Sorry about the monthly absence. That was rude of me. I also missed informing people of some important dates beforehand, so in case you didn't know, let's get some of this out of the way.
- Fallout 3 has already descended on the masses. Having played a bit of it myself it is by all means a fantastic game and I'll get more in-depth on it later. I have some personal issues with the game, but I'm spoiled (apparently) when it comes to RPGs.
- Fable 2 has also hit shelves. Since Peter Molyneux actually kept his mouth (more or less) shut on what happens in this one it has been delighting fans instead of disappointing them. I want to play (very badly) because I'm missing my fantasy RPGs, no thanks to Bioware delaying Jade Empire 2 indefinitely, but that's a different matter entirely...
- Ouran High School Host Club (season 1= episodes 1-13) has finally come out Stateside and so far it's bloody fantastic. I haven't bothered to listen to the dub yet because I adore the Japanese voices to pieces, so I don't know how it sounds. It's a Funimation dub...so chances are it's okay but slightly irritating. Anyway, not having to rely on my dubious Internet connection to watch one of my favorite series is a true joy, and I get to see it on a whole TV screen! The subtitles are incredibly well-translated, even funnier than what the fansubbers translated. I know, I was floored too. The colors pop, the sound editing is amazing, and the extras are fun. The animation is stellar (it is Bones, after all) and the humor is over-the-top, but in a good way. I highly recommend this series, and I personally hate shoujo. Combine that with 13 episodes crammed on two DVDs for the low price of $42.00 and you have a winner. Seriously.
- Prince of Persia by Ubisoft has been pushed back by another week or two. Gametrailers has been updating regularly with gameplay videos and trailers that are fun to goggle at. I'm excited for it. I'm hoping that it gets back to the Sands of Time aesthetic. (And yes, I played a little bit of Two Thrones but had to quit when I heard Farah with a replaced voice. WTF!?)
- Lego Batman came out and was suprisingly fun. Pure fun. Except I hated the vehicle sections. Why do games do that? No matter what genré it is games always have a vehicle section. And they're always annoying as hell and pull you right out of the game. Especially that POS in Mass Effect. That thing would be a law suit in real life with all the whiplash it could hurl out. Plus all the puke smell from passengers emptying the contents of their stomachs...
Okay, so I promised more in-depth on Fallout 3. It's a FPS RPG (though you could switch to 3rd person view, and you don't have to fight with guns) made by Bethesda (Oblivion: the Elder Scrolls). You create a hero (they can be female too!) that you will pilot for the rest of this adventure and there are literally too many frickin' choices for a face you'll almost never see. The game is incredibly deep with about a million game-play choices for literally everything you do. And not the fake choices most games give you where you have to choose between doing the good or evil thing. There is a real neutral path in this game. The choices you make are governed by a karma system in the game. Nice choices (helping others, not killing people, etc.) lead to good karma while nasty choices (blowing up a town, killing NPCs, eating corpses (yes, you can become a cannibal)) lead to bad karma. No karma is neutral, or karmic choices that balance out leads to being neutral.
The game doesn't discriminate against any of your choices. You can kill anyone you meet (except for children, that's the only line the game draws). You can destroy entire towns (not the actual town, but those in it). You can become a ninja fighter (there is a perk for it!), and fight only using stealth and your bare hands. You can wield swords, or guns, or even make a mini-nuke launcher. You can mutate yourself with enough radiation to grow back limbs...and other stuff. You can sell you companions or kill them, develop relationships with NPCs, or decapitate them using the VATS system. The dialogue options are hilarious no matter what side you play on, and entertainment is unceasing. There's literally too much to do, or you could skip it all in favor of just doing the main quest.
The world is varied and beautifully rendered, and your environments are often chilling as you survey how the nuclear blast caught people unawares. It's strange to see downtown D.C. as a virtual wasteland with roaming super-mutants and feral ghouls. The monuments are eerie reminders of a more stable time and seem to have lost all meaning in this hellish day and age.
Now for the flip side: the uncanny valley rears its ugly head here. As great as the voice acting is (and it's truly award-winning) looking at any character (including your own) will cause you to shudder as their dead eyes stare unceasingly into the camera. NPCs and enemies (as well as yourself in third person) move in a really stupid way, and the ragdoll physics will glitch about half the time. I could get over it except that I learned most character interaction is mainly for taking quests and no actual character development whatsoever. No real romance here, folks. No friends, either, unless you count Dogmeat (the dog) and he's not much for conversation. Now, those who read this know I'm all about character development and connecting with the characters in every story I play. And while I'm incredibly impressed with Fallout 3's story, aesthetic, and game play, this is a huge downer for me. If I can't find a character to connect with I tend to care a lot less what's going on around me. What sucks is that a lot of thought and about a million details went into the making of this game, and it shows. So why would adding character connection be so hard!? Bethesda hit all the right notes literally everywhere else except here. I can overlook it, but not as easily as others. I guess that's my real downfall.
I did pick up one fun perk called Black Widow for being a female that gives me 10% more damage against male enemies as well as extra dialogue options. It has proved entertaining so far.
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