Leaping into the Conduit

Didn’t post about this at first, because I didn’t really feel it necessary until I had completed the game. But now I have, and have also spent a decent amount of time online. Mostly in private matches though. A review is on its way either this weekend or next week (depending on free time).

In short though, I felt the game needed a lot more work. The single-player campaign felt about several hours too short. And I didn’t like how the story played out as a flashback for like 7 of the 10 missions. Also, only 10 missions? I think 15 would have been a better number, could have squeezed more out story-wise as well. Visually, it was okay. Pretty good for the Wii. In terms of control, spot-on perfect after a few custom tweaks. Hated having the grenades on Nunchuk motion. Music, hardly noticeable… and not in the good “it suits the atmosphere” way either, it was very bland.

Multiplayer, what I’ve played so far, seems to be near flawless. I definitely dont’ understand problems that people were having now. I’ve played a good couple of hours against Dume, Kindrik and co., without many problems. I haven’t had a chance to play much in the way of public matches, but when my internet uncaps later this week I’ll try it out. Hate grenades in multiplayer, grenade hopping annoys me. I hate not having the ability to make custom weapon sets, and I hate when explosives are the elected weapon. I don’t like like the lack of variety in stages. And online in general needs more customisation. However, Wii Speak appears to work quite well from what I’ve heard.

Review coming soon, expect an average score for an average game.

Sonic and the Generic RPG Chronicles

Oh dear. Oh dear. BioWare.

First be sure to note this blog will probably contain spoilers from the Sonic Chronicles storyline. So be warned if you are actually excited about the story and don’t want it to be spoiled. And when I say spoiled I mean you’ll learn what happens and hear me question the game in general. So yeah, spoiler tags.

So, the DS has a pretty rich library of RPG games. And what we have here is the first DS game from famed RPG developers, BioWare. They have a lot of fantastic credentials to their name, so when the world learned that they were the team behind a new Sonic RPG (Just late enough for us not to question another Sonic copied Mario moment). This isn’t a review, that is yet to come (I haven’t quite finished the game yet, you’ll learn why soon), but it is me venting.

The game starts with typically with you being introduced to various Sonic characters, but the first thing you’ll notice is that the combat system leaves a bit (or a lot) to be desired. The touch commands seem okay but when it comes to healing my party, I don’t want it to be based on me timing touch commands properly. If my party desperately need to give my party more PP and I miss one of five touch circles and then it fails as a result… then I reserve the right to get mad.

And even when the combat is going your way (it will happen occasionally) it will sometimes feel dreary and dragged out due to hte fact that your team can randomly miss. And in a really unlucky fight you will miss a lot. Some enemies can call reinforcements, some enemies can heal all their HP by attacking you, there are just a lot of elements against you.

Now, you may think I hate the game, but I really don’t. It’s just wearing on my nerves a little bit. I’ll post my full review upon reaching the end of the game. At the very least the storyline has now picked up, woo!

What I can say so far is that Sega’s little blue hedgehog may in fact be a curse, because not even BioWare has managed to make a great game with him yet. But at least it’s passable so far.

lmx out!!

If I May…

So yeah, its May now. Woo. A non-video game related event (my 21st) is drawing nearer rather rapidly… should probably look into organising something.

So you may be wondering why I’m blogging today. Well having overcome severe frustration I finally unlocked the last two characters on Mario Kart Wii! Huzzah!! However, that doesn’t mean I’m done, there are star rankings to get on cups and more expert staff times to unlock if I want all the karts and bikes. But does that really concern me at the moment? No… not really. But truth be told, I’ve found myself bored of Mario Kart, even of its online. So for the first time in a week, Brawl graced my Wii once again and its found its home there.

Sorry Mario Kart, having better online doesn’t beat out a game that is just plain more fun (plus it can actually be fair) in the long run.

Seriously, it is almost like Nintendo were setting out to eliminate skill needed in video gaming with this installment. Items have been bad in previous games but in this one they are just plain shocking!

Coming first on the final lap, about to cross the finish line. Brace yourself as you are likely to be hit by several blue/red shells or some other annoying item that will knock you down. Its even worse if its a close race as you can easily fall from 1st way back to 8th. A such example was I’d just been hit by a blue shell, knocked me down a couple of ranks. Then as I was recovering I was hit by a Red Shell, knocked me down another couple. And then to top it off someone with a Star drove straight through me.

To Hell with items!

Yahtzee hated Brawl. Well I’d hate to see what he’d say about this game. My God, about twenty times worse in lack of skill needed AND in annoyance of obtaining unlockables.

But still, a fun game to have out when a party is happening.

Brawl is better though.

Wii Fit is nearing release down under, ads are popping up everywhere and its getting a lot of marketing time over here. I’m actually interested to see what will sell better down under. GTA4 or Wii Fit. Both have different audiences, both are guaranteed big sales.

It’s going to be an interesting race. I like neither games, but in the end I’m supporting GTA4. Real games are too good to resist, however I do not detest Wii Fit’s target crowd. I just think it’d be better in the long term to just get a gym membership.

Adios.

Brawl Fights On, Mario Kart Starts The Engine.

So, it has been nearly a month since I got Brawl.

Am I still playing? Yes. Do I enjoy it more than Melee? No. In that area I’m still unsure, but at the same time its far too early to tell. I had at least 3 or 4 years to grow to love Melee, and Brawl’s time is only just beginning. I’ll get back to you on that in a year or two’s time.

What else has been happening you ask? Mario Kart Wii. That’s what.

I picked it up on the AU launch and I have to admit, its pretty fun. It has the usual depth of gameplay that the other Kart games feature, with items which feel far more broken than ever.

Online is awesome. Seriously, I’d buy this game just for the online. It runs smoothly and is very easy to navigate around. Pick this game up if you adore online madness.

I’ll be posting the review next week or maybe in a few days. See how I go.

Currently I’m trying to beat the frustration of 150cc with CPU’s getting Blue Shells, Red Shells and the sort constantly. Kinda hinders my winning.

Nintendo Unleash Smash News (Sonic, Online Co-Op, Japanese Delay)

Nintendo have finally confirmed Sonic, reveal that co-operative mode will also be online and announce a sad delay for our Japanese friends.

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TGS Comes And Goes Again… Surprise?

So, another year and another Tokyo Game Show has gone past with about as much information that we could care about as the Nintendo E3 conference had this year.

In fact, Nintendo fans should probably stop worrying about events at this rate because they are far better at keeping their lips tightly sealed than any of us can imagine. The only mildly interesting thing I found about TGS was the announcement of another bunch of Kingdom Hearts games and one of them is for my beloved handheld, the DS. Now no doubt the PSP KH game will be better and a truer to the Kingdom Heart franchise but its nice to see that we’re probably going to get a Crystal Chronicle/Kingdom Hearts game. It interests me, although the fact that it is being developed by the team responsible for Chocobo Tales doesn’t inspire hope. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see…

Halo 3 has been well received by the gaming community and after all the hype of the “Finish the Fight” tagline the game carries you’d be forgiven for hoping for a more conclusive ending. But sadly we did not get that, I will not spoil it for those who would rather wait but it didn’t impress me in any way what so ever, although I assume Halo fans will disagree. Much like if Metroid Prime 3 had a boring ending most people dislike it except Metroid fans. Its how the world spins.

So where do Nintendo fans cast their RSS feeds to now? Prepare for Entertainment For All of course, its going to be supermassive and I wish I could be there. Sadly I couldn’t afford the $3,000AU it would have cost me to get there and stay comfortably. Ah well, maybe next year?

WiiLoaded Staff Members will be attending EfA so keep your eye on the WiiLoaded News Portal for news as it breaks (hopefully, so long as D4rk isn’t too busy challenging Nomad and LZ to various drinking challenges).

We are entering game season, Mario in November, Smash in December. Its actually going to be a time when I’m glad to own a Wii.

Metroid Prime 3 is still yet to be reviewed by me as I’m still yet to install my Wiikey chip. One guy offered to install it… for $80AU. I definitely did not agree to that, lol.

See you next mission.