Here is the game trailers link:
And here is the more easy access watch on the blog version:
Fair warning: If you have never played any Dragon Age there are parts of this review that may make no sense.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Dragon Age II: Legacy
A couple of weeks ago I posted with the question do you DLC, and since I do, I bought Dragon Age II: Legacy when it came out yesterday, and then I played it, and then I made a video review. I promise this blog will be more than a repository for my videos, but I have been lazy in the hot hot heat of July, and so concentrating has been low priority.
Monday, July 18, 2011
My Most Anticipated Games
Hey! I decided to make a short video about my most anticipated upcoming games, and I posted it to gametrailers! You may notice that when I leave trailer links here that is generally where they come from, so I thought I might as well be there too.
Check the link!
http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/that-girls-most-anticipated/359318
I didn't realize until after I made this list that all the titles were RPGs. I guess that says something about my gaming style. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and please feel free to share your own lists with me!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Castlevania Vid
Check it out, and ask yourself as I ask myself, why isn't he a redhead?
Friday, July 8, 2011
Dragon Age II: Legacy and the Question do you DLC?
This is an exciting DLC for a lot of gamers since it takes you outside of the main city Kirkwall which you don't get to leave during the main campaign. Bioware has said that the DLC can be played at any point during the game, and if you're playing after an endgame save it takes place just before the climax of the game. Unfortunately for those of us on PS3, we'll have to wait a little longer for the release, likely because the development and quality checking on the content is still feeling the delay from the PSN outage.
Head hear for full details and trailer:
On the subject of DLC announcements check out the video below with some of my thoughts on DLCs in current gaming. Happy gaming!
Coming up tomorrow, another retro review! Stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
My blog is one week old!
This is me playing Dragon Age back when my hair was shorter and my TV was smaller, but DA was no less awesome.
With the hot summer weather my freckles are coming in and my blog celebrates it's first week, and alas all I have time for today is the obligatory posting that comes up on every blog to ask you to subscribe if you are enjoying. If you think you would enjoy seeing something covered, just let me know and if I have played it, I'll blog about it. My vlogs can also now be found on youtube under username ebonstaar,(http://www.youtube.com/user/ebonstaar?feature=mhee) so if you prefer to see vids there, now you can.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Duchess Nukem
Yes, this is a positive review of Duke Nukem Forever. I know that as a woman I should likely find the content of the game offensive, but in this case I remain unmoved by the plight of my gender and instead am amused by my ability to pown aliens and ramp mine carts. Forgive me, and enjoy the review.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Games Based on Comics
Just finished a play through of X-Men the Arcade Game on my PS3 this afternoon, and was being amused by the wildly inaccurate portrayals of most of the characters' powers (as well as the phrase "welcome to die") and it got me to thinking about the numerous cross overs between comics and games. If you're following the guest list for the San Diego comic con, you will notice that a lot of gaming industry professionals are going to be there to demo their wares (including my favourite Bioware!). As you can tell from my shirt, I am a fan of both mediums but every time there is excitement for a new game I must admit that I get a little nervous that they will.... how do I put this.... give Wolverine laser claws for no apparent reason.Disclaimer: before I get into this I won't be discussing games based on movies based on comics. There aren't good games based on movies, so I won't even go there. It's some kind of immutable law of the universe. I don't know why, it just is. Except sometimes it isn't. But usually.
Anyway, I realize it's unrealistic to expect that any adaption should be completely faithful, since that doesn't exactly allow for any creative control for those working on the game, but I do want to see respect for both gamers and comic fans, and often times, we don't get that. Publishers look to sell the game based solely on the fact that there is an established fan base, and so often times controls are not as tight, plots not thought through, glitches are more abundant, and as anyone who has played Shattered Dimensions can attest, there is a lot of fetch-filler. One example that jumps immediately to mind is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. The first game was great, and I played all of 2 and enjoyed it, but other than the "fusion powers" the game felt like a 1.5 version of the first and the ending was abysmal. (Spoiler) The final boss turns of to be a cybernetically enhanced Nick Fury made by the Tinkerer of all people. Robo-Fury also ends up an unlockable playable character. Score! And by score I mean really? Dozens of great characters in the Marvel U and you had to invent a Cyber-Nick make that character the reward for clearing the game?
The point of this post is not to condemn all comic book video games, however. Arkum Asylum was an awesome step in the right direction in both game play and character fidelity. If you're looking for a mature game with a nice combination of combat and puzzles (and one very freaky scarecrow scene) I advise checking it out, though you may be the last person who hasn't. While I have not played (not an MMO girl) I've heard many glowing reviews for DCU online, and I remain optimistic for Arkum City and X-Men Destiny, as well as hoping for some improved game play in the Spider-man follow up.
If you're looking for some enjoyable comic games check out the following:
- X-Men Arcade on PSN and XBox Live (I know it embodies alot of the things I complained about, but the translation alone is worth it.)
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii*, GBA*, PSP*)
- Marvel vs. Capcom series (not really comic book games, but awesome character models and faithful usage of powers)
- Spider-man 2 (PS2, Game cube, Xbox, PC)
- X-Men Legends (Game cube, PS2, Xbox)
- Arkum Asylum (360, PS3)
- Wolverine's Revenge (Game cube and PS2)- only sort of a movie game.
- Batman NES
This is my personal short list, but there are other good ones out there, so feel free to leave your recommendations in the comments.
That's all for today, but stay tuned next week for my thoughts on Final Fantasy VI (III), to watch me talk to myself about Duke Nukem Forever, and for more gaming related things I love.
Same bat time, same bat channel.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Gaming Related Things I Love: HAWP
Have you ever happened upon a series and watched one episode and been confused, and then watched another and laughed in spite of yourself, and then watched a third and become hooked? That's what happened to me with the Hey Ash Whatcha Playin'? series. It's a brilliant web series of mini episodes that capture the essence of various games by following Ash, a gamer who brings themes of whatever she happens to be playing into real life. Usually there are tragic consequences for her brother. The themes are rewarding to the nerd mentality if you get the inside gaming jokes, and hilarious slapstick if you don't. Besides the show itself, the creators post a regular podcast where they discuss games and general geek culture (i.e. they love Firefly, and I love Firefly and therefore they are amazing), and it's generally pretty thought provoking conversation. I highly recommend checking this out if you're looking for a gaming related laugh.
Click here for the videos:
Click here for the HAWP site:
Hope you enjoy!
Friday, July 1, 2011
There is no Good Reason Not to Play Chrono Trigger
The title says it all. While I was not able to play Chrono Trigger when it was first released (being 7 meant my attention span and my funds were too limited) this classic RPG has seen ports to the PS and DS, and now has an emulation on Nintendo's VC and is rumored to be having a PSone classic release on the PSN. If you count the original SNES cart, that's a lot of acronyms, and a lot of ways to play.
So you know you have many format options, but if you are like me and were 7 at the original release, you may not even realize what you're missing when you pass by this game. That's why I'm here. (Minor spoilers ahead) Chrono Trigger is the only game I can think of where your party includes a mage, a princess, a frog, a robot, a mechanic and a cave woman. Since the game is based around time travel, as you may have gleaned from the title, it's like the developers took all of the greatest speculative fiction settings and crammed them into one fine story. You can travel to a medieval Europe-esque setting, a post-apocalyptic future, prehistoric times (complete with lizard men), a dystopian society of magic users, or just kick it in the nexus of time Bishop style (reference for X-Men readers). Diverse cast and setting isn't all this game has to offer. I'm going to stay away from any major story spoilers, as everyone will now play this game immediately after reading this, but I can tell you this is a game where your choices count. I'm not even talking about obvious choices either, but ones you don't even think about during regular gaming. For instance, while running around in the first area and selecting everything selectable, I happened to eat a basket of food sitting on a table. I thought nothing of it. A couple of hours later, I'm on trail and a witness arrives to testify against my character's...character, accusing me of having eaten his lunch, and the game flashes back to me happily stealing the food. Moments like that are pure awesome. Furthermore, there are over a dozen endings for this game, and I'm not talking about epilogue text, but rather the fact that you can literally finish the game at different points, usually dependent on how much you want to grind, or if you're playing a new game plus or not.
The battle system in the game is intuitive, and you'll learn a number of unique moves and combos that can be used by each character, with combos dependent on who you have in your party to combine powers. One of the great features in this game is that they are VERY generous with MP. I've been in many a JRPG (*cough*final fantasy *cough*) where casting one or two powerful spells wipes out your meter. Not so here, as you can happily cast your strongest techniques and spells through entire boss battles without worrying about running out of MP. There are no random battles or battle screens in this game either, so while you are selecting your attacks from a menu, and you do have a charge meter before you can attack, the whole process feels more fluid that most turn-based RPGs. There are no complex XP trees or allotting of points to worry about either, which makes this a great introductory RPG to anyone new to the genre.
This is an SNES game, so for those of you who are in love with graphics (I am too) it may take some getting used to, but the PS and DS ports have a slightly upgraded look, though don't say I didn't warn you about loading times on the PS version, because I just did. My personal recommendation is to play it on the VC if you have a Wii. It's the most affordable experience, and it's a direct copy of the original game, so you can enjoy all the soaring songs they squeezed out of that sound chip.
So try it, let me know what you think. If you've already played, let me know if you agree.
Until next time.
Operation Rainfall
Sorry my camera is sad, I'm working on getting a better one.
Here's the operation rainfall link:
Check out Pandora's Tower:
(this is my most desired and least likely to come over. You get to kill monsters and then feed those mosters to a girl to prevent her from becoming one herself. Haunting. I love it.)
Check out Xenoblade:
Check out the Last Story:
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