Shit. I lost my first life quick.
Fuck.
Who wood evan makk thes?
conk-sunking SNK Boss Syndrome.
immangrants?!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Satan of Saturn (Arcade)
Alright Bring it On Satan of Saturn!
Shit. I lost my first life quick.
Fuck.
Who wood evan makk thes?
conk-sunking SNK Boss Syndrome.
immangrants?!
Shit. I lost my first life quick.
Fuck.
Who wood evan makk thes?
conk-sunking SNK Boss Syndrome.
immangrants?!
Return of the Lady Frog (Arcade)
I...don't know?
"Like strip mahjong, but high as fuck and no mahjong and starring a frog." - Psiga
"Like strip mahjong, but high as fuck and no mahjong and starring a frog." - Psiga
The Kimonos - The Kimonos (2010)
With the availability of music on the internet, and the fact that it takes just a little bit of time to decide if you like the music or not, I think music reviews are pretty much dead. I still scour the Punk News year end reviews for my year's worth of punk music. I go through each list and load up each band on youtube/myspace/amazon. Some of them are good. Some of them aren't. Music critics role is primarily of giving context and history of the music. What music had the musicians made before? How is this different or the same from their previous works. How does this piece fit in the flow of popular and underground culture?
So this is a side project by Mukai something, of Zazen Boys/ Number Girl fame. I have been listening to it non-stop since yesterday.
So this is a side project by Mukai something, of Zazen Boys/ Number Girl fame. I have been listening to it non-stop since yesterday.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Penny Arcade Game Episode 1 (PS3)
It was 2.99 for both games, so why the hell not! I've played the first one, and it is full of Tycho's delicious writing. It doesn't have a lot of music, but it's also one of the only PS3 games to support custom soundtracks. That's a pretty short list it's on. I ended up fighting the final boss to Edna's Goldfish's Elements of Transition. Not exactly the most thematically appropriate music, but I didn't have a lot else on there. I should put some more game music on it. Maybe the Etrian Odyssey III soundtrack?
I don't see a lot of people talk about the game, but then again there isn't a lot to talk about. I will say it was nice when I could finally try the game when I had the 360. It's an active battle RPG. The enemies will keep hitting you regardless if you're in a menu or not. This is a mild headache, especially when you suddenly can't control your cursor because you're selecting an enemy to attack and don't realize it. You're also using different buttons for different commands and need to manually select each character. It works alright I suppose.
They ended up making a game in which it is hard to say anything good or bad about it. Maybe that was their goal. Oh, I'll say the trophy for going through the game without anyone dying once is ridonkulous.
I don't see a lot of people talk about the game, but then again there isn't a lot to talk about. I will say it was nice when I could finally try the game when I had the 360. It's an active battle RPG. The enemies will keep hitting you regardless if you're in a menu or not. This is a mild headache, especially when you suddenly can't control your cursor because you're selecting an enemy to attack and don't realize it. You're also using different buttons for different commands and need to manually select each character. It works alright I suppose.
They ended up making a game in which it is hard to say anything good or bad about it. Maybe that was their goal. Oh, I'll say the trophy for going through the game without anyone dying once is ridonkulous.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Suikoden (PS1) Shining Force (Genesis)
Suikoden had commanded a high price on the PS1 aftermarket as soon as it was released. It's connectivity with Suikoden II helped this. I didn't have a PS1 at the time, and didn't feel like hunting it down when I got a PS2 or playing the sequels available for that platform. I had mild curiosity in a series that was still on going, but if it was ever brought up they talked about the first two games, or that game 4 was awful.
Then Suikoden got a PSN release and I figured a 15 hour RPG that got praise (if it got mentioned) and instead of 100 dollars was 6, why not. It turned out to be a 25 hour RPG, but I'm not going to feel too bad about that, since part of that was collecting our 108 characters. Suikoden is loosely based on the Water Margin another ancient Chinese story I don't really know anything about, but has many different interpretations. That includes 5 RPGs about collecting 108 characters! I guess there is also the DS game which was maybe different?
Anyways! 108 characters means it's hard to give them time to develop. But that's not the only idea this game has. It also has you participating in large scale battles against the evil empire. You try to recruit every person you defeat because the Emperor has changed from how he was seven years ago. And at the very end, he isn't actually evil at all (but he does turn into a hydra). So the plot isn't what is keeping you going.
Hell I think what kept me going was because I had it. Skies of Arcadia is this game, but in every possible way better. If you've never played Suikoden, well just go play Skies of Arcadia again, or for the first time. It's definitely one of the best RPGs ever made!
Shining Force though, I wasn't expecting to play it all the way through. Unlike Fire Emblem, death isn't permanent. Unlike Final Fantasy Tactics/Ogre Battle it doesn't have a huge amount of between battles preparation. Unlike both of those games and most tactics games, it has the feeling of a coherent world. Between each stage you might pick up more (awesome) characters and buy one slot of equipment for the characters you're going to use.
Each battle is important to the story, and if you lose a battle you keep all the experience you gained from it, lose half your money and are sent back to the town before that battle. The battles walk a neat line between being kind of easy, but also always in danger that you could lose. I probably followed GameFAQS a little too much, as I used characters I didn't like because they supposedly became great (but never really did).
No one ever talks about Shining Force's world though. Like how midway through you have to destroy a giant laser eye on the otherside of a canyon. Your party has hawkmen, a baby dragon (that upgrade to an adult dragon), and armadillo in steampunk armor. Along with normal dwarves, mages, elves and humans. What's weird is the most common species in your party is centaurs. Which can go far, but are useless for half the battles because of mountainous terrain.
It was brisk and friendly and knew you could beat it. I'm more interested in the series now, and might pick up one part of Shining Force III at the local game store. It's amazingly unobtrusive for an early Megadrive game. It was a nice fun time. Suikoden I can say is "something I have played." Shining Force is a fun game. I'm sure the GBA re-make is great too (unless they fucked it up.)
Then Suikoden got a PSN release and I figured a 15 hour RPG that got praise (if it got mentioned) and instead of 100 dollars was 6, why not. It turned out to be a 25 hour RPG, but I'm not going to feel too bad about that, since part of that was collecting our 108 characters. Suikoden is loosely based on the Water Margin another ancient Chinese story I don't really know anything about, but has many different interpretations. That includes 5 RPGs about collecting 108 characters! I guess there is also the DS game which was maybe different?
Anyways! 108 characters means it's hard to give them time to develop. But that's not the only idea this game has. It also has you participating in large scale battles against the evil empire. You try to recruit every person you defeat because the Emperor has changed from how he was seven years ago. And at the very end, he isn't actually evil at all (but he does turn into a hydra). So the plot isn't what is keeping you going.
Hell I think what kept me going was because I had it. Skies of Arcadia is this game, but in every possible way better. If you've never played Suikoden, well just go play Skies of Arcadia again, or for the first time. It's definitely one of the best RPGs ever made!
Shining Force though, I wasn't expecting to play it all the way through. Unlike Fire Emblem, death isn't permanent. Unlike Final Fantasy Tactics/Ogre Battle it doesn't have a huge amount of between battles preparation. Unlike both of those games and most tactics games, it has the feeling of a coherent world. Between each stage you might pick up more (awesome) characters and buy one slot of equipment for the characters you're going to use.
Each battle is important to the story, and if you lose a battle you keep all the experience you gained from it, lose half your money and are sent back to the town before that battle. The battles walk a neat line between being kind of easy, but also always in danger that you could lose. I probably followed GameFAQS a little too much, as I used characters I didn't like because they supposedly became great (but never really did).
No one ever talks about Shining Force's world though. Like how midway through you have to destroy a giant laser eye on the otherside of a canyon. Your party has hawkmen, a baby dragon (that upgrade to an adult dragon), and armadillo in steampunk armor. Along with normal dwarves, mages, elves and humans. What's weird is the most common species in your party is centaurs. Which can go far, but are useless for half the battles because of mountainous terrain.
It was brisk and friendly and knew you could beat it. I'm more interested in the series now, and might pick up one part of Shining Force III at the local game store. It's amazingly unobtrusive for an early Megadrive game. It was a nice fun time. Suikoden I can say is "something I have played." Shining Force is a fun game. I'm sure the GBA re-make is great too (unless they fucked it up.)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Merry Christmas Mister Lawrence (Nagisa Oshima)
The only thing I knew about this film was the cover and that it starred David Bowie. Well, I also knew the premise, British soldiers in a Japanese POW Camp. The director may be famous I don't know?
How was it? Alright. You get lots of shots of David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto looking too perfect. Outside of the beatings and poor food fashions, it seems like a very open prison camp. I didn't expect the Japanese officers to speak that much English. They do an admirable effort, Sakamoto and Beat Takashi, but it still comes off more awkward than effective.
It's a neat film just for the star talent involved. They all give great performances, and our true star Mister Lawrence, who didn't speak a word of Japanese, speaks phonetically perfect Japanese throughout. It even sounds like it is Japanese spoken by a British man. That was really impressive.
Oh and the whole movie is about homosexual mindgames. Going to need to watch it a few more times since A) I own it, B) Can't say for certain if I like it or not. It's in some ways a very flawed film. Most of the scenes were done in one or two takes, and the script wasn't set in stone. So the tone and flow jumps wildly. There's are two scenes (related to each other) that just stop the film dead in it's tracks. Even with that, it's a pretty breezy two hours. Still I would have liked there to be an editor to just cut those scenes out of the film because they don't add anything to the main plot. It feels like one of those cases where a movie ends, and another begins and you didn't even have to leave your seat.
How was it? Alright. You get lots of shots of David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto looking too perfect. Outside of the beatings and poor food fashions, it seems like a very open prison camp. I didn't expect the Japanese officers to speak that much English. They do an admirable effort, Sakamoto and Beat Takashi, but it still comes off more awkward than effective.
It's a neat film just for the star talent involved. They all give great performances, and our true star Mister Lawrence, who didn't speak a word of Japanese, speaks phonetically perfect Japanese throughout. It even sounds like it is Japanese spoken by a British man. That was really impressive.
Oh and the whole movie is about homosexual mindgames. Going to need to watch it a few more times since A) I own it, B) Can't say for certain if I like it or not. It's in some ways a very flawed film. Most of the scenes were done in one or two takes, and the script wasn't set in stone. So the tone and flow jumps wildly. There's are two scenes (related to each other) that just stop the film dead in it's tracks. Even with that, it's a pretty breezy two hours. Still I would have liked there to be an editor to just cut those scenes out of the film because they don't add anything to the main plot. It feels like one of those cases where a movie ends, and another begins and you didn't even have to leave your seat.
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