Action Figure Get! (and more...)

So, whilst stuck here in Mexico, under the mercy of its "It's either gonna rain today you're all going to die of heat exhaustion" weather system, I've found my cousins are fond of two things: Smash Brothers and Saint Seiya. Good thing, because I happen to be fond of both of those things. We'll often find ourselves talking at length about the Saints, be if from the various sagas (from the 12 houses to the hades saga to the movies), or be it about just how much of a stereotypical 80's manga it really was. That also usually leads to talks of other eighties mangas/anime, which make said talks even longer.

What this means is that while here, I'm usually always in a Saint Seiya fever. And while we were at a nearby shopping district (if that's what you would call a half a city of malls, beggars, and people selling you things on the street), I just happened to have money, and there just happened to be Saint Seiya action figures there. They weren't the cheap generic crap you'd expect from a place like the one I was in (though that stuff was there too). These were top notch, 65 dollar action figures, with full metal armor and nice looking plastic anime hair. So, I just happened to pick one representing my zodiac sign up(we also picked this one up).

Thing is, here, you don't just walk up and buy anything. You barter for it. So, I was able to barter mine down to about 60 dollars, which felt good, even if it was 5 dollars. Heck , I used that 5 dollars to buy lunch (keep in mind all prices were actually in pesos, so multiply each of those prices about 10 times, but they all lead to same result anyway, approximately). The action figures are pretty awesome, some of the best playable figures out there (they don't stand well against some of the better models out there), and boy are they shiny.

Moving on to smash bros (of course I speak of the new one), We've been playing it a lot, with a lot of people. In all the time we've played it, I've realized how much of a party game it is and how much of a competitive, tournament playable game it isn't. I used to argue with anyone who would listen that smash bros was as competitive as Halo or Street Fighter, that it deserved as much attention from the MLG/Evo scene as any of its affiliates. Now, I know that while that may be what the community did to it, that that wasn't the creator's intent. He (and probably nintendo) meant it to be part of it's casual reaching market, while catering to the hardcore. He even almost intentionally deterred its tournament playability (with tripping), to the point where it seems he was screaming "You're not supposed to play it for money, you idiots!" Of course, I can't speak for him, because I never could do that for any developer, and intentions are something to be seen from different perspectives, but I think the evidence speaks for itself.

That's not to say it's a bad game. At all. It's a fantastic one. All the nintendo nostalgia/nerdgasms to be had in the world are here, the characters are varied (albeit with clones, who still feel a little different). Items are pretty much designed to help weaker players win (and it works, too), to the point where if items are on, skill because much less of a factor in winning. It's a phenomenal game, you just have to not expect it to be virtua fighter.

I also need to give props to my cousin Pablo, who is awesome because he plays with every character my brother hates. And it makes him oh so mad when he loses, which, needless to say, makes me oh so happy.

Peace.

More to come.

If anyone is still reading, fear not! I haven't abandoned this blog. I'm currently in Mexico, which means places to go, things to see. I am however, playing through some games (a luxury you'll find is not as rare as you'd imagine here), which I will review when I get back. Right now...writing makes me lazy. However, I will concede to blog.

As of this writing, The L button on my DS is broken. Yeah, the damn thing won't work, but luckily the game I'm playing doesn't requre its competent use. I could always sell it, but it's a magical speical edition, and you can't just get rid of those. You have to...fix them, beccause they are special. You have to nurture them until they are old enough to thrive on their own. So anyone have a tri-wing screwdriver? It's either that, or ask someone to fix it for me. Whichever costs less, preferably. I realize that the reason they put them together like this is to hopefully cut down on modding, but the modders always win. They get around anything. Plus, that leaves the few of who want to open the damn things for useful purposes out in the metaphorical rain. And there's bad people out there.

Pretty flai for a Ninja Gai(den).

Ok, so here's how this will work: I will post reviews of games that I am currently playing. I won't go back and give a back catalog of every game I've ever played, because it is very tedious and quite frankly if you haven't bought Paper Mario, chances are I'm not going to convince you. So if I do go back and play older games, I will post them, but I won't go back for the sake of it.
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You know, I've learned that blogs without posts are pretty boring, so today I give you my first review of:
First of all, let me outline the cirsumstances under which I am playing this game: It's been beaten several times by my brother, who's keen to beat it until he's sucked the entire life of the game. He's gotten under the routine where if he so desired, he could beat it in one day. He's been through the game using almost all of the weapons on all of the difficulties. Needless to say, he knows what he's doing by now.

I, on the other hand, am conform to simply pick up a new run on his save file (which has everything and the kitchen sink unlocked), and just start off there. This has obviously lead me to one conclusion: The only way this game is ridiculously easy is because Mr. Ninja has half a battalion's worth of weapons at his disposal. So I go back, start a new file, and play as a Mr. Ninja, weilding only his sword and an ungodly amount of shuriken. This is when I got my ass royal handed to me on the first level. I was playing on Mentor difficulty, the meaning of which eludes me (why not just say hard or something?). I say the first level and first level only, because after that I got tired of it.

To answer the conjecture you've most likely made; yes, I am a wuss. I am not extremely hardcore, or gifted, a prodigy, the like. I like to play games that challenge me, but only for as long the challenge entertains me. So, my skill now assesed by the reader, I think we can move on.

To put it simply, Ninja Gaiden 2 is an action game. It's got all the gore, fighting and boss battles(and boobs) you'd expect out of a fast-paced game such as this, in no sparing amounts (that goes double for the boobs). Now, before I go and tear the game apart(no pun intended, unless you found it funny, in which case it was completely intentional), let me say that ze fighting...she is divine. The combat is fast paced, in-your face enough to make things intense, but lenient enough to not frustate you most of the time, with the regenerating life bar being the biggest difference from the original(though it really isn't "the original" for those who owned an NES) on the Xbox. The weapons feel like you're playing a completely different character all together, and boss battles are extremely challenging (albeit a matter of "can I get off my combo on this guy right now or not?"). Fluid, envigorating, and just plain fun to do, the combat is obviously the game's high point, and if it doesn't sound fun to you, then the game isn't going to do much else for you. It's just plain fun to kill things that Mr. Ninja happens to have a beef with (which seems to be just about everyone except the blonde chick in leather).

Normally I'd shy away from this, but because 360 owners may just have had a taste of the action genre, especially those who just got into gaming this generation, I feel Devil May Cry 4 comparisons are useful. The game drops the gun fighting (which to me were some of the best parts of DMC4), as well as the emo's in long coats and white hair, and replaces them with more swords, shuriken, bows and a ninja in tight leather and a no-nonsense attitude. We'll call it a fair trade. Enemies are more challenging on a one-on-one basis then they were ususally in DMC4, but to say that any enemy can kill you is a bit much. Yes, it is true, but you'll find that in most games where you can die any enemy technically can kill if you let them (this is especially true if you don't use the controller to play the game, which can be quite the handicap), but I think the point of that statement is to say to not let your guard down around enemies, because they are tougher than enimies in DMC4 (which felt more like sword/gun fodder, if you knew what you were doing). This is compounded by the fact that since you gain some life back after every encounter, the game finds is a suitable counter to throw tons of enemies every time you turn a corner.

My praise of of the game out of the way, let's get down into what bothers me about NG2. Now, most people would say the story is horrendous, a stupid ploy to get Mr. Ninja into different enviorments and killing his wide range of demon oppressors. This is true, but once you take into account that the story doesn't really matter at all, and that it's only purpose of it is to say that it has one, you become so desensitized to it that you become indifferent of it (skipping cutscenes and the like), or you find so awesomely horrendous that you make fun of it and show your peers how bad it is that becomes entertaining. In this way, it's just like an old japanese action movie, which means Itigaki and team ninja are either idiots who can't write a story to save their lives, or are paying an homage to the genre that may have inspired them. If it is the latter, Itigaki is a fucking genious.

Now, story aside, there are some gameplay elements that do bother me. First and foremost: who's bright idea was it to put platforming or puzzles in the game? Whoever did so should be repremanded. The platforming is only difficulty when there is a camera issure involved (which is often), and when that happens, and you fail, it seems you failed not because of the difficulty of the puzzle(a term I'm using loosely here), but because the camera just. Won't. Look. .Where. YOU. WANT. IT .TO. There really should be no difficulty to getting to where the next people Mr. Ninja is going to kill.

Puzzles are also stupidly designed, uninspired, and unneccesary. In fact, about 90% of the puzzles involve a locked door, a chest, and a key. You will find a door that is locked, asses that you need a key, find said key, and open the door. You also will most likely not have killed anyone during this puzzle(again, loosely), which is bad. The other 10% involves not knowing where you're supposed to go (this happened a lot to me in particular). I'm honestly not sure what prompted this design choice. Did they feel it would engage the player? Challenge them? That they would solve this puzzle and feel like they accomplish something? I'm pretty sure the answer is no. I think they thought they could lengthen the game, if ever so slightly, by having you NOT kill people and play Sam & Max for a bit (not a bad game, I assure you, but this sort of game does not belong here), all for the purpose of having the game seem more meaty. It does not work here. It works in Zelda. It works in Shadow the Colussus, not in a game that revolves around killing tons and tons of dudes. Why would you take the player out of what you want to be doing most of the time and instead have them waste their time with puzzles that don't challenge them and therefore have no point? To anyone who wants to make a game of this nature: Either make puzzles work well, or DON'T DO THEM.

Now you probably think that I have a grim assesment of Ninja Gaiden 2: Quest to Unlock All The Doors, and the truth is, I don't. I'm still playing the game right now. The combat alone is enough for fans to pick this up, as it will challenge, make you want to play more, and is extremely well done. It's flaws, however, were things that were not needed, could have been easily been avoided had Itigaki and Co. realized that they cannot make puzzles of any sort in the action genre, and focused on making the game better. Heck, without puzzles or platforming of any sort, they could've had an extra level of more killing (and boobs). Additionally, should they ever feel the need to release another game, they could easily call it Ninja Gaiden 2: More Levels and just have rooms and rooms of killing demons( about 10 more levels' worth), no story, no puzzles, no platforming, at an expansion pack price, and I think the fanbase (as well as I) should be satisfied.

To those whom it may concern...

So now I've finally started a blog. This will mostly be about video games and the like,and I will post here about subjects that interest me, as well as give my thoughts on games that I play. REVIEW is not the term I'd give it, as I'll likely not attach a score, more of a preview...of a game that's out...but opinionated...um...there you go.

I'd also like to introduce you all to UFS, a card game I love to play. (Sell me on this, Suriel, you pale mexican bastard you!) Premis: It's a card game that plays like a fighting game. (wah? How can something like Magic the Gathering be as fast-paced as Street Fighter!? I call shenanigans!) Good point, but it really does. In games Like M:TG and Yu-gi-oh!(which I hope to never have to type again) UFS(Universal Fighting System) is very fast paced, with high level competion matches ending as early as turns 2-3, and turns don't last that long. Obviously there are stall decks like in any other card game, but you get the idea. I'm not great at explaining things, so hop over to the official site and get started (Don't be intimated by the unfamiliar characters: I can guarantee you, the game has the Street fighter, Soulcalibur, King of Fighters, Samurai Showdown, and Darkstalkers liscences attached to it, I swear). Fantasy Flight Games also has some damn good PR guys, and they'd love to help you out. Speaking of which the forum community is small, which means less idiots, and most people on there grasp the concept of accountability, and will help you out.

So, that's it for now, will do some more stuff later.

Take care.