In [Nat's] Hands: FFVII:Crisis Core and Okami

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I am torn. As hard as I try, I cannot play two games at once.

I’ve only played one Final Fantasy game all the way through. In fact, I played it to almost 100% completion. That’s not entirely true. In college, my PSOne was powered on for a single semester. It played one game the entire time: Final Fantasy VII. There were six of us who would play off the same saved game file. We did everything. Everything. It’s probably one of the fondest gaming memories I’ll ever have. Sometimes, we’ll still chat about it through email.

I’m not a big Final Fantasy fan. I’ve played the aforementioned title and I’ve played FFIX. See, it’s never really a final fantasy. They just keep making more. Actually, I’m more of a chrono-guy.

That’s my setup. Here’s my reveal.

On a whim (I allow myself two “whims” a year) I picked up FFVII: Crisis Core for the PSP. Simply put, this title is currently my PSP Game of the Year. I cannot get enough of it. It’s one of those titles that just hooks you and you never really know why. Maybe it’s the excellent story and presentation, maybe it’s the best cinematic cutscenes of any game I’ve seen, or maybe it’s all the great references to the original game? (Better yet, this game is a prequel and it still has future references).

FFVII:Crisis Core

This game has enveloped me so deep that I want Zack to be Cloud in the FFVII game. The character progression and growth is written in such a way that you don’t even realize it’s happening until you go remember back to where you started.

Now there is a fault. I hate, HATE, HATE the DMW. It’s basically a slot machine that you have no control over that interrupts combat sequences. It’ll occasionally level your character up and toss some bonuses your way. It’ll constantly break the flow of excitement during battle. Necessary? No.

If I was to rate this game, I’d give it a 10. The DMW (I keep wanting to say DMV) makes it an 8. Harsh? Yes. However, Square Enix have been making excellent games for almost 20 years. They should know better.

Okami

A week ago I picked up Okami for the Wii. Roger Ebert knows nothing when it comes to games—maybe even art. This game is art in motion, a moving picture worth ten thousand words, a watercolor that doesn’t fade, a…well, you get the idea. Be ready to read as well. A lot. However, it’s all excellent.

I’m only one hour in to the game and it’s been the most unique hour of gaming I’ve ever experienced. How do I describe it? You’re a goddess who has been reincarnated as a white wolf. You mist rid the land of darkness and bring it back to life. Your weapon: a brush.

Yep. You solve problems, rejuvenate nature, experience combat, and paint the town red with your trusty brush. It’s wonderful. This game was made for the Wiimote. The execs at Capcom must be prophets considering the game was made in 2006.

I’m told this game could net a person 40 hours of playtime. Excellent. This may be a game where I do it all. I really don’t have the patience for RPGs, but this may be my exception.

I just find it interesting that the only two games I’m playing right now are RPGs.

Oh, and Ikaruga.

April 23, 2008 | Filed Under GCN, PSP, Sports, Video Games, WII, XBX | 5 Comments 

Time to Purge (”The List”)

In light of all I’ve gone through and with giving up (actually, changing perspective) on “The List,” it’s now time for me to get rid of all the games I no longer want or need. What does that mean for you, oh, inquisitive reader? Simply put, you get first dibs.

Here’s how it works. I’m going to list all the game I want to get rid of. (All of them come in their cases). I could just take them in to Gamestop, but they are idiots (There’s a guy in our local store that deserves a plethora of posts. I feel sorry for uninformed customers.) and they would give me a pittance for the trade-in anyway. I will sell the game to you at half the price Gamestop sells it used (look it up on their site and email me the link). That way, you get a game cheaper than used list and I make more off it. Make sense? Let’s eliminate the used store middleman and save on their fees.

Just email me (agentgray at gmail) what you want and we can work all the other stuff.  I’ll probably use Paypal and ship the mail via USPS (US or Canada) Here’s the games (with commentary):

Gamecube:

Xbox

Nintendo DS

Xbox 360

Nintendo Wii

There you go. There are some more titles I may add to this, but I am very close to completing them. Plus, I have some PC titles, but I need to make sure license keys and stuff are OK.

March 4, 2008 | Filed Under NDS, Video Games, WII, X360, XBX | 4 Comments 

What I’m playing

I haven’t done this for a while, so I thought it’d be fun to do a “what I’m playing” post. After I stopped playing EVE I had a lull in gaming overall but recently I’ve been getting back into it. I’ve been busy with other endeavors but when I do have a chance, here’s what i’ve been playing:

Mercenaries - I stopped playing Mercenaries a few months ago but got the bug to play it again and I’ve been having a blast. I find myself not even doing the missions — I just drive around exploring (and running over the occasional mafioso). Last night, after picking up a bad guy, I hijacked their tank and drove it down into the Russian Mafia section of town and starting blowing buildings up. I took down a couple warehouse buildings, a construction crane a couple gas tanks. After running out of ammo I ditched the tank and jumped in a mafia truck and high-tailed it back to safety. I’m currently persona non grata in Mafia land after I capped three of their leaders. Oops. I’m anxious to make it back into that section of town to see if the damage I caused was perament.

Forza Motorsport - I try to avoid playing games when the kids are awake, so when my daughter asks to play the “racing” game, I’m more than happy to get a little gaming in. The only catch is that I have to drive a pink Lexus IS300. With cutesy-pootsy vinyls. It’s a price I’m willing to pay for my art. I’m actually liking the simulation-style racing. Originally I didn’t care for it but it has grown on me.

Pink Lexus
“That’s my pink car, right daddy?“

Brain Age - I finally cracked the twenties with my brain age! I’m sporting a respectable brain age of 26 years. I’m also loving Sudoku. But honestly, the best thing about Brain Age is that the buttonWife is hooked on it, which gives me free reign over the television and the Xbox. It’s a pretty good arrangement. I had no idea the DS Lite was going to actually enable more gaming.

So what are you guys playing? I’m thinking about picking up Big Brain Academy — any recommendations on that? I’m also gonna look for a rental of NCAA 2007. Having been burned by 2005 and 2006, I’m gun-shy with 2007 but Bill Abner has been giving it good marks, so that’s promising.

July 21, 2006 | Filed Under NDS, Sports, XBX | 13 Comments 

Extravaganza Recap

Well, as is often the case, even though I had lots of free time, I didn’t get to do everything I had hoped to do during my “free time.” There never seems to be enough hours in the day.

One thing I did accomplish was playing a lot of golf. I got in 45 holes in a 24 hour period. That’s a lot of golf. I golfed some of my best golf, which always makes the rounds that much better. I had two chip-ins for birdies, which for me is a rarity to do it once, so doing it twice in a weekend is close to golf Nirvana.

As far as gaming goes, I got some time online with Halo 2, finally played Brinstar for our STOB match (I won 0-(-1), not very convincingly) and I picked up the New Super Mario Brothers (more on that later). One game that I didn’t play, surprisingly, was EVE-Online. I think it’s time that EVE and I start seeing other people. I may go back to it, but currently there are other games I’d rather play, which means EVE goes into hibernation. I’m not giving up on it, it’s just no longer a priority, and if I don’t plan on paying for something I’m not playing.

So now the family is back in town, bringing this year’s extravaganza to a close.

June 12, 2006 | Filed Under MMOGs, NDS, Sports, XBX | 4 Comments 

Some thoughts…

I know blogging has been light lately, but RL keeps getting in the way. I’d like to say gaming has kept me away but sadly that isn’t the case. Gaming has been limited to EVE lately, with an occasional Animal Crossing break.

Even with the lack of blogging, I wanted to post a few thoughts I’ve had recently:

March 21, 2006 | Filed Under MMOGs, NDS, PC, X360, XBX | 3 Comments 

Halolympics

Flickr is fun, because you find things like this that make you laugh.

Some of the people I play Halo 2 would definitely medal in “CryBabying”. (Zing!)

(Update: After reading AFKGamer’s Flickr post, I decided to setup a Buttonmashing Flickr account so I don’t have to clutter my personal Flickr account with my gaming detritus)

February 24, 2006 | Filed Under XBX | Leave a Comment 

Best of 2005

I know it’s a day late, but I present to you the buttonmashing.com “Best of 2005″ Awards. This year I decided to go with a straightforward set of awards, nothing fancy or witty like others. Just the games I liked and played this year. On with the awards:

2005 PC Game of the Year

I didn’t play a lot of the big releases on the PC this year, but the one that sucked most of my time this year was, by far, Guild Wars. In a crowded MMORPG landscape, Guild Wars really rose above the rest with its accesible gameplay, deep PvE and PvP, and of course the absence of a monthly fee. I played the heck out Guild Wars this year and think it is most deserving of the PC Game of the Year. The Guild Wars team has done a great job adding free content (the holiday bits were wonderful) and of balancing the gameplay. There is a wonderful balance of skill and teamwork. Aside from it’s beauty and music, Guild Wars is simply a great game and I look forward to continuing my time in Ascalon.

PC Runner-up: Fate. This Diablo-esque hack and slash was refreshing and a blast to play. Unfortunately with gaming time at a premium, I didn’t get to play Fate as much as I would have liked.

2005 Xbox Game of the Year

My Xbox choice came down to the last minute. There were a handful of games released this year I really wanted to play but up until now I hadn’t. One of those was Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. There are some games that are able to move the player emotionally or otherwise. There are others where it’s just fun to run around and mindlessly blow stuff up. Mercenaries is one of those kind of games. Mercenaries is a fun game, plan and simple. The open-ended gameplay is such a riot. Taking money from the Chinese to knock off some Russian mafia-types and then driving to the Russian Mafia HQ (while running over some North Korean soldiers) to “make-up” with a little cash is just classic. Mecenaries gets the nod over a handful of great Xbox games.

Xbox Runners-up: Farcry: Instincts and Forza Motorsports. Farcry was a breath of fresh air to the FPS scene. Setting traps and watch people fly around as they set them off is sublime. While I love my racing games fast and frenetic (Burnout-style), I was really taken by Forza. It took a while to get used to controlling a car with real-world physics but it ended up very satisfying.

Xbox Disappointment of the Year: Jade Empire. How IGN, in good faith, could give this game a 9.9 is beyond human logic. Jade Empire was hyped to the moon and back but it failed to even come close to living up to it. It was linear, the combat was a joke and it was way too easy. 9.9 my patootie.

2005 Nintendo DS Game of the Year

Man, another tough choice in a sea of great games. In the end, I had to pick Animal Crossing Wild World over the rest of the DS games this year. Animal Crossing Wild World takes the friendly and addictive Gamecube title and makes it better. There’s no drastic changes here, the original formula isn’t scrapped, it’s enhanced and improved in every way. The addition of the Nintendo WiFi connection makes it an excellent multiplayer game. I know a lot of people are put off by the initial clunkiness of the WiFi interface but being able to control who you game with is a huge deal to me. Keeping the riff-raff out of my town has made Animal Crossing online great. Nintendo has a real winner with Animal Crossing WW and I can see this one being played well into 2006.

Nintendo DS Runners-up: There were so many games released this year for the DS that it is really hard to single out any one game as a “runner up” to Animal Crossing. Mario Kart, Advance Wars DS, Metroid Prime Pinball, all of them were great. There were more I still haven’t played yet - Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, Castelvania. The mind boggles.

2005 Gamecube Game of the Year

This one was, of course, a no-brainer. Released almost a year ago, Resident Evil 4 is my pick for Gamecube GotY. I was a casual fan of the Resident Evil series before this one but I feel compelled to play the others to understand the history of the game and see what I’ve missed. I played RE4 start-to-finish without stopping for other games. That doesn’t happen very often. From the beautifully haunting Spanish Pueblos to the dark, mysterious island, RE4 was visual perfection. The time and effort put into the production of RE4 was obvious. Little details like the weapon reload animations and the authentic Spanish phrases really sealed the deal for me. RE4 was a fantastic game, top to bottom.

Gamecube Runners-up: While this year wasn’t rife with great titles not called Resident Evil, there were still a few great games to be played this year on the little black Cube. Fire Emblem and Super Mario Strikers are two games that I am currently enjoying and deserve some attention. Fire Emblem was great on the Gameboy Advance and it’s made a great transition to the Cube and Super Mario Strikers is another great Mario Sports game.

2005 Game of the Year

Once again - this was easy. Resident Evil 4 took control of my gaming soul and never let go until I had conquered it. It was tense, engrossing, exciting, everything an video game should be. A masterpiece. I place it in the Top 5 titles of this generation, arguably the best game of this generation. RE4 is the buttonmashing.com 2005 Game of the Year.

2005 has been a solid year for Video Gaming. There have been some fantastic games this year, a new console release, controversy out the wazoo, and video game blogging coming into its own. It’s been fun sharing this year with you, my fellow readers. Thanks for taking a few minutes of your time and giving it to me. I hope it’s worth it.

2006 is also shaping up to be a great year. We finally get Zelda (which is more and more looking like a Revolution title), the Nintendo Revolution and the PS3 and all the gaming we can handle. I can’t wait.

January 1, 2006 | Filed Under GCN, NDS, PC, Video Games, XBX | 12 Comments 

What I’m playing

The past couple weeks haven’t really been conducive to a lot of video gaming, but I’ve been able to get a little gaming in when I can. The game I’m playing the most right now is Far Cry: Instincts for the Xbox. I never played the PC version but the Xbox version is a lot of fun. I’m just playing the single player right now but if I have enough time before the rental runs out, I want to give it a whirl online as well.

I’m still playing a lot of Mario Kart DS. I haven’t been online as much lately (I’m trying to unlock everything) I still try to get on a couple nights a week to see if anyone else is on. So far I’ve only played one “Friends” match, but I’m still on the lookout!

Aside from those two, I still try to get a little Metroid Pinball in, a little Halo 2 (I’m looking forward to the playlist update) and I’m going back to my stack of games. Next up is Metroid Prime 2. I’ve also been neglecting Guild Wars.

I wish I had more hours in a day!

December 5, 2005 | Filed Under GCN, NDS, Video Games, XBX | Leave a Comment 

BackwardsBox

List of Xbox games that will be backwards compatible with the SnackBox 360. (via Blog for the Sports Gamer)

November 12, 2005 | Filed Under Asides, X360, XBX | Leave a Comment 

I want it all…

… and I want it now.

Man, the flow of new games right now is killing me! There are just too many of them. Trauma Center and Phoenix Wright are both calling me, I haven’t played a Castlevania game in years, so Dawn of Sorrow is looking good, and even though Trace Memory hasn’t been that well received, I still think I’d like it.

Battalion Wars and Fire Emblem for the Gamecube look like fun. I didn’t experience Ninja Gaiden when it first came out, so I’m tempted to get NG Black. Far Cry Instincts looks great as well. And that’s not even mentioning all the new sports games (Tiger Woods, The League). Oh! And Age of Empires III. Can’t forget that one. What’s a gamer to do?

That brings me to a question for all you readers. Who out there is using GameFly? I’ve been toying with the idea of giving their service a try but I’m not sure yet. I would probably go with their one-game-at-a-time deal since I have plenty of games to keep me busy as I await the next one in my queue. If you use them, what has been your experience? What plan would you recommend? If you don’t use GameFly, what about the other GameFly-like places are out there? Inquiring minds what to know! I’m tired of the weak selection of my local Blockbuster and Hollywood Video so I need a new source of game rentals.

With all the great games out there it’s impossible to play them all but I’d sure like to try.

October 20, 2005 | Filed Under GCN, NDS, PC, XBX | 8 Comments 

All the Zorg oldies-but-goldies.

I haven’t really played anything new lately. I rented Burnout 4 (or Burnout Revenge, whatever it’s called. It’s Burnout 4) but I wasn’t that into it. It felt like Burnout 3, except the cars felt like dump trucks with cow-catchers attached to the front. Ramming traffic just didn’t feel right.

I have been playing some older games, though. I’ve played a bunch of Resident Evil 4 (mostly the Mercenaries mini-game), Metroid Fusion, and some Halo 2 with friends (the best way to enjoy it). I’ve also got my NES and SNES plugged in and I’ve been doing a little Metroid (the very first one) and Super Mario World. I’m getting down with the old (and not quite so old) classics. I can’t keep up with the onslaught of new games. And with the Xbox 360 on the horizon, it seems like it never ends.

So why do I bring this up? It reminded me of an article I read over at Gamers with Jobs about this same thing. From the article:

4rr0w_m4k3r owns two of the current-gen game consoles and for these consoles he owns five games that he has yet to play. Yet to even open. He owns more than twenty games that he hasn’t finished, and there are currently twice that number of games on his wish list. Games that he would pick up in an instant if he thought about it.

I’d imagine that describes a lot of us gamers. There’s just so much out there that it’s impossible to enjoy it all. But I find myself turned off even to the newest games. There’s just isn’t much out there catching my eye. A few DS games, but that’s about it.

In the end, I’ll probably end up with a couple of the next generation consoles under my TV. I’ll play a handful of the new games. But with backwards compatibility and a library of downloadable Nintendo games, what will I probably play? The oldies-but-goldies.

October 10, 2005 | Filed Under GCN, Video Games, XBX | 6 Comments 

What I’m playing

I haven’t had a much time the past couple weeks to play as much as I’d like to. I guess I need to reorganize priorities! Anyway, here’s what I’ve been playing lately:

NCAA 2006NCAA Football 2006 - I’m still playing NCAA 2006, working on my Dynasty. I only get a few games in a week but I’m still liking 2006. There’s a few glaring issues that still stick out but overall it’s still a fun football game. I started working on a “Dynasty Journal” here at buttonmashing.com but it wasn’t turning out how I liked it so I canned it.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike - Now that I am a proud owner of a Nintendo DS I had to pick up a new DS game, too. With all the good things I’ve been reading about it, I decided to give it a try. It’s Advanced Wars on steroids. The touch screen makes playing a strategy game feel natural.

Metroid Fusion - I had to give a GBA title a chance in the DS, too, for comparison purposes. I never finished Fusion in the first place so I figured the DS would be a great place to finish it. This is such a fun game.

I’d really like to get some playing time with Guild Wars soon. It’s been almost a month since I played any GW so I need to get back to Ascalon. Especially with the new content that was released last week.

I’m also looking to get a couple other DS titles. I’m thinking about Meteos and Tiger Woods. Any other suggestions?

September 11, 2005 | Filed Under NDS, XBX | 5 Comments 

Xbox Live

n0wak has noticed an interesting trend on Xbox Live.

Except for an occasional Halo 2 game, I haven’t been on Live for months. I’ve heard that NCAA 2006 is fun online but I have yet to give it a try.

August 8, 2005 | Filed Under XBX | Leave a Comment 

NCAA 2006 Impressions

I’ve had some time now with EA’s latest NCAA offering. Here are a few impressions I have. They’re first impressions and not all of them are good:

That’s my first pass. I’ll elaborate on some of these after I’ve played a little more. I’m only a third of the way through my second Dynasty season as the North Royalton Bears. It isn’t easy being an Academic school in the MAC. We’re getting our butts handed to us each and every Saturday.

July 26, 2005 | Filed Under Sports, XBX | 3 Comments 

Sports Gamer on NCAA 2006

The Blog for the Sports Gamer is quickly becoming one of my favorite blog stops. Moreso right now because one of the contributors, bill, is filling us in on his experiences with NCAA 2006. I’ve cooled on the NCAA series due to 2005’s lacklusterness (is that a word?). Bill (who is a Buckeye like me) did what every other Buckeye Fan does when they get the newest NCAA title — the play OSU vs. Michigan (the greatest sports rivalry of all-time). Bill has a recap of the first half and the second half, along with his impressions of NCAA 2006. Of course, OSU was victorious, as they have been the past 3 out of 4 years. Go Bucks!

So now, after reading these initial impressions, I am contemplating an NCAA 2006 purchase, something I thought I may pass on this year. I’ll probably still wait until its price comes down a bit, but as it stands now, I think I may be NCAA’ing it again this year.

July 5, 2005 | Filed Under Sports, XBX | Leave a Comment 

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