Tough Guy Talk

The general complaint is that Vanquish is too short of a game but I found the length to be just nice. The game could really use some neat bonus to enhance the replay value but unfortunately there is little offered here. I didn't unlock the skill challenge yet perhaps it requires a higher difficulty level as I decided to start the game on casual auto. I wanted to be a bit more creative about adding replay value to the game so that's why I intend to work my way up from the easiest difficulty all the way to God Hard mode. Hopefully that will gently ease me into the game enough to earn all the trophies and just give me the general satisfaction of mastering a notoriously hard game. On the bright side there are six voice-over track included on the game so you can always have a little fun with listening to the tough guys talk in German or French. All in all I had a lot of fun with this game, I wasn't itching to play it everyday like Dead Rising 2 but I end up liking it a lot more than when I first tried the demo. In fact the second demo featuring on the skill challenge had me in real doubts about getting the game at all but fortunately I decided to take the risk and give the game another chance.

Diary of an Ex-Handheld Gamer

Ever watch the WWE season weekly or overseas tour as opposed to the monthly pay-per-view events? As interesting as the storyline and matches are, almost nothing significant ever happens in terms of title change even if there is a title match with the title on the line.

In some ways a handheld game spin off from a famous franchise is kind of the same thing, no matter how good the game is, it will never be as significant as it's bigger brother. This is the diary of an ex-handheld gamer back when a handheld system was all i had. It's the user base? I digress as the most popular handheld system usually have a bigger user base than its console sibling when it's all said and done. The inferior graphics? I can't really say for sure but as I observed even with the current handheld system, the trend is still happening now.

That's the fate of a solely-handheld gamer I suppose if you don't get caught up with all the hype and big franchise then it probably won't bother you at the end of the day. If not you will never be content no matter how great Final Fantasy VII : Crisis Core and Metal Gear : Peace Walker were. Which brings to the next question is it wise to pay console-price for a handheld system like Nintendo 3DS?

Vanity Affair

I was surprised to see Shinji Mikami name on the back cover of Vanquish, and it wasn't a vanity affair like how Hideo Kojima name usually appears on Metal Gear games. Mikami may have directed many great games after Resident Evil but this I believe was the first time his name appeared alongside on the box art. One of his earlier works was the brilliantly-crafted Dino Crisis on the PSOne which I'm currently playing after finishing Dino Crisis 2 recently.

It's definitely one of my favourite PSOne games which is why I felt so cold about the second game initially. The fully-rendered backgrounds are nothing short of amazing on the 32-bit hardware and suits the modern architecture of the game though it could use with a bit more colour depth. I like the decision-making aspect of the game it's not as subtly executed as Resident Evil but it helps established a bond between Regina and her teammates as you have to choose who to side with. The mixing system for the health packs and anesthetic is still confusing today and something I would rather avoid than to get into. One other thing I enjoyed is the colour-coding for the different item box in the game and how you only have a limited number of plugs to open each box. The game is packed with little clever touches to distinguish it from its more famous cousin like how Regina never leaves your sight even in a loading screen.

It's been a long time since Mikami's last game but somehow it's always worth the wait.