Mashing buttons since 1984
My favorite PC gaming service is serving up a platter of Stalin vs. Martians on April 29 for a discounted price of $15.99 (pre-order only I think). This is good news for me because: 1) I don’t want anymore digital distribution “services” besides Steam and Impulse, 2) It’s a game with what appears to be quirk, 3) It’s on the sweet spot for trying without a demo.
I’ll probably get what I pay for—hey! Is that a dancing Stalin?!?!
It’s been mentioned just about everywhere already, but I want to mention how pumped I am about the arrivale of the Xbox Live Aracade at Amazon
The reason? Because Amazon gets it. We’ve seen it with Steam (lower a price on something, people buy it) and we’re going to see it with Amazon. They are going to be offering arcade games and points at discount on a regular basis. Just today they’re offering a ten dollar credit
This is something to keep a close eye on. We’ll be watching, as well.
Ikaruga is perhaps my favorite shooter of all time. I own an original Japanese copy of the game for the Dreamcast.
It’s rare. Like hundreds of dollars on eBay rare.
Years ago, in a fit of madness I sold my used Dreamcast on eBay but kept Ikaruga. My original intention was to create an arcade cabinet, but I just didn’t have the room. I do now.
Well, today is a new day. I just bought a BRAND NEW Dreamcast from Thinkgeek for $100!
High school sim or epic quest?
You’ll have to put aside about 100 hours to find out!
DO: You are a transfer student from the big city, sent to a small town in rural Japan. While you deal with the struggles and pitfalls of being the new kid at the local high school, you also find yourself involved in the quest to solve a series of murders in town.
TYPE: JRPG
PLATFORM: PS2
PRICE: $39
MEAT: The Persona games are a subset of the Shin Megami Tensei series, as detailed here. Set in the sleepy town of Inaba (a drastic change of pace from the usual hustle and bustle of most SMT games), you play a transfer student who needs to navigate the social While slow to start, Persona 4 hits the ground running by about the 3 hour mark and never lets up for the next hundred hours. Unlike most JRPGs that are set in some mythical fantasy land or sci-fi setting, the modern-day setting is one of the many breaths of fresh air that help to keep the game fresh. Unlike Persona 3’s evokers (which basically emulated your party shooting themselves in the head on a regular basis), Persona 4 backs away from the more controversial imagery and uses the television and tarot cards as the main method of breaking away from the reality of every day life.
During your travels, you will gain a cast of characters who initially come across as anime stereotypes but as you spend time with them, you’ll see that there are many facets to their personalities that make you care about what happens to them. In fact, the social aspect of the game is the strongest portion of the game, in my opinion. I would be perfectly happy playing a game that entirely revolved around the various social portions of the game.
There is a robust turn-based combat engine in the game for those times you need to dive into the TV and help clear out the dreamworlds of the various characters you encounter in the game. The variety of ‘dungeons’ found in the TV world is a welcome improvement over the rather repetitive tower of Tartarus from Persona 3, as each kidnapped victim of the serial killer has a particular fantasy that you must explore and rescue them from before it’s too late. From steamy bathhouses to high-tech secret labs to a retro-style game, you’ll always have a unique environment to explore.
Add to all of this already rich gameplay the Persona collection and fusion aspect, which is like a deeper, darker version of Pokémon, and you have something that will keep you fiddling around for that perfect monster ally to the wee hours of the night.
PERKS: A wonderful cast of characters; 100+ hours of questing; gorgeous graphics (given that it’s a PS2 title!); a compelling storyline; fantastic voice acting; one of the best localizations I’ve ever experienced (it keeps a lot of the Japanese charm and culture but makes it very accessible for a North American audience).
SCREAMS: For more gameplay during the first 2-3 hours of the game. One of the unfortunately quirks of the last few Persona games is that the initial 3 hours is almost like a glorified cutscene. That said, those first 3 hours are there for a reason and really help establish the world you will be mucking about in for the next 100 hours; for a ‘next-gen’ installment that renders the pop-art visuals in HD; less repetitive dungeon-crawling and even more of an emphasis on the social aspects of the game; the ability to revive the main character if he is killed in battle instead of having that be an instant trip to the Game Over screen.
VERDICT: Buy! Especially if you are a fan of Japanese culture or JRPGs and want to play something fresh that isn’t the typical swords & sorcery, save the world rut that the genre tends to get stuck in.
NOTE: Originally this game had a rating of “Rent.” However, that’s being changed to “Buy.” The reason should be obvious in the comments below. However, my stance on the tutorial still stands. Stardock is an exemplary company, and I’m sure they may address that as well (they have with other releases). I stand corrected. The original review text has remained unchanged.
A god has fallen. Will you fight to take his place?
That depends if you’re willing to accept the title as a complete game, and if you’re willing to teach yourself how to be a demigod.
DO: You are a demigod assassin (just you) or general (you and minions) who is competing to fill a vacancy in heaven middle-management. (This is more detail than the game gives.)
TYPE: RTS/RPG hybrid
PLATFORM: PC—Windows (Impulse and retail)
PRICE: $40
MEAT: Playing on Team Fortress style maps, you learn on your own to control your demigod to capture flags, spawn points, control points, and to attack and defend enemy units. Basically, it’s an RTS where you play one character. Throughout the battle, you can level up, upgrade your demigod’s skills, and add status effects. Earning experience, favor points, and “gold” garner you currency for upgrades. What you earn in the single-player game does not cross over to the multiplayer game and vice versa. However, this does not really matter. Apparently , you paid for a part of a game you cannot play. Good luck getting a multiplayer game to work. Oh, did I mention that multiplayer is the apparently main focus of the title?
The game has nothing in the way of story and campaign. You play in AI controlled tournaments of which there are eight rounds. Think Unreal Tournament. Winning gets you the chance to…play it again. There is a skirmish mode, but with most RTS games that’s a given.
PERKS: controlling a demigod is satisfying; excellent presentation and design; each one of the eight demigods is fun and unique; deep RPG elements for the demigod teams and the demigod itself; interesting sound effects; no DRM;
SCREAMS: TUTORIAL! Where is it? (see my final comments below); for multiplayer to, you know, work; for a campaign; to be a Windows Live title instead of a “new” tech; for more than eight arenas;
VERDICT: Buy. I cannot recommend enough how enjoyable this game is. My onnly wish is that it showed you the game mechanics and it’s a shame that the potential on an interesting single-player campaign is wasted.Rent. Before you get all antsy, I know you cannot rent a PC game. I’m saying this because I think it’s an excellent game—just not out of the box. Granted, the street date was broken by a day or two, and Stardock is working on the multiplayer issues, but c’mon. I’m not giving any slack for launch issues to anybody anymore. Also, if it’s a Games for Windows title, why not use Live? Instead we get a “new” peer-to-peer Impulse technology. I was not able to play a multiplayer game at all. Once all these issues are addressed, I think this would be an “Buy” title.
I was able to play a single-player tournament in under ten hours. Most of that time was spent learning how to play and what does what. The real kicker is that the upgrading and leveling takes some reading to learn what it does. The game runs in the background while this is happening. Yep, I replayed a lot. Also, here’s a quote out of the included guide:
WALKTHROUGH
Let’s face it, the two most annoying ways to learn how to play a game are the user manual and an in-game tutorial. Anyone who has ever introduced a group of friends to a strategy game has probably not told them to take a scholarly review of the manual or had them played through some hackneyed in-game tutorial mission.
…and then the guide proceeds to tell you how to play by basically describing the key commands. Gas Powered Games and Star Dock are assuming too much. It doesn’t help that they contradict the quote above either by making me give the guide a “scholarly review” to see how to play.
I have come across some great PC games lately (expect some reviews soon) and I want to pass along where I either purchased them or where I’ve found them discounted. They’re not super cheap, so don’t get your hopes up, but I do initially recommend all three.
I’d be willing to play any of the titles with anyone who has them. Co-op is a blast in all three.
When it comes to RTS games, Relic is the pretty boy on the block right now. This game oozes atmosphere and style.
Just released this week, it’s my new PC passion. Think of it as chess meets an RTS meets an RPG meets huge lumbering beast and you get this gem.
I’d also recommend BattleForge, but it’s not being discounted right now. I’m not a big fan of collectable card games or micro transactions. However, this game comes with $30 in credit on top of the initial decks of cards you get. Essentially, you don’t need to pay extra to play—and play well. Take a CCG and marry it to an RTS and you get this game. It has 2, 4, and 12-player co-op.
Buttonmashing is getting nothing out of this other than, hopefully, people I know would want to play online.
Judging by this trailer, this is a title to look out for.
I’m really starting to fall for these type of innovative, pixellated games. If we would have never come out of the 8-bit era, would we have seen games like this on the NES?
I came across intriguing flash game while catching up on some blog reading. Coign of Vantage is simplistic in its presentation and professional in its style of play.
You basically rotate a set of pixels in a 3D space using your mouse until they line up to make the picture in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
The game plays like a sane version of a Warioware game—fast paced, but soothing. (It’s a game that politely whispers that it should be a WiiWare or DSi title.)
The thing that impresses me the most is that it is only played with two clicks. Two puzzles are cleverly disguised as a calibration for the mouse range. It’s a perfect example of using the game to train a person to play it while also adapting and configuring itself to the player’s system.
It hovers near the territory of Flower. It may not be as expansive, but it comes close to its design philosophy.
Source: Man Bytes Blog
My sports hero had a great day today–a grand slam and three run homer.
…oh and after only two days of play, I’m calling MLB 09 The Show the greatest sports game of all time.
