Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Game Is On

So the second post of the reincarnation of the blog.  I guess this is a defining moment.  Who knows.

Please mind the fact that this entry might be a little short to the point and off.  I have been reformatting my wife's old net book to use as an auxiliary device.  The keyboard however is much smaller than I am used to so things are a little weird using it.  I shall conquer this!!

Things have been good this week with my advancing through the drudge that is my backlog.  I haven't beaten anything this week, just playing.  Lets go through things:

Pokemon Y:

I keep getting suckered back into the Pokemon series.  I loved Red.  I loved Silver and Gold and Yellow and Emerald.  I think they were great games because I was young and I could memorize all the damn Pokemon in the game and feel really cool.  Things weren't overly complicated.  That was the key.  Now though things are just crazy.

The story is similar as all the others.  If you have played one Pokemon game you have played them all.  8 gyms, 8 badges.  Elite 4.  Legendary Pokemon.  Some evil team trying to take over things/the world.  They add the element of a new region for each game and that helps to somewhat change things up if not just a bit.

I will say that "Y" is better than Diamond/Platinum (the last Pokemon games I played).  Mega Evolution is kind of fun during battles to get that instant boost of kickassness.  I like how the boring flow of the game from town to town is broken up at times with random little excursions.  And as always, the collecting of Pokemon is always entertaining.

I think that my problem with the game besides the sheer massive amount of Pokemon is all the little ways that you can level up your Pokemon so that you can battle against people online.  I haven't used the online element that much on here and I don't see myself becoming a huge collector and battler on it.  I will say that if you cut away all of that "fluff" that the game does do pretty well.

I find myself done with the power plant and back getting ready to take on the electric trainer's gym (can't remember the gym right now since I don't have my 3DS near me).  Besides having 5 badges, I have spent a lot of time just leveling different types of Pokemon to round out my team.  The problem though is that where I am I have't found a good spot to just level.  Its quite a pain in the ass.  I might just push through and beat this game this upcoming week.  Gotta a nice little trip for work I am doing, so lots of play time.  

It just blows my mind how many Pokemon I have seen/caught so far.  I think its when I look at this that I begin to realize the crazy amount in the game.


Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch:

I first heard of Ni No Kuni while listening to the Official Playstation Blogcast podcast.  At first I wasn't too impressed with what they were saying about things.  Just wasn't drawing me into the game.  They made the comments that it was a great JRPG that was very different from others and it had a great sense of humor and story to it.  I just didn't pay too much attention to things.

Then after a couple of months I saw that there was a demo for it and I decided "Why the hell not.  Lets give this a try".  Downloaded, explored the forest, defeated the monster, and still was not too horribly impressed by things.  Sometimes demos hit me really well but sometimes they don't.

After even more time had passed I was looking for a good game for my birthday and I just thought that maybe I would toss it on a list and if I got it I would try it out.  Maybe a new RPG to my routine would spice things up.

Damn.  I am really happy that I got the game and have been playing it.

Ni No Kuni is a title that seems to get a lot of things right, with some things wrong (more things right though).  The animation and drawing is amazing, but nothing less can be expected from Studio Ghibli.  The voice acting is perfect.  Using British actors was the perfect choice.  American voice actors I think wouldn't have been able to tell the story as well because there ain't anything special about our voices.  Please don't get me started on what the hell a Boston accent is from.

The story though takes the cake.  There are typical J/RPG elements with magic and rescuing and exploring.  There is a world to save.  There is leveling to do and friends to make along Oliver's journey.  You even have a quirky Lord High Lord of the fairies that helps you out.  What takes the cake is the reason behind the journey.

MILD SPOILER AHEAD.  INTRO SPOILER!!!!



All good adventures have a starting point.  A reason for you to cross that mountain and see what is on the other side.  Without this you are just on a stroll with no purpose.  Oliver doesn't start his adventure because he wants to free the world from tyranny.  He doesn't want to save crystals.

He wants to save his mum.  His mother dies and he discovers that by going on this journey he will be able to bring her back.

BAM!!  Thats it!!  Saving the world is secondary to his mother.  Through the journey he keeps saying that he needs to accomplish what he set out to do.  This is something that will pull at anyone that loves their mother.  I would have done anything for my mother when I was young, and heck I still would now.  That is the beauty of this.  I plan on playing this game when I have kids and have it as an interactive story.  There is nothing offensive in it (except for fantasy violence) and its something that they will really enjoy.

Yes its a game that still requires 40-50 hours to play through, and the familiar system is daunting and confusing.  Sometimes the combat system is off as well.  The thing is that that doesn't really matter.  I want more when I play it.  I want to hold Oliver's hand and get him to the end and see what happens.  I want him to save his mother because its not just his mother.  Its mine as well.  Its your's.

I strongly recommend that people pick this title up and give it a try.  It may be a little slow at the beginning but keep with it.  Its worth it I promise.  I find myself currently in Hamelin and you will laugh when you get there.

I only suggest that you think like a child when you play.  Relax and let yourself be young.