Bewitched Again

Finishing Bayonetta a few weeks back i immediately feel the urge to play it again, not because the entire campaign was too short (10-12 hours) but because i had such a horrible time with my first play-through that i knew i would enjoy it more the next time around. Weird huh? Not so if you are familiar with action games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry.

You see Bayonetta has a rigid save system where it only allows you to save the game at the end of the level so not knowing how long the level is and when exactly you can save can be a very scary feeling. Not to entirely bash the game, i suspect the game auto-saves your progress at designated checkpoints because there's always an auto-save checkpoint on my ps3 save file utility. But not wanting to risk losing any of my valuable progress, i have never tried not finishing a level and saving my progress at the end before exiting the game. So here i am, trying to better my score on every level while uncovering the secret mission portals and notes which i may have missed earlier. Not entirely different with what happened with Devil May Cry 4 so maybe that's why i knew once i finished Bayonetta for the first time, there can only be good times ahead.

Rule #32: Enjoy the Little Things

One of my early gripes with Umbrella Chronicles was that you never get to see your character or partner enough. Even though it's a lightgun shooter, i must admit i sometimes i enjoy watching my characters breaking out of the zombie hold just so i can catch a glimpse of them before them pull back behind the camera again. This time around on Darkside Chronicles while the camera stays behind the character at all times, it turns and faces your partner every now and again so it never feels like you are sitting on an amusement thrill ride but rather witnessing the events through the eyes of the character which is how it should be. The camera also shake and bobs around in a frantic motion to convey a sense of panic in the character movement and really make the game all that more difficult. Your partner also actively engage in the gun fights with the undead unlike in the past when they are too bust engaging in the conversation to even lend you a hand. Sometimes you have to get your partner out of a fit but it never happens too often for it to be a pain and often times, your partner is usually more capable than you are.

The other little things including seeing your character guns while re-loading and even the amount of shells your character sticks into the chamber depends on the number of rounds actually used, making re-loading time much more crucial in the heat of the battle. While this makes the game more of a first-person shooter than a lightgun shooter, it's a decision that i applaud because of my strong attachment to the characters. There is even an option to turn on the laser sights for all the weapons making it feel like a first-person shooter of Resident Evil 4. While all these little things may have blurred the lines between first-person and lightgun shooter in Darkside Chronicles, it's making me enjoy the game just a bit more than the first one.

Darkness Falls

After what seem like forever, my copy of Darkside Chronicles has finally arrived. Using free delivery during this time of the year can be very risky, i remember my RE4 Wii Edition going missing a couple of years back during this holiday season. Luckily Play asia was able to compensate my loss with another copy of the game and i regret i was not able to repay their good deed by devoting more time to that version. Rest assured this will not happen with Darkside Chronicles as i almost 50 hours into the first Umbrella Chornicles.