Coming To America (Not)

The truth is finally out, it looks like Yakuza 3 won't be leaving its native home Japan after all.

Can't say i'm really surprised though it does leave me with the inevitable decision which i knew i would have to arrive at, playing the import version. I foresee it to be a long and ultimately unrewarding process since the real charm of the Yakuza series has always lies in its side missions. To top it off, the game is still selling at its original price so it likely won't be cheap to import at this stage. I certainly have the time to go through this meticulous process of playing the import version but i would probably have to finish the second one before i even consider it right now.

You Only Live Twice

There was a common theory that Separate Ways was conceived or at least the idea of it before the Gamecube version of RE4 even shipped. That it was held back so Capcom would have the added incentive to tempt gamers who played RE4 on the Gamecube to pick it up again. There are parts of the game that feels pretty clever how like the developers manage explain what happened to leon jacket but then there are also parts that doesn't make any sense at all.

Take the part where chapter 2 ends and chapter 3 begins, at the end of chapter 2 we see ada watching in the shadow as luis sera dies and the sample falls into saddler's hands. Then she proceeds to radio wesker and tells him the location of the sample only to arrive at the start of chapter 3 when she meets krauser and ask him the same thing wesker just asked her only moments again. Ok so the scene where krauser is having a conversation with ada while playing with his knife was in the original game but you would think the developers could have done a better job of making the scenes all tied up. Of course this could go on forever like did krauser actually die in Separate Ways or the end of Assignment Ada? It's pretty clear that ada was the one who put him away for good but it's as how mikami intended in Assignment Ada or what kawata envisioned in Separate Ways?

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.

A Shot of Tequila (Time)

I logged into the multiplayer mode of Stranglehold today to see if there is anyone around for a quick game and sure enough, i did managed to find someone this time. With him hosting, we quickly engage a game of mano a mano deathmatch with just the two of us trapped in that teahouse. The game runs surprisingly smooth on multiplayer online even smoother than the actual single player campaign i believed, perhaps because it's just two players in one largely destructible environment.

The first 8 minutes were pure fun as the tequila time gauge has yet to fill up so both of us were on even ground more or less, the nice thing is there are healthpacks and weapons all around so you can easily engage in a very long duel of running and gunning without actually killing anyone. Once the tequila time gauge finally tops up however, a player can easily dispatch the other away by using the tequila time to their advantage because the other player has no idea when their opponent is in tequila time or not. The game also doesn't engage tequila time automatically like the single player campaign so i die a few times before i realised my opponent was using tequila time to his advantage. The worst part was when i actually got my first kill and by doing so, resetting my opponent tequila time made him go into hiding while waiting for his gauge to fill up again. Having being new to the multiplayer mode, i was certainly surprised by this move but maybe it's the same for everyone else because of how invaluable tequila time advantage is.

Separate Opinion

Now that i have finished No More Heroes i can really sink my teeth into RE4 Wii edition to see how much better it's compared with the Gamecube version. With the help of some save files on gamefaqs, i was able to unlock everything from the go and immediately jump into Assignment Ada and Separate Ways. True enough, Assignment Ada does feature knife attacks now so it's possible for RE fanatics to do their knife-runs. As much as i liked the Wii controls i also notice it makes the game almost too easy to play, aiming is second nature and you can switch back and forth between knife attack instantaneously. I didn't even get hit one bit by krauser during my first run on assignment ada which i usually struggled before.

Separate Ways is definitely re-built from the ground up using the Gamecube engine so everything looks on par with the rest of the game. I have heard that ada model is ripped definitely from the ps2 version without any enhancements so that could possibly be the only downside of this Wii edition. The cutscenes are also in FMV like the ps2 version but since Separate Ways doesn't feature any alternative costume, it's not such a major issue. It has taken me a long time to finally play the Wii edition but i'm glad the time is finally here since i told myself i won't bother with it until i'm on LCD display.

Reality Bites

I used to think No More Heroes was a pretty easy game so much so that i didn't give it a second thought whether or not i could actually finish it on Bitter mode. Finishing the Bitter mode however has managed to send my (gamer) ego come crashing back to reality and nearly reduce me to tears. Ok maybe not that but i easily spent over 5 hours to dispose of both Bad Girl and Jeanne as both boss fight require a heavy dose of patience especially if you tend to be very careful. I have certainly come to appreciate the game and the intricacy boss fights a lot more, something that would have been lost on an easier mode as you can basically button-mash your way through them.

I remember when finishing DMC4 on Hard mode i got message screen with a rather cheeky remark about how you are not just a casual gamer after all. These days i try to get the most out of my games so playing it first on a cheap easy mode is another way of prolonging the life of these games. Action games tend to have a pretty short playing time so looks like it's the ribbon of disgrace for now in Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

The Ultimate Shame

A couple of stuff came in before the end of this week, the last two of my Organic zombie diorama and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I ran into a bit of problem when placing this order last week as i didn't have any coupon codes with me anymore and had to look everywhere for one. Luckily i find a kind soul who posted some on his blog, wished i could remember his blog now so i can quote him but if you are reading this, you have my thanks.

Looking back maybe i should have ordered Dragon Sword on the DS instead as it was only USD16.90 right about that time and quickly reverted back to its original price. The Greatest Hits red casing for Sigma is a lot worse than i expected, as it wasn't the slightly transparent case shown on that page but completely shiny red which you can't see through. It looks pretty cheap to be honest, perhaps befitting for a Greatest Hits label as it's the ultimate shame for not picking up the title initially.