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I'm disappointed by GWAR's controls. Sure that I could seperate my three team-mates out into seperate groups and have them hold designated positions in Summit Strike, but that option's not present in this version - or, if it is, I can't find it. It really takes out a lot of the (limited) strategy that I found rewarding last time around.
Finished Dead Rising and got the proper ending. It'll prove to be one of those games that gets better with each repeated playthrough, I'm sure. Which isn't to say that I didn't have a ball the first time, just that I only really felt that I'd got a handle on how to play it just as I was reaching the end.
Getting to the end of Project Zero 3: The Tormented. It's not as good as 2, but better than 1. The structure - it's broken up into a number of days and nights, with nights providing the traditional haunted house adventuring and days fleshing out the storyling and taking place in the 'real' world - is strange and is responsible for both the high and low points.
The fault it has is that after a few nights you've already explored the majority of the mansion. From that point on, you're wandering around it, trying to trigger new events but not knowing where out of the rooms you've already visited you need to be in order to trigger them. Items don't appear until you've reached a certain point in the storyline, things like that. Leads to much aimless wandering and frustration.
The plus side of the structure is that having some of the game take place in the real world - or a recognisably realistic one, anyway - makes the frights that more frightening once the dream world starts to seap through the cracks. When a pair of feet is visible underneath your shower curtain, or the curtains suddenly move after having been motionless for ten hours of gameplay... new pants, please. It taps straight into the kind of fear that an overactive imagination can cause - the horror of thinking that there may be a figure sitting in the chair at the foot of your bed in the middle of the night.
Some lovely, horrible links to the previous two games - definitely one that you enjoy more if you've played one or both of those.
Rhythm Tengoku on the GBA is my current GOTY. Music game that often strips the game down to two simple elements - the A button and the beat. From the Wario Ware people, it's as tight and focused as you'd expect. It also has a much more attractive set of characters than that series. I played solidly for a couple of weeks after buying it, until I'd got perfects on all the levels - it's that good. I'm now trying to get S ranks on all of the bonus level drum lessons - turns your GBA into a full-on drum machine. Some great videos of this on YouTube - first level, 3rd remix level, 6th remix and... ah, look, just buy the fucking thing.
It honestly is the best game you can play on your GBA or DS right at this moment. It'll never see an official release in the US or Europe, the language barrier is only a minor issue on one or two of the stages (and then pretty simple to climb over with a small bit of trial and error [or asking me for help]), it's dirt cheap if you buy it from the right import site (which, in this case, would be YesAsia) and it comes with a free set of stickers.
Become addicted to GTA III: San Andreas, which I've mentioned in another thread and has completely knocked me for six just in terms of vision and scope. And those pushbikes - amazing. I've probably spent as much time riding those through the world, pulling wheelies and bunny hops, weaving through traffic and backstreets, as I have playing the missions.
Just received the PS2 Last Blade collection and the US version of Okami through the post, so will be spending time with them - always loved the look of Last Blade and had a laugh when I played it through emulation, and I'm expecting to fall head over heels with Okami the second that the title screen kicks in. Waiting for delivery of Rule of Rose and God Hand - again, God Hand is one that I can't wait to get my hands on. Capcom are the most visionary publisher around, Clover one of the most visionary development teams - Viewtiful Joe, Okami. |
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