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Apr 18th, 2007 at 23:21:47 - Bombastic (PS2) |
Talk about an intimidating game...
I played this game once about two weeks ago, and have yet to pick it up again.
Bombastic is a DICE based, puzzle game-- an explosive dice-based puzzle game. This is a very hard game to explain, so I would recommend Google-ing Bombastic and viewing some videos. You're a character that walks around levels on top of a die, each side of the die is color-coded and numbered one through six. These dice possess volatile properties-- which ignite after making contact with the quantity of dice equal to the number of the value face-up on said die.
The reason that Bombastic is so difficult to describe is that dice, fundamentally,are complex objects and Bombastic requires that you are aware of every aspect of the dice. You need to be aware of the following while playing Bombastic;
Dice have six sides, one side faces up, opposing sides' values add up to seven, and if you want to move in a straight line-- retaining the value of the die at your original position-- you have to make a C-shape motion to move one space forward. This becomes increasingly complex, as the levels themselves are limited to a certain grid based layout. You also need to be aware of the value of the dice surrounding any particular dice, to create ignitions-- clearing the level.
I have only played the Tutorial level through, and I can't fathom the difficulty spike that is about to occur in the next few levels.
I guess I'll pick Bombastic up, after finals, preferably on a nice sunny day, where I have nothing to do... There is no way to play this game under any kind of stress.
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Mar 4th, 2007 at 15:38:06 - Chibi-Robo (GC) |
Chibi-Robo.
I was immediately intrigued with the game way back when Nintendo announced it. A little Robot guy, going around doing menial tasks, i.e. cleaning floors, digging holes, and such-- basically a leisurely adventure game. Though I never have really been a fan of adventure games, Chibi-Robo still managed to grab hold of my attention. It had style, from what I saw in the screen shots. It seemed to be really funny, based on what I saw from character designs. And it seemed to be a game that alot of people would ignore, so I knew I had to pay attention. (What? If I didn't pay attention to games people DIDN'T play, I wouldn't own more than half of my video game collection, and probably would've stopped playing games some time ago... but anyways...)
I finally got to play the game last night, after owning for about 2-3 months (even before I had a console that could play the game) and this game has become one of my favorites.
Before playing the game, I had no idea so much of the game's style was rooted in music, so when I turned it on and heard the menu-screen's music I was surprised. It kind of has that Katamari Damacy appeal. Kinda jazzy, kinda electronic, kinda swing-y. The sound designers knew what they were doing, and it shows. Almost every action that Chibi makes has a special sound to it, musical sound that is. Actions such as cleaning the floor conjure their own little musical themes that match the action of moving a brush back and forth. It's really impressive.
The pacing of the game is very slow, very laid back. There are no set stages and levels, though there are about 5 different rooms (so far), and their isn't a clear-cut objective other than 'get more "Happy Points" so that you can become a Super-Chibi-Robo'. You get "Happy Points" by doing stuff around the house, and interacting with the many characters scattered about.
Though there is only that ONE objective at the beginning of the game, it quickly turns into something more involving. You begin to meet all these neat characters, with their own problems, you start getting involved in the Family (who bought you)'s affairs and troubles.. It's very engaging, very entertaining, and surprisingly deep--- the wife of the house is questioning her marriage, the young daughter is upset at night, because the parents aren't getting along, and the Husband is ignoring the problems around him and keeps collecting toys and robots, furthering the family's debt. I am very very impressed by how everything slowly unfolds, and you begin to truly play the role of the Chibi-Robo -- making everyone in the house happier.
I've played the game about 5 hours total, in two sittings (one 3 hour stretch and another 2 hour stretch...), and I am always wanting to go back and play. If this were the week of Spring Break, I would probably still be playing the game right now.... Chibi-Robo has a way of making you go just one more day-cycle, or just one more night-cycle (different events occur at different times of the day..i.e. Most of the toys are active at night, when no one is around to see them, the door to the bedroom is only open during the day, etc.).
There is just so much to do that I could talk about the game for another 5 paragraphs. But, I'll hold of for another 2-3 hours of gameplay for my next post. In the meantime, I would recommend buying the game, especially since it won't cost you more than $15 at any retailer--though this game is worth full price.
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Mar 4th, 2007 at 14:48:57 - P.N. 03 (GC) |
Well, I have had ample time with this game(since my last post), haven't beat it yet though, and I am truly enjoying it.
Its fast, reflex-based gameplay is exciting, and challenging-- comparable to games like Contra, Metal Slug, etc. I like the fact that, most of the time, if you get hit or mess up it is purely your fault, and not something inherently flawed within the game. There are times, however, where the camera may be the cause of death, but that doesn't happen often. The enemies tend to spawn and locate themselves somewhere in front of you, so any camera adjustments aren't often necessary.
I am currently on mission 10 and encountered a difficulty spike-- from Tolerable to Extremely Difficult. Most of the bosses up to this point, except for the final boss on level 9, were pushovers and didn't require much thought. I haven't gotten to level 10's boss, but from what I encountered on level 9, I can only assume that this next boss will be insane....but now that I think about it..
I'm noticing that the difficulty is rooted in the inability to destroy enemies fast enough. I think this may be the result of my not buying the correct upgraded power suit, (there are about 8 different ones so far). The bosses and enemies this far into the game take MUCH less damage than near the beginning, so my power suit from that I used for stages 1-8 doesn't seem to be adequate for these last few stages.
I guess it could be argued that this is, by nature, a typical difficulty increase, but I can't help but think that it all boils down to-- "At this point in the game you are supposed to have [THIS] Particular Power Suit". I am hoping that this is not the case. And while you CAN still BEAT the game with the old power suit, I am sure that had I correctly saved my points and bought a particular suit by this point in the game, I would be having a much easier time( and may have found the game too easy(!)).
So I will see how it goes, I am currently backtracking and playing the "Trial Missions" so that I can get enough points to buy this "better" power suit.. When that happen, I'll make my final judgement.
BUT SO FAR-- P.N.03 has been a game right up my alley: A Tied and True New School Shooter.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Mar 4th, 2007 at 14:50:34.
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Feb 21st, 2007 at 20:31:59 - Pokemon: Fire Red (GBA) |
Hmm..
I played this game again, about two days ago, and I am not as excited as I was when first playing it.
It's all because of GARY (the Rival). His Pokemon were level 19 and above, while I was still lingering around levels 11-16 with my Pokemon. And now that I have to stop all story progression in the game to spend time leveling up, I am enjoying the game, as a whole, less.
Mostly because I came to the realization that the Pokemon battle system as a whole is based around "LEVELS" far too much, and not enough on strategy (Maybe my opinion will change later in the game???). The only reason my Lvl 12 Pidgey, lost to Gary's level 17 Spearow, was because our levels are too far apart... despite me having access to many status-effecting attacks, and an overall decent attack arsenal. I beginning to see that "skill" doens't play a role here-- at least this early in the game.
I am hoping to see that when I get to level 30 or so, some of level influence will wear off... maybe my Level 30 Pidgey could take a Level 35 Spearow (??) if I think the battle through..
I will continue to study the importance of these levels in Pokemon, and hopefully I will get my "Poke-Joy" back....
I really hope so, because I plan on getting Pearl for DS, and this game will have a HEAVY influence on my decision to purchase Pearl in April/May.
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neoyaku2 has been with GameLog for 17 years, 10 months, and 11 days |
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