The Superior One

War. War never changes.

Except he wasn't talking about the console war which changed quite a bit over the generations.

I remember during the PSOne/PS2 era, I didn't have a PSOne yet and most of the RE games and MGS took more than a year to reach the PC platform. I was never really a PC gamer by choice, more like a PC user by circumstances but let's not get into that here. Eventually when they do get ported, these games didn't looked any better on PC than on the 32-bit systems. That was when it ran like it supposed to if it's a "good port". There were no DLC back then so you weren't getting additional DLC for free like you normally would for late PC ports these days.

Then you have the infamously bad PC ports like RE4 and DMC3. These PC ports were ported long after its console release so it wasn't like there wasn't enough time to make a decent port. I never experienced these ports myself but heard enough to know they weren't good PC ports by any means. It certainly was a good time to own a console game if you liked console games and certainly hard not to feel like the superior one. 

Then the tide started to change sometime during the PS3 generation. PC ports no longer run and looked like it's console siblings. Most of the time, the PC ports looked superior and is released on the same day for all major systems. The most notable game being Tomb Raider 2013 which didn't have the luxury of releasing on the PS4 system yet. So the old generation console version and the PC port looked worlds apart from what I read. I was lucky enough to avoid the old console version and managed to pick up the PC version on the cheap during the recent Steam sale. 

This generation is by far the worse, the PS4 is finally getting definitive/upgraded version of games PC users have long enjoyed since the day of release. But PS4 users are not getting these upgrades for free, you have to re-purchase these games again and start over. Even then, the definitive versions may not run as well as expected like the recent RE5 on the PS4. On the other hand, PC users get these upgrades for free most of the time. Not to mention the games themselves are already cheaper if you don't mind going full-digital via digital distribution service. 

So war has changed quite a bit, at least in terms of system wars. Sigh, I just want to play the best (or better yet, only) version of a game, is that too much to ask for? 

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.

Feeling Retro: Dino Crisis 2

I had the Dino Crisis 2 disc sitting in my PSOne disc tray for a very long time before finally feeling nostalgic about playing it. To my surprise once I started I couldn't stop as I was simply having too much fun with it. I remember when the game was first released I was reluctant to embraced it because it deviated so far from the formula and element of fear Mikami had established in the first game. The game was Capcom's swansong to the PSOne and sure enough had pretty graphics to boot but it really didn't matter as the Playstation2 had just launched.

The Dino Crisis series really went off the rails with the Xbox exclusive Dino Crisis 3 but part of the problem with the series had already begun in Dino Crisis 2. Don't get me wrong Dino Crisis 2 is certainly a worthy sequel but I always had a sneaky suspicion that Capcom felt a compelling need to introduce new and bizarre dinosaurs with each new sequel of the game. Dino Crisis 2 felt great up until the part when the Giganotosaurus was introduced into the game. I'm not sure what kind of dinosaurs were introduced in Dino Crisis 3 but from what I could remember they sure don't look like dinosaurs to me. It's almost like it's encoded into the design philosophy of Capcom for making Dino Crisis sequels at that time, to come up with new, more off-beat dinosaurs with every sequel. That's why I think the series has remained dormant for so long and will likely stay so for the time to come. We don't need new dinosaurs in every sequel Capcom we just need new ways of killing them.

Like A Knife Through Tofu

I was pleasantly surprised to discover i have finally unlock the Tofu survivor mode upon finishing LeonB last night. For as long as i can remember, i have given up on the idea of unlocking this hidden mode because there are far too many different theories on how to do it and most of them required a full empty memory card to accomplish it. While i can't remember exactly how i did it, i do remember having both the completed ClaireB and LeonB on my memory cards along with the 4th survivor mode. Including the save file from this recent run, that's four save slot dedicated to RE2 before unlocking the tofu survivor mode.

I'm pretty excited to play this tofu survivor especially since it's also recreated on Darkside Chronicles as another hidden game. I can't help but to wonder how it's all going to work in an on-rails shooter armed with only a combat knife when most of the strategy involved is knowing where and when to run and when to shoot. Looks like i'll be in for a swinging good time when i unlock this on Darkside later but for now, it's time to experience the original tofu survivor.

One at a Time

I have a habit of not leaving my games unfinished before moving on to the next one, whether it's a game i have played before or for the first time. To me it's a meticulous process of figuring what to play now, when i would roughly finish and what would be next. Of course along the way, new games come in to the picture and i have to change my schedule to suit everything but often than not, the process is very satisfying. What i'm currently playing would be influenced by what interests me right now and that in turn will influence what i play on the other platform as well. It sure sounds like a lot of thought and work is put into this but i realised i tend to get the most out of the games by playing them in the right order at the right time.

For instance i could have just leave No More Heroes aside when i got hold of my copy of Madworld but i decided to play Yasumi Matsuno earlier hit Vagrant Story instead in the mean time. The timing was just right as i doubt i will have any desire to play Vagrant Story again in the foreseeable future. Now that i have finished NMH, it worked out pretty well with July being a big month for my favourite comic books and a game as artistic-influenced by comic books as Madworld.

Retro Story

Before jumping into Madworld, i decided to get myself familiarised with some of Yasumi Matsuno earlier works. Matsuno who serves as a story consultant in Madworld happens to be one of the most talented game designers working today, having done Square Enix's most critically-acclaimed games, Vagrant Story and FFXII. Both were the only SE games to ever achieve perfect score from Famitsu reviewer team which is no small feat indeed. Vagrant Story as you have may have read has been sitting in my collection gathering dust so the timing was just right to finally get started on it.

The game doesn't play like a standard RPG, leaving you by yourself to make your way out of the dungeon as you progress through the game. I suspected you won't ever leave the dungeon at all as one of the statistics the game records whenever you make a save is how many percentage of the dungeon you have explored. The game like any RPG looks a bit daunting to get into when i initially start but i soon discover it to be pretty easy to get into, with a slight emphasis on weapon design. The cinematics are a thing of beauty probably the best i have seen on the PSOne library which uses in-game engine for storytelling. The only problem i have is the game camera often doesn't give you the best angle and adjusting it is a little cumbersome but the game offers enough flexibility so it doesn't become an issue, even allowing you to adjust the view during the combat.

Where Nothing Amazing Happens

My gaming has been pretty inactive lately ever since finishing RE5 so naturally you can expect less updates as well. Playoff basketball and and comic reading are among the other things occupying my time thereby influencing me to play a little bit of NBA 07 on the PS3 and the PSOne Spider-man which are not exactly great blog material.

Fear not, things should get a little bit more interesting this week as my copies of Madworld and Yakuza 2 are likely to be making its way back from New York courtesy of stringfellow.

Does What A Spider Can

There was an article recently that suggested that superheroes are just too powerful to be portrayed accurately in video games. I on the other hand don't seem to think so, in fact just about the only sandbox-styled games that i would play other than SEGA's yakuza series happened to be comic superheroes games.

Back before free-roaming games became possible on console, there was one noteworthy superhuman game on the PSOne simply called spider-man. While it isn't sandbox-styled, it was one of the first that actually lets you do what a spider can. It was a game was made for fans of the comic book, from the rogue gallery of villians included to the hidden comic covers and bonus costumes spidey have wore over the years. It also takes its cues from the animated series with spidey voice-over done by the same lead actor and narration from stan 'the man' lee. You don't have to be a comic book collector to enjoy this game but you will definitely appreciate the little touches thrown in for long-time fans. It also benefit from the timing because the sam raimi's spider-man movies have yet to be released so the developers have the free reign to create an original storyline and pull the characters from the beloved comic book series. The problem i find with most superhero games these days are the developers aren't sure whether to follow the movie franchise or the comic storyline, most of the time meshing the movie plot with some familiar characters from the comic creating one fine mess. With the comic book industry in a state of flux, the movie franchise often take precedence these days so it's nice to pull one a retro game from a time when things are in the right perspective.

32-bit Onimusha

Nowadays i'm pretty sure of my preference in games that i don't normally buy games based on reviews anymore. Sure i will read some reviews but usually it's after buying the game to see if i agree with the reviewer's argument or whether i missed anything in the course of playing it. i wasn't so wise back in the 32-bit era, infact i bought a konami game solely because the back of the box says "from the makers of metal gear solid and silent hill". During that time, you will be hard-pressed to shop for games and not come across a game from a famous developer or publisher that says from the makers of this or that. You don't see this very often anymore but i gotta admit i got a kick of this even if i already know who was developing the game.

Anyways this game was called Ronin Blade and was infact developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Sapporo not KCET so it actually had nothing to do with Metal Gear or Silent Hill. It also plays nothing like those games instead it feels like a game trying to ape capcom game rather than a konami game. Thankfully the game does not suck even ten years upon release but it's not always you suckered into buying something based on brand alone and actually end up with a quality product.

7" Wonder

While i was at a local game store last week i spotted a 7" portable LCD screen for the Wii, something similar to the 5" screen i have been using with my PSOne. I do admit i loved my 5" PSOne screen to bits, having the comfort of playing games right on the desk of my room but i just don't see myself doing the same with the Wii just yet. Gamecube game perhaps but playing Wii games where you have to point the wii-mote at the screen sounds like a nightmare with the 7" screen. Frankly i can bear with playing PSOne games on a small screen because of the low resolutions which don't look especially good when blown up to a huge television screen but i still think that Wii and Gamecube game should be appreciated on a bigger screen.

The price is pretty tempting, about half the price of a korean Wii set but i don't know how long these babies will still be on the shelf. Probably not long enough till the day when i decide that Wii and Gamecube games don't look that great anymore and would prefer to play it on a smaller screen.

Going Downhill

I have been playing a lot of Silent Hill recently, re-discovering my love for the series which sort of went downhill since the fourth installment. I never really talk about i came to the series mainly because it wasn't nearly half as dramatic as my introduction to Resident Evil , i was introduced to the series by a fellow close friend not having own a PSone yet so somehow it was difficult to form your own opinion with someone constantly telling you how good this is.

Anyway over the years i remained supportive of the series even more so than my friend, to the point where i was being criticised of being biased. I suppose i am to some degree but isn't that what being fanboys are all about? I went back to playing Silent Hill Origins over the long weekend after finishing the first Silent Hill, i'm amazed by how good the game looks when you switched the noise filter off though it isn't to the level i would expect from a Wii game. Speaking of which, where is the trailer for Shattered Memories? So far we have only been treated to a bunch of screen captures and developer interviews, surely they must have put together enough for a trailer by now right? Well the May issue of Nintendo Power should probably have arrived at my local newstands by now so i should start looking for it really soon, seeing that there is a coverage on Darkside Chronicles in there too.

The Freaks are Rising Up Through The Floor

After i have finished Silent Hill, i immediately went to work on how i can prevent the fungus on the game box from spreading onto the disc. It's a tricky business because obviously i don't want to have to throw anything away and i certainly won't want the fungus to spread to my other games. So basically i ended up bagging the manual, put another plastic sheet behind the front cover and even threw a dessicant inside the box for good measure. A bit too much? You can never be too careful with your games and i have always been one to treasure my games more than my consoles as my logic has been you can always replace your console but you can't always replace your games. Till this day, i still can't fathom why guys would value their consoles more than their games but i guess that's the mentality you end up with coming from a country where piracy is all around.

Unwelcomed Appearance

Silent Hill made its way onto PSN for Europe a while back before mysteriously disappearing without any reason given. It's the sort of thing you have come to expect from the series, something that probably made more sense if it happened in game than in real life. Since most users who downloaded it during the short two week window reported no bugs, it probably had nothing to do with the compatibility of the game with ps3 and psp system.

It probably had more to do with the Konami announcement of the re-make of the original currently on its way to the Wii in the form of shattered memories by Climax studios. By removing the game, konami avoids saturating the market with the original since they also revealed that the original hard copy is no longer in production (duh!). It made some sense but not entirely since the game is also scheduled to be appearing on ps2 and psp system, and current ps3 do not support ps2 games anymore. I suppose the series needs all the help it can get and spreading it across three systems seems to be the way to go right now. Any factor that might deter the potential sale like the appearance of its original is certainly unwelcomed at this stage.

Bag It Up

Having already replayed a number of my old PSOne games, i was pretty shocked when i open my copy of Silent Hill to discover fungus inside! Though the disc itself is still relatively fungus-free, the fungus on the back of the cover has already spread to parts of the cover of the manual. It's not a pretty sight, especially seeing the manual was in full-colour and contained some nice CGI of the characters but i guess that's what happen when your disc does not come in shrink-wrap.

No thanks to HMV, i ended up paying more than i did with any of my other PSOne games in my library for a platinum version with no shrink-wrap. I vividly remember HMV was having a buy two for 30 pounds promotion and i decide to pick up Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill, brand new platinum version that time probably the only time i ever paid so much for a PSOne game. It pains me to see it in such state now but i guess it can't be help because i did play Silent Hill extensively over the years and in the process, kept it exposed to all sorts of outside conditions. Funny i didn't notice the outbreak of fungus all this while until now when i dust it off for a replay in anticipation of the upcoming Shattered Memories.

Chase The Bullet

Chase The Express was probably one of the only Sony second-party title that i got during the 32-bit playstation era. Heavily influenced by the Resident Evil series, i got this game precisely because of that having seen the screenshots but only played it once before i shelved my PSOne all those years back. I have vague memories about how i finished the game back then, not too well i believed judging from my previous saved file for the game. This time i managed to achieve the best possible ending, enabling me to unlock an extra scenario and ending for my second playthrough but it probably won't be anytime soon. It was much to my surprise as i thought i was doing really bad, having run short of ammo for my handgun and unable to find the assault rifle until much later on.

One thing i would like to highlight about this game is I have never seen full-motion video (FMV) cutscenes quite as bad as the ones in Chase The Express, in fact i rather wish they used the in-game models for all the cutscenes. The facial expression of the character are badly modeled, making the hero Jack Morton looked older than he should with unnecessary wrinkles when he cringes and frowns.

say hello to Boris, who brings ugly villains to a whole new level

Woolstock

One of my best memories from my university days in UK is Woolworths which i found out from bloodbubb1e has recently announced that they will be closing all their retail outlets because of the recent economic crisis. During then i will always make a beeline to their bargain bins in search of PSOne games as they were just opposite from the Electronic Boutique in town. I suppose because of the nature of the store (they sell just about everything from candies to video to music) and their customer base, i always tend to find better bargains in Woolies as opposed to EB and Game.

I remember picking up the first Fear Effect for a mere 7quid which was quite a steal considering obscure hits like Fear Effect don't end up in the bargain bins too often. I know more than one person enjoyed that game as my house mate during that time, who happened to be a british born chinese also warmed up to it and we spent countless hours trying to figure out the puzzles and beat that game, while in the process helping my housemate to learn a bit of chinese. Aah the good ole days of university life.

But my greatest catch at Woolies happened to be Vagrant Story which during that time was only a few months old and was retailing everywhere else for at least 30 quid, the standard price for a new PSOne game. To top it off, it was still in its shrink-wrap for just 10 quid! I know it's hard to understand what's the big deal about that but bear in mind, most new games in UK don't even come in shrink-wraps for some reason. Anyway, i quickly nabbed that copy of Vagrant Story and made my way to the cashier where i thought i was in a stroke of good luck because a young lady was manning the cashier at that time, probably clueless about games as i hoped. That turned out to be the furthest from the truth as this lady was reluctant to sell a new game to me at that price, asking around her colleagues for assistance and getting me all worried as she was holding up the line. I suppose the shrink-warp gave it away that the game was spanking new as i doubt she was aware of how hot this game was, lapping up perfect scores from all the game reviews during then. Ultimately after consulting with her seniors, she finally let me have the game but not before tearing off the shrink-warp and scribbling over the barcode on the back which i should add, she had to dismantle the jewel case to get to. I couldn't possibly describe to you how much my heart ache during the whole ordeal which felt like time had slowed down and was talking forever. But the biggest shame of all is that i have not play the game even till this day, it's lying there in my game collection probably with that lovely lady prints still intact. I suppose sometimes, the biggest bargains of all are really not meant to be.

The Great Repeater

There i was, just moments from finishing FF VII and i felt the urge to cheat my way through the last three boss fights. You see at the start of disc 3, you are given the option of proceeding onto the last stage or continue to level up your characters through the side-missions. Having clocked just slighty over 40 hours of play, i felt that i spend well enough time on the game and bravely proceed onto the final stage. But most of my characters were not really up to task as i rarely spend any time leveling up my two strongest members, Cid and Vincent, they just happen to be powerful right from when i recruit them.

To make things worse you only get one save point troughout the final stage and far too many random battles before you even reach the final boss. When i did get to the final boss, i was overwhelmed by how powerful it and each time that i had to replay it, i had to endure the same pointless random battle before i get another chance at it again. By then I was convinced my characters were not up to the task that i consider cheating my way through. Again, just like i did with FFX a few years back.Unfortunately (or fortunately) I didn't have any cheat disc in my possession that would work with the game and left with no other options, i gave it one last try. I'm absolutely convinced that sometimes in RPG battle, a little luck is required. Luckily for me, the final sephiroth was not as violent as usual so with a little luck i managed to scrape through and finish my third RPG, the second for this year.

Back for One

A few weeks ago i got myself a copy of FFVII in hopes of reviving my ole PSOne and with my portable 5" LCD screen arriving earlier this week, the revival is now complete. I spent a lot less than i expected, i remember first seeing the screen in the local game stores here and the only thing that has always kept me back from getting it was the price. Considering i wasn't planning on playing it that much, the amount of time i foresee myself spending on it just doesn't justify the asking price though it actually wasn't very expensive.

Now that i have the portable screen i can just keep my PSOne handy by my side on the desk instead of having to dig it up whenever i get the urge. Gamers prefer to wait for these PSOne classic to appear on the PSN but if you already own the game initially why bother paying for it again? While i don't actually have an extensive collection of PSOne games i do have everything i could ever want to play on the platform including a few gems i never got around to playing before abandoning the system. Vagrant Story and Syphon Filter 2 were the unfortunate lot as the former get condemned to hell by some of my friends and i lost interest in the latter when the series became a laughing stock with the release of a few poor sequels on the PS2.

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.