Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Gives Me The Hots For The PS4…

Posted on January 7, 2014 by geelw

Ah, Diablo III. Other than the PC version, you haven’t failed me yet. Yeah, I’m an offline solo guy who had to deal with the original game being a total pain in the neck to get up and running, so I more than welcomed the PS3 version which I gladly paid for. Having blazed through two difficulty modes (so far), it pleases me to no end that the PS4 is getting this expansion and yes indeed, I can transfer my save files over when I finally get that PS4 in a bit. Hell may be other people (and how), but I like my personal hell packed with demons I can decimate on my own time and walk away happy and sane afterwards. Granted, Inferno mode awaits and I know I’ll be in for a fight against that lord of darkness and his many, many minions (and how, according to some folks who’ve survived the blitz of beefed up baddies raining hell down on them in solo play). But the game is supposed to be HARD. Hell, Normal mode is basically training for the others. You may not think so, you uber-core players who seem to LIKE your avatar dying endlessly until you get your skills together. Me, I prefer to have a fighting chance and enough room to run away when needed on those randomly generated maps.

Unconventional Games of the Year Choice #2: Wii, U? Get Over Here!

Posted on December 23, 2013 by geelw

Nope, I haven’t yet picked up The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, but it gets an automatic kick onto my non-list for a few reasons. One: the GameCube original was pretty darn awesome and that wonderful art style made an impression on me as soon as I saw screenshots and others were griping that Nintendo had “lost its mind” by making Link and company look like something out of an old cartoon. As a friend ran out and snapped up a Wii U recently just for this game (he got that fine bundle package with the fancy Zelda-themed GamePad art), I got to see a few hours of the game running (and even played a a little) and can vouch for the buffed up HD visuals as being better than the original game… mostly.

There’s an odd muting of the palette in a few areas and while the use of depth of field is super cool, it tended to make some areas force my eyes to automatically squint until I got used to the effect (but that’s probably just me). Otherwise, the game is just as fun, funny and almost as tricky as ever. From what I’ve heard, Nintendo hasn’t adding any new areas, but tweaked the gameplay, adding some easier and harder means of playing the game for new and old players alike. The annoying Tingle portions are apparently less so, but if the game is also a straight up enhanced port, I’m gathering that long and pesky quest that makes up a chunk of the latter portion of the game is still intact. Oh well, but the good thing about a LoZ game is once you’re past a certain point, you’re committed to completing the adventure, so that’s not much of a big deal.

I’ll most likely go with the physical version over the eShop download just because I really, REALLY want that case and manual. My GameCube Wind Waker is signed by Mr. Miyamoto and I’d love to get the Wii U game signed as well. Hey, I may not have the biggest collection on the planet or be the super-fan Nintendo wants me to be, but I do know having the chance to meet one man I respect for what he’s done for the medium is one other thing worth holding out for…

Review: Valhalla Knights 3

Posted on December 9, 2013 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: K2

Publisher: Xseed Games/Marvelous AQL

# of Players: 1 – 7

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: B- (75%)

For some people, anything resembling sexual behavior in a video game seems to set them off ranting about things they don’t want to do (play the game in public or show it off to friends and family) or didn’t see at all thanks to overreacting and imposing arbitrary rules of the real world where it never needs to be. All I’ll say is this: if you can watch this music video without curling up into a ball in a corner and whining about it being too racy or sexist or prurient, you’re probably mature enough to play (and even enjoy) Valhalla Knights 3.

K2’s new Vita exclusive may not be the best looking game on Sony’s handheld and what’s here often feels a wee bit unfinished, needing actual interactivity in the environments in the form of destructible objects and structures that could be actually entered in some outdoor maps. While there are some amusing and dramatic moments to be found, the main plot could have also used a bit more spice, as it offers up some interesting ideas that don’t mature past a certain point…
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Yes, Virginia, There Will Be A New Deadly Premonition Game. Eventually…

Posted on November 26, 2013 by geelw

Oh, Frabulous Joy Or Whatever, Department: Can I get an “FK in the Coffee!” in the house (to go, light and sweet)?!! According to the fine folks at GamingBolt, Swery 65 says he was working on a sequel to Deadly Premonition during the time he was coming up with what’s turned into the Xbox One exclusive, D4. Granted, this is only noted at the end of a sentence, there’s no HUGE reveal of info about how far along that work went and the interview is 99.9% about D4 (and a good read), so don’t look too much at that 2014 calendar and start rubbing your hands for a release date on that DP follow-up.

The interview also COMFIRMS that D4 is an Xbox One exclusive (argh!), not a DP sequel or related in any way and will contain a load of “Easter Eggs” and other elements to give it more replay value. So now that that’s settled, I guess some Swery fans will be dropping five large to get an Xbox One JUST to play this game. I’m a huge fan of the man’s body of work, but I may be passing this game up entirely unless there’s a price drop on that console and that game comes complete on a disc at some point in the future. To date, it’s the ONLY reason I’m remotely interested in Microsoft’s new ~~service~~ console, as I don’t play online “bro” shooters, have ZERO interest in sports and have plenty of movies that I can watch on cable in a MUCH better quality than any streamed content. Your own mileage may vary, of course…

Persona 5: One REALLY Great Reason to Keep That PlayStation 3 Around…

Posted on November 25, 2013 by geelw

Winter 2014 in this case probably doesn’t mean between January and March of next year, folks. If anything, Atlus is smart as hell for getting the team working on this to do so on the old hardware simply because they know it so well and can make this the best-looking Persona game to date if they choose to go all out on the visuals.

And speaking of visuals, that image from the Japanese website (currently the sole piece of art available) is pretty striking, isn’t it? That said, I’m not going to be stupid here and speculate what it means other than to say that given the previous games were about high-school age kids discovering they’re endowed with special powers and need to save the world before it ends in some insanely dramatic manner while also going through the motions of daily life, classwork and homework should still present a major story point throughout the game.

Eh, we’ll see what’s what over the next year – there’s plenty of time for Atlus to drop loads of updates before the game is ready to ship out…

Now, about those OTHER Persona games… read on for my take, if you dare…
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Valhalla Knights 3 Gets MORE New DLC. Game Definitely NOT Over!

Posted on November 13, 2013 by geelw

Wait, what? OK, I missed last week’s update thanks to me being buried in too many other games and other stuff, but it’s all good. So far I’m spending too much time playing this game and it seems Xseed Games NEVER wants me to stop. New content packs include last week’s “Good Cat Food” and “Foreigners No. 1” DLC that add some figurative (or is it literal) walking around money (every step gains gold!) and a new class to unlock and THIS week’s “Lady Clerks Set” and “Foreigners No. 2” that add a few new girls to the shops and another new class to learn once you beat the tough boss it gives you in the quest you’ll find at one of the guilds.

Xseed has more to come next week and most likely for the next few weeks, all of which are great for this action/RPG that’s much better than the reviews are saying. I’ve one of my own reviews to write (it’s about half done) that should help anyone on the fence decide if this one’s worth their gaming dollar (it is, but it’s not perfect and NOT for the kiddies). Alright, let me shut up here and get back to the game as once again… thing are getting innnnteresting in the story. Of course, there’s that VK3 Gold Edition Japan is getting that adds a lot of improvements and such that I hope to heck we see here at some point… but I’ll let Xseed take care of that when they need to and not say another peep until it’s a confirmed release here in the U.S. of A….

Your Life Lesson for the Day, Courtesy Valhalla Knights 3…

Posted on November 10, 2013 by geelw

For a game very unfairly labeled “misogynist” and a few other choice negative terms by some skittish reviewers who clearly don’t know the meaning of some of the big words they use, Valhalla Knights 3 sure has a few interesting side-quests and resolutions. Sure, the skimpy outfits and NSFW “Sexytime” mini-game with certain ladies in the game are there to please the more prurient otaku with itchy fingers and the old-school RPG level grinding isn’t for every taste. But dang it if Producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto and his team at K2 didn’t whip in a few oddball surprises that prove they’re not the sexist neanderthals some “journalists” think they are for making this game.

Yeah, I’m still working on my review. I have a load of notes here and I think it’s going to be longer than I was initially thinking because warts and all, this one’s nowhere near as awful as some are saying. The Valhalla Knights series have never been known for the depth of its plots or stellar storytelling and VK3 continues that trend outside of some fun vignettes such as this one that aren’t tied to the main quest. That said, the main plot in the game does have its moments, but I’ll discuss some of those in my review…

Granted, I’ll admit right now that the game is NOT for all tastes and I can see some taking offense at a few of the more salacious elements. Of course, it’s a free country, so it seems that a bunch of people who probably shouldn’t be playing this are doing so with varying degrees of disgust or shame because they can’t handle the content. It seems that the completely humorless, kids who convinced their parents or some other adult to buy this for them and are turned off by the lewd elements (hey, it IS a MATURE rated game, you little dummies!), or those expecting a pure porn experience (it’s most assuredly NOT that at all) are getting slapped in the head with confusion on a few fronts (as always when it comes to games that toss even the mildest forms of sexual themes into the mix).

Onechanbara Z Kagura With NoNoNo! Promos: Sexy Zombie Killers Are OK Any Year…

Posted on October 31, 2013 by geelw

With all this fuss and bother in the news here about Halloween costumes for ladies getting TOO (and ONLY) sexy this year (yeah, you can buy “sexy” food and other bizarre outfits from any costume shop wanting to make a fast buck), I say the ONLY outfits that should never be criticized are the many sexy zombie killer get-ups worn by the digital dolls in any Onechanbara game. Hell, who’s going to tell a lady in a bikini with two VERY sharp swords she knows how to use that she’s not dressed correctly? That, and these gals have earned their stripes long before this “controversy” kicked into gear. The Onechanbara games have been around for about a decade already and while it’s not a big AAA title, it does have a loyal fan base of male AND female players. Granted, that top video will be seen as intentionally sexist and stupid to some, but it’s not an actual documentary and your sense of humor needs a tune-up if you try and take it too seriously.

I missed posting the second promo video a few weeks back because I’d forgotten to set alerts for D3Publisher’s YouTube page (oops). That’s been rectified and it’s above. Given that the third promo is entirely in English as are some of the game’s menus… my grubby little fingers are indeed crossed tightly (and it’s hard to type this way, mind you!) that D3Publisher of America is perhaps considering a localization of this one at some point. Onechanbara games are pure fluff and bouncy bits, but the over the top gore quotient combined with the ridiculous amount of hours of gameplay, costumes and characters to unlock make them strangely addictive once you get past the jiggle factor. I’ve always found it amusing that nearly all of the males in this series of games are either zombies, other hideous monsters or rescue bait, so in a weird way, this is a sort of Otaku version of “girl power” complete with cosplayers popping up in some places.

Anyway, D3PUS? What’s up with Onechanbara Z Kagura with NoNoNo!? Any plans to bring this sexy slashy thing over to the PS3 sometime soon? I sure hope so, as I’d hate to import another game I won’t have the chance to play otherwise…

Monster High: 13 Wishes Looks to Scare Up Some Halloween Fun on Nintendo Platforms

Posted on October 29, 2013 by geelw

Although… it’s quite funny to me because some parental groups out there are more scared of Monster High than they are of actual bad things, blaming the hugely popular dolls for all the wrong things and in some cases, banning their daughters from even going near anything related to the show. Too bad for those eternal sourpusses, I say. Maybe they REALLY need to do some gaming to chill out for a bit and see that it’s not eeeeee-vil at all. Maybe they need to play Monster High: 13 Wishes out NOW exclusively for all current Nintendo platforms (Wii U, Wii, 3DS/2DS and DS).

This one looks like it’ll be simple and reliable platforming fun for fans of the dolls and yes indeed, I think I’d play this just because I like the unpretentious nature of the family-friendly licensed game. Okay, that sounded pompous, didn’t it? Hey, don’t let the “big” words scare you off now, I say. If you’re a fan of the girls, you’ll probably be giving this a by for that kid who wants it but then play it yourself once they’re asleep. Hey, we all need a guilty pleasure and if this keeps your head out of the fridge and out of that bowl of Halloween candy, it’s all good, right?

Gran Turismo 6 Gameplay: It’s Not Next-Gen, But It’s Still Spectacular

Posted on October 21, 2013 by geelw

Yeah, that “old” PS3 still has it going on strong and in fact, Gran Turismo 6 and a few other recent titles are showing that it’s less the age of the hardware than what a talented developer who KNOWS what it can do with it is doing. Gameplay doesn’t kick off until about 11-plus minutes in so feel free to zip forward ’til that point. I’m gathering this one will be huge for Sony this holiday season, but surprisingly enough, I’m not seeing a huge amount of industry buzz on the game. This is probably due to the amount of ink spilled about “next-gen” racers from Sony and Microsoft, plus the fact that it’s a given that every GT game will be excellent on the visuals front (unless you’re a PC elitist who goes ga-ga for graphics and think what’s here isn’t as grand as what your four-card rig can run maxed out). That said, I’m not complaining at ALL, that’s for sure…