Corpse Party: Blood Drive (wherein I rant, a lot)

Well, this is the final chapter in what has been dubbed the Heavenly Host Saga and, well, it was kind of a disappointment.  Now I’m not saying the game was bad, not by a long shot, but compared to its predecessors, especially the original PSP remake that started the trilogy, it’s rather lackluster.  From gameplay issues to story and character problems, Corpse Party: Blood Drive, while occasionally very inspired, often feels less like a chapter in the Corpse Party storyline and more like an episode of this year’s most popular teenage aimed anime.

Child of Light

This was a very pleasant surprise and, all around, one of the most welcome and refreshing little experiences I’ve had in a game.  I decided to pick this up for a friend, to see whether or not the game was worth having.  What essentially started as playing guinea pig, quickly turned into a very enjoyable journey that I’m glad I was talked into taking, as I probably would not have taken it otherwise.

Ubisoft hasn’t had the best rap as of late, with good reason.  From the controversies surrounding Watch Dogs with its exclusive limited editions and the issues with Assassin’s Creed: Unity.  Ubisoft have been proving themselves to be up there with the likes of Gearbox when it comes to screwing over consumers and releasing products that, in no way, reflect what they show off during conventions.  While their controversies may not be as abhorrent as the Colonial Marines debacle, they’re still quoting from the same book, so I wouldn’t say mildly less lies gives them much of a pass.

Parasite Eve

God it was good to get back to Parasite Eve, which still stands as pretty much my favorite Square-JRPG.  It’d been quite a while since I last booted the game up and successfully completing it, so the overall impact from this go through was almost like a second first time and my was it absolutely glorious.  Square, and honestly several RPG centric developers, would do themselves well to learn from Parasite Eve.

Persona 4: Golden (aka Greatest Thing I've Ever Played)

So, I finally completed Persona 4: Golden on the Vita.  Took me about six months altogether, with a total play time of 68 hours and 1 minute, but goddamn was it wonderful.  If anyone who reads this knows anything about me, it’s that I’m strictly against runtimes that go well beyond the 20-25 hour mark and even then that’s really pushing it.  A huge problem I have with a number of modern RPGs is their tendency to pad the runtime to extreme degrees.  It’s often unnecessary, forced and artificially extends the story.  The biggest reason this is any kind of issue with the average big ultra-epic RPG is that the length is well beyond the scope of the narrative.  I mean, the average RPG narrative is rather simplistic; “you’re the last guy can kill dragon, dragon are back, will end the world, are you a bad enough dude to kill an dragon?”

Life is Strange - Episode Three

And so comes episode three of Life is Strange, aptly titled Chaos Theory.  As is the case with the previous episodes, I’m absolutely digging this series, its world, characters and narrative.  As is the case with the previous episodes, the soundtrack is great and the writing continues to improve as the writer’s hone their craft and, both they and the cast, really get into the characters.  It’s still got that semi-awkward use of outdated phrases and words, but it’s written and delivered with more confidence than it had been in previous episodes.

Life is Strange - Episode Two

And episode two is out now, and goddamn was that really a huge improvement over the original episode.  I already loved episode one of Life is Strange for its quirky, Wes Anderson, indie type setup, characters (though none are as unrealistically quirky as Anderson’s) and setting and for its inventive time mechanics that add a little spice to its Telltale era adventure game setup, but damn, episode two really takes the love even further.

Mass Effect 2

So I finally got around to playing and finishing the sequel to everyone’s favorite sci-fi RPG franchise: Mass Effect.  And yeah, everything I heard was true, it’s a damn good game that goes to great lengths to address a good majority of the clunky gameplay mechanics that marred the first game.  Cover is a help rather than a hindrance, combat is fast and satisfying, teammate AI is actually competent and mapped abilities increases the flow of combat.  It really is an improvement over the original title in just about every way possible.

Life is Strange - Episode 1: Chrysalis

So, on impulse I just kind of bought Life is Strange.  Read the little blurb, saw it was an episodic adventure game in the vein of Telltale and, to be honest, I have a thing for indie music and culture.  Call me a hipster if you want, there’s something sort of neat about a culture that revolves around art and simpler things like nature, timelessness and nostalgia.  Sure that’s the romanticized aspect of the culture and in reality it’s a bunch of elitist snobs who reject anything that more than ten people know about.  But nothing’s wrong with the idea of it.  Sort of like the Native American, not quite as noble and loving when you get into the history of it and realize, they weren't exactly peaceful people either.  So yeah, I was sold when part of the game’s description said it uses an indie influenced soundtrack with some legit indie bands to boot.  Then seeing the screenshots with some indie college students aiming guns, smoking pot and looking thoughtful, with backdrops of a beautiful rural town in the fall.