Make it make money!

Yeah, so last night a friend of mine finally got the IIDX arcade controller his brother sent him from Japan and we were able to play some 2-player. I have come to the conclusion that IIDX is in fact the best music/rhythm game available; arcade, console or otherwise. There really can be no debate at all. It has the widest variety of music, the largest difficulty scale, the simplest and most direct input method and easily the most replay value.

So, as in regards to the gif image and youtube video, that is a song from IIDX 14 Gold. It has probably the worst sounding lyrics ever yet it is hilarious to listen to and extremely enjoyable to play. Ironically enough.

Anyways, I do suggest that anyone who very much enjoys music games, to try and find a way to try beatmania IIDX, you won't regret it. It is hard, yes, very hard, but that's what makes it fun. Not being able to complete the entire song list on the highest difficulty in a single night like with games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band that don't even take accuracy into account for score, makes beating those really hard songs more rewarding. And when I say really hard, I mean really ****ing hard.

One More Lovely (Another)

I can't even play the chart on Hyper... and this guy gets a AA on Another, I can hardly pull an A out on Normal.

I was hoping to have the game finished by now but unexpectedly have been saddled with a whole new area that is about ten times the size of every other area I have visited:

Dracula's Castle.

Its not a spoiler, you know Dracula is coming in every Castlevania game. If you don't fight Dracula, it isn't Castlevania. With that said, onto what I have experienced so far (all that is left, from what I can determine, is Dracula himself and some more item collecting and probably level grinding).

This is my first attempt at writing a proper "review" and will add to it once I finish the game and change anything if necessary. In order to write as objective review as I possibly can, I structured it so as to compare it to the genre in which the game falls into, the "Metroivania" action-RPG.

---

As of right now, at 91.90% complete after 14 hours and 14 minutes of play time I have to say I *really* like the game. I hate to admit it but, even though it goes against everything my nostalgia and rose-tinted Castlevania glasses tell me, Order of Ecclesia is, fundamentally, a better game than Symphony of the Night.

Shining points that are prime examples of the genre:

+ The boss fights

Easily the highlight of the game that absolutely shames Symphony of the Night. Each boss fight is insanely creative in terms of art design. All of them are challenging and have tried my patience on several occasions. They all take different approaches to attacking the player and require a cunning sense of creativity and reflexes like a cheetah.

The third boss in the game, the giant fiddler crab in the lighthouse, is easily one of the most frustrating and interesting bosses I have come across in a long time, in any genre of game. It chases you up the entire height of the lighthouse and you have to avoid being hit by its giant claw and the bubbles it spits at you. The catch is, the more you progress up the lighthouse, the harder it becomes to avoid the attacks, as the platforms you stand on are becoming fewer in number and smaller in size.

Two other examples of Ecclesia's wonderful boss fights come in Dracula's Castle. The first is a giant centaur-like creature and the other is Death. Death of course is in every major Castlevania title and like Dracula, it wouldn't be Castlevania without him. However, Ecclesia puts some great spins on his old tricks and made for an interesting time figuring out how to avoid being hit by his incredible attacks. Eligor, the centaur creature, is fantastic. He is at least four screens in size and took some amazing reflexes to beat.

+ The gameplay

Order of Ecclesia has everything that the best Castlevania gameplay should have. The glyph system itself is outstanding. It took what was good about the soul system in both "Sorrow" games and made it way better. There are a far larger variety of glyphs in Ecclesia than there ever was souls in Dawn of Sorrow.

There are two basic methods of attack, both stemming from the glyphs. You can either do physical damage with swords, axes, lances, etc. or do magic damage with elemental attacks (fire, ice, light, dark, etc.). There are three glyph "mounting" points. Both of Shanoa's arms and her back. The two arm points mount the offensive glyphs and the back mounts the technique, stat-boosting and familiar glyphs. You also have the "glyph sleeve" which allows you to have three different sets of glyphs that you can switch between in real-time. As usual, you also have head, body and leg armor and accessories to further modify Shanoa's kit. They added some great accessory items to the game that make me wish there were 7 or 8 accessory slots.

Based on all my experiences with the Castlevania series, I would have to say that Ecclesia is the best among them all in terms of gameplay. It is as smooth as Symphony of the Night, with none of the stiffness of Dawn of Sorrow and highlights everything that is great about what Castlevania has done so far.

+ There is no drawing with the stylus

I cannot stress how much I despised drawing on the touch screen with the stylus in Dawn of Sorrow during boss fights. It was excruciatingly frustrating, having to either have the stylus in hand during a boss fight (which messes up my hand placement) or pull it out once the magic seal flashed up on the screen, then only to get hit by the boss and die after you fail to get it right because the window of opportunity is so tiny. Like every quality Castlevania, Ecclesia presents its boss fights with no bull****. You get the bosses HP down to zero? They are dead. Period.

---

Things that are comparable with the rest of the series:

= The graphics

They are practically the same as Symphony of the Night. Some of the enemy models from Symphony and Dawn of Sorrow are reused for Ecclesia but they are integrated along with the other ones seamlessly. The new additions to the family are very nicely done and I have found many new favourites among the list: Werebat/Lilith, Arachne, Lizardman Blade, Lorelai, Fomor, Ladycat/Black Panther, Draculina, Final Knight and Rusalka (a boss) to name a few. The detail in all the locations is outstanding. Every room has been meticulously designed and ordered. Dracula's Castle is absolutely outstanding. Some parts of areas are copy-pasted but overall it is great.

= The story

It is Castlevania. Dracula is back and it is your job to kill him and bring peace to the world. What else is there to say? Well, there is a bit of a twist on the basic formula, but basically, Dracula's back, as always.

= The item/glyph collecting

Like with Symphony of the Night, Curse of Darkness and Dawn of Sorrow; Order of Ecclesia offers an intricate system of varying item drops. Ecclesia offers one of the most extensive so far, falling behind Curse of Darkness which stands out thanks to the amazing crafting system. There are items and glyphs hidden everywhere in both secret rooms and under a "five-star" rarity check system on enemies. I love collecting things and the "Metroidvania" Castlevania games have never ceased to hook me until I have absolutely everything.

---

Things that are not as good as they could be:

- The music

Is the DS incapable of supporting any sound file other than midi? Must I listen to all this electronically composed music all the time? Can I not have live recorded symphonic music like that in Symphony of the Night or Curse of Darkness? The music itself is good and what I expect from any Castlevania game but the midi format has to go. After spending countless hours listening to the Nocturne in the Moonlight OST (SOTN), I feel like Ecclesia hasn't been done justice by such a poor quality audio format.

- The characters

The character design leaves so much to be desired. Shanoa is an *extreme* disappointment. The first major female lead role of the Castlevania series and because of her being chosen to unite with "Dominus" (a powerful glyph), she loses all her memories *and* emotions. She is just an empty shell of a human being who lacks any humanity and personality whatsoever. She is as one-dimensional as a dot on a piece of paper and shallower than an empty spoon. It is as if the writers decided that they would rather just sit on their asses and write a cop-out to get paid instead of giving her a personality. She could have been ever so much more... heck, she might have given Alucard a run for his money if written right. Iga should be ashamed.

Almost every other character in the game is exceedingly one-dimensional and bland. Not that Casltevania has ever been known for its excellent character design, but Symphony of the Night, Curse of Darkness and even Dawn of Sorrow have set the standard for what a Castlevania narrative should consist of. Order of Ecclesia fails to meet up with that standard.

---

Additional things:

The villager fetch quests

I am not going to complain. Most of them can be completed as you progress through the game and none of them are overly complicated or tedious. Not exactly a selling point but a nice addition nonetheless. Adds a little more to the depth of the item collecting.

The art design

Dawn of Sorrow suffered from being styIed like a crappy anime when it came to the hand-drawn art. Now they have brought it back into a much more "Ayami Kojima" styIe that brings out the essence of the Castlevania series and adds a lot to the depth of the graphics design itself.

---

The score

Well, the jury is still out on this one until I decide whether or not I want to include one. I don't like scores for the sole fact that people tend to look at them and base the quality of the game off it without actually looking at the game itself. Some of the positives I mentioned would warrant a high score while the negatives, especially the music, warrant a very low score. Which is where the discrepancies come in.

I will say this much though, Order of Ecclesia is a fine example of the Castlevania series and should be put alongside Symphony of the Night, Curse of Darkness, Rondo of Blood and the other "greats" of the series. It is just one of those games that any person who remotely enjoys Castlevania should play and own for their DS. I personally like the fact they didn't include stylus stuff just because they could have. It makes it a much more solid Castlevania experience.

It has been quite a while since I last watched Jurassic Park, a revolutionary film from the early 1990's, several years at least. The film came out in 1993 and I really do not remember my first time seeing it, considering I was only 7 at the time. What I do remember though is that at that time I was obsessed with dinosaurs and desperately wanted to become a paleontologist, and not because of Jurrasic Park, that was just icing on the cake for me. I read countless books on dinosaurs and memorized their names and countless other facts about them (like I always do, it is in my nature). I probably even still have some of those books up in my room somewhere.

Anyways, I remember the film fondly, as most people do, and recently had an urge to watch it again, just for good ol' times sake. What I find utterly amazing, even after so many years (15 years in fact), is that the film hasn't aged a day. Of course, there are some discrepancies in the CG not being as good back then as it is now, but the film itself is so well made that it will definitely transcend time and be just as good 30 years from now. After watching the movie again, I have to say, I would give anything to have been as old as I am right now back in 1993 and been able to see the film in theatres. I have to admit, grudgingly, several points during the movie I caught myself watering at the eyes due to the sheer beauty of some of the scenes... particularly the first CG piece in the film where Dr. Grant and Dr. Sadler see the dinosaurs for the first time in the open field. The cinematography is outstanding and I can only now really appreciate all the work that went into making that scene so perfect.

To this very day, my absolute favourite scene in the entire movie is the Tyrannosaurus Rex introduction. That is a huge piece of film history right there. Even 15 years later... even knowing the large animatronic robot isn't real... even knowing the entire film is a piece of fiction and fantasy... I still felt dread at the sight of the T-Rex as it started attacking the group in the trucks and was in sheer awe of how real the thing appeared to be. When it started chasing Dr. Malcolm, Dr. Sadler and Crocodile Dundee (major badass, "clever girl" and all) in the jeep I was sucked right into the movie. It was just fantastic.

It has been at least five years since I saw the film last... if not way more than that. I still cannot believe how well-made it really is. Even after all this time it was still able to bring a few tears to my eyes from sheer beauty and awe alone and was still able to carry itself extremely well among the modern movie industry and all its CG-saturated crap. There was a time when movie making was an artform... and Steven Spielberg was quite the artist. Jurassic Park will definitely go down in history as one of those "must-see" films, probably well into the second half of this century. Heck, it has pretty much already been given its "timeless" recognition.

One thing I am curious about though... is how many people actually *haven't* seen it? Really, if you haven't, you need to drop whatever you are doing and go and see it.

For the first time in a while it's finally time for a blog that isn't about gaming. For those who have been reading my blogs off an on since the beginning of September might know that I of course am in university and have/had to write several papers of the course of the last few months. I also have a tendency to procrastinate until the very last moment possible to get things done.

Even though I always feel terrible about leaving things to the last minute (I had to give up a shift tomorrow at work since I put the first of two off until today, both of which are due Tuesday), I have an odd way of working extremely well under pressure. This has become even more evident (and frustrating) since my last essay on Dracula came back with an "A" on it despite me putting absolutely no real effort or time into the paper the day before it was due. Perhaps I am turning into one of those people who underestimates my talents but I really felt that I didn't meet the requirements for the entire assignment for the Dracula paper. It came back with the comment on it:

"You have done what the assignment required. Good job at applying Beal's concept and applying it to the world of Dracula. Well done! 22/25 = 88 = A"

I was expecting at most a B, even a C seemed likely. But no... it comes back with an A and totally messes up how I evaluate my ability at writing papers. I guess in all the commotion of being stressed about procrastinating the assignment, I actually did exactly what it asked without knowing it.

However, the paper I just finished writing over the past few hours is something that I see as an "A" paper. Something that I feel if it doesn't receive such a grade will cause the end of the world. The paper came together like clockwork. Every single piece of support I made cemented the proof of my argument and easily fulfilled the outline of the assignment. Sure, I could be all wrong like with my Dracula paper but this I am confident in getting an "A" on. I am even a little arrogant in thinking it probably will (and even should) receive an "A+".

~

For those interested, the assignment for the paper was to use an article given to us in the textbook and find the evident "concepts" which were outlined in the lectures and connect the two together to show a deeper connection between the concepts themselves and their context in real-life situations (Dracula was pretty much the same assignment other than we only used a single concept and connected it to the fictional world of Dracula). I chose to use the article by Ross Bowden on cannibalism among the Maori tribal people of New Zealand. Suffice to say it is a fascinating article.

The Maori have a complex way ordering things in their world-view. They have a dichotomous system that separates things between "tapu" (or sacred) and "noa" (or profane). These are approximate translations that like any foreign language don't exactly work as well as they could in English. Men, uncooked food, being physically high, senior status and the sky are "tapu" while women, cooked food, being physically low, junior status and the earth are "noa." Based on the things tapu and noa are associated with, the words "sacred" and "profane" don't exactly fit properly. Maori men are descended from the sky god while women from the earth god. None of the things are inherently negative or positive, there is no concept of "good and evil" in Maori society.

Someone who is excessively tapu is at a severe disadvantage since to retain that state of tapu they must avoid everything that is noa. Which causes many inconveniences since cooked food is considered very noa. So eating becomes a ritual chore... in some cases, if there is not another tapu-enough person around to help a Maori priest feed himself, he must eat the food off the ground without touching it with his hands. So while women and less-tapu men are eating with their hands, there is the high-ranking priest eating his food off the dirt.

This connection to the "noa" nature of food comes into play with cannibalism by the means of associating someone with a food item is considered the gravest of insults. Since food is very noa, calling a high-ranking chief food, you degrade his tapu to that of cooked food (which is none). Logically, if calling someone food is the gravest of all insults then making them into food would be worse. Which is where the practise of cannibalism is justified by their culture. As outlined in the article, the Maori do not consume human flesh for the sake of nutrition but solely the purpose of shaming those whom are their enemies.

The article continues into other things that take the insults even further. Turning the bones into fish-hooks and utensils, putting the enemy chiefs head on display in the village to further degrade the dead chiefs tribe, the practice of necrophagy; the digging up of enemy corpses and either the consummation of the flesh or desecration of the bones. It is an excessively complex society culturally given that they are tribal in nature. And oddly enough, when you look at it from their perspective, cannibalism doesn't exactly strike you as something that we would normally consider "vile" and "disgusting." It just goes to show that most everything in any society is based on a set of concepts and nothing inherently good or evil.

~

And now... after a little break and some Mirror's Edge, it is onto my next paper about contextualizing Vatsyayana's views on marriage in the Kamasutra to that of Manu's codes of law (on marriage) in the Dharmashastra. Fun.

I am addicted to Mirror's Edge. Completely and fully.

The speed running is something else entirely. No matter how many times I mess up, no matter how trivial or frustrating, I just cannot get enough of the game. I am a speed runner at heart and this game was made for me. It's so addictive, it's not even funny.

Pick any time trial and I'll spend hours (at least, after my papers are done) doing the same 1-2 minute run over and over and over again until I perfect it and get the 3-star time.

Speaking of perfection, I did the chapter 1 (The Edge) speed run tonight and hit the ending with about 10 seconds to spare. I've noticed that the chapter runs needs to be done perfectly, no (big) mess ups at all, not even one. The qualifying times are for a perfect (that is, no falling, big slow-downs or "resets") run along the best route you can take. It's actually kind of ridiculous when you think about it, since several of the levels are incredibly long and messing up once near the end means you have to go back to the beginning and start all over again.

But I was wired for that; given the patience to see it through all the frustrations and enjoy that kind of excessive repetition. I absolutely love Mirror's Edge. I adore the styIe of the graphics design and have pretty much found my next big speed running project. Each chapter speed run from now on is probably going to take several hours of work just to find the best route and memorize it. The first chapter is very straight forward and offers no real challenge. When I get to the chapters that involve forced combat (especially the last chapter) it's going to push my patience to the extreme. I can already sense it now, knowing what they offer and what I had to do for the first chapter run.

The more I play the game the more fond I grow of it. It is pretty much a first-person speed running platformer. That's it. Nothing else. It was built for speed running and I can understand why many people will not enjoy it; speed running isn't for everyone. What it offers other than speed running is shallow and empty. It would have been great had they given the game a deep, quality story but I'm happy with just speed running the **** out of it for a long time. It's unfortunate that the game is made only for those select few who enjoy torturing themselves with striving to achieve perfection... but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Ignore the score... based on the text of the review it is meaningless.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=285845&page=1

The reviewer takes most of the text of the review to report on the content of the game and how well it stacks up on it's own as well as against other similar titles. He never overtly postulates his enjoyment of anything when reviewing the game. Only in the end does he tell us that he enjoyed it, despite it not lasting long enough.

He raises criticisms that seem similar to those raised by VanOrd but he doesn't deliver them with such negative connotation. He doesn't combine his enjoyment of the game with the issues he raises... he just tells us the issues and what effect they have on the game, not his personal experience with them.

I agree with the criticisms he raised, especially about the indoor areas and their upsetting the flow of the game as well as the missed opportunity to tell an amazing story. But like he says in the end, I am one of those people that love the game and can easily see how people could dislike it.

His intro paragraph is extremely well written and should be enough, even for the incredibly lazy, to see how well he takes as neutral standpoint as anyone possibly can:


The Eurogamer review actually reviewed the game without adding the reviewers personal bias to the analysis of the content. He reported what the game does, which of that it does well and not so well and then finally told us, after telling us what the game is about, that he enjoyed it and that it isn't for everyone.

Also, another quote I'd like to point out just for the sake of further cynicism against Kevin... from Owen O'Brien, the senior producer for the game:


I have only used a gun once and it was a mistake and wasn't necessary.

I haven't been this cynical over a review since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption back in August 2007 (ironically enough, again by Kevin VanOrd). It probably stems from two things. Firstly, I love the game despite it's flaws and secondly, Kevin's review reads (to me at least) in a way that would turn off most people from even trying the game, even many of those who might enjoy it. Instead of giving the reader an equal taste of what the game does and doesn't do well, he focuses on the negative and makes it seem like those things drag down the whole experience when for some people, like myself, they do not.

He may not have intended to write the review in such a way but that is how I read it and feel it's focus leaning towards.

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Anyways, since I love to procrastinate my school work I played through Mirror's Edge again today. I should have been reading some of the source material for my two essays that are due on Tuesday but decided that Mirror's Edge was more important. And isn't fun more important anyways?

But whatever. I played through the whole game on Hard mode and cakewalked my entire way through the game, without firing a single bullet or even breaking a sweat (it *is* hard, I just take pride in my quickly increasing skill at playing the game). Unfortunately I hit a wall right at the end. The last possible obstacle between me and the ending. The last thing separating me from the glory of claiming that I could beat the game on hard *and* get the "Test of Faith" achievement.

It involves a single machine gunner with godly aim. Since of course I am going through it without using guns and had such an easy time with combat up until that point (even the same type of machine gunners) I thought that I would cakewalk my way right to the end. But *NO* of course that doesn't happen. This is where a major flaw in the hard mode gameplay rears it's ugly face (not the gameplay itself, just hard mode specifically combined with the fact I'm not using guns and the level design of the point I'm at). The guy has near perfect aim and is standing atop a suspended catwalk with no cover within 10 meters of his position. I cannot for the life of me get near him from any direction to make any sort of physical contact with him. I am destroyed within a single step from reaching him and given no oppurtunity to take him out passively.

Sure, I blame the fact I'm not using guns but shouldn't it at least be possible? I spent a good hour trying to get to the guy (I never really had problems with his four associates) but with no success whatsoever. Maybe I'll figure it out in the future and claim those bragging rights but not now. Now I should just finish it on hard and take the battle so I can later win the war. From now on I can't play games until my two essays are done because I am running out of time... so with that said I will go and pick him off using one of his buddies guns. *sigh* I wish it didn't have to come down to that but oh well.

EDIT/UPDATE: Scratch all what I just said about not being able to do it. After taking him down with one of his buddies guns I took a look around while everything was calm enough for me to look and found a tiny little springboard (a common element in the game) made of a cardboard box and a desk which brought me right up to within two meters of where the guy was.

Long story short, I reloaded the checkpoint, rocked the annoying bastard's buddies and then proceeded to take advantage of my little discovery... and completely and utterly annihilated the annoyance. I rocked him so hard he will feel it into next week. I jump up, slide to him, hit bullet-time, he starts swingin' his hefty gun, I see it turn red, I hit Y and he goes down... hard. I utter a few choice self-congratulatory profanities and continue on to finish the game.

I now have bragging rights. I finished Mirror's Edge on Hard without firing a single bullet at an enemy (of course, I did at one point, but technically I reloaded the checkpoint and did it the right way, so it *does* count). I feel happy. Now I have to concentrate on my papers and then it's onto those speed runs and time trials. After going through the game again though, some of those speed runs are going to be more frustrating than beating the game on hard was... they all require absolutely "perfect" runs. You mess up once and you are done. There is no making up for lost time... and some of the levels have 8-11 minute "qualifying times." *Ugh*

They are just one person's opinion. They are somehow, due to them being published by a big-name website, regarded as factual or the "right" opinion. They end up giving people the wrong impressions because the score is based on the person's enjoyment of the game and not an analysis of it's content.

Gamespot's Kevin VanOrd gave Mirror's Edge a 7.0/10. He criticizes the gunplay and the "trial and error" method of finding the proper running line as a detriment to the experience. I personally found neither to be any sort of detriment and was having fun even when incredibly frustrated.

I just finished the nearly the whole game without firing a single bullet. There is one point where you are forced to shoot once and my stupidity leading me to believe that I needed to shoot some guys in order to continue on, without first finding out that there is an achievement for not shooting a single enemy in the game, and then finding out that I didn't even need to go past them to continue on.

I don't understand his criticisms at all. I understand that some people may not like the gameplay itself but the combat isn't there as the focus like his review makes it out to be. All the enemies in the game have Faith outnumbered and outgunned. She isn't Master Chief, she can't take them all on in a firefight and expect to survive... she just has to RUN. Avoiding combat is the key to survival and if you are forced to take out some enemies, you have to do so with planning and finesse... not running in guns-blazing.

The main focus of the game is on running and jumping... and Mirror's Edge does it so fantastically well I hope that this free-running/parkour programming, in some shape or form, makes it into future first person games as a means of increasing the variety of possible movements for the player. It is extremely solid, fluid, intuitive and ingenious.

His criticisms I find most unfounded are those against the "trial and error" of the game. Sure, I fell to the ground below in a horrific "crunch" at least 100 times and at certain points was extremely frustrated at not being able to get something done. But how is that a detriment to the experience? Whenever it took me several tries to execute a difficult jump, when I finally did it, I felt more rewarded than if I were to have my hand held through the whole process.

Speaking of hand-holding... I played through the whole game WITHOUT the "Runner Vision," the red highlighting on the objects that are part of the best path to success. I was able to navigate through instinct alone in most parts and using my eyes and brain to determine the best route for me to take (like in any platformer I play). I didn't need to be shown the best route, I was able to pick the best route most of the time and if I didn't, I either got shot or fell. Better rewards come at the expense of frustration. I know beating Devil May Cry 3 on the Special Edition normal wasn't as rewarding as if I had beat it on the original "normal" (Japanese hard).

That said, the game isn't for everyone. If you enjoy the demo you will most likely enjoy the game. The demo gives you a taste of pretty much what the entire game is about. Running, jumping, grabbing, shimmying, rolling and even more running. That's it... if you don't like it there is nothing else in the game to benefit you.

The game's visual styIe is incredibly unique. This city where Faith and the other Runners live is supposed to be a dystopia... yet it is bright, clean and colourful; exactly the opposite to what you would think a dystopia would look like given Orwell's dank, run-down, war-zone imagery in "Nineteen Eighty Four."

The game will most likely end up as a "love it/hate it" title because of the focus of the gameplay. I personally love it, everything about it. I cannot wait to get started on those speed runs and getting all the achievements. The only criticism I can raise against the game is that there is far too many action sequences and not enough "just running." Of course, I loved all the adrenaline-pumping action but the opening cutscene showing Faith jumping from the ledge to the crane combined with the ambient music was just so relaxing.

One of the best games I have played this year most definitely. I also like how there was an actual ending with a setup instead of just purely setup like Assassin's Creed. I regret not preordering the game so I could get one of those runner bags from EB/Gamestop. But whatever, I am sure I could find a higher quality one that is similar without the incredibly nerdy insignia on it.

Normally, after enjoying a game so much I would say "go out and buy it" but from what I understand this just isn't the case... you should try the demo before even thinking of buying the game. If you don't like it, you don't like it and I doubt there is anything that can change it.

I am just rambling now but wanted to finish by saying that I love the game. There is nothing else like it available for any gaming system out there. I do hope that it paves the way for more parkour games like this and Assassin's Creed. Preferably more like Mirror's Edge and less like Assassin's Creed. >_>

Jeez... long blog is long. Anyways, I *should* probably think of starting my first of two paper's tomorrow... even with Mirror's Edge just sitting there with Hard mode unlocked begging me to play it through without shooting a single enemy.

Pretty much the best 2D Castlevania available besides Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood. I thought Dawn of Sorrow was good but this is fantastic. I am only a couple hours in but am loving it. The boss fights are *hard*, the protagonist is badass (not a wannabe Alucard but a competent character), the gameplay is solid; with none of the flaws of DoS, the graphics are stupendous and the game just screams "buy me" to all Castlevania fans.

Shanoa is a fresh change for the series. Not only is she a woman but she is designed like the "proper" Castlevania characters; not drawn in some silly anime styIe.



The gameplay takes everything that was good from Dawn of Sorrow and leaves all the crap behind... like the magic seal drawing on the touch screen for boss fights. That was probably the *worst* game design choice I have ever come across. The glyph system in Ecclesia is a welcome change of pace. You equip glyphs instead of weapons and can combine any two together and alternate between them. There is no writing on the touch screen in sight and I love it.

I haven't played very many games on the DS but from what I can see with my eyes, Ecclesia offers pretty much the best looking 2D sprites and animations available to it. They really went all out with the graphics design. Like Symphony of the Night, every pixel has a place and they all fit perfectly. It doesn't look better than Symphony but it does give it a run for it's money.

I've fought a handful of bosses now. Most of them have been quite difficult, causing my death several times on each. Now this is where Ecclesia shines over Symphony. The boss fights are challenging and are incredibly creative and well-designed. Symphony may be "cIassic" and all but Ecclesia beats it out in boss fights.

I cannot wait to get further into Ecclesia. It's a shame I own a DS Lite because I can only play it for a little while at a time before my hands and neck get all cramped from the poor ergonomics of it's design and tinyness of it's screens.

I also just discovered that you can shield dash. There is one glyph that gives you a shield and just like Symphony, you can back dash and hit the shield button and glitch the game out and go much faster backwards that you could ever hope to forwards.

~

In other news

Symphony of the Night: Richter Run & Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition

SOTN

Since I never have anything to do at work (it's always slow) or in my Evil in World Religion's course (I don't have to take notes) I have been practicing my Richter runs recently and have been making some seriously fast times. My runs are a little different from the "official" ones: 1) I am playing on the PSP instead of the PS, 2) I am not "beating" the game by fighting Shaft in the Inverted Castle and 3) my times are recorded to the last save in the Black Marble Gallery right before the Shaft fight. All the times I get are about 30 seconds shorter than they should be since it takes about that long to get to Shaft and then press triangle for a Hydrostorm.

Early last week I was getting 10-11 minute times. Now my best time so far is 7:55 (without the added 30 seconds). The fastest time currently is 7:14 but I am unsure how they measure that since the final time isn't given after you beat the game. I hope to get it down to around 7:30-40 without the added time. That is probably as fast as I will be able to do it, which is pretty respectable.

DMC3

I started playing my copy of DMCSE last night and continued on today. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier. I cannot believe I made it as far as I did when I played the original (stage 9, couldn't beat Nevan). I got to the boss after Nevan and gave up though... he just frustrated me way too much...

The game is fantastic when I'm not dying every second hit. I don't know if I like it as much as the fourth one but the cutscenes are definitely far more badass than 4. The opening one in Dante's shop is just pure awesome. And the one with Lady reloading her guns is just...

I *should* start working on my two essays soon but since I got an A on my Dracula paper I've been even less motivated to do my third Evil essay (I'll get it done, just not right now). My South Asian Civilizations paper will probably take more time that I am budgeting for it but meh. University is overrated and I just want my B.A., I don't care about my GPA anymore, just as long as I get C's I'm good.

Yep, I'm definitely breaking the first two rules.

Where should I begin? I guess I should start by asking, have you heard of Tyler Durden?

Actually, I have no idea of where to begin. Or even end. Fantastic novel and film. That is all I can really say. I would need to sit down and do a scholarly analysis of the story itself and write a paper about it before I can even begin to praise it in a more than "thumbs-up" kind of way.

Chuck Palahniuk is definitely on my "to-read" list now. The next time I am at the bookstore I am going to pick up "Choke" but I doubt I will get to reading it anytime soon. I've got so many books to read and games to play and school work to do... finding time in between going to school, going to work, spending time with friends and wanting to actually get out of the house and meet some women makes me want the day to be twice or three times as long as it actually is.

Seeing Brad Pitt without a shirt and all greasy makes me want to get in shape, tone and strengthen my muscular body... but unfortunately, the day isn't 72 hours long.

I have always wondered what it would have been like to be thrust into the world of 28 Days/Weeks Later and put up against those rage virus infected crazies in a struggle for survival. Now that wonderment meets reality, well, sort of... virtual reality at least.

I've been biding my time waiting for the release of Left 4 Dead and kept myself in the dark about everything to do with it. All I knew about it was it was about zombies and they were randomly generated. Now that all changes with the release of the PC demo.

It starts off with one of the coolest and most badass zombie film-esque cutscenes I have ever witnessed. Brix were flying every which way throughout and this is just the intro. Then I start the game. Okay, cool, I'm in a house with three other people, loading up with guns and ammo and there are a bunch of zombies standing all nonchalantly in the dark, all still like, making some weird noises. I pop a few as I progress through the corridors of the house and what happens next? A large group hears the ruckus us four are making and decide it's time to rain on our parade and rush us all at once.

So here I am, me and three other dudes (I like playing as a female character when it is offered), in a small hallway in this apartment type building being rushed by at least 15 running, yes RUNNING, zombies that seem to have the distinct desire to devour us and do it quickly. The first intense moment offered by the demo and I am instantly sold. It is literally 28 Days/Weeks Later in game form. It's loud, it's dark, it's scary and it is ridiculously good and pumping out the adrenaline.

Blah, blah, boomers, blah, blah, smokers, blah, blah, witches, blah blah blah... I'm sold. November 18th cannot come soon enough... unfortunately I've got two essays to work on which are ironically due that day. I won't jump the gun just yet but I really think Dead Rising is going to fall as the best zombie game available. Dead Rising is fun but Left 4 Dead captures pretty much what I envision "surviving the zombie apocalypse" to be.

Go, get the demo, try it, embrace it, love it. http://store.steampowered.com/app/500/

One thing I don't understand is how such a fast-paced game would even be playable on the 360 with a gamepad. The zombies are running so fast and are in such large numbers, no gamepad user would be able to keep up with the PC's pace... they would *have* to slow it down or dumb down the experience in some way to even make it playable.

Compelling game is compelling.

I enjoyed every moment, popular criticisms be damned. The ending was fantastic despite what most people would have had me believe. Sure, it was a cliff-hanger and yes it created more questions than it answered but isn't that the point of a planned trilogy: make people desperately want to buy your next game?

Altai-eer is quite the badass. He climbs like a monkey and stings like a giant mutant hornet, except with incredible finesse. My only complaint about his character in context with the gameplay is the fact he can take on groups of 15-20 guards at a time and come out of it practically unharmed. Now of course, I think it's awesome that I get to take on that many guards at one time and just utterly destroy them but I'm supposed to be an assassin; a man of finesse, stealth and a master escape artist... not some super-soldier from an action movie. Sometimes I found it easier to stay and fight all the guards than to run. It took more time but almost guaranteed a clean getaway.

I really don't have any complaints about the game at all. It is solid and well-paced, no matter what people say about it being "repetitive." I enjoyed all those menial tasks for gathering information. It reminds me of the reading I've done about the historical ninja of Japan and them spending weeks scouting target homes, villages and routes/schedules. I very much enjoyed climbing those view-points, especially the large cathedral in Acre.

The "stealth" in the game is odd yet intriguing. It isn't so much as hiding in the shadows as it is hiding amongst the crowd. They definitely could have improved on it and probably could have made it more difficult to avoid being seen but it is a good system all the same and gets the job done.

I really want to go back and get all those flags and kill all the Templars... the full achievement list is actually something that I can see myself getting (I already have 730/1000). I do wish that there was something more to the free-running, like timed point-to-point "races" where you see how fast you can get across a certain section of city without touching the ground. But that would just be asking for too much.

Overall I think it is one of the better games of the generation. There could be a lot more "stealth" elements but that is just my preference, I am a fan of stealth games and waiting patiently in the shadows for long periods of time, waiting for the exact right opportunity to strike. One other thing they could have added was a rating system on how well you executed your target. Some of the targets I would be able to get incredibly close to without anyone seeing me and then strike quickly and cleanly; while other times I would flub everything up and end up fighting the entire troupe of guards along with the target for the kill.

It's a great game and I cannot wait to play the sequel. I found the story to be exceptionally interesting.

I'm behind. I'm *way* behind in my current generation game playing. I shouldn't even start thinking about this year before I get to some of the major titles from last year at this time. Fortunately I decided to finally buy a title I should have when I got my 360: Assassin's Creed. I've been wanting to play it ever since I saw the first footage for it.

Again, I regret not getting a 360 earlier. The game is absolutely stunning. The free-running is just what I've been hankering for right now and the cities and countryside are gorgeous. I could spend hours just running around on top of buildings jumping over gaps and climbing walls. I've already taken out two of my targets and am incredibly intrigued by the story.

Only problem is, I've got two essays due on the 18th and just bought this and Castlevania: Order of Eccelsia for the DS. I'll probably just keep playing AC and leave Ecclesia for later. But AC is incredible, sure things get repetitive but I like doing these monotonous things if the reward is taking out someone who is hurting many others.

People claim that we don't need improvements in hardware to get better games *cough* the Wii *cough* but I just laugh and keep being stunned by games like Assassin's Creed.

Until just earlier today I was what could be called a "Fight Club virgin." Before I started reading the novel today I hadn't seen the film, read the novel or known anything about the story in any way whatsoever. All I've known since it originally came out is that the main character says a bunch of cool things, Brad Pitt is in it and supposedly it is a very well-written peice of literature/film.

I decided I wanted to read the novel and see the film for two reasons: 1) My professor for my Evil in World Religions cIass assigned one of the chapters from the novel for a lecture and 2) since I'm a "Fight Club virgin" I thought it was due time to finally see what all the fuss is about.

This is the first opportunity in my life where I've had the chance to read a novel before seeing the film version and known absolutely nothing about the story at all (other than there is a club where people fight). I haven't seen any Dracula film but I knew a lot about Dracula before reading the novel, so it doesn't count.

Since work for me is so slow and boring I get to read a lot and was able to get up to chapter 10 fairly quickly and will probably finish or come close to finishing the novel tomorrow. I can already see where the praise comes from and am very interested in seeing how it all comes together in the end. Then it's onto the film and some man-crushing on Brad Pitt.

~

In other news, yes I will have pictures from yesterday at work up in the near future. My costume turned out fantastically for such a simple thing. My friend who I worked with took some stunning images (with his Japanese camera phone) that make me think he should have been a professional