Anthony has written a total of 170,227 words on this site.

Age: 34 PSN ID: Starkiller81. I've played games since before I can remember, starting with my dad's Atari and I haven't stopped yet. Keep them coming and I will keep playing them.

GamerSushi Review: God of War III

The God of War franchise has become the premier beat-em-up in the eyes of many gamers, with its super-tight controls, stunning visuals and excessive brutality. God of War and God of War II on the PS2 were massive successes, both critically and commercially and Sony’s Santa Monica studios has pulled out all the stops to finish the series off in style.

The story of the game is simple and complex, oddly enough. Basically, Kratos has declared war on the pantheon of Greek gods, with his eye on Zeus, in particular. The bulk of the game is Kratos traveling from place to place, wiping out a god here, a demi-god there and acquiring whatever magical item is needed to help him succeed in his quest. The part where things get complex is that much of the game hearkens back to the first two games and even the PSP entry. It’s not a big problem because the game describes what you need to know through gorgeously animated scenes, but I was struggling to figure out opening Pandora’s Box in the first game was affecting events in this one. A minor quibble, however.

The controls, as ever are responsive and you always feel like Kratos is doing exactly what you want him to. The platforming sections are rare, which is good because Kratos’s boots were not made for jumping. The combat, though, is second to none. Each weapon Kratos has (you get four by the end of the game) has its own combo system and feel and upgrading these and then performing the new combos you unlock is extremely satisfying.  Each weapon also comes with a magical ability and in addition to that, you have items that you use, such as the Head of Helios, which lights up dark areas and uncovers secret chambers. In short, Kratos has a ton of options at his disposal.

Which is very handy when dealing with the tons of enemies the game throws at you. It’s difficult to count when you are fighting for your life, but there were over 30 enemies onscreen at one point and the game didn’t even seem to notice, as there was no slowdown at all. There was one battle where I was fighting 6 giant cyclops and literally all hell was breaking loose and the game chugged along perfectly. This is a highly polished and beautiful game.

One thing I want to mention is that there is enough variety in enemies that I never felt like I was getting bored or slogging through it. The game will introduce a new enemy and once you get the hang of it, either throw a ton of them at you or combine them others. Gorgons too easy? Try fighting them with a chimera backing them up. These types of things make the game challenging and fresh.

A lot is said about the Quick Time Events and I feel like I would be remiss if I did not address this: I love them. See, when you beat an enemy down, an option appears to start the QTE. You can ignore this and finish the enemy off with normal attacks or you can watch a brutal kill that will grant you extra experience. Personally, I never get tired of watching them and I often exclaimed out loud how how disgusting many of them were. From ripping out eyeballs to disemboweling Titans, Kratos shows no mercy to anyone during the course of his journey.

The game should last you anywhere from 8-10 hours and there are bonus modes to play once you finish it, in addition to hidden items that grant you bonuses on a second playthrough, such as unlimited health or magic power. These turn the game into God Mode and while I don’t care that sort of thing, it does give you the chance to play the game without fear of dying, so I guess it’s good for trying new things.

Gorgeous graphics, sick gameplay and an epic story that slices its way through Greek mythology? I couldn’t sign up for this fast enough. God of War III showcases what the PS3 is capable of and if you have one, you have to play it.

GamerSushi Score:

B

Pay For Play: A Look At The Big 3’s Digital Pay Systems

As the video game industry moves more and more towards complete digital distribution, I thought it would be a good idea to see where things stand right now in terms of how we buy our games and DLC. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony all have platforms for digital distribution and each has strengths and weaknesses, but today I plan on talking about what I personally like and dislike with each of them, specifically, the manner in which we fork over our hard-earned cash monies.

First, the best: Sony’s PSN network is just the smoothest interface, in my opinion. No silly point systems, just straight up money. You can add a few different games to your cart and buy them all together or one at a time and they will download in the background. The only problem I have with this is that you always have to add at least $5.00 to your “wallet”, which sucks when you buy something that is only $1.99 because then you have money that you have spent in real life and is now just waiting to be spent digitally. A minor quibble, but one that can be annoying.

Microsoft comes in a close second. Xbox Live Marketplace has many of the same features that makes PSN so strong and in fact, there is only one thing that really holds it back: that mystical point system. See, whenever you go to purchase something, you need points. So you have to add points, but thankfully, your credit card is saved, so you don’t have to enter it in every time.
Continue reading Pay For Play: A Look At The Big 3’s Digital Pay Systems

April Fools: Natal Delayed Indefinitely: “Just Not Working”, Says Lead Developer

Project NatalIn news that could change the future of gaming forever, Natal lead developer Alex Kipman has announced that Microsoft’s Project Natal is on “indefinite hold” due to problems inherent in the system’s design.

Kipman was quoted as saying,

“The issues we are currently experiencing with Natal go far beyond the normal bugs and glitches when creating new technology such as this. If Natal were to be released without extensive reworking, it would make the hardware failures experienced by the XBox 360 look like child’s play. We’re talking Toyota-like catastrophe unless we go back to the drawing board.”

When pressed for a potential new release date, Kipman could only speculate, but did confirm that Natal won’t hit store shelves until at least 2011.

Whatever the problems are with Natal, you can be sure that Sony and Nintendo are thanking the gaming gods for this unfortunate mishap, but kudos to Microsoft for being so upfront about the whole mess. Does this change your view of Natal? Are you more or less likely to get one? Or will you just go ahead and get a Playstation Move?

Link: CNN.com

How the Big 3 are Still Pushing Games Forward

Innovating in video games is a double-edged sword, one capable of killing your enemies, but also likely to swing back and take your own head off. When publishers try something new, sometimes it pays off (Portal, WarioWare, LittleBigPlanet) and other times it bites them on the ass and stems the flow of creativity (Mirror’s Edge, GTA: Chinatown Wars).

But even in these…wait for it…dire economic times, the Big 3 are still trying to innovate and find new ways to entertain and get some of that cash money everybody’s always clamoring about. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have all brought great ideas to the forefront this generation and with Move, Natal, 3-D gaming and whatever the hell that Wii Vitality Sensor is, they continue to forge new ground.
Continue reading How the Big 3 are Still Pushing Games Forward

GamerSushi Asks: Arcade Memories

With the release of the Game Room on Xbox Live, it occurred to me that many of the younglings on Xbox Live have no idea what an arcade even is. I spent many a day of my youth in the dimly lit, sometimes smoke-filled gaming meccas and I wasted many a quarter.

Those were the days of Star Wars Arcade, Nintendo Play Choice 10, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga and Asteroids. I never played Dragon’s Lair, but I watched the cinematic that would play automatically dozens of times, longing for one more quarter. Apparently, I didn’t miss much, but I wanted to know: do you guys have any arcade memories you are fond? Do you have any at all?

My favorite was pumping quarters into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game with my friends on my birthday and finally defeating the evil Shredder. It was literally a jump up and down, hug each other moment.

So…what’s your epic win? GO!

GamerSushi Asks: What Games Surprised You With Their Unexpected Awesomeness?

Recently, we here at GamerSushi were having an intense email fistfight discussion and Final Fantasy X-2 came up. You might remember that one as the Girl Power edition, with three female protaganists who change their class by changing clothes in the middle of battle. The tone was also much more light-hearted and irreverent than its predecessor, Final Fantasy X.

Because of this, a lot of people judged a game by it’s cover and thought it was pure crap. I, having played the game, defended it, especially its fast-paced battle system, which paved the way for Final Fantasy XIII’s hyper fighting. Needless to say, no one believed me, chalking it up to my Final Fantasy fanboyishness. Thankfully, Eddy looked it up on Metacritic and discovered it had an average rating of 85. Ah, vindication, my old friend.

Which leads me to ask: what games have you heard or assumed were bad and then later found out they were pretty awesome? For me, I think that Saints Row was one of them. I mistook it for a cheap GTA-clone, but it surpassed it in terms of sheer fun for me. What about you guys?

Anthony Got A 360! Post Your Gamertag Here To Pwn Him!

Well, I have joined the darkside and can now spew profanities with all the little 12 year olds out there on Xbox Live. So I thought it would be a good time for everyone to repost your PSN and Xbox Live gamertags and any games that you play online that your fellow GamerSushi folk can join you on. I currently just have Halo 3, but will be renting all the other good games, so add me and I am sure we can hook up at some point.

Post your IDs and games below. Here are mine:

Xbox Live: Edgewalker81

PSN: Starkiller81

Anthony’s Super-Mega-Ultra-Extreme-Love Letter to Final Fantasy XIII

On March 9th, in the year two thousand and ten A.D., Square Enix (BOW YOUR HEAD IN REVERENCE, DOGS!) will finally unveil, for the first time in North America…

Final.

Fantasy.

XIII.

(Please exhale now)

So it has come to this. After years of waiting, years of sitting in front of a television, playing countless games not named Final Fantasy, it is time. Glory be to the gods, for they have deigned to shine their light upon us mere gaming mortals.

To give you an idea how much I love this series, allow me reveal a secret, something I have never revealed to anyone, except those that didn’t cover their ears and run away screaming from me: This is the only game that matters to me.

You read that right. This is the reason I upgraded to the new console generation. This is what keeps me playing games. Every single game I have played on the PS3, Wii or 360 has simply been a distraction to get me to this game. Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, Resident Evil 5 (Cover your eyes, Eddy)… all of them nothing more than obstacles on my way to the prize. I have been killing time for four long years and it’s almost over. Now time kills me. Wait, that’s not right…

Now, some of you may be asking what is so special about this particular Final Fantasy that has generated this kind of psychotic episode.

The answer?

Not a damn thing.

HD graphics? I still have an SDTV. (By the way: if I can’t read the text on my TV, I am going to throw my old TV out and go to the store THAT VERY MINUTE and buy an HDTV. I have already warned all loved ones and relatives about flying TVs on March 9th.)

Trophies? Not a factor. (Although, if one game could ever make me grind for all of them, it’s this one.)

The story? I am interested, but it’s not a compelling reason for me.

No, the reason I am so eager to play this Final Fantasy is because of one reason and only one reason: It’s the next one.

It’s two words (hint: Final Fantasy), followed by a number. No long and insane subtitle. No number, a dash and then another number to denote an actual sequel. Just a new world, new battle system and all new experience.

No other game series has as much change from one entry to the next. The difference between God of War and God of War 3 is not drastic. Even Mass Effect 2, which threw out many RPG elements, is merely a streamlined and highly refined version of the first game.

Only Final Fantasy does this with each sequel.

Not even highly disturbing rumblings from those that have played it can dampen my blind enthusiasm. No traditional towns? No problem! Maneuvering through Mass Effect’s gigantic Citadel is tiresome. Town exploring was always more fun in 2-D for me anyway.

Mostly linear? I am mostly ok with that. Final Fantasy X was very linear and all Final Fantasy games open up late in the game.

There is nothing anyone can tell me that could possible ruin this for…excuse me? It’s COMING OUT ON THE 360??? WTF, Square Enix! How can you do this to your loyal Nintendo Sony fanbase?? Oh, but it has multiple disks? And the graphics are noticeable worse? HAHAHAHA! So that means they will have to get off their fat asses once over 15 hours or so to see more slightly less than optimal graphics? Well, I guess I can live with that.

So on March 9th, when I get off from work and go to pick up my copy, say a little prayer for me. Because no Final Fantasy has ever disappointed me and if this is the first, I will have shamed my family with this sycophantic diatribe and hari-kari will be the only option left.

Until then…I guess I will just play Mass Effect (which is awesome).

You spoony bards.

GamerSushi Asks: What’s On Your Radar?

After Christmas, there is usually a dull period, where we have time to bask in the post-holiday glow, content to play the games we just received.

But not this year! Thanks to Modern Warfare 2, gamers are now subjected to what some refer to as “Second Christmas”. And knowing the way the game industry works, this won’t be the last time this happens.

Already we have had Bayonetta, Darksiders, MAG, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, and White Knight Chronicles hit the market. Heavy Rain comes out Tuesday and March promises to be one of the biggest months in recent memory.

Scheduled to be released in March are Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Yakuza 3, Metro 2033, Just Cause 2, Red Steel 2 and Supreme Commander 2. All worthwhile titles with great potential.

Personally, I will be getting Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III on day 1. What games are you guys looking forward to playing? Is there anything coming up beyond March that makes you salivate?

Great Betrayals In Gaming History

Ever been playing a game and everything is moving along swimmingly: health is full, skills are maxed and victory is within your grasp, when all of a sudden, the game turns on you, like a digital Brutus. Et tu, PS3?

This has happened to me a few times and while I tend to not get too caught up in things like that, there are a few instances where the wound in my back from the knife still feels raw. And no, I’m not talking about crap where your favorite series, long exclusive to one console, suddenly becomes multi-platform. That’s not betrayal, that’s business.

One such example is Final Fantasy VII, kind of the most obvious one, so we can start with that. Aeris dies. *GASP* Well, yeah, and while it made some people cry (I call them “pussies”), it made me emotional for a whole other reason: I had spent quite a long time leveling her up earlier in the game and those hours were now wasted! I felt like the game was saying to me, “Sorry, Anthony, maybe you should have taken up another hobby, one that won’t wave its junk in your face and leave you crying in a heap on the floor, numb to all feeling except for the new rug burn on your face!” Or something like that, it got garbled in the translation.

Another time where I felt like the game was out to get me was Devil May Cry. I had spent time, blood and tears building my skills, honing my craft and kicking tons of demon ass in order to be ready for anything the final boss could possible throw at me. And what do I get? A complete change in game mechanics, where it turns into Star Fox 64! How lame is that? Developers: dance with the girl you brought, ok? Don’t change things at the very end just to be able to add another bullet to the back of the box.

But the final betrayal that still stings, that really pisses me off, that actually gets to me emotionally is Chrono Cross. See, in Chrono Trigger, which I played about a dozen times, the game has a nice happy ending. Chrono and Marle get married and become king and queen of Guardia. Until Chrono Cross.

When Chrono Cross starts ten years after Trigger and Guardia, which, if you will remember, we just left happily ever after, has been DESTROYED. That’s right and by their seemingly peaceful neighbor, Porre, too. In fact, to rub a little more salt into this gaping wound (minds back out of the gutter, please), in Trigger, you did all kinds of good deeds and even left the mayor of Porre as a kind and generous man.

You don’t find out the truth until late in Chrono Cross, but it you eventually meet the ghosts of the three main characters of Chrono Trigger. And though countless theories abound, it would appear that they decided to KILL OFF the characters before the game even starts. So much for being a sequel to Chrono Trigger.

The only pain I feel that comes close to this horrific betrayal is when I watch Alien 3 and see Newt and Hicks dead BEFORE THE MOVIE FREAKING STARTS. This is the gaming equivalent and I have to tell you, it hurts. I didn’t play Chrono Trigger over and over again in my youth just to have those characters butchered OFF-SCREEN shortly after I reach the end of the game! Bad Square Enix!

So that’s my outpouring of pain. Do you guys have any stories where a game has treated you like a doormat after you lovingly invested hours in it?

GamerSushi Asks: What Type Of Character Do You Choose?

I was playing a number of games with my buddy Ben (Zayven on GamerSushi) the other day and we started to notice something: we always picked the same types of characters. During Streets of Rage 2 and 3, Zayven picked female characters and I always picked the most normal, non-dorky looking guys. Then we switched to Borderlands and the same thing happened.

I thought of our mutual friend, who always chooses weird, non-human avatars and I started to wonder if other gamers have a set type that they always choose, regardless of abilities or skills. And when making your own character, what do you do then?  So guys, what’s your typical character selection look like?

Aliens Vs. Predator Retrospective Is Chest-Bursting Good Time

To celebrate the upcoming release of Aliens vs. Predator, on the Sega America Blog,  there is a snazzy little look back at the history of both the Aliens franchise and how it intersects with the Predator franchise. It details, in a summarized manner, the movies, games and comic books, some of which you may have forgotten.

For me, seeing the Alien vs. Predator beat-em-up by Capcom was a blast from the past. I played the hell out of that on the SNES. Ever since I was a kid, I have had a deep fascination with the Alien and it’s sequels. Something about it is just so visceral and scary. The Predator movies are good, too, but nowhere near as awesome to me, personally.

Have you guys played any of these games? Do you prefer Aliens or Predator? What’s your favorite movie of the bunch? GO!

Source: Sega Blog

Microsoft Fanboy Rant

DISCLAIMER: THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE MICROSOFT FANBOY AND DO NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GAMERSUSHI STAFF. ALSO, THIS IS A PARODY POST, SO DON’T LEAVE COMMENTS THINKING THIS IS REAL OR THE MORON POLICE WILL COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND KNOCK THE STUPID RIGHT OUT OF YOU.

First off, **** you.

Whew, had to get that off my chest. Listen up noobs, I am 13 and I have a 360 and it’s the only console I will ever need and I will tell you why: because anyone who doesn’t have one is a ******. I got mine on launch day, bitches. I even bought a second one three days later because mine turned red from all the awesome it was spewing. In fact, the 360 has so much awesome in it, I am on my 24th. Name one console so epic it takes two dozen of them to channel its powerful essence. I’m waiting… What’s the matter? Lag?

I thought I should mention how Sony seems to be gaining some ground with its price cuts (copy cats) and exclusives (all lame). Who wants to play Uncharted 2? If I want a third-person cover based shooter, I got Gears, thank you. I prefer my protagonists to have no necks and even less personality. And as for God of War 3, bah. Kratos looks likes Vin Diesel fell into a vat of baby powder. Give me Ninja Gaiden anyday! (What? They have an improved version of Ninja Gaiden on the PS3? Your mom has an improved version on the PS3!)

Despite all that, some morons keep buying PS3s, which is so lame. What do they have this year? Heavy Rain? If I want to watch a game, I will put in my HD-DVD copy of Advent Children. Besides, we have Alan Wake and everyone knows that games that take that long to make are always the best, just like Too Human. And don’t even get me started on the 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII, which is going to blow the PS3 version away! I know, you think they are identical, but I heard that there is so much more content on the 360 version that they are putting it out on multiple discs, while the puny PS3 only gets 1 disc! FOR THE WIN, CAMPERS!

And I know, the Wii and Nintendo are still winning. Who cares? They have their crappy motion control, running around looking like Adam Lambert with their tiny, white remotes, playing that casual crap. I don’t need that, I am going to get Natal and I will be looking like a Jedi pimp! No controllers here, douch nozzles! Just the power of the 360, Natal and the Force, all combining to make the most epic games ever. I never cared for handball before, but now that I don’t have to leave the house to play it, I am going to be all about that. And there will be no casual games, because no casual gamer would buy a $200 console and then for over another $100 plus bucks to play casual games. That means all hardcore games all the time! I’m Rick James, bitch!

So keep your lame ass Mario games, your fruity Zelda games with those puzzles that no one can figure out. I don’t want to play anything that doesn’t involve a gun, a headset and a plot that makes Hideo Kojima roll his eyes. Speaking of Kojima, Metal Gear Solid has always been a piece of crap, but now we get our own version and it’s going to be the bomb! The only problem with it is it’s not a shooter.

See, I love shooters. Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Gears of War, Call of Duty and Rainbow Six are all great, but I want more. I just don’t think the FPS is really represented on the 360. Final Fantasy XIII is cool and all, but I want to fire that gun of Lightning’s myself, not press a button and watch the game do it for me! I think Viva Pinata would be better in first person, with plasma grenades and rechargeable health. My appetite for destruction is still strong!

And shooters work better online and we all know that the 360 has the best online community of any place EVAR. I get to meet people like me, who hate camping, except when we do it and like to tell other people how much they fail at life because we are better than them at a video game. Telling someone they are gay simply because they shot me once is the whole reason to go online and play. Everyone does it and if you don’t like, it’s cause you are gay, too. It just feels like home on Xbox Live. I even like it when I can hear some poor loser’s mom telling him to quit playing and go do his homework or else she will throw that thing in the trash. Those kids suck at life and I would never put up with that crap from my moth—(Coming, Mom!) Gotta go, noobs. (I know you said 10 minutes, Mom, I was pwning noobs!)

NUKE INCOMING, LADIES! COMMENCE TEABAGGING!

Help Haiti

There are times when our little pasttime doesn’t seem as important and this is one of these. The earthquake in Haiti may have killed as many as 50,000 people. Such a figure boggles the mind. Imagine going to an NFL game and everyone in the stadium were suddenly gone forever.

Though we are all facing financial hardships right now, if you can spare anything, here is a link that lists dozens of charities that are currently devoted to helping the injured in Haiti. These are the legit ones, not the Hollywood telethons that always end up with unused funds. Even $5.00 is a huge help in a time like this, but please do not feel any pressure at all.

If you are so inclined go to this webpage and pick one that sites and let’s hope we can make a difference for someone out there.

Charitable Foundations Helping Haiti

The Ones Left Behind: Gaming’s Forgotten Franchises

With all this talk of overrated and underrated games, I thought it would be nice if we started talking about franchises that have been left behind by the current generation of consoles. We all have those games that we love and that deserve a sequel, but it never occurs. Year after year goes by with nothing to be heard about our forgotten games…*tear*

Personally, I can’t believe that Square never did more with the Chrono Trigger series. Sure, Chrono Cross was a pseudo-sequel, but the less said about it, the better. Syphon Filter was a popular series back in the PS1 days and aside from some silly PSP offerings, I don’t think anyone has mentioned it in a long time. If you want to blow someone’s mind, mention Panzer Dragoon. That game was responsible for selling systems back in the day.

What games do you think have been wrongfully left behind? What would you like to see get a revival, whether it’s a reboot or a sequel?

GamerSushi Review: Demon’s Souls

I want those souls.

This thought runs through my head over and over as I eat my dinner, barely focusing on the food before me. My thoughts are filled with the bloodstain chock-full of souls I left splattered in the middle of the Boletarian Castle, surrounded by demon warriors just waiting for me return for them.

I need those souls back.

Demon’s Souls is the new action-RPG from Atlus and it is not for the faint of heart. If Halo ever frustrated you with the Library, then you are not ready for Demon’s Souls. This game makes the Library look like World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. The concept of the game is that you are a warrior who decides to try to lift the darkness from the world by defeating the evil demon lords who rule it. Or something like that. The story, though well-written and voice-acted, is barely there. It’s simply an excuse to throw you into hell and watch you claw your way out.

The game is played in a 3rd-person perspective and at the start you create a character and choose one of several classes to start with, but fear not: you are not constricted in anyway by what class you choose. You can start off as a mage and never learn another magic spell if you desire and become a powerful melee warrior. The choice is up to you. The classes merely determine how your initial stat points are distributed. It’s up to you how you want to distribute them, one point at a time.

Which leads to how you improve your character. Now, let me preface this by saying that you don’t have to level up a single time. You can literally play the entire game with the stats you start with, from start to finish, and defeat the final boss as such. God help whoever does that, because I expect you will be doing about 1 HP of damage to said boss per attack, so I hope you don’t have to go to the bathroom because you can’t pause Demon’s Souls. Ever. At all. Just warning you..

Now, when you defeat an enemy you gain souls. Some enemies give you as little as 8 souls, some as much as 2000. It just varies on the strength of the foe you have vanquished. Souls are used as both experience and currency. Want to level up your character’s HP? Get some souls. Want to buy a better sword or upgrade it? Get some souls. Need arrows or healing items? (And you will) Get some souls. Magic spell in the shop caught your eye? You guessed it…souls. The fun part is that the amount you need to raise your attributes increases every time you do so don’t expect to grind your stats and simply overpower the game because you will likely go insane first.

When the game starts, you find yourself in a brief tutorial area, which ends with you getting pwned by a giant boss. Your souls goes to the Nexus, which is the hub of the game. Here you level up, buy weapons and spells and pick which area you want to go to next. There are 5 worlds, each one having a few sections in them and once you defeat the first area, you are free to explore as you wish. I recommend doing so, as some great items can be found in different areas if you look hard enough. When in soul form, your health is cut in half, although a ring you find near the start brings this up by 25%. As a bonus, you do more damage in soul form, which is fine because you will spend most of the game in soul form. In order to get your body back, you must defeat the area’s boss or use a rare item. Generally, beating the boss is the best option.

When going through a level, in soul or in body form, when you die (Notice I said WHEN, not IF) you will return to the Nexus with all of your equipment and items, but you lose your souls. So if you had about 3000 souls and didn’t return to the Nexus to spend them, they are gone. Unless…you manage to fight your way back to the place you died and touch the bloodstain you left. If you can do so, you get your souls back. If you die on the way, those souls are gone forever. Now, since enemies respawn every time you return to the Nexus, you can always fight more demons, but you run the risk of doing what I did the other night, which is play for an hour and a half only to lose all my souls and have nothing to show for my wasted time. Being overconfident and not focusing on the battle at hand has led to many a lost batch of souls.

So why does such a game, which reeks of repetition, which I revile, appeal to me so much? Namely, thanks to the combat, which is so spot on, that when I die, I know it was MY fault. I mistimed a parry or didn’t watch my stamina bar close enough. There are NO cheap deaths here. The enemies all have distinct patterns and it is a matter if simply being observant and quick. When you see an opening, don’t hesitate or you will regret it. I got more of a rush playing Demon’s Souls than any game since the original God of War. When you slice through katana-wielding lizardmen like a hot knife through butter, you know it was complete skill that won the day for you and that feeling is addictive.

Demon’s Souls also boasts the most unique online system I have ever seen. As you play, you sometimes see blue specters running around. Those are other people playing the game right at that moment, at that spot. You are always connected to the servers, unless you sign out of PSN, but I would not play any other way. There are also messages, short and tweet-like, that players can leave for one another. Some give hints such as, “There is a treasure up ahead” or “The next enemy is weak against fire”. Such messages can be a life-saver, as one instructed me not to bother with a shield, which was sage advice because if I had tried to block the ensuing attack with my shield, I would have died. And if messages are helpful, you can give them a thumbs-up, which heals the person who left the message, wherever they are. This can be a great boon when you are in trouble and suddenly you are notified that someone liked your message and your health fills. It creates a great sense of community, of us against this harsh game world, and it truly adds a layer of awesome to the whole thing.

If you are having trouble and are in body form, you can drop a blue stone and pull someone in the same level who is in soul form into your game and suddenly, Demon’s Souls is a co-op game! Together you can defeat the boss of the area and then the soul form player returns to his game. The soul form player must also drop a similar stone, so don’t worry that you may get pulled out against your will. But there is a more sinister aspect of this: another player can invade your game if in soul form and attempt to kill you! If they do, they get their body back. Imagine the terror of seeing a message that states, “Black Phantom Starkiller81 has invaded your realm!” and knowing that there is another human being walking around your level, waiting for you to be hip-deep in demons before plunging a knife in your back. Talk about survival horror! Dead Space and Resident Evil can’t compete with that kind of tension.

One thing I want to mention that adds to the difficulty is the fact that you can’t manually save the game. Demon’s Souls auto-saves almost constantly, so if you think you are going to simply reload your last save and recover your souls, you got another thing coming.

The graphics and music are also very well done and coupled with the tight controls that never fail you make for a game like no other I have ever played. Except for the extreme difficulty of the game, there is not one bad thing I can say about it. Demon’s Souls is one game that no hardcore player can afford to miss out on. You will curse and gnash your teeth, but you will dive right back in again and again until the last demon is slain. For Christmas this year, I received Demon’s Souls, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2 and I have been playing a little bit of each waiting for one of them to really hook me. It has finally happened because for the last 4 days, I have been on a straight Demon’s Souls bender and there is no end in sight. I can’t recommend this game enough, one of the best of the year.

GamerSushi Score:

SNOM

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Replay Value Menu: Have It Your Way

You just beat the final boss and are watching the end credits, wondering if you skip them will you miss anything important, like a hidden cut-scene or Easter egg. The credits finally finish and you bask in the glory of another completed video game experience. Now what? Do you start another game from your backlog or do you play something you have already finished? Or do you restart the game you just completed and try to find all the things you missed the first time around?

One of the things I always look for when purchasing a game is replay value. But what is replay value? To some people, it’s something as obvious as a New Game+ feature, where you can play the game again with your character already leveled up, which allows easier exploration, but makes the battles a cakewalk. This is especially handy when games like Chrono Trigger have many different endings.

Speaking of endings, does the drive to see all of them make you replay a game again and again? Or do you create saves at different points in the game, so you don’t have to replay everything in order to make the different decision and reach the new ending? Or do you just jump on Youtube and watch the endings online, laughing at the fools who did all the grunt work while you reap the rewards?

Some people I have spoken to on message boards claim that harder difficulty levels equal more replay value, but I really disagree with this. Playing the game again but with (usually) cheaper AI does not constitute a good time for me. I am going to attempt this with Bioshock as an experiment, but I don’t have high hopes. And even if I do enjoy myself, I don’t think this is something that works with every game.

What about Trophies or Achievements? I know for many this causes more replays than they would normally go through, but I can’t get behind it. During the course of a game, I may take the time to do a few things in order to get some more Trophies, but once I am done, I am DONE. I may come back to the game later and get a few new Trophies during a replay, but I don’t really go out of my way too often to get them. I know some people think it’s like getting a high score, but it’s not. People who have the most money to play the most games will get the most Trophies/Achievements, which takes all the fun out of it for me. Some people play games just to get the easy ones and boost their Level/Gamerscore. Not impressed.

For me, replay value stems from a game that was such a joy to play that, given enough time has passed, I will want to play again. There are games I was sure I would want to play again, but once I started them, I just did not have the drive to do it. What makes you replay a game? Are there any factors I have left out that appeal to you when deciding if you want to play a game again?

GamerSushi Asks: What Should Anthony Play First?

As some of you may know from comments I have left, I am anxiously awaiting Christmas Day for the 3 games I asked my fiancée to get me for Christmas: Uncharted 2, Dragon Age: Origins and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Christmas is my traditional time of year for getting a bunch of games and I am very much looking forward to playing them all.

But which should I play first? I plan to play a little bit of each one that day, to whet my appetite and see what I feel like playing, but I wanted to get the opinion of my adoring public. Should I jump right into Dragon Age and potentially be there for a month or two? Or Modern Warfare 2, where the danger lies in getting sucked into the online component and not playing anything else for months on end, as happened with the Call of Duty 4. Or should I play Uncharted 2 since that one is the shortest game and then Eddy and I can do co-op together and give him a reason to put his PS3 back online?

Decisions, decisions…you make the call: GO!

Time Magazine’s Top 10 Games of the Year is Mostly Right

modern_warfare2Uh oh, a top ten list from a mainstream magazine? I don’t know about you guys, but I am always curious to see what the “normie” think of us geeks and our nerdy pastime. Time magazine released their list of the top ten games of 2009 and I have to say, it’s not bad. The problem is when they get a game wrong, they really get it wrong! Take a look for yourself, but DJ Hero at #3? Uncharted 2 at #10? What the hell is up with that? Oh and they also imply that Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place moments after The Dark Knight ends.

It’s these kinds of things that have me wondering if they are even paying attention or just using Google a whole lot. They also say that New Super Mario Bros Wii is “so much fun it might supplant DJ Hero as the go-to party game.” Ok, wtf? Honestly, I can’t even begin to defend that. For Time, it seems hype makes might. I have not met anyone who has played DJ Hero, let alone with a group of friends. But Time must have seen the commercial on TV and that was good enough for them.

Enough ranting, I will allow you guys to look at it yourselves. Am I crazy or this list just a bit off?

 

Source: Time Magazine