Ben-DutkaSpring is finally here – even if it's still below freezing outside – and I really can't wait for the warm weather. This winter has really taxed me.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2…another chore?
I loved Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. It was easily one of the best games of that generation, and I was proud of myself for beating it on the normal difficulty. It was ridiculously hard, especially for someone who isn't so great at such hardcore action games. However, while I certainly got that ol' familiar thrill of satisfaction, I knew I'd never touch the game again. It's why I don't own Ninja Gaiden Sigma and I probably won't own Sigma 2 . I didn't get a chance to play NGII on the 360, but I think I've gotten to a point in my life where I really just play games for the sheer entertainment value. I freely admit to a time when I would tackle high-quality yet challenging games that would annoy the sh** out of me, but I wanted to play them simply because I've always wanted to play the best of the best. I'm past that. I got past it when I played God of War and realized that action titles didn't have to feel like a chore in order to be considered excellent.
GoWIII is gonna rock, and I still love to play all different sorts of games. But if there's one thing I'm not interested in any longer, it's playing something I don't find enjoyable. And as great as I'm sure Sigma 2 will be, I can pretty much guarantee I'll want to throw the controller at a wall a hundred times during the play-through…and I just don't find that entertaining anymore.
Goddamnit Square-Enix, don't you screw this up
Okay, so you've opened your new studio …what are you gonna do with it? I stand by my prediction that they're going to produce a Western-oriented RPG of some kind, but if they do, they're going up against the likes of Bioware and other well-established WRPG developers. It's always risky when you step outside your comfort zone, but I strongly believe some of the most talented guys in the industry work at Square-Enix. If they just apply themselves and create something ambitious and exciting, I'm relatively certain the final result will be most impressive. I'm just a little worried that in their new attempt to cater to the Western audience, they'll overshoot their goal and slip into the cliched and tacky. Furthermore, with their comment regarding the fact they've "fallen behind on multiplatform development this generation," there's the possibility they could just ignore the PlayStation 3. They might just think, "well, we're making a game for the Western audience so it should just go on a Western console."
But that's almost too logical for S-E. They put The Last Hope only on the 360, which makes zero sense, so who knows what these people are going to do next? All I'm saying is, they had best not mess it up. I've already given up hope that my beloved Squaresoft is dead and buried; don't make me lose more faith in this publisher. Oh, but P.S. FFXIII will still rule all.
Personal gaming update
So anyway, I'm about four hours into Star Ocean now and I have to say, I'm enjoying myself so far. My only gripes center on certain aspects of the gameplay and the general exploration movement. You can either walk, run, or sprint for short distances, but when indoors or getting close to a wall outside, you switch to a weird first-person view where you lose all your bearings. Also, walking is too slow and running is too fast and erratic…it's really weird. In battle, I think Edge takes too long to recover from an attack – I want to dodge not stand there like a dope – but I suppose that's a nod towards realism. Outside of these minor drawbacks, I like the game a lot. It's very, very pretty, the environments are large and immersive, the enemies pose a decent challenge but the battle is almost always fun, and the overall depth is excellent as expected. Item Creation, Synthesis, Battle Abilities, and tons of different skills ranging from Smithery to Harvesting to Engineering launches this game's longevity through the roof. Oh, and the voice acting can be horrendous, but thankfully, the main characters aren't bad at all.
I'm definitely going to get some enjoyment out of this one. As for the rest of life…well, there's a waitress (no, not that one; another one) that kinda knows me and we've spoken casually here and there. She wasn't our server when me and a friend were at the restaurant today, but the place was almost completely empty, and while we were there, she came and washed two tables…the one directly behind us and the one directly in front of us. No others. I also caught her looking in my direction more than once. She's adorable . Oh, so cute. Eh…maybe I'll do something about it this week. Maybe not. 🙂
You should indeed do something about it!
Also, in your glee you should tell us what the new secret exclusive is. Just saying.
Er…I'll let it slide this time, but this is a little borderline. Just know that for future reference. 😉
CONGRATS MAN…WELCOME TO THE LEAGUE OF EXTRODINARY GENTLEMEN
Glad you're enjoying Star Ocean. I don't really care for the series. I never felt any attachment to the characters.
DO something about it!
Anyhow, I laugh at you, HAHA, because I'm in Minnesota and even we got 61 degrees today.
So Ben do you hope they bring SO4 to PS3 users?
And uh, for me I'm still on an endless quest to beat my backlog of PS3 games and I just bought Suikoden on PSN tonight! Woot Woot.
Today was beautiful :), MN FTW. I also share your viewpoint on Ninja Gaiden Sigma Ben, I finished it but at the cost of my sanity.
It'd be a good addition to the PS3 library, but I wouldn't say it's essential.
As for Suikoden…PLEASE tell me you've already played it. If not…………sacrilege. 😉
Sure I have, all of them actually, I die a little inside every time I think they might not make a part 6
Me too. 🙁
Man Star Ocean is good, beware the second disk is kinda short. I went back and bought the PS2 version, MAN what a difference. It would be nice if it came to the PS3, do you know the deal of when Level 3's White Knight Chronicles will be making it over here…like THIS YEAR??? Not sure if I would buy NGS 2 if it comes to the PS3. What is the next video game, PS3 or otherwise you are looking forward to?
Level 5**
Fixed 😀
I have never seen snowfall . 🙁
It's pretty until you realise that you have to clean the driveway and the car, and that certainly isn't pretty.
Shakman, there is nothing better than a day where you are snowed-in with nothing to do but play video games and chill with blu-rays.
Yeah, snow is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there's NOTHING more annoying than not being able to go anywhere, and then digging and scraping yourself free.
On the other hand, as World said, there really is no better feeling that being all cozy inside and hunkering down to play a favorite game. 🙂
I bought RE5 and KZ2 last week. I beat RE5, it was fun, I love RE. I wouldn't say that I was disapointed, the monsters were awesome and it was the same gameplay I love, but I wish there were more RPG elements (shop keeper, maybe even level up's). I started KZ2 yesterday and I am so impressed. It's more than just a pretty face. It's really satisfying taking out those bastards. I am not really a big FPS guy. I also like the look. Some games are looking really plastic these days, but it has a more organic feel to it. I am surprised at how much I like it. I hope the multiplayer is fun, but I doubt I'll like it, I always get owned at MP and I get frustrated really easily.
I have Killzone 2 and Rez 5 waiting for my ps to return on tuesday,i've been playing gears 2 and honestly;i just dont get what makes it 'epic'.
But Marcus cracks me up when he talks,poor man, sounds like he needs to 'push the dookie out'.
Last edited by karneli lll on 3/22/2009 1:13:18 AM
I get owned bad in KZ2 multi, but its okay because it just shows me how much that game rocks because I can die in R2 and not be too perturbed, but for some reason the grit and realism of the KZ2 war makes me -actually- pissed off at the other team. Riles me up!
I haven't been able to play KZ2 for almost a week . I called Samsung to get a small niggle fixed and the guy came and fucked up my TV . Waiting for them to fix it .
I've never played Gears, I'd like to give it a go, I'm sure it's a good game. The thing with this generation (I might rile some people with this comment) but honestly the PS3 and the 360 are pretty similar, both in capabilities and games. I don't really see a reason to own both systems, and for me Sony has better first party games.
It was super hot here in Southeast Texas, lol yesterday anyway, I slept all today. I think when Squeenix talked about their 'multiplatform failure' I think he's just talking about the PAST, not FUTURE (or I hope so) and that we can expect more PS3 gaes, i mean hell, they haven't given the PS3 ANYTHING this Gen, besides that psn title…did it even release in America?
What, U thought that "Gulf Coast Sauna" wasn't on its way? 😉
I'm driving back to Houston today. Man, I hate Houston heat. Its so….unfair. LOL.
I wish I could stay here in Dallas with the dry heat. O well. School starts back tomorrow and I'm ready to get this semester over with.
I hate the humidity so much 😐 I agree I'd rather have dry heat, sigh…it's always like so sticky here 🙁
I still have faith in S-E. They've been one of my favorite developers of all time. I would like to hear more about Rapture though. It's been kinda quite about that one since it was announced about 3-4 years ago.
Last edited by Geobaldi on 3/22/2009 12:14:32 AM
What's Rapture? Haven't heard of it :O
It's the supposed name of the new mmorpg SE is working on.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma is ridiculous. For me it's just unplayable. I'll never spend another dime on anything Ninja Gaiden.
I tried Ninja Gaiden Black on the old sexbox the other day to see if I could get into it. Mmm, it started off promising and then I was like nope, this fails.
Not a huge gaiden fan….it's OK, but it's kind of repetitive, and frustratingly hard.
Kind of like Megaman 9. Who plays these games and says that they actually had fun with them? If I want a challenge I go online. That way I know I'm getting owned by another human. I don't like getting owned by bad controls and a shoddy cameras.
As always, I will wait and see!
Q!
"i am home"
Wait the Ninja Gaiden was hard?
Well then I can't look at my brother the same way, he played it on the hardest difficulty with ease so I thought it was easy since he was just a casual gamer.
I got to try Sigma again
Nobody played NG on the hardest difficulty "with ease."
…no need to posture here, people.
if SE develops exclusively for the 360 with this new IP, that says more about them as a company than anything else. 360 is straight up garbage. are they even serious with their exclusives? halo and left 4 dead look like shoddy PS2 games. that brick of a system is holding back this generation.
i mean, lbp, kz2, all the other games coming our way… you see those games on your flatscreen and its like woooooooow… why would any developer pass on creating something for the ps3?
and just as an aside, couldnt that one line
"weve fallen behind on our development for multiplatform titles" be looked at more as a
– we forgot about the ps3, it has a large enough install base now, no more 360 exclusives?
The Xbox 360 shouldn't even be in the 7th generation…….
It still use DVD in the end, Microsoft said they gonna make a game with graphic way better than KZ2 but with DVD I doubt it, unless there's more than 1 DVD for that one particular game.
And I agree with JohnnyGold, it is holding back this generation.
@Snaaaake I've couldn't agree more.
Hey Ben I feel the same way about games, if I'm going to be pissed off at it, it's not worth the trouble. Welcome to being 30 and a gamer. Something is got to give 🙂
About the waitress, if it feels like she is checking you out, just go for it! Try to do something cool but romantic when you hit on her, will start you of on the right foot.
Umm…seriously is there any logical reason as to why Square Enix wouldn't bring Star Ocean 4 over to the PS3??? And I'm not talking about a port or anything like that…I'm actually talking about developing again from ground up. Why wouldn't they? Star Ocean has nearly always been on Playstation – why not this time? If you want western expansion…do realize that Xbox 360 doesn't own ALL OF THE WEST…there are many PS3 owners and WAY FUCKING MORE WII owners. But anyway for this "next-gen" game…this is basically between PS3 and Xbox 360. Why would it be xbox 360 only? And don't say western expansion…because it seriously doesn't make any fu**ing logical sense PERIOD.
I just finished playing KZ2 last night. I had a little rough time with Radec and it was a pretty intense battle. I'm now excited to start playing Resident Evil 5. I just hope that Star Ocean: The Last Hope will come on the ps3. I really need to play that game and I'm a fan of the series.
Argh with the KZ2 server errors today! And how come I'm always a bleedin helghast? Eff it, im having tons of fun.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 3/22/2009 5:01:52 PM
Thumbs down on my having fun? Who let Ryan in here?
I should get KZ2.
Off topic but I find it funny nonetheless. Microsoft reportedly has fixed the RRoD issue but now it seems they are now getting an "E 74" error with a black screen. And it's not covered by their warranty and costs upwards of $100+ to fix. So glad Sony took the time to thoroughly test their system before releasing.
Last edited by Geobaldi on 3/22/2009 5:23:59 PM
I LOL'd when I heard. Microsoft just can't make a reliable machine. Period.
@Geobaldi yeah thats crazy, M$ is eating holes in gamers pockets.
Maybe that's just what they wanted, for fanboys to buy multiple Xbox 360 even after 3 or 4 get RRoD.
Some people they just don't wanna get a PS3, if they can afford nearly 5 Xbox 360 then why can't they even afford 1 PS3 which is 95% perfect(the 5% is that the PS3 cannot read the Blu-Ray at a good speed).
got a platinum on kz2 traded that and fallout in for street fighter 4 and civilization revolution. looking forward to godfather 2
Congrats PSX for getting 2 articles on the PS Blog for what they've read during the week =D
Oh wanna ask something here, the Xbox 360 is stronger than the PS3 is it?
I heard that it uses 512mb of ram while the PS3 only has 256mb.
Though It's only from what I heard but I don't know if it's true or not……