March 31, 2001
[1:08 AM PST]
This past Wednesday, on the 28th, I went out and purchased Konami's Zone of the Enders (Z.O.E.) for the PlayStation 2. While I thought the game looked interesting and fun, I also bought it for the Metal Gear Solid 2 playable demo.... and yes, while shelling out $50 for just a demo is unreasonable, I thought that BOTH the demo and the actual game (which is pretty fun) were worth the money I paid.
Z.O.E. is quite fun, is beautiful, and moves blazingly fast. While I have yet to finish it, I can tell that most other reviewers didn't appreciate the repetition of the gameplay and the quality of the English voice-acting, both of which I can relate to. The gameplay, well, I can excuse that; hopefully, when they make a sequel, Konami will provide a bit more variety. The one thing that really baffles me is why Konami did not include a Japanese-language/subtitle option when the game is in DVD-rom format? Well, being a "purist" in a way makes me a little biased for the original language to be used while providing English text for English-only blokes such as myself.
Regarding the playable demo of Metal Gear Solid 2.... WOW. The detail, the immersiveness, the voice-acting, the cinematics... I just want this game REALLY badly now. *sigh*... Playing this game (as it was with its immediate predecessor on the PlayStation), even as a demo, is truly an experience gamers shouldn't miss out on. I just hope Hideo Kojima will continue to work on it (and that he and Konami allows for both English and Japanese voices AND subtitles).
March 27, 2001
[1:34 AM PST]
Well, I finished Onimusha Warlords for the PlayStation 2 last Thursday. As some friends may know, I have this REALLY bad habit for never finishing games... however, what makes Onimusha so "special" is that it's so SHORT! Fortunately, it's a great playing experience, truly one of the funner games I've played in recent times. I hope its sequel will be a little longer but just as enjoyable -- and hopefully, the team who does the CG movies puts equal effort to both intro AND concluding FMV's! Maybe an official review later on would be best...
And now? It seems my sister has gotten me hooked on the Nintedo and "rehooked" with Pokemon Puzzle League -- such an evil evil (good) game....
March 22, 2001
As always, my updates have been far and few. What's been recent? Well, while my playing Final Fantasy IX has slowed down (mostly due to recent interviews and planned changes of life), I have been getting a lot of time in Onimusha Warlords (for the PlayStation 2).... such a beautiful game, both visually and aurally! I guess maybe I'll write a personal review when I actually finish ;)... hopefully soon!
March 7, 2001
Well, it's been awhile but I guess this section deserves an update somewhere along the way. I finally was able to finish Final Fantasy Adventure for the Game Boy. It's an old game (WAYYYYY back from 1991) and was actually the first game of the Seiken Densetsu series. Known as Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo in America, the second game of the series is considered to be a true classic action/RPG -- which is why I wanted to play and finish the first one before I tackle SoM. I find it unfortunate that the fourth game, Legend of Mana for the PlayStation didn't generate very positive reviews. If Square ever does a fifth game, hopefully, it'll be better. Anyhow, I won't be playing SoM anytime soon since I have many more games to play. Now it's pretty much Metal Gear Solid for the Game Boy Color and Final Fantasy IX. I should finish MGS soon since I'm at the last boss...
I also purchased Pokemon Puzzle League for the N64 last week -- for $15 used at Blockbuster! As a rehash of the Tetris Attack game for the Super NES, this game is truly addicting as my picking up the controller only results in losing precious time and opportunities to sleep and do other things! Such an evil game...