Catherine - thoughts

So I bought and played Catherine a while back and frankly, I love it about as much as I hoped that I would. For you who don't know what the game is about it's the story of Vincent and his girlfriend Katherine who are starting to get serious, but Vincent feels the pressure of growing up and feel them moving too fast. One way to drunk night and he ends up in bed with the beautiful and easy going Catherine. At the same time he starts getting weird nightmares where he moves blocks to climb up and escape whatever's hunting him. This is the part of the games that you actually play, the rest of the game is interacting with friends and dealing with the fact that you just cheated on your girlfriend. The story and script is done perfectly, and the moral dilemmas of cheating is done so good it's really scary at times.

The problem is two, and is quite common when it come to Atlus' games. One is the fact that the game, even on normal, is really hard. Too hard actually, there is a stage I can't get through, and it's frustrating. But still, when you do get through a stage you feel you've spent hours on, it's rewarding.

But the big problem, as usual, it that the game itself is not that fun, or at least not as fun as the things you do when you're not in the nightmare stages. And when those stages are as difficult as they are, it becomes a real problem. I'll hope to finish it as soon as I can, but at the time, I just don't have the drive. Maybe after I'm done with Mass Effect 3. But I still love this game, and I highly recommend if for anyone who want a more grown up game, just, play it on easy if you don't like to get frustrated.

Metal Gear Solid 4 - First Impressions

I started playing MGS4 today, not a lot, but about an hour I think, at least. And yes, I know I'm behind and that the game was released a long time ago, but I just haven't gotten to play it. Anyhow, what I can say for certain is threefold...

First, Snake is still awesome, he looks great and acts just as great as he has always done. The other characters are great as well, but I have always loved snake, he is truly a real bad ass.

Second, the story, the script and the actors all impresses me so far. It's been a while since I played Snake Eater but I get the hang of the story quite fast so. And as I said, the script and dialogue is well written and the voice actors does a great job as well.

Lastly, I can with all my heart tell you all, I'm getting too old for this shit! Or at least too impatience. I just can't seem to keep my nerve long enough to actually progress, I just get spotted right away. I turned the game of in annoyance and have no plans of trying it again for a while. But then again, I find myself going over the scenario over and over again, I need to get past, I want to know more, I want to be bad ass old Solid Snake.

New blogform + Naruto Utimate Ninja Storm 2 thoughts

Okay, I'm going to start to blog more often but shorter, more thought on recent news and thought on games I'm currently playing. Nothing planed, just me writing as I feel, when I feel for it, about games. This does not mean that I will stop writing longer articles, reviews or analysis, rather that I will put in some smaller bit in between. So there, that's what I've been up to.

I've been playing Naruto: Ultimate Ninjastorm 2, and yeah, it's a good game, it has a 'I need to do all the quests'-pull, that makes you want to do everything. This is both go

od and bad. I spent 30 hours in the main story, doing everything that can be made. But it wasn't always fun, you just spend most of the game running around doing errands to people. It gets boring quite fast, but if you're like me, you'll do it anyway. I have to say straight up, this is probably not a game to be played by people that haven't seen the show. For those who have, it's fun to see all the characters again and watch them battle.

Okay, now I've said a lot of bad stuff about the game, but what's good then? Well, the main thing is, the battles. Every battle is fun, and the last battles are really challenging. But it's the boss battles that really shines. To describe them as epic is the understatement of the century, I love them. If you're a fan of Naruto, I'll definitely say check it out.

2012 I long the most for....

Okay, another year is upon us, and it seems to be a great year indeed. These are my thoughts (a bit late, I know) about the dreading year of 2012!

First of all, yes, my most anticipated game of 2012 is still Catherine (which did not get a release in Europe in 2011). As I'm writing this, the game have actually been released and I plan to buy it as soon as I get the money to, and will probably follow it up with a review. It still looks insanely good with it's adult story and quickly paced puzzles. I look forward to play it soon.

In the genre "games that I thought would be released in 2011 but didn't" we find four games that I hope to sink my teeth in at some point of 2012. The first will be released in mars, the insanely anticipated Mass Effect 3. After having played the second game no more than three time in the cause of 2010 and 2011, I can't stress how hyped I am for this game. Honestly, scratch the "my most anticipated game of 2012 is still Catherine" statement from before, this is going to be the most amazing experience this year. I realize that I want to play the first two games again before this is released, I kind of need to hurry up... For all the right reasons (you who've played the games know what I mean) this is going to be AMAZAAAAHH!

Second it's DMC, the game everyone loves to hate on, but still looks as amazing as I though it did when they showed it at TGS in 2010. We have even gotten some gameplay footage and it seems to be an even better game from that point of view. As I have already said in my DMC discussion from February 2011, the new Dante looks ridiculously nicely designed and I can't wait to see what Ninja Theory can do story and script-wise with the Devil May Cry universe. All we can do is to wait and see. I hope for the world that I get to be the one to say I told you so, not you haters!

Third is another third. I hope it gets a release in 2012 but it should... I am of course talking about Diablo III, another huge sequel to a game more than a decade old. But I still find myself playing the second game from time to time, it's a great game, and I have no doubt that the third will be as well. I do find it dissturbing that the senior game designer (Steve Parker) left the company and that Blizzard later announced that they will be stripping the game down a lot. The only problem I see other than that is that I need to upgrade my PC... Nag dangit!

The last actually belongs to the category "Games I probably won't see in 2012" and is the spiritual sequel to The Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian. Now Ueda has quit and works on the project only as a freelancer, and the series is not exactly known for having huge selling records, but despite that and that we know nothing of the game and my hype it only based on the previous games, I still think this will be a great game, if it is ever released...

Now on to some newcomers, I will tell of the three games I look forward to the most this year that I haven't mentioned! First up, The South Park Game, seriously, you can play a jew... as a class... !! Hopefully, with Stone and Parker in charge and Obsidian doing the game itself, it will be a awesome and funny game!
Then we have Resident Evil 6, the game that I hope will be everything the fifth game wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun with RE5, me and a friend, and solo. But still, I did not get the atmosphere from the other games. With this I hope that it will be a perfect mix of action and survival horror.
Last but not least, we have Bioshock: Infinite. The first game blew me away. The second was not as good but still told a compelling story. Now we are mature enough to move on from Rapture to the airborne city of Columbia. What I feel is compelling about Infinite is the characters, I'm really interested in Elizabeth and your now talking main character. And the probably awesome story. Nice!

Then again, I look forward a lot to the Wii U, despite the ugly name. But I hope it will be a hit, and not come out too late in the year. Still, there are a lot of games I long for and hope to hear more from like The Last of Us, I am Alive, Prototype 2, Tekken Tag 2, Tomb Raider, Lollipop Chainsaw, The Last Story, Dishonored, Syndicate, Ni No Kuni, X-com, Gravity Rush, Dragon's Dogma, Max Payne 3, Journey, GTA V and Halo 4 that I hope to talk a little more about soon.

2011, a look back...

Before reading on, you should read my first blog, "2011 I long the most for...", for I will use it as s reference of my anticipation and what I got in 2011.

So, another year have gone and passed. 2011 where in many ways a great year, game wise. But what did it do for me, what games did I play and which of them is the game of the year? Let's start with my expectations. The first thing I mentioned last year was the "year of the threes" as many trilogies were to end this year. Sadly, of the three threes I looked forward to the most, I never got around to playing Gears of War 3 and never saw the sight of Mass Effect 3 or Diablo 3. May be I put my hopes on that people in the business will be keeping their deadlines. Yeah, no.

The next game I talked about wanting to play was L.A. Noir. Yeah, never got around to playing that either... I don't know why, maybe the controversy surrounding Team Bondi put me off. Maybe not, but play it, I did not.

I was to buy a Wii or A PS3 this year, the main reasons being The Last Guardian and Skyward Sword. Never got a Wii, so never played Skyward Sword, I did get me a PS3 in april though, but The Last Guardian where nowhere to be seen so that's great... not.

And then we come to what I believed to be the best and greatest game of this year, Catherine! I never released in Europe and I couldn't import it for the Xbox. So guess the most anticipated game of 2012!

P.S. And I never got to see the new awesome DMC that everyone hates!

So what games did I play that where released in 2011? Some actually, and here's what I thought of them.

Little Big Planet 2
Yeah, this is my dream, I get to do my own games. And I was very satisfied actually. I did make a lot of games, and the story didn't bore me either. The game editor is done very well and you really can make almost any game you wish. If you put enough time on it. I had a lot of fun with it in any case.
9/10

Bastion
The big surprise of the year, Bastion delivers a solid dungeon-crawling hack 'n' slash in the absence of Diablo 3. Basic story with a moral depth, just the way I love it. The characters are great and the storyteller sets the mood to RPG-night with your friends. A really great game.
8/10

Batman: Arkham City
If you have never encountered Batman before, this is a good place to start. If you have, it will be a great reunion. If you, like me, love Batman and the world he lives in, this is a goldmine. With awesome gameplay and an ever better story, Arkham City is great.
10/10

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Yes, I know, everyone loves it, and who can blame them, this is a huge game. When I decided to start and play through all the games I haven't played through yet, that I have at home, I decided to start with Skyrim... Bad move... after barely 20 hours I lend it out to my friend, to be able to focus on the other games I had. I eagerly await it's return.
10/10

Shadow of the Damned
I have only one thing to say, this is the ultimate answer from the video games to a B-film. The story is so bad, it's awesome. The gameplay is great as well. But when a film only lasts 2 hours max, you have to endure Mr Way-too-Mexican and his big boner the whole game. Luckily, it's not a bad game.
7/10

The Game of the Year is:
Batman: Arkham City

But what about everything else that has happened in 2011? Oh come on, read my blog, it's right here, I have covered everything I think was important. If you want me to write about something, just leave a comment and I'll address it. So from me to you all, Happy new year. And game on.

List of games released in 2011 I have to play in 2012:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Gears of War 3
L.A. Noir
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Portal 2
Rayman: Origins
Xenoblades: Chronicles
Pokémon Black/White

The top 100 games of all time 10-1

Here we go, these are, according to me, the top ten best games of all time, period.

10.
Final Fantasy IX (Square, Playstation, 2000)
Final Fantasy IX was in many ways a game made to the fans of the series, from long ago. Gone where the steam-punk worlds of the two latest games in the instalment, and back were Black Mages and epic castles. I loved IX for this reason, and for the fact that it delivers a great story and great characters as usual in a FF game, but it's done so well and with that wink to the old games with it's settings and it's sense of humour, it makes for one of the best Final Fantasy experiences to date.

9.
Final Fantasy VI (Square, Super Nintendo, 1994)
Final Fantasy VI was the bridge between the world that IX tried to be like, and the world that Final Fantasy VII and VIII later were. A mix between steam-punk and epic castles. And what a game we got. It dived into hard questions like revenge and forgiveness, sacrifice, love, free will and a lot of other really adult questions. And it had Kefka, the most awesome villain in any Final Fantasy, the series answer to the Joker, and what an answer then. Another great story to add th the Final Fantasy universes, when the series where about to reach it's absolute peak.

8.
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare, Xbox 360, 2010)
"It darkens. My friends are down. I'm stuck behind a small cover with the enemy coming from both sides. They get closer. We've been filling the huge metal humanoid with the clips from our guns. I'm almost out of ammo. I can't take him down with what I have, not before they kill me off at least. I have one chance, I realize, as the enemy comes up on my platform. The Weapon. I muster up the courage I have left. Time seems to stand still as I get out from cover and charge up the weapon. The huge metal humanoid looks me in the eyes, as I take aim on his. Shots are fired. I ignore them. The weapon goes of and hits its target. An explosion, large as a small nuclear explosion, erupts in the eye and the huge robot goes down, killed by mini-nuke in the eye. I sigh, but it's not over yet, I still have to get out of here." - An accurate description of my battle with the last boss in Mass Effect 2 on Insane.

7.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami CET, Playstation, 1997)
It's Super Metriod with RPG segments and the son of Dracula in the lead. Yeah, it's about as awesome as it sounds. The atmosphere in this is just amazing, the cool settings, the creepy enemies and, not to forget, one of the best soundtrack in a game ever. Alucard is really cool and though the voice acting might be of the worst, you care very, very, very little of it. Symphony of the Night might be somewhat of a lost pearl, but if you get the chance, play it, buy it on Xbox Live, you will not be sorry.

6.
Super Mario 64 (Nintendo EAD, Nintendo 64, 1996)
Nintendo and Mr Miyamoto hit everything perfectly. Sure, the camera might not be up to speed with many of the games today, but Mario's movements, the stage designs, the music, this is and will for me always be the ultimate platformer. There it really no other way to describe it, it's full of things to do, and you will not release the controller until you have every secret star, all 120 of them, and gets shot onto the roof for a reunion.

5.
Shadow of the Colossus (Team Ico, Playstation 2, 2005)
Team Ico is the misunderstood artist of the gaming world that are unpopular but in a hundred years I believe that they will be hailed like Picasso or Shakespeare. I was expecting a really good game the first time I sat down to play their Shadow of the Colossus, but what I got was so much more than just a great game. It was art, in it's truest form. Like a painting, it's beautiful to behold. Like a play, is has strong characters. Like a literal masterpiece, it's gripping. Like a fairy tale, it has a basic but moving story. The game itself is twelve bosses, and the road to them. It's amazing how much feeling they get by so little. Almost no music, but there is no need for it. Shadow of the Colossus blew my mind, as I am sure it will yours.

4.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo EAD, Nintendo 64, 1998)
The leap from 2D to 3D did wonders on the two most loved of Nintendo's franchises, Mario, and Zelda. Ocarina of Time is perfect in so many ways. I mean, there is a reason why every Zelda game after this only made slight changes to try and look as much as Ocarina of Time as possible. It's an all around great game, and there's no doubt about that. There's drama, action, puzzles, awesome gadgets and so much more to discover in the world of Hyrule. Let the Adventure of two lifetimes begin.

3.
Metroid Prime (Retro Studios, GameCube, 2002)
How many believed that Metroid Prime would suck so bad? Most did, I never did. Metroid Prime did as many games this high on the list, and took my already high expectations, and blew them away. This is the most complete gaming experience I have ever played. I simply can't find anything wrong with this game. It does everything right, and what it does it does amazingly. A planet to explore, weapons to find, secrets to read, Space Pirates to kill. Samus Aran have never been this cool.

2.
Final Fantasy VII (Square, Playstation, 1997)
Final Fantasy VII, what can I say that have never been said. Nothing. But I can say this, I love Final Fantasy VII, for it's engaging and gripping story, for it's memorable characters, for it's way to deal with hard questions and choices in life, for it's hugeness, there where so much to do. I love it for that scene that you know all about where I wept my eyes dry of tears. The villain, the complexety of the story, the everything. The music... I can go on all day, there is so much that is great with this game, and anyone that have not yet experienced it, shame on you, if every human in the world should play one game in their life, they should play this one.

1.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (Atlus, Playstation 2, 2008)
I'm still not sure whether or not to place this one at number one. But Persona 4 does everything right. In a time where Final Fantasy had forsaken me, when I had grown up and JRPG didn't seem to follow, Persona 4 came like a gift from heaven. It renewed the genre with it's adult and thrilling story, clear Japanese roots and with it's mix of dungeon crawling, Pokémon and dating simulator (no need to be alarmed, it works great) it took me completely of guard and I have not yet recovered. Maybe the day will come when Final Fantasy VII comes up to take the throne again, but right now, Atlus are kings, and Persona 4 is in my opinion the best game that ever did exist.

Comment and tell me what a crappy personal list I've made ;) or discuss with me, It's fun. Next I'll take a look back on 2011 and will also look at 2012.

The top 100 games of all time 20-11

Second to last time I'll do this list, next time you'll know what game I hold as the best game of all time.

20.
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat, Xbox 360, 2010)
Indie games is somewhat of a new phenomenon. For me, it was the discovery of games with heart. Not to say that other games don't have heart, but indie games shows heart for old games. Super Meat Boy was fun and full of winks to the old school type of gaming, and not to forget the two absolute biggest reasons why it's actually one of the 20 best games ever, it's cute and humours, and it's insanely hard. I have never been so mad at a game in my life. My Xbox controller thanks me for having patience and composure. But even I have to admit that I was close to throwing it very far. Super Meat Boy is a challenge and I loved it ultimately, but I hated it so much more during my plays.

19.
Portal (Valve Corporation, Xbox 360, 2007)
Still alive, GlaDOS and the cake is a lie, how can you not love portal? I know I did, the fun puzzle game that *tinySpoilers* took a turn for the serious. I realize more and more that with an awesome story, you can get away with a lot in my opinion. The gameplay in Portal was great, at its best, never below good/okay. But it's the story and the characters that play a big part in why Portal is such an amazing game. You who have played it know what I mean. You who haven't, you should. There will be cake...

18.
Super Mario World (Nintendo EAD, Super Nintendo, 1990)
I respect that I can spend at least a hundred hour on, but also clear in 20 minutes. That's Super Mario World. There is something amazing about Mario, in that he has no bad main games. I mean, Super Mario Sunshine was said to be a "disappointment" but let's face it, it was a great game. And Super Mario Word is certainly no exception. Pure Super Mario Magic all the way through, and with the added companion of Yoshi, the game explored new territories. Mr Miyamoto had done it again.

17.
VVVVVV (Terry Cavanagh, PC, 2010)
Newold, that's what you could call Terry Cavanagh's VVVVVV. With it's Commodore 64 graphics and sound, it is such a special experience, just for that. But It doesn't stop there. The innovative platform gameplay makes for one of the weirdest twists in the history of the genre; you can't jump. What you can do is shift the gravity to place in upside down in the ceiling. It's fun, it's really fun, and the retro soundtrack is the best soundtrack a game have had since Nobuo Uematsu's or Koji Kondo's golden days. Ad to that a quite interesting story with a few twist, and one of the best games of the new millennia is spelled with six same letters.

16.
Resident Evil 4 (Studio 4, GameCube, 2005)
Resident Evil 4 revolutionized everything we knew about the action/horror genre. Granted, it was not always that scary, although it did scare me at times and it's definitely scarier than the fifth game. The game was just a cool game for a 16 year old boy to play. Leon was bad ass, and the zombies was live we have never seen them before in video games, quick and smart, and prone to grow extra knife-like heads at a headshot. Awesome and epic bosses as well. It's an important piece of gaming history, and should not be overlooked.

15.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (Atlus, Playstation 2, 2006)
I just loved this game when I played it. Amazing characters, amazing story and a truly amazing script was the strongest points. The gameplay style of mixing a sort of dating simulator, dungeon crawler and Pokémon for adults, was surprisingly well put together. The battle system, turnbased, was surprisingly good, but of course not without problems. And there where problems, small, and I was willing to put that aside and just enjoy a fantastic and adult story. This made me understand, that Japanese RPGs are far from dead, not with games like this on the market.

14.
Seiken Densetsu 3 (Square, Super Nintendo, 1995)
The game that never existed. Well, not outside Japan as other than fan made translations. But a fan made translation is what we got after several years, and the game was good, oh it was so good. From the beginning, you have to choose from three characters that will be the main characters of the game. The characters you don't pick, you meet, but they don't get to be part of the group. The urge to replay have never been higher that this, and it's a JRPG with a cleartime to match it. The story is amazing, the characters as well, everything was done perfectly, nothing was done bad, and 3 player co-op made for some fun times indeed. We never got Secret of Mana 2, we never got Seiken Densetsu 3, we took it!

13.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo EAD, Super Nintendo, 1991)
I love The Legend of Zelda, I have played every The Legend of Zelda game ever created. No, I have not played the awful Philips CD-i Zelda, but I don't count them. Ever. A link to the past did everything right, and it still holds up as the best 2D game of the series, and not far from best in the series. Everything is done better, the more alive world meets the great gameplay from the first game. More items, more secrets to find and after I had played this, the hold The Legend of Zelda had on me from the first two games changed to a full body-cask. I was stuck, forever.

12.
Super Metroid (Nintendo R&D1, Super Nintendo, 1994)
Samus Aran is the coolest character ever in video games. I first encountered him in Super Smash Bros. for the N64. I picked him and learned his every move as I pummelled my friend into submission. I burst out "Wow, he's awesome" to where my friend said "Ehm, it's a girl". It's a girl. Meh, who cares, she's awesome and bad ass! I thereafter referred to her as 'The girl Duke Nukem never got". Super Metroid takes the side scrolling shooter and brings it to a whole new depth. Exploring and finding items. What fascinates me the most is not the amazing gameplay, the collecting of items or multiple ending, no I loved Samus Aran, and the world she was part of. Samus, forever in my heart, never quit kicking ass. And never let Team Ninja Handle you again.

11.
Chrono Trigger (Square, Super Nintendo, 1995)
Wait, a Japanese Role-Playing Game that does not have random encounters? Only that would convince me to put this game in the list, when it comes from the time it does. But everything else you expect from a Super Nintendo era JRPG is done to perfection, characters, story, battle and time travel(!). And more. Chrono Trigger is one of Super Nintendo's finest games, not to be missed by anyone. It has multiple endings and even a main character that tends to more or less shut up throughout the whole game. I love it, always have, always will.

The last ten will be up between Christmas and New Years.