Thursday 29 September 2011

Killing floor

Gamespot score:7.5(good)

my score:7.2

(+)Pros:-Great cooperative gameplay that is tons of fun,-tons of zombie variety and an insane boss,- variety of classes mixes things up,-lots of mutators to fool around with.

(-)Cons:-Team mates have lousy AI and refuse to buy weapons,-lackluster visuals,-glitchy.

Gameplay time:-


Zombies zombies zombies. Everyone loves zombies. Look at the amount of zombie games in the market, resident evil, dead rising and left 4 deads galore. Whatever the reason, zombies have become all the rage, and game developers are impletmenting that even until today. Look at call of duty, they added a zombie mode, look at the recent zombie games, dead island, dead nation, zombie apocalypse etc. Killing floor is just one of the many zombie games out there, and like most of them, its a game that focuses strongly on its multiplayer. Basically, thats what killing floor is, one huge multiplayer package, you find yourself a few pals, dive into the game and start picking on zombies. If you want a story driven game like dead rising or RE, look elsewhere, this is where the multiplayer is at.




Killing floor has no story......totally no story at all. All we get is a bunch of text in the description box when choosing a map. Each map has its own background story, but it never gets explained on at all so its practically useless. Like I said, if you want something story driven, stay away, killing floor has no story at all. The multiplayer experience however, is down right solid.



Zombies at aperature science!

Killing floor is a pretty straightfoward game. All you do is just shoot zombies till they drop dead. Luckily, the game flow, weapons, maps and zombie variety are all awesome in thier own right. You can form a team of 6 during each and every game, and your goals are just to survive 10 waves of zombies and 1 boss wave. Each increasing wave will have more zombies and stronger types of zombies, meaning that the further you make it to, the harder it gets. Of course the game is fair towards you, the lesser players you have, the lesser zombies will spawn and the opposite happens if you have more players, so each player actually has to do thier part. There are quite a few maps available right off the bat, but there are some that you can download and add to your collection.

Some maps are really well made, and fighting zombies at all these different locations give different feels, so the gameplay always feels fresh whenever you play a new map. You have to find new camping spots and such, or you're gonna die. During every game, you pick a class, start off with a pistol, knife and a bunch of nades, fend off the 1st wave and you get to a trader, where you can purchase weapons and armor. The weapons are all individually awesome, you get your standard shotgun, machine guns, explosive and melee weapons, but depending on your class, these have boosts. Say, a medic can purchase medic related items at a lower price, and can use them more effectively based on your perks. Each class has thier own specific weapons and perks, so its good to have  a mix of different class users on your team.



So many zombies, so little time.

The zombie variety in killing floor is pretty awesome. You will see each and every zombie the game has to offer during every match you play. Certain zombies appear right off the bat, like the clot, gorefast and bloat. The rest will come as the waves go up, the siren, scrake, flesh pound and so on. Each zombie has thier own special ability, making each and every one of them a force to be reckoned with.

 The clots come in masses, and while they are weak, they can hold you in place as they munch on you. Gorefasts just dish out massive hurt, bloats are like boomers from L4D and spit damaging acid at you. Sirens wail like bitches and do damage that bypass your armor, crawlers are just tiny little buggers that hit you from all directions. Stalkers are invisible bitches that ambush you. Scrakes and flesh pounds are total beasts and slaugther you like nothing. The partiach is the boss mob that appears after you clear 10 mobs and as a boss, he is quite a bitch.

Beating out all of these different buggers is quite a task, but if you cant handle it, mutators are always there to help you. I love the mutators in this game, and its bloody fun to just tweak and fool around with them. Mutators can make the game easier or harder, they can improve the survivors abilities or deprove them. You can also do all kinds of perks that make the game more quirky.


They will be walking even without heads, and they will suddenly disappear.

Killing floor has...quite some flaws. For one the graphics are rather lackluster for something released  in 2009. It doesnt compare to stuff like left 4 dead (2008) or lets say.......modern warfare 2 (2009). The game is also glitchy, mostly with the zombies. Many a time zombies will suddenly just disappear when killed. You shoot off thier head, they keep on walking, suddenly they just disappear completely. There are also times where you kill every zombie on the map, and there will be 1 or 2 left. You walk around the map trying to find them, then you suddenly see a clot walking somewhere in circles, a stalker staring at a wall, or a crawler stuck in one small hole, unable to get out. Also, almost as if discouraging you to touch single player, the ally AI is ridiculously stupid and just uses the pistol throughout the entire game.

If you're one with tons of gaming buddies, this game is definetely for you. If you're lonely or don't like social gaming, this probably isn't for you. The ally AI is retarded, and theres almost no reason for you to play this alone (no story). When played with others however, I assure you, killing floor is an absolute blast that I would recommend to any zombie killing addict.



Happy gaming.


Opening songs
OP 1-Seishoujo ryoujiki (Ali project)

Ending songs
ED 1-Hikari no Rasenritsu (Kukui)

Genre:Adventure, comedy, drama, supernatural



Episodes:12

Heres another anime review to speed things up. This time, we conclude the rozen maiden saga, with the review of rozen maiden traumend. Traumend was released before overture, but the events of traumend take place after it, so naturally I watched this last. Concluding the rozen maiden series made me one sad puppy, it was a truly unique series that managed to keep me entertained and remained emotional at times. You can easily see where this is going, traumend is ever bit as good, of maybe even better than the original, and definetely beats out overture.

Song time! The opening song is seishoujo ryoujiki by ali project (I guess they are already staples for the series), and up to date, it is one of my favourite ali project songs. It kicks ass on so many levels, I definetely recommend giving this song a listen. The ending hikari no rasenritsu by kukui, and I'll be honest, I never really listened to the full thing once. The 1st 30 seconds just bore me out and I couldnt give a damn. The openign animations for seishouko ryoujiki were pretty damn amazing, by the way.

Rating:8.0/10

Traumend is a great anime that viewers of the original will enjoy alot. It has a slight change in the way the episodes play out, but more or less, its the same good shit from before, with even more characters. Also, this time round, its much more emotional, and I had to hold back tears during one scene (I wont spoil, but I'll leave you all to guess). Theres also much more serious stuff going on this time round, and the concluding episodes sure put the action scale on a whole new level. All in all, its just the first show all over again, trading in some of the comedy parts for more serious parts. For a final product that the original has been building up, traumend is something seriously great to watch as it unfolds.


Meet barasuishou, the scary 7th doll.
 Well for the plot...its just a continuation of the original. It still features jun as our lead, but he has definetely changed during the events of the original, and he is a completely different person now. He's trying to catch up with life again, instead of being a loser that refuses to leave the house and is afraid to go to school. Of course, he still spends time with his dolls, all of which are still living in his house like free loaders. Shinku however, is feeling down after she defeated suigintou, and has been having weird dreams. On the other hand, 2 new dolls make thier appearance, the all-so-carefree kanaria, who is much of an airhead like hina ichigo, and the scary as hell barasuishou. Kanaria is a complete airhead and soon befriends shinku and co, barasuishou however...is just a mindless killing machine. As the 7 dolls awaken and the rabbit laplace makes his appearance, the fight to become the chosen doll soon ensues and things soon become bad.

Theres nothing much to say if you did watch the original, just expect things to be more serious. Otherwise, traumend is great, and if you watched the original, theres no reason to miss this one. Im still kind of puzzled and confused about the half assed ending, however.

Peace.

Today's post will probaby not affect quite a few of you viewers, since jubeat is asia only (those who want to play this but cannot....you have my sympathy). Japan has gotten copious, and over here in singapore, its beem a good ten days since copious made its debut in japan. While its safe to say we jubeat knit players will keep our score records and carry them over to copious, I'm going to post my scores here just in case they get erased.

And well....mostly this post is for bragging rights XD. I'm not that amazing of a player, but well, here are my good scores.

FYI my achievement points is about 420k. Yeah, not really impressive at all. Anyway, here we go.



Infinity
981708 (SSS)

One of my only 2 SSS songs. Infinity is probably my most played song = =. I have practically been playing this since I started, if I didnt at least get an SSS for this I would feel pretty damn pathetic.



Sigsig
951723 (SS)

One of my achivements I'm more proud about. Sigsig is quite difficult, and I spent a good amount of time trying to SS it. I think I did well for this one :).



Soratobu Hikari

981073 (SSS)

My other SSS. Nothing special about this, many people have been going around trying to EXC this shit and have succeeded.



Listen to the stereo!!
953237 (SS/Full combo)

Another one of my more proud achievments XD. This is, a matter of fact, quite a difficulty song in my opinion. There was always one part that always netted me a few blues. The full combo is just for show, I kinda got it by luck.



Sayonara trip
955687 (SS)

Up till now that part with the cross notes still give me alot of trouble = =. Once again this isnt anything special as many are already trying to EXC this



Koi no Merry-go-round
958008 (SS)

Didnt intend to get SS for this, just naturally got it during a regular play.



Chakra
950458 (SS/Full combo)

Oh this bloody piece of shit , fking pissed me off so badly. I played COUNTLESS times to SS this. I know its not that difficult of a song but I played SO MANY times to get my SS...and the full combo.



Garden of love
950517 (SS)

Another song that I didnt intend to get SS. I already got it during the 2nd time I played it.



Sunshine girl
950869 (SS)

One of my very 1st SS achivements. Its not a hard song, but it has lots of patterns and quite a bit of memorizing is required.



Smile Ichiban ii Onna
953774 (SS)

Something that I kind of just decided to get. I played it randomly once and got 942k, so I just played it again and got this score.






Chance and dice
959773 (SS/Full combo)

Honestly, I really tried for this. It may be an easy song with only so little notes...but thats the problem. Because there are so little notes, you really cannot afford to screw up. Took me quite abit to get my SS and full combo.



Are you ready?
969331 (SS)

I got my SS on my first play, but I decided to strive for a SSS. Sadly, as you can see, I didnt quite make it yet, but rest assured, it will come soon. A 969k is satisfactory for now.



Shine on me
972574 (SS)

Quite possibly one of the easiest songs in the game with so many notes. I went for a SSS, but didnt quite make it yet. It will come soon, rest assured.



Haru haru
959059 (SS)

Another song that I just got out of pure coincidence. Played it once, got 947k, played it again and got this.



Street dancer
956682 (SS)

Got this out of pure coincidence. During a local play with my brother we picked this song and I got a SS out of that.



Bass 2 bass
954136 (SS)

Screw this lousy ass fcking meathead that fked me up more than 2 months. I took a long ass time to SS this and I had to stay away from it a good 2 months to erase all my memory on the patterns and then relearn it again. Not worth the effort.



More more more
953134 (SS)

Something that I had to work for. The song itself isn't hard, but I took quite awhile to finally SS it.



Only my railgun
953064 (SS)

When I got this, I declared myself "complete" for jubeat knit. I played this since I started jubeating and to finally SS it is like receiving a trophy that says "you win!". Its a pretty difficult level 8 song and though I played it since I started jubeating I only got the SS recently.

Thats kind of it for now. Im sure I still have some other good SS songs, but I didnt really take pics of all of them. This may look like a post for me to brag about my scores...if it does look like it and you dont like it, just ignore this post XP. There wont be many posts like this, but by the end of copious, if Im still blogging ( I most probably will still be), I will do something like this again...I think.

Peace.

Thursday 22 September 2011

Infinite space

Gamespot score:6.5(fair)

my score:7.0

(+)Pros:- Cool concept,- likable characters,- ship customization is incredibly addictive and overall very in-depth.

(-)Cons:- Combat is very luck dependant,- punishing difficulty,- repititive game flow.

Gameplay time:20-30 hours


The DS is no stranger to oddball games. It has seen games such as phoenix wright, trauma center, picross 3D and many others come and go. Infinite space is one of those oddball titles, theres almost no way for me to fully confirm it as a solo genre type. It mixes RPG, stragetic and many other genres to create something that is fresh and new towards its players. Fortunately, the game is relatively cool in terms of its concept, and that alone can suck players in. On the bad side however, is that the game is punishingly hard, and can definetely turn many players off. So, whats to expect in a game like this?




First off, the story is pretty one of a kind. You will either love or hate it. You star as yuri (who looks like some sort of homosexual dude to me. Yes, hes a guy), a young boy who always wanted to leave his planet to see and explore the outer space. He hires a transporter to take him out to space, but doing so, he broke his planet's law of forbidden space travel. The planet governer takes yuri's sister hostage, and he soon finds himself fighting the government itself to rescue his sister. After the rescue, it became obvious to yuri that he has been exiled from his home planet, and he goes to travel the universe to find out more about epitahs, something that was left for him. The plot soon becomes an epic battle between planets and organizations, and heats up to become something decently tense and exciting.



Either yuri is gay, or he's actually a girl.

Infinite space is somewhat of an RPG while you're not in combat. You navigate solar systems and go from planet to planet, stopping by on some to gather clues on where to go next, upgrade your ships, get new blueprints or just to fool around. Gradually exploring and clearing most of a system's planets will soon open you to a new system, with a gradually bigger community and more planets for you to stop by.

You repeat this process trough the whole game, as you jump from planet to planet, collecting and obtaining goodies as you go. When you stop by one of these planets, you can rest up your crew and heal up your ships, kind of like an inn feature. And of course, you can save your game. This makes planets like towns, sort of...towns that you will dreadfully need. You see, jumping from planet to planet sounds cool and all, but more than often you will get jumped by enemy encounters, most of which can wipe out your entire crew like its no big deal. After mauling through one or two random encounters....finally reaching a planet is like finding an oasis in a desert.


Things look pretty complicated on screen, but its actually not.
 Now then, the combat in infinite space is something that can take some getting used to. Its not like a usual RPG where if you over-grind you can take on 20 or 30 under leveled dudes and come out unscratched. In infinite space, taking out 2-3 enemy fleets can already bring your crew down to critical levels. Its hard to explain the main core of battle, since most of the time, you have to act quick, and tap those commands you see at your bottom touch screen as you see fit. You can move your ship back when you think the next enemy attack is going to completey blast you and you need some breathing space, you can move front when you think your enemy is losing badly and you want to end them quickly. You can select attack, dodge, barrage and many other options as you observe the battle flow and that gauge.

The battle gauge is key, and as it fills, you can issue your different commands. Some commands require alot of the battle gauge, while others require less. Its all about self observation and how you want the battle to turn out. However, a wrong move will easily lead you into defeat, seeing as how enemies come in overwhelming numbers or superior equipment 75% of the time, especially during story scenarios. Still, if you defeat your enemies, you are rewarded with good deal of experience, money and loot. These are more than enough to suffice the difficulty you faced when you do battle with them, and it feels very satisfying to finally beat an enemy crew or fleet. Pimping up your ships into total badasses are also a good past time. There are TONS of customizable parts and you can pimp your ship up to whatever way you want to.

As you can tell, the game is overwhemly punshing, and it seriously turns players off. You have no idea how many times I switched the game off in pure frustration of losing to a story driven fight about 5-6 times. Many a time the battles you face are nearly impossible, forcing you into battle after battle with a half destroyed fleet and tired out crew is just retarded. Even if you go out and start grinding like a pig to get top grade equipments, you will STILL get your ass whooped unless you play VERY well or have a tremendous amount of luck. Speaking of luck, thats what most of the battles require. If you have been doing well throughout an entire boss fight and suddenly the boss decides to fking DODGE YOUR BARRAGE, you know you are already screwed. And the melee fights, they are so luck based that you either curbstomp the enemies, or they curbstomp you. Its uncool, thats what it is. Also, the game brings you from planet to planet on story quests that make you run back and forth so many times between old locations, and they always ask you to blow something up. It gets predictable later on, and its repititive.

Infinite space is a punishing journey through the many different galaxies and planets. Its very satisfying at times and when you are customizing your fleet you will definetely have tons of fun, but prepare to get your ass kicked several times over. If you have a TON of patience and love to get whooped around like space junk, your time harvested into this will suit you well. If you get pissed off easily stay far far far away from this, its very hard and you will be flinging your DS all over your room.



Happy gaming.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Hatsune miku:Project diva 2

Gamespot score:n/a

My score:8.8

(+)Pros:-Improved from the original in almost every way,-many playable characters,-huge song selection,- costumes and other unlockables enhance replay value,-duet songs are a welcome addition,-improved gameplay mechanics.

(-)Cons:-Not enough variety in terms of other vocaloid songs (other than miku),-some of the playable characters do not have songs in the game.

Gameplay time:50 hours+


Exactly one year ago (pure coincidence), I reviewed hatsune miku:Project diva. Back then I was barely even introduced to the world of vocaloids. Now, exactly one year later (again, pure coincidence), I have grown more attached to these vocaloids and know alot more about them, mostly thanks to this game. Project diva 2 once again throws miku into the fray, making her entertain those who play, fortunately, this time she is joined by many others! This should be renamed to "vocaloids:project diva" now, since in the previous game, it was all miku, now we have at least 5 other characters joining in! Sweetness. Those who enjoyed the 1st project diva will without a doubt, have a blast playing this. Get ready to dive in there and see for yourself what the vocaloids have to offer!



Blah blah, same crap, different day. Music games need no story and this game doesnt have one. Don't be suprised, is this your first day gaming? Go on, move along, nothing to see here, whats important in music games is gameplay.




For the first time on the PSP, the famous magnet has arrived!
 The core gameplay of project diva 2 remains mostly the same as the original. Of course, being the kickass sequel that it is, this has been improved on. First of all, other than the standard square, X, circle and triangle buttons, there are times where you have to press pairs along with the directional buttons based on the new arrow icons that appear on screen. A left pointing arrow means you have to press square and left, an up pointing arrow means you have to press up and triangle, so on and so forth. It may not be very difficulty to grasp, but it quickly becomes part of the core gameplay, as you see these arrows popping out more than just occasionally, this can destroy beginners. Other than that, the chance time system has been tweaked.

 Now, the total bonus score you recieve no longer based on how accurate you hit the buttons. The current chance time system makes it so the max score you can get is 50000, and it matters if you hit all notes during chance time as "cool". The lesser you hit means the lesser you get during chance time. This means you may not be able rake in as much than before, but it makes for some fairly balanced scoring. Other than that a good thing to note is that during all songs, there are fully 3D animated MVs, unlike in the original, where there were a handful of songs with only slideshows of 2D art. Whats also new is the addition of extreme difficulty songs. The orignal only feautred hard mode, but in this game, theres even extreme after hard...Needless to say, these songs slaughter noobs, proceed with caution.



Play as rin and  many other vocaloids.
 And of course, the main best thing that sega could have done to project diva 2....the inclusion of other vocaloids. Unlike in the 1st game, where only miku's voice is featured (and a TINNNY bit of rin and len), project diva 2 features the full voices of rin, len, luka, kaito and meiko, other than miku, and each and every one of them have their own songs, featuring them as the lead singer. This is beyond sweet. One of my old complains was that there was only miku and that could get boring. Now with these 5 other awesome vocaloids, theres more than enough variety to keep going! The song list has expanded, and new songs for the other vocaloids have been added as well, what else can we ask for??!? Songs like meltdown for rin, just be friends for luka, migata no chou for len and change me for meiko are just awesome.

 Also, another new addition to the game that will please the fans is the addition of duet songs. Miku will be pairing up with another vocaloid to perform a duet songs, and most of these are pretty popular. The amazingly popular cantarella (kaito and miku), magnet (miku and luka) and promise (Rin and miku). There is even a rin and len duet! Fans will definetely be happy. Miku also has her own share of good music, but playing the songs by other vocaloids is true awesomeness. Whats EVEN better, is that there are a TON of unlockables like costumes and room items that will keep players motivated. Costumes for EACH AND EVERY character are aplenty, and items to get for miku's room also come in masses. You purchase them using VP and unlock them by playing songs and clearing them with special conditions.  The content in this....is just too much.



The all-so-awesome romeo X cinderella.
Now then witht the sequel's so awesome additions, they kind of left me wanting for more. With the additions for the new vocaloids, thier songs were so amazing and it really pains me that there were so little songs for them. I understand its "hatsune miku":project diva, but you know, more songs from the other vocaloids would be so damn awesome....Also, they added neru, sakine meiko and YOWANE FKING HAKU!!!! They added HAKU, DAMN!!!! But they made 1 mistake, these three have no songs!!!! NOOOOO, why did you put them in when you made no songs for them! Sega, why?!?!? Me wants haku!! Putting these 3 in and then putting no songs for them is pure trolling! They should at least give them a song each to make thier inclusion worthwhile, but alas, they didnt. I has a sad :(.

Project diva 2 is a huge plus for the franchise. I seriously could not think of any other way to improve it other than the way sega did. I expected maybe only more rin and len songs, but they went to add luka, kaito and meiko as well! This game opened me up to the vocaloid family, and now they have just added 1 more to thier fan base XD. With so many new additions and improvements, project diva 2 is a must buy for fans of vocaloids. And if you never played the original and want to get this, go right ahead, this is so much better. 





Happy gaming!


Opening songs
OP 1-Future stream (Sphere)

Ending songs
ED 1-Hatsukoi limited (Marble)
EP 6 ED-Gensou no Basho, Sorezore no Michi no Ue (Marble) 
EP 9 ED-Sora ni Mau (Marble)

Genre:Romance, Comedy

Episodes:12

Moar anime reviews! Seeing as I am watching umineko at an extrodinary rate, I gotta do more anime reviews. Today, the anime being reviewed is hatsukoi limited, a true gem of a show in my opinion. Its not fantastic, it doesnt have ball busting comedy or superb animations, but its seriously one of a kind. Its an anime that ACTUALLY sets couples up together in relationships, not like tons of harems in which the girl likes the guy but the guy is completely oblivous -.-. This actually has them CONFESSING and showing GOING OUT as a COUPLE, not some punishment game or some shit. I wasn't really into romance stuff, but this really pulled me in, and I definetely recommend it to those who are looking for a change of pace.

The opening song is future stream, sang by sphere. Though I liked all the different seiyus in sphere, I cant say im a fan of thier songs. Future stream isnt bad, but its not really my cup of tea. Still, its better than the endings. The ending song is hatsukoi limited by marble. Once again, not my cup of tea. The individual episode 6 and 9 endings are slighty better..but still not as good as future stream. Cant say I really like any of the songs featured in this anime, sadly.

Rating:7.5/10

Hatsukoi limited is good stuff. Altough it fits into the comedy genre, its not drastically funny, but the word "romance" isnt fake, theres lots of lovey dovy stuff going on. Many animes out there with these 2 tagged in thier genre like baka test, MM, ladies vs butlers or even hayate no gotoku, dont have REAL romance in them. The main guy never chooses the girl he loves and confesses, he is always stuck in a dilema and never really confesses. Hatsukoi limited is about TRUE love, with loads of emotional impact and other factors that make it something very different from many other "romance/comedy" animes.



mmmmm.......the perfect situation for any guy in the world..
 Hatsukoi limited doesnt just "focus" on 1 character, the entire anime is just showcasting a series of relationships shown in a manner of short stories. In most episodes the anime stars different characters as main characters, and shows them along with their "loved one" or "partner", and how they get together. If I were to guess...the main character would be ayumi, an air headed girl that hangs out with many of her girl-friends. She has tons of focus during her anime trying to get the guy she wants...just like all her friends, who are having guy problems too. The show also focuses on the guys quite alot, and the main guy, would probably be zaitsu, the guy ayumi is after. Of course, these are just speculations, since the shows shifts alot between the characters and talks about thier seperate relationships. It all folds together in the end for a fitting finale, which is something most viewers would remember for a long time.

All in all, hatsukoi is a good experience. True romance is something many harem animes fail to demonstrate well. Hatsukoi limited may not be a harem, but the romance is something to seriously look out for. If you want an emotional experience that will stay with you for quite some time, this is the show for you. You can also watch it if you are tired of animes ending without main characters getting together with the girl he wants -.-, or cannot choose.

Peace.

Friday 16 September 2011

Thanks to all viewers!

Alright! Rock on to all you people. Today's post is going to just be a little thank you to all you viewers. Wheter you are just skimming through my blog, just here to grab a few pics or seriously reading my stuff, I just want to say thank you!




A big THANK YOU to all viewers!
 Wheter you dudes like me or hate me, Im seriously in a good mood right now. I started this blog 2 years ago and my old posts were shit (Obnoxiously huge text fonts and many other issues). My blog recently only really started to get good views early this year, and Im thankful for that, I never really thought I would be reaching 100,000 views when I started my blog, since I only did it to compete with my other blogging friends (most of them arent even blogging anymore).

Hey hey, of course, this doesnt mean I wont be blogging anymore, dont get the wrong idea. I will definetely still be on blogger, and you can bet your ass that I will remain active. Once again, thanks to all viewers! Keep on rocking!

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Lost planet 2

Gamespot score:7.0(good)

my score:7.0

(+)Pros:-Pretty damn fun with friends,- large scale battles against gigantic monsters are a blast,- outstanding visuals,-lots of modes to keep you entertianed.

(-)Cons:-Lackluster story,-very boring to play alone,-foolish partner AI.

Gameplay time:10-20 hours


Im sure many of you here know about lost planet by now. The 1st game recieved good scores while the 2nd one got pretty poor reception. If you guys are wondering where lost planet 1 is on my blog....its not, and it never will be. As stated long time ago I only review games worthy of at least a 7 (to me anyway). Lost planet 1 on the PS3 was a failure in so many ways its not even funny, its definetely below a 7 to me...perhaps even lower than a 6. I have no idea how it scored 8s on other sites..*shrugs*. Anyway, now time for lost planet 2. Now this game is quite under rated (I played the PC version as you can see), unlike lost planet 1. Did they try multiplayer? Cause its a blast. The console versions got pathetic scores...looks like Im lucky I played the PC one.



Lost planet 2 has a pretty lousy story. One of the things lost planet actually did right was having a half decent story. Lost planet 2 however....has almost zero story value. The characters are non existant, they dont even have names, and the story switches in between the many featured factions and their characters. Theres really nothing much when it comes to the story. It starts off as you playing as a bunch of snow pirates trying to save thier homeland, then switches to nevac agents going on an undercover mission, then switches to another bunch of snow pirates etc etc. It involves a shitload of switching between characters and after lots of playing, you will eventually lose yourself, and just give up. The characters keep talking about different stuff, its like theres zero link between the different conversations between the different people in other factions. It all comes together during the final chapter, but there will still be alot of question marks in your head by the time it comes.



The game is visually stunning.

Luckily, the story is probably the weakest point of the game, the gameplay is downright solid....with friends that is. Much like the 1st game, it is a 3rd person shooter, retaining much of the original's gameplay, with a few tweaks. Instead of going around the maps alone like in the 1st game, you will always have 3 allies alongside you this time. These 3 allies are either AI controlled, or controlled by other players. Needless to say having 3 player controlled buddies accompanying you through these levels are great to have, much better than the clunky partner AIs. You and your pals can play through 6 campaign chapters, filled with beautiful environments and enemies.

The game is downright visually stunning, easily one of the most beautiful PC games I have played. The areas you play through have some awesome variety, ranging from forests, deserts, ocean levels, secret bases, snowy mountains and many more. Each and every one of these areas are filled with thier own unique akrid enemy types and soldiers. While soldiers most of the time only have a few types (just the basic few holding different weapons), what makes them a little bit more special are thier VSes. They may comes in different types of VSes to kick your ass over and over, and while you might feel pissed off, its definetely better than getting shot to death by puny soldiers. The akrids however are much more solid when it comes to variety. There are lots of different akrids, those that fly, jump around, have nasty claws or rock hard shells that protect them. Depending on the stages you visit, the different types of akrids appear, and its always great to see what different types of monsters lurk in the next area.



Shit, thats one big ass worm.

When it comes to weapons, lost planet 2 has thier fair share of those as well. You can only hold 2 weapons at once, and you always start with your machine gun. You can find other weapons scattered in crates of after you beat soldiers. Weapons include shotguns, grenade launchers, sniper rifles....you know the deal. Of course there are more unique weapons like the plasma gun, but we wont be going into that. You also have your secondary weapons, while you can hold 2 of these, you can only change 1. Your T-eng supplier is permanently there, and it helps you to heal health in exchange for T-eng. The other slot for secondary weapons are grenades, explosive items or anything tossable, basically. Gum grenades, plasma discs, you name it. There are also those huge ass weapons that you can detach from a VS or attach to a VS. VSes are another part of your combat arsenals. Just like enemy soldiers, you can pilot them and unleash incredible destruction of soldiers and akrid alike.

There are many different types of VSes, those that move slowly and fire weapons from thier sides, those with arms that can fly around and unleash mass destruction, or even those huge ones that can host 3 drivers. With so much at your disposal, you are ready to combat the bosses of lost planet 2, which are probably some of the coolest things to exist in PC gaming. Bosses in lost planet 2 are usually huge ass akrids the size of buildings, towering over you like the behemoths they are. You have to shoot the weak points to dismember them or deal damage. Tackling these big bosses with friends is definetely the way to go, as you scream desperately at each other to run or attack. Its good fun. There are also lots multiplayer modes that can net you some extra play hours if you manage to get some online buddies to play with you. You have the basic team elimination, elimination FFA, capture the posts, blah blah blah. Its nothing special and is much like COD or other shooters. Still, its extra content, whos complaining?


Big monsters vs Big guns.

Like many of the reviews stated, lost planet 2 has a lot of flaws. Well to me most of the flaws they mentioned arent that big of a deal to me. Yeah, as said earlier, the story is bland is totally lackluster. The lack of proper characters fail to make it appealing, and to be honest, the story itself is quite a drag, its the gameplay that drives it. Next up is the clunky AI. If you play alone, the AI is stupid beyond belive. They cant shoot shit, they always die, and they ALWAYS use the machine gun. Ridiculous. Plus, during certain missions where you have to multi task with 1 character per task, the AI does nothing! You have to do what 4 ppl have to do BY YOURSELF. That being said, playing the game alone is a total drag. Yep, you heard me. Shitty AI, no friends to spice things up and the lousy story....Damn, playing this alone is quite boring.


Thats really all there is to lost planet 2. Its a superb multiplayer experience and if you do the campaign on multiplayer, you are sure to have one hell of a fun time. Play it alone however, you will have to coup with the ridiculously stupid AI and play through the entire 6 chapters alone...that is saddening, really. This game is really fun, and its visually stunning too, but let me tell you, you need to have at least 1 buddy to play it with you, to make the most out of your time and money. Find that buddy, and lost planet 2 will deliver to you an experience unlike any other. In my opinion, this is much better than lost planet 1 (for the PS3).



Happy gaming.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Demons's souls boss profile: Penetrator


Boss health
HP:2960
Skills: Basic slash, spinning slash, penetrating stab*
Difficulty:3/5, 1/5
Times died on 1st playthrough:3


And we go on! 2 bosses more to go! Finally, here we are, back at boletaria after roaming all the different worlds and beating all thier bosses. After you beat one of the any 4 other world's final bosses, the great fog blocking the entrace to 1-3 will be gone, and you access it. Make it to the end and you will face this beast, the penetrator. The penetrator is easily one of the coolest looking bosses in the game, and he fights like a pro. If this is your 1st time going up against him, watch him kill the fat minister that has been mocking you for so long, and prepare to die. The penetrator is no joke, and will probably 1 shot you with his famous penetrating attack. Penetrator is the boss of 1-3, tower knight's archstone.



He has a sword that rivals that of sephiroth's in terms of lenght.

No, the penetrator is not a pushover. If you underestimate him, you are probably going to die badly. His normal attacks don't hit too much, but his stab is incredibly dangerous and one shots almost everything. He may not be the fastest guy around, but he's definetely one of the most lethal when it comes to damage. Think of him as a slower flamelurker, with a one hit KO attack.

Basic slash- The penetrator just slashes you, nothing much. Does medium damage and covers a huge area due to the lenght of his sword. Just roll away and you're good.

Spinning slash- The penetrator spins around like a ballet dancer and delivers a slash. Covers a bigger area than the basic slash but once again, its nothing special.

Penetrating stab*- His signature move. His sword glows and after a quick charge he stabs foward with insane strenght. If you are hit by this, you are most probably a gonner. You cant block this, so roll away immediately.

If you fight him alone, the penetrator has to be fought with great caution. If you see his sword glow, just roll away, I cant emphasise enough, that stab WILL kill you. Other than that, the whole fight is just a matter or trading blows. If you are attempting to kill him up close, be prepared to trade alot of blows, bring lots of grass. If you wanna do it ranged, I recommend magic, not arrows. If you go with magic, any normal projectile will do decent damage, make sure to bring lots of spice though. If you fight him with magic, its alot safer since theres a lesser chance you will get hit by penetrating stab.

If you want to go melee...things will be a little bit more complicated. If you get too close to him, he will perform a penetrating stab ever so oftenly, so you're most likely screwed. You CAN do the basic dodge and hit tactic, but its going to be risky. Don't attack unless you are very confident that you can dodge his penetrating stab. Basic and spinning slash are both more or less the same, if you see that coming just roll towards him and hit him.

The only right time to hit him however, is AFTER he uses penetrating stab. That move has ridiculous recovery, so you have alot of time to go up to him give him a few good smacks, and back off. It works well, and you will probably be at a safe distance away from him before he winds up for his next slash. Also note that if you are backing away from the penetrator and want to heal, you have to sprint away. Hiding behind those statues wont work, since the penetrator will just smack those out of the way like bugs.

The key to fighting him melee is to keep dodging his attacks and stay on the defensive. Do not attack him until he uses penetrating stab, then go in on the offensive. Expect to get hit here and there, but as long as that attack you are hit by is not penetrating stab, then its nothing too major. Keep it up and he will eventually go down. To have a simpler understanding of penetrating stab, keep moving sideways when you see his sword glow, most of the time, if you perform a decently timed roll you will avoid. Do not move or roll backwards, his sword has insane reach, don't test him.

Now when you go alone the penetrator may put up quite a fight, but if you saved bior earlier...then its a different story. Bior is ridiculously powerful. You can practically stand back and watch him solo the penetrator. Bior has alot of life, he probably wont get killed by the penetrator at all. Of course you can assist him, I actually suggest you to do so, just in case bior cant handle it and dies.

When fighting alongside bior, the fight becomes pretty damn easy. The penetrator will focus his attacks on bior, leaving you to hit him as many times as you want uninterupted. Of course if you pick on him too much, he will shift his attention to you for awhile, but he will eventually just go for bior again. Be sure not to hit bior though, he may turn hostile.

On the next post we cover the big bad king himself!

Peace.


Ending song*
ED 1-Save the one, save the all (T.M. revolution)

Genre:Action, adventure, supernatural

Episodes:1**

**(Its a movie -.-)

Alright, this will be my very 1st anime movie review. While things will more or less be the same as it always has been, I may be elaborating a liiiitle bit more, you know, it being a movie and all. Still, not much of my general anime review style will change, so don't expect a major overhaul. For my 1st anime movie review....its just gonna be bleach. Whats there to say right? Bleach is bleach, and the series has already done movies in the past. I have watched all of done, and just recently I caught the latest one, "the hell verse". So how is it? Is it generally the same as the previous ones? Is it better, or is it worse? Heres what I think

First things first, lets talk about the ending song, save the one, save the all. Well, being a song from T.M. revolution  we can all expect some sort of epicness from it, and it sure delivers that much. If you like the basic stuff from T.M. revolution, then you will love this song. Yes, I really enjoyed the song, and I think its a really good idea to tie it to a series such as bleach. Im actually suprised T.M. revolution hasn't done a song for bleach after all this time. All in all, it's awesome song.

Rating:7.0/10

Now, hell verse as a bleach movie....where does it stand? To be honest, its better than the 1st two movies, in my opinion. Its not quite as good as fade to black, but it beats out diamond dust rebellion and memories of nobody (which both in my opinion had pretty shitty plots). Hell verse though, has a pretty quirky, cliche and straightfoward plot too, so it kinda disappoints. But hell verse has some over the top animation and fight scenes that actually look pretty cool, making it shine more in the animation department.

As stated, the story is pretty damn cliche. Like all 3 movies, hell verse doesnt appear to be canon to be original bleach universe. The plot starts pretty normally, it shows ichigo in the human world as a normal student. He goes around beating up thugs that messed up some dead kid's flower vase memorial. Well he meets with renji and rukia who are investigating some weird stuff thats going on in karakura town. He is asked not to worry and just to live as per normal. He attends school , but the school is later attacked and that leaves most of ichigo's normal classmates in critical states of injury. The school is attacked by a bunch of weird cloaked figures wearing masks, and ichigo and gang face off against them.



We WILL see more of ichigo's full hollow form in this movie, sweet.

The cloaked ones are later identified as sinners from hell. Little do they know however that the attack was a mere diversion and ichigo's sisters yuzu and karin are kidnapped elsewhere by 2 more cloaked dudes, with rukia trying to hold off against them. Ichigo comes and tries to fight them off, and another sinner appears to attack the cloaked ones. The stranger sinner saved karin, but the cloaked sinners make it off with yuzu. The strange man identifies himself as kokuto, and states that he will help ichigo to get yuzu back. And so begin ichigo and gang's trip into hell......

I wont spoil any further, but things from there get pretty cliche anyway....The story is one of the weaker points of the movie. It starts out alright, and is pretty interesting too, since the cloaked sinners come out of nowhere to attack ichigo and gang in the school. The reason they do so however is just so uncool..

Anyway, lets talk about the animation. The animation in hell verse is probably its best point, and deserves a 9/10 for this compartment alone. The animations in hell verse is SOLID, better than any of the previous 3 movies. It looks amazing, and the visual effects in the movie are badass. Crumbling environments, explosions, swift and quick clashes between fighters....everything looks great. Looks like the animation studio went all out on this one, and it really saved their bacon. The animation prevents this from being "just another bleach movie".


Ichigo alongside kokuto, one of the hell's sinners.

The action is kind of mixed. On one hand the moves and all look great (though they all have been, one way or another, seen before at least once in the anime), but as the movie drags on, the fights seem to drop in standard too. The beginning fights in the school are so badass, I was like ,"shit, its been awhile since fights in bleach were this good!". All the sinners have interesting powers, and its interesting to see them unravel it at the beginning. Gunjo however, has disappointing powers (just fire? come on...). As the party proceeds into hell to fight the sinners again, things are pretty damn cool too, but just not as good at the beginning fights. They show their true selves (they arent exactly very good looking without those cloaks on...) and each pick individual opponents to fight like the usual one on one they always do in the anime. Those fights are cool in thier way, but since we have already seen the powers of the sinners, its not quite as interesting as before.

The confrontation with gunjo is just stupid. I think gunjo has pretty crappy powers, and that fight with ichigo was just boring. The FINAL battle was INCREDIBLY CHEESY. I wont spoil nothing about it, but its stupid and so damn....freaking cliche. All in all, the action starts out great and slowly degrades. The final battle is just disappointing :(.

Hell verse in an interesting take on the bleach movies in general. Its somewhat different from the previous few, and for once, they didnt have all the captains showing up during the final battle to smash everyone into oblivion -.-, now I am pretty grateful for that. The captains do make a minor appearance in this movie, and though not every captain was present, I'd say its sufficient. I wouldn't want to see the captains curb stomping all the bad guys again......For you bleach fans, hell verse is a pretty damn good movie for you all to catch. However, I still think fade to black was better, since it was the only bleach movie with a pretty awesome plot.

Peace.


Opening songs
OP 1-Baragoku otome (Ali project)

Ending songs
ED 1-Utsusemi no Kage (Kukui)

Genre:Adventure, comedy, drama, supernatural

Episodes:2

Back to anime reviews. I'm gonna speed up on the anime side, since I have been seeing more anime than I should be. Plus, the speed of me doing anime reviews < the speed of me watching anime. Don't mind if I speed up on my anime reviews abit. Rozen maiden overture is actually the latest title in the series, but I watched it before traumend...so here I am reviewing overture 1st. Its not a bad thing actually. Overture takes place after the original rozen maiden but BEFORE traumend, so its not really that much of a big deal. Still, no reason not to watch this if you liked the original, or traumend. It sure is short, only having 2 episodes (its an OVA after all), but if you watched traumend or the original and did not understand some stuff OR want to know more...overture is your answer.

Now, onto the songs. The opening is baragoku otome by ali pro. Unlike Kinjirareta Asobi, I happened to enjoy baragoku otome. It starts off slow and speeds up eventually, making it a pretty badass song. Definetely one of my favourite songs from ali pro. The ending is utsusemi no kage by kukui. I didn't pay this much heed, since it didnt't sound like my cup of tea. I skipped it after hearing about 30 seconds, its not something I would recommend but thats just my opinion.

Rating:7.5/10

It may be short, but overture serves its purpose well. Its a prequel of many sorts, and the entire 2 episodes are sort of a flashback, so it may be quite abit of a turnoff if you dont like flashbacks (like me). However, stick with it and you will find a good show that manages to tell its own story that still manages to relate to the original and traumend. If you are expecting 2 episodes of content similar to the regular rozen maiden or traumend, you will be disappointed. Theres little of the everyday life that jun and gang go through here, its pure flashback. Still, its good stuff, and will please most of the more serious viewers looking to grasp more of the deep rozen maiden story.




There was once a time where shinku and suigintou lived together,
care to find out more?
 As stated, the story of overture is a full flashback. Jun appears no more than 5 minutes in the whole 2 episodes. I would say this time round the main character is shinku, since the story is mostly revolved around her in the flashback. The plot this time round talks more about the events that took place hundreds of years ago, when the fellow sister dolls were still more bent on fighting each other to become the chosen one by their maker. The sisters were still far apart from each other, and are not sure where thier sisters were. Some are keen to battle, like shinku and souseiseki, while others like suiseiseki don't want to fight. It tells a story of the sisters' past, and how suigintou, who wasn't meant to be, suddenly became part of the battle. Though its a short one, these 2 episodes are definetely worth the watch if you are interested in the back story of rozen maiden.

Interestingly enough, theres enough content within these 2 episodes to keep viewers interested. Wheter or not you watch rozen maiden for its general comedy and harem concept, or for its deeper and more serious side, overture is definetely something good for those who watched traumend and or the original. Its an interesting change of pace for the series, and while its likely there wont be a season 3, overture fits the role the satisfying those viewers who cant get enough of rozen maiden.

Peace.