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Feb 9th, 2008 at 03:23:33 - Radiata Stories (PS2) |
GAMEPLAY
The further the game progressed I came in contact with actual monsters. When got down to actually battling such enemies as giant badgers, I figured out that the funny characters and upbeat music belies a very complex battle system that requires you to use combination attacks in tandem with special attacks and to follow orders from the team leader. It added a complexity to the random battles I faced on my mission which kept them from being redundant or boring.
However, Once I had finished one half of my mission I was forced to stroll around town for the better half of an hour to wait for the right time because of the game’s real time system. The town was small and could be fully explored in about 5 minutes, leading to a handful of time where I was forced to talk to the same five or six NPCs while waiting for the time to pass. These lulls in game play seem to come in between missions, which breaks up the game play.
DESIGN
The tone of this game was very different from the other games I’ve reviewed. From the very beginning, the game had a very funny and happy storybook feel. The environments used very bright, pastel, colors and the music is always upbeat and jazzy, even during battles. Even the special attacks and enemies add to the comedic tone, all of the enemies are simple creatures such ass pigs, ants, and mosquitoes. All of this combines to form a bright gameworld.
Despite the artistic environment, the gameworld is extremely linear, with at most only two ways to go, which all comes to the same place, and at worst you are stuck on a narrow path with only one way to go. The most that you are allowed to explore is throughout the small towns that you come across, which only consist of a handful of houses.
The game did, however, have some very interesting aspects to them, such as the kick option and party commands. There are no treasure chests in this game, instead they are kept in every day objects such as bureaus and closets. This allowed me to immerse myself more into the game without asking why there are treasre chests everywhere. Your party in this game is also very intelligent and self sufficient, they also will set them self up to achieve combination attacks with you.
The best part of the game was the comedy. In most games there is a comic relief character, however in Radiata Stories, all of the characters could fit that profile. It made some of the linearity of gameplay more bearable.
All in all, this game was a surprisingly good RPG with a great sense of humor. It is best for younger audiences or for some lighthearted fun.
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Feb 9th, 2008 at 01:06:11 - Radiata Stories (PS2) |
SUMMARY
Radiata Stories puts you in the role of Jack Russell, a Knight apprentice, who has just recently joined the Radiata Knights. As a knight apprentice you complete assignment given to you by the Leader of Radiata such as escorting caravans or fighting monsters.
GAMEPLAY
I usually don’t like games with such a childish appearance like Radiata Stories. However, this game is actually a nice alternative to most of the games that I have played so far. I felt like a kid when I got control of the character for the first time and could run around kicking anything and everything I desired, and that is exactly what I did, I proceeded to kick every object and person in each room. The game actually encourages this by making it the sole way to find items and other goodies while in the world.
My starting team is formed of perhaps the oddest characters I’ve seen in an RPG. There is Ganz, the team captain, a short, pudgy man with a strange moustache and a penchant for head butting people. Then there is Clive, who sounds like Cletus from the Simpsons, and is always doing a crazy dance.
Because of the kick ability and the interesting characters I was continuously laughing throughout my entire, albeit short, time playing this game.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 11th, 2008 at 01:01:59.
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Jan 26th, 2008 at 05:11:19 - Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) |
GAMEPLAY
The more colossi I slew, the harder it was to discover their location. Although not nearly as exciting as fighting a colossus to the death, but it gave me a chance to explore the varied environment, which I don’t think I would have otherwise. The later colossi seem to be more aggressive than those earlier on, firing electricity and lasers at you. However, when I defeated a colossus I found it a bittersweet affair. I felt pride that I had overcome such a daunting foe, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had just killed a magnificent creature that had not really done anything to me.
This game has drawn more people to it than any other I’ve played. While playing the game my friends, even those who didn’t like videogames, would come in to my room and be mesmerized as I was drug into a deep lake by a giant sea serpent, and there were shouts as I flew off the wing of another only to grasp the tip of its tail.
DESIGN
Shadow of the Colossus is a very innovative and exciting game that does many things well. The game gets rid of normal enemies in lieu of only a handful of colossi. The game is more or less defeating one colossus after another, but it never becomes repetitive or boring because each colossus requires a completely unique way to defeat it. The colossi are so massive that they are more akin to levels than actual bosses; you have to overcome obstacles to reach a goal (their weak point). Each battle has a sense of grandeur due to each of the colossus’s shear size. The musical score was interesting and imaginative. The music was calm and almost non-existent while I was roaming the environment which creating the feeling that this all took place at the end of the world, yet became intense and dramatic upon engaging a colossus to fit the more combative section of the game. The environment spans from desert to forest and is truly 3D, the whole world is open at the beginning, and there are no invisible walls or cliffs to restrict the character’s movement.
However, the game’s camera angle and controls while riding Agro, your horse, leave much to be desired. The camera was difficult to manually navigate and would sometimes turn completely around causing me to lose sight of the colossus and crushed underfoot. In addition, the Horse was hard to keep in a straight line while riding it, which was not a problem in the plains or desert areas, but it took me over twenty minutes to navigate a forest because I ran into every other tree. Despite these draw backs they do not happen often enough, nor with enough severity to really detract from the gameplay. As it stands, Shadow of the Colossus remains a brilliant game.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 01:46:40 - Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) |
SUMMARY
Shadow of the Colossus is an adventure game about an unnamed adventurer who is on a quest slay colossi. To do so, you must trick, scale, and stab various weakpoints of each colossus.
GAMEPLAY
I found Shadow of the Colossus to be the most fun killing giants I've ever had. The game is rather slow until you find the next colossus you are to fell, which can take quite a while depending on your sense of direction. However, that's part of the appeal, I felt that I had achieved something just by finding the big guys.
The battles with the Colossi were genuinely some of the most exciting moments I've had while playing a game. I was able to perform things in game that I had only seen before in cutscenes. For example, I was gripping to the wing of a bird colossus when I was bucked off, only to grab hold of its tail at the last moment. These parts where I am hanging by a thread create more excitement for me.
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dharmon has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 9 days |
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