Short Review of a Lot of Games

What will my blog be if I don't write anything game-related in it?

I don't really have much time to play games nowadays, and when I do, I usually play Black Ops with my friends. Playing with friends is, well, Luna here says it best:

Thank you Luna.

But I also spent some of my time to play other games that I bought. Here are some of the games:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

inFamous 2 (PS3)
Developer: Sucker Punch
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Meta Score: 83

This PS3-exclusive game is one of my favorite game that I played during summer. inFamous 2 is about Cole McGrath who is blessed (or cursed) with the ability to store and shoot lighting from his body. In the end of the prequel, he learned that his power is needed in order to defeat the Beast, an entity that pose danger to humanity and the Earth itself. Will you use your power for good or evil? You choose. In term of gameplay, Cole now has access to a lot of powers (like ice), and Sucker Punch maintained the karma-based powers too. You can use all the powers once you completed the game on both endings, which is totally awesome.

Freeze or fry, you choose

I especially love the gameplay, but the story fell short. Unlike Uncharted 2, I don't have any emotional attachment to any of the characters in the game (besides Zeke, he IS awesome and believable). The game provides tools for user to create their missions, and upload it for others to play, but I never played it except for the trophies. Others might appreciate it for the replay value. 

My verdict: ****-

Like I said, I really love the gameplay, but the story is kinda meh. Nevertheless it is a very enjoyable game. I totally recommend this game if you are a fan of superheroes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Catherine (PS3/360)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Meta Score: 80 (PS3), 83 (360)

Regarded as one of the games that being daring by deviated from the mainstream path, going on the more mature storyline and theme route. This game is about Vincent, who is pressured by his girlfriend, Katherine, to get married, after a long time being in relationship. But Vincent is caught up in some weird situations. One day, after getting drunk, he woke up besides another woman, named Catherine, and been having a weird dream where he need to climb a tower of blocks, otherwise he will die (there's an ending showing he died of you choose not to continue after dying in the climbing puzzle).

While only wearing boxer too.

It seems bizarre, but personally I think that's what makes this game unique. This game is rated mature, not because of the gore and blood and sex (there's no sex scene whatsoever in this game by the way), but it really deals with a theme never explicitly discussed in a video game before. The ending of the game depends on the path you choose for Vincent: You want him to be a cheater and go with Catherine (Freedom), or you want him to be true to Katherine and devote to her forever (Law). There are no right or wrong, good or evil answers in this game, there are only choices that will question your morality and opinions. You can try to play this game if you want to see what I mean. Or do you still think this game is weird? Hit the comment section below, and tell me what you think.

I'm sure you want to know what the fuck is that thing.

My Verdict: *****

I totally fell in love with this game. The puzzle is hard, no doubt about that, but you have the Super Easy mode if you only want to know the story.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deus Ex Human Revolution (PS3/360/PC)
Developer: Eidos Montreal
Publisher: Square Enix
Meta Score: 89

Deus Ex is not totally unique. You can see elements from general first person shooter (FPS) and third person shooter (TPS) on the shooting mechanics, stealth elements from Metal Gear Solid series, and the option to choose responds on conversation from Mass Effect series. But this game blend it all so well that it developed its own identity. You'll control Adam Jensen, a personal bodyguard for a certain industry that work on augmentation, meaning replacing real body part with mechanics. Adam is not augmented, until the company his worked in being attacked by terrorists, and being seriously injured, he needs to be augmented or else he'll die. He never asked to be augmented, and different people have different opinion about the augmentation. Some characters in the game thinks that being augmented is wrong, replacing what God has given us with something that is human-made. But some thinks that augmentation has its own benefits, like it saved a lot of people with disability and missing limbs.

But that doesn't stop him from being cool

Now let's move on to the gameplay. The game is a hybrid from many other games, but the one that strikes as the most important is the ability to choose. In the game, you can choose many different approach on solving a certain problem. For example, at one point of the game, you need to get a certain information from an important person in a bar. To make it short, you can either approach certain people in the bar to get the access, or find a hidden route to get into the bar, or hack the door to the room containing the information, or kill everyone in the bar to find a path to the room. The choice is not only on the option to choose a respond, but also in what you can do to get a certain thing done.

My Verdict: *****

The only shortcoming of the game is the boss fights, which you need to kill the boss, and proves to be difficult for players who choose the stealth path. It's not impossible, just difficult. Other than that, I love every aspect of the game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resistance 3 (PS3)
Developer: Insomniac
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Meta Score: 83

The single player:
You'll play the role of Joseph Capella, an ex-soldier who was dishonorably discharged, and now try to live a normal life in the midst of Chimera invasion. One day, their hideout was attacked by Chimera, and this lead Joseph to find a way to restore order in the world, by defeating the Chimera. The story is very personal and emotional, which gives more impact than previous entries in Resistance series.

If there is one thing that defines Resistance 3, I'll say it's the weapons. It does not has many weapon like other FPS games (like Call of Duty or Battlefield 3), but every weapon is unique, and their secondary ability is what defining each weapon. You have the standard Bullseye, an assault rifle that can tag enemies, and the bullet will follow anywhere the enemy goes. The Mutator, which you can shoot others an infect them with a virus, and watch them die painfully. Atomizer, an electric-based weapon that has a warping device that will suck any enemies nearby and damage them. There are a lot of other weapons too, and they are all equally awesome. There are no restriction on how many weapons you can bring at one time, unlike COD and Resistance 2. Instead of letting you play on the way they want you to play, Insomniac gives you your own choice to use whichever weapon that you already have.

"Hm...maybe I'll fuck your day using snipers"

The multiplayer:
The best thing about multiplayer is you have access to all the weapon that you used in single player campaign (you still need to unlock them though). As stated before, each weapon is unique, and you can get perks for you to get advantages in competing with other players. Shotgun with flame ammo is always cool, especially when you get to see other players running in flames when you shoot at them. You'll play in a lobby of 16 players with different type of modes that you can choose. It's less than the multiplayer in Resistance 2, but it still manage to prove to be fun. I enjoyed the multiplayer as much as Black Ops multiplayer. It such a shame that not many people are willing to try this great game.

My Verdict: *****

A very intense single player campaign that you can play co-op, tight controls, a lot of cool weapons and perks in multiplayer and great visual, it's a complete package on what you can ask in an FPS game. You'll still compare it to other popular FPSs, but give this game a chance, and you'll love it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS)
Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Nintendo
Meta Score: 86

Professor Layton returns on its fourth installment of the series, and as a prequel to the first in the series. It still has the same formula: you have a mystery to solve, and there a lot of puzzles (155 puzzles total) in the main story to solve. But that is the charm of the Professor Layton series.

The puzzle types varies, so you'll be cracking your brain a lot

The story is about a mayor in a town, who is a friend of Professor Layton, asked for his help to solve the case of a specter attacking and destroying the town. Along the way, you'll solve puzzles (most are unrelated to the stories, but you'll need to solve them in order to progress). If you are stuck on a puzzle, you can unlock up to 4 tips, paying with hint coins that you can collect as you walk around by tapping in the touch screen. The premise is simple, but it's a working formula that don't need a total innovation or changes.

You'll be tapping, a lot.

My Verdict: ****-

I played all four games in Layton series, so I never got stuck too long on a puzzle since I know what to expect and how to change my way of thinking a little bit to solve them. To those who want to enjoy only the story, some puzzle might turn you off. The puzzles are not difficult, but there are puzzles that involve maths, and some instruction on what to do are confusing. But you can always use the hints, or the best solution of all: the internetz.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor Overclocked (3DS)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Meta Score: 80

The enhanced version of my favorite DS game, with a lot of extras added to the game. The story is about a group of friends who gathered at Shibuya, just to hang out. But everything turns out wrong for them and people in Yamanote Circle, when they got trapped in there by a a blockade planned by the government without knowing the reasons for the lockdown. Even worse they are trapped with demons inside, and now they have to survive the lockdown, by using the power of the demons, to fight other demons. You'll also uncover the conspiracy behind this event...

I'm confused just as you are

This is an turn-based strategy RPG game. You can control four human characters during a skirmish, and each human character can bring two more demons with them. You move them in a space of grids, and to attack the enemies, you'll need to be next to them. Once you attack, you'll be in the battle mode, which brings you in a first-person mode battle, with each character (human, demon, and enemy) get one turn each. You can attack, defend, or use magic. That's the basic of it. I can use two more paragraph explaining in-depth how the gameplay is truly, but it won't make sense until you play it, so just leave it at that.

Nothing is normal about this game actually.

It's very deep, with a lot of skills and magic that you can learn. For example, some demons has the ability to attack enemy two grids away, some has the ability to restore MP after each battle and more. To utilize all the demon's abilities, skills and magic is the charm of the game. To get demons, you need to bid them from an auction, or you can fuse two demons to get a greater demon. You also has access to 8 different endings, depending on your choices (do you realize how many times in this article that I mentioned about choices?): to escape from the lockdown, to be the king of demons, to control all the demons, to become the Messiah, etc etc. That'll motivate you to play the game more than once. At least I did play it more than once.

See, I'm not lying.

Verdict: *****

I am a bit biased towards JRPG, as I love them very much. But that doesn't mean this game is not accessible to others. Yes, the game is super hard, but now they include the Easy mode for newcomers (yay!) so you don't have to worry if you want to enjoy the story without thinking too much into strategies. You'll also unlock bonus when you finish any ending, making it easier to play it one more time to see other endings.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dark Souls
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Meta Score: 89

If there's one thing that you know about this game, I'm sure it is about how stupidly difficult this game is. Now, I am happy to say that what you know is absolutely correct. The game is hard, but that's the special thing about this game. So what is it that so hard about this game? There are two main reasons. First, you won't be given any in-game tips besides the basic (the controls and explanation about your equipments). There are absolutely no telling on what you'll face next, where to get equipment and how to defeat a fucking boss. It's more to trial-and-error method. Second thing is, and the most important one is, you'll die, A LOT. The boss is surely ready to make your life miserable, and that includes the normal enemies you'll meet along the way. You can die in pretty much one or two hits, and three hits if you are lucky. If you are expecting to play this game like any other games you'll played before (well, besides Demon's Souls), then be prepared to be totally frustrated. Yup, you'll need to be prepared to die repeatedly and miserably. You know what's worse? When you die, you'll lose all your souls, which is used to by items, learn magic and level up. So you are pretty much fucked when you die...well not really. Why do you suppose that a lot of people are playing this game right now if it's really hard?

Especially when you'll be fighting a giant wolf. With a fucking big sword.

Well you'll definitely lose your souls that you collected, but other than that, you'll still has your equipment and stuffs. Just make sure to use your souls every time you get a chance. Even though the game don't give you any information, you'll get it from other players. Players can leave message, telling other players whether there are a danger ahead, an item that you can collect, and even the weakness of certain bosses. The message that you can leave is pretty limited, but it'll provide useful information to others, and you can get your message rated by other players, anonymously. The boss is hard, but there are certain strategies on each boss that you can use. You'll learn their pattern, and try to discover their weakness. The bosses are intimidating and can kill you pretty much anytime that you want, but believe me, you'll get this unexplained satisfaction when you defeat them. When I defeat the boss, I feel that I can conquer the world with no problem. Seriously. It is THAT satisfying.

I don't even know what the fuck this contraption is. But you'll  feel good when you're done with it.

My Verdict: *****

The excellent boss fights, many items and secrets to be discovered, different strategies and exploits you can use on bosses, this game is truly a force to be reckon with. It has it faults too, like unexplained glitch, sometimes cheap death, and noticeable frame rate issues, but that doesn't stop this game to the contender for Game of The Year. What, you died a lot? That's what Youtube and GameFAQS is for! Or buy a strategy guide.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is one of my longest, if not the longest post I have ever written. If you like what I wrote, please do tell me so, as it will motivate me to write more. Any questions, comments, complaints or opinions can be directed at the comment section below or on my Facebook account.

For next month, I will write at least six game reviews, featuring Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, Child of Eden, Uncharted 3, Modern Warfare 3 (sorry no Battlefield 3), Metal Gear HD Collection and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

p/s: I just realized that I missed Shadow of the Damned. I'll put that in the next review too.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!