Fall Out: New Vegas

So... Jake and I went halves on Fallout New Vegas... and it's good.  I liked Fallout 3, but there were so many problems I had with it... little things, but little things that added up really fast.  It really felt like Oblivion with guns, but no magic, and more tongue in cheek story lines.  I liked Oblivion a lot, but again had a lot of problems with IT... but that's another review for another time.

New Vegas fixed all those little problems I had.  It really opened up a lot more of the Fallout 'verse (at least, it did to me), in an entertaining, compelling way.  It keeps true to the Fallout genre, and I really like that it gives you the option of keeping the tongue in cheek jokes (like the Aliens) or doing a more serious game.  Also interesting is the "Hardcore" mode, which makes weight an even bigger problem, makes you stay hydrated, manage sleep, etc.

As far as base gameplay, it's just like Fallout 3, but with a lot of improvements.  You can recover ammo shells and reload them, VATS is quicker and cleaner (I had a lot of problems with VATS locking up in F3), companions have slightly better AI (still obviously AI, but a little less stupid).  The HUD is essentially the same, but has a different color scheme, which worked for me but might not be good for everyone.

There's also a reputation system, nothing stellar, but it works.  Help one faction, another will probably like you less.  What's interesting is the half and half approach they took... say you're in the good graces of the Brotherhood of Steel, but you end up killing a squad with friendly fire.  Instead of just losing rep, you gain BAD rep.  That is to say, you have two reps with each faction; good AND bad.  Maybe I've misunderstood exactly how this works, but from what I can tell, affecting one is independent of another... or at least partially so.

So if you liked Fallout 3, get New Vegas.  If you liked Oblivion and want something to play till Skyrim comes out, get New Vegas.  If you're on the fence because you really didn't like F3 or Oblivion... skip on New Vegas.

As a game as a whole I give it a 9.5 out of 10.  As a sequel, I give it a 8/10... because while it's definitely an improvement... it's also definitely more of the same.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

I don't need whitty title for this post because, well, Scott Pilgrim is epic all by itself.  If you've ever been into graphic novels, comics, video games, tabletop games, music, highschool, or college, there's something for you in this series.

But I'm not here to talk about the awesome pants graphic novels.  I went to the midnight showing of the movie adaption, and despite some hesitancy because of how I feel about Michael Sera, I loved this movie.  It stayed true to the feel of the novel without ruining it. It made no promises to be the novels in movie form.  It did make the promise to be the intellectual child of the fun and awesome of the novels.  And it delivered.

I will pay good money to see this in theaters again.  And buy the directors/limited edition, etc. dvd when it comes out.  AND I'm totally getting some Sex-Bob-omb merch.  That's all I'm gonna tell you about this.  Go see it.  Go buy the GN's.  You'll love them IF YOU HAVE A SOUL!

Inception

I really don't get what the big deal is about this movie.  I think it's more "Oh my goodness, this is the best movie out right now!" which is true.  Is this the best movie ever?  No.  I liked this movie.  At the same time, I kept thinking "when is this gonna get complicated like they said?  When is this gonna be as good as I heard it was?"  Spoiler alert:  it wasn't.

Most people I talked to were like "Omfg, this is one of those movies you have to watch 3-4 times to get everything straight!"  Well... I refute that claim.  I felt the movie was very easy to follow... if you, you know, watched it and listened the entire time.  I'm sure if I got up to go potty every 30 minutes then yeah, by the end of the movie I'd be lost.  Or maybe if I walked in 20 minutes late.  As it was though, I felt it was simple enough to follow.

I'd have like to see more development of individual characters.  It was like "HEY here's a new guy!  He's got THIS stereotype personality!  DONE!"  The only characters you really see evolve at all are the main guy and the mark.  Even then... it's really only the main guy.  I still liked all the characters.  There wasn't really a big bad boss guy, because their opponent was the mark's subconscious, not the mark himself.

Now that that's out of the way, this IS actually a really good movie.  There's suspense, mystery, action, and crazy effects.  The whole movie revolves around the question of what is and isn't reality.  That may not be the driving plot of the movie, but it's definitely the key issue.  The movie itself is about planting an idea into someone's brain in dreamland and getting out.

I can't really say much more than that without spoiling the entire movie.  Most of this review is about the negative, but I can't tell you any more about the positive without giving away important "Oh, now I get it" parts of the movie.  It's definitely worth seeing, but I wouldn't label it as a 'must see in theaters' film.  I was planning on waiting till it came out on dvd and renting it, but a friend wanted to see it so we did.  I took the hype with a grain of salt, but I guess I was just expecting more.

Like I said, it's a good movie, definitely worth the watch.  It's not often a two and a half hour movie keeps me engaged and interested the entire time.  I give it a 9.5 out of 10.

Alien swarm

Go to steam.  If you don't have a steam account, make one.  Download this game.  Play it.  Enjoy.

Btw, it's free.  Up yours farmville.

Open world games and their infamy

A friend of mine got a ps3 and it came with Infamous and some other games.  So over the last month or so, we sat down and took turns at missions and played through the whole game as a good guy.
My first impression of Infamous was mild interest.  I've played open world games before, and honestly Infamous didn't really offer anything you haven't seen before as far as gameplay.  It felt like a mix between GTA4 and Assassin's Creed, with some interesting power combos you could pull off with a little luck and skill.

The powers were neat.  You have baseline powers and Karmic powers.  The baseline powers are regular Lightening bolt, a shock wave (literally, and no pun is needed here... it literally is a shock wave in both senses) Shock Grendades, a shock drop, a shield, and then your basic melee attack, defense, and energy drain ability.  What gave these flair was the effect your karma has on them.  Max good karma characters can buy an upgrade for lightning bolt that restores energy on successful attacks, and that will on a headshot chain to other nearby enemies.  Good shock grenades will bind enemies automatically, good shield will restore energy when it blocks damage.  Also, when you turn evil, your lighting turns red, and when you're good, they're blue.  Neat.  Not thrilling, but neat.

The karmic powers weren't that interesting to be perfectly honest.  Good karma gets a chargeup bolt that can hit enemies behind metal cover (fences, cars, etc.) and while neat, by the time you unlock it enemies are powerful enough (and your chargeup bolt weak enough) that it almost isn't worth waiting for the chargeup... it was easier to run around and flank enemies.  Evil karma gives you chain lightning.  Same idea, charge it up, let it rip, it chains off of enemies.  Looks neat when it hits.  Doesn't really do enough damage.

The way you upgrade your power is really neat though.  Rather than "LEVEL UP!  WOO!  X NUMBER OF ABILITY POINTS!", you spend your experience like it's cash.  World of Darkness has a similar level up element.

So I realize that so far you're like "So this game is ok... why should I play it when there's a thousand other games out there to try?"  Well, while the gameplay is nothing to be wow'd by, the story definitely is.

We're all pretty familiar with the hero/anti hero routine.  I think every super hero has had a run where they were looked at as an enemy (a la Hancock or Spiderman), but what makes Infamous interesting is it's character.  He's bitter, he's lonely, and he's... actually not that likeable.  Without giving too much away, the storyline works no matter which way you play, be it pure good, pure 'evil', or a hybrid that leans either way.  Your motivation is forced on you:  Survive, and get out of the city alive.

There's a neat comic book element to cutscenes.  The cutscenes are done in this animated artwork style that I have a hard time describing.  I really liked it, it had a very Noir feel to it.

I will say this.  The ending was a serious "WTF" moment for me.  I did not expect them to go the way they did.  The whole last mission I was like "Man... this is gonna be a stereotypical ending."  Then I got to the ending and was like "Maan... this is totally a sterotypical endi--... woah wait what?"

Another reason to pick up this game is the side missions.  They may repeat themselves a bit, but there's enough variety that I only felt the "OMFG not this side mission again" a few times.  There's a race type mission, a 'protect his area' mission, escort missions, rescue the hostages missions, and a couple more that are variations of one or a hybrid of a few of these.  Even the missions that were repeats, because the city is so well developed and each zone has it's own feel, they don't really feel repeated because the landscape plays such a huge part of gameplay.

There's also a ton of neat aesthetic choices that I really like.  Also, there are very few places were you're like "Why can't I go here/do that?" that isn't taken care of by an element that makes sense.  For example, you can't use guns because the electricity in you sets off the gunpowder in the bullets causing the gun to explode.  You can't ride in a car because you might cause the gas tank to explode.  It might be annoying, but it does make sense, and 'workarounds' so to speak are available to you.

The only thing that was a constant irritant was the noises you make when you walk.  There's this clinking sound that is apparently your messenger bag (which, by the way, you never use) clips and stuff bonking together.  Honestly, it sounds like you're running with pockets chock full of change.

It's a good game.  It's an original story.  It's a very original character, at least, it is in my humble opinion.

Replay value is moderate, as the cutscenes are different but the main plot isn't affected by your choices.  Also, by the end of the first play through, I had every power available to good/nuetral karma maxed out, so playing through again without going bad would feel unfulfilling from a gameplay standpoint.

So, if you're looking for an in between big titles game, this fits the bill.  Story wise, I'm insanely excited about Infamous 2.  If they take the route of Mass Effect and have your choices in 1 affect the story of 2, I'm sold.

RATING TIME!  WOO!  All in all, I give Infamous' story a 9/10, and its gameplay a 7/10.

So until next time, game on players (see what I did there?)  
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The Time Egg

Let me start with a little disclaimer.  This is my favorite game of all time hands down.

Chrono Trigger.  Ever heard of it?  I don't blame you if you haven't.  Originally released on the SNES, it has never had much of a following.  In fact, I didn't even know it existed until about 1998, when I asked a guy at my local GameStop if he knew of any awesomesauce RPGs.  They had one copy, and wanted 120 dollars for it.  I almost bought it.  Anyway, I let it pass by but I was intrigued, so I did some digging and found out what it was about.  Then one of my friend's older brother borrowed a copy from someone and let me play it for a few days.  I was sold completely and utterly.

I picked up a copy of the snes version a few years later for about 40 dollars.  I played the heck outta that thing.  There are at least 7 endings in the original version (I could google it and find out but I don't want to), and I found about four of them before I played any other game.  There are TONS of things to do in this game, besides the main story line(s), and you don't have to recruit all the characters to do it.  But I digress.

There are now three versions available, the SNES, the PSone (which comes with Final Fantasy IV, another good RPG), and the DS.  I own all three, and here's why.  The SNES version was my first copy, and I don't think I can ever get rid of it.  The PS1 version included a couple bonus features the SNES didn't, and had animated cinematics.  Nothing terribly fancy, but still pretty neat.  The DS version is a masterpiece.  It completely remastered the sound, cleaned the graphics up a bit, left in the cinematics from the PS1, added a new dungeon, a few new items... the list goes on.

*Possible spoiler alert, I make no promises, you've been warned ^_^
The general story line is... you play as Crono, a young nobody from a small town.  You go to the Millenial fair, which happens once a millenium (shocker there, I know) where you bump into a young girl.  Your geeky friend Lucca has built a teleportation machine, and your new friend demands to use it.  Long story short, you end up going back in time 400 years.  And that's just the beginning.

**Definite spoiler alert
There's intrigue, there's time travel, there's a lot of changing things in the past to effect the future.  What got me though was the fact that when you beat the 'final' boss, you're only... maybe an eighth of the way through the game, if that.  What you find out is astounding... Turns out you and the bad guy's goals are a lot closer to the same than you think, you just didn't know what your real goal was yet.

**Okay, spoiler alert over

So now for gameplay.  For the most part, leveling is straightforward.  Beat enemies, get XP/money/skill points, stats go up, learn new abilities.  What I thought was neat though was the separation of level XP and skill XP.  Skill points unlock your new abilities, and XP levels you up.  Sounds more confusing that it is.  Leveling both skills and stats are linear... you don't get to customize your party members, but they all have clearly defined roles.  For example, Crono is your heavy hitter crit whore speedy mcspeedpants.  Frog (yeah, he's a frog man.  Long story, possibly my favorite character) is a more solid utility fighter, uses magic to heal the party but packs a punch physically too, and is very slow compared to most other members.  There are 'Tabs' that you can use on anyone to increase any specific stat by one, but they are very rare (i.e. there are power tabs, magic tabs, etc).  Something I've found is rather unique to CT is dual and triple techs.  Essentially, you team up with a partner to do something devastating, usually more than you could do separately.  For example, Crono and frog team up for an X-Strike on a single enemy, since they're both sword fighters.

Combat is pretty straightforward.  Run into an enemy (literally, there are no random encounters here) fight them wherever you are in the zone.  Another thing I really liked was the active/wait system.  Basically, while you're flipping through you menus you pause combat.  It's an option, but one that I think is amazing for a party based menu driven combat system.  You have an action bar just like in FFVII or other similar RPGs, and you get to take one action every time that fills up.  Another cool option that CT offers is changing combat speed.  Basically, you control how fast turns are.  At the slowest setting, you could see 10 seconds between bars filling up.  At the fastest, it's nearly instant.  This doesn't make the game easier or harder, since the enemies are slowed or sped up too, but it really cuts down your idle time, at least if you're on the wait system.  On the active system, I'd rather have the longer bar fill up because I'm slow at menus.  Other than that, you have your regular Attack option, Items, Techs, Defend and Flee.  Pretty straightforward.

Items are your run of the mill stereotyped  RPG  items: potions, status cures, etc.  Equipment on the other hand was very well done.  There's three types of armor.  The most common is unisex, but there are male and female only armors.  Sometimes you'll find something that's unique to a certain party member (example:  Lucca's dad makes her a armored dress and later a hat), but for the most part, it's again really easy to see "This has better stats, this cuts fire damage, etc."

Weapons are another story.  Each character has their own weapon that is unique to them, and can't use any other weapon.  Crono uses katanas, Frog two handed swords, Lucca guns (think like an airsoft gun, or a very powerful BB gun).  Every character has an "ultimate" or more appropriately "best in slot" weapon.  There are of course special effects on some weapons that might make using them more attractive than something that hits harder, for example a sword that gives you a passive Haste spell all the time, but again, really easy to see and weigh those things.

Anyway.  There are a ton of things to do in this game, from minigames to exploring to hunting rareish monsters to changing jerkfaces in the future by talking to their ancestors in the past.  It's relatively easy to 'beat' this game, but that's where the multiple endings come in.  I still play this game, and I beat it probably the same week I bought the SNES version.

DS owners, if you're looking for an amazing RPG with some 90's anime nostalgia, get this game.  Heck, half the reason I bought a DS was for this game!  Now that I think about it... I bought this game before I bought my DS >.>

If you're not a traditional RPG fan, you probably won't like this game.  I cried, I laughed my head off, I got angry when the characters go angry.  I loved it.  I give this game 12/10.  That's right, I cheated and gave it 120%.  It got extra credit for being so amazingly amazingpants.

So until next time, rock on, level up, and roll for loot.

Whee!

Decided that mixing business with personal business (or more accurately rants and raves) was a bad move, so here we are now humble reader!  All my reviews and whatnots will be located here rather than over at Legendary Fool, and LF is gonna be my personal rants and raves blog.  Whee!  Also, bear with me for a while until I get the site all prettyfied and set up how I want it.  Up next on the review list: Chrono Trigger; Time and How to Swing it.