Games Purchased from March to This Day:

Hero's Saga: Laevatein Tactics (NDS)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
Legend of Heroes (PSP)
A Boy and His Blob (Wii)
Okami (Wii)
Sly Cooper 1-3 (PS2)
Jak & Daxter (PS2)
Glory of Heracles (NDS)
Picross 3D (NDS)
Nostalgia (NDS)
Demon's Souls (PS3)
Infinite Undiscovery (360)
Popolocrois (PSP)
Soul Bubbles (NDS)
Dance Dance Revolution X (PS2)
Enchanted Arms (PS3)
Rondo of Swords (NDS)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2)
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Wii)
Bayonetta (PS3)
Soul Calibur IV (PS3)
Magna Carta 2 (360)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (NDS)

GAMING BLOG FAIL!

Yeah, I pretty much dropped the ball on this once again!

To salvage whatever iota of a gaming blog is left after abandoning it for months, I shall name off the pathetic three games I've beaten since my last post:

Mario Kart (Wii)
God of War 1 (PS3)
Picross 3D (NDS)

FUCK HALF THE YEAR FLEW BY.

Games I purchased since 12/12/2009...

Let's see how much I've spent on video games in the past 3 months:

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (NDS)

MadWorld (Wii)

Avalon Code (NDS)

Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS3)

Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (NDS)

Blue Dragon Plus (NDS)

Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)

Fable II (360)

Retro Game Challenge (NDS)

Fallout 3 (360)

God of War: Collection (PS3)

Assassin's Creed (360)

Dead Rising (360)

Mass Effect (360)

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

Infamous (PS3)

Brutal Legend (PS3)

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Edition (360)

Um Jammer Lammy (PSN)

Suikoden (PSN)

Bit.Trip.Beat (WW)

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (VC)

Secret of Mana (VC)

Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (VC)

Critter Crunch (PSN)

Braid (PSN)

Exit (PSP)

New Super Mario Bros (Wii)

That's 28 games I've purchased. And so far this year, I've beaten 6 games.

Fuck. @_@

Critter Crunch (PSN)

Lots of great things to say about this little treasure of a game.

Well, technically I haven't completely beaten the game. I managed to finish up Adventure mode and saw the credits roll, so in my eyes, this game is considered beaten. But, there are a couple modes (Puzzle and Challenge modes) that have yet to be mastered. I will definitely be spending more time in finishing that up.

Anyway, Critter Crunch is a surprisingly deep puzzle game. As far as puzzle games go, Bejeweled Blitz has been my outlet for puzzle game madness for a while. It's nice to play something that has more depth and tension to it. I like how as you beat each stage, they add another element to the game to make it more complex.

Graphically, the game is very pretty on my HDTV. Everything is sharp and crisp, with cute character design.

It's amazing that I only spent 4.99 on this game! It's surely worth more than that, and if I had paid more, I would have been totally fine with that. Another highly recommended Playstation Network game (along with Braid), this experience has left me more considerate of what these smaller indie-developed games have to offer.

Games Beaten: 6/36

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (NDS)

So, the newest iteration in the Zelda series, I feel a little ambivalent about it. I love certain parts about the game, namely the temples with their top-notch dungeon design and the boss fights that feel extra epic, while everything else in between I despise.

To be more specific, I hated the segments of the game that involved the train and traversing the lands. It just took too long and felt like they made it so that they could artificially increase game length. Also, fetchquests with the train and giving people rides to distant towns was just tedious. There was absolutely nothing fun about this.

Also, using the stylus makes my hand cramp up. I hate games that require the stylus.

Don't get me wrong, I do get the sense that this is another quality Nintendo product. Zelda always brings quality gaming to me. Not to mention the dialogue and story was just extremely charming, and watching Zelda and Link work together to solve puzzles and actually spend the whole game together and have a relationship develop between the two was really well done and much appreciated.

However, everything concerning TRAINS just ruined the game's chances of being GREAT to me and made it turn out to be JUST OKAY.

I really need to get on Twilight Princess now.

Games Beaten: 5/36

Update on Life!

First non-videogame entry, GO!

January turned out to be an amazing month. Mostly due to the surprise birthday party that Sid threw for me. Located on the 53rd floor of Palms Place hotel, Sid managed to get a lot of people to come to this. It was the biggest surprise of my life, and honestly THE sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Walking into the hotel, I was led to believe I was attending some random hotel party being hosted by our friend Dani's roommate. Once I walked into the room, I noticed John and Rachel in the corner of the room and thought to myself "Oh shit, John and Rachel are here! I didn't know they were coming... that's cool!" And then, a bunch of hollering and yelling ensued. I couldn't make sense of what anyone was saying and I also didn't recognize anyone in the room since the lights were really dim. And then bam, I saw my old co-worker from Marriott, Jamie. Still, things didn't register in my head. I was frazzled and confused. My eyes were darting back and forth, left and right, as faces started to become familiar. "Wait, what is she doing here?!... OMG?!" I spotted my cousin Clarisse, a co-worker or two, and then things finally clicked. Everyone was yelling "SURPRISE!!!" and it all finally made sense. I was overcome with happiness and joy, so much so that I couldn't help but buckle down and start crying. I crouched onto the floor because my legs couldn't support how surprised and elated I was. Looking into the crowd, all I saw were peoples' camera flashes going off, like a celebrity surrounded by a bunch of paparazzi. It was surreal.

I think what got to me the most was that people from out of town came for this party. It really made me feel special and loved. Seeing my cousin Clarisse and her friend Melissa, seeing Sid's friends (Sarah, Pam, Retchie), and being surprised by Henry and William's attendance and drag performance were what really pushed me over the edge to actually make me produce tears of joy. They all drove/flew from the Bay to come and celebrate my birthday with me! Fucking whoa!

I was bumrushed with hugs and salutations, everyone was asking me to take a picture with them, to take a shot with them. My attention was all over the place. Every person I ran into, I had to say hi, or hug, or socialize with. Some of these people I hadn't seen for months! It was overwhelming to say the least. I feel like I didn't hang out with anyone at the party because I was stretched way too thin talking to everyone.

Anyway, surprise of my fucking life. It was the best party I've ever had. I really wish I moderated how much I drank so that I could stay up the whole night, but I couldn't help but take a shot with anyone I saw. Surprisingly I wasn't the first one to black out (that feat can be attributed to Dani, hahaha), but I came a close second. I remember waking up intermittently to people coming to my bed and wishing me a happy birthday here and there, and a bunch of other scandalous stuff that shall remain unspoken of, but sadly I regret not being awake for the entirety of the night.

So yes, this past January was definitely one of the highlights of my life. Other highlights were celebrating New Year's on the Strip for the first time with Dani's family. We partied in their hotel room in the Venetian, and then watched the fireworks out on the Strip. Also, we celebrated my co-worker Arlette's birthday. So much fun both of those nights too. Pictures for all of these events can be found on my Facebook or Sid's.

Braid (PSN)

I don't remember the last time I had to use my brain for a video game in a long time. Of course, lots of games test your hand-eye coordination and test your skill, but this game really forces you to activate those extra synapses laying dormant in your brain in order to solve the puzzles in this game. A lot of trial and error is involved as well as being able to see outside of the box. Thank you, Braid, for reminding me how to think critically and creatively.

Braid is a beautiful game. I love the art direction. Everything comes together beautifully - the story, the music, the graphics and art. I think this is one game that strives to advance the video game medium as a fully legitimate work of art. I don't know if I even got what the story was about - it's like it took a philosophical/metaphysical direction at the end that basically lost me.

The gameplay is where Braid really shines (which is what always matters most). In Braid, you essentially control time. And then each level has their own preset rules of time and motion, from slowing everything down, to rewinding, to even parallel dimensions. In order to collect puzzle pieces scattered throughout the levels, you have to manipulate time along with the rules of the level to succeed. Such a conceptually robust game.

All I can say really is: Braid 2 please!!

Games Completed: 4/36

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

So I actually 100% completed this game! Go me!

Super fun and challenging gameplay. I love how the game incorporates little things from each previous iteration of the Mario series (Spin jump from Galaxy, Mario Bros 3 match-the-items mini-game, Yoshi from Super Mario World, Mini Mario from NSMB DS, etc.). I've only really played the one-player experience, haven't really messed around with multiplayer yet. The later levels get pretty difficult, some even got my heart racing! Not to mention the sheer epicness of the final battle with Bowser.

There's nothing bad to say about this game. I heart it completely and would totally put it in GOTY status.

But fuck World 9-7, Star Coin #3. TOOK ME FOREVER TO GET THAT FUCKING STAR COIN!!

Games Completed: 3/36

Mirror's Edge (PS3)

Despite its short length, Mirror's Edge is probably one of the most awesome games I've ever played at a conceptual and creative level. It's hard to describe what it feels like to simulate jumping across rooftops and under pipes in such a swift and seamless fashion. Almost exhilirating even. Playing it on my 52" HDTV with surround-sound is definitely conducive to the immersion factor.

I'll admit, I wasn't really paying much attention to the story. I just wanted to get to the next platforming section and figure out how to get from point A to point B. That's where most of the fun in the game is found.

The game can also get highly, intensely, exorbitantly frustrating though, particularly during gameplay situations involving gunplay and combat since that's where the difficulty spiked for me. It took a lot of dying to finally figure out how exactly to tackle a given scenario. Some scenarios had me respawning maybe 30 times before I finally got it down.

One other thing to note is the music, which I adored! The game soundtrack consists of a lot of energetic and suspenseful electronic beats for those hectic scenarios involving gunplay and trying to run away from the po-po, versus perplexing, soft, ambient music for those puzzling situations in which you had to figure out where the route continues.

All in all, a great game worth the $15! I'm glad I didn't buy this at launch. If I spent $60 on this, I would have been pissed considering how short the game is. I'm not really in the mood to do those speed run trials though, experiencing the main story was sufficient in entertainment value. Time to move on!

Games completed: 2/36

Happy 2010! Also: New Blog Objective!

Yay to a new decade etc.

Well, I've been wanting to revamp this entire blog and talk more specifically about gaming for a while. What better time to do it than while ringing in the new year, right? So from now, this blog will serve more as a chronicle of my video gaming exploits, with a little bit of personal life experiences and goings-on intermittently sprinkled in for novelty factor. But mostly games. GAMES GAMES GAMES.

Personal goal: to beat at least 3 games per month. That equals 36 games. But I really want to aim for 50!

Let the fun COMMENCE.

OH SNAP I JUST BEAT A GAME YESTERDAY TIME TO TALK ABOUT IT:




Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Such an awesome traditional turn-based RPG. After playing both IV and V on the DS, I've come to realize that Dragon Quest is developing into one of my favorite series. The thing that makes this RPG stand out from others is its whole generations-skipping schtick in which you start off as a little boy fighting alongside his dad. Later on, you are able to watch him grow into adult, get married (and have the option of which girl you want to marry), and ultimately have kids that eventually join your party! In the end, your party can consist of your you, your wife, and your son and daughter. OMFG, how fucking cute is that? Family-oriented RPG for real. Another awesome element this game features is something known as Party Chat which adds a lot of content to the game. For every NPC you talk to, if you press the Party Chat button, the more significant people currently in your party (as opposed to monsters you can recruit throughout the game) will chime in with something insightful to say. I thought it was a great thing to add in order to facilitate more character development and, now that I think about it, ALL RPGs should do this. I've seen this before in the later Tales games (Symphonia and Abyss) to an extent, but I love the way DQV incorporates it. It feels like the game has significantly more content.

I'm definitely excited for DQIX and DQVI to come out on the DS this year. DQ has made its mark in being one of my favorite series now.

Games completed: 1/36