Blog Pantsu

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and the difference between Japan and NA

Right, I don’t know what the hell this is about. This genre of game is whole new experience to me. So, I’m going to get it. I’m not interested in how I’ll like it, I’m more interested in trying to make sense of all this new information.

This leads a very interesting topic: the different between Japan and NA. What are the chances of a North American company producing a trailer like this? Don’t get me wrong, this seems like a very interesting piece of game, but what are the chances? While Japan makes stuff cuter, us American are making things bigger, badder, and something that’ll make us say “Kick-ass!” or “Motherfucker, that was awesome!” Games are becoming more like Hollywood movies in America. Why? Because Hollywood is very good at making audiences weep in awe at a fight scene, or make us sit at the edge of our seats. Japan is creating it’s own style of game (the movies seem like something an American would watch and think it was made in Hollywood), and it’s very interesting.

I do know that it is an RPG of sorts, but it’s presentation made it feel like something completely different. At first, I thought that it was a type of life-simulator, but then I saw the fight scenes (I thought they were dancing at first, to be honest ^^) and knew that it was an RPG. But… what a different RPG, I must say. Presented like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

And with that, I bid you a due (I think got this idiom correct ^^;;).

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The Force Unleashed demo - my experience

In my previous post (best phrase ever), I mentioned that I had and intend to play the The Force Unleashed demo. Well, to be blunt… IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME. The story basically goes like this: Darth Vader has an apprentice, and the Emperor cannot know about him. The latter part explains why this guy was killing everyone no matter where he went. Only one mission is in the demo, but you can experience almost everything the game has to offer (I shouldn’t say everything, since it’s a demo, and they wouldn’t want to spoil the game, right? ^^). One surprising feature is that you can level up. Yes, you read that right. The more you use your force powers, the better your guy (I’ll just call him “character”) can use them, and eventually more powers are available for you to play with.

The Force Unleashed Trailer

Now, what about the combat? Highly addictive, expertly done, and not at all boring. Not only can you kill soldiers with your light saber, you can use a combination (otherwise known as a “combo move”) of your light saber and two force powers: lightning and push. Just like in a fighting game, this requires a number of button combinations. I suggest you play through the demo first, and then play it again but with fighting these combinations in mind:

4 Square
1 Square + 2 Triangle
2 Square + 2 Triangle
3 Square + 1 Triangle
1 Square + 1 Circle
2 Square + 1 Circle (Personal favorite)
3 Square + 1 Circle

The graphics be noted as well. The explosions are magnificent. In fact, I’ve never seen a game that had such good looking explosions (they’re on par with World in Conflict). The Force Push’s physical manifestation is undebatably awesome and gives the Star Wars universe more of a hard-core sci-fi feel. They remind of those cannons the Geonosians used, only cooler and a better color (they’re a mix dark blue and a lighter blue, sort of like cyan).

Finally: my favorite part of the game? I can cut a freaking AT-ST in half. Literally.

All in all, a must buy. If you would like to try it, then you can download it from the PlayStation Store. It’s over a gigabyte (1000 megabytes), so make sure you have something to do while you wait!!

One reason why Internet Slang is required

Have you ever read the comments on websites such as YouTube or any type of site that allows users to post a comment? There is someone that will always like Internet Slang (lol, ya, np, etc.), and, likewise, there is always someone, or some people, to flame him/her. I agree, it is annoying. However, I’ve just had a lesson pounded into me while playing Mabinogi.

You may remember Mabinogi from my previous post. My character can handle all wolves, excluding wolves more powerful than a white wolf. Well, I was killing wolves and… got killed trying to finish one off. A good-hearted chap wanted to revive me, but… the problem was, I’ve never typed a message while I was dead - in fact, I didn’t know how to! So, he asked if I needed help, I couldn’t respond (trust me, I tried to answer with a “Yes!”) and he left. I then revived at the city and immediately went back to where I died to apologize for not replying (from his perspective, I was ignoring him) and what do you know: he was almost dead. So, I save him. He gives his thanks and this is where I learn a lesson: I tried to reply, but given my fanatical anti-1337speak attitude, he left before I could even finish what I was typing. Probably thought I was ignoring him again. So, I said “Screw it,” logged off and then came on here.

I’m not sure if it was a girl or a boy, so I just use “him” (and other forms) as a gender-neutral pronoun. His character was a boy, though.

Drieick

Mabinogi

I love this game. It’s the first MMORPG I’ve ever played, and I’m somewhat surprised. You see, I had assumed that in these MMORPG, you would have to socialize with people in order to make any significant progress. That’s not what I’m into, to be honest. I don’t mind making friends, it’s just joining a group or community with an intention to make friends is what I don’t like. But, I was wrong.

For those of you who have never played it, here’s a general overview of the game-play: it’s like Diablo, but an online game. However, those of you who have played Diablo, the combat is more complex and not as straight-forward as Diablo’s. It took me a while to learn how to really use the skills (you use the functions buttons: F1, F2, F3, etc.), which made the game a lot easier (imagine playing through a whole RPG with nothing but a sword and potions).

Server: Ruairi
Name: Oliton (reference to Mersadie Oliton, Captain Garviel Loken’s remembrancer)

Official site

Here are the screenshots I just took:

Drieick