• 31Aug 09

  bored with games

  So, it's been a bit more than a month since I last signed in here, but I decided to stop by and have a look at what's been happening. I would say that I lost interest in coming to GS around the same time that I lost interest playing games, and that is because I had not had anything new since Resident Evil 5, and I was getting bored of everything I had. I couldn't even muster up the motivation to play through DMC4, which I had said I would.

  Some things have happened during my time away, such as my 20th birthday and some piano/music exams. The exams went well, and I should think so because I spent every free moment in practice and revision. My friends in particular were annoyed because I had little to no social life, but that didn't matter because I passed it all, and my teacher told me herself that I was her best.

  Why am I back now? Well, I'm not too sure that I am. I don't tend to do a great deal of activity here anyway and I usually only use the site when I want to read reviews. I'm going to be kept very busy over the next few months I expect. I signed in today because a particular friend has missed me. Don't worry, I won't name names. I'm back into Final Fantasy 9, which I like very much, but I think I will need to find some newer games to renew my interest. It does sound as though good things are coming soon so I'll wait and see.

  • Posted Aug 31, 2009 12:53 am PT
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• 16Jul 09

  On with DMC series

  I'm now getting near the end of my playthrough of the Devil May Cry series, having just played all missions of DMC3. Up next will be DMC4 on the Playstation 3 When I find time, I think I'll write proper reviews for all of these games.

  A few days ago I noticed my Nintendo DS sitting on the shelf and thought that I'd really like to get all the way through Final Fantasy IV. Starting from scratch again, I've just left the Dwarven Castle in the underworld, and will get on with it once my DS finishes recharging.

  That's all for now

  • Posted Jul 16, 2009 4:48 am PT
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• 9Jul 09

  Devil May Cry 2

  Going into more detail on DMC2 now.

  As far as the Devil May Cry series goes, DMC2 is in my opinion the weakest game of them all. It's not necessarily a bad game, I guess, but there are many things about it which annoy me. I haven't actually played DMC2 for a few years, so I was holding off saying anything about it until I'd played a bit. I finished Dante's scenario earlier. DMC2 has two separate discs, one where you play through the game as the main character Dante, and the other for a new character Lucia.

  Possibly the thing that ticks me off most is the bosses, they're awful. Most of them are airborne, and aerial combat in DMC2 is still pretty weak. There's one combo that works in the air, kind of a three hit kick thing that's horribly inaccurate, so usually the best way to attack is with ranged weapons. The problem with that is you don't get any stylish ranking for just using guns. They work, sure, but you get crummy rewards in the end, because the entire idea of Devil May Cry is to reward stylish gameplay. There are also many normal type demons which fly around, and it's usually the same deal with them.

  Dante and Lucia are stuck to using the same type of weapon throughout the entire game. Dante has big swords, and Lucia uses short dagger-like swords in each hand. This isn't that big of a deal I guess, but DMC1 did have a pair of gauntlets for hand-to-hand fighting. You are able to unlock Trish as a secret character, and she can put her sword down and attack with her bare hands, but she doesn't even appear in the story, which I was always disappointed about.

  Dante's signature move has always been, and remains in DMC3 and 4, Stinger. In DMC2 the move is pathetic. Maybe it was an attempt to make it more realistic, for Dante doesn't slide along the ground here and ram his sword into the enemy, he takes a step and gives his sword a puny stab with hardly any range. That always bugged me. It's good that went back to normal in 3 and 4.

  I feel that combat itself is at its weakest in DMC2. Aside from the abundance of airborne demons and awful aerial combat, there just seems to be very few moves available to the characters. There are 3 or 4 different attack combos available to Dante and Lucia, but they're a pain to pull off because they depend on pushing the left analog stick during some point in the combo. Doing so at the right points will change the attack. However, it usually needs to be done without the lock-on button R1 held, because R1+forward+attack does the crappy Stinger move which has never been more useless. At least there is an auto-lock system here, at all times one enemy will have a big purple targeting circle, but I don't really remember if I can change which is being targeted at the press of a button. It usually locks onto the enemy closest, but when there are a few enemies clustered around each other and you only want to attack a certain one, then it gets a bit problematic. There's a boss fight late in Dante's scenario which is made really annoying because of this. Dante also seems to be rather slow in attacking.

  Then there's Dante himself. He has no personality. He never jokes, and his voice acting is dull and boring. Come to think of it, every character voice in the game hurts my ears, Dante, Lucia, Matier, Arius, they're all terrible. Don't take my word as truth because I don't usually follow the production of games, but I think that this emotionless Dante is what has killed the series most. Everyone hated him so much, he came back in DMC3 as the complete opposite: loud, annoying and obnoxious. I could overlook that fact because DMC3 is set at a time when Dante is much younger, however that attitude in DMC4 was completely unforgivable! And it's all DMC2's fault for making him such a boring guy!

  The last thing that really peeves me is that everything in this game is so darn expensive! Powering up is done by spending red orbs dropped by enemies or found during missions. Guess what, you get more of these when you get a higher stylish rank. As I said before, getting a decent stylish rank is a pain, because a lot of the time the game seems to force you to use ranged attacks a lot of the time, which don't raise it. Upgrading weapons and buying items just seems unreasonably expensive to me.

  Playing through the game again now, when I'm a bit older than I was when I played it last, I have to say that it's not all bad. I really like the use of the circle button, it makes dodging very simple. Since styles didn't appear since DMC3, there was one button that didn't really have a function. DMC1 had two buttons with the same function of shooting guns, but I only ever used one of them. DMC2 is the only game with an evade button, the other games have you roll to the side by holding lock-on, moving sideways and pressing the jump button. I was kinda disappointed this didn't get carried on to the sequels. It's pretty fun, but they needed a button for style actions I guess.

  DMC2 introduced the Bloody Palace, white orbs for restoring Devil Trigger, and Gold Orbs for continuing right from where you die instead of continuing from outside the room you were killed with Yellow Orbs. There's also a mission select once the game has been beaten once, and extra costumes to unlock. Beating the game on Hard difficulty in Dante's scenario unlocks Trish, who can be played in both scenarios. Her moves are the same as Dante's were in DMC1, and they're done with timed button presses, like all other games. She has her own special moves, and is a pretty good character to play in any scenario. Trish is unlocked with her guns and sword already at maximum level, so you don't need to spend an arm and a leg (and a whole day collecting orbs) to upgrade her.

  DMC2 has excellent Devil Triggers. Each character has an amulet, a different thing from the amulets owned by Dante and Vergil in DMC1 and 3. These amulets have spaces for items called hearts to be equipped, they're like little jewels that are found in certain places throughout the game. There are 3 which can be equipped at once, and when equipped they give the Devil Triggers certain characteristics. Dante and Lucia start out with an elemental heart, which lets them attack with that element while DT'd. Dante starts out with a Lightning Heart, and Lucia with a Frost Heart. Early in the game they both find an Aerial Heart, which lets them use the wings of their DT forms. They can fly up by pressing the X button, which is useful for reaching high places, and a pretty cool ability. There is a heart that makes them move faster, one which boosts attack power, one which makes them heal faster, and one which slows time, but all these abilities are only available in Devil Trigger. Another thing that takes place in Devil Trigger is that the attack combos look totally different. Dante has access to the Desperation Devil Trigger, which can be activated when he has critical life. He takes on a demonic form resembling his father Sparda, and has access to incredibly powerful attacks, which usually save the battle.

  It's also good that the Dante and Lucia scenarios are more of less separated. They go through some of the same areas, but it doesn't happen at exactly the same time in the story so it works. As the game goes on, they both have very different adventures, so the game isn't finished until you've played both sides of it. With 18 Dante missions and 13 Lucia missions, that's more than any other game in the series.

  My final word is that DMC2 is the weakest of the DMC series, yet it's not that bad of a game, really. I'm glad that I started playing again, because despite those things about it which annoy me, I've found some enjoyment, and would call DMC2 very underrated. 7/10 =)

  • Posted Jul 9, 2009 9:58 am PT
  • Category: Games
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