Ben-DutkaCertainly has been an interesting week, hasn't it? I so can't wait for Resistance 3 …
Showdown: Enslaved vs. Castlevania
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West will launch on October 5 . Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will release on…you guessed it, October 5 . There are plenty of big fall titles but it's always fun when two equally promising games fall on the exact same day, right? It's very difficult to choose between the two but for now, I'm going to go with Ninja Theory's project by a slim margin. I like the colorful environments more (ala Uncharted ), and I've seen some footage that leads me to believe the developers will do some neat-o things with those two very distinct characters. Lords of Shadow looks great, too, but the fact that it looks like a conglomeration of Dante's Inferno and God of War – while hardly a bad thing, per se – sort of gives it a "been there, done that" feel. Of course, if it's awesome, I won't really care. But on the history side…well, it's a no-brainer.
Look, they've never made a stellar 3D CV entry and Ninja Theory already has Heavenly Sword to its name. Mercury Steam did Clive Barker's Jericho . …yeah. If we're looking at the past, and that's all we can really do until the final product is in front of us, we have no choice but to give the edge to Enslaved right now.
Insomniac, you guys rule
Next to the Mass Effect 2 on PS3 announcement, Insomniac definitely made the biggest splash at GamesCom this past week. They're working on two very awesome projects and although I recognize and respect the greatness of the Ratchet & Clank series, I'm all sorts of psyched for Resistance 3 . If you didn't catch the GC 2010 debut trailer, it's right here:
No gameplay but when they put this amount of effort into a trailer, one just has to feel encouraged. I always say R2 never got enough love and while Killzone 2 has set the FPS bar (and soon, Killzone 3 will probably set it again), I trust Insomniac to deliver an awesome experience. I just can't wait to see some in-game footage.
Personal gaming update
Due to a busy week that included helping a friend in building his house, getting the car waxed, getting to a few appointments, covering the big GC 2010 news, and reviewing Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days and Top Gun , I didn't get a chance to finish up Alan Wake . But I'll take care of that this week, even though I expect to see Mafia II . September looks pretty dull, although I will have to play Halo: Reach – and it's the last Halo I will ever play if it doesn't feel fresh – and I'll be interested to see how Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 comes out. There isn't another game I really want until October so when I'm done with Alan Wake , I might play through Uncharted 2 again. It's just that good and I've always wanted to replay it.
Obviously, I'm still working my way through "War and Peace," which I greatly enjoy…primarily because I'm partly insane. 😉
I'm also leaning towards Enslaved, agree about Castlevania being "been there, done that"
And I also think that Castlevania is going to be the more linear game.
The only thing that's gonna make Enslaved flop is Trip but she's doing good in all those footage so far.
Now for my personal gaming update:
Ok, I've given up on that god damn Big Boss Emblem, only way to make me go back to get it is to break my PS3 in half.
I'm playing Disgaea 3 again cause last time I didn't do a lot when I borrowed it from a friend and in 2 weeks time, I've already poured in over 100 hours for Disgaea 3.
This game is just that addicting if you're a fan of it.
Can't wait for Disgaea 4!!!!
Kidding right? Castlevania is known for it's massive levels. Enslaved doesn't have much choice but to be as linear as FFXIII from what I can tell.
Maybe I was wrong, I've never played any Castlevania game but to me, Enslaved look to be the better game, we'll see.
All shall be unveiled on the 5th of October.
Last edited by Snaaaake on 8/21/2010 10:18:03 PM
Nah, apparently Enslaved gives you the option to sneak away from enemies in certain instances. I know that doesn't necessarily denote non-linearity, but I don't imagine you would have the same option too many times in Castlevania.
Peace.
I'm just saying the levels are pretty big and you are always traversing places for various reasons (shops, artifacts, etc). Probably none of those RPG-like exploration things in Enslaved. I could be wrong, but they haven't discussed it. Though linearity doesn't have to be bad, Uncharted 2 was linear and totally awesome.
Level eh?
Well, I don't think I can judge it because it both look quite big to me.
And…..you can shop in Castlevania 0.o
Last edited by Snaaaake on 8/21/2010 10:31:09 PM
yup
Snaaake – Disgaea 3 is indeed extremely addicting! I dedicated like a month of my life to killing every pirate in the item world. Land of Carnage item world is quite insane, btw. 🙂
Resistance 3 is gonna be epic to the max, in many ways I liked R2 more than KZ2 (even if it wasn't a match for it technologically).
Ben you might be in the lower percentile of PSXE folks who really want Enslaved. I just get a bad feeling from it. I'm opting for Castlevania, except I might just put it on my Xmas list because I've already got a preorder in for New Vegas later in October and a stack of games I need to play or finish. I wouldn't sell this Castlevania short, remember, this one has the Kojima seal of approval.
I just bought the PS1 classic Silent Hill and am currently playing God of War II, Suikoden V, (Who can help me get Jeane as a star of destiny?)and Fallout 3 DLC (which is buggy as hell).
Just joined Anytime Fitness too, time to get back in shape.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 8/21/2010 10:05:52 PM
If they had seen what I've seen of Enslaved, they might think differently. 😉
Maybe you aught to post some of this stuff you see, or at least report on it.
…maybe I should've told you all about Twisted Metal and then had both Sony and David Jaffe hate me for all eternity. 😉
I.e., I do what I'm told.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 8/21/2010 10:31:53 PM
Come on Ben, those who share are those who care.
Aw, that's cute.
Well seriously Ben, what you saw about Enslaved, you really can't tell us?
The world know the game exist unlike TM so why can't you?
It's not a big deal. I'm just saying that if anybody thinks Enslaved is another "generic TPS," they're dead flat wrong.
I'm not saying it'll be great because I haven't played it, but I'm saying it has promise. That's all.
I see, but whoever think Enslaved is a TPS is dead wrong.
It has shooting, fighting, platforming, puzzle and maybe even stealth if we haven't seen it.
Actually it may have been beneficial to say you have more secret information and not give it out. It got the masses drooling before. Unless of course the info isn't all that substantive.
I'm leaning towards Castlevania, only because of Kojima's seal of approval, and the lead character seems cooler than the monkey/chick combo in Enslaved. But I'm very curious as see if NT can walk the walk, come psxextreme's review.
ben for the most part i put a lot of faith in your words, may not always agree but thats human. If you say Enslaved shouldn't be glazed over, imma check it out. This site is the reason i bought Dead Space when it first dropped after all
Same here, Ben.
All the footage I've seen so far of Enslaved convinced me to a d1p.
I'm following the game on facebook as they show some exclusive screenies or trailers there first.
It does not look generic at all.
Enslaved catches my eye because it actually uses colors (love that blue hue to the water), unlike 90% of contemporary games. Gray is not a color!
Even if it still does use the dilapidated city motif for some of the game…
This past week, I…
-completed Dragon Age: Origins a 3rd time (yup, I finished it last week, and now this week =D!) as a male Dalish Elf, Rogue class. I'm going to play Awakening soon and purchase the Golems of Amgarrak DLC so I can play that on all my DA accounts. What can I say, I just love the engrossing world, characters, storyline, and tactical gameplay of Dragon Age.
-played a bit of Halo 3 and Killzone 2 now and then, just to get my shooter fix ^.^
-started watching a new anime series that you guys probably wouldn't know. Very weird…but intriguing.
-began to contemplate what games to buy for my birthday. It's in late October, but I've always thought ahead in terms of buying games, and I've done the same thing for the christmas period. It doesn't hurt to think ahead no?
Next week, I have a wedding to attend (shiny looking tuxedo, looking at you) and am planning to buy 2 old (but awesome!!) PS2 games I mentioned last week, Persona 3: FES, Persona 4.
You should wait and just buy the new Ultimate (or whatever) version. I bet it has all the DLC plus Awakenings.
What anime is it?
I just bought "Master of Martial Hearts" TheHighlander would like that one. 😉
ouch, we all got a thumb down for being cool.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 8/21/2010 10:28:23 PM
I've got a wedding on 10/10/10, and I'm in the wedding party, so that's an all-day thing. But it's a Sunday and I've known him since 1st grade, so I'm definitely up for it. Looking forward to it, actually.
I plan on engaging in Dragon Age myself after FF13. Bioware really won me over with Mass Effect.
In fact, I took advantage of Blockbuster's free 2 week online game deal, and rented both console versions of DA just to determine the version I wanted to spend my time with. The comparison sites like DF made it really hard to find a definitive winner with both versions enjoying unique advantages. The frame-rate advantage and 2xMSAA offered by the 360 ended up winning me over.
Yah, why is that? For expressing information and opinion?
@ World,
I'm actually being selective of my DA DLC, as some are merely focused on optional backstory, i.e. that offer little way in newer things. The Golems DLC however not only allows you to import your Origins or Awakening character, or start a brand new character at level 20, but also have a brand new story that adds to the world. Previous DLCs that have released not too long ago (Leliana's Song, and The Darkspawn Chronicles) don't allow this, so for a piece of DLC to allow the importing of characters is, in my opinion, showing me that in future DLCs and of course Dragon Age II, whatever actions and choices I do will impact them.
Furthermore, I don't want to buy more MS Points anytime soon, my money's going to go elsewhere =) (yup, I have the 360 version of DA:O, because at the time, the PS3 version performed worse, so the 360 version was the wiser choice, regardless of graphics [guess which review influenced me in my purchase decision?]).
And @ Pandracastro, it's called "Umineko no Naku Koro ni", a mystery anime. Depending on your anime tastes, you may like the anime less after the first several episodes, as people I know that have watched the anime have voiced that. I personally have really good patience for a lot of things, and animes are one of them.
Last edited by Victor321 on 8/21/2010 11:01:48 PM
I read Darkspawn Chronicles sucks the big one.
@ Temjin001
Be careful with DA near redcliff. Not sure if this bug is still in the game but during a "certain raid" ;), the game glitches to the point where you wont be able to continue AT ALL! It's a game breaking glitch so again always save. Don't rely on auto save. But than again that's a given with any RPG. This game was really good but since I glitched at that part without knowing, I sold the game. I do plan to get it again for pc this time and hopefully that issue has been resolved. It sucks when you put massive amounts of time into a game and some crap like that happens. Anyway, happy gaming.
Last edited by Dridion on 8/22/2010 2:13:42 AM
so this past week i bought a new desktop computer. then after getting it all set up and what not i went on a hunt for something to play on it. i have not paid attention to computer games in years and i dont want to buy something i can get on my ps3. i ended up getting spore and i am loving this game. i havent had much time to get on my ps3 since i have been moving and having the new computer.
can anyone recommend a good pc game i can pick up that is not on ps3??
Starcraft 2: It's what all the cool kids are playing. I'm not a cool kid.
Yeah, I wish my PC could run Starcraft 2. And Team Fortress 2. I know you can get it for ps3, but the pc version is WAY better.
Him both are very good suggestions, however, if you can I would say go with Crysis if you haven't played it. It's a good game. Not as much variety as KZ2 but it's good for what it is. And the graphics are still top notch. You'll also love the physics in the game.
I definitely want to get one of the two releasing in early October, but I'm not sure which. I'm sure both of them will be fantastic games and they'll both be reviewed highly, but my edge goes to Enslaved because it seems less GoW like. I know, I know, God of War is fantastic and whatnot, but it's just too hard to copy. Either way, the other will be a purchase next year after a price drop.
Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One isn't my type of game for the sole reason that it is based around co-op. I'm sure that the story will be an outright laugh and the game will be fun embodied, but I just can't support a game that focusses almost exclusively on online (mostly because I can't play online, as I've stated countless times already). Still though, it's a good concept and I really hope that Insomniac can pull it off and get the sales they deserve.
Resistance 3 is another beast completely. Fall of Man was the first fully-fledged console game I ever played (which gives it a special place in my heart), and two was a third day purchase (only because I couldn't get it any earlier). I really hope that Insomniac **SPOILERS** can find a way to bring back Hale for the third; he was to cool a character to end it. **END SPOILERS** I know that they can continue the story of the fight against the Chimera and perhaps bring it to a satisfying conclusion. One thing I hope though is **MORE SPOILERS** that they reveal more about the previous battle against the Chimera, and who the combatants were. Maybe they can do another PSP iteration to explain that. **END SPOILERS** I have high hopes indeed for the Resistance franchise as I truly believe that it has the legs to become a more involved, and popular franchise than Halo could ever hope to be.
Personal Update:
I've only got about fifty pages left of Love in the Time of Cholera. Absolutely fantastic story, though more than a little disturbing at times. And really looking forward to getting started on Anna Karenina.
I'm now about thirty hours into Final Fantasy XIII and although getting bored with it, quite enjoying the twists and turns of the story.
Not far off finishing the chapter that I've been promising to finish since I signed up here. If I really dig in, I should be right to finish it this week (For real this time).
I actually took time off games this week to watch the entirety of the Saw series. The first movie was definitely the best. The rest have reduced the cerebral qualities of the original in exchange for 'torture porn'.
Oh and the boss at work hired a new PYT, so it's gotten just that little bit better. LOL.
Also, I'm very glad the election BS is over now. I don't have to see politicians everywhere I look. It was starting to get annoying, but of course, we aren't sure who won it yet. Either way, we're screwed.
And Ben, insane is the only way to live your life. Who wants to be normal, you don't have half as much fun talking to yourself. 😛
Peace.
Love in the Time of Cholera is excellent but it often stretches the boundaries of imagination concerning love and dedication. 😉 If you enjoy it, you should look into other Marquez novels. A Hundred Years of Solitude is his best, IMO, and one of my all-time favorites. However, I didn't particularly like Of Love and Other Demons and The General in his Labyrinth.
As for Anna Karenina, it's just plain brilliant (just bear in mind that Tolstoy is denser than Marquez). Anna is my favorite character in literature next to Maggie Tulliver from Eliot's The Mill on the Floss. And if you finish Anna Karenina and find yourself as infatuated as I was, I'd say you're ready for Tolstoy's other masterpiece…which I'm currently reading. 😉
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 8/21/2010 10:29:25 PM
You might think it stretches them, but I can well imagine waiting fifty years for the love of one. I've already read Solitude, but I just prefer the style of Cholera. You can tell that he's refined his style in the twenty year gap between the two novels.
With Anna Karenina, the version I bought has an introduction, which I read. Very enlightening as to the production of the novel, but I was a bit annoyed that they give away the ending. Never mind that I always read the last page of a book first (strange habit of mine).
Peace.
I'm telling ya dude, Hale will be back. He can survive that… little incident at the end.
It gave away the ENDING?! See, that's why I never read introductions in books. 🙁
By the way, I don't think it's a refined style in Cholera, per se. Remember, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Solitude; it's just a different structure, which I found to be less traditional and almost by default, more intriguing. I guess Cholera is more of a standard novel but Solitude was…something else.
And I'm firmly convinced I got everything Cholera had to offer in one read-through. While at the same time, I get the feeling that reading Solitude multiple times will reveal multiple previously-missed things. 🙂
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 8/21/2010 11:56:34 PM
I suppose I can see the argument of it being a more standard style, but I'd hardly call it your average novel. They're both good.
As for rereading, I do that anyway. It doesn't matter whether I think I can get more out of the story, I just find it too tempting not to. I think that the next time I read them will be when I have time off so that I can read them in my own time and enjoy them properly.
Peace.
Ben, you don't like Dostoyevski I take it, then? Of the Russian authors I rate both him and Pushkin higher than Tolstoy as I feel we lose a lot less in translation( both a feeling I get from reading both and from a professor in Russian Lit who I still talk to years after taking just ONE kodule in his area in Uni)when reading FD's books as LT's seem even MORE of their Russian period rathe than pureer human observation. For what it's worth I'd always take The Idiot as an intro to Fyodor's work if you haven't yet read any as it's a great analogy as a whole and a ripping yarn with great characters to boot.
I actually had to write an essay comparng the relative merits of War and Peace against Crime and Punishment and my head hurt for weeks afterwards as I learned I'm not capable of dealing with TWO proper heavyweights in one assigment without needing a stint at The Priory afterwards!!
Also, you're right about multiple readings bringing fresh things to light with 100 Years… Marquez' best work by some real distance. Currently re-reading A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch purely for entertainment and because AS RULES!!
Nice to see a level of literary debate going on here at PSXE that you don't find on other gaming "sites"! I await your thoughts on scuplture and the fine arts n coming weeks. First stop:Dutka does the Guggenheim and takes Bilbao. Paris trembles. Would make a decent rpg.
The lack of games has given me time to do some catching up and Platinum hunting. Learning the joys of Cheap Ass Gamer trading. Finally playing some Killzone 2.
I'm really looking forward to the next Assassin's Creed. I wasn't too stoked for it at first, but reading more into it is making me think of buying it day one.
Enslaved is only interesting enough for me to observe ratings and if they're strong enough, I'm talking 85% and up, I may give it a shot.
I'm not convinced of Ninja Theory's abilities, honestly. They're awesome at cut-scenes and sourcing some great voice talent, and making a decent, sometimes great, looking game (for it's time), but Heavenly Sword's combat and responsiveness of play is one of the poorest this gen, worse yet, even when compared to last gen it comes up short (sorry but Ninja Gaiden, GoW2, and DMC3 already had it beat before it ever released). With a sub 15-30fps frame-rate, and some questionable combat and design decisions, the dev hasn't earned my excitement….
Castlevania, on the other hand, has showed some promise. This style of game has my name written all over it, and with Kojima at the helm offering his guidance and expertise in game design, I can put some faith into it.
Right now, I'm pretty steeped in Final Fantasy's. I'm playing FF9 on my PSP and trying to finish up FF13 on my PS3.
So far, I really dig the nostalgic feel of FF9. I'm talking pre-FF7 nostalgic.
FF13 is really a melting pot of emotions. The game looks gorgeous, the story is good enough, great music, solid voice talent, their are all kinds of great FF hallmarks to be found (good o' Gigantaur 10,000 needles booya you're dead!) and I really dig the combat. But the composition of the game feels like it's on a diet compared to FF9. Gone are the numerous villages and locales where you meet all kinds of interesting people, like old guys who gotta take a dump!?, and the general perusing of urbanized areas.
Even in Gran Pulse there's a familiar feel of accepting one mission after another that places you on a defined point A to point B process. It's not that other FF's don't have this, it just seems to me they were a bit more seamless in the approach.
Ok guys, need help here.
Suddenly, there's this thing called "SUZEN-VAIO: suzen:" popped up in the video section of my XMB.
WTF?
Edit: No wait, it's also in my photo and music section.
What is it?
Last edited by Snaaaake on 8/21/2010 10:47:06 PM
I think your ps3 is picking up your external drive that contains a back up file of your computer or it sees your computer through a router. The ps3 may think it's connected to a media server.
This is a guess on my part, but I'm seeing something similar on my ps3.
Last edited by tes37 on 8/21/2010 11:35:57 PM
Turned my PS3 off and on, it's gone now.
I unplugged my computer from a router and got a connection error when I hit triangle to view information on my ps3. When I reconnected to the router, I could view the info and it has my computer's nickname in the file. So, the ps3 sees the windows media player sharing that's probably enabled on the computer.
Last edited by tes37 on 8/21/2010 11:54:44 PM
When I first installed Sony's PSP "Media Go" service on my computer for my PS3 & PSP, the "Media Go" read my PC hardrive files & then sent all my PSP/PS3 compatible files(music, video, etc) right over to my PS3.
So I think that's probably what you're now seeing.
BTW, I also have Gamestop's version of that program on a disc too(one of their PSP accessories), but they call theirs "Pro Media Director" instead.
Basically, they both do the same thing, exporting files over to your PS3, and in which you can also then DL & install some of those files over to your PSP too if you so choose.
This week I bought BlazBlue Calamity Trigger, and I gotta say that it's great. I love the graphics, and the fighting is really cool. I went online and got my ass kicked. Played like 10 matches and lost 9 =(. Anyway, I really recomend it to anyone even slightly interested in a figthting game. I'll be playing that until the new Mortal Kombat arrives.