Alight alright alright.
It’s been a bit of a nutso/bizarro week, so let me catch you up to speed.
First off, my copy of ICO is indeed in Montreal. While Montreal is not far from Toronto relative to most of Canada, it’s not exactly a quick jump over to pick it up. My brother can get it back to me, but not until the weekend. Of course, Team ICO Week will be over by then, but hey, that’s apparently how I roll. I’m still scouting for a copy that is less than the $120 that DarthGibblet implied it would be. Either way, to slightly sort-of make up for it, I’m going to have a Last Guardian blow-out on Friday including trailer impressions, speculation, and all that sort of fun stuff. E-mail me at ethos@riddlethos.com if you want to weigh in on The Last Guardian. Maybe I’ll quote you or something.
I suppose saying “first off” implied that there would be a list of some sort. ABSOLUTELY NOT THE CASE. Onto what I’ve been playing. Or: ‘ELLO GUV’NAH!
Suikoden Tierkreis-
This is the game that I will forever be playing. I still always really enjoy it every time I pick my DSi up. But if you’re an avid Riddlethos.com reader, you know that my DS doesn’t travel with me in the summer, so the system has been acting more like an alarm clock than ever. Anyway, the game’s fun, and I still plan to review it on Lusipurr.com in the year 2063 when I finally beat the damn thing. That is, if Lusipurr would even let me at that point. But I digress. Classic RPG action is the point.
Folklore-
This game has a lot going for it. It’s a PS3 exclusive with absolutely gorgeous environments, some of the best and most imaginative monster design I’ve seen in any video game, and an equally impressive soundtrack. However, it’s a little held back by its unexplored RPG mechanics, the fact that every level has to be played twice with two different characters to complete the game, and some questionable voice acting. But the shallow leveling-up system and lack of stat management is countered slightly by the way you have to beef up your Folks by fulfilling certain tasks. I realize that this might be a little confusing if you don’t know the premise. There are no weapons or equipment per se except for your cloak and the different “Folk” you collect. The Folk are also your foes, so it’s a little like Pokémon in that sense. Except Folklore is an action RPG. So it’s a little like Pokémon Ranger in that sense? Still not following? Play more Pokémon. Anyway, I’m not very far into the game, so I won’t talk too much more about the game for fear of getting too far ahead of myself. Who knows, maybe a lot of my views about the game will change.
Metroid Prime: Trilogy-
Some homeless guy I know, Deerwolf, was nice enough to lend me this recently released Nintendo gem. It’s always so shocking when Nintendo actually puts out a package that has legitimate value. Here are three full games (two of them noticeably upgraded) on a single disc for the price of one. And these are some of the most acclaimed titles Nintendo has put out this decade.
It always blows my mind when people knock the Wii’s FPS controls. The system can be rightfully bashed for being terribly underpowered and having zero idea about how gaming has interacted with the internet for years and years, and can especially be bashed for encouraging years of waggle-infested shovel-ware, but goddamn it, Metroid controls like a dream. I play my HD systems dozens and dozens of times more than I play the Wii and deservedly so, but I mean it when I say I would take Wii controls for a game like Bioshock any day. Motion is usually dumb (save Excitebots and Flower), but pointer controls are precise and satisfying, and this shows in SPADES when replaying the original Metroid Prime.
First off, it is glaringly obvious that I’m playing a 7 year old game on a SD system, but the newly added widescreen is incredibly appreciated and other graphical boosts are helpful as well. Let me preface all this by saying that I have tried on numerous occasions to get into the Metroid Prime series. I played the original a few times for a few hours, and once for more than that and just couldn’t seem to understand what everybody else loved about it. Playing for just half an hour on the Wii Trilogy edition provided more of a thrill than any time I attempted to play before. I’m now very much excited to see what the game has in store.
There we go. More detailed impressions than last time. That oughta keep some cranky people happy. Oh, and I’ve got a Arkham Asylum related story that’s going right up after this. Look at me making up for the slow day. I’m a champ.
Tags: 'ELLO GUV'NAH!, Folklore, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Suikoden Tierkreis
My DS Lite is the best alarm clock I’ve ever had.
My DSi’s actually gotten a suprising amount of use since I got it. I tend to just leave it on standby constantly, so if I ever have a few minutes to kill, I just pop it open and go. I haven’t tried the alarm clock feature, but my current alarm clock sucks, so maybe that would be worth it.
I’m actually a bit suprised at how many people I know are suddenly interested in the Metroid Trilogy set. Even the one friend I have who never buys games for full price picked up MP:T the other day. I’ve always said that if I do get a Wii, Corruption will be the first game I pick up (not because I’m a huge Metroid fan, just because I’ve heard such good things about the controls and I really enjoyed the original MP), but now it looks like I can get an even better deal :D. Hooray for waiting!
It really is the best alarm clock.
And I would usually do that, Darthy, but not while it burns up my pocket. I might start bringing it around again now that it’s nearing beautiful jacket weather.
FINALLY! Once you get to the third game, you will orgasm with delight… Though maybe the reason I loved it so much WAS because of the near flawless controls. If I replayed the others with the added pointer controls I would perhaps love them even more!
I heard there are many graphical upgrades, but a few downgrades to the first two games as well… for example the water looks terrible and there are some missing particle effects? Somebody confirm this. Just not Ethos because he’s an ass.
@Ethos: Actually, I keep mine in my pocket constantly and have never had any heat-related issues (although my PC’s power supply just exploded, but I’m pretty sure that’s not DSi related). Does yours give off heat in standby? If so, that might be something worth looking into because it causes problems.
@Constipated_Cow: I suppose a delight-induced orgasm is better than the alternatives (rage, constipation, indecisiveness). I’m not sure how different the GC and Wii hardware is internally (I know not much, but there’s got to be SOME difference, right? I mean a few extra registers, slightly wider memory bandwidth, a few combined busses, SOMETHING). Only reason I could think of that there might be graphical downgrades would be maybe they had to emulate some stuff to get it to work like on the GC. I don’t speak from experience or anything, though, since I have neither a Wii nor MP:T. Ethos (ass-hattery and all) would be more qualified than I (but this is the internet, so I’m voicing my opinion anyway!).
No, the DS doesn’t produce so much heat as the summer. Just the space it takes up in my pocket makes my thigh disgusting.
And I haven’t got to water yet, and I don’t remember enough of Prime to say that particle effects are missing, but I do know that it looks great for 7 year old SD, EXCEPT for when you scan. MAN does it ever look like shit when it zooms in. Like, seriously. I thought it was a joke.
@Ethos: It’s those damn assless chaps you’re always parading around in, isn’t it. I keep telling you you need something with more pocket space.
Gibblet, I believe it is because of the enhanced controls and because of the added widescreen mode. That and if I am not mistaken the frame rate is LOCKED at 60fps and has improved textures. I guess in order to achieve this they needed to sacrifice a couple small, less noticeable things. I really have no clue!