From this point on, I will be using hippochippies.wordpress.com for my new blog. Thanks for reading, and pleae follow me over there! Lots of new and exciting things are coming, you'll see.
It will
Blow your
Mind.
-Zach
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Asura's Wrath demo
I'm not even sure where to begin.
I knew almost nothing about this game until about 20 minutes ago. Now I know that I will pay my hard earned money to play so much more of it. This game has Bayonetta levels of crazy.
Some of my favorite games are the ones that do NOT have any limits to how insane they can get. No More Heroes and Bayonetta are two of the prime examples I go to when I describe my love for insanity in video games. I'm almost certain that Asura's Wrath will be another to proudly present among these wonderful examples of what a video game is capable of. This game is fucking nuts. When anything can get the response of me shouting at my televion "WHAT?!?!?" or laughing out loud hysterically at the events unfolding before me, congratulations, you win.
Asura's Wrath is an action game, and I'm still not even sure of what kind. The variety in the the sequences was really fun to see. I'm still not 100% sure how well the melee combat is going to work, maybe I'll get the hang of it with practice, but I really don't think its going to matter to me personally. The sheer amount of...of...things that I just saw was amazing. It provides a kind of action spectacle that I could watch for hours.
I was on Earth, threw a guy into space, killed him from space while I was on Earth, then later I went to the moon and fought a guy there. And it only got better. That was the most I've ever hated a "To Be Continued" screen. Asura's Wrath comes out next month and I will be there on day one.
I really hope the rest of the game is as good as the 2 chapters I just played. Pleasepleaseplasepleaseplease.
-Zach
I knew almost nothing about this game until about 20 minutes ago. Now I know that I will pay my hard earned money to play so much more of it. This game has Bayonetta levels of crazy.
Some of my favorite games are the ones that do NOT have any limits to how insane they can get. No More Heroes and Bayonetta are two of the prime examples I go to when I describe my love for insanity in video games. I'm almost certain that Asura's Wrath will be another to proudly present among these wonderful examples of what a video game is capable of. This game is fucking nuts. When anything can get the response of me shouting at my televion "WHAT?!?!?" or laughing out loud hysterically at the events unfolding before me, congratulations, you win.
Asura's Wrath is an action game, and I'm still not even sure of what kind. The variety in the the sequences was really fun to see. I'm still not 100% sure how well the melee combat is going to work, maybe I'll get the hang of it with practice, but I really don't think its going to matter to me personally. The sheer amount of...of...things that I just saw was amazing. It provides a kind of action spectacle that I could watch for hours.
I was on Earth, threw a guy into space, killed him from space while I was on Earth, then later I went to the moon and fought a guy there. And it only got better. That was the most I've ever hated a "To Be Continued" screen. Asura's Wrath comes out next month and I will be there on day one.
I really hope the rest of the game is as good as the 2 chapters I just played. Pleasepleaseplasepleaseplease.
-Zach
Final Fantasy XIII demo
I can't say I cared much for XIII and I'll have to echo myself for this. I found myself wanting to do just about anything else but play this game. I really wish I could get more into these, but I guess they just aren't for me. Their were a few noticeable changes from XIII, so if you're interested at all you should try it to see what they did. The random battles don't just magically pop up on the screen anymore, instead the enemy appears on screen and you have the option of running away or getting a preemptive strike before you are ever taken to a battle screen. There is also a new feature where you can collect monsters that you kill to come fight with you in battle, which seems like it could be interesting (for someone other than me). I doubt I'll be picking this one up anytime soon. NEEXXXXT!
-Zach
-Zach
Demo Day!
I have quite a few demos for 2012 games backed up on my 360 and just today the Resident Evil Revelations demo came out on 3DS. I figured it was finally time I got to them. So today I'll briefly be writing about how my experiences with each of these goes. I plan on getting to most of them today if I have time. Right now I have demos for Asura's Wrath, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, The Darkness 2, and Resident Evil Revelations.
Maybe they won't all be terrible. Maybe.
-Zach
Maybe they won't all be terrible. Maybe.
-Zach
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
GotY 2011 - Part 5 - Dark Souls
I just finished Dark Souls. I went into that game expecting greatness, and I came out 62 hours (of game time over a period of a few months, not all at once, Jesus Christ) later with something more. Like Demon's Souls before it, you aren't given a whole lot of direction. Hell, you never even get a map. You learn by playing it, it teaches you things without ever having to say anything to you.
As frustrating as that can be at times, it really isn't like anything else you can go to the store and buy right now. Anything else bombards you with what the controls do, where you need to go, what your objective is, and refuses to let up. Dark Souls is comparable to a babysitter just working for a paycheck. He doesn't care where you go; he knows that when you get hurt (which you will), you'll learn not to do whatever you did again.
Dark Souls is a game about mistakes. You make a lot of them once because it wants you to. After that though, its up to you to learn from them. Even when you know what you're doing, it can still be tough if you don't have the motivation to go further in. This is a very hard game, and the difficulty will scare most people away. But once you realize how everything works, it starts to come together one piece at a time. This isn't like most RPGs. Yes, you level up with experience and your character gets incrementally stronger. But what is more important is how you as a player get better as well. The game is like a class that teaches you lessons the whole time you play it. When I came back to the game with my high level character, it had been a few months since I last played. I was demolished by everything. I had to get back into the groove of playing it before I could start being decent at it again.
Dark Souls has one of my favorite worlds ever in a game. Everything just seems to fit into place, and nothing seems too extraordinary to be there. It has such a strong, unique style and tone that you don't really see a lot in games.
Every enemy looks so wonderful and strange each time you wander into new areas. I can't think of a game where I was more amazed at how different the characters got until the very end of the game. You'll stumble into new areas a lot too, the game is built around exploration. As you grow and get more skilled, you'll be able to access new areas and see incredible things that no other game this year can do. There are so many places to see, and every single one of them is worthwhile and memorable. The first time I cut into a false wall and went into a giant tree that led to one of the most beautiful areas in the game, it stunned me. I could have easily missed this whole section of the game. Any other game would have four different flashing arrows saying "HEY LOOK AT THIS COOL THING WE DID COME HERE DON'T MISS IT. PLEASE LOVE US." but Dark Souls doesn't care if you see everything. If you miss half of the game because you didn't care enough to look for it, then its your fault.
There isn't anything else like it, and it definitely isn't for everyone. But for the few of us who can experience everything it has to offer, it rewards you more than most other games even come close to. The highs here are so much higher than nearly anywhere else.
I really can't stress enough how much everyone should at least try this game. If it isn't for you, you'll know pretty quickly when you can't kill the first boss after 30 tries and you break your controller in half. But really, its worth it.
-Zach
As frustrating as that can be at times, it really isn't like anything else you can go to the store and buy right now. Anything else bombards you with what the controls do, where you need to go, what your objective is, and refuses to let up. Dark Souls is comparable to a babysitter just working for a paycheck. He doesn't care where you go; he knows that when you get hurt (which you will), you'll learn not to do whatever you did again.
Dark Souls is a game about mistakes. You make a lot of them once because it wants you to. After that though, its up to you to learn from them. Even when you know what you're doing, it can still be tough if you don't have the motivation to go further in. This is a very hard game, and the difficulty will scare most people away. But once you realize how everything works, it starts to come together one piece at a time. This isn't like most RPGs. Yes, you level up with experience and your character gets incrementally stronger. But what is more important is how you as a player get better as well. The game is like a class that teaches you lessons the whole time you play it. When I came back to the game with my high level character, it had been a few months since I last played. I was demolished by everything. I had to get back into the groove of playing it before I could start being decent at it again.
Dark Souls has one of my favorite worlds ever in a game. Everything just seems to fit into place, and nothing seems too extraordinary to be there. It has such a strong, unique style and tone that you don't really see a lot in games.
Every enemy looks so wonderful and strange each time you wander into new areas. I can't think of a game where I was more amazed at how different the characters got until the very end of the game. You'll stumble into new areas a lot too, the game is built around exploration. As you grow and get more skilled, you'll be able to access new areas and see incredible things that no other game this year can do. There are so many places to see, and every single one of them is worthwhile and memorable. The first time I cut into a false wall and went into a giant tree that led to one of the most beautiful areas in the game, it stunned me. I could have easily missed this whole section of the game. Any other game would have four different flashing arrows saying "HEY LOOK AT THIS COOL THING WE DID COME HERE DON'T MISS IT. PLEASE LOVE US." but Dark Souls doesn't care if you see everything. If you miss half of the game because you didn't care enough to look for it, then its your fault.
There isn't anything else like it, and it definitely isn't for everyone. But for the few of us who can experience everything it has to offer, it rewards you more than most other games even come close to. The highs here are so much higher than nearly anywhere else.
I really can't stress enough how much everyone should at least try this game. If it isn't for you, you'll know pretty quickly when you can't kill the first boss after 30 tries and you break your controller in half. But really, its worth it.
-Zach
2012 Predictions!
Time for a little in the 2011 stuff to think about the future! I usually like to make some guesses about what I'm going to think about the year to come, so I guess I should start before any big games actually come out this year. First off, I've made a list of the games I think I might enjoy the most by the end of the year. We all know how that turned out last time, but why not give it another shot?
1. Mass Effect 3
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Far Cry 3
4. Tomb Raider
5. Metal Gear Rising
6. The Witcher 2
7. Borderlands 2
......and those are the ones I have the most faith in.
Mass Effect 3 and Bioshock Infinite are way above everything in else my mind right now.
Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider both look pretty great. I loved Far Cry 2 and this one looks like it's doing some interesting things, hopefully they'll work out for it.
Tomb Raider just looks like something we just don't get enough of. I really hope it's as good as it looks like it could be.
I'm a huge fan of Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Vanquish, and to a lesser extent, Madworld) and Metal Gear is one of the best franchises ever created by human beings. I'm not sure how much of Metal Gear will actually be in the game, but I'm looking forward to it more because of how insane Platinum gets with action games. They know what they're doing.
Yes, I realize the Witcher 2 came out last year, but I'm waiting for the 360 version, so HA!
I really liked Borderlands, but I think there were a lot of things that could have been done differently to make it a better game. Hopefully they learned some things, and this one will be even better than the first.
Now I'm just going to throw out some names and talk about them as I see fit. These are games that either I'm not entirely sure about yet, or that I've heard a lot about but just haven't payed a ton of attention to them myself.
Ninja Gaiden 3
Prey 2
Diablo 3
Paper Mario 3DS
Luigi's Mansion 2
Metro Last Light
The Last of Us
The Last Guardian
Darksiders 2
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Overstrike
Syndicate
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Dishonored
The Witness
This year has a lot more unknowns for me than a lot of the years before. I'm really excited to be surprised by a lot of these, and possibly disappointed by plenty as well. 2011 was a fantastic year for games, and I really hope 2012 can come close.
We. Will. See.
-Zach
1. Mass Effect 3
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Far Cry 3
4. Tomb Raider
5. Metal Gear Rising
6. The Witcher 2
7. Borderlands 2
......and those are the ones I have the most faith in.
Mass Effect 3 and Bioshock Infinite are way above everything in else my mind right now.
Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider both look pretty great. I loved Far Cry 2 and this one looks like it's doing some interesting things, hopefully they'll work out for it.
Tomb Raider just looks like something we just don't get enough of. I really hope it's as good as it looks like it could be.
I'm a huge fan of Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Vanquish, and to a lesser extent, Madworld) and Metal Gear is one of the best franchises ever created by human beings. I'm not sure how much of Metal Gear will actually be in the game, but I'm looking forward to it more because of how insane Platinum gets with action games. They know what they're doing.
Yes, I realize the Witcher 2 came out last year, but I'm waiting for the 360 version, so HA!
I really liked Borderlands, but I think there were a lot of things that could have been done differently to make it a better game. Hopefully they learned some things, and this one will be even better than the first.
Now I'm just going to throw out some names and talk about them as I see fit. These are games that either I'm not entirely sure about yet, or that I've heard a lot about but just haven't payed a ton of attention to them myself.
Ninja Gaiden 3
Prey 2
Diablo 3
Paper Mario 3DS
Luigi's Mansion 2
Metro Last Light
The Last of Us
The Last Guardian
Darksiders 2
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Overstrike
Syndicate
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Dishonored
The Witness
This year has a lot more unknowns for me than a lot of the years before. I'm really excited to be surprised by a lot of these, and possibly disappointed by plenty as well. 2011 was a fantastic year for games, and I really hope 2012 can come close.
We. Will. See.
-Zach
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
GotY 2011 - Part 4 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
This is another one that totally took me by surprise. I didn't even realize this game was coming out until it did, and even then I was skeptical that it was something for me. I hadn't played either of the original games in the series, but this is a prequel so I figured it wouldn't matter so much. Even after I started, it didn't hook me right away. I didn't really understand what kind of game it was or what I was expecting to get out of it.
Until about the second hour.
When this game hits you and everything comes together like it did for me, it hits hard. After you realize how many options you have, and that you can deal with situations in so many different ways, its a great feeling. I played through the game entirely stealthily, never killing anyone. The same thought echoed through my head the entire time I played it, "This is what I wish Splinter Cell had evolved into." Splinter Cell Conviction was a big disappointment for me because of the heavy emphasis on action over stealth, but Deus Ex let's you play the game exactly like that if you want to.
The conversation system is the game is equally as wonderful, similar to Mass Effect's dialogue wheel, you have a few options to say to everyone you meet, depending on what kind of person you want your character to be. Each of the side quests that you take part in have an interesting little story tied to them, and it just makes the world feel more alive. Add that to the hours and hours of tiny details throughout the game and this is one of the most realistic worlds I've ever seen in a game. You have the freedom to read emails between friends on computers, go into apartment complexes and see how the people there live their lives, and just do so many things that other games wouldn't dream of having in them.
The story is a mix of conspiracies, corporate struggles, betrayals, and more that I love to see in a game. My biggest complaint with the game is that the ending falls flat and doesn't deliver a great conclusion to the otherwise excellent story that was told up to that point. That barely detracts from the overall experience though, because I loved the 50+ hours so much that I played before it.
This is a game that gets so much right, I'd have a hard time not recommending it to anyone.
Also, you can literally punch through walls. Punch. Through. Walls.
-Zach
Until about the second hour.
When this game hits you and everything comes together like it did for me, it hits hard. After you realize how many options you have, and that you can deal with situations in so many different ways, its a great feeling. I played through the game entirely stealthily, never killing anyone. The same thought echoed through my head the entire time I played it, "This is what I wish Splinter Cell had evolved into." Splinter Cell Conviction was a big disappointment for me because of the heavy emphasis on action over stealth, but Deus Ex let's you play the game exactly like that if you want to.
The conversation system is the game is equally as wonderful, similar to Mass Effect's dialogue wheel, you have a few options to say to everyone you meet, depending on what kind of person you want your character to be. Each of the side quests that you take part in have an interesting little story tied to them, and it just makes the world feel more alive. Add that to the hours and hours of tiny details throughout the game and this is one of the most realistic worlds I've ever seen in a game. You have the freedom to read emails between friends on computers, go into apartment complexes and see how the people there live their lives, and just do so many things that other games wouldn't dream of having in them.
The story is a mix of conspiracies, corporate struggles, betrayals, and more that I love to see in a game. My biggest complaint with the game is that the ending falls flat and doesn't deliver a great conclusion to the otherwise excellent story that was told up to that point. That barely detracts from the overall experience though, because I loved the 50+ hours so much that I played before it.
This is a game that gets so much right, I'd have a hard time not recommending it to anyone.
Also, you can literally punch through walls. Punch. Through. Walls.
-Zach
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