Monday, July 24, 2006

Insider Insight

Posting a bunch of KoF pics since i'm behind. Hope to be done all the chicks in the series in the next day or two. I won't be including the MI chicks like Lien (even though so hawt), Luise, Mignon, Lilly etc. nor the EX chicks (Moe, Jun & Miu) since they are non-canon to the main KoF storyline. So today will feature Shermie (done by nekkeau), Chizuru x Maki Kagura, Kasumi, Hinako, and May Lee.

Well, I've been quite busy last week w/ life in general. It's the usual work, outings, lady friend and when time permitted, gaming (^^). Checked out Clerks 2 since i'm a Kevin Smith fan, and have to say that it was friggin' HEELARIOUS. Not as good as Clerks 1 but damn good and ppl should really check it out. Rosario Dawson is SOOO HAWT. Also had a mini vacation on the weekend as we drove down to Wasaga Beach. I've also been planning a vacation w/ my g/f and friends to head out West, this time to the States. Cities, i'll be checking out will be Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, and Vegas BABY! Maybe I should check out Evo 2k6 and join some of the best :P...yeah...right. I'd get killed. Speaking of fighting games, i've started to get back playing my Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution (on PS2) as I've been watching a lot of VF5 match vids at hk-vf and it's getting me hooked. So i've been practicing diligently and trying to get good. I hope to test my skills at my arcade w/ VF Final Tuned soon. It won't be awhile till my arcade gets VF5 so i heard. So on the gaming front, the following games are what i got last week and recently: Battle Stadium D.O.N., Garou Densetsu Battle Archives 1, Super DBZ, Tekken PSP, Sengoku Basara 2 (came in today) and Persona 3, the main game that i'm really playing and consuming my gaming time (aside from VF4E). I was considering on waiting for US Persona 3 but as i mentioned MANY MONTHS AGO, this was my most anticipated JPN RPG this year and i'm not gonna wait till Feb 2007 (or watever) to play. So yeah, P3 is my 2nd JPN RPG that i'm seriously thinking about (and will) finish. I didn't get the LE since it was over my budget and my contemplating didn't help as the LEs weres old FAST.

So my impressions:
P3: awesome graphics, gorgeous cutscenes, decent battle system and wonderful story (from what i gather). Those who've played Persona before will obviously enjoy since it's the only RPG that really incorporates JPN school life (which i loved about it). Oh yeah, did i mention how much me wuvs Mitsuru :P ^^.
Battle Stadium D.O.N.: This game is da shit, literally. I see why it got such a low score now. It plays like Smash Bros. but crappier IMO. As big a fan that i am of all 3 series (especially DBZ), it still doesn't hold my interests and not because i'm hardcore fighter. Since this game is SSB, it's a party game. Thus, I did have some fun w/ my buddies, but we then switched over to SSBM for some better enjoyment. The game has pretty weak graphics. Backgrounds look pretty bland w/ a little bit of interactivity. The 3D character models are horrid compared to other companie's games for these 3 series. The OP models look the best w/ the DBZ characters looking the worse. I seriously thought this was a waste of my money and wished i had spent it on something else. As i knew this was for the fans, i still think that fans should give it a rent before buying. Eighting should've ripped their own N:GNT games instead of Nintendo/HAL Labs.
Garou Densetsu BA 1: Now this was a fighting game that i enjoyed despite it being old school. I owned all the games on SNES save for FF3 (though i played that on PC/Arcade and later MAME). It's a good collection of THE series of SNK. CuzTerry Bogard is definitely THE face of SNK as Ryu is for Capcom (Kyo Kusanagi? fuck him). Since the NGOC are mainly rips from their games, it does suffer a bit in sound. Controls vary depending on game to game. FF/GDSpecial is probably the best of the 4 as it's the most balanced w/ sweet controls. FF1's controls were just horrid. FF/GD3 isn't anything great or special to those who've played it before, it's not as good as FFS gameplay wise, but fun to play as the 'new' characters (yeah, it's all about Blue Mary here). I can't wait for Battle Archives 2 w/ the Real Bout Series. I wonder if they'll get the sick PSX port, Dominated Mind (w/ anime cutscenes and all). I sorta doubt that as DM was awesome and the LE made better w/ the Bonus Disc.
Super DBZ: no comment since i've commented on the JPN version. Only that the US version doesn't have Head Cha-la 2k5 for the intro and there's no JPN voice over option. Everything else pretty much remains intact from the JPN version. A kick ass game for fans like me (DBZ fan AND hardcore fighter).
Tekken:Dark Resurrection PSP: Game is fuckin' A all around in terms of presentation, gameplay, extras. However, the fuckin' PSP digipad is SOOO SHIT. Sorry, but true Tekken players play on stick which i have been for years and when ppl bring their pads to the arcade for T5, you sorta get laughed at. Thus, when i resorted to playing this, it was frustrating adjusting to it since it's been years since i played Tekken on pad. Also the handheld is not really ideal for this game as one would use their fingers for the buttons cuz using solely the thumb isn't fast enough for moves (yeah, try doing Nina's muli-throws w/ your thumb). Thus, you have to plant the system on something flat instead of holding it. So my friend wasn't too happy when he saw me. So yeah, as good as this game is, the PSP system just sucks for this game and i'll stick w/ the arcade thank you.

I only got SB2 today and haven't played it. Details when i get around to it. Speaking of Basara, Capcom announced Sengoku Basara 3 today, but didn't say what system.

My Bleach Heat the Soul 3 should arrive this week and i'll post impressions whenever. Other things i got last week aside from games were, My-HiME Vol.3, some old anime titles that i found cheap which needed an upgrade from their VHS counterparts (Voogie's Angel, Photon and Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, the latter being very a very obvious choice for me to get). Street Fighter II issue 4 comic also came out a couple weeks ago as did Rivals Schools issue 2. I got both UDON comics and have been contemplating about getting the Street Fighter Ultimate Edition book, Summer Sketch Book 2k6 and Alvin Lee Portfolio 2. All these items were available at the San Diego Comicon but you can also order from Club UDON (linked to the right). However, w/ my upcoming trip, i had to hold back. W/ all this stuff that i got recently, one must wonder....WHERE the FUCK are the pics? well, sorry to say but i lent my good buddy my camera and won't have it for several weeks until he gets back from his trip to Europe (in time for MY trip ;)).

So yeah, i've been behind on game news on the site, which i'm sorta feeling lazy about posting now on my blog for some reason. but here's a few that held my interest today.
My usual source Ruliweb lets us know that SCEI has developed another Bleach game right after HtS 3. This time for the PS2, entitled Bleach Blade Battlers. It's to be scheduled October 12 and is available for preorder at sites like P-A. So after October 12, expect another Sony Bleach game to be announced a couple days later :P (like one to coincide w/ the movie ;)). Official site, characters and movies can be seen here. IMO, this game looks like another shitty Bleach PS2 game. I'm happy that it's a fighting game (the action and rpg bleach were just crap) finally but i just don't dig 'full' 3D 1-4 player fighting games. this game is like Destrega 4 player now. I really want a Heat the Soul style of fighting game on the PS2. Ho hum.
Ruliweb also shows off some scans of the wicked looking Sparking Neo/BT 2, Super DBZ and the action motion sensor game i talked about.

I want to note some old 360 news in case of those who don't pay attention to MS:
Been a lot of media around Capcom's Xbox 360 game, Dead Rising (2)
It was announced last week that the 360 is getting a Onee-chan bara game, Onee-chan bara X The Devil Evolution Hum those who've played the PS2 games know this is just a Dynasty Warriors kind of game w/ scantily clad heroines and zombies for enemies. While i own all three games (1,2 and 2 SE), the game sorta sux IMO (due to controls, camera and boring repetitiveness that's not as good as Koei's DW or SW). I play cuz of the guilty pleasure of the hotties :P. Anyways, scans went up on Xboxyde last week and official site went up today (though the sections aren't open). Looking yummy as usual Aya.
Speaking of hotties, check out the old famitsu scans they posted up: DOAX2, and iDOLM@STER.
Enchanted Arms videos

Joystiq lets us know that the Suda 51 (killer 7) Wii game, Heroes trailer can be seen at youtube.
The release date for Gyakuten Saiban 2 DS is Oct. 26...sweet.
I want to note that the DS browser sold off like hot cakes today in JPN and is practically all sold out.
My most anticipated RPG this year (yeah FFXII, i'm not looking at you), Rogue Galaxy seems to have been delayed to 2007 ;_;. January is the word.
Interesting MGS4 and ZOE tidbits
Of note, the stripping fighting game i noted reopened their site for the 3rd time last week. Jingi Storm official site. still not much to see really.



July 25 3:10 PM EST edit:
currently at work but just want to note that PSXExtreme informs what North American SNK fans have been expecting...the release of their King of Fighters Compilation, Samurai Showdown and Mark of the Wolves are planned for release on PS2 in 2007. Not a big surprise as I had sorta known about this several months ago.
The My-ZHiME site also udpated today, namely the net tv, figure (the midori one looks good 'cept for her face and arika x mai CM fig looks suprsingly awesome as CM's quality is usually shit due tothe size of the mini figs and the price....anyways, meh, cuz i'm finished right? ^^) and DVD omake 8.
Dirge of Cerberus US site went up today. I've covered the CG cinemas of the JPN version and the improvements on the NA version looks sorta promising and might be worth playing again.

7 comments:

Fisherman Horizon said...

Yo R8, nice to see an update.

Are you getting FFXII when it's released in US? I'm still not sure if I should get it. I may get it since it should be the last FF game for PS2 and FFXIII is out of my list unless I get PS3, which is quite unlikely in near future.

I finished KH II in about 3 weeks. Hope FFXII last more than that.

Anonymous said...

Yo. Didn't like DON then? I absolutely LOVE it, aside from the stoopid unlocking thing with the slot machine :( I want Gaara and Lee NOW dammit!

Still waiting on FF Collection and Bleach HtS 3 arriving. Tekken DR is keeping me hooked though. Fucking awesome!

R8 said...

@ FH: Yeah, I'll be getting FFXII. Preordered the Collector's Edition too. I somewhat dug the demo that came w/ DQ8. I also really like the chara designs (<3 Fran), though some ppl hate cuz they're Nomura (anime) fanboys :P. I personally don't care for FFXIII cuz the PS3's price is just a turnoff. I also don't have a HD TV to take full advantage of games. The PS3 is mainly offering sequels to old popular titles which is sort of a snooze. Aside from Tekken, VF5 and MGS4, there really isn't a point for me to spend 700 bucks. so i can wait for the next FF. I'm all about the Wii now since it's cheap and 10x more fun (looking).

@ johnny: yeah, i didn't like D.O.N. I tried to cuz of the series', but when you got a better alternative at gameplay to choose from, it's sorta hard. The presentation is horrid, there's not enough characters, the characters don't have enough moves or depth (the latter being understandable since it's a party game) and as you said the slot unlocking is a real bitch and chore IMO. Being a party game, you always have to get 2+ ppl in order to enjoy the game cuz there's not much to offer in 1 player (and it's TOO EASY in one player...even in the hardest difficulty). Oh well, hopefully they'll improve next time and get rid of the slot machine.

I also can't wait for HtS3. Now that's a fanservice game I know I will enjoy.

Anonymous said...

as always R8, your blog is an invaluable resource for news and updates. bookmarked and checked regularly, most of what i kno if from your blog, my thanks ^.^

my copy of Tekken: DR was shipped to me today, will be one of my first PSP games! i hope it is fun, or at least looks good ;)

R8 said...

@ zanza: the game is really fun, juss don't let my anal comments fool you ;) cuz i'm picky when it comes to fighting games. Like SFA3Max is fine cuz you can still actually play as it doesn't require fingers since there are no multi-button dial-a-combos or throws, but tekken, no. still, it's great fun for all who don't take their fighting games super seriously.

Anonymous said...

Zanza - re: Tekken DR, like R8 said, it's a super fun game and easy to get into. It's also not as hectic and fast paced as a lot of the more hardcore 2D fighters so you'll be able to ease yourself into it nicely.
Some moves require some odd thumb positions to pull off, but most of these are in combos etc and you don't need to be able to pull those off unless you like showing off or are playing on a harder difficulty level. They are awesome though ;)

R8 - my copy of FF Collection 1 arrived today. My early thoughts - fucking hard!
That's my one negative opinion of SNK - they don't do "easy" difficulty levels. Well, they do but they're like normal difficulty on most games.
I'm not a FF newbie (well, hadn't played 3 before) but I haven't played these games in a while and it's taking some getting into them. They're all great games though.

Hopefully Bleach 3 and Ultraman Fighting Evo 0 tomorrow before I'm off on holiday :)

Oh yeah, I ordered Naruto GNT 3 from Yesasia on the cheap so I'm awaiting that one too. I was just gonna buy 4 (already have 2) but wanted to play through the story etc in 3 first :P

R8 said...

@ johnny: heh, that's SNK's style known as SNKitis. I found FF2, FFS and FF3 pretty easy. I only had problems fighting Geese in FF1 since it's been SO LONG since i've played it. That and cuz the controls aren't as responsive and Geese's recovery times for his moves are insane. But i did it, took me about 10 mins on him alone though O_o.