G-pinions

I just headed over to Gamefaqs to check out their new layout. Yes, it is much uglier than their old look, but that is hardly the point of my post.

What I do have a problem with is today's poll question. Gamefaqs has been orchestrating a contest the last month to determine what the greatest game of all time is. Never mind the fact that, by leaving off the greatest game of all time in Super Mario Kart, the list was pointless from the get go. I have still been keeping track of the results, though, to see what the public would vote for. I am deeply saddened by what I found in today's voting.

For some reason, Kingdom Hearts is matched up against Soul Calibur. How Kingdom Hearts even made it into the voting, where only 16 games from each generation are chosen worthy, is completely beyond me. Is this even one of the top 16 RPGs released this generation?

Anyway, it's going up against Soul Caliber, which is the greatest fighting game of all time. I'm not just talking about fighting games released this generation or even 3D fighters. I'm talking about the whole bloody genre. Soul Caliber is as good as fighting games get. And, not only that, but it's the best 2 player game released since before the PlayStation came out.

The game is a battle of pure skill. And, unlike other fighting games, you can actually use your own personal strengths to compete. I suck at fighting games. I have difficulty memorizing massive amounts of moves and my timing on counters is atrocious. I told you, I suck. But, I am competitive in Soul Calibur because the game allows for a defensive strategy. I generally circle around dodging attacks, waiting for my overanxious opponent to make a mistake. The versatile Soul Calibur engine allows for players of all kinds to compete. This is relatively unheard of in fighting games.

Soul Calibur also exhibits perfect balance between the characters. Besides a notable few - namely Rock who sucks at fighting and should just star in his own kart racer - every fighter in the game can hold their own. Some are kind of cheap, like Cervantes and Taki, but a skilled opponent can take them out anyway. This balance is what separate Soul Calibur from other fighting games.

So what is the point of this mini rant about the virtues of Soul Calibur? For some reason, the morons (I'm being nice with my words here) at Gamefaqs have voted Kingdom Hearts over Soul Calibur. As of this post the total vote is:

Soul Calibur - - 40326
Kingdom Hearts - - 41335

That Soul Calibur isn't winning this thing 90% - 10% is a travesty. Kingdom Hearts for Christ's sake. Kingdom Hearts! I think I'm going to be sick.

So I'm going to Boston tomorrow until Monday, so probably no posting from me for like a week. I shall leave it up to Tomsie, my suburb-trotting accomplice. So, my parting thoughts on current industry/G-Pinions news:

Champions: Return to Arms (Norrath sequel): Heeeellll yeah. Dual axe-wielding Tiger people. Bring it.

EA's LotR RPG: Hmm, I think it will be very interesting to see how they pull this off, especially modeling it after FF like they've stated. The weirdest part of it is that you apparently play as an original character, and the Fellowship can join your party, but you can never be one of them. Of course, that's my impressions of somewhat loose news, but we'll see how that turns out. Also, Tom, I dunno what other American RPGs you've played besides KOTOR, but I'd say the only 80-hour movie game around is Xenosaga. And besides FFX-2 (I just couldn't get into the outfit changing dealie), I'd say FF battle systems are generally pretty fun depending on how much you like to strategize. There's just too many of them (battles). But anyhow, yeah, I've veeeery interested to see how this game turns out...

Okami: Goddamn, it does look gorgeous. Like a fucking watercolor painting. My only question, and sorry to be captain potential bringdown, is whether it's confirmed for release in the U.S. or not. Eh? If so, you know I'm down for that crazy wolf coloring action.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes: Get a new name. I suggest "Metroid: Unless I Get a Standard FPS Controller Layout for my Multiplayer Mode, I Will Blow a Herd of Goats."

X-Box2 schematic "leak": 'Xenon' is a lame-o name, change it. Not that 'Playstation' isn't the worst name ever, in retrospect, but for fuck.

First "The Movies" movie: Wow, really cool. The people look a little like the Sims in terms of movement and such, which worries me, but the quality of everything, especially the shots and suspense, seems great.

Good PC games on consoles: Usually I wouldn't give a damn about any PC game coming to a console, but Farcry: Instincts for PS2 and X-Box, and Battlefield: Modern Combat for PS2 are definitely exceptions. They seem like great franchises and I can't wait to play them from my comfy comfy couch.

Randomness: I think I will be purchasing Onimusha 3 when I return. Fighting demons as Jean Reno with an energy whip isn't something you get to do every day. Well, unless you're Jean Reno.


Catch all y'all fools later. Word is bond.

It seems like only a few days ago I was looking over the release list for the PlayStation 2 and not seeing any game I really wanted. Now Capcom has announced a new game that I may just have to pre order. Now I remember why I own all three systems. Okami!

Just by looking at a screenshot, you can tell the game is like no other. You play Amaterasu, a Japanese god, in a world devoid of color. Well, maybe not completely devoid, as there is clearly color in the shots. But, for some reason, a lot of the color has gone away. As a god, you have to get that color back or die trying. Hmmm, I wonder if you can actually die. I mean, what happens if god dies?

Anyway, the power system seems reminiscent of the ol' god sim Black and White. You gain power based on how strong people believe in you. If you fulfill their wishes, you grow stronger. If you don't let them win the lottery or make out with Christie Brinkley, you lose power. It's as simple as that.

I'm not really sure what the game actually plays like, but I don't really care. The game has a great pedigree, and you know I'm all over the pedigree. Remember that awesome 2D sidescroller on the Gamecube that let you control time? No, not Prince of Persia Dan. Viewtiful Joe! A game I'll be getting in a few days. Well, the guys who made that are working on Okami, so you know it will be great. Did you see how awesome it looks? And you get to play as a god. I haven't done that since Gameday '98!

Anyway, I love shit like this. Everyone who reads this site, go out and buy this game when it gets released. We don't want Capcom to think we're stupid Americans who only play Madden and Tom Clancy games.

For the first time in a long while today, I was actually excited about a new game announcement from EA. Electronic Arts is bringing a new Lord of the Rings game home this year, and this time it's a roleplaying game. I love Lord of the Rings, and being able to actually control the characters in a RPG setting seemed like a match made in heaven. Then I actually clicked on the link.

For some reason, EA, an American company, is following the Japanese mold of roleplaying - a style that lost it's charm years ago.

To me, a roleplaying game should allow you to assume a place in a mystical land. You should then be able to recruit who you want in your party and make decisions that will shape how your quests unfold. A roleplaying game should have heavy emphasis on story, obviously, but large amounts of character development, an interesting leveling up system, and a battle system that can keep you interested for the entirety of the game should be requisites as well.

Japanese roleplaying games are nothing more than 80 hour movies. The fighting engines are usually turn based, like you'll find in the new Lord of the Rings RPG, and therefore grow quite tiresome after a while. The battles boil down to little more than hitting A when it's your turn, then waiting for the rest of the attacks to unfold. Animations for attacks are repeated ad nausea, making the greatest challenge fighting back the boredom.

When I found out that EA was making a LotR RPG, I immediately thought about Star Wars. Another fantasy universe that is just begging to be explored. Knights of the Old Republic was a successful game because it not only contained a really cool and fun battle engine, but allowed you to control the story as well. EA has not yet confirmed if they will allow this, but I have a feeling we will see something much more similar to Final Fantasy than Knights of the Old Republic. Just imagine how cool it would be to decide you want to keep the ring for yourself and rule over all of Middle Earth. Sadly, we may never have the chance to enslave a village of hobbits and make them dance for our amusement.

This is not one of my usual anti - EA rants. This was a game I actually would have purchased if it sounded good. Video games are meant to be played, though, and with a turn based combat system, I have a feeling this game will be more movie than game. Poo on you EA.

It's over. One of the best gaming experiences of my short, worthless life. Ratchet & Clank 2. It's no surprise at all now that several places gave it their "Game of the Year" award last year. It's really that good. It's platforming perfection. Really, it should be a Nintendo game. For all my Sony love, they've never had a game be this accessible, this perfect, or have this much purely fun gameplay. This is Mario for a new generation. Excuse my blasphemy, but Fuck Sunshine. This has firepower, this has comedy, this has character. It's basic gameplay engine and controls make it as fun to just run around in as Mario 64, and it's graphics and art design often remind me of Metroid Prime, of all things (at least with sexy s-video). With this game, I now feel that Sony can compete, and win, in the platforming market. A big step. They've had plenty of great games, but nothing on this level of perfection.

Since this game has all of the basics completely down (control, camera, graphics, sound) they (Insomniac) can focus the majority of their resources on design. Variety is the spice of life, and an important part of any genre as flooded with games as platformers are. Most platformers end up falling into one of two categories: games that get all the basics down, but don't have enough creativity to keep them afloat (Jak 2, in my opinion, even though it was still solid and still fun), or ones that strive for variety and unique design, when they don't even have a handle on the basics (Maximo, Haven). Thankfully, Ratchet & Clank 2 excels in all of these areas. So, yes, regarding that variety I mentioned - there is a boatload of it. The majority (and in this case, it's like 51%) of the levels have you wandering around as Ratchet, kicking ass with your huge arsenal of weapons and gadgets. Other areas have you playing as Clank, controlling a group of bots to do your attacking, bridge-building, and hammering. Other have you flying around in your spaceship involved in Colony-Wars style aerial battles. Others have you controlling giant Clank on spherical worlds you can walk all the way around, smashing buildings and fighting aliens and robots, War of the Monsters-style. Others have you manipulating machinery to open/expand an area of a level. Others have you manning guns, fending off hordes of baddies. Others have you sliding down steel rails, intergalactic-Tony Hawk style. Others have you digging up shit in a desert. Etc, etc, etc. One particularly memorable boss battle has you fighting a guy taller than all of the surrounding buildings. I'm sure that all of these things have been done in various other places at one time or another, but rarely all in the same game, and never so coherently and fully-realized. The main selling point for Haven (now priced $4.99 at most places) was the variety of things you could do, and the mini-games you could play. That wasn't even mentioned in the marketing for R&C2, but it's such a wonderful part of the game.

The part that is always mentioned, the weapons and gadgets, is pretty damn awesome by itself. The weapons range from takes on the shotgun, sniper rifle, and missile launcher to the "turn guys into sheep" gun and placeable turrets. And if you use a weapon a lot, it will earn experience until it upgrades to a more powerful, wackier-named, cooler-looking version of itself. Gravity bomb turns to Mini-Nuke, and so forth. This RPG-style way of levelling up your weapons is a great way to get you to use them all, especially since there are like 30 of them. That's another great thing about the game - the weapons and gadgets differ so much, that picking the right one for the right situation is half the fun. In actuality, you can beat almost any area with any gun, but their effectiveness varies so much from gun to gun and enemy to enemy that you'll never want to stick with the same weapon (plus, you'll never upgrade them all playing that way).

The level design also gets big props from me. You'll never get a gadget that sits idly in your inventory unused for too long. The latter levels in the game require almost every gadget you have, just as the final boss takes pretty much every bullet in every gun you have to bring down. And the sensation of finding a new gadget or weapon is very similar to Metroid - you know that you just made new areas of previous levels accessible, only here, the backtracking is optional (and much quicker). On top of that, the game takes into account some very basic issues typical of platformers and does it's best to constantly keep the player happy - just when you're sick of having to walk around the huge levels, you'll get rocket boots to make the journey quicker. When you tire of having to walk over to bolts (the games currency) to pick them up, the game provides you with a gadget that collects them for you. There are lots of little things like this that are easy to implement and make a big difference to the game; way more developers should follow their lead.

Hmm...what else...man, there is so much in this goddamn game. I mean, I finished it in 18 hours, and still didn't have all the weapons upgraded or even unlocked. There are optional fighting arenas with cool challenges (beat 30 guys in 60 seconds, don't get hit) and their own bosses. In fact, after many big fights or air battles you can replay them if you want on increasingly harder difficulties to earn more bling or upgrades. There's just so much shit to do if you want to. And even at it's basic, most-direct approach there's a good thirty levels. And some of them are pretty damn tough, expect a challenge. In the pause menu, there's an area for "Stuff we couldn't put anywhere else". These guys included every goddamn thing they could fit, for fucks sake.

I guess this game just evokes some sort of primal enjoyment in me, that ultimate 'zone' of gaming that the very best games make you feel. I really can't see anyone, casual gamer or the most hardcore of the core, not enjoying this game. Ridiculously highly recommended, all hyperbole aside. I could rave about it all afternoon, if I was wearing pants.