle chatter in Vagabond and even less of it in this volume.

Check out the full review.