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.

Deponia (PC) Review

Since switching to the new dice system to pick my next game, this was the first time it wasn’t especially kind to me. I didn’t find anything I was especially excited to play and it probably didn’t help I was picking a game about 2 hours before the end of the Extra Life 24 hour gaming marathon. Still, this game stood out from the list. I had picked it up during one of gog’s larger sales out of curiosity, and where the marathon had me finishing Corpse Party, I decided I wanted something funny. I did enjoy this one, but it has some tendencies that are just a complete let down.

DmC: Devil May Cry (PC) Review

EDIT: With Capcom's move to add DRM to their old games, they have proven a will to ruin their old stuff, which I can not support. When the DRM (Enigma Protector) is triggering antiviruss all over the place because of it's relation to straight up MALWARE, I am calling it. Consider this game and any other Capcom game broken (0/10) until further notice.

I’m going to have to be honest here. I’m not showing up as a fan of the franchise. Yes, I was aware of it, but I did honestly didn’t care a hell of a lot about it when it originally launched on the PS2. This was at that time when I had migrated away from consoles entirely in favor of games my PC had to offer. The game just didn’t draw my attention.

So when this version came out, I didn’t have any expectations of it aside from what the trailers showed me. I knew it would be an action game and it would be a combat heavy title, but what really drew me in was the world. Watching the demonic influence mutate the land in real-time while fighting enemies, I was interested… and when I got a good deal, I picked the game up. Having finished it just about at the end of my Extra Life marathon, I was not disappointed.

Corpse Party (PC) Review

Here it is, the grand-daddy of indie horror games itself. If you enjoy this genre of games, this cult-hit is one of the first to make a real splash when it arrived. As such it is now a game that is available on just about every modern portable platform and the PC. When I found this one on sale, I knew I was picking it up to see what the fuss was about. And in the spooky month of October, it was a no-brainer when random chance called it to one of the 10 games I could play after the last spooky game: Close Your Eyes. But where that one left me disappointed, this game lived up to the hype. Come on inside.

Close Your Eyes (PC) Review

There are times curiosity and a cool theme gets the best of you. This would be one of those times for me. When I saw the first trailer, I saw the potential for something interesting to be hiding behind the artwork it showed off, which wasn’t that bad, if done in what looked like crayons. And with it being a free game, there was no reason I should not add it to my list of games. And now for Halloween, the random selection brought it to the forefront. How could I refuse?

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army (PS3) Review

When I discovered Persona 3 years ago, I discovered Atlus for the first time. And I absolutely loved their creation. To this day it’s still one of my favorite RPGs, so… not a bad first impression. By the time I played Persona 4, I understood the games were a spin-off of another franchise called Shin Megami Tensei which we never got the first entries of because SNES games in the day when Nintendo of America REALLY hated bringing over anything with a base in religion, but I was interested in trying a game or two we could get… and the sequel to this very title just launched, so of course I had to have it. (Raidou-Jack still sits on my desk at work.)

Fast forward a few years and several games from this franchise in my library later, however, I still only had part 2… that is until I found this title on PSN dirt cheap. How could I resist?

Metroid 2: Return of Samus (3DS) Review

Overall, I have always loved this series. Yes, it has had some SERIOUSLY major problems as of late (like Metroid Other M), but ever since I was a little kid, this was the series I wanted to play on my NES. I borrowed the original from my childhood friends so often I think they got through my entire collection and when this game came out, I seriously wanted to trade in the NES to get a gameboy… just for this game.

But since that never happened, I didn’t get to try this game till years later when with a complete boxed copy on my shelf sat along side a ROM on my PC, but I was trying to play on a Gravis Pro, and if anyone here remembers just how loose and god-awful that controller’s rocker switch was, you already know how bad I was going to find it. But recently, I decided with the official remake coming out soon, and having adored AM2R (seriously this is my current favorite 2D game in the series and second only to Prime 2 Echoes for the entire franchise), I wanted to give it a shot. So, I downloaded the game to my DS and began to play at the gym. As I finish I’m glad I took the time to play this.