Tuesday, 1 September 2015

MGSV: Prologue Review


As previously mentioned, I obtained MGSV today.
Sadly, I only played one chapter but here are my thoughts and feelings about the game.
It may not be much but it's a start of a bigger review in the future.

For other views on both merchandise and series, check out my personal post which is here [X]



Ode to MGS, a personal post #5


Today is September 1st, normally not an important day in my calendar but today, it was.

I obtained my first PS4 console and to add a nice bonus to it, my first limited edition console. In my opinion, it is the most gorgeous console I have owned to date. Maybe also my most expensive one, after booting off the PSV and Wii U from the top, even together they just touched the price of the PS4.

Do I regret this? Fuck no, I don't regret it, I just regret getting Destiny during the sales and the free copy of Ground Zeroes being offered on the PSN but no regrets over buying one of the last few gaming creations from Hideo Kojima.

It was just as I was updating MGSV that the thought dawned on me, this is basically the last real MGS game that will be ever created and to be honest, it made me sad, since this universe will be stopping. The stories, the characters, the feeling from playing this game will come to this beautiful conclusion.
Maybe there may be more in the future but it will not be the same as what we have come to learn and love.

I possibly came into the MGS universe very late.

My tale would have started back when MGS2 was released but I thought poorly of the game, mainly cause I was not very good at stealth games or games with a stealth element.
In my opinion, at the time, stealth games scared me if it did not have a god mode cheat to help me. So I avoided them and in turn made me miss out on so many games that were offered at the time. Hence my change in attitude with games these days where I will play all types at least once.
I really prefered games with a lot of shooting, violence and horror, also RPG.
So for many years, I refused to play this game and I regret that a lot. I overlooked a magnificent game cause of the word stealth.
It's sad that this had occurred. As I entered TAFE (college if anything) not long after leaving high school, I made a friend who got one of the few fresh batches of PS3 which. if I recall correctly, came with MGS4, he kept talking about it and finally, I started to pay attention about what he was saying and then after a while, I got bored of listening and asked him to play it.

In the end, I watched him play the whole game and I was wrapped up in it and decided that before the PS2 games died out, to buy the 2nd and 3rd game, which I ended up playing and falling deeper in love with. This is when I found out that if I tried, I was great at stealth. To this day, 2 and 3 are my favourites with The Phantom Pain coming in close to the top and this is me saying this after playing one chapter.

Out of all games I have playing in my life, I only recall two game creators. Shinji Mikami, since I been an RE fan since the first one and Hideo Kojima.
Why is this relevant? These are two creators that I have found to be inspiring and brilliant at what they do.

Now back to MGS and my loot.
Now, as we can tell, I got two of the collectors edition. I have a flawed reason as to why I bought both instead of one or the other.
It's because it's the last MGS game that will be done by Kojima and as a late fan, I wanted to get all the merchandise before I never have the chance. In a way, I see this as a last thank you and farewell, this game has come to mean something to me in the last few years and I want to show how much I support it. Yes, I regret coming late into the series but I will never regret the time and effort (as well as money) into being apart of the fandom.

Anyway, I really love the items the game came with.
The hand is adorable and easily movable into many positions, my first one was sadly, giving the bird but for etiquette sake, I made a V shape for the image and now placed nicely on my desk for me to look at.
The steel case is nice and fits in with my PS4 collection of steel cases. It came with a map, which I may never use but enjoy looking at. Some DLC for both in-game and online.

The piece of resistance in my loot is the PS4.
I found this to be the best thing I could have decided to buy and own.
Despite the minor typo on the console itself, it is still gorgeous. The red is not bright or deep but a nice warm colour, I feel that it is very enticing and makes me feel inspired to game. It still weighs quite a bit and I somewhat struggled carrying it and the other collectors editions items to the car but it was worth it.
It looks like a beast and purrs like a kitten, the controller is nice and simply designed.
Personally, I am glad I waited for buying a PS4, cause this is the type of PS4 I want to own. Something warm but strong, elegant but attractive.
The price was still a bitch but still, no regrets.

The last item was the collectors guide.
I mainly wanted it for the art and information on the last section of the book.
It is a hardcover with an attractive cover and did I mention, it was a simple design? cause it is and it was surprisingly thicker than what I thought. Also, it is weightier than it's standard edition counterpart.

Originally this post was going to be a short "Oh look at my loot" but once I started to type, I couldn't stop.
This is one series I would recommend to any gamer. If you don't like shooters, at least play it for the story, it's something you won't regret.

Maybe in a way, this post is a huge Thank you to Hideo Kojima for making this game and allowing gamers like me to explore his world of espionage and loyalty. I am forever grateful to be able to experience something so amazing in my lifetime.

Wednesday, 26 August 2015

Progress Review: Virtue's Last Reward


Progressing from VLR #2, I will express my new views on characters and possibly my new feelings about the game, since so much has occurred and I am to the point where I am seeing new things occur in the game.

I also like the progress I am making in the game, such as the fact that I finally got most of the bad endings and I question why and how I can betray some characters and ally with others but I still have to try and do the other actions.


Personal Post #4


So today is the release date for Until Dawn.
A game I oddly look forward to trying but due to the fact that I have 6 more days till I have my own PS4, the initial review has to wait till then.

May as well mention what I think of Until Dawn and from what I read on the back.
At first I assumed this game was going to be boring but after trying it at EB expo last year, I realised that it may actually be a scary game and I welcome it.
Then again, I enjoy games that are somewhat vaguely similar to Heavy Rain where my action and choices impact the game. I do hope that I can play this soon.

"You don't have a PS4 yet?! why are you buying games for it?" some of you may be asking, well, it is simple. It's due to the fact that I am getting a PS4 soon that I am starting the collection, I do this with all consoles.
Except with the Wii U, I got the console before any of the games and the major reason of the purchase will be released on October 31st.

Also, today I have been going through my PS3 collection and noticed a few games are not present and twice as more games that need to be finished. I also never realised how many games I own.

Soon, I shall take images of my other collections and share it here, since this blog is dedicated to my gaming experiences and feelings.
Though I do admit that there is a few doubles since I may have forgotten I purchased them previously, then again, the PS3 has been out for ages and many have been bought at sales. I plan on reviewing some games, despite them being old and possibly viewed and opinions written on them years ago but hey, it seems like something fun to do.

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

Progress Review: Virtue's Last Reward


Previously on VLR review~~

I was starting to play the game after finding the save bug in the 3DS version.
I manage to progress more further since then and heck, even got a few more endings.
Today I will talk about my game progress and views on each character I have and even share an ending!



Monday, 24 August 2015

Update #1


I decided to update the look and content of this blog.
I also plan to redesign how the reviews are done.

I also plan to try and review at least weekly, maybe more than once I hope.

Currently, I am planning to write up some more visual novels and progress review for Virtue's Last Reward.
I also made associated Twitter and Facebook account, so feel free to follow them. Feel free to follow here and comment, I appreciate all feedback and questions and if you like to submit a reqiest, feel free to do that as well.

Wednesday, 19 August 2015

Progress Review: Virtue's Last Reward



 So for the last few days I have been playing Virtue's Last Reward on the PSV, hence the horrid images.

Originally I played it on the 3DS until I saved and found one of the game ruining bug which left my game corrupted with about 4 endings to go. As one can assume, I was peeved and devastated that weeks of game play just went down the drain.

Long story short, I got my Vita and had a free copy of the game for it, it was not till recently that I decided to start the game anew and try and finish it, once and for all.

This game is part visual novel and part puzzle with a whole lot of dark yet mysterious themes, like it's predecessor, 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, which got me into the Zero Escape world.

I loved it for it's dark story and kept me entertained but today, I will discuss the difference between the two games which I feel was a great edition to Last Reward. Well, besides new story and possible, new characters.

The ability to jump between trees and resume on a point where you can chose a new path to the next ending. No going through the whole story and re-learning what you did before but if you like that, you still can do that.

I should add more but the game is calling me and then again, this is just a progress report.
The most I can add is a locked path and a bad ending, go me.


Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Demo Review: Cafe 0 ~The Drowned Mermaid~



Game: Cafe 0 ~The Drowned Mermaid~
Played On: PC
Console: PC/Steam
Future Release: October 11th, 2011 [Steam]
Genre: Visual Novel

Basically
A girl's spirit with no recollection of her past finds herself in Cafe 0, a mysterious Cafe in the middle of nowhere. Served with only a glass of water by a perculiar waiter, Sui--soon, she realized, that she is about to relive the last seven days before her death.
Surrounding her are Ami, a girl who claims to be her best friend, Tooru, a boy who is rumoured to be her previous boyfriend and Shou, the school's doctor.
What are their connections to her past and how are they related to her death? Will she be in peace with her past or will she haunt the living?
It's all up to you to decide.
- Steam synopsis

Mizu's Thoughts
Cafe 0 is an interesting game from roseVeRte, at first it doesn't give you much on what's going on until much later when you find out how dark and deep the story can get. This game reminds me of the series called Amnesia where you are a girl without memories but in this case, you have seven days to put your heart together and enter the afterlife.

Sounds simple but I am guessing it is not.
You have three major characters you interact with and one character who acts as your guide and will help annoy you until your time is done. Since this is the demo, you only get to try out one day and then expected to buy the full game to find out what happens in the end. Which I will admit, is a tantilising idea, since I am now interested in the story and the characters you both play as and interact with.

Now onto my notes I made about the game, since this is my first time playing it.

I spent, more or less, an hour playing this game.
Some of the art is good but it irks me somewhat, I am guessing it is more of the eyes than the whole art itself.

The music is pretty good, quite dark which is appropriate for this game, the sounds used are nice but the one thing that irks me about this demo is when the music was a lot louder than the voices but this won't impact the full game in any way, which is a nice bonus.

Yes, since this is a visual novel game and I am prone to reviewing these a lot, it has simple mechanics where you just simple point and click and occasionally making choices, which will impact the outcome of what happens. You are given the usual choices of what to name yourself and what you can do the next day, this is usually who you interact with.

I think this game has a lot of potential to be excellent in it's story, not so much for the art or music, to be honest. I may obtain this during the next sale to review it fully.


Note: the demo only contains the Japanese voices, the full version is unvoiced for some reason.

Probability of Purchase: Very High

Thursday, 6 August 2015

Cubic Castle: A Review



I decided that this game may not get a review like the others due to how little I played of it and how boring I found it.

The game is free to play on steam [X] and is an MMO style game with a feel of minecraft.
In order to make your character to look better, you need to pay for it.
In order to do anything, you need to spend a lot of time travelling and checking things out, as well as trying to figure out how to do anything since not much is explained.

I admit, I was amused by the game at first but it quickly grew boring after an hour or so. To the extent that I went back to Terraria and hosted a server to play with a few friends of mine. It is cute and you can interact with other people but sometimes the quests were silly and a pain in the ass but to each their own.

I personally feel that you could get the same enjoyment for this game elsewhere, such as minecraft, Terraria and Starbound. Though, I do recommend it to people who wants a free game that has social and building.

Game Review: Pixel Puzzles 2: Anime


Game: Pixel Puzzles 2: Anime
Played on: Steam
Console: PC
Price: $9.99 [Steam]
Genre: Puzzle

Basically

You are just playing puzzles and each puzzle contains a different artwork, which is done by a few talented artists.
Side-note: There is also a mini puzzle that players can complete for an achievement, though it's not a major part of the game, it's sweet and simple and easily found on the main page.
Mizu's Thoughts
On a personal level, I found this game a great time waster more than anything. It contains no story, no motive, no anything.
It is only good for time wasting and good for people who just love getting achievements and having a perfect game on their list.
Personally, I overlooked it until I finished the game fully and checked out the main page.

The graphics are simple and not that great but the art used for the puzzles are the only decent graphics you will get from this game.

The mechanics are simple and has progressed from the earlier versions of the Pixel Puzzle, you can now rotate puzzle pieces and sometimes the puzzles get a little bit tricky. Well, tricky enough to want to take breaks from it cause you either may get a bit bored or, like me, get a bit of a headache trying to find that one piece that you need to finish the puzzle.

Sadly, I find most of the games sound or music very annoying and tend to play it on mute with my own music in the background. Then again, this choice is for whomever plays it, since I am aware that some people enjoy a games music, no matter how unsatisfying it may be.
Conclusion
I only recommend this game for people who enjoys time wasters, puzzles and easy achievements. Maybe anime fans may find some fun in it as well.
Score ★★★☆☆