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Ben’s Week In Review: October 17

A bit of a lull in reviews for me; gives me a chance to finish Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West .

Kojima is probably right, but then again…

Far be it for me to disagree with the master and in truth, I do agree to some extent. When Hideo Kojima made his soon-to-be-famous East vs. West comment , it got me to thinking. Being a die-hard fan of the old JRPG style that has essentially died out on new consoles, I've always enjoyed the artistry aspect of games. Something like The Last Guardian will be a fantastic example of the Japanese primary emphasis on artistry, as Kojima stated. However, are we not at a time in this industry's history where artistry can only shine with the requisite technology…? Sure, there was a time when a little heart over a sprite would convey an emotion, and cut-scenes would work towards producing even more personality. But these days, we demand more. And that "more" might need the best technology available.

I guess my point is this- maybe it'd be best to devise and design from an artistic standpoint first, and then see what the technology will allow you to do. Once settled, bring your vision to life. With no real artistic sense from the start, the slickest graphics in the world won't help. But without slick graphics, won't the most ingenious artistic elements simply not exist…? I mean, how would we even notice them? Just brainstorming a bit, here.

God of War rules because I don't like a chore

There was a time when I was all happy with myself for beating Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox and Devil May Cry 3 on the PS2. It was hard as hell but I triumphed. These days, however, I just don't have the time or motivation to kill myself in order to have "fun." I fully understand the hardcore action fan's approach to gaming, and I understand that strictly in terms of combat mechanics, the likes of Bayonetta , DMC, NG, etc. "blow the doors off" God of War , as David Jaffe said . But firstly, there are other elements to video games, lest we forget. Lots of other elements. And forgive me, but I just don't see any action franchise topping GoW when it comes to those other elements. Furthermore, I also think GoW gets a bad rap for being a "button masher" when that really isn't true.

I'm sorry, but there's no way you beat God of War III by just slamming the same button over and over. That really won't work. I know it doesn't work. You may not have to have the same mastery of the combat mechanic but you know what? It's nearly flawless in its execution. Hell, most everything in the GoW games is nearly flawless. So while the hardcore can make themselves feel better by bashing on GoW and knowing they can master the toughest sh** out there, I'll just stick to having fun with unparalleled quality. Thanks.

Personal gaming update

As I said above, I have a little time to finish up a few games but it's only a temporary reprieve. Next week, you can expect reviews for Vanquish and that PSP game, ZHP , among others. Now that Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed, I can actually breathe a little easier and turn my attention to Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood in the first couple weeks of November. Oh, and you can also expect my hands-on impressions of the LittleBigPlanet 2 beta (downloading now) and, if I can get around to it before it ends, the Dead Space 2 beta. The only game I feel I absolutely need before the end of the year is GT5, so it's not like I'm trying to fit in a dozen personal games along with a ton of reviews.

Bring on the holiday season!

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