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After my disinterested July, I set a goal for myself to beat at least one game each week. I'm not sure how long I can maintain such a pace, but I did make it through August. Inspired by a few friends I've decided to try to drop by unfinished backlog to 80%. It is currently down .5% to 83.7%, though my September/October preorders will likely limit any progress until closer to year's end.
I've taken up biking, though my legs haven't carried me as far as expected. My current route takes me about 7.5 miles, though I plan to up that to around 10 miles soon. I have my eyes set on a 30 mile trail about 9 miles north of where I live, but I don't see myself riding it anytime soon. Maybe in the spring.
While I posted a brief entry about my recent Chicago trip, I've posted a wider selection of pictures at my website. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted my previous set of pictures during my last hard drive format, so I couldn't rebuild the image gallery with my older pictures. I may play with the html and see if I can manually add the old gallery in there, but it isn't a priority.

August Gain +510 - 37 Achievements unlocked

August Gain - Level + 1 Trophies + 36

Backlog decreased by 3 in August

Rank 20 on the MyGamercard.net RPG Leaderboard -1

Game spending vs. '08: Monthly 28% | Yearly -38 %
Splurging on the Batman Collector's Edition killed my numbers more than expected. Turns out August '08 was one of the few months I didn't go overboard.

The last of the DLC, Mothership Zeta, arrived. While previous DLC has taken you to regions around the wastelands, this one took you up to outer space. An enjoyable experience, if a little repetitive. Every section of the ship seemed to boil down to blowing up generators. The ending certainly made up for that though. I missed a few items for the last achievement, so I need to make one more trip through. Hopefully I left a save before the point of no return, else it's back to the beginning of the ship. (1530/1550)

Dragon Warrior I
Level 12
I've obtained the first of the three required objects
Dragon Warrior II
Not started

Final Fantasy I
13:46 Lv 51 Knight/Ninja/Red Wizard/Black Wizard
Chaos defeated, game complete.
Final Fantasy II
02:36 Firion/Maria/Guy/Minwu
The mission to Bafsk was a failure, guess it's back to Altair.

It's hard to avoid spoilers for high-profile games and Metal Gear is one of the series. I went into this game knowing much of the plot that would slowly be revealed, but even that did not fully prepare me for the multitude of cutscenes that tied the game together. The game map was far smaller than I expected and I'm pretty sure I spent almost as much time watching the game as I did playing. When actually playing, the game was solid. Remaining hidden was easier said than done and the boss required a pretty good strategy to succeed. A fun game, nonetheless, and worthy of a replay, though my stealth skills need a lot of work. 8.4.

An interesting story with a unique art design. At its heart, it's a point-and-click adventure, though it's driven more through conversion than scouring the background. For the most part the game does a good job of guiding you along and pointing you towards what you need and where to go, though sometimes (particularly late game) it leaves you with only a vague clue or nothing at all. The plot is the main focus of the game and while it relies on a large number of coincidences, it moves well and the comes to a satisfying conclusion. I'm not sure exactly how long it took, as the game clock continued to move while I had the DS in standby, but it kept me busy for longer than I expected. My score is a solid 8.

A rarity this day age other than the occasional portable Castlevania, Shadow Complex is a Metroid-like 2D platformer. The plot has a few holes in it, but the game mechanics are sound. The power-ups are standard fare, double-jump, missiles, armor, etc, though some fun can be had with the more unique foam gun and fusion helmet. While you move on a 2-D plane, the game itself exists in 3-D. These means enemies will often come at you from the background. Shadow Complex's biggest fault is that aiming at these foes doesn't always go as planned. This is fine on the easier difficulties, but on the hardest setting the extra few bullets you take could mean the difference between life and death. I've been through it several times and I haven't tired of it. I can't recommend it enough, especially to those who miss the days of 2-D. 8.8.

While I did end up enjoying this game, it's still not one I can easily recommend. Combat is fun as you try to link as many attacks and combos together, but enemies frequently jump in strength requiring hours of grinding (or some of the weapon/armor DLC, much of it free). A vast number of characters (30) join over the course of the game, but with a party limit of 4 and a significant time investment needed to level a new characters skills up to a useful level means you'll likely settle on just a few favorites. The graphics were lackluster and the 2-D character sprites didn't mesh well with the 3-D background and monster models. The story was weak as well and eventually culminated in a series of long and drawn out sequences (ending included) that went on for just a little too long. My score is a 7.1.

I picked this up on a recommendation and a leftover collector's box and must admit I was pleasantly surprised with the game. Free to travel the island, but limited by the gadgets you've obtained, slowly opening up the whole of the island. The plot was paced fairly well and kept the game moving forward, though the optional Riddler challenges kept distracting me from continuing the game. 240 of the challenges were placed in the game, ranging from simply smashing chattering joke teeth or finding trophies hidden in various nooks and crannies, to the more difficult clues that challenge to to scan a point in the room that matches the given clue. Some of these are fairly easy to figure out, but many took some deep thought and a bit of luck. I'm pleased to say I was able to solve all of them (as well as the game) without referencing an online FAQ or strategy guide. From using many of the same voice actors from the animated series of the mid-nineties to the numerous references dropped everywhere, you can tell the developer put a lot of care into crafting this game. My only complaint of note is that you spend the game fighting the same foes. Final score 8.8.

Played on co-op with a friend, we found the game quite hilarious. And when the game was moving, it was fun as well. The many puzzles seemed overly complex at first, but by the end of the first movie we had pretty much figured out what the game was asking of us there. It was these many puzzles kept the game interesting. My biggest complaint were the many sections of infinite spawning enemies. It was rather annoying being constantly harassed by enemies while trying to work out a solution. Especially when they all have bazookas. If you enjoyed Lego Star Wars, you'll likely enjoy this one, as it's much the same. 7.7 out of 10.