Mega Man 9

Alright so I've got Mega Man 9 and even though I still havn't beaten the game I want to do a brief review. As a side note I should maybe mention that I've only played mega man 1-3 and I never actually beat any of them except 2. So I don't have much to compare this game with so take my words for what their worth. Since I intend to do a more fleshed out review when I beat the game this might not even be worth your time, but here goes. Anyway, the first thing you will notice about the game is that it is incredibly difficult I can't really say if it's harder than the first mega man, but it is WAY harder than 2 so it's a real challenge. Second, the music is awesome, it is at least on par with 2 and some of the tracks go beyond that, they all have that retro feel that's different, yet still mega man, and awesome. Third, there's no power slide or mega buster, that's fine with me as the only mega man game I've really played is 2, but it again adds to the challenge and I can imagine some people throwing fits (speaking of which proto man isn't there either). Well I've sucked 4 hours into this game already and haven't gotten to Wily's castle (oh wait I don't even know for sure if it excists ;). The game is awesome and if your a fan of mega man get it now. I'll say more when I beat the game.

New Games

There has recently been a new flow of games to come out. normally summer and winter is when the big titles hit, but this summers' games, for the most part, didn't interest me. Now it seems like there's a big list I can't keep up with. So to get organization, and to let people know whats out if they don't already know. (By the way these are in no order whatsoever except when I thought of them)

Spore: When I first saw this game I thought it was cool, now I can't think of a word to describe how awesome this game is. This game covers multiple scopes and is very grandiose, unfortunately neither my computer, nor my parents computer will be able to play it :( So I will probably get spore creatures, and maybe spore origins until I can afford to get a new laptop. If you have no idea what I'm talking about you should seriously check it out. If any Sid Meyers game has appealed to you this is most likely the greatest game you will want.

Kirby Super Star Ultra: I just found out about this game yesterday, but I already am seriously thinking of buying it. It's a remake of Kirby Super Star with some upgrades, like new minigames, modes, and perhaps others. If you've never been a fan of the pink puff you'll probably not be interested, but if you're like me and never experienced Kirby Super Star (often acclaimed as the best Kirby game) and you love that pink vacuum, then think about this game.

Mega Man 9: If you like Mega Man I shouldn't need to talk about this one. If you don't like Mega Man, this might not make you change your mind.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: I am not a big Star Wars junkie, but that will probably make this game better. The only shortcomings I can see this game having is plotholes, lack of familiar characters, and bad controls. The controls I'm not worried about to much though. This is probably one of those games where if it doesn't make you want to buy it you shouldn't, but I was intrigued by this game since I first saw it and I'm excited.

Dr. Mario Online Rx: You can probably accurately guess what this is by the title, so there's not much explaining to do. My only though is that 1000 Wii points seems steep, just a little, but still...

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People: I love the cartoons on homestarrunner.com and I've been playing point and click adventures since I was little (pajama Sam...ah the memories) However, while these games are not in order of most wanted, if they were this game would probably be at the bottom or close to it. I don't know why, but I've played the demo and something isn't right and I can't put my finger on it. Something about the game is just boring although I don't know why. Now that I think of it, it's been years since I've played a point and click adventure, and maybe they just don't appeal to me anymore, although I don't see why they shouldn't.

Sonic Unleashed: As far as I know, this (and the game I intend to list next) is the only game on my list that is not released yet. It looks awesome, if you've lost interest in the franchise, then maybe this might bring you back. If you've ever love the 3D sonic games this should be no different. My only worry for the game is the werehog mode which could be bad, or good, I can't make up my mind.

Sonic Chronicles: This is a Sonic RPG manufactured by bioware. Personally I'd feel more reassured if Square-Enix did the game (they made maRPGio), but bioware has done some decent RPG's and I think that no matter what I'll probably get it, I love RPG's and who doesn't love that blue blur?

That's it (at least the ones I haven't forgotten). Maybe next time I can talk about how awesome Mega Man 9 is.

Anger

I have been very angry today.
I have spent a lot of time talking to myself asking questions and I explained in all in a very over detailed and long post. I have deleted that and replaced it with a more condensed form that focus' more on the points of value I'm trying to make and less on venting my anger.

"Why" it is a question I am fond of asking, but I do not ask it to question the intelligence of the one I'm asking of, but so that I can understand the process of reasoning behind things that way I will be able to decide for myself weather something is correct. So is it, or is it not, correct for me to look down on people who never ask that question, and more importantly never answer that question?

Also what good is believing in something without evidence? If there is no sufficient evidence for something is there any reason why I or anyone should believe it? And how can one find evidence for a point without asking the fabled question "why"? Is it correct for me to look down on those who do not see the need for evidence?

Nay we should not look down on anyone. However I have an iron will that is not prone to changing, and I can't help but be angered by those who are too close-minded to listen to any opinion other than there own, as well as those who can't see the need for evidence. God, however, told us to love all even our enemies, but I suppose that is just something I still have trouble with. I suppose that all have faults and since people must deal with mine, I should deal with others.

This is why I started blogging. I often times talk to myself even at long length and sometimes I feel that anything I come to is worthless as no one hears them, but me. Of course sometimes the points I come to might not do good for any one but me. I'm am not saying that my words are jewels and should be treasured, but that sometimes I feel like my thoughts only are sucked to a black whole. If one person heard or read my thoughts and at least considered them, not necessarily agreed, I would feel as if my useless rambles to myself are at least dust in the wind, to be seen by many, instead of shadows in the dark, to be seen by none. I don't want to be understood, just heard.

Caramelldansen

I found out about an Internet meme just recently and thought I'd share my feelings. The "Caramel Dance" has apparently bean around for a while and I only just recently found out about it. I just want to shortly say that no one should make the same mistake I did. At first I thought the song was annoying and gay, but after listening a bit I figured in was catchy, jumpy, and wasn't too bad, so I got the song. Now I've had the song stuck in my head all day, including when I was writing my previous post. It's way to much, my feelings for the song have been adjusted to what they were before, the song, while at first catchy, is just an annoying piece of garbage. I want to warn everyone of this and tell them not to make the same mistake I have.
So why did I put a link below that will send people to a place where they can easily hear the tune for themselves? Well I know people enough that I know that if you tell them not to do something they will usually do it in spite. So think of it not as me being a hypocrite by giving you the link to what I'm telling you not to go to, but as a someone who wishes to warn you and then decides that they probably won't listen unless they find out "the hard way". So I'm merely allowing you to choose take my warnings please do, but if you gotta do it the hard way that's where you go.

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Now playing: Caramell - Caramelldansen 「Speedycake Remix」
via FoxyTunes

Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers

In order to attract an audience I'm going to talk about games I play. One game that I recently picked up again is Lord of the Pings: The Two Towers for the GBA.

I've owned this game for quite some time, but never really played it. I first played it when I was 10 and I viewed the game as crazy complex and I hated it. I played it a bit more around the age of 12, and my views were the same, just not as liberal. Since then the game has spent a lonely life never leaving it's box until the recent power outage when the only games I could play were portables, yet it seemed I had beaten every one I owned. That is until I saw in that box the dusty cartridge of LotR:tTT.
So that's the introduction. The actual game itself is an action RPG (probably the main reason I didn't like it as a kid). It's pretty straightforward, simple, but with just enough depth for you to pay attention to what's going on. There's 5 playable characters that are played individually: Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo, Legolas, and Eowun. Aragorn is the swordsman he has abilities that a swordsman would have in most RPG's; high attack, high HP, low defence, low magic. Gandalf is obviously the wizard; low attack, below average HP, average defence, and magics through the roof. Frodo I haven't played much, but he seems to be the character who is just average, everything about him is just average, never the best, or worst. Legolas is the character I've used the most, he is the archer which has obvious advantages; attack is deficient, but you can make him a fairly strong character, decent HP and defence, and despite being an elf he's a bit lacking in the magic department. Eowun is the character made for the players who want more of a challenge, she's not horrible, but she's easily the worst character. However, Eowun has a totally unique storyline that is completely different from the other characters.
in which case you just have to be facing the right direction). You can also press A to unleash various "magic" attacks, which I will talk about later. Your character's attack power is random, but will be in between the minimum and maximum attack power set. This means if your attack power is 5-10 every time you attack the damage you deal will be somewhere in between those numbers. Now a slightly annoying part of the game is that there virtually is no defence, for you or the enemy. Instead there is accuracy and dodge. The way this works is that you will have a set accuracy (e.g. 30%), and set dodge (e.g. 25%). This means that every time you attack there is a 60% chance it will just not work at all, now an the flip side there is a 25% chance that you won't get hit. It just seems like the game is stacked slightly against you (after all 35% is the average accuracy), however if you upgrade your accuracy enough, or use Now the game itself has you play the one character you chose. The main goal is to get to the end of the level, but in between the beginning and the end is lots of monsters and occasional puzzles. The puzzles are however of a very basic type were you just find a switch to open a door and now you can continue. So it would seem that most of the game involves killing the said monsters, which is exactly the case, the only thing you will do in the game is kill the monsters. The way you do that is you press the B button when your next to an enemy (unless your LegolasLegolas it's not too big of a problem.
Now as with most RPG's there's a leveling system. If you kill a monster you will get a set amount of experience points. Get enough exp. and you will level up; not very different. However leveling up will actually do nothing to your character. You must go to the menu screen and do the leveling yourself. What happens is that every time you level up you get 5 attribute points that you use to pick which of your 5 attributes you would like to upgrade. Your attributes are; Strength (raises min. and max. attack power), Accuracy (raises chance of hitting), Defence (raises dodge), Courage (greatly increases spirit points [MP] and slightly increases HP), and Health (greatly increases HP). Now since you get to choose which attributes you upgrade and how much, you can customize your character to your playing style. The customization gets even greater when you look into the "magic" that your character unlocks. On another screen in your menu there's spirit powers. Upon every level up, in addition to the attribute points you also get one spirit point (not to be confused with spirit points which are the MP of the game) which you put into any power that you choose. Now every character has a different set of powers, although some powers are very similar. The powers are separated into to categories, passive and active, as you might guess passive powers are done automatically or all the time, and active powers need to be activated. This adds more customization and re playability to the game since your character might be totally different the next time you play.
Now comes the part about armor and weapons. On a third (and don't worry it's the last one) screen in your menu is the backpack screen. This screen shows the armor and weapons you have equipped as well as the eight other objects you have in your inventory. This is where an important game mechanic comes into play, when you kill a monster there is a chance it will drop an item. While I'm not sure it seems that the level your on and the type of enemy it is determines what it can drop. Sometimes it's gems (currency), sometimes it's nothing, and sometimes it will drop food or herbs(you don't carry those you use them there and then or not at all), and lastly they can drop equipment. This is the main way to upgrade your character and the most effective. When a monster drops something you pick it up by pressing R, gems don't take up space (their use will come later), food and herbs as I said are not carried, so you inventory is solely for equipment. Every character is capable of wearing eight pieces of equipment, but only one in each category. I won't bother going into detail of the categories this time you just have to figure it out yourself, but it is once again something that adds depth.
The last thing I will mention before my summary is the "cities". Instead of cities the game uses, forges, wells, and shrines. This is where the gems become important since this is the only place they are used. to enter these places you merely walk next to them and then press R. Once in you will see what your holding and what is in these "stores". At all of these places you can sell what your holding for a low price and the only other thing is that they all allow you to buy different things. Forges allow you to buy a random piece of equipment (could be good or bad) as well as whetstones. Whetstones are a piece of equipment found only in the forges that give your character an instant upgrade in attack power. Wells allow you to buy Ent water, which will restore all your life if you die with no penalties (except taking up one of your precious slots in the inventory). Shrines, lastly, let you buy points for upgrading attributes and powers, however, they aren't cheap, but they eventually become the only way to upgrade so it's important.
That is basically the game in a very large nutshell. It's what I've been playing recently and my rating would have to be 6.8/10. While the game is excellent I would never be able to recommend it to anyone other than serous RPGers since the game lacks any explanations and expects you to already know everything about the game (except for what the powers do). this is the sole reason I kept it back from the 7's after all the graphics are terrific for the GBA and the sound is fairly nice, but while I hate games that treat you like an idiot and tell you every little thing, this game hardly tells you anything and gets a little confusing for me at times. However if you are a serous RPGer and you really like Lord of the Rings, you will probably love this game.

So this was my first video game review on my blog, I intend to do more reviews like this and not just with video games (although that will be the bulk of it). I might review books I read in school as well as the ones I read for pleasure. Of course I might occasionally throw a movie in there. Now if you read all of this I thank you and feel free to tell me what you think, I'm always open to criticism of the constructive kind.

First Post - Ike

My first post. I decided I'd start blogging for the same reasons a friend did (he also recently started blogging). I'll probably talk about my opinions on things and oftentimes pretend to know what I'm talking about to see how many people give a care.

In my first post I would just like to say that Hurricane Ike certainly took it's time leaving. Where I live there were winds in excess of a class 1 hurricane, although there wasn't much rain. We had three tree's in our backyard fall down which we spent much of yesterday tacking care of. Also on Sunday when the power initially went out everything seemed in chaos, Kings Island was evacuated, barrels were scattered over the roads, not to mention the constant overshadowing thoughts of if things could get worse. Monday was the day, completely without power, from sun-up till sun-down. As I said we spent a lot of that day cleaning up the trees that fell, which would've been even more of a pain if it wasn't for the small handful of neighbors that helped. They weren't many, but they did triple the number of workers and helped greatly so I deeply thank them (although they'll probably never read this).
At approximately 2:30 this morning I got power back. I know some people still don't have power and all I gotta say is Duke had better get a move on. Although things calmed down from Sunday there's still small pockets of chaos, mostly pertaining to the huge lines at gas stations and the overcrowded shopping marts and restaurants.

That's my first post. If you liked it don't stick around many of my latter posts will probably pertain to video games as well as complaints I make behind my teachers backs. However while I'm not blogging solely for popularity I don't want to feel like I'm talking to no one. Therefore I'd like to say, that anyone who reads please comment. I love compliments, and if you give reasons for displeasure, then hate mail will be considered helpful in making me better at blogging and help me to talk more about what my audience is interested in.

But listen to me talk, I don't even have an audience yet.