Man, i've been getting ditched lately... I'm lucky to have 4 people comment on my blogs nowadays. Not that I don't appreciate those 4 people's comments, far from it, i luv reading ur guys' thoughts. It's just that I miss everyone else that used to come here but stopped :(. Just wondering where everyone's been lately.

Anyway, I read two GS reviews that i've been pretty happy about today. First off is Crysis. For those of you that don't know, it got a 9.5 on the PC and recieved Editors Choice. It looks amazing and hopefully i'll be able to get it this xmas. Second is Assassins Creed which got a 9.0 and (super important in my book) it got the great story emblem. As a said a few blogs ago, storylines are extremely important to me so if a game wins this emblem, it's basically a must buy for me. That coupled with the millions of other great things that GS said about it basically makes me want to run to the store right now and pick them both up. Unfortunately, i'm broke right now which is sad... After the Witcher and gas money, i'm dead until xmas. I've got just enough to keep up my Gamefly account (which unfortunately doesn't supply PC games). Also i've gotten completely out of torrenting and stuff (more on that another time) so i'm stuck without AC and Crysis until I get some more cash. If anyone has either one, plz tell me how they are! Peace!

Yay!!! I finally beat level 20. It took the entire summer and 2 months of the school year, but it's finally done. Now i'm on level 21 and hopefully, things will be moving a little quicker from here :P.

In my only bit of gaming news for the day, I just found out recently about Trauma Center: New Blood which is the sequel to Second Opinion on the Wii (which is the same thing as under the knife so i guess it's a sequel to both) and it looks amazing! the graphics seem pretty much the same but it has a few added things that look to be really cool. For one, fully voiced dialogue and from what i've heard, the voices are pretty good. Of course I only heard what was in the trailer so I don't know for sure but it seems good. Also, 2 player co-op! how awesome is that! Well, anyway, we'll see how cool it is on Nov. 20th. Peace all!

This blog post will be about as close as it can get to a review without actually beinga review. Just FYI. So anyway, I got The Witcher today and my impressions so far can be summed up in this sentence: It's a great game but it definitely has some outstanding problems that definitely detract from the gameplay.

I'll start with the bad stuff first and then go to the good stuff. First off, I need to tell you, i've been playing with the Over the Shoulder, Mouse + Keyboard, default configuration. So this is my opinion of this config. The first thing you will notice is that the reticle can be EXTREMELY clunky. The first thing I worried about when I started playing was if I could even aim at the enemies. Fortunately, by the end of the prologue (i.e. tutorial) I became used to it. So if you notice this when you first start, just keep going and you should get used to it by the time it actually counts. Second, however you get this game, make sure you get a manual because the in-game tutorial SUCKS!!! honestly, I didn't read the manual at first and if I hadn't read the Gamespot review about the visual cues, I would have died in the first battle since they really don't have any lead in at all. At the very beginning, you are thrust into a battle with 6+ guys charging at you. That is the very beginning of the game. Talk about baptism by fire... So after you get used to the system and you've gotten into the first real chapter. You will notice the main problem i've found so far that detracts more than anything else i've seen: the map system. Namely, it's absolutely useless. So the first time I really wanted to go somewhere, this girl tells me to meet her at the mill. Well, she seems to have forgotten that the mill is in the middle of nowhere and Geralt is kinda new to the area. So I go to check the map. Well all the map has are these little pictures of houses and some roads. Notice I say SOME roads. The freakin map doesn't even show all the roads. Not only does it not show all of the terrain around you but it doesn't even show you where you are. Instead, it gives you a hella confusing green arrow right in the middle that looks like a place marker, but really it isn't. So I literally wandered around one of the smallest area's of the game, looking for this stupid mill for over 2 hours. Yeah, it's rediculous. Also, there is no note taking system so I can't even mark the places on the map once i've found them.

But this is all gameplay stuff right? What about the actual storyline right? This is an RPG after all. Well, I said I would stick to the bad stuff now so I won't go into the storyline just yet. What I do want to talk about is the acting job... wow... just wow... I didn't think it was quite possible to be this bad. But yeah, they managed it. The only one that sounds even remotely normal is Geralt but then you realize that the VO has a small problem... he can't change his voice... at all... so basically, everything he says throughout the prologue and the first chapter (my guess is throughout the game), sounds exactly the same. It gets kind of painful after a while. Not only are the voices bad but the dialogue itself isn't even very good. Geralt is written alright with his dripping sarcasm getting through most of the time, but everyone else is just weird. Not bad, just weird. For example, despite being all LOTR style throughout the intro to the game, Geralt's leader, only refers to the sorceress in their team as "babe" in a very modern sounding tone. It's not awful and doesn't wreck the game at all, it just sounds weird.

So I think i've said all the bad stuff I've noticed so far so now on to the good. The fighting system works pretty well. Not perfectly as it can be kind of repetitive but it's certainly more interesting than say... Diablo 2? The timed button presses are pretty interesting and make you think about what your doing instead of just mad clicking madness. Thankfully, timed button presses works better in this game than it did in Phantasy Star Online too so if you PSO players were getting worried, don't be. It works. To spice it up a little bit too, you can right click to use Signs (magic to the rest of us) but they aren't really all that useful so it's best just to stick with the melee. The graphics are also pretty good, much better than Neverwinter Nights, thats for sure. CD Projekt really used the engine to it's full potential.

Finally, the most important part IMO, the storyline. So far, it's very interesting. I haven't really seen much of the moral ambiguity but I can see it starting with the sexists vs. the witch.Even still, the world is very in-depth with a lot of backstory that you can delve into if you'd like. It doesn't seem necessary but it is helpful to read the stuff it gives you. So far, the storyline is basically, bandit group called Salamandra attacks your base and kills one of ur guys so you decide to take revenge. Right now i'm just trying to find out about the Salamandra when I get caught up in some religious cult thing going on. I don't fully understand it yet but I can tell that was done on purpose so i'm sure that i'll learn whats going on soon.

Well, sorry this isn't as organized as it should be for a review, I promise my real review will be much better than this. My projected score so far is: 8.3. The reason it's lower is mainly because of the map system. It really, really detracts from the gameplay, not having a good map to go by especially in abig world like The Witcher has. Peace everyone!

I just finished Phoenix Wright 2 today and, while it wasn't as good as the original, it's still a great game. The only problems I had with it were that the text was much sloppier than the first one. While I only encountered maybe one error in the first game, I saw tons in this game. The incredible translation job more than makes up for the random textual errors, none of which can't be easily understood. Also, the ending of the first game was really awesome IMO and this one didn't have the same conclusive feeling as that one did. Finally, there was no bonus case which was sad. That was awesome in the first game but I guess i'm just gonna have to wait till Apollo Justice to do the forensics stuff again... :(.

Also, GS finally posted their review of The Witcher and I'm happy to announce it got a respectable 8.5. The problems, they say, are the translation is a little screwey and it's a little too restrictive in class creation. Overall, i'm ok with that as long as the translation errors can be understood. the main reason I play video games is for a good story so, since I can't read the books (they're written in Polish), as long as that's still entertaining, I really want to play the game. I love the concept of the game's world but what really shines in my eyes, is the morality issue. It's true that things are never black-and-white, evil-or-good, in the real world and i'm glad a game finally has that in it. While the review seems to show it as slightly over the top, it's a good change. I think in some cases, it's pretty easy to make a moral decision but not always, definitely more than games usually have. Well anyway, i'm definitely going to be getting that as soon as I can.

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance also was graced with a positive GS review of an 8.5. I haven't taken the time to read it yet but I'm pretty sure I want to get it since I liked the first one so much. Unfortunately, Lego Star Wars:The Complete Saga didn't get such a good review and has a measly 7.0. I'm still gonna get it since I haven't played any of the others (the main problem according to GS is the recycled material) but it's too bad I won't be expecting anything that wasn't in the previous two games.

Well, I think that's it for today. I've been feeling kinda sick today so hopefully, i'll be all better by tomorrow. As for my blog question, are you all planning on getting any of these games in the near future?

Hey everyone! Usually, I start off my blogs with something completely random but this time, i'm gonna jump right into it. If you've been with me for a while, you know that I'm a HUGE fan of the Dynasty/Samurai Warriors games. In fact, I even used Dynasty Warriors 3 (the last one with the real story included in the game) as a source in a school project I did on Xiahou Dun, my fav character.

Well, after Dynasty Warriors took a break due to the success of Samurai Warriors, it's finally coming back with the release of Dynasty Warriors 6 here in the states. It's set to release early 2008. This means many good times to come with one of my best friends trying to beat Lu Bu by making guerilla strikes :P. Just wondering what you guys all think about Dynasty/Samurai Warriors and if you think this one will be any different. Just so you know, they have introduced a few new things including a new storyline that Koei has created using the characters from real events. Also, the gameplay has changed quite significantly. Instead of giving you my interpretation of what's changed, just read the Dynasty Warriors 6 Hands-on preview here on GS. Peace everyone!

So, before I go into this, i have to give a little background. Since I started high school (i'm a senior now), I have slacked off and gotten by by doing homework right before class starts. Generally, I had around a 2.8, 2.9 GPA and that might even be a high estimate. It's not that i'm stupid, i'm just a slacker. Anyway, obviously, with these kinds of grades, report cards are never fun in my house. My parents learned that taking away video games doesn't help things cuz then i'm just pissed and tend to play them anyway. So instead, i get an uber long lecture that actually does make me feel pretty crappy.

Finally, my parents sent me to this study skills course to try and help me improve my grades. Now this would have helped if the problem was I wasn't very smart. But since i'm just lazy, it's turning out to just be a really boring class. One thing that did come out of it tho was that they recommend parents giving kids rewards for good grades. My reward is if I have a 4.0 throughout the year, i'll get a 360 elite.Needless to say, that kind of brought up the motivation to do well. Now I haven't gotten report cards yet and i haven't checked online (we have a site where you can check ur grades online) but my Forensics teacher called me up today to talk in private. He says "What kind of tests do you have the hardest time with? Multiple choice? Fill in the blank? Essays?" I look at him kind of confused thinking that he's gonna use whatever I say on the next test. I decide to be honest and say "Essays definitely." He says "Ok. I ask you this because your 105% in my class is bugging me." and just turns and grins at me. That was one of the best teacher-student conversations i've ever had :D. So anyway, if that class is any judge, my 4.0 goal is looking pretty close right now :D. Wish me luck everyone and hopefully i'll be playin GoW with ya all this summer.

First and most importantly, THE WITCHER IS OUT!!!! Unfortunately, the only review that Gamespot is showing gave it a 7/10 but that's from Eurogamer and they always seem to rate low. The user score so far is 9.0 so i'm gonna trust taht. Also, the mail hasn't come yet so idk if PW2 came today or not. If not, i'm gonna be sad :cry:.

Secondly, the purpose for my title is that one of the first reviews on the Witcher page is by a guy named Stiler (i think that was it...) but he has the same icon as me!!! the same Berserk pic! It scares me... :P. I suddenly feel so much less unique. Ok! time to go check the mail again! Peace all!

P.S. HOMES!!! plz give me the link again! stupid PM glitches!

COMES OUT TOMORROW!!!!!! OMG!!! so excited. One thing I was wondering, does anyone else want the books translated into english? Cuz I really do. I wanna read them but I can't read freakin polish! I hope someone translates them, i'd buy them all undoubtadly.

So tomorrow, I'm probably gonna get my next gamefly game which is... Phoenix Wright 2!!! yay!! i'm excited. If i'm not playing the witcher, i'll be playing that.

Over the weekend I did a buttload of stuff, unfortunately, not much was gaming related. so sry if I bore you. This is mostly a personal journal of what happened. First, I saw Merchant of Venice at my school which was pretty good. I was happy since I could understand most of what was going on (shakespeare... ugggh..) I got to talk to one of my friends who I haven't hardly seen in 2 years and one of mygood friends was in it so I got to see her too. She's been really busy with theatre stuff lately so i luv the times I do get to see her. Anyway, friday a friend of mine had a party and we stayed up till midnight doing various stuff. Not even kidding, most of the night I had 3 girls lying on me. Pretty tight. Don't worry, I'm not into any of them, it's just never a bad thing you know? The next night, I had another party but I was good with it since it was a movie party. I didn't have to move much. Anyway, I was friends with everyone there so that was cool. We watched, in order, Psycho (original version), Ringu, and Halloween. I'd never seen psycho before and that was pretty cool. Ringu, i'm kinda mixed about. The storyline is better in Ringu but not as fleshed out. Also, it's not as scary as the english version. I was one of those people who was terrified by the first one so I had high expectations. The english one scared me a lot more. Also, Ringu has a lot of plotholes that the english one filled up. It's cuz it's based on a book. Stupid books - movies... lol. Finally, I'd seen Halloween before but it was fun to watch it again. If you've seen it before, it's not that scary so we were mostly joking throughout the whole thing. Apparently, something I learned from my friend who hosted the party (he's a major movie buff, seriously, ask him anything and he'll know it), apparently the mask they used for the first halloween movie was a mask of William Shatner, turned inside out and painted white! hahahaha. funny stuff. A little bit through Ringu, a friend of mine showed up who's the closest thing i've ever had to a sister and she hated the Ring in english so it was fun joking about it throughout Ringu. She stayed through part of Halloween too and that was funny. We joked about the naked chick at the beginning of it and how that one girl isn't wearing pants throughout the majority of her scenes. After getting home at midnight from that party, I was exhausted and went straight to bed.

First of all, I need to tell you guys, i'm a major church-goer and I usually go every Sunday. This sunday, my mom had to go early and my dad was out on a men's retreat so I was going to go on my own. Well, funny thing about parties, you tend to sleep in the next day. I woke up about half-way through the service and didn't even bother trying to get there to catch the end of it lol. My excuse to my mom was that i had to do homework :P. After I watched a bunch of CSI episodes (which was actually hw for my criminal justice class), I saw a play with my Gpa. Two things about this, sry everyone, i'm a theatre geek. I love musicals and plays of any kind. One of the happiest moments of my life was watching Wicked at the Paramount theatre in Seattle and a dream is to see Avenue Q on Broadway :D. Second, my Gpa is awesome. He's a really funny guy and I luv hanging out with him. Unfortunately, my Gma has cancer and is going through some really hard times right now (she's lived with back cancer as long as i've been alive and I turn 18 in january. She's the biggest miracle i've ever seen. She was originally given 3 years.) so she couldn't go to the play. So my Gpa calls me up and invites me to see it. The play is a new musical called Million Dollar Quartet which is based on real event where Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Curtis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash all played together in a jam session at Sun records. Anyway, the play is amazing and was essentially a concert straight out of the late 50's when Rock and Roll was first born and you get a storyline with it! So great. So that was uber fun. And now i'm back in school for the week... sux... Oh well.

Since it is gamespot, i'll end on a gaming topic. Witcher tomorrow, Phoenix Wright 2 tomorrow hopefully, and plenty more awesome games coming in November!!! can't wait! Peace out all.

First off, before I get into the super cool Ace Attoney news, I just want to say... 3 days till The Witcher!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! since SSBB has been delayed till next year, The Witcher is my most anticipated game of the year so far. Hopefully, it'll be as amazing as it looks.

Ok, I won't keep you waiting anymore. For those of you who played the first phoenix wright game, you remember the bonus case after the end of the game where they have all the cool 3D forensics stuff you can do? Well, it has been confirmed (from a review of the japanese version of the game) that all those cool new features will be default in the new Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice. The reason they didn't have those before was because the Phoenix Wright games were all remakes of the original games that came out in Japan for the GBA. Since the GBA obviously couldn't have all the cool forensics stuff, they had to wait until they had finished making all three Phoenix Wright games in America. Now that they have, the new ones will have the cool forensics stuff. Just wanted to letcha all know! BTW, next game i'm getting on my Gamefly list is Phoenix Wright 2 so i'll finally be able to play the sequels!! i'm excited :D. Peace all!