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posted by VFD @ 3:42 pm
Thursday, November 25, 2004
About Me
- Name: VFD
- Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
David Hewitt. Bipedal, land-dwelling primate, doodler in the margins of life, and creative director at Tantalus (a videogame development studio).
Previous Posts
- Too. Too. Too Much Coffee.
- Back in Black
- Passing Breeze
- Any tips for a flutter on the GGs this Tuesday?
- Hobbits!
- Sony PSP Launch
- Nintendogs
- Welcome to the Fantasy Zone. Get Ready!
- Happy Birthday To Me!
- Did I say "quick summary"?
6 Comments:
Hi, this is anonymous here. I love you schmoopy!
Hmm, puzzling.
Who could it be? ;)
/me waves!
I didn't know you were doing a blog-type thing. Now I do. I "subscribed" to your "feed." You can read into that whatever you like.
Tell me some good games to buy (PS2 or GC). I am bored and I live in the sticks.
Ooh er, missus. It's a pleasure to have you suckling at my e-teat.
Here's the best advice you'll get all day:
Go out and buy Katamari Damacy for PS2 right now. It's a bundle of unbridled joy and sunshine, the most original bit of game design in years, and what's more, it was released at a bargain price, presumably because it has a wacky Japanese name.
You play a little interstellar prince, whose father is basically God, as far as I can figure out, except that he got drunk and lost all of the stars. So you have to make like a dung beetle, and roll up these enormous balls of stuff until they're big enough to replace the stars. You start off picking up tiny things, then medium things, and then you're an enormous rolling ball of death, chasing screaming children down the street. But somehow it's cute at the same time. Also, the music is totally awesome, and you eventually get to roll up huge ships and buildings, whole islands, rainbows and even Godzilla into your ever-increasing ball of fun.
Okay, so it sounds a bit shit when you describe it, but it's one of those delightful games that just clicks into place as soon as you pick up the controller. You'll be grinning from ear to ear, I promise.
As for other stuff, well, I've been enjoying Beyond Good and Evil lately, which you can get for either Gamecube or PS2. I've no problems at all recommending that to you.
On Gamecube, we haven't picked much up this year - Julie just got the new Harvest Moon, but hasn't had much time to play it yet. I'm looking forward to picking up Paper Mario 2, Pikmin 2 and Viewtiful Joe 2. All three look good and got reviewed well, but I haven't been able to import them yet.
On PS2, I recommend Burnout 3 and Sly 2, from this year's releases. I'm also a huge fan of the Ratchet and Clank games (made by the same mob that made the good Spyro games, incidentally), and if the newly released Up Your Arsenal (which is part 3) is anywhere near as good as Going Commando (which is part 2), then it'll be well worth picking up. So, I'll wholeheartedly recommend Ratchet and Clank 2, as I think it's one of the best games ever, but I'll also point out that Ratchet and Clank 3 has just come out, and might well be a little bit better again, if the reviews are to be trusted.
The other big game I'm looking forward to on PS2 is Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Fantastic title, eh? :) It's not out here until March, but it's out now in the US. I loved the first two games, so I'm really looking forward to the new one. I can't really recommend it, having not played it, but I'd imagine it's a pretty safe bet.
Of the other big blockbusters of the season, I've not enjoyed Metroid Prime or GTA. But that's probably just me.
So, definitely get Katamari Damacy. I reckon that'd be right up your alley. And then get Sly 2 or one of the Ratchet and Clanks, I reckon.
We already have Katamari Damacy. And yes, it rules. Today I found a crown and the king let me wear it. I CAN FEEL IT! I CAN FEEL THE COSMOS! Best game ever.
Pikmin 2 was good, but I thought it lacked the charm of the first one. Possibly because it was the same as the first one, only longer, and with a few new Pikmin who were not surprising at all. Still, better than 99% of the games out there I'd reckon.
Paper Mario 2 and Metroid Prime 2 are on the Xmas Lists this year. I will add your other recommendations post haste.
I was sort of thinking I would be able to play a good RPG now that I have a PS2. But then I realized that there actually aren't any good RPGs, are there? I guess RPG now just means "lots and lots of meaningless dialog! a completely railroaded plot! oh and of course you are a 14 year old boy with only one parent, and you SAAAAAVE THE WOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRLD! With your mana!" Prove me wrong.
Well, straight off the bat, I'll have to admit that RPGs aren't my genre of choice at present. The missus is the expert there.
The RPG I've actually enjoyed most, out of the recent crop, was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. But as that's only available on Xbox and PC, it's probably not much help to you :/
I've sort of gone off a lot of RPGs - particularly the ones that sound like you describe. The other one I really enjoyed this generation (though it's a bit long in the tooth, and almost due for a sequel) was Kingdom Hearts for the PS2. It's an odd looking game, and features loads of Disney characters and worlds, and is made by the same mob that do the Final Fantasy games. I've sworn off FF, personally, as they're just too tedious, but there was something really appealing about Kingdom Hearts. It'll be really cheap now, so I'd definitely recommend you check it out if you haven't already. Don't be too put off by the Disney-ness of it - it's actually a lot of fun.
If you're into crappy graphics, building up statistics, and like a bit of strategy with your RPGs, and you don't mind a game that doesn't take itself too seriously, try Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (for PS2). It's deep and funny and HUGE, but sort of looks like a PS1 game. This might bother you, or it might not. I'm not sure.
Also take a look at Skies of Arcadia Legends (for Gamecube) - I've not played much of it yet, but I liked what I saw, and the missus swears its about the best RPG she's played. And she's got quite similar taste to you in that department, I think.
She also really liked Dark Cloud 2 (PS2), which is much more of an action-RPG. I've not played that one at all yet, myself, but it kept her out of mischief for at least 100 hours.
One last one that could be worth a look is Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2). This is something that a friend at work brought in to show me - so I've only really seen the first couple of hours. I can't say too much about the gameplay (there's never much in the opening stages of a JRPG), but the art style is really unique and beautiful, and it seems to have a very different sort of setting and story to most RPGs. If I was going to take a chance on a new RPG, it'd probably be this one. The atmosphere was fantastic.
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