Northeastmonk's Reviews (Oblivion Cont.)

[Northeastmonk]

I finished the game in around 60 hours. I played as the Temp Knight and Barbarian before picking my favorite. You can use magic by just getting the spell, a wand, and the MP to cast. I didn't put any skill into MP, I was so concerned with DEX. The classes are Knight, barbarian, wanderer, priest, soldier, magician, TmpKnight, theif, Royal, and hunter. Temp Knight seemed the way to go, but I found the Knight to be better then both tmpknight and barbarian.
The balance is dead on bc its all on strategy if you dont have the stats. I died fighting like a knight, but won fighting like a magician if that makes sense. But say like the barbarian, he starts out with a club, its powerful and you can switch off. But I liked how the knight was already custom to the blade.

This is an example of its cool loading screens.

[Paper exe]

hey I saw that! You mentioned the name of the latest Castlvania game! If order of ecclesia what he meant then that Congo person is certainly up to no good. For your information Order of Ecclesia is the BEST Castlevania game EVER MADE. YOU HEAR THAT!!1!

[CongoJack]

Cool info Northeast, I appreciate it, gonna have to pick this one up when it hits stateside.

Yes Paper, I meant to type OOE. Only Castlevania I didn't completely enjoy, they took the loser route to increase the difficulty and for that I have only shame. IE increased dmg/def on enemies, decreased dmg/def on player. Also either Castlevania3 or SOTN is the best!

[Northeastmonk]

inFAMOUS - PS3


Story: Cole, a delivery boy. Recieves a strange package and gets a call out of nowhere to open it. Then it explodes and he gets these really cool electric powers. He has to find this device that could do a lot of damage in the hands of someone evil. The story has a lot of twist and turns but delivers a sweet conclusion to an amazing sandbox game. But mainly you are fighting a group of "reepers" led by a lustful women and a mysteries man, and things start changing based on how you react.

Gameplay: You get a pretty good mix of moves. The best part is that none of them are really useless. I played a ton of side missions just because they added depth to the game. For instance, some missions aren't even tagged. The citizens will run up out of random and start pointing and screaming. It was pretty cool. The entire good or bad role plays a big part in the development of the game. Honestly, the game seems like it could be repetitive, but it delivers a couple big punches that make it worth while. Plus the Parkour allows you to make full use of the city. Plus you can land on anything just by hovering near it.

Sound: Great, it felt like the story never slowed down. Plus each chapter is ended in a comic strip script.

Graphics: It was like a super hero GTAIV, graphics were awesome. The city is pretty good and there are even sections cut off (like GTAIV, but much smaller). Its far better then any other super hero game out there. Even though I finished it as soon as I did, there are parts to the game where I'd need to replay it just to see what would happen.

Score: 9 out of 10 InFamous is one of the best sandbox games I've ever played.

[Northeastmonk]

Hellgate London (PC)

This is a very simple review. I thought of taking advice on how the problems associated with Hellgate and not play it. But I'm a pretty big fan of Diablo 2 and wanted to try it myself. Well, I'm nothing but dissapointed. Once you start a new game, you're asked to speak to an NPC, and this is where I felt every terrible thing said about Hellgate come to life. Its not friendly or at home at all. You have to almost force read every quest/dialouge box. Plus the quality of quest are dull and boring. I have to admit being excited to chase down various boss creatures and explore new worlds. But the game never added to the same old mix.

Story: Hell has taken over London, and its up to a selected force to defend it.
Gameplay: You play as one of the six classes, subdivided into three factions.The Templar: Guardian, Blademaster, The Cabalists: Summoner, Evoker, and The Hunters: Marksman and Engineer. Note, the 3rd person and first person perspectives are only given to select classes. The fighting has its moments, but once you get the hang of things the fun starts to end. The levels seem half done.
Since you can only explore around 4 blocks. Plus I cant get over how hard it is to enjoy the quest.
Sound: Great, but it doesn't make the game any better.
Control: sorta sucks.
Overall: Dont buy this game, I haggled the salesman for a pricedrop. I'm not giving up on the developers because I think if they would allow more fan feedback, then their games might not suck. Considering this is the Diablo team (Minding the fact that Flasgship studios isnt around anymore and the sever for HGL was shut down). Oh well. 4 out of 10.

I did download the Stonehedge Chronicles pack that added a new outdoor level and a Moloch boss battle. But I got so bored with the main game that I had to put it down.

[Alucard]

Unfortunately the developers for that game dont exist anymore. Its being run by the publisher now.

[Northeastmonk]

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - PC
The Witcher presents itself highly among most RPGs these days IMO. You play as Geralt of Riviera. A Witcher (A skilled person who kills beast, vampire, etc and removes curses) with a forgotten past. The majority of the time is spent traveling and talking, but the mix of falling for the right girl and deciding the fate of major characters I think is the true beauty to the game. Plus you make some huge choices to determine how each chapter plays out. Very fun!

Story: It has a lot of twist. The story starts out very simple (A wizard is causing a lot of destruction with a group called the Salamanders), and luckily with all the twists and turns of events will allow you to enjoy it towards the end. It does have its dry moments. One moment you're on an epic quest and the next your buying bread for some total stranger on a totally random side quest. Just keep up with it bc it does get rewarding. And also falling in love with the right women was one of my favorite parts about The Witcher. 8 out of 10

Graphics: Superb, outside some very annoying glitches. But very enjoying with the right settings. 9 out of 10

Gameplay: The combat lets you have various fighting stances for certain weapons. But buying a weapon that wont work with The Witcher Style is pointless at first unless you have enough life to get by. The skill system is placing different types of points awarded at each level on either your character, weapons, or magic. I think I died most of the time because I picked the wrong weapon for a group of enemies. 7 out of 10.

Sound: Great. One of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. 9 out of 10

Overall: Besides some boring quest and crappy fighting mechanics its a great. And is strongly recommended for those looking for a mature game with lots of quality. But keep in mind the replay value isnt that high. 9 out of 10

Also make sure to download the Director's Cut patch, which requires the v1.5 patch to install. The game also likes to crash on random occasions. Mainly when I was in a large mob of enemies or I was moving the camera around very quickly. Also if you dont like the default camera. Press F3 I believe to go into a 3rd person perspective. Cant wait for Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings!



Final Fantasy XIII – PS3

I’ll start by saying that Final Fantasy XIII is a great game. The graphics are some of Square-Enix’s finest. The story is told in such a charismatic and cinematic way that someone (like me) who doesn’t understand Japanese can relate to and enjoy. It is probably the most satisfying RPG since Final Fantasy XII.

Story: You play as Lightning, a young female who with a group of friends, are fighting along side an enslaved civilization who are at a brink of a disaster. Story relies on character development, so the story builds this giant hole. However, the scope of everything that happens during this epic sci-fi campaign fixes all that. In short, the story builds from arc to arc with a multilayer story. Naming or describing anything else would be giving away the plot. Some aspects seem taken straight from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII but without going too deep I’d say this is a brand new game entirely. In my opinion I think Square-Enix has upgraded the common yet respectable trend. It does allow you the freedom to explore, but you’re not looking at a traditional world map with a private jet. And for some who hate boring puzzles and lame fillers, this game doesn’t seem to have any.

Gameplay: A traditional JRPG with new life. The ATB bar is fueled gradually, which distributes moves, which means no MP to refill. I’ll just say there are a selectable amount of classes for each character to use (gambits aren’t needed). No experience points this time. By finishing battles, battles will be given a grade where you earn Crystal Points. These are used in the Crystalium, which is similar to the Grid in Final Fantasy X. I believe this system works much better because it’s tiered rather then opened. I really enjoyed the combat system. There are also a few new gimmicks to the battle system, but I won’t go into detail. Battles are challenging and give a sense of accomplishment, which include the smoothness of battle, the variety of tactics, and the difficulty. The AI party members are pretty smart, so the most frustrating move could quite possibly be your own.

Graphics: Amazing! It looks remarkable. You don’t have to be an RPG fan to enjoy the work put into this game. The monster variety is also one of the best I’ve seen since Final Fantasy XII. The battle system and graphics encourage much anticipation for Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

Sound: Best score of a game (that could have been a good CGI movie). I had to keep myself from humming some of the tunes. The Japanese characters sound amazing, I got so used to the cast that I’m anxious to see how good the NA version is.

Overall: 10 out of 10

Recommend: I highly recommend Final Fantasy XIII.

Game time: 48 hours.


Afterthoughts
I did figure out the core aspects of battle, so if anyone needs advice I can do my best to help. Under the circumstances, I might not write a review for the NA version, considering. I am almost certain that the score will be the same.

Edit: Some of my readers might see I ignored to explain the whole relationship with Lightning and Snow, the two other female protagonists, and also the battle to save both planets. I saw this whole scenario in a "new FF" point of view. At the time this game's plot made sense with the upgraded graphics. So much I would of written if I knew how little of quality this title gave its fans. Downplaying its score would only reflect a hidden anger at Square for their ability to lose a fan base over their years due to lack of progression in terms of storytelling and gameplay. I honestly feel XII was of better quality and how FFXIII only appears as a romantic style of JRPG instead of a entry into the FF series that lays a strong foundation on what a JRPG should/would be. As of today; this title deserves its next generation fly through, but I only give it a 7 out of 10.

[Seraph]

How come you edited your review in instead of posting a new reply? The Review Section is the one section where you are allowed to double/triple post.

With all the recent jrpg hate it's nice to hear that you enjoyed the game. I do think it's funny how SquareEnix keeps trying do away with the experince point system then they end up adding a different named point system that does the same thing. When you say it's Tiered instead of Open what do you mean? One of the things I didn't like about the sphere grid was that you were bound to your path and really couldn't customize your character. I liked 12's License board system as it let you make your characters into who you wanted them to be.

I'm really happy to hear that they did away with MP. I've become such a paranoid mess when I play RPGs, always thinking "no don't use MP on these weak guys, save it for the inevitable boss". It will be nice to use my big awesome spells in normal battles for once.

[Northeastmonk]

Originally Posted by Seraph

How come you edited your review in instead of posting a new reply? The Review Section is the one section where you are allowed to double/triple post.

With all the recent jrpg hate it's nice to hear that you enjoyed the game. I do think it's funny how SquareEnix keeps trying do away with the experince point system then they end up adding a different named point system that does the same thing. When you say it's Tiered instead of Open what do you mean? One of the things I didn't like about the sphere grid was that you were bound to your path and really couldn't customize your character. I liked 12's License board system as it let you make your characters into who you wanted them to be.

I'm really happy to hear that they did away with MP. I've become such a paranoid mess when I play RPGs, always thinking "no don't use MP on these weak guys, save it for the inevitable boss". It will be nice to use my big awesome spells in normal battles for once.

I was worried about memory storage on posts with pictures. What I mean by tiered is that it is based off leveling the grid. Not the linear path to more then what you can gain by simply aquiring more points. I wouldnt want to spoil the real key, but its a way of keeping the player experienced while becoming more powerful. I agree, keeping mega-ethers in Final Fantasy XII was important. In this way you are fighting more then conserving items.

[darren]

how did you manage to follow the story though didn't think you could read japanese? or was it basic enough to follow from the cuts etc?

[Alucard]

Would like to know what you thought of FF7-8-9-10-12 aswell so I can get an idea of how you view the series. I mean were they all 10/10 after you completed them the first time?

[Northeastmonk]

Originally Posted by darren316

how did you manage to follow the story though didn't think you could read japanese? or was it basic enough to follow from the cuts etc?

To be honest I believe I know the heart of the story. I want to compare it to Kingdom Hearts II, enough is going on physically that doesn't need to be explained. Yeah, you dont chat with people anywhere.
I played through the Japanese version of Crisis Core, same thing. The actions portrayed by the characters was enough to inform you about the story.

Alucard
Would like to know what you thought of FF7-8-9-10-12 aswell so I can get an idea of how you view the series. I mean were they all 10/10 after you completed them the first time?

7-I really had a good time with it and the final boss fight was really something. 8-Probably my first Final Fantasy that I got to be excited for. Final Fantasy IX was good at the time(cant play it now bc I dont care too). X-was great (first FF on the PS2), but now I cant sit through the opening cinematics. XII was awesome. Once you play through the story once, its so epic that you cant really forget enough information to replay it again.

Yeah, I think the series have so much work and history put into them that when they first release, it is very exciting and enjoyable. It is nice to have them every couple years. I'd much rather replay other games to tell you the truth. But the Final Fantasy series is one of my favorites and nothing will have the same style and quality like the series has.

[Alucard]

I think I'm not going to enjoy this one then lol

[Northeastmonk]

Honestly its good. But if you can get it from a friend after he finishes it...Alucard, then play through it. Hopefully you'll post your thoughts once it is released.

[Alucard]

Thats how I got all the other FF games, borrowed off a friend. Heres hoping I can actually complete this one unlike the snorefest that was FF12 which I gave up to halfway through.