Author Archives: Julia Alexander

Dun Dun. Dun Dun. Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun.

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Good evening GTAGamers!

I do hope you’re enjoying your Mass Effect 3 eve. It’s like Christmas, but better because it involves a Shepard…

Enough of that though. News leaked about the new Silent Hill game being released on the 13th for the PS3 and The XBOX 360, Silent Hill: Downpour. Konami released the first track off of the soundtrack for the game, and for the first time since the series has started, it will not be composed by Akira Yamaoka.

You may remember that Yamaoka left Konami in December of 2009 after working for the company for sixteen years. The composer left to focus more of his time elsewhere, while continuing to do freelance compositions on the side.

The new composer, Daniel Licht, has signed on to do the composition for both Downpour and Book of Memories, the PS Vita game due out on March 28th. The game will finish off Silent Hill month and looks to be promising.

You may remember Licht from previous works which include the main title theme for Hellraiser part IV, and more recently, the blood theme from the popular HBO series, “Dexter.” Below is said blood theme, and is the tune which makes me believe Konami may be onto something.

It’s not Yamaoka in the slightest, but Konami did say they wanted to keep the franchise popular for old fans, but spruce it up for new fans. Without further ado though, here is Licht’s first piece for Silent Hill: Downpour.

Enjoy.

For newcomers to the game who’ve maybe never played before, but are thinking of starting this month with the relaunch, here is a classic piece from Yamaoka. This song/theme is from the original Silent Hill, and is still one of the creepiest compositions to this day.

Do you like the sounds of the new theme, do you hate it, or do you not care at all at this point you just want to get your hands on the game? Let us know.

Cheers for now dear readers,

Ridsrids.

To Dante or not to Dante, that is Apparently the Question.

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Hello GTAgamers!

Ridsrids back here with a little piece of news. Screenshots were released from Capcom of their upcoming controversial revival of Devil May Cry.

Before I post the screenshots for you, I just want to discuss the controversy this game has caused. Long time fans of the series threw their arms and controllers up in outrage when they learned the art team behind the new DMC was remodelling their favourite protagonist, Dante. While once he sported long silver hair, robes, and an epic looking evil face, he has been replace by a younger, teenage anarchist-looking punk, who appears to have just walked out of the riots in Greece. Below is a picture of both the old Dante and the new Dante. To the left is the favourite Dante, the one we grew up with on the Playstation. To the right is the new Dante, due out sometime this year in Devil May Cry, or as some people are calling it, DMC5.

Both old Dante and new Dante

I think it’s about time the character got a reboot. The art direction team clearly kept the attitude from the old Dante, but re-sparked him to appeal to both an old and new fan base. I think the new Dante has taken everything that’s happened in the past year with the Arab Spring and embraced it, making him the coolest reboot of a character to date, in my not so humble opinion.

Devil May Cry Screenshot           Devil May Cry Screenshot      Devil May Cry Screenshot

Devil May Cry Screenshot          Devil May Cry Screenshot     Dantes Sword, RebellionDantes guns, Ebony and Ivory

So there you go. I hope this holds you all over until this game is eventually released. With one final thought, I have faith in Capcom, you should too.

Cheers,

Ridsrids

Review: Final Fantasy XIII-2, The Lamest of Lame

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Alright hardcore Final Fantasy fanatics, be prepared to pick up your swords and magical hands to fight me to the death following this review/opinion piece.

The new Final Fantasy is, quite frankly, a piece of shit.

That’s putting it lightly. We were all amazed with the new battle system that emerged in the 12th edition of Final Fantasy the developer called an, “Active Dimension Battle” system. Compared to previous games, where the battles took place in typical RPG turn-based fashion, this new system allowed you to battle in an open field. Advantage? For hard core gamers who were quick on their toes, the battle was intensified tenfold. Disadvantage? Well, er, your enemy was also quick on his feet and didn’t waste any time in attacking you.

But it worked. It was fun and the game found a new excitement for old fans of the series. It got old fast though. And as the series went on, the new battle system took away from the story line.

This is where we started. We’ve done a complete 360 and arrived at the original point of the story.

It keeps getting worse, and with the new release of Final Fantasy XIII-2 (or as I like to call it Final Disaster, the not so legend don’t even bother waiting for it dary sequel. Take that Mr. Stintson.)

Serrah Farron

It’s not the graphics, thank God. If Square Enix does one thing ridiculously and consistently well, it’s the amount of time and effort they put into designing their characters. The story lines may change, but never falter as well. Or they never did.

Now though with the release of this sequel, fans of the genre don’t know what to expect. The environments are a tad off, and for reasons we don’t really understand. It’s almost as if the entire concept of the game was dumbed down for preschoolers.

We don’t need to keep the preschoolers in mind, Square Enix. If they were hardcore gamers, they’d trade over those crayons for some emulators with the Final Fantasy collection on it.

I just don’t understand how a company can go from creating a masterpiece such as this:

Cloud

We don’t need you guys to spruce up the battle system or create a simpler storyline for people to follow. I wasn’t really gung-ho on this sequel idea to begin with, but with the release of it, you’ve just proven that a sequel should never be made again.

All I’m asking for is some more Tidus, and less Lightning. She was cool, and I had fun with her (I dare you to make a joke, I dare thee), but we need to re-examine what the goal of Final Fantasy is, and always has been. Let’s resort back to those good ol’ days where we can connect with the characters and mourn over the death of the ones we hold so dear.

To wrap this up, I’d say wait until it hits fifteen dollars at your local EB Games or GameStop, but don’t rush out on a icy night in this Canadian winter to buy it. It’s honestly, and it pains me to say it, not worth the hassle.

2/5 stars

So cheers for now mates,

Ridsrids

Massively Too Much?

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With Mass Effect 3′s release date now a giant speck on the horizon your ship is barreling towards – your space ship that is – I began to revisit my old Mass Effect games. Bioware has always done a great job with creating single player campaigns that the player can enjoy. There’s a bad guy, you kill him. A team of bad guys, there’s a grenade. A fleet, well, there’s rockets for that. But Bioware, unlike other modern day game companies, have exceeded somewhere that is still relatively new; multiplayer online co-op.

Multiplayer isn’t too new. Back in the day, if you wanted to race against your friends in Mario Kart for the N64 you just had to bring an extra controller to your friends house you were visiting. Hell, even back in the archaic arcade age, there were two guns attached to House of the Dead for you and a friend to play. Now though, the idea of multiplayer isn’t a new concept. In fact, it’s something we expect.

This idea of a multiplayer co-op though has us all scratching our heads. For the first time in a while (that we’ve seen executed properly), you can not only play the entire story mode of the game in a multiplayer campaign mode, but you’re suggested too. Each player takes on a different character, and each character experiences a slightly different story mode than his or her other, while simutaeously still playing the same game.

ME3 Characters

Although you can’t play loveable characters like Captain Sheppard because he is reserved for the single campaign mode if you wish to play it that way, you can still play loveable characters like Turians, Krogans and Asari. The question is still, however, when does multiplayer become too much for games?

I’m currently playing Star Wars the Old Republic, an MMORPG from LucasArts. Although I love the PVP (player vs player) action, I sometimes yearn for the story mode campaign. Yes, you can play a story mode in Star Wars, but that defeats the purpose of the MMO.

Whatever happened to games like Final Fantasy, where you played a story and fell so deeply in love with the characters, you actually cried during certain cut scenes. I don’t think I need to mention which game I’m talking about here.

Unless I’m playing something like Uncharted or God of War, I feel like the story mode on modern day games is being forgotten. Major companies like Bioware are able to get away with it, using Mass Effect and Dragon Age multiplayer to their advantage.

I think it’s time we revisit the old games, where the story modes were remembered and focused upon, where we connected with the characters, like these guys below.

Link

So let’s have a toast for these guys, and remember to use the classics as a guideline for the future.

Until next time,

Ridsrids.