Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) Review

This time we have a game that has been hiding in the backlogs for many many years. Way back in the day I had bought a PSP for the soul purpose of playing two games: Phantasy Star Portable and the recently released remake of Persona. But to have a console and not play more the two games is an absolute waste, so I would pick up other titles during it's life. Unfortunately I did not get to play them all over the lifespan of that machine, but it would hint at it's own demise coming, so I had time to prepare, ripping my library to file form so I could eventually play them all anyway. Today this should have paid off with an interesting view of how the events of Final Fantasy VII were set into motion. But I am sorry to say, it did not. I found myself bored by it to be quite honest.

Now before we begin, I have to admit, just as the above suggests, I did not play this game on the PSP. Rather well after my actual hardware died, I played via emulation ripped from my original copy, so my experience could well be different then yours. But with that in mind, step inside.

Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP) Review

While I always liked the idea of these games, my past with them have been a bit tumultuous. I bought this and First Voyage for the PSP at close to the same time and I played the original long ago. Simply put I loved it, even with the incredibly stupid/cheesy reason for the last boss. So when I bought a PS3, I already wanted Star Ocean: The Last Hope for it (Star Ocean 3 was going to be next to impossible to find, so I took what I could get). And when I played it, well… I was far from impressed with. But when the dice selected this as a possible game, it had my curiosity. After all, with the steep difference between what I played in the portable game vs it’s sever-iteration later sequel, I could only wonder if the game’s were good until then, or if it was a slope of sequels that got worse as they went on. After finishing this game, I believe it could well have been just Last Hope that was just that bad.

Also, please note, that by the time I played this game, my PSP had basically died. While it was in the process, but I could at least get the disc drive to work some of the time, so I hacked it and fought to get my small library to file. As such, I played this game via emulator with a 360 controller, so your experiences may vary some from my own.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PS3/PSP) Review

Under normal circumstances, should the dice include a Persona game in the list, it’s usually one of the top 3 games I will pick. With this being the last currently released game in the franchise I had not yet played, I would be more likely to. So when this game came up with Persona 5 in the works and coming out in the fairly near future, it was not even a question. And now as I put my controller down, I am glad to have played through, and not just because I am fully caught up on one of my favorite game series. Come on in and have a look.

Ys I (PC) Review

Sometimes, you just need to look back on the history of gaming to see what you may have missed as a kid playing only the games you knew about. This is one of those games I missed and you most likely did as well. But having found later entries in the series striking my interest, a relaunch of the original title struck me as a great place to begin playing with the series. So how was the start? Not perfect, but not bad. Come see for yourself.

Noted Releases III

Finally, a small breather. This week has been a bit leaner for releases to catch our eye then the past few, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened. In fact we are sure a lot of you found these very interesting… or will.

We Will Now Score Our games….

Almost a year ago now when I first published the Red Sector, it was done with a few ideas in mind. I never wrote these down in stone, but they were the core tenants of what I had in mind on day one. Among them, was that I would not use or require review scores for a review to be on this site. However, as explained after the break, this is now changing.

Linux: A Possible Future?

A little while ago, Gamespy produced a short article in which they suggested we might, just might, be seeing the beginning of a shift in PC gaming from Windows dominating to Linux taking over. In the short article, they promptly asked at the end if we as gamers would embrace such a change. Today, we explore the possibilities… what if we are about to see the beginning of this shift? How would it happen, and how would we be effected? Join me in a little “future history” and see if maybe you could see this happening.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) Review

Finally! I have always been excited whenever I saw a Persona game hit shelves, but when it’s a title we simply never got here, let alone one with a little Lovecraft mixed in, I couldn’t resist, and as soon as I found a copy, I picked it up. Being a portable game, I dragged it out a bit by mainly playing when away from home, but having finished, it’s time to talk about it. Come on in and enjoy.

Extra Life begins!

Friends and readers, the time is now! We have come together as a community to raise what we can for the kids, and now it is time to get to the fun part… and play! Obviously if we have some late donors, we are more then happy to accommodate. After all, this what it’s about… helping the kids by doing what we love.

But for now, we can focus on the gaming at hand, and to that end, we have a UStream Channel setup just for this event. If you want to see how we game, then please, follow the link below to it…. and on behalf of every gamer in this marathon, every hospital to be helped by this marathon, and every child we are reaching out to through them and the event… thank you… thank you so much for your support.

You can watch us game at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/red-sector

You can watch many others listed at http://blog.extra-life.org/2012/10/the-extra-life-live-stream-directory.html

One Week till Extra Life

The time is coming, my friends. We are about 1 week away from the Extra Life, things are looking great, but that doesn’t mean we can relax yet. It’s crunch time to bring as much in for the kids as possible. But it’s also time to reveal how we are doing here at the Red Sector. Read on to see a special message, a preview of what to expect, as well as links to participate/donate.

Interested? Read on…..

PSO2 Announced for a US launch!

You heard right! First (that I know of) announced by PSO World, Phantasy Online 2 has officially been slated for a US release! I for one could not be more pleased at this news. To date I have an almost complete collection of the Phantasy Star Franchise for a reason… the whole thing rocks! And the original PSO is no exception. (PSO Episode 3 was… but I have a hard time considering a card game a main part of the series.)

Grandia (PS3/PSP) Review

Here's a game I have some history with. About ten years ago, I bought a used copy of this game at a local Gamestop to play on my PSX I had at the time. And I loved it.... right up until I was on Disc 2. Something about that disc just did not work. It was always crashing and freezing, and the day it froze when I was literally two attacks from beating what I thought was the last boss of the game, I took the disc out and never played again. I learned a valuable lesson that day about used games... never buy used games on CD. People suck at taking care of their discs.

So when this game got added to PSN, I knew I had to get it. I remembered loving this game back in the day, but I really wanted to see how it ended. Was it worth it? Why don't you read on....