2015年08月04日
FF12リメイク?
最近，ファイナルファンタジーのコンダクターは，ファイナルファンタジーXIIリメイク発表しました。
でも，間違った。 FF12リメイクはリメイクじゃなく，リマスターです。ファイナルファンタジーXII インターナショナル ゾディアックジョブシステムのHDバージョンです。
違いますね。
2014年12月13日
Yakuza 5
"Ryu Ga Gotoku 5," which is called "Yakuza 5" in English, will finally go to America.
In America, we don't get Yakuza games very often.
Japan's box art is much cooler. Just look at Japan's box for Ryu Ga Gotoku 3:
Now compare that to the American Yakuza 3 box.
Ew. Japan's is cooler.
In America, we don't get Yakuza games very often.
Japan's box art is much cooler. Just look at Japan's box for Ryu Ga Gotoku 3:
Now compare that to the American Yakuza 3 box.
Ew. Japan's is cooler.
2011年08月29日
2011年06月27日
2011年06月23日
龍が如く: Of the End
Yakuza: Of the End is off to a hot start! It has sold 400,000 copies since its June 9 release date.
Congratulations, Sega.
The game comes with a special sticker that says "Ganbarou Nippon" or "Be strong, Japan," and comes with character artwork pieces that also sport the phrase. Sega is donating a portion of the proceeds to the Japanese Red Cross, so you can feel extra good about buying this game.
2011年06月20日
Been Playing: Nier (ニーア)
Recently, I've been playing a little more of a Christmas gift I got, Nier for PlayStation 3.
Having been stuck with mostly portables lately, it was nice to see something on the big screen. (Portables are not always a bad thing, it's just worth note that they've been my only source of gaming for some time.)
Nier has some broken gameplay mechanics such as its wonky magic aiming and occasionally faulty camera that really get in the way during some boss battles. It's like they're difficult not because the developers designed a hard game, but because the player must wrestle these broken aspects in addition to the enemies.
But I can't hold this game down. Nier is a game whose real power comes from its atmosphere and story -- and I even say this as a guy who hugely prefers gameplay over story.
It goes against the JRPG grain of being about a bunch of teenagers out to save the world from an evil empire, for one thing. Man, that got old 10 years ago. Nier -- at least the Gestalt version -- is about a man looking out for his daughter, struggling to make it through an everyday life in a post-apocalyptic world while searching for the fabled cure to a disease she's been stricken with. I don't have kids yet, but I've got 8 younger siblings and my wife and I have wanted kids for some time; a buddy of mine recently had a kid; I work with children as a profession; I feel close to this plot. If anyone ever did anything to hurt my siblings or students, I would do my best to end that person. That's just me. Evil empires, meh, I've gotten used to those.
But it's not just the premise that gives the plot it's strength, and attempting to describe it is making me feel weak as a writer. It defies convention by taking a lot of risks, and the results are brilliant. One example that comes to mind is a problem that arises in which a village is plagued by dreams that involve...words. The theme of the whole town and subplot is "words." So for a time, the game gradually switches from being an interactive video game in the traditional sense and becomes something more of a choose-your-own-adventure novel. Thing is, it does so gradually, with the brightness of everything fading and words becoming brighter just slowly enough that the characters are taken by surprise when they realize everything has faded and all they can see are words, as if they're stuck in a book. Some will find this silly and stupid, doubtless. I however found it quite fun.
The graphics aren't exactly cutting-edge HD, but the music is perhaps my favorite game sountrack of all time. I mean, holy crap. Go through YouTube and check that out. It's one of very few game OSTs I enjoy outside of the game.
Just beautiful, really.
The game has some shortcomings for sure. Even so, I can't deny that every time I play it, I have fun. I can't put a score on it because I feel like I should finish it first, but it's definitely been worthwhile so far.
(『ニーア レプリカント』 Or, in English: Nier Replicant; 『ニーア ゲシュタルト』 In English: Nier Gestaltは、2010年4月22日にスクウェア・エニックスから発売されたアクションRPG.)
Having been stuck with mostly portables lately, it was nice to see something on the big screen. (Portables are not always a bad thing, it's just worth note that they've been my only source of gaming for some time.)
Nier has some broken gameplay mechanics such as its wonky magic aiming and occasionally faulty camera that really get in the way during some boss battles. It's like they're difficult not because the developers designed a hard game, but because the player must wrestle these broken aspects in addition to the enemies.
But I can't hold this game down. Nier is a game whose real power comes from its atmosphere and story -- and I even say this as a guy who hugely prefers gameplay over story.
It goes against the JRPG grain of being about a bunch of teenagers out to save the world from an evil empire, for one thing. Man, that got old 10 years ago. Nier -- at least the Gestalt version -- is about a man looking out for his daughter, struggling to make it through an everyday life in a post-apocalyptic world while searching for the fabled cure to a disease she's been stricken with. I don't have kids yet, but I've got 8 younger siblings and my wife and I have wanted kids for some time; a buddy of mine recently had a kid; I work with children as a profession; I feel close to this plot. If anyone ever did anything to hurt my siblings or students, I would do my best to end that person. That's just me. Evil empires, meh, I've gotten used to those.
But it's not just the premise that gives the plot it's strength, and attempting to describe it is making me feel weak as a writer. It defies convention by taking a lot of risks, and the results are brilliant. One example that comes to mind is a problem that arises in which a village is plagued by dreams that involve...words. The theme of the whole town and subplot is "words." So for a time, the game gradually switches from being an interactive video game in the traditional sense and becomes something more of a choose-your-own-adventure novel. Thing is, it does so gradually, with the brightness of everything fading and words becoming brighter just slowly enough that the characters are taken by surprise when they realize everything has faded and all they can see are words, as if they're stuck in a book. Some will find this silly and stupid, doubtless. I however found it quite fun.
The graphics aren't exactly cutting-edge HD, but the music is perhaps my favorite game sountrack of all time. I mean, holy crap. Go through YouTube and check that out. It's one of very few game OSTs I enjoy outside of the game.
Just beautiful, really.
The game has some shortcomings for sure. Even so, I can't deny that every time I play it, I have fun. I can't put a score on it because I feel like I should finish it first, but it's definitely been worthwhile so far.
(『ニーア レプリカント』 Or, in English: Nier Replicant; 『ニーア ゲシュタルト』 In English: Nier Gestaltは、2010年4月22日にスクウェア・エニックスから発売されたアクションRPG.)
2011年05月29日
みんなのゴルフ Hot Shots Golf OpenTee
Where Mario Golf did not deliver my urge for fast, arcadey handheld golf, the PSP was able to step up and deliver with Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee, or as it's called in Japanese みんなのゴルフ. That actually means "Everyone's Golf," so obviously not a direct translation. Names aside, you simply spend 30 seconds creating a profile, then choosing your character, game type, and course, then you're in. Bam. Easy as that.
After the initial feeling out process, it's surprisingly easy to get into. It borrows a lot from other cartoony golf games such as the aforementioned Mario Golf series, though I can't point fingers for unoriginality because I'm not sure which series came first. Meh.
There's an online mode which would probably be cool if these PSP versions weren't like 5 years old and still had players. As it stands, there's the potential to play against people all over the world, but I'm unfortunately late to that party on this one.
After playing having success in a few tournaments and matches, new courses and characters can be unlocked. While this is cool, I do feel the options available right away are a bit limited, as one only has 2 characters and like 4 courses to choose from. That's on the low end for sure, but eh, I was looking for a quick handheld sports fix and had golf on my brain; Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 scratches that itch quite well. I've played quite a bit, especially on trains. I'll definitely be doing so for a while.
Score: 4/5
Tweet
After the initial feeling out process, it's surprisingly easy to get into. It borrows a lot from other cartoony golf games such as the aforementioned Mario Golf series, though I can't point fingers for unoriginality because I'm not sure which series came first. Meh.
There's an online mode which would probably be cool if these PSP versions weren't like 5 years old and still had players. As it stands, there's the potential to play against people all over the world, but I'm unfortunately late to that party on this one.
After playing having success in a few tournaments and matches, new courses and characters can be unlocked. While this is cool, I do feel the options available right away are a bit limited, as one only has 2 characters and like 4 courses to choose from. That's on the low end for sure, but eh, I was looking for a quick handheld sports fix and had golf on my brain; Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 scratches that itch quite well. I've played quite a bit, especially on trains. I'll definitely be doing so for a while.
Score: 4/5
Tweet
2011年05月23日
2011年05月20日
デジモン Racing (GBA)
Man, loving some Game Boy Advance. Digimon (デジモン) Racing is what we call, in English a "ripoff." Somone obviously saw the success of Mario Kart and said "...Me too." People have done some similar things books, music, and movies. Perhaps Cypress Hill described it best when the band said, "There's gonna be another cat coming around looking like me (and) sounding like me next year. I know this. It'll be a flipside to what you did. Somebody trying to spin off like, something serious."
But fortunately and surprisingly...this game isn't bad. There are a lot of aspects to it that are juuuust a hair inferior to Mario Kart Super Circuit, but there are also several things juuuuust a bit superior. I find the Digimon characters a nice vacation from the Mario cast that populates seemingly every good Kart racer, but the cast is by comparison, small, and so is the track selection. I like the idea of each character having a specific "special" power (Mario Kart did this in the GameCube version), but they seem imbalanced in this game, to the point some of them are almost useless.
Nonetheless, the visuals and music are good, and the gameplay itself is decent enough fun. It rips off Mario Kart but does an actual good job of it. Not bad.
3/5
But fortunately and surprisingly...this game isn't bad. There are a lot of aspects to it that are juuuust a hair inferior to Mario Kart Super Circuit, but there are also several things juuuuust a bit superior. I find the Digimon characters a nice vacation from the Mario cast that populates seemingly every good Kart racer, but the cast is by comparison, small, and so is the track selection. I like the idea of each character having a specific "special" power (Mario Kart did this in the GameCube version), but they seem imbalanced in this game, to the point some of them are almost useless.
Nonetheless, the visuals and music are good, and the gameplay itself is decent enough fun. It rips off Mario Kart but does an actual good job of it. Not bad.
3/5
2011年05月19日
Mario Tennis Advance
Mario Tennis Advance, sadly, was made by the same folks that made Mario Golf Advance. I don't just mean the same company, I mean the exact same specific people.
Once again, I fired up a game looking for a quick-and-easy game fix. 10 minutes to burn till I had to get serious, so I wanted to play a fun game that's easy to understand and I can jump right into it. Mario Tennis games, tradiationally, have been just that!
...But...
Uuuugggggghhhhhh. I mashed A and B for the entire 10 minutes skipping through a retarded story with throwaway dialogue. Honestly where's the tennis? Just give me the tennis. Cripes.
Tweet
1/5
Once again, I fired up a game looking for a quick-and-easy game fix. 10 minutes to burn till I had to get serious, so I wanted to play a fun game that's easy to understand and I can jump right into it. Mario Tennis games, tradiationally, have been just that!
...But...
Uuuugggggghhhhhh. I mashed A and B for the entire 10 minutes skipping through a retarded story with throwaway dialogue. Honestly where's the tennis? Just give me the tennis. Cripes.
Tweet
1/5
2011年05月17日
マリオカート Super Circuit (Advance)
After my ridiculously stupid encounter with Mario Golf, I decided to go with a different Mario-branded sort-of sports game to satisfy my urge to play something rightthehellnow on GBA. Enter Mario Kart Super Circuit.
Whereas I spent 17 hours mashing A to scroll through text in Mario Golf, I was racing a car within 30 seconds of firing up Mario Kart Advance. That's what I came here for, to play a game.
It's basically what we've come to expect from Mario Kart games and certainly one of the best handheld racers around, even at its old age. The only problem is that it seems to really be in love with 90-degree turns, like back to back to back ones. Fine for a challenge, but dang does this game do that a lot. Aw well, still surprisingly fun to play. I give 'er a good three stars.
Score: 3/5
Whereas I spent 17 hours mashing A to scroll through text in Mario Golf, I was racing a car within 30 seconds of firing up Mario Kart Advance. That's what I came here for, to play a game.
It's basically what we've come to expect from Mario Kart games and certainly one of the best handheld racers around, even at its old age. The only problem is that it seems to really be in love with 90-degree turns, like back to back to back ones. Fine for a challenge, but dang does this game do that a lot. Aw well, still surprisingly fun to play. I give 'er a good three stars.
Score: 3/5
2011年05月15日
Mario Golf Advance
I've been playing some Game Boy Advance games lately, and wow, is this one a stinker.
What a lie of a title. I popped this sucker in and was treated to some goofball story about godknowswhat, just mashing the A button because I intended to play some freaking golf.
Right?
That's the name of the game, right?
Wrong.
They gave me control of some twirp kid and I found myself walking around a castle. Screw this, I wanted to go outside and play some golf. No, I'm stopped as if in the middle of a JRPG and told "Some girls was looking for you. Better go find her." Oh hell no. No no no. No that did not just happen. I skipped through how much dialogue to get to the GOLF and now I have to putz around looking for some girl, and it turns out I needed to pay attention to the dialogue? No thanks.
I already play enough RPGs. If I want to play an RPG, I will, but I put this game in for the express purpose of taking a break from that tedium.
1/5
If I have to turn off your golf game for lack of golf and lack of game, that's a problem. Sorry, Mario Golf Advance Tour. I don't have the time for you.
Tweet
What a lie of a title. I popped this sucker in and was treated to some goofball story about godknowswhat, just mashing the A button because I intended to play some freaking golf.
Right?
That's the name of the game, right?
Wrong.
They gave me control of some twirp kid and I found myself walking around a castle. Screw this, I wanted to go outside and play some golf. No, I'm stopped as if in the middle of a JRPG and told "Some girls was looking for you. Better go find her." Oh hell no. No no no. No that did not just happen. I skipped through how much dialogue to get to the GOLF and now I have to putz around looking for some girl, and it turns out I needed to pay attention to the dialogue? No thanks.
I already play enough RPGs. If I want to play an RPG, I will, but I put this game in for the express purpose of taking a break from that tedium.
1/5
If I have to turn off your golf game for lack of golf and lack of game, that's a problem. Sorry, Mario Golf Advance Tour. I don't have the time for you.
Tweet
2011年03月20日
ディスガイア4 売上金寄付
The Japanese PS3 game "Disgaea 4" just got a new update for 100 yen. It's a new character, and all proceeds go to help the relief effort after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. I think that's great.
[これから]
Tweet
日本一ソフトウェアは2011年3月18日（金）、PS3向けソフト『魔界戦記ディスガイア4』のダウンロードコンテンツを4月末に配信する予定であることを発表。
このダウンロードコンテンツのうち、「追加キャラクタ：アサギ」の収益を、「東北地方太平洋沖地震」の被災地復興を目的に寄付することを明らかにした。
[これから]
Tweet
2011年03月02日
ゲーム Get!
Recently, we got "Valkyrie of the battlefield" (戦場のヴァルキュリア, or in English, we call it "Valkyria Chronicles").
We play it in Japanese!
日本語のゲームだ。
It's so very fun!
楽しい！
I learn many Japanese key words.
キーワードを学ぶ。
I learned new Japanese like "発見!!" (Found!!) And "目標" (goal), and "確認" (confirm or check).
"目標出来た!!! 確認しました。"
I learned "戦車" is a "tank."
Next, I want to buy Dragon Quest VI for DS! (...in English!)
We play it in Japanese!
日本語のゲームだ。
It's so very fun!
楽しい！
I learn many Japanese key words.
キーワードを学ぶ。
I learned new Japanese like "発見!!" (Found!!) And "目標" (goal), and "確認" (confirm or check).
"目標出来た!!! 確認しました。"
I learned "戦車" is a "tank."
Next, I want to buy Dragon Quest VI for DS! (...in English!)
2011年02月21日
ドラクエ6
今週、ドラクエ6はアメリカにいきました。去年、日本にきましたね。でも今、英
語でできます。おめでとう、アメリカ~
This week, Dragon Quest 6 went to America. It came last year to Japan, huh? But now, we can play it in English. Congratulations, America! ^^;;
2011年01月30日
THE LAST STORY (Wii)
This is "The Last Story" is out for Nintendo Wii.
これは ニンテンド ウイー の「ザ ラスト ストーリ」です。
I want it.
ほしい
But I don't have a Wii ;_;
でもウイー持っていない。
It is made by Hironobu Sakaguchi. He is the father of the "Final Fantasy" series.
坂口 博信の物です。かれは 「フィナルファンタジー」シリズのお父さんです。
Tweet
これは ニンテンド ウイー の「ザ ラスト ストーリ」です。
I want it.
ほしい
But I don't have a Wii ;_;
でもウイー持っていない。
It is made by Hironobu Sakaguchi. He is the father of the "Final Fantasy" series.
坂口 博信の物です。かれは 「フィナルファンタジー」シリズのお父さんです。
Tweet
