The project I alluded to previously is still in early prototype stages, so rather than belabor the mention of my new purchases I shall hence.
If this page looks borked, check the real one.
The project I alluded to previously is still in early prototype stages, so rather than belabor the mention of my new purchases I shall hence. A trip to a local Electronics Boutique yielded five games for the summary price of one (they're all bargain-bin bombs). In no particular order, except for alphabetical:
Future Tactics: The Uprising (GameRanking: 66%)
A tactical game with an action twist and an English accent. Future Tactics is set in a somewhat post-apocalyptic world of... you know, the setting isn't really that interesting. There are evil alien monsters and you have to blow them up. It's turn-based, but units move in real-time when their turn is up, and you can even jump over stuff. However, all attacks (as far as I know) are projectiles, usually guns, but sometimes lobbing grenades. When you attack, you must do a short series of steps to lock on to a target, the accuracy of which will affect your hit.
The cool part about this game (okay, the main cool part - the soundtrack is also pretty spiffy, if a bit loud in some places) is the malleable terrain. When you shoot objects, they can fly up in the air, fall down, roll around; explosions will actually make craters in the ground. This may not have been thought all the way through - after a few hits in the same place, you'll basically have a tiger trap in front of you - but it's a nice thought. Unfortunately the lack of variety in gameplay hasn't compelled me to follow through with this one thus far.
I-Ninja (GameRanking: 76%)
I-Ninja is loud-mouthed, rambunctious, and full of rage and wanton violence. He's the worst ninja ever. But, he's pretty fun to use as a means of slicing guys up. I-Ninja is an interesting platform title, and the only game of this batch I've played for more than 1-2 hours. The game's failings are clear from the outset, but there are a few things it does pretty well.
Combat is simplistic, but not without merit. In addition to just running into guys and slashing around, there are certain scripted encounters with miniboss-type enemies which will place Ninja and the baddie in an anime-styled action tube, with leaping and slashing and so forth. There are also some environmental puzzles ala Prince of Persia (though not nearly as impressive). The level design is somewhat eye-catching, if a little monotonous; the enemies use robots and have control panels everywhere, so a lot of areas look the same.
There's even some character growth, though in the end it's somewhat disappointing. Ninja receives sword upgrades based on the amount of enemies he's killed, but you'll have the final sword long before you even have access to the last levels of the game. You can also get health upgrades by earning new belts, which in turn are from completing more levels, but, more importantly, you need higher belts to access new areas. And, apparently, someone decided that playing each level once isn't enough to proceed; each level has multiple "ranks" you can earn (by doing alternate challenges like a time attack, or collecting red coins, or defeating all the enemies), and you'll need to do these to open up the game farther. This is what's kept me in what I believe is the final area of the game, without the impetus to finish it up.
Mega Man Network Transmission (GameRanking: 67%)
It's not quite a Mega Man title, as it's full of the Battle Network mythos and even has weird Battle Chip mechanics. It's not quite a Battle Network title, because it's really a sidescrolling platformer in the vein of classic Mega Man. What Network Transmission ends up being is confused and unentertaining.
Second Sight (GameRanking: 81%)
Being released around the same time as Geist and Psi-Ops didn't really work to Second Sight's benefit. As of this time I've barely made my way into this one. It definitely has some interesting trappings of its own, but the mixture of control schemes for shooting and psychic powers thus far fails to impress me.
Vexx (GameRanking: 71%)
Wow. Just, wow.
Imagine you're playing Super Mario 64, but instead of Mario, you're controlling a weird little wolfman-child-thing. Also, instead of collecting Stars and Coins, you're collecting Wraithhearts and Wraithheard Shards. Also, instead of saving the princess from the evil king Bowser, you're saving the universe(?) from the evil king I don't care what his name is.
Now, imagine that there are metal claw-gloves on your hands that are, individually, bigger than your head. This isn't just the main character's gimmick, this is what playing the game feels like. Trying to maneuver, climb walls, and even fight shit is an exercise in tolerance.
Without having played too much of the game - I think I have like six out of 60 of the whatevers I need to beat it - I'm going to pre-emptively give this game a rating of 1/10. That one point is for having the chutzpah to actually be released in a world which clearly does not welcome this game.
So, other than all that garbage, my classes and home life are going as well as can be expected. In addition to these games which I've barely played in the past week or two, there are a couple recent releases (Mario vs Donkey Kong 2) and soon-to-comes (Contact) that might demand my attention. I've also been trying to put some time into Animal Crossing Wild World every morning, although these days the buried fossils blend in with the autumn ground anyway so who the hell knows. In any event, expect more on my top-secret project in the coming weeks.
Comments? Dump them here.