Eternal Sonata

Dr. Franken is a Gameboy game that i remember with fond memories, especially since i had to pestered my dad to buy it for me from his business trip to US. During those days, it's hard to any game to be scary with pixelated 16-bit graphics, much less a GB game with just six shades of black. Dr. Franken went above and beyond most standard GB game, sure it wasn't scary back then and it sure as hell isn't scary now. But the level of detail packed into each room in the mansion is unlike anything you will come across in a 8-bit game or even a 16-bit game. Coupled with a soundtrack of endless moonlight sonata, Dr. Franken was able to evoke a creepy atmosphere that makes it memorable even if it features a mundane task of gathering the body parts of your dead girlfriend. The game features an intricate password system to make up for the lack of a battery backed-up save and an indication of how massive and deep the game is, i never got the same password twice during my time of playing it. Of course, it's pretty hard to considering the password is easily 16-letters long !

Like most great handheld games, it eventually inspire a sequel on the 16-bit Super NES and another back on the GB platform but this is where it all started. I can't believe how naive i was when i first played Resident Evil and heard jill playing moonlight sonata, thinking that it was ripped from Dr. Franken. I immediately thought of Dr. Franken which i still credit as the catalysis for my fascination with the survival horror genre and the game that made me believe video games could be scary even in the 16-bit era. If you are in the mood for some portable horror this halloween, you need to play Dr. Franken.

Pandora Box

On my second run through Devil May Cry 4, i don't think i have ever been so thorough before in trying to accomplish every task the game throws at me. As you probably know, i have a habit of leaving things unfinished during my first play-through a game so i will eventually go back to it again assuming this is game that i would want to replay again.

It all started with my friend who told me i didn't know what he went through until i tried the DEVIL mode, having finished the game rather easily on HUMAN mode. When all i wanna to do was to finish the game again to view the extended ending, i certainly didn't expect to be playing the game this thoroughly. Little by little i come to realise i barely scratch the surface of the game when i first played it. In trying to acquire the blue orbs from my unfinished secret missions, i had to learn up every intricate move in Dante and Nero fighting style as the game is so highly customistable that you could actually finish the game without having to learn the fighting style or weapon that you don't fancy. Though some of the tactics are highly questionable such as engaging the Pandora missile pod to fly over a stream of laser beams you are supposed to jump and avoid, i don't think it necessary counts as cheating as the game never really tells how you are suppose to accomplish your goals. I come to learn and appreciated Dante's Pandora box and Gilgamesh and even Nero's hold with the devil bringer.

Devil May Cry 4 carried over the scoring system from DMC3 which you actually save all your high scores on one common scoreboard, making it easy to compare your previous runs. In the end, i probably enjoyed replaying DMC4 now than i did when i first played it, which is rare when it comes to most games. Production Studio 1 who are responsible for both DMC3&4 has managed to achieve what kamiya set out to do with the first Devil May Cry. A game that not everyone will like but for those who do, like will be a bit of an understatement.

Wii're Alright

Wii are one today, actually more like one year and about five days old but it's been one heck of a year as far as the Wii is concerned. I have been pretty careful when it comes to selecting my Wii games chiefly because of the amount of shovelware available for the system so as a result, i have more or less the same amount of games for the Nintendo Wii then i do for my four-months old Playstation3!

All that is about to change come next year as there are actually more third party Wii titles that i'm interested in compared with the Playstation3, or any other systems for that matter. On top of the Nintendo Gamecube games which i have, the Wii has keep me entertained and thrilled pretty well during this year and yet that's still so much i have yet to experienced on the system, i haven't even got started on the Virtual Console store yet! What impressed me most is how reliable the system is, the backward compartibility is just perfect and every game that i played, Wii or Gamecube runs smoothly without any hiccups or slowdowns even the supposedly glitchy Okami Wii. So as long as suda51 and capcom keeps supporting the Nintendo Wii, i'll be a happy camper for a long time to come.

A Night with Symphony

Having played almost all post-Symphony of the Night Castlevanias, i was still pleasantly surprised when playing symphony for the first time at how familiar it seems and yet, altogether different than the rest of the games that followed. Perhaps that's the true testament of an all-time classic, it's so well ahead of its time that it still possess the ability to surprised and amazed even to jaded fans of the series such as myself.

I'm amazed at how much innovations Symphony has introduced and yet, somehow all the games that followed in the series failed to adopt it. The ability to transform to both a wolf and a bat, though isn't much of any use in the puzzles or the boss battle is still a welcome addition to the series. The ability to equip different weapon in both arms, clothes and equipment that appear on-screen when equipped, it's easy to see why Symphony of the Night is such a beloved entry in the series. Perhaps it's not fair to compare Symphony with the Castlevania GBA and DS games that followed, after all Symphony was a console game and i have always maintained that console and handheld game are very different, especially in the nature of the time and resources invested by the developers onto the project.

I'm hard-pressed to decide which one i liked better between Symphony and Rondo of Blood, being an action junkie Rondo of Blood felt like the Die Hard of the series with it's endless boss battles and straight-forward action approach while Symphony was amazingly innovative.

November Rain

In the midst of the good news that suda51 is currently working on a follow-up to No More Heroes on the Wii, i discovered that the DS remake to his lost PS2 classic, Flower Sun and Rain has slipped out of the October release window and is currently scheduled to ship in November.

And that only in Europe region mind you as the game has yet to be picked up by any publisher stateside. This creates a problem, not many online stores carry PAL games and those that i know of have no current plans of bringing in this title. I haven't been buying much DS games since getting my new consoles but the upcoming Order of the Ecclesia has revived my interest in DS games. That coupled with the fact i recently stumbled onto a copy of grasshopper manfacture's Contact means that i'm running high for anything suda51 and Nintendo DS. Of course, all this craze is also partly attributed to GHM announcement of No More Heroes 2 during TGS 08.

Perhaps it's not such a bad thing that the game release date has slipped into November, i have way too many orders waiting to be ship out during the month of October and most are not even game-related. Given the current situation, i might just have to download the game to play while i continued my hunt for it. Chances are there might be game stores in singapore that will bring it in since the influx of PAL DS games into the region.

Black on White

Nintendo recently announced plans on reviving Gamecube games for the Wii platform, enabling new users to experience classic Gamecube games which they may have missed during its time. Great news for some, especially since certain Gamecube titles are becoming increasingly difficult to find such as Metroid Prime and Wind Waker. It certainly helps give Nintendo some breathing space as the fast-selling Wii is facing a serious software drought right now though long-time Nintendo users will probably not benefit much from this move.

Personally i'm not too pleased with the decision as i went though a lot of trouble to acquire those Gamecube titles that i really want to play. It's not that i'm sore about these title getting a re-release and being widely available again but the reality is, i already had my "fix" and would rather look forward to future Wii release. But to be fair, the Gamecube had a relatively short shelf life and its amazing software library deserve to be revived to a new audience however i for one will probably not indulge in any of these re-release.

Well maybe just the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for obvious reasons.

7th Heavan

I received my copy of Final Fantasy VII today after having strike a deal with a fellow forumer last week, who was eager to let go some of his PSOne games. Now in my lifetime of gaming, i have only finished a handful of RPG games, probably still enough to count with my good five fingers. There's Final Fantasy X which i regretfully had to cheat my way to finish it as i didn't level up my characters enough near the end and most recently, Jeanne D'arc on the PSP.

Final Fantasy VII was a game that almost any gamer would know even those who aren't into the RPG genre, and i would really like to know what the big deal is all about. After reviving my Playstation2 recently with Yakuza 2, this PSOne game would be a good start towards reviving my PSOne again, which was never really fully-utilised since i bought it so late and never got it modded after bringing it home. I was only about one-third into Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core before cooling off and ultimately distracted by cel-shaded charms of Jeanna D'Arc. I suspected i will definitely be interested to see how the story continues in FVII once i finished Crisis Core.

Heavan Can't Wait

You should never wait too long when it comes to buying games. I recently adopted a new strategy of waiting out for selected games to drop in price before picking it up to play. There are of course, exception to this rule like the forthcoming Resident Evil 5 but everything else in between, like We Love Golf! and the recent Silent Hill Homecoming will just have to wait. I've been sitting on the fence with the US version of Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles for quite some time now, the price was pretty tempting for a PSP game and i'm still struggling to finish Symphony of the Night on my japanese version. But the reality is i have already spent way too much on this one title, having purchased the deluxe konamistyle edition of Dracula X Chronicles and later, a PSOne books version of the original Symphony of the Night on the PSOne. Neither one of them really of any use to me unless i happened to speak and read japanese as i soon discover when i started playing Symphony of the Night. Should i decided not to pick up another copy of Dracula X Chronicles, there is always the original Symphony Of the Night available for purchase on Sony Playstation Network Store for the Playstation3. As much of the content was altered for the Dracula X Chronicles, this would be a better option to experience the classic in its' original unaltered form.


So as it turns out, i waited a little too long to come to a decision and lucked out on this one as the Greatest Hits version of Dracula X Chronicles has already been issued and Play-asia is no longer carrying the black label version. Well there's always the shadier side of Singapore games stores which i can turn to should i still intend on hunting down the black label Dracula X Chronicles. Lesson learnt, looks like i better pre-order the upcoming Castlevania Judgment for the Wii soon.

Trigger Finger

I was really intrigued by Sony redesigned Sixaxis controller, or what is now known as Dualshock3 for their Playstation3 system. For one thing, they designed the bottom two shoulder buttons (L2,R2) to function more like trigger buttons whereby you actually press the buttons downwards rather than inwards. Up until now, i never really got a chance to try out these button as the games i played never really put them to good use. That is until i started playing Lost Planet over this long weekend break i'm enjoying.

In Lost Planet, the top two shoulder buttons (L1,R1) are used to align the character focus either 90 degrees to the left or right while the bottom two shoulder buttons (L2,R2) are free up to fire your primary and secondary weapons. Very practical though unusual setup of controls, it functions pretty well but the same goes the Gamecube shoulder buttons is that i can never tell the difference between pressing the button completely and lightly pressing it.

Kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it?

Two Steps Forward Two Steps Back

There's something distinctly japanese about piloting a robot mech, or Vital Suit as they are referred to in Lost Planet. Then again there is also something strangely "western" about how this game is structured, from the auto-save system to the auto-inventory management which only allows you to carry two guns at a time.

In the end, you get a Capcom game that is more Japanese (in terms of storytelling) than their previous efforts and yet, more Western (in gameplay) than anything they've done before. It's a strange fusion of East meets West, not the most successful attempt by Capcom but a real effort to address some of the shortcomings of traditional japanese game style, though unnecessary in my eyes.