Take that! Yes, that! You want that! Then undress!.....

Anyway, it's time for a much belated game update! Woo! I've been home for a month and I've beaten about 6 or 7 games. I lost count now. I ran through RS Vegas 2, Halo 3, Condemned 2, Assassin's Creed, Ninja Gaiden DS, Naruto (360) and DMC4. That's a lot of gaming for such a short time span. The better yet, I still have No More Heroes, Zack and Wiki and The World Ends With You. Hooray. Well, opinion hour on the games I destroyed.

DMC4 is up and I have lots of hate to spill. The game is certainly action packed, but who thought it intelligent to repeat boss battles? Who thought it even more intelligent to repeat them a second time?! That is the most agrivating factor of this game, the repetion. It's not even funny how stupid the game becomes within the last act. They also start you as a new character (Nero), so you become completely adjusted to his combos and fighting style and then, BAM!!! You're Dante again! Dante just sucks, end of story. I don't care about hate mail or anything, Dante is a horrible character. His attacks may deal some damage, but you never feel in control. You need to almost micromanage his styles to get the best use out of them and even then Dante doesn't have the combo system that Nero did. Better yet, Dante repeats Nero's entire journey. Wow, that's great, I wanted to play the game twice within the same sitting. My main problem is that I ripped through the game on Human and Devil Hunter mode at the same time. I probably burnt myself out on the game, but who can say? The design choices are just pathetic, really. I don't understand fighting bosses 3 times.

Assassin's Creed. More like Repetition Creed. This mostly stems down to the way I played it (going for a full 1000 achievements, which this happens to be my first game in doing so). Even so, the game requires you to complete 3 "investigations" before you can even kill your target. I didn't realize Assassin's had to investigate everything. Another problem I have is the AI. Riding around the Kingdom on your horse, if you gallop the guards scream "Assassin!" OMG, of course, I never realized. Even while running in the city after having entered, guards will do the same. The next time I see a person running down my street, I'm going to scream "Assassin!" and see what happens. Apparently all running people are just Assassin's in this world, because you have no other reason to run, I guess. Maybe you want to take a morning jog?!

Halo 3, or teh gay-lo or whatever its known now after the success of COD4. Halo really hasn't even stood the test of 4 months of aging, so playing it now after about 3/4's of a year, it really isn't that great. The game is like a carbon copy of the rest of the series. Now that I've finally been able to venture past level 4, I see that the repeated corridors do exist, though its not to the degree of Halo 2 or 1. The AI is also kind of subpar. It seems that Bungie though newer generations suck at games, so they made Legendary about as hard as Heroic in the previous games. Let me tell you, playing Halo 2 on Legendary was just stupid, but now Halo 3 is just stupid in how easy it is. I was able to destroy more than half the game by myself, I only turned to a friend when I had two of those stupid giant robot things on me.

Condemned 2, more like the 1 minute game. While the actual gameplay isn't really that bad, the length is just atrocious. I went through on Hard and got a Gold rating on every level and I was still done within 6-7 hours. There is multiplayer, but its just awful. Some of the design decisions are asinine too. They now added two attack buttons, one for each fist, so block is mashing down both triggers in hope that you can time it correctly. I never understood why Condemned made you block within a split second of the attack, but now its nearly impossible. I usually fall back to playing the old game and just hit the left trigger, but wait, my 2x4 is swinging and I get hit, so I'm dead. This could all stem from playing on hard, but even with my lack of skill at the game I ran through it. I can really only recommned this game to people who are interested in a First-Person brawler, because fans of the first will be extremely disappointed. The story is a bit dumb too.

RS Vegas 2, or save or franchise! The game is great fun, but only because it's the first Vegas all over again. This was supposed to be a conclusion to the first story (which was awful in itself and didn't even end), but what we get is 6 acts of prequel then one final act of conclusion. It's really quite stupid. The gunplay is left the same, so if you enjoy the first, get the second. The only difference is the COD run button. You can actually sprint away from grenades! YAY! I'm mostly just disappointed because its the same thing, but what would you expect. GRAW2 was the same, it just did everything better. Vegas 2 doesn't really do anything better, it kind of just repeats the whole design to a fault.

Naruto! What a fun game, though its ultimately flawed. But let me tell you, I really enjoyed this. I've never watched an episode of Naruto in my life and I was able to have fun with it. The story is really glossed over, but it makes a non-fan interested. It's probably the best Naruto game out there, but I'm not in the proper position to make that judgement. The graphics are really stellar if you have an HDTV. The Cel Shading is practically like watching the show, just some of the filters throw that effect off and remind you it's a game. I guess this was a first attempt at recreating everything from the show, so even if the graphics are superb but fall just short of perfect, the open world is amazing. My sister (an avid fan) was surprised to see every single building from the city Naruto lives in. She also began filling me into the missing plot points, so I was able to get throug the story knowing more than you should. It's just all the extra side quests that fail. They are always the same: Deiliver these noodles, get my purse, where is Konohamaru (some stupid kid you hides a lot). They don't even work particularly well, either, so you're left with quests that suck but need to be finished because the difficulty takes a complete 90 degree change. You hit a brick wall once you get to the first boss and it's really agrivating since if you passed on the side quests, you don't have enough health. Of course, it's Ubisoft, so expect something stupid like that.

Finally, Ninja Gaiden DS. This is a fun little game, even if it's too easy on it's default difficulty. It's more like a recap of the previous game with new elements thrown in. The story is obsessed with the shrine Maiden from the first, even though she wasn't named in the original. The Maiden's sister is a Kunoichi and gets captured, so it's Ryu to the rescue. Some of the levels during the journey are pulled straight from the Xbox version, though obviously they are 2-D backgrounds since a DS wouldn't be capable of rendering that. The graphics are nice, though. Team Ninja always provides on that front. The gameplay works, even despite the few times where your movements just won't happen the way you like. Slashing and tapping have been perfected, so Ninja Gaiden just uses all previous formulas you know and puts in a random combo system to use. I suppose there is a move list, but just slashing like a maniac works. Itagaki must have not wanted to overload the user the first time through and with good reason, since a stylus is definitely not a gamepad. The enemies are resonably smart, but usually just sit in corners and wait. There is one enemy that is a floating eyeball and it's just plain stupid. It's untouchable until it opens it's eye, but you're surrounded on every side when it does that, so you either kill it or kill yourself. Whatever, I guess it's just a nitpick since I only died 3 times in the entire game. The ending is pretty lame too, since it repeats a boss from the original Xbox version.

That has been my month in a nut shell. Wow, too much to take in. I really should start editorials or something.

*Edit* I honestly forget to write about GTA4. There is too much on my mind. I ripped through it in 18 hours. Yeah, disgusting. I'll write more later, I just can't sit here anymore.

I haven't updated in so long, too long really. There were a few times where I wanted to post actual blog posts (instead of my random updates), but school has gotten the best of me. Not only that, I'm pretty much failing at school, so it's really been bad this semester. Anyway, I just wanted to update to let people know I'm almost done with the semester; I should be starting this blog up again in May when I get home. Expect more reviews too, since I'll actually have time to play games.

Regardless of my inactivity on the blog, I did manage to beat Wind Waker before 2007 ended. Hooray! So I did every Zelda game in one year. I guess I'm a loser.

Overall, Wind Waker was splendid. The story was great, and the music and dialogue blended well with every scene. The into also had some of the best music of the series to date. I'm not sure why I didn't beat this game back in 2003. Oh well.

I finally got a chance to try out the COD4 multiplayer with some friends. We had an amazingly fun time. We put health on miniscule and just took whatever high powered gun we could find and shot in directions unbeknownst to us. Grenades going off in those close quarters maps made it even more ridiculous. It truly was just amazing. I really need to pick COD4 up, though I'll stick with the PC version. The game is also pretty stunning in HD, especially on my friends nice Samsung 36 inch LCD. Doing 4 player splitscreen in HD really makes the game playable, as normal splitscreen is just a headache.

I also got Contra 4 over the holiday, and that game is great. Regardless of some certain users saying it is broken and what not, the game is good. It's amazingly hard, but its also Contra. The deadspace in the middle of the two screens does trouble you at times, but once you learn to react to it, you seem to know where the bullet is flying in that deadspace. I haven't tried co-op in it, but I would assume that the game gets even harder to balance two people shooting like maniacs. The extra content is a nice touch, and having NES versions of the first two Contra games makes me happy, especially since I also have the arcade versions on XBLA.

Thats all I have for now, I'm sure once I get my 360 back from my friend that I'll have more to talk about.

Another week, another update. This time is some good news...Well, isn't it always good news here?!.....Anyway, I've completed Phantom Hourglass. I managed tocomplete all the sidequests (including the horrible beast known as Neptoona) before I beat the game, so I was happy that I wouldn't have to look at the status screen with heart containers missing. I've yet to play it online, only because my PC is still in the dumps. That will be resolved soon though, as I am getting my XP disc shipped to me (though it should have come in the first place). Zelda was definitely a great game though. All the subtle changes to the Zelda formula really make it feel new, and obviously the control scheme is just awesome. I'm not sure why reviews said it was sometimes clunky, because I never had a problem with it. The only thing that wasn't explained in full detail was the fishing side game, though it was manageable anyway. I really did enjoy the story, or mostly the story telling. I would definitely love to see what Wind Waker's story has, as I have heard that its probably the best of the series in that regard. Zelda also have some very nice graphics on DS. It can't look like the GCN Wind Waker, but it definitely holds it own. Everything is intact from an artistic standpoint, and even then the game doesn't require full finger digits or extreme bump mapping and true to life geometry. It's easily the best looking DS game, period. I wish I had a DS Lite though, then the textures would look much brighter and crisper.

As of now, I have finally started Phoenix Wright 3. The game gets off to a great start, and I'm obviously very eager to get into the story. I wish more games were like this. It's fun readingwhile having more activity then just a page turn. Thank god that Apollo Justice is coming to the US, I would be very sad if Capcom decided to discontinue the Ace Attorney series here.

I have Sonic Rush Adventure, but I've only played about 10 minutes of it. I majorly hate the text sections, as they are extremely boring and horribly written, but at least they give you the option of skipping them (which I took the liberty to do until I hit the first level). Once the game starts, it is very fun, and definitely feels like a more refined version of the original Rush. The music is gripping, and the level designs are sort of a throwback to the original Sonic on Genesis. The graphics also sort of resemble Zelda, though obviously not with the cartoon style, which just looks awkward at times. I'm sure the game will be very fun though, which is definitely more than most new Sonic games can account for.

Guitar Hero III came out, and I got a chance to see it in action on 360. I do like the notion of the Rock Battles, but playing against a computer opponet is just stupid. My friend had problems at first with Slash, because the guy would hit everything thrown at him. Broken string? No problem for Slash, he can play and fix at the same time. Double Notes?! Slash hits them all. Difficulty up? Ha, Slashtrains onsuper expert or whatever it can go past after Expert. The battles do seem like they would be great fun for multiplayer though. The track list is easily the best of the series, and I only disliked something like 8 songs from what I heard. Most of the bonus tracks just suck, but thats why they're bonus tracks. The different types of music is also very nice, as its fleshed out more than the previous two games. Just seeing all of this though, I really want Rock Band.

Theres nothing else I really have to mention. I guess just school and crap, but thats not interesting, so I'll skip it. Game on my friends; Until my next update..!

Time for another update!!! Hooray, I see you're all surprised...all one of you who read this. Whatever, I still feel the need to inform. I completed the GBC Zelda quests, and I am awaiting Phantom Hourglass to get here from home (my mom sent it). I did get the Orange Box, and amazingly beat Portal and Episode 2 within 7 hours. I was about to try TF2 again, and then my PC took a royal crap, so now I'm without a computer. Where am I typing? College computer lab...ugh...

Zelda definitely was outstanding. I forgot how good those oracle games were. Obviously I prefer Ages because of its puzzle ascept, but Seasons is totally an amazing game in its own right. The two together just make me extremely happy. That's definitely a game that needs multiple play throughs.

HL2: Episode 2 was fantastic. It was longer than Episode 1, and it provided a much better atmosphere. We finally got away from that destroyed city. The forests were amazing to walk through, and drive through. That was also a nice surprise, as any form of vehicles were removed from Episode 1. The A.I. also had a dramatic revamp. They finally know how to dodge, and exactly how to flank. The Hunter's are also some deadly foes. They know how to dodge, and certainly can do so while killing you at the same time. This is definitely one of the best games of the year, and I would be extremely surprised if The Orange Box didn't get multiple GOTY awards.

Portal was superb, but it was just too short. 3 hours nad you're done. The advanced challenges provide some extra replay, but they take less than 1 hour to run through. The game definitely is a magnificent idea, though. Prey had portals, but Portal actually uses them. It's just wonderful having physics puzzles that also involve a ridiculous amount of logic. Portal is truly the first person Zelda. I would love to see sequels, and maybe give that computer voice a singing career.

I'm not sure if I ever updated on Halo 3, but I will now. It's certainly a better game than any of the previous Halo's. It still has its fair share of problems though, one being the online community. Multiplayer is more balanced and user friendly, but its ridiculous when all you want to do is have some fun and little 13 year olds are taunting about sleeping with your mom and giving her the "UH UH!" The single player is pretty fun, but still suffers from what the original Halo games did. No, not repeating levels, that has finally been done away with. I'm talking about the constant gunfights. I know it's a shooter, but every freaking minute you're shooting. Why don't you ever get a break for story or driving or something? Every vehicle has a weapon on it, and if it doesn't, someone with a weapon can get on it. It's just nerve wracking knowing that your entire 10 hours of gameplay will not give you a single minute of rest.

Smash bros got delayed. Boo!! At least Sonic is in the game, so we won't have to deal with any faked pictures. I'm still eagerly anticipating that game, like I'm 5 years old again or something. I can't wait, and I will definitely have my Wii friend code everywhere when that comes out.

Thats it for now. I'll probably post again, since I have fall break now. Until then...

-=End of Line=-

HAHA! Finally beat Majora's Mask! Why did it take me so long?! I should've just conquered it within days from starting it. I have no clue, but its finally done. It truly is a great game, but its really one of the hardest Zelda games to get into. It's just so different, yet similar. It's hard to explain, but you would understand the second you played it. I already started Oracle of Seasons, and I'm about half way through that, so I definitely will get my Zelda Conquest done this year.

Other news. System Shock 2. Finally got a bootleg of it. I'm not going to pay $50 to some idiot on Amazon to get a copy without a box or manual. That's just a rip off. The game is really nice though, but I can't help but think that its over rated. It's exactly the same story with Bioshock. The game is well done (for its time period of 1999), and has atmosphere and an engaging story, but the gameplay itself isn't really anything special. That wrench just sucks, and the AI is amazingly stupid, even on Impossible. Some of those high res mods help take the eye strain off, but nothing truly improves the game. I'm not saying that its bad, because I am definitely engaged with the game and would love to see it to the finish, I just can't help but think that people ruined the game by raising the expectations to God-like levels.

Ouendan. My mom sent me those, even though I told her to hold them at home. It was no big deal though, as I absolutely love those games and was able to rip through Easy-Hard in 3 days. Expert is what is giving me some trouble, but it just takes practice. Those games are just fantastic, and Ouendan 2 is definitely a step in the right direction. The soundtrack is much tighter and the polish on the graphics helps keep the action going at super fast speeds. I was also surprised to notice my DS rumble pack worked with Ouendan 2, so thats a pointless, but nice, touch.

Quake Wars! The demo is finally out, and I have to say that this game is certainly going to rock. You probably couldn't tell it apart from BF2142, but the game has that mega fast pace DM feel that Battlefield lacks. The graphics are gorgeous, though that doesn't make the game any better. It's just a great MP game that certainly will have me glued come christmas when my PC can actually keep a framerate. Though I was surprised my old crap rig actually managed to play the demo.

Falling Leaf Systems. A bunch of losers, I tells ya! They promised their XP patch a month ago, and theres no update or anything. It's like they realized that porting Halo 2 to XP legitimately couldn't happen, so they just fell off the planet. It's absolute garbage. At least give us a damn idea of what is up.

Company of Heroes and Warhammer I haven't touched in a while. I'm not sure, ever since the Guild Wars expansion came out, I just became more interested in that. I actually went back through the original campaign to figure out which missions I missed. Eye of the North definitely is more compelling then the entire rest of the Guild Wars collection. It basically incorporates the features of Nightfall (heroes) with all the classic environments of the original. The mission structures are definitely tight, and the dungeons add a ridiculous amount of replayability.

I don't really have much else to say. I may start updating this blog with regular posts on current game stories, but for now all I have is my constant game updates. So, off I go!