- ZanarkandTidus
- Rank: Easter Egg
- Member since: Nov 11, 2007
- Last online: 05/23/13 9:21 am PT
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Tidus's blog
Zanarkand.A city dead for 1000 years.A city I had to see with my own eyes.The end of Yuna's journey.The last chapter in my story.
My favorite game is Final Fantasy X(that probably wasn't hard to guess)because it's the most beautiful and emotional game I've ever experienced.I love games with an emotional or deep story or games with a lot of spirituality,which is why Final Fantasy VII,Final Fantasy VIII,Shenmue 2,Lost Odyssey,Heavy Rain are also amongst my favorite games.My favorite game genre is RPGs and I think Japan make the best RPGs.I like to collect Japanese games because I find most of them fun to play or very charming.
I love anime,whether it's romance & comedy,drama,action,and the more story oriented ones.I also love the ones with a lot of atmosphere(such as Cowboy Bebop).My top 3 favorite anime series are Rurouni Kenshin,AI Yori Aoshi,Suzuka.Some of my other favorites anime series include:-Cowboy Bebop,Macross,Love Hina,Air Gear,Akikan,Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040,Dragon Ball Z(including some of the movies),Gantz,Rumbling Hearts,Mobile Suit Gundam 0079.
I love Asian movies.I love many films from China,Thailand,Japan,Vietnam,Korea.I love Asian horror films,some of the Asian horror movies I like include:Nang Nak(Thailand),The Eye(Hong Kong and Thailand version),The Eye 2(Hong Kong),Suicide Club(Japan),Tale of Two Sisters(Korea),Shutter(Thai version),The Grudge 1 and 2(Japanese version),The Ring 1 and 2(Japanese version),Koma(Hong Kong),Isola(Japan).
Other Asian movies I love include Mah Nakorn,Curse of the Golden Flower,Hero,House of Flying Daggers,Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,The Myth,Casshern.
My favorite Japanese bands are M.O.V.E,Japan-X,Morning Musume,Gazette,Blood Stain Child and I like some of Erica Hashimoto's songs.I also like female Korean pop groups,J-Pop,Thai pop music,Chinese emo/pop music,Marilyn Manson and I like the song Wind of Change by the Scorpions.I also like soundscapes and new age music.My favorite classical music is Johan Pachelel's Canon.
Some blogs are too personal for me to post on Gamespot so I'll post them here:
http://tidusandyuna1983.blogspot.com.au/
My game of the year for each year since 1985:-
2012 The Last Story
2011 Yakuza 4
2010 Heavy Rain
2009 Ar Tonelico 2
2008 Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core
2007 Persona 3
2006 Kingdom of Paradise
2005 Jade Empire
2004 Clannad
2003 The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker
2002 Final Fantasy X
2001 Shenmue 2
2000 Shenmue
1999 Final Fantasy VIII
1998 The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
1997 Final Fantasy VII
1996 Super Mario 64
1995 Chrono Trigger
1994 Donkey Kong Country
1993 Aladdin(MEGA DRIVE/GENESIS version)
1992 Sonic the Hedgehog 2(MEGA DRIVE/GENESIS version)
1991 The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past
1990 Super Mario World
1989 Dragon Warrior
1988 Phantasy Star
1987 The Legend of Zelda
1986 Metroid
1985 Super Mario Bros
Walking down the street,distant memories are buried in the past forever.
Follow the Moskva down to Gorky park,listening to the wind of change.
Take me to the magic of the moment on a glory night where the children of tomorrow share their dreams with you and me.
Take me to the magic of the moment on a glory night where the children of tomorrow dream away with the wind of change.
-
5Feb 12
Congrats to the Giants,they deserved to win.I think what made their super bowl win even more deserving was the fact the playoffs started early for them because they had to win the final 2 games of the season just to get into the playoffs,plus then they had to win every playoff game,so in a way they've been playing a superbowl every week for the last 6 games.
Is it just me,or is Eli a paradox of his brother Peyton? Peyton is the best regular season quarterback I've ever seen,but when the playoffs come he doesn't play that great.On the otherhand,I've watched many NFL seasons where Eli has struggled during the regular season but in playoff matches/superbowl,he is awesome.In this superbowl,he threw the ball with such amazing accuracy,it seemed like the Pats couldn't stop him,even if they covered the Giants receivers well,Eli still managed to get the ball into the right spot with his passes(where the Pats defenders couldn't get to the ball).
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I can't wait for the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League,it's not too far away.One of the things I like about soccer is it has an international feel(the world Cup,Euro Cup,Asian Cup,UEFA CL are examples of this)and I can watch teams with great Spanish,Brazillian,German,Portugese,English,Argentinian players playing together on one team or against eachother.I love the current breed of Spanish players,they play a sty1e that's co-ordinated but beautiful to watch and I love watching individual brilliance from players such as Fabregas or characters such as Puyol and Ramos.
I can't wait for the 2012 European cup which is roughly 5 months away,but I like how it has European powerhouses such as Spain,Germany,Netherlands,England,Portugal etc. but because the South American powerhouses Brazil and Argentina aren't there,it gives lesser-known nations more of a chance to qualify past the pool stages and in knockout matches,anything can happen(hence Greece winning the 2004 Euro Cup).
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My new purchase is Final Fantasy XIII-2
Final Fantasy XIII-2 brings back towns(well more of them)proper interaction with NPCs,more-open exploration and moogles,which brings some of the good old JRPG sty1e charm back to the series.As for it's story choices thing,well I'll experience them before I judge them.Personally,I think most JRPGs I've played are better suited to having linear story telling because I think they have great story telling that shouldn't be butchered up.There's some .exceptions such as Persona 3 and 4 and Chrono Trigger,But on the otherhand,most WRPGs I've played have dull stories so I think they need to use story decision making to make people care about their stories.
But back to FFXIII-2,well FFXIII had some epic boss battles because of it's battle system and giant bosses.I must admit,I found FFXIII's battle system to be annoying to use against normal enemies because having to change paradigms numerous times was annoying and slowed down what should be short battles,but it made it's boss battles epic.I don't expect FFXIII-2 story to be anything as heartfelt or captivating to me as FFIV,FFVII,FFVIII,FFIX,FFX's were,especially since the only reason I cared about FFXIII's story was because of the Cocoon/Gran Pulse and people turning into monster concepts,plus the love story with Snow and Serah,but FFXIII-2 has to work off what's already happened in FFXIII,but I'll wait and see,time travel sounds like an interesting concept though and it might make the story decision element more appealing to me if I can change history.
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31Jan 12
Tokitowa(PS3 exclusive from Namco)
And the VITA is going to get : (And please note I can't find pics of all of these games)Ciel Nozsurge Ushinawaret a Hoshi e Sasagu Shi(developed by Gust)
Ys: Celceta no Jukai(the Ys series is great)
Shin Megami Tensei (I think the VITA is getting an exclusive SMT game)
Monster Hunter and I think also Monster Daihyakka(I don't know if Monster Hunter and Monster Daihyakka are the same)
Ragnarok Odyssey(I'll be playable offline)
Sumioni(from the trailer I've seen of it,it looks like a mix of Okami artsty1e and Muramasa side scrolling action and it looks it like uses Japanese mythology like Okami and Muramasa do.I'm not sure if it's an RPG or not because Gamespot says it is but other sources say it's not,but it look awesome nonetheless).
And on previous blogs I've mention Person 4 the Golden(for Vita)FFX HD and Dragons Crown(PS3 and Vita),Ni No Kuni(PS3),Tales of Graces(PS3),Hyper Dimension Neptunia 2,Atelier Meruru etc.
Please Note:I don't know if all of the games I've mentioned are getting localized or not.
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Many people lately have become fed up with the pathetic state Gamespot is in(due to bugs/glitches and dumb new rules).I've seen many people who've been regular members/contributers to Gamespot for longer than 4 years fed up with Gamespot and now I must voice my frustration.
In recent times,I've tried to search for info about games but it constantly said the search option wasn't available(when I use a gamesite,at the very least I expect to have a reliable search engine to search for info about games).It took a while,but this problem got fixed,but then we've had the user blogs being unreadable for days glitch,and when I've tried to read reader reviews I've had the ''oops'' page many times(and reader reviwers are important to me because I want to see what other people besides Gamespot reviewers think or have to say about certain games),when I edit my reviews,it makes me change my score for my editted review to be submitted(why should I have to change my score for it to be submitted?)and now in the last couple of days it's been difficult to get into my inbox,I've had to try many times and when I've tried to edit a blog,instead of taking me to a screen with the blog I want to edit,it takes me to a screen for a totally empty blog box/without a title(the same screen used for typing out a totally new blog! And for people who are working or who have little spare time because they wanna do social stuff or spend time with their family,we don't want to sacrifise what little spare time we have fighting the problems Gamespot has.
And finally,but the thing that bothers me the most is Gamespot now allow trolling/flaming,and I think it was a stupid idea from whoever decided trolling/flaming should be allowed,because many people only stay with Gamespot because of it's community(not because of it's reviews(as much as Gamespot's staff would love to think that),not because it's site is very accessible(it's glitchy and buggy as hell)but now the great Gamespot members who are keeping this site alive are open to attack from trolls/jerks who probably don't use this website as much and who don't contribute as much to the great members,who now will be driven away,and I've seen great,lovely,nice people leaving Gamespot because of the trolls,cold-hearted and rude people.
Also,why do Gamespot have the thread for suggestions to improve the website if they never listen to them.Many people have said the thumbs down option is constantly used for the wrong reason and does more harm than good but Gamespot never listen.For example,if someone is sick and people say ''get better'' people will thumb down the comments that say ''get better'',that is trolling,because if someone is trying to be polite,would they honestly not want a sick person to get better,especially if it's a person you've never talked to before? And some people thumb down any opinion that is different to their own.If my top 10 list is different to someone else's,they might thumb down my top 10 list,and I can do the same to them,what's the point? I remember one a friend's blog when she asked what do we find attractive in a person of the opposite sex,and I said I find Asian women the most attractive and I received a barrage of thumbs downs,while people who said they like caucasian,blond hair,blue eyed features all got only thumbs up and people might try to say those thumbs downs are just people showing they disagree with me,but what if I went and thumbs downed every person who thinks white women are the most attractive? it would be like I was targetting people who think white women are the most attractive in a negative way.
I like how Facebook allows you to only allow friends to comment while still allowing your profile/homepage being viewable to people who are not on your friend list so people who are not on your friend list but are potential friends can look at your page and see if you and them share interests.Myspace and Tagged allow users to authorize or decline comments that people post on their blogs/page before those comments show on the person's blogs/page to discourage trolls.Myspace and Tagged had this feature more than 5 years ago,it shows how far behind in the times Gamespot is.
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On a happier note,I beat Sonic generations a few hours after I made this blog,it's a great Sonic game.It's my 3rd game beaten of 2012,along with Shadows of the Damned and Homefront.
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28Jan 12
I must admit,even though the NFL Pro Bowl is an all star game,I don't get excited watching it because to me it doesn't seem as if the players play with as much passion as they would if they were playing for an NFL franchise.In Australia,a Rugby all star game exists where players will represent their state because people from Queensland are passionate about being a Queenslander and NSW people are proud to be from NSW.Many Americans are proud of their state,so I think instead of AFC and NFC,maybe NFL players can represent their state in an NFL all star game,the problem is,America has 50 states(I think)compared to 6 states which Australia has,but perhaps the NFL can try doing a North vs South vs West kind of thing.I know many Americans from the South are proud of their southern heritage,and the North has proud traditions such as big universities and some of the oldest cities in America and Californians I've spoken to are proud of their beaches and are stereotyped as living ''hippie lifesty1es'' and I think an NFL all star game where players represent their Northern,Southern or Western heritage would work.I am not American so forgive me if I haven't mentioned other regions,because I know there's midwest too.
I know the NFL players would probably rather go to Hawaii for the all star game though.Also,I've talked to some people about this idea and they've said it might reopen old wounds,because of the American cival war and in the South of the U.S,and if NFL fans from the southern states showed up to such an NFL all star game wearing or carrying the confederate flag,it could create ill-feeling and hostility between certain Northerners and Southerners because in Southern states,the confederate flag is seen as a representation of their heritage,but many people from Northern states and from California told me they think the flag is a representation of slavery/racism.
As for the pro bowl,I can never feel comfortable picking a winner,because both teams have amongst the best,non superbowl players in the NFL but great individuals don't necessarily combine to create a great team.On paper,the NFC have a big advantage with Brees and Rodgers but,they'll be throwing to receivers they've never thrown to before and they might not combine that well with those receivers.
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The second game of this year I've beaten is Homefront.I don't like FPS games that much,but Homefront was a fun experience for me because it's very story-driven and it's story is quite emotional.What I also like about it is the fact it's story shows America as the underdog,because America has been invaded by the Greater Korean Republic and America has lost much of it's military might because the GKR released EMPs over America which has disabled most of the American electronics,computers,machines of war and has left America vulnerable to a massive invasion and the GKR soldiers commit genocide against American civilians and the American survivors who haven't been executed or have been put into camps are living in secret hideouts,often in impoverished conditions.As for the gameplay,it's movement and shooting mechanics aren't as smooth as that of Call of Duty,but they are decent.The single player campaign is very short though(can be beaten in 4 hours)and I don't like competitive multiplayer,so the game doesn't much much of a lifespan for me.
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To be honest,I'm more excited about the Vita then I ever was about the PSP.Even though it's not selling well in Japan,it's because it's big launch title(Uncharted Golden Abyss)doesn't appeal to many Japanese people and yeah I know some Japanese Vita titles,including some JRPGs were released as the Vita's launch,but I doubt any of those games were expected to be killer exclusives and going against a killer exclusive such as Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7,what do you expect? Also,the 3DS has great rereleases/remakes such as Zelda Ocarina of Time,Tales of the Abyss etc.But don't forget,the VITA is going to get Persona 4 the Golden,FFX HD,and at least one Yakuza game and after they're released,don't be surprised if VITA sales skyrocket.
It wasn't long ago that people said the 3DS was a failure,but all of a sudden they're now saying the VITA is a failure and have forgotten the 3DS's current game library isn't that great and yes it does have some great looking games coming to it,but so does the VITA.
I don't expect the VITA to outsell the 3DS,because the 3DS will get Pokemon games which are very popular in Japan and in the west and the 3DS already has a Dragon Quest game and will be getting more of them and Dragon Quest is more popular than Final Fantasy is in Japan and New Super Mario Bros for the DS outsold every PSP game and casual gamers will choose the 3DS over the VITA because it's cheaper and because housewives want fitness games and millions kids want to play Pokemon and Mario games,and don't get me wrong,I love the Mario games and I like the Dragon Quest games,but I'll rather play the Yakuza games more than any Dragon Quest 8 or any Mario game.Even though the DS outsold the PSP,I prefer the PSP's game library,and IMO,Final Fantasy games tend to be better on SONY consoles than Nintendo consoles nowadays,I mean sure,FFI-VI were great on the NES/SNES,but after the 16-bit generation,the PSone/PS2/PSP received FFVII,FFVIII,FFIX,FFX,FFVII Crisis Core(and this doesn't include the FF games which diehard FF games hate,but still either sold well or received a mostly positive reception(such as FFXII and FFXIII).Since the 16-bit generation,Nintendo consoles have received FF Crystal Chronicles games and remakes of c1assic FF games.
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Right now I'm trying to beat Sonic Generations.I'm in the final 1/3 of the game(which are levels which are represented by Sonic Unleashed,Sonic Colors and 2006 Sonic.I like how the game uses levels from the 16-Bit Sonic games,as well as from the Dreamcast,and current gen Sonic games.I like how even though c1assic levels are used,they're modified enough so they're not exactly the same,but are similar to the beloved levels from some of our beloved Sonic games,such as the chemical plant zone level from Sonic 2.I like how c1assic Sonic plays in 2D and plays much like in the c1assic Sonic games and modern Sonic plays mostly in 3D and has his dash ability and I like how the gameplay is very fast.However,sometimes the camera or trial by error causes me to die(sometimes I can't see where Sonic is because a platform will be in the way and I'll walk off a platform or can't see where I'm jumping to).Also,the jumping mechanics could be a bit more tighter.I am not making excuses for me being bad at the game,because I've played lots of other 3D platformers and I didn't have any/much problems with their camera or controls.To be honest,every 3D Sonic game I've played has annoying camera problems or control issues that hinders the gameplay a bit(I've played Sonic Adventure,Sonic Heroes,Sonic Colors,Sonic Unleashed,Sonic Generations)which is why when it comes to 3D platforming,IMO,Mario is still the king of 3D platforming but Sonic is the king of 2D platforming.But nonetheless,Sonic Generations is still a great Sonic game/platforming game. -
23Jan 12
Patriots 23 Ravens 20
Many people and myself were expecting the Patriots to win without too much trouble,but it wasn't the case.Brady had a bit off an off game,it wasn't a bad performance by him,but it wasn't a great one either,but he still threw some very accurate passes with little margin for error on scoring drives.He didn't throw a TD pass,but he ran for a TD.Statistically,Flacco outperformed Brady,by throwing more yards(he had a 300 yard game compared with Brady's 230 passing yards),2 TDs,1 interception compared with Brady's 2 interceptions,and did so with the exact same number of completions/attempts as Brady.Green-Ellis made some important runs to pick up first downs,good yardage(which was vital for the Pats since Brady struggled at times)and Green-Ellis also ran in for a TD,which if I remember correctly was from a run of more than 10 yards.
Moore(one of the Pats defensive backs)who wasn't even part of the Pats roster at the start of the season saved the Pats by knocking the ball out of the grasp of one of the Ravens receivers when that Ravens receiver was in the end zone with something like less than a minute left to prevent him scoring what most likely would have been the game-winning TD.Moore also knocked away another pass on another play that was heading for a Ravens receiver.If the Pats do go on to win the superbowl,I hope the performance of Green-Ellis and Moore's saves in the AFC championship don't become forgotten,because if it wasn't for those 2,the Pats wouldn't even be in the superbowl.Rice had a solid match running the ball but didn't come up with the long runs he's known for.
Unfortunately,what lost the game for Ravens was a missed field goal attempt of only 32 yards(or something like that)and even though the kicker had a lot of pressure on him to kick that field goal,an NFL kicker is supposed to land field goals from that range,and it was sad way for veterans such as Ricky Williams,Reed,Lewis etc. to finish this season,because they don't have much time left in their careers.Ricky Williams also contributed with some powerful runs and I've liked him ever since he played for the Mimmi Dolphins(my favorite team)and I was hoping he would at least get to play in a super bowl.
Giants 20 49ers 17
This was a weird game,because in the end,the difference between the 2 teams was 2 muffed punt returns by Kyle Williams.In the 4th quarter,with roughly 10 minutes to go,the 49ers were winning by 4 points and forced the Giants to punt and K Williams pulled out of returning a punt too late and the ball brushed his knee and the Giants recovered the ball on the 49ers 30 yard line(I think)and I think this incident gave the Giants the offensive spark they needed because before this happened,the 49ers defense kept finding way of stopping the Giants drives(even though Eli Manning passed for over 300 yards)and if this incident hadn't have happened,I think the 49ers would have won because Frank Gore was running the ball very well(averaging almost 5 yards per carry)and they could have ran a lot of time off the clock and at the very least could have punted the ball deep into Giants territory and I would have backed the 49ers defense to hold on.
I think the main reason the Giants scored a touchdown after the first muffed punt return was because it affected the 49ers mentally in a negative way(they did all that hard work,but they knew the Giants were going to get at least get within 1 point(one field goal)of taking the lead after that muffed punt and I think they knew Alex Smith was struggling a bit(even though he threw 2 TDs and nearly 200 yards,he completed only 12 passes from 26 attempts)and at one point,the 49ers had 0 3rd down conversions from 11 attempts and to be honest,besides the 2 long passes that Alex Smith threw which result in touchdowns and account for roughly 1/2 of his passing yards,his passing game seemed to lack consistency.Nethertheless,the 49ers did tie up the game and took it into overtime,but another muffed kick return by Kyle Williams in overtime gave the Giants the ball deep in 49ers territory spelled the end of the 49ers.
Kyle Williams was also a replacement punt returner because the 49ers first choice punt returner named Ginn was out injured,and I can't help to think what would the result have been if Ginn had played.When Ginn played for my beloved Miami Dolphins,he was a great punt/kick returner.
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Superbowl prediction
On current form,I am nervous to pick a winner,because both the Pats and Giants were lucky to win their conference championship matches,but going back to their divisional playoff round perfomances,they both looked awesome when they won.
I don't want to make this blog too long,so I'm not going talk about how I think the Pats and Giants will matchup against eachother on paper,but I will say I think if Brady plays close to his best,the Pats should win,because when Brady is at his best he has an uncanny ability to pass the ball very accurately and defenses can't stop it,especially with the likes of Welker(leading receiver in the NFL),Gronkowski and Hernandez,although Gronkowski injured himself.It does concern me though the Pats have have one of the worst ranked pass defenses and if Flacco could pass for over 300 yards against the Pats,imagine how many yards Eli could throw against the Pats pass defence.
My prediction is the Pats will win the superbowl by 13 points and my prediction is Welker will win the Superbowl MVP award.
Finally,I'd like to say I think it's strange how similar this superbowl matchup between the Pats and the Giants is to the one in the superbowl for the 2007 season,when the Pats went through the regular season undefeated and the Giants barely made it into the playoffs,and this season the Pats only lost 3 games during the regular season and the Giants barely made it into the playoffs but just like in the 2007,they're playing very good football during the playoffs.
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UEFA
I can't wait for the knockout stage of the UEFA champions League.I want to see either Barcelona or Real Madrid win it.For the soccer European Cup this year,I want Spain to win it(I supported them when they won it in 2008,I honestly have a soft spot for Spain because my first girlfriend was Spanish,and my second girlfriend was Brazillian,hence Brazil being the nation I support in soccer(since Thailand has never qualified for a world cup),and there's something about the Brazillian culture and the samba that I love,it seems happy and cheerful to me.
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New song that I love
A new song that I love,that I can listen to over and over is called 'I know' from Erica Hashimoto.I like it because it's not too cheerful,it's not too emotional/sad and I like how the women dress in it,they wear dark clothes that look somewhat like the clothes Kaine wore on the game NIER,but the clothes don't look gothic,they have a nice darkish color which suits the mood of the song.I like how the song has a big of a punk sound,with heartfelt piano music playing and Erica sings it with a good amount of expression without making it sound too emotional/dramatic.
I can't find a link to the song on Youtube,but you can watch it on this link
http://channel.pandora.tv/channel/video.ptv?ref=em_nom&ch_userid=usaginodance&prgid=42678648&categid=all&page=1
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Lack of gaming progress
Finally,as for gaming progress,I've only been gaming a little lately.When my HDD arrives,I'll be more motivated to game.I been playing Sonic Generations and it's fun and fast and I love playing through the c1assic levels again(although they've been modified),but it's nice to hear the c1assic music again too.It's supposed to have an easy plat,but I am terrible at the game,so I doubt I'll be able to get S ranking for every stage plus doing the other requirements.
I've enjoyed Dyansty Warriors 7 a lot too,I like it's story elements and gameplay and after I beat Sonic Generations,I'll go back to Dyansty Warriors.Beating the game completely will take a long time,hence me wanting my HDD to arrive ASAP.
Also,on a previous blog,I mentioned how I want to focus on beating games I already own or earning more trophies for games that I already own,this means even though I will buy FFXIII-2,Ni No Kuni and The Last Story for sure this year,I will wait a while until I've beaten some of the games I already owned and collected as many trophies from them as I can before I spend more money on new games(by then,the prices for FFXIII-2 and The Last Story might be a bit cheaper).
Anyways,that's all for now.
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19Jan 12
Who would have guessed the Green Bay Packers(who are the defending superbowl champions,and whom also dominated the current regular season,and whom had an offense that averaged over 30 points a game)would have lost in the divisional round.Many people knew the Giants had a chance because of Eli's great current form and because of the Giant's pass rush which can pressure any good quaterback a lot,but who would have guessed the Packers would be the ones doing most of the damage to themselves with lots of dropped passes and fumbles.
I actually thought the Saints had an offense that looked almost unstopptable and I thought if the Packers and Saints played in the NFC championship game,it would be the true superbowl and a highscoring match between the 2 powerhouse offenses,but the 49ers beat the Saints by forcing turnovers and Alex Smith showed he is capable of having big games in the playoffs.
I predicted the Patriots to win quite comfortably over Denver and that's what happened.They're now my pick to win the superbowl,simply because they have Tom Brady,who's a 3 time super bowl winner,2 time super bowl MVP and he's by far the most dangerous quarterback left in the playoffs and don't forget,this has been a season that's been dominated by quarterbacks,although last week we saw different quarterbacks dominating(in Eli's case)or out-rallying the other(in Smith's case).
I thought the Ravens were lucky to win,because Schaub didn't play and they only won by 7 points and the Texans blew a TD when one of their receivers dropped the ball when he was wide open near the goal line.
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My tips for the conference championship games are:- (And please keep in mind,I'm not an NFL expert,I'm not even American,so please don't assume I'm American after reading this blog).
The 49ers to beat the Giants.
I know the Giants are playing very well and have momentum and Eli and the Giants offense look very good and people are comparing the way this Giants team is playing to the Giants team that won the superbowl in the 2007 season,but my gut feeling says the 49ers will win because the 49ers have played well more consistantly this season,where as even though the Giants have played very well in the last few weeks,for most of the regular season they were inconsistant(finished 9-7 and should have finished 8-8 because they got a lucky call in one of their earlier season games)and I think the Giants are more likely to have a bad game than the 49ers are.I guess people could try to argue the Giants are in a tougher division where they have to play the Cowboys and Eagles 2 times each,and I couldn't be bothered looking to see which other teams the 49ers and Giants have played,but a good team wins when they're supposed to and that's what the 49ers did.
I know that Eli passed for nearly 5000 yards during the regular season and has been passing the ball very well in the playoffs,but the 49ers have the 3rd best defense in the league and Frank Gore looked very good in his first ever playoff game and Kendall Hunter has contributed this season by rushing for nearly 500 yards(which helps keep Gore fresh)and Alex Smith proved last week he can win big games.The Giants running game has Bradshaw(speed and agility)and Jacobs(power)but Jacobs struggled a bit for much of this season but he's playing good now.Cruz is a dangerous and very productive receiver for the Giants,and Nicks has been playing well recently,but the 49ers receivers played well in their last game too.The 49ers are at home for this game.
The Patriots to beat the Ravens.
The Pats have Tom Brady,and good receivers/TE's such as Welker,Branch(people say he's overrated,but he's won a superbowl MVP award)Hernandez,Gronkowski and a decent running game,but they have one of the worst defenses in the NFL.The Ravens have one of the best defenses in the league,but I doubt their offense has enough strike power to punish the Pats vulnerable defense and I doubt they can win a high scoring shootout with the Pats,so I think the only way the Ravens have of winning is if their defense plays very well(such as keeping the match low scoring or trying to keep the Pats to scoring less than 30 points and hoping Flacco and Rice have a big day).Rice is one of the top runningbacks,where as Flacco is regarded by many as unproven and he's a decent quarterback,he doesn't throw many intercepts but he usually doesn't throw for as many yards/TDs as elite quarterbacks do.Another thing that worries me is Anquan Boldin(one of the Ravens receivers and who I think is one of the only 2 strike weapons the Ravens have on offense)will be playing only his second game back from injury/surgery and from what I've seen in the past,it often takes great athletes a while for them to get back to their best after injury.
Another Note:
And yeah,I know I sound like I'm contradicting myself because I said earlier the 49ers can beat the Giants even though the Giants have a very dangerous offense because the 49ers have a good defense and the Ravens also have a very good defense and you could probably argue Flacco is better than Smith and Rice is better than Gore,but like I said,I think the Giants have been inconsistant this year and they still have a bad game left in them.
Maybe for a superbowl blog,I'll do a top 5 NFL quarterbacks of all time list and reasons why,and keep in mind,it will just be my opinion.
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17Jan 12
I bought a 500 GB Samsung external HDD for my PS3.The reason I didn't choose a HDD with more space is because I don't need 1 TB+ of space,so I didn't want to spend money on extra space I don't need.A while ago I ran out of HDD space on my PS3 and I had to delete games to make space and I put off buying a HDD because I could buy a new PS3 with plenty of HDD space for a little bit more than the cost of a new HDD.But,lately I've thought about what if I try to earn platinum trophies for games but my PS3 gets the YLoD and I lose tens or even hundreds of hours of hard earned data or what if I'm playing a long JRPG or a hard game and when I get near the end,my PS3 gets YLoD and I have to start again.---------------------
My rant is about how some games have their save data copyrighted.Which means,if you make backup of save data for those games and try to use it on another PS3,they won't work.Heavy Rain is an example.FFXIII's game saves are technically not copyright protected because you can load FFXIII's game saves on another PS3,but you can't save additional progress you make when you play FFXIII from that save file on another PS3.Because of this,I'm not going to try to platinum FFXIII because I'm worried my PS3 will YLoD and I will spend over 30+ hours trying to platinum it for nothing.Even though I always talk about how much I love JRPGs,I've only platinumed 1 JRPG(Last Rebellion)and it's a crappy game and it's such an easy plat,there's no sense of achievement after you plat it.I'm thinking about trying to plat Ar Tonelico Qoga,I think it's game saves are not copyright protected.I also want to try to platinum Dynasty Warriors 7 and it takes around 100 hours to plat and I'm worried I will get close to platinuming it but my PS3 will YLoD and I will have to do all the work over again.
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I've decided that this year I want to try to earn as many trophies as possible for the games that I already own,so I can get as much replayability as possible out of the games I play,so I don't need to keep spending more money on new games.Plus,I also want to beat the many games I have on my backlog.I will still buy FFXIII-2,The Last Story,Ni No Kuni regardless though,because those games are must plays for me.
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12Jan 12
Last year I played some new games that I like and some that I LOVE and it changed my list for my 10 favorite games from this gen.
My 10 favorite games from this gen are now.
1.Yakuza 4
2.Lost Odyssey
3.Heavy Rain
4.NIER
5.Ar Tonelico Qoga
6.Xenoblade Chronicles
7.Final Fantasy XIII
8.Flower
9.Child of Eden
10.Eternal Sonata
Honorable Mentions
Metal Gear Solid 4,Valkyria Chronicles,Tales of Vesperia,inFAMOUS,Demon's Souls,Yakuza 3,Catherine,Shadows of the Damned,Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2,Assassin's Creed II,Fragile Dreams,Uncharted 2.
I am predicting that The Last Story(which is due out this year)will end up being one of my top 10 favorite games after I play it
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11Jan 12
I know I said I had given up trying to beat the game on hard difficulty,but I found a trick to beat Flemming and I'm not sure if the trick I use is a glitch or it's the way you're supposed to beat Flemming,but without doing that trick there is no way I could beat him because his chest armor is only vulnerable for like 1 or 2 seconds on hard difficulty and you'll need to make it vulnerable with some accurate shotgun blasts in quick succession and then quickly aim and shoot a bomb at his chest and then shoot the bomb in the 1 or 2 seconds when his chest is vulnerable and it was too hard.Anyways,I got my first plat for the year.
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10Jan 12
I can't comment on people's blogs and I can't access people's latest blogs without going directly to their page.It's funny how a few days ago,Matastig made a blog about all the glitches and incorrect information Gamespot has,and a few days later Gamespot hits us with one of it's worst bugs/glitches yet by not letting us comment on people's blogs or see their blogs via the tracked blogs route and this problem has lasted for roughly 7 hours so far.EDIT:When I submitted this blog,a screen said this blog couldn't be posted because my user name is unregistered/invalid,but now I can see this blog... WTF gamespot?
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7Jan 12
I'll begin with my gaming updates,I've given up trying to get the platinum trophy for Shadows of the Damned because beating the second last boss is too hard on hard difficulty.I've watched people beat that boss on hard difficulty on youtube and even though they're much better players than me it took them 40 minutes to do so.To beat that boss,you'll need to launch a grenade into holes that are in a forcefield that's around that boss and the mechanics for launching a grenade from your shotgun are horrible because even if you aim the shotgun's grenade launcher targetting thing inside one of the holes that surrounds the boss,the grenades will often miss the hole or you'll get horrible views that stop you from seeing where the targetting system is pointing at.That boss is actually not tough but it's trying to aim with the stupid grenade launcher controls that make the boss battle hard because I'm battling against the controls harder than I'm battling against the boss.It's still a good game though,luckily on the easier difficulties you can pierce that boss's chest armor more easily and kill it off much more easily.
I've purchased Dyansty Warriors 7.I've played Dyansty Warriors 5 and 6 but I stopped playing them because I didn't know how to play those games properly,but after I played Dream Mode in Fist of The North Star Ken's Rage and learned how the Dynasty Warriors sty1e gameplay works and enjoyed Dream mode so much,I really want to play more of that type of gameplay that involves slaughtering huge numbers of enemies and capturing camps and fighting against officers.
I also have some Chinese ancestory and I've watched numrous movies that involve various Chinese dynasties but ashamed to admit I know little about those dynasties or Romance of the Three Kingdoms.I also like Chinese mythology,hence my love for certain games/movies such as Jade Empire,the Myth,Forbidden Kingdom,The sorcerer and the White Snake and I love the legend about the 8 immortals who live on islands in the Bohai sea which Chinese and some Japanese legends say where the elixir of immortality is.
Another game I bought is Sonic Generations.I used to be a big fan of the Sonic series during the SEGA MegaDrive days and I even like some of the later Sonic titles such as Sonic Heroes,Sonic Rush,Sonic Colors etc.From the gameplay footage I've seen of this game,it looks like it has great level design because it uses Sonic's speed very well and I've heard the game is good.
The localized version of FFXIII-2 is going to be released on January 31st in the U.S and even though I don't live in the U.S,other countries will get it a few days later.I can't wait,I'm happy to have heard FFXIII-2 will bring back things that make Final Fantasy be Final Fantasy such as towns and lots of areas that allow exploration and I'm interested in how it's choices system will work and thankfully for me Serah is going to be a party member because she's very pretty and I don't find Lightning attractive or Alyssa pretty.
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2Jan 12
That game is Shadows of the Damned.
It was an entertaining game.What makes it different to many other shooters is that it's gameplay has what's called the 'darkness' where darkness will surround the environment and drain the life of your character and to stop the darkness affect you'll need to shoot goat heads that are often high up on walls or sometimes a distance away and when you're being attacked by lots of enemies it can make the gameplay intense,especially since most enemies cannot be harmed when they're in the darkness.
The game has a sty1e that you'd see from Suda and certain Japanese games,it doesn't take itself too seriously despite being a horror title but the game creeped me out for the first couple of hours because it has some disturbing things happening in it early on.Being somebody who likes a love story in a game,the fact the main character is trying to rescue his girlfriend makes me like the story a bit more.
The game has a creative way for how it's weapons are used and every type of weapon is important/very useful and it prevents weapons from becoming redundant.For example,the game's version of a handgun can also shoot explosives that can stick to enemies and when you shoot the explosives,they'll explode and will kill/damage enemies with it's blast radius.The game's version of the shotgun can lock onto enemies and fire 4 blasts at once and the games version of an automatic weapon can lock onto enemies and fire something similar to missles.
The game has a strong sexual theme too.I actually beat 1/2 of the game near the end of 2011 and the other half of the game in 2012,but it still counts as me beating it in 2012.I will try to platinum it later because it's supposed to have an easy platinum trophy and I have obtained a 67% trophy completion after just one playthrough on easy difficulty.
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31Dec 11
I will get straight to the point.Ever since I created this Gamespot account in 2007,many people have decided to track my blogs but afterwards,they've tried to force their opinions onto me or have trolled my taste in things or talked negatively about me on my blogs.
This year,I've decided if anyone who is tracking me starts doing any these things to me,I will give them one warning to stop doing them and if they continue to do them,I will untrack those people and they won't be able to see my blogs anymore.
If I make a blog about my top 10 list for games /Sci Fi/movies/etc.please don't tell me my list is wrong/tainted,because my list is just my personal opinion,just like yours is.Everybody has their own taste or find certain things more/less appealing than other people,humans are not robots who only look at things in a technical level/calculative manner,humans have personal feelings.I also want to point out an opinion is something that's not a fact.Also,certain people didn't like the fact I prefer Japanese voice acting over Western voice overs for certain games and I told those people I'd rather hear Japanese VA than American,Australian and British accents and I told those people I respect their opinion and we'd have to agree to disagree but those users wouldn't accept my preference and kept trying to push me into agreeing with them by repeating the same statements over and over again as if the person thinks their opinions are facts and did so after I told the person I respect their opinion but we'll have to agree to disagree.
I want people to be able to express their opinions on my blogs,but not in a forceful manner.
I've had people tracking me who can't handle the fact JRPGs are my favorite games and last year on multiple occaions,certain people who were tracking me were low enough to use racism against me/talked negatively about my nationality during game discussions simply because they don't like the fact JRPGs are my favorite games and because I like/dislike certain games more/less than they do.Matastig and Megandia know which users I am talking about.Also,some people decided to track me but then they complained about how I like eroge/hentai or because I find anime girls cute,if this really bothers them they shouldn't track me.Out of the 250+ people who are tracking me,the only person I started tracking before they started tracking me is Chovi3 because he seemed like a nice guy and I was right,but I think many other people should think more carefully if they really wanna track me,because I am who I am.
I'm tired of people trying to force their opinions or me or disrespecting me,so I've decided if anyone does any of these 2 things to me,I will untrack them.
There's certain users whom I'll never untrack,such as Matastig,MeganDia,Kleeyook,Chovi3,MissApocalypse,Turok.You guys are safe.
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On a brighter note,I am kinda glad The Last Guardian's release was delayed until this year,because I'd rather it's development not be rushed and so they can polish it up a bit more and also because many highly anticipated games came out towards the end of last year and it might have been overshadowed by certain highly hyped/mainstream titles and it would be better for people to play it when they're not distracted by those mainstream titles.
On a personal note,it's good Namco is bringing us localized versions of Tales of Graces,Tales of Xillia and Ni no Kuni.The Tales series is great and Ni no Kuni looks like a charming and traditional sty1e JRPG which is something this gen has lacked.
FFXIII was IMO a great game but I can understand why many people didn't like it.FFXIII-2 is supposed to have a darker feel and more giant bosses and FFXIII's battle system allowed for some epic boss battles and I hope FFXIII-2 has more of the same.I am glad Serah is a party member in FFXIII-2 because she's very pretty and to be honest,I think the female characters for the later FF games haven't been as cute or pretty since the PS1/PS2 FF games.For example,Aerith and Tifa are very cute/pretty in FFVII,so are Riona and Selphie in FFVIII and Garnet in FFIX and Yuna and Rikku in FFX.But I didn't care much for the female characters in FFXII(but FFXII's story is supposed to have a darker feel anyways so fair enough),but as far as FFXIII goes,I found Vanille to be weird-looking,even though she has a cute personality,Fang is very butch and I don't find Lightning attractive(even though other guys do).To be honest,it was the love story between Snow and Serah that kept me interested in FFXIII's story,because I liked Snow's determination to be with Serah and to save her and Serah is very pretty but she wasn't present in the game much.I've heard FFXIII-2 will have more exploration,towns,more choices etc. which will help it feel more like a true FF game.
Xenoblade Chronicles is being released in North America this year,and it brings the great elements that JRPGs are known for,such as creative setting(mixture of fantasy and Sci Fi)emotional story,romance as well as sandbox gameplay in a huge world which is what numerous WRPGs are famous for giving.So North American RPG fans who own a Wii but haven't had much a reason to play their Wii in a while will soon have a killer exclusive that's regarded by many as one of the best RPGs in the last decade.
FF Type O is getting localized and it looks awesome,so PSP owners who love JRPGs get another gem of a JRPG.
The Last Story is a great looking JRPG,written by the creator of Final Fantasy and Lost Odyssey and it's a Wii exclusive.
Dragon's Dogma is a JRPG that has some interesting ideas in regards to it's NPCs.
So yeah,2012 looks like a great year for JRPG fans because it will have a nice mix of c1assical JRPGameplay as well as innovation.
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The Last of Us looks awesome,NaughtyDog know how to make great gameplay mechanics and I like how it's a new IP with survival horror elements.
The PS Vita is already out in certain parts of Asia and in February it will be released in western countries and will be able to enjoy the next gen of SONY handheld consoles.Uncharted Golden Abyss is already released in Japan and is getting released in the west in February.It's actually a prequel to the first Uncharted game.
The Wii U is supposed to be released in the second-half of 2012,and will be the first next gen home console.
Asura's Wrath is coming out in February and it will have Asian mythology and Sci Fi.
As usual I am in the minority because I like Dante's new look in DmC: Devil May Cry.I like things to chance or for developers to try new things once in a while,and even if you don't like Dante's new look,just enjoy the game and if Capcom realize people prefer Dante's old look,then they can change his appearance to how it was before.I think people should play the game before they judge it and many people are acting as if the game is ruined simply because Dante has an emo look.I like how at least Japanese developers have the balls to try new things and don't just do the same sh*t over and over again like western developers do.This is why IMO Japanese developers will always be better than western developers.
Journey is coming out too,and it looks unique and is being developed by the developers of Flower(another spiritual and unique PS3 title).
Kid Icarus Uprising is another title I find interesting because it's the first Kid Icarus game to be released since the early 1990's and the first KI game was a cult c1assic on the NES and many people liked it's sequel that was released on the Gameboy.Too bad I don't have a 3DS yet.
I know there's other great looking titles coming out in 2012,but these are the ones I find the most appealing.
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My main personal goal of 2012 is to gain Thai citizenship.The only problem is I am at the mercy of my mother who is a Thai citizen because she needs to get some documents/Thai ID card in Thailand to prove she is a Thai citizen in order for me to get Thai citizenship and she's the only person who can get these documents or a personal Thai ID card for herself and she could easily get them if she wanted to and I kid you not,I offered her 5000$ to do it plus I offered to pay for her airfare and hotel because once she does this,I could get Thai citizenship easily because I would have proof I have a Thai born mother(The Thai embassy told me this themselves)and I've saved up enough money from working in Australia to buy 2 or 3 nice houses in Thailand,but my mother is very reluctant to do this for me because she disassociates herself with Thailand,and she visits Thailand a lot because her boyfriend loves Thailand but she still doesn't want to do this for me because she said she hates Thailand and she said she doesn't want to be looked at as a Thai person and I've had to beg her to convince her to do this for me and I even kept flaunting the fact I'll give her 5000$ to do a job that's very,very easy.Also,my father wants to retire in Thailand and he is married to a Thai lady and he wants to live there with her,and I am closer with my father than my mother,so that's another reason I wanna live in Thailand.I guess since I'm at the mercy of my mother,my goal is more of a dream for now
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Tonight I'm gonna watch Ponyo and I'll give my opinions about it later,it's an animated move,directed by master Hayao Miyzaki and it's received a lot of good reviews and awards and I love it's artsty1e,it kinda reminds me of Ni no Kuni.
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24Dec 11
Biggest surprises of 2011 from gaming world
Launchpad winning greatest sidekick award
You'd have to be psychic to predict he would win it since I doubt anybody would have even guessed he would have won it.How many people have even played the game/s he's been in? I liked Launchpad as a character in Duck Tales,but is he really a better video game sidekick than the likes of Luigi,Tails,Sully,Emil,Agro,Sheva,Diddy Kong?
Xenoblade Chronicles
Who would have guessed that a Wii exclusive that's not a Mario or Zelda game would be regarded by many as the best RPG of the decade,and who would have guessed this particular RPG would be a JRPG that's sandbox and would have such a huge(and beautiful)world and who would have guessed it was going to be released this year?
Zelda Skyward's score of 7.5 on Gamespot
I never though I'd see the day when a main series Zelda game scores below an 8.0 from a major critic source.
Crysis coming to PS3/XBox360.
Before it happened,many people said the PS3/XBox360 couldn't handle Crysis or Crysis would look watered-down on a PS3/Xbox360,but the PS3/Xbox360 versions of Crysis look similar to the the PC version and have realistic visuals and even though the PS3/Xbox360 versions don't look quite as good as the PC version,they still are amongst the most realistic-looking console games ever made.
Biggest disappointments of 2011
FF vs XIII still not released,no release date given and not much information given about it.
No localication for PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia(I know it will probably never happen,but Namco Bandai announced localization for Tales of Graces and Tales of Xillia).
Xenoblade chronicles not being released in North America.I don't live in North America,but it sucks they miss out on what many people say is the best RPG of the decade(although they'll get it next year).
3DS being region locked(which means PAL region people such as myself could potentially miss out on some great JRPGs that don't come to PAL region and everyone without a Japanese 3DS will miss out on great Japanese 3DS games that don't get released for other regions.
Good games from 2011 that most people won't play
Yakuza 4
Hardly anyone talks about it and Yakuza 1 and 2 didn't sell well in the West which meant Yakuza 3's localization looked doubtful at one time,so we're very forunate to have what's IMO the best game of 2011 being localized but many people don't know or care.
Ar Tonelico Qoga
I know lots of PS3 owners who are JRPG fans but very few of them have bought this game.It's localization was looking doubtful due to the fact there was concerns about how well it would sell in the west.Gamespot didn't even review this game.
Clannad(PS3 version)and Ever17 remake due to lack of localization.
Atelier Totori
It's a fun JRPG and it has an interesting way of how the player does quests to progress the story(that involves time management).It's funny at times,as well as emotional,has hints of romance and some naughty and perverted moments with the swimsuit contest and it's world has charming towns and is colorful.Gamespot didn't even review this game.
Child of Eden
It'S visuals are a breath taking mix of cinematography,artsty1e and vibrant colors.It has creative gameplay ideas for a rail shooter.It's a very short but very cheap game.
Opinions of games from past years I've played in 2011
Zelda wind waker
I loved sailing across it's oceans because it was relaxing and it felt like quite an adventure to search for islands/land which are rare in it's flooded world and I liked searching for treasure on the sea flood.It's artsty1e is lovely,it's controls are tight.
Enslaved Odyssey
Beautiful realistic visuals using the unreal engine 3 and it's version of a post apocalyptic world that's filled with vegetation covering cities is a nice change.It's gameplay has fun beat em up sty1e combat as well as 3rd person shooter and cover mechanics and it's ending is very philisophical and incredible.
Nier
One of the most memorable games I've ever played.It's story is very emotional and has some big surprises and it's story has some of the most heartfelt and emotional moments I've experienced playing video games,including sacrifises people make,sad love stories,what a father would go through to save his daughter,his daughter feeling guilty her illness makes her father go on dangerous journeys to save her.It's dreary world is quite something and it's music is beautiful(many people even downloaded Nier's soundtrack)and it's combat has a nice mix of hack n slash and shooting mechanics.
Muramasa The Demon Blade
A gem for the Wii that not many people know about since most Gamespot members say the Wii has no good games except for Zelda and Mario.It's a fun 2D RPG with fun combat and a great use of Japanese mythology and has a lovely artsty1e.
Ar Tonelico 2
Very cute,funny and perverted and it has dating sim elements and an interesting setting being set high above the world.
Persona 3 FES
Persona 3 is one of the best RPGs I've ever played and the P3 FES package that includes the after story named ''the answer'' makes it's story even more heartfelt.It's characters feel like real people and the game has a dark and diabolical feel to it's story and it has dating sims and it's social link system is great because spending time with certain characters and doing everyday activities with them makes your Personas and certain characters stronger.
SMT Nocturne
Another SMT JRPG with a diabolic feel,it's apocalyptic scenario is very well done,and it's atmosphere and music are incredible.I like how after you can convince enemies to join your party and you can take advantage of their abilities or use them to provide more numbers for your party during battle.
FFVII Crisis Core
Do I dare say I like FFVII Crisis Core more than the original FFVII? Yes I do,it actually has my favorite battle system for any RPG(I like how it's real time and allows you to spam magic very quickly but enemies can attack you quickly and how it's fast-paced)and it's story is very emotional,it has romance and it's ending is so heart breaking I felt a pain in my chest after I saw it's ending.
Valkyria Chronicles 2
It takes the Valkyria Chronicles sty1e of strategy RPGameplay to a new level,by making battles take place on multiple maps and by making it so capturing camps gains you control of 2 camps(the one you captured plus another camp on another region on the map)and it makes it's strategy more intricate than ever.It's story has a more lighthearted feel than the original VC.
Ratchet and Clank Quest for Booty
It was a fun game but very short.
Borderlands
Borderlands started off fun but became repetitive and boring due to it's boring story.
Kingdom of Paradise
A wonderful JRPG experience for PSP,influenced by Chinese culture,it has stunning scenery including beautfiul views of the landscapes and beautiful waterfalls and nice traditional sty1e villages and Shinbu's body movements look natural during it's real time battle system and it's chi magic system is interesting.
Skies of Arcadia
A good traditional sty1e JRPG with turn based battles and it has towns you can visit but those towns float in the skies.I haven't had a chance to play much of this game,but it's been fun so far.
Medal of Honor(2010 version)
I found it boring and I had to force myself to beat it even though it takes something like only 6 hours to beat.It's story is dull too.
Fist of the North Star Ken's Rage
It's a fun beat em up sty1e action adventure game with a very martial arts sty1e feel and it's characters have good diverse fighting sty1es that are fun to use and you can beat up/kill lots and lots of enemies during missions.It follows the story of the manga/anime and a dream mode that plays like the Dynasty Warrior games where you can try to capture bases and eliminate enemy officers to increase the numbers of your army and to increase the stats of your units.
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
It was surprisingly good considering I haven't liked any of the Mortal Kombat games since Ultimate Mortal Kombad 3.It uses the abilities of the DC characters very well and in a creative way.For example,Superman can freeze opponents and land a free hit on them(just like Sub Zero can)and Batman can use smoke and then perform a leap attack on his opponent immediately after from above.
Snow Sakura
It's a visual novel with a beautiful artsty1e,it's music is very beautiful and it's very funny,it's eroge,it has love triangles,friendships that will be tested,romance that will be tested and I love it's setting in a snowy,little town in Japan.
Crescendo
A visual novel that's quite a heartfelt experience,being set when highschool students are nearing time to graduate and it's a time of mixed emotion as students are happy there's no more school(at least for a while)but they know they won't see many of their fellow students ever again or not very much anymore and you play as a character whom may never see some of his fellow female students ever again but he still has a chance to create romance with them or he can create romance with a girl who he's had feelings for for a long time but she's dating his friend.The game is eroge.
Do you like Horny Bunnies
It's a visual novel,and it's eroge but it's very funny.
Favorite characters of games from past years.
Zach
Zack from FFVII CC.I like how he has a romantic side with his strong side and he tried to help Aeirth sell flowers and tried to make her happy and tried to be with her when he could and...
SPOILER
In his last moments alive,he tried to do what he could to see Aerith one last time
END OF SPOILER
Aerith
She's so gentle and caring and beautiful and she tries to make money selling flowers and she tries to keep her spirits up and raise other people's spirits in a city that's polluted and in a world that's dying.
Yukari
I like Yukari,she is from Persona 3 and she reacts to things in a funny way and I like how she has a bit of a short temper and she's pretty.
Junpei
He is from Persona 3 and he made me laugh a lot because he tries to act confident but he's really a scardy cat because he admitted hiding and crying when dark hour begun and I like how he tries to get answers from your character for school work during c1ass.
Kaine
She's an attractive but foul-mouthed,silver-haired woman character who's skilled with bladed weapons and is athletic and she has boarish manners but it's funny to watch because she will use insults on anyone,whether they're enemies,her own party members or even at royalties.She's caring deep down but doesn't show it and she hardly wears any clothing and has a slim figure with a big ass.
EmilHe's a sweet little boy who had to deal with having to be blindfolded because his eyes would petrify anyone he sees and later he turns into a freak
SPOILER BELOW
He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifise to save the party members,even though he's just a kid
END OF SPOILERS
Grimoire Weiss
Is a talking book which can be used for magical attacks and Grimoire Weiss even has a personality and often gets into arguments with Kaine because he doesn't like her bad attitude and it's funny to listen to them argue and insult eachother.
Nier(character)
Like any good father,he is willing to go on dangerous journeys in an attempt to save his daughter from a terminal illness she has(he is searching for a cure to the virus she has and it means he needs to go on dangerous journeys in areas filled with many dangerous creatures who try to kill him.
Luna
I like Luna from Ar Tonelico 2 because she's cute and innocent.
Yen Lan
She is from Kingdom of Paradise.Even though she's a protagonist,she has good reasons for doing what she does.She's sexy and what's not to love about a hot Asian lady who's badass and good at fighting?
That's it for my personal game awards for 2011.
My favorite songs of 2011 are Right now by PSY and Ugly from 2NE1.They're Korean groups/artists.
My favorite movie of 2011 is In Time.
Okay,that concludes my personal GoTY awards,merry Christmas and happy new year everyone.
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23Dec 11
It will probably be the last game I beat this year.What I mean by 'beat' is I did every story route,which can make the story branch a LOT.I also did other things you can do such as finding all the lights(which will stop a certain character from dying)and pranks(which don't affect the story route,but they create mini outcomes)as well as creating baseball results and a massive combo on a character and doing these earns trophies.The PS3 version is only available in Japanese and since I can't read Japanese the game revolves around reading text and making decisions,earning Clannad's plat is not a bad achievement I guess.I used a roadmap to help me get the plat.I also found a guide which translated some of the dialogue.The game's artwork is still beautiful and breath taking,even if it's dated and the game's music gives an emotional feel and obviously,the visual novel for Clannad is based on the story for the anime(but the visual novel came out before the anime)so it has the emotional story moments from the anime,plus spiritual and funny moments and romance.You can make Tomoya create romance and finish the story arc being the boyfriend of one of at least 5 girls in the story,but as you probably guessed,Nagisa is the girl he's supposed to be with(which happens in the true ending/after story).It's a shame most gamers outside of Japan will never get to play this game.
I don't think this image is from the visual novel,but I like it because it's cute.
I mentioned on a blog from about a week ago that I was 2 trophies from getting Fist of the North Star Ken' Rage's plat,well I got it's plat.My copy of Shadows of the Damned should be arriving soon,it looks fun and it has st1ye and it supposively has an easy plat too.
Another great game that's a visual novel that most non-Japanese people will never get to play is 428: Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de.It's only the 9th game to receive a perfect score from Famitsu since the magazine's inception in 1986.It's story is about how major event that could jolt the world has been triggered in the streets of Shibuya.Five main characters have 10 hours to come together and solve the mystery behind what originally seemed like an ordinary ransom kidnap case.It looks awesome and I like how it uses both real-world and a more mature anime sty1le.Unfortutunately,I'm not going to bother trying to play this game until I can find a roadmap for it.Here's a trailer of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NLEW76ohSU
Don't get me started about Ever 17 not being localized for consoles and it's remake being an Xbox360 exclusive. -
20Dec 11
I couldn't fit all of my personal game awards of 2011 blog into 2 blogs,so I'll post part 3 in a day or two.
Favorite Puzzle game
Catherine
The main reason Catherine is my favorite puzzle game of 2011 is because of it's story and characters.From a gameplay perspective,it's sty1e of puzzle gameplay is very creative and challenging.You'll need to think ahead,you cannot make mistakes or you can't make many mistakes.You get to decide how the story turns out and when Vincent sits with his friends in the bar and talks to them and other people,it's relaxing and it feels like it rewards you for making it through a tough series of puzzles,plus the people in the bar talk about interesting stuff related to real life.And what guy wouldn't want to play a game where they get seduced by Catherine?
Favorite artsty1e
Child of Eden
Some of it's environments have a beautiful artistic design,such as the under-water levels that have virus's that look like beautiful,glowing lifeforms swimming around and the nature filled level looks amazing.The way bright colors combine with the darkness of space in this game is amazing too.I also like how the game uses the pretty female actress with wonderful CGI effects.
Honorable mention for artsty1e
Xenoblade Chronicles
It has a world that's colorful and has beautiful scenery/landscapes.It's buildings and structures have a beautiful architecture to them.I like the way the tall grass looks when you walk through grassy areas and I love the beautiful blue waterfalls that pour into lakes and the way the terrain has realistic slopes and and use of high/low land formations.I like it how the day uses a day cycle and you'll sea beautiful sunsets in the background.The game has some cute/well proportioned female characters and the game has Sci Fi sty1e objects/machines for a nice mixture of fantasy/Sci Fi.
Honorable mention for artsty1e
Catherine
It's character designs and cel-shaded sty1e visuals give the game a nice mature feel.And Catherine's hairsty1e is so cute and she's very cute/pretty and well proportioned and I like the seductive and naughty look in her eyes/facial expressions she gives.
Honorable mention for artsty1e
El Shaddai
El Shaddai's artsty1e is gorgeous in an abstract kind of way.
Honorale mention for artsty1e
Rayman Origins
It has a beautiful and rich hand drawn sty1e to it's levels and I love the scenery such as the tropical levels and the hot-looking boiler room levels and the communites built over the sea etc.
Honorable mention for artsty1e
Dark Souls
Part of what makes Dark Souls a great experience is it's dark and morbid atmosphere,which comes from it's artsty1e which focuses on making it's visuals look realistic but set in a place that's dark and evil and the monsters in the game are horrifying.
Favorite technical graphics
Dark Souls
It's graphics look realistic,and I like the game's unwelcoming,morbid atmosphere an how the objects in the game have a grainy effect that suit the game's evil world.The animation is very smooth.Part of the reason some of the creatures in the game are horrifying is because they look real.
Honorable mention for technical graphics
The Witcher 2
It's graphics look realistic and it's one of the few WRPGs that has an artsty1e that I like.
Honorable mention for technical graphics
Uncharted 3
Honorable mention for technical graphics
Uncharted 3
Not only do the graphics for the Uncharted games look real,they have a nice artsty1e to them.
Honorable mention for technical graphics
Crysis 2
It's graphics look realistic,nuff said.
Honorable mention for technical graphics
Child of Eden
It has some stunning CGI scenes and the way the way the color effects are used for this game are a great technical accomplishment and I like the way a real girl actress is used to represent Lumi and the way she dances and sings makes her look full of spirit and it combines beautifully with the CGI.
Best cinematrography
Child of Eden
It's opening is amazing and shows realistic footage of beautiful grassy areas with flowers and uses drop of water effects and hair being delicately blowin by the wind and bubble effects and beautiful ripple effects in water which reminds me of the beautiful cinematography I've seen in many Asian movies.
It's visuals do a magnificient job of mixing realism and art together.The way realistic images are used with colorful CGI effects.Lumi's dancing and her smile and her beauty combined with stunning CGI is breath taking.
Cinematography Honorable mention
Yakuza 4
When Akiyama and Lily are in front of the water where the building's lights shine on it,it looks so beautiful and romantic and is the right place for two people to share a kiss(I can't remember if that was the place they kissed).
Favorite Atmosphere
Deus Ex Human Revolution
I love the dark,neon-lit city atmosphere's in Deus EX HR,it kinda reminds me of Blade Runner.I love how when you look up in the sky you'll see lots of flying vehicles and I like the atmosphere in Shang Hai with the lit up Asian sty1e signs.I like it how whether you're in the North American cities or in Asia you'll see homeless people trying to stay warm near fires and street gangs and prostitutes in many places.The nightclubs have a great red-light district sty1e atmosphere too.
Honorable mention for atmosphere
Mass Effect 2(PS3 version)
Some of it's alien cities have amazing architecture and skies filled with flying vehicles and an abundance of alien races and multicultural atmosphere and different colored skies to what we'd see on Earth and it looks amazing.Some of the planets have a hostile looking atmosphere or have storms etc.Some of the planets have red-light sty1e places to give the game a mature theme.
Honorable mention for atmosphere
Batman Arkham City
It's atmosphere has a dark feel that makes it city look gothic? (if you can call it that)and it looks awesome.
Honorable mention for atmosphere
Yakuza 4
Kamurocho looks amazing when it's lit up at night time(it makes me feel like I'm actually in Tokyo at night)and the subway adds to the authenticity and so do the red-light districts.
Favorite music from 2011 games
Child of Eden
It's music has a wonderful spriritual and new age feel.The story for the game involves trying to save the memories of a girl who was part of a band and her virtual band even have their own music and I like listening to their music because of it's spiritual feel that blends beautiful with electronic.
Yakuza 4
Yakuza 4 has some new awesome music that's used for it's installation screen and during gameplay segments and I can enjoy listening to that music for a few minutes without getting bored and the music makes it's epic and brutal gang battles more exciting.
Deus Ex Human Revolution
It's music has a relaxing,ambient feel that's purposely depressing and suits it's dystopian world perfectly.I like it's music so much I've even listened to it on youtube.
Catherine
The music at the bar is relaxing and provides a nice,calm atmosphere when Vincent is talking to his friends about problems most of us can relate to at the bar.
Funniest game of 2011
Ar Tonelico Qoga
It's very funny at times,even if it's humor is often sexual or naughty.
SPOILER
I still laugh when I think about how Aoto said to Saki ''you haven't been wearing much clothes lately,are you hot or something? and Saki told him ''I had to sell most of my clothes because I needed the money to pay rent''.
END OF SPOILER.
Other funny video game moments in 2011
Yakuza 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_9Yd9Y8kbo
The women's underwear thief in Yakuza 4 who causes women to scream when they see him and he looks so ridiculous it's funny.
Atelier Totori
When the female characters argue,it's so funny.
Favorite characters of 2011
Akiyama
He's got a cool,calm personality and even in deadly situations where he confronts gang members,he'll still act charming and as if he's not afraid and it lightens up what usually is a tense story.He once was homeless but received a bit of money that fell from a building and used the money to start businesses and made good investments and became rich(he even runs a hostess bar)and he is a good fighter and even though he runs a loan company,he gives money to people who he knows most likely won't pay him back because he wants to help them.
Tanimura
I like him because even though he somewhat abuses or neglects his job as a policemen,he financed an orphanage for children throughout Asia and he's trying to find out why his father(who was a cop) was killed and it ends up being a deep and complex story.Tanimura is also half Thai(just like me)so that's another reason I like him.
Lily
Liliy is trying to save her brother who's in prison and on death row and will do whatever it takes to rescue him,even if it involves murder,trickery etc.She is very beautiful despite her age(I think she's in her 40's).She even works as a hostess and has to deal with sleezy men in order to get enough money to rescue her brother.
Saki
She's very cute and funny and innocent and she cares a lot about children and wants to make them happy and she will sacrifise herself to save the world if needed.
Jensen
He's a soft-spoken tough guy and he has great biotic abilities and he is somewhat driven by his feelings for his ex girlfriend.
Vincent
I like Vincent because he's your average guy,he's not a hero,he's just a guy who wants to be able to hang out at a bar with his friends after work and he's not sure if he's ready to get married and ends up in a relationship with another woman who's not his fiancee and he has to think very fast on the spot to prevent both women from finding out about eachother.
Catherine
She's cute(in apperance and personality)and she's got a well proportioned body and isn't afraid to flaunt certain body parts at Vincent and she's got an interesting perspective on life and you aren't sure whether you can trust her or not because she seems somewhat crazy.
My game of year
Yakuza 4
It's my favorite game for all the reasons I've mentioned above,and like Matastig said,Yakuza 4 is more than just a game,it's art.
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17Dec 11
Grrrrrrrr,Gamespot won't let me put my entire personal GoTY awards into one blog,so I will have to split it up into 2 parts.
Favorite story
Yakuza 4
Yakuza 4's story really drew me in and I love it's story for various reasons.One reason is that it inspired me,because a man went from living on the street to being a wealthy and successful businessmen with a bit of luck(actually he was very lucky because he captured money that fell from a building)but it was how he used the money that allowed him to become rich.I like how the game shows the story for each of the 4 main playable characters,but the 4 stories join together to create an epic story.Even a non-playable character named Lily was a very inspirational character and her story connects to the story of the main playable characters.The story has a bit of romance and the story will surprise you and will teach you not to judge someone until you understand all the facts of their situation.The story uses police corruption and gang rivalry in a creative way and the story can be suspenseful and emotionally driven because the corrupt police will harm/kill innocent people(including innocent people who are close to certain main characters)as a way of trying to deter certain characters from getting in their way and there's a lot of deep story elements in relation to the different clans(gangs).The story has big plot twists and surprises and it can be heartbreaking at times.The story can lighten up the mood a bit too by showing a women's underwear thief who likes to break into women's apartments and steal their underwear and the woman scream when they see him and it's funny.
Honorable mention for story
Clannad(PS3)
Clannad's story is very heartfelt because it shows the story of 2 characters(one of them is a guy named Tomoya and one is a girl named Nagisa)and the story starts off when they're both in highschool and they have their own problems(problems which many of us can relate to)and they help eachother.Other characters who have a diverse array of personalities/traits come into the story and their story arcs are shown too.Clannad has romance,funny moments and serious moments and it's story carries over to 10 years after Tomoya and Nagisa have gratuated highschool and it has a very emotional ending.The Clannad visual novel allows you to make story decisions and to prevent certain heartbreaking events from happening.
Honorable mention for story
Catherine
I like Catherine's story and characters because it's story is unique for video game standards but it uses issues that most real-life people can relate to,such as whether or not married life is suited for certain people and deals with a guy in his 30's who's been with his girlfriend for 5 years and she wants them to get married but he doesn't know if he wants to.The guy named Vincent hangs out at a bar with his friends afterwork almost everynight and his friends have interesting views/opinions to share on what they think about marriage or how Vincent should handle the situation.The story also involve things such as the concept of cheating because Vincent ends up in bed with another woman and somehow ends up in a relatonship with that woman too,and that woman is very different to his girlfriend because she doesn't believe in the concept of marriage and doesn't want to be tied down,but that woman seems a bit crazy because she said Vincent still cannot cheat on her or she will kill him or she will kill herself and she has a bit of a crazy look on her fact(although she's a very beautiful and well proportioned woman).In the story,men who cheat or who treat their women bad end up in a weird place after they fall asleep and they need to climb over a giant tower full of dangerous obsticles and they can die in the dream and Vincent ends up becoming one of those men,and strangely these dreams didn't occur until the new woman(named Catherine)showed up.I like how the story uses suspense such as Vincent trying to keep both woman a secret from eachother and the story lets you decide who you want Vincent to end up being with(if anyone at all)and it uses seduction in a very stimulating way.
Favorite action/adventure game
Yakuza 4
Yakuza 4's combat feels more fluid than Yakuza 3's and it can be quite technical and you'll use 4 characters who have diverse fighting sty1es(one of them is a specialist with kicks,another uses power in his attacks,another is good with holding attacks and counter attacks and Kazuma is like an all-rounded fighter.The game's world has fun sandbox elements because there's many stores and areas you can visit and buy things from and what makes it more fun is it's in Japan so many of the stores have charm such as colorful/cute signs and sell Japanese food or Asianized versions of western food or you can buy clothes and jewerly for a hostess(you can dress her up in them when you're running a hostess bar or buy them for her as gifts).You can visit the hostess bars and talk with the hostesses and you can make them like you by selecting certain things to say to them(or you can make them like you less by selecting saying certain things they don't like)and if you make them like you enough,they'll go on a date with you or sleep with you.The hostesses have their own unqiue personalities.You can even run your own hostess bar.You can play lots of mini games(golf,darts,bowling,table tennis etc.)the table tennis game is especially fun because you hit scoring shots by starting at your female opponents chest and increasing the power guage and as you get closer to defeating her,her breasts will start to pop out of her robe and it's funny and the way she acts when you'rep laying against her is cute.There's sidequests you can do and you can play machines at the arcades,you can gamble,you can try food at different restaurants(it's interesting seeing what different places sell)you can fight in an underground fighting arena and try to become champion.I also like how you can pick up environmental objects and use them as weapons,you can use guns and swords and you can smack enemies over the head with a metal suitcase and it's brutal but it feels satisfying
Honorable mention for action/adventure
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Deus Ex HR deserves a mention because it's gameplay allows you to choose between combat and stealth and it's world has a lot to explore(I disagree with Gamespot's reviewer saying it's environments are small because I spent lots of time just exploring areas and when you're inside buildings,there's many rooms to explore)and I like how you can travel to different places in the world,such as Shanghai and seeing a nice Asian flavor to the polluted,dystopian world,or to western cities and seeing how dystopian-like they are and have things such as homeless people,prostitutes,criminals.You can interact with NPCs in a sandbox sty1e of way(you can knock people out or kill them and steal their belongings or do sidequests for them(some of the sidequests have emotional story elements).I like how the combat system uses cover shooting,stealth kills or trying to find areas you can sneak into air events or other passages to avoid enemies and you can hack into computers to allow you to sneak into certain areas.
Favorite RPG
Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade chronicles is an amazing game.Imagine a JRPG that is sandbox/MMORPG sty1e.In Xenoblade Chronicles,you can spend many hours exploring it's huge and beautiful world and it's world looks unique,it's buildings have beautiful architecture and it's world is a blend of Sci Fi and fantasy(it's not a typical medieval or Sci Fi setting like many WRPGs are).I like how you'll see wild animals on the lush grassy plains(they don't appear out of nowhere like in Bethesda RPGs)and I love the waterfalls and how the landscape looks.It has many sidequests that can take tens of hours to complete and it's combat system makes you think about buffing and weakening enemies besides just attacking them.It's story is emotional and has romance too.It mixes Japanese sty1e charm with the sandbox sty1e exploration that many western games receive a lot of praise for.
Honorable mention for RPG
Ar Tonelico Qoga
I had to think about whether Xenoblade or Ar Tonelico Qoga was my favorite RPG of 2011 because I liked Ar Tonelico Qoga a lot too and believe me when I said it was a tough choice.Ar Tonelico Qoga is very funny and charming with it's sexual jokes,it has romance,different endings(true,normal and bad) and different romance possibilities.It's a game that actually made me laugh out loud because it's so funny.It's battle system is very good,it still makes you protect the Reyvateils but the battles are in real-time and are on 3D environments and enemies will rush at the reyvateils in real-time and you'll need to block them and eliminate them or chase them if they get past while your reyvateils charge up their powerful spells.I like the battle systems for the Ar Tonelico games because they have a good concept of teamwork,because the vanguards are very important because they protect the reyveteils and the reyveteils are very important because they'll dish out the most amount of damage to enemies by far.Also,the fact the female characters lose a layer of clothing everytime they charge up their magic to the next level is funny and I like the concept of songs being used for magic.It's artsty1e is very colorful and smooth looking too and the cutscenes and battlescenes use 3D character models which is a nice upgrade from the previous Ar Tonelico games.
Favorite Shooter
Child of Eden
Child of Eden was a very spiritual and amazing journey,set far in the future,you'll go into a program that contains the memories of the first girl born in space and you'll need to rid a virus.The game is a rail shooter that rewards the player(I'm not sure if it's by awarding more points or doing more damage to enemies)if they release the lock on at certain points in the game's music.The game has interesting weapon designs,one of them is a rapid fire weapon that's needed for destroying enemy projectiles before they can reach you and it can damage enemies too and is needed to remove certain obsticles.The lock-on weapon allows you to hold the lock-on button and you can drag the target over enemies and lock onto numerous targets and inflict a lot of damage to them simutaneously or you can rapidly press the lock-on to do lots of damage quickly.The Eurasian girl who's memories the story is based on is very pretty and the game has some stunning and breath taking environments and visual effects.The music and sound effects are amazing,a mixture of electronic and music that sounds like new age music(if you can call it that)it gives the game a spiritual feel.
Honorable mention for shooter
Shadows of the Damned
It's got unique gameplay mechanics with the darkness system that means you have to shoot/find goat's heads in the environments or areas with light while you're battling against enemies to prevent the darkness from draining your health.The game is quite dark and disturbing but funny and sty1ish at the same time.
Favorite Platformer
Super Mario 3D Land
Super Mario games are the best platformers around.For some reason,they always have great level and gameplay design and are just fun to play.The level designs in Super Mario 3D Land are very fun and takes Super Mario's gameplay back to it's 2D roots with charming 3D environments.I didn't get to play this game very much(I played it at a store)but it was a very fun experience.
Honorable mention for platformer
Sonic Generations
To be honest,there was a time the Sonic games were my favorite platformers and I still prefer Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Genesis more than any Mario game.Sonic Generations does a good job mixing the old sty1e fast 2D gameplay with great level designs with great 3D gameplay too.It's controls are much better than the unresponsive controls that Sonic Colors has.When you have Sonic's fast sty1e of gameplay and great level designs for it,you have a great platforming game.
Honorable mention for platformer
Rayman Origins
It will not be fair to do a list of great platformers of 2011 without Rayman Origins.It's gameplay is designed to have a flowing feel and it mixes platforming up with swimming and shoot em up sections and it's designed to be challenging but it has tight controls and is generous with check points so you don't have to repeat levels over again.It's artsty1e is rich and gorgeous too.
Favorite Fighting Game
Final Fantasy Duodecim
I don't play fighting games much anymore,but FF Duodecim is the only fighting game of 2011 that I wanted to play because it has the best single player experience and it has RPG elements and beautiful environments and beautiful FF theme scores.It's fast-paced and it has awesome 3D fighting arenas that are environments from the FF universe and the fighting is quite spectacular as the combatants can jump very high in the air and fight on multiple floor levels in the environments.
Favorite visual novel
Clannad(PS3 version)
Yes,I know it was first released in 2004,but I don't really have much other options since many great visual novels don't get localized(including Clannad).
Honorable mention for visual novel
Ever 17(Xbox 360 remake)
It's 3D character models give it a fresh feel.Ever 17 is easily one of the best visual novels ever made,set in an under-water theme park where an accident causes a group of characters to be trapped inside there and they'll need to try to find a way out because the theme park is becoming flooded and crushed by water pressure and to make matters worse,a deadly virus breakout has occured in the theme park and the characters will learn about eachother and you can form unique relationships with the characters in the theme park.
Favorite Virtual Drama
Clannad
Honorable mention for Virtual drama
Ever 17 Remake
Honorable mention for Virtual drama
Catherine
Please Note:I don't have a favorite racing or sports game from 2011.
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16Dec 11
I need only 2 more trophies to earn the platinum trophy for Fist of The North Star.They're both easy trophies and all I need to do to earn them is kill 5000 enemies using a certain attack.A while ago I said my copy of Moero Downhill Night had an invalid activation code and I sent an email to the publisher of the game and asked could they fix the problem.Well,I got a response from the publisher and they asked me to email a photo of my game box and a copy of the manual and activation code to prove it's not a pirate and I did so and they sent me a new activation code that works.I didn't play the game much though because I'm still trying to plat Fist of the North Star.
To email the publisher,I had to sign up with J-List,who are a company that was started by an American expat who lives in Japan and his company translates many eroge titles,such as Moero Downhill Night and other titles which some I have bought)and they sell lots of otaku goods from Japan such as eroge,Japanese pornography,anime,manga,toys,clothing accessories,food,magazines etc. and they sell them online of course.
Here are some examples.
One Piece food products
Pokemon Bento Box
Remote controlled Tiger cat ears for cosplay.
Sushi Candy
Long sleeve shirt
They have other things I want to show,but I won't because I don't wanna get modded
They also have items in stock which are rare or are a lot more expensive on eBay/Amazon.
Either the guy who owns the company or some of his staff send news letters about what new anime and other things have been released in Japan and special deals they have for their goods that are on sale and they talk about their experiences in Japan,such as talking about how they find the Japanese people to be the most polite and honest people they have met and it's part of the Japanese culture.
As for my GoTY awards,I've made my selections but I have to edit what I've written and I will post it in a blog in a couple of days.I've been working on that blog little by little for a while now,and it will include my favorite games of certain genres for 2011,such as favorite RPG,favorite action/adventure game etc. as well as my favorite game of 2011 and I will include honorable mentions and I will talk about my favorite games that were released in past years that I played for the first time this year and what I thought about them.I will also show my favorite video game characters of 2011,and talk about what I think were the biggest surprises and disappointments from the gaming world.Death-Adder is from the famous SEGA hack n slash/beat em up game series known as Golden Axe.I didn't need to look that one up,because I used to love the Golden Axe games when I was a kid.I played Golden Axe the Revenge of Death Adder at the arcades many times and me and my brother beat the Amiga version of Golden Axe together(it was one of the few games I liked to play in multiplayer mode),and I've also played Genesis versions of Golden Axe 2 and 3.
This is a screenshot of Golden Axe The Revenge of Death Adder.I spent too much money playing it at the arcades when I was a kid
Oh yeah,I bought Shadows of the Damned for PS3 from ebay a few days ago.
Ok that's all for now,merry Christmas to those who I won't get a chance to say it to later.
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11Dec 11
I don't care if they have HD graphics or not but I wanna be able to play them without having to buy an older generation console.
Shenmue 1 and 2Jet Set Radio and Jet Grind Radio
Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2
Ecco Defender of the Future(and I'd love them to fix up the camera issues)
Jade Empire(I don't know if Microsoft own any rights to this game)
Persona 3 and 4(I know the VITA is getting P4 and I know the VITA can play PSP games which means people can buy P3 for PSP and play it on VITA,but I want those games to come to PS3 or PS4 incase people dont wanna buy a VITA).
Suikoden III and V
Star Ocean Till the End of Time
Ar Tonelico 1 and 2
Dragon Quest 8
Okami
Otogi 1 and 2
Tales of Legendia and Abyss
The Rurouni Kenshin games that were released for the PS1,PS2,PSP
The Love Hina games that were released for the Dreamcast
All the Macross games
The Ai Yori Aoshi games that were released for PS2 and PC
FFVII Crisis Core
Kingdom of Paradise AKA Key of Heaven
Fatal Frame 1,2,3
I'd like to see FFVII,FFVIII,FFIX rereleased with HD graphics too.
I have just discovered the designer of Jet Set Radio is working on an action/strategy hybrid game named Samurai and Dragons and it has dungeon crawling and city building.It's going to be released for VITA.
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7Dec 11
Many people say Clannad is amongst their favorite anime series because it's story shows the life of characters during their school years and after they graduate school and get married.It has romance,heart break and drama that most of us can relate to.
The Clannad visual novel was released before the anime and I've always wanted to play the visual novel because it allows you to make story decisions and you can even stop a certain heart breaking even from happening.However,the Clannad visual novel has never officially been localized and most likely never will be localized.There is a fan-made English translation patch available for the PC version of Clannad but the a preowned version of the the PC version of the Clannad visual novel is waaaaaaaaaay too expensive.I've bought the PS3 version of it because the game will become rarer over time and the PS3 version has trophies(including an easy platinum if you can read Japanese or follow a road map)and even though the PS3 version of it is quite more expesnvie than PS2 version,I'm assuming the PS3 version will look prettier than the PS2 and PSP versions and my PS2 is on it's last legs.
Even though I can't read Japanese,I'll buy a translator and I'll input the dialogue I see on the screen into the translator and translate it if I have to.I thought about paying 5$ extra and receiving an Clannad drama CD with my game(as a collectable)but I decided not to.My copy is brand new,factory sealed and will be shipped straight from Japan.I might take a photo of my copy of the Clannad visual novel when it arrives and I might take more photos of my game collection later on and show some of the rare games I have.I did that years ago and showed them on my Gamespot blogs.
I've bought Star Ocean second evolution because it's cheap now on eBay and it's basically Star Ocean 2(which is regarded by many as a great JRPG that was originally released on the PS1).The PS1 version of the game is very expensive,but you can buy it cheap if you own a PSP.I think if you're a big fan of JRPGs and you don't own a PSP yet,you owe it to yourself to buy a PSP because the PSP has one of the best JRPG libraries around(IMO,the PSP has a better JRPG library than the PS3 does.SO second evolution looks awesome,it looks old school but I like it's anime cutscenes.
If I am not mistaken,the remake of Ever 17(one of the best visual novels ever made)is going to be Xbox360 exclusive and if that's so,I think that's sad,because the PS3 is much more popular than the Xbox360 in Japan and Japan has more visual novel players than any other country,so if the remake of Ever 17 is exclusive to Xbox360,it will be a waste of a great game.
Here's a link to the opening movie for Ever 17's remake
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/interest/2011-10-17/ever-17-remake-game-opening-movie-posted
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6Dec 11
He was the emporer of the Mongol Empire(which he founded)and the Mongol Empire conquered 1/2 of the known world at the time,including China,Korea,Russia,Eastern Europe,Central Asia,Caucasus region and parts of the middle East.He founded his empire by uniting tribes(he gained control of some tribes after his army conquered those tribes).
When Genghis Khan was a child,he had the name 'Temujin' and he endured many hardships as a child,such as witnessing a lot of violence from battles when the clan his family was from fought against other clans.He also endured poverty and was forced to eat rodents and had to hunt ox or search for wild fruit.His father arranged a marriage for him when Temujin was 9 years old.
Before Temujin was born,his mother(named Hoelun)was married to another man who wasn't Temujin's father and Hoelun was riding home with her husband right after their wedding and Temujin's father(named Yesukhei)kidnapped Hoelun and made her his second wife.
Yesukhei died after he was poisoned by rivals and Hoelun and Yesukhei's second wife and the 7 children Yesukhei had made between his two wives were expelled by the clan.They were forced to survive on searching for roots,rodents and fish.
When Temujin was older,he married the woman his father arranged for him to marry named 'Börte' and they had children together.Börte later got kidnapped and she was forced to marry another man,but Temujin rescued her with the help of friends/allies and she gave birth to another child after Temujin and Borte were reunited,which creates doubts as to who is the real father of the child.
There was also a time/s when Temujin was put into slavery(I'm not sure whether it was before or after he was married).Some sources say it was before,some sources say it was after and some sources say Börte actually rescued Temujin from prison when he was a slave by bribing/threatening the guards.
After Temujin was reunited with Börte,he united/gained control of many tribes and conquered half of the world.Some people say Genghis Khan was an evil person because his armies slaughtered entire populations and his armies slaughtered 40 million people.Other people see him as a revered figure.Genghis Khan's armies conquered a larger area and greater population than the Roman Empire did.
I must admit I find Genghis Khan interesting because he is of Asian origin.I often see people giving the Roman Empire or British Empire or Alexander the Great recognition for conquering much of the world,but I haven't seen Genghis Khan talked about as much.
I have also watched and ordered a movie named 'Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan' which shows some of Genghis Khan's life(starting with his childhood until he finally conquered/united the Mongol tribes,right before he conquered much of the world.The movie has a good love story,epic battles,beautiful cinematography and great philosophical lessons that are taught by what I think is a Buddhist monk.The throat singing in the movie is incredible too.The movie is directed by Sergey Bodrov and was released in 2007.
