Recent Posts

Wow, the second Touhouvania looks like it has actual platforming and level design. It might not be a total piece of shit, like the first one. It still looks like you can fly, but it doesn't look like it will affect the platforming as much.

In the last month, I've gotten way too fucking many games and I actually feel pretty bad about it because I already had a lot to play. I'm moving out in a few weeks, and the anxiety is really getting to me... I'm having difficulty playing/concentrating on any games that I really want to, and have pretty much just been playing multiplayer with my friends to stay "chill.":

Resonance of Fate (PS3) [Birthday]

Watched the opening cinemas. Seems pretty neat. I'm hoping it's not very tedious and that I can get into it quickly.

Demon's Crest (SNES) [From Ike]

Played a couple hours, but felt afraid of the world map convoluting things. I really like how artistic the game is, it's so gorgeous for an SNES game and the title screen cinematic is really impressive.

Nier (360) [Birthday]

I really like this, but I'm afraid to play it right now because I'm worried about the stupid cheevo for finishing the game in under 15 hours (which can only be done on the first playthrough, I'm aware it must be roughly played 1 full time and 3 half times).

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (XBLA) [Birthday Points]

I've also bought the three DLC stages that are out and Richter, as a playable character. I still think this is a bad game, but barebones Castlevania plus loot plus a few good friends still equals a really good time. The content easily isn't worth the cash and it's a pretty exploitative game, but it scratches an itch I've had since I quit Maple Story. Sometimes, you just need something to grind on. I wish that there were more 2D MMO/MMO-esque games out there that didn't squeeze the users dry.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (XBLA) [Birthday Points]

Pretty awesome game that I've only played an hour or two, so far. I bought it for my brother, too, but he didn't really want to play it because it wasn't an FPS. Fortunately, another friend got it, and we'll probably be playing it together when we take a break from Castlevania: HD.

Deadly Premonition (360) [Christmas]

Really hoping this one is fun, I haven't played it at all yet. I'm hoping the camp factor isn't all it has to ride on, too.

Granada (Genesis) [Christmas]

I'm kinda surprised this was one of the only retro games I got for Christmas, but I really enjoyed this one a lot when I demo'd it on an emulator.

G-Loc Air Battle (Genesis) [Christmas]

Apparently came in the auction with Granada for free, I don't really know much about it, other than that it's supposed to be like AfterBurner.

Contact (DS) [Christmas]

I wanted this game ever since it was announced, but never got it. I really hope I can get into it, but I'm definitely finishing EarthBound, first.

Killzone 2 (PS3) [Christmas Money]

A friend gave me the first one for free, and GameStop had a buy 2 get 1 free sale going on. This was the weak link in the 3 games, and I really hope I like it more than I liked the demo... But I've been misled by demos before, twice by PS3 games (Uncharted and Resistance 1 both seemed very unappealing from their demos).

Resistance 2 (PS3) [Christmas Money]

I was in the beta for this game and played some of the co-op, it was really good. I'm interested in continuing the campaign, as well. The first Resistance wasn't an excellent shooter, but it was still a pretty good one.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS) [Christmas Money]

I have this asinine tendency of wanting to play more RPGs, then buying a bunch and not playing them. I'm sincerely hoping I can get myself into an RPG kick for my backlog built up around them, and I'm hoping this can be one of those to kickstart it. I adored Nocturne, and I hear this is more like it.

Cthulhu Saves the World (XBLIG) [Birthday Points]

Loved Breath of Death, so this was a no brainer. I'm sure I'm going to love it, but it's on the backlog, for now.

Dead Space 2: Collector's Edition (360) [Birthday/Christmas Gift Cards]

Went with the 360 version in case anything carried over, and because I'd be too tempted to spend more money on fucking motion control stuff if I got the PS3 version which comes with Extraction. Really, really looking forward to this, I was a huge fan of Dead Space.

Dead Space Ignition (XBLA) [Free with Pre-order]

I already played through all of this, and it wasn't really too much to get me hyped. I mean, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, it was nice for a free game... But I think they could have made it a bit more compelling and a bit less full of minigames.

Lost Odyssey (360) [Birthday]

Got this because I love the soundtrack and have listened to it on and off since the game came out. Hoping I can appreciate the game in the same way.

SNK Arcade Classics Vol 1 (Wii) [Christmas]

When I got a Wii, I got the Wii version of Metal Slug Anthology. I soon discovered it had a shitty token system for extras, long load times and no classic controller support - the PS2 version was superior. For that reason, I bought the PS2 SNK classics, only to discover that it was the shit version, this time, with tons of slowdown. Shock Troopers was enough to make me want it again, though, just to play it at full speed... and it's definitely worth it.

Alan Wake (360) [Christmas Money]

I really enjoyed the writing, setting, suspense and characterization in this game... But it was unfortunately rather repetitive and felt a little drug out. Combat never really changed, and that hurt the game a lot. The first DLC was a pretty mediocre extension to the game that didn't really do anything, but the second one had a lot of very interesting moments and has me excited about the sequel.

Beat Hazard (XBLIG) [Birthday Points]

Awesome shmup-in-a-box where the level changes depending on what music you're playing. Although the game can give me a headache (and some people hysterically out of control seizures), it's a lot of fun and really cool to play.

Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness (N64) [Bought from wildweasel]

Bought this from our very own Weasel and haven't played it yet. It got here really quick and in great condition, in case you catch him selling anything else, he's definitely quite reliable. I hope the game can make me appreciate Castlevania on the 64.

I don't quite understand what that question is trying to imply. Why do I defend games some games when I also attack others? Is that what you're asking?

Do I have to explain that? Am I supposed to only do one or the other? Was this some sort of attempt at exposing a perceived hypocrisy?

Did you ever play it with the fishing remote controller? It was a lot of fun.

A few of my friends talked about how it was a little lame, but understood why they did it. I don't know anyone who actually got angry about it and I'm a pretty big Halo fan. I guess some "hardcore" fans on the net got pissed, but I strongly doubt that represents any sort of "majority." It's just a really anal thing to complain so much about mostly inconsequential changes to canon. There's a Halo comic that's currently in production that is fixing up the disparities between The Fall of Reach and Halo: Reach, anyway.



Because Konami doesn't care anymore. Look at Legacy of War and C: The Contra Adventure. As much as I love Contra 4, they took a pretty big risk handing it over to WayForward and the only reason Contra: ReBirth even happened is likely due to Contra 4 having done well. It's a pretty minor change and most fans of the series probably didn't even notice what happened - you only knew who "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion" were if you read the manuals (or played the arcade games), anyway.

I grew up on Contra, and they were just "red guy" and "blue guy," to me. I thought the grunt enemies that run around were rugby or football players carrying their equipment on their back and that the weapon capsules were flying footballs/rugby balls. In no way was my Contra experienced diminished, nor would it be if I somehow still thought these things. Mad Dog and Scorpion being introduced as new characters is a bit silly, but the game, like Neo Contra (and ReBirth), revels in the silly nature of Contra and realizes its "roots" are in solid run n' gun gameplay and ripping off American action flicks.



You were wrong, whether you "neglected to mention" it or not, and what point still stands? That there's not weapon balance? How is trading some range for firepower not "balanced?" That gives you a reason to use other weapons or at least allow you room for preference. Both the arcade and NES versions of Contra and Super C had one weapon that was clearly superior to the others, and the other games had crappy weapon balancing, too, aside from Shattered Soldier. Contra 4 only has one useless weapon and has some of the best balancing between the weapons the series has seen.

If you want to dislike the game, that's fine. Complaining about the screen distance, sometimes excessive use of trial and error and an inferior starting weapon are valid complaints... but don't give me lies about the game only having two weapons worth using and please don't try and convince anyone that the plot of all things is worth criticizing the game over.

Oh no! They had "the balls" to mess with the continuity of a Game Boy game whose plot was completely inconsequential. It mostly tributed the NES games and Contra III! Your complaints are so bizarre, a lot of people didn't care about most of these things or wanted them. I mean, seriously, one of your biggest problems with a run n' gun shooter is the continuity? Really? Really?

I also don't get what you're talking about with weapon imbalance, and given what you said, you clearly didn't experiment with other weapons. The crush missiles are considerably more powerful than the upgraded machine gun, as is the laser weapon. It has a more balanced weapon set than most of the other Contra games, and I felt like I could run with any one I liked the most. You can see videos of excellent runs posted with things even like the homing missiles, too. I felt the difficulty for the game was very fair, and it felt like the first "true" sequel to the Contra series since 3 (I love Shattered Soldier and Hard Corps and even really liked Neo Contra, but it feels like much more faithful a sequel to the original trilogy of home console games).

I watched a demo of the first stage which has left me a bit wary. The level seemed unnecessarily long and full of enemies that didn't really pose any sort of threat and were organized in no way resembling good level design. I'm hoping they've fixed it up. At the very least, I think it'll still be a fun run n' gun, if a bit bland and not entirely true to the Contra name.

I'm still looking forward to it, definitely.