BusterLogic may or may not be moving

Due to the general lack of views I've been receiving on Blogspot, I've been toying around with moving the blog over to 1up. Let's be honest, my primary goals in having this blog was to not only build up a portfolio, but to get criticisms about the direction I take things and my writing ability and style itself; I'm just not getting that here.

For the time being, I'll be posting my blogs here and at 1up.com. We'll see how things go, but i may be saying goodbye to the blogspot eventually.

A Slow December?

I find myself hearing through the dregs of the Internet about how all the great games have already come out and that there aren't any more good games coming out this year. We still have a month guys, and I'm sure there will be at least a couple decent games coming. Let me break it down for you:

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks



This game is looking to be just about what Phantom Hourglass should have been. Hourglass was an attempt to create a new way to play a Zelda game and it succeeded at doing just that. The game worked very well and had plenty of great ideas going for it. The problem with it was that it simply didn't have the dungeon design nor the boss battles that make the games memorable. I played through most of Hourglass and I can't remember much of it at all.

Spirit Tracks looks interesting. I'm hoping controlling Phantom-Zelda will be a delicate experience, because from what I've been lead to believe so far, it's looking good. The dungeons seem to be a cut above the dreck that we were subjected to with the last game.


Silent Hill: Shattered Memories



I think I've talked about what makes me interested in this game so far before. In short, no combat for the first time in a series where the combat has always felt stale. The emphasis will actually be on fear and discovery as opposed to beating the hell out of two torsos sewn together. The producer has also been claiming that its going to have a system that learns what scares you or some such jargon, but I find myself skeptical. Despite my disbelief, I can't help but find myself entranced by the idea of playing a survival horror game that doesn't have asinine controls or combat.


The Saboteur



I'll be real honest here guys, I've never played a Pandemic Studios game nor did I know of this game's existence until it was revealed that the majority of the studio had been canned. What I do know of the company is that Mercs was hot and Mercs 2 was undercooked despite its ridiculously awesome commercial. What I do know of The Saboteur is that it looks freaking rad. The game takes place during World War II but from all that I've seen from screenshots, it is NOT an FPS. Plus the concept of being in a black and white world slowly getting infused with color has always been sweet in my book.

I must admit I feel kind of silly talking about a game I know little to nothing about, but it at least reminded me about the best video game commercial ever.


Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers



Having a release date of December 26th gives me the impression that this game has been sent out to die. I've never really been a fan of the Crystal Chronicles games really, but its ESRB summary and some gameplay previews kind of make me want to give it another look. Instead of trying to convince people to give this game a look, let me just quote its ESRB warning:

"This is a fantasy-based action game in which players assume the role of Layle, a mercenary "crystal bearer" who uses his telekinetic powers (i.e., the ability to control gravity) to stop an evil villain from destroying the world. Players can explore fantasy worlds, battle numerous creatures, and engage in story-related mini-games (e.g., dodging lasers, flying airships, saving people). The central character can use his telekinetic powers to throw people off cliffs, into warp portals, onto train tracks, or into trash chutes. Guns and swords can also be used to defeat characters. One sequence involves intense machine gun fire against a dragon; cutscenes sometimes depict slapping, punching, and kicking. Consumers may wish to know that the expletives "damn" and "hell" are occasionally used by the central characters.

Some female characters wear revealing fantasy outfits and bikinis that expose deep cleavage. During one sequence at the beach, a woman accuses a man of peeping on her in an outhouse changing room (e.g., "How icky of you to watch girls changing!" and "You were peeping?!"). In one mini-game, two women in bikinis try to knock each other off a floating platform using only their hips. Players will also encounter multiple alcohol references during their adventure: wine casks, barrels, and bottles (e.g., "Rainbow Wine") can be found in some locations; a goblin samurai holding a sake-shaped bottle appears to be drunk; and players can visit a winery and uncork kegs and barrels, allowing the wine to pour onto the floor. If players wish to, they may pick up steaming manure and toss it at enemies or the bucolic surroundings."

How anyone could NOT want to play this game after reading that is a little bit beyond me.


And that's about it, I can't think of any other games worthy of note. This may or may not be my Monday post; if it is, sorry guys.

Next Year is Looking Sharp

Every year, I tend to think back on what MY game of the year was. Last year it was Persona 4 and the year before that it was Super Mario Galaxy. This year I'm having a hard time deciding. In all honesty, I haven't played many of the A+ games that have been released. If I had to choose out of the five or six new games I purchased, I'd probably have a tie between Retro Game Challenge and Street Fighter 4.

Next year I actually have a lot of anticipated games coming out. Last night, I tried to think about all the games that I KNOW I'm going to get. I'm going to be lazy and just diamond point them without boring any possible reader with my awful writing. Here it goes:

♦ Mass Effect 2
♦ Super Mario Galaxy 2
♦ No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
♦ Shiren the Wanderer
♦ Final Fantasy XIII
♦ Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
♦ Final Fantasy Gaiden: Four Warriors of Light (if it comes to the US at all)
♦ Dragon Quest VI
♦ Dragon Quest IX
♦ Alan Wake
♦ 3D Dot Heroes
♦ Metroid: Other M (if it stays on track for a 2010 release)
♦ Super Street Fighter 4

So those are all high(ish) profile releases that I have little to no doubt of their quality. These are just games that come to the top of my head; I'm sure there's far more than that coming that will surprise me.

Mario's Keytastrophe

Not really a whole lot planned out for today. To be honest, I forgot that today was Wednesday (Update Day). I'm currently taking a short break from Suikoden II to play through Final Fantasy Mystic Quest to see if it is as bad as people like to claim. I've only played through the first hour or so of the game so far, but it's not the abortion that most Gamefaqs reviews would have you believe.

But this post isn't about Mystic Quest nor is it about abortions. I'm here to talk about something a little near and dear to my heart. Today, I'm going to spout off about one of the best ROM hacks I've played, Mario's Keytastrophe. The point of the game is to go into each level, find the key and take it to the key hole. Essentially, it's sort of like the concept to the Gameboy's Donkey Kong 94, but executed in the Super Mario World engine. It's great fun and it isn't overly difficult. In fact, I'd say as a whole, it eases into it's difficulty not only better than all other competing ROM hacks, but I'd even go as far to say that it has a better difficulty curve Super Mario World itself.

You can find the IPS file here, but you're on your own when it comes to the ROM. Remember kids, piracy is bad.

Five of the most memorable SNES RPG opening scenes

When one starts an RPG, a good hook is often needed to insure that the gamer will be whisked away to a world they never would have seen otherwise. A lot of games fail at that either for being too slow to start or having just a slice of life type introduction. Some games, however, manage to get the action going just right and set a good tone and precedent to build a game on. Here are five of my favorites. Most of these were recorded and edited by myself, but that was because I couldn't find anything else that suited my needs. Thanks to GeneralGrim909 for posting the Super Mario RPG video.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars



When Super Mario RPG was first announced, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I had heard the acronym used by my uncle when ever I would watch him play some first person PC game (I sure wish one of us remembered the name of), but this game was looked like nothing I had ever seen at that point. Remember kids, I was only about seven years old at the time, so most RPG's kinda slipped right out of my gaming curve due to an inability to read at a competent level.

Anyways, this beginning starts out pretty much with the beginning of any Mario game: Princess gets kidnapped and it's up to Mario to have a journey through the Mushroom Kingdom to save her. What really got me about it back in the day was how it illustrated Bowser's keep for the first time in a Mario game at that point. I'm not sure what about that really captured me, but whatevs. Anyways, in the first five minutes, you have your climatic showdown with the antagonistic turtle-dragon and actually have to use an outside tool to defeat him, staying consistent with the reptile's defeat in all the previous games. Once you finally get your Princess, chaos is unleashed and a giant sword pierces the castle and causes Mario to be separated from his platonic love.

Final Fantasy III



Back when I first played Final Fantasy VI, emulation was in its infancy and the sound quality was horrendous. It didn't matter though, there was something special about the way this game started that really got me hooked. Still to this day, I often get cold chills running down my spine when I go through it.

The air of mystery is thick as you're introduced to a world where magic was lost and technology had improved. So much so, did it that the first three characters you're introduced to walk around in metal suits. They presented something hadn't seen at the time in RPGs, a steam punk setting. As you're assaulted trying to enter the town of Narshe and go into their mines, you begin to wonder why exactly it is that the guards are so hostile. They even use beasts like Lobos to try and rend you asunder and eventually send a lightning eating mollusk after you. Once you get past the Whelk, you find out exactly why you and your buddies are there. The frozen Esper is approached and you find yourself outgunned as it disintegrates both of your new found "friends". "What could happen to ?????" with an intro like this, it's no wonder the game is one of the most beloved in the franchise


Dragon Quest VI



Dragon Quest VI is one of the long lost RPGs that never made it to America back in the nineties. Enix had to close down shop due to the poor sales and receptions of games like Brain Lord and Robotrek, so unfortunately, we missed out on one of the best RPGs of the Super Famicom. Interestingly enough, for once, Europe didn't get the shaft. They actually got one more Enix release called Terranigma, the vastly superior sequel to Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia.

Dragon Quest VI opens up on a dark night around a camp fire. You find yourself laying on the ground with a female companion awaiting your scout who's job it was to find out whether or not you were in the right place. When he returns, he confirms, that 'Yes' this is the dark lord Mudo's castle. With that bit of assurance, you and your compatriots gallivant your way over to the cliff where the female companion summons a dragon to fly you to your destination. What comes next is one of the most exciting scenes of the era as you and your crew fly into the castle in a way that wouldn't look out of place in a high tier fantasy movie. Once your party arrives, you find yourself in a deep, dank castle with a choking sense of foreboding subtly slithering into your psyche. As you go on, you see clouds shaped like skulls and a rainbow haze to attempt to warn you. You'll have none of that and you march on anyways into the lair of Mudo. Once there, you and your friends are lifted into the air by Mudo and one by one you are destroyed. Not many games start in your own death.



Lufia & The Fortress of Doom



When I think back of Lufia, I can't help but hail it as "The Most SNES RPG Ever". It takes every que from all it's competitors and matches them. It's a mish mash of everything else that was being done, yet somehow, it broke away and became completely awesome in it's own right. I still think the intro is the most interesting part and apparently I'm not the only one: Lufia II is the prequel and actually retells the events that led up to the intro to the First game.

In the sky, a floating island sits with an intimidating eeriness to it. In the castle that sits at the very top resides four malicious, dark entities called the Sinistrals who threaten the very life of the planet. We're first introduced to Maxim, Selan, Artea and Guy as they climb through this evil castle and battle their way through the monsters that live within. As they reach the heart of the fortress, they fight the Sinistrals one by one until all four are defeated. In one final desperation attack, the Sinistrals unleash the last of their power, so strong that it could it the world that very moment. With a counter formed between them and fueled by Selan, they deflect the Sinistrals' attack and save the world. Their victory came at a cost however, Selan was mortally wounded and Maxim was separated from the rest of the party, unable to escape. Lufia essentially starts out with what could have been (and eventually was) the end of an RPG. As such, it's unformulaic attempt to separate it from it's peers succeeded..



Final Fantasy IV



I've talked plenty about this game through the blog, so I won't waste too much time on this one. After a raid on the capital of Mysidia, the leader of the Red Wings naval force, Cecil, reflects somberly on the events that preceded. His crew calls out their callous actions, but Cecil states that it was necessary to protect the Kingdom of Baron. As they fly through the sky, they are attacked by monsters and are single handedly defeated by the captain. Upon landing, Cecil is greeted by the royal guard Baigan and is brought to the throne room. Once Cecil passes off their spoils of war, he can't help but question the purpose of their raid and how it has negatively impacted his crew. For his insolence, Cecil is relieved of his command and sent on a mission to slay a phantom beast in the town of Mist. Cecil's friend Kain bursts through the room and tries to persuade the king to give Cecil another chance, but only succeeds in getting himself sent on the mission as well.

The Problems With Suikoden II !!!!!!!!

By all accountable means, Suikoden II could have been the single best RPG on the Playstation. It's a great game, but quite a few marring little details seemed to have been an oversight of massive proportions. I'm talking about the translation and the massive amount of ridiculous glitches in the game.

♦ To say writing is important in an RPG is kind of an understatement. Suiko II has some pretty poor text contained within it. From characters saying things that make no sense to the over use of the exclamation mark, they definitely didn't have a competent localization crew. Not all of the awful text offends me however, talking to a cat and hearing him say "grumble, grumble" is pretty hilarious.

♦ The Langrisser styled wars are a definite step down from the Rock, Paper, Scissors wars of the first game. I'm not going to be brazen enough to claim the RPS segments were perfect, but they were not only much simpler, but had a greater impact on the playthrough. The major problems for me are simple: It's incredibly slow, most battles have a fixed ending, the lack of explanation on setting up the party entourages, and lastly, the worst offender is that the music almost NEVER loads. I've gotten to my eighth tactical battle in the game and I've only heard the music TWICE. I'm not sure what the problem is exactly, but I'm sort of lead to believe that the game just can't find the music.

♦ The glitches in the game completely kill the any difficulty the game could have had. There's two specific glitches I'm referring to. The first one is the least likely to occur, but still possible to do on accident. If you fight certain groups of enemies with one character left standing at either level 39 or 40 (dependent on the enemy group), their level will shoot up to 99 by the end of the battle. The one that makes me the most furious however, is the glitch that random stars of destiny will join your party already at level 99.

♦ If you import your data from Suiko I, you get exp bonuses to returning characters and get to recruit the main character from the first game. The problem with this however is that they completely neglected to fix Tir McDohl's name. Suiko II defaults his name to McDohl, but when you import your data, it attempts to use the first name you made up instead. Instead of the name changing to what you chose, only the capital letters will change, so for me, his name is now TcDohl instead of Tir.


(I was going to do my five favorite SNES RPG openings today, but it turns out there isn't a lot of stock footage on Youtube the way I want to use it. I'm going to have to play through most of the openings myself and record it. That combined with the fact that my internet was down until about an hour ago made me decide I would be better off postponing it to next week.)

An Update About Updates

In order to kick the blog in gear, I've decided that I'm going to update Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week in order to keep this baby going. The updates are going to be somewhat longish, roughly 500 words give or take. Today's was on the announcement of No More Heroes' Paradise and I'm planning on doing one about my five favorite openings to SNES RPGs probably about on Friday.

I'm hoping some consistency will be good for the blog, if not just for my sanity.

Some More Heroes

Earlier last year, I picked up a few games that I had missed out on such as Okami, Shadow Hearts Covenant and No More Heroes. I haven't played very much of the two former, but Suda 51's game enthralled me and took me on a ride that didn't end until after I had beaten the game on the first two difficulty settings. No More Heroes managed to not only be an awesome Wii game, but it brought me back to a simpler time when a good game consisted of beating up thousands of dead ringers whilst getting through a stage. It brought me everything I loved in early beat em ups like Final Fight or Streets of Rage and married it perfectly with a ridiculous story and some of the most engaging boss fights ever.

The art design of the game was one of the things that I remember best about it. Heavy use of shading mixed with highly stylized character designs meshed well together and ended up being palletable. Travis Touchdown was probably my favorite character just because he was incredibly shallow, yet strong willed in an era where the average protagonist in a Japanese game is going through an existential crisis every five minutes.

The only thing that I disliked about the game was (like everyone else who played it) the "open world" gameplay. That's the only term that really applies to it, but there isn't a damn thing to do in Santa Destroy aside from minigames and shopping. I wish they would have just provided the jobs and the stores in the same fashion they do everything in your apartment, just a menu to select from.


Fast forward about a year and a half and we have No More Heroes' Paradise announced for both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. I kind of think it's a little silly to be rereleasing it on a higher res console as the stylized graphics hid a lot of the visual problems, but I'm hoping that it will get more gamers into playing what would have been my game of the year last year if it wasn't for Persona 4. Supposedly, they're cutting out the motion controls in favor of button pressings, so I guess that's another plus. Anyways, I'm looking forward to playing it a third time, if for nothing other than Very Sweet Mode.

I played through New Super Mario Bros. Wii

My little cousins picked it up yesterday and "offered to babysit them". It's such a good game, but unfortunately, they only had one Wii remote, so I was stuck playing single player after they went to be. I played from like 9PM until 3AM. If that isn't a sign of quality, I don't know what is.

I'm also sick as a dog and I typed a ten page essay today for History, so I'm going to cut this blog post off right here.

I lost both auctions

I was pretty glad that I got outbid on Suikoden 2 as I really can't spend that kind of money right now. What I'm sort of miffed about is the fact that I lost the far better deal on the last second by a dollar. I kind of made some poor decisions afterwards though, as I purchased Suiko 4 for ten bucks. I also placed a bid on Suiko 3 for $20 and Suiko 5 for $30.

Man, I'm an idiot

L i t t l e M o n e y

Like many other gamers, I'm kind of sad that I'm missing out on a lot of games. I'm going to probably get a game from my parents for Christmas (godbless them). Aside from that, I'm not going to be playing these games for quite a while. I figured I'd waste a blog post on what I'd like to be playing within the next few months.

Batman: Arkham Asylum


I've always been a fan of Batman, but there really haven't been many games that are worth my time. Arkham Asylum seems to be universally lauded, so I've found myself colored curious. From what I've heard, it's been described as Metal Gear meets the Batman license. That is a very good thing for me. Zippo!

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

I probably don't need to talk about why I'm interested in this. The first Tomb Raider was a fun game and Uncharted 2 looks like it captures the same spirit of exploration and combat. Yeah!

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories


I canceled my preorder today due to my stupidity with eBay. I still really want it, but I just can't afford it at the moment. The lack of combat seems really cool, since that's usually the one thing that turns me off of Silent Hill and other "good" survival horror games. Neato!

Dragon Age Origins


The way that EA marketed Dragon Age really turned me off of the idea that it had the possibility of being a decent game. Now that I've actually seen some gameplay, I'm actually kind of excited about it again and hope that it'll live up to that excitement. If I have to choose however, I'll probably pick up Mass Effect 2 over this. I've already been sold into that world and Dragon Age seems kinda like a great game in a generic game's coating. Fantastic!

New Super Mario Bros Wii


This game looks fun and I love me some Mario. Self Explanatory!

I'm trying to buy Suikoden II, III, IV and V

I have a serious problem when it comes to deals. When I see something for a ridiculously good price, I just can't help myself. Today was one of those occasions. I went on eBay to see exactly how much Unlimited SaGa was selling for and somehow I've placed almost a hundred dollars on the Suiko series. The first auction is for Suikoden II for a measly $50. I honestly think that's a bit high for my tastes, but the game usually sells for around $200 used. Hell, I also saw one for nearly a grand. I'm playing it illigitimately right now, but damned is it not worth a month's rent.

By far the better deal however is this deal on Suiko III, IV and V for $35 dollars. This one for sure I'm going to snatch up if I can. These games usually go for about $30 a piece as it is, so I'm saving about 66% by purchasing this.

I'm kind of broke right now, so a part of me hopes I lose these (besides Suiko II which I know I'll lose). If I end up winning these, they may end up being my parent's Christmas present to me.

You know what's fun?

I think I'm going to demo out a Let's Play here on the blog or make another blog for it. I really want to do Final Fantasy V and I think I have the knowledge to do so. If I end up going past my little test here, I'm going to start over on an actual forum (not Something Awful, for the love of god) where it might actually get read. Stay tuned guys, we're in for a bumpy ride.

Here it is guys, the first of the Final Fantasy V LP's

Defeating Dracula

Despite the fact that I claimed the oldschool styled Castlevania games the best yesterday, I hadn't actually beaten any of them until today when I finished Rondo of Blood. For those that haven't played the game, the final battle is the exact same boss fight as the first battle in Symphony of the Night. Even though it's nearly identical, it is actually quite a bit harder than Symphony had led me to believe. There's two key differences in this fight that makes it leaps and bounds more difficult than it's representation in the sequel. For starters, if you do poorly, Maria doesn't come and save your ass and make you near invincible. For second, you don't have the nifty dash ability that Symphony gave Richter. This essentially makes dodging Dracula's second form a lot more menacing.

After about three gameovers and several different methods of trying to take him down, he managed to die like a monster that didn't belong in this world. I only had the smallest sliver of health possible when I did it; INTENSITY!

(By the way, I totally jacked the image above from VGMuseum where they have this neat little article on Mr.Tepes' lair. Check that out mang, ya deserve it!)

Are the Later Suikoden Games Worth it?

One of the things I did in my little break from Blogging was playthrough the first Suikoden. I bought it Christmas day last year on PSN and didn't really see what so many people seemed to see in it. From the brief ten minute session I gave the game, the one thing that really stood out to me was the budget(and it's nonexistence). I promptly

Flashforward to about a week and half ago when for whatever reason I decided to give it another shot. For some reason, this time around I wasn't put off by how cheap the game felt. I was actually blown away to play an RPG that moved as fast as it had (I got frustrated with Chrono Trigger because the battles were too slow). Suikoden is brisk in it's battles, load times, and it's pace. This is actually the first game since probably Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne that I actually got everything in.

Right now, I'm playing Suikoden II on my PSP and I'm enjoying it as well. They definitely had a bigger budget this time around. The game is absolutely stunning in both it's scenery and it's music. My only quip would be that the pace is slightly slower than the first game.

After I get finished though, I'm not sure if I'm going to play the rest of the Suikoden games. No one can really give a definite answer on which games are worth it. I've actually seen people on all three sides when it comes to the PS2 era games. Tierkries got pretty good ratings, but from what I've heard, it really doesn't have any of the charm of the series. I can only afford so much right now, and last time I checked, these games cost more than $6 and zippo(though I'd gladly fork over the money for Suiko II on PSN). If anyone is willing to give some opinions, leave a comment. If not, I'll surely cry.

(If it wasn't for the fact that I really love the game, this probably just would have been another Horrible boxart post.)

A Brilliant and Bloody Return

I took about three weeks off of writing for reasons that I may or may not have made clear in past blogs. To hurt things even more, I'm really crunching in school right now and my bank is drying up. In short, my time is getting mauled all kinds.

But this isn't just another post of me whining about life--on the contrary in fact-- I've returned to the bloggosphere and picked the BusterLogic mantle off the ground. I have a couple things I'd like to talk about, but brevity is something I'd like maintain in my writing.

Let's start with Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth. I skipped out on both Gradius and Contra ReBirth, but from what I've read, the general concensus seems to be that they're very midlane. To be honest, I've always been awful at Contra and Gradius, so I didn't really care to try them out in any way shape or form. Castlevania on the other hand is something that I have a deep and undying love for.

I started with Super Castlevania IV and actually kind of hated it to the point where I wouldn't try another Castlevania until the release of Aria of Sorrow. Being the Metroid fanboy that I am, I was frowthing at the mouth for more after I played it. I went and played Symphony of the Night and Dawn of Sorrow and loved them even more. Castlevania was here to stay in my heart. Eventually I got curious enough to find out that Super Castlevania IV didn't suck, I was just a stupid kid. Revalations!

I really love the oldschool Castlevania feel, even more so than the Metroidvania entries interestingly enough. When I heard that the gameboy games were getting a ReBirth, I already decided in my mind that it would be a classic. I guess that shows that I've become a Castlevania fanboy then as it seems most other fans are kind of wary of it. I have one bit of insurance though, the videos that popped up of the complete game. I've only seen stage 1 and 3, but it looks damned fine and even has two of my favorite tracks from the series. I'm really looking forward to it and I think you should to. It's guaranteed to be atleast mediocre and a mediocre Castlevania is still leagues better than 8 Eye's.