Just finished watching this and I have to say that it was very enjoyable. The entire series builds excellently to an extremely satisfying (if not necessarily happy) finale. While the ending was certainly worth it the continuous lack of explanation throughout the majority of the series did wear on me at times. Still hard to argue it wasnt worth it. The animation was excellent, as was the voice acting and the music was noticeably well done. The characters, while not always likeable, were nearly always engaging. So all in all I’d say it was very good, but not excellent, four stars perhaps? I might come back to this and expand on it later.
Choose Your World Warrior!
Character selection is arguably the most important thing there is when it comes to fighting games. Its where everything else begins and generally its not much of an issue. You pick a character you think is cool and play with them for a bit, maybe branching out to other characters when youve mastered them to a level youre happy with or perhaps abandoning them entirely because their playstyle simply doesnt gel with yours. Continue reading…
Eclipse Phase
Well in the end I decided to go with Eclipse Phase. I was initially somewhat leery of going with it because it’s transhumanist setting is so far removed from common sci-fi tropes and fiction that it seems like it would be hard to get into and hard to convey to the players. I was certainlly wrong about the first part of that. The book is very well written and presents the setting in a manner which is both enthralling and easy to grasp. Continue reading…
RPG Blues
Hmm blog software seems to have gone a bit wonky. Ive re-installed it from a backup and so far it seems to be running ok. But if you notice it fucking up please let me know.
Its been almost a year since I last ran or played in an rpg. And for some reason I just cant seem to get myself interested in playing/running on again. On one level I really want to and random ideas for games to run keep getting kicked around the old noggin; but on another level none of these ideas never seem to go anywhere. And all for the same reason, lack of enthusiasm. When I come up with the idea I think its cool but then the amount of hassle involved in getting it into even a semi-playable form just kills my interest. I suppose I wouldnt mind playing in a game, even one of the more “modern” games which require a larger amount of player input. Continue reading…
Cant Sleep/Wont Sleep
A combination of military grade insomnia and FF XIII side missions has rendered me brain into a fine grey ooze incapable of rational thought. Alll operations on hold until further notice.
If Mick was the Devil (Part 1) Or “Please allow me to introduce myself…”
It has been suggested by both maid (buxom and otherwise) and madman that I am in fact the devil. Clearly this is insanity (likely brought on by their insatiable lust for my naughty parts). However it serves as a suitable enough introduction from which to segue into a thought exercise which I’ve been idly kicking around in the old noggin for a while now. So without further ado or folderol we humbly present our main event, enjoy. (In the interest of full disclosure this does meander a bit so you may want to simply skip down to the revised checklist and go on from there). Continue reading…
Darksiders – Where we see what War is good for
Well due to my foolish belief that SEGA would in fact properly patch Bayonetta for the PS3 Darksiders ended up being the first game I played this year. Which does mean that it should have gone up before my thoughts on Mass Effect 2. But it didnt so there you go. Continue reading…
Heavy Rain – Umbrellas & Origami
Basically no-one in Heavy Rain uses an umbrella, even though, as its title suggests, its raining all the fucking time. Though thats not really particularly important, on the other hand Heavy Rain may be. It’s a flagship title that doesnt fall into an easily labelled box. Depending on how it does it could even be taken as an example of how computer games are growing as an entertainment medium. Continue reading…
Bioshock 2 – The Sophmore Slump
If I were to sum up Bioshock 2 in one word that word would be disappointment. In many ways I feel that this is a game that shouldnt have been made. Bioshock was entirely complete as is. It had a story to tell and a world to tell it in and it conveyed the story and the world to the player through an excellent mixture of graphic spectacle, engaging storytelling and enjoyable gameplay. Needless to say I really enjoyed Bioshock.
Continue reading…
Best of 2009 – Computer Games
Compared to last year it was quite a struggle to even come up with ten games from this year to include on a top ten list. It seems that a huge amount of titles got pushed back to 2010 and those blockbuster titles that did come out in 2009 were nearly uniformly overrated or just plain shite (I’m looking at you here Halo:ODST, Brutal Legend and Assassins Creed II).
Read More