So I finally have a PS3. Saw a nice deal, and went for the 80 gigger with MGS4. While MGS is not exactly my cup of tea, so much work and what not has been put on MGS4 that I feel I need to take a look at "what's going on." Pretty much the same reason I bought GTA 4.
If you care about games and game design, you really should play at least until chapter 3 (inclusive) of Trauma Center: Under The Knife. Atlus really made some very interesting design decisions and surprises using the touch pad game mechanics and the "language of gameplay" (more on this on another post) they establish with the player.
Even if you can see some flaws, there's some real brilliance in some of the things they did. I am not finished though I am in Chapter 5-2 (I understand there's only 5 chapters?). Very very interesting. I can see now how much more they can expand with a sequel and it would be simply really really good.
Good job Atlus.
So finally, it's here, and so far is incredibly super-awesome. Man do I wish the DS had the "better than life" screen with the high contrast ratio of the PSP, but it still looks pretty pretty good. Yes, Castlevania DS seems to be all that. Music is definitively without a question one step closer to CD, non of the noisy samples of the GBA, and the graphics.. awww man... they are doing what they did for Symphony of The Night on PS1 but in spades.. lots of super smooth animated blendings with gradients thanks to an alpha-aware polygon engine.
It's really good in that animation... Of course I haven't played the game entirely so I can't in good faith review it well but man it looks so far so uber-promising.
I am playing Castlevania Aria of Sorrow in a hurry as I never played that game more than 2-3 hours... I want to finish it becuase the DS one because the stories apparently connect. I am big on videogame stories :-)
But I couldn't just stop there, i also picked up Trauma Center: Under The Knife. Finally I have two games I feel are worth owning the DS. I played only for a little bit but the music/tension and things you have to do in Trauma Center, plus strinving to get a higher ranking it's nice.
And I totally agree with this patient.... and looking at the game art cover, I guess hands are really powerfull in Japan...
Well, I'll give it to Nintendo on this one. It's a game coming up by Atlus (or are they just the publisher?) in which you play surgeon at a "trauma" center? (ER?) Serioulsy, this is a kind of gameplay that I find interesting, refreshing and it's the DS touchscreen and dual screens that make it possible. This is what the machine needs to really shine.
Yes, I want it.. I see a lot of potential.
I was here today pre-registering so I don't have to do the same loooong line I did last year. I was able to walk-in and check some of the non-exhibitor area stuff... it's clear Sony has bought quite a bit of ad-space already.
So tomorrow I'll go to the real thing and take some photos. I did take some already but it's mostly on my architecture photography assignment.
If you have a playstation 2 and you haven't played God Of War, you must. Mind you, this ain't a kiddie game, it deserves the big M it carries. It's simply one of the best games I have seen done on the Playstation 2 on all levels- graphics, art, music, gameplay, technical prowess.
Things that I find incredible:
* No environment repeats itself, it's all custom. This gives the game a very "movie like" experience.
* Music is well triggered at the right moments. Excellent music.
* Key aspect: game doesn't insult the player (often, or at least much less than other games) - you die, you restart at a resonable point. The game even gave me a camera hint when I didn't figure out something. Gives the player choice on replenishing health vs magic, etc.
* Key aspect: game streams from the PS2 *all the time* and does this extremely well. If the PS2 can't catch up you will see a brief animated loading on the lower right while the game freezes.. but it's rare and I suspect it has to do more with my aging PS2.
Yes, these huge environments are all interconnected by streaming. Amazing how well they do this. I realize Soul Reaver did this too (and on the Ps1 no less) but in God of War there's just so much art and content it seems.. this is no easy feat. You hardly notice the bigger streaming points.
* Key aspect: the game really feels like an epic experience. There are parts that are simply mindblowing in their presentation and this is all realtime. There are cutscenes, which integrate seamlessly for the most part, but there are also areas that it's all the PS2 pumping those polygons.. amazing.
* Key aspect: hardly any slowdown. There's some but it manifests itself as missing frames more than slowdown, and it's really on the not so often side. Amazing. I think this game is pushing the PS2 in incredible ways.
* Nice story and presentation of that story.
* Key aspect: nice controls. The game feels like it can reward the more hardcore while keeping a low barrier of entry to the game for the casual gamer. After failing a part of the game 3 times, the game asked if I wanted to restart one level of difficulty lower. Nice (no, I didn't switch to a lower difficulty :-) ).
If you have a PS2 you must at least give this game a rental (I would say buy).
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