Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=461https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3030Entry #2-- Gameplay: All of the characters you get introduced to have really interesting quirks to them, which adds to the appeal. They all have very distinct personalities, and are quite engaging. While the actions in the battle system and the way you move, etc. are all very repetitive, they don't really get boring, because each stage has unique monsters to fight and you continually want to try to get farther along in the story to find out what happens next. Creating characters is amazingly fun, one of the best merits of the game. I typically like to create lots of monsters in my party (which can be a problem if I need to do something which requires throwing), because there are so many awesome characters to make. Using the student/master relationship can also be really useful, and there is just so much going on in this game to learn about that it is really intense. You can also start to attend the Dark Assembly, and ask senators to pass certain bills (creating characters, stronger/weaker enemies, more items in shops, etc). This is a really innovative idea, I think. Some bills are harder to pass than others, and you have to sometimes bribe senators into voting for your bill, which can be really fun (yet irritating). Design: The game provides a very enjoyable play experience, one that you can completely change based upon personal preference. If you want a more hardcore gaming experience, you can get it, but if you want a more casual experience, that is completely possible as well. This is something that is really cool about the game; it's quite flexible. If you want, you can spend hours upon hours searching for better and better weapons, going into the Item World and making your own items have better stats, reincarnating characters for better stats and many, many other things. This is all really enjoyable, but it is totally possible to beat the game without doing these kinds of things, so Disgaea 2 can appeal to all sorts of gamers. The character creation system also really enhances the game, and making it so that in order to get a better level of a certain class, you need to level up the previous level of it, only makes you want to play the game even more until you can create better versions of your favorite characters. This is really one of my absolute favorite things in the game, because there are so many options, and you always have something else to achieve. The music for Disgaea is also really good, nothing that stands out particularly to me, but it's not annoying, and it's got pretty good structure and whatnot. Just not spectacular like some other games. There is a huge amount of complexity to this game that looks, at first glance, pretty simple. But adding character creation, the Item World, and the Dark Assembly all creates a multifaceted play experience that is unlike any other.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:28:21 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3030&iddiary=5693https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3030Summary: Disgaea 2 is a tactical RPG in which you play as Adell, the only human left in a world turned into demons. In order to progress through the game, the player must complete stages, unlocking more narrative after each one. Each new place starts a new "chapter" in the game, and you progress to the next chapter after beating the last stage. Gameplay: I started a new game since it's been a while, and I've forgotten a lot of the beginning of the game. The dialogue is hilarious, and very early on you get a good sense of Adell's character. The fact that everyone else in the town have been turned into demons and have no conscience only furthers the player's liking of the main character, since his morals are still intact. The game does an interesting job of forcing Rozalin in your party, though the idea of "male and female character stuck together and forced to adventure together" is a little cliche. There are also some 'deus ex machina' moments, but those are easily forgiven. The situations are always quite amusing, something this and the previous Disgaea have in common. There's a little allusion to Guilty Gear, too, with a "female" NPC named Bridget who tells you "Actually, I'm a guy," which is pretty humorous. It's useful that Rozalin has never been outside of her mansion, and the game characters act as if they are explaining things to her, rather than Adell, who should (and does) know everything already. It's nice that they didn't use an "amnesia" thing or anything. It is also really nice that you get rewarded for buying more things in the shops/getting healed by eventually getting prizes/better items and such. It's better than just having to spend hard-earned money and getting nothing out of it. The story really does keep you interested, even if it's not the MOST original story ever. It uses cliche and somewhat overused ideas but also twists them into interesting directions, so it isn't unspeakably boring or *totally* predictable. The battle system itself isn't much different from the first Disgaea, or really from other games of this type, but it is engaging and really has improved upon a lot of the older games. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:07:31.)Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:01:41 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3030&iddiary=5689https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2738Entry #2-- Gameplay: I really tend to get annoyed with games with that "random guy saves beautiful princess" storyline, but... I may make an exception for this game... because, at least it seems like Marle isn't completely helpless. She seems more a victim of circumstance than of "weak female-ness."(Also I thought her eyes were blue in the beginning? Somehow they magically changed when they went back in time? Or I'm crazy.) Anyway, I am getting more and more drawn into the storyline. I like the characters in this game (Frog is so cool...), and it's becoming clear why it is so beloved. It's not a *super* cliche storyline, and it require research to tell if the parts that are cliche were that way when it was actually created, or if other games have just copied a lot from this. Also, my love for the battle system only grows with each battle I fight. I can't understand why this battle system didn't get copied to death by other RPGs... Instead they tend to opt for the "you're in a line, enemies are in a line" approach... and... I don't understand why... It isn't until recently that games are really breaking out of that, and... yeah... Design: The music for this game is really well done (a lot of it I recognized because it was recycled in Chrono Cross, which perhaps enhanced my experience?). It suits the whole mood quite well, and is rather beautiful. I love a lot of the subtleties that went into making this game, such as if you are "dashing" and run into somewhere you cannot move, and your character just stands there shaking his head. I thought that was a really nice touch. The graphics really aren't bad, either. Especially for an older game. Everything is clear and well-defined and looks really nice. But older graphics have never really bothered me, as long as you can tell what is going on, so... I think the pacing of the game (so far, at least) has been pretty good, too. Nothing so far has been extremely dragged out or too fast; the story seems to be progressing at an even, steady rate. Everything has also been laid out really well so that it is mostly clear as to what you need to do next. Perhaps some would find this too limiting, but I think that they did a superb job of it in Chrono Trigger. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:44:24.)Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:33:22 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2738&iddiary=5421https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2738Summary: Chrono Trigger is an RPG in which you play as Crono, the main character. One aspect that sets it apart from other RPGs is the aspect of time travel in the game. Gameplay: I've never played Chrono Trigger, just Chrono Cross (which is in itself strange because normally I am pretty picky about playing games in order), so I was excited to play this because Chrono Cross is one of my all-time favorite games :) The gameplay is pretty straightforward; the NPCs basically tell you what to do and you do it, but that's how RPGs tend to go :) I really like the battle system; it's pretty different from other RPGs. The fact that using skills on enemies changes based upon where the enemies are standing is something that I find really innovative and unique (i.e. that if you target one monster in the middle of a line, you will hit only the first two, but if you target the furthest one, you will hit all three). This is something that really doesn't get used much in games, which is disappointing. The plot so far seems pretty standard and somewhat predictable, but it's still fairly early on in the game, so I really don't know. The world map is pretty nice, too; it's always nice when games actually tell you where you're going, even if it is a bit "unrealistic." Not that these games are exactly at the height of realism, anyway. I really do love the graphics, too; they're a lot better than I had expected them to be, and give a really nice mood to the game. I can already tell that this will be a game that I will enjoy greatly; there are a lot of elements that I can tell were taken from this game to make Chrono Cross, so hopefully I will enjoy Chrono Trigger as much or more.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:53:18 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2738&iddiary=5152https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2423Entry #2-- Gameplay: This game is too easy. Even on Hard mode, it's... pretty pathetic. I think that's partially why it is so boring, because I feel like I could play this with my eyes closed. The guarding and counterattack system is slightly more engaging, but that was never something I've ever been that into. This is perhaps the only slightly original component to the game, as you and the bosses have a certain amount of... I don't know what they are supposed to be but they kind of look like flower petals.. and anyway, you try and hit the boss enough to get rid of these little white things that are shown around its health, and when they are all gone, the boss is unable to block your attacks for a time. There is a lot of unlockables in this game, such as being able to unlock a second costume for Lau which is really just Gackt in a white snakeskin jacket and black pants. It's pretty amusing to choose this costume and have a Japanese pop star running around with those swords. He doesn't have pink hair in this costume, though :( I'm actually quite disappointed, because I don't remember the game being THIS boring when I first played it... I'm not certain if I'll ever even play it again after this. I wish I could say something really awesome about this game, but it really just doesn't add much to the table. It's not TERRIBLE. It's just pretty bland. Design: The way the levels look reminds me of Shinobi or Nightshade, and the game really *is* pretty to look at, but... it's just so... boring... I will say that it is nice that each stage is completely different from the others, but the stages feel never-ending and that really messes with the mood of the game. It's way too easy, too; it would, perhaps, be a better game if it was a bit more difficult. It's even ridiculously easy to max out your stats because the game throws little blue orbs at you constantly, and you get them so frequently that eventually they're completely useless because you've already maxed everything out, and it's pointless. The music in this game is also pretty bland, which is kind of shocking to me, considering they had Gackt and Maaya Sakamoto voice acting on it. You'd think they could have just asked them to compose something. It also seems that there is no way in the US release to play the Japanese voices, which is upsetting because the English voices aren't really that great and the voice cast for the Japanese version is incredible. (They do keep Gackt's voice, but he doesn't ever really say anything). I would really rather hear Maaya Sakamoto and Koichi Yamadera, who have very extensive voice acting careers (Yamadera voices a lot of Japanese Disney characters), but I was let down. I'm inclined to think that the only reason this sold any copies was because of Gackt, as I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have done all that well without him.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:27:10 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2423&iddiary=4607https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2423Entry #1-- Summary: You play Lau Wong in a pretty typical hack-and-slash game based upon old Chinese action movies. You go through levels, fight bosses, and kill many, many enemies. Gameplay: I'm really not ashamed to admit that the only reason I ever bought this game was because the main character is Gackt. Anyway, I haven't played this since it came out, so I don't remember it very well, but I seem to recall it wasn't the most amazing game ever. And... it's really not. It's really... pretty boring. The stages go on forever, and it's really repetitive. The enemies move in the same patterns, and you do the same things over and over again. The story is pretty "meh," and I'm not particularly interested in the characters (besides the obvious fact that you're basically playing Gackt, who is awesome). I'm actually pretty surprised that I did, at one point, actually beat this game, because I don't have the patience this time through. So far, this game really hasn't added much in the way of originality.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:55:07 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2423&iddiary=4600https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2174Entry #2-- Gameplay: I'd like to say that I hate the Cygnus constellation level with a passion. I always have, I always will. Ugh. Stupid ducks and quails and eggs and non-swan things... Anyway. The game is still fun, yay. It's nice that even though this game is really repetitive in theory, the designers manage to keep it fresh and interesting throughout the game. Being able to look at the collection of items as you go through the game is a nice touch, too. You get to see what you've gotten so far, and, if you're missing anything, try to go back and find it. It was also really clever to add the Royal Presents into the game, little present boxes you can find in the levels and wear (such as a scarf, headphones, or weird cow udder-thing). This helps to keep the game from becoming stale. Also... The way the mother in the cut-scenes completely ignores her children is incredibly strange, fitting the game's quirky atmosphere. She brushes off everything they say in a calm, detached manner that is funny in kind of a dark way. The game is kind of on the short side, which really makes me sad... I'd like to keep on going forever. I mean, technically I could, by replaying them... but... it's just not the same. Design: The music for this game is so nice :) It totally fits the weird, happy, Japanese tone of this game. All of the songs are wonderfully chosen and catchy, and have their own merits. (How many other games have any type of jazz song in them... especially one that incorporates jazz flute, something which is highly underrated?!)The best part of the music is how well it suits the mood of the game, though. There are some design flaws in Katamari, though... such as the camera. You sometimes find yourself stuck in an awkward spot with the camera focusing on a table you're behind or something similar, and you can't see anything, which leads to you wasting precious time and losing stuff off of your katamari. This can be extremely frustrating. Another thing is the lack of level variety. There are really only three levels in the entire game. This doesn't make the game TOO boring, since in the levels, there are always different places you are put and different objects in different spots, but it still lacks a sense of "going somewhere." You're always going to the same places over and over. The "constellation" levels add some variety to the levels, but I'm not certain if its enough. I still love this game and would beat it many many times (or just continue to go back to the same game and try to beat my scores), but I do recognize that the levels can get slightly tedious if playing for extended periods of time. I love the inclusion of "Eternal" levels, which you get by making a big enough katamari in three certain levels (one for each the house, town, and world levels), and can mosey about the level without worrying about time, picking up things at your own leisurely pace. This is especially nice for the world level, where you can focus on making the biggest katamari you can, and pick up every last damn cloud in that sky without having to worry about that dreadful siren noise.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:39:04 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2174&iddiary=4195https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2174Entry #1-- Summary: In Katamari Damacy, you play the small (about 5cm tall) green Prince of All Cosmos. You have to go to Earth and roll up anything you can find laying around into your "katamri"; a ball-shaped ...ball... that will allow anything of a certain size/weight to stick to it, because your father, the King of All Cosmos, broke all the stars while drunk. You go through various levels, being able to create bigger and bigger katamaris as you go along, rolling up people, animals, buildings, and continents. Once you complete a level, the King will shoot your katamari into the sky to make a new star (or stardust, if you choose). Gameplay: Okay, so I've played this game many, many times, but... not since I bought We Love Katamari, so it's been long enough that I've kind of forgotten the beginning of this game that I love so dearly. The story in this game is so interesting. Even though it should be stupid and ridiculous, it's done in such a way that it's a really fun and nice thing to play if you're stressed out and just need something to relax and distract you. The King is an interesting character; maybe it's just me, but him constantly talking about how mediocre you are makes me want to keep going back to the levels and try to make the biggest katamari I can. Whenever he does praise you, I get such a grand sense of accomplishment. His dialogue is amazing, of course. It's amusing, maybe not laugh-out-loud funny, but quirky and unusual to say the least. I have mixed feelings on his in-game moments of dialogue, as they're really amusing, but somewhat distracting as you try to see around the black blob of text in the center of the screen. Also the Royal Rainbow is perhaps the best thing ever. The cut-scenes are kind of creepy. The weird square block people freak me out, and when that little girl goes "I feel it. I feel the cosmos!" it's really... strange.... but those are short and sparse, so it's not that big of a deal. This game is strangely addicting and fun to play, though I remember when I first heard about it thinking "How could a game in which all you do is roll stuff into a ball be remotely fun?" And it doesn't sound fun... but it really is. The triumph you feel when you roll up an object you previously crashed into, or when you complete a goal, or make a larger katamari than you did before, is wonderful. Though it's only a single-player game (unless you battle each other on the space mushroom, which I don't find as entertaining, really), Katamari Damacy is as fun of a game to watch as it is to play. It's always fun to coach someone playing, yelling "NO! NO! GO LEFT!" or something, especially if you're watching someone inexperienced.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:02:14 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2174&iddiary=4170https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1673Second entry-- Gameplay: I haven't grown bored of SMB3 yet. It's still ridiculously entertaining and fun. There are always small little things within levels to make things interesting, like when you're in 'Giant Land' (World 4), and everything is huge, but you can enter "doors" (little black rectangles... I guess they're supposed to be doors) to make everything normal-sized again. I still find the most interesting part of the game to be the different forms you can take (frog, raccoon, etc.) It was a really innovative idea to implement into a Mario game, and they make things so much easier. How annoying are water levels, swimming incredibly slowly.... until you put on the frog suit? After that, everything goes by so much more quickly; what a relief. Water levels can tend to be a little tedious in these sorts of games (I know they slightly irritate me in Super Mario Galaxy), but SMB3 sidesteps this by allowing an easier alternative. Being the raccoon is always fun, too. You get to fly, in any case; what's more fun than that? I'm still stuck on trying to figure out who decided that raccoons can fly, but... I guess I'll let it slide. This game isn't incredibly difficult, in my opinion. I think it has the right amount of challenge and ease. There are certain times that are frustrating, mostly dealing with jumping/timing, but that's all part of the fun. Design: Like most Mario games, the worlds are divided by type (Grass Land, Water Land, etc.), and, for the most part, they tend not to stray very far from the typical SMB game, except in their utilization of the different Mario forms. The levels aren't too terribly similar to each other, though, which helps it from being too repetitive or "just another Super Mario Brothers game." The levels are usually pretty interesting and just challenging enough to keep you interested. The tone of the game overall is pretty happy and carefree (except, of course, in the fortresses, where everything is dark and scary and full of fire), created by the use of light colors and enemies that are too cute to seem very "evil." Not that you should let that stop you from stomping on their heads, of course. It's a pretty silly game; playing it makes me smile, which is always a good thing. I do get annoyed with the dialogue when you save a king, though: it's always the same exact thing over and over (just like when you used to always get a "The princess is in another castle!"), but at least it's a rather short segment and not paragraphs of text or anything. Other than that, I have few complaints with this game, though whether that is due to my nostalgia of playing this at 6 or so or because it truly is a good game, I might be unfit to say. I'd like to say that it's because it's an amazingly awesome game, though, so I shall :)Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:00:30 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1673&iddiary=3556https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1673Summary: You play Mario (duh) and have to make your way through worlds in a typical Mario fashion (except in this game you can turn into not only Fire Mario but also Raccoon Mario, Tanooki Mario, and Frog Mario) until you get to the fortresses at the end in which you have to kill the Koopalings in order get magic wands to save the kings that have been transformed by Bowser. What, no princess to save? I wish. Of course she pops up much later in the game, but whatever. Gameplay: I remember this was always my favorite Super Mario Bros. game as a kid, but I couldn't remember much about it other than the fact that you could turn into a raccoon and fly (though this really makes no sense whatsoever). Curious as to whether my love of this game was restricted to simple adorability or actual gameplay, I figured that I would play it again to find out. First off, the music is incredible. I fell in love with this game all over again just from hearing it. I mean, I know it's basically just a re-hash of the old music, but there are some differences (or my memory is fuzzy). It's a little funky and has some interesting experiments in dissonance that I really appreciate. The levels are set out in a series of lines that you travel along to get to your next destination: either a level, fortress/mini-fortress, pipe, or a Toad-house. The inclusion of Toad houses are a fun addition, I think, not only allowing you to acquire more items but also breaking up the typical level-level-level progression that these games tend to have. The story is so-so, though I really appreciate not having to hear about another princess that has to be saved for most of the game. It's not like I'd really be playing Mario games for some superb story or anything. It's just a really fun game to play, and the story is almost nonexistent except to give you some semblance of order. As far as a two-player game goes, I didn't have anyone around to try it out with (or, at least, anyone who liked video games; my roommate came in once and just looked at me kind of strangely because she hates video games), though I suppose I could have tried it out by playing both players. I'm sure it's just as fun as one-player is, maybe even more when you have someone to make fun of. All in all, I had a very enjoyable hour or so playing through this very nostalgic game. I really love being able to turn into different animals (and not simply for cute-factor, though the cuteness cannot be denied... except that the frog suit looks like a "onesie" and that's slightly frightening). It really adds a more enjoyable experience to the game, as it allows you many more options than simply "jump up and hit this box." I could play this forever. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:42:55.)Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:47:19 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1673&iddiary=3396