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Gaming Diary – From Xenoblades to Pokemons

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After I finished Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, I thought it might be best to put down the Pokeymans for some of my other unfinished 3DS games. Since Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is out, maybe it’s the best time to finally play Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. After playing it for about 8 hours, I have the following thoughts:

  • WOOF the graphics are bad. Like they’re so pixelated, it’s really hard to distinguish faces and enemies from backgrounds. I never played this game when it released on the Wii, but I have a very hard time believing it looked this bad on the big screen. Final Fantasy VII has outdated graphics, but at least the faces and enemies are discernible on the small screen. During an early boss fight with a spider, I gave up figuring out what to hit and just swung madly at the purple blob on my screen.
  • Why are there zero interesting side quests? Thus far, it’s only fetch quests as far as the eye can see. And when I do complete a fetch quest, would it have killed the devs to include map markers for the quest givers? It’s not a joy running around the town over and over again trying to find this one boy.
  • This is an action-RPG, but I want to use that term loosely. It’s an action-RPG/turn-based RPG hybrid. You can move around on the screen and aim for specific places to hit like an action-RPG. However, the characters and enemies on the screen attack in some sort of an ATB system. Either make it an ATB system or don’t.
  • Are you telling me this is yet another post-apocalyptic setting in a neverending war between man and machine? Wow. That’s totally NEVER been done before.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

Part of me wants to push through a little further, but another part of me is all, NOPE, nobody got time for that. I’m going to research the sequel a bit more before moving on. If the combat is exactly like this one, then it will get a hard pass. I’ll just go back to Xenoblade Chronicles X, because that game was fun.

After feeling defeated with Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, I decided to pick up a game that has a completely original idea and game format: Pokemon Pearl. (If your sarcasm senses aren’t tingling, please slap yourself.) Even though the Pokemon games are literally all the same, I still have fun playing them. They’re easy to pick up and play, and it’s a bit of an RPG-lite, which is nice for a handheld.

Is anyone watching Awesome Games Done Quick? It’s a blast as always, although it was a little disheartening to see a runner blaze through Splatoon 2 in the same amount of time it took me to beat one level.

Gaming Diary: It’s not just space; it’s a Star Ocean

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You guessed it, folks; I’ve been derailed once again by accepting a new game review. This time it’s for Star Ocean: The Last Hope 4K & Full HD Remaster. Yes, all of that is in the title. You can play this remaster in 4K on your PS4 Pro, although I have no idea why you would want to see Xbox 360/PS3 graphics in 4K. Okay, that’s harsh, I admit. They aren’t that rough, but pretty much all that’s been done to the graphics is smooth them out for the higher resolution of the PS4. They’re nothing to write home about, and they’re certainly not Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness or Final Fantasy XV levels.

If you’re struggling to remember this game, perhaps you’ll remember back at E3 2008, when Square Enix announced they were producing THREE RPGs for the Xbox 360. You could hear the collective gasps through your TV screen. These games were Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope. I played both Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant, of which I loved the latter. In fact, I regret trading that game and guide in. It would be great if it received the remaster treatment as well, but I’m doubtful. Knowing my luck, it will be Infinite Undiscovery.

Star Ocean The Last Hope

Is this little guy flipping me off or saying I’m number one in his heart?

I’m still compiling my review, so I can’t get into the nitty-gritty. However, this game is so heavy-handed on the JRPG stereotypes and tropes, it’s laughable. Not to mention, if anyone talks about the “Star Ocean” again, I may lose it. Yes, we get why it’s called “Star Ocean.” Stop with the wink wink, nudge nudge. Then again, the protagonist’s name is a giant wink wink, nudge nudge—he’s Edge Maverick, because he’s a maverick living on the edge. I do giggle whenever they say his name. Even Tidus had a better name, blondie.

And speaking of that, unto the breach I go once more before I write this puppy up.

Gaming Diary – Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men…

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In the US, our Thanksgiving holiday is a four-day weekend for most people. If you’re a kid in school, you get the whole week off (which is total BS). It’s PRIME gaming time, right? No deadlines. No clients are in to ask for last minute projects. All we have is time, football, and lots of food. Thanksgiving could arguably be the best holiday in this country.

It was going to be even better because the in-laws were going to take the kids for the whole holiday righter after Thanksgiving dinner. Basically, we’d go there for dinner and leave without the kids. I saw so much Wolfenstein II in my future.

But that all came crashing down Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, my in-laws were struck with a form of the plague. Thanksgiving could not be at their house as planned, and thus, neither could the kids. I ended up hosting the dinner, which wasn’t too big of a deal since my sister-in-law and I had planned to bring most of the food anyway. However, it meant I had to clean, which with two boys in the house, is ridiculously harder than it should be. All in all, it was a lovely day, even though our dishwasher decided to die the night before.

Ace Attorney Investigations Miles Edgeworth

So there was no Wolfenstein last week aside from what I played before the holiday. Within just the first hour of the game I realized my kids could not witness any part of it. Adapt or die, right? I adapted with my 3DS instead. I never did finish Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take care of that one. And take care of it I did. It didn’t take me long to whip through the last four cases of the game, simply because I was hooked on it. I wish Capcom would make more Ace Attorney Investigations games. Or, you know, bring the sequel over to the states. It’s really fun solving mysteries before they ever hit the courtroom, mainly because cross-examining witnesses is a pain in the ass at times.

After I finished that on Saturday morning, I had this huge hole of “now what?” left inside. I still don’t have the next Pokemon title (in proper gaming order, I should add), and I guess I could force myself to play through Ocarina of Time 3D. Last time I played I encountered a horrible glitch that left a boss unbeatable. Yeah, I’m a little gun-shy about going through all of that again. But then I remembered I had bought Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. It’s the only new 3DS title I have, and even though I really don’t have time to grind through a JRPG at the moment, I figured why not.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

I have no idea how to feel about this game. Visually, it’s hard to look at. I never played it on the Wii, so I don’t know if the graphics were downgraded a bit for the 3DS, especially for the 3D option. Or perhaps, this really is a case of “old game is old.” Older DS games (not 3DS) games often suffer from this problem. It’s partly why I’ve come to appreciate unique art styles instead of photorealistic 3D. The former age so much better than the latter.

But visuals aside, the game is simply a strange one. The combat is unique to say the least, although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. The story is a bit overdone for my taste. I’m a little tired of man vs. the machine stories. I know we all love The Terminator, but seriously, it’s been played out enough. I’m hoping for a bit of improvement in the story as I’m now at the point of leaving home to travel onward. If not, I don’t know. I’m beginning to think I’m tired of the JRPG formula overall.

Gaming Diary: I Didn’t Plan on Finishing Pokemon Silver but…

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pokemon silver lugia

Most nights before heading off to bed, I play on my 3DS. The 3DS game over the last month has been Pokemon Silver, and I finally reached Victory Road to the Pokemon League. Victory Road is TOUGH, and I had a super-low level Horsea and Dratini I wanted to grind up and evolve. It didn’t take long to realize I could only level one at a time, and Dratini won the vote. I swapped Horsea out for Slowbro. Even though Slowbro wasn’t at level 40 like the rest of my team was, I knew he could hang better than poor little Horsea.

I made really slow progress through Victory Road. If the trainers didn’t get me, the over-powered wild Pokemon certainly did. I was nearly out of hyperpotions and revives by the time I reached the Pokemon League main building. I replenished my stock, rested up, and then saved the game. I thought why not try out the Elite Four and if I fail, I’ll go grind some more. Yeah, I never expected to breeze through the Elite Four and defeat the Champion in one sitting.

Things did get rough with the Champion thanks to his ridiculous three Dragonites, but I managed to knock each one off, even at ten levels below two of them. When the credits rolled, I stared at my 3DS in disbelief. Did I really finish that game? Sure my game time was over 30 hours, mostly due to backtracking a lot for dat grind. But did I really just blow through the Elite Four with four Pokemon at level 41, one at level 37, and one at level 33? (That last one was my Dragonair.) They should have mopped up the floor with me. Either I just had the right counter Pokemon for each trainer and a good strategy, or I lucked out big time. To be honest, I’ll take either.

In going through the Pokemon timeline, the next game up for me is Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire. I don’t own the game as of yet, but since it’s so close to Christmas, I’m holding off on buying it. Besides, I have this lovely Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth to play instead. I’ve missed solving murder mysteries by completely not following the real law and criminal procedure.

Gaming Diary: Pokemon Silver with a Chance of Game Review

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pokemon silver

Well I thought I was just zipping right along in Pokemon Silver. Seven gym badges earned in just 15 hours with one to go; is this game super short or something? Well, I guess I can stretch it out by grinding to level up my Horsea and Dratini. After the 8th badge, I should just move on to the Johto League, defeat the Final Four and my rival (whom I named Stanky) and call it a day. Those of you who have played can go on ahead and laugh maniacally with me.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

There’s a reason why it didn’t take very long to take down Team Rocket (again) and roll through the gyms. That reason is you must go back to the Indigo Plateau and battle your way to the Pokemon League HQ. On the one hand, oh hey, now I can really grind my Horsea and Dratini and hopefully evolved them. On the other, arrrrgh this is going to clock me in at over 40 hours I just know it. I’m going to need to take a break from Pokemon games after I complete this one, even though I promised my eldest I would play Alpha Sapphire immediately after. He has a few Pokemon he wants to trade to get them to evolve.

This week was also hijacked by another game review, this time LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2. I probably should take a break from LEGO games while I’m scheduling game franchise breaks. My review will go live tomorrow, so there’s really nothing else I can say at this time due to embargo. I can say it’s a LEGO game developed by Traveller’s Tales Games. That may be all you need to know. I can also say I really wish there was a strategy guide for this. Because…reasons.

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