I Caved

I did it.  I bought Dynasty Warriors 8.  Not sure why, but I got caught up in hype.  Well, sort of.   I didn't watch the videos, didn't read reviews, didn't shtup a cos-player, I just saw an ad and thought "O. M. G!!!"

I hadn't been excited about a Dynasty Warriors game like that since 7, and I was only excited about 7 because of the old new combat system.

And yet, there I was.

So, my buddy J. and I cracked it open, skipped a few cutscenes, and started playing.

And went "whoa!".

I hadn't done that with a Dynasty Warriors game since 4.  Kid you not.  And I actually already knew about the features. 

So, for those of you who have missed my many posts about the Warriors series by Koei, Dynasty Warriors takes place during the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, called the Three Kingdoms Era.  It's largely based on a (wicked) 15th century novel (or pair of volumes here in the West) called Romance of the Three Kingdoms, although I think Koei is also starting to add in a more historically authentic flair to the games, as it now seems to be favoring Wei instead of Shu.  Romance of the Three Kingdoms favors Shu.

The gameplay is a combination of tactical action and mob-slaughter combat (no gore, though), where you take your chosen combatant and kick the crap our of thousands of peons and jumping from objective to objective to finish the battle.

The battles themselves are based on historic encounters, although Dynasty Warriors 8 has also thrown alternate scenarios into the mix based on how a battle might have gone if certain individuals hadn't died before their time, which certainly adds a nice layer of storytelling depth.

The 77 (yes, 77) characters all progress as well, with a level system that unlocks more attacks in their combo strings as well as special abilities and improved weapon skills.  Each character also has their own weapon which the specialise in (although while you carry two into battle, neither has to be the one your character favours), and the weapons have an affinity that corresponds to an opposing element in a triad; Heaven, Earth and Man. 

If you have a weapon that has an affinity weaker than your enemy's, you can do a special counter attack, and if your weapon affinity is superior, you'll perform a special finisher after x amount of hits.  It's simple, but that's also what creates those "whoa" moments.

The game also has modes up the tuches, so there's lots of replay. I'm certainly looking forward to the Free Mode, so that I can play battles from multiple perspectives.

Koei has done an absolutely stellar job in bringing all of the elements in the series together that people really like, and so far, I have to say, it definitely doesn't suck.

Long Time No See, Eh?

Hey guys, it's been a millenia, I know.

Lots of stuff going on.

Microsoft alienating their fanbases, first PC administrators (sorry, Windows 8 is a pain in the ass to administer with all of the extra steps to get to a command line), then gamers with their vague descriptions of what it actually does.

Sony talking about the PS4, and how it really does most of the same stuff as the XBox 360, but they're a bit nicer about it (well, the game lending and no sign-in restrictions is a nice touch, at least).

And me, playing Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires because I don't give a damn.  Yes, I said it, I really don't care about the next system generation.

Actually, I just don't adopt early, and given all of the SKU's of the current generation, I'm waiting until near the end of the next one.  Or at least year 5.

Anyway, on to games, because frankly, the business side is just ridiculous.

I've been playing quite a bit of titles lately, both on PC and console.

So, yes, I've been playing a log of Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires on my PS3.  Fantastic game despite the lack of English VO (and let's be honest, these sucked anyway).

What makes 7 Empires great is the addition of the "Strategems", which are single-use special abilities that can change the ebb and flow of the battle, sometimes drastically.  Some of the achievements are pretty epic, too, like finishing a battle without using your weapon.

That said, it's still too easy on any level of difficulty lower than Hard.   Also, Koei's being really douchy on whether or not they're going to release the final patch in the West that they did in the east.  This patch, called the 1.03 Patch, not only fixes several bugs, but adds more gameplay features.

I asked Koei about this on their Facebook page, and instead of responding with an IM, they deleted my post.  I'm starting to really dislike them, actually.

I've also been playing Doom 3: BFG Edition, also a really damned good game.  Whether or not it has aged well, it certainly has a better atmosphere than most survival-horror games.  It's also interesting playing what is the PC version, and seeing how different it is from the original XBox version.

It's definitely a little longer, but some highlights are missing, such as the first encounter with the Cherubs.  That was pretty disturbing the first time around, but that seems to be missing in the BFG Edition.

I also decided to give the Syndicate (the FPS that many feel was an abortion) single-player game a go on Hard, and I have to admit, I'm enjoying the game quite a bit more despite its cheap boss battles.  Understanding the weapons as well as your abilities really helps there.

And finally, I'm slowly slogging away at Demon's Souls.  I have to admit, I think the game is a bit overrated, actually.  Granted, I'm finding most of the PS3 (and XBox) exclusives are.

 Oh, wait, no, it's not.  Right, for those of you with XBox Live Gold (which I figure after E3, you're considering canceling, and I can't rightly blame you as I'm considering the same), you need to get a gander at this:  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/games-with-gold.  If you don't have Fable III already, it's free.  I'm also playing that.  It's a good game, but the previous titles were better.  But hey, it's free until June 30th, so why not!

Anyway, MS is running this from July 1st until December 31st of this year (PSN's offering is looking better and better, but next gen, my accounts will be going dark as I refuse to pay to play online through a VPN that I could have set up on my own router)

So that's the console front. And my gripings on that.

On to the PC:

Since replacing my laptop's hard drive, I was able to get DOS emulation running properly.  Many of you don't know that I actually have a lot of DOS games, as I grew up in that era.

Anyway, between my own collection and Good Old Games, or http://gog.com, I've been doing a lot of catching up.

I recently finished Redneck Rampage and the Suckin' Grits on Route 66 expansion, and I just played The Terminator 2029 for the first time in 15 years.

Redneck Rampage is hardly innovative, but it's pretty amusing, and the level design is generally very good and well thought-out.  It has more in common with Dark Forces, actually, than Duke Nukem 3D in that department.

The Terminator 2029 is a mission-based game that takes place in the future between the first two Terminator movies, and goes up to the point where you destroy Skynet from outer space, if I remember right.  

It's an objective based first-person action game that seems to have more in common with Eye of the Beholder than, say, Doom.


I also finished System Shock for the first time.  And I still believe that Bioshock is an utter joke in comparison.  Better controls, but not half as smart.

I've also recently been playing Command and Conquer Renegade, which is actually a pretty neat shooter.  Mediocre level design, but very ambitious and easy to appreciate.


GOG, by the way, is having a huge sale, and the first Torchlight game is available for free until June 20th.  I'd grab it, I hear it's what Diablo 3 should have been.  Plus, it's free.  You can't go wrong with that.

Now, before I finish up, I recently heard that MySpace kiboshed all content except for music.  And gave users 7-days notice by the site only.

According to some of the complaints, people have not only lost memory, but important items such as saved trial testimony.  Why am I bringing this up on my gaming blog and not my personal politics blog?  Because this one probably gets more viewers, and this is pretty serious.

This is a reminder to back up everything you can, when you can.  You never know when someone pulls the rug out from you on a whim until the last moment, so take control while you have the opportunity.

Keep your thumbs on the sticks, and your fingers on the triggers, and if you have to throw something, make sure it's soft.  If something launches anyway, your Wii wrist strap clearly wasn't tight enough.

What I've Been Up To

For those of you wondering what I've been doing for the past few days since writing about Soul Blazer, I have an update for you. 

I've placed a pre-order on Dynasty Warriors 7 (despite the fact that I should wait for Empires, but that's neither here nor there, really), finished Soul Blazer, started on The Guardian Legend (again, long story) and have been trading custom soundtrack playlists with the denizens of the Dynasty Warriors 7 forum on Gamespot (which is actually mirrored from GameFAQs *shudders*).

So, here's the skinny:

Yes, a seventh Dynasty Warriors game is in the pipeline.  It's due out next Tuesday (March 29th) along with:

-WWE All Stars for the 360, PS3, Wii and PSP
-Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars for the 3DS
-The 3rd Birthday for the PSP
-Super Street Fighter IV 3D for the 3DS
-Need For Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed for the PC, 360 and PS3
-Darkspore for the PC
-Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2012: The Masters for the 360, PS3 and Wii
-NASCAR 2011: The Game for the 360 and PS3
-Magicka: Vietnam for LSD, PCP and Shrooms.  Seriously, though, it's for the PC.
-Mass Effect 2: Arrival for the PC, 360 and PS3
-Realm of the Titans for PC
-Moon Diver for the PS3
-Face Rider for the 3DS

Back to Dynasty Warriors 7.  Dynasty Warriors is a series by Koei that started way back on the original SONY Playstation (which I refer to as the PSX because that was one of the early designations.  It is not to be confused with the overpriced PS2 media centre of the same name) as a fighting game spin-off of their Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy series, which I've outlined in an earlier post. 

A little background on Romance of the Three Kingdoms is required here.  Basically, in the late 2nd century, China's imperial power was flattened by corruption in internal strife.  This led to a civil war that resulted in the nation/empire be split into three, each portion ruled by a different family (or dynasty).  These three families were Wei, Wu and Shu.  Eventually, China would be reunified by one of the retainers of Wei - after their throne is usurped, and this family would form the Jin Imperial dynasty.  That's pretty much the meat and potatoes.

The games focused on the civil war itself, and ignored what happened after the Three Kingdoms.

In each game, you select a general and start fighting in virtual 2nd century battles with magic, siege engines and horses.  Oh, and the occasional war elephant (although they kinda sucked).  As the games progressed, more generals became available.  There were over 50 at the time of Dynasty Warriors 5, and each represented a different faction.

The second game in the series was a beat-'em-up for the PS2, and it pretty much picked up from there.After the 3rd game, and expansion called Extreme Legends was created, which added new characters and a new level structure.  A version of this expansion exists in some form or another for all preceding Dynasty Warriors games since.  Another expansion, Empires, was created after the fourth game in the title.  Empires adds strategy elements and removes the game's story, and focuses more on conquering all of China however you want to using the characters of the series.  There are also two spinoffs of this series (one more of a mutation), Warriors Orochi which combines the worlds of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors Strike Force, which is an action-RPG that focuses heavily on collecting materials to make new weapons and items.

Strike Force is not the only game in the series to incorporate character development; 4 and 5 included ranking up and collecting items to boost your attack, defense, health and special attack guage stats.  6 took a more RPG approach, and included a level system (in 6 Empires, the level cap was 50).  You could also equip a certain number of booster items which could do everything from raising stats to healing you after a certain number of KO's or even boost a specific stat after x number of KOs.

Each new version has added and removed features in some way or another.  Every version adds new character.  The combat system is fairly simple, relying on matching up light and heavy attacks, and really didn't change much until Dynasty Warriors 6, where it was over-simplified to the point where it became extremely boring. 

As things stand right now, the most current title in the series is Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce, at least until next Tuesday.  It was generally poorly received.  This is not undeserved, because while it brought some neat ideas to the table, it also had a crapload of problems. 

Strikeforce introduced unprecedented officer customization (for the series) by allowing you to take a second weapon of any type (in every other game, an officer had their main weapon and that was it), added different kinds of special abilities as well as being able to perform rush attacks and air combos, and even each weapon type had special moves and features associated with them.  The cherry on top was that it supported 4-player online co-op.

However, it was the first major console release to not include offline co-op (an insult to the fanbase), the base combat system was the same monotonous piece of crap from Dynasty Warriors 6 and the framerate went bonkers whenever it felt like it.  Where the older Dynasty Warriors titles had massive levels, Strikeforce incorporated levels that were chopped up and scaled down.  Mounted combat was gone.  It was like for every goof thing, there was something bad, and much of it outweighed the package as a whole.

That said, 7 is looking more and more welcome.  The combat system has been rolled back to pre-Dynasty Warriors 6, you are allowed to use multiple weapons, you can use siege engines instead of just destroying them, and the story has been expanded to incorporate the rise of the Jin dynasty.  Character upgrading will also be available, and has been rolled back to pre-Dynasty Warriors 6 as well, with a few enhancements which includes skill point allocation.  The roster has also been increased to 60 characters, and both online and offline co-op are available.

So, I'm pretty stoked.  If you want to know more, check out the Dynasty Warriors 7 link at Koei's website.  You can check out the screenshots, read about the game and listen to some of the songs on the game's soundtrack.

Now then, I've also recently finished Soul Blazer.  It's about 12 or so hours long, and it's not bad for an early 1990's action-RPG.  It's no Brainlord or Secret of Mana, but it was quite enjoyable nonetheless.  I had fun with it.

Next up - at least until my review poll closes (choices are on the right-hand side after my links, labels and such) - I'm working on The Guardian Legend for the umpteenth time.  The reason I say this is because the game's save system is rediculous, but the game itself is awesome.  It's kind of like The Legend of Zelda, but with guns.  And boss fights occur in a Shmup (Shoot-'Em-Up) sequence.  It's also got some of the best NES music since Megaman 2, and that is saying something.  I strongly recommend that you try an emulation of this at the least.  For it's time, the production values are through the roof.

And finally, I'm in the process of updating my custom soundtracks for my 360 games (which I rarely use).  I have one for Koei's Warriors series, one for for Fallout (which I've used twice), one for fantasy-themed games (no, I do not use this one for Oblivion; Jeremy Soule is this era's Johan Sebastian Bach), one for Mercenaries 2 (which I do use when I play), one for fighting games and the last one is for racing games.

I stream these off of my computer because, frankly, I have 70 gigs of music on my computer.  And playlists are great.  I'm currently in the process of modifying them (starting with the Warriors soundtrack), and I will probably delete a few (like Fallout).  Racing and Mercenaries will be staying though.

The reason I make these is because I'm not a fan of licensed music and I sometimes have...more appropriate music for the material.  For instance, I actually put the Fantasy soundtrack together for the excellent and underappreciated Sacred 2 (which Blizzard can learn A LOT from for Diablo III).  The Mercenaries soundtrack exists because while I love Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, the soundtrack doesn't really have a lot of punch.  And it's kind of interesting that all of the achievements are named after songs.  Seemed more like a hint than a reference to me.

I created my fighting game soundtrack because I wanted ot lay it to something heavy.  When I first played Kakuto Chojin, the first thing that really stood out was the soundtrack (and not the Q'uran passagest that got the game banned to appease some religious fundamentalists).  Instead of mostly pulsing techno or rock, it was actually composed of several different genres, such as industrial metal, trance and hard rock.  It's actually, so far, the best fighting game soundtrack I've ever heard.  The gameplay's not quite up to par, but I'll leave the enjoyment factor up to youse guys.

My racing soundtrack is simply the music that I would like to drive to.  This includes genres ranging from hard rock and blues, different metal subgenres, trance and electronica, you name it.  I'm not a huge fan of most of the licensed crap I hear in Need For Speed or even Forza 2 (although you only hear music in the dashboard unless you're playing a custom soundtrack).  I could probably see myself using this as a template for GTA 4 if I chose to buy it.  But I'd have to make sure to add Breaking The Law by Judas Priest, because for whatever reason, Rockstar thinks it doesn't belong.  It was a single, and it's better than You've Got Another Thing Coming by leaps and bounds in the fun department.  And it fits.

What can I say, I like to micromanage my gaming experience.

Okay, it's 2:41 AM and I'm rambling.  Have fun, and check out my poll (I bet you thought i was gonna plug DW7 again...fooled you) - there's only 5 days left on it, and I will  have that review done by the end of April, whatever you vote for.

I swear.

Newest Acquisition

Yesterday, I found myself in a situation of total providence.  Well, providence at any rate.  I found a rather obscure game, Uncharted Waters II: New Horizons by Koei for the SNES.  I picked it up loose (no box and/or no manual) for $10, which is half what it's worth.  Not sure if I'm going to resell it yet.  I find the game quite intriguing.

Here are some pics including the box art:

The game is also available for the Sega Genesis/Megadrive, although I hacven't looked up the value and I don't know how rare it is.

So, what's the premise?  Uncharted Waters II is an historical fiction piece centred around the rise of Mercantilism, the death of Feudalism and the birth of Colonialism.  It's a cobination of a role-playing game and resource-based trading game.  Mix in piracy and mercenaries and you have yourself one heck of a game.  I played it for maybe about half an hour and for every second I played, I watched the learning curve just get steeper.  That isn't to say the game sucks.  The last game I played with a steep learning curve was Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders for the XBox, which is a fantastic game.  It just takes about three or four hours to learn how to play it.  But the game is also 40 or so hours long, so I'd say that that's very fair.

When you start the game, you pick a character who is a representative of one of six colonial empires - Spain, Portugal, Holland, Italy, England and Turkey (Ottoman - people, not furniture).  From there, you go through a bit of a tutorial where you get and equip some items and put together the crew for a ship.  As I played, I noticed that the game has a full day and night cycle, which is something I don't remember seeing in any SNES titles that I had played.  It has a calendar to go along with it.  This is necessary for measuring how long your resources will last you.  You also get a taste of the game's combat system, which is a turn-based card system.  You have two turns, an offense turn and a defense turn.  In each, you'll pick a card that represents an attack or defense type in hopes tht it will counter your opponent's.  The only combat that I've seen is essentially a one-on-one duel. 

From there, I checked out all of the different buildings at port, bought some goods to sell and then cast off.  When I landed, it was in Hamburg, Germany - and they had even more tutorials for me.  I then picked a mercenary mission, sold some goods, bought some supplies and cast off again for the port of Bristol to deliver a letter for the sume of 700 pieces of gold.  I completed the mission and then turned the power the off and put the game away.  The next time I pop it in, I'll see if the save battery is still working.

From what I've gathered, I haven't even scratched the surface of this game.  I haven't seen any minigames nor have I seen much story unravel.  I haven't done any piracy either, so this game is getting more and more interesting.

The company that developed the game is Koei, creators of the strategy series The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga's Ambition.  They are now Koei-Tecmo, after buying the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive developer.  Recent games in their stable include Dynasty Warriors Online for PC, Samurai Warriors 3 for the Wii, Nobunaga's Ambition for mobile devices and Fist of the Northstar: Ken's Rage for Playstation 3 and XBox 360.  Their website is http://www.koei.com/ if you'd like to see what they're up to now.