Katamari Damacy - Review Thursday

In this week's Review Thursday, I take a look at one of the most fun games I have ever played in my life.  It is simple, has great music, and it is suitable for every age group.  It's Katamari Damacy.  This game is probably one of those games you get thinking, "Oh, it's a baby game."  But then you're all, "Holy crap, this game is so good!"  You play as a little sprite thing whose father is the King of All Cosmos.  The King destroyed all of the stars in the sky, and it is your job to rebuild the stars and fill the night sky.

But how do you do that?  Well, you are given a sticky ball called a katamari.  They come in various sizes and colors, and the Prince (your character) rolls the ball into objects.  As the katamari continues to roll up more and more objects, it will get bigger and thus, be able to pick up even bigger items.  This includes animals, people, vehicles, buildings; as well as islands, clouds, rainbows, and spirits.

As I said before, it is your job to fill the night sky with stars.  And not only do you make stars one by one, but you also get to make several constellations.  These constellation levels generally have a theme for collection, like only crabs for Cancer, only swans for Cygnus, only females for Virgo.  And in the final level of the game, it is your task to remake the Moon.  Each level has a time limit.  And if you fail to complete the tasks, The King become very angry with you.

One of the best things about this game is the music.  All of the songs in the game have the katamari as the theme.  And they complement the gameplay so well.

Overall, I give this game 5 out of 5.

It's one of the easiest games to play, and also one of the easiest to become addicted to.  It is a supreme amount of fun.  And practically everyone in every age group can play it.

Now, on to the thing I have been mentioning in previous entries.  I have been thinking that I will start uploading videos to my YouTube channel again.  I haven't done it in a while.  Anyway, when there aren't any games for me to review, I figured I'd post them here on the blog.  Well, that's the big announcement.  Now, I hope you get the chance to play  Katamari Damacy if you haven't already.  And I also hope you stop back by on Saturday for this week's SaturPLAY!  Until then, I hope you see no Game Over screens.

Michael, aka me3lingual

Taking a side - SaturPLAY #7

First, I should probably address why there was no Review Thursday a couple days ago.  Well, I haven't finished any games recently, and so it didn't feel right reviewing a game that I haven't finished yet.  And that made me think, maybe I should have some other segment to do on Thursdays in the event that I don't have a review planned.  So, I am going to post some gaming videos I make whenever I don't have a review written.  That way it will also give some exposure to my YouTube channel.  But more on that on Thursday.

 

As for what I've been playing this week, it's most just Final Fantasy XIII and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  I am trying to get a Platinum trophy on both of these games, and I am finally at a point in both where I can say that I am almost there.  In Final Fantasy XIII, I have made it to Gran Pulse.  Now I can focus on grinding for the experience needed to finish the Titan's Trials, all of the Cie'th Stone Missions, and master each of the roles for the characters.

And in Skyrim, I am nearly finished with the story for the Thieves Guild, and I am also working on the story about the war between the Legion and the Stormcloaks.  I want to purchase the DLC for this game, but I first want to get all of the trophies before I add more to the list of trophies I need.  Anyway, to be more specific, in order to complete the Thieves Guild stuff, I only need to restore the contacts throughout Skyrim, and I will be named the leader.  As for the war, I am working on the missions near Winterhold.  I chose to take the Legion's side of the war.

 

And there are some new additions to my collection coming soon.  I have both LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2 coming next week.  From what I have seen of the gameplay, I think I will like it.  And I also think it will be a nice game for my family members to play as well.  And then I will be getting the new Square Enix game Thief later this month.  I will writing a review on it, for both EnixOrigin and this blog.  And then next month is when I will be getting both Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster.  I will so glad when those two games arrive.  I have had them paid for for months.  I only have to wait four weeks and three days more, and then I will be so happy.

Well, we have come to the end of this seventh edition of SaturPLAY.  I hope to see you here for the next one.  And don't forget to stop back in on Tuesday, when I will have the next issue of 3³ Gaming NEWSday up and ready for viewing.  So, until then, I hope you see no Game Over screens!

Michael, aka me3lingual

Grand Theft Auto III - Review Thursday #5

Welcome to Review Thursday, where I review a game on Thursday.  This week, I am going to weakly attempt to describe Grand Theft Auto III, which I played several weeks ago and haven't had the chance to review yet.  I say weakly, because I feel as if I am about to fall asleep as I type this.  I came home late this evening, and I am super tired.  I guess I could sleep now and type later, but I have been late with these entries recently, and I don't want that to become a constantly occurring thing.

So, Grand Theft Auto III is a really great game for the PS2 system.  You play as some person whose only lines in the whole game are that of grunts and moans when he gets injured.  I read his name somewhere, but I have forgotten it since.  While you are trying to make it in the city after being betrayed by your girlfriend/partner in crime Catalina, you race cars and run errands for several big shots of Liberty City.  These include the Mafia leader, the Yakuza leader, and others.

The music is made specially for the game, from what I can tell due to the content in the songs.  My favorite station is Chatterbox, because I like listening to talk radio rather than music radio.  If I had to choose a favorite car, I would pick the Stinger.  And my favorite character is probably Maria.  She seemed less annoying in this game than in Liberty City Stories.

Overall, it is fun to play.  I was able to collect all of the secret packages.  The missions are the right combination of fun and challenge.  I would give this game 4 Stars and recommend it for anyone of the correct age limit to play this game.

Well, that's all for now.  Make sure to stop back in on Saturday for SaturPLAY.  Until then, I hope you see no Game Over screens.

Michael, aka me3lingual

Jetpack Joyride - Review Thursday

Welcome back to Review Thursday, where I talk about a game I have recently finished.  This week I am a little late (it is technically Friday when I am typing this) in posting.  But regardless, I did finish a game this week.  And that game is...

This game is so fun!  I spent hours upon hours playing it.  The concept of the game is simple: don't touch anything as you run through a seemingly never-ending laboratory with a stolen jetpack.  Along the way, you can ride vehicles like a robotic dragon, a teleporter, and a motorcycle, just to name a few.  Then at the end of your run, you can either risk your spin tokens earned throughout the run in a slot machine or cash them in for coins.  Coins are also earned throughout the run, and are used to purchase clothing options, different jetpacks, gadgets to help you run through the lab, and other items.  And you can even purchase more coins using real money.  And then there are little missions you can complete to level up and earn coins; like going a set distance in a vehicle, or dodging a set amount of obstacles, or giving High-Fives to the scientists.

I don't really care for all of the extra things, but I did end up collecting them all.  There is a PSN trophy called "All the Things" which is awarded for when you have purchased every item available.  Other than that, I mainly stuck with the Insta-ball, and the Freezing gadgets to get some extra length to the run.  Toward the end, I played just so I could finally get that last trophy.  I will probably play it once in a while, but not for the length of time when I was trying to collect the trophies.

My favorite vehicle in the game was the Profit Bird.  It looked nice, and I was able to control it the best among all of the vehicles.  My least favorite was the Gravity Suit.  I just could not get the hang of it.  Overall, I give Jetpack Joyride...

Five Stars.  It is very addictive and fun to play.  The concept is simple and it is playable by people of all ages.  Only one button is used throughout the actual play (the X button), so there are no tricky button combos to memorize.  I really like this game, and I would recommend it to everyone.

Well, that's the end of this Review Thursday.  Make sure to stop by on Saturday for the next SaturPLAY entry.  And until then, may no Game Over screens be seen by your eyes!

Michael, aka me3lingual

Lightning Returns Demo - Review Thursday #3

In this week's Review Thursday, I will talk about my experience playing the Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII demo that was released on Tuesday.  Let me first just say that I may possibly spoil what happens in the demo.  However, as it's available for free, and people have been posting videos of the gameplay of it, it's a bit difficult to be spoiled at this point.

Well, because of my super slow Internet that day, the download took more than twelve hours.  So while my friends were playing the heck out of Lightning, I was sitting on 7% downloaded.  I began the download at 3pm, and at midnight it was only at 50%.  When I woke up at 4am to stoke the fire, I saw that the download had completed.  I installed it, and went back to sleep.

The next morning, it was the first thing I played.  I think it may have been the only thing I played.  No, no it wasn't.  The demo was short, so I went and played other things as well.  Anyway, I loved the demo!

First, the graphics are great.  People look like people, objects look like objects, attacking looks like attacking.  It was nice to be able to move in battle, and not stuck in one spot during battle.  The music was fantastic, and I think it played well in the demo's gameplay.

The battles themselves were amazing.  I think it is really nice to have the abilities be set as buttons on the controller.  Especially in Active Time Battle games, if you have a lot of abilities in a menu, you lose a lot of time searching for a spell or ability which gives the enemy an advantage.  And with job changing has been taken a step up from Final Fantasy X-2's job system, it is now only one button press away; whereas that of X-2 was more than one.

As I reported in this week's 3³ Gaming NEWSday, you play as Lightning as she looks for Snow, who is now the "leader" of the city.  The opening scene is Lightning and Snow fighting the beings of Chaos, as well as each other.  Then, Snow exits the same way the monsters entered, by some kind of space/time thing.  Hope Estheim is there as well; but only as a voice, guiding Lightning through the building and analyzing the situation.  From where, I don't know; the demo didn't offer that information.

After Snow leaves, Lightning has to fight her way passed monsters in order to locate Snow and "set him free".  The boss of the demo is Zaltys.  He looks like some kind of demon/dog/giraffe creature.  I defeated him in 2 minutes and 16 seconds; making full use of the game's time-altering function.  It slows time down for everyone except Lightning, giving her lightning speed (yeah, ha ha, I know).  It isn't the best result out there, but I have only played through the demo once so far.  I know someone was able to do it in less than twenty seconds.

The demo ends after you reach the end of the corridor that Zaltys is guarding.  You can however also end the demo by continuing to explore the area until 6 o'clock.  Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is a time-based game, so spend your time wisely.  You don't want to be left on the planet when the world ends.

Anyway, a plus to downloading the demo on PSN as I did is that you receive the Utsusemi Samurai garb for free.  And if you post your battle score against Zaltys on the Outerworld, you will receive the Siegfried garb on release day.

Overall, I give the demo...

It is a great demo, and it accomplished what it was made to do.  And that was to build up hype and make those that play it want the game.  I certainly do want it.  Now I just have to wait until my copy arrives.  Which won't be until after Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster comes out.  You've got to love saving money by bundling purchases in order to get free shipping.

Make sure to stop back in on Saturday for the next edition of SaturPLAY!  Until then, I hope that no Game Over Screens cross your gaze!

Michael, aka me3lingual

Rugrats: Search for Reptar (1998) - Review Thursday #2

I am going back in time to when most of us were kids watching cartoons. I am still shocked that my copy of Rugrats: Search for Reptar still works after having it for most of life.

Basically, this game is a mix of races, puzzles, and mini-games that incorporate episodes from the series into a visually stimulating video game. The point of this game is to complete the episodes and earning the puzzle pieces to Tommy's Reptar puzzle. You can also earn puzzle pieces by finding Reptar bars (15 Candy bars = 1 puzzle piece).

Some of my favorite levels/episodes are Chuckie's Glasses, Ice Cream Mountain, 7 Voyages of Cynthia, and Mirrorland. These were my favorite episodes on the show, and I really enjoyed them playing the characters. My overall favorite is Ice Cream Mountain. This level is a 9-Hole Mini-Golf Course. You get to play as Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, and Angelica in order to get the golf balls in the holes.

This game also features a Mini-Game/Extra menu where you can even play Ice Cream Mountain with friends. In this Mode, you can also play as Suzy. The other extra games are Cookie Race, Egg Hunt, and Gold Rush.

The manual also features several Rugrats-themed jokes. Some are funny still, even though I have read the manual cover to cover hundreds of times.

The game is not hard at all. It is rated "E", but really it could be rated "KA" for how easy it is. Although, after having played it for almost 14 years, I would be surprised if there is any actual difficulty to it anymore.

It is really just more of a novelty game. I recommend it for anyone who wants to go back in time to when video games were based on TV cartoons, and had simple objectives. Find Easter Eggs, drink all of the chocolate milk before Angelica gets it. Play hide and seek with the babies.

Ah, the simplicity of childhood.

My apologies to those of you that have no idea what the Rugrats are. If you are one of those people, you were probably one of Spongebob-era people. I am sure that there are websites that allow you to watch the show and enjoy being a kid again.

Overall, I give this game

Make sure you stop back on Saturday for the next edition of SaturPLAY.  Until then, I hope you don't come across any Game Over screens.

Michael, aka me3lingual

Spyro the Dragon (1998) - Review Thursday #1

Welcome to the first edition of my Review Thursday, where I review and talk about one of the video games I recently finished.  This week I am spotlighting one of the mascot's for SONY and the PlayStation era, Spyro the Dragon.  The original game came out in America in September of 1998, and since that time it has also received a re-release for the PlayStation Network in 2007.  The entire series of Spyro games has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and it all started because a purple dragon was tasked with freeing the other dragons from their crystal forms.

In Spyro the Dragon, you play as this small purple hero.  Gnasty Gnorc, the main enemy of the game, transformed all of the other dragons into crystal; and all because he heard in an interview that they called him names, ugly being the tipping point to his outrage.  So, with his friend Sparx, a Dragonfly, he sets off to free the Dragons in each of the Dragon realms.

Another task Spyro must complete is to retrieve all of the treasure that Gnasty tranformed into monsters.  Most of the enemies bear some likeness to Gnasty, but there are some that look like regular animals in our world.  Spyro main means of defeating enemies is to use his Fire breath.  He also can ram enemies with his horns and dive into enemies from the air.  If Spyro becomes injured, Sparx will change color to symbolize Spyro's health.  First he is Gold, then blue, then green, then he disappears.  If Spyro is hurt when Sparx isn't around, then you lose a life.

And as if freeing Dragons from crystal stasis and collecting the lost treasure wasn't enough, there are several Dragon eggs throughout the game that you must retrieve from thieves.  These thieves are fast too, so you have to outsmart them or you will be chasing them for quite a while.

There are six worlds you traverse in your quest.  The starting world is the Artisan World, filled with culture and beauty.  Then there's Peace Keepers, charged with enforcing peace and order; Magic Crafters, with magical prowess; Beast Makers, which creates the creatures throughout the Realms; Dream Weavers, in charge of dreams and the night; and Gnasty's World, which is the home of Gnasty Gnorc himself.

For the most part, the game is pretty easy to complete.  However, even after tens of playthrough, I still have trouble in a couple spots.  The Beast Makers world is my least favorite world.  One level in particular, Tree Tops, is so dependent on your skills on gliding through the air.  It is so easy to miss treasure in this level because you didn't land on the right platform.  I can usually finish the entire game in a day.  I have a set way to go through each individual level that makes it easy to get all of the treasure.  And if you finish the game at 100%, you unlock a special area that has thousands of treasure, turning your completion percentage to 120% when everything is collected.

For a game of its time, it is very nice graphically.  The story is nice, and the voices are entertaining.  The only bad thing about it is that sometimes the camera doesn't follow right behind you in certain spots.  Even when you try and center the camera using the button for camera movement it won't work.  But that is the only thing.  The worlds are bright and colorful and the music is extremely fitting for each Realm.  I highly recommend either picking up a physical copy of the game somewhere if you can find it, or downloading it off of PSN for $5.99 USD.

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Make sure to come back on Saturday for the next SaturPLAY entry.  And thank you for checking out this first installment of Review Thursday!

Michael, aka me3lingual