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‣ I own 127 fighting game titles as of Jun. 30, 2009

• 11Jul 09

  New Pickups and Gaming Updates

  Hello everyone! The last few weeks have been some good gaming and some good pickups.
  
  Updates from my last blog: Wolfenstein 3D has been finished and 100% trophies have been obtained. Still a great game even though a number of the levels later in the game require knowledge of secrets in order to be completed. I think that is stupid, but thems the breaks with that game. I am also now 11 hours into Crisis Core and it is still a great RPG. Not much to say expect one complaint: why the hell are the cutscenes not able to be skipped? It is very frustrating to lose a major battle, reload last save, and be forced to watch the same 5-minute cutscene again!
  
  
  
  I bought and beat Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (I bought the rest of the trilogy later on from this past week too.) Besides the framerate dips that occur at times, the game could have been better, and much less frustrating, if the "mini-game" levels were cut or replaced with more great Sly platforming levels. Those mini-game levels were usually frustrating, sometimes easy (the shooting ones), but never fun. It seems as if Sucker Punch didn't have enough confidence in the core Sly platforming levels, so they added needless variety. To me, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is what platformers should be: charming, endearing characters, decent story, great core platforming and related mechanics. All of those things are in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, but the mini-game levels interrupt the greatness with annoying variety that doesn't need to be there: collecting games (against a clock), driving games, and even a rhythm game for most of the boss battle against Ms. Ruby. I don't want any of that crap in my platformers! If I want to play those things, I have other games that do them much better. Don't get me wrong, I really like Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, but I just have to air out my gripes about it. In this genre, less is more, IMO.
  
  
  
  I also picked up Demon's Crest for the Super Nintendo, Wipeout Pulse for PSP, and Star Ocean: First Departure for PSP. Haven't played any of them for any real length of time, mostly was just to make sure they worked if they were used.
  
  
  
  Found out that Mirror's Edge is now $20 for a new copy now, so I picked it since it was the right price. The big news is that BlazBlue was released at the very end of June. Some might scoff at such a proclamation of that game being a big deal, but you are all wrong because it is. Check out NeonNinja's recent blog if you don't believe me. I have been watching match vids of it since it came out late last year in arcades and I knew I was going to get it day one, but I wasn't entirely sure I'd be big into it because I have never been a big fan of Guilty Gear. I like Guilty Gear, but it was never a fighter I was super into. Alas, I was wrong because I am really into BlazBlue! I really like the fact that each character is so unique from one another, more so than any other fighter I can think of. I mostly play Ragna the Bloodedge with my alternate being Iron Tager. I'm thinking about making Rachel Alucard another alternate, but I need to give her more test runs before I decide. I honestly have to say that BlazBlue could be my fighting game of the year. Street Fighter IV has some incredible competition which I didn't expect from this game. So, yeah, almost entirely just playing BlazBlue. If we are friends on PSN and you have this game, please don't be a wimp and let's have some matches. These are the games I like to play and I hardly ever get to play with anyone of my PSN list besides @VixDiesel, @Hart704, and @s0njas0n in Burnout Paradise and I am definitely not popping in that one anytime soon.
  
  アクシス
  • Posted Jul 11, 2009 7:02 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 18 Comments
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• 18Jun 09

  Gaming Update - June '09

  After a great week of E3 and Retro Revival Week all at once, I am now back to my normal gaming schedule. Since I bought Wolfenstein 3D for RRW I have continued to play it and I am now half way through Episode 4 (out of 6). I think the last time I played Wolfenstein 3D was probably back in the 1990s and while it is certainly dated by today's standards, it is still a pretty good game provided you can adapt to it's old sensibilities. Besides, who doesn't love killing Nazis?
  
  Soon after the Wolfenstein 3D purchase, I also bought the PS1 download of Street Fighter Alpha 2. I'm mainly a collector of physical games, but when I can get something like SFA2 on the go via the PSP, I can't pass that up! I used to be of the mindset that Alpha 3 was the best of the Alpha series, but fairly recently I was playing Alpha 2 and came to the realization that I enjoy Alpha 2 a good deal more. Part of why is that I really like the fact that you have access to regular supers at the same time as the custom combos which is great because it give you more options during the fights, unlike SFA3 where you have to choose if you want A-ism (3 levels of supers), X-ism (one level 3 super), or V-ism (custom combo).
  
  Last week also saw the arrival of the Big Surf Island DLC for Burnout Paradise. It has been about a year since they were going to originally release it and I'd have to say it kinda wasn't all that worth the wait. Unless I'm playing online with friends, I just have no motivation to play it because in actuality it is simply more of the same except now on an island just off of Angus Wharf. Don't get me wrong, it is well made, but for me to have cared more it should have arrived before the end of 2008. By the end of 2008 I was simply burned out of Burnout Paradise. I think this kind of long support for a game can be just as bad as it can be good for a game if it goes too long. For myself, I could easily wait for another Burnout for at least another 2 years from right now because of how worn out I am of it.
  
  Another game I started playing this past week is Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. I'm about 7 hours into it and I am finding it to be a very enjoyable RPG so far. My favorite thing is the combat and how it is kinda quirky in that it is real-time, but not 100% real-time. And of course the DMW is pretty much impossible to understand how it works exactly because it seems random at first, but is clearly influenced by something. The DMW is still fun to have and makes the combat more exciting and interesting. Crisis Core will definitely be in the running for my RPG of the Year!
  
  BlazBlue is just around the corner, so I expect at least a few of my PSN buds to get to facing off against me at the end of the month! Do it!
  
  Later!
  
  ブレイブルー
  • Posted Jun 18, 2009 3:03 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 11 Comments
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• 7Jun 09

  Retro Revival Week, Day 6 & 7: Xexex & Gundam W

  I closed out Retro Revival Week with Konami's Xexex and Bandai's Gundam W: Endless Duel.
  
  新機動戦記ガンダムW
  • Posted Jun 7, 2009 9:16 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 5 Comments
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