Okay, 2010 is moving along at whatever speed relativity sees fit, and games are being played. My aim is to actually complete the damn things, something I've singularly managed to not do these past few years. So with this new single-minded spirit I've been giving Final Fantasy XIII a good going-over.
I have to say Final Fantasy XII is probably my mumber one PS2 game. Forget what the "it's not as good as VII" people say, taken as a game in its own right Final Fantasy XII is superb. It looks good, the battle system is brilliant, the Gambit and LIcense systems are deep and satisfying. Okay so the story is basically Star Wars, and the politics is a bit confusing, and a couple of the characters are not particularly engaging, but generally the game is a joy to play.
I really need to get back to it. I put a good 51 hours in so far.
So I was very much looking forward to XIII, surely they couldn't mess this up?
I'm 24 hours in and I am sorry to say it really isn't as engaging or enjoyable as XII. It is very linear, which frankly defeats the object of "adventure", not only in the story but the character development. Okay so you can assign points to improve characters' attributes in each of the 6 classes, but it's clear that they expect you to be at certain levels at certain points in the game, there are glass cielings in that regard.
The battle system is a step back, using an Active Time Bar-type affair, but because you only control one character you don't really feel as involved. You can change the Paradigm (combination of character classes) but it's just a bit too 'global' for my taste.
What cannot be faulted are the production values. The cutscenes are generally breathtaking, and everything is generally slick and gorgeous. Sasz is a really likeable character, and whoever does his voice acting deserves a medal.
It's not an awful game by any stretch of the imagination, but it really isn't grabbing me like its predecessor. A vital part of any RPG is managing your party, developing characters, and here it feels as though most of that is hard-wired into the game, which rather takes away from the overall experience.
PS: i'm reliablyinformed it's not Dodge but Dahj, or something like that. Fantasy names eh.
Showing posts with label PS2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PS2. Show all posts
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Sunday, 20 December 2009
You're Not Alexander!
Okay, no I've not been on holiday, and yes I have played games:
God Hand - what a superb game this is! It's essentially a Streets Of Rage-style brawler but in 3D. Silly sense of humour, daft plot involving some fella who has a special arm. Graphics are a bit ropey but the deep, involving gameplay more than makes up for it. It's one of those games where, when you fail, you know you can do better next time.
It was the last game from developer Clover Studio who also did Okami amongst other things. It's a shame they had to go.
Borderlands - still a superb game but I was flagging. I'd recommend people play it in co-op as the single-player is a bit ofa grind after a while.
God Hand - what a superb game this is! It's essentially a Streets Of Rage-style brawler but in 3D. Silly sense of humour, daft plot involving some fella who has a special arm. Graphics are a bit ropey but the deep, involving gameplay more than makes up for it. It's one of those games where, when you fail, you know you can do better next time.
It was the last game from developer Clover Studio who also did Okami amongst other things. It's a shame they had to go.
Borderlands - still a superb game but I was flagging. I'd recommend people play it in co-op as the single-player is a bit ofa grind after a while.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
The Week In Games
It's been a varied week as far as games have gone:
Call Of Duty 4 - I have tried to keep on at this despite my ineptitude. It really is incredibly tough to get into still. I switched to Team Deathmatch so, as someone said to me, only half the players are out to kill you, and whilst it makes finding enemies a little easier I still keep getting killed because I cannot see them.
To explain, I don't have 100% eyesight, it's good enough for most things but you could say I'm slow at picking up detail. So when I turn a corner and don't see anything, then get fragged by someone I can't see, I have to ask myself am I bad at the game, is it my eyesight, was it just plain bad luck? Compared to other FPSs the enemy on this are pretty hard to spot.
Quake Live - such a convenient game to have as it just sits in a tab in my browser and within seconds I can be running about having fun. In contrast to CoD 4 the enemy in this are much easier to spot, although I did enter a couple of console commands to make the enemy bright green - I can spot them a mile off. Cheating? Not really, but it makes me wonder would I be any good if they weren't green?
Gran Turismo 4 - not totally sure why I am playing this again. I bought this on pre-order in 2005, played the hell out of it but never got past the Beginner Stadium. It's such a grind. But something drew me back, nostalgia? Who knows.
Painkiller Overdose - I bought this on Steam when they had their massive sale last Christmas, thought I'd install this and give it a go. It's a Doom-style FPS, no pretentions, just straight-up blasting. Very arcadey and no bad thing for it. However I'm finding it a bit of a pain. There's little or no damage feedback so you don't know when you're being hit, it has these awful voice samples that get very tiresome very quickly. Plus it has some technical issues that stop me playing more. Might have to uninstall this as it's not working right.
When I reflect on it I'm not sure if any of this was really satisfying. CoD 4 was frustrating, I'm not really my best on Quake Live of late, GT4 is still a grind, and Painkiller Overdose, well, a bit of a let-down.
I need that boost of fun you get when a game is going right, when you can feel you're getting into it and can't really stop. I've not felt that in a good while, sadly.
Call Of Duty 4 - I have tried to keep on at this despite my ineptitude. It really is incredibly tough to get into still. I switched to Team Deathmatch so, as someone said to me, only half the players are out to kill you, and whilst it makes finding enemies a little easier I still keep getting killed because I cannot see them.
To explain, I don't have 100% eyesight, it's good enough for most things but you could say I'm slow at picking up detail. So when I turn a corner and don't see anything, then get fragged by someone I can't see, I have to ask myself am I bad at the game, is it my eyesight, was it just plain bad luck? Compared to other FPSs the enemy on this are pretty hard to spot.
Quake Live - such a convenient game to have as it just sits in a tab in my browser and within seconds I can be running about having fun. In contrast to CoD 4 the enemy in this are much easier to spot, although I did enter a couple of console commands to make the enemy bright green - I can spot them a mile off. Cheating? Not really, but it makes me wonder would I be any good if they weren't green?
Gran Turismo 4 - not totally sure why I am playing this again. I bought this on pre-order in 2005, played the hell out of it but never got past the Beginner Stadium. It's such a grind. But something drew me back, nostalgia? Who knows.
Painkiller Overdose - I bought this on Steam when they had their massive sale last Christmas, thought I'd install this and give it a go. It's a Doom-style FPS, no pretentions, just straight-up blasting. Very arcadey and no bad thing for it. However I'm finding it a bit of a pain. There's little or no damage feedback so you don't know when you're being hit, it has these awful voice samples that get very tiresome very quickly. Plus it has some technical issues that stop me playing more. Might have to uninstall this as it's not working right.
When I reflect on it I'm not sure if any of this was really satisfying. CoD 4 was frustrating, I'm not really my best on Quake Live of late, GT4 is still a grind, and Painkiller Overdose, well, a bit of a let-down.
I need that boost of fun you get when a game is going right, when you can feel you're getting into it and can't really stop. I've not felt that in a good while, sadly.
Monday, 13 April 2009
Final Fantasy XII
Sad to say the Easter weekend is about to end, back to the grind. However I've had a few decent hours playing games, most notably Final Fantasy XII on the PS2.
This was a Christmas present in 2007 from my good friend Michelle. Naughty me openned it early as I was eager to give it a go. I was playing that thing right over Christmas.
About six months has passed since I played this last. I've been meaning to get back into it but was worried I'd have lost the plot, so I was pleasantly surprised to find I got reaquainted with my party and the story faster than anticipated, and am now fully back.
With games like this I pray I'll get sucked in, feel that I'm in control and able to cope with the complexities of things. Some games haven't grabbed me (Neverwinter Nights), others certainly have (Wasteland, Ultima V). FFXII certainly got me, fair and square. It has depth and character, yet it never gets confusing. Some purists poo-poo FFXII as a pale shadow of earlier games, specifically Final Fantasy VII, but I'll leave them to it - if a game is enjoyable I won't knock it.
I'll be sat at work tomorrow, answering calls from the public and wishing I was at home playing FFXII instead.
This was a Christmas present in 2007 from my good friend Michelle. Naughty me openned it early as I was eager to give it a go. I was playing that thing right over Christmas.
About six months has passed since I played this last. I've been meaning to get back into it but was worried I'd have lost the plot, so I was pleasantly surprised to find I got reaquainted with my party and the story faster than anticipated, and am now fully back.
With games like this I pray I'll get sucked in, feel that I'm in control and able to cope with the complexities of things. Some games haven't grabbed me (Neverwinter Nights), others certainly have (Wasteland, Ultima V). FFXII certainly got me, fair and square. It has depth and character, yet it never gets confusing. Some purists poo-poo FFXII as a pale shadow of earlier games, specifically Final Fantasy VII, but I'll leave them to it - if a game is enjoyable I won't knock it.
I'll be sat at work tomorrow, answering calls from the public and wishing I was at home playing FFXII instead.
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Silent Hill 2 - Completed!
Good gracious me! It's hard to believe but on this cold and grey Saturday afternoon I managed to break the habit of a lifetime and complete a game!
The game in question was PS2 spookfest Silent Hill 2, a game I purchased in 2003 but only got around to starting last November thanks to the cajoling of Michelle.
Here's the evidence:
It actually took me about 15 hours to complete as at one point near the start I couldn't find a save point and had to leave the PS2 on for a couple of hours whilst I did something else.
It's certainly an interesting game, much more psychologically-disturbing than Resident Evil. The gameplay was slow and concentrated more on puzzle-solving than combat, no bad thing. The atmosphere was superb, a deserted town shrouded in fog, abandonded locations, lots of rusty things.
The story was a bit confusing, not sure if it lost something in translation from the Japanese, though it was coherent enough to actually get something from it - either that or I'm thick.
It's certainly a game well worth playing if you haven't already. I'm not sure I'll be going for all the endings just yet, maybe in the future.
Right now I'm just enjoying the fact I completed a game, what a feeling.
The game in question was PS2 spookfest Silent Hill 2, a game I purchased in 2003 but only got around to starting last November thanks to the cajoling of Michelle.
Here's the evidence:
It actually took me about 15 hours to complete as at one point near the start I couldn't find a save point and had to leave the PS2 on for a couple of hours whilst I did something else.
It's certainly an interesting game, much more psychologically-disturbing than Resident Evil. The gameplay was slow and concentrated more on puzzle-solving than combat, no bad thing. The atmosphere was superb, a deserted town shrouded in fog, abandonded locations, lots of rusty things.
The story was a bit confusing, not sure if it lost something in translation from the Japanese, though it was coherent enough to actually get something from it - either that or I'm thick.
It's certainly a game well worth playing if you haven't already. I'm not sure I'll be going for all the endings just yet, maybe in the future.
Right now I'm just enjoying the fact I completed a game, what a feeling.
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