video game reviews
I had a very odd dream last night. Actually, several. When I got up this morning, I really wanted to write it down here, but then I thought the better of it. I figure it generally isn't wise to advertise how messed up in the head one is.
It's summer! That means it's getting hot again. Up to 34 this week, they say. I tried going out for a long walk yesterday, but had to turn back. It was actually still in the "nice day" range, with a bit of a breeze and all, but I realized there just wasn't enough shade along my planned route. People need to plant more trees. It was going to get messy and I wasn't in the mood, really. So I went back home and played video games. The highlight of today was buying a new sound card. The one on the mother board kept cutting out if two programs wanted to play sounds at the same time. Sad, really. ComputerXS had the Audigy 2 on for $125, which struck me as decent. I don't really need the fancy schmancy 24bit 6.1 craziness of an Audigy 2, but I'm sick of cheap-ass cards that don't work. So what the hell?
I've been playing a lot of RPGs lately. I feel compelled to write reviews.
The Flying Squirrel's Video Game Reviews
Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age (GBA)
This is hands down my favourite GBA game so far. (Sorta) Non-linear game-play, a wonderful little story, nifty puzzles and a great, big world to explore. This game (with the help of its predecessor) got me into back RPGs. I think the only one I'd played and liked before that was Final Fantasy on the NES. Even then, I didn't like FF very much. Having brushed up on the genre a bit, I'm now noticing it's pretty derivative, but I do think it's a better layed-out game than the others. It's easy to get stuck, though. An online walk-through was kind of necessary. Even so, it was lots of fun to play. Gave me eye strain. Fabulous!
.hack://INFECTION (PS2)
The main value proposition here is that it comes with an anime OAV. The point of this game is that your character is playing a MMORPG put his friend into a coma, and you're trying to figure out what happened. A game within a game. This would be a hell of a lot better if the game your character was playing was any good at all. Damn near put me in a coma too. Boring-as-hell random dungeon hack stuff. Fortunately the story surrounding the game was enough to keep my interest. Barely. At the end, you don't actually find out what happened. It's a game in four parts, you see (with a number of anime series to go along with it). I couldn't bring myself to by the second game. Maybe later. I dunnno.
Final Fantasy X (PS2)
I just finished it actually. Yeah, I cried at the end. And at several points in between. It's a beautiful game, but a bit of a chore to play sometimes. The random monsters are annoying, so few puzzles you wonder why they even bothered and there's not a whole lot of room to go exploring stuff. There seem to be side quests you can go on, but getting to them is pretty much impossible without a book or something. I never figured out how, at least. That said, it kept me entertained many a night. The "sphere grid" character progression scheme was kinda neat. I'm debating getting FFX2 now, sad to say.
Breath of Fire II (GBA)
I can't write much of a review because I got bored and stopped playing soon after starting. A real let-down after Golden Sun 2. I think it's a direct port of an SNES game. Looks and plays pretty dated.
Xenosaga (PS2)
I picked this (and the next two) up last weekend, so I can't give it too thorough a review. The price dropped to $40, so I figured I might as well give it a shot. It's a bit different, this one. It's more of a really long anime OAV with the occasional break where you can beat up monsters and pull switches. That would be just fine, except that the combat system is way over-complicated (hard, too). And you take a bit to long to make your way around the map. I kind of want to hang in to find out what happens, but I'm not sure I'll have the patience. On the bright side, this is the only game here where monsters aren't random. You can see and sometimes avoid them. Of course, if you avoid them, you don't get any experience, so they kick your ass when they do get ahold of you.
Lunar Legends (GBA)
Much better than BoF2. Still not up to par with the Golden Sun games, but cute character designs and a bit of wit and sparkle in the dialog go a long way. Haven't gotten very far yet, but I'm enjoying it.
Skies of Arcadia (GC)
My poor Game Cube's been neglected lately, so I decided to pick this up used. I just started playing yesterday and I'm liking it so far. Fun characters. I think there's an exploration aspect, but I haven't gotten there yet. It's reminding me a bit of Zelda: Wind Waker in more of an RPG form. It's a bit odd going back to a GC game after .hack, FFX and Xenosaga. Tiny GC discs don't seem to have enough room for voice, so all you get is the occasional word here and there ( this is my only real gripe with the system... that and the lack of games). Anyway, I think I'm probably going to be playing this over Xenosaga for a bit.
Wasn't that exciting?