I am a few games into a full season of Madden 2008 for PS2. I really stopped playing Madden after 2005 so I missed out on those great Andre Johnson years. I just really hated the PS3/360 versions of Madden 2006 and 2007, just incredibly buggy and nowhere near as smooth as Madden 2004-2005 for PS2/Xbox, plus it was like they added so many features and changed the buttons around and it felt like a convoluted mess. But they kept releasing Madden on PS2 and original XBOX up until like Madden 2009-2010(probably later than that for PS2). I played Madden 2006 for Gamecube a few years ago and was really surprised at how good it was, way better than the 360 version, just as good if not better than Madden 2004-2005. I went like 11-5 with the Texans and lost in the AFC Championship to the Jets.

I played Madden 2007 for the original XBOX about a year ago give or take. Much like the Gamecube version of 06 this was surprisingly good, way better than the PS3 version. I played through a season with Vince Young on the Texans and went 12-4, broke the single season receiving record with Andre Johnson with like 1,890 yards but I was one and done in the playoffs as I got my ass handed to me by the Colts.

Now I'm like 5-1 with the Texans on the PS2 version of Madden 2008, I traded around and got Vince Young again. I just played a really great game against the Dolphins. I fumbled 3 times trying to scramble with Young and gave up a 21-0 lead. They scored again after the half and put me down to 28-7. I pulled off the comeback throwing 2 touchdowns from Young to Johnson and then running with Young for 2 touchdowns, the last of which was like the greatest play I've ever pulled off in Madden, I juked a few guys and ran for like a 40 yard touchdown to tie it 28-28, ended up winning it with a field goal in the end 31-28.

I have Madden 2009 downloaded to the hard drive of my soft modded XBOX, I've played around with it a little bit and was just floored at how much better it is than the PS3 version of 2009(I bought it brand new and returned it a day or two later I hated it so much). Really looking forward to playing through a season of that game.

Finished up Fractured but Whole, really opens up later on when you open more abilities and allies, I think overall, the final act was better than Stick of Truth, kind of genius twist on everything when the time travel really kicks in. Though it was glitched to high hell, nothing too intrusive, but Trophies weren't activating, I pooped on every damn toilet in the game for no reason. Also some odd audio clicks, like everytime I'd use fast travel. Combat still wasn't something I overly enjoyed, but the game itself was fun enough.

Now, I'm going to try Persona 5, to see if it's only the South Park aspect I enjoy.

So I finally finished Resident Evil: Revelations, this game only totaled me a little over 7 hours but it felt like the game dragged on quite a bit. This might be because the final boss took me about an hour alone in itself. I cannot stress enough how bad the dodging in this game is, to the point that the final boss(On normal mind you)became ridiculous and it stressed you having enough custom parts on a gun to make the damage enough to stun the boss before he pops you. What a lousy final boss fight, I get it being difficult but the 3 phases were ridiculous and it took me running to the item box and changing up equipment to down the fucker. The story is clique as hell, and the side characters were dull and were one note characters...it sort of suffers from Tomb Raider reboot syndrome in that regard. The gunplay was pretty good as a RE4 clone and there was enough ammo in the later portions of the game even though the game got stingy with herbs which stressed the need to scan enemies and your full surroundings to get those necessary healing items. The game isn't all bad but it also had much that could have been approved upon. Just the definition of an "alright" game and nothing more than that. I haven't touched raid mode but I think I am satisfied with playing through the campaign alone.

In addition to Bayonetta 1, I have began RUINER which was a very under the radar release late September 2017. Picture Hotline Miami's gunplay and utilization of different weapons + Furi's dodging mechanics/overall pace and you have RUINER. So far so good but I get the vibe this isn't a game that's going to last very long at all so I think for the 9.99 pricetag I bought it digitally for, I think I will get enough value out of this game. Game probably needs a 2nd playthrough on the harder difficulty as I decided to play it safe and stick to Normal. Game takes the best of both worlds from two games I adore so this has been right up my alley. Add a neat cyberpunk feel and music to go alongside this(Think I read it right that the Manga/Anime BERSERK's composer contributed music for this?!?!) and I think this game is going to end up being a very pleasant surprise from what was a damn good year in video gaming already.

Beat RUINER to end February. Very solid game, I would get it while it is on sale(Which I did at 9.99. Only 9.99! Only 9.99....ah forget it :lol:) granted because the drawback is the game length but I think it is meant to be a two playthrough game one on normal, next on hard. Might be something I look back and replay on Hard. I wish there was more bosses admittedly as well but besides those two gripes, I think the game is fantastic. I can't tell you how great the ability to switch off and on skill points to adjust to enemies or obstacles with different powers truly is, whoever decided on that saved the day for this game. One obstacle stresses the use of a shield, the next will want you to go truly offensive. Gives you so many different ways to play the game altogether. What a frantic, fun pace, sometimes intense game. I cannot imagine how crazy it will be on Hard, I felt the game wasn't too bad on Normal. Of course I died quite a few times but I never felt I got cheated out of anything which is a benchmark of a solid game in this genre.

Going to suck it up and pain myself into finishing Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Two episodes in and it is such a dud. I feel in comparison to the original Life is Strange series, there is hardly any events that was truly crushing as the player and I feel that Max's superpowers really added an element to the original series that this 3 episode part is missing and is truly shows. After this, I think I will attack Virginia and finish that given I heard the game is not very long at all.

Onimusha: Warlords (Capcom; 2001)

As you can tell, I've been in a PS2 mood of late, so I thought I'd check out one of the games of that early era. Onimusha is a series I'm familiar with but never played. A mate of mine bought me a sequel for one of my birthdays, which was akin to buying me Season 3 of a TV show I had never watched before. As always, I appreciated the gift, but why a sequel? I always held off on playing through it until I played the original...which just never happened. What can I say, 2004 was a crazy year for gaming and it seemed like there was never a lull. It's something I always wanted to rectify, so now I've made the plunge.

First, let me tell you about my set up. Since my OG PS2 can't read discs anymore, I found an alternative method that's really dope. I've got a soft-mod on my PS2 that allows me to read games from a server, so by connecting my PS2 through my ethernet, it can read games from my PC and play them that way. Not only does it allow me to play my games, the performance is far better since it isn't reading off poor quality DVDs. It's really cool and has given me a real PS2 dose with games like GT3 and Ridge Racer V being featured in heavy rotation.

Never the less, I'm about 2 1/2 hours into the game and I just had a fight against an evil clone of the MC. After doing some research, I wasn't surprised to learn this was originally intended as a N64DD title. It feels like a game from an older generation, that was polished for the newer hardware with a few CGI cutscenes thrown in. Still, it's a Capcom game and they're the masters of establishing form in their games. From the Sengoku/Demonic theming, to the upgrades, to the puzzles and boss fights the game flows seamlessly and feels like a cousin of the RE series.

One section got the better of me and it took me three goes to get it right. At one point, the MC and his female accomplice Kaede have to do a series of puzzles which get harder over time. The first two are relatively easy, if not time consuming while the final one is a lot harder. It's one of those puzzles where you can only move one tile at a time, but you've somehow got to get these two tiles from opposite ends to meet up in the middle. Even without pressure, it would take some time to figure out, but since the game only gives you about a minute to figure it out, and it's so easy to mess up, you'll find yourself wasting 5 minutes over and over again getting back to it. In the end, I'm not even sure how I did it. For whatever reason, if I don't think about puzzles in games and just react naturally, I tend to do far better than when I try and think it out.

That's a really interesting way to play PS2 games. I'm surprised it actually improves performance, but that's cool. I didn't have much trouble with that puzzle. I took it a bit too slowly on the first try and failed, but by that point I pretty much figured out the way to solve it so I breezed through it the second try. Onimusha 2 has a lot of similar, but more difficult, puzzles, so maybe that experienced helped me out.

The first time, I had no clue what was going on. I didn't know you had to hold the buttons and let them go to move the pieces, so by the time I figured it out, the clock had stopped. The second time I kept trying to figure out if there was a way to rotate the pieces, got stuck and ran out of time. I was waiting for my dinner to cook, so I was itching to beat the game as soon as possible. When I came back, for whatever reason, I just did it.

The best way to play the ISO would be to transfer it to an internal HDD as games will stutter during FMVs over ethernet, but as a momentary solution, my inner-10 year old is blown away.

Giving Persona 5 some time to open up, but I'm definitely leaning toward it just being the South Park side of things I enjoyed. I do like the basic concept, and the visuals are great, but so far, can't much get into the game. Still gonna stick with it, maybe even beat it. But it doesn't look like I'll be venturing deeper into the genre after all.

How far are you into it exactly?

It's an 80 hour game and if you aren't feeling it by the 3rd dungeon, then I'd say skip it.

I'm only on the first dungeon, just got the blonde kid his Persona. Really so far I've just gotten through all the introductory stuff, barely gotten into the actual meat and potatoes. Fractured but Whole didn't really open up for me until you get more allies and powers, so I'm giving this game about that much benefit, as the story has me interested enough that I WANT to play...but if I'm not into enough after a few more sessions, that probably won't keep me for the long haul.

Wrapped up Madden 2008(PS2) last night by getting blown out by Denver in the wild card playoffs, lost 31-6. I was blowing teams out so bad in the regular season that I went through the settings and upped the difficulty from Pro to All Pro, I lost 3 of my last 5 games playing in All Pro difficulty and finished 12-4. I lost to Denver 28-19 in one of those last 5 games, threw 5 interceptions(Broncos had Champ Bailey and John Lynch on the roster), only points I scored was a 95 yard kickoff return and a 80 yard Mario Williams fumble recovery for a TD, missed the 2 point conversion and scored another TD after recovering another fumble on the kickoff. The rematch in the playoffs I tried to move Andre Johnson to the left side to get away from Champ Bailey but still just could not move the chains at all and could not stop Jay Cutler(!) no matter what I tried on defense. Also the fucking penalties screwed me, clipping, face mask, false start before I knew it I was down 17-0, I went through at half time and turned all that shit off. 

Seems to be a pretty good jump in difficulty from Pro to All Pro. I went from smashing teams 55-0 to now all of a sudden my receivers keep dropping balls my defensive backs became mentally retarded and my opponents seemed twice as fast, I enjoyed the challenge though. Ended up with 71 receptions and 1,870 receiving yards with Andre Johnson. I had like 680 rushing yards with Vince Young, threw for 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions(8 of them coming in those last 5 games when I cranked up the difficulty) and had another 8 rushing touchdowns so 36 total touchdowns with him.

I'm eager to move on to Madden 2009 for the original XBOX. I hated the PS3 version back when it came out but the little I've played around with the XBOX version it is pretty sweet, it's like a further refined version of the Madden 04-05 engine and it plays really really well(better than Madden 08 for PS2). I believe this was one of the last games released on the old XBOX, if not THE last game released for it. (Edit: just checked it actually was the final game ever released for the console, August 2008). 

Interesting coincidence, I am currently remodeling some apartment complexes changing out windows and doors, was working on some windows in one guy's apartment earlier this week and ole dude had Madden 2008 going on an XBOX 360. 

I just can't get into RPG games. I tried to play Skies Of Arcadia for Dreamcast a month or so back, also tried Final Fantasy II a few months ago, it's just really not my style of games, I can't get into it, I can't imagine playing games like that for 80 hours. Shining Force and Phantasy Star IV on the Genesis are the only RPGs I've ever been able to slog through and complete, really enjoyed both of those but I couldn't get into any of the sequels or other games in the series, something about those 2 though that I really really liked. I have been wanting to check out the South Park games.

Mar 2, 2018 9:34:30 GMT RagnarokMike said:

I'm only on the first dungeon, just got the blonde kid his Persona. Really so far I've just gotten through all the introductory stuff, barely gotten into the actual meat and potatoes. Fractured but Whole didn't really open up for me until you get more allies and powers, so I'm giving this game about that much benefit, as the story has me interested enough that I WANT to play...but if I'm not into enough after a few more sessions, that probably won't keep me for the long haul.

I found during my playthrough, I was mostly tapping X through out. The only thing that kept me going was the Kamoshida story which was a lot more graphic than a typical JRPG. It didn't pick up until I had a team of four and wasn't forced into linear objectives, which should be the next play session for you. If I could offer a piece of advice, stock up on SP restorative items. You want to try and do as much as you can with each visit to the palace and the game is pretty shrewd about this. I'm pretty sure you can get drinks from a vending machine and the local doctors that will do the trick.

Kaye88 ,

www.playstationlifestyle.net/2018/03/02/new-valkyrie-profile-lenneth-teaser-posted-by-square-enix/

A bit deeper into P5, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm simply never going to be a fan of pure turn based combat...BUT, I am enjoying pretty much everything else about the game, so I'm going to continue. It's definitely not something I'm going to dip into often, but I think if I find quality stories, and modern mechanics (as I simply can't get into any of the old ones, like FFVII and the like), I can find enough enjoyment, that I might cherry pick one or two a year to give a chance. I'm definitely bought in on South Park, as I found both of those immensely enjoyable (SoT more so).

What is it about turn-based combat RM? The repetitive nature or is it just too slow for you?

I think it comes down largely to a lack of control, when you hit and when you get hit is up to the game, bit too passive for my liking. I can do slow, and I can do repetitive, but I like it to be my fault if I'm not landing or taking damage. Just standing around in a polite war doesn't do it for me.

Fair enough.

For me it incentivizes preparation, ensuring your characters are equipped with the right tools and skills to take on the challenge. In a way, the game becomes akin to an adventure game where you've got to look at the numbers and make the most of your abilities. It allows for more control of your character than most games would allow, enabling you to build a deeper connection and compare with your buddies. A game like FF7 is going to accomodate for more playstyles than say Super Mario 64.

However, I can see an argument against traditional turn-based being an archaic design template as most RPG games tend to distance themselves from that mode of play. In a lot of ways, Persona is a throw-back to that style of game and a lot of the puzzles you'll come across in dungeons have been used in older examples of the genre.

It's certainly not for everyone, but it's cool to see you exploring a different genre and I'm curious to see how far you make it into the game. If you have any questions about the game, I'll be happy to answer them.

Onimusha: Warlords (Capcom; 2001)

Otherwise a taste of things to come from Capcom. A perfectly acceptable bite-sized campaign with memorable side characters and a nice blend of action-adventure, hack n slash and puzzle gameplay. While the graphics look of their time (aka 17 years old), the enemy designs are creative enough to where it feels gratifying to slay them. If this was 2001, Onimusha would have been the perfect weekend rental, giving you enough time to play through most of the game, if not beat it, while ensuring you didn't feel like you didn't get your money's worth.

Most importantly, I finally have context for a game I received for my birthday 14 years ago.

Welp, Persona 5 may have just lost me, I do everything get to the very end of the palace, I ended up being on the last day of deadline because I had to go back out for some items, get to the VERY end. You NEED an extra day from the end of the palace, well that would have been good to fucking know prior to the fact wouldn't it? That's just bad game design to keep such a critical fact buried until it's too late to do anything about it, lose all that progress, every little thing I did, just stupid, it was frustrating enough doing it the first time. I don't know, maybe once I cool off I'll give it another go, or I'll just send it back, because that's fucking ridiculous.

Haha tough break.

I can't remember if the game does inform you the amount of days you require to beat the dungeon, as earlier games teach you to beat the dungeon ASAP. IIRC there's a calender feature in the game that warns you to send the calling card 2 days prior and you're constantly hounded by your party to clear the dungeon ASAP.

It suggests leaving a couple days to explore the dungeon, but didn't specify why, and doesn't tell you it's an absolute necessity (except evidently in a calendar, which it gave you no reason to use to that point) ; kinda seemed like it was for the reason I initially needed, where I ended up having to exit for items, had I known, I'd have just left the locked chests locked and what not. Stupid to have a deadline, that has a deadline prior to the deadline, serves no purpose to save that until the last possible second to tell you too. I'll probably go back to it, but hell, that sort of design flaw should have been weeded out early.

It seems like something a lot of people were duped by, so they could have been more transparent, but the calling card system makes sense from a narrative perspective.

The system itself might work from a narrative standpoint, but keeping it a secret until you're already there is just a dick move, when it's giving you a rundown of the infiltration at the start it could have inserted that same information and changed nothing except my anger induced puckerage. I initially went in with 4 days left, so it would have been good to know it was too late to leave.

But it isn't a secret, the game informs you about the deadline and encourages you to complete it ASAP. I don't know why you left it so late in the first place.

Generally, if something gives you time to build your character before moving onto the challenge, that's the thing to do first, because the story progresses after that and you lose the rest; it was only after I found out the deadline wasn't the actual deadline that I discovered you'd still progress those days after the palace, not knowing if it jumped time or what. Trying not to sacrifice character building.

Had I known the deadline it was literally holding over the character's head the whole game wasn't the actual deadline, I definitely would have gone in earlier; had it even told me that once I passed the non-gag deadline, I could have gotten those days back.. Sometimes bad design just sneaks up on ya.

The game doesn't give you as many opportunities to progress social links until the palace is complete. As soon as it's done, then your confidants have more time to hang out with you.

The game could have been clearer about the calling card, but to say they were secretive would be an exaggeration. It practically begs you to finish the palace and I even told you to try and do it all in one go.

The game itself gives you a fighting chance if you fully inspect the calendar, but within the narrative it was treated like a secret, Morgana keeps it entirely to itself until you reach the end, and then fills you in on everything last second. The calling card is never mentioned at all until that exact moment. And when they were talking about the palace, all seemed more like a recommendation for contingencies rather than an absolute necessity, didn't seem at all like they were stressing a deadline before the deadline, even once that deadline passed its existence is never acknowledged...only the main deadline is ever treated as an objective.

There is that single indication, but unless you see the specific day on the calendar, it's a really obtuse double deadline, just really poorly laid out on their part. Luckily, the type of error that only happens once. Calmed down now, I'll get back to it tomorrow.

It's a harsh lesson to learn, but that's what I meant about making each visit count. You want to try and get as far as you possibly can with each visit otherwise you'll miss out on precious time to strengthen your confidants and attributes. I would have been more specific if you had have told me you were planning to leave it to the last minute, but by the time of your last update, you still had over two weeks to send the calling card.

It sucks, but the game opens up more from this point on.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny (Capcom; 2002)

After beating the original, I set my sights on a game that's been on my backlog for 14 years. Onimusha 2 came out one year after the original and stars a new protagonist Jubei Yagyu. The game picks up where the last one left off with Nobunaga gaining power and pillaging each village one by one. After Jubei's home town, Yagyu village is destroyed by Nobunaga's forces, Jubei gains control of the Ogre Gaunlet and swears revenge.

Building on the original, Onimusha 2 introduces two important elements to the series: a town & allies. The town gives you a safe space where you can save your game, exchange gifts and interact with townsfolk. Giving gifts is useful since it can reward you with items that grant more health and more magic. The introduction of allies also gives you an extra set of hands to take care of enemies. You'll need it as well as Nobunaga's forces have grown and each room is crawling with more enemies than ever before. Still, the basic fundamentals of spamming square of timing a block will see you to victory more often than not.

So far I just managed to survive against the second boss. It's one of those fights which you can't win, but you have to stay alive for a certain amount of time. I stubbornly tried to do it without using a healing item, but after four attempts, I tapped out. Pacing-wise, the game doesn't seem as smooth as the original, with constant back-tracking playing a major focus. Where as Onimusha did a reasonable job of pushing you towards a new area to explore, the sequel will constantly start you off from the village and force the player to work their way back to the destination.I suppose it encourages you to use the shopping feature, but there's been at least one occassion where I just had to sprint through a bunch of rooms I had already been through just to advance the story.

Mar 4, 2018 14:00:34 GMT Big Pete said:

So far I just managed to survive against the second boss. It's one of those fights which you can't win, but you have to stay alive for a certain amount of time. I stubbornly tried to do it without using a healing item, but after four attempts, I tapped out.

You fought Gogandantess, the greatest swordsman of all demons without even acknowledging his awesome voice acting? For shame! I accidentally discovered a way to stunlock Gogandantess. You start a combo, he blocks the final hit which staggers him for enough time to start a new combo before he attacks, rinse and repeat. I think it's the special combo (down up square) of the thunder sword.

The boss fights in Onimusha 2 are almost all awesome. I did as you did in repeatedly trying to beat the bosses without using a healing item. An even harder challenge is to avoid a teammate running in and helping you out, which happens after you're hit 3-4 times.

Mar 4, 2018 14:00:34 GMT Big Pete said:

Where as Onimusha did a reasonable job of pushing you towards a new area to explore, the sequel will constantly start you off from the village and force the player to work their way back to the destination.I suppose it encourages you to use the shopping feature, but there's been at least one occassion where I just had to sprint through a bunch of rooms I had already been through just to advance the story.

You only go to the village three or four times in the entire game. At some point you travel to new locations and don't look back. The main purpose is to buy weapon/armour upgrades for the side characters. The armour gets unlocked on the second village visit, and the weapons on the last one.

Replaying that week, it's almost comical how misleading they are with the deadline. Leading up, not only is the real deadline not mentioned, but on the day of the actual deadline Morgana specifically tells you you have 4 days left, but without mentioning any urgency to go to the palace. Once you beat the palace Mona'll tell you directly "You've got to do this today, you're out of time." But leading up (and after, if you don't do the palace) to the real deadline...nothing. Noticing it on the calendar is really your only hope to know that deadline for sure if you're a newcomer. They should send you back a week the second you miss the real deadline, instead of letting you continue to play to the secondary one.

Oh well, that's over now. Get back to more tomorrow.