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Feb 8th, 2008 at 03:09:30 - No More Heroes (Wii) |
GAMEPLAY
The game continues with the violent fighting. However, in between boss battles, I have to get random jobs to get enough money to fight the next boss. The job ranged from working at a gas station, cleaning the streets/wall of the city, scorpion extermination to full assassination job. These jobs are repetitive. For example, I have assassinate the CEO of Pizza Butt Company three different time just with the difficulty adjusted. It was annoying to do these jobs.
The story, however, continues to be riveting. I wanted to know what is going to happen next and what is the back story of the next boss. I needed to know who Travis Touchdown really is. The game never really explained how he ended up in Santa Destroy or why he is going after the assassin. People just assume that he like to fight and kill people. The character development stays interesting throughout the game.
Design
The battle system is the most interesting in this game. Weapons can be upgraded and equipment can be attached to the light saber. Managing between charging your weapon and actually attacking is tough because if the enemy catches you charging your weapon they will not hesitate to attack you. However, at the end of the game, I acquired a light saber and an attachment that allowed me to never need to charge the weapon again. That is quite useful because now I have no need to charge and I can just fight freely without having to worry that my sword is going to stop working. I like the battle system and the upgrade system wherein you have to make enough money to buy it.
One thing I found annoying with the boss battles is that I have to find the exact time to attack them, and every other time they simply block it. When you do find it, you just keep repeating it till they die. Also, some bosses, such as bad girl, will decide not to let you have that opportunity too many time and just keep doing whatever is that they do, and never let you attack. Those kind of bosses are not even hard, but they just want to extend the game as long as possible and annoy the player to a maximum level. Other than that, the game has a great battle system and a great story.
-Weilee Chen
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Feb 8th, 2008 at 02:59:25 - No More Heroes (Wii) |
SUMMARY
No more heroes is game about Travis Touchdown, an Otaku turned assassin, who wants to kill all the assassin that are ranked higher than him. He starts out as a rank 11th, and kill his way to number one. Throughout the story, the player encounter twists plot and great boss battle. In order to advance, Touchdown has to pay an entry fee, which is gained by doing random jobs in the city of Santa Destroy, California.
GAMEPLAY
This is one of the more violent game I played. The battle sequence goes from battle the enemy and finishing them with a gory move. However, it is not violent to the point where I don't want to play. The blood spilled was so great that I know it is not real, so I am not repulse by it. The characters were great. The game, in nature, makes fun of society and its quirks. Travis Touchdown, an otaku assassin, is not the average protagonist. He is a nerd, and not sociable for he likes anime, games, and to kill people. I relate to him because I am nerd. However, I do not like killing people, so people reading this can relax.
The story is not the major aspect of the game, but it is worth noting that the game has a great story, with turns and twists. However, it is not as deep as I expected, but good nonetheless. Each boss battle has its own story, some more important than other and it is always interesting to find out how each character is going to turn out. Some of them are cheap (destroy man), twisted (bad girl), and interesting (Shinobu), and that only begins to describe each character.
The most important part of the game is the battle system. You battle a person and when they run out of health you can do finishing move wherein a copious amount of blood spills out. It was fun to do just that, and when it comes to the boss battle, you need to know when they have an opening that I can exploit and do maximum damage. People watching the game all say that the game is a bit too violent, but say that they enjoy watching just because they want to see how I am going to kill the boss.
-Weilee Chen
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 01:32:38 - Final Fantasy XII (PS2) |
GAMEPLAY
As I played Final Fantasy XII, I noticed that the action bar is a good idea, but it was frustrating at the same time. At critical moments, I always wished that the time bar will go faster. It really depends on the speed of the character. I wasn't used to it too much because I was so used to the fact that characters cast spell or attack right after I issued the command. Also, it was annoying how the boss always get to attack numerous time before I pull off one attack. My strongest character, Balthier, wields a gun, but it took the action bar forever to fill up. It took even longer than casting a spell. That was frustrating. That, however, was part of the game, and I have come to accept it.
The story has stayed character driven throughout the time I played. One thing I noticed is that although it is an ensemble cast, where every character is important, Balthier seems to be the main character. Vaan was advertised as the main character, but, to me, Balthier is more important to the plot. The empire's intention plays heavily in the game as well, but Vayne, a potential successor to the empire's throne, was more important than the other villains. I especially enjoyed watching how Vayne was going to take the throne and destroy Ashe who is desperately trying to restore Damascus under her control.
My friend and I remained interesting in the story. This game is like a movie, and like a good movie, it sucked me in. The flow of the game was smooth. It made me want to know more and know everything about the story. The world of Ivalice is very suited for the story. The world of ivalice is similar to the world of star wars as in that many races interact and form a functional society. I like the world ivalice a lot.
DESIGN
The game world and how the battle system uses that world is amazing. There is no fast way to travel from one point to an untraveled land. Therefore, the player must travel the whole trip by foot. While traveling, the player will encounter all sorts of enemy and will be switched to combat mode. One thing I like about the encounter is that there is no more random encounter, and so I know exactly when and what I am encountering. The leveling system is subtle as in I don't know exactly when I level up, but it does happen. Leveling up happens really simply, and I like that because I don't like to distribute experience points and customize skills.
The space is further improved with the help of gambits. By setting the gambits, the characters controlled by the computer will be able to do what you order even before you actually issue the order. That way I did need to freak out every time I see an enemy. The gambits work by giving each character a parameter to follow, such as, attacking lowest HP, attack same as primary target. In the vast world, these gambits are a life saver because so many things happen at once that sometime I can't even cast the right magic or heal the right person. This battle system is innovative in a way, but I am sure that they can make it better by improving the system. I am hoping that in Final Fantasy XIII they would have it down.
Weilee Chen
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Jan 24th, 2008 at 23:18:02 - Final Fantasy XII (PS2) |
SUMMARY
The story follows a group of people who tries to unravel the secret of an empire trying to invade neighboring countries. It if 12th story in the final fantasy series. It takes place in the Ivalice world, and the battle system follows a real-time battle system. The story starts out with Reks, shortly after we follow vaan and company through ivalice and discovering what the empire is trying to hide.
GAMEPLAY
Reks eventually dies at the beginning of the game, and that caused me to be angry because he tried so hard to defend his country, Damascus. At first, I thought he was the main character, but it turns out the main character is Vaan. I progressed through the game, and met Ashe and company. I knew Ashe wa sthe princess, but I thought she was snobbish. I did not like her. I eventually met Balthier, and I got to say, he is my favorite character. Fran is Balthier's companion, and serves as a sidekick. I enjoyed each character as who they are and what they contribute to the story. The story was character driven, and each character has a back story, which is explored throughout the game. Therefore, I think the characters form an ensemble cast rather than a main and supporting character situation. It was interesting to find out what each character is after, and why they are part of the gang.
The battle system is different than other final fantasy or other Japanese RPGs for that matter. In previous final fantasies, they usually use the Active Time Battle system or the turn by turn system. In Final Fantasy XII, they use the Real-Time battle system where time does not stop for you when you select a character's action. It was a strange system at first because I never played the game like that. By picking an action, the character will keep doing the same action every time its action bar fills up. I eventually got used to it and have come to like it. The only problem I have with this system is that once you choose the action the computer pretty much take over, and you only need to keep an eye on the status of the character and cast magic accordingly. It was definitely an interesting new way of battling in RPGs.
Since the story is so character driven, it was a lot of fun to find things out slowly like a movie. my friend sat through the sessions just because he wants to find out what will happen next. I honestly wanted to find out what is going to happen next as well. The learning curve of this game was a bit long, but at the end, I realized the best way of battling, and gambits (will be a topic in the next log) helped a lot too. I am off to play even more, I will write another one later.
Weilee Chen
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cweilee has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 9 days |
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