With the release of Brawl and its undeniable awesomeness, everyone I’ve seen has the same thing to say: “We were disappointed with the lack of voice communications support.”
I can understand why you would want to communicate with your friends in game, both to coordinate matches and just to have some fun. But think about this for a minute, do you really need voice in this game? Let’s look at some of the things you’ll be encountering in your adventures with voice chat!
Instant Online Radio! Ah, who thought we could get music we’ve never heard of by artists without labels at such poor quality? Listening to music while playing a video game is great, especially when it comes over someone else’s 10 dollar Wal-Mart mic, which can barely communicate with its own headphone jack, let alone start a disco. I don’t know about you, but I love it when people share their musical tastes with me while I’m trying to say something important to my teammates or calling for backup. It makes be feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
10 year olds with superiority complexes! When I’m playing online, I enjoy listening to someone half my age talking about his enormous testicles and dropping F-bombs like he grew up at the state Veteran’s Hospital. It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something when I beat up someone so young, and it’s ok to feel proud, because the little bastard had it coming. The state of our youth is in good hands when we can say with conviction that our children are growing up strong minded, strong willed, and strongly in need of some grammar lessons.
NEED A DISPENSER HERE! NEED A DISPENSER HERE! NEED A *OH MY GOD WILL YOU JUST DIE*
So the next time you start thinking to yourself “I wish this had voice communication so I could talk to the person I’m playing with,” just remember what comes with it. If you really want it that bad, get their cell phone number.
I was just about to go to bed when I noticed that I had new RSS feed stuff from GAME Watch. AQ Interactive is releasing the KORG DS-10 Synthesizer in July. KORG is a very popular synthesizer and sequencer company. I grew up in a music store that had a pretty decent sized synth department, so when I saw the big KORG logo, I was immediately intrigued. Very much like a full sized keyboard, you can record tracks using different sounds and mix them all together with a built-in drum machine.
The touch screen is used to do things like input notes and change sound levels. There’s even online WiFi support for multiplayer. According to the official website, this product is being demonstrated at the Musikmesse in Germany this month, which is probably the world’s largest music trade show. And if you’re curious about how it sounds, the official site has a demo song. Pretty cool stuff.
I get all kinds of excited whenever I hear about a JRPG for the 360. I think, “Oh! My 360 will have purpose!” The official Japanese website has a trailer for download. There are two options. The first is an actual download (r-click save as…) and the second is streaming. Honestly, I tried the streaming first. Took too long. So I downloaded the 1280 x 720 and wow, it’s pretty. Crystal clear animation made my mouth water. I love the Tales of… series. Most Tales of… games seem to come out eventually in the US, so I’m crossing my fingers for this one. Nothing like playing stuff like this in HD…
Capcom is releasing Gyakuten Saiban for Windows in Japan via download. From what I can translate, the game will be broken down into parts and each part will cost 120 yen. Honestly, I’ve never played Phoenix Wright, so I’m not sure what the big deal is. I’m told it’s awesome, though.
The service will launch with Dr. Mario, Pokemon Ranch Channel, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Little King, Star Soldier R and some random Japanese craziness that I will detail below.
Anyway here are my stats:
Rank: Chuu-kyuu
Completion Rate: 10.7%
Time: 28:30
…
Still don’t really like the combat in the game, and it really got to me in the later fights but I didn’t have any real problems against anyone save for one boss near the end. The story is one of the best I’ve played (even though I have to admit I didn’t 100% understand all of it… I got maybe 95% of the main story) and the ending is just ridiculously awesome.
…
For me, the game is a solid 90% or 95%. FYI I think the first RGG was probably an 85% game, so I think this one is a bit better for a lot of small reasons (better loading, more enjoyable mini-games, story is more epic and grand, etc.) I think if the combat was smoothed out a bit more it would be good. I’d like it if certain strings were cancelable or if you could have a make a combo feature or something like that.
Developed by Gust and published in the US by NIS America, Mana Khemia is a nice diversion. If you like the Atelier Iris series and Ar Tornelico, you’ll like Mana Khemia. Call me boring or a pathetic fan girl, but I think this is a good thing. There are times when I’m looking for something comfortable and familiar. Playing a game like that is like snuggling under the covers on a chilly Sunday morning and just being lazy. So if you’re looking for something different, amazing, and revolutionary, this isn’t the right choice. But if you’re into snuggling with hot chocolate, I definitely recommend checking it out.
You begin the game as Vayne, a young man with a cat companion named Sulpher. A teacher from the alchemy school invites him to be a student and so he begins his studies. On his first day of school, he befriends a super-cute, pink-haired girl, a spunky cat-girl, and a brash loser of an upperclassman. Each chapter is broken down into events and classes. In order to progress the story, you have to pass your alchemy classes. These classes might teach you combat, alchemy, or judging whether or not to run from battle. I am in the second chapter and so far, there are hints that there is something special about Vayne, but nothing concrete. There also isn’t some great evil threatening the world yet, either.
The battles are turn based, although when you get to take your turn next is determined by your actions. There is attack, defend, run away, item, and skill/magic. Instead of experience points leading to increasing levels, your points can be allocated to an alchemy grid, similar to the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X. The primary difference, however, is that in order to allocate your points, you must synthesize items, armor, or weapons using alchemy and have them either in your inventory or equipped. If you haven’t synthesized them yourself, you can’t learn the skills associated with them. As such, leveling up your character is directly determined by how far you’ve progressed in the story and what items you’ve picked up along the way. In addition to that, as you progress through a dungeon, time passes. When it becomes night time, the enemies get a LOT more difficult. Unless you’ve got a lot of skills on the grid unlocked, the night enemies are too challenging, so you have to leave, come back, and start the dungeon over. So forget grinding. It doesn’t get you anywhere. Enemies are visible on screen as you traverse the dungeon, so you can avoid them, if you’re careful. This definitely helps with the time passing issue.
The alchemy system is the basis of the game since you have to synthesize items in order to “level” your characters. Experimentation is easy and you can receive support from other characters in your party. I haven’t messed around with it that much yet, so I’m not entirely sure how the different characters can affect your outcomes. The synthesized items have qualities like “muddy” or “powdery.” I haven’t figured out how they affect the game yet, though. I haven’t found my Heal Jars to work differently based on whether they’re muddy or powdery.
The graphics are what we’ve come to expect from Gust. The enemies are the same, as are the mana. I love Punis. And the pretty boys. There is a Japanese voice option, thank God. The English makes me cringe. (I’m one of those Japanese voice acting purists, though…) The story so far is fluffy, but I’m guessing that it will get interesting later. I’m definitely enjoying this game, but it’s not breaking down any barriers. It’s more of what I like about Gust’s games and that’s good enough for me.
“Originally an arcade game created by legendary designer Eugene Jarvis (Defender, Robotron: 2084, and Cruis’n series), Target: Terror puts you in the place of an elite anti-terrorist agent who is charged with protecting the U.S. from all terrorist activities.”
Who else thinks Eugene is in his 80’s and hitting the bottle a little too hard these days?
NEWS FEED
There is a Japanese voice option, thank God. The English makes me cringe. (I’m one of those Japanese voice acting purists, though…) The story so far is fluffy, but I’m guessing that it will get interesting later. I’m definitely enjoying this game, but it’s not breaking down any barriers. It’s more of what I like about Gust’s games and that’s good enough for me.
