Recappin', Fools!

We were promised HD! Damn you, Capcom!!!

So I've ignored you for awhile, my dear blog. The work for grad school has picked up and the fiancee and I are getting ready to move out next week, so time has been scant. But I haven't forgotten about you. Here's what you've missed over the past few weeks:

Resident Evil 4 fights with Resident Evil 2 usually as my favorite in the series, so I was really eager to get another excuse to run through it again as Capcom released the HD version. Using the HD tag seemed more a formality though because besides the characters appearing upres'ed, there was little HD to be found. The environments looked the same as they did back in the day and Capcom didn't even have the energy to change the aspect ratio on the typewriter save screen, leaving it barely able to fit on a widescreen TV. But these are minor gripes when it comes down to it since it's hard to mess up a classic, HD or not, since everything else remains the same.

My initial shock when playing the game was having to relearn the controls again, which felt way more awkward then I remember. But after awhile, I got used to it again and in no time I was shooting out legs and suplexing locals to save ammo with the best of them. The action held up well over the years and I felt that good tense the whole time, always nervous about what was going to come around the next corner. The cheesy dialogue brought a smile to my face and, in the end, I really enjoyed re-living the biggest leap forward the series took once again. The design choices really opened up the combat while maintaining that frighting restrictive feel that the series and Dead Space do so well. I played Shadows of the Damned a few weeks before and thought they would feel the same, but the latter definitely gives you way more freedom with rolling and the ability to shoot while moving that I hadn't realized wasn't in RE4.

Do a barrel roll, Leon!

 I was a little disappointed in the lack of the platnium, thought, and that really demotivated me for going through the campaign again in hard mode and grinding through the mercenary mode again. I also picked up Code Veronica, which was another game in the series I have fond memories of. But from what I've read online, it hasn't help up as well, so I've decided to let it sit on the digial shelf until I get hit a lull, which will probably be never at this rate.

After that, I kept the remakes going and played through both PSP God of War games, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta. The upres'ing from the PSP originals is pretty well done and, while they pale in comparison to GoW III for obvious reasons, they held up well in terms of combat and the trophy lists were very generous. Both were made by Ready At Dawn studies rather than Santa Monica Studios, and it was interesting seeing how much they improved from the first game to the next, back to back. Chains of Olympus felt solid but lacked enough polish that you could see that this wasn't made by the original studio. The combat is solid and everything you would expect from a God of War game is there, but it just is missing that little umph, feeling more watered down that those on the consoles.

I'm an F18, bra!

 Ghost of Sparta though really took things up a notch and I can see why some say its on par with GoW III in terms of gameplay. There are so many new wrinkles not seen in the others, like the Sparta Arms, the town sequence, and the final battle that really showed Ready At Dawn came into their own with their second crack at it. The badass combat and epic nature of the series shines and, although I'll stick with GoW III as my favorite, Ghost of Sparta definitely stands tall as an example to why the series is what it is.

Rounding out the remakes, I played through Ico, team ICO's first game. I got the collection mainly for Shadows of the Colossus, but the game has the reputation as being a masterpiece in terms of story and atmosphere, so I figured I owed it to myself as a serious game to experience it. My impression after two playthroughs is a bit mixed. It definitely has a memorable atmosphere. That much I'll agree with. Like Shadows of the Colossus, dialogue is sparse and the mood mostly dictates the story. You're able to piece together that Ico is locked in this castle to act as a sacrifice because of his horns when he meets Yorda, a mysterious girl who's being chased by these shadow thingers. You find out later that she's the daughter of the queen of the castle/shadow things and the two of you try and escape.

The controls aren't the most fluid, and there were tons of moments where I'm trying to do X but Ico does Y because he's an ass. Yorda doesn't help either since she's pretty useless and you have to drag her along through most of the game, and even that sometimes gets annoying because she'll stop walking sometimes and then that slows down Ico, so it feels like you're bobbing along more than running. She follows when called, but gets stuck on alot of environmental elements and when completing jumps and stuff like that, has to be in very specific spots and sometimes it takes the AI a few seconds to do.

Ughhh, c'mon woman!

The combat is pretty simple. Ico can use a piece of wood, or later on sword, club, or lightsaber (if your into that sort of thing) to beat the shadows back when they appear. He has a basic 3 hit combo that can ward off the shadows but gets tossed to the ground when hit once. That's when the shadows will try to drag Yorda down their blackhole of shadowiness and you need to scramble to you feet and yank her out in time or you get turned to stone medusa-style. It makes the combat sorta exciting, trying to get to her before it's too late, but it's basic at best, which is understandable since combat isn't the focus of the game.

The main focus of Ico is platform/puzzle solving and, while tricky at times, it's pretty straightforward for the most part. There is some backtracking involved which can get a little tricky since alot of the areas look alike, but the level design is fairly well done and it wasn't often that I was left scratching my head on where to go. However, once you know what you're doing, the game is very very short, capable of being beat in under 3 hours. I didn't love the game but was going for the plat anyways, but came up short with one gold that asks you to beat it under 2. Given the layouts of the save points, it's really tricky and you basically need to never mess up. I tried for the first 15 minutes and then got fed up and played normally, finished around 2 and a half. Freaking speed run!

Overall, I can see how different Ico felt from alot of the games out around then, but it's one of those that are more an experience rather than a fun game. It came out in the same year as Metal Gear Solid 2, Final Fantasy X, and GTA III, so there was alot for it get lost in the shuffle. I'm glad I played it, but really definitely think Shadows of the Colossus dwarfs it in all categories.

On my multiplayer nights, I've been playing Dead Island with my cousin and our friend, Dan, over the past few weeks. Basically playing like Fallout with less guns, more melee, and zombies, we've been trecking along this tropical island beating dead things to a pulp. It was fun at first, doing all the random sidequests and exploring all the nooks and cranies available, but the novelty has started to wear off about 20 hours in. The story is pretty lame which really creates a disconnect and while the fighting is varied with the different weapons and mods, it feels like the same thing over and over again and it's starting to feel like a chore playing it. It's not a bad game by any stretch, but definitely a disappointment when you consider that reveal trailer that blew up all over the internet. I've watched it a few times since and it still has that same sense of desperation and beauty about it that caught enough attention that, from what I've read, the script adaption for Dead Island will follow that template rather than the games. We were promised a tragic story that would bring the grim reality of a zombie apocalypse to a breathtaking setting. What we got...

Who do you Voodoo, bitch?!

My HD Wishlist

Man, do we look pretty hot with this improved graphics

The coming months have their pants full of some real quality HD remakes. From Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill, God of War, and the newly announced Final Fantasy X (yesssssssssssss!) the list just goes on and on and then on some more. I can see how some people are a little bothered by the idea since the movement for re-releases not only shows a lack of new ideas, but reeks of cash-ins, asking gamers to pay for games they probably don't own. But, honestly, I'm not bothered by it. These HD remakes are great excuses to go back and play the classics for yesteryear and only feed the imagination of what the next game will be to get a makeover and rerelease. Below are my personal top 5 games I'm dying to to see a HD remake of.

Take that, biatch!

5. Road Rash
From: 1994

Like the Dos Equis guy, I don't play racers often. But when I do, I choose one where I can mess someone up. Road Rash was just one of those titles that was a great mix of racing and bashing a dude with your fist going 120 MPH. The graphics were top notch for the day and the soundtrack really helped add to the experience. I would love to sink my teeth into a similar experience, and even remember that a reboot of the series WAS in the works. There are some screenshots and videos still out there on the interwebz, so that's a decent sign that the franchise hasn't been totally forgotten. We'll keep strong.

Crap, is that what obscurity looks like?

4. Legend of the Dragoon
From: 2000

In the wake of all the success RPGs were having in the lat 90s, Sony jumped into the fray and released their own big budget role playing game. Following Dart as he tries to find the monster that killed his parents and save his childhood friend, Legend of the Dragoon was, like the tagline from Scott Pilgrim, an epic of epic epicness. Spanning 4 discs, I sucked this game up with a spoon over 4 discs and loved every second of it. The graphics were great, the story was thrilling an engaging, and the timed hit combat system was a nice change up. When Lavitz died...don't get me started. It wasn't an Aeris moment, but it was close. On the flip side, there wasn't a lot of side quests and changing into dragoon mode in combat was basically as useful as putting pants on backwards and having to take a leak (ahhh, that's my second pants reference. What is the universe trying to tell me?!) but all that's small potatoes in the long run. The game also got a lot of flack for being "generic," but it still holds a whopping 9.4 from fans on Metacritic, so I know I wasn't the only one to really enjoy it. I would definitely be down to take a trip across Endiness once again. Oh, and Meru was hot.

 

Shhhh, he's coming

3. Metal Gear Solid
From: 1998

Snaaaaaaaaaaake! Because it's apparently extremely difficult to port and make changes to PS1 games, Metal Gear Solid missed the boat on the upcoming HD collection of the series and will probably never get improved again unless it's made from scratch, which is highly unlikely. But why not! I haven't played Peace Walker yet(which everyone says is the shiz) but Solid remains my pick for the best in the series, and definitely in my personal top 5 of all time. The story was extremely engaging and, despite its complexities, I think I actually understood 95% of it (which is pretty damn good for a Metal Gear game,I'd say). It was one of the first stealth games I ever played and my heart was racing every time one of those damn neo whatever soldiers came poking their head around the corner. It was stylish, unique (when Psycho Mantis read my memory card, I crapped I brick) and certainly among the greatest of that generation, if not holding the crown. I probably would do some terrible things to unwilling people for a chance to fight Sniper Wolf in HD snow.

Jumping to lightspeed ain't like dusting crops, noob

2. X Wing Alliance
From: 1999

From the sea of Star Wars games released, X Wing and TIE Fighter were among the ones that...you know, didn't suck. The series though always lacked any real sense of continuity until X Wing Alliance showed up as the big finale. Putting you in the role of one of the most original named characters ever, "Ace," you watch as your family's business is taken down by the Empire and then join the fight, the narrative slowly becoming interwoven with the trilogy, culminating with the attack on the Death Star near Endor. The mission types were pretty varied and you got to jump behind the wheel of tons of different ships, as well as this cool looking Millennium Falcon looking thing that your family owned called the Ortana. Since it's on the PC, the mod community still releases things every now and then, but a new version from scratch with today's graphics capabilities would be sweet. 

You knew I was going to show up eventually, right?

1. Final Fantasy VII
From: 1997

Was there really any doubt? I know people love to call the game overrated, and I'll concede it probably is. The Awesome Series had a nice jab at it that made me chuckle. But any claim that Final Fantasy VII isn't up there in terms of greatest of all time, then I just say "you crazy!" Playing through this game as a young and impressionable teenager was one of the most memorable gaming experiences of my life and I would kill to go back and relive the epic once again. It brought the Final Fantasy series to the masses and really cemented it as a recognizable name. It's just the complete package. Great story, great characters, solid combat, tons of side quests, it's all there. This is the game that everyone wants remade. Just freaking do it, Square!