Double Dragon

Importing the Yakuza games has been a sound decision so far. I started with a late purchase of Kenzan and never looked back. At first I had doubts as I didn't want to double dip but looking at the trend, I might never had to. I finished Kenzan and RGG5 this way and was planning to start Ishin soon. Now maybe I will play Zero first.

There is one thing I didn't count on that is the online guides won't be online forever. It daunted on me when some translators took their RGG5 guides down after the English version was announced. It's a strange feeling. It's almost like owning a digital copy of the game but not having it on your HD and not knowing how long it would remain on the servers. Ishin and RGG5 aren't so bad because I still have the chinese scriptbooks but not Zero and Kenzan. It's impossible to archive the entire guide as different translators have their own way of expressing them with most using subtitled videos.I don't have the greatest memory either so it's not like I can remember every dialogue after finishing it once.

Maybe I do have the buy these games twice after all but the real question is, are there more localisation on the way?

Why So Serious?

We all know at least one in our life.

The one who overreacts and stops you when you get to spoiler territory. You know, the one who starts covering their ears and singing to themselves to avoid being spoil. Some people just take their entertainment way too serious.

I find spoilers part of the perils of being a latecomer. It doesn't bother me as much as the next guy. Sure sometimes I get disappointed when I stumbled into one but in this age, it's hard to avoid spoilers.

I found out John Marston dies at the end of Red Dead while I was still playing the GOTY edition. As you know the GOTY edition took forever to come out and I was taking my sweet time playing it. In this case, I was actually intrigued how he dies and the ending certainly didn't disappoint. There is a silver lining I guess but of course if it was really lame ending then a spoiler could quickly defused all interest.

If you really want to avoid spoilers then join the master race and be the first to play everything. Very difficult task as even when I buy a game on the first day, I still take my time and never finish it in one go. So don't blame the guy who tells you Brad Pitt is actually Edward's imaginary friend. Blame yourself for not getting around to watching it.

A Zap from the Past

Now I already pointed out that Revelations 2 is very similar to Zero in terms of gameplay. That nostalgic call back is ultimately its main downfall. 

As RE fans are aware, there are two types of RE games – the early fixed camera angle games and the RE4 styled games. Zero lets you control your both characters at the same time which works well in the early fixed camera angle games. You could separate both characters and place them in in different rooms. You determine where each character goes and does what. In that aspect, the game is light years ahead of RE5 or Revelations 2. The two characters never felt like they were attached at the hip like in the latter games.

In Revelations 2, you can’t separate the two characters and one of them is helpless but not completely unarmed. You have separate inventory for each character even though they can never be apart and one don’t actually use firearms.Online co-op would have be nice though it’s hard to imagine how much fun it is controlling a character that doesn’t fight. Using the second character to wave the flashlight around is as boring as it sounds.

Capcom wisely put the RE0 remaster on hold as they didn't want to saturate the market with another game. In retrospect they should have just remaster Zero and forget about the lame Revelations sequel. 

I Need More Controller

Devil May Cry is never far from gamers' minds despite not having a proper sequel for more than 5 years. It's a cult series for sure and cult followers expect more. Like retail copy more, I get that because I'm one of those too. DMC4 SE will be released strictly through digital distribution on current hardware. Looking back at DMC3 SE, it's unreasonable to think that Capcom would do more than distribute this on the digital medium.

This reissue looks largely the same as DMC3 SE in terms of content except it took 7 years to arrive. DMC3 SE only had a Greatest Hits cover despite being a year apart. I remember importing the japanese edition of DMC3 SE just for the new cover art. I dusted off the game to play recently after a bit of Bayonetta fatigue and the game still holds up remarkably well. Of course, it claimed the life of another dualshock2 controller but these imitation stuff never do last anyway.