Eternal Poison - PS2

Another one of Atlus's RPG's for 2009. It's rare to be playing PS2 games in 2009, but I still find it entertaining. The cover dissuaded me from picking this one up because it seem like the kind of game that guys with Lolita fetishes would buy. I ended up trying it out anyway with some reserve. They bundled it with a soundtrack, but I got it used at the Game Stop and unfortunately I didn't get the CD along with the game.

The game starts with a young sorceress, the one dressed in gothic attire on the cover, Thage and her wolf companion Raki. They are Majin (magical creatures I suppose) and they are seeking the power of the "Eternal Poison" to either resurrect the legendary princess or destroy the world. Early in their travels they take up a young boy that got lost along the way named Retica. He is a half-breed between Majin and Human, so like many stories, he is conflicted between good and evil. They both battle monsters and unravel a story that intertwines with the other major characters.

So here's the deal-breaker for this game: you have to play all five story-lines to get the true ending. I hate games like this. I actually was able to complete the Thage story in about ten hours, but do I really want to go through it again? four more times? I will have to make that choice soon. This game reminds me of Saga Frontier, where you have to complete all seven quests. And yes, I did complete it all but I had a lot more time when I was a student.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - NDS

Somehow I put down the Fire Emblem game for the Wii to play this game. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is actually a remake of the first fire Emblem game published on the SNES. It's still new to me because I completely forsaked this series, as like many people did because it wasn't ported over to the United States until much later. 

The game follows the young prince, Marth, who is chased out of his kingdom by the kingdom of Gras. He is secluded to a small city in the far marginal eastern area of the land. Slowly he gathers his forces and lauch a rebellion. He has his trusted followers: Cain and Abel, Shiida, Frey, Coyote and Wolf, etc. It steadily gets more interesting as he recruits people from every map, reminisient of the old Suikoden games. I kind of reminds me of Japan's Onin war in the Muromachi period. It took me about seven maps to totally get emotionally invested, but now I'm determined to beat it. 

The game actually does well with the NDS. Having the bottom screen as the main screen and the top screen as the profile helps you switch information quick. The mechanics move the characters quick and you can always end all the turns just by hitting START - something that happens often to me. I just want to quickly reset. I'm on map 10 now, and it seems like I'm getting better finally, dying less. Until then, I'll be playing that and Henry Hatsworth, Goodshow!

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - Nintendo Wii

Have you ever played a game that took so long, that life invariably gets in the way? When I first started playing this game for the Wii, I was planning a vacation and my company was going through some of the hottest summer days with work spewing out by the truckload. Now, 3 months later, I have already returned from my vacation, the DOW has lost another 1500 points, and I have found little time to pick up my wii-mote. Fire Emblem takes a long time, so don't go off buying it and expect to complete it in a week to return it to your local game store. 

t's the 5th of the series I believe, and it continues off of the Game Cube instalment, Path of Radiance. The DS version, Shadow Dragon is a remake of the first one, not sequential to Radiant Dawn. What makes it new is that it's the FIRST time I'm playing a Fire Emblem game, and I am liking it. It does make you whimper though, or as some reviewers say, "makes you cry like a little girl". Yes, the maps are difficult. Your guys are not superior to the enemy. Death occurs and there is no revivication. Death is death. It's part of the appeal of the game, the relentless difficulty of it. I've seen the Game Over sign countless times and it really makes me want to buy the guide. 

The game is like a rubix cube and a crossword puzzle; it makes you think, try new things, and build of answers for a complete solution. Well, you'd have to if you want your guys to survive.  You have to fiddle with it. Play through maps again and again until you realize your party's strengths and weaknesses.  You have to attack the maps from different perspectives. Once one segment is solved, other parts of the map is revealed. It's really a patient man's game. Whether it makes you patient or it's meant for patient people is a different story. 

The story is about a small group of rebels that are fighting back against a ruthless empire in the medieval times. Magic, might, and mayhem are all parts of the game. But there's also a big paper-rock-scissors. Lance takes swords, swords take axes, and axes take lances - I guess thats how it always have been in the series? What I find new is the "CARRY" command. I have played Disgaea and Final Fantasy Tactics, but never came across a game that lets you carry a person. I guess there's a a bit of that in Super Robot Wars as you can go back to the main carrier ship, but in this game, you have to use every command to your advantage. 

For now, I'm still learning the ropes as I play this in between Shining Force Neo and God of War.

Here's a video (set of videos) of a guy doing this game on a "speedrun". The blinking makes my eyes hurt, and I didn't watch anymore after the first video to prevent spoiling the game. I read that you can cut out animations only after you beat the game once, what an interesting reward: