It’s things like this that make me wish I’d taken up crochet or knitting instead of cross-stitch. Although given the state of most of my current projects, I’d probably never finish it…
But for a mere $130 (plus shipping), you could have your very own pixel-style Black Mage afghan. How awesome is that? Now if I could just find some matching White Mage pillow covers to go with it…
Final Fantasy XIII’s official site is offering up a new trailer for the game… with subtitles, even. The trailer shows some pre-rendered video a look at the characters and storyline, and, perhaps more interestingly, a fairly substantial amount of actual gameplay.
You may need to update your flash player to get the site to load… and you may also be waiting a bit for the video to buffer. Traffic seems to be slowing things down at the moment.
So what’s new this week? Aside from the Afro Samurai game, not much.
Afro Samurai | PS3 | 360
Set in a futuristic, yet feudal Japan, this story follows a samurai named Afrowho must set out to try and avenge his father’s murder. Justice murdered Afro’s father to claim the ‘Number One’ headband, giving himself the chance to rule the world with powers akin to a god.
MLB Front Office Manager | PS3 | 360
MLB Front Office Manager gives fans the chance to experience their dream job as a Big League General Manager. Make trades, sign free agents, draft prospects and manage games all the way from Spring Training through the Playoffs.
Coraline | Wii | PS2
Also available on: Nintendo DS
Based on the upcoming film of the same name, Coraline is a surrealistic adventure that combines puzzle solving, character interaction and item collection with traditional action gameplay.
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle | PS2
Compelled by a nation ravaged by war, it was legendary samurai Nobunaga Oda’s ambition to silence the cries of war and usher in a new era of lasting peace for Japan. In Nobunaga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle, you can step into the role of Feudal Japan’s most powerful warlords and turn this magnificent vision of unification into a reality.
Niki - Rock ‘n’ Ball (500 Wii Points)
Are you in love with those unforgettable arcade classics where the only goal is to vanquish all opponents to reach the next stage? Niki - Rock ‘n’ Ball is a new interpretation of those games. Roll along with Niki through fantastic worlds, find all the ZeLeLi pearls, and liberate your village from cuddly-yet-evil monsters before it’s too late.
The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity | Nintendo DS
The Chase tells the story of Felix and Felicity, two people who meet by chance, instantly fall in love, and plan a first date for the beach. Amidst obstacles, pratfalls, and numerous unexpected events, getting to that date on time seems uncertain. The object is, of course, to make it to that date on time. And what a chase it is.
For all you Wii owners out there who are not fortunate enough to have a second console on hand, the 360’s zombie-hacking action title, Dead Rising, is being ported to Wii. Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop will be coming to a mall near you February 24.
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The Wii version of the game will have several changes made to it in order to accommodate the Wii-remote controls and the Wii’s less powerful graphical capabilities… but if you’d been itching to behead a few thousand zombies, and aren’t willing to shell out for a 360, this one’s for you.
If you’re tired of Japan getting all the neat video game-inspired energy drinks that taste like a combination of rancid gatorade and cough syrup, have I got some good news for you…
Harcos Inc. is releasing Health and Mana potions just for us gamers. The Health potion is apple-cinnamon flavored, and contains trendy things like elderberry, ginseng and the same amount of caffeine as two cans of Red Bull. Their website describes the Mana flavor only as “citrusy with a sour bite”.
The potions come in 50mL shots, are a mere 20 calories, and promise 5-8 hours of jitter free energy. They are available at Fry’s Electronics and Hot Topic (according to the locator, the one at Marketplace Mall has them), or you can order them online. A 2-pack or either sells for $6.90 + shipping, or you can save a bit on shipping and go with the 4, 6, 12, of 96 pack.
My regular intensive scouring of the internet (read “killing time this morning before I headed off to the office”) turned up some pretty decent deals on some of the more expensive gaming hardware. If you’re planning to buy, better act quick, though… most of them have time limits.
Dealsclick.com is offering as their Deal of the Day a reconditioned Xbox 360 Elite for $239.99 + $4.99 shipping. They’ve also got Rock Band Special Edition (PS3 version) for $79.99 coming up as a Deal of the Hour at 3pm.
Buy.com has Xbox 360 Wireless Network adaptors for $69.99 ($30.00 off) and free shipping.
Dell has 80GB PS3s on sale for $339.99 and the Uncharted 2 Limited Edition 160GB PS3 bundle for $424.99. You can also grab a 2000 Series PSP Slim for $144.49.
I know, I know… this game came out over two months ago. It took me this long to get through the damn thing.
I can’t remember seeing a Game Over screen this often since my first attempt at Super Mario Bros. when I was eight (and for some god-forsaken reason, they didn’t add a continue option to Last Remnant, so on Game Over, you have to wait for the title screen to load up, wait for your save to load up, and work your way back to wherever you died).
The Last Remnant, currently available on 360, coming eventually for PS3, is the story of a boy named Rush Sykes, who watches his sister get kidnapped and subsequently heads off on his own to search for her. Along the way, he meets up with the Marquis of a small city called Athlum, and his four generals… and in typical RPG style, they come to see that they have a common enemy and join forces.
Actually, there’s a bit more to it than that. The story really revolves the Remnants… artifacts of great power, controlled by the lords of the land. When a mysterious warrior known only as the Conqueror appears and begins collecting Remnants for his own unknown desires, it sends the entire continent plunging into political turmoil and to the brink of all-out war.
The story, as is usually the case with Square Enix, is great. In fact there are times when it’s very easy to forget that you’re not playing something in the Final Fantasy series… which, as this is intended to be an entirely new IP, may or may not be a good thing. The characters, too, are likable and easy to connect with. Some are even memorable.
Unfortunately, where this game falls short is in the gameplay. I’m not a fan of strategy RPGs to begin with… but Square Enix of late has been creeping just a bit too far into the realm of games-that-play-themselves. It was noticeable in Final Fantasy XII (though, truth be told, I enjoyed that game a lot), and it’s even more prominent in Last Remnant.
It actually got to the point that, when I had four or more unions on the field during a boss battle, I could give my initial set of orders and walk away, sometimes for upwards of five minutes… which I ended up doing quite a lot, because watching the same battle animations over and over gets really boring after the first few hours. The battles themselves were obscenely long, too… One of them (which was basically a mini boss) had so much HP it took me almost two hours to whittle it down to the point that it was at critical status.
And then it killed me in one round, and I had to start over.
That wasn’t exactly a one-time occurrence, either. It seems like victory is often dependent on luck over skill. Case in point… one battle, the first attack hit every member of my party with Curse, which has about a 50/50 shot at KOing any given member every round. All four unions immediately had their leaders KOed, at which point I could no longer take any action for the remainder of the battle… which lasted two or three more rounds.
On my second attempt, the boss never even cast Curse until he was a sword-poke away from dying himself.
So overall, how did it rate?
Story - 10/10
The story is a good one, and lets face it… when you play an RPG of any sub-genre, story is what you’re primarily in it for.
Characters - 9/10
Good, solid characters, a none of whom are in the mold of Square Enix’s usual angst-ridden fare. In fact the main protagonist is so upbeat, it’s almost comical at times. The voice work, too, is better than average.
Battle System - 1/10
I don’t think I can stress enough how much I disliked how battles worked in this game… largely because there was almost nothing for me to DO during battle. When you’re outnumbered 2 to 1 on the field, it’s a LONG time between command inputs. Beyond that, I’m no expert in strategy, and maybe I just never really grasped the finer nuances of party make-up, but it really never seemed to matter much who was in my active party or how they were positioned. The most important characters were always the leaders, and the others were just there to boost the HP pool and and take a swing at the monster that was trying to eat us all.
Technical Polish - 5/10
Visually, it’s a beautiful game. It really is… but it’s very, very slow. Battle animations lag and loading screens are all over the place. At first, I thought it was just me, but I’ve seen other gamers online commenting about it as well.
Replayability - 2/10
If I ever dig this one out again, it will probably be to do the sidequests I missed the first time through.
Overall - 5.5
Despite a plot that I really felt myself getting into, the frustration level of The Last Remnant will probably deter many traditional RPG fans from even bothering to finish it. The battle system is governed more by luck than by skill, and the sheer length of the battles (especially throughout the second disc) make it stretch on to the point that you just don’t care anymore after awhile.
Very little on the game radar this week… Even the DS developers seem to be hibernating. Skate 2, and Star Ocean: Second Evolution look the most promising.
Skate 2 | PS3 | 360
Skate 2 is set five years after the events in Skate It, where many earthquakes had devastated the city leaving it in ruins. Instead of the skaters’ paradise that the city used to be, the new city dubbed New San Vanelona, has stepped-up security, thanks to Mongo Co., in order to protect the best parts of the city. Rebuild your skate career and revive the city’s skate scene.
SimAnimals | Wii
Also available on: Nintendo DS
SimAnimals lets you touch, move, and play with animals from the Northern Hemisphere. You can pick an animal up and bring him to his friends, feed a him, and touch just about everything in the forest. Depending on how you treat the animals, they will either trust you or fear you, which in turn will affect how they evolve.
PDC Championship Darts 2008 | 360 | Wii
Play darts with the pros on your Wii or 360. If nothing else, I suppose there will be fewer holes in your walls…
AR Tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica Premium | PS2
The game focuses on the region of Metafalss. Inhabited by refugees, this artificially created land can’t sustain the crops people need to survive, but the legend of Metafalica offers a faint glimmer of hope. It is said that, long ago, whenever a Holy Maiden sang a special hymn called Metafalica it produced a utopia filled with fertile land.
High Voltage Hot Rod Show (1000 Wii Points)
A racing game that challenges up to four players to tear up the track on a variety of off-road courses, mastering death-defying stunts and building enough Boost to stomp the competition.
Family Glide Hockey (500 Wii Points)
Glide hockey for up to four players, you can choose between single-player mode, versus mode, or challenge your skill in minigames such as Glide Hockey Brawl, Glide Hockey Drill and Glide Hockey Tracer.
Star Ocean: Second Evolution | PSP
Second Evolution is an enhanced remake of Star Ocean: The Second Story. Set 20 years after the first Star Ocean game, a young man finds himself transported by accident to an uncharted world during a survey of an underdeveloped planet. Meanwhile, a young girl awaits the arrival of a legendary hero.
Big Bang Mini | Nintendo DS
In Big Bang Mini, your main objective is to create fireworks and destroy the waves of enemies that loom overhead. Miss and you’ll be forced to tackle another challenge, avoiding the sparks created by your own falling fireworks.
posted by nikki at 10:02 am.
Given the sheer number of Final Fantasy fans out there, I’m sure I’m not that only person around the217.com who’s anxiously looking forward to FFXIII (and to Versus XIII). The former will be released over in Japan later this year, with a sneak preview available to those who purchase Advent Children Complete in March.
But what about us, here in the U.S.? According to guardian.co.uk, quoting Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada, “Overseas launches of the latest “Final Fantasy” game will come in the business year from April 2010 or later, Wada said.”
Yes, we’re stuck waiting at least a year from the day it drops in Japan. A year of avoiding internet spoilers, a year of subsisting on other RPG franchises… a year of waiting. I hate waiting. I accept waiting, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Really, if it were any other genre, I’d import the damn thing and be done with it… but RPGs are a little pointless if you can’t figure out what’s going on, and the only Japanese I speak is what I learned in a semester long class at Parkland five years ago, and what I’ve picked up from anime (which pretty much consists of various battle cries, and demands that my opponent not look down on me).
Only a handful of new titles this week… Delta Force fans may find something interesting to entertain them, though. I, however, am still working my way through Last Remnant and recovering from the Christmas shopping season.
Lord of the Rings: Conquest | PS3 | 360
Also available on: Nintendo DS
Lord of the Rings: Conquest allows gamers to make the choice between good and evil… Those who side with good follow Frodo’s journey through Middle-Earth, and those who choose evil find out what may have happened if Frodo had failed to destroy the One Ring.
Stoked | 360
An open world snow-boarding game featuring five real-world mountains, dynamic weather changes, real riders and gear, and the ability to learn and create tricks.
Delta Force 10th Anniversary Collection | 360
A collection of Delta Force games, that includes strategy guides and a Black Hawk Down soundtrack CD. Games include Delta Force, Delta Force 2, Delta Force Land Warrior, Delta Force Task Force Dagger, Delta Force Black Hawk Down, and Delta Force Black Hawk Down Team Sabre.
Neighborhood Games | Wii
Well, we haven’t had any mini-game collections for Wii in a little while, so I guess it’s about that time again. 24 games, including football, basketball and baseball, as well as backyard classics like lawn darts, horseshoes and Bocce ball… Really? Bocce ball? Did anyone ever actually play Bocce ball as a child?
Deal or No Deal | Wii
I’ve never understood the appeal of the show, and I certainly don’t get the appeal of a game based on said show.
Jungle Speed (1000 Wii Points)
Jungle Speed is a lightning-fast card game in which you flip your cards, watch your opponents and grab the totem at the right moment to win the game. Be the first person to get rid of all your cards and win the game.
Planet Pachinko (500 Wii Points)
Survive the Pachinkeet Temples of Planet Pachinko. Guide the Robot family through elaborate times dedicated to the game of Pachinko, as they search for their lost puppy. No… really. That’s the game description.
Moon | Nintendo DS
In 2058, Lunar Outpost Alpha loses contact with Outpost Beta after a routine excavation revealed a subterranean structure of unknown origin. Play as Major Kane as and you and your team investigate the erratic energy readings from deep below the lunar surface.
Inkheart | Nintendo DS
A movie tie-in, Inkheart is the story of Meggie, a young girl whose father has the secret ability the bring book characters to life simply by reading the story aloud.
Personal Trainer: Math | Nintendo DS
Fine tune your math skills with fast-paced, high-speed arithmetic problems, daily math drills, and forty different exercises.
is still trying to find that damn princess... when she's not writing fresh code for the217.com.