I loved playing this game bit by bit each week. The game has bundle of problems that I mostly attribute to what I believe to be a short ( The game is full of cliches and tropes, but I love the game’s style so much. It is a joy for me to walk around the game’s tiny slice of Shibuya. And now I’ve done nearly all the game has to offer and the story’s done with many goodbyes said. I will dearly mis...
The frame rate can get terribly bogged down. The graphics can look a bit too simplistic. The enemy web projectiles can clip through buildings and hit you blocks away. The controls are sometimes extremely terrible. But that doesn't matter, because we are the EDF! Charge forth with only your wits and a grenade launcher that shoots 25 grenades at once. Speed is life as you fly around as a swimsuit...
It's that time of the year to madly engage in consumerism. The first hit to my wallet came in the form of Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Nintendo Wii. I missed my chance to get it the first time around and didn't want to miss a sale on a rare title. I enjoyed the first Prime game and have never played its two sequels. The second, third, and fourth hits are PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond (Wii), SSX (...
I participated in Nintendo World Report's Radio Free Nintendo's 28th RetroActive. The game featured was Pandora's Tower for the Nintendo Wii. This is a collection of my writings for the event. ----- Ah, my first RetroActive that I am participating in! I'm about 15 hours and 8 towers in Pandora's Tower. Currently, I am enjoying the game. Graphically, the game tries very hard to have a detailed w...
Matching touchscreen taps to the beat of Final Fantasy music is Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy's game. It took me 5 hours and 41 minutes to defeat Chaos and unlock the staff credits. I played the game more and am currently clocked at 22 hours and 34 minutes. I don't think I have unlocked all the songs. The most crucial elements of a rhythm game are its music, controls, and note patterns. The music...
The first game completed from my Steam Summer 2013 sale bounty is the space combat game Strike Suit Zero (PC). It took me around 10 hours to finish the 13 missions of the story as well as unlock all the ship performance upgrades that come from fulfilling the special objective in each mission. Strike Suit Zero looks fantastic as you zip around space, unleash barrages of missiles, and cause big e...
I bought a 3DS XL way back in December and have bought and played a bunch of games on it. On to it! Mario Kart 7 - Took around 11 hours for me to unlock everything and get the last version of the credits. Really solid, really familiar, and really fun racing. I wouldn't be playing it if the digital version of the game didn't come bundled with the 3DS XL. Liberation Maiden - Shoko for president!...
The Best Buy near me was added back in the participant list to The Nintendo Experience so I went there to check out the four demonstrations and snag some street passes. I arrived at a little before 4PM and the line was already bending around two corners of the video game section. I could have stayed in the line, wait to play one game, and get a coin, foam hat, or flag. Instead, I perished the t...
Continuing in my exploration of Playstation 3 games, I completed Infamous in around 20 or so hours. This open-world game was more to my liking than the two Uncharted games I've played. Still, it didn't take long for some fatigue to set in as the third-person shooting combat and platforming diminished in novelty. While the mechanics are solid enough, there is a lack of silliness in the game (asi...
In one of the rare instances where I pre-ordered a game, I got to play Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon as soon as it came out. The experience was shorter than I expected - I completed 100% of the game in 7 hr 56 min.- but it was great. The '80s action movie trappings and tropes struck a nostalgic chord with me and the fourth wall jokes were tolerable. The game moves so fast that I didn't feel the need...
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves took me a little longer to beat than its predecessor. I estimate a good 8-9 hours to go through the game's 25 chapters. The game is very pretty; it is impressive how the crazy action set-pieces are all in real-time. The sound, music, and voice work are quite good too. As much as I enjoy looking at and listening to the game, I didn't enjoy playing it very much. The thr...
I got Iron Brigade (PC) a few months ago in a great packaged deal. It has taken me 16 hours to achieve total victory, but it is actually 26 hours due to losing a save. This game delivered exactly what I wanted: fun shooting and tower defending with a light mech lab element. While I ran in to a stuttering frame rate, it wasn't too severe to greatly diminish the joy I had in shooting Tubes and st...
I have recently acquired a PlayStation 3 and it came bundled with a bunch of games. The system is the newest revision with the sliding, top-loading disc drive. It looks and feels cheap, but it looks nice and runs quietly. The first bundled game I played to completion was Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This game was released all the way back in 2007 and its age is apparent. The game has a mix of co...
Microsoft was having a big Xbox Live sale on Xbox Live Arcade games and Games on Demand. Halo: Reach was on sale for $9.99, so I purchased and downloaded it. It has been a while since I've played Halo 3 and I was always curious about the story of Halo: Reach. After around 8 hours, my curiosity was satisfied and Reach has been remembered. The combat of Halo has always been an interesting and eng...
Early in December last year (2012), I bought a shiny and blue Nintendo 3DS XL with a digital copy of Mario Kart 7. It has been a long time since I've owned a Nintendo handheld - my last one being a(n original) Game Boy Advance - so I was excited to have a new Nintendo portable system. However, I noticed a blemish on the top screen of my 3DS XL. There was a patch of off-bright pixels near the ce...
I always get excited when a weird Japanese game gets a PC port. Sega's Binary Domain nails the "weird" and "Japanese" parts and is a fun game as well. It took me around 11 hours to see the story to the end and I was surprised at how much I cared for the story of a third-person shooter. Not only are there a good twist here and there, but the characters are endearing enough to be likable and memo...
I waited for the patch that never came so I raced on without it. In spite of severe performance issues on my desktop PC, I beat the #1 most wanted racer in Criterion Game's Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012, PC) in just shy of 21 hours. The game is good racing fun, though it doesn't have the much of the silliness of Burnout: Paradise. It is an extreme disappointment that the game does not work...
Farewell THQ and thank you for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (PC). I acquired the game through the ridiculous THQ Mega Pack offered by Amazon. After 8 hours of playing as the Ultramarine Captain Titus, I foil the machinations of chaos on a forge world. I come to the Warhammer 40,000 for over-the-top ridiculousness and Space Marine delivered. Taking each on their own, the shooting and melee ele...
The video game bounty of Thanksgiving continues with Syndicate (2012) on the PC. After 10 hours blasting corporate soldiers and hacking systems, the story of Miles Kilo ends. Actually, it is less of an ending and more of a stop. I have no illusions when it comes to the quality of the storytelling in the campaigns of contemporary first-person shooters. That said, I was disappointed in how little...
Another grab during the sales over Thanksgiving was Telltale Games' first season of The Walking Dead. After hearing and reading so much praise and excitement around the episodes, I couldn't pass on playing the game for myself. I completed the game twice in 22 hours of play time. The nominations and awards the game is receiving are well deserved. I have never played many adventure games mostly b...
Also over the numerous sales of Thanksgiving, I picked up Spec Ops: The Line for the PC. I have been interested in playing the story of the game and was waiting for the right price to get it. A short 5 hours later and I complete Captain Walker's journey in to the heart of darkness. The shooting is functional, but unremarkable. That sentiment goes for most of the game, though a Dubai covered in...
I got Max Payne 3 for the PC over the Steam Autumn Sale. It took a long time to download the 30 GB install, but I was glad to see run fine on my desktop computer. I completed the story in around 14 hours which is quite a bit longer than other single player stories revolving around firearms. Max Payne to me has always been about bullet time and shoot dodging. Sadly, Max has lower health in Max P...
I cleared the story of Prototype 2 (PC) in around 19 hours. Right after, I revisited Prototype (1) on the PC and completed the story in about 20 hours. The reason why I played those two games back to back is to confirm my disappointments with Prototype 2. First off, Prototype 2 performed extremely poorly on my PC. Apparently there's a memory leak issue that was and never will be patched. Some w...
Although Fortune Street (Wii) has recorded that I played 50 hours to see the credits, that is a lie. In truth, I used the game's auto-play function called "Out To Lunch" mode in order to complete the single-player portion of the game and unlock all the characters and boards. I'm thankful for the auto-play feature as playing the game by yourself is boring. With people, the game becomes an enjoya...
After much waiting, I have got my hands on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood for the PC. I got the Digital Deluxe version that comes with The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC. It took me about 51 hours to finish the game with a 90% sync rate. Assassin's Creed 2 was a delightful game and I was curious where Brotherhood would go. Brotherhood refines the systems and mechanics of the previous game while addi...
About 11 hours of mashing the B button and bursting later and I finish Asura's Wrath and all its downloadable content on the Xbox 360. I hate it when quick time events interrupt the action in video games, but they are the star attraction of Asura's Wrath. CyberConnect 2 has crafted a game that is an exception to a mechanic I hate. Along the way, they have crafted a fantastic interactive cartoon...
After about 32 hours of martial arts, high speed chases, bullets and explosions, I reach the end of Sleeping Dogs (PC). I have been anticipating United Front Games' open-world action game since it was announced as True Crime: Hong Kong and it has not disappointed me. The setting of Hong Kong is used to great effect as a fresh and foreign environment. United Front Games has captured the density...
61 hours and 5 minutes, a status ailment mistake, and software lock up later and I have seen the end of Lost Odyssey (X360). Mistwalker's JRPG is most certainly a JRPG in the style of those on the SNES and Playstation. This four disc epic is full of load screens and deliberate pacing that sometimes makes it a chore to play. It is worth to bear as there are some touching story moments. An early...
A massive alien invasion in New York City? No problem, let me stay cloaked for 13 hours in the latest Nanosuit and I'll get rid of it. Crysis 2 (PC) is a very pretty and colorful game. I know that is the point of its existence, but it still surprised me how nice it looked on my computer. As for the actual game of the video game, I spent most of game cloaking, hiding and killing minimally. That'...
And at the 35 hour mark, the three-phase final boss of The Last Story (Wii) goes down! However, the game wasn't finished yet as the epilogue contains multiple chapters that had me waiting until the 38 hour mark to see the credits. Adding to these time shenanigans, checking in with the Nintendo channel reveals a count of 41 hours. I did not know I spent so much time idling on the title screen, r...
I got one game during the Steam 2012 Summer Sale and that was Saint's Row The Third. I got the franchise pack with all the DLC which was slightly not worth the extra $12. The game took me about 30 or so hours to complete and I did nearly everything. I probably shouldn't have spent so much time doing the side missions. The story missions succeed with their humorous dialogue and scenarios. If the...
Driver: San Francisco (PC) was on sale last week and I couldn't pass on getting it. 19 hours and 13 minutes later, I finish the game with all the 140 cars owned and all of the challenges and activities at least played if not done. The game is not much of a racing game as it is an action game with cars that occasionally has races in it. A lot of the time you'll be chasing down bad guys and rammi...
Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception (X360) has me pegged at 4 hours and 8 minutes of flight time in my first play through of the game. That doesn't account for time spent outside of playing the campaign missions such as in tutorials, ship load out, weapons development, and extra missions. Including the time not counted by the flight time statistic, Raptr says I spent around 14 hours in my first...
The time counter at the end of Vanquish (X360) reads 5 hours as my clear time. I don't think the time accounts for menus and restarts which would pad the number to about 7 hours. After hearing much praise for the third-person shooter from Platinum Games, I was very eager to play Vanquish. Two disappointments that are made apparent in the beginning and persist for the entire game is the awfulnes...
At just shy of 32 hours, I saw the 6th and last ending of Muramasa: THe Demon Blade (Wii). It has been a long time coming for me to finish Muramasa, and I'm glad I got around to it. The beautiful art Vanillaware made for the game is a treat to the eyes. The music sets the mood of a fantastical tale set in Japan. The combat is a simple but entertaining series of slashes and blades. Sadly, the co...
After 37 hours, the story of my Commander Shepard comes to an end. The revelations at the end are sudden and bewildering, but it didn't get in the way of my enjoyment. I understand the negativity surrounding the ending, though I don't agree with it. Also, I am amused that BioWare addresses my peeves with the ammunition system in a conversation in Mass Effect 3. Speaking of ammunition, I really...
A long while back in March, I survived the suicide mission of Mass Effect 2 in 41 hours and 10 minutes. Then I played a bit more until I stopped at 52 hours and 6 minutes. While I'm still a bit upset that the heating mechanic has been completely replaced by the thermal clip system (I would've preferred a hybrid system), I loved exploring the galaxy of killers and douche bags that Bioware has cr...
The timer marked 22.6 hours when I completed the story of Batman: Arkham City (PC). I went in wanting more Batman as defined by Batman: Arkham Asylum, and I got exactly that. I ran to performance issues early on that took some fiddling with the video settings to iron out. Even after that I experienced some strange hiccups as the game was running, making me wonder if my video card is showing its...
After a lengthy 134 hours, I finish the story of Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii). The story gets a bit weird at the end but endearingly so. This game is worth all the wait and frustration to have it be released in North America. The game's grand vistas and views are worth the frequent occurances of extremely straight geometry and muddy textures. The music is just as beautiful as the views and work w...
In a brief 6 hours, I finished the story mode of Halo 3 (360). I played the game cooperatively, and it was great fun shooting grunts and being run over by a warthog. The large-scale battles with various vehicles were a real treat to play. The same can't be said of the Flood whose battles were often annoying and frustrating. One odd thing about co-op on the same scren is that the game doesn't us...
A little over a week ago, I completed Tales of Vesperia (360). The sprawling quest took around 78 hours to finish, some it spent on grinding for the heck of it. Having been introduced to the Tales Of series by Tales of Symphonia, I was familiar with many of the things Vesperia has. The new twists and wrinkles to the series, such as the skill setting system and Fortune Market shops, are very wel...
Clocking in at 38.2 hours, I finished Adam Jensen's story in Deus Ex: Human Revolution on the PC. I received the game as a Christmas gift in 2011 and it has proven to be a lovely gift. Playing as an augmented company agent with a police history in a cyberpunk world reminded me of the lovely Blade Runner movie and Ghost in the Shell series. I tried to have no fatalities in my story, but that cha...
After what feels like 9 or 10 hours, I reach the ending of Infinity Blade 2. It took me 12-13 rebirths to amass the stats, equipment, and items to complete the journey. Of the three weapon types available in the game, I like the dual swords the most. Parrying your opponent is quite fun, though I hate it when I can't parry the punch, kick, or shield bash. The game goes a long way with its swipe-...
After a lengthy 42 hours, I reach the ending of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. This is no thanks to the many widgets and interruptions my Link encountered in proving his worth as a hero and finally be allowed to vanquish the big bad evil thing of the game. The game's story doesn't do as much of a good job of making you feel like a hero as it does making you feel like a errand boy. And ther...
I bought Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for my shiny new iPod Touch a while ago, and in ten days of near-daily play I finished its wonderful story. There's no play time counter that I can find on the iPod Touch so I estimate it took me at least 12-14 hours to complete the story. I went from one puzzle game to another with Portal 2 and Ghost Trick, but I did not tire of the all the puzzles. That...
I was lucky enough to craft a copy of Portal 2 for the PC from Chrismas coals. In around 7.8 hours, I finished the single player story of Portal 2. It was really fun to mess around with the portal gun again. The new testing elements the sequel introduced made for some really cool puzzles. I got stuck a few times which can be nice sometimes. Those times call for reckless experimentation. The onl...
After a comparatively brisk 7.8 hours, I finish the campaign of Crysis: Warhead, the follow-up to Crysis. The 2008 game still looks quite good even in 2011, and the new weapons and tools are fun to mess around with. The most disappointing thing about the campaign is that the levels the missions take place in are much less open. The one that sticks out the most is a level that takes place entire...
In an rare feat of fan frevor, I picked up the limited edition of Fate/Extra for the Playstation Portable. The limited edition extras of a sixteen-page artbook and soundtrack selection aren't worth the extra $10 but I don't care. It took me 33 hours and 19 minutes to fight my way through the Holy Grail War in the Serial Phantasm. The time I spent fighting and grinding levels was nearly equal to...
#MW3's campaign will be the pinnacle of turret and QTE combat, merging the two in a seamless experience of buttons and pointing at heads To my surprise and pleasure, I won a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360) through a Twitter tweet contest on Gamespot presents The Hotspot. In a short 5 hours and 11 minutes, I finish the single-player campaign to its quick time event end. The dev...
Thanks to a recent Steam sale, I picked up Bastion by Supergiant Games. I finished this lovely isometic-perspective action game in 10 hours. What surprised me the most about the game was how much fun each and every weapon is to use. Each weapon has benefits and drawbacks that balances well against the other weapons. This makes picking weapons more about style and preference rather than the best...
In a quick 6 hours, I have beaten all nine levels of Renegade Ops and reached the maximum level for Gunnar. The PC version took its sweet time in being released, but I'm happy that it's finally hear. The folks at Avalanche Studios know how to make great explosions. It's a shame that the PC version has a few annoyances like not being able to play splitscreen with a keyboard and mouse and a Xbox...
After a brief 6 hours, I finish the single player campaign of Battlefield 3. The playing through the story was a wonderful visual and aural treat with some really fun moments like taking off from an aircraft carrier and being part of a tank charge. Sadly that's end to the good times. Everything else is mediocre or bad. A lot of following NPCs and waiting for the scripting to open doors. Most le...
After a dusty and smokey 25 hours, I have blasted and rode my way through Red Dead Redemption. I came in expecting Grand Theft Horse and got exactly that. Galloping across the vast wilderness this game offers looks beautiful and always makes me smile. The shooting and the weapons surprised me in how fun they were to shoot and collect. Also, I have yet to tire of the slow motion aiming that dead...
In around 7-8 hours, I blast my way through to the end of Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation for the Xbox 360. As a new fan to the Ace Combat series, I was very curious to see what Project Aces would do with more computing power. What they brought was a massive battlefield with multiple combat operations happening at once. This ends up being a blessing and a curse for the game. The scale of the...
With 77 and a half hours and 69% of the game complete, I finish the last of the single-player events in Test Drive Unlimited 2. It can be relaxing to drive the vast roads of Ibiza and Hawaii in a cool car, but the game has a lot of stuff to do and most of it is the same. One event type that exemplifies this are the several lap-based eliminator races in the game's single-player championships. Wi...
I had a futuristic racing game itch I needed to scratch lately so I went on to the Wii Shop Channel's WiiWare section and downloaded FAST: Raching League by Shin'en. About five hours later, I've unlocked everything there is to unlock and had my eyes bleed from super speed of the last speed class. It's a nice little racer with a color shifting mechanic that can help and hinder you. Races are won...
29 hours and 7 minutes of surgical precision later and I finish Trauma Team. All in all, not bad for a game that consists nearly entirely of tracing things on the screen with the Wii remote. Well, "nearly entirely" is wrong as there are some motion controls and some other pointing mechanics. The most disagreeable of the motion controls belong to the endoscopy operations where you hold A & B and...
After a long 23 hours, I finish the single player story of Crysis (PC). To get there, I had to suffer through scripting errors in the third mission and a complete computer lock up in the last. Apparently, quick saving messes with the scripting and running on DirectX 10 can break the last mission. Technical problems aside, the large scale action in the game was quite fun. I played it in a slow m...
I picked up Trine (PC) during Steam's Summer Camp Sale. The game took about 7 hours for me to complete. I come away from it quite entertained and excited for the sequel. The puzzle/platformer is heavily physics based and that makes for some cool swinging and platform manipulation. It was very exciting to level up the wizard's skills and be able to conjure boxes and planks to make even the most...
Late May, I got GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo Wii. 15 hours and 15 minutes later and I save the world as James Bond. A hour or so of that was spent in the game's adequete multiplayer mode. I played through the somewhat lengthy single player campaign using the Wii remote and nunchuk. It wasn't as natural as I imagined it to be and took some time to adjust from a keyboard and mouse configuration...
Bought Test Drive Unlimited 2 (PC) on Tuesday, May 17th. It was on sale for $10 at Direct2Drive. After experiencing the flashy presentation of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Test Drive Unlimited 2 comes off as a bit bland. That works in favor of the relaxed nature of the game where you can spend all day cruising the roads of Ibiza or Hawaii. Another difference between the two games is the sim-lit...
After pulling the trigger for 10 hours, I finish the single-player campaign of Section 8: Prejudice (PC). Some time was spent in multiplayer and idleing so the campaign probably takes 7-8 hours to finish. In a break from my norm, I played the game on the Hard difficulty setting. Some spots proved to be challenging, but more were frustrating exercises in memorizing patterns or exploiting flaws i...
Early in the month of April, I got Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Vietnam (PC) from the Electronic Arts Download Manager. After an uncomfortable delay, I got my key for the downloadable expansion and started playing. I was surprised to see that I had everything unlocked. I guess it's because of my rank in regular Bad Company 2 or perhaps it's the default for the Vietnam expansion. The game is mos...
The Potato Sack deal was live over the weekend on Steam. I didn't want the whole pack, but I did pick out two games that interested me. One is the pre-purchase of an upcoming game by Dejobaan Games LLC. titled 1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby). It seems to be another video game that generates levels and environments from your music library and I'm always interested such...
It seems Capcom has been making some price cuts recently because I picked up the bonus edition of Monster Hunter Tri with a black Classic Controller Pro for the nice price of $39.99. The regular edition is now $29.99 so it's nice to get a Classic Controller Pro for $10. I have yet to pop the disc in the Wii, but I played and enjoyed quite a lot of Monster Hunter Freedom 2 on the Playstation Por...
After playing for 42 hours, I finish the story mode of Assassin's Creed 2 (PC). I'm very happy how the sequel is all-around such a better game than the first. There's more stuff to do, more variety in the story missions, and a better ending (if still something of a cliffhanger). Also, using the pistol to assassinate my targets is great fun. Sadly, I had to bang my head against Ubi Soft's DRM on...
Whew! After 28 hours and 6 minutes spent with my right index finger firmly squeezing the accelerator trigger, I have reached the maximum level of twenty for the Racer and Cop careers of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (PC). The last event in the Racer career, the 13+ min Seacrest Tour, was tricky to get the gold in due to the rubber banding AI. Picking the Koenigsegg CCXR Edition for its speed and n...
10 hours and 32 minutes later and I finish off the invading Tikis in Donkey Kong Country Returns. I lost so many life ballons in the process that I wish the game kept count so I would know how reckless I was. It's surprising how short the levels in Donkey Kong Country Returns are but that's only because so much time spent is spent dying and respawning back at the checkpoint. Also there is the f...
More Black Friday goodies have finally been delivered. I've been hoping for a deal on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (PC) and it came! After putting three hours in to the game, I have to say that Criterion has made another beauty. Not just in the graphics either, which are fantastic, but in making a fine and fast racing game. It is a great feeling to call a roadblock, have the suspect crash in to...
34 hours and 58 minutes later and I finally finish one play through of Mass Effect (1). I maxed out the level for my female soldier and just gunned down the last boss in a hail of bullets. I like the game, but managing the inventory is such a pain. On to Mass Effect 2!
9 hours and 56 minutes later and I completed Metroid: Other M with a 58% collection rate. All things considered, I enjoyed my time spent on the game and am eager to get that 100%. It was only a week ago that I heard a lot of complaints and grievances lodged at the game and was considering canceling my preorder. I see now that those statements proved to be exaggerations made by people who cared...
I finally managed to connect my Wii to the internet on Monday and splurged $30 on to the Wii Shop channel to get River City Ransom (NES), Sin & Punishment (N64), and Tetris Party (WiiWare). So far, I'm happy with all of them. The controls in Sin & Punishment take some getting used to. I hope to get Sin & Punishment: Star Successor as the pointer control will be much better for shooting. The big...
Ah, Super Smash Bros. Brawl big single-player adventure, The Subspace Emissary. It took me 6 hours and 25 minutes recently to slog through the mode to quickly unlock all the characters in the game. The game's mechanics are not suited to any sort of precision platforming which makes the numerous times you need to leap for you life in Subspace Emissary such a chore. It's so much of a chore that I...