bonbolapti

it's just a shame I can't find a better version of it.

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Dragon Age II impressions: Dragon Ager

By bonbolapti 1 Comments

 
There's a lot of things about Dragon Age II that I really want to talk about. Maybe I can't quite pinpoint it exactly or potentially just shouldn't, Because then I'd have to say “spoiler warning” and that's just such a fucking annoying thing to do in this day and age. (Seriously kids, you take the fun out of taking about things.) 
 
 " Your geostigma is gone... That's too bad." 
I can honestly though, come right out and say how it's kind of funny/strange that the game looks like it does. At a movie perspective the first one is the one that sets up the fiction, much like Origins did. Tremendous amount of lore rolling out, to give you an idea of their Post DnD imagination. So because of that, the look was never quite there, as if they didn't have quite all the assets, or placeholders for things just became final during that time because the game just had to come out. You know, the game generally didn't look like there was any production value at all.
 
So now Dragon Age II comes along and it is clearly the game with all the better stage make-up and costume design. Prettier environments, prettier people, but perhaps that makes it seem all too different from the first game. All the races look and feel drastically different, elves are tiny and frail, Qunari aren't big dudes in poorly done, 'black face' makeup. Dwarves, perhaps look a little more uncanny valley. Humans no longer [all] looking ugly as sin. One could make the argument that since it's a completely different continent things are allowed to look different. Perhaps, but Dalish elves and Qunari are far more alien then they originally looked. It's not a bothersome detail, but it'll be something to think about when the next Dragon Age comes along. Say, perhaps the next game will go back to taking place in Fereldan. Would you find that a little odd to look everything to be as different as it looks in this game?
 
  "If this is a real phaser, then I *was* on the Enterprise. But I fired it on myself, so I should be dead. None of this is real." 
No matter, there's also the comments to make about the voice acting, a lot more to it, in terms of additional voices, I mean. More accents flying around the city. I think it's for the better, as I said, it's probably a production value thing. (Or they really wanted to push things to sound more like they want them to.) There's also the matter of the main character. This is where people seem to get uppity. Sure, ok, yeah, Lady Hawke is probably the better voice actor. You can't, however, tell me that I will enjoy the game a lot more if I play through the game with the better voice actor, that's too much of an excuse. To be honest there's nothing wrong with Guy Hawke's voice, especially since they're the exact same character. Male Shepard is a terrible voice, he's still fucking awesome. People don't listen to Neil Young because he's a good singer. So I'm enjoying my play through as a Cary Elwes like dude.
 
There's actually, also another funny thing about the voice. It feels as though the look really has to match the words. Sure, in the beginning, you go all willy-nilly with the look, play around with how ever cool you think you're making him, then you hear Hawke speak. And it totally breaks your perfectly crafted character. I had that problem with the first bit of the game, but maybe I just shouldn't have edited him in the first place. I did after all, feel as though they wanted a very specific look to the main character. Someone so cool where you would look at him and go, “There's no need for me to edit this at all. I'd have to be stupid.” so maybe I feel as if I'm in the wrong a little bit for playing around with his face, I touched him up nicely in the Black Emporium though and am now satisfied with the look to voice ratio.
 
Then there's the little things, like how much some things feel adoptive from Mass Effect 2, menus specifically being the center of my comparisons. Only having to really worry/care about the inventory of Hawke. Mining materials instead of just collecting them feels really weird to me, especially if you just walk up to one Elfroot or something, that's alllll by itself and then it's treated like they're always going to go to that one small little plant to keep collecting them. It stranger to me how everything is a lot more action based than RPG feeling. I know it's a cosmetic thing for a console, but it does leave me a little impatient in battles, when I keep pressing buttons and enemies show up in waves at a time. I chose the warrior class because it's no different from being rogue save for lock picking and trap finding. I just like big swords and I cannot lie.
 
Picture of Dragon For Prosperity
Lastly, Characters! I love the characters. They're all interesting enough to me where I would want to keep them all around equally. But I feel like this post is getting long enough and I don't want to get into them. I can say though, that the quality I loved about the first Dragon Age was the banter of your party members, So it definitely feels as though they worked on that a heck of a lot more in this game. Especially the way they interact to story as it unfolds, no static! You know what I mean? Nobodies standing around with their thumbs up their asses, and you're not waiting a little bit to hear what they have to say, only to have their dialogue make no real effect to the conversation at hand. So it's especially neat that this game even has specific moments in dialogue trees where you can let these other characters chime in to something that's happening.  
1 Comments

Open Mic Night [SSC10]

By bonbolapti 3 Comments



  
Hey Everybody, Just imagine for a second that I'm Fox McCloud and I got more than a couple of stand-up jokes for you. What's the deal with concatenation? GBAs and GameCubes, am I right fellas? Ladies you know what I'm talking about. Flying around Space and shooting Andross in the Hand Balls. But don't you just hate that when you're in the middle of a mission, and then another ace pilot comes in and totally cock blocks you? No? Anybody?... Just me?
 
So I was playing Dragon Age a couple of nights ago and I beat it, and I watched it play out and... I was in awe. And I know what you're thinking, a grown ass Fox playing a video game and all not even a (chuckle)Nintendo game. But I'm like, This shit is amazing. Seriously. Bioware is the only company I know that can make an ugly ass game, a BROKEN ugly ass game. And it still manages to be compelling. Seriously you play that game and you want to BARF, but you'll be damned if you you don't come out of that game shedding a tear. You know?
 
Shit is crazy....
 
I was actually going to open it up to everyone else this Sunday Social because frankly I was going to be really lazy this time around. Something about leaving for a week to Mexico made me substantially “not care” about this blog, but I went ahead with it anyway. I JUST LOVE YOU GUYS THAT MUCH. And while I may not have the pull of “Moon Royalty” or a facetious Hamburger, I take great pleasure in enjoying my self worth. Even if I'm just playing to a small crowd of a couple of GB doods that I regular with in a chatroom. But it goes as follows, a couple of nights ago, I asked you kids to be funny, and this is all that was offered.
Thanks to you two for stepping up to the plate. That's what Open Mic night is all about here at the sunday social. Got a talent? Want to show off? Then take those pants off and get on stage. (if that's what it takes) I know I know.. I'm fairly un-organized right now. But as I said before I don't care this run. So Let's just have fun with this.
 
Or we can admit that this first half is just a distraction, and get on with the second half of this Post, by talking about every-bodies favourite new PODCAST?
 

TL;DL EPISODE 5: FALLING A HOUSE

(FIRST AND FOREMOST I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE. This isn't the episode with Tiwi, I haven't had the time to edit that one. I am really sad. Maybe I'll do it if I have time IN MEXICO.)
 EPISODE 5
Now the bread AND butter of this entire bloody post.  (<--DOWNLOAD IT *GASP*)

There's a certain amazing Level of Absurdity that comes out of these Podcasts. I relish in the fact that we are completely unprofessional and don't like to try too hard to entertain the pants off of you. TL;DL opens with a STAR STUDDED CAST consisting of Ossi, Sleepy_Insomniac, Ace829, SPECIAL GUEST Vidiot, and yours truly. We tackle every subject like, GDC (not really) 3DS, BattleField 3, The mantra of Miyamoto, Horror stories of Football Manager, Love for shitty games, a Spoken Review from the highest of christian gaming sites and MORE.


I'd bet you'd really want to listen to this. If not for our delightful commentary but more for my amazing Editing job!
 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

3 Comments

Truly Still the Age of Dragons [SSC9]

By bonbolapti 7 Comments


  

Dear Internet, 
I am a Wizard, and you can has a Cheezeburger but only if you give me back my bucket. Because I only lol if there is lulz, and depending on whether something is Fail or Epic, I will let you know twice with a motivational poster. 
 
Even though a picture is worth a thousand words, most things are hard for me to understand. That’s why I’m like cool kid and telling you to “deal with it” (YEEEAAHHH) 
 
I know what you’re thinking. You’re all like “NO U!” while I’m all “O RLY?” on my invisible bicycle. Maybe I can bribe your love, but I can’t only give you currency in the form of Cat pictures and Pornography. (Let's face it, I'm never gonna give you up.) I worked really hard on my Furry costume by the way, I got the idea after I finished writing up that in-depth Wikipedia page on Knuckles the Echidna. (which you totally also Fap to btw.) 
 
Well Hitler, before I go, Not Even Doom Music can stop your Nazi Tirade over the lives of all these Children. Because even the simplest of Phrases will continue to be said by them, in chat rooms, over the phone and god forbid when you meet them on the street, as if you were catchphrases of the 90s and everyone is the cool guy at the party. 
 
PS, We're going to eat pizza. (PEET-ZUH)


NOW, What are we talking about?.. 

 
The Dragon Age II demo came and it saw. I played it, and while the new gameplay tweaks were odd at first, they made sense and have since gotten used to. I'd assume it's because I was playing the PS3 demo and not the 360 one. Sometimes something as simple as a controller change can really mess with your perception on a game. Well, I can at least say that I'm looking forward to DAII, yet I really ought to plough through the first game if that was going to be the case.

So here I am, pretty much doing it all over again, I can't remember why I stopped playing it in the first place, but I figured I should start from scratch. A Dalish Elf Rouge by the name of Lark (A change from the usual Facegurl iteration), who I'm apparently playing more polite and religious then I figured I was going to. It's funny how much my mood seems to be changing with this character because I'm pretty sure I started out playing her being a complete ass. Then I again, I guess she's a jerk to her own people.

I decided I was going to play through the game casually because I really just want to get through the story. To have a save for Dragon Age II to work off of.

That reminds me, I'm very pleased with how much 'better' character models look in this one. Ossi is to argue that they're still pretty ugly. (and let's face it, he's not wrong...) But in comparison between the two Dragon Ages and nothing else, These people are a lot more pleasing to the eye. A few cosmetic problems, like hair comes to mind. You know, that red headed lady with the Templar Husband. Such bad hair.

I mean, I don't understand why it has to be so bad, it just seems like Bioware has a history of making ugly ass human characters. Their Aliens in Mass Effect? The Demons in Dragon Age? Phenomenal. Fuckin' Tree Lady? Super HOT! Human characters are ugly as sin. I guess with the exception of Morrigan, a lot of time and money was probably spent on her. Though, I don't care if you've lived in the woods your whole life or not, don't dress like such a Harlot!

I'm also really pleased that the main character actually talks. I don't think a silent protagonist really works for that game, all that stiff animation, and the silent judging... Camera angles that make it look like they have something to say. Yeah I understand that it would have probably been too much work, but the first game really does take me out of it when your main character just stares at everything and never gives any actual input. So Hudson Hawke will be quite welcome! While judging by the dialogue trees I have a feeling I'll only want to give nothing but witty responses. I mean, at least this time around they don't seem, 'good, neutral, bad.' Which makes me happy, because I'm tired of shallow consequences.

Then again, this is only a demo.

 
Fun Facts:

  • I like making visual gags.

  • I think I've experienced enough internet drama in the past while to last me for a decade. It's ok though, everything's cool! God speed... Unless you're a cunt

  • One more week till I have myself a little Vacation. Huatulco here I come!

  • I hurt my hand playing MvC3. No surprise there, the floor is just too hard.

 

7 Comments

Super-Hero fight game [SSC8]

By bonbolapti 2 Comments


 
MvC3? OH! it's great, I'm playing a lot of it... and planning to. My appologies to my Xbox friends, but Sony's online is the only thing I can afford right now. Maybe in it's future I will double up. It's inevetable right?   

 FIGHTY!

So what's so cool about this game? It's different, it's more of the same. Let's talk about it. I fit perfectly into the characters I know I wanted, Chris and Wesker basically. But Tron Bonne is a placeholder until Jill shows up. I like my RE characters a lot and I figure they should be my main. I'm slowly but surely learning how to use them and be less frantic about it. Of course the other two reserve slots are under debate. Captain America and She-Hulk are slowly becoming favorites... Arthur is also kind of neat to play too, if only for the novelty. I'm basically yet to scratch the surface on a lot of the characters.
 
It does come with it's problems based soley around my level of play. I know that there are some things I'm not very good at, pulling off combos, specificially air ones, and connecting the teammates into them. (which I have been practicing a lot lately, easier to pull off on the CPU) It gets frustrating with those that Spam supers, or are just plain faster than my 34 year old brain can handle. So before I collect my thoughts two of my characters are already down, and I just have to sit out before I throw the controller directly into the screen. I know, I'm a bad person for giving up with out a fight, but I've been known to break stuff in my hands (or, 'my hands') in times of rage.
 
So it's really weird to come out of the online experience and tell you straight up that I'm really enjoying this game. All and all I am competent and can win some, so it isn't exactly a loss. I wish I knew who I'd be up against before hand though, so there is some people I know I can avoid. You know, until I can get my skill up. Yeah, I get to be another one of those people that say Capcom can't match make for shit. :S


Now the TL;DL Portion of the show

 The 3rd Episode, means we've been doing this for a while.

So, Marvel vs Capcom 3 hey? That's quite the game. And that's pretty much all we talked about. YUP! Ossi, Sleepy_Insomniac and I talking about Marvel vs Capcom 3. Listen to us talk about JUST THAT. We talk what we like, what we dislike, the characters we use and OTHER things as well... if only briefly. Oh, and listen for the awesome music too. 
 
Because it's awesome! DOWNLOAD IT HERE! (Ok, so I apologize in advance. I really don't know where I should be uploading these / have been a bit lazy to look. Podcast hosting spaces, Do you know of any?)
 
Also, this is Marvel vs Capcom 3. I don't know if you know this, but it's pretty much a big deal. Are you enjoying it? Any cool get togethers out there?


Wow, it's a short one this week.
 

2 Comments

My Brain Age is better than the puns I make [SSC7]

By bonbolapti 14 Comments

 

MY BRAIN AGE IS 37

 DERP!

This Software is pretty old isn't it? Brain Age popped up years ago and became a neat little device for you to sink your brain in to. It helped with your mind's 'age', made it younger (as young as 20), and if you use it enough there's a certain air about it that makes you think that your mind is improving. I guess if you do the same exercises over and over again 15 minutes a day, then sure your memory is going to start looking pretty good in front of this game. Well there really isn't much to it is there? Why the hell am I bringing this up anyway? 2007 was years ago. Can't this shit be in 3D already? 
 
The story goes, I looked at the collection of DS games I still have on my shelf, and aside from still playing DQIX I really want to have something else on the side so I'm not completely burnt out with just playing DQ. I looked at my copy of Brain Age 2 knowing that I didn't give it much mileage. I had a first Generation DS for the longest time and I only bought it to get the DS lite that this was bundled with. But I played it here and there for shits and giggles, mostly playing through the Sudoku puzzles from time to time (I'm halfway through completing all of them). So I just looked at BA2 knowing that I should probably just use it for once.
 

This is actually my least favorite exercise. But who knows.. I may get better.

So the Challenge I gave myself was this, Play Brain Age 2 every day for the month of February, just to see what the outcome will be. It's funny because I know my heart really isn't into it, a lot of the exercises I'm reluctant to do. Thinking about them feels more exhausting than it is. But given time I do actually try them. I also did recently figure out how one of them worked, So there's that.
 
I remember when the Brain Age trend was creeping in, but I was never really sure about how much of it caught on. Did it ever catch your eye? Gave it a chance? Played it until your brain age was 20 and then you put it down? Let me know your Brain age experience or say something snarky, just as long as it has a fair amount of wit.
 
My lady is currently in another semester of School and has more math classes than she'd like. I'm enjoying it a lot more than she is, only for the fact that Math is pretty awesome. She's been doing a lot of her homework at my apartment once in a while, and I feel like it's a little beneficial to me, especially since I'm doing my Brain Age Challenge. It helps keep my brain moving and it's also nice to know that I still remember all the math I took in High School.


PUNS

Taking light of my Brain being worked with Challenges, the natural thing to do is lighten the mood with PUNS. We're talking the worst things I could come up with. Having a tirade of #streetfighterpuns via twitter (if I think of any more, you know I'll be putting that hashtag to use) I've jut wanted to go all out, We're talking about Dad Rising 2 here. (which makes total sense, while being funny) If you were to claim the Uncharted games were terrible, you would call them UNSHARTED. Heavy Rain is a game about a woman on her Period. Wow, these are quickly turning vulgar. It's not Much of a PUN-ch out, as much as this is Sin and PUN-ishment. Dark Soles is about Demon's wearing Shoes! Lady Yuna-BROW! M I RITE? Snow Villiers got his name FROM ALL THE DANDRUFF ON HIS HEAD! MILES PROW... er.. wait.. that one isn't mine.
 
Ugh. Shoot me now.
 

SHAMELESS SELF IMPORTANCENESS

  • BronzDragon wrote a pretty awesome story about my Inevitable death. Apparently Ossi101 put him up to it. Those Bastards want me dead it seems.
  • I'm going to Mexico in March, to get away from how shitty it is to be an actor in Vancouver, for like a week. Then I'll be back, and I'll be a Million Dollar Extreme.
  • Also, PS3 came back and now I can enjoy PS3 related video games again, Sorry Xbox
  • Brain Age isn't without it's faults by the way. The quiz can do serious damage to your brain age calculation, just because it can't understand what an Equal Sign looks like.

 Episode 1 and 2/3

TL;DL has a Second Episode. (IT'S SUPER SECRET RIGHT NOW) And this time it was small... With Just Me, Ossi and CommodoreGroovy. But it was still a good time, HILARIOUSLY ENOUGH THOUGH (by hilarious I mean, not really), Ossi was the fool and set his Vent up to not be recorded Thus ruing the entire hour Run time. So when you hear just me and Bene talking and a whole lot of quiet, You'll know that somebody made a mistake! WAY TO GO OSSI, FUCK! 
 
Luckily, For Prosperity sake, I believe that the SHOW MUST GO ON! So here it is with one half of a good discussion, complete with a treat at the end. I know I know, we'll record something far more serious later on, but for now enjoy this cast and the secret song at the end. (Exactly 2 minutes. IF ANYTHING DOWNLOAD IT FOR THAT! YES!?!?!?!?)

14 Comments

What Flowers and Mara have in common [SSC6]

By bonbolapti 6 Comments


Let's talk DS. More importantly, let's talk DS cover art. I have a DS game I will never use, see. It's called Monster Trucks DS (I couldn't find it in the database! Someone be top men!). I know what you're thinking, why the FUCK would I buy that game? You're not wrong, I wouldn't. In fact while buying a DS at Future shop [ Best Buy for the Canadian Impaired ] I was just given this game for free. The funny thing is, I was trying to not take it from them. BUT THEY WOULDN'T HAVE IT. They game it to me anyway whether I liked it or not. It's weird getting my arm twisted over free stuff.
 
Needless to say I never played it, but I also took it about of the case and I don't know where it is. So what is a girl to do? Well I have a DS card with no home that I always seem to be loosing, and an Empty DS case. Naturally I'm going to put the two together. But instead of using boring hum-drum Monster Trucks DS cover art, I'm opting to have fun with it and come up with something more special.
 
Years and years back, an art designer friend and I came up with a brilliant idea for a Flower Arranging game on the DS. Tending flowers in a Green room would have made for an interesting experience. But my favorite part was that we came up with ideas for two different versions, kind of like how there's two different versions of Pokemon (Diamond/Pearl, Black/White, Yellow/Double Yellow) It was a fun an interesting project, and we brainstormed the hell out of it.
 
Can you see where I'm going with this? I made a mock-up of a video game cover and I'm going to print it out and put it in it's case. Want to see it? I bet you do! People already have, but now's your chance! Right now! Right here! This exact moment! It's showtime!
 

Bigger Version Here 

Other Shit

It seems as though the theme of the past week has been 'hyper sensitivity' or feminism or sexism or maybe even attentionism. Whatever the case may be, I will happily segue from Feminism/sexism to talk about how big of a dick I am. Or, Giant Penis if you will. (Fact: Bon backwards is Nob) Xeiphyer has it right to assume that I probably look like this:
I always pictured Mara to be a really nice guy. He'll give you a ride on his Golden Chariot, tuck you into bed and read you a story. I guess the moral of this one is, that this whole being a dick thing over the internet is a really easy thing to fall into. Even if you're joking around, there's always going to be that one person who's going to rub you/be rubbed the wrong way. I blame myself for being sarcastic on a constant. 
 
But when that happens, you take it in stride. Because this is the internet. It's not a war zone, there's no factions. You're all just a bunch of people sitting in front of computers, and it's not an 'alternative to your life' either (Gee, I hope nope anyway). So at the end of the day when your feelings are hurt, you turn it off and go outside. Or I guess in this case, play a game! I suggest Tetrisfriends.com (I play it a lot! super fun!)
 
But I don't know too much about being a nice person, so don't take my advice.
 

TL;DL

 
There's a thing going around called a podcast and it's something a group of us have been meaning to do in a long time. TL;DL is such a podcast, and it's not exactly some kind of regularly scheduled podcast as of late. We're clearly not in it for the fame. Much more for the documented Evidence that we talk about stuff and things. We also clearly have the mind set, that when we want to do it, we'll just go and do it. And if there's anyone else around us that feels they need to join, they can go right ahead. So if you want to catch if for yourself here's the link http://rapidshare.com/files/445893532/TL_DL001.mp3 Get it while it's hot! (Which was like.. two weeks ago) 
 
This episode's users are: Abce180, ApothecaryLad, SecondPersonScooter, YonderViddles, CommodoreGilgamesh, Sleepy_Zombiac, and I, Bondipidus J. Lapti. And the Topic is NGP, And Some Japanese Gaems. (It's a little dated, but our fault and still fun to listen to.) 
 
If we get the time we might do more of these and give them a proper acknowledgment.
 

SHORT VERSION

 
6 Comments

You down with NGP? | SSC #5

By bonbolapti 14 Comments

 

 
[ The high five is a celebratory hand gesture that occurs when two people simultaneously raise one hand, about head high, and push, slide or slap the flat of their palm and hand against the palm and flat hand of their partner. The gesture is often preceded verbally by the phrase "Give me five" or "High five" . ]

    

                        
There's a strange, delusional confidence that Sony always seems to have with their gaming products. From being “Not (Red)E” to creepy babies, it (for me anyway) feels uncomfortably out of touch. They make a big expensive product and go for the least likely demographic. But I don't know... do they know what they're going for? Let's say a group of children are all playing Red Rover outside. Then the ice-cream man rolls around selling his product. All the children gather around wanting a cone, but the ice-cream man decides he's only going to sell to the cool kids. And what does that mean? Maybe one or two of the children get to have some ice-cream but that's only because they're rich. Sure the other children are all pouty at first but then they realize that they already have better ice-cream at home. And the Man's ice-cream was probably laced with (Red)E. (I'm trying to draw parallels to the concept video, IS IT WORKING?) 
 
I want to get excited about the NGP. So much so, that I recently podcasted about it with 7 other people. They have from now till E3 to get me excited, but the 3DS already won my heart so I guess they shouldn't even try? Either way, I'm sitting here thinking about it, and I really have no need for 3G.
 
Now I'm going to try and Segue into Lunchboxes. 
 
LUNCHBOXES YOU SAY? In the chat, there were a lot of strange tangents popping up, and one of them had to deal with lunchboxes. Sleepy Insomniac mentioned his game related ones. Upon hearing ' Fallout Lunchbox' I exclaimed That I had one too, and proceeded to tell him I was even saving up bottle caps for whenever the apocalypse decides to happen:  

There are 90 bottle caps. I think I can get more than enough stimpaks with this at least. 

 
So what were we playing this weekend kids? I'm Still on the Dragon Quest IX as expected, I haven't been able to put it down for the past couple of weeks, and it continues to be the same thing it was when I first mentioned it. One of the neat things I guess, is that I finally got access to this Wifi Enabled store for the game. Which going to it, gives me access to rare items, new quests and Special Guests popping up and hanging out in their own rooms at the Inn, in Stornway (Quester's Rest, I think it's called). I assume all these characters are from previous Dragon Quests, but I only recognize Torneko, Angelo and King Trode.
 
What do they do? Share a bit of dialogue and give you some clothing, which doesn't sound like much but they're pretty stylish and high in defense so I feel like I don't have to worry too much about buying some equipment for a while. ALL MY PARTY MEMEBERS LOOK SO PRETTY.
 

Bullet pointz

  • Weeks, away and MvC3 is about to pop it's head in, are you excited? I'm excited! Hell, even my girlfriend is excited! Does she play fighting games? I don't know, but that's pretty awesome.
  • I'm curious for myself and would want to make a list, about which games are the ones you can't really consider to be beaten. You know what I'm talking about? Puzzle games, Board games, most fighting games I guess, Harvest moon? If you want you can help me out and drop a suggestion of a game you think is something that can't really be 'beat'.
  • PS3 dead, I'm at a loss every time I turn on the 360, because I know games I'd rather be playing right now.
  • Srsly you guys, Tetrisfriends.com
  • I'm gonna just throw this out here. Say, you have a building, and in this building is a large company of people that are really into this product that they have, they cherish it, embrace it, maybe even go a little too far with it. Ok, but then over time, People get apathetic an loose interest in said product without really knowing any way to revitalize it. Then every once in a while, you get the guy that thinks things need to be done, so he goes home, grabs his soap box and sets it up outside the building... maybe even across the street. He just starts complaining and complaining. The only problem is, the people in the building can't hear him and have no idea what he's talking about, but the people outside get 'it' even less and are under the impression that they don't want to have anything to do with whatever is going on in that building. You see what I'm saying? (Passive aggressive enough?)  
14 Comments

SSC: From Dragon Quest to the Littlest Nemo

By bonbolapti 5 Comments


 

3DS

I already blogged like a dorky little idiot about the 3DS on my actual blog. (that video about the ins-and-outs of the 3DS, and little blurbs about the games I'm interested in.) So for me to say anything here will be redundant. But I will say this: 3DS? Yes please. Portable gaming is my jam. Sure it's inevitable that you will see another iteration of the 3DS at some point in one or two years, and people get all pouty over it's battery life. But these arguments are invalid! THE TIME IS NOW!
 
$250 is a bit pricey I guess, but with the amount of tech thrown into that thing, I understand / can and will just buy the damn thing, but who's to say that the system won't be bundled with any kind of thing to show off the 3DS. But come June a lot of the A-game will pop up. What are you guys looking forward to for 3DS games? 
 

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

 This is what he does to Adventure.
Friday I picked up this little gem. A lot of people old enough would know what I'm talking about. At the same time, Little Nemo: Dream master may be anyone's only ever experience of this title. But here we go, this is the Movie that the game is based off of, which is based off of the Little Nemo comics that appeared in the New York Herald between 1905 and 1914.
 
The beginning of the movie opened up like one of the old Strips, Nemo sleeps away, has a fucked up dream, falls out of bed, Parents are all “Don't eat before you go to sleep you dumb kid!” Which sets the tone for what you'll probably expect. Brilliant animation, Pretty good voice work all around as well. (with Mickey Rooney, being the only one I recognize.) This movie is all about Nemo being the New Prince of Slumberland and Play Buddy to the Princess, the cool place of cool dreams which basically looks like A high budget land run by cirque du soleil.
 
Things Quickly go awry though, as Nemo opens a door he shouldn't have, and Nightmare Tar gobbles up the King and Slumberland goes to shit. Then there is no hope, but it's up to Nemo to right his wrong! Save the King of Slumberland, Defeat the Nightmare King and wake up from his perpetual Nightmare.
 
What I've actually come out from watching this movie again is new appreciation to the old comic strips. I know of the characters in such a way that I now have a better understanding, the two compliment each other quite well. The old NES game though? I don't remember too much about it, but even though it's based off of the movie, there's something about it that feels a little more stand-alone. Not that it's a bad thing, Dream master is still a pretty decent game to play.
 
Go ahead though, and give this movie a watch. I was surprised on how well this movie still held up for me. In fact I'm happy I watched it again, it's renewed my interest in all things 'Little Nemo'. 
 
[Fun fact: one of the characters is named 'Bon Bon' ur hurhurhurhurhur] 
 

Donkey Kong Country Returns

The Original DKC was fun, it was simple platforming, a little tough here and there, but it was fun. Since then, I actually have been waiting for the next in the series. There's been a lot of disappointing Donkey Kong games since. Although I did enjoy that one gamecube game that used the Bongos to adventure all DKC like.
 
But this has kept my attention quite well. I've been loving the levels and everything. There's a bit of an issue I have with the control. Well I guess not the controls in general. I just dislike the idea that they need to have shake in their control scheme. I know, I know, it's the Wii. You can shake the controller and stuff happens. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a game breaker. In fact I'm having lots of fun, OF COURSE until I get to a mine cart stage. Then step aside fun and hello OH MY GOD WHY AM I DYING OVER THE STUPIDEST THINGS. I'm missing a couple of puzzle pieces here and there on a couple of stages that I know I don't have any real desire to go back to.
 
I will be continuing to play through this by myself though, because friends are giving me the look that they are too afraid to even try. But I guess I can't blame them, but in single player I do like the somewhat usefulness of Diddy being the Monkey on your back, prolonging your jumps and stretching out your rolling as long as you keep shaking that fucking controller.
 
Bah...
 
I almost forgot to mention how I'm really digging the soundtrack in this game. They have retouched versions of old songs from the original plus original tunes that are just as nice, or groovy if you will. Maybe I will grab the soundtrack for myself if it's around anywhere.
 

DRAGON QUEST IX

 
 BATTLE!
There will always be a time and a place for A Traditional JRPG. Seriously, There's no reason why some games have to change, and Dragon Quest is a pretty good example. I think it's comforting to know that I can always go back to a franchise and it will always be what it is ( To put it in other words) If that makes sense. I think there's a lot of complaining about games never changing, and I always hear about Japanese games being the most guilty. But there's a winning formula in familiarity. Whether you think so or not.
 
The thing I love the most about DQIX is that I'm immediately in my comfort zone. Run around, randomly battle things, level up, earn cash buy equipment fight boss, carry on. It's pretty much a by the numbers RPG like it's always been, but this is a good thing for a portable device. To grab something you can just pickup and play.
 
It's a shame that there's no real online to this game other than the form of a store to buy new equipment or quests. There would have been a lot more people playing this game together. I don't personally know anyone else that owns this game. And nobody really runs around with their DS's in tag mode. Maybe the 10 game in the series will really go furthur with online playing or co-op of some sort. Perhaps, if they stick to the formula We could have a Dragon Quest MMO, that will probably be programmed by Korea, because that's a winning idea right there.|
 
I do look like being able to make my own party memebers. Even the fact that I can make a lot more and can swap people in and out. My crew is pretty much my band members from Rockband 3, including my favorite character I love to keep making. (Facegurl) 
 
 Isn't Knuckles supposed to be protecting this island?
From what I've been playing so far it's a pretty easy game, I kept hearing about it being hard. Maybe that was only in Japan. Maybe the difficulty will pick up I'm not sure. The fact that I'm grinding my levels is probably helping to this being so easy. I'd be a lot more better off grinding at the beginning of the game than paying for it early on. 

But you know, perhaps I'm into Dragon Quest a lot more now than I was becuase Final Fantasy is losing it's appeal. Which could be right. FF wants to be different every time, and Dragon Quest strikes me as the kind of series that is confident in itself. At it's original price of 40$ it was pretty much a steal, yet when I finally got around to picking it up it was 30$. That pretty much means this game is a steal! 
5 Comments

Sunday night / monday morning Social Club

By bonbolapti 3 Comments

  It's late, I never really give myself anytime time to do blogging whatsoever (over here) but I'm not tired and I find myself with nothing to do. So let's just get this over with!
 
The last time I wrote all about GOTY stuff, I didn't really give it much attention. But I basically talk about how AWESOME Nier is, and how terrible Limbo is. but 2010 is in the past and PixelPrinny has talked about Nier enough, so you don't need to here it from me! (other than how I should remind you that Nier is the best game Squenix could muster all 2010. Which some people would say isn't much, but I was pretty much on board.)
 
Since the Christmas Break is over, I find myself in front of a large stack of games I need to play. Or, what I like to call "The games I need to get out of my system before I dedicate a whole day to Vanquish." Which is a small list so far. I knocked out "Playing Rockband 3 with the keyboard" in 10 minutes, I know I'll go back to that one, because I love playing the keyboard. 
 
[ Before I continue though, obviously, the great thing about the Keyboard is that it's midi, and I can use it for other things, I know there's the official Rockband midi keyboard adapterydoo (I know that's not what they're called) but I can't really find them. So I guess I'm going to have to resort to finding it online. But if then, could I find something non Rockband official that'll still work awesome? does anyone know what to look for? Hamst3r? ]
 
Then low and Behold, I have Hot Pursuit to my disposal. PS3 version. It's an excellent game for the most part, those 'don't touch anything' time trials are a real downer though. I've done more cop levels then Racer levels. which is really weird to me Considering I don't really like doing the cop stuff as much as I thought I would. But it's still a good time, there's a bunch of pallies I'm yet to get together with to do some online, but from what I've seen of that so far, is actually pretty solid. I do have a bit of a competitive angst when it comes to this game though, and I don't think the Autolog helps when it constantly reminds me which friends are doing better that me on anything. I was hoping to just do the minimum all the time, but apparently the 'minimum' isn't good enough. 

Then I rage for a bit...
 
One of the things I was definitely hoping for was a smooth transition of my Playlist I made for Paradise, to this game. Turns out, totally different feel with the game. Really makes me want to tweek my soundtrack. (Although I love opening the game on the 'Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson Vocal Remix)' ) So I turn to what I've been listening to a lot lately. Which happens to be the music from Nier. Well, I guess not just any music. The soundtrack is great and all but If there was anything I could really take away from the DLC was all the remixed Tracks on it. It's possible I like this game a little too much.
 
But it also turns out that some Music from Neon Genesis Evengelion is pretty cool too! ... When you're a cop.
 
Assssiiiiide from that, I've actually put a fair amount of time into 3D Dot Game Heroes. Yes, of course, it's very 8-bit Zelda in a crazy 3D world. So it already gets points, even though at this point that makes it pretty generic! Old Evil Threat is being threatened to show up and be a jerk again, so it's up to you to be a descendant of the hero of old and go through all the crap he went through just to do the same thing he did. 
 
As I said though, gameplay wise it's alright. Before when it was first coming out and everything, I really had a problem with the graphical style, it was un-comprehensibly ugly to me and it still is actually. I'm sitting here playing it, trying to think of a way I can make it all look better, while still trying to keep it's style in tact and nothing is coming up. Plus I really question the humor in this game a little bit. I don't want to rag on it, really.  But there's bee a lot of instances where I feel like the humor in this game very played out, or completely unnecessary. I did stop a play run shortly after 'REPEATEDLY STABBING A WOMAN' which was supposed to be innuendo for sex.
 
I'm still going to play through it, I mean if have to if the game gave me a trophy for playing the game for 5 hours already. I feel like I have 5 hours left to go. So.. yeah.
 
Thanks to the Tetris Quick look, and Mention of Tetris Friends I've all of a sudden got a Tetris bug again. It's fun to play, especially against other people. (THIS SHIT SHOULD BE ESPORTS OMGSEEYOUINVEGAS!) the higher in rank you go the more it feels like people rely on the use of items to win. Which is a downer, and does take a bit of the fun out if you're playing with at least 5 other people. Even with five other people you could be in danger of getting a barrage of lines and losing instantly. Which, let's be honest isn't fun, but that's how it is sometimes. And if people want to use that as their strategy to beat me, then I guess I'm going to have to suck it up, like a princess.  
 
 [BTW, if you have an account there, and feel you want to add me, I'll let you guess what my username is..]
3 Comments

Video games? 2010? GOTY? get out! GET OUT NOW! :O

By bonbolapti 5 Comments

 
Square Enix hasn't exactly been the company they used to be lately. If anything they're the one Japanese company that has probably wanted to 'appeal' to the Western market 'the most'. Since then, they've made weird decisions with franchises like Final Fantasy and Front Mission. FFXIII being a BAD (see: terrible horrible) GAME and Front Mission being a poor man's arcadey Armoured Core. Dissidia being a Wonderful idea yet having it just for the PSP seems like a weird attempt to sell some portables, (I'm stoked for the 3 Birthday but again, would like to see it on a console proper) and Kingdom hearts being just another Franchise to milk completely.
 
I don't really know what's going on with them, but one title really does shine through for me, and I already know that a lot of people don't really care for it as well. Nier is such a title that manages to be compelling, not so much in it's game play and it's art direction, but for it's story. It's pretty well a cluster fuck in itself. From beginning to end it never tells you what it is and it just takes you for a ride. Sure it does have it's pacing issues and fishing seems to be a hurdle for some, enough to be a game breaker ( apparently). But it managed to keep me coming back for more. Characters like Kainé end up being quite sympathetic. There's also a lot more layers to scratch off the surface in the development of this cast, when everything is rewarded with more playthroughs. Yet the more times I sit there and play it, the more I question everything, but I always seem to find the answers I'm looking for.
 
It definitely has a way with words. The banter between characters, the forest, the things that pop up on your gamertag when your friends list looks at where you are in the game. It actually has quite the sense of humor for having such a serious tone. Which frankly is welcome, because if these characters weren't as well thought out as they were, and stories written as interesting as I could fathom,  it could have been a completely broken experience and I would have never bothered to look at it.  
 
I claim this to be Squenix's Sleeper hit. It's something that really shouldn't be missed especially if you have that overwhelming doubt for the company as of late. Guaranteed it's in the bargain bins by now, so you might as well go ahead and do yourself a service by picking it up! 
 
      
    (THIS? this is just music... another reason I like the game so gosh darn much.)  
 
2010's 2009 GOTY, Assassin's Creed II! Seriously, I can't believe I put it off for as long as I did! Let me put it this way, I was a fan of the First game. Sure, it had it's faults and it was kind of slow and clunky, but the game was still a good time. Perhaps I always just loved the concept of free roaming, and it boasts such a free roaming edge!
 
Refined quite a lot from the first game, but not without it's faults! In fact, I still have a problem with how it streamlines it's parkouring. Perhaps if Ubisoft was going to be proud of it enough where they would make racing missions, then jumping around rooftops wouldn't be as touchy as it is. In the heat of the moment, the way you control isn't really going to agree with the game. You may (may) mess up a couple of times before you get it the way to want to.
 
Plus any game you're willing to S-Rank (even if it's easy to) has to be worth that much attention.
 
The OH SHIT, THIS GAME TOTALLY CAME OUT THIS YEAR award goes to YAKUZA 3. I know what you're thinking... “Dude, Bon! Mass Effect 2 came out this year Asshole! What's wrong with you.” and you're not wrong. But as good as ME2 was (let's face it, a lot of us love it to death) Vidiot Pretty much went out of his was to Platinum that shit. Really! Since it was Yakuza 3, and I was playing it at the same time, to me it feels significant enough to talk about here. This is a series, that needs a little more attention over here than it's getting. Japan? Loves this game to death, North America? Not so much, even if everyone and their dog complain about Sega never releasing it over here on time. Well even that's kind of not fair to mention, becuase the ones that do complain are always the Japanophiles.
 
The “If my girlfriend is playing it, and she's not even a gamer, this must be pretty awesome right?” award goes to, Bejeweled 3. I guess, that would be a no brainier, everyone can play a game of match three. But I too find myself losing time and playing this game for no reason. It's come out pretty late this year, but damned if I'm not going to talk about how cool it is. ( plus my entire family seems to be playing it now : / ) 
 
 TEE HEE, It's my Desktop wallpaper.
The “this game shouldn't be number one on your top 10 list, what the fuck is wrong with you” goes to Limbo. Sure it's got style, atmosphere, mood, whatever you need to call it. A fair amount of puzzles to keep it called a game, but not enough to sustain itself as a title worth your time. This game is a case of “wool over your eyes.” The aesthetic of it's old timey black and white film setting is nice at first and you really get the feel of it, but eventually the flame dies out and you realize there is nothing to this game. It's as if Braid was Flower. The pace of the puzzles was good, yet there was nothing to them and I breezed through (except for one, that I couldn't think about for some reason.) But then you make it to the end, and there's no pay off! It probably would have made more sense for the game to be a perpetual nightmare, I found myself in shock and awe thinking I was all the way at the beginning again. Until, of course I then found what the real ending was, in which case I just turned the game off and went somewhere else. Just, trying not to get mad, trying not to think about it.....
 

NOW, BULLSHIT CATEGORIES!

  • Game of the year every year: AFRIKA. Dood, you can turn that shit on for parties! SRSLY, TURN ON THE AFRIKA VIEWER.
  • This is Dragon Quest Award: Dragon Quest IX. For Outstanding Achievement in being Dragon Quest, and NO OTHER JPRG.
  •  2010's 2010 game but really feels like 2009 for some reason: Mass Effect 2. It came, it saw, it conquered but I sadly forgot about it when a plethora of other games came out.
  • The Press X to Jason Award: Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition. I know, this is a cop out. But this is a category I feel would be funnier if I awarded it to a different game. and you know, it's a lot more fun to play this game co-op and wait by the door to the next area calling out to your partner to keep moving LIKE AN ASSHOLE. Which is a lot more fun than being a desperate father.
  • Service dedicated to millions of shitty games, but I'd only play one: Game Room. sure, it's not the greatest idea, but there is the odd title that is decent and worth some time. Which, even then, you don't really need something like game room in the first place. But it also get Bonus points for being the most entertaining Quick Looks this year!... I just like retro gaming...
5 Comments

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