Yo! I turned 18 yesterday, and forgot to put up a blog about it then. So Happy Belated Birthday to me! 8) Adulthood and something to that effect, indeed it's cool. I'm gonna wait to do the driving test at university...uhh...what else is it I can do? Oh yeah, get sent to prison, gonna avoid that. :P
I got the Force Unleashed for PS3, Gears 2, and Phoenix Wright for the DS. And I got a watch that's a USB drive as well! The awesomeness. Journey to the Center of the Earth and Cruz Surena on DVD. A new iStation with a rotating dock for watching videos on the iPod Touch. It's got some awesome speakers; great sound quality.
Went out to dinner with a bunch of friends on Friday to celebrate. So, yeah, it has been a fun one!
Hello there, people, and welcome to my Best of 2008 blog. I'm gonna be summing up the year's video game experiences by giving out a bunch of awards to games that I think deserve them. Remember, this is all my own choice, so we're bound to disagree :P , and I've invented a bunch of categories to make it stand out more. Also, it includes only games that I got/played in 2008, so games that were released before but I didn't get until 2008 are still running and games I don't have can't win anything. ;) Those of you who read my Best of 2007 blog last year will remember a very 360-heavy year, but I think things have balanced out a lot this year, but let's see! Here're the categories and an explanation of their criteria (if it isn't obvious :P )
The Obvious ones:
Best Story
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Graphics, Artistic
Best Music
Best Voice-acting
Best Use of Control Scheme
Best Sequel
Best Downloadable Game
Best DS
Best PSP
Best PC
Best Xbox 360
Best PS3
Best Wii
Game of the Year
Ones I've made up:
Best Individual Character Voice
Most Awesome Cinematics
Best Individual Character
Best Ending
Best Theme Song
Best Animation
Best Boss Fights
Explanation ones:
Best Multiplayer - both online and local summed up
Best Pre-2008 - the one award that goes to a game I had before 2008, the one that's served me best this year
Best Single Sound Effect - one little jingle can make all the difference
And now, without further ado, we proceed to the awards!
Best Story
Gamespot can keep its 6.0. Radiant Dawn may not be winning any graphics contests, but it's a masterpiece of a game. And at its center is an amazing story which follows on from Path of Radiance without missing a beat. A complex tale of motives and actions, with countless sidestories and epic scale, Radiant Dawn is the pinnacle of storytelling.
(Runner up: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII)
Best Graphics, Technical
It's certainly one of the best looking console games from 2008. It's undeniably a visual spectacle, and even if people discredit other Best of 2008's for choosing this over Crysis Warhead, I avoid that problem by not having Crysis. ;)
Best Graphics, Artistic
This one was close, by Valkyria Chronicles' stylized visuals have won out in the end! The entire game seems as though it's been drawn as you play. Opting to leave in drawn lines as shading, this distinctly different graphic design has won it the award!
(Runner up: Prince of Persia)
Best Music
The runner-up's nostalgia has been beaten out by pure orchestral genius. Crisis Core's music varies widely from almost silence, with only a slight echo of instrumentals in the distance, to full blown renditions of the remixed "One Winged Angel" track with great effect.
(Runner up: Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
Best Voice-Acting
This category is always difficult to award, because it's hard to compare the voice acting directly between extremely varying games from all sorts of different genres and cultures. But never before Uncharted had a game's voice acting sounded so effortless, never a strained syllable or oddly placed word. Everything seemed completely natural, as if the characters really were responding to their surroundings rather than reading lines into a microphone. Uncharted may have been released in 2007, but I didn't get it until 2008, otherwise we wouldn't get to see it here!
Best Multiplayer
Did you even need to ask? It may not have the world's best online, but the local multiplayer makes up for that and more. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the ultimate multiplayer experience. It is a brilliant example of easy to learn and difficult to master. While most players will pick up the game relatively quickly, old pros will still be able to lord their abilities over others. Between the myriad of different modes, possible difficulty adjustments, player handicaps, tournament rotary systems, and the undying fun of the gameplay, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the multiplayer game of 2008.
Best Sequel
The best sequel builds upon the events of the previous game in ways the player didn't expect, and maintains the feel of the universe while still bringing new concepts to the table. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn builds upon Path of Radiance, bringing a new perspective to the conflict and people that players were engaged with in the first game. It continues on from a story that seemed to have ended yet was apparently the original plan, meshing seamlessly with minute details from the previous game, and building upon both the story and gameplay.
Best Use of Control Scheme
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in all honesty, almost has to win this award. Its control scheme is unbelievably customizable, so much so that any player should be able to tweak their gamepad's functions so that everything responds exactly as they want it to. The linking of chosen control layouts to in-game nicknames also allows those customized schemes to be carried to other consoles through the remote, and easily switched to regardless of whether one is playing as player one or four. With four different controllers to choose from, and an enormous number of functions all mapped with amazing precision, Brawl takes this category as well.
Best Individual Character Voice
Zedonius from Ninja Gaiden II was an unexpected gem. While most of Ninja Gaiden's voices were unimpressive, Zedonius was a perfect maniacal monster, his voice rumbled and rasped, almost cracking the ground at his feet. In a year that lacked distinctly amazing voices, Zedonius shines above his competition as an awesome voice.
(Runner up: Sephiroth from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII)
Most Awesome Cinematics
From all the way back in February, Devil May Cry 4 jumps in to take this prize. A game that isn't afraid to take the fight out of the player's hands, DMC4 displays amazingly choreographed and definitively impossible battle scenes to great effect. Such precise and varied movements are nigh on impossible to do in-game, and it's great to see someone finally take the lead with a cinematic.
Best Pre-2008
If any game that I got before this year has done me any good in 2008, it's Pokemon Diamond. The Pokemon craze is going strong, and this deceptively deep RPG is a neverending mine of new information and gameplay combinations. I've logged over 200 hours on Diamond alone, and a game has to be amazingly fun for me to be at it for that long.
Best Individual Character
Soren from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn! When you are, for all intents and purposes, a rather small human spellcaster, and you can tell the next in line for the throne of Gallia, the mighty lion laguz Skrimir, to shutup, you are awesome. Soren's cool head, tactical genius, and analytic mind bring the forces he serves with to victory over impossible odds time and time again. That and there are a number of secrets about his past that are locked away deep within the extra cinematics at the end of the game.
Best Single Sound Effect
A tie because it is basically the same sound effect. Though Crisis Core has remixed and modernized it slightly, the victory tune that plays at the end of its missions and on Final Fantasy IV's victorious battle summaries transcends gaming history. And it's my ringtone as well. ;)
(Runner up: Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts – Kazooie's speech sound effect)
Best Theme Song
While most of Nintendo's main franchises are steeped in midi sound effects that hark back to the earlier years of their development, Super Smash Bros. Brawl opens up with a full orchestral theme song, complete with dramatic vocals, which sets the scene for one of the greatest opening cinematics I've seen in a long time. The departure from old-fashioned sound still brings with it the thematic sty.le we have all come to know but delivers it in an entirely new package. The change works.
(Runners up: "The World's Enemy" (Remixed "One Winged Angel") from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and "Never Surrender" from Devil May Cry 4)
Best Animation
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm. The game feels like playing a high budget anime show. Every movement of every character flows from one sequence to the next with grace and ease. The visually astounding ultimate jutsus have hundreds of elements pouring across the screen, the camera swoops and pans perfectly to catch all of the action, and everything comes together to create an awesome spectacle. While as a whole package it certainly isn't the best game ever, its animation is one aspect that is nigh on infallible.
Best Ending
(Spoiler warning… obviously :P) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII culminates in a massive series of cinematics, some thirty minutes long. Its final gameplay moments are scripted into Zack's dying breath perfectly, leading into the Square Enix's visual feast of CG cinema. Crisis Core leads the player on the emotional journey of a character who is damned to death from the story's beginning, and finishes his role in the Final Fantasy VII universe to great effect and in unrivalled cinematic glory.
Best Downloadable Game
Just barely making the 2008 release window, Banjo Kazooie takes the best downloadable game award. Maybe it's just because I'm nostalgic, but Banjo Kazooie is a cla.ssic, goofy adventure that anyone can enjoy. Its scale shows signs of age, and yet still manages to be longer than a lot of other downloadable games. It's a platformer in an age where the genre seems to be dying out, and a testament to Rare's development ingenuity. For 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Arcade; it's worth it.
Platform Awards
Note, the lack of best PC game is because I only got one PC game in 2008 (Spore) and haven't opened it yet. Unfortunately, my PC is on life support, and can't handle any recent releases. Giving out a best PC award wouldn't mean much considering the meager selection of candidates.
Best DS Game
Surprise, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon made the 2008 release window in Europe. The Fire Emblem series is one of my personal favorites, and this game, a revision of the Japan-only Fire Emblem 1 (which has a long Japanese subtitle that I cannot spell) finally tells the story of the character who is most likely the reason we have Fire Emblem in the Western World: Marth. A tale that I have not yet finished, but is nonetheless gripping, cla.ssically Fire Emblem, yet distinctly different from the other games in the series, and also an obvious embodiment of the gaming traditions of years gone by.
Best PSP Game
(Spoiler again)Judging by the awards so far, this shouldn't have been a difficult guess. ;) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII follows the adventures of Zack Fair, a member of the infamous SOLDIER program from Final Fantasy VII who we know to have died before the events of the universe's primary game. His story of tragedy is shown through both brilliantly executed cinematic and enjoyable gameplay; all of it condensed into a portable package that you can bring anywhere.
Best Wii Game
Those who know me will have anticipated this win as well. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been one of my most anticipated titles ever, and it delivered what I expected and more. The ultimate fighting game, a brilliant multiplayer game, a myriad of unlockable trophies, content, and characters, and featuring some of my favorite video game characters. Super Smash Bros. Brawl even brings a story into the previously unexplained universe the game is set, all expertly delivered despite none of the main characters (bar Snake) speaking but a word.
Best PS3 Game
That's right, it isn't Metal Gear Solid 4. Why? Because I can't actually be bothered to finish Metal Gear. Valkyria Chronicles, on the other hand, blends tactical, action, and turn-based gameplay exceptionally in a package of stylized awesomeness that is hard to compare to. A fictional tale of a country fighting to save its homeland against impossible odds, unafraid to mesh fantastic magic with gunslinging warfare. Valkyria Chronicles rises above its competition as the best PS3 game of 2008.
(Runners up: LittleBigPlanet and Prince of Persia)
Best Xbox 360 Game
That's right, I went there. It isn't Grand Theft Auto 4, nor Fallout 3, nor Gears of War 2 (Note: I don't have Gears 2). Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. The game that, after having tried it at Leipzig, I didn't think would be that great, that the community had all but given up on. But playing the full version, I realized that this game is in fact awesome. A complete departure from its previous entries, this Banjo Kazooie game has effectively changed genre, and done so with great results. A plethora of customizable vehicles, or preset blueprints for those who don't want to spend the time building them, and an array of missions all set out to test the limits of these constructions, all linked together by a storyline of tongue-in-cheek humor and constant video game culture references. It's a gamer's game, there's no other way to say it.
(Runners up: Ninja Gaiden II and Fable II)
Game of the Year
*drum roll*
Super Smash Bros. Brawl! When you take my favorite video game characters (including Link, the one at the top of the list) from a bunch of my favorite series and throw them into a brilliantly executed fighting game with thousands of things to unlock, what else can you get but exactly what I wanted? Brawl's strengths are across the board, a brilliant soundtrack, amazing gameplay, great graphics, awesome multiplayer, and endless hours of entertainment. All for $50, sounds like a bargain. So there you have it! EndlessGame's game of the year.
Don't like my choices? Want to give yours? Opinions on why I picked stuff? Then post away!
Hello all, and a Merry Christmas to you! I hope all have had a good day, and gotten what they asked for/wanted!
What I got? Well, I give list: My mom has apparently been buying me Christmas presents since like July and been saving them up 'til now, so it's fairly...large? I won't link all the stuff like I usually do because that would take all day. :P And it's already the middle of the night here. And I have officially and entirely run out of shelf space.
I tried to putthem in spoiler lists but it keeps telling me my html is not well-formed. :'(
Games:
Valkyria Chronicles
Fallout 3 - X360
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - X360, with wireless guitar controller
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
Prince of Persia - PS3
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
de Blob
Battallion Wars II
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
Fable II
LittleBigPlanet
Infinite Undiscovery
Naruto: Path of a Ninja 2
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Disgaea DS
Spore - PC
Lost Odyssey
Saints Row 2
DVD Movies:
Harry Potter 1, 2, and 3
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
Death Note - Live action movie
Death Note 2: The Last Name - live action movie as well
Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai
Juno
Blu-ray Movies:
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Batman Begins
Justice League: The New Frontier
Anime DVDs:
Bleach Season 1 and 2
Death Note Box set 1 - first 20 episodes
Avatar: The Last Airbender Books 1, 2, and 3 - whole series
Wolf's Rain Complete Collection I the first half the series...they label it complete collection to trick you. :lol:
Naruto Uncut Box Set 10
TV Show DVDs:
House Seasons 1 through 4
Numb3rs Season 2
Family Guy Volume Six
Dexter Season 1
Top Gear: The Challenges Volume 2
Miscellaneous:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Clock - Yep, a wall clock.
Replica State Alchemist Pocket Watch from Fullmetal Alchemist - with the engraving Ed carved into his; it tells the time too
2100 MS Points
2000 Wii Points
Altair action figure - From Assassin's Creed
iPod Touch - It forced me to download iTunes, the heathen! But it's awesome anyway. :D
Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock - Ridiculously loud alarm clock with an attachment to shake your bed to wake you up :lol: Heavy sleeper, I am.
Chocolate Coins - mmm, tasty
Cable Container - Box to put spare USB cables etc. in, comes with a bunch of USB-ish adapters as well
Death Note: Another Note - book
The Big Book of Top Gear
2009 "The Dark Knight" Calendar
Some new headphones - made by Sony
And a leather jacket 8)
So, yes, I am unbelievably, immensely happy. I just kinda sat there after opening everything because I had no idea what to do with myself.
Now then, enough of me listing things - purposely done to annoy you, the reader. :P Jk, of course.
Again, Merry Christmas to all!
Alright! Christmas is tomorrow!!!! As always, I got to open one present on Christmas Eve. (It keeps me sane for the day, lol) And so I picked one from under the tree, and I picked well! (Even if I do say so myself.)
Valkyria Chronicles and Fallout 3. I've only opened Valkyria Chronicles so far. Awesome looking game, nice stylized artwork, it looks like the whole thing is being drawn into motion. (Which is an effect they actually used in the opening cinematic.) I'll be trying Fallout later, and be sure there'll be a large blog tomorrow (or on Boxing Day if I get completely sidetracked) to let you know what else has been absorbed into my collection of games.
A Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year. :D
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon! Yar, I have bought. It's a Fire Emblem game, it's awesome, there is little else to expect. However, I wanna point something out about the visuals.
Ack! It looks...somewhat bad, doesn't it? That's what I thought as well. Until I saw it playing. Turns out, the game looks awesome in motion. Those supposedly low detail sprites on the top screen are actually pseudo-3D, somewhat like more static SSB characters. Shadows fall across the folds of their clothing as they shift their weight from one foot (or hoof/claw for mounted units) to the other. Now, of course, they're all obviously prescripted motions, I doubt there's an active lighting system. But that doesn't matter, it looks great in motion.
The animation is much more fluid than I thought it would be. If you've been doubting the detail of the battle scenes in the new FE from screenshots, then definitely make sure you see it in motion first. It's a brilliant stylized approach, I was pleasantly surprised by all of this when I started up the game. I had expected something like Radiant Dawn, I game I'd love despite its graphics being bad, but actually the graphics are good on this one.
So, there you go! I'm only on like Chapter 8 or so, and it's fairly difficult. Not as difficult as some stages of Radiant Dawn, but relatively challenging. (The lack of canto for mounted units is hard to get used to.) And it seems healers are thus far less effective than they were in the GC/Wii games. Also, armor is much more effective this time, knights/generals are generally (pun :P ) tougher to punch through with force than they were in the other English FEs. So anti-armor weapons (like armorslayers and rapiers) and magic are definitely needed.
The game's starting well, though its art sty.le is distinctly older. The characters, in terms of appearance, lack a contemporary awesomeness that has crept into most Japanese sty.led games. The character designs are a bit more subdued, less spiky hair, though still in every color of the rainbow.
Generally looking to be a very good game. I wonder when the reviews will start coming in.
Recognize the blog title from Episode 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh? Of course, you don't. Anyway.
It's been a long time everyone, how've you been? I'm doing fine right now, still inundated with deadlines etc. but I hope to be a bit more active over Christmas. But that aside, that is not the point of this blog. The point of this blog is here.
Summary of that article: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for the DS isn't coming out in the US until sometime in Q2 2009, and it just came out in Europe today.
Bwuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh!?!!?!?!
Nothing comes out in Europe first! Nintendo of Europe is supposed to be a stupid subsidiary that sits there and intentionally delays the awesome games NOA releases in the US just to piss people off.
This makes no sense! *insert blog title* Anyway, now that I've found out about this, I'll definitely be buying this when I go to England next week. :D To those who like Fire Emblem, be sure to import! It be in Engrish! :lol:
PS3 Firmware V2.50! Finally, a feature I've been needing for a long time: auto-off for the controller. I can't tell you how often I leave that controller on and run it out of battery. Admittedly, it does have a very good battery life, which saves it, but this is much more convenient. 10 minutes inactive and it turns itself off. :D (You can turn the feature off as well)
And then there's PSP Firmware V5.00. Pretty cool, there's a PS Store on the PSP now, but I was able to download stuff to the PSP through the PS3 before anyway. It would be a massive upgrade for non-PS3 owning PSP owners though. And it goes into USB Mode automatically when a USB cable is plugged in. I've spent a few minutes pondering why the PSP wasn't showing up the PS3 before just to find it wasn't on USB Mode. :lol:
Anyway, I don't have much gaming news, but I have been reading. I read basically the entire Artemis Fowl, The Time Paradox book last Friday. It was that awesome, I just sat down and kept going, a brilliant page-turner. I've got Brisingr now (sequel to Eragon and Eldest). It's HUGE. Last chapter starts on page 740, and the book's bigger as well, more words to a page than most. I'll be starting that soon. And after several recommendations over the past few years from different places, I'm looking into the Wheel of Time series. It's fun to be back into reading books; I had entirely stopped for a bit over a year (since the last Harry Potter and hadn't been reading much before that either.) But it only takes one awesome book to start the cascade again. ;)
And that's me for now!
My blog! *does CPR* Get up! *CPR* I refuse to let you die! *CPR*
...
*blog wakes up* YES! I did it! I have successfully, to an extent, revived my blog. Anyway, I've been gone for a number of reasons: university applications, SATs, back to school work in general, and other things of that sort. But now! I have a long weekend, so I have time to sit down and write about stuff.
The news never shuts up about the financial crisis, so I'm sure you're all well informed about that. I won't go through everything I've done since I left since that would take an AGE! :P (I haven't got my SAT results back yet.)
Games, games...I got Mario Kart Wii! The bikes are awesome, though it seems to have inherited its turning mechanics from Mario Kart DS, which annoys me greatly. Its turns are far too tight for my liking, I enjoy sliding sideways down the track in double-dash with a lightweight kart; but that aside. I also got that EU copy of SSBB! Internet! Finally! I've been able to update the Wii, I can get at WiiWare, I've got the Nintendo channel. Things are awesome once again. (Though I am out of Wii points, and therefore can't buy anything >_> ) Unfortunately the EU SSBB doesn't read my American save file, so I have to do everything again. I'm glad I only got all the trophies for Classic mode rather than total completion. :lol:
I've still been playing lots of Pokemon games, but it's been usual progress on them, no revelations since I mentioned Mew in my last blog. I've actually been reading a book over the last few days; not often I find one I'll sit down and read. The newest Artemis Fowl book, the Time Paradox. It's the sixth book in the series, and they're all very well done; if you haven't before, definitely check them out. (Author: Eoin Colfer)
Aside from that I've been watching anime: Gurren Lagann, Code Geass, Black Blood Brothers as well as ongoing Naruto, Bleach etc. I'm eagerly awaiting the first box set to come out for Death Note. (First 20 eps, November 18th) Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is coming out on PS3 on Tuesday, as well as Path of a Ninja for the DS. And Saints Row 2 is coming out on Friday. (EU) So it looks like the holiday rush may be starting in earnest; let's hope Christmas isn't dampened by the economic world falling apart. :P
In terms of writing; very little has been done. I'll be working on getting my first journal entry up on this long weekend, and depending on how far I get in my RP forum part of it, may be able to work on the Sixth Chapter in the Alignments Clash book. ;)
Well, I finally got around to it! I got all the flags in Jerusalem, and now I have 1000/1000 gamerpoints in Assassin's Creed! W00t! That was my first game that I've gotten 1000 in. :lol: And afterwards, I went back and beat the Fighters' Guild in Oblivion, giving me 1000 in that as well!
And as you guys my know, there's a discount active on xbl right now. Some Guitar Hero songs (dunno which ones), the Mass Effect DLC, and the Shivering Isles (Oblivion) have all been reduced in price. Mass Effect from 800 (I think?) to 300, and Shivering Isles from 2400 to 1600. So I got both since I've had 2240 MS points hanging around for quite a while now! So far I've gotten one achievement in Shivering Isles, which gives me 1020 from the game in total. :D
Who ever wudda thunk I'd actually get a full 1k. I might just go back to Marvel:Ultimate Alliance to get some gamerpoints there later.
What with all these old game revisits, I've also been playing FFVII on the PS1, cuz I've never actually finished it. 8)
And that is all, yo.
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