Friday, July 31, 2009--So it's no secret that I'm secretly a fighting game fan. After trying out BlazBlue at a fiend's house, I'd been conflicted whether to buy it or not. Ultimately, I decided that I would buy it, if for no other reason than to finally resolve the conflict once and for all. (Resolving to
not buy it would be no resolution whatsoever.)
That was almost a month ago. As it turns out, the Limited Edition of BlazBlue was released a month before the regular edition. And the regular edition was released just this week, so I went and bought the game.
And overall, it's been a really good game. It's very beginner friendly. I can pick up pretty much any character (with one notable exception) and at least fake like I know what I'm doing. A very beginner-friendly feature is what I call the Easy Stick. Basically, special moves are mapped to the right stick, similar to later Smash Bros games, so total beginners can also pull off special moves like the pros.
So far, I'm just playing through the Story Mode because I can. Also, because the Story Mode is actually pretty compelling.
Thursday, July 30, 2009--F~~~ you, Blue Angels!
So I'm driving to work this morning, only to discover that the I-90 bridge is closed. (The 520 bridge is a clusterbomb of traffic, so that wasn't a viable option either.)
At first, I assumed that due to the heat wave or something a buoy had burst or something and they needed to close down the bridge for repairs.
After 10 seconds of google searching, it turns out the bridge was closed so that the Blue Angels could practice. The bridge was closed
on a Thursday morning during rush hour just so the Blue Angels could practice.
Gods damned Blue Angels...
On this day:
In 2005: SeanGab makes his first appearance on my bloop.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009--Ugh... Yahoo Mail Classic has completely missed the point of Yahoo Mail Classic. I didn't choose Classic because I wanted to use the old UI. I chose Classic so I didn't have to take the perf hit associated with AJAX.
This alongside Facebook are two great examples of why (amongst other reasons) Web 2.0 is doomed to failure. (And yet, I'm still horribly addicted to Facebook... but the bad perf and buggy UI can only test my patience for so long...)
On this day:
In 2007: I beat Makai Kingdom.
Sunday, July 26, 2009--
A Review of Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?
When NIS first announced Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?, I was worried that it was going to be a half-assed attempt to milk the Disgaea cow. However, after playing the game, I'm impressed how much effort and attention to detail they put into this game. The back of the box claims that this is "their first ever action game", but it feels like they have years of experience and expertise in making side-scrolling platformers.
Music
Prinny re-uses a lot of music from the original Disgaea, which is a good thing since the original Disgaea had some good music in it. The original songs are also pretty good, too, though in my completely objective opinion, it's not Tenpei Sato's best work. That said, I do not feel the need to make the distinction between fantastic and awesome.
Of course, being an action game, you're generally so busy trying not to get killed that you don't really have the chance to stop and enjoy the music. That said, Prinny is one of the few action games fortunate enough to have a J-RPG composer writing music for them, and it really shows. (Or sounds. Whatever.)
Story
Like the rest of the Disgaea series, Prinny is a farce. The plot is irrelevant. It's all about the silly, crazy, stupidly ridiculous things that the game throws at you. In a good way. And being an action game, it doesn't really matter, because the story is really nothing more than an excuse to go beat the crap out of bad guys.
I would like to point out that the US localization of this game is absolutely fantastic. There were moments when I simply forgot I was playing a Japanese game, because the American English dialog and voice-overs just sounded so natural. And the fact that they used puns and referenced things only American gamers (well, okay, English-speaking parts of the internet, really) would understand goes to show how much care was put into the localization. I daresay the US localization of this game could teach so-called "fan translators" a thing or two about how to effectively translate something.
Lost in translation? Who cares? That which was lost was gained back three-fold.
Gameplay
A lot of people mention the controls in this game, notably jumping. You lack air control. When you jump, you can't change directions in mid-air (just like in real life). Once you start your jump trajectory, you have to stay with that trajectory no matter what, even if it sends you flying into a bottomless pit. (Well, that's not entirely true, but more on that later.) A lot of scrubs dislike this feature, as it is indubitably leads to quite a lot of deaths. This is understandable, because the standard of side-scrolling platformers Mario Bros allows air control, and air control gives them fine control over their jumps.
Personally, I reject the notion that lack of air control is a flaw. There is precedence. Recall that Ghosts 'N Goblins and early Castlevania games also lacked air control. Complaining about lack of air control is like complaining about how moves in fighting games have cooldown. You'd be completely missing the point. These mechanics were intentionally added to the game to punish player mistakes. Not having jump control requires players to make precise jumps, which adds far more skill to the game than "guiding" your jumps with air control could.
And in fact, Prinny is more forgiving about its jumps than Ghosts 'N Goblins and early Castlevania games. Prinny has both double jump and hip pound (aka, "butt stomp" or "ground pound"), which both give the players opportunities to react in mid-air and correct their trajectory without sacrificing the need for precision. Not only that, but your prinnies could even grab onto ledges and climb them up (something not even Mario could do), which is very useful if you just barely missed a ledge (though required for some of the more difficult jumps).
I'll be completely honest with you, when I first played the game, I was rather dismayed that there was no air control. I was convinced that the lack of air control was there to artificially make the game more difficult with cheap deaths. After a few hours of playing, I stopped noticing the lack of air control. And at that point, I began to appreciate the fact that the game was willing and able to punish my poorly planned jumps. As it turns out, the lack of air control rarely results in cheap deaths. 99% of the time, when lack of air control kills you, it's because you were already aimed at a bottomless pit and/or enemy. (And a lot of the time, well-executed double jumps or hip pounds can save your life.)
The controls as a whole were pretty well done, too. Every single move you can do (all four of them) is useful and is regularly used in the heat of combat, and not just for gimmicky situations.
The level design was also very well done. The levels are short and sweet, but not so short that they're boringly fast, and the levels always have enough variety to keep things interesting. There's just the right mix of jumps and enemies that you get a well-rounded, fully fledged platformer experience. And every now and then, something interesting pops up, like a tank you can drive.
The boss fights are incredibly fun as well. Unlike some games where the boss is just a tougher version of a regular enemy and you have to wail on them for a while, Prinny's bosses actually have their own flavor and tactics, and the fast pace of the boss battles make it feel like a duel between champions (if a Prinny could be called a champion of anything). The more difficult boss fights in the game are absolute adrenaline rushes, and the bosses never resort to cheap tactics or bullet hell or sheer dumb luck to kill you. This results in battles where it's fun even if you get your ass handed to you on a silver platter.
The game itself is about 12 hours long on Standard (that is, "Easy") difficulty if you're moderately skilled, which is already pretty good for an action game. Take into account the game's replay value, and you easily get a hundred hours of gameplay off this game. And I don't mean simply playing the game again. I mean playing the levels in a different order to play different variants and fight different bosses, playing the secret levels or the secret side-story, or playing to collect all the hidden collectibles. Real replayability. (You could, of course, replay the game straight up. The game is just that damn good.)
Where Prinny truly shines, however, is the difficulty. Unfortunately, Prinny wasn't marketed as a difficult game, but word-of-mouth has definitely corrected that mistake. The game quickly gained a reputation for being one of the more difficult games in the modern era.
When I first heard about Prinny's difficulty, I was concerned that the game would be overly cheap and frustrating, either due to poor game design or due to sheer malice. I was wrong. There is a fine line between a fun challenge and a frustrating challenge, and while Prinny certainly gets very close to this line, it never crosses it. (Not even during the final boss battle that so many scrubs complain about.)
Yes, this game is difficult. But it's not unfairly so. When you die, it's because you made a mistake. And because the game designers wisely put a plethora of checkpoints into the game, you don't have to backtrack very far and redo long stretches of pain. Standard (that is, "Easy") reduces the frustration even further by giving you four hits before you die instead of just one. (Yes, four. The in-game description is somewhat misleading.)
Yes, this game is difficult. But it's not overly difficult. Anyone who says this game is too difficult hasn't played enough of the old school NES/SNES games like Ghosts 'N Goblins or Ninja Gaiden, or newer games like Mega Man 9 or I Wanna Be The Guy. And anyone who says Standard (that is, "Easy") Mode is too hard is a wimp. (Offense totally intended.) And if anyone bought the game not knowing what they were getting into, then I truly feel sorry for you. But you can't blame the game for being difficult any more than you can blame a cupcake for being smaller than a regular cake. (Cue relevant Penny Arcade comic.)
Yes, this game is difficult. But it's difficult in a good way. Unless you're a complete failure at side-scolling platformers (or unless you're playing on Hell's Finest--that is, "Hard"--in which case I have no pity on you whatsoever), then you'll end up thinking oh, if only I had done this instead of that, or if only I had timed it a little faster or slower, maybe I wouldn't have died there. By keeping victory just barely out of reach yet totally plausibly attainable, combined with the frequent checkpoints, the game almost never gets frustrating and continually entices you to try again. And since the game is so damn difficult as is (precisely BECAUSE the game is so damn difficult), you truly get a sense of accomplishment when you clear a tough level. (Not like clearing a walk-in-the-park level in a wimpy game like Hello Kitty Island Adventures.)
I only played this game on Standard (that is, "Easy"), and I lost nearly 500 lives. And maybe I'm secretly a masochist, but I enjoyed second of it. (Yes, even the final boss.) The pure adrenaline rush of combat and the overwhelming sense of accomplishment for clearing the game, and this is precisely because the game's insane difficulty.
I willingly admit, this game isn't for everyone. It sure as hell isn't for casual gamers. (Hell, Disgaea was never meant for casual players, either.) And if you're not cool with truly difficult video games, you shouldn't play this game either. I don't care if you're a die-hard Disgaea fan. Only bad things can happen if you give Prinny to a player who is averse to difficult games.
If, on the other hand, you are a gamer who seeks out difficult games and cherishes the challenge, then Prinny is a gem of a game that you simply must play. (Unless, of course, you're one of those guys who beat I Wanna Be The Guy on Impossible. In which case, Prinny might be a little too easy for you.)
Overall Score: Perfect 10 out of 10
On this day:
In 2005: My first software check-in at Microsoft.
...not thematically appropriate.
Friday, July 24, 2009--My first M2010 draft. Second pack, I opened a Captain of the Watch. Third pack, I open a Lightwielder Paladin and get passed a second Lightwielder Paladin. Heh. Ended up going black-white because I also managed to grab some black removal and a few black critters.
6xSwamp
11xPlains
2xWeakness
Sign in Blood
2xWarpath Ghoul
Vampire Aristocrat
Assassinate
Silvercoat Lion
2xVeteran Armorsmith
Pacifism
2xPalace Guard
Veteran Swordsmith
White Knight
Wall of Faith
Divine Verdict
Rhox Pikemaster
Siege Mastodon
2xLightwielder Paladin
Captain of the Watch
It should also be noted that I lost a card (and hence, a sleeve). Lame.
Also, damage on the stack actually mattered. My opponent had an Ant Queen and was pumping out ant tokens. He also had another big blocker and some other critters. And I had a bunch of soldiers, a Captain of the Watch, and a Vampire Aristocrat. I figure that if I let this game get long and drawn out, I'll lose. So I attack with everything I had. So my opponent blocks the Vampire Aristocrat with a 2/2 critter and eats the Captain of the Watch with a bigger critter. So I'm like, okay, I'll put damage on the stack and then sac the Captain to the Vampire. Oh wait. THAT DOESN'T WORK ANYMORE! *angry face*
Also, during another game, I was about to lose, so I decided to mana burn myself to death. Oh wait. THAT DOESN'T WORK ANYMORE EITHER!
After having tried the new M2010 rules, I've decided I don't like the new M2010 rules.
Thursday, July 23, 2009--I just beat the Prinny PSP game just now. Time on the clock: 11:10:28
Final boss was insanely difficult, but not unfairly difficult.
Heart pounding, thumbs sore. One of the best action games I've played in a long, long time.
Also, 456 prinnies died making this game.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009--
On this day:
In 2004: I beat Golden Sun.
Not to be confused with the restaurant.
Monday, July 20, 2009--
On this day:
In 2006: I beat Suikoden.
Apparently, it took me only 4 days. Old school RPGs were fast-paced and didn't draw things out.
Saturday, July 18, 2009--So Joey's leaving us to go to grad school. (Well, more accurately, he's leaving them, since I already left Microsoft, but you know what I mean.) So today we had his going away party at Canterbury Commons.
Farewell, Joey, and best of luck in the future!
Friday, July 17, 2009--I enjoyed Borat, so I decided to go see Bruno today. Unfortunately, it was not as amusing as Borat. Borat amused me because of his antics and because he just did amusing stuff. Bruno, on the other hand, we just shock value, full frontal male nudity, and gay porn.
It was worth watching once. (Borat, on the other hand, is worth watching again.)
On this day:
In 2003: The birth of DeckSim.
Happy Birthdy, DeckSim!
Saturday, July 11, 2009--So I went to the FF Concert at the Seattle Symphony. My friends and I got balcony seats and showed up wearing suits. The only way it could have been more extravagant is if we had rented a Cadillac or a limo or something. Maybe next time.
Overall, I thought it was pretty good. I felt that the setlist was too FF8 heavy, though. (Though to be honest, I hated FF8 even though it's one of the more popular FF games.) And FF4 didn't have any representation at all. But other than that, no major complaints about the setlist.
The highlight of the evening was when they played THE Opera from FF6, complete with opera singers for the roles of Maria, Draco, and Prince Ralse. When it was all over, I gave them a standing ovation and thought to myself, THIS is what I came to see. (Interestingly, it sounded exactly like the Black Mages version, except with an orchestra instead of a rock band and in English. Which version came first, this version or the Black Mages version?)
But that's not all. They had not only a full orchestra, but a full choir. And I thought to myself, I know it isn't on the programme, but this is the perfect set up. They HAVE TO do it. So after they played their final song (Terra's Theme from FF6), and after the whole thing with the conductor getting applauded, leaving the stage, coming back, and getting applauded some more, the conductor Arnie Roth announced that Nobuo Uemtasu would be joining the choir as an honorary member to sing in the encore song, which "needed no introduction". With that, the first few notes of One-Winged Angel began, to the cheers of pretty much everyone in the audience. And arguably the single most iconic song of the Final Fantasy series. (For the Final Fantasy enthusiasts out there, it was the Advent Children version with the original lyrics.)
BONUS: We knew there would be cosplayers, as pretty much anything related to Final Fantasy (or anime or sci-fi/fantasy) would indubitably have cosplayers. And there were a pair of girls dressed as Tifa and Yuffie. There was also a white mage (complete with the cat ears for you Final Fantasy enthusiasts) who was travelling with a black mage.
I didn't feel the need to get pictures, so for you "pics or it didn't happen" folk... I guess it didn't happen?
An interesting thought occurs to me. If I had dressed as Reno, I would both be wearing a suit AND in cosplay (and if done right, looked badass awesome). Hmm...
On this day:
In 2004: I beat Xenogears.
Thematically appropriate.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009--gas-watch: $2.81/gal
Okay guys, Michael Jackson has been dead for almost 2 weeks now. Why is he
still dominating the news? Sure, the guy made some great music, and yes, we were all sad when he died. But he wasn't the only celebrity who died last month. Not only that, but a friend of mine died last month, as did a close relative of a close friend, so I can honestly say that of all the deaths last month, Michael Jackson's ranks pretty low on the importance scale as far as I'm concerned.
Sure, it sucks that Michael Jackson's dead, but he had as much effect on my life as a fictional character (and on the the lives of practically everybody in America who is watching the news). Good riddance.
Monday, July 6, 2009--
On this day:
In 2007: My first undisputed MTG tournament win. (4-0 on Standard FNM.)
The power of Gruul!
Sunday, July 5, 2009--After a month of playing The Sims 3 (a month of playing The Sims?!? That's a lot of Sims!), I finally get bored of The Sims 3 and return to playing Disgaea 3. And it was good.